Graphic Novels/Manga

The main gist of the fifteenth book by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End, is that Greg Heffley and his family have been living in their grandmother's basement ever since some "financial issues" surfaced in the previous book. Ergo, there house was destroyed by a hot tub falling through their roof. Anyways, the conditions in which they are living in are not only uncomfortable for Greg, but also extremely boring. He has to not only face being cramped in a basement with his family all summer, but he can't even go hang out with his best friend Rowley because he and his family are on a trip to Europe. The family comes to the conclusion that they need a vacation, but the problem is that they are in strict money-saving mode. With a stroke of luck, they are able to find opportunity when Greg's Dad's brother, Uncle Gary, leaves an old RV in Greg's great grandmother's driveway. They clean it out, buy supplies, and hit the open road. On the way to finding their perfect camping paradise, they hit many road-bumps such as finding a place to park the RV, getting lost in the woods, and having a run in with a bear. Finally, they find Campers Eden, which is an RV park and resort where it seems that they can enjoy the perfect vacation. Will things turn out the way they think, or will they go off, "The Deep End."

Personally, I fairly enjoyed this book despite the fact that I am probably older than most of the audience that enjoys it. I find that the simple humor and writing is a good thing to help me relax at night and give me a laugh at the same time. The main reason why I picked this book to read was because I had been reading the books since third grade and like to keep up with them even though they are not quite at my reading level anymore. The only thing that I didn't enjoy about this book was it was the same basic story for the Long Haul which was the ninth book in the Wimpy Kid franchise. In the Long Haul the family decides to take a trip during their summer vacation so their family could bond. Besides this fact, the book was a fairly decent read. It was not necessarily the best book I have read this year, but it was a definite nice taste of nostalgia and humor. I would recommend this book for anyone in the second grade or higher. It is what I would call a timeless and easy read.

In this second collection of Squirrel Girl comics, you'll once again find Doreen Green trying to balance her life as Squirrel Girl and as a computer science student at Empire State University. This can be quite the balancing act, especially when you have a huge fluffy tail that you have to hide when you're in your civilian persona. While other superheroes have origin stories that explain their tremendous powers, Squirrel Girl is...Squirrel Girl.

Doreen's "unbeatable" title continues to be tested as she uses both her skills as a squirrel person who can communicate with and control squirrels and as a computer science major to defeat villains who terrorize New York City. The fact that she's a superhero who can talk to and control squirrels is just amusing enough that fans of the first collection will likely enjoy this one. However, I wasn't prepared to read a Howard the Duck crossover in this collection, so know that it's not necessarily a volume completely dedicated to Squirrel Girl.

Once again, I enjoyed Ryan North's writing (there's a lot since Dorreen rarely resorts to violence to solve her problems). I haven't read many comic books, so I'm still getting used to the art styles, especially since they are distinctly different between the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl issues and the Howard the Duck issues. And while this volume was entertaining, there is a certain limitation that comes with a superhero whose only abilities revolve around squirrels. Doreen can use only so many iterations of these powers before they become repetitive.

More Squirrel Girl action with a Howard the Duck crossover, I give The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Big Squirrels Don't Cry 3.5 stars out of 5.

I was first made aware of this somewhat obscure Marvel superhero because I am a regular reader of Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics webcomic series. While I sat on the knowledge of Squirrel Girl's existence for some time, I finally broke down and bought the two-volume collection of North's imagining of the hero. In this first volume, Powers of a Squirrel, we get to know Doreen Green (aka Squirrel Girl), a computer scientist student studying at Empire State University.

As a much more comedic superhero compared to the likes of Iron Man or Captain America, Squirrel Girl's claim to fame is the fact that she is "Unbeatable." This includes defeating some of Marvel's most fearsome and powerful villains in unique ways that don't involve violence. Sure, sometimes Squirrel Girl has to get her paws dirty, but the more amusing storylines are the ones where she saves the day using unconventional squirrel-based techniques. That being said, it's a funny gimmick the first few times, then it gets repetitive near the end of this volume.

The art for this comic was decent, but the writing was certainly worth the price of admission. Even the little author notes at the bottom of the page were fun to read, despite being in a minuscule font that my 35-year-old eyes had trouble reading. There's a lot of suspension of disbelief in this collection of the first eight issues of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, but honestly, what superhero comic book doesn't have some amount of this? And while Squirrel Girl is a bit more quirky than other superheroes, I do hope that she'll get her own MCU movie in the future.

A quirky and fun Marvel super hero, I give The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Powers of a Squirrel 4.0 stars out of 5.

Two fraternal twins named Megumu and Mitsuru Kobayashi decide to swap places for a week (Mitsuru is bad at studies and Megumu is good at them). Megumu otherwise known as Mego is a shy sweet girl who loves the feudal ages. Mitsuru meanwhile is a tough boy who goes to an all boy school full of delinquents. Mego gets saved by and accidentally kisses the top delinquent of Mitsuru's school; Aoi Sanada. When she next meets him in the guise of her brother, he luckily does not recognize her, and she finds out that he has a severe phobia of girls... which does not currently apply to her as she is dressed like a boy and he does not know she is female. Mego is somewhat saddened by this because she has a crush on him, but decides she is happy with just being around him. Aoi meanwhile starts to develop feelings for Mego, and is very confused by this, because Mego is currently his best friend... so he thinks he has homosexual feelings for his best friend. Mitsuru meanwhile has encountered Aoi's half sister Shino Takenaka and has fallen in love with her but she doesnt know he is male or that he has any feelings for her beyond best friends. The School bully Azusa Tokugawa meanwhile has found out that he is a boy and is in love with him, but he thinks she hates him. Aoi also finds out that Mego is a girl and she switches back with her brother thinking that he hates her. Aoi however really does love her and goes looking for her. Altogether a very good if confusing read.

I love it.

The Death Card concludes the solo storyline of Mike Mignola's Hellboy. In The Death Card, Hellboy begins to discover the consequences of his actions in The Descent, and sees hope for a new, restored world. He also seems to fully grasp the power of his Right Hand of Doom and... well, I shouldn't tell you too much. But you can know that this is the end, the great conclusion, written and drawn by Mignola. And on that note: Mignola's art here is as good as ever. The scene with... well, I still can't tell you too much, but there's a part that's actually painted. The art is is great. And the writing is good as well. Hellboy in Hell: The Death Card delivers a satisfying end to the tale of Hellboy.

Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir, is a great book! After being held captive by and potentially killing the queen of the Skywings in the first book, the adventure continues! The dragonets are now on their way to the Sea Kingdom, where they meet one of the dragonet’s mother! After the heartwarming reunion, the dragonets are thrown into chaos in the Sea Kingdom! Read the book to find out more! I really love the characters and their relatable and diverse personalities. The humor and drama mixed in makes the book even better. The book is one of my favorite books of all time! I couldn't put the book down, and before I knew it, I'd finished the whole series! I definitely recommend it!
Reviewer's grade: 9th

In Venom Vol. 5: Venom Beyond, Eddie Brick meets a few foe, Virus!
This is the fifth volume of Venom by writer Donny Cates. After the events of
Absolute Carnage and Venom Island, Eddie Brock wants to find out more about
his son Dylan's powers, so he looks to The Maker, AKA Reed Richards from the
Ultimate Universe. But when the mysterious Virus shows up, Eddie and Dylan
fall through a portal into a new world! And on this world, there are new
enemies, such as Codex! I liked this volume, and thought the alternate world
version of Annie added some interesting ideas to the story. If you liked
Absolute Carnage and Venom Island, then there is a good chance that you might
like this volume! This collected edition collects issues #26-30 of Venom, and
the Venom story from FCBD 2020. This volume deepens the Venom lore and sets
the story up for King In Black.