Day: December 3, 2022

Volume Seven

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Warning again for possible SPOILERS.

What’s happening now: the family is all back together again, with odd additions that you might have thought were their enemies in the past. TV-head robot prince is there, and kid Hazel sneaks into his room to see his dreams at night (um, never appropriate!) The pink ghost babysitter makes a reappearance, and then disappears for good (Hazel’s drawing of her made me so sad). Alana is expecting another child, and Hazel struggles both with the idea of soon having a younger sibling- but also that she might be expected to help care for it. The trans twisty-horned ex prisoner is a somewhat reluctant new family member too. They all end up on this hurtling asteroid, where a bunch of little meerkat-like people live. Who are cute, but overly religious. The younger critters’ interactions with Hazel are priceless. They’re trying to get their tree spaceship fixed and leave. Lots of scenes here hilariously made me think of Star Trek in that regard. But so many innocents in the crossfire of the ongoing war. Meanwhile elsewhere on another world, Sophie is still helping Gwen, but now has aspirations to complete vengeance on her own. It’s sad. Lying Cat has to choose between her and the bounty hunter, who’s lost his job and nobody knows what to make of him anymore. Including readers. Oh and now TV-head guy is reading the fictional novelist. That book is going to end up inflencing everything, just like people keep protesting! I don’t know what else to say. This one seemed to have more about the mindless violence and prejudice the different aliens have against each other, than the family building. The ending is abrupt and bleak.

Borrowed from the public library. Previous book in this series. Next book.

Rating: 3/5
152 pages, 2017

Volume Six

by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Warning for possible SPOILERS. Really, you should go read Volume One.

This one hit the great mark for me again. I think I liked everything about it- yes, in spite of the frequent bloody altercations, and nudity that sometimes seems to have no purpose other than to make these graphic novels adult-audience-only. While I still really dislike the spider people, now there’s another character I’m assuming of the same alien species- a mantis woman who was just drawn perfectly. She’s a teacher, and Hazel is in her class- which is held in a prison. Hazel and her grandmother were taken captive by the enemy side, now residing in a detention center. Hazel adjusts to this new disruption to her life, making friends with the other prisoners’ kids, confiding in her teacher, and discovering that one of the adult inmates is trans. Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised that this series which depicts odd aliens in situations that appear totally normal and mundane even while there’s interplanetary warfare and magic going on, should also have gender queer characters. But it did. And it was great how innocently Hazel asked questions, and how easily accepted the differences. The gay photographer/writer couple that reports for a tabloid made a reappearance in this volume- not my favorite characters, but still interesting. The bounty hunter is on his feet again but in bad shape, and hallucinating (seeing and talking to his dead lover) which throws all kinds of things awry. The fictional writer’s book becomes a key item again, this time Hazel is sharing a copy with her mantis-lady teacher and the prisoners in the detainment center are reading it (which made me laugh). I loved the sanctity of the library – although the other one, delightfully full of scrolls, became a scene of violence. Marko ends up using weapons against opponents again, even though he doesn’t want to. The robot prince becomes an actual character, the family is finally all reunited and wait, where those giant tardigrades somebody battled at one point? Some panels in this book I just had no idea what was going on, but I enjoyed it regardless. On to the next!

Borrowed from the public library. Previous book in this series.

Rating: 4/5
152 pages, 2016

DISCLAIMER:

All books reviewed on this site are owned by me, or borrowed from the public library. Exceptions are a very occasional review copy sent to me by a publisher or author, as noted. Receiving a book does not influence my opinion or evaluation of it

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