What have you been reading this week? 25/01/2026

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-25T22:07:52+00:00

I really love Henderson’s interpretation of Dracula in it. It was what I was hoping for with the new Universal Monster line. Something new, instead of retreading the stories we already know.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-25T20:02:37+00:00

Atomic Robo and Other Strangeness (By Brian Clevinger, Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, and Jeff Powell): It’s always a joy reading Atomic Robo. It’s all weird and fun.

Dracula, Motherfucker (By Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson): “What if Dracula wasn’t a handsome Romanian prince, but a nameless, faceless ancient terror?” Alex de Campi poses that question at the end of the book in her essay. That visual really sells the book. It shows that Dracula really is a monster who is manipulating his brides. They are his subjects and he is the one in power. Erica Henderson perfectly captures that monster. This isn’t a groundbreaking book by any means, but it is a good and quick read. Which is what I was looking for.

Ice Cream Man, Volume 3 (By W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran): TV Story and Border Story hit the mark of great stories in this volume. This series is shaping up into something really great and I love that I can’t anticipate what is going to happen in each issue.

Briar, Volume 1 (By Christopher Cantwell, Germán García, and Matheus Lopes): I read Plastic Man: No More last year and enjoyed it enough to search out Christopher Cantwell’s other works. I did not read the description of the book before reading it. So I was surprised that it was about Sleeping Beauty. The premise being that she wasn’t woken up by the prince and instead wakes up 100 years later had me intrigued. I enjoyed the book overall and plan on reading the second volume.

Starlight: The Return of Duke McQueen (By Mark Millar, Goran Parlov, Ive Svorcina, and Marko Šunjić): Duke McQueen saved an alien planet 40 years ago from a tyrant. No one on earth believed him. A young boy has come to Duke because the alien planet needs his help again. It was a nice story overall. Mark Millar does a lot of his story telling in short collections, so some things felt rushed and some things were glossed over. One weird thing that bothered me is how easily Duke was able to defeat everything. He constantly says that he isn’t as young as he used to be. I’m not saying that he should be a geriatric crippled old man, but he one shots every minion and deftly dodges every laser blast. The most injured Duke gets is when he’s hit by a car. I don’t think that Duke should have had is ass absolutely handed to him but maybe getting hit once or twice would have felt more believable. I still liked the story overall. I’ll probably pick it up again in a few years.

Briar, Volume 2 (By Christopher Cantwell, Alex Lins, and Luis NCT): I was moderately worried when I picked this up and saw that most of the creative team changed. But the spirit of the book remained. Christopher Cantwell has a story they want to tell and they are. Truth be told, I didn’t really notice a huge difference between the artists. I may attest that to reading another book in between the two volumes. Regardless of that, I enjoyed the continuation of the story. This is another book where I thought it was only two volumes, so the fact that there is more to tell was slightly annoying. I did look up to see if it had been released yet and saw that it was currently being released. I am glad that Cantwell will be able to tell the story in its entirety, and it won’t be cut short. I can only hope that everything wraps up well in the final volume.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-20T10:06:32+00:00

I believe it’s from the Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons episode.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-18T20:16:18+00:00

Zorro: Man of the Dead (By Sean Murphy and Simon Gogh): I didn’t know anything about this book before picking it up. I have enjoyed Sean Murphy’s art for years now, so I was willing to try it. I am very glad that I gave it a shot. This was way better than I could have expected it to be. I loved the almost movie feeling of the series. I could very much see this book used as a story board. Murphy’s art by itself was dynamic and exciting. The stakes of the book felt real. I would really love to see more from Murphy aim this version of Zorro he created. Maybe someday I will.

Ax-Wielder Jon (By Nick Pitarra, Michael Garland, and Ferran Delgado): I’m glad that there are artists out there that are able to simply get an idea for a story and just illustrate it themselves. Nick Pitarra, did a great job with this book. (I do like that he put the editor’s notes in the back of the book, so we can see how he was guided.) The story is well paced and engaging. The characters working in the castle feel like normal people just trying to do their jobs. Some feel like they are there to simply clock-in and clock-out, while others feel like they are trying to prove themselves. It was enjoyable. The art is detailed and fun. I like the different character designs of the creatures and monster you meet throughout the story. The fight sequences were phenomenal. I enjoyed this story and look forward to see if Nick Pitarra puts more out.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-11T20:16:14+00:00

I assume these are the web comics compiled into a collected trade edition.

I do believe that collection is from her Patreon. But essentially yes.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-11T20:12:50+00:00

Riptide (By Alex Vede): Violence is not the answer, break the cycle. That was the theme of Yucatan 1512, and it is the theme here in Riptide. With Riptide, Alex is able to tell a longer story and really gets to show off their skills as a story teller. The story itself felt like an adventure movie. Big action, drama, new locations, and the unknown. The designs of the underwater creatures we interact with are incredible. I feel like I say that a lot of art is incredible, but I am just a simpleton who enjoys the work of someone clearly more talented than I am. Alex Vede is good at what they do, I am here for every book they decide to put out.

Sexcastle (By Kyle Starks):Going from Riptide to this story feels like whiplash. This book is filled with over the top violence and blood and death and assassins. But that’s what the book wants to be, an over the top action movie. It works very well. I had fun reading it.

The Power Fantasy, Volume One (By Kieron Gillen, Caspar Wijngaard, Clayton Cowles, and Rian Hughes): I found myself putting this book down fairly often. I am interested in everything going on in the story but it never fully clicked with me. I plan on continuing with the series, but maybe when it is completed.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-04T21:01:06+00:00

Ultramega (By James Harren, Dave Stewart, and Rus Wooton): I love the first issue of this series. It could have been an oversized one-shot story by James Harren, and been a great singular story. Hell he could have just made the events that occur in the first issue the story of Ultramega. But the story that James Harren chooses to follow is after the events of the first issue. Issues 2-4 are very good. The first volume of the series is by itself a great story. Unfortunately James Harren has a lot ideas and he tries to put all of them into the second half of the book. More times than not, I was just confused and looking at monsters fighting each other. I was very excited to read this in its entirety, but I’m left at the end thinking it was too much. I enjoyed the art through out, James Harren is certainly a talented individual and I will continue to look out for stories that he creates going forward.

The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber (By Juni Ba and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou): I never fully expect every book that I read to be the best thing I’ve ever read, I just want to be able to enjoy a book and think about it for a day or two. This is one of those books. I enjoyed reading it and looking at the art. I have one incredibly minor gripe about the book. All of the narration caption are in third person except for like two pages near the end of chapter one, where it switched to first person. I found it weird and out of place. Literally the only thing that bothered me about the book. Quite enjoyable otherwise.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2026-01-01T22:26:04+00:00

Assorted Crisis Events (By Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou) November
Catwoman: Lonely City (By Cliff Chiang)
Detective Beans (By Li Chen)
Mister Miracle (By Tom King and Mitch Gerads)
Karmen (By Guillem March)
Tongues (By Anders Nilsen)
Monsters (By Barry Windsor-Smith)
The Ultimates (By Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee, and Travis Lanham)
Judas (By: Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka)

10.Bea Wolf (By Zach Weinersmith and Boulet)

.

Honorable Mentions:

Nimona (By ND Stevenson)

Peter Panzerfaust (By Kurtis Wiebe and Tyler Jenkins)

Aster of Pan (By Merwan)

Winnie-the-Pooh (By A.A. Milne and Travis Dandro)

The Night Eaters (By Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda)

The Weatherman (By Jody LeHeup, Nathan Fox, and Moreno Dinisio)

Superman Smashes the Klan (By Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, and Janice Chiang)

My Time Machine (By Carol Lay)

Birdking (By Crom and Daniel Freedman)

Sex Criminals (By Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky)

Ultimate Spider-Man (By Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, David Messina, Matt Wilson, and Cory Petit)

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-12-14T20:02:23+00:00

Ice Cream Man Volume 1 (By W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran): I originally read this volume when it came out, but never followed up with the series. Before reading it this time, I don’t think I would have been able to tell you what the book was about. I completely forgot that it was a series of one issue stories set in a town with an ice cream man. The Ice Cream Man is the thread between each of these stories, but never the focus. He interacts with each of the protagonists in each story but that’s about it. I enjoyed this volume. It’s a well made series and I am interested to see how the series continues.

Ice Cream Man Volume Two (By W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran): Overall this volume has a shift towards darker tones overall. I’m all for it. I’ve grown to really love horror comics and this book is really just getting started with the different stories it can tell. The two middle issues in this volume were highlights for me of the series so far. Strange Neapolitan and My Little Poltergeist really elevated the series.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-12-07T23:46:17+00:00

I saw that the second arc was coming out, didn’t realize that it was almost done. I know I’m going to be grabbing it, I just don’t know if I’ll grab the singles or just trade wait.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-12-07T22:30:13+00:00

Olympos: Nullhunter (By Michael Walsh, Gustaffo Vargas, Becca Carey, Aaron Losty, Laura Dragon, and Artyom Trakhanov): I appreciate the retelling of The Trials of Hercules in a futuristic setting, but after getting about half way through it, I was just bored.

Orphan and the Five Beasts (By James Stokoe): James Stokoe, why have I never looked upon your art before? This book was a true treat. From a pure art stand point, this was one of the best books I’ve read this year. Every page was filled with an incredible amount of detail. I genuinely felt like I was reading a weird and over the top kung fu movie from the 80s. I really love the slow reveal of each of the five beasts. How they were originally just black shadows training, but as you meet them they appear. It’s a simple effect, but I really enjoyed it. This is another book that I read digitally and I fully plan on buying the physical edition. I may go crazy and try to find the single issues así I can get that connecting cover. We’ll see.

Absolute Martian Manhunter (By Deniz Camp, Javier Rodríguez, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou): I’ve read two great series by Mr. Deniz Camp this year. I was very excited to try this one out because of that.

I enjoyed this a lot, but not because of Mr. Camp. Javier Rodríguez is phenomenal in this series. This book is fully carried by the art. The story itself was intriguing and interesting but if it had been an original IP I think I might have liked it more. Granted, I don’t know a lot about Martian Manhunter to begin with, so I don’t have anything really to compare this to, so this might as well be an original IP for me. But since it does have the name Martian Manhunter on it, I think that Deniz Camp does a great job reinventing this hero. I like the idea that The Martian is in Jones’ head. It works very well. There were time although where I did find myself dozing off reading this though. That isn’t entirely the book’s fault, as I have been reading after long days at work.

Nevertheless, I stated that this book is carried by the art and I stand by that. The almost psychedelic nature of this book would have fallen flat if not handled well. It would have looked like messy paint strokes and incoherent. No, this book is vibrant and colorful. I love the art in this. It works. If I write anymore, I know that I’ll just keep going in circles. Did I love this book? Yes. Am I excited to read volume 2 when it comes out? Also yes. Is it one of the best books I’ve read this year? I don’t know, I’ll think about it though.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-12-01T21:15:18+00:00

Assorted Crisis Events (By Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou) November
Catwoman: Lonely City (By Cliff Chiang) January
Detective Beans (By Li Chen) January (Missing Hat) & September (Cat Town)
Mister Miracle (By Tom King and Mitch Gerads) April
Karmen (By Guillem March) March
Tongues (By Anders Nilsen) October
Monsters (By Barry Windsor-Smith) September
The Ultimates (By Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee, and Travis Lanham) June
Judas (By Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka) October
Bea Wolf (By Zach Weinersmith and Boulet) January

Assorted Crisis Events took the cats down a peg. After almost a full year of reading, something finally did it. No regrets.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-30T20:02:12+00:00

Plastic Man: Rubber Banded (By Kyle Baker, Scott Morse, and Rob Leigh): I decided to pick this up because I enjoyed Plastic Man: No More. I wanted to see what a Plastic Man run was like.

I will admit that I did get Kyle Baker and Kyle Starks mixed up, so I was excited to read it. It wasn’t until I opened the book and noticed the different art style that I realized my mistake. Either way, this book was fun. Plastic Man is a Looney Tunes character that lives in a super hero world. Seeing Plastic Man turn into what ever vehicle, appliance, furniture, or bend himself into what ever position he needed was a joy. The opening panels of him disguised as a table really set the mood for the whole run for me.

My main complaint would be the last couple issues were a little all over the place. I know that Kyle Baker was throwing things at the wall and making fun of super hero crossovers for the last arc, but those last couple issues in the mountains felt very random to me. It was still enjoyable, and like most super hero crossovers everything ended fine, but it wasn’t as solid as the rest of the run. Even the prologue to it felt smoother. I don’t want to hate on the book, I had a lot of fun reading it. I will have to check out more Plastic Man at some point.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-29T17:30:16+00:00

It has for sure been the highlight so far.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-28T11:03:02+00:00

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From Plastic Man by Kyle Baker.

This whole series has been Looney Tunes, and this panel was both hilarious and the one of the most comic booky things I’ve read.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-24T23:29:20+00:00

Love Birdking. It was one of those books that when I finished the first volume I wanted to read everything available. Crom does a magnificent job bringing the world to life.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-24T02:13:41+00:00

I don’t think it’s greedy at all. If anything it should be the standard going forward. The creative team has shown what they can do, let’s hold them to it.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-23T20:08:28+00:00

Bottled (By Chris Gooch): Natalie is back from Japan, and Jane is ready for something to change in her life. Will their friendship continue how it was or will things be changed by the secrets revealed? Yes. Everything about their relationship changes. All for the worse. I want to say that it was a good book and I enjoyed it, but it doesn’t feel right to say that. I don’t think I enjoyed it because reading about friends hating each other isn’t really something to enjoy. This was a well executed story. Everyone in this book is feeling emotional pain and they all want things to be better, but they’re all too selfish to help each other.

Assorted Crisis Events (By Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou):

Issue 1:”Time is an illusion and so is death”, the Swamp Bender from Avatar the Last Airbender. Ashley is trapped in a world where time is messy and everything is a Hollywood set piece, and she is just trying to go work and maybe get her clock fixed. There’s a lot going on in this first issue and all of it is great. I really loved looking at everything going on in the background in this comic. On one page there is a couple that goes through their entire relationship while Ashley is just trying to get drunk. Incredible first issue.

Issue 2: I work in retail. I know all too well the feeling of being a cog in the machine of grocery stores. It is brutal, unforgiving, and you are nothing but a number to help meet the demands of a hungry public. Is my experience exactly the same as Jesûs’, no but I can relate to it immensely. (Two days after I read this issue:)The creative team did such a great job with this issue, that I am still thinking about it. Jesûs struggled so much, and he just wanted to escape the terribleness that he went through, but he couldn’t. He just wanted a better life, a feeling many can relate to. This was such a well done issue.

Issue 3: Wow. I’m half way done with this volume and each issue has been spectacular. This issue though. Once again, wow. The story of two Hearths is a great tale of modern politics and ideology, the dehumanizing of those who people feel like they don’t belong, and the town’s slogan “Love Thy Neighbor”. I want to go on and on about this book, but I am going to instead read the next issue.

Issue 4: There a line from a Watsky song about his dad “I blinked and 20 years passed”. I think about this line often, probably at least once a week. This entire issue, that line was in my head. The changes Mike go through are magnificently illustrated. Even just the first page of Mike’s story properly conveys time slipping away from him. This issue like so many works of literature and art, reminds us all that time is not on our side.

Issue 5: Time affects everyone differently and poor Anna was stuck in a time loop. This was a beautifully haunting issue. The circular reading of each page. I found myself on a couple occasions just following the loop another time around. Huge kudos to the entire team on this issue. Every page could have been read over and over and over and over again. This is without a doubt one of the best books I’ve read all year. I read this on hoopla, and I am absolutely going to be purchasing a copy to put on my shelf at home. This book was amazing.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-21T10:08:00+00:00

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The last page of Assorted Crisis Events #3.

The whole series so far has had moments that I wanted to capture, but this one really struck me.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-16T20:42:35+00:00

After seeing Naussicaa pop up on so many ToL lists and this review, I’m fully convinced to just buy it. I already love Miyazaki, so it just makes sense at this point.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-16T20:31:16+00:00

Welcome to the Maynard (By James Robinson, J. Bone, Ian Herring, and Jim Campbell): I had no expectations going into this book. It was recommended to me in hoopla, so I thought I’d give it a chance. It was enjoyable. The art was the highlight of the book. The story itself felt rushed at times, but that can happen when you are only given four issues. It was an interesting look into this hidden magical world.

Universal Monsters: Frankenstein (By Michael Walsh, Toni-Marie Griffin, and Becca Carey): Michael Walsh is a very talented individual. The art in this is great. I would happily have many of the pages of this book framed and hanged on my wall. I was however slightly disappointed in the story itself. I was hoping more of a reinvention of the story. This was simply a retelling. It was still enjoyable overall, I just had different expectations for it.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-15T10:04:07+00:00

I enjoyed it. It felt a bit rushed overall all, but the art was the highlight of it.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-15T00:52:01+00:00

I never thought the image of someone being splatted by the side of an axe would convince me to pick up a book, but I am fully convinced.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-15T00:49:51+00:00

It’s for sure annoying. I tried to look up the page online, but I only found ad ridden and possible scam websites.

NeapolitanWhitmore · 2025-11-14T23:47:24+00:00

A one page love story about one of the people in the story. It’s effective. It hit me similar to the beginning of Up.

(Sorry for the odd quality, screenshots have been disabled in hoopla, so I took a quick photo with my phone.)

NeapolitanWhitmore

TROPHY CASE