Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics or Comics On My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature with new topics every Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. If you would like to participate, the link provided will lead you to the feature and upcoming topics for the rest of the month and first half of January.

Today’s topic is:  All about the visuals: Top Ten Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics or Ten Comics on My TBR or Top Ten Favorite Picture Books

I don’t have ten favorites, however I do have 5 faves and 5 on my TBR.

Top 5 Favorite Graphic Novels/Comics:

154539Who is Wonder Woman? by Allan Heinberg

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In this volume from acclaimed writer Allan Heinberg (The OC) , the Amazon warrior Diana has gone missing, leaving Donna Troy to take up the mantle of Wonder Woman! When Diana returns, she goes under her former alias Diana Prince, acting as a secret agent and member of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. Her first assignment is to save Donna Troybut will she re-take the role of Wonder Woman?

 

 

 


Deadly Class, Vol. 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender

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Synopsis from Goodreads:

 It’s 1987. Marcus Lopez hates school. His grades suck. The jocks are hassling his friends. He can’t focus in class. But the jocks are the children of Joseph Stalin’s top assassin, the teachers are members of an ancient league of assassins, the class he’s failing is “Dismemberment 101,” and his crush has a double-digit body count. Welcome to the most brutal high school on earth, where the world’s top crime families send the next generation of assassins to be trained. Murder is an art. Killing is a craft. At Kings Dominion School for the Deadly Arts, the dagger in your back isn’t always metaphorical. 

Collecting the first arc of the most critically acclaimed new series of 2014, by writer RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, Fear Agent) and rising star artist WESLEY CRAIG (Batman). Experience the 1980s underground through the eyes of the world’s most damaged and dangerous teenagers. Collects DEADLY CLASS #1-6.


21555973Harley Quinn, Vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Conner

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Fresh from BATMAN: DEATH OF THE FAMILY and SUICIDE SQUAD, Harley Quinn returns to her first solo series in the New 52! The writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti (ALL STAR WESTERN) and Amanda Conner (BEFORE WATCHMEN: SILK SPECTRE) unleashed Harley on an unsuspecting DC Universe, as she encounters various heroes and villains … and leaves no one unscathed in her wake! With art by Chad Hardin and a slew of comics’ best artists including Darwyn Cooke, Sam Kieth, Tony S. Daniel, Paul Pope, Walter Simonson and Art Baltazar!

Collects HARLEY QUINN #0-8.


26210380-2Jessica Jones: Alias Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Collects Alias #1-9. Meet Jessica Jones. Once upon a time, she was a costumed super hero — but not a very good one. Her powers were unremarkable compared to the amazing abilities of the costumed icons that populate the Marvel Universe. In a city of Marvels, she never found her niche. The self-destructive would-be Avenger is now the owner and sole employee of Alias Investigations — a small, private-investigative firm specializing in superhuman cases. When she uncovers the potentially explosive secret of one hero’s true identity, Jessica’s life immediately becomes expendable. But her wit, charm and intelligence just may help her survive another day. Thrust into the midst of a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels, has Jessica burned too many bridges to turn to old friends for help?

I have a spoiler free review here.


17465574-2Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Blue is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel about growing up, falling in love, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.

I have a spoiler free review here.


Top 5 Graphic Novels/Comics on my TBR:

29772863Wire and Nerves, Vol. 1 by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis from Goodreads:

In her first graphic novel, #1 New York Times and USA Today bestseller Marissa Meyer follows Iko, the beloved android from the Lunar Chronicles, on a dangerous and romantic new adventure — with a little help from Cinder and the Lunar team.

In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new, action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold. When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers’ leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.


23093372The Fade Out: Act One by Ed Brubaker

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Brubaker and Phillips’ newest hit series, The Fade Out, is an epic noir set in the world of noir itself, the backlots and bars of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era. A movie stuck in endless reshoots, a writer damaged from the war and lost in the bottle, a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Nothing is what it seems in the place where only lies are true. The Fade Out is Brubaker and Phillips’ most ambitious project yet!
Collecting: The Fade Out 1-4

 

 


29396738Monstress Vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.

 

 

 


23131087Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.


1967070Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Coraline steps through a door in her family’s new house, she finds another house, strangely similar to her own (only better). At first, things seem marvelous. The food is better than at home, and the toy box is filled with fluttering wind-up angels and dinosaur skulls that crawl and rattle their teeth.

But there’s another mother there and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and all the tools she can find if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

 


 

Some of the graphic novels on my favorites pile aren’t all 5 stars but they have stayed with me and are definitely worth the read. The ones on my TBR have made me eager to read them ASAP, however some other books are on my priority list. I think I’ll just try to read one graphic novel per month. What are you thoughts? Have you read some of these? And if yes, what did you think? Let’s chat in the comments!


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Goodreads: Gretchen (ChicNerdReads)

September Wrap-Up 2016

I say this in every monthly wrap up BUT THIS MONTH FLEW BY!!! I cannot believe it! Wow wow wow!!

I read 3 books plus 1 graphic novel so in total 4. Let’s jump right into this. The photo of each cover will lead you to the Goodreads page.

  1. Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicles #1) by Jay Kristoff ★★★★★
    Fantasy
    I have a review for this book here
    30969076
  2. Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas ★★★
    Fantasy, YA
    I have a review for this book here
    28260587
  3. Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
    Graphic Novel, LGBTQ
    I have a review for this graphic novel here
    17465574
  4. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
    Poetry
    I have a review for this book here
    milk-and-honey

So many cool things happened this month, it was me and my brother’s birthday. And in honor of my birthday I posted a Random Favorites that you can check here. I also did a birthday book haul if you want to take a look at what my awesome friends gifted me, then click here.

In the month of September, I met Lilly from Lair of Books and Leigh Bardugo (author of The Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows Duology) which was super fun and super cool. Lilly and I went to the Crooked Kingdom signing event at strand. I have a whole post with photos and the book here.

Writing wise, I posted 6 poetry pieces that you can check out in the writing category here. 4 of them belonging to my People I Once Knew segment and 2 random pieces.

I’m hoping that October is a better reading month for me but let’s see what happens. How was your September? Have you read any of these books?


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Blue is the Warmest Color – Spoiler Free Review

Title: Blue is the Warmest Color
Author: Julie Maroh
Genre: Graphic Novel, LGTBQ+
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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17465574

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Originally published in French as Le bleu est une couleur chaude, Blue is the Warmest Color is a graphic novel about growing up, falling in love, and coming out. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems average enough: she has friends, family, and the romantic attention of the boys in her school. When her openly gay best friend takes her out on the town, she wanders into a lesbian bar where she encounters Emma: a punkish, confident girl with blue hair. Their attraction is instant and electric, and Clementine find herself in a relationship that will test her friends, parents, and her own ideas about herself and her identity.

First published in French by Belgium’s Glénat, the book has won several awards, including the Audience Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, Europe’s largest. The film Blue Is the Warmest Color won the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.


My Emotional Status At The Moment:

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I WANT MY HEART BACK!!!!!!!

Once you finish the first three pages, you will literally be like:

shock

This story was so beautifully done. I can’t say written because it didn’t have a lot of words but the pictures/artwork spoke for itself and said the story. It’s a story about two girls: Emma with the blue hair who knows very well that she is lesbian and is outright about it, and Clementine, who is still figuring herself out but falls for the girl with the blue hair.

Clementine has such a hard time accepting her own sexuality because of what was taught to her. Her parents being both homophobe and teaching her that love between gays is wrong so it’s embedded in her head. She thinks that what she feels for Emma is wrong and not correct. We see the battle she faces internally and socially amongst peers in school.

In the beginning Clementine has a hard time vocalizing her feelings towards Emma. I loved that nothing was fast paced in this graphic novel, although it is short but I saw time pass. I saw how both characters grew and matured. We followed the time frame from teenager to adulthood.

This graphic novel was packed with raw emotions and I was so hooked from page 1. I would highly recommend this book. Not only do we see someone who is on the road of discovering herself. We see what is going on around Clementine when it comes to school and home. Some politics are even including. We also see cheating and how that may affect a person.

Here is a photo of the artwork:

maroh-passing-by

I wanted to keep this review short because I think it’s a graphic novel that everyone should read and experience. Have you read this? What were your thoughts?


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