Shuri Vol 1: The Search For Black Panther by Nnedi Okorafor (Writer), Leonardo Romero ( Artist), Jordie Bellaire ( Colorist), VC's Joe Sabino (Letterer)

Shuri built a spaceship for T'Challa and Manifold, for whom she has feelings for, to go into space and do some exploring.  She noted that they went into a wormhole and disappeared and now it's been two weeks and she hasn't heard from them. Her mother convenes the Elephant's Trunk, a group of strong women, who will make their decision about what to do and take it to the council. They have decided that Shuri must take up the mantle of the Black Panther again but she doesn't want to.  She's much happier trying to find them and working with the mysterious Muti who seems to know everything and how to do d everyone.
Shuri is attached to the ancestors and they advise her in matterns. Right now they are telling Shuri to go with Storm, T'Challa's wife and head out to the Mute area. Once they get there they are told by a woman of another way to reach the two men by means of astral projection by a baobob  tree.  Storm provides the needed current and Shuri goes on the journey. But Shuri doesn't go alone. A sleeping young girl under the tree winds up taking the journey too in another form.  They wind up in a spaceship with Rocket and Groot.

Will Shuri and the girl make it back in one piece?  Will Shuri see her brother? What will the consequences of this trip have for Wakanda?  Can Shuri ever realize that she needs to take up the mantle no matter how much she doesn't want to?  This was a fantastic comic!  I love Shuri as a character and it's great for her to get her own book.  I also found out that you can send data through a light fixture meaning you could, if you needed to tell people over a light fixture to leave a building if something was wrong.  That's what I love about Shuri. She's so smart and she knows others who are also smart who can help her.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Listed On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nnedi-Okorafor-ebook/dp/B07PGK1CPK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=177KYRCM3P5ZD&dchild=1&keywords=shuri+the+search+for+black+panther&qid=1588190764&s=books&sprefix=shuri%2Cstripbooks%2C184&sr=1-1

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

This is the first book in the Grisha trilogy which is connected to the Six of Crows Duo and the just started Nicolai Duology.   Ravka is meant to represent Russia and the people there train Grisha while other countries kill or enslave them.   The Grisha has the power to control your inner organs especially your heart, heal, tailor your looks, control the winds, control the water control fire, can manipulate blasting chemicals and poisons, can manipulate stone, glass, etc. 

They are tested as young children to see if they have the gift so they can begin training. Grisha is found all over the place in various countries but can only be trained in Ravka.   Alina and Mal were orphans who are taken in by a Duke who took in all the orphans on his estate and they are tested there but neither show any promise and they grow up to join the First Army. Mal as a tracker because he can, as Alina puts it " turn rabbits into rocks".  Alina joins the cartographers because she doesn't have much talent for anything else and she doesn't have much talent for drawing either.

They are sent to the Fold where nothing grows and where volcras attack your skiff as it travels across the sands to the other half of Ravka to pick up supplies you can't get anywhere else.   The Fold was created by The Darklings' great grandfather who made it to defeat his enemies not realizing the harm it would cause the people. The Darkling is in charge of the Second Army which contains all the Grisha.  He still must report back to the king who rules over all of Ravka but is in actuality is not much of a ruler.

When Mal and Alina's skiff goes across the sands it gets attacked by volcra. Mal saves Alina's life by shooting one of them but he gets hit by one badly and Alina runs to him and shelters his body with her own and wishes for him to be alright when suddenly a bright light appears causing all the volcra to flee and then Alina passes out.  An investigation ensues in which it is determined that Alina caused the light and that Alina is a rare Grisha called a Sun Summoner, meaning she can control the sun or light. This means that the Darkling will be able to cross the Fold and destroy it and make it a healthy place again once more reuniting Ravka.

But there are those that want her dead such as those from the other countries like Shu Han and Fjerda, two countries Ravka is at war with.  It isn't hard to feel attracted to the  Darkling.   He's powerful, sweet, and charming.  And Mal hasn't been responding to her letters leaving her to feel as though he has left her behind.  Her training is tough and the Darkling believes that an amplifier would help to bring out her power which Alina seems unable to do on her own. Alina wholeheartedly agrees. this will be a powerful one if he can find it. A mythical stag.  But Alina  with help from her teacher, Baghra, who is against the stag she is able to bring forth her light on her own and it's a powerful light.

She doesn't have any friends in the Little Palace except for Genya who is a tailor for the queen and was once the king's mistress at a young age.  People look down on her and maybe that's why Alina chooses her as a friend. That and she's the first kind face she meets at the palace.  For another thing, Genya is always doing little things to make Alina happy like when she snuck her into the queen's wardrobe so she could try on some fancy outfits and see herself in a full-length mirror and see how much she had changed for the better. Or the many times she offered to touch up her face and hair.

The Darkling has kissed her once and at the Winter Fete they make out in an empty room and he asks her to leave her door unlocked.  But there's something off about the Darkling.  Mal is there but it isn't the reunion she imagined.  Bardugo usually writes from several different viewpoints. But in this, her first novel and the first in the series, she writes only from Alina's viewpoint.  I have to say I prefer the multiple viewpoints from her better.  Also, having read King of Scars some of this was ruined for me.  There are two more books to follow in this series and I kinda know what happens but only in a general sense.  I still plan on reading them because they are good storytelling.  This book has great characters and a compelling story that makes you want to dive deep and never come up for air because you don't want to miss something.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Listed on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bone-Grisha-Book-1-ebook/dp/B007NKMQGQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=shadow+and+bone&qid=1588195147&sr=8-2

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 19: Death of a Goblin by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Stuart Immonen (Penciler), Wade Von Grawbadger (Inker), Justin Ponseor (Colorist), VC'S Cory Petit (Letterer)

In the previous comics, Peter Parker has broken up with Mary Jane because it is just too dangerous for him to date anyone. But that's before he meets Kitty Pryde of the X-Men who can take care of herself.   And Kitty has a problem with Peter being friends with MJ.  To be fair, MJ is kinda trying to win Peter back.  MJ and Peter get back together but Peter never really gets around to telling Kitty face to face that it's over.  Now Kitty Pryde is out of the X-Men and her school district is Peter and MJ's which makes things very awkward.

In class Kitty and Peter get paired up in the take care of the baby experiment which pisses off MJ. Kitty and Peter try to work through some of the mess from their break up that Peter fumbled.  Meanwhile, Nick Fury is nowhere to be seen and Captain Marvel is in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Triskellion where the worst of the worst are housed.  Norman Osborne, aka The Green Goblin, manages to erupt and destroy a part of the structure and free some of the villains.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents get to work and go after them and Spider-Man who hears the news goes into gear and sends MJ off to somewhere safe as well as his Aunt Mae before going after the Green Goblin.  He goes to Norman's home to see if he's there and finds Electro there and goes after him and winds up getting arrested with him.

Kitty Pryde, when she sees this on the TV immediately goes to rescue him from their prison.  But Captain Marvel isn't holding him in prison as a prisoner. She's holding him there as bait.  But Osborne isn't coming for it.  It's the wrong bait.  Captain Marvel must make a hard choice and use something else as bait to catch Osborne and it could wind up ending badly.

This was an interesting comic and a different take on Captain Marvel that I'm not sure I liked. But the art was amazing. There was a scene where Spider-Man has run out of webs and he, Kitty Pryde, and Green Goblin are plummeting down to the street and then it shows the scene of the street and its just perfectly beautiful with a shot of light where they were falling going into the street and the lights flashing and the buses jumping.  The art in this series has so improved from the beginning and is stellar now.  I give it five out of five stars.\

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Spider-Man-Vol-19-Graphic-ebook/dp/B00PSN2JTE/ref=sr_1_1?crid=W2XL0I776RAY&dchild=1&keywords=ultimate+spiderman+19&qid=1587741675&sprefix=ultimate+spiderman+1%2Caps%2C344&sr=8-1

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book Three: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

In the last book, we discover that the prophesy states that a child of one of the three major gods, Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades would go on to possibly overthrow the gods of Olympus.  This is to happen when they turn sixteen.  Thalia, Zeus's daughter died protecting Annabeth and Luke getting them into Camp Half-Blood and Zeus preserved her into a giant tree.  When this tree was poisoned by Luke who is working for Kronos who wants to take over the gods of Olympus, Percy and Annabeth go on a quest to get the golden fleece which will heal the tree and protect the camp again.   When they place the fleece in the tree, Thalia comes back to life and now the prophecy can apply to her as well.

Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth are sent out to pick up two half-breeds from their school whom Grover, the satyr, has discovered.  Bianca and Nico Di Angelo don't know what they are and it's a delicate business convincing them to go with them but their Vice Principal, Dr. Thorn, is trying to kidnap them and he's a manticore, a half lion, half scorpion.  They find unexpected help from Artemis and the Hunters.  Artemis and Annabeth both go after the manticore and disappear over the cliff. Zoe Nightshade, Artemis's lieutenant is now in charge of the Hunters and she convinces Bianca to join the Hunters.  They decide to go to Camp Half-Blood to drop off Nico and figure out what to do.

While at Camp Half-Blood Percy frees a sea cow from a net and makes a friend.  Also, he and Zoe are having visions of the people they care about and they both seek out the Oracle who doesn't answer them until one night it comes out and says "Five shall go west to the goddess in chains/ ONe shall be lost in the land without rain/The bane of Olympus shows the trail/Campers and Hunters combines prevail/The Titans' curse must one withstand/ANd one shall perish by a parent's hand" Zoe isn't all that interested in having campers come to help her rescue Artemis, who must get back to Olympus by the Winter Solstice when the gods have their meeting and she casts a crucial vote involving Kornos.  But she'll take Thalia because she's a girl and Grover because he's a satyr. She refuses to take a boy.


But Percy is not going to leave Annabeth in danger. He takes her invisibility cap and rides pegasus and follows them as Gover tracks Artemis's trail.   It leads to Washington D.C. and the Smithsonian. Percy overhears a man known as the General making his evil plans so he rushes next door to warn the others and they find themselves facing the Nieman Lion which Percy helps defeat/  Zoe appreciates his help and realizes that he is meant to be on this mission.   So the five of them head west. 

In the second book, I complained that he wasn't using any original material. Well, he does here as well as a mix of myths that he's twisted a bit to fit the story but in a good way.  I missed Annabeth in this book but Zoe and Bianca were welcome temporary replacements.  Zoe has a thing against heroes for a good reason and Bianca has a secret.  Thalia is complicated and hard to like, which is how Riordan wrote her. She might give in to the prophecy and bring down Olympus in this book.   This was a really good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to see where it goes next.  I give it four and a half out of five stars.

Quotes

 I noticed for the first time how strange it was that the guards hadn’t rused forward to arrest us. They were scrambling in all directions except ours, like they were madly searching for something.  A few were running into the walls or each other.  “You did that?” I asked Grover. He nodded a little embarrassed. “A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time.”

-Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book Three: The Titan’s Curse p 146)

The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation.

-Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book Three: The Titan’s Curse p 298)

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Titans-Curse-Percy-Jackson-Olympians/dp/1423101456/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1587563548&sr=8-1

    

Birds of Prey Vol. 4: Murder and Mystery by Gail Simone (Writer), Ed Bennes (Penciler, Inker), Cliff Richards (Penciler), Michel Golden (Penciler, Inker), Alex Lei (Inker), Rob Lea (Inker), Mike Manley (Inker), Scott Hanna (Inker)HI-Fi (Colorist), Jared K. Fletcher (Letterer), Rob Leigh (Letterer)< John Workman (Letterer), Nick J. Napolitano (Letterer)

Barbara, aka Oracle, finds out that Mr. Fisher is up to no good with his company and sends Dinah, aka Black Canary to confront him and get a confession out of him, but she doesn't succeed, so she leaves her name and number for when he's ready to confess.  Later that night, Oracle gets a message from Mr. Fisher. A suicide note.  So Black Canary races over there to try to save him and finds out that its a trap and she's caught in it.   

A man named Savant is behind it with his goons. Oracle calls upon Huntress to help her but first Oracle must help Huntress with her problem finding a missing person taken by some evil people.  Oracle helps her and the Huntress lends a hand in helping her find Black Canary. It turns out that Mr. Fisher was being blackmailed into helping Savant by having his family kidnapped and he was doing anything to ensure their safety.  Huntress arrives and Black Canary gets out of her bonds while Oracle threatens Savant with deleting his files. 

Oracle decides to keep Savant's files for herself which gets her in trouble with a Senator who wants those files destroyed and Oracle and Black Canary with them.  Since Black Canary was laid up with two broken legs, she had Huntress go and meet the Senator who told her he wanted the files.  She told him the files had been destroyed because she believed that to be true.  The Senator is also going after Savant in prison.  Oracle wants to fire Black Canary because she keeps getting hurt and Barbara can't stand to lose her, while at the same time she can't stand to have them treat her any differently for being in a wheelchair.

Dinah, all healed goes back to visit her Sensei who is dying and meets up with Shiva who works on the bad side of things but also trained under the Sensei.  They are both being attacked and must join together to fight a common enemy.  Also, Oracle has been hacked. Barbara is sending superheroes off to bizarre places that her computer is telling her that illegal activity is going on but instead a pool party is happening.

In this section, Dinah's inner monologue is written on legal pad paper in cursive which is pretty neat except that my poor eyes have trouble reading the cursive.  It is pretty to look at, though.  Dinah will also mention her mother's past which is a really cool one.  Will these women learn to work together?  Who kills someone close to Dinah and why?  Dinah's finally got her cry back after losing it but she'd still rather use her fists in a fight because she doesn't feel confident about her voice.  Huntress is wary about the two women especially Barbara because of the way Barbara has treated her in the past.  And Barbara would like to do this alone so no one gets hurt but that's not possible.  This a great comic filled with complex characters.  I'm not sure which Birds of Prey Series I prefer.  I'll have to read another one of this one to see.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Birds-Prey-Murder-Mystery-1999-2009-ebook/dp/B0842XVM3L/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=birds+of+prey+vol+4+murder+and+mystery&qid=1587295499&sr=8-1

Star Wars Darth Vader Vol 4: End of Games by Kieron Gillen (Writer), Salvador Larroca (Artist), Edgar Delgado (Colorist), Mike Norton (Artist) David Curiel (Colorist), Max Fuimara (Artist), Dave Stewart (Colorist), VC's Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

In the previous comic, the Emperor has a mission for Vader on Shu-Torun which hasn't been producing as much ore as it should have.  When Vader arrives he finds not the king but his youngest daughter, Princess Trios has been left in charge.  She tries to explain to Vader that the Ore Dukes is the problem.  The Empire has upped its amount needed and the Dukes are balking at how much is being asked of them to produce since it is difficult and how much they are being paid.  Vader and Queen Trios must bring the Dukes to heel and they try by destroying one of the Duke's delving citadel that was built centuries ago and will never produce again.  The Emperor didn't send Vader alone on this quest. He sent Cylo who double-crosses Vader and helps the Dukes in order to get Vader out of the way and have his place next to the Emperor.  So Vader and his Imperial Army are not there to help Queen Trios when she goes up against the Duke.  She has to somehow get the Army to listen to her and obey her and fight for her and go ahead with the plan and hope that Vader will be able to help, but if not she will fight to the death.  During this comic, Vader keeps getting reports on Dr. Alpha's whereabouts.  Vader also came to this planet with Alpha's trusted droids 000 and Beetee.

Cyclo, one of the doctors who had saved Anakin and made him into Vader is a brilliant scientist whom the Emperor fostered his talent as well as his compatriots.  But Cylo, who has created copies of himself in order to take out Vader, must now be taken out himself for he has grown too ambitious.  `

While Vader goes after Cylo, he leaves 000 and Beetee with a mission to complete. Find Alpha and bring her back in. Kill her if necessary.  Vader has had her working on the Skywalker situation and he can't have her telling anyone about it.  000 and Beetee have quite the adventure trying to find Alpha. As usual, it's hilarious.  And when they do find her they attack the town hunting her down with a droid army until she ends their fun by surrendering. 

Vader fights Cylo's scientist Voidgazer who leaves a parting gift. Then he must face the clones before he can face Cylo himself.  There's a magnificent bit of storytelling that takes Vader back to Mustafar and his fight with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padme.  It's quite powerful.   Will Alpha survive Vader's fear of her talking or will she find a way to talk her way out of him killing her?  Alpha is an interesting character in that she's really smart and a good reader of people and not just a good droid fixer but someone who respects them.  In this comic, we find out the history of 000 and Beetee and it's a cool one.  This was a really great book and I give it five out of five stars.

Listed On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Darth-Vader-2015-2016-ebook/dp/B01M6CBVFS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RRHD5HEAQ3PF&dchild=1&keywords=star+wars+darth+vader+end+of+games&qid=1586958058&sprefix=star+wars+darth+vader+end+of+games%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-1

The King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

The Grisha

Corporalki

Heartrendser( They can use their power to damage a person's internal organs.)

Healers

Etheralki

Squallers (Can Control the winds)

Ingerni (Can Control fire)

Tidemakers (Can control water)

Materialki

Durasts (They can manipulate glass, steel, wood, plants, stone or anything solid on a molecular level 

Alkemi (They specialize in chemicals like blasting powders and poisons)

Like her other books, Bardugo tells this story through the eyes of several people: Zoya, Nina, Nikolai, and Issak.  Nikolai is the King of Ravka a country that has known a lot of war and in the last war got rid of the evil Darkling, a Grisha, a person with powers, who had taken over the kingdom and caused a civil war.  He was defeated by Alina the Summoner but she died in the process.  Nikolai was cursed with a flying monster that he turns into by the Darkling bur when the Darkling died so did the monster, or so Nikolai thought. Recently he's been caught by his personal guard and Zoya the head of the Second Army, the Grisha Army., and a Squaller, who take him back to the castle. He's only eaten animals so far, but he's worried that he'll eat a human soon if something is not done.  

Nikolai is a beloved King by his people and those he works closely with, his Triumverate, who really thinks it's time for him to get married especially since there's no successor to the throne.  So they plan a grand series of parties over a week six weeks from then, inviting both their enemies and thier friends and those they are unsure of.  Meanwhile, a cult has grown up to make the Darkling a saint only under the name the Starless Saint.  A man named Yuri, a former priest is in charge of this group and Nikolai asks to talk to him and brings him to the palace.  Yuri has information about how to separate the monster from Nikolai.  Nikolai's bodyguard who is also a scholar looked into it too and they both came to the same conclusion.  Nikolai would have to travel to the Fold where the Darkling was killed but also where a saint was martyred.  There he will be placed on a pyre and they're not quite sure what will happen next.  So before the party, the King goes on a pilgrimage visiting the sites of the recent miracles that lead in the direction of the Fold.   Zoya, Nikolai, Yuri will find a huge surprise when they get to the fold and find that it isn't empty but occupied by beings that they cannot conquer and who seem to wish them no harm but have a proposition for them.  Meanwhile, the twin guards are left to go back to the palace alone with no idea what happened to the other three and major parties about to take place with no King.  

Nina, whose Heartrender power got corrupted when she took juda parem and barely survived the addictive qualities of one dose but made it through with the help of the man she loved Mattias, a Fjerden who normally kill the Grisha when they aren't forcing them to work as slaves, but Mattias wasn't like that.  Grisha can be born in any country, but they can only be trained in Ravka who fully supports the Grisha.  Nina's power now answers to the dead.  She can use bones to kill and raise the dead to do her bidding.   Nina is with Adjik, a Squaller, and Leoni, an Alchem, in Fjerda working undercover trying to sneak Grisha out of the country and pick up any useful information they can.  

After destroying their chances of working at one dock when Nina kills the men in charge of it in order to help get the Grisha safely off on the boat, they head to a town that Nina recommends because she can hear the dead calling her there.  The people complain that the factory has poured chemicals into the river water but no one does anything about it which is odd because water is sacred in Fjerda and keeping it clean is a priority.  The three stay at a convent.  While checking out the factory they stumble upon a group of convent girls dressed up in soldier's uniforms out riding.  Nina under her fabricated disguise, where a tailor had changed her appearance a great deal so she would not be recognized and would fit in as a Fjerden, feels the need to tell the girls off and be stern as a good Fjerden woman would, but she defers to the man, Adjik who lets the girls off.  

The leader of these girls is Hanne who turns out is Heartrender.  So Nina convinces the head of the convent, the Wellmaster, to let her teach Hanne the Zemmini language, but in actuality, she'll be teaching her how to use her powers. Nina wanted the extra time there to bury Mattias but she also wanted to find out what is going on in the factory which is a munitions factory but something more and when she sneaks in by herself and sees what is going on and realizes what happened to all those dead girls that have been calling to her she knows she must do something which means talking Adjik and Leoni into doing something dangerous.  

I kind of wish I had read the first trilogy before reading this book. I had read the Six of Crows books, her second series, so I wasn't completely lost and Bardugo is really good about filling you in on what you missed so you don't feel too lost.  But now I feel as though I know too much going into the first trilogy.  I adore Zoya. She is strong and doesn't feel the need to be nice to anyone.  She finds it hard to trust because she trusted the Darkling and look how that turned out.  But she trusts King Nikolai who is an interesting character.  He cares deeply for his country and for Zoya.  He's charming and funny and a real fighter and someone who can compromise to get what he wants.  Nina is grieving and has a temper and tries to remember Mattias's words to show mercy in his country.  It\s hard when she sees what she sees, but at the same time, the Saints are growing in belief in his country and where they are tolerance for the Grisha cannot be far behind.  Bardugo is such an amazing writer and this is a fabulous book and the start of a new series that I can't wait to read the next book in when it comes out.  I give it an astounding five out of five stars.

Quotes

If men were ashamed when they should be, they’d have time for anything else

=Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 32)

“It isn’t easy to leave all you love behind.” “It is when all you have smells of fish and despair

=Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 37)

How can you be so relentlessly optimistic? It isn’t healthy.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 48)

Fear is like weeds. They grow wild if left unattended.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 60)

Pray, go on. I’d like to see if an excess of irony can kill a man.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 119)

The common people have no love for him. He possessed great power and died grandly. Sometimes that is enough.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 120)

“Trust me Zoya. You may come to enjoy it.” “That’s what Tamar said about Absinthe. And it still tastes like sugar dipped in kerosene.”

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 121)

Lost faith it’s the roots of a forgotten wood, waiting to thrive once more.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 157)

It’s not exciting if nothing can go wrong.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 159)

Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 175)

In Nicolai’s experience honesty was much like herbal tea something well meaning people recommended when they were out of better options.

-Leigh Bardugo (King of Scars p 201)

Nikolai had been told that hope was dangerous. Had been warned of it many times.  But he never believed that. Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 206)

The trick of acting is to believe the lie yourself, at least a little. Acting begins in the body. If you want to convince anyone of anything, you start with the way the body moves. It tells a thousand stories before you ever open your mouth.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 223)

We’re trained to understand the ordinary, to fear difference, even if that difference is divine.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 338)

“Ive never met anyone like you.” Nina knew she should lower her head, make some comment about reining in her boldness of spirit, demonstrate that she gave a damn about Fjerden ways. Instead, she sniffled and said, “Of course you haven’t. I’m spectacular.”  Hanne laughed. “I would cut off a thumb for a thimbleful of your confidence.”

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 382)

“Every lover I’ve taken had aked about these scars. I make up a new story for each of them.”  He found he did not want ot think of Zoya’s lovers. “And what did I do to earn the truth?” “Offered me a country and faced imminent death?” “It’s important to have standards, Naryalensky.”

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 415)

Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea.

-Leigh Bardugo (The King of Scars p 465)

Listed On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/King-Scars-Duology-Book-ebook/dp/B07C25Z679/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=king+of+scars&qid=1586866603&sr=8-1

The Uncanny Avengers: Unity Vol 1: Lost Future by Gerry Dugan (Writer), Ryan Stegman (Artist), Richard Isanove (Colorist), Carlos Pacheco (Penciler), Mariano Tribo (Inker), Dave Meikis (Inker), Scott Hanna (Inker), Antonio Fabela (Colorist), VC''s Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

After the war between the X-Men and the Avengers settled, Captain America decided to bring together members of both the X-Men and the Avengers to form a new group called Unity Squad. Now that the world is covered in Terrigen mist which is causing problems for the mutants physically and is giving rise to new Inhumans, the Unity Squad has added a new member--and Inhuman to show that they can all get along, even if tensions are high within the group.  When Cap hires Deadpool, Spiderman quits, leaving Rogue, Quicksilver, Synapse, Voodoo and Johnny Storm.  Deadpool is needed on the team because he brings in merchandising money that the team really needs.

The city is attacked by plants and bizarre dogs that Synapse can't reach and she can reach any being with an electrical system such as humans and animals.  Voodoo says that these animals have no soul and every animal has a soul.  Johnny goes to the local M.I.T. and seeks help from the scientists to find a cure for the plague that is affecting the people from these plants.  Quicksilver gets bit by the plants and begins to turn into a plant.  When things begin to look really bad, Cable from the future appears to fix their mess.  It will provide a surprise as to who is behind it.   

Cable is sticking around to help Rogue, Johnny Storm, and Deadpool find Red Skull's lair.  They storm the bad guys gambling ships until they finally find someone who has information as to where his stash is.  Cable finds out that Strife put an anchor on him for the next time he used time travel assuming he would use it to go into the future.  Now he must find a way to get rid of it so he can go back to his time, leaving the other three on their own to break into Red Skull's vault.  But they'll have help from Gambit who heard about the stash and their involvement and wanted a piece for himself.  

While this is going on Synapse is exploring her options on the Inhuman world with Queen Medusa. But she doesn't agree with the Queen completely and wonders where she fits.  Synapse is a great character in that she's new to this and didn't ask for it and has to deal with anger from Rogue who deals with heavy health issues due to the Terrigen mists.  That's another thing, Rogue is different. She's meaner and angrier than normal.  Quicksilver is pretty happy because he has found out he is not Magneto's son, so he's living it up.  Deadpool is full of plenty of hilarious quips.  This is a great comic with a fabulous storyline and I give it five out of five stars.

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Uncanny-Avengers-Unity-Vol-Future/dp/0785196153/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3SCO5YHQNQQCQ&dchild=1&keywords=uncanny+avengers&qid=1586526331&s=books&sprefix=the+uncanny+avengers%2Cstripbooks%2C1234&sr=1-4

Best. Move. Ever. How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery

This book contains some amazing movie titles that all came out in one movie year.  Raftery doesn't cover all of the movies that came out in 1999, some of which were Oscar contenders because he felt they weren't movies that changed things.  In movie history, there have been very few years that have totally changed the landscape of how movies are made. 1939 is one where The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, and Gunga Din all came out.  1967 and 1985 saw small bumps in the historical timeline.  But 1999 was a major bash into the world of cinema that would change things forever.

"By the time Sundance 1999 rolled around, there was a well-worn playbook for turning a low-budget movie into a middlebrow success, one that Miramax had helped create: find a slightly outsiderly tale of uplift with a famous face or two; hype up its festival cred and underdog charm; roll it out delicately across the country.  Then a bunch of kids went and got lost in the woods, and the rules changed over again."  Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez went to the University of Central Florida together and came up with the idea for Blair Witch back then about a group of documentarians who go looking for the witch in the woods are never heard from again. 

Years would pass and they would mention this to fellow alum Gregg Hale would insist on producing it They would develop a brief teaser trying to get funding.  Robin Cowie and Michale Monello would join the team which would be called Haxan films, named after a twenties faux documentary on witchcraft.  It was hard raising money because while the investors showed the short to believed that the story was true about the witch, they couldn't see themselves giving them money for something like that. John Pierson, a man who was influential with independent film, got a hold of their tape and he was working on Split Screen a show on Independent Film Channel and he offered them $5,000 for the tape to air on the show and another $5,000 for a follow-up.  This would give them enough to do bare-bones filming of their movie. 

Hale who had been in the military for four years did a program there called SERE or Survival Evasion Resistance Escape.  He wanted to use this for the movie and put the actors through it.  They figured the best place to find actors was New York so that's where they advertised for them in the trade magazines.  Heather Donohue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams would ultimately play the roles of the documentarians.   Their performances were largely improvised with notes left at sites by the filmmakers that gave them directions to go in. 

In 1998 Split Screen would air the second piece the Haxon's had for them and the Haxon's would start up a website encouraging the belief in the Blair Witch.  When they aired it at Sundance they felt they got bad results.  Some people walked out and the theater was silent as people walked out.  But Artisan Entertainment executives who were impressed with the movie noticed two women shaking outside the theater and they asked if they were okay. The women told them they had just seen the scariest movie they had ever seen and they were afraid to walk to their cars.  The men knew that they had to have this movie and won it for $1.1 million. 

The actors had to put up with not working for a long while and having their IMDB listing them as dead in order to sell it to the crowds that they were actually dead.  Soon it was a hit that had some fans vomiting in the theaters due to the shaky cam.  But then would come the backlash against the movie and the haters who would take it out on the actors.  I remember seeing Blair Witch with my then-fiancee who is now my ex-husband and being scared out of my wits. I didn't believe it was true because by that time that cat was out of the bag.  But it certainly changed filmmaking. 

What would the Matrix have been like if Neo had been Sandra Bullock or Brad Pitt or if the studio had gotten its way and Val Kilmer had been Morpheus?  What if Kimberly Pierce hadn't gotten the funds to make Boys Don't Cry?  Haven't are the view of Star Wars The Phantom Menace changed? I know it's my ten-year-old daughter's favorite of the entire series and watching it a million times with her has made me change my mind about it and learn to love it. 

This book explores all the stories behind such classic movies as Run, Lola, Run, Office Space, Varsity Blues, She's All That, Cruel Intentions, 10 Things I Hate About You, American Pie, Election, Rushmore, The Virgin Suicides,  The Iron Giant, Galaxy Quest, Eyes Wide Shut, The Mummy, The Sixth Sense, The Best Man, The Wood, American Beauty, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Three Kings, The Limey, The Insider, Magnolia. But leaves out such movies that were Oscar contenders like Cider House Rules and The Green Mile because while they were memorable today and some say great movies they didn't change cinema like these movies did.  These movies busted boundaries and both in technical abilities (The rooftop shot with Neo back bending over bullets cost $750,000 and took two years to complete) and storytelling. Raftery does an excellent job of dishing the scoop behind these movies and what made them so important then and now and how we are due for another big movie year anytime now.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Quotes

 “This world has th Matrix all over the place,’Lana Wachowski said. “People accept ways of thinking that are imposed upon them rather than working them out themselves.  The free-thinking people are those who question every sort of Matrix, every system of thought or belief, be it political, religious, philosophical.”  Reality was right in front of you, if you looked hard enough. The question was whether you would want to live in a world that, at times, could be well beyond anyone’s understanding.

-Brian Raftery (Best. Movie. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen p 69)

10 Things [I Hate About You] came in second behind the Wachowskis’ sci-fi machine, a remarkable achievement, considering 10 Things’ comparatively miniscule hype level.  Decades later, McCullah [Screenwriter of 10 Things I Hate About You] remains perplexed by The Matrix’s success: “I”ve made it all the way through,” she says. “I’m going ‘Whyare they in the sewers, eating porridge and wearing dirty sweaters? Don’t they want to live in the happy, shiny, clean world’”

-Brian Raftery (Best. Movie. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen p 91)

 Doctor: You’re not even old enough to know how bad life gets.

Cecilia: Obviously, doctor, you’ve never been a thirteen-year-old girl.

-Virgin Suicides, 1999

“When my daughter was about nine years old,” says Fincher [the director], “I went to a school function, and she said, ‘Oh, I want you to meet my friend Max. Fight Club is his favorite movie’ I took her aside and said ‘You are no longer to hang out with Max. You’re not to be alone with Max.’”

-Brian Raftery (Best. Movie. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen p 236)

I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.

-Tom Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley)

While there, [Diane] Verona asked one of her new acquaintances what she’d do if she learned her husband was cheating on her. Her response: “I’d find the thing he loves the most in the world, and I’d destroy it.” Says Verona, “What I love about southern women is that they have this glasslike exterior, but they also have these steel backbones. You don’t cross them.”

-Brian Raftery (Best. Movie. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen p 276)

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Best-Movie-Year-Ever-Screen/dp/1501175386/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1586361882&sr=1-1

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book Two: The Sea Monsters by Rick Riordon

Another school year has come and gone and for once Percy hasn't made any mistakes at his new New Agey school Merriweather, but he has made a friend. A tall not so bright homeless guy named Tyson.  However, on his last day of school, cannibals attack during gym class when he doesn't have Riptide on him and he is saved by Tyson who throws their fiery balls right back at them and by Annabeth who sneaks into the school using her invisibility hat and stabs one with her sword.  His mother warns him not to go back to camp that Chiron says it isn't safe, but Annabeth tells him that they must save the camp.  When they arrive they find that the great tree has been poisoned and therefore the protections of the camp are going away and it is getting attacked by monsters a lot. Because of this, someone had to take the fall and though Annabeth and Percy know Luke did it Mr. D fires Chiron and hires Tantalas from Hades to fill in as Activities Director, though his inability to eat or drink isn't fixed like Mr. D promised him it would be. 

Poisssdon lays claim to Tyson as he is the father of all Cyclops, which is what Tyson is.  Percy is ashamed to have Tyson as a brother and doesn't try to claim him.   Though, when he and Annabeth get in a fight and decide not to race together in the chariot races he chooses Tyson as his wingman.  Tyson is incredibly skilled at creating a chariot, as all Cyclops is good at working in forges.  But when killer birds attack the camp, everyone, on the track except Clarisse goes to help those in the stands leaving Cliarrisse to win according to Tantalus.

Meanwhile, Percy has been getting dreams from Grover who is stuck on an island with a monster and is sewing something on a loom that he keeps undoing the stitches off and resewing every morning.  He's at the Sea of Monsters and he needs help.  This monster has been luring satyr's with the Golden Fleece's smell to let them think its Pan and then eating them. Right now he thinks Grover is not a satyr but a female monster and wants to marry him.  Percy and Grover share an emotional link and if the link is severed by Grover dying Percy will die too.  Annabeth wants to go after the Fleece because it is just the thing to fix the tree.  But Tantalus has determined that this is to be Clarisse's Quest and that she must take two people with her and seek the Oracle's advice.

Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson sneak out on their own in search of Grover and the Fleece but they will in for some hard times and rough seas. I am happy to report that unlike the last book where Annabeth did very little, she does so much in this book.  So does Clarisse, even if it's not always right.  There is one heck of a surprise at the very end.  My only complaint is that between the last book and this book we have now officially covered The Odyssey. Couldn't Riordan have come up with something original? I mean The Odyssey is not that long and it's easy to read and short the kids could handle it. I read it at age eleven.  Wouldn't it be cool to get them interested in reading The Odyssey instead of spoonfeeding it to them?  Don't get my wrong, its a great book and I really liked it I just want to see his ideas like I did in the first book.  Also, the length is rather short. It's a good hundred pages off of the first book.    Maybe I will in the next book of the series.  I give this book a four out of five stars.

Quotes

“Annabeth,’ I said, “what are you talking about? Laistry-what?” “Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They’re a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I’ve never seen themn as far south as New York before.” “Laistgry—I can’t even say that. What would you call them in English?” She thought about if for a moment. “Canandians.” She decided.

-Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book Two: The Sea Monsters p 26)

“So what’s the moral?” “The moral?” Hermes asked. “Goodness, you act like it’s a fable. It’s a true story. Does truth have a moral?”

-Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olypians Book Two: The Sea Monsters p 102)

“But how did you know where we were?” Annabeth asked. “Advanced planning, my dear. I figured you would wash up near Miami if you made it out of the Sea of Monsters alive. Almost everything strange washes up near Miami.”

-Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book Two: The Sea Monsters p 248)

Listed on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Monsters-Percy-Jackson-Olympians/dp/B000GB8WGM/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1586174716&sr=8-2

Daredevil Back in Black Vol 5: Supreme by Charles Soule (Writer), Goran Sudzuka (Artist), Alec Mortgan (Artist)< Ron Garney (Artist), Matt Milla (Colorist), VC's Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

In the previous comic, an evil villain named Tenfingers because he has ten fingers on each hand has started a church up in Chinatown promising much but demanding all the cash and stuff that his parishioners have to offer.  Daredevil has taken on an apprentice named Blindspot, a young Chinese illegal immigrant man who has adapted a suit that makes him invisible but runs on batteries and can go out when the batteries run out.  Matt Murdoch has wiped everyone's minds off his identity except Foggy's who resents it and Matt is now working in the D.A.'s office.  Matt's case against Tenfingers hinges on the testimony of Billy Li who is thrown in the river with Daredevil following to save him and then take care of the men who did it. He notices that these men fight differently like they have special powers.  Blindspot comes in and helps him just in time.  While Matt promises to protect Billy Li, on the day of the Grand Jury, Tenfingers men get to him and cut off his fingers convincing him to not testify which puts Matt in trouble with his boss who puts him on Night Court duty, which is the bottom of the ladder and will put a crimp in his nighttime activities.  Meanwhile, The Hand has arrived to take back what Tenfingers has taken from them as he was once a member of them but left to start his church.  The Hand doesn't take kindly to them that steal from them and they attack his followers killing some before leaving for the time being.  But they will be back with something worse than imaginable to finish off Tenfingers and his congregation.  Blindspot is doing his best to protect the parishioners but its an uphill battle and Daredevil is trying to help him but he doesn't know everything as Blindspot is keeping secrets.  Tenfingers is killed and Blindspot is too.  Neither is ever seen again, though the Chinese in Chinatown leave messages for Blindspot asking for help that Daredevil answers.

Now Daredevil has decided to use the capture and trial of Slugansky who with the members of the Clip gang committed an act of terrorism in New York City that was thwarted by Echo, Luke Cage and Daredevil as a test case for Daredevil to testify against Slugansky the one they caught with Daredevil as a confidential informant and therefore keep his mask on.  It's a risky gamble to take because if he loses the motion he could face having to either have to take off his mask or risk losing the case.  But the judge rules in his favor.

Then it goes to the Appellate Court where he wins again, but he loses in the next Appellate Court.  Leaving him with the Supreme Court as his only option.  Which would make this a law.  Someone has taken up Slugansky's legal defense for some reason and gotten him the best legal defense in the land: Legal who once was Tony Stark's main legal council.  He is a formidable opponent.   On top of that Tombstone is trying to kill Matt Murdoch and it's not like he can just become Daredevil and defend himself.  Who will win and will Matt make it out alive?

The second story involves Blindspot or Sam Chang who was an apprentice to Matt and who disappeared but who has sent him a message saying that he is in China and to come.  So Matt heads off to China knowing it might be a trap but also knowing that Sam must need his help.  It seems that Sam was really bitter about losing his eyes to the evil Muse and he and his mother came to China to consult the Beast about getting his eyesight back.  His mother sold her soul to the Beast so he could get his eyesight back.  They did terrible things for the Beast.  What is Sam's plan for Matt?  And can he escape so easily?

The courthouse series is brilliant! I mean, now Spiderman can testify in his own cases instead of just leaving the bad guy webbed up hoping the cops get them.  Only Matt would think of something this crazy that it would work.  And to see Blindside again after his absence and find out what happened to him is amazing.  This is a fabulous comic and a great series.  I highly recommend it.  I give this one five out of five stars.

Quotes

Whatever you do does not matter because this moment you do it, it is the past. All that matters is where your actions bring you.

-Sam Chung’s Mother (Daredevil vol 5: Supreme, writer Charles Soule)

I think having hope is the point of hope.

-Matt Murdoch (Daredevil vol 5: Supreme, writer Charles Soule)   

Listed On Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Daredevil-Back-Black-Supreme-2015-ebook/dp/B076C1QCKG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39C0ECDF85953&dchild=1&keywords=daredevil+vol+5&qid=1585911408&s=books&sprefix=daredevil+vol+5%2Cstripbooks%2C1127&sr=1-1