Star Wars: Darth Vader: vol 4 Fortress Vader by Charles Would (Writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Penciler), Daniele Orandini (Inker), Terry Pallot (Inker),David Curiel (Colorist), Dono Sanxhez-Almara (Colorist), Erick Arciniega (Colorist), VC's Joe Carmagna (Letterer), and VC's Travis Lanham (Letterer)

In the previous comic, the Emperor is sending Tarkin to deal with the military aspects of Mon Cala while Vader deals with the Jedi who is helping the Mon Cala King.  The King is in negotiations with the Empire over how the Empire wants them to give over nearly all of their product for nothing.  The Jedi that the King is working with blows up the ship the Ambassador the King is working with.  This leads Darth Vader and his Inquisitors to land on the surface against the wishes of the Mon Cala who see it as an act of war and fight back.  The Inquisitors sent TIE Fighters and AT-ATs.  to fight the King who is quickly gathering Ackbar and Rebus to defend the planet once they have gotten everyone safely underwater.  The fighting begins while the Jedi and his friends have been offering advice.  But when the King gets captured and tortured by Vader to find out where the Jedi is, the King is able to escape and tell the Jedi what has happened and give him a chance to escape.

In this comic Vader and the Inquisitors are still out killing Jedi and they manage to catch quite the coup with Eeth Koth who had once served on the council.  They caught him with his wife having just given birth so they took the baby but his wife got away and they killed him.  The person who managed to get her baby from her mother is having an affair with one of the Inquisitors and the two are planning on leaving, though Darth Vader gets wind of this plan before they can implement it so they make a mad dash for it that ends in their deaths. 

Since Darth Vader has done such good work for Palpatine he asks for a planet to do his private work on and Palpatine gives it to him.  Vader chooses Mustafar.  Palpatine offers him the skull of Momir an ancient Sith Lord to help him as well as his own private designer.  The designer gets killed after showing Vader the first design.  And soon Vader consults the skull and gets his first design and the body of Momir comes back to life without his powers. 

The people on this planet don't want what Vader is planning to do to happen on this planet for it will be awful for the planet.  This is to open a doorway to the other side and bring Padame back.    The people keep attacking the buildings so the wind up with a tenth design and Vader says this will be it of Momir will be in trouble.  Does Vader make it to the other side? Can Momir be trusted? 

There's a really cool page of Vader in his natural skin with events happening all around him that is just so cool. This was a really good book with Momir, a truly evil villain who has plans of his own.  It's interesting that some of the Inquisitors would want to leave.  Will Vader finally find the answers he seeks beyond the grave?  I give this book a five out of five stars.

Quotes

Never believe any of your creations are perfect. Only believe your next one could be.

-Momin (Star Wars: Darth Vader: Vol 4: Fortress Vader)

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Saga Vol 5 by Fiona Staples (Artist). Brian K; Vaughn (Writer), FOnographihcs (Letteringdesiign)

In the previous comic, opens up with Prince IV's wife giving birth to a son with no idea where he is.  After the debacle on Quietus, he went and found a hovel of a bar to go and drink himself silly forgetting his wife completely.  Meanwhile, Alana got a job on the Circuit acting for those across the Universe while Marko stays home and watches the child along with his mother and the ghost.  He signs her up for private dancing lessons with a woman who hits on Marko who wears a disguise when he leaves the tree.  And Alana starts taking drugs to deal with the rotten job she has and is still high when she comes home to take care of the child.  Someone is asking after The Will and Prince IV finds out about his son and seems to snap out of whatever fugue state he's been in.  Someone is coming after Alana and Marko. They are never safe.

In this comic, The Will died saving Gwendolyn and Sophie so they have enlisted the help of his sister The Brand to bring him back to life using dragon sperm from a certain island.  When they first get there and attack a dragon it turns out to be a deadly female dragon who pisses all over them.  But she does tell them where to find the last male dragon on the island. Along the way, The Stalk's brother is asking for vengeance. 

Marco has somehow wound up with Prince IV who is looking for his son that Marco swears he can find.  With them are Ghus and Yuma, who gave Alana the drugs.  Marco asks for the same drugs in order to experience what Alana did and he and Yuma OD.  Ghus convinces Prince IV to contact his doctor to figure out what to do to save them. This will backfire on them as the doctor will tell the military where to find them.  Soon the military is tearing their ship apart and the fuel cell is on fire and needs to be put out by a person or they won't be able to getaway. 

Alana and Marco's mother is taking care of Hazel, their kid when Dengo, one of the TV heads who has stolen Prince IV's child because his child died has also taken Hazel for a walk and when he comes back its with bad news.  He's joined with The Last Revolution, a group of terrorists who wants to bargain with Hazel for weapons.  Dengo doesn't realize who he's dealing with or that they'll turn on him in a snap if it suits their needs.  Dengo is a bit of an idiot.

These three stories come together in a weird way that is really cool. This is an amazing series that keeps getting better and better as it goes along.  I really loved The Brand, The WIll's sister. She was sassy and ready to jump right in there and kill what needed killing.  She could also be sweet and caring with Sophie and explain the ways of the world to her.  I really loved this comic and I give it a five out of five stars. 

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The Rat Queens Vol 6: The Infernal Path by Kurtis J.Wiebe (Writer), Owen Gieni (Artist, Colorist,Cover), Ryan Ferrier (Letterer)

In the previous comic, Dave has told no one his secret: that he has a son. That when his dad joined the tree as was the custom, a baby was born in the river that was his to raise for twenty years until it became his turn to join the tree.  But when he joined the cult he misplaced the baby.  He finally tells Vi and she agrees to get the Rat Queens to help him.  But first, the Queens must save Betty's friend Jason from a psychedelic toad that he has gotten trapped in. And things have gotten weird Betty has noticed. People are being erased but only Betty seems to remember them.  Then whoever is behind this goes after the Rat Queens to erase them and in the process does some seriously potentially bad damage to the world.

Dee, the goddess, has a different path to follow than the rest of them which includes Sadie, a former Queen who has been turned into an owl.  Dee will be snapped up into the land of the gods and goddesses by Lady Love the goddess of love who wanders around completely naked.  But the gods and goddesses are dying out. When Smidgen shows up seeking help from her god she finds Dee instead who helps her slay what needs slaying. 

The rest of the group go and encounter an unusual band of orcs. Braga finds that their leader is her brother and quite powerful.  But she has her friends plus Dee who has come at Smidgen's request and Hannah and Sadie have the magic to use as well.  Dave's son is there and he is determined to save him at any cost.  Lady Love and Bilford Bogin, another god come alive and make love.  Hannah, the half-demon, half-human, has sex with Sadie, the owl in her nest. 

This just has to be the weirdest Rat Queens book ever.  It has interspecies sex, it has demented orcs and horny gods. This goes beyond my level of weirdness.  But it does have a happy ending that is realistic.  This is a difficult book the describe or judge as its so weird.  I'll give it a four out of five stars. 

Quotes

Though the infernal pathj is paved in corpses, savour the journey, for one day you will be a body on the road to another’s ruin.

-Braga (The Rat Queen’s Vol 6: The Infernal Path)

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Hideaway by NorA Roberts

This book mainly takes place in Big Sur, California. One February afternoon the Sullivan clan has gotten together to remember Liam Sullivan, a movie star who has just passed,  His family has mainly followed in his footsteps. His son Hugh's son Aiden's daughter, Cate is out playing with her cousins and the game is hide and seek.  She has the perfect spot in a tree when a male caterer comes to her and injects her with a drug to make her go to sleep. He puts her in a cart and gets her in a van and drives off with her to a house nearby where his partner is waiting with masks. They wait until the family has finally noticed that she is gone to call and demand $10 million and that they don't call the cops or they'll hurt her.  Her father and grandfather are kinda considering calling the police but her mother becomes hysterical at the thought, so they don't.   The mother, Charlotte is accusing the nanny, Nina of being involved, but no one listens to her;  Hugh, the grandfather, and Rosemary, the great grandmother are getting the money together;

Meanwhile, Cate has woken up and the two men terrorize her with a gun then they give her dosed soup and milk and tell her to eat it, but she figures out that it's drugged and pours it in the toilet and flushes it away.  Them the man behind everything comes into her room to get the dishes, not noticing that she kept the spoon, and he's on the phone with someone back at her house calling them lover and telling them to make sure to continue to use the nanny's phone to implicate her.  After he leaves she takes the sheets and towels and ties them together and uses them to climb out the window she has just unlocked with the spoon taking out the nails.  She runs and runs until she finds a house with a light on and the door is unlocked so she goes in to try to use the phone to call 911.  But Dillion, a young boy around her age has gotten up for a midnight snack and discovers a surprise instead.  He gets his mother, Julia, and his Gram up to help with the situation.  They call her father and grandfather and the police.

The next morning when she sees her mother it all comes back to her how her mother told her where to hide and to make sure that hide and seek was the last game the kids played,  She also told what she heard the captor said and what his ringtone was,  Nina recognized the ringtone because Charlotte had been having an affair with her physical trainer Sparks who had that same ringtone.  It turns out that Sparks, Charlotte, and Sparks partner Denby all got together to make some money off of kidnapping Cate.  The police arrest Charlotte and make a plea deal with her she gets ten years, out in seven for good behavior if she gives them information on the others.  Soon the other two are caught and make plea deals too which the Sherrif Red is glad for because he doesn't want to have to put Cate on the stand.

Cate's family whisk her away to Ireland to avoid the publicity and soon seven years have past and her mother is out of prison. Cate is taking parts in movies and her mother shows up at lunch meeting for a part to do the "penitent mother routine whose ungrateful daughter won't take her back".  She invites the press there of course.  Cate does the movie but drops out of LA and goes to New York City with her grandmother Lily who is acting in Mame for a year. She falls in love with a wonderful chorus guy but you know something will happen because Roberts lets you know that Cate and the boy from the house that saved her, Dillian are meant to be together.  Cate does a lot of things like take classes at NYU especially in languages and just avoids the press and the world while she figures out what she wants to do with her life.

This is a fabulous book and I'm not just saying that because Dillian names his two dogs Gambit and Rogue, my favorite Marvel couple, I'm saying it because it has an amazing plot and incredible characters that come alive off the page.  Hugh is a real grandfatherly figure and Lily, his wife is filled with humor and Southern charm.  Dillian's "girls" his mother and his gram are stellar in that they help run the ranch with Dillian and live life by their own rules.  The plot of the book takes off like a rocket and just keeps going after that.  Though my one complaint is that like nine years go by without mentioning it from when she's seventeen til when she's twenty-eight.  Roberts does handle what happened during those years over a couple of pages when Cate has dinner with Dillion; All the same its sort of irritating to jump like that with no warning or knowledge that you have jumped;  Nonetheless, this is hands down one of Roberts best.  I truly loved this novel and I give it five out of five stars.

Quotes

Daughters are the thing.

-J.M.Barrie

A little child love ever’body, friends, and its nature is sweetness—until something happens.

-Flannery O’Connor

A life’s marked along the way darlin’, by the deeds we do, for good or ill.  Those we leave behind judge those marks and remember

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 13)

An artist isnt’ an artist without quirks.

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 245)

“Rich doesn’t mean happy,Mom.” “It’s a lot easier to be unhappy sleeping on silk sheets than it is sleeping in a cardboard box—which is what she deserves.”

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 255)

How do you expect to survive the zombie apocalypse if you can’t make your own pizza?

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 272)

What sort of human being came knocking on a womna’s door at eight-thirty in the morning? She pulled her most casual smile as she opend the door.  Ans hated him, sincerely hated him in that single moment for looking just amazing.

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 280)

Maybe he’d toss out that marriage thing, all casual, now and then. This way she might not be shocked when he actually asked her.  She really needed to marry him. Not only because he was crazy in love with her , but because they ust worked. If she need time to fall for him, well, he had time.

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 320)

I’m not much on hate, It doesn’t get you anywhere, and tenes to eat more at you than the other person anyway. But I carved out an exceptiohn for her a long time ago. I’m fine with that.

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 336)

Maybe I screwed up, maybe she screwed up. Mostly it just didn’t stick, and we parted ways.  I never cheated, because that’s weak. If you want somebody else, you say so, you don’t cheat. I’ve never hit a woman, and I hoope to Christ I’ve never mistreated one, because there are other wasy to hurt somebody than with you fist”

-Nora Roberts (Hideaway p 341-2)

To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.

-Samual Johnson

The voice is a wild thing. It can’t be bred in captivity.

-Willa Cather        

From fame to imfamy is a beaten road.

=Francis Quarles

All the world doth practice stage playing.

=Montaigne

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Daredevil Back in Black Vol 2: Supersonic by Charles Soule (Writer), Matteo Buffagni (Artist). Goran Sudzuka (Artist). Vanesa R. Del Rey (Artist), Matt Milla (Colorist), Mat Lopes (Colorist). Roger McKenzie (Writer). Ben Torres (Artist). Miroslav Mrva (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. 

In this comic, Electra has come back and while Daredevil had hoped to introduce Blindspot and her, he senses someone off in her and tries to warn him off of her but Electra is attacking him and Blindspot is quick to defend him and he gets hurt. So Daredevil sends him to the special clinic to get fixed while he tries to figure out what's going on with Electra.  It turns out that she had a child born eleven years ago that could conceivably be his.  This daughter has been taken and she has video proof on a cell phone that he can't see.  Who took Electra's daughter and is it Matt's daughter as well? This one was heartbreaking and cruel and very well done.

In the next comic Matt goes to Macau and believes it or not gambles at Texas Hold "Em.  It's the only game he can play.  He reads the players he can to determine what they have and just goes "all in" when he feels he has a good hand or a good bluff.  But he really needs to win this tournament because he has something planned and he does indeed win it and Spider-Man meets him in his comped room.  Spider-Man is going to help Daredevil get a briefcase on a floor only accessible to certain people like the winners of the tournament.  They miss getting the briefcase and it flies away in a helicopter but Spider-Man has ideas on how to get it back.  I really liked this one because Spider-Man is a favorite of mine and his motor mouth and antics are just hilarious. 

Another comic involves Echo who comes to Daredevil for help when an evil villain is taking over the city through sound turning people into zombies.  Another comic is about a psychopath named Gladiator who is after Daredevil.  This volume is chock full of stories that are just amazing to read.  I really love this new Daredevil series that Charles Soule is writing.  I also loved the colors used in the gambling sequence. It was real 60s or 70s neon flair which reminds you of Ocean's Eleven, the original.  This was one amazing comic and I give it five out of five stars. 

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America Vol 2:Fast and Fuertona by Gabby Rivera (Writer), Jen Bartel (Artist, Colorist), Annie Wu (Artist), Ming Doyle (Artist). Aud Koch (Artist), JOe Quinoes (Artist, Inker). Joe Rivera (Artist, Inkier), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist). Jordan Gibson (Colorist, Inkier,). Flaviano (Artist), Stacey Lee (Artist),m Chris O'Halloran (Colorist), VC's Travis Lanham(Letterer)

In the previous comic, America Chavez is a member of the Ultimates along with Captain Marvel and Spectrum, but she decides to take a break from that to go to superhero college at Soto Mayor University. America's power is being able to fly, super strength, and being able to travel through dimensions. Her mothers created her and then sealed the parallel off to keep it secret and safe and sent her out into the world knowing that she would be looked after. Seeing as how their paths are going in different directions her girlfriend Lisa tells her it's probably best if they break it off.  So she begins college with a fresh start and a broken heart. The first people she meets are the Leelumultipass Phi Theta Betas who want her to pledge them, but she isn't so sure.  After blowing her first class she runs into someone she knows, Prodigy, a former mutant who is wicked smart and has found a way to travel through time but his machine needs her powers to operate and this is a way she can help with her class. When she uses the machine she is hurled through time and is taught some lessons from the likes of Peggy Carter and Storm that will help her use her powers to defeat an enemy.  Meanwhile, someone is sending cyborgs to the school which will become clearer when she goes on a road trip with Hawkeye, aka Kate Bishop.

In this comic, America meets her grandmother who has been watching over her her whole life but wasn't allowed to interfere until now.  Her grandmother tells her the story of how her planet came to be. Of how Sanar, a goddess was making a planet when Berraca was making the first-ever star portal and Sana felt it and it affected the way she made the planet;  The two fell in love and Planeta Furtona bloomed between them.  This was the birthplace of Madimar, America's grandmother, and Amalia, one of the mothers.  Soon the creatures known as La Legion began taking over and attacking them so Madimar and Amalia left Furtona for a safe haven.  This is where America is born but she is sent away for her own safety.  Now her grandmother is asking her to help Furtona because it desperately needs her help.  The La Legions were gotten rid of by the goddesses who sent an ice age, but now they're back, but America can't get over how her grandmother has been watching her all these years but hasn't reached out to her.

Meanwhile back at school, the new Dean of Students, Dr, Bille Brightly is in fact really Exterminatrix and America has just had to fight some mindless creatures that she met up with in Vegas.  Dr. Brightly is banning the use of powers on campus in order to ensure the student's safety. Professor Douglas is missing and Dr. Brightly is blaming America.  She is hoping to get the students against America.  However, this backfires as the Alphas are called in Prodigy works closely with America and X'andria has her own plans worked out.  Will they defeat Exterminatrix and her army of goons?

Will America go with her grandmother and help her home planet?  This was a pretty good comic.  It had lots of action and lots of feelings of home.  You finally learn a lot about America's heritage and how she was born.  America is a pretty cool character and a tough woman. I give this book four out of five stars.   

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Murder in the Readiing Room by Ellery Adams

In this latest in the Jane Stewart series, Jane begins the book rushing off to Biltmore Estates in the North Carolina mountains to rescue her lover Edwin who she has recently discovered is being held there by the local pharmacist who kidnapped her kids in order to get her to open the secret library.  He was an evil Templer and part of a larger group of evil Templers.  But he had a map with Edwin's coordinates on it.

So now Jane and the Fin Lachlin are arriving at Biltmore where a hotel management seminar is being held.  They make friends with Gardner who tells them that the manager spends a lot of time around the Baccachus statue so they explore the statue and discover Edwin inside, much thinner, but alright. The gardener, they later found dead under suspicious circumstances.

Their reunion is cut short when the manager, Parrish, interrupts and shows her another man being held: her believed to be dead husband, William, who has no memory.  Her feelings for him are long buried and she's moved on.  But she refuses to leave either man behind.  So they all travel back to Storyton because Parrish wants certain books and if he doesn't get the bad things might happen.  As soon as she can Jane has Parrish locked up and sure enough at the battlefield reenactment of the Great War one of the men dies and they suspect is murdered.  But it is believed that he was mistaken for Fin Butterworth's cousin, another Fin at another residence, and one who is working for them to help find out who Parrish's men are.

Jane finds out what Parrish is after but will she just hand it over to him? I really loved the theme of World War I and all the little historical notes included as well as the full-scale reenactment.  Adams is the Queen of the twist and here is no different.  What will she do with William and Edwin?  This was a fantastic book that I really loved,   The setting was amazing and the characters were great;  I give it five out of five stars;

Quotes

Ernest Hemingway warned that we should never confuse movement with action.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 9)

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world.

-Ernest Hemingway

If you don’t want to help me, help my dog. The heartbeat at my feet.

-Edith Wharton

Love is fearless in the midst of the sea of fear.

-Rumi poem

Love means doing what it takes to be together. After that, it means doing what it takes to stay together.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 96)

Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes,

-Rumi poem

The larger we make our circle of trust the easier it will be to break.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 104)

I think a book is like a good climbing tree.  They both yearn to be touched.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 119)

In the real battlefields there weren’t winners or losers.  Only losers.  Lost lives, lost loves, lost years.  Even the earth is scarred by war.

-Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 159)

          Hemingway once said that the first draft of anything is shit.

         -Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 231)

         Do I dare disturb the universe?

        -T.S. Eliot

        To see a young couple loving each is no wonder; but to see an old couple loving each other is 

        the best sight of all.

       -William Thackery

        Jane recalled a line written by P.D. James. “A wise mystery novelist once wrote that while time          didn’t heal it anesthetized.”

       -Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 272)

       There’s a book for everyone, even if they don’t think there is.  A book that reaches in and grabs           your soul.

     -Ellery Adams (Murder in the Reading Room p 276)

      There is nothing I would not do for those who are truly my friends.

      -Jane Austin (Northanger Abbey)

       I do not cough for my own amusement.

=Jane Austin (Pride and Prejudice) 

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Jane Foster Valkyrie: Vol 1: The Sacred and the Profane by Al Ewing (Writer), Jason Aaron (Writer), Cafu (Artist), Ramona Perez (Artist). Cian Tormey (Artist). ROberta Poggi (Artist). Frazier Irving (Artist), Jesus Aburtov (Colorist). VC''s JOe Sabino (Letterer).

This comic, a brand new series, takes place after the end of The Mighty Thor, which had Jane Foster as Thor but doing so gave her cancer.  Now Thor is back to take over his position again and Jane is out of a job, though she is now cancer-free.  She works at the hospital but she has missed many days of work due to her time as Thor and afterward so her boss has reassigned her to the position as a morgue assistant.

All of the Valkyries have died and Thor comes down and tells her that she has a new job as the last Valkyrie and she has a weapon that changes to anything she needs and she wears around her wrist.  She goes up against the fast five who are Gold Rush, Silver Ghost, Green Light, Redline, and Blue.  She defeats them all, but one, Gold Rush who she chases and realizes that he has Brumhilde's Dragonfang. But someone grabs it from him and stabs him and takes it.  Now she has to worry about them taking her horse as well.

In the battle against the man who stole Dragonfang, who turns out to be Bullseye, Heimdall is killed.  Jane does as he asks and does not send him to Valhalla but to another place far away on a long and arduous journey with many perils to lay him to rest.  Now Jane must decide what to do about Bullseye.

I was seriously disappointed in this book.  It had an amazing bad guy with Bullseye but still failed to hit the mark.  It was boring and not even Hiemell's death could provide enough emotion out of me to care about what happens in this book.  And I really enjoyed the Mighty Thor books too, which makes this all the more horrible.  I give this comic a three out of five.

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Captain Marvel Vol 2: Falling Star by Kelly Armstrong (Writer)l Annapaola Martello (Artist) Carmen Carnero (Artist), Tamara Bonvillain (Colorist), VC's Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

In the previous comic, Carol has had a rough year with her brother suffering a life-threatening injury that caused her to step down from Avengers and the Space Defense Program Alpha Flight to take care of him. Then Kree assassins killed her mother who had been hiding as a Kree warrior this whole time.  Her brother recovered and Carol had decided it is time to get back out there. Carol is friends with Jess, Spider-Woman and they take down a giant monster that Tony Stark takes away with a group of Iron Men. The two agree to meet up later after Carol has a meeting with Tony where he "lays down the law" with her and insists that she does an interview with Ripley Ryan for Ms. Magazine for public perception since she's been in space all this time and no one could see what heroic deeds she was doing.  Carol gives in on the interview.  But Tony also wants her to play mentor to Jennifer Takeda, aka Hazmat, who needed a new suit and came to Tony for one.   She leaks nuclear chemicals.  She goes for a touristy walk. Carol meets up with Rhodey and has dinner with him.  They catch up and wonder what if? Then the woman from the magazine shows up to do the interview and Carol is trying to reschedule it when she gets blasted by Nuclear Man.  Rhodey calls in backup which at first seems ridiculous, but then Nuclear Man rebounds and grabs Ripley and takes her through a portal in the street.  Carol follows them through. When she arrives on the other side, there are Jess and Jennifer and other women. She punches Nuclear Man clean to the other side of the island.  The Avenger men try to get through the portal but it knocks them back.  While time is moving fast on the island it is moving slowly back on the other side of the portal.  Some of the women don't have their powers for some reason, like Hazmat and Spider-Woman is missing some of her powers.  Echo has been running things down there and they have one man rescued from the group of men who are loved ones of the women.  Som, the man, provides intel on what goes on back at the base and how to defeat them.  But Carol doesn't completely trust Som. She thinks he's hiding something and she's right. Jen, She-Hulk breaks through the barrier but her powers don't work.  Still, she's a welcome sight.  She defeats Nuclear Man and rescues the women.

The first segment of this comic is very lighthearted and fun. Black Widow is in the jungles of Rio de Janeiro fighting the Enchantress and her undead army alongside the Winter Soldier when she gets really close to her and sees a vision of Dr. Strange and Captain Marvel bringing her down in Rio.  The thing is she sees it too.  Nonetheless, Black Widow goes off to find the two of them.  Dr. Strange is definitely interested in this development, but he says that she will be hard to find; 

Actually, she wasn't all that hard to find at all. She just showed up and put a wammy on Dr. Strange and Captain Marvel and put each in the other's body.  Stephen spends hours trying to teach Carol the proper way to hold her hands to cast a spell to no avail.  They argue and bicker and Nat has to put up with the two of them without killing them;  Then when an undead shows up Carol casts a Patronus spell on it which Stephen quickly points out is Harry Potter not real magic. Then Stephen tells her to just say the words Shield of Seraphim and not worry about the hands and it works! Now Stephen has to figure out how to make Carol's blasters work out of her hands, which he does. So Stephen teaches Carol various spells to use on the Enchantress.  And they and various friends go to battle against her. Stephen, Carol, and Nat have some tricks hidden up their sleeves. 

The rest of the book deals with Carol's six days and how a life can implode in such a short time.  Day One there's these weird alien ships she's fighting over New York City,  She gets a bloody nose and her powers aren't at full force.  A strange new superhero appears to help her out.  Captain Marvel falls from the sky and Jess, Spider-Woman rushes to catch her.  Carol goes to see who's inside the ship and its a Kree. So she rescues him. 

Now it's in the news that she's half Kree on her mother's side and people have plenty to say about that.  She loses her position in the Air Force.  Her friends support her.  And when she goes out as Captain Marvel the new superhero Star helps her out too.  The Kree scientist and pain in the ass Kree supremest Minerva show up at her house wanting to work with her now that she's half-Kree.  So she agrees.  But she puts a tracer on Minerva and Carol and Rhodey follow the signal into the sewers and find another monster like she and Spider-Woman fought a while back that Tony is working on.  Tony finds her and insists on running tests where he finds an object in her chest.  When Carol and Jess go to visit her Maine house they see an example of that tech at the house and its Kree. 

Carol knows that Minerva is behind this but when she goes to get her she finds her chained to the sewer walls with the words "You're not as smart as you think" painted there.  She takes down Minerva and takes her to Tony for answers.  If Minerva isn't the one behind everything then who is? And how will Carol get her life back and her powers back?

This comic kicked some serious ass.  First, there was the delightful one at the beginning that was a stand-alone that I thoroughly enjoyed. Then there was the rest of the comic that detailed Carol's descent into hell where she's contemplating drinking again and her slow rise as she puts the pieces together.  You'll never figure it out.  It will be such a great surprise. Armstrong is such an amazing writer. She has really outdone herself here.  If I could give it more I would, but instead, I give it five out of five stars.

Quotes

Little Girl: At school they said you were an alien. Izzat true?

Captain Marvel: Yet it is. My mother was something called Kree.

Little Girl: But …What ‘bout your dad?

Captain Marvel: He was human.

Little Girl: So you’re both then!

Captain Marvel: Yes. Yes. I am. People can be lots of things at the same time, I think.

Little Girl: You should tell people that.

Captain Marvel: Maybe I will.

-Captain Marvel Vol 2: Falling Star

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Occupy Avengers Vol 2: In Plain Sight by David F. Walker (Writer). Gabriel Hernandez Walta (Artist), Martin Morazzo (Artist), Jorge Coehlo (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Mat Lopes (Colorist), VC's Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

In the previous comic, Clif Barton, aka Hawkeye, has just killed his best friend Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk, at his request with a special bullet and a special arrow they devised together,  It's haunting him what he has done. And so he is traveling the US looking for people to help to get this weight of guilt off of his chest. That's when he arrives in Sweet Medicine, a Native American Reservation where there is indeed something wrong.  Years ago the water got contaminated and someone was supposed to fix it but no one did.  Now they drink out of plastic water bottles.  One night he meets up with Deputy Red Wolf when some men come on the Reservation looking for Clint to investigate him and see what he knows and find out who he is.  The two are doing pretty good fighting off the men until they run into Hydraman and he overwhelms them and they get caught.  When they do get caught, they find a reservoir of water that is on Reservation land that greedy men are stealing.  When that is over with it turns out that Red Wolf has traveled through time and has died before but he is not ready to die yet until he has learned life's lesson, decides to wander the US with Hawkeye and they decide to right wrongs;  They discover a mechanical head of a dead president from the 80s and go to Chicago and face Nightwing's wrath in order to speak to his sidekick Deadly Nightshade who is a whiz with mechanics. And she says that it\s made with Epidurim which makes Life Model Decoys.  No sooner has she finished her analysis than Colonel Nick Fury arrives to attack them with an army.  He turns out to be a machine and willing to fight for the good guys.  Also, Nick Fury has another bunker throughout the United States filled with weapons and robot parts.

Barton and the gang get this really nice van that breaks down on them in Dungston, Iowa, the home of the manure capital of the state.  The people there are acting strange towards them and they are looking them up on special computers to find out their secret identities.  They've found out that Barton is an Avenger and this has them worried.  Meanwhile, there's a group that is crisscrossing the U.S. killing people. 

Barton has Manifold bring over "Wheels" Wolinski to fix the van since he knows a lot about electronics.  Then things come to a head in Dungston when the people who have been killing people across the U.S. arrive and the people of Dungston confront Barton and his group. It turns out that this is a Skrull war between the Skrulls of Dungston who left their home planet because they didn't want to fight any more wars and the Skrulls sent to exterminate them. 

The next part of the comic takes place in the future and there are more people in Barton's gang which now includes Wheels and the Firestone Brothers, two Native American brothers.  They are taking back the food Hydra has stolen from the farmers and giving it to the needy.

This was indeed an interesting book in that you don't expect the Scrull to show or that you'll be pulling for them.  Wheels is an interesting character. He is shy and at first not brave at all, but once he figures out how the van works he really gets his feet on the ground, so to speak.  Nightshade is still after Red Wolf to get him into bed with her, but so far he has politely said no.  I think Clint said it best when he told them they weren't a team with some fancy name they were a family. This has been a really good series and I can't wait to find out what happens next. I give it five out of five stars.

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A Parchment of Leaves by Silias House

This novel starts off in  1914 up in the mountains of Kentucky.  Vine is a Cherokee young woman who lives with her people on Redbud land.  There are whites down in town who contest their claim to the land which is a familiar story that has played out often in history.  One day, Saul and his younger brother Aaron are riding through their land and Aaron gets bit by a snake.  Vine saves his life and catches the eye of both men.  Saul comes courting and asks for her hand in marriage.  Vine's mother sees a bad omen in the marriage but she won't stop it.  In the Cherokee people, the mother is the one who decides whether or not you get married.  It's a very matriarchal society.  Vine insists on getting married at Redbud and the only people to show up from Saul's side is his brother Aaron and his mother, Esme. 

While Saul is working at the sawmill he is also working on their house.  In the meantime, they are living with Esme and Aaron.  Esme likes Vine, though she isn't who she would have picked for Saul.  When they have a huge party to celebrate the raising of the house, Serena, the local midwife and singer points out what Vine has suspected that Aaron has been staring at her and taking an interest in her that is not sisterly.  Vine tries to tell Saul, but he won't hear anything bad against his brother.       

Saul and Vine have a daughter they name Birdie who is weak and small.  When the United States enters the war Saul's boss at the sawmill has decided to open up another sawmill on another mountain in order to make turpentine for the medicine needed for the war.  He has asked Saul to be its foreman and he has accepted.  However, the job will last at least a year which is a long time to be away from home.  But he trusts Aaron to help out with his family. 

Aaron's looks become him stalking Vine until one dangerous night at midnight when he comes stomping through her door and demands what he wants.  Vine knows she can't tell anyone about that night especially Esme and Saul. 

This book is filled with the breath of the mountains and the scent of the redbud tree.  It contains a story that is as old as time with a fresh twist.  The characters are well-drawn and interesting but its the scenery that really captivates you.  I give this book five out of five stars.

Quotes

“If you want to be something, you ought to make a living playing that banjo,” I said. He thought this was funny. “Shoot, Vine,” he said. “A person can’t make no money playing music.”

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

So I named my baby Birdie, hoping that she would sing to me every day of my life. I hoped I could hear her singing when I laid on my deathbed, and willed her a voice that would smooth out all the lonlinessd carried around, tucked hidden and safe in the womb from which she had come.

-Silias House (A Parchmant of Leaves)

Her eyes were very old; they looked like they held some awful knowledge that nobody else had, as if she was haunted by miseries that she could not share.

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

Saul said things in his letters that he would have never let escape his lips.  This struck me as odd.  It seemed to me that a man who didn’t announce what his heart wwants to say would hesitate at putting it down in writing. Words become solid on the air when spoken, but quickly drift away. Ink lasts always.

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

Terror does things to you. It hardens a part of you. I have heard people call others hard-hearted, but it’s not your heart that turns to stone when something awful happens. It’s your gut, where all real feelings come from. That was froze up inside me and I didn’t long to thaw it.

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

There is nothing in this world as good as a baked potato. It tastes of this earth.

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

Despite everything, at least I am still free.

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

I wondered if we were put on this earth only to destroy every beautiful thing, to make chaos. Or were we meant to overcome this? Did bad things happen so that goodness could show through in people?

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

Sometimes you can’t help but love somebody, no matter how bad they do you. And sometimes, it seems the worse somebody treats you, the more you love them.

-Silias House (A Parchment of Leaves)

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Star War Darth Vader Vol 3: The Burning Sea by Charles Soule (Writer), Guiseppe Camunicoli (Penciler), Daniele Orandini (Inker), David Curiel (Colorist), Java Tartaglia (Colorist(, Guru FX (Colorist), VC's Joe Caramahna (Letterer),Chuck Wendig (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Penciler), Walden Wong (Inker), Scott Hanna (Inker), Nolan Woodard (Colorist),

A great deal of time has passed since Palpatine's rise and Anakin's turn into Darth Vader.     Vader has started the Inquisitors, a group of former Jedi who now hunts down the remaining Jedi left over after the Purge and kill them.  A new problem has come to threaten the Emperor and Vader is forced to face something from his past.

The Emperor is sending Tarkin to deal with the military aspects of Mon Cala while Vader deals with the Jedi who is helping the Mon Cala King.  The King is in negotiations with the Empire over how the Empire wants them to give over nearly all of their product for nothing.  The Jedi that the King is working with blows up the ship the Ambassador the King is working with.  This leads Darth Vader and his Inquisitors to land on the surface against the wishes of the Mon Cala who see it as an act of war and fight back.

The Inquisitors sent TIE Fighters and AT-ATs.  to fight the King who is quickly gathering Ackbar and Rebus to defend the planet once they have gotten everyone safely underwater.  The fighting begins while the Jedi and his friends have been offering advice.  But when the King gets captured and tortured by Vader to find out where the Jedi is, the King is able to escape and tell the Jedi what has happened and give him a chance to escape.

Will the Jedi and his friends escape?   Will Mon Cala defeat the Empire?   This was a pretty good comic and includes an extra comic that is about Tarkin hunting, Vader.  That is a really good comic.  It is interesting to read about Jedi since they see, to be all dead. The art is amazing especially where Vader goes underwater.  I give this book five out of five stars.

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