Book Reviews

Bebop and Rocksteady Make a Terrific & Toxic Duo

Well, I guess this review is going to be a trial attempt at an idea I've had. It takes me days to churn out a full volume review, which I don't really mind or anything, but it's nice to just pick something up for about the length it takes me to create solo dev showcases. Anyway, whatever, so today I'm taking a look at Bebop and Rocksteady Hit the Road Issue 1. I have to confess,Well, I guess this review is going to be a trial attempt at an idea I've had. It takes me days to churn out a full volume review, which I don't really mind or anything, but it's nice to just pick something up for about the length it takes me to create solo dev showcases. Anyway, whatever, so today I'm taking a look at Bebop and Rocksteady Hit the Road Issue 1. I have to confess, I thought I was reading Bebop and Rocksteady Destroy Everything, which is an entirely different series apparently. This one is good too though, and Bebop and Rocksteady's dimwitted fully loaded antics are just as good here as they could be anywhere. Anyway, my idea here is, instead of trying to conquer every individual volume collection, I can taste a bit of everything for you and provide a swath of curated comics. So, let's go.

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The Comic Book Story of Video Games Review

I've had this graphic novel sitting on my shelf for too long, setting aside a good time to sit down with it. These past couple of days, however, I've been flipping from page to page this excellently illustrated and narrated journey through the history of video games. I completed it last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. I never knew that so many unlikely events lead up to the powerhouse of video games that exists today. Seeing as the website I run here is currently undergoing a blend of games and books, I think this is a perfect topic for us all here. So, without further ado, let's light some diodes and insert a quarter with The Comic Book Story of Video Games: The Incredible Journey of the Electronic Revolution. "Let's a-go!"

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You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith

While the industry in the gaming business model changes, Adam's family's pinball arcade and Whitney's eSports Cafe are in direct competition with each other, and consequently Adam and Whitney. You Can Go Your Own Way by Eric Smith is a November 2021 release YA book about two childhood friends, Adam Stillwater and Whitney Mitchell. They have gotten knee-deep in running their parents' businesses as their parents are either too busy or in Adam's father's case, not there. Through firey tweet threads and a plot that takes place almost entirely in the market area of Old City Philadelphia, the two find out that maybe they can restore their childhood friendship after all--or try at least. I truly adored this book, and I'll tell you all about it here.

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City of Shattered Light is on the Edge

From the author, Claire Winn, is a debut young adult science fiction novel that teeters on a megalopolis moon colony with a cast of fierce--and glittery--femme Fatales, their fierce cohorts, and an action-packed ride of cybernetic combat mayhem. It's got everything you need in a cyberpunk novel really, especially for this audience. This is City of Shattered Light. And still, the main characters are simultaneously relatable yet may be out of their league young folks who are exceedingly clever and capable of taking down any enemy turned foe with teamwork.

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Pumpkinheads: Awesome Comic About Two Friends And Fall Food

This is another teen and YA appropriate, plus seasonally appropriate, review. Pumpkinheads is a very endearing and amusing graphic novel released pre-pandemic. It is the creation of author Rainbow Rowell and author / illustrator Faith Erin Hicks. It follows the tale of two friends, Deja and Josiah, who work at a pumpkin patch, on their last Halloween night before they go off to college. Instead of their assigned task of working as succotash cooks, Deja tries to insist Josiah do something about his multiple year spanning fascination with the girl who works at the fudge shop.

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Another Kind: Cryptid Fun Hits Shelves, New Graphic Novel

I'm thrilled to bring you another installment in my comic/book reviews, which really needs to be here to fulfill my original mission. Without a doubt, I'm tirelessly releasing indie game reviews with young adult/teen-friendly connotations. I've only recently figured out that my posts are more appropriate for this encompassed audience and that yes, I can finally write about anything and not seem too out of context intentionally. So in addition to games, let's start a new trend by talking about this debut graphic novel from creators Cait May and Trevor Bream and publishing project Harper Alley known as Another Kind, a story about a group of cryptid youth government compound runaways on a mission to find safety and also learn more about their identities.

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By Night by John Allison and Christine Larsen: Volume 1

Jane Langstaff is a technician at a biomedical lab in Spectrum, South Dakota. Lately, she's been feeling things haven't panned out for her after college as much as she would have liked. In a turn of fate, she bumps into a somewhat estranged but best friend from high school, Heather Meadows. While in many ways things have changed significantly since they last saw each other, Jane and Heather find themselves into their old hijinks in a small-town night adventure with the aid of some plucked security keys at the Charleswood Estate within no time, although Jane might have some feelings of hesitancy about it. It doesn't take long before they discover something very mysterious, perhaps even mystical in the midnight of some urban exploration.

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K. Thompson’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2019) is Smart and Biting

Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2019-) is a new comic book incarnation of the epic story settings of its namesake, written by author Kelly Thompson, artists Veronica Fish and Andy Fish, and letterer/author Jack Morelli. Readers can expect, delightfully, a contemporary imagining of the long-time universe of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, her two spell weaving aunts, and their speaking cat Salem, plus a whole ton of high school drama that is just as much a part of the series as anything. This review of Volume 1 covers issues #1-5 of this series, or in other words, Volume 1.

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“Cyberpunk” as a Genre And Not Just 2077

It's everywhere now. It's downloaded into your cortex. Drips off the neon katakana of your tube hotel vacancy sign. It's hidden in the channel tuned to static on your peripheral, cyphered, cybernetic headset. It provides the foundation as well as the motivation for things high above its paygrade, but it is still only a literary genre--beyond video games. "Cyberpunk." I'm talking simstim, black mesa stuff here, not Grand Theft Hovercar.

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