The Sandman: Endless Nights

currently reading: Liar (!!!)

The Sandman: Endless Nights
written by Neil Gaiman,
illustrated by various




Some of the writing was overly flowery, some of the chapters were utterly incomprehensible...and yet, there's just something there that draws the reader in. I found it irritating that the art was different for each chapter, and would have really liked to have seen unity both in illustration and plot. I still don't know what the overarching storyline of this was supposed to be because there simply wasn't one. Particularly disappointing was the 2nd chapter, falling into the graphic novel trap of excessive nudity with absolutely no purpose. I didn't need to see that, it served no purpose. I really did want to learn more about the Endless, though, and I found some of the dropped plot threads to be really intriguing, and I just want to know more. I hope some of the issues are cleared up in the next few volumes, because I feel like there's a really good story somewhere beneath all the clutter.

Rating: 3.5/5
I got this book from...:

Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

Fables: Legends in Exile
Written by Bill Willingham
Various illustrators



Fables is a graphic novel bringing together a very wide variety of fairy tale characters in a common world, all interacting with each other in fascinating ways. The concept itself was definitely enough to hook me, as I'm a sucker for fractured fairy tales. Everything about it was amazing and for a person who typically has difficulty understanding graphic novels, everything was extremely clear and easy to understand. Parts are a little melodramatic, but it is still an enjoyable read all the same. The various fairy-tale cameos are such a blast to spot, adding another dimension to the story. While I found the ending to be extremely predictable, it was, again, a great read, and I can't wait to learn more about this universe!

Rating: 5/5

I got this book from...: a fellow Laughliner :) Many thanks for letting me borrow this!

The Plain Janes

The Plain Janes
written by Cecil Castellucci



First things first: I went into this without a clue that it was a graphic novel. So that was a bit of a shock when I opened it up before class and saw pictures and not as many words as I expected. The dialogue and situations (minus the Jane/Jane/Jayne/Polly Jane name coincidence) were extremely realistic and very refreshing to read. I found myself at times absolutely cheering the various Janes on and just loving the crazy situations they managed to get themselves into. The whole idea behind P.L.A.I.N. is pure genius, and I love that Castellucci was creative enough to come up with such an intriguing plot. After the initial shock, I realized that this would simply not have worked as a regular novel, and was thankful that it was presented in a graphic format. This book provides a great discussion on censorship and how pointless it can be oftentimes. The characters were very complex and well-developed for such a short book. I have two minor complaints, and that is that the plot itself was not very complex, and the love subplot was the most pathetic loveplot ever. Other than those slight issues, I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing book, and would be glad to read more YA graphic novels that don't necessary appeal to the adventure/fantasy crowd, and are just regular YA novels.

Rating: 4.5/5

Watchmen

Watchmen
written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons



I'm not a comic book person. In fact, this was the first comic book (or is the term 'graphic novel' now?) I've ever read. I had some trouble getting into it, but it was all worth it. The text is scribbly and very difficult to read, random words were bolded for no apparent reason, and the page numbers made no sense. The story itself was hard to get into because I was concentrating on these things, but once it got started, it really got started. I think I got hooked right around the part where Dr. Manhattan's character gets more to do (basically, when it started being slightly more character-centric). The majority of the book is action-centered, but there are some fantastic moments of character development (whole story arcs for several of the characters, giving them psychologically deep stories behind the actions that become crucial to the plot). The two most intriguing characters to me were by far Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan. One with too much to feel, the other with nothing. The minor details the characters were given, such as distinct speech patterns, made all the difference. The end fell apart. Once all the character development was done, it was all action, action, action, and the big reveal at the end made no sense to me. Fantastic set-up with really well-rounded characters, and it all falls flat on its face near the end. The ending could have been handled much better, but it was still an amazing experience, and well-worth the time to get to know all these interesting characters.

Rating: 4.5/5