What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #7

#7 The Symbol - I'm not satisfied with the way in which Pilot seems to have been swept under the carpet. Given the important role he played in the last few chapters I hope that he (at least in flashback) will return and his origin be revealed.

I get the sense that certain things in this story are supposed to be accepted at face value. Pilot's role thus far may be one such thing. I am not dismissing him as dead just yet. He was carried off by a bat, presumably to his death, but having not actually seen his death I'm open to the possibilty that he may return.

I'm eager to read book 2.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #6

#6 Truth Behind Lies - Karic's life seemed to be stabilizing since the second chapter. That all changed in the previous chapter, with the formal introduction of Cassius. Karic is trying piece it all together, make sense of it all and is receiving conflicting messages from different sources, all of whom claim to spreak the truth. His age and inexperience don't work in his favor.

In stories like this it is often difficult to determine what or whom to believe before the story has run its course. Sometimes the author intentionally muddies the water, sometimes steers the reader in one direction for dramatic purposes, and sometimes it just it seems complicated when it is actually very clear.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #5

#5 Readers of the Wheat - A couple things are becoming clear to me about this series. First, I think I was wrong when I said that the story moves very fast it. It doesn't. It is told in short bursts.

My mistake was to assume that each chapter was a single unit. I no longer believe that to be the case. Each chapter can be divided into three or more segments. In this way each chapter moves the story ahead by leaps and bounds but should be read not as a single unit but as a collection of them.

Second, I'm able to appreciate the artwork, in particular the facial expressions much more at this point in the story. I'm not sure exactly why. My first thought was that it took me time to get used to the faces of the mice. It also occurs to me that it might just be that Mike Oeming's artwork has evolved, become more subtle. I'm leaning towards the former explanation but the latter may have also contributed to my ability to appreciate the visual nuances of the storytelling.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #4

#4: Black Anaius - Its weird how the story is unfolding. It seems both fast and slow. Karic and Pilot's journey progresses slowly, but there is a lot of back story. That information, knowledge is being dispensed in little pieces. It doesn't feel like it is coming at me too quickly but there is a lot of it and for the most part it is background material. It does not relate directly to the unfolding story for the most part, so it is somewhat disjointed and doesn't seem as vital.

Of course the artwork is gorgeous.

I'm not sure why I wasn't as moved by the battle with the giant, red ants as I was by the sacking of Cricket's Glen, in the second chapter. Maybe because the ants didn't talk. Maybe because I never felt like Karic and Pilot were in any real danger. I'm not sure.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #3

#3 In the Beginning... - Karic and Pilot flee Karic's hometown. Pilot aims to train Karic. Meanwhile another Templar is on their trail.

The story continues to unfold. Karic has dreams that help to explain some more of the world he lives in and its past. Pilot starts to teach him how to be a Templar.

This is a slowly evolving story, with a lot of exposition. The first chapter focused on the present and gave the story a point of departure from which it launched in the second chapter. The third chapter focused on the past, started painting the bigger, broader picture.

I get the impression that not everything is at it seems or has been presented. Karic and Pilot are being pusued by an unnamed mouse, presumably another Templar. The text implies that this is a rogue Templar, at least at first it does, but later there is a hint that maybe it isn't. I'm starting to wonder if Pilot isn't the one that Karic should be wary of.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #2

#2: The Calling - This chapter flowed quickly, like the first one, but unlike the previous one it wasn't weighed down with exposition. It was all action. Michael Avon Oeming's art was gorgeous. Will Quintana's colors were stunning. I dunno if they were holding back last chapter or if there was a conscious reason for taking things and slowly as they did.

The story seems to be shaping up to be a standard quest type story with Karic as the hero in training.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - The Mice Templar Vol. 1: The Prophecy #1

#1 The Dark Lands - So far I'm not wildly impressed. There's a lot of exposition in the first chapter; too much in my opinion. In general I think the story flows a little too quickly, I do like the way the chapter ends, with Karic becoming the more serious one and Leito the more playful one, which is a reversal of the roles they played through out the chapter up to that point.

I some had trouble keeping track of all the characters. There aren't that many of them but they are all mice and to my eyes they all looked fairly similar, at first. I got about halfway through the chapter before I had to go back and reread what I had just read (a couple times) before I was able to more easily identify all of the names, faces and personalities.

What drew me to this series is Michael Avon Oeming's artwork. I love the look of it. The coloring by Will Quintana only intensifies the job Oeming did penciling the story. So far no complaints here.

The Mice Templar by Brian J.L. Glass, Michael Avon Oeming, and Will Quintana

What I Read - Heathentown

Heathentown by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Sara Bechko

I didn't love Heathentown. It is visually stunning but the story left me wanting more; more character development and a plot that flows more slowly. That's not the kind of story it is.

At its heart it is an old school horror film, of the monster/zombie/action variety. It opens with a tragedy and a mystery. As the story develops pieces start to fall in place. Eventually there is a showdown between the cops and the monsters with Anna (the main character) trapped in the middle.

I read Heathentown in less than a day, which is fast for me, given how long it is. There are no chapter breaks and I could not find any good stopping points. The pace and nature of the story made it feel like a much shorter story than the page count (96) led me to believe it would be.

The fake newspaper clippings, postcards, and photographs found in the back of the book provide hints as to the origins of some of the phenomena that Anna encounters. Not everything is fully explained but enough is put on the table to stimulate the reader's imagination to try and fill in the rest. I would prefer to have had the book open with the newspaper clippings, postcards and photos and don't feel that they reveal too much.

The Nightly News

The Nightly News is getting better. I'm reading a chapter a week, usually on Saturdays and I read chapter 4 today. Prior to this it felt a bit predictable. Sure it looks different but in this case that wasn't enough for me. I'm glad I've stuck with it. I've got two more chapters to go. I'm interested to see where it ends up. Will it go back to being predictable or continue on the dynamic course it seems to be on?

Invincible v6

* * * S P O I L E R S * * *

3


2


1

Invincible v6: A Different World - Not awful, but this arc felt like filler. Ok, not filler but like Kirkman was setting up stuff to be followed up on in future arcs. Mark travels to some far away planet where he is temporarily reunited with his father, fights Viltrumites (other than his father) for the first time, and meets his new half brother.

It is arcs like this that turn me off. I probably won't pick up v7 for a while.

Why do the insectoid females have breasts? Or at least look like they do? They don't look humanoid in any other manner.

How in the world did Mark's father have a child with an insect? The scene with him frenching his insectoid wife was gross enough.

The only parts that I really liked were the little interludes with the Mauler twins.