In iZombie Vol. 2, zombie girl Gwen eats the brain of someone she used to know as a child and finds out some things she forgot about her own life while her were-terrier friend attempts to reconcile with his grandfather. In Whispers Vol. 1, a guy with OCD discovers he can travel in a ghost-like form separate from his body as he sleeps and manipulate people’s thoughts. In Sex Criminals Vol. 2, Jon struggles with his mental health while Suzie struggles to keep her library afloat, all while dealing with the sex cops. Enjoy my mini reviews for these three graphic novels!
Title:
iZombie Vol. 2: uVampire
Publisher:
Vertigo
Series:
iZombie
Book Number:
Volume 2
Pages:
168
Rating:
I liked all the same things in this one that I liked in Volume 1---great characters, fun supernatural aspects, gorgeous artwork---but more stuff happened in the plot this time, so I thought this one was a little better. I also liked the interesting twists. And I loved the scene when Gavin wrote his number on Scott's hand and Scott just kind of stared at it in awkward confusion. Also, Amon is far too hot for his own good. For anyone's good. I mean, seriously, have you seen him? Being attracted to drawings makes me question my sanity. And let's not even mention the fact that he's a mummy. I'm just gonna end this review now.
Title:
Whispers Vol. 1
Publisher:
Image Comics
Series:
Whispers
Book Number:
Volume 1
Pages:
154
Rating:
Graphic novel + fantasy + mental illness! Honestly this wasn't quite for me, but I do think it had a neat premise. The main character became a sort of ghost, separate from his body, when he slept and discovered he could manipulate the thoughts of people he knew. But the story raised some thought-provoking points about what's right and what's crossing the line and what happens when the two kind of blur. Of course that made for a main character who was not the most likeable person since he was selfish and made bad decisions sometimes. Also, the MC had OCD (just to be clear, that was not what made him unlikeable), and I thought it was great to see mental illness included in a way that did seem realistic and was most definitely not passed off as just some quirk. The art was heavy on the black lines for my taste, but it was still well-drawn and clear. The ending had quite a twist though, so I have no idea where the story is going to go next.
Title:
Sex Criminals Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop
Publisher:
Image Comics
Series:
Sex Criminals
Book Number:
Volume 2
Pages:
128
Rating:
I didn't find this volume to be as hilarious or as adorable as the first. It was less about the relationship between Suzie and Jon and more about the sex cops conflict. I know there has to be some sort of action in the story, it can't just be two people having sex all the time and nothing else, but I guess I found the whole Bonnie and Clyde/bank robbing thing of the first volume more interesting. But it still made me laugh, sometimes because of the characters and sometimes because of the hilarious details in the background. I definitely recommend taking the time to read the posters, porno movie titles, sections of the bookstore, etc. I especially loved the "Salad Cake" restaurant that was behind Jon when he was in the food court. One of the menus was "salads made out of cake" and the other was "cakes made out of salad" lol. The book also delved a little more into Jon's mental illnesses, so it also had a bit of heaviness. Overall, not bad, just not something that blew me away.
A hot mummy lol. Hey it can happen right? :) I like that cover of iZombie too.
And yeah some of my favorite GN’s are the ones where the artist has a little fun and sprinkles stuff into the artwork that you have to watch for.
Apparently it can lol. The covers of iZombie are fun!
Oh gosh, there’s SO MUCH in the art of Sex Criminals. In one of the comics, there’s even a joke maybe it was in the extra stuff? But the writer said something about how, when one character went into a grocery store, he just had to cut to him coming back out because he knew the artist would take forever going on tangents and adding jokes and details to everything in the store lol.
It’s totally only because I’m a scaredy-cat, those covers feel kind of too dark and scary for me, to be honest. Anyways, great review! I’ve come to notice that you actually read and review Graphic novels a lot, and it’s a common recurring genre in your blog.
Whispers is dark, but I wouldn’t say the other two are. Thanks! I like pretty artwork, so I do enjoy GNs :-)
Yeah, I’ve been attracted to graphic novel characters…I think it’s kind of like finding animated characters cute. :) I’ve only read iZombie (loved that series but still need to watch the show) so thanks for all your thoughts on the others.
-lauren
Good, not just me then ;-) I’ve never seen the show, but I did enjoy the comic!
I’m still getting the hang of graphic novels but I am starting to pick up on the background things. I’m sure I’ll notice it even more when I start to continue longer term with a series. So far I’ve just read 1-2 issues of each.
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
Some of them don’t have much in the background, but Sex Criminals definitely does lol. I notice that I sometimes get so caught up in the dialogue that I forget to pay much attention to details, but for some series it’s worth it to pay attention.
How have I not read any of iZombie yet? It’s a little funny you’re being attracted to a drawing, I suppose I can’t judge as there are plenty of cartoon characters I’ve found weirdly attractive. And it’s no weirder than book boyfriends. It makes sense really. It sucks that Sex Criminals Vol 2 wasn’t quite as good as the first but it still had good elements at least.
Idk, it’s a fun GN series! And only 4 volumes. I didn’t love the last, but overall still good. And that’s true, I guess it’s not any weirder than fictional bfs!
Seeing these… I do think you’d really like Moon Knight. I’m going to need you read it asap and let me know! ;)
I like the cover for Whispers! I don’t think I would like it since you said the main character was selfish. I get really frustrated with annoying/selfish characters, lol.
Do You Dog-ear?
I’ll try to get to it!
I like the cover too, but yeah, maybe not for you if you don’t like characters who can be selfish.
Now this is a diverse bunch of reviews and comics! Also i fully support being attracted to art — especially when they’re LOVELY!
Haha yes, drawings of guys can definitely be lovely!
I love the iZombie show. I had no idea it was a graphic novel. I think I have to check them out.
I haven’t seen the show, but yep, it was also a GN! Hope you like it :-)
Ohh! I haven’t heard of Whispers before! I definitely need to check that one out!
Yeah, I just found it on Hoopla and thought it sounded interesting!
sex criminals sounds great! I love book that make me laugh :) I have never read a book with a character with OCD. OCD is often stigmatized. OCD traits made into villain characteristics. Glad to hear that wasn’t the case for Whispers. The premise sounds so good! I would have read it too! To bad the MC was so unrelatable :)
It is a fun series! And actually I think the guy in Sex Criminals has OCD too, plus some other mental illnesses.
Whispers looks like one I might enjoy checking out.
“Were-terriers”?? I’ve only seen a few episodes of iZombie, but I had no clue the books got beyond the zombie-freaky!
Yeah it’s a bit horror-ish maybe? So you might like it. And lol yeah, one guy is a were-terrer. I haven’t seen the show though, so I have no clue how different it is!
Nothing wrong with sexy mummies–albeit, I’ve never seen one before. LOL. iZombie, and the Sex Criminals one sounds super good. Great reviews. :)
(as for your attraction to drawings…don’t worry, I’ve been attracted to anime characters my whole life! LOL).
Sexy is sexy, regardless of the… life state? Lol I don’t even know. They’re both fun comics!
Glad it’s not just me then XD
Life state… I love it! So totally true. That really made me laugh out loud, glad I wasn’t drinking anything at the time. XD
I was gonna say species, but that didn’t seem right since a mummy was a human once. I think life states are what they’re called in the Sims, it sounded good lol.
I love your randomness sometimes Kristen! XD (Don’t worry – if people weren’t attracted to comic book characters/drawn people, then there would be no porn-y fanart. And we *all* know that that exists! Lol.)
I’m glad someone appreciates my randomness lol. You’re right, I totally forgot about NSFW fanart!
How is it even *possible* to forget NSFW fan art! (Lol!) XD
Idk cuz honestly I love it sometimes lol.
Ahaha I loved your comment about being attracted to drawings of characters. Trust me, you’re not alone. Also animations. I question my sanity time and time again sometimes too :P I actually really like the premise to Whispers and the cover really has me drawn in. I think the idea of it being about crossing the line between boundaries and what is right and isn’t is what has me so intrigued… I’m glad you could like the sequels to iZombie and Sex Criminals too!
Lol XD Glad to know it’s not just me! Yes, animations too! Whispers was definitely one of those thought-provoking ones. Thanks :-)