Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Published: November 11th, 2009

Wolverine: Old Man Logan

By: Mark Millar & Steve McNiven

Marvel Comics

ISBN-13:  9780785131595

Nobody knows what happened on the night the heroes fell.  All we know is that they disappeared and evil triumphed and the bad guys have been calling the shots ever since.  What happened to Wolverine is the biggest mystery of all.  For 50 years, no one has heard hide nor hair from him...and in his place stands an old man called Logan.  A man concerned only by his family.  A man pushed to the brink by the Hulk Gang.  A man forced to help an old friend -- the blind archer, Hawkeye -- to drive three thousand miles to secure his family's safety.  Get ready for the ride of your life, Logan!

Review

       The synopsis basically explains everything you need to know to be able to dive into this particular story arc.  It's been 50 years since all the supervillains finally figured out that by teaming up, they could get rid of the heroes and take over completely.  Wolverine is now just known as Logan and has let himself just become an old man, caring for his family in a harsh new world.  The Hulk Gang (Bruce Banner's inbred, cannibalistic descendants) runs what used to be California and they come calling when Logan falls behind on the rent.  After beating the Hell out of him, they demand double next month or they'll kill his wife and kids.  Then Hawkeye, also an old man (and blind to boot), shows up looking for a cross-country driver.  The money he's offering could set up Logan's family for quite awhile, so he accepts.  But he refuses to do anything but drive, as he hasn't used his claws in 50 years - since the tragic night when Wolverine disappeared from public life.  Can Logan manage to save his family and will he ever be able to get over the horrors he lived through the night the heroes died?

       I mostly LOVED it!  It made sense that out of everyone, Wolverine and Hulk would be two of the only "heroes" left standing when all the others had been assassinated.  I love that Logan has decided to put away the Wolverine, but still hasn't completely lost that part of himself just yet (the awesome panel near the beginning where he imagines ripping apart his Hulk landlord demonstrates just that).  We get to see a completely different side of Logan than normal and the westernized feel of the artwork and the storyline (man goes on journey to save family from destitution/death by evil landlord[s]) definitely lends a dystopian feel to things.  I liked that Hawkeye had gone through a lot of the same things, but led a completely different life.  Blind, three-times married/divorced and ornery as ever, Hawkeye calls out Logan constantly for hanging up his claws.  But they come to mutual understanding, when Logan finally tells him what horrific things happened on that night 50 years ago.  As someone who has never read a Captain America comic, the thing with Red Skull and his trophy room still sent shivers down my spine.  Also, the scene with the Iron Man suit was perfect.

       My main problem, the one thing that really kept this from being perfect for me, was the motivations of the Hulk and the ending that they led to.  I thought it was a very weak, "bwahahaha" type of characterization and kind of disappointing.  Seeing Hulk be just plain insane would be one thing, but the over-the-top, backwoods hillbilly tint didn't really make all that much sense.  Bruce Banner, the counterpart of the Hulk, was a very educated man and I never really bought that he would've married/mated with his first cousin, Jenny (She-Hulk).  He would've known the kind of genetic problems that would cause in his bloodline.  And the rationale?  She was the only one who could keep up in bed...um...okay then.  I guess in the context of true insanity, anything can be explained away, but it just didn't really ring true to me.  I did enjoy the end though, with Logan walking into the sunset holding Baby Bruce Banner Jr. on his back, ready to start fighting again.  Overall, a mostly fantastic comic book and a great alternate universe story, with some mostly overlooked weak spots.  I highly recommend it.  And boy oh boy, is it hella gory!

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.*

I'm Just Prey in a Hunter's World

Published: May 8th, 2012
The Hunt (The Hunt # 1)
By: Andrew Fukuda
St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-13:  9781250005144

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.
Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.
When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Review

   Gene is not at all like his classmates.  He doesn't sleep hanging from the ceiling, he breathes, sweats and can go outside during the day without being hurt by the Sun.  His fangs are fake and Gene is masquerading as 'normal' among creatures that would like nothing more than to rip him apart and drink him dry of blood.  Then he is chosen to be among those hunting the reamining 'hepers' (humans) in a competition that will be televised.  Another of his classmates, Ashely June, has been chosen, a girl he could care about if their races allowed for it.  Everything changes when the officials pit them against one another for their very survival.  Also, Gene begins to know the hepers that he will be hunting - people just like him, only without the advantage of hiding in plain sight.  Can Gene survive the hunt or will he be slaughtered with the rest of his kind?  I honestly didn't know what to expect with this one.  It's also kind of funny that I never made the connection that the creatures ruling society were vampires until I was almost finished with the book.  I know, I'm kinda flaky and dense!  But as much as the premise interested me, Gene was a hard character to empathize with.  He's just scraping by, instead of truly living.  Plus the amount of time he spent talking about his sweaty armpits and the way the creatures drooled at the thought of hepers got annoying, monotonous and unnecessary after the first few times.  Plus it was disgusting to constantly think about it.  The whole book began to decline when it started to focus onm Gene and Ashley June's 'forbidden love.'  Especially when it turned out that she was heper like him.  This book was disappointing, boring and disgusting a lot of the time.  I will not be reading the rest of the series.  I'm just not interested, it wasn't the book for me.

VERDICT:  2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published May 8th, 2012.*

If You're In My Future, That's Okay By Me...

Published: November 21st, 2011
The Future of Us
By: Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Razorbill
ISBN-13: 9781595144911


It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Review

   Emma's life is okay, but her Father just moved away with her Stepmom and half sister to another state.  Now she's stuck with her Mother and her third husband, a guy Emma thinks is a complete dork.  She's also no longer really talking to her former best friend Josh, because of something that happened between them last November.  So when Josh's Mom has him bring over the AOL cd they got in the mail for Emma to use on the computer her Dad bought her (guilt gift), things are awkward.  Imagine their shock when they are connected to Facebook, a thing that shows them their future!  Of course, things get even worse when Emma doesn't like the looks of her future and realizes that by changing her actions now, her future changes.  In the course of a week, Facebook changes both Josh and Emmas' future and present realities.  While coming to terms with the uncertainty of the future, Emma also comes to terms with the fact that everything changes and sometimes you just have to leap in without assurance.  Will Emma admit her feelings for Josh are romantic, or will she continue to deny it and destroy what connection they have left to each other.  I liked the alternate viewpoints in this book, because with a male and female author it turned out more realistically than one author writing two people's minds usually does.  Emma was a average teenage girl, but she had so many layers.  Her parents' divorce and her Mom's subsequent dysfunctional relationships have changed her more than she realizes.  Emma goes out with guys she knows won't last, because she's too afraid of getting her heart broken.  Josh loves Emma, but he's just about given up on her due to her lack of initiative.  I also liked their best friends Kellan and Tyson, who have such an on-off relationship that you never know where they stand.  Part of the plot is Emma trying to stop Kellan from getting pregnant as a teenager, because she learns on Facebook that Kella has a fourteen year old daughter, which means Tyson is most likely the Father.  I thought that sub-plot was realistic and finished well.  I liked that Josh and Emma were confused teens.  One or the other wasn't the victim, they were both to blame for their fights and misunderstandings.  The ending wasn't exactly unpredictable, but the book was so enjoyable I didn't mind at all.  Not perfect, but close.

VERDICT:  4.25/5  Stars

*No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores and online.*

Unwritten Future

Published: October 19th, 2011
The Mers
By: Ami Blackwelder
CreateSpace
ISBN-13: 9781466455153


A Mermaid Dystopian
What lies beneath the surface? One hundred years from now, the world has changed and brought with it, new forms of life. Who are the Mers? Who is Mira? Mira always knew she was different. Growing up with Mers, she never quite fit in. When Mira breaks the rules and takes Niren across the border that divides Ellis Island and New Jersey, a border that divides two vastly different worlds, she thought the journey to find out who she really is would be an easy one. But as the world in Jersey proves to be a convoluted mix of Aristocrats who hate the Mers, Pirates who want to sell them, and Magi who want to use them...finding her true identity will be a challenge, especially when her best friend Niren is a Mer willing to fight to the death.

Review

   Mira is a teenage girl living in a shattered world, a world that survived a massive flood and is mostly made up of water now.  Humans have been evolving to adapt to their new environment, some being born with gills and webbed hands/feet.  This has caused wars between the newly evolved humans, named Mers, and the humans who have stayed the same.  The wars are supposedley over, but the races remain separated and pirates steal away unsuspecting Mers to sell their bodies piece by piece to the wealthy humans who use them to try and live forever.  Mira has realized that even though she lives as a Mer, she isn't one.  All she wants is to know where she comes from and who her real parents are.  But all Mira manages to do when she steals away to the human side of the divide is cause major trouble for all the Mers, especially her best friend Nerin and his sister Nerissa.  It sparks the remnants of the war, threatening to blow up the powder keg of resentments lying in wait.  Who will be left standing in the end, humans or Mers?  This was an extremely interesting read and I liked the plotline.  It was like nothing I've ever read before and I can honestly say it's the first Mermaid-dystopian I've ever heard of!  The beauty of the language and the plot couldn't make up for the truly lacking dialogue and the two-dimensional characters who I never really cared about at all.  I read disinterestedley because I was not emotionally connected to Mira enought to care whether she won or not.  And that is a deal-breaker for me.  I would recommend this to curiosity seekers looking for something truly different and younger teens who might be swept up in Mira and Nerin's romance.

VERDICT: 2/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the author herself, via LibraryThing. No money was exchanged for this review. The publication date of this book was October 19th, 2011.*