Graphic novel round-up time again!

You might wonder why I read Dan Slott’s She-Hulk, vol. 2: Superhuman Law , given that I was less than over-awed by the first volume. Well, I figured that maybe the good stuff was supposed to happen in the second volume, and the first was just warm-up. Fortunately for me, this turns out to be the case. Enjoyable semi-comedic fun. Probably too Marvel-centric to recommend to non-superhero readers, but a fine diversion for people who like that sort of thing. I’ll definitely pick up the next volume, and not just because I’m big into inertia.

Inertia is, however, the only reason that I’ll continue to pick up the books after Brian Michael Bendis’ Powers, vol. 8: Legends . It’s not that there’s anything wrong with this book, it’s just that there’s nothing especially right with it, either. It’s totally mediocre and bland. I’ve already forgotten the plot, in fact.

Then there’s Peter David’s Madrox , the story of a slightly noir-ish detective who can make copies of himself and then reabsorb them later to gain what they’ve learned. That’s also the premise behind David Brin’s Kiln People, so I’m not sure if it’s influence, or if multiple-copy detectives are in the air. Either way, it worked pretty well — it’s a fun science-fictional conceit, and David handles it with a few twists. I wonder a bit why I don’t have more Peter David books, as he’s definitely an above-average writer. (He also wrote some Star Trek tie-in novelizations, which I read back when I read those sorts of things — his were some of the only ones that rose to the level of real books, rather than screenplays shoehorned into novel form.)

Finally, we have Brian K. Vaughan’s Runaways, vol. 1: Pride and Joy , a book aimed squarely at the YA market, basically by being a regular superhero origin story featuring teenagers. How is this different from, e.g., Spider-Man? I have no idea, but apparently it is. Anyway, it’s a decent enough book, but nothing special. I’ll read the next volume (if I can find it — Amazon’s graphic novel stocking is abysmal, and I hate buying from non-Amazon sources).

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