Source: Netgalley

 

Even though there had been several books between me experiencing Rough Riders Vol 1 and Vol 2, I found myself quickly remembering how much I liked some of the characters, and laughing at the dialogue. And, of course, anticipating a certain one's return - which I was given rather swiftly. However, unfortunately, I feel like this one had a serious case of try-too-hard-itis going on. While I loved a lot of the action and the witty repartee between Annie and the rest of the Rough Riders was awesome, the repeated twists and turns of the plot had me sighing.

My main problem with Rough Riders, Vol 2: Riders on the Storm were the parallels to America today. I read to escape, so finding myself plunging into a version of our current situation had me wrinkling my nose. And from a certain word to the characters that were obvious stand-ins for some of our politicians in office today, it was impossible to not see the similarities. However, the dialogue between the Rough Riders about democracy, anarchy, and frustration with the system was very plainly put and easy to relate to. And the end of this issue, well, let's just say it was believable as well. So while I didn't like that aspect of things, I still appreciated how the writer laid things out.  I do want to comment on a lot more than I currently am, simply because I lack the skill to get my point across.

The other thing is that while I can suspend quite a lot of belief in logic and abilities in search of a good story, Rough Riders Vol 2: Riders on the Storm, just had a few too many cases where I felt like it was pushing the envelope of realism a bit too far. There was a scene in particular involving one of the characters and four horses that had me rolling my eyes.

My favorite line comes from Roosevelt in the first issue (#8) of Riders on the Storm. It's just an awesome insult.

"For a civil war veteran, I found age and fear had given him the spine of a chocolate eclair."


As for the individual issues themselves, while I liked the The Big Burn (#8), Maiden of the Mist (#12) was the stand-out winner for me. Mostly because I love Annie, in case I haven't mentioned that three times already. Strange Days (#13) was my least favorite of the bunch. Given the way Strange Days ended things, I can't say that I would be interested in picking up any more volumes from the Rough Riders' series. 

Overall, just can't recommend this volume, sorry. It had it's high points, but not enough to make it worth spending money on.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher for review consideration 

Rough Riders Vol. 1 - Adam Glass I actually passed over Rough Riders Vol 1 a few times before deciding to go ahead and give it a try. I’m not normally someone who digs alternate history stuff, so I was definitely a bit leery. But I downloaded it, and figured I would just read the introduction and see if it was worth checking out. Well, I ended up finishing it. No matter what I think of the book overall, when the introduction is a man geeking out about learning and history, I’m going to immediately develop a bit of a soft spot. It’s obvious Adam Glass loves the past, and I was immediately hopeful that the comic would have a touch of that love in it.

*The first issue just establishes that Roosevelt is a man with a mission, and starts bringing together the team. It feels disappointingly short, with him only gathering one teammate, and talking about the next one.

*The second issue sees the rest of the team gathered and the journey begin. I definitely had a laugh at how Annie joins the team. Her dipping Teddy Roosevelt during the tango was something I didn’t know I needed to see until I saw it.

*The third issue sees the Rough Riders properly on their journey. Annie and Teddy continue to be my favorite characters. However, the team of Jack and Houdini is an interesting one as well. Definitely some weird crap happening in Cuba.

*The fourth issue was my favorite of the series. The others made me snicker, but this one had some laugh out loud lines, and also one solid moment of “Holy crap! I wasn’t expecting that!!” It details more of their time on the island and some disturbing discoveries.

*The fifth issue introduces some more common elements, and felt like a bit of a let-down after the fourth issue. More revelations, some dissent amongst the team. Standard stuff.

*The sixth issue picks things back up. I honestly thought that things were going to go in a completely different direction than they did at one point. Kudos to Adam Glass for surprising me. I appreciated that.

*The seventh issue had me internally yelling at the pages. One particular panel also triggered my tryptophobia and had my scalp crawling. Even thinking about it I want to scratch at my skin. While it didn’t end on the note that I wanted it to do, I still liked it.

The volume begins and ends with group photos (and the group looks much different between 1 and 7), but the individual issues in between have covers devoted to each of the group. As usual, there are some cover variants at the end. I have to say that I’m really glad they went with the ones that they did, as I’m not a particular fan of any of the variants except for one.

Rough Riders Vol 1 was a lovely experience, and I felt like the seven issues contained an almost perfectly done mission arc. There’s a perfect amount of action, and the dialogue is spot on. Most of the characters are very likable, even if they haven’t yet had a chance to really develop. We do get a glimpse into a bit of their backgrounds in last few issues that helps us connect with them just enough to appreciate what they’ve overcome without being subjected to a ridiculous amount of pages filled with backstory.

Overall, I was very happy with Rough Riders Volume 1. Adam Glass crafted a good story with great dialogue that had me laughing more often than not. Patrick Olliffe’s illustrations were perfect. He is very talented and able to communicate the unwritten portions of the story very well. Gabe Eltaeb coloring was nice as well. There have been times where a perfectly good comic book has been hampered by perfectly horrible coloration. I’m happy to report this is not the case here. And Sal Cipriano’s lettering made it so that I had absolutely no problem following exactly who was speaking or what was being said. (Following the dialogue is often a problem that I have.)

Definitely recommend this and I will be checking out the next volume of Rough Riders as soon as I can get my hands on it!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss for review consideration.

It was alright, but I'm not going to be upset if I never read more. (I probably will see if my library has vol 2, though.) I've wanted to try reading more DC comics for a few years, but I never found any motivation. I stumbled across this at the library after watching the movie (also"meh" in my opinion) and thought, "Why not?" I read it in a few hours of idly flipping through it while doing other things and I'm only barely not bored. I didn't hate it, but I'm glad I didn't buy it.

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to read 143 comics last year which was a bit more than anticipated and came at the expense of neglecting novels and audiobooks.

 

 

 

I love my comics but this year I'll be trying to pare it back a little and concentrate on getting my novel/novella TBR under control.

 

 

 

A fun first outing for me with the Suicide Squad team, the star is of course Harley Quinn and I'm looking forward to reading more of her this year.

 

 

 

A beautiful start to the Sandman series with the Robert Smith inspired Dream escaping capture and returning to his kingdom.

 

 

 

I loved all six books in this series but the reason I picked this one was due to Herr Starr. He is left wounded by Preacher, his head now resembles a penis and there are some hilarious panels that show him trying on wigs and hats with the same sour expression on his face until the last panel when he finds something he likes.

 

 

 

Great premise of beauty being a STD and how society values outer beauty at any cost. Amazing artwork makes this a must read.

 

 

 

A shocking end to an amazing series. Garth Ennis is a genius.

This one has been my least favorite volume so far. Like really what did I just read. I think there are some interesting science things that are going on but as for the story we were given it was just....meh.

 

The Joker though.  Heebie jeebies for sure. His face... so creepy, so icky. (I don't/didn't/wont read any of the other things he ties into because I have zero interest in the Batman comics)