If you've been mainlining Stranger Things, do yourself a favor and pick up Paper Girls. It's set in 1988, on Halloween morning, as the titular paper girls bike through their subdivision delivering papers. At which point all manner of wtfery ensues. I liked Stranger Things fine, but it does really speak to a boy's experience. Paper Girls speaks more to a girl's experience, so it's a good companion piece. It's nice when you can balance your nostalgia. 

So I feel a bit like the odd man out on this one. I originally picked this up for review because tons of people around me were singing its praises. That, and the fact that Brian K Vaughan wooed me with Saga. Perhaps my hopes for this one were a little too high.

The premise of Paper Girls seems cool. Set in the 1980's, when paper delivery was still a thing and walkie-talkies were in place of cell phones. These girls were pretty bad-ass from the start, and that's one thing that I really did like about this graphic novel. I love a strong girl character, and here I was given 4.

Truly, the problem is that so much happens in this first volume that it's extremely overwhelming. There was no backstory on the girls, which I could have forgiven, but then weirdness was stacked on top of weirdness. After a while, I couldn't even attempt to follow the story anymore. This book is either trying for aliens, or time travel. Maybe both? I still couldn't tell you.

My other issue was that the art just isn't my cup of tea. There are no crisp lines, or vivid colors. I guess it kind of goes along with the story, to a certain extent. However, and this absolutely might have been because of the review copy I received, the lettering felt really off. It didn't vibe with the illustrations at all, although it was blessedly easy to read.

This was just a whole package of things that didn't quite click for me. As I mentioned though, there are a lot of fans of this series out there. So don't discount it. This may absolutely be for you.

Have I mentioned that I love this series? I'm kidding, I know that I have! I love Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughn so so much.

That's all I wanted to say. If you haven't already started this graphic novel series, you should! There's romance, intrigue, and even deeper messages about racism, war and the power of family. This is what perfection looks like.

Well this was definitely an unhurried beginning to this series. Points go to the Y: The Last Man for having an intriguing premise. Without warning, all the males of the world are dead. Animal and man alike. The cause is unknown, the world is in turmoil, and revolution is on the horizon. Sounds fascinating, no? I definitely thought so. Especially because, as I'm sure you can surmise from the title, there is one man left. Yorick, our main character, finds himself in one hell of a predicament.

With all of that promising information, I really expected this series to immediately take off. The truth is, it really doesn't. This whole first volume read rather slowly. While I liked Yorick, and was fascinated by a world run by women, the story line seemed to be at a stand still. Yorick was consumed by his need to find his girlfriend, his mother only cared about keeping him safe, and the Amazons (a rebel group) were only barely introduced. Slow burn, indeed.

The fact is, this series does hold a lot of promise. I know I'll keep reading. The illustrations aren't anything to write home about, but I love Brian K. Vaughan's writing. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and give the second volume a try. After all, the stage has been set. That means there's only good things coming around the bend, right?

More Saga to love! This series continues to get better, but definitely also weirder! See, the beauty of the Saga universe is that Fiona Staples can draw pretty much whatever pops into her imagination. It's magical to see so many different alien races come to life on these pages. It's all fair game! However sometimes I'm a bit baffled by some of these choices. For instance, when a monster with GIANT BALLS shows up on a page. Oh yes, you read that exactly right. Giant. Balls. I cracked up laughing, but I was also glad I was reading this at home. Ha!

Okay, back to the good portions. We meet Marko's mother and father in this volume, and I instantly fell in love with them. It's no wonder that Marko is the type of man that he is and, despite Alana's initial reservations, watching her fall for them made me smile. I don't know how these graphic novels manage to do so much in every volume, and not make it feel like too much. There were so many plot points tied up, and so many new ones opened. I just want to keep reading until I can't read any more! This series remains one of my favorites.