A new kid is forced into the unpopular table. She finds that most of the people here aren't so bad, but Faye Faulkner is weird--she wears a witch's haA new kid is forced into the unpopular table. She finds that most of the people here aren't so bad, but Faye Faulkner is weird--she wears a witch's hat, and strange things seem to happen when she's around. But when a series of pranks begin to escalate into actual violence, she has to convince Faye to take action to help the people who have been ostracizing her all her life.
The shadow of Naifeh's previous work, the series around his other witch character Courtney Crumrin, loom very large over this book. Faye is basically Courtney with some of the serial numbers filed off: witchy, jaded, thoroughly done with the people around her, but ultimately someone with a tough exterior but kind at her core. Here, that comes out of her relationship with the woman who taught her to be a witch. She taught Faye the trade and to help others, but when she met her end and was largely hung out to dry by the rest of the town, her case also taught Faye to keep the world at arms' length. Again, it's pretty much Crumrin with a bit more modernity, as the Big Bad is essentially a demon that's gone digital. Naifeh is great at drawing out the low key horror elements here, and the creature is appropriately creepy.
There's some thematic resonance in that too, as the story is about people being caught up and manipulated by events, and there's a clear juxtaposition between this happening with social media and high school and happening with women and witches. It's a take I've seen before, but Naifeh executes it well enough. Cody, the new girl, is a bit hard to sympathize with, at first. (And it's telling that I forgot to name her earlier!) Her rejection of Faye isn't very endearing, and her home life doesn't render her sympathy either. Her sister and father are comically bad enough that it comes off as more maudlin; they're not so far out of the pale that they wouldn't fit in with a reddit AITA thread, but it does make Cody's side of things feel like it's dragging the story down, at least in the beginning.
Ultimately, I liked the story. It's not Naifeh's best, but it does have some cool bits, and once I got into it, it moved pretty quickly....more
This volume collects issues 1044-1046 of Detective Comics, along with Detective Comics 2021 Annual. It also has all the backup strips associated with This volume collects issues 1044-1046 of Detective Comics, along with Detective Comics 2021 Annual. It also has all the backup strips associated with those issues. The main connecting thread is the idea of Arkham Tower: after the destruction of Arkham Asylum in another comic, the mayor of Gotham is attempting to rebuild into a new tower. The first ... story, let's call it, is split into three 8 page sequences, and features Stephanie Philips writing and David Lapham on art; it's about Harley Quinn and Batman exploring the construction site, which seems to be inspiring madness. (That's what happens, I guess, when you do construction that builds on a supervillain specializing in mind control's old lab.) The annual is Mariko Tamaki and Matthew Rosenberg on writing, and David Lapham on art; it's about Nightwing and Batman trying to peacefully take in a killer with a connection to Bruce's past. There's some nice thematic connections to the idea of redemption. And the last story has assorted bat folk stopping an attack while the tower finishes, and Batman tells them he's going to take a leave of absence.
It's a weird collection. The annual is definitely the best of the set, but everything feels disjointed and somewhat unrelated as a whole. The only through thread here, besides the presence of Bruce himself, is the construction of the Tower, and a blurb at the end of the volume says to read Shadow of the Bat for more on the tower. They're a bunch of stories, then, laying the foundation for a story that's not here, and not even happening in this title. It feels like a comic book version of the "Trip to the Fireworks Factory" in the Simpsons Poochie episode. I like the creators who brought the stories here into being; I like other work that they've done in the past. But for this story in particular, it doesn't feel much like anyone's doing something they're very interested in doing. In fact, it'd be a 2 star rating if I hadn't gotten the volume from the library. Even at free, I'm not sure it's worth reading. Over the years, I've been gradually reaching the opinions that the Batman franchise is over extended Bruce Wayne is the least interesting part of that franchise; this book ...more
Liv Holmes is a bisexual teen goth girl who has just moved to a new school at a new town. She's just trying to fit in, but life keeps throwing hurdlesLiv Holmes is a bisexual teen goth girl who has just moved to a new school at a new town. She's just trying to fit in, but life keeps throwing hurdles in her way: her parents on the verge of divorce, the guy who keeps hitting on her has a girlfriend who is actually really nice, and her teacher.. ugh, that teacher. Warning for sexual attention directed to a minor from an adult.
I liked this comic a lot. Kate Leth does really strong work with facial expressions and pacing. The relationship between Liv and her mom feels tense and complicated in the way that teens and parents who care about each other but are also having a hard time living with each other can be. Between the cheating dude and the sexually inappropriate teacher, the book is frankly a bit hard to read at times, but there's so much heart in its lead and her interaction with her friends that it carried me through. (As far as the teacher goes, giving a copy of "Lolita" to your fifteen year old student is not subtle, but also totally something I believe has happened in the real world at some point. Ugh ugh ugh.) In a book of absent fathers, grooming teachers, and cheating boyfriends, the character Aaron feels a bit like a token "not all men" but I'm glad to see the nerdy gawky shy gamer dude as at least a semi non-toxic masculinity. The book consistently felt real, and the friendships between the female characters were excellent. As is typical with a Kate Leth comic, I finish it and think, I should read more Kate Leth comics....more
**spoiler alert** Batman and Huntress track down Vile from the last volume, and stop Penguin and Worth from pursuing their wrongheaded vengeance on Br**spoiler alert** Batman and Huntress track down Vile from the last volume, and stop Penguin and Worth from pursuing their wrongheaded vengeance on Bruce Wayne and Batman. However, the parasite itself gets away, and Batman must rescue the Mayor from both the parasites and the effects of another crossover entirely. In the backup, Batman wanders into Man-Bat's coda, and Deb Donovan, part of the current Detective Comics supporting cast, gets to witness the formation of a spin-off series.
This set of comics is a bit scattered--it's the official wrap-up of the previous arc, but also gets roped into a larger crossover, Fear State. And the backup is basically setting up Jason Todd/Red Hood to be the leader of a team that will be in a different comic entirely. The real villain, in other words, was corporate synergy all along. Tamaki does fine with the plot, but there's even less going on thematically than the first volume--it's a bunch of fights against gangsters and increasingly escalated monster battles. (There's a weird aside about a drunk who recognizes Bruce Wayne as Batman, but forgets it all when he sleeps it off; it's maybe set up for a future plot?) The backups are fine, but don't really connect to anything; I like Donovan as a character, but if you take her out of the comic, these strips could have appeared equally as appropriately anywhere else in the Bat line. (And that's a problem I have with DC's use of backup strips in general.)
The real center here is the art, and honestly, less the drawing than the colouring. (And I'll extend this credit to the backups too-- Prianto and Rodriguez do excellently with some otherwise less than stellar material.) I don't know if I ever bought a comic purely because of the colorist, but Jordie Bellaire makes me tempted. She does some wonderfully creepy stuff with the parasites, especially when Batman is infected, though the last chapter is a little weakier than the others all-around art-wise. But the second last issue has some really great claustrophobic bits as the mayor stumbles onto the parasite nest in a dark sewer. Batwoman appears for all of two pages in that issue, yet she's so striking, in costume and out. Again, the comics themselves are fine, not great, but I could see myself coming back to this storyline only for the colouring. So not totally worth reading, but not without redeeming features either....more
**spoiler alert** A mansionless-Bruce Wayne becomes chief suspect in the murder of heiress Sarah Worth, and becomes the target of her grief-stricken c**spoiler alert** A mansionless-Bruce Wayne becomes chief suspect in the murder of heiress Sarah Worth, and becomes the target of her grief-stricken crimelord father, just as Batman becomes the target of the Penguin and the real murderer. In the backups, Huntress pursues the crime with her own leads, Penguin rises back up, and we get the killer's origin story. I came to this volume after reading the fourth volume in Tamaki's Detective Comics run, and, um, it probably says something that I literally couldn't tell from reading that this volume came before the other; I would have sworn before looking it up that it was the other way around. This honestly feels like more solid work--less of a high concept, but better in the sense of Batman feeling connected to the story, and more closure at its end, despite literally ending on a TBC cliffhanger. It just feels like there's an actual development and advancing of plot. I think it also helps that this is five issues, over three, as volume 4 is. This story is a fairly traditional one as far as Batman goes: a new threat rises, there's a complication from Batman's side of things, some old villains are roped in to provide favour, and there's at least a little deeper thematic as well. The idea is that a series of high profile murders seem to be occurring, where people who seem violent but not murderers are taking that extra step. It turns out that they're being infected with a parasite that drives them to murder, and the chief host of said parasite is the Mayor's aide, the wonderfully villainously named Hue Vile. Batman goes to investigate, but Bruce Wayne is approached by what seems like victim Sarah Worth returned to life. It's actually Lady Clayface, so traumatized by watching Worth die that she's mimicking her form. That's enough, though, to make Bruce a suspect when "Worth" is seen entering his apartment. And consequently, Worth's father, Roland Worth, then becomes the major obstacle, attempting to destroy whatever he can get his hands on to kill Bruce, and Batman for stopping him from said killing of Bruce. And thus distracting Batman from the pursuit of Vile.
Vile is a good bit of creepiness, but ultimately not too interesting a villain; his parasite isn't given any indication of intelligence beyond the desire to feed, and he's clearly taken over with it as well. Roland Worth is a great visual of a villain (kind of like Kingpin blended with the visuals of Kraven the Hunter) but his motivation here is also a bit thin. The Penguin backup by Meghan Fitzmartin and Karl Mostert and the Hue Vile back up by T. Rex are insubstantial, but nice mood pieces for the villains, and I really liked the Huntress backup by Tamaki and Clayton Henry. The description of Mary Knox's death--the murder that gets Huntress involved--does a really excellent job of making her someone worth caring about while still making her fairly annoying. (It's also interesting that Huntress comes off as someone who feels more connected to the case than Batman, despite Batman being the lead suspect.) There is some wonderful visuals in the series as a whole, because a lot of the coloring work is done by Jordie Bellaire, who is an absolute master at her work; there's a reason why she keeps winning Eisners. So that's my thoughts here--it's not as high concept as Tamaki's later work on the title, and it's not particularly great work from Tamaki, but it has its appeals, and it's a reasonable go at some average Detective Comics stories....more
Call it a 3.5. Jessica Harrow is a Reaper, charged with ferrying dead souls into the underworld. Her unlife takes a turn, though, when first her scythCall it a 3.5. Jessica Harrow is a Reaper, charged with ferrying dead souls into the underworld. Her unlife takes a turn, though, when first her scythe is stolen by a charge, and then she's seen by the living. Who is Jessica Harrow? Why is she the only Reaper who can't remember their life? How did she die?
The story is a bit slow for my tastes, though the second volume looks to get more interesting. The art, though, is absolutely gorgeous. Flaviano does a good job with backgrounds and making the characters distinct, and Rico Renzi does master work in the colouring. The backgrounds go a little towards abstractions at points, but when you're constructing an underworld, that's largely appropriate.
To sum up: visually impressive, story is average but could improve, looking forward to seeing the second volume some day....more
**spoiler alert** The "cop for crimelords" Newburn finds himself in trouble, as some of the lies and falsehoods he constructed, and hurt feelings he's**spoiler alert** The "cop for crimelords" Newburn finds himself in trouble, as some of the lies and falsehoods he constructed, and hurt feelings he's caused, start to close in. His new partner Emily needs to make some decisions on how willing she is to stand by his side, particularly if it means going down with him.
I honestly could have read another two or three volumes of Newburn and Emily doing shady crime scene detective stuff, but if the story needed to end, it ended pretty well. It does a good job drawing out the core tension of the series: how does Emily feel about Newburn? Where are their loyalties, when the last bet goes in? I particularly liked the coda, where Emily and her new boss butt heads--it confirms what makes Newburn and Emily different from other people who may have their roles, and it does so without glorifying their own approach. They're not heroes, and they don't really care about justice. They're there to uncover things, to satisfy their own sense of closure. It's more fair than the alternative, which is all self-interest and sloth, and it's applied equally to more or less everyone, but ultimately, it's not really noble so much as an egotism that does a better job of keeping people in line. The story really walks the line between optimism and jadedness and it's pretty compelling as a result. I literally confused Jacob Phillips with Sean Phillips of the Criminal series; that's maybe a bit of a diss on JP's ability to do something distinctive, but if you're doing genre work, being confused with someone who's known as almost the epitome of crime graphic novels isn't the worst. Also, I like the sheer size of it. In a world where graphic novel volumes typically range from 4 to 6 issues, an eight issue volume feels suitably meaty. ...more
Our protagonist is caught in a time-loop: whenever she dies, she goes back to the moment where her fiance acussed her of false crimes and broke up witOur protagonist is caught in a time-loop: whenever she dies, she goes back to the moment where her fiance acussed her of false crimes and broke up with her. Each life, she's taken on a new way of living to celebrate her unexpected independence, and do what she always wanted to do. And each life, she dies when she turns twenty, as a result of the war with the nearby empire. This time on her seventh life, her breakup is sufficiently dramatic that she catches the eye of the prince of said empire, and she decides the only way she can understand what's happening with the war is to accept his offer of marriage.
I love a good time loop story. And a bad time loop story. And in some ways, this story is neither. The time loop is really more backstory than plot point at the moment; we see her other lives in flashbacks, but the story at hand is all life seven. (It's also basically the premise of the X-Men Krakoa era, for any Marvel comics fans out there.) It's very much a first chapter, in that it's setting up a mystery and a romance, and setting up its characters. The protagonist is wary of the prince--understandably, since he's indirectly and directly responsible for her death on a number of occasions--but intrigued by him and the life he represents. He in turn is charmed by her mystery, how she seems to have a variety of skills that belie her background. There's hints of something going on in the kingdom that's more sinister than it appears, and there's the start of a romance too. The supporting cast is amassing, with his trusted butler, the maid she befriends, and an unknown villain lurking. The pace is pretty slow, but that's fairly typical for a manga these days. The protagonist is likeable and compelling, and the art complements the setting and characters. I'm interested in seeing where it goes....more
A string of attempted murders--and actual murders--during a season of the Great British Bake-Off (or its satirically constructed equivalent) leads a cA string of attempted murders--and actual murders--during a season of the Great British Bake-Off (or its satirically constructed equivalent) leads a contestant doing double duty, solving a murder and trying to compete in the competition.
I liked this, with some caveats. Call it a 3.5. The concept is wonderful, and fans of the Great British Bake-Off should get a lot out of this book--fans of Allison and superfans of GBBO will get even more. The comedic skewing of the show's hosts, judges, and stereotypical contestants is the core of the book, and the part that really shines. The murder mystery is fine, but since all the characters are deliberately generic cut-outs, and the focus is on the jokes, there's not quite enough character depth to really get invested in their fates or the murders. I still think Allison is best suited for long running works where the gags can be balanced by greater depth over time, but I liked this a lot better than Steeple. Comparing the two, I think I'm also getting a better handle of how Allison's portraying Britain at large, which is pretty interesting; I'll definitely be looking out for his next project. (It's also great to see him back with Sarin.)...more
**spoiler alert** Seemingly random, innocent individuals are suddenly committing major crimes, and either killing themselves or refusing to explain th**spoiler alert** Seemingly random, innocent individuals are suddenly committing major crimes, and either killing themselves or refusing to explain their motives. How does it tie to the Riddler's new podcast? In the backup story, Gotham Girl looks for who killed her friend, and why they may be attempting to frame her.
Boy that second sentence there feels a bit out of place, doesn't it? It kind of feels that way in the story too. I think there's promise in the ideas represented here, in both stories, but the way they come together isn't particularly satisfying. It's possible that in the wider series these issues are building towards something, but there's not really a sense of that here. And I'll put the blame for that more at the feet of DC's publisher than the creative teams here. Technically, with the backup strip, the length of this volume is around 5 20 paged issues, but the result is that we only get three chapters of each story, and that leaves both feeling somewhat incomplete.
The eventual resolution here is that all the people involved here did something immoral, or supported someone doing something immoral, and got away with it. Dr. Chase Meridian put them all in a support group (and tricked them into attending the first meeting); the Riddler found out about it somehow, and convinced them to commit greater crimes, aimed vaguely at exposing corruption. And that's the twist: they aren't blackmailed into doing it, but do it willingly, in part under this idea of exposing greater evils, but really because their guilt is eating them up, and doing something unambigously criminal makes them commit to a side, and they feel better. It's an interesting take on villainry, but ultimately a fairly unsatisfying story. The Riddler has no real goal here; as he himself admits, he's just playing around. Batman has no effect on the story, pretty much--most of the (victims? villains?) wind up killing themselves or turning themselves in, and that would have happened either way. He cuts down on some fatalities, but it's hard for that to have any meaning, since they're just randos anyway. There's something here about the concept of what makes a villain and Riddler's means of communicating all of this through a popular pirate podcast has a sliver of interesting story too, but the whole of it just doesn't mesh.
The second story works better, though it could really use a quick recap on who Gotham Girl is. Again, she's a strong concept (though admittedly, that concept was largely established elsewhere): a Superman-like character who's thrust into a Batman-like environment, complete with her own trauma-related baggage. In this particular story, the idea is that a fan has created a website for her and used it to expose villains; the villains then go after her, not realizing she's unaffiliated. She tracks down the site-maker, only to find them dead, and goes after Chase Meridian, whom she believes was the killer. Huntress tries to stop her, and they team up to take down the real perpetrator, a woman working with Chase. Gotham Girl's narrative captions drive the story, and she feels like an actual participant, which is more than I can say for the Batman portion. But the villain is so roughly sketched that it feels unsatisfying.
There are a few ties between the stories: trauma and coping with it in unhealthy ways, Dr. Chase Meridian is both, and Talia Al Ghul shows up in both. The first element is fine--good, in fact, in a Batman setting, though not given space to develop. The second part is not good--Chase Meridian comes off as irresponsible in both stories, for tricking her patients into a group meeting, and for letting their information get out, and for a colleague operating a massive operation and secret lab under her nose. And the third part is not good. Honestly, I've never really got Talia as a character; I get her as a reluctant underling of her father, and I get her as a rebelling force against her father. But outside of Ra's Al Ghul, I don't know what her interests or motivations are, and neither of these stories really offer anything. So two of the three connecting elements here are actually detracting elements for me.
Also, I really hate the Riddler's hipster beard and mustache, especially the curled mustache. I think it's entirely in character for him, but I hate them.
To sum up: this review is basically the GoodReads equivalent of the bad food joke: This tastes terrible, and the portions are too small! Promising idea, but a fairly unsatisfying execution. But it's entirely possible that Tamaki's work on the title at large is much better, and I look forward to seeing that....more
Feeling rejected by the superhero community (or anyone, really) Peacemaker does a bit of a favour for some supervillains, and then does some work to mFeeling rejected by the superhero community (or anyone, really) Peacemaker does a bit of a favour for some supervillains, and then does some work to make up for it.
I liked this a lot. I find comedy superhero stuff very hit and miss, for the most part. For every good Deadpool issue, there are... well, a lot of bad Deadpool issues. This is a version of Peacemaker that's very, very clearly based on the TV show take on the character, but it's more than just a carbon copy of that too; it's its own take on the character, portraying him as simultaneously pathetic but also sympathetic. There's a definite "just go with the flow" element to the game's logic, but if you can do that, it's a pretty good ride....more
**spoiler alert** Princess Misty of Beldora is being forced into an arranged marriage with the okay-ish Prince Pete, in hopes of uniting their kingdom**spoiler alert** Princess Misty of Beldora is being forced into an arranged marriage with the okay-ish Prince Pete, in hopes of uniting their kingdoms against the threat of Grimoire, lead by the despotic Lord Badlug. Badlug kidnaps Misty, and now she has to stop him from marrying her, stop Pete from killed in the rescue attempt, and stop her father from throwing away everything to save her.
I appreciate Wheeler's approach here: it would be easy to do a straightforward reversal kind of fantasy plot, where Badlug is actually the good guy, Pete is a villain, and Misty has to set aside her upbringing to accept those different from herself. At this point, that approach isn't quite as cliched as the good vs. evil approach, but it's pretty close. Instead, we have the patriarchal monarchy enforced by her well-meaning father, and Badlug is an unabashed fascist, but many of his people aren't as evil or bad-intentioned as they appear. (Most can be bribed from attacking Pete; more people should try bribing supervillains.) It also seemed like for a while that they were setting up Misty with one of the commoners, but then that's subverted too when it turns out he's gay. Instead, she's doing what she thinks is right because she can, and that's good to see. Paulina Ganucheau does a good job on art; the character designs are fun, with just enough of a dash of the "Princess" aesthetic to keep the tropes it's playing against in mind. All in all, it's not the most memorable fantasy princess story I've come across, but it does some nice stuff without overstaying its welcome....more
This hefty graphic novel collects Tom Taylor's run as writer on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, as well as a few other places. Plotwise, we have SpiThis hefty graphic novel collects Tom Taylor's run as writer on Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, as well as a few other places. Plotwise, we have Spider-Man rescuing children from a place called Under York, a new elderly superheroine named The Rumour, Spider-Man playing with a kid who has cancer, a Thor-centric crossover, an arc with Prowler and a villain who... feeds off people's despair, in some way, Mary Jane vs a Troll, and it wraps up with a return to the Under York and a Spiders-Men team up.
On the positive side: Taylor has a good handle on Spider-Man and his supporting cast, which is not a surprise. The Mary-Jane centric issue is a real highlight. And there's some great art, though in general, there's no real consistent artist here--in particular, I really liked some of the work in the child wish-for-a-day issue, and one of the Undercity scenes, where he takes out a large number of munitions in one go. And the new or unusual characters are good too: he makes good use of Rumour, and Prowler, Boomerang offers some comic relief, and the guest stars are all very clearly themselves, from Iron Man to Dr. Strange to the Fantastic Four.
On the negative side: it all feels pretty inconsequential. The imagined versions of the villains showing up in the child issue really drive home how few of Spidey's classic foes make this run. And while the child issue is fine, it's clearly a retread of the famous issue where Spider-Man pretty much did this with another terminally ill kid, and the Aunt May cancer scare is pretty familiar as well. The villains are essentially two forgettable old men, and neither of their aims particularly resonates with the themes Spider-Man as a series typically explores. Under York is kind of a cool idea, with some cool visuals on getting there, but its difference from NY proper is never explored to any satisfaction.
FNSM is usually the B-tier or C-tier title, which means it generally doesn't get to do anything that changes the status quo. If I had to guess, that's what's keeping Taylor from engaging more deeply with some of the Spider-toys. I get it, and he makes some really neat things out of what's here, but at the end, I feel like it's an OK story, and a slightly below average Spider-Man story in particular....more
**spoiler alert** Another high quality noir graphic novel from Brubaker and Phillips. A man with a badge intercedes with a beating, and that act sets **spoiler alert** Another high quality noir graphic novel from Brubaker and Phillips. A man with a badge intercedes with a beating, and that act sets into motion an entire neighborhood, building to a death, and the threat of more violence. I liked this graphic novel; it's very much the sort of thing Brubaker and Phillips have been doing for a long time (it may not be called Criminal, but it is absolutely a story that could have been told in Criminal), but the way the story is told gives it a bit of fresh air. The story is told from the perspective of many different people in the neighborhood: the man with the badge, the teen who was getting beaten, the little girl who wants to be a hero, the wife ready to have an affair, the teen girl involved with the guy, and one or two others I'm probably forgetting. There's a bit a of nonlinearity too, as we cut to the characters in the future, even decades in the future, giving their testimony and what they remember of that summer. And a bit of fourth wall breaking, as these interviewed characters seem to speak directly to the narrator telling the tale. The theme is pretty similar to a lot of the stories Brubaker and Phillips have told: people living lives of quiet desperation that lead them to questionable acts, and the way that fear drives them onwards or holds them back from the connection they want to make. Your basic noir, in other words.
I'm not sure if it really *needs* the nonstandard elements; I wouldn't say they tie directly into the themes or anything. It's not a story where every character has a different interpretation of what happens, or anything like that. The effect definitely adds a bit of spice to the proceedings though. Maybe you could make the case that it illustrates the spiralling outwards, how each character goes in their own direction, alone, after the event that brings them together. At any rate, I'm certainly happy with what I read.
(The little girl who dresses up as a superhero is probably the all-star; it makes sense that she appears to be the most adjusted adult too.)...more
Charlie, the only openly gay boy in his all-boys school, is in a situationship he wants out of; Nick, the big, blonde rugby player, is increasingly thCharlie, the only openly gay boy in his all-boys school, is in a situationship he wants out of; Nick, the big, blonde rugby player, is increasingly thinking of his new friend Charlie. The two grow closer over the course of the book, and it's incredibly sweet to see their friendship grow towards romance. Heartstopper? It should be called Heartwarmer! Because... it... well, you get it.
Oseman's art is a little rough in places, but it's excellent where it needs to be, in body posture and facial expression. You can tell exactly how both characters are responding to every gesture and statement, every misstep and every step forward. It's also excellently paced, both in terms of overall plot and moment to moment scene, with a slow pacing that gives plenty of time for those reactions to happen. The manga yaoi influence is very plain to see, though not so much that it overwhelms the rest of what's here. It's maybe a little too sweet to be totally realistic, but honestly I'm not really looking for realism in romance; I'm looking for elevated feeling, obstacles to be surpassed, and people to grow together, and Hearstopper delivers on all fronts....more