A Descent into Dullness

Thanks to a Diamond shipping shortage a light week.  Only three titles, starting with Doom Patrol #3: Writer Gerard Way, Artist Nick Derington, Colorist Tamra Bonvillain & Letterer Todd Klein.  Expanding bakc stories for the Negative Man and Casey the EMT, plus the villainous Vectra group.
Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy #6: Written by Chynna Clugston Flores, Pencils Kelly & Nichole Matthews, Inks Jenna Ayoub, Colors Whitney Cogar & Letters by Warren Montgomery.  I know I keep saying this, but this should really have been at most 4-issues.  Maybe even just three.  Still, all returns to the status quo, likely never to influence either title again.

Knights of the Dinner Table #237: E-I-C Jolly Blackburn with assistance from Barbara Blackburn, Steve Johansson, David S. Kenzer & Brian Jelke.  The Knights engage in some B&E while trying to reach out to Brian.  And the Black Hands latest party make-up struggles as always with the players self-centerdness.  Though Newt is once again working hard to be Just The Worst to play with.  And finally a chance encounter lets Sarah try to bring Brian back to the "family".

Short story wise for back in May we had the Litany of the Earth by Ruthanna Emyrs a CoC mythos story on faith from the perspective of the near human.  The Steel Soldiers' Gambit by Ian Thomas Haley, part of reading the remainder of his "Just Cause" supers series, where a robot bluffs a mentalist at a poker game.  And then a tale of artistry, obsession and justice with Walking Stick Forest by Anna Tambour...

Decided to start adding in a few of the trade/graphic novels for the month.  At least the ones that feel note-worthy.  Starting with Andre the Giant: Life & Legend by Box Brown.  Excellent biography, well worth getting.  Then we've got The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by Gerard Way & Shaun Simon (words) and Becky Cloonan (draws).  Which is a story of rebellion and sex robots and humanity vs. safety.  And finally Mike Maihack gets a collection of his webcomic Cleopatra in Space.  Well, more an expansion then a collection.  This (hopefully) first volume covers the origin of the time-plucked space heroine...

John Allyn's 47 Ronin is far from the first adaptation of the Japanese historical folk-tale.  But at least his doesn't have Keanu Reeves as a half-breed wizard.  Or whatever the movie was about.  Ok book though...

I may start putting off getting the Goodlett edited Grantville Gazette's until I can buy them in big blocks once or twice a year.  Because once again I can't remember much of anything from this volume without pulling up my copy...

Sparrow Hill Road by Sean McGuire is a ghost story and a collection of road stories and a love story.  Also sort-of an "InCryptid" novel, but only a bit...

After reading Neil Gaiman's M is for Magic collection I swear I'd already read it.  I've probably just run across several of the stories in other collections.  The one about the cat and the devil I've definitely read somewhere else...

Blake Crouch's Grab (though my copy says Snatch) is the third "Letty Dobesh" story.  This time recovering addict Letty ends up in Vegas recruited as part of a multi-million job targeting a legendary thief...

I ended up giving up on Chad Leito's the Academy, some kind of dystopian future, super-soldier training, deadly cabal yadda yadda thing.  Nothing in the first third managed to really hold my interest...

So after reading the prequel to Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, Stranger to Command, I reread the former.  Again.  Because I'm always curious to see if more information on the antagonist of the first half of the book makes me want to smack them in the gob less.  And because this reread involved the expanded e-edition, which adds several viewpoint changes of pivotal scenes, this actually happened.  Mostly because you can know see the character thinking about how he is completely fucking up every encounter he has with book's female lead...

As mentioned earlier, I grabbed up the remainder of Ian Thomas Healy's "Just Cause" supers series.  Day of the Destroyer, the Archmage, Just Cause Omnibus and Jackrabbit.  I think I liked the last one the most, where a teen has to fight an alien invasion after getting divinely empowered by the god Rabbit.  Giving him super-rabbit powers...

Chuck Wendig's psychic heroine "Mirriam Black" takes a visit to the Florida Keys to face another crazy with their own twisted psychic gift in Commorant...

Bonnie Shimko's You Know What You Have to Do left me feeling sad and unsatisfied.  Mostly because the ending didn't feel..finished really...

Elizabeth Bear's Shattered Pillars very much scales up the tension and conflict of her "Eternal Sky" series.  As a middle book should...

Jim Butcher's latest "Dresden Files" book Skin Game brings back the Denarians, with Harry forced by his service to Winter to work with them on a heist of the vault of Hades...

I sort of feel that Elizabeth Moon's Crown of Renewal shouldn't have quite so many unfinished plot hooks lieing around in it, if its actually meant a finale for her "Paksworld" series...

I'm not sure what lead me to backing Kelly Thompson's Kickstarter for her Storykiller book.  Its a good book, one of those All Stories are Real kind of things.  Mashed up with some Chosen Girl butt-kickery.  Sort of a Fables meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I just wasn't familiar with any of her previous work.  Probably did it from a rec from someone whose work I follow more closely...

And finally finished the month with another rereading of Lois McMaster Bujold's Captain Vorpatrill's Alliance.  Of the various "Vor" books I'd say I still like A Civil Campaign best, but CVA is the one I've been going back to the most frequently.  Flustered Ivan is even better than flustered Miles I guess...

Total Books: 22