#commissions earned

Thanks to the recommendation of @fletcheris, I decided to read this comic/graphic novel in my quest to read all the Moonknight content available until Marvel makes a Season 2 on Disney +. My thoughts on this story? Just… Woah.

For starters, I loved the opening of the story with the vampire fight. Never would have imagined I’d see vampires come across Moon Knight/Mr. Knight’s path as is often shown dealing with criminals who bring harm to others during the night. Though, this entire situation makes sense as vampires, if not familiar with being turned or simply have no care for those around them, will cause harm to others to satisfy their blood thirst.

Also, I loved that he chose to let the victims of these vampires live as they are not at fault for being in the new condition that they are in. Something that Mr. Knight emphasizes throughout the text that he wouldn’t ever fault anyone for simply being what they are. Rather, it’s their actions that define that.

I enjoyed the whole idea of Mr. Knight creates the Midnight Mission for anyone that needs help throughout the night as well as the matter that he is like a priest (Moon Knight/Mr. Knight refers to himself as a “high priest”) as he is exorcising the evildoers who harm those “who travel at night”. On that note, I enjoyed the mentions of the Moon System’s Jewish heritage as well as the bouts of religious extremism and its impact on those who have it regarding how they view the world and interact with others.

Lastly, I truly appreciated the fact that all alters were mentioned as well as the fact that the therapy sessions were cohesive with the rest of the comic/graphic novel (something I felt was lacking in the previous one I read).

Wish I could say more than this but I would hate to spoil anything for anyone. Therefore, if anyone has read this, let me know your thoughts and what comic do you recommend I should read next?

Link to comic:

Kindle: https://amzn.to/45sVJNf

Paperback: https://amzn.to/4r24Lce

Taglist:

This story follows the Dark Trinity (Red Hood, Artemis, and Bizarro) in Qurac (a war-torn Middle Eastern country not only familiar to Red Hood but to Artemis also) as they are barely becoming adjusted to one another as team members.

While not enough is known about Artemis by her teammates, the reason that the trio is brought here is because of an ancient weapon of Artemis’ people being used to commit heinous acts of violence against innocents. Will Artemis and the team be able to stop these individuals before it's too late? Find out more by reading this comic to see what happens next.

The second part of this series blew me away. Not only did a lot of the previous questions I had about Jason Todd get answered but I loved the fact that this story, despite being more centered on Artemis, truly felt as if it was being equally shared amongst Jason Todd/Red Hood and Bizarro.

Speaking of those two, I love how they continued their (Jason and Bizarro’s) relationship from the previous story. I won’t say too much more other than it truly amazes me how Jason doesn’t see himself like Bruce/Batman when it seems that he inherited so much of his positive (and sometimes negative) qualities (if you’re a Batman fan, particularly Batman: The Animated Series or Justice League series, you know what I’m talking about). Yet the only difference, at least in this comic series, is that Jason is learning to improve and better himself. Not just to be an effective crime fighter but also to heal from his trauma as well.

Lastly, I was super surprised by how some parts of the story went as well as ended. Eager to start the next part ASAP.

Links to book:

Kindle: https://amzn.to/4xGTUbN

Paperback: https://amzn.to/4vfMevA

Taglist:

Lulu Mayfield is your typical 1950s housewife and mother whose responsibilities include keeping her husband happy, tending to the household, and making the best gelatin salads in their neighborhood. She’s also expecting her second child.

Around this time, new neighbors move into their area. It’s through this event that Lulu’s life begins to snowball, causing her to wonder whether her ideal life is that.

Upon reading the summary for this story at my local bookstore, I thought I kind of had an idea as to how this story would play out… boy was I wrong about that. Nevertheless, it was interesting and caused me to want to read and analyze more.

Speaking of analysis, I love the fact that the author took so much time to research the 1950s period. While this time is often romanticized with its music, fashion, and celebrities (just to name a few things), there are so many issues that were present as shown in this story. The main ones mentioned revolving around the roles of the sexes/genders (particularly women) and mental health.

While enough could be said about the roles that women were expected to play and gleefully obey with retort, the thing that stuck out to me most were the “friendships” between the housewives. The thing being that despite how Lulu calls them her friends, the fact of the matter is that the readers (as well as Lulu at some points) realize that their relationships are superficial.

Despite the weekly card games and holiday get-togethers, all these women don’t know each other nor choose to get to know one one another. Instead, these relationships are sought and filled only to play a role that is expected. It seems that most of these women choose to be loyal to their husbands and in some way the patriarchy. Because in the moments that Lulu needs help from one of these women (who she considers to be her closest, possibly best friend), that woman turns a blind eye and ignores her to be in lieu with the patriarchy.

While this and many other instances caused me to want to be upset on behalf of Lulu as she had no one to help her throughout her time of need, I needed to take a breath and remember that the setting of this book was in a different place and time. A place and time where women were put against each other all in the name of serving the patriarchy.

By the end of this book, I not only realize the importance of woman/sisterhood but also the fact that an individual’s mental health is something that we need to take seriously as well as simply listening to one another. Especially when we’re silent.

This book has become another favorite of mine that I’ve read this year. I look forward to reading more from Meagan Church in the future.

Links to book:

Paperback: https://amzn.to/4xtPsxf

Kindle: https://amzn.to/4a2Ik0B

Taglist:

This story tells the tale of an up-and-coming opera singer, Christina Daaé, who gets entangled in a love triangle with the mysterious ghost of the Paris Opera House (who also happens to be her mentor) and a young man whom she has known since childhood. As the story progresses, topics such as love, obsession, and humanity become more prominent to the reader.

Upon reading the prologue, I was shocked to discover that the Phantom of the Opera was based on events that occurred (or what was believed to have occurred as it was never confirmed whether the Opera Ghost was real or not). It should be known by the reader that the author goes back and forth between the events of the book to how it occurred. (FYI: According to the author, the character of “Christina Daaé” was based on a real opera singer and her circumstances following the events that took place at the Paris Opera House during her time there).

While this story follows the obsessive love that the phantom/Erick has for Christine (which I’m not denying at all), I feel that Raoul (at least in the book) was just as guilty for this as the first half of the book consisted of trying to get in proximity of Christine even though she’d tell him that she would talk to him later as she needed rest. On note of this, Raoul would then take it her no as “oh, she only said that in front of others and is actually wanting to talk to him after she said she’d talk to him once she had rest”. And each time something didn’t go his way with her, Raoul would end up having a hissy fit as he lamented how a vixen of a woman could lead him on when early in the chapters he mentioned that he couldn’t marry a woman like her—guessing his has to do with his high status (This could truly go on).

Nevertheless, all the three main characters (Christine, Raoul, and Erik) were all so well written as there was more to them than the public displays they held amongst others. For example, Christine, a beautiful and talented opera singer, loved mingling with people wherever she traveled and hearing what they had to say as it reminded her of his childhood. Also, one would easily look at the successes she’s had throughout the book and think she’s the happiest person in the world when that’s far from the truth. I could only imagine how her story might’ve differed if she was able to properly heal before these events with both men had occurred.

This book has become one of my personal favorites. Probably in my top ten list of favorite books to be exact and that’s just because I’ve read a lot of books in my life already.

Links to book:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MqWXlR

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781454954590

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This is the first Moon Knight comic that I decided to start with as I heard it was to be a basic introduction of the character(s) as a whole (can confirm that this is done regarding the superhero/vigilante persona).

With that in mind, I would like to start off by saying that I was so amazed with the amount of Moon Knight tech that was available (ex: self-driving limo and helicopter being the most out there; however, the limo did make an appearance at the end of reason 1 when Jake Lockley was finally introduced to the audience). Had no idea how many gadgets he actually had and could therefore see why some would compare Moon Knight to DC’s Batman.

Also, the violence in this was crazy and made me see why some fans felt there wasn’t enough of this on the Disney + series (I personally didn’t find anything wrong with this but to each their own).

Finally, I truly enjoyed the amount of psychology mentioned and used in the text by the characters. Particularly, how Moon Knight/Mr. Knight uses these techniques to try to reason with the people he deals with during a show down or crime investigation.

The only let down I could say I had about this comic/graphic novel was the lack of scenes from Marc Spector and his alters (Steven Grant and Jake Lockley). Though, I know the whole point of various volumes is to get the reader reeled into reading the next part.

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While I have always been a Batman fan, I’ve recently become interested in learning more about his second Robin (a.k.a Jason Todd) that eventually comes to be known as the Red Hood. Hence, why I wished to start with the comic that gives an outline to his story as Red Hood.

Upon reading this, I was shocked to learn that this Robin was disliked by some fans at the time of this series to the point that they chose (based on a vote poll that was conducted by DC at the time) to kill him off—and in a gruesome way for the time (yes, I’ve heard/seen some of the ways the Joker torment Jason in Batman: Arkham Knight and Batman: Under the Red Hood). All because he wasn’t like Dick Grayson/Nightwing.

Like children, Dick and Jason aren’t supposed to be the same person because they are two different people. Was Jason a bit more rebellious than Dick? Yes, there’s no denying that. But the reader (especially those reading this comic as it came out) should be aware that this rebellious nature is coming from an orphaned kid who lived on the rough side of the neighborhood (and in Gotham at that). Bruce was aware of that and never really seemed to fault Jason for it as he was quite familiar with the situation—to the point that he was willing to help Jason in his quests to find his father’s killer and eventually his birth mother.

While some might say that Jason Todd was Batman/Bruce Wayne’s greatest failure… I can’t say that it’s for him being negligent/neglectful towards him as he was trying to be respectful of his teenage ward’s life and in the choices he made. Yes, Bruce says that he brought on Jason Todd due to Batman needing a Robin. Though, I think Bruce also brought on Jason because he saw himself in him and because things went well with Dick Grayson that he wanted to experience that again.

Despite a few inconsistencies and repetitiveness, this comic was a great read to introduce readers like myself to Jason Todd (who I wish had been in more media—like Batman: The Animated Series—to show the gap between Dick Grayson and Tim Drake (guess Jason was hated so much that they didn’t want to risk it) as it gives a great foundation on his character as Robin (and eventually his origin story to Red Hood). Looking forward to reading more about the complexities and characterization of Jason Todd.

Links to book:

Kindle:

Paperback:

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