My ability to read and review books has been constrained by a couple of factors:
1. My three children are running me ragged and I am exhausted at night.
2. I've had to spend all of my time not dealing with my children learning how to teach 4 different classes online.
3. My LCS was closed last week (and is now closed until the stay at home is lifted).
4. Animal crossing.....yeah.....

But I put all of the above aside today (on back to school day!) and flew through today's subject

Holy shit... I've heard a couple of people talk about this book, picked it up before my LCS closed for the initial social distancing period, and I am kicking my own ass for not getting in sooner!

The premise of the book is quite interesting.  There is a group of teenagers who love TTRPGs, and they are quite elitist about what they prefer.  Someone creates a game from scratch, and then all of the sudden they disappear.  Two years later they return missing an arm, a member of their party, and quite a bit of themselves.  There is no discussion of what happened to them, but we know it's quite traumatic.  And then, 25 years later, their past is back to catch up with them with one blood covered die masquerading as a birthday president for Ash.

When they return to the world of DIE, they are haunted by their believed-to-be lost friend Sol, who indeed was not dead, but replaced the old Grandmaster, and now the party is unable to return unless they are able to all desire to return home, including Sol....spoiler alert...sol doesn't want them to leave....

What is revealed across the 10 books which have been released so far, helps establish the background of what happened those two years without really establishing how they were pulled into the world of DIE or how Sol created the universe.  But what IS clear, is the world continued to evolve with their memories in place, and their 2-year venture into this world  had consequences (like the birth of a child...).

There is so much going on, my head is still spinning (in a great way).  Especially the tie to the Brontes in book 10?  Holy shit, this is wild, and I'm aching for the new arc (which was supposed to begin in May, but will be delayed presumably with Diamond's distribution hold...). Also, the art in this book is breathtaking, it feels like every epic I've either watched, envisioned as I read, or played with it's own vivid style.  What is really invigorating is the style that is given to each character once the party splits (is "you never split the party" the new "I want my two dollars"?), really starts to set the tone for each of their own individual journeys both inside the real world, and their journey within the world of Die.  It is quite awesome.

What should you do? If you are like most of us, grasping at what to read during our isolation, you should pick up this book if any of the following apply to you:
​1. You want to check out book 1 for free.
​2. You like anything Kieron Gillen has written.
3. You like amazing art.
4. You like fantasy.
5. You like horror.
6. You like RPGs.
7. You like interesting literary references.
8. You've ever played a world-building game.
9. You are breathing.

I'll probably read this 3-4 more times to look for little nuggets until book 11 comes out.  Also, Gillen is creating his OWN RPG AROUND THE BOOK'S UNIVERSE.  I've started reading the manual, and it is interesting as hell, and I may look to play with some folks over zoom etc.

READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!! 

Dearest Aftershock,

  You all are fucking killing it right now.  Please, whatever you do, don't stop!

With Love,
Comic Book Poser
​(aka Rimmey)

I'm going to finish knocking out all of the trades I bought last week to survive this week, but here are the rankings of every book I picked up this week:

Picks of the Week
1. Bad Reception #4 (Aftershock) (NC)--Definitely worth the long wait!
2. Artemis and the Assassin #1 (Aftershock) (Up 18!)
3. Something is Killing the Children #6 (Boom) (Dn 1)
4. Spider-Woman #1 (Marvel) (Up 15!)
5. Family Tree #5 (Image) (up 2)

Solid Places on the Pull List
6. Heartbeat #5 (of 5) (Boom!) (Up 2)--Although it's done =-(
7. Deadpool #4 (Marvel) (Dn 2)
8. Batman #91 (DC) (Dn 2)
9. Atlantis Attacks #3 (Marvel) (Dn 5)
10. Jane Foster Valkyrie #9 (Marvel) (Dn 7)
11. The Pile of X (X-Force 9 and Excalibur 9) (up 2)
12. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #9 (DC) (dn 3)
13.  Ghost Spider #8 (Marvel) (dn 3)
14. Undiscovered Country #5 (Image) (dn 3)
15. Morbius #5 (Marvel) (dn 3)
16. Bang #2 (Dark Horse) (dn 1)
17. DCEASED Unkillables #1 and 2 (DC) (NC)

Ehhhhhhhhhhh Dealer's Choice
18. Outlawed #1 (Marvel) (dn 2)

Removing their Ranking because they are Anniversary Books!
Justice League #1 (DC Dollar Comics)
Robin 80th Anniversary (DC)

The baby is asleep, the big kids are watching Onward in bed with mommy, which means I get to sit in the corner and write reviews! It's time to knock the last of my stack out, and again, I leave pleased!

When I reviewed book #1 on the Chops podcast, I was not too sure how I felt at the end of book 1, because it felt a little rushed to me.  However, I love book 2.  The school's bully who was last seen poking the alien in the woods with the stick has now entered the dreams of one of the Sams.  Apparently, he was getting ready to shoot up the school, and Sam could see that vision in his mind very clearly.  You see the scope of the powers of the three Sams who emerged from the woods, and you see how they are treating their alien like a precious little baby.  It is interesting watching the three teens interpret how they want use their powers differently and what may/not be acceptable boundaries.  Where this book ends sets us up for one hell of an arc, because what Sam saw of the potential shooter may not have ben a dream...

What should you do?  Book 1 piqued my interest, but I was unsure.  Book 2 solidly delivered, and has solidly secured a spot on my pull list for another couple of weeks of apocalypse reading.

This book continues to be wild AF.  Our hero John Shaw is on a train ride, and the men sitting around him recognize him and start to discuss his ass kicking abilities and we learn of one of his exploits on a train, where he can heighten three different abilities using an inhaler tailored to his DNA, but he is unaware of who his supplier is.  As the discussion on the train unfolds, we find Shaw in another ass-kicking festival on the train where he heightens his intellect to stop the runaway train and prevent a bomb from detonating.  And in the end, we discover the events that unfolded in a book written two years ago.....what...the...fuck...

What should you do? I think its my love of the Punisher and bad Michael Bay action films makes me appreciate this book, but the fact that these events are prescribed in older books gives this a "Truman Show" kind of vibe, which makes it a unique story that I enjoy!

I have read only one of the other DCEASED standalone books, and have not been keeping up with the series, but picked this up because a couple of my follows on twitter (@lost_comics, @shaqforDCCOMICS, @TheComicBurrito, and @wes_greer (and a few others)) have been raving about it, so I picked it up.

I'm not going to pretend like I know what is going on, but the idea that the anti-life virus being spread digitally is dope (like the screen villain from Incredibles 2!).  I think the idea of the anti-suicide squad being created by Savage is pretty dope, and watching both hero and villain alike turn is a pretty engaging story.  

What should you do? Yeah, I'm hopping on this bandwagon, its only a 3 issue run, and with the need of some more quarantine reading, I'll see if I can find all of the books I need to play catch-up, because it is entertaining as hell!

This is a book I was unsure I was going to pick up, because I've been chasing all of the marvel events, and none of them have been as interesting to me as the X reset, or I'm saving my money for all of the Empyre books that are about to drop....but I gave this a shot (especially because I'm not reading a lot of the other young characters...).

All superheroes under the age of 21 are now being targeted by an anti-youth vigilantism law, because they are not cognitively ready to handle the task, and a bunch of the young heroes really did some damage (on a scale like the adult superheroes...but apparently its ok for them to do it)...This book has snippets of congressional committee work throughout it and testimony from several prominent entities speaking on behalf of the youth. But the law passes anyway.  I guess the only book I may see this pan out more in is Ghost-Spider, but maybe not.

What should you do?  If you are reading Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales, or any other young hero, you probably need to pick it up, but if you are not, it may be a non issue...but I could be wrong.  It was a good read however, I just don't know if it is essential.

This book was on and off and on and off etc. my pull list, and I don't know why.  NCBD came around, and it was off my list, but given that Spider-Woman was on several Marvel covers that week, I felt obligated to pick it up. AND I AM SO GLAD I DID! Jessica Drew is dealing with figuring out what team she really wants to fight for, and most importantly, becoming a new mom and needing money to afford a child (trust me I can relate to that one!).  So she takes a private security detail and is questioning why she is so violent when of course the yacht of a mega rich pharmaceutical dude is attacked.  Of course, she's victorious...and then she gets sick...and then WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE VOMIT UP? What helps add some context to this is the Strikeforce bonus-story at the end showing how she landed the job, and exactly whom is responsible for funding her new suit.

What should you do? Spider-Woman fan or not, you should read this, it is engaging, you see the everyday struggle of trying to work, parent, and afford to do both.  I'm definitely going to pick up at least books 2 and 3.

This was another instinct grab before cashing out on Wednesday, and Holy shit this book has everything I crave:
1. An ass-kicking woman
2. A play on history (sort of...she fucking Mercs folks like Rasputin, Atilla The Hun etc.)
3. Time-travel
4. Some smart-ass clap-back dialogue.

We meet two women who are placed in very significant historical events, and when their path's cross, we don't know if they are on the same team or not, or who they are really working for.

What should you do?  I haven't done my rankings yet, but this is definitely going to make a book-of-the-week category, because I think it was just great!

Two spider-people walk into a multiverse, and wild shit happens!

This book picks up with the quest to create a serum that reverses the beast effects (but not vampirism...for now).  Spider-Man clarifies for Michael that he may not be the best test subject for the serum because he has altered DNA.  Elizabeth pivots from foe to friend because the fight is on their doorstep.  And we see a bunch of beast battles to determine if the serum is successful at turning the beasts of NYC back into humans. The work of all of the artists to highlight the evolutions and/or devolutions of species are awesome, and I find myself staring at them several times because they are beautiful (I would love to see them in their raw forms from pencil to inked to compare to the finished product, because it would probably blow my mind!).  Also, on a side note, I'm going to love a comic that cites Aristotle in terms of the state of being!

What should you do? Buy in fast!  This is a book I binge-read to catch up with, and now need to be satiated between major feedings, like our protagonist.

This book flew by fast (after I found that my 4yo borrowed it, I could finally read it!).  Gwen is still suspicious of the Storm children as to where they were during their 5 year hiatus, and she meets with a non-evil young Richards to see if he's seen any who do not have power (and the maker lords in the background of that convo).  We get a tease of the CRADLE law, in some furious dialogue between Peter and Gwen (I haven't read Outlawed yet...but I feel like there is enough info on that world-changing law if you don't).  And I DIDN'T KNOW GWEN'S SUIT COULD ALTER IF SHE RAN INTO FIRE!!! The book ends on a major cliffhanger revealing what the Storm children may have in store for the world.

What should you do? I think we've established I'm biased in favor of this book because my son loves it, and understands whats going on, so we have a nerdy father-son moment each time a book drops!