What are you reading in April 2018??????!!!!???????

Alpha, by Bessora and Barroux in an English translation; a story of these adventurers from Africa, who cross borders and then cross the seas in flimsy boats to reach Europe. May be one day Europe will celebrate an "Alpha Day" in honor of their discovery of the European continent and all 509 million Europeans will have a holiday to read comic books, courtesy of the EU. (except in England...)

This month so far I've read Motor Crush Vol. 1 (an impulse read, probably won't continue the series), Alone Forever: The Singles Collection by Liz Prince, Victor LaValle's Destroyer, and Lady Killer Vol. 1 (another impulse, but this one I liked much more than expected, and I'll definitely read Vol. 2).

I also finished out Gail Simone's Clean Room; sadly, I thought it the conclusion was a bit of a letdown after the strong first two volumes.

I recently read the graphic novel Henni. From my review:

This was an interesting, if unusual read. The characters are all some sort of animal-human hybrid and they live in some nebulous fantasy place that has no real world-building other than there are strict religious fundamentalists in each region.

Henni's story of individualism, curiosity, and questioning could easily be relatable to many (like me), despite the otherworldliness aspects of the book. The illustrations, mainly black-and-white with some hints of blue and purple, are nicely done and fit the text well.

My only real issue with this book was it seemed to just sort of end without a clear-cut resolution. If you don't mind ambiguous endings, you'll like this book more than I did.

Today I read The New Deal. I cannot recall if I got the recommendation here or elsewhere. It was a fun read -- a light caper story.

Up next is Giant Days. This series has a lot of buzz but honestly I'm not thrilled so far. Still early on though so I'm reserving final judgment for now.

Finished Giant Days, Volume 1 and then read Hilda and the Troll. These were both recommended via a guest on a podcast I listened to, and we apparently have different tastes because I didn't care much for either.

Giant Days is a YA comic about a trio of first-year college students in the UK. I went into knowing it was the first volume of a series, but I was disappointed that it didn't seem to standalone at all. It reads like a series of vignettes and then ends just as a new one seems to be starting. Furthermore, the characters were all too over the top for me.

Hilda and the Troll is also the first volume in a series (and the series is slated to become a Netflix show). It's a really very short read with just one tiny story about Hilda, a blue-haired girl living in some fantasy world where magical creatures are rather common. In spirit, it reminded me a bit of the Over the Garden Wall show and comics, but it wasn't quite as charming.

With both, I have no plans to move on to the second volume.

Just read Paper Girls, Vol. 4, which finally adds some exposition to the madness (not that I haven't been enjoying the madness).

I am reading Tex: The Lonesome Rider, written by Claudio Nizzi and illustrated by Joe Kubert. Tex is a staple in Italian comics and this book has a hard boiled western with a lot vengeance. Two masters at work here.

I've finished the first book of Pluto which is a remake by Naoki Urasawa of an old Astro Boy's story. It is a sci-fi thriller about an investigation of a serial killer that is murdering the mightest robots of Earth and some humans, which is a scandal, because the suspect is a robot and robots should never harm humans.

We see the development of a society that is adapted to robots citizens and some observations about Artificial Intelligence are very thougthful and relevant, offering a multilayered reading. Sometimes this book have a spiritual link to Spielberg's A. I. and Azimov's work.

In a full artificial intelligence and cyber life rage, I started reading Battle Angel Alita.

>6 Euryale: I enjoyed Paper Girls Vol. 4. I've had fun with the madness, but it's good to have the story revealing itself more.