The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal 





















This was a very enjoyable comic where there is humor and adventure between TJ and Amal. Both of these characters are traveling across the beautiful countrysides across the country. There is a great sense of freedom when you are walking through the countryside with so much to explore and experience. They are escaping from their lives; TJ is running from his past and Amal is running from his family. This story is very much character driven and does an excellent job with the development of the two main people in this story, TJ and Amal. At the beginning of this comic they go through the backgrounds of each characters lives individually, which I think was a really good idea and really helped to develop the story. The drawings tell so much about the positive energy of the characters. They are beautifully drawn, very expressive and there is a very good use of color towards the middle and end. They are composed very well and show a great sense of atmosphere, which I really enjoy a lot. It gives the sense of the space we are in as viewers. I really enjoyed this story a lot because I connect to this story as I am also a very adventurous person and I am funny. Where I feel free is the beach and also creating graphic and bold illustrations. The beach is very calming to me with the seagulls speaking to us and the waves crashing just soothes my mind where it's free. I am a very creative person too, so drawing is really fun and is enjoyable for a career. This is a highly recommended comic for anyone that enjoys reading comics.

The Private Eye Issue 9
By: Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin



This is a highly compelling and entertaining comic with a future that has no internet access, which I found to be very fascinating. The beginning few pages of a young boy at his mothers funeral appear to me as a very sensitive, dramatic and peaceful way to start a comic. This very emotional scene drew me into the comic and encouraged me to continue to read on. The artwork is beautifully drawn, graphic and consistent with an excellent story. After reading this story I am very grateful for the technology we have, but also grateful for the idea of being a part of nature and the real reality we live in. With the world growing at such a fast rate the technology is growing more advanced to keep up. There are so many different ideas for the future and the technology we will have twenty to thirty years and beyond. I feel like most of the world is overusing technology and being trapped in this virtual reality that is not real. The reality we do know is starting to fade as virtual reality and technology continues to grow. Yeah!! We do still interact with nature, travel, go on adventures and experience new things. However, there are people creating virtual reality games where we do not need to go outside. I think this takes away from the true and real experience that is so fun. People in our world need to realize that technology should be used for important things rather than virtual reality and advanced technology. I do get this is how the world is moving, but we do not need to spend every second of the game playing video games, watching Netflix or texting. This is a comic I would recommend to people who enjoyed The Amazing Spiderman and Batgirl comics.

The Killing Joke



The Killing Joke from the master of comic writers Alan Moore comes a comic filled with entertainment, humor and action. I myself found this comic to be very fun to read and I enjoyed it very much. The story was well scripted, while the illustrations proved to be very graphic, stylized and dramatic adding expressiveness to the story. Also, I really enjoyed the flashbacks, which added more of the background character development of the Joker and how he came to be insane. I would continue to read this over and over. I really like the references of two face and poison Ivy towards the end of the story. I think those are two characters that are very interesting in the DC Universe and should have their own movies or at least play partial roles in the batman franchise. Overall, this story really gives me a sense of Batman's and The Jokers hateful relationship with one another.

When I began reading the comic it reminded me of the second movie in The Dark Knight franchise where Heath Ledgers Joker was in prison and Batman went in to talk to him. The scenes are very similar in their portrayal of what happened. The comic and movie version both portrayed the insanity going on in the Joker's mind. However, the deck of cards wasn't there, which would have been much more entertaining for the movie and would have taken it in another direction.

There are a couple changes I would make when I adopt this story into another medium. I would change the beginning scenes, which are kind of confusing and not composed very well. In the middle of the story when the man is chained and in the carnival I would show more of the environment. I would adapt this into a live-action featured film. I think with the DC Universe struggling with their movies recently I think this story could bring it back to life.To start, at the beginning of the comic the Insane Asylum looks very welcoming and not that terrifying and the illustrator only draws part of the building. I would have gone more menacing-looking and shown more of the complex instead of parts of it. Maybe the building is much bigger and it's on the top of hill and a grayish color to it. Also, if they had a scene at the beginning of the story showing the entire building on the hill that would give us more of an understanding of the environment we are going to. As for the middle of the story when we are at the carnival it would be nice to see more interesting angles and compositions. There are just a lot of compositions in this story that fall flat and I feel like could be shown in a more 3-Dimensional environment.

DC Archive Comics - Wonder Woman



Wonder Woman is a superhero of great beauty, strength, speed and intelligence. This comic introduces this great heroes history and her fun adventures fighting unique villains. The introductions provide us with interesting insight to the story they are about to tell about Wonder Woman. The introductions keep the readers entertained with asking us questions that we need to look for in that part of the story. At the beginning of the comic Wonder Hippolyte, the Queen discovers Wonder Woman during a tournament to see who is the strongest woman in the Amazon. She and Steve Trevor have a very close relationship with each other, as Wonder Woman tends to save him a lot and they always seem to be in scenes with each other. Wonder Woman sets out to save problems and reach feats no other woman can achieve. The drawings are stiff and feel flat to me including the compositions, which I think could be a lot better. For vintage comics the color is decent. However I have read other “Archived,” comics that have a better use of color with more interesting compositions. After watching Wonder Woman make a cameo in Batman Vs. Superman the actor Gal Gadot does an excellent job in the role. She is a great representation like the ones in the comic, especially the suit, which depicts more of the "newer," version of Wonder Woman. She acts in a way that truly brings out Wonder Woman’s physique, strength, speed and beauty in this film. Her shield reminds me of Captain America's because of its strength as well. I would recommend this comic to anyone who enjoys Wonder Woman or any superhero comics.

Arkham Asylum 



Arkham Asylum is a comic that really takes a horrifying and dark turn to the Batman saga. It's something I would not normally read. However, I really enjoyed this comic. The beautifully drawn illustrations and master storytelling drew me into the entire narrative. There is so much simplicity and stylization in some of the drawings and in others are very detailed environments that are masterfully designed and colorized. Batman is not one of my favorite everyday superheroes and see him portrayed as more of a criminal and vigilante than the classics that have powers. His advanced weaponry and combat skills make him a master at fighting. Ben Affleck's portrayal in Batman Vs Superman was very well done. There was one thing that did not work well when Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were fighting Doomsday. Since Batman is not a god he was pretty much rendered useless in this fight. I liked Christian Bale's portrayal is Batman in The Dark Knight series a lot more. It reminded me more of the comics especially when he was fighting the joker, which reminded me of the joker in this comic. The joker is my all time favorite DC comics villain. His tricks as well as insanity makes him perfect against the crime fighting superhero Batman. This comic goes full insane when the joker takes the mantel and Heath Ledgers portrayal of the character is just as disturbed and insane as the one in this comic. Overall, I would recommend this comic to people who enjoy horror and being terrified. This is a comic I enjoyed but I am not a huge fan of comics or movies that goes full on insane.

Ms. Marvel


Ms. Marvel is a fascinating muslim teenage superhero with interesting powers of shapeshifting. She sneaks out at night to go to parties and is still figuring herself out. She has very disciplined parents that want what's best for her. There is a sort of disconnect between Kamala and her parents because she is just beginning to discover who she is and what she is capable of. Kamala's different shapeshifting abilities are exploring her true identity and the coming of age. She is first discovering her powers after she is leaving a party and has a drink she falls down. She is dreaming about Captain America, Iron Man and Captain Marvel. This was an interesting effect in the comic book where they connected her with the use of her powers and spoke to her about maturing as a person and a superhero. When she wakes up she is trapped in this cocoon, breaks out and turns into Ms. Marvel. There was not a whole lot of action as she is just getting her powers, but I feel like the writers need to  develop her as a character. Instead of her just saving her friends she needs to be protecting the city. Overtime I think this will happen, but I found it to be a little slow. The illustrations were beautifully drawn and were the highlights of the comic book. As a teenager we are in between the child and adult phases where we are in the middle of childlike and mature behavior. Overall, this is a comic I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading Marvel comics.

This One Summer - Mariko and Jillian Tamaki 



This is a story of two friends, Windy and Rose, who are visiting the beach together with their families. However, since they are maturing into teenagers they find themselves dealing with love. And Rose deals with her parents marriage falling to pieces.

This was a very enjoyable comic to read and the illustrations were beautifully drawn. The script had the content of two young teenage girls who are going through a phase and talking about boys. We were getting a perspective of two girls and what to talk about when they are at the beach. We got a feeling we were at the beach with the mention of the fresh air and swimming. When you are at the beach with your family your parents always tell you your story of how you were born and grew up. I enjoyed the reference Windy's mom used when she was telling her about how she grew up. The mother referenced a bean to Windy because they start off tiny and when they grow up they turn into a beautiful human being. That's what Windy is becoming and I just thought this was fascinating. The illustrations were very well composed and expressive, which makes the scenes come to life. They are very atmospheric and dreamlike, which give us the feeling that it's summer. And since there is no color in this it creates the quality of a dream, which is what the beach feels like. The characters are developed to a point where they are recognizable and stand out. They are stylized to the point where they could be cartoons on a kids tv show. I always like a cartoon characters eyes because, in my opinion they are the focal point of the character and define them. He simplifies the eyes, but they create an interesting character. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys the summer, the life of teenagers and their struggles. I think this is a great interpretation of that.