This week in the #NerdsRead Pull List… disappointment!

And awesomeness, too.

No joke, folks, both of our lists are entirely polarized. On one hand we both have a great issue from a resoundingly great series. Then, on the other, we have a disappointing issue of a series we initially embraced as showing great promise. Unfortunately Kylee looks to be about fed up with Fight Club 2 and Sam just isn’t the target audience for The Tomorrows. At least Lumberjanes and Past Aways came through for us!

Hopefully next week will go better for us.

What books did you read this week? Did you read any of the same ones we read? If so, let us know what you thought in the comments!

Sam’s Reads

Lumberjanes #17

Author: Noelle Stevenson & Shannon Watters
Artist: Brooke Allen
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: BOOM! Studios
★★★★☆

Oh, boy. Get ready for some #feels in this one. It’s definitely friendship to the max a bit as we share a sweet flashback to Rosie and Abbie’s childhood. But then pretty much immediately afterward we realize our girls aren’t quite as coherent of a scouting unit as they seem. While Rosie is trying to talk Abbie down from killing the Grootslang in the mountains, the girls try to figure out how to appears the ancient beast. But Jo’s jealousy towards Barney comes to a head in a disastrous way that nearly gets them all killed.

After Abbie is seriously injured and Rosie goes to save her, Barney and Jo are able to talk the Grootslang down from it’s murderous rage by giving it back a gem stolen from it long ago. They reconcile but sadly Abbie and Rosie do not. At least they’re all alive, though! But the camp has a lot more dangerous secrets ahead, I’m sure. And a strange call from Jo’s dads reveals that they girls have only been at camp for a few days… It looks like the creatures aren’t the only things warped in these woods.

I’m glad Jo’s spat with Barney didn’t last long. And I hope we get to see more of him. He’s adorable. And he’s always got kittens. This is basically all I need in a reoccurring Lumberjanes sidekick.

The Tomorrows #2

Author: Curt Pires
Artist: Alexis Ziritt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Source: Dark Horse DRC
★★☆☆☆

After the Tomorrows blow their secret base and escape they find themselves in New Rio. Unfortunately, nothing good is waiting for them. Jocasta, one of the local Tomorrows and a good friend of Claudius, is dead – murdered in his own home. They discover a ring left at the scene belonging to a local gang member. In the absence of government, New Rio has been run by the gangs and anarchy has otherwise controlled society. Culture has grown exponentially in the absence of any real structure.

But something else is at play in New Rio. When Claudius catches up with the murderer, he tells Claudius that something else is at play. He murdered Jocasta under orders that he regrets. Whoever ‘they’ are, they are a force to be reckoned with. That’s all Claudius finds out, though, before the guy steps off a cliff to his own death telling him, “There are fates worse than death.”

The Tomorrows remains an awesomely illustrated book. It looks psychedelic and out there. It’s a good look for the book. Unfortunately the story remains preachy regarding technology, society, and culture. This issue was a lot less eye-rollingly stereotypical in it’s blatantly non-conformist approach to storytelling. But I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to make it through this series before it becomes too much.

Sam Wildman is a co-founder and co-editor at Nerdophiles. She totally would have enjoyed camping a lot more as a kid if she had been a Lumberjane as opposed to a regular old Girl Scout. @samaside

Kylee’s Reads

Fight Club 2 #4

Author: Chuck Palahniuk
Artist: Cameron Stewart
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Source: Dark Horse DRC
★★☆☆☆

Can we just… pretend this doesn’t exist anymore? The literal self-insertion of Chuck Palahniuk this week, image and all, was probably the final straw for me. Yes, I get it, look how cool and meta we’re being by reminding everyone that Fight Club is a pop culture staple – the first rule and all. While Sebastian is finally accepted into the ranks, Marla gets her own crack at a bombastic story line this week, running into the aforementioned narrator.

She uses her connections with her latest support group to get all of the kids Make-A-Wish-esque trips to the heart of Tyler’s schemes. If you weren’t drinking the kool-aid before, this is the make or break it moment – and for me, it’s broken. Cameron Stewart continues to make the art dynamic and interesting and we get to meet an old friend in the messiest of pages, but if Palahniuk can pull it together in the end, I’ll be shocked. Perhaps wait for the trade to get a look at the overarching themes, but issue to issue it really hasn’t been an enjoyable experience to me. I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on the matter.

Past Aways #6

Author: Matt Kindt
Artist: Scott Kolins
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Source: Dark Horse DRC
★★★★☆

Don’t get thrown off, the next issue of Past Aways is coming to us October – and that can’t come soon enough! Through the first six issues, we’ve come to understand one thing, no matter what happens time protects itself from paradoxes. No one on the team can die outside of their time and that’s kept them safe in some pretty insane situations so far. Until that absolute gets tossed out and we see a member of the team get their head literally blown off.

Reacting along with the rest of the team, the reader is left stupefied about what happens next. With Hein’s particular affliction giving him the opportunity to off Art (for good?!), and Phil behind the dastardly plot – and after they had such a nice heart to heart – we’ll have to wait to see how the team pulls it all back together, whether they will be one member short or two remains to be seen. As the first story arc winds down, Past Aways continues to be quick-witted sci-fi.

Kylee Sills is an associate editor at Nerdophiles. The way things are going, she’s just waiting for the announcement that a disappointing adaptation of Survivor is in the works. @kyleewho