“The Secret Life of the Pencil: Great Creatives and Their Pencils”
“Best bit: Some dude designed a pencil with dice dots on each side. A pencil is six sided, like dice, so you can roll the
“Help Yourself Help Yourself”
“Being a big fan of Patrick DeWitt, I decided to try and find this one, an early, small press book. It was somewhat of an
“The Case of the Team Spirit (Bad Machinery, #1)”
“Before you read this, don’t be the idiot that I am. Things felt a little disjointed at first, and when I looked into it I
“Crap Kingdom”
“Before you look at the description of this book DO NOT READ THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS BOOK. OR READ ABOUT IT ANYWHERE ELSE. As the
“Concrete Park, Vol. 1: You Send Me (Concrete Park, #1)”
“Before you get mad at me: I didn’t crow about it elsewhere, but I feel, in hating on this book, that I should tell you
“License to Love (Agent Ex, #4)”
“Before reading this, know two things: 1. Spoilers abound. Spoilers abound because I would not recommend this book to anyone I care about, and by
“This is Where I Leave You”
“Before getting into this book review, you should know that I am not one to shy away from fiction that crosses the line. I’ve enjoyed
“The Million Dollar Policeman”
“Because this book chronicles the exploits of the worst policeman ever, I thought it would be fun to look at some real police blunders. 2010:
“Punishment: Earth”
“Because none of my strategies have worked thus far, I decided to go with actual coin tosses. Yes, I dug out a penny from 1967,
“Super Sad True Love Story”
“Because I decided to troll a guy on Goodreads for fun a few minutes ago (don’t worry, it was minor. He used the word “obola”
“Captain America, Vol. 1: Castaway in Dimension Z, Book One”
“Be warned, it’s Dimension Z, not Dimension X, home of Krang. Captain America does not fight Krang. This is not the TMNT/Neutrinos/Cap crossover we’ve all
“Batgirl, Volume 1: The Darkest Reflection”
“Batgirl is unparalyzed. Apparently by some weird surgical procedure done in South America or something (South America being the home of revolutions in surgical science).
“Monsters”
“Barry, I love you, and damn you nearly killed me with those long handwritten letters. Folks, as a comics reader who did learn and use
“Tattoo of Death (Choose Your Own Adventure, #159)”
“Balls! Balls, balls, balls! This being my third adventure of choosing, I decided to take a different tack. I thought, “Well, trying to figure out
“The Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time”
“Back to some good stuff here! One of the few Spider-Man comics that isn’t based around Peter Parker being miserable. Two villains feature heavily in
“Berserk, Vol. 7 (Berserk, #7)”
“B: is for the sword you swing, at me. E: is everyone you kill, each week. R: youâre really really goooooorrrre-y S: super super gooooorre-y
“Avengers Academy, Vol. 4: Final Exams”
“Avengers Academy, overall, is a pretty good series. Here’s what I didn’t like: It seems like there was a lot of time spent with various
“Morning Glories, Vol. 3: P.E.”
“At this point, the series turns into Scooby Doo with ultraviolence, and also they never actually solve a mystery, just kind of keep picking up
“The Boys, Volume 9: The Big Ride”
“At this point things get a little complicated. I started wondering whether there was a bit too much story going on here. Too many complex
“Grande Illusions: Books I & II”
“At the time of publication, this was how you learned this stuff: You had to apprentice and collaborate with a true master. Today, it’s a
“The Boys, Volume 7: The Innocents”
“At the risk of revealing too much about myself, I found a calculator online that would tell me how many balloons it would take to
“Centipede Vol. 1: Game Over”
“At first this was boring AF. Then it got fun and weird. Then the main character took a shroom trip that gave him insight into
“Dog Years”
“As someone who is not really a dog person, a dog book is a tough sell for me. I don’t want to say that I
“Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars: A Graphic Memoir”
“As is tradition, not going to give a star rating to a memoir about a dead kid, because that just seems unnecessary. I mean, do
“Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery”
“As an aging “athlete” (in quotes because, well, I’m an amateur at best) I’ve racked up my fair share of injuries at this point. Both
“Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal”
“As a reading experience, it’s pretty unusual. It’s highly interactive, and more than that, it’s a memoir that’s more interested in connecting readers to each
“Fragments of Horror”
“As a kid with a cat who saturated his sleeping bag with urine, I can relate to that first story on a terrible level. “
“Batman Beyond, Volume 1: Escaping the Grave”
“Apparently there was a huge war against robots sometime before this book. Which I HOPE was never actually in the comics. I kinda think it
“The Boys, Volume 8: Highland Laddie”
“Apparently going home to Scotland ain’t that much different from going home in smalltown America. Except people use the C-word more. “
“Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks”
“Another really good volume in the set. The only thing that concerns me, because I’m a worrier (sometimes misheard as “warrior” which is hilarious because
“The Incredible Hulk, Vol. 2”
“Another pretty good volume. What’s fun about it, again, is the switch. We get events from the Hulk’s perspective, which is a great swap because…
“Lumberjanes: Up All Night (Lumberjanes, #1)”
“Another in the entry of Lady Comics Pete Wants To Love. I didn’t love this. Although I don’t think it had anything to do with
“Dead Men Scare Me Stupid”
“Another home run for Swartzwelder. I put this one a little lower, but you have to understand, it’s a 4 on the Swartzwelder Scale, not
“Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles”
“Another Hanna-Barbera remake thingie that’s a lot better than it has any business being. Snagglepuss is a 1950’s playwright. Who is gay and also being
“Prisoner of the Ant People (Choose Your Own Adventure, #25)”
“Another failure. Damnation. This one was actually quite the spectacular failure, and the way you know that you’ve failed at a Choose Your Own Adventure
“Wolverine by Jason Aaron Omnibus, Vol. 1”
“Another entry into the world of Wolverine. THIRTY entries to be exact. You know, I think one of the problems with these huge editions is
“The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph”
“Another dnf for Pete. I’m pretty sure someone made a joke about the book being the obstacle, so I’ll skip it. This book is probably
“Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16”
“Another comedian memoir that let me down. This is strange to me. I would think that comedians would write THE BEST memoirs. I really love
“Of Mice and Men”
“Another book that was ruined for me by school. Seriously, why the hell do they have kids read this in junior high? Because it’s short?
“Andre The Giant: Closer To Heaven”
“Andre the Giant’s story makes me sad, and it seems like everyone else is all upset about one thing or another right now. I’m not
“New London (The Woods, #3)”
“And you thought YOUR high school was rough!You know someone reviewed this series like that.“
“Mage, Vol. 6: The Hero Denied, Book Three Part 2”
“And with that, the series ends. The ending is satisfying. No spoilees, I’ll just say things get wrapped up and you won’t be pissed, but
“Descender, Vol. 6: The Machine War”
“And thus, Pete finished Descender. I have some advice. Maybe for myself. I think it’s time to start only reading series that are completed. I
“Daredevil, Vol. 4: The Autobiography of Matt Murdock”
“And thus we reach the end of Mark Waid’s Daredevil run. Overall, fun. I missed Mike Allred’s art in the second half, but still pretty
“Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps, #1)”
“And thus Pete embarks on another journey that’ll likely end 2 or 3 volumes in: Goosebumps! The bumps definitely, as Jack Black put it so
“The Superior Spider-Man, Vol. 6: Goblin Nation”
“And thus ends the Superior Spider-Man. The first half of the series was excellent. The second half flagged a bit. The ending works, and Dan
“B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth, Vol. 4: The Devil’s Engine & The Long Death”
“And then B.P.R.D. made the Wendigo badass. This really is the book that keeps on giving.”
“I Do Not Like Books Anymore!”
“An unexpected meditation on the ennui many of us felt mid-pandemic, this book is an onion within an onion within a puzzle box, including a
“Ghosted, Vol. 1: Haunted Heist”
“An intriguing premise that’s somewhat let down by a rote march through the plot. Sorry, I just typed the headline to my obit in this
“Rusty Brown (Pantheon Graphic Library)”
“An extremely Chris Ware kind of book. And because it is by Chris Ware, thatâs a good thing. Chris Ware has mastered the truly pathetic
“Lexicon”
“An English teacher’s wet dream, “magic” words are real and knowledge of morphemes allows a person to control others. This book was the first time
“The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 3: Hotel Oblivion”
“An eight year pause in reading this series seems like a damning thing. But hey, I was busy! I had some shit to do between
“Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different”
“An amazingly solid book of writing tips. I wish this existed ten (okay, who am I kidding, 15) years ago. It’s more than writing tips…I’d
“The Arrow (The Woods, #1)”
“American Drifting Classroom. But that’s not exactly a problem.”
“We Stand On Guard”
“America fights a war with Canada. In most books we have to put aside a preposterous premise, allow certain things, to enjoy it. For example,
“Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371”
“Amazing story about the AIDS epidemic, which a lot of people probably don’t know the extent of. It’s worth a look. Not a perfect book,
“Nova, Volume 1: Origin”
“Am I the only person on the planet who just once wants to see an old man get some sort of super power instead of
“The Horde (The Woods, #5)”
“Am I mistaken in thinking these are Nazi-era Japanese army dudes?”
“All-Star Superman, Vol. 2”
“Although Superman has never been a favorite of mine, I think this book is one of my favorite depictions. The different situations he’s in force
“MIND MGMT, Volume Three: The Home Maker”
“Alright, Matt Kindt. You better not be pulling a LOST on me here. I’m trusting you, man. “
“DCeased: Dead Planet”
“Alright, I’m gonna sound like a real asshole: I don’t think what the rich supervillains were doing was bad? Okay, they set up a safe
“The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again”
“Alright, I just complained about How to Be An Antiracist for these same things: I just picked out a book called The Power of Fun:
“Assassin Nation, Vol. 1: Number One With a Bullet”
“All the assassins in this book have a gimmick. Or a trait that sets them apart. If I were an assassin, what would mine be?
“The Trail Of The Vampire”
“All I want to say about this is that you should skip this one and move right on to the Bad Breath Vampire. THAT’S the
“Aleister & Adolf”
“Aleister Crowley might have been an occultist, but he also might have been the first communications/media studies professor. I guess he may have invented Churchill’s
“Step Aside, Pops (Hark! A Vagrant, #2)”
“Ain’t nothing wrong with this! Kate Beaton tells the best jokes, and she’s also telling a different KIND of jokes. The way the setups work,
“Chuck Klosterman Presents Chuck Klosterman X: The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century”
“Ahha! Meagan showed me how to review more than one version of the same book. What you need to know about Chuck Klosterman Presents Chuck
“Indestructible Hulk, Vol. 3: S.M.A.S.H. Time”
“Ahh! I got tricked into reading ANOTHER time travel story! How did I not see that asshole from the Revolutionary War on the cover? I
“The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances (Volume 5) (The Oatmeal)”
“Ah, yes. The reasons behind exercise. Or, as these tales are more commonly known, The Stuff of Nightmares. Look, nobody wants to hear about why
“East of West, Vol. 10”
“Ah, well, the world ended, sort of, and the book ended, totally. It’s an apt metaphor, if you think about it. If the book ends,
“Doomed (Damned, #2)”
“Ah, time for the annual Why Pete Still Loves Chuck Palahniuk Review. To be honest, there were a lot of things I enjoyed about this
“Silver Surfer, Vol. 1: New Dawn”
“Ah, the Silver Surfer. For the uninitiated, SS was Norrin Radd, a dude whose planet was about to be consumed by Galactus, who is this
“Sports Is Hell”
“Ah, the award-winning graphic novel. We meet again. Every so often a comic, excuse me, graphic novel comes along that people seem to really love.
“Detective Made Easy”
“Ah, shit. You need a little Swartzwelder every now and then. I don’t want to spoil too much here, so can I just put in
“Wolverine: Old Man Logan, Vol. 3: The Last Ronin”
“Ah, of course, if it’s Wolverine, we make our way to Japan eventually. Someone should do an alternate universe Wolverine where young Logan is a
“Kids Are Weird: And Other Observations from Parenthood”
“Ah, Jeffrey Brown. For quite some time Mr. Brown was writing and drawing some of my favorite comics. His autobiographical stuff was great. Honestly, I’ve
“Berserk, Vol. 33”
“Ah, finally, another gross mass of flesh monster! I’ve been waiting!I’m like a lady on a date, sitting in the passenger seat of a car,
“Chew, Vol. 12: Sour Grapes”
“Ah, endings. We love to hate an ending. Think about it. Which TV endings were beloved? Any? Off the top of my head, I can
“Star Wars: The Crimson Empire Saga”
“Ah, Crimson Empire. The Star Wars tale that I remember reading in the grocery store every morning before school started. Not only did I re-read
“Armada”
“Ah, Armada. Take a good dose of Last Starfighter, mix in a bit of Star Wars, and then some general good times, and you’ve got
“Giant Days, Vol. 8 (Giant Days, #8)”
“Ah, and NOW we get to do F, Marry, Kill: Boys edition! I’m counting the following three boys: McGraw, obvs, Ed, and Susan’s Dad. You
“Batman ’66, Vol. 1”
“Ah, 60âs Batman. Whoever decided that there was a Batman void here was totally right. Weâve had a lot of grim and gritty Batman in
“The Immortal Hulk Omnibus, Volume 1”
“After reading volume 1 and putting it down, I’m back with a vengeance to try this series again. This starts out great. I’d describe it
“Berserk, Vol. 24”
“After reading this, I find the depiction of trolls as lovable imps with wacky hair super offensive. It’d be like making a toy line called
“Thief of Thieves, Vol. 3: Venice”
“After pimping my own book in reviews of the first 2 volumes of Thief of Thieves. I’m retired. No more. Well, okay. Maybe they drew
“Thief of Thieves, Vol. 2, “Help Me””
“After my last review of Thief of Thieves where I mostly used the review to promote my own book, The Heist-est Heist Ever Heisted, I
“Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love & Karaoke”
“After Love Is A Mixtape, I’ll always have a soft spot for Rob Sheffield. That book was so terrible and sad. Being a widower at
“Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen”
“After I finished this book, someone asked me whether itâs a good book for non-runners. Honestly, I have no idea. Running has been a big
“Superman for All Seasons”
“After being a little disappointed by some recent Superman movies, I decided to keep an eye out for the best Superman comics. Superman’s never been
“Batwing, Vol. 1: The Lost Kingdom”
“Africa Batman: certainly sounds like one of the worst ideas of all time, right? I mean, pair the idea of making a second Batman, taking
“Sweet Tooth, Vol. 6: Wild Game”
“A very good ending to a very good series. Ending something people like is always tough. Ending shitty things is easy. You just stop. But
“The Walking Cat: A Cat’s-Eye View of the Zombie Apocalypse (Omnibus Vol. 1-3)”
“A very cute, not un-serious zombie tail. Tail? Eh?I’ll see myself out.Wait, which way is the door?How did I get in here?Holy crap, this is
“Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 4”
“A touching sequence, and also one of the best J. Jonah Jameson bits I’ve seen in FOREVER. Ultimately (see what I did there?) this book
“ã¯ã³ãã³ãã³ 1 ä¸æ [One Punch Man 1: Ichigeki]”
“A superhero who has trained himself to such a high level that he defeats every enemy with one punch! Okay, it’s a fairly simple concept,
“Huck, Book 1: All-American”
“A super fun book written by Mark Millar on a day he must’ve been feeling fairly optimistic about the world. That dude writes some great
“Batman: Damned”
“A story so thin that even Batman’s THICK DICK couldn’t save it!That’s right, in this book, you see Batman’s crank. Kind of, mostly, somewhat in
“Is This Guy For Real?: The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman”
“A solid book, a good look at a portion of Kaufman’s life that’s less discussed and considered. Box Brown does a really nice job with
“The Walking Dead, Vol. 19: March to War”
“A slower Walking Dead is still better than a lot of other comics. But. I can’t be the only one thinking that this new fella
“Denver”
“A short little read, this slim book is a reminder of how young a city Denver really is and how close it remains to its