Marvel Conan
CB 1-15; SSC 1-15
That through reader's digest type quick re-telling of the stories and some flashbacks.
It's nice that they decided to avoid yet another crappy re-boot, however it's like editorial recap that lasts, no less than 12 full issues, poorly written, drawn fine, in short - total waste of good art.
They could just include that same mosaic and move to Zeb Wells stories from Savage Sword (in a single publication), those were written better. Just "better" fortunately doesn't cut the mustard here since we have Glenat Conan, plus Mark Russell's Red Sonja over at Dynamite.
I would not recommend this.

Glenat Conan

First thing that got me interested in this saga is the universe it takes place in. It's reminiscent, maybe inspired by, early RPG's from the 90s (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy and such). Buildings are almost neutral/timeless, wooden and brick structures, you can place them anywhere in between late 19th century and a present day. Among those structures there is a huge fn' wall.
Wall is there to protect against giant humanoid creatures (titans) that appear to be aggressive. The second thing that got me interested were those creatures - their looks is not menacing but rather benevolent. They are docile, and their facial expressions are almost like those of tourists. Even thought they look like grown ups they are mentally like babies - all they care is to eat, shit and sleep. The problem is of course - it's humans they like to munch.

Then we follow bunch of kids, who are out on the streets, they can't see well because crowd gathered to greet Survey Corps.
Survey Corps - a branch of human military that goes outside the Walls to gather information (about the outside world and titans) and confront titans when necessary.
They were devastated and badly defeated (yet we don't know what exactly happened out there), and we can see they are quite popular among kids. What's not to like - battle hardened veterans who have the knowledge of the outside world and who experienced great adventure. They also wear cool vertical-maneuvering equipment and best insignia. Maybe this: If you enlist - you'll go through vigorous training and you'll go out there and die. If you are lucky - you'll be crippled. If you are extremely lucky you'll be just mentally scarred for life. In first 4 volumes we are about to find out more about the main characters, Survey Corps, walls, cities inside the walls and this universe in general.

Experienced manga authors often plan early/alternative ending, round around volume 1, in case book does not sell well, the ending that wraps up everything. That's understandable, who would in right mind dedicate 5 or more years of life to saga that no one reads. That planned early ending derails overall quality a bit but it's necessary price to pay since it's very practical. Due to inexperience and/or fanaticism Hajime Isayama just goes for it, from the get go. No early endings, it's properly mounted saga with it's own storytelling rhythm and pacing from chapter to chapter. Single volume usually includes 4 chapters.

Recommended 100%.

Demon Slayer exploded in popularity last year thanks to the anime series and the release of the movie, which broke box office records. A large part of its success is due to the pandemic. The story seems to resonate with folks during these hard times. I bought all 23 volumes for my daughter plus a few of the other one shots. She's 10 years old and it's the first time she's been into a manga series. As you can imagine, Dad was only too keen to encourage her new hobby. The story's decent enough. It's a little rushed toward the end, but some parts of the story are moving. I think Viz have have released English volumes through to #20. 

David Lapham man, belongs to a small club of those natural-born writers-artists. It's almost entirely different discipline from writing or drawing, it looks like.
You gotta have a camera in your head for that, that's for sure. You gotta have a life to write, and you gotta not have life to draw. So how the hell you do that?
Who cares, because it's possible, and we know it since there are:



This is a mashup of a period piece (USA, Somewhere Out West, 70s & 80s), coming-of-age story and crime. There is also embedded personal fantasy of one of the prominent characters - Virginia Applejack, a super heroine also known as notorious Amy Racecar.

2 things about crime here: If you are expecting all crime all the time, this is not for you - avoid. Second, the type of crime here is not based on movies or comic book tropes
(and there ain't nothing wrong with that, when done well, as say in Sin City) - So there are no Italian style 30's crime syndicates super-imposed on 70s/80s, hard boiled detectives etc, rather - it's like grassroots/reality-based set of activities, in your school/neighborhood, of which some may or may not be entirely legal. We follow characters that are partially or fully involved in all that. There are also re-occurring characters who are career criminals. Even those professional criminals have their personal lives, and not everything they do is illegal. Often times they are more honest than "honest people", it's complicated like that. Characterization in this book is just excellent.

Graphically, this book could be described I guess as a cross in between Sin City and Love n' Rockets. I would rate it, in overall, better than the 2 (who I also rate high).

I'm also a big Stray Bullets fan. Sunshine & Roses was epic, but it's a huge sprawling monster that kind of outgrew the chronology. It's weird looking back at the issues from the original series that take place after Sunshine & Roses. Perhaps you're not meant to read the book that way, but they don't really fit. 

Is Sunshine & Roses finished now? Read the first half a dozen or so issues then decided to wait until it was done. That seems a long time ago now