Marvel Universe Doctor Strange (read for fun)

This is a collection of Doctor Strange adventures.  I found it at a used book sale put on by The Friends of the Plymouth Library in Minnesota. 

Some of them are one-shots staring the Sorcerer Supreme and others appear to be stories of other characters where he appears, such a Spiderman and Hulk. 

These are fun reads, but kinda lack-luster. The first one, with the villain Nightmare, feels like the final issue of a longer story, and so its resolution falls flat here. The one with Hulk is a status-quo sort of thing. The one with the reality-eating creatures is better because it has a good set up, execution and resolution. Likewise with the Captain-America one. However, the best one here is the one in Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #9: Contractual Discombobulations. The sight of an evil and unstoppable reality warper forced to obey silly rules is hilarious. The resolution is perfect. 

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Marvel Universe Doctor Strange " a C+

Click here for my next book review:   How Not to Summon a Demon Lord - volume 5 (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review:   She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wiseman - Volume 1 (read for fun)

Brian Wilkerson is an independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor's degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.

Avatar the Last Air Bender - Team Avatar Tales (read for fun)

 Avatar the Last Air Bender - Avatar Tales. 

This is a collection of short story comics, penned by the original creators of Avatar the Last Air Bender and a variety of artists. There does not appear to be any theme or connection to these short-stories, although most of them take place between seasons 1 and 2 of the show. So you get a little "how are the characters doing after the finale" sort of thing, which is nice. 

One of them shows Mai working in a flower shop owned by her aunt, and she has some family trouble. This story says a lot about the various sides of her outside of "gloomy Azula minion", without her saying much at all. Another focuses on Ty-Lee, and how she's doing with the Kyoshi Warriors. I like this one the best of the lot, because it answers a question that puzzled a lot of people when the season 1 finale aired: why is Ty-Lee with the Kyoshi Warriors? I say this is a perfect answer. It is also funny, and provides some good lessons too. 

A lot of these are about lessons. It was surprisingly, frankly, how many of them were built around a PSA style lesson. There's one about how the necessity of hope and how "paper-bending" (a.k.a. Origami) can be just as useful, albeit in a different way, as the superpower known as water-bending. There's one about building self-confidence, particularly through martial art practice, which I am totally onboard with, being a martial artist myself. This second story also has a secondary lesson -  don't be a jerk gatekeeper about your hobby, but let other people join. 

The art varies from story to story, because each story has a different. Some are more cartoonishly silly, like the story featuring The Boulder. Some are more serious, like the one with the Origami. All of them look good. 

Tricktser Eric Novels gives "Avatar the Last Air Bender - Team Avatar Tales. " an A+

Click here for my next book review:  Enola Holmes and the case of the Missing Marquis (read for fun)

Click here for my previous book review: I've been killing slimes for three hundred years and maxed out my level

Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).

His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.