Graphic novel round up

I read this recently:
Wow. Great well written, well drawn, action packed graphic novel. It's a Viking tale that's believable and very atmospheric. The battle sequences are graphic and bloody but not gratuitously so, same goes for the sex scenes. I've really hated the way Vikings were portrayed in most comics, and films and TV shows for that matter, so I was very happy to see that someone in an entertainment medium finally did them justice.

My only quibble with this graphic novel is the language. They use modern words that would never have come from the lips of Vikings. I could forgive them the use of the word 'fuck' because it's one of those words that just fits but for one of the characters to say that another is a 'dictator' was just too much to believe. Seeing it used in this graphic novel was like seeing a jet plane in a western, it just didn't fit.

I just finished this graphic novel:

I'm someone who absolutely hates superhero comic books and graphic novels. I didn't used to be that way, after reading them for years and then not reading them for years it's just hard for me to go back to enjoying them when on the odd occasion when I do pick up a superhero title. They've been done to death and all the established superhero characters are dull as dust to me. But, having said that, I really liked this superhero graphic novel.

The superheros are a group of kids who were born mysteriously to women who didn't know they were pregnant. The kids who were lucky enough to survive these miraculous births are gathered together by an eccentric mad scientist and his chimpanzee sidekick who is actually a highly intelligent physician who just happens to be a chimp and they are melded into an unlikely superhero squadron. They all have wildly diverse personalities and powers and they don't always mesh and get along with one another and that's what makes the story so good.

The story telling is superb and the funky chunky art is swell as well. It reminded me of the comic book art of Bill Sienkiewicz. Evidently the guy who wrote this series is in the band My Chemical Romance. But I had no idea who he was since I'm not an angst ridden emo teen who wears pounds of black eyeliner and who feels things waaaaaaay too deeply. However don't let the fact that the writer is in some crappy band that the kids love so much stop you from reading this series, he's actually a pretty good comic book writer.

I recommend both these graphic novels highly.