Must Read Fall 2018 Comics

September 3, 2018June 21, 2019Leave a comment

I’m a little behind on doing anything with my blog for some really good reasons. Work, work travel, work, work projects, school, school papers, personal life… lots of stuff going on. In the meantime, I saw that three of my favorite artists are releasing comic books! THEY DELIVERED. Here are some mini-reviews I posted on my Goodreads.

FYI: These are all advance reading copies (ARCs).

Super Chill: A Year of Living Anxiously – Adam Ellis
Releases on Oct 23, 2018
If his stuff looks familiar, it’s because he used to be a comic artist for Buzzfeed. By far my favorite of the releases this fall.
A great collection of comics by Adam. I was super happy to see that a lot of the comics in this book were content new to me, still in his signature style that touches on a lot of fun and sometimes way too real topics. I really enjoyed reading this and can’t wait to read more from him.

Sharky Malarkey – Megan Nicole Dong (Sketchshark)
Releases on September 18, 2018
A fun assortment of comics by Megan, a.k.a. sketchshark! The comics and illustrations are just so much fun and very lively. There’s a lot of social commentary and poking fun at real life situations, and I love the comics about Chaos, her cat. A definite read for any comic fan.

Emotions Explained w/ Buff Dudes – Andrew Tsyaston (Shenpai)
Releases on October 16, 2018
I’m a big Shenpai fan, and was super excited to see his book on here. His comics are very cartoony and simple, but he really tackles some tough issues in a comedic way that I can easily relate to, like depression, self-esteem, and other touchy subjects. It’s a quick read but super funny. Must read! My only complaint is that I’ve read most of the content previously.

Revisiting Harry Potter #2 and #3

July 26, 2018July 26, 20181 Comment

Header - Review

With the hope of finishing the Harry Potter series by Halloween, and the small chance of actually doing so, I’ve continued on!

I started the Chamber of Secrets on my return flight back from the midwest, and finally finished getting through the Prisoner of Azkaban last week. When I was a kid, I didn’t realize how silly some things were… like Lockhart. Oh my goodness. Not sure I exactly had an opinion on him as a kid, but after re-reading the book, I felt like he would be one of those annoying guys posting on Instagram all the time about the stuff that he’s done for attention. Nope.jpg.

The Prisoner of Azkaban, on the other hand, was such a joy to reread. My favorite chapter is the chapter with the Knight Bus: the mix of magic and reality really started the book off on the right note. For some reason, Prizoner of Azkaban is where I’ve always felt like the series really started expanding and where I felt that the situations became more dramatic and important.

Also that this book had important situations spanning the entire book — e.g. Buckbeak — whereas it felt like the previous two books tended to have a lot of the action right at the end of the book. Although I have nothing against that, this need and desire to see how the trial ends up and everything else made me keep reading and reading and reading.

I’m excited to get into the 4th book, but I’m a bit nervous as well given the length of the book and juggling school/work. I’m not sure I’ll hit that Halloween timeline, but maybe Christmas will do. 🙂

Corel Painter 2019 Demo Review

July 9, 2018Leave a comment

I’ve been wanting to buy Corel Painter for quite some time now, but the steep price tag always turned me away from actually buying it after trying the demo. Now that I’m a student, I can finally take advantage of the under $100 price tag (much much better), and with Painter 2019 available to demo, I can try it out with the expectation of getting it this time. 🙂

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As a digital artist, I found that accessing the brushes were very easy and straight forward. I enjoyed the default paper textures and brushes (and their algorithms) that made drawing a really fun experience, without a lot of the customization and fuss that come with a lot of other drawing programs. It’s very user friendly.

One downside I’ve had with Painter is that when attempting to paint on the selected layer only, it’s persistent throughout the entire picture. Compared to other programs, this is something odd to get used to. Usually the option is layer-by-layer rather than the entire image, which can be helpful for quickly going between layers and doing touch-ups. I’ve found myself having to continuously check when my brush doesn’t show.

Another downside (maybe I haven’t found it yet) is that the font selection doesn’t display how it looks, unlike in Photoshop where you can get a feeling for what font you’ll be using beforehand. Instead of scrolling through a bazillion font changes. 🙂

I’ll be playing more with the program but at this price it is something that will be a good add to my collection.

Michigan: On the Trail of a War Bride

June 23, 2018June 23, 2018Leave a comment

Header - Review

michigan on the trail of a war bride Michigan: On the Trail of a War Bride
by Julien Frey & Lucas Varela

I read this comic thanks to NetGalley. Greatly appreciated!

This is a quick review of this historical fiction graphic novel. It was published on May 16, 2018 (last month!) and it definitely deserves a look.

This comic starts off with a French couple who are visiting the wife’s family in the United States. As they get ready to leave, Odette’s story comes into play as a war bride: women who marry men during active service. The trip to the United States intertwines with Odette’s story in a beautiful way.

I found the art to be rather enjoyable. As a reader, I had an easy time discerning the characters and the background, and they were well drawn. Sometimes with comics, the style can be very messy and they meld together.

Beautiful, yet simple background work

The characters were also well animated. They did a great job on showing the relationships with minimum amount of space:

Just from the first page, you can tell their personalities 🙂

I think I saw some complaints about the characters, but I felt like this comic was more focused on the experience of Odette’s journey rather than totally on the growth of any one person.

TLDR: If you enjoy a good historical fiction with good art, I would definitely suggest adding this to your collection.

Review: Komi-san can’t communicate (古見さんは、コミュ症です)

June 2, 2018June 9, 20181 Comment

Header - Comic

古見さんは、コミュ症です (Komi-san can’t communicate) is a cute, fluffy comedy manga about a pretty school girl who has a communication disorder and her adventures with super-normal school boy named Tadano who tries to help her out.

Continue reading →

Review: Sims 4 – City Living

November 12, 2016May 27, 2018Leave a comment

Header - Review

sims4-cityliving-a

So, if you keep up with The Sims at all, you’ll likely know that a new expansion pack just came out November 1st. If not, surprise! Time to get your wallet out!

City Living has added a lot of new content to The Sims 4, making it a much more interesting game and reminds me of Sims 3 with how open some of the world is. You also get some new skills, jobs, and apartments.

Yes, apartments. Like from 3.

sims4-cityliving-b

Which can be very, very pricey. You think you could afford the rent and the deposit, but then the furnishings really get you, like below. (Note: you can get the place empty, however I’m lazy.)

Home/apartment traits are also a new thing, which is great depending on what you’re going for. The apartment my current sim lives in has great schools, but unfortunately … much higher chance of multiple children. Which is how she had triplets (seen in 1st screen) in a 2 bed 1 bath apartment. Hrrm.

sims4-cityliving-c

In addition, you get an open-world neighborhood with the districts. Each one has apartments, a common area where events happen with food stalls, and some kind of a museum or bar or other activity building.

I’ve found the quest to eat as many different foods from the different stalls to be fun. The opportunity for Sims to also learn how to use chopsticks and eat hotter foods is also amusing, especially when you make an Asian Sim. Wouldn’t you know how to use chopsticks? 😉

Just be careful of how much your Sims eat. Apparently they don’t have much self-control for whatever reason.

I would rate this a must buy for the Sims fan. This adds enough content to the base game that it’s worth buying and playing for however many days your stints go. 🙂

sims4-cityliving-d