Hello and long time no see my fellow book addicts. It’s a me, B! Back with another dull as hell article that is so poorly written it is no wonder why writers are being replaced with AI. Before you head on to read something by our robot overlords, take a look at The Thieves of Fate, written by Kira Burton, and drawn by her Leonardo DiCaprio brother (or was it Davinici?) James Burton.
The book is another gem of the indie universe and is a thriller novella that is worth our money to check out. The story follows Jack, whom after being arrested is committed to a mental health facility. Since he has no memory of his life before those around Jack doubt his sanity. To make matters worse, he meets strange children who are called, you guessed it, Thieves!
For those who are fans of unreliable narrators, this book is for you. Jack is very likable due to his witty personality and the empathy one feels for someone in his situation. I mean come on, we have all gotten a bad case of amnesia and then locked in a psychiatric hospital abused by the staff…it wasn’t just me, right? The Thieves were also very interesting, and made me want to learn more about them and what kind of influence they would have on this mentally-fragile guy. This was a well-written and beautifully-drawn story that although short and should only take an afternoon to read, one would still enjoy the journey it takes you on. The book currently holds a five-star rating on Amazon, and is worth your time, money, compliments when you write reviews, and also mentioning the awesome blog you learned about this book from.
The creator, Kira Burton, I was able to talk to briefly. She is a swell person who understands how hard creators work on their craft. Mainstream books from the big publishers are great, but nothing beats the sensation of an exciting indie story that cuts right to the meat of characters going at it in a fast-paced tale.
Hello my fellow book addicts! As promised, we are back with another blog post, this time diving into the world of indie comic books! I would like to discuss a few comic writers I’ve come to know over the last couple years on a professional and personal level (sort…they are online friends after all, haha!)
Tyler is someone who has created a platform to discuss not just new books that are coming out in the indie community, but he is a writer and artist who asks the tough questions and dives head-first into topics about comic books others might find controversial, due to worrying about how others might feel when it comes to things such as properly running a kickstarter campaign, or how some of the mainstream comics like Marvel and DC are turning towards taking on social issues rather than focusing on better stories (if you’ve seen the most recent Texas Chainsaw movie, you would see Tyler has a point).
Next up, we have Chuck Pineau. One of his most recent comics is Belia, a dark comedy. Chuck is a freelance writer and editors on all things comics, and knows a lot for the young man that he is. His strongest advice that even I took is to simply sit down and get to writing (unless you write better jumping on a trampoline, then to each their own). On his Facebook page which you can access through the following link, Chuck does regular, live podcast videos on the comic book industry, interviewing other writers and artists. The best part is if you have questions and are eager to learn, he always answers. Chuck also is one of the friendliest, and most upbeat people I’ve met. If there’s a source you’re looking for in the comic industry, follow Chuck!
Do you love horror, heroes, and mayhem? Get on the Ruben Romero train! Another friendly guy who is always willing to answer questions for up-and-coming writers like himself. Ruben has numerous projects going at once ranging from freelancing to his own stories. “I don’t want to be just a comic book writer, I want to be THE comic book writer.” Those were his words as to the kind of comic book writer he wanted to be, and his magical stories such as The Illusion Witch prove just that. Dive into the magical world he created with Aayda Locke, who encounters real magic and demons. You can also follow Ruben’s facebook page for his reviews on all things books and movies (and he’s such a king, never spoils anything!).
Comic Books are great things, and if you’re a reader, get reading comics. They provide all the benefits in becoming more intelligent and creative as regular books do, with the bonus of also having drawings! Until next time folks!
Hello my fellow book addicts! Let’s get to some ranting. We’re going to be getting out of our comfort zone today of books for a while, and dive into an adaption of comic book.
DC’s live adaption show Titans, based on the popular Teen Titans, hits a home run in the first part of its new season’s arc.
Seasons one and two of Titans were not by any means horrible, but did suffer from some of Greg Berlanti’s problems that have occurred on his other shows like Riverdale and The Flash. The storylines were dragged out and all over the place. They repeated characters arguing with each other over similar issues, as if the audience was watching a soap opera. Let me RANT here. Just because writers have decades of comics to work their adaptions off of, doesn’t mean they have to. Short and sweet is the way to go.
Season three of Titans starts off months where the last season ended. Dick Grayson leads the Titans as Nightwing, with Superboy, Beast Boy, Starfire, and everyone’s favorite dynamic dog, Krypto. Brenton Thwaites has remained a great frontman on the show as Dick Grayson, and the rest of the cast does well in following. Kory, who is also known as Starfire, and Connor (Superboy) have adapted into becoming their own people, while adjusting well still into society. From her being an alien from another world and him a genetic science experiment, fitting in wasn’t easy for them when they started on the show, but both have adjusted well becoming collected and sometimes goofy people like all of us. Same with Beast Boy. While it would have been nice to see him have more combat and transformations than just tiger, he too is struggling with Rachel being away, but remains focused on saving people as a superhero. Seeing these gritty adaptions of superheroes lots of us got to read in comics for years deal with real-life emotions and issues on the side really helps one care about them and make the show better.
The show also wasted no time in these first three episodes with getting into action. By the time the second episode starts, we have lost a couple great heroes, and a new brutal villain rises: Red Hood. He is introduced as multiple criminal leaders meet, and jumped in guns blazing and dropped a bag of heads of others in the criminal underworld. While that was a good job in having illustrated how brutal Red Hood could be, it is also revealed this is not going to the vigilante from the comics who tried to control crime and keep drugs away from kids. He forced innocent people into horrifying situations, and filled just as many more with bullets. Fans have wanted to see the Red Hood storyline come to live-action screens for a long time, and so far Titans has nailed it while also using its own original plot elements to mix things up.
It is clear no one is safe this season. Every one of our precious Titans should be cherished every episode considering we lost so many in just three for the premiere, as well as how Donna Troy and Deathstroke were killed off last season. Titans may be a fictional series, but it’s grounded into reality as shown through its grittiness and real-world language of blowing off steam and not holding feelings back. When they are held back, you see the characters struggling to do so. Such as the scene where Barbara Gordon lashed out on Bruce Wayne for the death of so many of her loved ones due to his war on crime, meanwhile Dick held back his grief, even though it could be seen through the disappointment in his eyes while he stared at Bruce that Barbara was not wrong. However, when Bruce crossed the line later, Dick let out his fury that had been held in all these years. Keeping these characters as real-world as possible while putting them up against an intense villain such as Red Hood, is shaping this up to be a season that easily outmatches the previous two and other superhero shows out there.
If one enjoyed the dark mystery, and action-packed scenes mixed with heavy dialogue that rocked Daredevil on Netflix, get HBO Max now and put on Titans season 3. An excellent adaption of some of our favorite comic books.
5/5 for these first three episodes of season 3. We are given a small arc that packed out so many punches there are high hopes the writers keep this up for the rest of the season.
The Book Rant 