The Vision - Volume 1 - Little worse than a man (Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta)

This is was my second attempt reading this graphic novel as i tried reading it a year ago but abandoned it after a few pages in. I found it really dull and extremely dark.

Also I felt I needed to have a dictionary and thesaurus by my side whilst reading it as the android dialogue is littered with long complex words which I guess I kind of feel I should expected as the graphic novel is based around a family of androids.

But I thought I would give it ago again as I saw it at my local library. This time I was determined to get to the end of the graphic novel not matter what. And I did finish it but it was a hard slog.

The story is based around Vision and his andriod family which he unconventionally created as he felt he was missing something.

The story starts when the family has been living im their new neighbours for awhile, so you don't really get an understanding how he created them but you get the impression that quite a few people in the Marvel universe, including some members of the Avengers aren't happy about his decisions.

He appears to have created his own perfect family who appear to be living a perfect life. A wife (Virgina) and two teenage twins (Vin and Viv) who attend the local high school. Virgina appears to be the perfect house wife.

But I soon realised that Vision's family isn't as perfect as they seem in fact some of the family will do almost anything to keep up the presence of being a perfect family and the graphic novel takes a sinister turn that I wasn't expected or prepared for.

Even though I struggled reading this graphic novel - I would definitely read the second volume as I'm intrigued how far a spiralling and desperate Vision would go to keep his family together.

Vision and his family

Archie Volumes 1-4 (Mark Waid, Fiona Staples, Veronica Fish, Josh Eisma and Pete Woods)

For quite a few years I had been intrigued by Archie comics and the fact the comics have been still going strong after 77 years and counting. The comics and its characters often referenced in American teen tv series' and films. I wanted to know what the hype was.

I heard in 2015 that they were rebooting the comic book series and after watching Netflix's Riverdale tv series and finding myself hooked it on it that I needed to read the rebooted graphic novels. I also wanted to find out about the legendary "love triangle" between Archie, Veronica and Betty.

I read the first volume in two days and eagerly started the second after that. Instantly I was invested lives of Archie Andrews and his friends. I like that even though the comic/graphic novel series is called Archie Andrew's Mark Waid makes all the characters stand out and manages to give their personalities depth.

The graphic novels focus on Archie and his friends & their friendenemies and how the town Riverdale is a close knit town where everyone knows everyone.

Usually when I read a graphic novel or even a book I expect to dislike some of the characters but in Archie Mark Waid manages to make even the "baddies" relatable and flawed such as Mr Lodge, Reggie and the Blossom twins.

I also like how Archie regularly breaks the fourth often to talk to the reader. Often at the start of a new chapter to tell the reader what has happened between the end of the last chapter and the beginning of the next chapter.

I can't wait for the next volume.

An example of Archie breaking the fourth wall