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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Review: Girl Genius Volume 3: Agatha Heterodyne & The Monster Engine

 

Girl Genius volume 3 cover

Description:

The collection begins as Agatha finds a new ally in Krosp the Cat (a genetic experiment with a smattering of Napoleon's brain cells) and becomes better acquainted with Gilgamesh, the Baron's son ― who gently breaks the news that Agatha has the spark for Mad Science. Othar Tryggvassen escapes the Baron's lab as the Monster Engine is activated by a revenant, and pandemonium ensues on the city-sized airship as Agatha and Gil battle the awakened behemoth. Adam and Lilith arrive in time to make crucial explanations about Agatha's identity and attempt her rescue, but are devastated by the Baron's forces, and Agatha and Krosp must make their dramatic escape alone.

Collects: NA
Authors: Phil & Kaja Foglio
Artists: Phil Foglio (Artist), Mark McNabb (Artist), Laurie E. Smith
Published By: Studio Foglio
Published When: Dec 3 2013
Parental Rating: Teen for the occasional gory dismemberment

Review:

See my reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Another amazing installment in this series! With a talking Napoleon-wanna-be cat, voracious slaver wasps, and a veritable explosion of clanks, this is the wildest and fastest-paced volume to date. It has adventure, excitement, peril, romance, and more, all overlaid by a wonderfully wry and zany sense of humor.

With Agatha coming to terms with her inner Spark, her inventiveness kicks into high gear and she turns out countless cranks, countless in part because she makes them self-replicating. Gil proposes to her, though his motives are mostly to annoy his father. A revenant triggers the Hive Engine leading to hordes of Slaver Wasps overrunning Castle Wulfenbach.

A talking cat seeks to protect and save Agatha. Gil seeks to protect her. Othar Tryggvassen seeks to rescue her. Her "parents" reappear with the same intention, to rescue her. All her fellow students too. But this girl genius needs no saving. She can take care of herself, with her courage and intelligence.

The Foglios deftly weave past, present and future into this breakneck-speed narrative. After all the talking exposition of volume two, this one is non-stop action, with just enough teasing of future events to ensure we'll be eagerly awaiting the next volume!

Phil Foglio's art is not afraid to fill the frame with emotion-filled closeups, and Mark McNabb's colors bring the whole steampunk-inspired world vividly to life.

As the curtain falls on this chapter of the adventure, with Agatha sailing into the sunset with only her talking-cat companion, she promises "Let's go cause some trouble." It feels like a pause for a commercial break rather than an ending, for our glimpses into the future have shown us some of the ruckus to come.

Cover to cover this is an utter delight to read and re-read. It is endlessly witty, filled with gorgeous visuals and a gripping story set in a richly imagined world. 5 Capes out of 5, and now I must find the next volumes

ISBN-10: 1890856320
ISBN-13: 978-1890856328
Language: English
Pages: 128 pages

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