http://henwen.net Online Comics Reviews en-us Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:51:00 GMT+02:00 60 For the most part, I consider Northlanders to be a highly unique comic series; it's a grim, realistic historical drama, about the clash of Norsemen and Saxons, back in the much legendary Viking era. I'm not sure everyone is likely to enjoy it (due to its grimness and lack of superheroes of any kind), but I personally find it extremely refreshing, especially when craving a good read that is different from the usual escapist fantasy. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Northlanders_3_Blood_In_The_Snow Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:51:00 GMT+02:00 Finally, I picked up Dead Until Dark, the book that True Blood (the TV series) is based on. I was curious to see what's all the fuss about, and whether the book is all they say the series is. http://www.henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Dead_Until_Dark Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:49:00 GMT+02:00 If I am to highlight one series of books, which I've read like a gazillion times over as a kid, I'm definitely pointing out 'The Chronicles of Prydain' by Lloyd Alexander. As some may well remember, the series follows the adventures of Taran Assistant Pig-Keeper and Princess Eilonwy, as they grow up together in the magical lands of Prydain. http://www.henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=The_Foundling_Tales_Of_Prydain Sat, 31 July 2010 12:52:00 GMT+02:00 The second volume of "Buffy Season Eight" was really fun to read, thanks to its lightweight story-arc, which directs the spotlight on Faith - our misunderstood, and for a while now - reformed slayer. http://www.henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Buffy_Season_8_2_No_Future_For_You Tue, 20 July 2010 02:28:00 GMT+02:00 So, what have we got in Fables so far? The first two volumes were introductory,familiarizing us with the secret community of the immortal fables living in modern-day Manhattan (well, some of the fables live in an enchanted farm upstate New York). Will the third volume get the story going full speed already? http://www.henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Fables_3_Storybook_Love Tue, 6 July 2010 19:43:00 GMT+02:00 The life of Tom Taylor is falling apart. He's a failing actor, failing musician, failing novelist. As his slick, slightly devilish and way too knowledgeable personal manager points out, "Nothing seems to stick." Tom is also the son of an extremely famous novelist, the writer of the successful book series featuring the fictional boy wizard Tommy Taylor (obviously inspired by the real Tom as a child), much like Harry Potter, only way more successful. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=The_Unwritten_1 Tue, 8 Jun 2010 11:35:00 GMT+02:00 "The thing about changing the world...Once you do it, the world's all different." With these very appropriate words, begins season eight of Buffy, in its latest reincarnation as a graphic novel. Well, I strongly concur and might even supplement that the thing about changing my favorite TV show into a comic book... Once it's drawn, it's all eerily different; and also a bit shocking. Resilient a reader as I am, I quickly overcame this minor trauma and started to enjoy the new comic-flavored adventures of the Scoobies (i.e. Buffy and sidekicks); though, I kept longing for those evasive, fleetingly tangible shards of the old Buffyverse essence. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Buffy_Season_8_1_The_Long_Way_Home Mon, 3 May 2010 08:58:00 GMT+02:00 I know I said that the first volume of the renewed Witchblade series wasn't exactly my cup of tea; but short while after saying, there I was - feeling an inexplicable urge to read super-heroine stuff on glossy paper, and so I picked up the second volume of Witchblade. To my pleasant surprise, it was actually better than the previous volume, story-wise. No more apocalyptic end-of-days cliches, but rather your more usual day-to-day supernatural killers and mutated outlaws. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Witchblade_Vol_2 Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:10:00 GMT+02:00 So what's in store for our renegade hero, dark elf Drizzt, in this second volume of The Legend of Drizzt? Well, it's the long dark of the Underdark I'm afraid. We have parted with Drizzt in the end of the previous volume, right after his dramatic exit from Menzoberanzan, the evil homeland. As we reunite with him in the second volume, we learn that he had already been wandering the cavernous Underdark for a whole decade now. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=The_Legend_Of_Drizzt_2 Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:04:00 GMT+02:00 The year is 1014 AD, come the battle of Clontarf, at which Brian Boru, High-King of Ireland, fought against the Norse king Sigtrygg of Dublin. Wrapped around these true historical events, the second volume of Northlanders is a standalone story arc that continues to explore the bloody tales of fierce Norse settlers and their inevitable clash with equally fierce natives, or yet other invaders, as in the previous volume. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Northlanders_2_The_Cross_and_The_Hammer Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:12:00 GMT+02:00 Once upon a time, I was young(er) and used to play Dungeons and Dragons. It was long before the online role-playing games were even conceived, so it was basically good old make-believe adventures, in the strictest sense of the words make-believe. Back then, I used to read all the accompanying literature inspired by these imaginary game worlds - all of them expanded on Tolkien's legacy - wizards, elves, dwarves and dragons... One of these books was The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore. It was a good read then, but none the less fun now - in the comics version. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=The_Legend_Of_Drizzt_1 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:32:00 GMT+02:00 After the nasty trick, that Rose Red and her probably soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend, Jack of the tales, tried to pull in the first volume of Fables, Snow White decides that she needs to spend some serious quality time with her sister Rose. Hence, while Jack had been sentenced to long hours of community service mopping the shiny marvel floor of fabletown halls, Rose is required to accompany Snow to the semi-annual trip to the enchanted animal farm in upstate New York. The Animal farm is where all the fables that cannot pass as humans hide from the mundys - the regular non-fable people. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Fables_2_Animal_Farm Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:26:00 GMT+02:00 The first thing I'd like to say about Fray is simply that I loved this comic book so much, I actually started reading it all over again right after finishing it. I really wished the story of Fray would have continued into an ongoing series - but for now it's just this first volume. Secondly, this comic book reaches out to Buffy's (the TV show) fans, and if you have watched and liked Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, then you will fully enjoy Fray. I'm guessing newcomers who like the concept of vampires in the future - and a tough young girl (needless to say, beautiful) slaying them - will enjoy this comic just as well, only not as fanatically as I did. But let's get down to the review already. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Fray Tue, 1 Sep 2009 22:38:00 GMT+02:00 What are six rich teenagers from sunny California to do while they are stuck in the game room, waiting for their parents to finish their boring annual-charity-fund-raising-gathering-thing? You got it right - spy on the parents. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Runaways_1_Pride_and_Joy Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 This one is a little hard to describe, nevertheless I will try to. It is a short story, taking upon an unconventional theme, conveying one or two not-very-shallow - dare I even say - profound ideas. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=WE3 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 Last we left Toshi and Kaikou hara in the first volume of Crossing Midnight, they had just been separated by powers that they had only begun to understand. Toshi was taken by the lord of knives, Aratsu, to serve him in the Kami realm. She went with him unwillingly in order to save her mother. Kaikou was left to wander the urban scapes of the gray world - that is how the Kami call the real world - determined to find and retrieve his sister. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Crossing_Midnight_2 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 From the bright and warm Constantinople, the greatest city of his time, to the cold shores of his childhood, the tale of Sven the returned sways us immediately into darkly painted sceneries, all the way into the long hard winter of Orkney Islands. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?Northlanders_1_Sven_The_Returned Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 If you are a fan of the Firefly series like myself, then reading this comic, would probably feel at first, like meeting long gone and much missed old friends. Being as addicted to the "Firefly", you are inclined to be forgiving to the apparent flaws in this comic, which evidently, is far less everything comparing to the tv series. If you're not a fan, I'm guessing you might find the story difficult to relate to, since you will not be getting all the little jokes and references, known to someone who watched the series. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?Serenity_1_Those_Left_Behind Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 Sarah Pezzini is a New Yorker detective. Though extremely beautiful, Sarah is more than just your average perfect girl. Sarah is the bearer of a power artifact, called the witchblade. The witchblade makes Sarah a superhero. Next to Sarah, we have two handsome male detectives; http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?Witchblade_Vol_1 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 Zoom-in on Colorado, and look for a small town near the mountains. Zoom-in some more and enter sophomore year in high school. Come a bit closer and meet Penny, our blonde freckled teen heroine, in this light-weighted-fun-girls' comics, the first volume of "Fool's Gold". http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?Fools_Gold_1 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 Madame Xanadu is an old DC comics character, first published in 1978. Now, she is recreated in this new vertigo comics series. Madame Xanadu is actually Nimue Inwudu, an immortal forest nymph who lives throughout many centuries and events around the world. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?Madame_Xanadu_1_2 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 This excellent comic book takes place in Japan, instantly making it a lot more interesting to me - at last something different! With slight touches of suspense and horror, the story draws us into the fascinating world of Japanese Kami, the world of spirits who reside in just about everything. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Crossing_Midnight_1 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00 Imagine the very well known and much familiar childhood stories characters, somehow living here, in our world of the 21st century. The comic 'Fables' is all about taking these characters and misplacing them in modern reality. Ready yourselves and enter this agreeably amusing modern fable. If you ever wondered what became of Snow White and her lot, before or after or even during any untold parts of her life, this comic series tries to fill the gap. http://henwen.net/Review.aspx?rev=Fables_1_Legends_In_Exile Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:18:00 GMT+02:00