Saturday’s here, and so too is Weekend Reading 180! As we head into October, it will be no surprise that we’re heading into Stately Beat Manor with a stack of good books.
As usual, we hope you’ll share you reading plans with us, too! Let us know what you’re paging through while you avoid the arrival of Monday in the comment section.
AVERY KAPLAN: After pulling it off the shelf for my piece on Loki season 2’s “black hole spaghetti,” I’m going to continue perusing Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy by Kip S. Thorne, with an introduction by frequent Futurama and The Simpsons guest star Stephen Hawking (he liked physics, but he loved cartoons). Then, as far as comics go, I’ll be reading Everything Sucks: Real Gamer Hours and Everything Sucks: All Cats Go to Hell!, both by Michael Sweater. These are both follow-ups to Everything Sucks, which I read back in Weekend Reading 102. Each of these gorgeous issues are published by Silver Sprocket and feature covers on dummy thicc card stock, pull-out posters and (be still my heart) a sheet of exclusive stickers… all for a price tag under $10. Now that’s what I want from my floppies!
DEAN SIMONS: Took me 3.5 years but I finally caught covid. In between fevers and bedrest I started Command Decision, the fourth novel in Elizabeth Moon’s weakly military space opera series Vatta’s War – about a washed out military cadet who becomes a trader, then a privateer, then a space captain with her own fleet. It isn’t high literature but it is entertaining and works while my brain is on low power mode. I am now most of the way through it so hopefully by end of the weekend I will finish it.
JOEL SAVILL: With it being Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, time to read might be in short supply. That said, I will try and get a bit of reading in. Especially because after what feels like an eternity, Volume 37 of the manga series, Hunter x Hunter, finally released in English. HxH has been one of my favorite series for a while now, and with the series in the middle of a “death game” arc, excitement levels are peaking. Aside from that I may just try and catch up on some of the weekly chapter releases on the Shonen Jump app.
CY BELTRAN: After an enlightening conversation with members of The Beat’s own Marvel Rundown column, I figured I would check out Man and Wolf from Mark Gruenwald’s enormous Captain America run from the 80s and 90s. It’s the original arc with our old friend Capwolf, and features art from Rik Levins. I also might try and snag a copy of Monica, the newest comic from Daniel Clowes, his first work since 2016. I haven’t read much from him, but this looks to be as good an education as anything.
D. MORRIS: I enjoyed the first volume of Himomu Arakawa’s new series Daemons of the Shadow Realm and picked up Volume 2 this week. Arakawa is best known for her series Fullmetal Alchemist so anything she does is a must read for me. Daemons sees her tell another story about two brothers but this time it’s more of a rivalry. Also the monster designs in this are very fun thanks to Arakawa’s always excellent art. I’m also working my way through the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection: The Avengers book. When it comes to Silver Age Marvel, The Avengers is a bit of a blind spot. The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection books are a great overview of why those series and concepts have stood the test of time.
TAIMUR DAR: I’m sure I’m not the only person who got We3 vibes after watching Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. The film actually had me itching to read the Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely comic again but I must have had a lot going on during the summer because I never got the chance. So I’m rectifying that this weekend and reading the collected edition.
BILLY HENEHAN: I’m on a bit of an Image kick lately, having raced through the first three volumes of That Texas Blood over the past couple of weekends. This weekend, I’m reading Ice Cream Man Volume 1 by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran. People keep telling me it’s the best Image comic out there right now. As always, a huge thanks to the Brooklyn Public Library for curating such a robust and excellent comics collection.
You can peruse the 179 previous entries in The Beat’s Weekend Reading archive by clicking here.
