Red She-Hulk: Hell Hath No Fury
Jeff Parker and Carlo Pagulayan
Genre(s): Graphic Novels, Comics, Superheroes
Published: April 16th 2013
Pages: 120
Rating: 2.5 stars

“The world's strongest female, Red She-Hulk, has a new mission - and she's dead set on a path of destruction! Her enemies? Every super-powered being in the Marvel Universe! Captain America has no choice but to hunt her down...but will the newly redesigned X-51 need to use lethal force against her? And even if he has to make that tough call...will it even be enough to take a fighting mad Red She-Hulk down!? A smashing new direction begins here!”

I've never read a Hulk comic before. I've only recently watched the Hulk film. I have no prior knowledge of any of the Hulks or how they came to be, and honestly, I have no interest in finding out.

I am, however, interested in Marvel NOW! and so when I saw the first volume of Red She-Hulk I thought it would at least be worth a shot. Maybe I'd enjoy it and start understanding the many Hulks - and Marvel comics in general. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case. There was little back story about Red She-Hulk in Hell Hath No Fury which meant I didn't have a clue about how Betty came to be Red She-Hulk, or why she was on a mission to destroy the Echelon project. The other characters (mainly the Avengers) also had little explanation, and as a new comic reader, I was very confused. I know who Thor and Iron Man are, but Captain America and Captain Marvel and Machine Man I am basically clueless about. I know this volume follows Red She-Hulk, but a bit of clarification of the other characters would have been appreciated.

That being said, I did really enjoy the artwork, and found it to be very consistent, vibrant, and easy to follow. It certainly has peaked my interest in some of the other characters (albeit in a way that confused me first) so I'll probably pick up some of their story lines as well.

I might even continue with Red She-Hulk. Just not in the near future.

You Win or You Die

As you may or may not know, I'm a big Game of Thrones fan. I've read all of the published A Song of Ice and Fire books, am up to date with the TV show, and last weekend, I flew over to Belfast with my mum for the Game of Thrones Exhibit. I haven't been on a plane in about ten years - no joke - so to say that I was a bit nervous would be an understatement.

I'm incredibly glad I faced my fear and went though, as this was probably a once in a lifetime experience. Yes, it may return next year, but chances are the costumes and props on show will be different, as this was heavily focused on seasons three and four. It's also a little tricky to get to, as it only visited New York City, Mexico City, Austin, Rio De Janeiro, Oslo, Toronto, Belfast, Sydney, and Vancouver. That means if you don't live in any of those cities you've got a bit of travelling to do, and if you want to go you have to get in quickly, as it doesn't stay for long in one place. Luckily, England to Northern Ireland isn't too far, and we were able to travel at the weekend after work and college for the last day of the Belfast leg of the tour.

I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed with how small it was (I was imagining it to be on the scale of the Warner Bros. The Making of Harry Potter, which is huge) but it does make sense if they have to pack it all up and move it, so I could overlook it. The size of it was more than made up for by the inclusion of the Iron Throne and the Ascend the Wall experience.

The Iron Throne was a lot smoother than I imagined it to be; the seat was worn down from so much use, and the arms of it weren't too uncomfortable to rest on and hold. However, it didn't have a space under it like a normal chair does, and the base seemed to slope a little, so placing your feet was a little awkward - or at least that's what I found, and I'm short so maybe that's why I didn't know what to do with myself.

Ascend the Wall was definitely the best part of the day. It was about a minute long experience where you went up the Wall in the lift and then walked along the top. You had a pair of 3D goggles headphones, and you were standing in a booth that was just like the lifts at the Wall with the grills and everything, and there was cold air blowing around you as you 'ascended'. I was nervous about having a go because I get vertigo and am terrified of heights, but I'm so glad I did it! My only complaint was that it was too short and you only got one go.

The costumes on show were all stunning. The detail and care that went into creating them was clearly apparent, and it seems crazy that people could actually wear and move in them without damaging them! A lot of the actors were also a lot smaller than I thought, and I literally did a double take at how tiny Natalie Dormer and Emilia Clarke's waists are - the camera really does add 10lbs because I never would have guessed that from seeing them on screen! Maisie Williams is also a lot shorter than I realised, and it did make me feel a bit better about being short, because she's pretty cool.

Book Haul: Library Graphic Novel Edition

My library has recently been refurbished. I mentioned that it was closed in my last library book haul and that I was taking advantage of it and taking out a whole bunch of books. Seeing as it's now open again, I decided to pop in and have a look, and boy am I glad I did! Not only has the layout and shelving of everything been changed and improved, but there seems to be a lot more stock to choose from. I certainly noticed that there was a difference in the graphic novel section, so I wasted no time in pulling a bunch off the shelf to borrow.

As you can see, I'm a Marvel fan. More specifically, a Thor fan and a Wolverine fan. I've been wanting to jump into the Marvel comics properly, and my library now has a bunch of Marvel NOW! volumes that I can try before I buy so I'm probably going to be reading a lot more graphic novels in the future!

Let me know if you've read any of these, or is you have any that you'd recommend to me.

May Wrap Up

Last month I read nine books. One more than I did in April, and that was with exams and revision (because I actually did some this year, believe it or not). Again, I managed to cut a chunk out of my TBR pile - only to then add more too it by buying a bunch of new books - which I'm very pleased with, as some of these books had been sat there for quite some time.

What I read 

Overall, I'd say this was a good reading month for me. I caught up on some series - even finished two - and started another one. I read a few more standalone novels like I've been wanting to, and I even managed to squeeze in an adult book (it wasn't very long, but you get the idea). Some of these books were fairly chunky but I got through them in good time with minimal complaints. As far as rating and enjoyment goes, this was a rather mixed bunch of books, with Destined being my least favourite and earning a one star rating, and A Monster Calls being my most favourite and earning a five star rating. However, I'd say that I did read more good books than bad books in May - that or I was being generous with my ratings.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Night World Volume 1 by L.J. Smith

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Awakened by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Destined by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Let me know what you read in the month of May, whether you've read any of these books and what you thought of them, or just any thoughts you have on what I read.