Two Points of Interest: Matthew Erman

Showing posts with label Matthew Erman. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Book Review - Bonding: A Love Story About People and and Their Parasites by Matthew Erman + Giveaway

The tale is old as time but, with a twist. This graphic novel is a love story between a man and a woman but, they have parasites attached to them. Marcus has been alone and is new to the dating scene. He is dealing with the trauma of losing his best friend. Laura has been drifting into life and relationship with no purpose. The pair is on their first date and things are going well until Marcus's parasite rejects him as a host and Marcus almost dies.

I normally love reading graphic novels and this one seemed like it would be a quirky fun read. However, this has been one of the most confusing and frustrating graphic novel I ever read. I didn't even make it to the end as it seemed pointless.

There is no flow and the story jumps back and forth without warning. It's hard understanding what was happening between the characters because they were in the present and then in the past back and forth. Some of the male characters looked alike and it was hard to tell them apart. When Marcus and Laura goes to a club, Laura is confront by a stalker (another story line that went nowhere) that looks exactly like Marcus except that dude had one curl. Then one of the character goes for a drive to think and then finds someone that looks exactly like them but, they are dead. The story then never explains who that dead person was and what the importance was.

The second part of the story is Marcus and Laura's son who is struggling. The story isn't really clear if he is struggling with anxiety or just dealing with teenage drama. He has this crush that he is obsessed with and their story line is even more confusing. He talks about God and stuff that their world is experiencing but, we as readers have no idea as the world building has been so sparse. The only details we know about the world is that everyone has a slug attached to them and if the slug detaches from the host, they both die. This graphic novel had so much potential and failed with it's execution.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

About The Book:

Title: BONDING: A Love Story About People and Their Parasites

Author: Matthew Erman, Emily Pearson (Illustrations)

Pub. Date: January 31, 2023

Publisher: Vault Comics

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 208

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/BONDING

“Wear your heart on your sleeve.” That’s the saying. But in BONDING, people wear their anxiety on their chests – in the form of a parasite that shows everyone just what you’re feeling on the inside …

WEAR YOUR LOVE ON YOUR CHEST

A man, a woman—and their parasites. Marcus has been alone since the loss of his closest friend and has just recently entered into the dating scene, while Laura has drifted in and out of relationships since high school. They meet, they have a great first date, and Marcus almost dies—because the slug-like parasite that everybody carries in this world nearly rejects him, its host. BONDING is a funny, quirky, and honest look at love, in a world where everyone wears their anxiety, not on their sleeves, but on their chest like big ol' leeches.

Fans of Matthew Erman's work on Vault Comics' WITCHBLOOD and Archaia's JIM HENSON'S THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE will find lots to love in BONDING. Fans of Image Comics' ICE CREAM MAN VOL. 1, DC Comics' COLLAPSER and even books like THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer and THE PARASITOLOGY TRILOGY by Mira Grant will enjoy this foray into all the stressors of dating...where a parasite is the least of your worries (unless it kills you, that is.)

Review:

“Erman and Pearson skewer genre norms in this sweet and casually unsettling comics romance-dramedy…”- Publishers Weekly

About Matthew Erman:

Matthew Erman is a comics writer from Columbus, Ohio. Alongside Lisa Sterle, he co-created the critically acclaimed comic horror series, Long Lost, which was optioned for Film/TV by Producer Jenny Klein (The Witcher, Daisy Jones and The Six). Erman has since worked on the comic book series Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and graphic novel Power Rangers: Sins of the Future with BOOM! Studios, series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic with IDW, the upcoming science fiction/ horror / humorous romance original graphic novel BONDING, with artist and co-creator Emily Pearson for Vault Comics, and the smash supernatural action adventure comics series (with artist/co-creator Lisa Sterle) from Vault Comics, WITCHBLOOD. His short work can be found in anthologies such as Corpus (2018), Dead Beats (2019) and Everything is Going Wrong (2019).

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

About Emily Pearson:

Emily Pearson is a freelance comic book artist from Davis, California.
She has previously worked for Black Mask Studios; “The Wilds”(2018) and “Snap Flash Hustle”(2018-19), Oni Press’s “The Vain”(2020), and the upcoming “Bonding” coming to Vault Comics in 2022.

In addition to comics series, she drew a short story for the Ringo Award Winning “Mine!” an anthology for Planned Parenthood, Vault Comic’s “Cult Classic Zero Short”, “CORPUS” curated by Nadia Shammas, and “Everything is Going Wrong: Comics on Punk & Mental Illness”.
She has illustrated various covers for comic books including: “Stranger Things: SIX” from Dark Horse Comics, “Calexit: Emmie X”, “The Devil Within”, “Sweet/Vicious”, “The Wilds”, “Snap Flash Hustle” from Black Mask Studios, “Going to the Chapel” from Action Lab, “Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists” from Scout Comics and many more.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive a finished copy of BONDING, US Only.

Ends February 18^th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/16/2023	Sadie's Spotlight	Excerpt/IG Post
1/17/2023	Bookish Trisha	Excerpt/IG Post
1/18/2023	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
1/19/2023	The Clever Reader	Excerpt/IG Post
1/20/2023	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt
1/21/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post

Week Two:

1/22/2023	Nagma \| TakeALookAtMyBookshelf	IG Review
1/23/2023	Jeff_of_allmedia	IG Review
1/24/2023	GryffindorBookishNerd	IG Review
1/25/2023	@bubbles_books09	IG Review/TikTok Post
1/26/2023	travelersguidetobooks	IG Review
1/27/2023	Eli to the nth	Review/IG Post
1/28/2023	Nerdophiles	Review

Week Three:

1/29/2023	@coffeesipsandreads	IG Review/TikTok Post
1/30/2023	Brandi Danielle Davis	IG Review/TikTok Post
1/31/2023	brittreadsalattebooks	IG Post
2/1/2023	Jenguerdy	IG Post
2/2/2023	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
2/3/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic
2/4/2023	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Review/IG Post

Week Four:

2/5/2023	See Sadie Read	Review/IG Post
2/6/2023	Mallory Books	Review/IG Post
2/7/2023	@just_another_mother_with_books	IG Review
2/8/2023	Nonbinary Knight Reads	Review/IG Post
2/9/2023	Novel Novice	IG post
2/10/2023	Two Points of Interest	Review
2/11/2023	The Momma Spot	Review/IG Post

Week Five:

2/12/2023	onemused	IG Post
2/13/2023	@jacleomik33	IG Review
2/14/2023	@thebookishfoxwitch	IG Review

Friday, April 29, 2022

Book Review - Witchblood (Witchblood Issues, #1) by Matthew Erman + Giveaway

Yonna is a witch who is traveling the open road when she comes across a gang of bloodthirsty biker vampires, The Hounds of Love, who are on the hunt for the source of magic. The vampires know that witch blood can grant them the abilities of the witch whose blood they drank. Yonna tries to mind her own business and continue on with her solo trip but, she soon finds herself in vampires' cross hairs.

I thought the graphic novel was beautifully drawn. I was also interested in reading about vampires and witches. I was torn about the graphic novel at times because it was a bit confusing. Some parts of the story wasn't well fleshed out. And at times, I felt like I was missing a connection in story and with the characters. There was some mentions of a band called "Mannequin Pussy", that was referred too a few times but, I am not familiar with them. Some graphic novel spent a lot of time building up to the story and has no real "meaty" parts to the story. I felt like this book had tons of story and I felt that some of it could have been added to another book so, some parts of the story could have been fleshed out more. I would have love to learn more about Esme and Yonna's relationship and why Yonna is spending all of her time on the road. They mentioned different types of witches and I would have learned to learn about each type and how they related to Esme. I felt like these were important details that were just hinted at but, no details were really given. However, I did think the graphic was a fun read. Yonna was funny and a flawed character and I would be interested in reading more about her adventures.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

About The Book:

Title: WITCHBLOOD: The Complete Series (Witchblood #1-10)

Author: Matthew Erman, Lisa Sterle (Illustrations),Gab Contreras, Jim Campbell

Pub. Date: April 12, 2022

Publisher: Wonderbound

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 128

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

A non-stop supernatural action adventure bathed in magic, blood, motorcycles, mayhem, vampires, and an unconventional. 1,000 year-old witch named Yonna.

MAGIC IS IN THE BLOOD

A modern, Wild West road trip about a witch named Yonna cruising the Southwest as a band of bloodthirsty biker vampires, The Hounds of Love, hunt her scattered coven for the source of all magic: witch blood. From the critically acclaimed creators of The Modern Witch Tarot Deck and Long Lost comes Witchblood, a blend of action, lore, and Americana—perfect for fans of Buffy and American Gods.

Reviews:

"Loud and brash and high-energy, the kind of thing that makes readers yearn to see what will come next...[packed with] gripping, stylish thrills." ― Women Write About Comics

"A mixtape in comic form, that blends familiar lore, with the roughness of the Wild West...the creative team has successfully given us a character who although vulnerable, packs some serious attitude, you can’t help but root for her, and with the dangers she has stumbled upon and the revelation of her WITCHBLOOD, we are on our way to be treated to some action-packed, magic in the making." ― Geek Network

"Witchblood #1 is a fun, splashy start to a stylish series." ― AV Club

"Want a chaotic, fun time? Witchblood is just the levels of chaos you need in your life." ― Wandering Nerd Girl

"Witchblood is the most beautiful form of a passion project...This comic really is something special, not just for fans of witchcraft and vampires, but for anyone who loves colour, representation, and the craft done right." ― The Valkyries

Named one of "the comics and graphic novels worth mentioning from 2021" ― THRILLIST

About Matthew Erman:

Matthew Erman is a comics writer from Columbus, Ohio. Alongside Lisa Sterle, he co-created the critically acclaimed comic horror series, Long Lost, which was optioned for Film/TV by Producer Jenny Klein (The Witcher, Daisy Jones and The Six). Erman has since worked on the comic book series Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and graphic novel Power Rangers: Sins of the Future with BOOM! Studios, series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic with IDW, the upcoming science fiction/ horror / humorous romance original graphic novel BONDING, with artist and co-creator Emily Pearson for Vault Comics, and the smash supernatural action adventure comics series (with artist/co-creator Lisa Sterle) from Vault Comics, WITCHBLOOD. His short work can be found in anthologies such as Corpus (2018), Dead Beats (2019) and Everything is Going Wrong (2019).

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

About Lisa Sterle:

Lisa Sterle is a Columbus artist with work spanning from comic books to concept design to pop-culture-fueled illustration. Her work is often bright, expressive, and occasionally tinged with horror— marrying her two favorite themes: the beautiful and the grotesque. She has worked with HarperCollins, IDW, Image, Archie Comics, Vault Comics, BOOM! Studios, and many others. She is the co-creator of monthly comics Long Lost and Submerged (Vault Comics), and Witchblood (Vault comics), as well as creator of The Modern Witch Tarot Deck, a modern and diverse interpretation of the classic Rider-Waite tarot deck. Currently she is working on the graphic novel Squad with writer Maggie Tokuda-Hall for Greenwillow Books.

WITCHBLOOD is the first time Lisa Sterle’s wider (witchy/tarot/occult) audience has access to her all-new book (to be found in book stores in which they frequent), and it is her first creator-owned project since The Modern Witch Tarot.

As the creator of the smash, best-selling, The Modern Witch Tarot, Lisa has a super rabid fan base, and with over 16K Twitter followers, she is known as one of the most “influential witches in the world!” Further, Lisa was voted by Watkins Body Mind Spirit Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People (Pope Francis is #1, Dalai Lama is #2; Lisa is #92 – Neil de Grasse Tyson is #93!)

Here’s more about Lisa Sterle’s diverse, all-female, Modern Witch Tarot:

The Modern Witch Tarot has sold over TWO MILLION UNITS since its release on October 1, 2019
The Modern Witch Tarot is the #1 Bestselling Tarot in the world – ever!
It is the #1 BESTSELLER in Amazon’s Tarot category
It is the #2 BESTSELLER in Amazon’s Fortune Telling category
It is the #4 BESTSELLER in Amazon’s Witchcraft Religion & Spirituality category
The Modern Witch Tarot has over 13,000 reviews
The Modern Witch Tarot is rated 5 stars on Amazon
The Modern Witch Tarot has been in the TOP 500 Books on Amazon since release
The Modern Witch Tarot reinvented the Rider-Waite deck for modern use

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads