Skip Owens

I was a little late to the party with Supergiant Games’ critically acclaimed 2020 release Hades. As someone without a real penchant for rougelikes, I simply assumed the title just wasn’t for me. However, after picking it up on a whim for the Nintendo Switch, I came to realize that maybe I didn’t have to be particularly good at the game to enjoy its frenetic action, engaging worldbuilding, and if-at-first-you-don’t-succeed approach to difficulty.

Metamorpho the Element Man #4 – Al Ewing, Writer; Steve Lieber, Artist; Lee Loughridge, Colorist Ray: There is no other book on the stands that captures the sheer anarchic joy of comics the way that Ale Ewing’s Metamorpho does, with stories lifted right from the silver age with a veneer of modern commentary.

After a slow-going September, I wanted to power through my October reads, so I decided to run through my lighter books first. Three children’s books, two of them spooky in time for Halloween. Mallory Vale and the Curse of Maggoty Skull (full review) was a fine way to start the month. It is light-hearted with some excellent characters and a story that romps along at a great pace. Following that was the first Spooksmith’s Investigate novel, The Cinderman (full review).