Read NZ

Gisborne Boys' High School

6,671 pages read and 3,496 team points

View schoolsView schools
  1. 1

    Sean A

    5,566 pts
    View this team member
  2. 2

    Gizzyboyz

    1,425 pts
    View this team member

Sean A

5,566 pts
(5,246 pages read)

  • Star Wars - Doctor Aphra - Friends and Enemies

    By Alyssa Wong, Justina Ireland
    4 stars

    Doctor Aphra is no Mary Sue. An instant hit amongst fandom, considerable effort has gone into building a backstory and fleshing out a brilliantly designed character. This omnibus is big on building her universe.

  • Star Wars - Darth Vader - Vader Down

    By Keiron Gillen & Jason Aaron
    5 stars

    When Marvel rebooted the Star Wars series they wisely brought back Doctor Aphra, who is the star of this compilation - bring her to the small screen!

  • Star Wars - Tales from the Nightlands 3

    By Cavan Scott
    3 stars

    Highbrow mystism in Star Wars form. A weak short story adding unnecessary new lore to canon and featurig the weakest of the sequal series' new characters. At least it is finished now.

  • Star Wars - Hyperspace Stories - Codebreaker 4 - In The Banshee's Crosshairs

    By Ethan Sacks
    3 stars

    The finale is mildly entertaining, but obviously written for a younger audience, at least that's my take of the 2-dimensional character writing and inexplicable character decisions which serve no purpose but to advance the plot.

  • 2000ad 2462

    By Various
    4 stars

    'Judge Dredd' finishes it's story with anticipation of a major catastrophy arc. A benign 'Future Shock'. 'Deadtown' ends! What a fantastic premise, and scope to expand, why oh why only do 2 parts? 'Rogue Trooper's arc takes another unpredictable turn. The 'Ghost Ship' arc must be about to end as I've seen the compilation advertised for sale.

  • Star Wars - Han Solo - Hunt for the Falcon 4

    By Rodney Barnes
    4 stars

    This is how you connect the sequel series to canon. There are call backs, but only fleeting, and that's missing the point - those memories are heightening the emotional stakes. Solid writing by an author who understands the characters.

  • Chopper - Wandering Spirit

    By David Baillie, Al Ewing et al
    1 stars

    The earlier work with Marlon Shakespeare was super-inspired, hell, I had a Garage Project beer with Chopper on the can art! Talk about falling off a cliff, John Wagner, creator of Chopper, has admitted he should have died at Supersurf 11. This compilation is of storylines in Oz and is penned & drawn by Ewing & McCarthy, best suited for the psychedelic wierdness they've produced before. Taking songlines further than the wierdest dreamtime you could ever imagine. A contender for 0 stars.

  • Ella Diaries: Dreams Come True

    By Meredith Costain
    4 stars

    Got this one from the library for me to read to my 6-year-old , but she read it through by herself over 4 days. I have read it to her over the last few nights, helping her with some of the words she found trickier. Written for 7+ year-olds I found it entertaining, more appropriate for the age group than Adrian Mole.

  • Essential Judge Dredd - Tour of Duty Book Three

    By John Wagner et al
    5 stars

    Wow. he Hershey/Fransisco/Sinfeld story finally winds up, and how. Magnificent writing from JD creator, John Wagner, he even found a way to weave PJ Maybe into the web. Fantastic.

  • Essential Judge Dredd - Tour of Duty Book Two

    By John Wagner et al
    5 stars

    It's brilliant how the political drama is interweaved with action arcs. John Wagner proves why he is king at writing Judge Dredd's long-term storylines.

  • Essential Judge Anderson - Satan

    By Alan Grant
    3 stars

    Only 'Satan' stands out of the stories in this compilation. Gripping as the premise may be, the story falls short due to its lame ending - too much dialogue, and then an ending which is explained away in a sentence a la "somehow, the emperor returned".

  • Essential Judge Death - My Name Is Death

    By John Wagner
    5 stars

    In the world of Judge Dredd there is no bigger villain than Judge Death. This compilation starts with the fantastic 'Boyhood of a Superfiend' which draws huge parallels with the anti-hero Judge Dredd, but also illicits some sort of empathy for a cold-blooded killer. The introduction of Mrs. Gunderson is almost a show-stealer! It's no small surprise she stars again in subsequent short-stories.

  • Essential Judge Anderson - Childhood's End

    By Alan Grant
    4 stars

    The injection of Orlok can't imprrove the overly existential 'Childhood's End', and the bi reveal epilogue is pretty lame. Alan Grant proves why John Wagner is the best writer in the Judge Dredd universe. What picks this compilation up are the Judge Death-related short stories.

  • Devlin Waugh - The Reckoning

    By Aleš Kot
    2 stars

    Initial volumes about Devlin Waugh, the whacky, camp vampire detective of the supernatural, are all about fun fighting evil creatures. They were mildly entertaining. This collection of stories devolves into absolute wierdness, I found my attention wandering and no great amount of satisfaction. If there's another anthology volume I'm not sure I'll read it.

  • Strontium Dog - Search & Destroy 4

    By John Wagner, Alan Grant, et al
    5 stars

    Plenty of great sci-fi bounty hunter short stories here, but where this volume shines is 'The Moses Incident' which shows us the heart behind the clinical hunter. Emotionally draining from the horrific empathy, Strontium Dog is moving up levels.

  • Strontium Dog - Search & Destroy 3

    By John Wagner, Alan Grant, et al
    5 stars

    While the short stories are of high quality, the real star is the fantastic 'Portrait of a Mutant'. If Strontium Dog was being made into a TV series then Potrait of a Mutant would be the opening mini-series. Initially I thought the text stories were cheesy, but upgraded my opinion when I realised they are draft stories never developed (and improved) so accepted the flaws.

  • Sláine Volume 1

    By Pat Mills
    5 stars

    It may come across as two-faced of me to downplay Thistlebone but then rate this fantasy storyline - Slaine, so much higher. Slaine pulls off a sweet mix of comedy, violence, and moral ambivalence. Ukko, who can forget about Ukko!

  • The Walking Dead Deluxe 126

    By Robert Kirkman
    5 stars

    One of the most significant deviations from the TV series occurs in this episode (rather, where the TV series deviates from the original material) Although the TV version is great, surpassing this content in terms of surprise, the original has a far more satisfying reveal of Dwight's change in heart. The Letters section is awesome, revealingt how fans of the originals reacted, and the Cutting Floor section has soom surprising reveals about what could have been.

  • Nemesis the Warlock Volume 3 - The Vengeance of Thoth

    By Pat Mills
    4 stars

    Following 'The Trial of Thoth', which conicides with the last artwork of Bryan Talbot on Nemesis, the story tapers off into snippets of inconsistent work. Still, 'The Vengeance of Thoth' is top quality Nemesis. A great place for the casual reader to sign off.

  • Nemesis the Warlock Volume 2 - The Gothic Empire

    By Pat Mills
    5 stars

    The pinacle of Nemesis is reached in 'The Gothic Empire', when the ABC Warriors become canon, Purity Brown comes into her own, and even Candida becomes a respected character. 1983 and an overtly Steampunk story, 4 years before the word 'Steampunk' is recorded anywhere - did it all come from Nemesis?

  • Nemesis the Warlock Volume 1

    By Pat Mills
    4 stars

    It is fascinating to watch the evolution of the story from 'Terror Tube' - a one-off sci-fi story that introduced the Termight Empire, to a full-blown story arc of Nemesis the Warlock. Let's be honest though, the antogonist, Torquemada, steals the show even if he embodies all of the worst of the crusades and Spanish inquisition.

  • Thistlebone Book 3 - The Dule Tree

    By T. C. Eglington
    2 stars

    Another retelling of the same curse, with the outcome well predictable. The premise of a movie being filmed at the tree makes a difference, but when it's the same situation atthe same place for the third time....

  • Thistlebone Book 2 - Poisoned Roots

    By T. C. Eglington
    3 stars

    A fantasy story which would make a fine TV series, but for who? The Celtic horror theme would have limited appeal, and the convoluted underlying plot would be a detterent. Excellent art, which helps the reading - though I feel I'm only reading it for completion's sake.

  • Rogue Trooper - The Complete Collection 3

    By Gerry Finley-Day, Peter Milligan, Pat Mills, Simon Geller
    3 stars

    Losing it's way, Rogue Trooper moves offworld and introduces settings which are quickly assigned to non-canon realms. Peter Milligan and Pat Mills assert their styles and take away from the character that we've grown to love.

  • Ross Taylor: Black & White

    By Paul Thomas
    4 stars

    Although the book is officially a biography, it should be an autobiography as the bulk of the book is direct quotes and slightly changed transcriptions of interviews. Through reading this book I gained a valuable perspective of some of NZ Cricket's most polarising incidents, and affirmed many of the assumptions and opinions I, as an outsider, had formed.

  • Rogue Trooper - The Complete Collection 2

    By Gerry Finley-Day, Alan Moore, Steve Macmanus
    3 stars

    Adding Venus Bluegenes to the character list was a real positive, but the divergence of storylines from the hunt for the traitor general takes a bit away from the feel of Rogue Trooper.

  • Rogue Trooper - The Complete Collection 1

    By Gerry Finley-Day, Alan Moore
    4 stars

    What better way to prepare for the upcoming theatrical debut for one of 2000ad's most beloved characters than rereading the stories that started it all. Gerry Finley-Day's magic mix of getting the reader instantly hooked while world building at the same time is potent. Alan Moore's efforts (RIP) fit seamlessly. Genetically engineered super-soldiers in a hell-ish environment, what a premise in the early '80's.

  • Star Wars - Legacy of Vader 11

    By Charles Soule
    2 stars

    The continuation of a story arc trying to generate buy-in to the sequel trilogy. Fan service may be a legitimate pathway (at times) to success, but this episode manages to snuff out one of the tethers the arc had to the Darth Vader Marvel II storyline.

  • Greg the Sausage Roll: Wish You Were Here

    By Mark & Roxanne Hoyle
    3 stars

    Greg the Sausage Roll goes on a fanciful adventure. Read as a bedtime story, the book illicited too much excitement which wasn't the best thing for settling a 6 year old.

  • 2000AD prog 2461

    By Various
    4 stars

    The Judge Dredd arc is tying in multiple recent storylines, shaping to be an epic. New story 'Deadtown' immediately hooks with an interesting take on zombies that draws parallels with bigotry. The Rogue Trooper story has lost some direction. Brass Sun's finale leaves me wanting more - an understated cliff-hanger.

2 - 0 - 1
Add pages read