6 Autobots
allhailgrimlock

Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.   

Currently reading

Separate Orbits
Yael Mermelstein
Progress: 119/427pages
BATMAN #53 ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
LeeWeeksBatman53, TomKingBatman53
BATMAN #54 ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
MattWagnerBatman54, TomKingBatman54
BATMAN #52 ((DC REBIRTH)) ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
LeeWeeksBatman52, TomKingBatman52
BATMAN #51 ((DC REBIRTH)) ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
LeeWeeksBatman51, TomKingBatman51
Infinity Wars: Iron Hammer (2018) #1 (of 2)
Al Ewing, Humberto Ramos
Champions (2019-) #4
Jim Zub, Jacinto Benavente
SUICIDE SQUAD #46 ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
JosLuisSS46, RobWilliamsSS46
SUICIDE SQUAD #45 ((SINK ATLANTIS)) ((DC REBIRTH )) ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
JosLuisSuicideSquad45, RobWilliamsSuicideSquad45
Champions (2019-) #3
Jim Zub, Jacinto Benavente

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 11 Review - Wow!

Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 11 - Hiromu Arakawa

This keeps getting better and better.   The plot becomes more complex, the politics interwoven with the action and the mystery of the homunculi and the transmutation that Ed and Al did in an attempt to resurrect their mother.  

 

It's all really, really starting to come together; in retrospect, it makes the beginning of the series feel not as tight, although I'll probably end up rereading this series and loving it all once more.   Even when it doesn't feel as tightly plotted, as complex, or as integral?   Fullmetal Alchemist is still damn fine writing!

 

I think part of this is that Hiromu Arakawa was pretty new to the manga scene.   Sure, she'd been writing it for a while - but as her first really long manga, I believe, she was still on a learning curve.   Anyone would be, though.   And realizing this more and more just makes me more and more excited.   We're watching her grow whenever we read this manga!   And it shows, oh, boy, does it show.   Not only is her writing and plotting and pacing improving, but the art continues to feel more and more mature, more expressive, and I could dance just thinking about it!   

 

This is a gorgeous, gorgeous volume, especially the parts where Edward has to face his father, Hoenheim.   Oh, and Edward confronting the trauma that comes from being so short - which I laughed at until someone reminded me that shit fucked Napoleon up - to present his theory as to what had happened to Al's body.   That was so bittersweet, and it hurt in a way that made me want Al and Ed to get their bodies back.   (Sighs.   Maybe they can put someone else's soul in the amor?   Because I still find the armor sexy.   Very, very sexy.)   That theory, those revelations about the transmutation, made me feel as broad-shouldered as Ed did.   He's gained confidence, he's grown, and he's more determined than ever to make things right.   And it shows, to the point that Winry notices how his shoulders are broad, how tall Ed is standing, how his whole posture has changed.   It's very telling, and it makes me so proud of Ed.  

 

I'm emotionally invested in these characters and this world.   And it feels so good to be so entrenched.