Scan barcode
golden_lily's review
4.0
Husbands is a beautiful trade collecting the six book run of the comic of the same name. The art is gorgeous, particularly the character designs in "Nocte Machinas" and the dead on Archie parody of "Arch Nemesis". I wasn't familiar with the sitcom prior to being accepted for this ARC, but luckily the story takes place in an AU where Cheeks and Brady, a pair of tabloid darlings who got married in Vegas, are transported to different traditional comic settings to learn morals on relationships and marriage. Written by Jane Epenson, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, and show-runner Brad Bell, the comic maintains a lot of the signature humor and satire associated with the Whedon crew.
Each chapter works well as a stand-alone, though only together do they really weave a story of a blossoming partnership. Together the boys travel to the time of golden-age superheros, medieval knights, Sherlockian-countryside, outer space, high school, and Bond inspired spies. In one chapter they learn about fidelity; the next, trust. The morals don't come off heavy handed or preachy, except maybe in "Arch Nemesis", but then Archie morals are about as subtle as a hammer to the nuts.
It's not a heavy comic and it's a fast, easy read. If anything, "A Case of Assumption" and "Secret Agents" could be longer. My favorite was "The Well-Intentioned-but-Oblivious Prince and the Justifiably Belligerent Peasant OR Equally Ever After", because it portrayed a gay couple in a way I don't get to see very often: tender. With fourth-wall breaking humor, a drunk sidekick, and natural-feeling romance, I heartily suggest Husbands for a fun evening in.
Each chapter works well as a stand-alone, though only together do they really weave a story of a blossoming partnership. Together the boys travel to the time of golden-age superheros, medieval knights, Sherlockian-countryside, outer space, high school, and Bond inspired spies. In one chapter they learn about fidelity; the next, trust. The morals don't come off heavy handed or preachy, except maybe in "Arch Nemesis", but then Archie morals are about as subtle as a hammer to the nuts.
It's not a heavy comic and it's a fast, easy read. If anything, "A Case of Assumption" and "Secret Agents" could be longer. My favorite was "The Well-Intentioned-but-Oblivious Prince and the Justifiably Belligerent Peasant OR Equally Ever After", because it portrayed a gay couple in a way I don't get to see very often: tender. With fourth-wall breaking humor, a drunk sidekick, and natural-feeling romance, I heartily suggest Husbands for a fun evening in.
thestarlesscasea's review
4.0
According to the receipt I left inside, I bought this on January 10, 2015, such a dramatically different time in myriad ways. I finally got around to reading it tonight, and it was a DELIGHT. I'm glad I can revisit it whenever--good call, 2015 Me! I also "binged" the whole first season of the webseries (quotation marks because it's very short), and I'll be watching the second and third seasons tomorrow for sure. Clever, queer satire with heart. INTO IT.
crookedtreehouse's review
2.0
I found this in a collection, and wondered why I hadn't heard of it before, as it came out while I was working in a store that sold a wide variety of queer graphic novels. It's co-written by someone who wrote Buffy The Vampire Slayer, it has an introduction by Neil Gaiman. How did it slip through the cracks?
It's awful.
While I understand from the back of the book that this is the continuation of a sitcom that I'd never heard of that has a dodgy but maybe endearing premise, this graphic novel is just a bunch of lazy cliches with very Whedonesque dialogue (which makes sense, Espenson wrote some of the best work attributed to Whedon) that are meant to be witty satrical takes on pop culture and comic history.
There just aren't any laughs in it. This style of dialogue is so dependent on what was then current pop culture that it comes across stilted. Oh, sure, I remember when jokes about Lady Gaga being derivative of Madonna were .. ahem ... en vogue but it's hardly a timeless punchline.
We're rather quickly hurled into the trope where the characters find themselves as characters in a variety of different comic books. The art is perfect for each era, and is the only thing keeping this from being a one star book . The stories are unmemorable and unfunny. I'm not sure if Espenson was off her game or if her humor doesn't translate from TV to comics because the dialogue in this book made my eyes roll so hard that I fear I may have had a concussion. It's some of the cringiest dialogue I've read by someone who definitely knows better.
I don't reccomend it, unless you can find a copy of the storyboards with all the dialogue removed.
It's awful.
While I understand from the back of the book that this is the continuation of a sitcom that I'd never heard of that has a dodgy but maybe endearing premise, this graphic novel is just a bunch of lazy cliches with very Whedonesque dialogue (which makes sense, Espenson wrote some of the best work attributed to Whedon) that are meant to be witty satrical takes on pop culture and comic history.
There just aren't any laughs in it. This style of dialogue is so dependent on what was then current pop culture that it comes across stilted. Oh, sure, I remember when jokes about Lady Gaga being derivative of Madonna were .. ahem ... en vogue but it's hardly a timeless punchline.
We're rather quickly hurled into the trope where the characters find themselves as characters in a variety of different comic books. The art is perfect for each era, and is the only thing keeping this from being a one star book . The stories are unmemorable and unfunny. I'm not sure if Espenson was off her game or if her humor doesn't translate from TV to comics because the dialogue in this book made my eyes roll so hard that I fear I may have had a concussion. It's some of the cringiest dialogue I've read by someone who definitely knows better.
I don't reccomend it, unless you can find a copy of the storyboards with all the dialogue removed.
misssusan's review
3.0
Cuuuuute. I can think of a couple grounds to critique this on but honestly? It is literally six interconnected AUs of fluffy fanfic. My head was killing me yesterday, mentally non-taxing fluff was exactly what I needed (why were you reading when your head was at the point where bright lights made you hiss away like a vampire? Because I was about to crawl out of my skin with boredom Judgement Joe; this was the healthiest alternative I could think of. Some of us are not blessed with a body capable of sleeping when it's good for it >l) 3 stars
katereads2much's review
5.0
This was so much fun and so sweet. I enjoyed every adventure and every version of the heroes. Husbands is wonderfully funny and full of heart.
kyfaha's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lberestecki's review
4.0
Super funny. Each issue was styled after a different theme (superheroes, detectives, etc.) and they did a good job of keeping the characters true to themselves while also staying true to each genre.
comicbookchick25's review
4.0
Husbands
4/5 stars
This was adorable, gorgeously drawn, and one of my favorite tropes of where two people can be in a different world or a different time but they will still find their way to each other and a way to be together. And each of the challenges they faced was like a metaphor for an obstacle in a relationship it was just so cute.
I thought that the Characters were cute and I routed for them every time, but they didn't really get fleshed out or put depth and I think that's just because this is more for people who have a preexisting knowledge of these characters through the show, which I've never seen before.
Since each issue is a different story I'm gonna rate this like a bind up.
Drawn In
3/5 stars
"The Superhero One"
Probably my least favorite of the bunch because it just felt clunky.
Equally Ever After
4.5/5 stars
"The Princey One"
Adorable, my first inclination that I'd like this book.
A Case of Assumption
4/5 stars
"The Sherlock One"
The mystery kinda was all over the place in the beginning but it really came together nicely by the end. And I really loved the Johnlock vibe they were giving each other. It was my weakness.
Nocte Machinas
4.25/5 stars
"The Space Aliens One"
I thought this one was precious and raised a good dilemma and I would totally watch a movie of this.
Arch Nemesis
5/5 stars
"The Archie One"
Obviously I loved this one because I'm a sucker for the Archie aesthetic. And thought the plot was cute but only wished that it was resolved better.
Agent Secrets
3.5/5 stars
Drawn amazing, I loved the snake chick, and thought they had good chemistry in this one, but other than that it wasn't as memorable.
Overall:
This was not what I was expecting but I ended up loving the fantastical plot of it all with the wedding gift book that transports them to these different worlds, and I definitely want to pick up the TV show now.
4/5 stars
This was adorable, gorgeously drawn, and one of my favorite tropes of where two people can be in a different world or a different time but they will still find their way to each other and a way to be together. And each of the challenges they faced was like a metaphor for an obstacle in a relationship it was just so cute.
I thought that the Characters were cute and I routed for them every time, but they didn't really get fleshed out or put depth and I think that's just because this is more for people who have a preexisting knowledge of these characters through the show, which I've never seen before.
Since each issue is a different story I'm gonna rate this like a bind up.
Drawn In
3/5 stars
"The Superhero One"
Probably my least favorite of the bunch because it just felt clunky.
Equally Ever After
4.5/5 stars
"The Princey One"
Adorable, my first inclination that I'd like this book.
A Case of Assumption
4/5 stars
"The Sherlock One"
The mystery kinda was all over the place in the beginning but it really came together nicely by the end. And I really loved the Johnlock vibe they were giving each other. It was my weakness.
Nocte Machinas
4.25/5 stars
"The Space Aliens One"
I thought this one was precious and raised a good dilemma and I would totally watch a movie of this.
Arch Nemesis
5/5 stars
"The Archie One"
Obviously I loved this one because I'm a sucker for the Archie aesthetic. And thought the plot was cute but only wished that it was resolved better.
Agent Secrets
3.5/5 stars
Drawn amazing, I loved the snake chick, and thought they had good chemistry in this one, but other than that it wasn't as memorable.
Overall:
This was not what I was expecting but I ended up loving the fantastical plot of it all with the wedding gift book that transports them to these different worlds, and I definitely want to pick up the TV show now.
caprica's review
4.0
3.5/5 stars.
Comic books/graphic novels aren't generally my preferred medium, but I loved the Husbands webseries and bought this as a result.
This was charming and a very quick read. The text is structured as a series of adventures, in which the eponymous husbands star; each adventure is a different, classic type of comic. The overall narrative is strung together through some very meta hand-waving.
I've no real complaints about the text. The story/stories are cute, the art similarly so, and there is enough humor to keep everything moving (both within the stories and from the narrator). There doesn't really seem a need to say a great deal about this: the adventures are short and self-contained and, as a result, not particularly involved. They do a good job manifesting the comic "types" they're intended to, though everything has (rather obviously) a queer twist, since the two main figures are gay men.
In short, it's a fun text, and has humor in line with the series it's been spun off from. If you liked the Husbands webseries and are looking for a light diversion, you'll probably like this, too.
Comic books/graphic novels aren't generally my preferred medium, but I loved the Husbands webseries and bought this as a result.
This was charming and a very quick read. The text is structured as a series of adventures, in which the eponymous husbands star; each adventure is a different, classic type of comic. The overall narrative is strung together through some very meta hand-waving.
I've no real complaints about the text. The story/stories are cute, the art similarly so, and there is enough humor to keep everything moving (both within the stories and from the narrator). There doesn't really seem a need to say a great deal about this: the adventures are short and self-contained and, as a result, not particularly involved. They do a good job manifesting the comic "types" they're intended to, though everything has (rather obviously) a queer twist, since the two main figures are gay men.
In short, it's a fun text, and has humor in line with the series it's been spun off from. If you liked the Husbands webseries and are looking for a light diversion, you'll probably like this, too.
anthroxagorus's review
4.0
Mildly amusing, but I haven't seen the show and I like the idea, but not seeing the same idea over and over.
They are adorable, though.
They are adorable, though.