Radiant Titles

The titles below are (weirdly) linked through radiation. In reading the first, Radioactive, I learned how the Curies placed radium on their skin and saw that it would kill healthy tissue. This led them to wonder if it could be used to destroy cancer. In Thor: Thunder in Her Veins, Mjolnir is being wielded by Jane Foster. Unfortunately, when she's not soaring through the universe fighting evil, she's trapped in a body being subjected to radiation therapy.

This book really surprised me when it arrived; it's oversized and full of unusual illustrations (see below) so I initially thought I had made a mistake and ordered a children's book. But once I started reading, I got drawn in finished the entire thing in a single sitting. I was really impressed with the way the images and graphs complemented the text. My only complaint was that a lot of the text was white, which made it difficult to read.

This was a rollicking and well-illustrated read up until the end! I don't usually read titles that go in for gender-bending, but the writers and illustrators made this convincing, especially the juxtaposition between Jane Foster suffering through chemo and radiation therapy and Thor - healthy and strong. The last few panels were confusing, but I'm eager to look into the second title.