Our Dreams At Dusk (Vol. 1) by Yuhki Kamatani, Jocelyne Allen (Translator)

Pros:

• The art style has an interesting, surreal quality to it, and deftly transitions between the grounded and the "out there."
• The story features LGBT characters of a few stripes, and said characters both struggle and have agency (i.e. the work isn't just "exploitation porn").  The story is grounded in the experience of a realistic character, so the work never feels preachy or heavy-handed.
• I enjoyed the work enough to finish it, and I'm curious enough about the characters to try the next volume.

Cons:

• The visual metaphors are fine, but a bit obvious / tired (e.g. a character "tearing down a wall" literally as they figuratively come to terms with some aspect of their character)
• (nit-pick) Maybe it made more sense in the author's native language, but "Someone-san" is such a weird name it distracted me from the narrative
• Speaking of Someone-san, they are, at times, a more interesting character than the POV character(s).  They border on being a magical force of change.

Conclusion:
Nothing about the work blew me away.  The art came the closest, but I never had a "wow!" moment.  Still, I enjoyed the story and appreciate that LGBT characters are both represented and able to struggle without the story feeling exploitative.  Ultimately, while it won't many my list of "all time favorites," I think it has lots of potential to help people who are struggling with their own sexuality and/or who want to know more about what it's like to be a member of the LGBT community.

Final Score:
7/10

"Strong Female Protagonist (Book 2: V5-6)," by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag

Strong Female Protagonist: Book Two by Brennan Lee Mulligan and illustrated by Molly Ostertag follows Allison Green, formerly Mega Girl, as she tries to navigate her "post-super," life. After years on the beat, she's given up crime-fighting (but retains her powers). In her, "new," life, she has to juggle college, volunteer firefighting, and a world that hasn't let go of her previous identity. As such, she struggles with the ethics of super-heroism, and how to truly change the world for the better. Pros It's in color now, and the production values have obviously increased. This alone addresses one of my annoyances from the previous book (e.g. that characters could sometimes be hard to differentiate). The story is still an interesting deconstruction of the superhero genre; I appreciate that the story considers the practical and philosophical implications of superheros in the "real world." As an added bonus, the writing is less heavy-handed than it was in the previous omnibus. The story continues to set up a lot of threads to potentially pay off. This could be a pro or a con depending on how things shake out in the coming volumes, but I am listing it as a pro for now (because the story is ongoing). Cons Action scenes are still scattered and only OK, especially in comparison to more battle-focused work (e.g. "One Punch Man"). If that's what you are looking for, you will be better served elsewhere. On one hand, I like that the author considers how the emergence of superheros might affect other countries. On the other hand, I was disappointed at how small a role these vignettes play (e.g. mentioned briefly in dialogue without ever really crossing over into the "main" story). It seems the vignette from this omnibus might cross into the "main" story, but that remains to be seen.  Conclusion The book doesn't rise to some of the greatest heights of comics, but it's fun for what it is. The philosophical underpinning and debates were better integrated into the story this time (via an actual philosophy professor), and the fact that the comic is in color makes a big difference. I'm both curious and excited to see where the comic goes from here. The biggest struggle, then, will be the wait for the next collected edition. Final Score 8/10

"Strong Female Protagonist (Book 1: V1-4)," by Brennan Lee Mulligan and Molly Ostertag

Strong Female Protagonist, by Brennan Lee Mulligan and illustrated by Molly Ostertag follows Allison Green, formerly Mega Girl, as she tries to navigate her "post-super," life.  After years on the beat, she's given up crime-fighting (but retains her powers).   In her, "new," life, she has to juggle college, a job, and a world that hasn't let go of her previous identity.  As such, she struggles with the ethics of super-heroism, and how to truly change the world for the better.

Pros

• The story is an interesting deconstruction of the superhero genre; I appreciate that the story considers the practical and philosophical implications of superheros in the "real world," even if it does so imperfectly (see: "cons").
• The story sets up a lot of threads to potentially pay off (e.g. superheroes as nationalist figures, the execution of superheroes who would truly change the world, etc).  This could be a pro or a con depending on how things shake out in the coming volumes, but I am listing it as a pro for now.

Cons

• The art style means it can be hard to differentiate characters, and especially background characters.  This issue is compounded by the fact that most background characters come and go quickly.
• Action scenes are scattered and only OK, especially in comparison to more battle-focused work (e.g. "One Punch Man").
• While I appreciate the intellectual discourse, the writing can be very heavy-handed.  At times it feels like Philosophy 101 with superheros as case studies instead of being a story.
• Nit-pick: I found the little post-scripts that were included on the bottom of many of the comic's pages were a distraction rather than adding anything especially interesting to the story.

Conclusion
The book doesn't rise to some of the greatest heights of comics, but it's fun for what it is.  I found the philosophical debates to be heavy-handed at times, but it didn't stop me from finishing the comic and purchasing the next omnibus (volume 5-8).  Ultimately, I'm curious to see how (or perhaps if) the various plot threads will play out.

Final Score:
7/10