What comic are you reading at the moment.

Fysh

Jenda wrote: »

Enjoy it mate!

I enjoyed Fables a lot until <minor spoilers>

around issues maybe 40-50 where the tone and focus shifted a lot more to an extended political metaphor of a current global conflict, of which I fould myself on the opposite side to the author's point of view, something that completely took me out of the narrative unfortunately

I had a similar thing myself - greatly enjoyed the first half-a-dozen trades or so, then as the focus started to shift and I read a couple of interviews with Willingham where he stated that this shift was deliberately overt. Between that and the fact that the series felt like it was heading towards a conclusion, only to then be kept going further (presumably because of its success and ability to launch spinoff series), I decided it wasn't for me. Every now and again I'm tempted to go back and read the next couple of trades after I left off, but thus far I've not bothered.

Nervous Wreck

Just read Robin: Year One. It was great!

CastorTroy

Fysh wrote: »

I had a similar thing myself - greatly enjoyed the first half-a-dozen trades or so, then as the focus started to shift and I read a couple of interviews with Willingham where he stated that this shift was deliberately overt. Between that and the fact that the series felt like it was heading towards a conclusion, only to then be kept going further (presumably because of its success and ability to launch spinoff series), I decided it wasn't for me. Every now and again I'm tempted to go back and read the next couple of trades after I left off, but thus far I've not bothered.

It was announced that issue 150 will be the final issue. The spinoff Fairest will also be ending

Ridley

All New X-Men 1: Yesterday's X-Men (or Here Comes Yesterday if you're reading Panini's cardboard books)
All New X-Men 2: Here To Stay
All New X-Men 3: Out Of Their Depth - Not what I was hoping for, really. Not something I can hold against the book, it's just that I kind of wanted to read about the boy scout Scott Summers not bogged down by a bazillion Jean Grey deaths etc. rather than the team having their innocence stripped away earlier in their timeline. Havok being masked while giving the M word speech is a continuity error. Done so you know who is speaking in the issue itself but still, I'm gonna be petty and use as a mark against a book that's alright but isn't what I wanted.

Fantastic Four 2: Road Trip - Didn't need any more reasons to hate Reed Richards (in so much as you can hate a fictional character) but his intentionally going back in time to cause a species to evolve around the worship of his wife will do it. And that whole business with his young self settling for the living conditions with the Storms because he gets a look at Susan - and later moving out because she drives him to distraction from Science! - isn't as romantic as it's intended to be. In my opinion. He's a monster I tells ya. Sure he mentally says "Techincally it should be Doctor" whenever he's called Mr. Fantastic. On the plus side, his recent immorality dwarfs my displeasure at Johnny Storm keeping Annihilus on a leash.

Criminal Macabre Omnibus 1 - Found Ben Templesmith's art a bit of a struggle but it does make the book unique to look at.

Grendel Omnibus 1: Hunter Rose - I usually don't care for large blocks of text in comics (it'd be like picking up a novel and three quarters of most pages being taken up with an illustration). I usually don't care for short stories in comics either. Grendel has both because Matt Wagner personally hates me. They do make the most of the format, with Hunter Rose being a novelist, unlike comics which plop in newspaper excerpts or classified documents or whatever. I like Rose's schtick. First story is

the beginning and end of the character

and the rest is expanding on the lore with the final, full-length story being the best one and they ain't filler.

Was a bit disappointed with the voodoo aspect in the final story since there was something appealing about the only supernatural aspect being a man-wolf who was given little explanation in his origin. I'm guessing it's partly to do with Wagner going back to Rose after moving beyond the character as the issues are collected by theme rather than published order.

In theory, I want the rest of the books as well (and not just because I want all the Dark Horse Omnibuseseses and Marvel Essentials). However, I got interested in the character through the Batman/Grendel crossover, and the Batman/Grendel II issue with the far future cyborg or something Grendel-Prime who travelled back in time and fought Batman wasn't my thing when I'm interested in the killer novelist so if the post-Hunter stuff is in a similar vein to Prime, I'm less inclined to pursue those other collections.

Star Wars 1: In the Shadow of Yavin - Dunno, really. Need to see how the rest of the story plays out though the Brian Wood/Tess Fowler business has made things tricky. Was partly reading All New X-Men to get an up to date mutant book to cover the time until Wood's adjectiveless, all-women X-Men x-book was/is x-released, and I got Northlanders to see what the fuss about Wood was while killing time until this was released. Plus he's the successor to Roy Thomas - whose work I usually have issues with - on Conan which I've been collecting so... dang.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi 2: Prisoner of Bogan - Still like it, still don't like Twi'leks all over the place in the Expanded Universe. Some weird printing going on with the lettering pushing words up the speech balloons rather than taking up the whole space.

Assassin's Creed 4: Hawk - Start of a new story which thankfully seems to be distancing itself from the Desmond Miles story so the continuity isn't as jarring. Although this centres around Egypt and the game series is hinting at Egypt being next so maybe they're just expanding the scope of their continuity problems.

Five Ghosts 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray - Brisk, pulp read with Fabian Gray, the treasure hunter possessed by five literary ghosts: Merlin, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and Musashi Miyamoto who's kinda the odd one out since he was a real guy even though Dracula was a real guy, he wasn't the same guy as the Bram Stoker guy...

Glebee

Just finished reading "Three Shadows" by Cyril Pedrosa.

I dont think ive ever cried at the end of a graphic novel/comic before .

MarkHall

Got through Sleeper this week. Really enjoyable read. A lot of what made the vertigo books fun is in here. The playing about with the Superpower genre is done beautifully.

MarkHall

Glebee wrote: »

Just finished reading "Three Shadows" by Cyril Pedrosa.

I dont think ive ever cried at the end of a graphic novel/comic before .

Give We3 a go.


What's 3 Shadows about?

Glebee

MarkHall wrote: »

Give We3 a go.


What's 3 Shadows about?

"When little Joachim sees “shadows” staring at him from his window at night, it doesn’t initially seem to be of any concern. Sure, there are three mysterious horsemen on the hill by his home, but is that a crime? Until now Joachim, his mother, and his father have all lived an idyllic life consisting of planting, skinny-dipping, and long nights in front of the fire. Yet the presence of the shadows is undoubtedly sinister and when the boy’s mother discovers their real purpose, her husband decides to take matters into his own hands. "

Picked up book 1 of Northlanders at last. Have books 2-7 sitting on my shelf for months and had been waiting to see book 1 on the shelf. Read the first few pages and really like it, nice old school feel to it and I think I'm going to save the books till some quiet Saturday afternoon when I can gorge myself on them.

old hippy

Superman - Red Son. Pretty good so far, although obviously influenced by Doctor Manhattan as a nuclear deterrent. Then again, Moore's Doc was influenced by Superman in the first place...

I couldn't stand Mark Millar's stuff when he was at 2000AD but he seems to have improved over the years.

old hippy

old hippy wrote: »

Superman - Red Son. Pretty good so far, although obviously influenced by Doctor Manhattan as a nuclear deterrent. Then again, Moore's Doc was influenced by Superman in the first place...

I couldn't stand Mark Millar's stuff when he was at 2000AD but he seems to have improved over the years.

He hasn't. Red Sun is the exception to the rule that all of Millar's work is crap. He had a lot of help and suggestions from better writers when he was writing the book which explains why it's so readable.

MarkHall

Deleted User wrote: »

He hasn't. Red Sun is the exception to the rule that all of Millar's work is crap. He had a lot of help and suggestions from better writers when he was writing the book which explains why it's so readable.

You not enjoy his run on Ultimates or Ultimate Xmen? I think Millars better when he doesn't have to worry about continuity. and the first two arcs on those books where brilliant. (not so much Ultimate War)


Plus he uses the power of Nostalgia its his gift. To peirce a vein of pop culture and twist it for his own.

MarkHall

Also got the last two issues of Half Past Danger while out at the Pat Mills event.

Solid Ending to the Series. And thanks to IDW for taking the chance on it. I hope it does well enough that we see more of it in the future.


Also rereading a lot of Slanie thanks to the signing. Time killers is all sorts of messed up.love it.

MarkHall

MarkHall wrote: »

You not enjoy his run on Ultimates or Ultimate Xmen? I think Millars better when he doesn't have to worry about continuity. and the first two arcs on those books where brilliant. (not so much Ultimate War)


Plus he uses the power of Nostalgia its his gift. To peirce a vein of pop culture and twist it for his own.

Wasn't particularly blown away by either. Millar's stock in trade is offence. His books, for the most part are juvenile, vile and exist solely to see how far he can go. Now I'd have no problem with any of that if Millar has something interesting to say. Kick Ass was all about playing around with genre expectations yet the best Millar could do was say, "being a hero is hard, mkay". His books also have an odd way of contradicting themselves from one page to the next, though to be fair his messages and themes are generally simplistic and underdeveloped.

Fysh

I find Millar's writing a bit hollow, myself. Fun sometimes, sure, and he's worked with some exceptional talent, but there's very rarely any depth to his stories so they usually don't age well or stand up to re-reading. The best example of this was him taking over The Authority, a comic that had been about politics, science, justice, and agents of social change, and turning it into Just Another Superhero Comic. With pretty art and impressive punching scenes, yes, but ultimately also with nothing to say.

The closest I've seen to a Millar comic with thematic or emotional depth is Chosen. And even then I still think the artwork is the stronger part of it.

CastorTroy

Started Chew Volume 3 - This series is really easy to read and enjoy

Also read the first arc of Transmetropolitan Volume 1 - Reminds me a bit of DMZ in the whole POV of a journalist telling. Of course it's a bit more crude.

old hippy

JUst finished "Superman Earth One - Vol 1" by that Babylon 5 chap. Quite enjoyable and reminded me a lot of the recent "Man of Steel" film. But better.

CastorTroy

Just started The Darkness Volume 1

maximoose

Just started catching up on Batman new 52

Really enjoyed vol 1&2, thought the Court of Owls was a refreshingly great storyline. Just starting vol 3, have to say I bloody LOVE the acetate cover of the Joker's face.

spektorfive

I picked up Talon issue 7 in the bargin bin. I only bought for court of owls connection. It was surprising to me I enjoyed it so much.

CastorTroy

Started Locke & Key and already on volume 3. Really good. Pretty creepy in parts. Couple parts reminded me of Stephen King's It.

Fysh

I got some time for comic reading over Christmas.

First up was Witch Doctor Volume 1. I confess the title itself put me off this, which is silly because as it turns out this is right up my street. It's effectively a medical procedural crossed with a horror comic, sort of like Doctor House: Monster Hunter, and it's great. Some excellent ideas and inventive creature designs are made even better by a wonderful garnish of dark humour. I'm converted and hope that we get a lot more of this series.

Next was American Vampire Volume 1. I don't think I've read anything of Snyder's before, but I thought this was pretty good - both Snyder's story and Stephen King's origin story. In saying that, I don't think I'll be reading further -I'm not particularly interested in vampires for their own sake, and I'm not particularly interested in vampires as allegory for the american dream. So while this does sort of remind me tonally of Fatale or a much-improved True Blood, I don't think I'll be reading further.

I also made time to re-read Johnny The Homicidal Maniac, because it's been ages. It's still as much demented fun as I remember, while also making you feel for Nny in some way ("He's not a loser, he's just lost") - that ending and the closing splash page still gets me. So I'll be re-reading Squee's book soon too.

I'm also working my way through Volume 5 of the Judge Dredd Case Files, and am looking forward to the Apocalypse War. After that I've got the just-released latest Blacksad volume waiting for me

Ridley

Avengers 2 - 'Tis fine. Race to collect/protect the scattered Infinity Gems before the Red Hood.

New Avengers 2 - Always good to see Squirrel Girl get more screen-time. Howard Chaykin's art ain't my bag.

Avengers Academy 2: Will We Use This In The Real World?
Fear Itself: Avengers Academy
Avengers Academy: Second Semester
AvX: Avengers Academy
Avengers Academy: Final Exams

"And then there's a fight and Wolverine's always there and in the end everyone wants me to go home so I go home and it was all a big waste of time." Out of the mouths of babes.

I'll miss the AA. At the time of buying, the idea was I'd get volumes two of Adjectiveless, New, Academy and Secret Avengers at the same time (in theory to get as current as possible) but Secret got replaced by Fear Itself as I wanted to get the event out of the way and volume one of Secret was least liked of the four. Then while enjoying volume two I reminded myself of how pleasant Avengers Initiative was and decided finish the series. Fan of Hank Pym as the genius with a lot of baggage.

Wish someone would expand upon the fifty-state initiative (or what's left of it). New York's great an' all, it would just be nice to see super goings on elsewhere on a somewhat regular basis. Thought the same with The Ultimates' international superheroes.

Was surprised by how unintrusive Fear Itself was. It's not going to make me want to buy the main book but at least it has consequences in the AA. AvX not as much. I'm sure another of Cyclops' lovers hosting the Phoenix Force is wonderful but ugh. The plus side is that the Runaways issues have me thinking about going back and picking their books up again.

I'll get to Hungry Hungry Battle Royale Avengers eventually.

Fear Itself: Thunderbolts
Thunderbolts: The Great Escape
Thunderbolts: Like Lightning
Dark Avengers: The End is the Beginning

Yeah... at the moment I'd rather have redemption themed Thunderbolts back over the Dark Avengers, thanks. (I've read the Rulk T-Bolts first issue as part of the Marvel 700 but that's not inspiring much yet.) Clor isn't preferable over Songbird, Troll, Boomerang and Moonstone. Rabble, rabble.

Essential Nova 1 - Book is all over the place. Richard Rider is basically Green Lantern doing Spider-Man but I like the idea of a dying alien flinging his super powers at the Earth in the hopes they'll find someone worthy and they go to the guy with self-confidence issues. In New York. Fancy that. "Blue blazes!" is a not a good catchphrase. Somehow I expected the stories to be more space-bound. Not a complaint, space stories are usually poo.

Skipped Two-In-One and the Spider-Man crossover issues as I'd already read them and they didn't endear me to Nova in the first place.

The Megaman arc is horrible. Nova's bestie's uncle falls into a mysterious black pool while out walking with nephew that somehow transports him into the future where his half-dead mutilated self is rebuilt (imperfectly, leaving him without a face) and imprisoned by an entity that falls in love with him BECAUSE SHE'S FEMALE. *BS klaxon* This Megaman somehow finds his way back into the past with revenge on his mind as he thinks his nephew pushed into the pool for no raisin! At some point he tries to get back with his wife who 1/ doesn't love him and 2/ it's implied she's been cheating on him because she's with another man six months after her husband's presumed demise. Somewhere along the line she becomes the villain and, against his will, Megaman is taken back to the future by the female entity. The morale of the story is that he's better off with Kathy Bates than his wife who doesn't want anything to do with him. Screw. That.

Carmine Infantino's art vastly improves the reading of the book when he takes over from Sal Buscema. Then there's a Yellow Peril story. Careful now. Shame the series got retired so soon after Rider revealed his identity his parents and wasn't explored much.

Moses! Quasimodo! Sherlock Holmes robot! An aside of the villain trying to steal Dracula's brain! A doctor who suspects Rider shooting lasers out of his eyes might be worth checking out from a medical standpoint!

I'm lucky in that I've just bought the Byrne Fantastic Four Omnibus and that, to a degree, concludes the story from Nova as it's unfinished in the Essential alone. There are Marvel Universe handbook entries for Nova and Sphinx - awesomely the immortal leader of Pharaoh's magicians who were pwned by Moses which led to the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and has nothing to do with sphinxes but they're Egyptian so it works dammit! - to say what became of them but a big block of text in a comic as an epilogue isn't a satisfying end.

old hippy

Scalped Volumes 1&2. As recommended by kindly poster here.

DoctorEdgeWild

Over Christmas I read every 2000AD from 1996, a good year that included Prog 100 which was seen as an ideal jumping on point for new readers without alienating older ones.

I also read http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nemesis-The-Warlock-Deviant-Edition/dp/1781081719/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388674847&sr=8-1&keywords=Nemesis+deviant+edition which reminded me just how brilliant the artwork was in Nemesis. Would recommend it to anyone and the hardcover is a nice collected edition.

CastorTroy

CastorTroy wrote: »

Started Locke & Key and already on volume 3. Really good. Pretty creepy in parts. Couple parts reminded me of Stephen King's It.

Finished this. Great series. Glad I waited to read it instead of having to wait for it's non regular release. Don;t think there ws any filller and all side stories were kept in separate issues.

Picked up the first volume of Invincible today.

kegsmcsorley

Hi do you know if they still make the Beano or the dandy?

Thwip!

kegsmcsorley wrote: »

Hi do you know if they still make the Beano or the dandy?

Dandy is an online only comic now, Beano should still be in newsagents

Spent Christmas catching up on a few books I've been neglecting of late.

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon Vol 1 - Decided to go back and finish this as everyone is raving about it. For a superhero comic it's better than most mainstream books but it does nothing that a dozen independent books haven't done already. I enjoyed reading it but it simply does not deserve the wide spread acclaim it has received.

The Tourist - An interesting and old fashioned book with a good script. The script is fun and feels like one of those great British books of the 70s. While pitched as a one off I can see Wood and Cypress revisiting the world and the characters and I'd certainly be open to it.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers - One of the few Marvel books I've bought and enjoyed in quite some time. The cast of characters are a refreshing change of pace from the generic and dull adventures of Iron Man, Hulk, etc. Each chapter is little more than an origin story for each of the Guardians and as such there's not a lot of story here beyond the basics. It does set up an interesting world and I'd happily grab book 2.

Just a Pilgrim & Garden of Eden - Ennis at his most self indulgent and least interesting. A juvenile, cliched and rather dull book that feels like Ennis on autopilot. There's an interesting world and a few characters we'd like to spend more time with but alas Ennis favors crap jokes and offensive imagery in place of storytelling. It's pretty much a poor rip off of The Punisher set in the future.

Mara - My second Brain Wood book of Christmas and again it's a well told and interesting tale that sets up a fantastic world rip for exploration. Mara, herself is an interesting character and there's quite a lot that of issues that Wood sets up to explore.

The Wake Part One - I had no expectations going in to this and as such found it the most interesting and fun books I've read in many a month. The unique art style is gorgeous and Snyder's storytelling is fantastic. Really can't wait to get part 2.

Robocop - Miller's usual style over substance is front and center but thanks to Grant there's far more going on than you'd expect. It's not a book that I'd have followed issue by issue but as a collection it's an easy to read time killer has some nice ideas and great over the top violence.

Green Arrow: Year One - A far more interesting and fun story than you'd expect. The art work is gorgeous and the story, while a little trite and cliched is well told.

Batman: Earth One - It's been years since anyone has had anything interesting to say about the origins of Batman but Geoff Jones manages to create one of the best tales of the Bat in years. The small changes create a unique and interesting world and manage to reinvent some characters who have over the years became quite boring.

Ridley

Thwip! wrote: »

Dandy is an online only comic now, Beano should still be in newsagents

Apparently the digital version of the Dandy has been gone since June..?

Still got an annual in dead tree format though.