What comic are you reading at the moment.

Fysh

The Scott Pilgrim Takes Off animated series inevitably led to me re-reading the comics, this time the digital colour copies I got via Humble at some point.

I've also finished volume 2 of The Silver Coin, another promising Image done-in-one horror series. Really good stuff, and I really like the idea of having the artist be the consistent aspect so that a variety of stories can be told, while still having visual consistency. A shame that there's only one more volume after this - hopefully we get more in future.

I also read volume 1 of Stable, a Heavy Metal SF comic with a fairly blunt "The Chosen /The Left Behind" twin-narrative thing about a Sunshine-like world where, due to Something happening to the Sun, humanity has to build big spaceships using alien blueprints and ditch Earth for the alien's homeworld. The plot really is that clumsy, and you can probably guess what the Shocking Reveal is at the end of this volume. The art is decent enough, but the space story is derivative and rote and the earth-set story is Yet Another Humans In Post-Apocalypse story. I won't be seeking out more and honestly I wouldn't recommend reading the first volume.

mrcheez

Got a €10 voucher from Easons on the Three app, plus their 15% off discount, so grabbed "W0rldtr33 Vol 1" for €0.70 delivered

Looks interesting... always up for more horror and the premise sounds cool

Xofpod

Reading My Favourite Thing is Monsters, Emil Ferris. Wow.

I think there's a second volume coming out this year too.

mrcheez

W0rldtr33 vol 1 is pretty amazing too. James Tynion style is a bit like Ed Brubaker.

The story is extremely violent though... starts off with a guy live streaming a killing spree, gutting people with a knife, on his mobile

Thargor

Does anyone know whats happening with Saga? Is it finished now or whats the story? I read all available a couple of years ago but it wen on hiatus then nothing since.

And as I was typing that I remembered Kieren Gillens Uber, amazing comic about nazi superheroes but he never finished it, anyone know if theres been any movement there either?

Thargor

Did anybody just not enjoy 100 Bullets? It gets rave reviews but I dont like anything about it, hate the way all the characters are the same type of sarcastic cynic, main plot doesnt seem to go anywhere, subplots all seem to be repeats of each other, art style not great either.

Fysh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636472#Comment_121636472

It has been quite a while since I last did a full re-read, but I must admit that the last couple of times I've dipped into any of the trades I've been focusing more on Risso's artwork than the story or writing.

I would say that if you're not enjoying it past the end of the 2nd trade it is very possibly not for you. I remember liking it a lot when I was first reading it (and I could probably dig through this very thread and find specific examples!), but since then I've found that the Brubaker/Phillips collaborations work much better for me in terms of crime stories. When I compare the two I get the feeling Azzarello might be trying a bit too hard to be cool, which is a tricky balancing act.

Fysh

Actually, on the topic of 100 Bullets - I do remember a conversation somewhere where someone suggested that it might benefit from a modified reading order. Something like volume 1, then volumes 11-12, then 2-10, then 13. With the idea being that you get some of the setup for the big conclusion early on to set the stakes, then go back into the characters.

I do think it's a series that suffered by trying to be cute by running to 100 issues just because the title was 100 Bullets. I suspect that if it had been 70-80 something issues instead, the ending would have been punchier without losing anything important about the characters.

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636459#Comment_121636459

Saga kicked off again in 2022, and there's been two full volumes since then I think.

Fysh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636459#Comment_121636459

On the Uber front the last I remember seeing on Gillen's newsletter is that it is WFH owner by Avatar, and they still want to publish the conclusion (which I think is basically a miniseries that would be collected as a single trade) but haven't set a date yet. Presumably it's one of those "financial constraints mean they have to prioritise other material that drives more immediate returns" situations.

Thargor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638373#Comment_121638373

That was the story years ago, its such a pity, absolutely amazing series.

Thargor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638309#Comment_121638309

Great news, cant wait to finish it off.

Fysh

The mention of 100 Bullets upthread prompted me to go and look up what was happening with Stray Bullets. It turns out that while Sunshine and Roses has lurched to a halt for some reason, there are 10 issues that haven't yet been collected and which were not part of the big Stray Bullets bundle I picked up a while back - i.e. 10 issues worth of new-to-me story. So I think I'll have to pick those up and use them as an excuse to re-read the whole thing...

CastorTroy

Don't think I've read the last 2 volumes of Saga yet, I have them on my shelf and vol 11 ordered. I think the big gap made me want to just wait until it's all finished.

The big gap was from July 2018 until January 2022. And looks like the last issue released was 66 in September 2023. I know Vaughan has said it will be 108 issues in total, so won't be finished until 2027 at the earliest.

At the moment I just finished volume 4 of Department of Truth (another comic on a long break) and am now reading Secret Wars for the first time.

Xofpod

Dipping my toes into Blacksad. Saw it in comic shops on the continent but knew my French or Spanish weren't good enough to properly follow those versions. Finally picked up some in English . The writing seems pretty clichéd but the art is soooooo gorgeous

Fysh

The writing in Blacksad is very much riffing on tropes and clichés from early and mid20th century pop culture and noir gumshoe stories - it's done well and is fun, but the art is absolutely where it shines.

Incidentally for anyone who reads digitally, Google Play has a number of Blacksad volumes on significant discount...

Xofpod

Picked up Batman: Last Knight on Earth on a whim. Utter rubbish. I think it was the tail end of the Snyder run and it was a timely reminder why I mainly ignore the main/tentpole books from DC and Marvel

Fysh

Anyone read the first issue of the new Spurrier Hellblazer series? I'm still salty that DC were stupid enough to swing the axe at what was so clearly the first decent attempt at the character since ending the original run, but at least they've eventually relented.

I'm kinda tempted to check out an issue or two of the singles, but I generally get Hellblazer in trades. Having said that, I'm in the middle of a big move where I will soon have a really good LCS, with the caveat that they almost certainly do not stock Direct Market titles in English, so maybe digital singles is the way to go in the short term...

Fysh

Having discovered that there were another 10 issues of Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses published as singles that I was unaware of, I ended up doing a re-read of the entire series culminating in those issues.

Overall it's a pretty impressive feat - I admire the willingness to repeatedly jump to a new location and just let the reader figure out what's happened since last time. Although I did find that I skipped the Amy Racecar issues towards the end.

It's not without its flaws, though - I found most of Other People to be pretty dull, because the characters around which the Study Of Suburbia was focused weren't interesting to follow. The best thing about that was the Amy Racecar noir spoof issue.

A couple of other things that jumped out at .e this time around are that the introduction of Kretchmeyer in Sunshine & Roses still feels really clumsy, even if the reasons for it make sense. The character is an interesting enough antagonist that you go along with it, though. And the last 10 issues (the ones that haven't yet been collected for whatever reason) seem to develop a peculiar fascination with psychic visions etc - with this happening to multiple characters such that it feels really implausible. A pity since most of the series avoids anything that would too obviously take you out of it.

mrcheez

Completed a few comics I got in the Jimmy Palmiotti and Friends Humble Bundle recently.

Denver, Queen Crab, Tattered Man and the unforgettable The Pro

The latter reminded me of my halcyon Viz-reading days ;)

The other 3 were ok, nice art though!

Fysh

I didn't get that bundle myself but The Pro definitely looked like the standout of the lineup.

mrcheez

Main issue I found with the bundle is the PDF sizes were quite small compared to the usual... in the 15MB to 40MB range.

Even CBZ were smaller than usual if that's your preferred format.

But they look ok on a tablet as long as you don't zoom.

Fysh

Yeah, something has changed in how Humble are preparing their CBZ files and they're basically junk (to the extent that I now download PDFs and use a script I wrote to create my own CBZ files instead). It's become quite important to check the previews they offer to see whether the files they'll offer are actually any good or not.

Thargor

Did anyone ever read Planetary? Reread it today, usually don't bother rereading stuff but I couldn't put it down once I started, wish there were more series like it, one of the best things I've ever read in any format:

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/17884045

Fysh

There's a strong case to make for Planetary as the best Warren Ellis comic series; consistently excellent artwork from Cassaday, some great variety in the types of individual stories it tells and pulls together, and the pacing is consistent throughout.

It's sort of like a more intentionally pop/accessible version of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, if you squint.

IIRC in the first few issues Elijah's surname was Wood, not Snow. Then a certain jewellery-related trilogy made the name "Elijah Wood" somewhat unideal for a fictional character so it got changed 😁

Fysh

A little while ago I picked up the first volume of the Dragon Ball Z manga in digest size, to see if I'd be likely to enjoy it as much as I did the original 16-volume run of Dragon Ball. I enjoyed it, and decided I'd pick up the rest over time - but reading as I go, rather than buying the lot (which is a hefty hit to the wallet) and then getting distracted.

Imagine my disgust when I discovered that, in Spain (where I now live), the publisher that has the rights appears to have replaced it with some crummy "anime comic" version where each panel is replaced with a matching screencap from the anime. It looks exactly as much like ass as you would expect, particularly given that the artwork on the original manga is really good. I'll need to have a conversation with the folks at the comic shop and see what's available.

I'm going to be dipping into my limited set of Love & Rockets comics over the next week or two, though, as it turns out they've got Gilbert Hernandez coming in to do a signing, which is one of those "do not miss this" kind of events.

Ridley

Trigun 2 - Re-read

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1: Phantom Blood 03

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency 01 - No way Joseph Joestar is English when Nu Yawker is right there.

Dragon Ball 1 - 5 (VizBig Edition) - Resisted the itch to re-read when Fysh brought it up (the first time) then Toriyama died and Sand Land isn't in easy reach. I'll miss seeing that "(laughs)" in interviews and I liked picturing him being out in the Japanese boonies somewhere inconvenienced by another truckload of money showing up. I don't trust future Dragon Ball legacy works to not lose sight of the silly bits without him around. That anime version of the manga sounds absolutely awful!

Captain America: The Trial of Captain America Omnibus

Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky Omnibus - If I'd known how much Johnny Storm was in this, I'd have read the run ages ago. Life Story is unashamedly Superman & Batman: Generations but with a better character by a better company and doesn't have Peter Parker making out with a child so it's an upgrade all around.😉

Road to Empyre (or Empyre: Road to Empyre as the spyne calls yt for some reason)

Empyre - Fine as events go, I suppose.

Fantastic Four by Dan Slott 3 (HC)

Fantastic Four by Dan Slott 4 (HC)

Fantastic Four: Reckoning War what is it good four

Slott's Earthbound, non-event FF stuff grew on me somewhat (Namor as the lone one in the crowd bursting into laughter at Doctor Doom's public humiliation is *chef's kiss*) but the run has been the combo breaker up against his other work.

As an aside, I managed to bump up against the secret sibling trope across these Marvel books three times. Characters are allowed to be an only child y'know?

Fantastic Four 1: Whatever Happened to the Fantastic Four?

Fantastic Four 2: Four Stories About Hope

Not a criticism of Ryan North as any interpretation is valid but no-one can seem to settle on where Reed Richards lands between being on a spectrum, socially awkward or that Cold War era B-movie pulp adventurer scientist. Had read that North approached the first issue of his run as being akin to Star Trek though it seems that's the attitude across the book as it's more like a TV season with a sequence of one-shots and two-parters: something I wish those Season One graphic novels I'd read had been as opposed to a sorta kinda Year One thing under a different name.

It's interesting anyway. Saw someone calling foul on Richards being able to sprout multiple arms now with his powers and yet I'd say his being able to create a large, intricate, lattice-like fish net with his fingers is a *drops shades* …stretch. Totally down for Johnny Storm not being able to maintain a secret identity cause he can't stop saying how good the Human Torch is.

Spoiler Warning

Best issue is Doctor Doom getting stuck in a time loop to fix a Richards mistake only to be foiled by some contingency or other and eventually decides a version of himself must have already made it so events play out that way rather draw the conclusion that Richards got the best outcome the first go around.

Oh and Johnny Storm should be the one with the dog as a child surrogate since the rest are paired off and parents.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection V3 - I want to see the universe where Bebop and Rocksteady decided being a mutated dolphin or deer was cool.

Xofpod

Read a few things that didn't really rock my boat - Tom King's Human Target, Vision by the same writer, the early Grant Morrison run on JLA, Rain by Mary & Bryan Talbot.

I did love the first volume of What's the Furthest Place from Here (Boss & Rosenberg) and will follow that up.

Also have the (full colour!) collected volumes of Halo Jones (Alan Moore) to dip into now, so happy days.

Xofpod

And speaking of Joneses, I heard for the first time about a short run book called Desolation Jones from Warren Ellis from a while back. Anyone read it?

Xofpod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122057672#Comment_122057672

Chip Zdarsky Spiderman sounds good; who's the artist?, or is it a wide range, coming from a number of books I guess?