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What comic are you reading at the moment.

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  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Picked up Superman : Red Son over the weekend and am still trying to make my mind up over it. It was a good idea (and, given that I find superman particularly boring amongst the legions of superheroes who all bore me to some degree, that's something) but it felt a bit too much like Millar was trying to do a Dark Knight Returns with Superman. Loved the alternate version of batman, but ultimately superman just wasn't really a deep enough character to make the story very interesting. His one moral dilemna was "am I fervent enough about my beliefs to kill in their name", which is an interesting one, but wasn't really explored in sufficient depth. Maybe it's just me.

    Have also picked up the new edition of Freakshow (now distributed by Diamond!) and am digging it - the story is the same but the artwork is new, and much sharper. Definitely the best Irish indie comic I've seen.

    And a new copy of the second Y : The Last Man book awaits me at home...


  • Registered Users Posts: 980 ✭✭✭hairball


    leaugue of extraordainarygentlemen(again)..Y the last man..the goon...Hellboy


  • Posts: 15,814 ✭✭✭✭ Scarlet Gray Mower


    Rereading Watchmen again. Excellant book, it avoids the cliched approach favoured by most superhero comics and creates sometyhing refreshing and interesting.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 345 ✭✭Khalim


    last week - I picked up:
    Avengers Disassembled: Thor TPB (81-85)
    Ultimates 2 #1
    New Avengers #1

    ---> I must say that the Thor TPB was the best read I had for a while. The other two are okay, but what I'm really waiting for is the next issue of the Astonishing X-Men and Wanted.


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Picked up a few books over the weekend, and I was going to post about them yesterday but after writing a mammoth entry, boards decided to eat it. Anyway, here goes:

    Global Frequency : Planet Ablaze - Warren ellis doing sequential short stories. Pretty good, but the writing style is recognizably Ellis - if you liked what he did in Hellblazer : Setting Sun you'll probably enjoy this.

    Y The Last Man : Safeword - another damn fine volume in one of the most well-written series that Vertigo is carrying. So far this is kicking the ass off Preacher for me, and I was pretty damn impressed by Preacher at the time of reading. Yorick is forced by a strange bondage lady to confront his inner demons, and circumstances force the group to be far more honest with each other than they'd ever expected.

    Fables : March Of The Wooden Soldiers - bloody excellent. This series is sort of like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, only with fables and fairytales instead of classic literature as the inspiration (and no sean connery-starring abomination of a movie adaptation). Red Riding Hood is back from the dead, and the adversary's troops are moving, although nothing is quite as it seems. At the same time, Prince Charming is running for mayor of fabletown...

    How Loathsome : A great collection of short, character-driven stories about life on the other side of gender and sexuality, where the meat and the mindset don't necessarily match. Jagged angular art complements the stories and personalities that each story presents.


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  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Picked up a few monthlies yesterday:

    Metal Hurlant - another nifty issue, a couple of interesting articles and some good short stories. Definitely worth checking out if you want to see different comics to the prevailing american style.

    Comic book digest #3 - as good as previous outings, this has more of the same. About 10 different 8-page previews of comics, a variety of articles, and the 3rd chapter of a Mike Miller story. For 2.60 you can hardly complain, can you?

    Mega City 909 #4 - Getting better with each issue, the Phobia team find themselves in some sort of Limbo-like alternate universe, confronted with skeletal creatures who fear them and an alternatve universe equivalent of themselves. Meanwhile, Jaeminae is trying to figure out what's going on and starts to uncover traces of a conspiracy...

    Ocean #3 - Inspector Kane and the Commander of the research station go to visit the Doors Corporation facility to find out what they know. They find an insante station manager intent on claiming the activated weapons system for himself, and discover that they have been cut off from the rest of the galaxy...

    [urlhttp://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1599]Dead Enders : Stealing The Sun[/url] - A post-apocalyptic miniseries centered around Beezer, an angsty no-hoper teenager living in the derelict Sector 5, and his friends, as he discovers that he's being hunted by police because of the visions he has of a pre-apocalyptic world.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 43,045 ✭✭✭✭Nevyn


    witchblade vs JLA


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,481 ✭✭✭projectmayhem


    issue #1 of doc frankenstein, the first comic from "burlyman comics" (started by the wachowski brothers of matrix fame) by steve skroce. fantastic work. bi-monthly :)


  • Subscribers Posts: 1,911 ✭✭✭Draco


    Fysh wrote:
    Dead Enders : Stealing The Sun - A post-apocalyptic miniseries centered around Beezer, an angsty no-hoper teenager living in the derelict Sector 5, and his friends, as he discovers that he's being hunted by police because of the visions he has of a pre-apocalyptic world.
    Didn't think much of it first time around and the series had a very hurried end as it got cancelled early. I must give it another go and see if it is any better read all in one go rather than in the monthly format.

    Picked up the first trade of 'The Walking Dead' on Friday. An excellent little zombie comic I've been hearing about for ages and just never got around to getting. Lovely story and art, with the only slight downer is the very start is a rip off of 28 days later. Very much recommended.


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Draco wrote:
    Didn't think much of it first time around and the series had a very hurried end as it got cancelled early. I must give it another go and see if it is any better read all in one go rather than in the monthly format.

    I did wonder about this - as a collection, it works very well as a one-off self contained story. Quite how they were planning to make an ongoing series out of it is beyond me, particularly since the postscript note in the collection shows that the original series that it was a remake of ended after about 4 issues as well (apparently the original creator lost his nut and became a "The End Is Nigh"-proclaiming nutter or something). Still, I enjoyed it and it was nice to see Vertigo doing something that felt at least vaguely original - lately there's just not that much going on there that interests me, which is a shame.

    Although, to their credit, I picked up Barnum! and so far it's very entertaining. A bit odd, in that it feels like a strange hybrid of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Wild Wild West filtered through a book on conspiracies, but very very good. It's also nice to see something whose artwork deviates somewhat from the usual Vertigo stuff.

    Also picked up the second issue of Warren Ellis's Iron Man and it's pretty good. Ellis is clearly having a laugh here, using the book to talk about his interest in technology (he even stuck a mobile phone designed by Stark in so that he could put some discussion of what he reckons is coming next in there - something of a hobby horse for him, if you follow his mailing list). Still, it's nice to see someone making the character cerebral and believable (and more importantly, having him interact with characters who are cerebral and believable, as someone in his position would do) compared to most of the cardboard versions we've been fed in the past. Only thing is, having read Transmet and some of the Strange Killings stuff and Lazarus Churchyard (and knowing what Ellis is like about superheroes), I can't help feeling he'll bail out after the current storyline or end up being forced to go along with crappy storylines. And, given that I don't think I've ever read an issue of Iron Man with Tony Stark as compelling as this version is, I don't know which is a worse prospect.


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  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Finished reading Barnum and it was a damn fine read. In the end, it's like a good version of Wild Wild West (ie without that muppet Will Smith, for a start) crossed with League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Plus, it has a midget strong man - surely a sign of greatness ;)

    I very much enjoyed this and would recommend it, particularly if you're looking for a bit of breath air in the Vertigo stable...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,749 ✭✭✭CCCP^


    The Walking Dead
    Transformers Armada


  • Subscribers Posts: 1,911 ✭✭✭Draco


    Yeah, Iron Man is keeping my interest as well. It is *very* Ellis tech wise. He might last longer than the 6 issues, more due to gushing about the excellent manner all his dealings with Marvel than the character. We'll see. I'll probably drop the book after he leaves.


  • Registered Users Posts: 990 ✭✭✭galactus


    Tomb of Dracula (Marvel)

    Very along the lines of the original (except Blade is baldy).


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    galactus wrote:
    Tomb of Dracula (Marvel)
    Very along the lines of the original (except Blade is baldy).

    Is that the new series they started recently? Had a look and couldn't quite make my mind up about it...Are any of the originals particularly good? I wouldnt mind having a look at one of the Essential Tomb of Dracula books, but I can't see myself becoming a huge fan or anything.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 270 ✭✭Full_Circle


    Right now I'm a on bit of a graphic novel buzz. Bought loads and working my way through slowly.

    Just finished Fray - big fan of Whedon, but book was a little overhyped. Played out like a well thought out big budget ep of Buffy, so it was just pure fun. Cant say the Karl Moline art was really my cup of tea though.

    Also just finished the first part of JMS's Rising Stars: Born in Fire and I *loved* it. Very hard to put down. Dying to move onto part two.

    Just about finished Daredevil: Guardian Devil. My only previous sampling of daredevil was the movie, so I now have a whole new respect for the character :P

    And inbetween each I'm diving into a Preacher novel. Half way though the series now and they are proving compulsive reading. The writing and art go together SO very well.


  • Registered Users Posts: 990 ✭✭✭galactus


    Fysh wrote:
    Is that the new series they started recently? Had a look and couldn't quite make my mind up about it...Are any of the originals particularly good? I wouldnt mind having a look at one of the Essential Tomb of Dracula books, but I can't see myself becoming a huge fan or anything.

    I'm biased: Gene Colan (one of Marvel's top artists, IMHO) was the main penciler on the originals and his style is well suited to the material.

    Story-wise, its a mixed bag, there's plenty of corn (Werewolfs etc.) in with the usual Drac story lines. But every few issues it gets nice and dark (van Helsing kills his recently-turned vamp daughter after she begs him too...a quadraplegic is turned into a vamp and so on)

    It's only 3 issues into the Marvel's new TOD run. Lots of new characters and a nice satanic feel to the series. Given what i mentioned about Gene Colan I'm not too keen on the art in the new one. It's a bit too manga for me.

    I know Epic did a TOD run a few years back but does anyone know if Marvel have done any other Dracula stuff in the recent past?


  • Registered Users Posts: 329 ✭✭the raven


    And inbetween each I'm diving into a Preacher novel. Half way though the series now and they are proving compulsive reading. The writing and art go together SO very well.

    not to be a bitch or anything, if you want to leave preacher un-marred in nostalgic retrospect then avoid the majority of his other stuff. and steve dillons. just my opinion...


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    the raven wrote:
    not to be a bitch or anything, if you want to leave preacher un-marred in nostalgic retrospect then avoid the majority of his other stuff. and steve dillons. just my opinion...

    I agree completely. While Dillon is a competent artist, he's a bit too boring for me after reading his run on Preacher and Hellblazer. Garth Ennis is even worse though - reading Preacher before his frankly sub-par (and cartainly not as character defining as many people seem to think) run on Hellblazer meant that not only did I not enjoy Hellblazer as much as I may have done otherwise, but I also went off Preacher a bit (since it is, in many ways, saying a lot of the same stuff as he said in Hellblazer). His stuff on Punisher is also supposed to be pretty definitive, but every time I've looked at any of the collected books, I've found Frank Castle on a mission to take down some scumbag or other, taking a really vicious injury and saying something about how that's going to be the end of him (one example being a Max series where he got shot up close with a shotgun and loses a rib or two), but he's not going down until he finishes this one last job. Then next week he's back to normal again. (Although the max one shot "Punisher - The End" with Richard Corben on pencils was cool). I think the only Garth Ennis stuff I actually still like is Dicks.


  • Registered Users Posts: 819 ✭✭✭sixpack's little hat


    How can you not like Hitman!


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  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    How can you not like Hitman!

    Er, because it's a bit crap? It's a superhero book in disguise, and I have very little time for them. And it generally takes a more engaging character with a better story arc than what I saw in Hitman to interest me. (In fact, of the superhero stuff I've seen by Ennis, only that Punisher one-shot I mentioned has seemed good enough for me to spend money on).


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,639 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    Fray, written by Josh Wheldon. Set in a future BTVS universe. Quite good, with some unexpected humour.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,255 ✭✭✭TCamen


    Fall of the Mutants


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 270 ✭✭Full_Circle


    Just to clarify though, I'm not overly keen on Dillons art, but I think that the ugly rawness of his work on Preacher compliments Ennis's course dialogue ;)

    My only other experience of Ennis was on The Darkness a few years back, and after Preacher I intended sampling some of his Hellblazer and Punisher work, but after reading Fysh and The Ravens post, I might hold off!! :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 326 ✭✭Cable


    Just started reading Preacher again, simply cause I just finished downloading the whole lot.
    Kinda switched my interests alot towards manga now. Although I still cant break this damn fascination with marvel stuff


  • Registered Users Posts: 427 ✭✭Epitaph


    Fysh wrote:
    In fact, of the superhero stuff I've seen by Ennis, only that Punisher one-shot I mentioned has seemed good enough for me to spend money on.

    It was something else, wasn't it?
    Castle finishes off the human race
    :eek:


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 10,999 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    Epitaph wrote:
    It was something else, wasn't it?
    Castle finishes off the human race
    :eek:

    I particularly like the nonchalant way he justifies it :
    "The human race. You've seen what that leads to."
    . Rorschach eat your heart out!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,208 ✭✭✭✭aidan_walsh


    Just after finishing a few myself:

    Judgement Day, by Alan Moore, Rob Liefeld.
    Batman: Child of Dreams, by Kia Asamiya, Max Allan Collins.
    Batman: Absolution, by J.M. DeMatteis, Brian Ashmore.

    Child of Dreams was pretty stunning artwise, and while the story was decent, the dislogue could be a little wooden at times.
    Absolution portrays a much darker, meaner, more narrow-minded side of Batman than I had seen in previous comics, which was interesting to see, but ultimately the whole thing was pretty weak, IMO.
    As for Judgement Day, WTF were the last few chapters about? I wasn't familiar with the Youngblood characters before this, so maybe I just didn't follow it enough to get them. For anyone else who doesn't know the characters, if you're going to read this, drop it after the courtroom storyline ends, unless you want to be totally confused.


  • Subscribers Posts: 1,911 ✭✭✭Draco


    Also just finished the first part of JMS's Rising Stars: Born in Fire and I *loved* it. Very hard to put down. Dying to move onto part two.
    It is good, but would he ever finish the bloody thing. I think there is only an issue or two left in the monthlies, but lord knows when they are going to be collected.

    Got part 26 of Lone Wolf and Cub. Spacing out the last couple of parts to make them last. More build up to the final showdown.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 139 ✭✭americanCat


    i just finished reading batman The Dark Night Returns and The Watchmen (i recommend it) and now i'm reading an anthology of Liberty Meadows comics. :D


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