Comics XI: Modok's 11

[red snow]

 

Ummm, Starbrand and Nightmask is a Marvel title.  They're two of the New Universe characters who showed up in Hickman's Avengers run; notably Starbrand's introduction arc is where a number of people went "what the hell?" about the tone the book was taking.

 

For some reason I pictured "Starfire and Raven" .Shows how well-known those characters are. It does make more sense the comments about Spec Spider-man guest appearances now.

 

 

Really light week for me again, all I picked up was Lazarus #19 & We Stand on Guard #3.

Lazarus was ok, pretty much a set up issue. WSOG continues to impress me in the art department, still not sure about the book as a whole though. Being an American myself I'm not crazy about the Americans being painted as ruthless and evil. Kind of making it hard for me to get into it.

 

Balls, I wasn't looking for WSOG (thanks to always forgetting the title name) when I was there this afternoon. There's a chance it'll have gone by tomorrow - although this one appears to be (understandably) far less popular than Saga.

[Winterfell is Burning]

WSOG was alright, but nothing special, the book strangely feels like a lightweight, despite the tone and subject.

 

Waid's Daredevil ended on a high note, which is probably the first time for the book in many ages. Silver Surfer was brilliant as usual and Future Imperfect was interesting as well- ends with the kind of unexpected twist PAD is very good at.

[Mars447]

Well, Mockingbird #1 was a huge disappointment. That is, I picked it up on a whim, found it so good that I immediately looked it up online to see when the next issue would be released, and when I found out it was only a one-shot I was hugely disappointed.

Seriously, Marvel, a Mockingbird ongoing with this creative team and style would be gold.

[red snow]

WSOG was alright, but nothing special, the book strangely feels like a lightweight, despite the tone and subject.

 

 

 

I get the impression it's more Skroce's concept or one that BKV hasn't invested a lot of time into. Hopefully his other new book is more mindblowing. I guess BKV sets a high standard.

 

Lazarus was ok - not entirely sure how the resurection worked but it wasn't like I ever thought that character was dead. The letters section scared me as they were talking about genetic engineering techniques and CRISPR/Cas9 was mentioned in terms of "even that will be outdated by X+64".I immediately panicked thinking "it better not be I just spent a year getting it to work in flies!" only to realise that "X+64" refers to the comic's timeline and not some new technique.

[Lady Olenna]

I just ordered WSOG yesterday but I guess they didn't have #2 & #3. I suppose I wil have to actually go into a store. Seems to have mixed reviews?

I also ordered Paper Girls by BKV as well as Clean Room. I'm more excited for Clean Room but will probably end up enjoying Paper Girls more just because I'm so used to BKV style.

[red snow]

I just ordered WSOG yesterday but I guess they didn't have #2 & #3. I suppose I wil have to actually go into a store. Seems to have mixed reviews?

I also ordered Paper Girls by BKV as well as Clean Room. I'm more excited for Clean Room but will probably end up enjoying Paper Girls more just because I'm so used to BKV style.

 

WSOG isn't bad it's just nowhere near as good as BKV's usual output. Maybe it's because it's a mini-series (although PRide of Baghdad was the same length and was excellent).

I'm not familiar with "clean room"?

I'm looking forward to his one-off Walking dead story.

[Calibandar]

I have a whole raft of graphic novels which I intend to get soon, and would love some opinions on the below if you've read them.
Comments on both story and art would be appreciated:

• Sandman Overture by Gaiman and JH Williams
• Puma Blues by Michael Zulli
• Southern Bastards volume 1 and 2 by Jason Aaron
• Promethea by Moore and Williams
• Multiversity by Morrison and Quitely
• Annihilator by Morrison and Irving
•  Russian Olive To Red King by Kathryn Immonen
• Rasputin by Alex Grecian
• Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin
• Bedlam by Nick Spencer
• Manifest Destiny by Chris Dingess
• Black Science by Rick Remender
• The Descender by Jeff Lemire
• Men of Wrath by Jason Aaron
• Superman: Men of Tomorrow by Johns
• Convergence by Jeff King
• Outcast by Kirkman
• Alex + Ada by Luna
• Sunstone by Sjecic
• Rumble by Jon Arcudi
• Low by Rick Remender
• Stitches by David Small
• This One Summer by Tamaki
• Anything written by Nate Powell
• Wytches by Snyder
• Jupiter's Legacy by Millar and Quitely
• Trees by Warren Ellis
• Clive Barker's Next Testament

Thoughts?
 
Recent stuff I got and already enjoyed was ABC Volgan War series by Mills and Langley, The Swamp Thing series by Snyder and Charles Soule with great art, and Autumnlands volume 1.

[red snow]

I'll comment within your quote so I don't get lost.

 

I have a whole raft of graphic novels which I intend to get soon, and would love some opinions on the below if you've read them.
Comments on both story and art would be appreciated:

• Southern Bastards volume 1 and 2 by Jason Aaron  Just read vol 1 myself and I like. It feels a bit like a cable channel show eg FX. Reminds me a lot of "100 bullets" but without the "100 bullets" conspiracy angle.
•  
• Multiversity by Morrison and Quitely  This is a love-letter to american comics from inception to modern day. Your enjoyment may depend a lot on how familiar you are with those eras. The artwork is excellent and Morrison manages to shift styles while keeping his meta commentary. Self contained as well so you don't need to pick up more
•  
• Rasputin by Alex Grecian  I enjoyed the first few issues and then went to trade format. Fun seeing Rasputin with superpowers although I've yet to pick up the trade.
•  
• Manifest Destiny by Chris Dingess  I loved the first 6 issues and this was up there as my top in the "wave of image titles from 2013". Great concept and the art and imagination of the monsters is very atmospheric. I think it was just a little too slow overall. Again I'll get trades later on.
•  
• Black Science by Rick Remender. It's Fantastic Four for the 21st Century and is probably how the films should try and approach the franchise. Beautiful art that reminds me of the european scene and it keeps moving forward at a frenetic pace. Not much depth but great fun. IT's a bit like sliders with a nastier edge, if you ever watched that show
•  
•  
• Outcast by Kirkman   It's very slow. The first 6 issues have barely scratched the surface. It could be the next walking dead but I'm not sure I can wait to find out and will probably leave it a few more trades to see if people do comment on it turning into something bigger.
•  
• Low by Rick Remender  Probably my favourite Remender title (and i like them all). This one has a lot more depth (not just because of the setting!) The artwork is amaing again and very atmospheric. The plot moves slowly but makes the most of the time to build things up rather than fill space.
•  
• Wytches by Snyder  Could well be what "walking dead" did for Zombies but for witches. Jock's art really suits horror and there are panels that are genuinely disturbing. It's also quite slow but unlike "Outcast" is still providing story.

Thoughts?

 

Recent stuff I got and already enjoyed was ABC Volgan War series by Mils and Langley, The Swamp Thing series by Lemire and Soule with great art, and Autumnlands volume 1.

 

It looks like you have enough to keep you busy but I'd also suggest "Lazarus". And if you like the Rememnder books, Deadly class is worth a shot - it's my least favourite remender book but it sits in between low and black science in terms of action and depth.

[Lady Olenna]

WSOG isn't bad it's just nowhere near as good as BKV's usual output. Maybe it's because it's a mini-series (although PRide of Baghdad was the same length and was excellent).
I'm not familiar with "clean room"?
I'm looking forward to his one-off Walking dead story.

I was looking at Runnaways as well but figured I'd get the new comic instead. The art on Paper Girls seems pretty simple but I'm hoping the story is really good. Pride of Baghdad was a beautiful book. Loved it.

I'm not completely sold on the premise of Clean Room but the art pulled me in:
https://www.tumblr.com/search/clean%20room%20comic

[CyanidePie]

Wytches was good throughout, but got a little slow in the middle, but that last issue of the first arc was so killer. Can't wait for the next arc to start. I do hope Jock cools it with the annoying ass ink-splotches that he puts in the background. There was one issue in particular where I almost just put the book down because I could not see what was happening because they were all over the place and in the way.

Really excited to get The Sandman Overture and Rasputin trades.

[Nictarion]

The art in Sandman Overture is beyond gorgeous. It's been the only reason I've been willing to cut J.H. Williams III some slack on taking so long between issues.

[Little Valkyrie]

Really excited to get The Sandman Overture and Rasputin trades.

 

I would bother to get singles for Sandman: Overture because it's (well, it's JHW3, of course it is) DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS: THE COMIC, and trades have the inevitable disappointing gutter.

[CyanidePie]

True but I'm not willing to go track down all the single issues. Maybe I'll look on eBay to see if anyone's selling them all together.

I wish re-booting comics was a thing. I'd love to see J.H. Williams go back and redraw the whole series. Even if it took him 10 years. Some of the original artwork is just so bad.

[Calibandar]

I was looking into getting Sandman trades recently but the only ones I would consider were The Wake, due to Michael Zulli's work, and Seasons of Mist, and that was because that seemed to me the most interesting trade ( after Dream Country, which I bought years ago due to the Vess art).

Any thoughts on Seasons of Mist?
 

I'll comment within your quote so I don't get lost.
 
•Southern Bastards volume 1 and 2 by Jason Aaron Just read vol 1 myself and I like. It feels a bit like a cable channel show eg FX. Reminds me a lot of "100 bullets" but without the "100 bullets" conspiracy angle.
•
•Multiversity by Morrison and Quitely This is a love-letter to american comics from inception to modern day. Your enjoyment may depend a lot on how familiar you are with those eras. The artwork is excellent and Morrison manages to shift styles while keeping his meta commentary. Self contained as well so you don't need to pick up more
•
•Rasputin by Alex Grecian I enjoyed the first few issues and then went to trade format. Fun seeing Rasputin with superpowers although I've yet to pick up the trade.
•
•Manifest Destiny by Chris Dingess I loved the first 6 issues and this was up there as my top in the "wave of image titles from 2013". Great concept and the art and imagination of the monsters is very atmospheric. I think it was just a little too slow overall. Again I'll get trades later on.
•
•Black Science by Rick Remender. It's Fantastic Four for the 21st Century and is probably how the films should try and approach the franchise. Beautiful art that reminds me of the european scene and it keeps moving forward at a frenetic pace. Not much depth but great fun. IT's a bit like sliders with a nastier edge, if you ever watched that show
•
•
•Outcast by Kirkman It's very slow. The first 6 issues have barely scratched the surface. It could be the next walking dead but I'm not sure I can wait to find out and will probably leave it a few more trades to see if people do comment on it turning into something bigger.
•
•Low by Rick Remender Probably my favourite Remender title (and i like them all). This one has a lot more depth (not just because of the setting!) The artwork is amaing again and very atmospheric. The plot moves slowly but makes the most of the time to build things up rather than fill space.
•
•Wytches by Snyder Could well be what "walking dead" did for Zombies but for witches. Jock's art really suits horror and there are panels that are genuinely disturbing. It's also quite slow but unlike "Outcast" is still providing story

 
It looks like you have enough to keep you busy but I'd also suggest "Lazarus". And if you like the Rememnder books, Deadly class is worth a shot - it's my least favourite remender book but it sits in between low and black science in terms of action and depth.

Southern Bastards really appeals to me, I'll get that in hardcover.

Black Science and Manifest Destiny just looks so beautiful.

I did not like the samples of Rasputin that I read online so that's out.

On the other hand I did a significant check on what sort of stories and art Multiversity has, and man, that actually does look really cool. There is just something to it.

Another one that I quite liked was Supermen: Men of Tomorrow, new writers and artists on Superman and I'm keen on seeing the series by Gene Yuang but it does not come out in trade until April. Romita and Janson do the art on that one as well as this Men of Tomorrow collection.

Also getting Lemire's Descenders when that comes out in two weeks, and considering Snyder's Batman Vol,7: End Gamem featuring a Batman vs Crazed Superman fight.

[Little Valkyrie]

True but I'm not willing to go track down all the single issues. Maybe I'll look on eBay to see if anyone's selling them all together.

I wish re-booting comics was a thing. I'd love to see J.H. Williams go back and redraw the whole series. Even if it took him 10 years. Some of the original artwork is just so bad.

 

TFAW.com is good at selling single issues, and none of them are that old so they're probably still in stock.

[CyanidePie]

Batman #44 made me remember how bummed I was when Jock didn't move over from Detective to the main bat book with Scott Snyder. I love Greg Capullo, but Jock was just born to draw Batman and the world that surrounds him. Guesting this month for a one-shot prequel issue that follows the origin of bizarre new Bat villain Mr. Bloom, he really knocks it out of the fucking park. After I was done reading this issue, I immediately went back to the beginning and gave it another pass just looking at the art.

I also picked up Civil War #4, Plutona #1, and Toil & Trouble #1 (of 6) but haven't read those yet.

[red snow]

http://illuminatingcomics.tumblr.com/post/128394903670/made-before-the-announcement-of-guardians-of

This made me laugh on many levels. The prowler one was particularly on the ball

[James Pursaill]

Cyanidepie - the only one I've read of that sizeable list is Bedlam. Decent story, striking artwork, dark and sinister without falling into too much cliche. Funny in places too. I've only finished the first TPB, and while I liked it as a self-contained piece, didn't think the premise was strong enough to sustain itself long after that. Don't know if that helps!

[Winterfell is Burning]

Kind of a slow week quality-wise, few things really worth of note- the best being again GSLM AvX #4, which confirms Lil' Cyke as the best character in the Battleworld (also the biggest troll).

 

 

http://illuminatingcomics.tumblr.com/post/128394903670/made-before-the-announcement-of-guardians-of

This made me laugh on many levels. The prowler one was particularly on the ball

 

I had seen it already, it's disturbing how close to the truth it will probably be.

 

From the same site, I recommend the parody of Hickman's Avengers, which is just brilliant.

[Nictarion]

Cyanidepie - the only one I've read of that sizeable list is Bedlam. Decent story, striking artwork, dark and sinister without falling into too much cliche. Funny in places too. I've only finished the first TPB, and while I liked it as a self-contained piece, didn't think the premise was strong enough to sustain itself long after that. Don't know if that helps!

I was really liking Bedlam as well, shame it has been put on hiatus.