404 replies to this topic

[nutinhoney]

I've started reading Watchmen a few times...  I'm starting to think it's highly over-rated.  It's not a "can't put it down" type of a book, imho.  Actually, a lot of the oft cited "great works by Alan Moore" I find lacking - V for Vendetta included.  Now that I think about it, it's probably more the "in their own universe" thing that's making me not care for it - if someone gets killed in V or WM, who gives a rats...  I always found his DC or Marvel stuff to be pretty good...

I dunno though..  I keep seeing V and WM on all sorts of "MUST READS!!" lists....  *sigh*

I'm gonna have to get my Killing Joke from my Mom's house to read that again - haven't read it in over 15 years.  I wonder how its held up...

[Dolorous Edson]

Wow.  I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before.

If I were to list what I consider the 20 greatest stories ever told in comics, Alan Moore would probably take at least 4 of the slots.  I guess for some people, his style just doesn't click.  Me, I don't care much about superheroes, but I find Moore's take on them thoroughly engaging.

So do the other "great works" leave you flat as well, or is it just Mr. Moore?

[Jaxom 1974]

Quote

Thunderbolts, which is one of my favorites, was flat this issue. Setting things up for the future, but not much going on except a tour of Zemo's new mansion.

Issue #101?  Damn, I know I'm behind, but I just got #100 on Monday last... :P

As to Planetary #25...HELLA DAMN!  Still the best book out there today...

[nutinhoney]

Dolorous Edson, on Apr 14 2006, 19.33, said:

Wow.  I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before.

If I were to list what I consider the 20 greatest stories ever told in comics, Alan Moore would probably take at least 4 of the slots.  I guess for some people, his style just doesn't click.  Me, I don't care much about superheroes, but I find Moore's take on them thoroughly engaging.

So do the other "great works" leave you flat as well, or is it just Mr. Moore?

It's really just those two titles that leave me unimpressed...   I loved his work with Swamp Thing and his GL story about Mogo was a jaw dropper for me.   It'd be neat to see a new Swamp Thing movie made with his interpretation and ideas...   although I don't think we'd ever see Mogo in a movie.  :-)

[Galactus]

Quote

New X-men 25, was good, Colossus pawning them was funny and then *THfft* "BOOM HEADSHOT", which has had Fanyboys whining since Wednesday.

Yeah, though admittedly getting shot literally in the arms of the Omega-Level Healer is kind of the ultimate "Get out of Death Free" card.

[Xanrn]

Galactus, on Apr 15 2006, 10.40, said:

Yeah, though admittedly getting shot literally in the arms of the Omega-Level Healer is kind of the ultimate "Get out of Death Free" card.

In the chest maybe, but not when a Sniper rifle scatters her brains all over the place.

[Jaxom 1974]

New Avengers #18:

How much longer before the revolution against Bendis for what he did here?  I mean, really?  I see the love he intended to imbue the series with, but really...

Thunderbolts #101:

Good, but would be much better if it would make a little more damn sense!  Wrapping back and forth over itself...at least it's still a bit of a throwback to older days (re: the 80s) of Avengers stories...

[Ser Paladin]

Jaxom 1974, on Apr 21 2006, 10.11, said:

How much longer before the revolution against Bendis for what he did here?  I mean, really?  I see the love he intended to imbue the series with, but really...

I started out disliking the New Avengers (and really disliking the Sentry), but I an enjoying this new storyline.  Classic Avengers stuff, fighting a menace that no one hero could defeat, having to call in a couple reservists (Vision and Ms Marvel), and even touching back on a two year old storyline for "why is this bad guy here."

I'll admit, Wolverine and Ronin have no place on my Avengers, and the Sentry/Void arc was painful, but I'm liking things just fine now.

Spidey's not doing anything that the Black Knight or Yellowjacket wouldn't have been tasked with 200 or 300 issues ago (you, brainy guy, go do some science).  Cap and Iron Man are still the heart of the team.  Sentry bats clean-up like Thor.  It's starting to work well, in the classic Avengers style.

[Galactus]

Actually I love the "The Hell was that now?" "Bob" panel :P

Annihilation is shaping up to be a really great event (at least "Fun"...) though: Super Skrull was somewhat marred by the weird art-style, but I've always liked K'll'rt, Silver Surfer seems to be prepared for some liberal butt-kicking for goodness, Nova is pretty darn cool (especially as New Smarter Drax is in it) (Richard goes berserk with the Nova Force and blows up a few Annihilation Wave ships.... Annihilus: "What.... Was THAT?")

Also, Nextwave is just pure, brilliant weirdness. Gigantic police transformers ("Aww... Cute.... Die anyway!") hilarious dialogue, and well, overall just cool stuff :P

[Ran]

Should be getting my hands on Annhiliation: Super-Skrull next week. Of what I've seen so far, I've liked -- Renato Arlem's Silver Surfer art struck me as inspired by Jack Kirby in a certain way (the way he rendered energy, in particular), and I was quite jazzed about it and the story. I'm finding myself much more interested in this cosmic event than the Rann-Thangar war over at DC.

I don't have time for proper reviews, but some quick blurbs:

Aquaman - Sword of Atlantis: Busiek's sword & sorcery-inspired take on Aquaman. I don't know much of the mythos, so I'm probably missing tons, but it's a fun read.

Bomb Queen - Uh ... pass. This one is pretty irredeemable. I'm not sure why I got it in the first place.

Book of Lost Souls - Lovely art, very slow story. The latest issue did give the origin of Mystery the talking cat, though, and it was good. I'm a fan of JMS's work in general, so I'll continue, but it's not for everyone. It feels a bit aimless.

Infinite Crisis -- Huh. Hrm. Well, okay. Not the greatest thing since sliced cheese, is it? IMO, Identity Crisis was a more compelling story.

Jonah Hex -- A _good_ western comic? Wow.

Loveless -- A not-so-good western comic? Boo! It has a good pedigree, and I think it's true that it's Deadwood inspired, but it's rather rambling right now. Still, grim-and-gritty westerns with lots of cursing and sex aren't common, so I'll follow it awhile longer.

Moon Knight #1 - Hrm .... Art's fine. Story has a nice rhythm. But I'm not invested in the character in any way, shape, or form (hardly read any comics that featured him, _ever_), and the sequences in this one really struck me as being aimed at the long-time fans of the character. I'll follow for an issue or two more.

Daredevil - Brubaker continues to kick ass.

Captain American - Brubaker continues to kick ass.

Planetary -- Woo!

Punisher -- Ennis continues to kick ass. ;) In particular, he's introduced a new, monstrous thug to be the Punisher's nemesis, and he actually works quite well. Baracuda is utterly amoral.

Y the Last Man - Hrm. Kind of treading water right now, IMO, but I'm looking forward to some revelations.

Young Avengers - I'm still enjoying it, though I agree with the general CW that the first arc was stronger than what we're currently getting.

All-Star Superman - I love it. Really. Just wall-to-wall fun.

Fallen Angel - Gosh, I hope this one can keep its head above water (... heh ...) Good story, and rather nice painted art.

Green Lantern - Not following this one any longer. Bored. I like Hal Jordan as a character, I don't really like Green Lantern comics. I think I enjoy him best when he's being seen through the eyes of other characters, or when he's surrounded by the JLA foils.

Iron Man - Ellis wrapped up his storyline well.

Illuminati - This was an excellent exercise by Bendis. I'm actually interested to see how this plays out in Civil War. (Isn't it about time Namor landed another comic, BTW?)

Sentry - Threatening to disappear up its own rectum, I fear. :( I love the concept. I like the character. I'm not a fan of the execution, however.

Warlord - No, not continuing with this one. Bart Sears has some juice still in his style, but the story is just ... no. Don't bother picking it up.

Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy - Old-style Kubert goodness. The story is thin, but the art's great and it really pushes the nostalgia buttons.

Nextwave - Tick tick BOOM! I would have this comic's babies.

Supermarket - The first issue was better than the second. It's intriguing, though. Check it out (and DMZ, too!)

American Way - This is a cool mini-series. Government propagandized superheroes, who aren't really all that heroic. It has the right balance between cynicism and optimism -- the government isn't a monster, but it sometimes does bad things, and these bad things are carried out by people who are often as not trying to do the right thing.

Squadron Supreme - ... Very slow first issue. Hrm.

Edited by Ran, 21 April 2006 - 05:44 PM.

[Nephrite]

Robin #149 - This was cool and Freddie Williams is a good fit on art. Probably my second favorite OYL title, after Aquaman.

NextWave #4 - Wicked.

Squadron Supreme #2 - You know if the title stayed under MAX imprint all those scenes with Zarda would feature nudity.
Mankind doesn't know what it lost.
OK story but I really hope somebody will start flying thru other people's skulls ala Authority.

Birds of Prey #93 - Wow, is Canary a masochist or what?
To go thru all that just to learn a new martial art (like she isn't an expert at 45 others) is just nuts.
Kind of weird to see that the supervillain society is still around OYL. Will Infinite Crisis resolve anything?

[Jaxom 1974]

Quote

Squadron Supreme #2 - You know if the title stayed under MAX imprint all those scenes with Zarda would feature nudity.
Mankind doesn't know what it lost.
OK story but I really hope somebody will start flying thru other people's skulls ala Authority.

Yeah, well, we can't always have the nudity we should have...

As to the story, it isn't the flying through heads, a la Authority, I'm waiting for.  It's the promise of what we've built up to that I'm looking towards.  I mean, ultimately, JMS seems to be telling his tale pretty close to the spirit of the original SS series by Greunwald (did I spell that right?), but it has his unique spin on it.

After the debacle that was Rising Stars, I'm reserving judgement for the time being...

[nutinhoney]

Ok.. I'm kinda dumb.

Example 1
I went to my local shop (kind of a magazine shop that happens to have some comics in the back) on a Thursday and realized that... hey... new comics!!  I was so accustomed to buying comics on Fridays 15 years ago that I still thought that's when comics come out.  I was wondering how y'all were doing reviews so quick..  heheh  (note, I resumed reading comics a couple years ago after quitting the habit around '93 when things started getting ridiculous (crappy art or crappy stories... often both, high prices).

Example 2
Not only were there new comics there, but there was a lot that I usually miss out on (only 1 left on the shelf).  I generally whine about missing comics until I visit the city and then go crazy and buy 2 bills worth of comics I missed.

Example 3
The lady at the counter, who I've been buying comics from for the past 2 years asked me if she ever offered to keep a pull list for me.  Then I glanced behind her and saw the shelves and shelves of pulled comics with a bunch that I was looking for...    dammit


So...  what should be on my pull list?   Suggestions?  

So far, I'm thinking

1) Captain America
2) Batman
3) Daredevil
4) New Avengers
5) Young Avengers
...  among others.

[Nephrite]

nutinhoney, on Apr 23 2006, 03.59, said:

Ok.. I'm kinda dumb.

Example 1
I went to my local shop (kind of a magazine shop that happens to have some comics in the back) on a Thursday and realized that... hey... new comics!!  I was so accustomed to buying comics on Fridays 15 years ago that I still thought that's when comics come out.  I was wondering how y'all were doing reviews so quick..  heheh  (note, I resumed reading comics a couple years ago after quitting the habit around '93 when things started getting ridiculous (crappy art or crappy stories... often both, high prices).

Example 2
Not only were there new comics there, but there was a lot that I usually miss out on (only 1 left on the shelf).  I generally whine about missing comics until I visit the city and then go crazy and buy 2 bills worth of comics I missed.

Example 3
The lady at the counter, who I've been buying comics from for the past 2 years asked me if she ever offered to keep a pull list for me.  Then I glanced behind her and saw the shelves and shelves of pulled comics with a bunch that I was looking for...    dammit
So...  what should be on my pull list?   Suggestions?  

So far, I'm thinking

1) Captain America
2) Batman
3) Daredevil
4) New Avengers
5) Young Avengers
...  among others.

Well, of those titles, I'm only reading Batman which is part of a crossover with Detective for the next couple of months and it's pretty good. Written by James Robinson.
Morrison is taking over in July so I'll stick with that.
Of the other titles, Cap & Daredevil are getting good reviews, but that's always the case with stuff written by Brubaker.
Young Avengers are apparently also good.
New Avengers are usually used to hone people's bitching skills.

I'd reccomend:
All-Star Superman - It's just pure joycore.
Detective Comics - Paul Dini (Batman TAS) is starting his run in July with JH Williams on art, and I just know its gonna be good.
Supergirl & Legion of Super-Heroes
Robin - Starting with issue 148. One of better OYL titles
Aquaman - You'll have to trust me on this one. :D Start with issue #40
Cable & Deadpool
Nextwave
Superman/Batman - Although I'd wait for trades, since we seem to get an issue every 9 moths.

[Galactus]

Definately agree with Nextwave: Agents of HATE. Brilliant stuff.

The Spidey titles (at least amazing) are solid, if not exceptional, reads, the problem might be that they are in the middle of a lot of changes (picking up the "The Other" HC maybe is a good start?) and it ties in with Marvel's upcoming Civil War event. Might not be something for you if you want to avoid that event.

Ultimate Spider-Man is a solid read as well. (You are familiar with the Ultimate line of books, yes?) as are the Ultimates, the other Ultimate books (FF and X-men) aren't as good, but still enjoyable.

Avoid all X-books ('cept Cable & Deadpool and possibly New X-men) They're pretty bad right now, but Brubaker is going to take one of the titles for a run (In Space!) So it might be worth jumping on when he does.

If you're interested in the Space based books you might also want to take a look at Annihilation: Marvel's big cosmic event this summer. It starts with a prologue (although the Thanos and Drax minis kind of tie into it and explains eg. why Drax is thin and smart and Thanos has picked up his sidekicks) four miniseries (Silver Surfer, Super-Skrull, Nova & Ronan the Accuser) and then a 7 (?) issue "maxiseries". It's a pretty cool series thus far, all the minis are at least enjoyable (though Super Skrull suffers from a terribly mismatched art and subject matter...) Since a lot of the characters have been "out of the loop" for a while it might be a good read for those who haven't read much in a while.

[Xanrn]

Daredevil -ing rocks, Daredevil is God. Daredevil probably best comic out at the moment.

New Avengers and Young Avengers (only one issue left before YA goes on holiday till next year, barring the Young Avengers/Runaways 4 issue mini series thats part of Civil War) both good.

Outsiders is good despite what most fanboys say, "OMG heroes killing people!!"

[Brady]

Yeah, Daredevil has been fantastic. Brubaker is red hot at the moment. Cap and DD are two of the best superhero books on the market right now. I loved the Punisher cameo in the latest issue of DD. "I surrender" and the cops reaction  :rofl:

[Ser Paladin]

A very good week this week in the world of comics.  I heartily enjoyed thrre of the four books I picked up.  Unfortunately, the highs were offset by a real clunker.

New Avengers Annual picks up the Shield/Hydra Agent left burned in the Savage Land a couple arcs ago.  She is given the Super Adaptoid's powers, and promptly attacks the Avengers.  With the powers of the Sentry and Ms. Marvel, she's unbeatable, plus she gets Wolverine's healing power, Luke Cage's unbreakable skin.  However, in classic Superman/ Parasite fashion, she also gets the weaknesses, notably Sentry's "Void" alter ego. She loses, Luke Cage gets married, and it's happily ever after.

Villains United Special is excellent.  Alex Luthor shows his evil genius brains, and the Calculator is an excellent narrator of the action.  It's a worldwide prison break, and Dr. Psycho releases one of the two big villains as yet unseen in VU or IC, to do his bidding.  The second tier heroes, led by the Martian Manhunter make their stand.  Excellent foreshadowing of a new Justice League.  Great stuff.

Annihilation: Ronan #1 sets up some interesting plot points, and brings back Nebula.  The art is very "Moebius" styled.  I have to say the art on the Annihilation books is uneven at best.  But the story is doing very well so far.

Ion #1 stunk.  Bad story, Kyle acting "out of character," and abysmal art (particularly in space) made this a chore to read.  I'll give it one more issue before I have it removed from my pull list.

Edited by Ser Paladin, 27 April 2006 - 08:50 AM.

[legarous]

I haven't read any comics in a good five year period, and actually closer to ten.  I'm a marvel guy.  Can I pick up a Cap or avengers and jump in, or will i be so lost it's not even funny?

[Nephrite]

legarous, on Apr 28 2006, 05.14, said:

I haven't read any comics in a good five year period, and actually closer to ten.  I'm a marvel guy.  Can I pick up a Cap or avengers and jump in, or will i be so lost it's not even funny?

Captain America was restarted about a year ago, so it's pretty easy to jump in.

Avengers, well, lets just say that the team roster's changed a lot, and know includes everybody's favorite ferret.