What comics are you reading now?

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:01 pm

Those posts are useless without pics.

-slym

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:54 pm

Hulk 25. The art by Gabriel Hardman is great. I have 26 to read as well. I doubt I'll get hooked on the story, but I'd probably follow Hardman on his next book. He'd probably be great for Thor.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:01 pm

400yrs wrote:Hulk 25. The art by Gabriel Hardman is great. I have 26 to read as well. I doubt I'll get hooked on the story, but I'd probably follow Hardman on his next book. He'd probably be great for Thor.

Just checked out some of his work. That is a very dynamic style. Impressed is putting it mildly.

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:02 pm

ian_house wrote:Anyone up to date on the Batman stuff? I love Morrison... but I'm confused.

I've been staying pretty well up to date on this. I haven't ready B&R #15 or Return of Bruce Wayne #5 yet. What are you confused about? I know that Morrison's stuff has been a little screwed up due to delays, I'm gonna sit down and just read the Batman stuff beginning to end once all this stuff is finished and Batman, Inc. is getting started.

Once thing that I found to be nice and convenient is butting Batman 701 and 702 right up to the original end of RIP (was that #681?). Obviously 701 picks straight up from the original end of RIP and actually fills in the gaps nicely, even covering the Final Crisis material sufficiently that it's now unnecessary to read Final Crisis to get the whole story of what happens to Batman. It makes the Batman run a nice, self-contained story that doesn't need to be tied in elsewhere.

However, if you read the story in this way, you'll need to just completely skip over the 2 Final Crisis tie-in issues (682 and 683 I believe), as they augment the Batman part of the Final Crisis story but don't serve the overall Batman story itself very well.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:08 pm

Jersen wrote:
ian_house wrote:Anyone up to date on the Batman stuff? I love Morrison... but I'm confused.
I've been staying pretty well up to date on this. I haven't ready B&R #15 or Return of Bruce Wayne #5 yet. What are you confused about? I know that Morrison's stuff has been a little screwed up due to delays, I'm gonna sit down and just read the Batman stuff beginning to end once all this stuff is finished and Batman, Inc. is getting started.

Once thing that I found to be nice and convenient is butting Batman 701 and 702 right up to the original end of RIP (was that #681?). Obviously 701 picks straight up from the original end of RIP and actually fills in the gaps nicely, even covering the Final Crisis material sufficiently that it's now unnecessary to read Final Crisis to get the whole story of what happens to Batman. It makes the Batman run a nice, self-contained story that doesn't need to be tied in elsewhere.

However, if you read the story in this way, you'll need to just completely skip over the 2 Final Crisis tie-in issues (682 and 683 I believe), as they augment the Batman part of the Final Crisis story but don't serve the overall Batman story itself very well.

Honestly, I'm not sure that sounds any less unappealing...

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:02 am

More Green Lantern, of course. This time, issues 51-64, including a few crossovers. I love deep, thoughtful writing, but by the end of his run, Gerard Jones work on Green Lantern was no longer deep, but predictable, with zero humor. There was no fun and the villains were all one-note. GL had become a bland book. Kyle, at this point, was truly a breath of fresh air. His gradual assimiliation into, and acceptance by, the greater DCU made for great reading. Appearances by Alan Scott and involvement with the Darkstars, LEGION and Titans, plus a run in or two with the JLA, among other instances, did not seem forced. It did not seem like Ron Marz was doing a hard sell.

I'm one of the ones who always thought what Hal did was HORRIBLE but enjoyed the core drama of his downfall and how it was rooted in everything that came before, namely the Guardians, well, smugness, but also Hal's will. Yes, the will that made him a hero also cost him everything, because he wouldn't let go. Instead, Hal viewed letting go of Coast City as giving up his duty, as rolling over and dying. This I found a wonderful inversion of the hero he had once been. In hindsight, I can also see places where...well...

Geoff John's reinvention of Green Lantern has been controversial in some circles because of the entire "emotional spectrum" and the way some have viewed it as going against some elements in the earlier Parallax stories. I think there were moments where you saw that Hal was in there, and that something ELSE was wrong. It wasn't what was originally written but it was a brilliant "alternate reading" of events and one that has kept GL a viable property for another 6 years, a period of time which, by the end of Kyle's run as GL, no longer seemed possible. GL, by 2004, had become stale again. What's the point of this?

I think that every few years, you DO have to shake things up. What Marz did in 93/94 and what Johns did in 04/05 SAVED the concept of the Green Lantern. As a foundation set of stories, 51-64 work beautifully. In particular, Hal weeping at the end of 64 was very touching. One of the best "passing the torch" set of stories I've ever read.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:32 am

xodacia81 wrote:
Jersen wrote:
ian_house wrote:Anyone up to date on the Batman stuff? I love Morrison... but I'm confused.
I've been staying pretty well up to date on this. I haven't ready B&R #15 or Return of Bruce Wayne #5 yet. What are you confused about? I know that Morrison's stuff has been a little screwed up due to delays, I'm gonna sit down and just read the Batman stuff beginning to end once all this stuff is finished and Batman, Inc. is getting started.

Once thing that I found to be nice and convenient is butting Batman 701 and 702 right up to the original end of RIP (was that #681?). Obviously 701 picks straight up from the original end of RIP and actually fills in the gaps nicely, even covering the Final Crisis material sufficiently that it's now unnecessary to read Final Crisis to get the whole story of what happens to Batman. It makes the Batman run a nice, self-contained story that doesn't need to be tied in elsewhere.

However, if you read the story in this way, you'll need to just completely skip over the 2 Final Crisis tie-in issues (682 and 683 I believe), as they augment the Batman part of the Final Crisis story but don't serve the overall Batman story itself very well.
Honestly, I'm not sure that sounds any less unappealing...

SPOILERS

IF YOU AREN'T UP TO DATE WITH BATMAN DON'T READ THIS!!!

I think I just need to go back and read the last few Batman & Robin in a row.
I'm just not sure when/how Hurt and Pyg turned up?
I don't understand what the Joker wants out of the situation or why he is even there?
Obviously there are alot of things that are meant to be a mystery, but instead of looking forward to them answers at the moment I'm just trying to work out what has happened previously!
I'm kinda enjoying the story but also think there are too many mysteries at once. Like who is the Batman at the end of 15? Dick just got shot (hows he going to survive that?) and Bruce has returned with Red Robin looking all futuristic?!?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:23 pm

Green Lantern: The New Corps and Green Lantern: Legacy. Of the two, I liked Legacy more. New Corps had some fun moments but have we ever seen those characters since then? Did they even seem to be setting things up for something long term? It felt like a whole lot of nothing just to show Kyle "learning" that he had more to learn. Legacy, however, changed a lot of things. The return of Killowog and Oa, the redemption of Tom Kalamaku from a depressed drunk to somebody he could look in the mirror and respect again. Legacy was just a much better story and the art didn't get in the way, which it did at times in New Corps. So, one decent side read and one GREAT one. onwards (and backwards) to the rest of GL.

vikingspawn · Post by **vikingspawn** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:48 pm

I'm reading this monster hardcover I got this week from Amazon:

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:46 am

Green Lantern 66-70. Many problems, but where to begin? I was reminded why I didn't like Underworld Unleashed. Some of the worst dialogue ever, in both the main series and the crossover books. The art for these issues was not as pleasing. The two issues with Wally West were a let down. There were elements of good, but lots of bad. The dialogue was...even Golden Age books didn't do it this way. The saving grace of this section was # 70, where Kyle and Donna had their falling out. A lot of hurtful things were said by both and it felt like a real argument, if superbeings existed and they had arguments over nude models and not telling the other one that nude model was going to be getting sketched. I found it a fairly good depiction of an argument, down to the "things we never should have said and don't really mean/maybe mean deep down". I've had those types of arguments, been on both sides. The John Stewart appearance in the same issue was a nice touch as well. Not a ROTTEN batch but the weakest of the Marz run so far.

Unblessed · Post by **Unblessed** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:09 pm

vikingspawn wrote:I'm reading this monster hardcover I got this week from Amazon:

oooooh that looks like a whole lot of WIN to me.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:12 pm

I might have to pick up my first MAD in about 10 years

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:33 pm

Green Lantern 71-75. Grayven. Alan Scott reuniting the two sides of his wife. The destruction of the Darkstars. Batman, Robin and Captain Marvel. Even Wonder Woman and Adam Strange. It sounds like a mess, but it worked.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:09 pm

Green Lantern 76-80. DC sure loved the crossovers, even back then. It does occur to me that there are issues with Kyle's continuity. First, when he mentioned his mother to Donna a few issues back, he said she was dead, but when he was speaking with Connor Hawke, he said that they "don't speak much anymore. She's really busy with her life". As we later saw, she was still alive. Second, his father. Here's a guy who supposedly had a brother and still works deep cover but later in the series...he has no family and hasn't been involved with black ops in ages. # 81 was a crown jewel, though. A very touching ceremony for Hal.

Sorry, it was 81. Edited it to reflect the change. That's what I get for rushing.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 6:41 pm

Still with the Immortal Iron fist books.

I am really loving this series. I really like how it jumps around in the Iron Fist timeline. the one shot stories have been very enjoyable. The art in the books I am reading right now (the 20s) is not my cup of tea, but the story is so dang darn good, I don't mind it.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sat Oct 30, 2010 11:32 pm

WD Hardcover

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 2:58 pm

Hulk 417, 418 - Bachelor party and weeding issue. Spidey's was alot better.

Hulk 25, 26 - Definitely glad I checked these out as an introduction to the work of Gabriel Hardman, but I won't be picking up any more as the story just doesn't interest me. I could see Hardman on Cap.

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 4:34 pm

reading Starblast #1-4, trying to read it without the crossover issues, but I seem to be missing a lot of the story by doing so.

Otherwise, it's a pretty cool "cosmic" super hero crossover book so far, with lots of different heroes that I haven't seen paired up together much in the past. Looking forward to seeing how much this ties into the New Universe, or if it is even going to any more than just the Star Brand being in the Marvel Universe.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:15 pm

Just picked up 4 GN's from the library at the college I work at... the question is which do I read first?

Criminal: Coward
All Star Superman v.1
Ultimate X-Men - Ultimate Collection v.1
The Sandman v.1 Preludes & Nocturnes

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:31 pm

ian_house wrote:Just picked up 4 GN's from the library at the college I work at... the question is which do I read first?

Criminal: Coward
All Star Superman v.1
Ultimate X-Men - Ultimate Collection v.1
The Sandman v.1 Preludes & Nocturnes

Sandman. Why? Because after that, you will need something light. Also, because you should not save the best for last. You should read it right off.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 6:07 pm

xodacia81 wrote:
ian_house wrote:Just picked up 4 GN's from the library at the college I work at... the question is which do I read first?

Criminal: Coward
All Star Superman v.1
Ultimate X-Men - Ultimate Collection v.1
The Sandman v.1 Preludes & Nocturnes
Sandman. Why? Because after that, you will need something light. Also, because you should not save the best for last. You should read it right off.

I've not really read any of it before. I picked it up from the local library when I was first getting into comics as a young teen. But didnt give it much time and not sure if it was even the first volume. Definitely going to give it more of a chance this time around.

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 6:35 pm

just read the collected edition of the two issue mini, Ruins. Boy, what a depressing read. It's basically a What If? story based on the Marvels mini, but with everything that went right in the regular Marvel Universe, instead going wrong. A very powerful book, but very depressing.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 8:32 pm

Brother J wrote:just read the collected edition of the two issue mini, Ruins. Boy, what a depressing read. It's basically a What If? story based on the Marvels mini, but with everything that went right in the regular Marvel Universe, instead going wrong. A very powerful book, but very depressing.

I've never re-read, for the exact reasons you stated. I don't mind grim but DAYUM!

OmenSpirits.com · Post by **OmenSpirits.com** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:32 pm

Project SuperPowers TPB of the entire series.

Better than anything the big 2 are doing. period.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:02 pm

OmenSpirits.com wrote:Project SuperPowers TPB of the entire series.

Better than anything the big 2 are doing. period.

I don't know...DC does Fables, via Vertigo...and I'd argue it is the best series on the market these days.