What comics are you reading now?

Knightt · Post by **Knightt** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:04 pm

How is the art ?

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:00 pm

Cyberstrike wrote:I just got through reading X-Factor #208-219 and all I can is wow. This is the BEST MARVEL COMIC CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET! It's smart, funny, thought-provoking, and very exciting.

What is the focus of the story?

And I'd also like to know how the art is..... because if it's Stroman, I'd rather rip my eyes out.

Cyberstrike · Post by **Cyberstrike** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:04 pm

400yrs wrote:
Cyberstrike wrote:I just got through reading X-Factor #208-219 and all I can is wow. This is the BEST MARVEL COMIC CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET! It's smart, funny, thought-provoking, and very exciting.
What is the focus of the story?

You have Hela (the Norse God of the Underworld) hiring X-Factor to hunt Pip, the Troll Maddox seeing Pip's terror they track her down to Las Vegas and they fight Zombie Vikings along with Thor to free Pip. Darwin evolves to beat Hela but at the cost of him being immortal and he leaves the team and has a dream where he fights Wolfsbane's unborn son.

Back in NYC, Monet helps a woman to remember her past, not knowing that the woman is Ballistque a super-solider who was reprogrammed by the government to give her a normal life and she kills the general that led the program and frees the mind of her friend and the two team with a third woman to kill J. Jonah Jamerson.

While fighting zombie Vikings in Vegas Shatterstar learns that Rictor is not the father of Wolfsbane's baby, something Rictor also suspects this after to taking her to doctor and the ultrasound shows only a black screen and the doctor suspects it's mystical. Wolfbane finally confess that some Norse Wolf God is the real father.

Once back in NYC Maddox and Layla Miller chase an African Vampire sprint and one of Maddox's dupes proposes to her and she accepts and at the end the real Maddrox ask her to marry her and she says she will think about it.

Then Mayor J. Jonah Jamerson hires X-Factor to find out who killed the general who was an old friend of his. Going to a demonstration Jamerson gives an interesting speech. Strong Guy and M (and M reveals that she is a Muslim) are in the crownd Ballistque (the woman M helped) tries to shoot Jamerson but she shoots Strong Guy in the chest. As her parnter fights the Black Cat. Banshee knocks Ballistque down a subway and she escapes as does her parnter.

Miller confronts Wolfsbane and tells her she knows of the future that she saw where Wolfsbane kills her and Maddox on their wedding night and tells her she better straight with her or she will restore her memories of being in Wolverine's X-Force, memories she has blocked out (apprently of her doing very questionable or bad things).

As M flies Strong Guy to the hospital he tells her that he is in love with her and he dies, later at hospital he makes a miraculous recovery. Later Layla Miller appears at Strong Guy's hospital bed and prominces him that she will make this right, much to his confusion.

The trio of female assassins capture the Black Cat and go to the scientist responsible for creating them. M, Banshee, and Madox confront Jamerson and he gives the sciences location they go there and fight the assassins and free the Black Cat and M collapse Ballistique's mind and essentially puts her into a permanent coma.

There is quite a lot going on, in this one series and Peter David does a great job of referencing events in the Marvel Universe but never over does it.

And I'd also like to know how the art is..... because if it's Stroman, I'd rather rip my eyes out.[/quote

Knightt wrote:How is the art ?

In a word: SPECTULAR. Stroman hasn't drawn the series in years.

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:37 pm

400yrs wrote:And I'd also like to know how the art is..... because if it's Stroman, I'd rather rip my eyes out.

Stroman had a very short run on X-Factor. His run was issues 33-38. I agree that his art is absolutely horrific. I almost stopped reading during his run.

Valentine De Landro seems to still be the main artist. Lately they have had Emanuela Lupacchino pencilling.

I agree with Cyberstrike that the art has been great for the whole series, except for that Sh*tty Stroman run.

Cyberstrike · Post by **Cyberstrike** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 6:52 pm

caxiotis wrote:
400yrs wrote:And I'd also like to know how the art is..... because if it's Stroman, I'd rather rip my eyes out.
Stroman had a very short run on X-Factor. His run was issues 33-38. I agree that his art is absolutely horrific. I almost stopped reading during his run.

Valentine De Landro seems to still be the main artist. Lately they have had Emanuela Lupacchino pencilling.

I agree with Cyberstrike that the art has been great for the whole series, except for that Sh*tty Stroman run.

No kidding plus it was during The Secret Invasion which didn't help matters (even Peter David struggled through that mess) I will say that Stroman's art back on X-Factor vol. 1 is light-years better, which IMHO was due in large part thanks to inker Al Milgrim, than his crappy work on vol. 2 I doubt even Milgrim could have cleaned up that mess.

Emanuela Lupacchino seems to be the main artist now, I don't recall seeing Valentine De Landro's name on the book for a quite while, but Emanuela has done a great job on the series though.

I honestly can't recall the last time I had so much fun just reading comics as I did reading X-Factor#208-219. The story is very well paced (I do highly recommend reading X-Factor #200-207 and the X-Factor: Nation X one-shot before reading #208-219) the dialogue is memorable, witty, funny, touching, and thought-provoking without being too preachy.

And for the most part it's a self-contained series (outside of a 3 issue tie-in to Second Coming in which David made the crossover's story line a little more than glorified sub-plot and even the main villain of Second Coming didn't seem all that concerned with killing any of the members of X-Factor). While David makes references to other series (like what happened to Wolfsbane during her time with Wolverine's X-Force) and even jokes about the big events like The Curse of the Mutants. He does it a way that explains the basics without carrying all the dead weight.

He give you basics. For example: Wolfsbane while working with Wolverine and X-Force got knocked up a Norse Wolf God (with a name I can't pronounce and can't spell without having the name next to me) and she apparently did a lot questionable and/or bad things and blocked some of it from her memory, she does remember who knocked her up and she left X-Force a note that she needed to clear her head and she then ran back to X-Factor.

And that is all you really need to know about what happened to her while she was gone from the series.

It just a lot of fun to read.

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 8:59 am

I was reading through my ginormous DCBS order yesterday.

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed Netherworld 1 from Top Cow. This mini-series shows a lot of promise. It's a detective type of mystery with a bounty hunter retasked as a kind of detective.

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:34 am

Currently working my way through the Malev War in Magnus and Rai and the Future Force. In preparation for that, I read this issues of Magnus leading into Unity all the way through 20 to get the full context of what was going on with him, and also read Rai 1-8 because I've actually never read those before. I have to say that I'm really enjoying it so far, although I'm only up to RatFF #11 or so and Magnus #28.

superman-prime · Post by **superman-prime** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:57 pm

getting to war of the lanterns i got high hope

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:03 pm

Jersen wrote:Currently working my way through the Malev War in Magnus and Rai and the Future Force. In preparation for that, I read this issues of Magnus leading into Unity all the way through 20 to get the full context of what was going on with him, and also read Rai 1-8 because I've actually never read those before. I have to say that I'm really enjoying it so far, although I'm only up to RatFF #11 or so and Magnus #28.

I thought the everything through the Malev War was really good. The stuff after is good too.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:28 pm

400yrs wrote:
Jersen wrote:Currently working my way through the Malev War in Magnus and Rai and the Future Force. In preparation for that, I read this issues of Magnus leading into Unity all the way through 20 to get the full context of what was going on with him, and also read Rai 1-8 because I've actually never read those before. I have to say that I'm really enjoying it so far, although I'm only up to RatFF #11 or so and Magnus #28.
I thought the everything through the Malev War was really good. The stuff after is good too.

I liked the whole war, a lot more than I expected too. The stuff for an issue or two right after wasn't bad. Magnus fell apart more quickly than Rai, although Magnus did have the "Quest for the Geomancer" story, which I enjoyed. After THAT? Total *SQUEE*.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:29 pm

superman-prime wrote:getting to war of the lanterns i got high hope

It's not quite Sinestro Corps War, but it's been pretty damn good.

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:30 pm

Finished the Malev War today, read through Rai #23 and Magnus #38, which are the epilogue issues that transition to the 4020 era. I also re-listened to the Malev War OTV episode just to hear the color commentary again in a fresh context. I have to say that I really enjoyed the story and found it overall to be very satisfying, although I do agree with some of the criticism the OTV guys had on some of the story elements and stylistic choices.

This almost never happens for me, but I was in complete agreement with Zeph's opinion of Rai's death. I just found that moment--obviously meant to be pivotal, dramatic, and touching--to be simply vapid. I also agreed with Sean that Takao's death was meant to be reflective of Tohru's death in Unity. There were other bits here and there that gave me a little twinge now and then, but I found it overall to be extremely enjoyable. In fact, I'm completely satisfied to end my readings of both characters right there.

One issue that comes up in Magnus #38 that I felt warrants some real discussion was something that I was very surprised the OTV guys didn't hit on in their discussion. After Magnus becomes TC President, the consortium passes a law calling for the destruction of all robots and artificial life. This seems like a HUGE moment to me when I think back on the personal revelations that Magnus had much earlier in the title. In fact, it seems to me to be a direct renouncement of the belief he came to foster from the conclusion of Steel Nation.

I chose to look at this as a hard choice that a world leader must make to ensure the good of the many. But there's no escaping the fact that Magnus basically endorses the genocide of a race: AI. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth that characters like Doc and Talon, whom he fought beside during the Malev War, are eradicated without mercy. What if Tekla had survived the Malev War? Not only did she fight by his side from the beginning of the Malev War, but she had been in love with him for the past 2 years and had defended him from the other Steel Nation officials who had always been suspicious that he would do exactly what he ended up doing.

Sorry, long post, but I'd love to discuss this some more.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:02 pm

Punisher Return to Big Nothing GN.

I don't recommend this. The grammar was a mess in this. The Zeck art was pretty though.

I do like the GN format alot.

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:54 am

Been reading my way through Second Life of Dr. Mirage this week. I've got about 7 or 8 issues left.

During my original stint collecting as a kid, I only had the 1st 2 issues and the Chaos Effect issue, and that was the extent of my Dr. Mirage knowledge or experience. My biggest impression reading the series through now is that each issue comes across like a TV episode. I know it's been stated that Dr. Mirage was a book meant to appeal to female readers, and I can totally see that. Not the best thing I've ever read, but it's enjoyable enough, and the art and coloring are absolutely beautiful in the issues I've read, but I haven't made it to the post-Chang run yet. In the issues with Chang and Branch on the art, though, the panels look almost like animation cels.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:01 am

I just read Midnight Nation TPB by J. Michael Straczynski.

I really, really liked it. One of my favorite stand alone stories.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:07 am

Moriarty, # 1 & 2. Following the advice of Chiclo, I took a gamble and boy did I find a gem of a series. Nice art and a cool story/characters.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:56 am

Jersen wrote:Been reading my way through Second Life of Dr. Mirage this week. I've got about 7 or 8 issues left.

During my original stint collecting as a kid, I only had the 1st 2 issues and the Chaos Effect issue, and that was the extent of my Dr. Mirage knowledge or experience. My biggest impression reading the series through now is that each issue comes across like a TV episode. I know it's been stated that Dr. Mirage was a book meant to appeal to female readers, and I can totally see that. Not the best thing I've ever read, but it's enjoyable enough, and the art and coloring are absolutely beautiful in the issues I've read, but I haven't made it to the post-Chang run yet. In the issues with Chang and Branch on the art, though, the panels look almost like animation cels.

I did like some of the good Doctor. Great interaction between him and his wife.

Cyberstrike · Post by **Cyberstrike** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:00 am

Darkwing Duck: Crisis on Infinte Darkwings a really fun (and a little confusing) read. I love some of the variations of Darkwing Duck. If I had one problem with it I didn't like how Negaduck is defeated it just seemed weird and didn't make much sense to me. It was nice to see Duck Tales villainess Magica De Spell and Negaduck team up (although I think Negaduck works best alone or when he doublecrosses his partners).

Next up is IDW's The Transformers #13-18

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:57 am

ian_house wrote:
Jersen wrote:Been reading my way through Second Life of Dr. Mirage this week. I've got about 7 or 8 issues left.

During my original stint collecting as a kid, I only had the 1st 2 issues and the Chaos Effect issue, and that was the extent of my Dr. Mirage knowledge or experience. My biggest impression reading the series through now is that each issue comes across like a TV episode. I know it's been stated that Dr. Mirage was a book meant to appeal to female readers, and I can totally see that. Not the best thing I've ever read, but it's enjoyable enough, and the art and coloring are absolutely beautiful in the issues I've read, but I haven't made it to the post-Chang run yet. In the issues with Chang and Branch on the art, though, the panels look almost like animation cels.
I did like some of the good Doctor. Great interaction between him and his wife.

Yeah, a comic book couple with a healthy, enduring marriage! Wait a sec, THAT'LL NEVER WORK! Haha, yeah, that's one of my favorite parts of this title.

I'll finish Dr. Mirage today, so I need to think about what to read next. I'm not sure if I want to dive into some more Valiant back issues or dive into something else like Byrne's Namor or the Milligan/Allred X-Force/X-Statix.

Doorman · Post by **Doorman** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:10 pm

Jersen wrote:I'm not sure if I want to dive into some more Valiant back issues or dive into something else like Byrne's Namor or the Milligan/Allred X-Force/X-Statix.

X-STATIX

Do it!

Jersen · Post by **Jersen** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:47 pm

Doorman wrote:
Jersen wrote:I'm not sure if I want to dive into some more Valiant back issues or dive into something else like Byrne's Namor or the Milligan/Allred X-Force/X-Statix.

X-STATIX

Do it!

OK, you twisted my arm! I just filed my Dr. Mirage books back in place, so I'll pull those out to read in just a little bit.

geocarr · Post by **geocarr** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:04 am

I read Knights on Broadway #1-3 recently for the first time and really enjoyed the basic concept of the story and the character development and the story elements that I think were being set up. Shame they never got to finish telling the rest of the story.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:42 am

geocarr wrote:I read Knights on Broadway #1-3 recently for the first time and really enjoyed the basic concept of the story and the character development and the story elements that I think were being set up. Shame they never got to finish telling the rest of the story.

Yeah, it is. My understanding is that Shooter had the scripts for the next 3 isssues all written and the art was ready to print for the 4th issue when Broadway went belly-up. What a shame. I'd love to get a chance to read, in any form, the rest of that story.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:44 am

geocarr wrote:I read Knights on Broadway #1-3 recently for the first time and really enjoyed the basic concept of the story and the character development and the story elements that I think were being set up. Shame they never got to finish telling the rest of the story.

I tried reading that line a while back. The art hurt my eyes too much.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:45 am

I started up on Fall of the Mutants. I read this a long time ago. I'm starting to think that I liked X-Factor much more than Uncanny back in the day. God, I hate Claremont's wordiness.

I finished the Uncanny issues and I feel no better about Claremont. I'm setting this aside before I come back to the X-Factor issues. I don't want Claremont's wordiness to taint my reading experience on the X-Factor issues.