What comics are you reading now?

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:10 pm

Hellblazer: Freeze Over, #158-161.

Brian Azzaello story. Really creepy at times and a good read. I picked up the 1st issue and had to read the rest of the arc all in one. Constantine written in character and done well. Not the most exciting story but done very well.

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 11:57 am

ian_house wrote:Hellblazer: Freeze Over, #158-161.

Brian Azzaello story. Really creepy at times and a good read. I picked up the 1st issue and had to read the rest of the arc all in one. Constantine written in character and done well. Not the most exciting story but done very well.

Is this series any good? I have never seen anybody say that any part of the series is a must read. I have always been interested in it though.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 12:04 pm

caxiotis wrote:
ian_house wrote:Hellblazer: Freeze Over, #158-161.

Brian Azzaello story. Really creepy at times and a good read. I picked up the 1st issue and had to read the rest of the arc all in one. Constantine written in character and done well. Not the most exciting story but done very well.
Is this series any good? I have never seen anybody say that any part of the series is a must read. I have always been interested in it though.

My understanding is certain arcs are better than others but that you only truly enjoy it when you've read all of it. I've read the first couple trades and thought they were decent. If I could find the others, I'd read them, but alas, I'm too cheap to buy them, so until the local stores get them to where I can sit and just read them, I won't be pursuing the series further than about the first 2 or 3 volumes. It is certainly a good little dark magic story and if you like Swamp Thing and that sort of style, the early issues will really get you.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:11 am

I've definitely not read all of it. First 2 trades and probably 3 or 4 random arcs. I kinda feel the arcs are very self contained, as long as you ge to understand the type of man Constantine is you can jump in at any point and enjoy an arc. As xodacia says if you like Swamp Thing or something like house of mystery then give hellblazer a go.

There's also been some great creators working on the series so should be able to find an arc from someone you like.

dbngaa · Post by **dbngaa** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:36 am

I recently reread the Delano and Ennis runs (issues 1-84) and I agree that the sone arcs/issues were much better than others. I like more of the Ennis issues than Delano ones, and in both cases I thought there were better single issues vs multi-issue arcs. I forget who took up the writing duties next, but Sean Philips does the art so I'm looking to read some of those when I can find the time/money. At least I know I'll like the art, which is more than I can say for some of the earlier issues. Anway, I concur with the others - pick up a trade or lot if your curious. Ennis' Dangerous Habits was good and Delano's Family Man.

myron · Post by **myron** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:32 am

blasts from the early 90's---

Death's Head II...VOl.1, 1-4...miniseries
Death's Head II...Vol.2, 1-16
MyS-Tech War 1-4

all nicely mind numbing and full of cheese...

...but me likey for a diversion

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:36 am

myron wrote:blasts from the early 90's---

Death's Head II...VOl.1, 1-4...miniseries
Death's Head II...Vol.2, 1-16
MyS-Tech War 1-4

all nicely mind numbing and full of cheese... ...but me likey for a diversion

I always loved the death's head ii miniseries. Probably the only marvel uk books I really liked.

Doorman · Post by **Doorman** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:09 pm

Death's Head was certainly the cream of the Marvel UK crop. I didn't mind Killpower and Motormouth, either. Some of those books are just awful, though! cringe-worthy

dave · Post by **dave** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:14 am

Reading Myspace Dark Horse Presents trade. One of the stories toward the end is called Fear Agent by Rick Remender drawn by Kieron Dwyer. The art and coloring really remind me of the DK offerings. Anyone else ever see this?

Doorman · Post by **Doorman** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:48 pm

FYI, Fear Agent was an ongoing series, too!

dave · Post by **dave** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:05 pm

Did you notice what I was talking about with the art and color? NOT the story telling though-it was very choppy and too much happened per panel. For example a monster throws his son out of the window as a pterodactyl is flying by and another monster catches his son and flies away...while he's yelling, "No!"

Johnseye · Post by **Johnseye** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:18 pm

Anyone reading the new FF, Avengers or Moon Knight books?
Wondering if the stories are any good.

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 4:53 pm

Johnseye wrote:Anyone reading the new FF, Avengers or Moon Knight books?
Wondering if the stories are any good.

FF is probably the best written Marvel book right now.

Doctor Doom joined the Future Foundation after Johnny died. It's friggin' sweet.

Brother J · Post by **Brother J** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:43 pm

picked up a used copy of the Essential Silver Surfer Vol.1 at the airport so I would have something to read on my flight home last night. Quality stuff, love the Buscema art and it looks great in black and white.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:50 pm

Brother J wrote:picked up a used copy of the Essential Silver Surfer Vol.1 at the airport so I would have something to read on my flight home last night. Quality stuff, love the Buscema art and it looks great in black and white.

Yeah, that one has some nice thick line work. Stuff like that usually pops in b&w.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:38 pm

X-Factor - Fall of the Mutant issues. This was definitely better than the Uncanny issues. Louise Simonson's pacing was much better than Claremont.

Spider-Man Presents American Son - 4 issue mini. This was predictable, but a good read nonetheless. I think the American Son suit will be back in the future.

Simpsons' Comic Book Guy mini #1 and #2 - This was pretty awesome. I need to track down the last 3 issues.

xodacia81 · Post by **xodacia81** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:48 pm

400yrs wrote:X-Factor - Fall of the Mutant issues. This was definitely better than the Uncanny issues. Louise Simonson's pacing was much better than Claremont.

Spider-Man Presents American Son - 4 issue mini. This was predictable, but a good read nonetheless. I think the American Son suit will be back in the future.

Simpsons' Comic Book Guy mini #1 and #2 - This was pretty awesome. I need to track down the last 3 issues.

I'm not surprised about Fall of the Mutant(s?) Simonson's work on Superman: The Man of Steel, was exemplary.

vikingspawn · Post by **vikingspawn** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 10:09 pm

400yrs wrote:Simpsons' Comic Book Guy mini #1 and #2 - This was pretty awesome. I need to track down the last 3 issues.

That's a hilarious read. I like how the first issue had 4 variant covers inside the one issue.

ian_house · Post by **ian_house** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:16 am

Johnseye wrote:Anyone reading the new FF, Avengers or Moon Knight books?
Wondering if the stories are any good.

I've been reading Moon Knight, seems interesting but only a couple of issues in.

Doorman · Post by **Doorman** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 10:27 am

400yrs wrote:X-Factor - Fall of the Mutant issues. This was definitely better than the Uncanny issues. Louise Simonson's pacing was much better than Claremont.

Her whole run on X-Factor was quite good and still holds up as quality entertainment.

Cyberstrike · Post by **Cyberstrike** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:50 pm

Finally read The Transformers #13-18 a great read.

Highlights:
Rodimus takes the Autobot Matrix of Leadership from Starscream and then Megatron blasts Rodimus and the Matrix into space.

Megatron has an AWESOME all new body (and I would love to see that design get turned into a toy).

Bumblebee is badly wounded by a human assassin with a gun based on Megatron's old body.

Starscream tries to make an offer for Thundercracker to rejoin the Decepticons and when he refuses Starscream nearly kills him.

Brawn beats up Starscream and could take him prisoner but has to help Thundercracker.

Optimus Prime shoots Soundwave in the head.

Jazz kills a human cop.

Optimus Prime gets mad and challenges Megatron to a one-on-one fight but he has ordered Jetfire to drop a Skywatch satellite on the Decepticons in an attempt to kill Megatron. Megatron takes a wounded Optimus Prime back to Omega Supreme (who is currently the base for the Autobots and Skywatch) and surrenders.

Megatron tells Optimus Prime that Spike Whitwicky has executed Scrapper in cold blood and Prime orders Prowl to investigate this.

Overall: The story of Megatron's revival and his plan to get revenge on Earth is a bit of a stretch and while some might think it's a retcon I don't think it is a retcon but it's not one of Megatron's better revenge plans. I do love seeing some of the second-string characters like Brawn and Thundercracker get some screen time.

Optimus Prime finally losing his temper and becoming a bad @$$ is always great because it's side of him we don't usually get to see much of in any media (especially the G1 Optimus Prime). Optimus Prime shooting Soundwave in the head and Jazz killing a cop at the end of the same issue was a truly shocking ending. While some fans say this ruins Jazz's character and was out of character for him, given that his character is a special operations agent and the situation he was in his actions are completely understandable but I wouldn't say that they were justifiable.

The art is a mixed bag #13 was drawn by Nick Roche who is my least favorite IDW artist and Don Figueroa can't draw humans worth a damn. Alex Milne is best artist of this bunch he makes Figueroa's redesigns work better than Figueroa does and he can draw humans as well.

Final Thoughts: A fairly good story that lays some of the groundwork for the upcoming Chaos storyline/event with some OK art and some great art at the end.

Next up is: The Transformers: The Road to Chaos which contains The Transformers: Heart of Darkness 4-Part mini-series and The Transformers #19-20.

vikingspawn · Post by **vikingspawn** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:30 am

Just read Superman #712 with the long lost Krypto tale. Very quick read. Thought it was going to be more epic...

Next up:

Unity 2000 #1-3
Let Me In Prequel #1-4
Turok #2
Mighty Samson 1-3

Doorman · Post by **Doorman** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:37 am

As much as I was enjoying Simonson's run on X-Factor, Peter David's new direction is even better!

I get the feeling this guy could even make DC characters interesting

His new direction stars Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Quicksilver, Multiple Man and Strong Guy. Not a super-star in the whole bunch ... but it's still a whole lot of fun!

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:28 am

Doorman wrote:As much as I was enjoying Simonson's run on X-Factor, Peter David's new direction is even better!

I get the feeling this guy could even make DC characters interesting

His new direction stars Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Quicksilver, Multiple Man and Strong Guy. Not a super-star in the whole bunch ... but it's still a whole lot of fun!

I know that Peter David had a somewhat popular run on Aquaman. So, not only could he make DC characters interesting, he made an interesting Aquaman story. That is quite a feat.

Also - you forgot the best X-Factor character ever. Random is the best X-type of all time even though he never wore the X. He is living on Utopia now and I keep hoping that someone that understands the character will pick him up and make him more than just a background character. Even Frenzy is getting a good treatment these days! What about Random?

Cyberstrike · Post by **Cyberstrike** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 11:33 am

Chiclo wrote:
Doorman wrote:As much as I was enjoying Simonson's run on X-Factor, Peter David's new direction is even better!

I get the feeling this guy could even make DC characters interesting

His new direction stars Havok, Polaris, Wolfsbane, Quicksilver, Multiple Man and Strong Guy. Not a super-star in the whole bunch ... but it's still a whole lot of fun!
I know that Peter David had a somewhat popular run on Aquaman. So, not only could he make DC characters interesting, he made an interesting Aquaman story. That is quite a feat.

His 80+ issue Supergirl series is one of the greatest series that DC has ever published and his current X-Factor series is one of the best comics that Marvel has ever published.