What comics are you reading now?

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sat May 17, 2014 9:15 am

caxiotis wrote:
Southern Bast@rds (3.5/5) really good, but I couldn't give it a 4/5. I am afraid this story is going to fall apart

I don't think that's possible for a Jason Aaron story.

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Sat May 17, 2014 9:10 pm

400yrs wrote:
caxiotis wrote:
Southern Bast@rds (3.5/5) really good, but I couldn't give it a 4/5. I am afraid this story is going to fall apart

I don't think that's possible for a Jason Aaron story.

My fingers are crossed for a great story

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Sat May 17, 2014 9:12 pm

Read the first two trades of East of West. I gotta give it a 3/5. I enjoyed the story thus far, but I there is not a lot of character development (which I like in a story).

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Sat May 17, 2014 9:18 pm

caxiotis wrote:Read the first two trades of East of West. I gotta give it a 3/5. I enjoyed the story thus far, but I there is not a lot of character development (which I like in a story).

I read this and thought for a while. I finally nailed down what I really like in my fiction (any medium) - I like a strong, nebulous narrative with Lots of great characters who are given enough development to make them interesting, but still allow me to give them the voice my imagination wants them to have.

This explains why I love Hickman (especially EoW) and can't get into Wiebe at all. Too much character development and too little plot (or a simple plot) don't keep me interested.

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Sat May 17, 2014 9:30 pm

lorddunlow wrote:
caxiotis wrote:Read the first two trades of East of West. I gotta give it a 3/5. I enjoyed the story thus far, but I there is not a lot of character development (which I like in a story).
I read this and thought for a while. I finally nailed down what I really like in my fiction (any medium) - I like a strong, nebulous narrative with Lots of great characters who are given enough development to make them interesting, but still allow me to give them the voice my imagination wants them to have.

This explains why I love Hickman (especially EoW) and can't get into Wiebe at all. Too much character development and too little plot (or a simple plot) don't keep me interested.

So, Games of Thrones novels?

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Sat May 17, 2014 10:58 pm

kjjohanson wrote:
lorddunlow wrote:
caxiotis wrote:Read the first two trades of East of West. I gotta give it a 3/5. I enjoyed the story thus far, but I there is not a lot of character development (which I like in a story).
I read this and thought for a while. I finally nailed down what I really like in my fiction (any medium) - I like a strong, nebulous narrative with Lots of great characters who are given enough development to make them interesting, but still allow me to give them the voice my imagination wants them to have.

This explains why I love Hickman (especially EoW) and can't get into Wiebe at all. Too much character development and too little plot (or a simple plot) don't keep me interested.
So, Games of Thrones novels?

I'm definitely going to check them out.

Dr Noel · Post by **Dr Noel** » Sat May 17, 2014 11:17 pm

ShadowTuga wrote:
lorddunlow wrote:
mkb28 wrote:
ShadowTuga wrote:
Elveen wrote:I'm reading my 2 Knightfall tpbs I just picked up.
I read this back in the day when it came out, but did not read the very end.
They have collected Knightsend for the first time in this new TPBs, if I'm not mistaken.
I still think the best bit of it is the first act. I thought Bane was the biggest challenge Bats ever faced, he was stronger than Killer Croc and almost (Almost) as smart as Ra's or the Riddler.

I am getting ready to bind my entire Knightfall collection, which I believe is over 90+ issues into HC volumes. Looking forward to reading the whole story from start to finish.

Mkb28
I have been meaning to read this for quite some time.
As long as none of you expect a Masterpiece (the story is waaaaaaay too long for it's own good, imo) you're in for some nice Batman stuff.
Not meaning to derail the thread, but I can not help top look at what WB did to Bane. Dude's entered the Batman zeitgeist, I'd say for newer generations and talking about the general public only, he might be the most famous Bat-villain, after the Joker and perhaps, Catwoman.
Which is unbelievable, in a weird way. Got to give credit to DC and WB (AND NOLAN, OF COURSE)- he's a kinda recent character (20 plus years). Or maybe he's not, and I'm older than I think I am.

Bane fell off the radar for awhile, but resurfaced in the comic world with Gail Simone's Secret Six series (fantastic if you haven't read it). Then he popped up in The Dark Knight Rises and has been a major player ever since.

400yrs · Post by **400yrs** » Sat May 17, 2014 11:18 pm

lorddunlow wrote:
caxiotis wrote:Read the first two trades of East of West. I gotta give it a 3/5. I enjoyed the story thus far, but I there is not a lot of character development (which I like in a story).
I read this and thought for a while. I finally nailed down what I really like in my fiction (any medium) - I like a strong, nebulous narrative with Lots of great characters who are given enough development to make them interesting, but still allow me to give them the voice my imagination wants them to have.

This explains why I love Hickman (especially EoW) and can't get into Wiebe at all. Too much character development and too little plot (or a simple plot) don't keep me interested.

Yeah, I'm a character guy. I don't need a complicated plot in my comics. That doesn't work on monthlies for me.

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Sun May 18, 2014 2:18 pm

Don't know if you guys noticed but I have actually had time to read comics.

Re-read Saga tpb 1 and read tpb 2 (both 4/5). On to read tpb 3

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Mon May 19, 2014 2:23 am

Just read the first Saga trade. Same opinion as before (only maybe a little stronger) - excellent story with great art, but completely marred by porn inserted for no reason other than shock value. Every sex scene is completely gratuitous (and really *SQUEE* weird). Seriously, what is wrong with BKV? Dude needs a mental health specialist.

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Tue May 20, 2014 2:25 pm

lorddunlow wrote:Just read the first Saga trade. Same opinion as before (only maybe a little stronger) - excellent story with great art, but completely marred by porn inserted for no reason other than shock value. Every sex scene is completely gratuitous (and really *SQUEE* weird). Seriously, what is wrong with BKV? Dude needs a mental health specialist.

There truly is a lot of sexual talk and pornographic images that seem to be there for shock value. Some of is used to show personality of character (like Alana is a rougher girl), but other than that it doesn't really move the story forward. Just shock value, I don't care for

caxiotis · Post by **caxiotis** » Tue May 20, 2014 2:27 pm

Read Saga tpb 3 and giving it a 3/5. The story seems to have lost direction a little bit. Plus all of shock sex stuff (as discussed in my previous post) serves no purpose

iwantvaliant · Post by **iwantvaliant** » Tue May 20, 2014 2:31 pm

I'm in the middle of the second MIND MGMT trade right now. This book is amazing!

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Tue May 20, 2014 3:12 pm

caxiotis wrote:Read Saga tpb 3 and giving it a 3/5. The story seems to have lost direction a little bit. Plus all of shock sex stuff (as discussed in my previous post) serves no purpose

Without the stuff clearly put in there for shock value, this would definitely be a top 5 read for me. With it in, I probably won't go further than the second trade. How making a teenager have an ample bosom (pulling out my old fart terminology here) and what BKV is doing are different, I have no idea, but I'm sure all of the people who joined in the Twitter debacle about misogyny in comics read and love Saga.

I almost wish there was a clean version of Saga.

I may edit and distribute such a thing just to tick BKV off.

Cyberstrike · Post by **Cyberstrike** » Tue May 20, 2014 7:06 pm

Justice League 3000 #1-5 In a 31st century where The Legion of Super-Heroes didn't come together, or MIA and/or killed off a group of god-like supervillains Locus, Kaili, The Convert, an AI whose name I forget and a mysterious leader called only the Five have taken over half of the universe and the only hope lies with Cadmus super geniuses the Wonder Twins Terry and Teri (male and female respectfully) and their former and now fugitive boss' research on generic rewriting to bring back Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash (and later on Firestorm) and reform the Justice League to fight the Five.

The only problem: to say that the members of the Justice League don't get along with each other is an understatement. They all have huge gaps in their memory (which explains why we can't know the final fates of the originals) and they don't have all of their powers Superman and Wonder Woman can't fly. The Green Lantern doesn't have a ring and lantern it's a green cloak, while Batman still has all of his smarts he's nowhere near as stuck-up he's actually kind of likeable in a weird sort of way. Also they have some major personality problems Superman is an egomaniac who takes about himself in the third person and believes that Clark Kent was a myth. Wonder Woman is a complete and total b****h, The Flash is downer who gets killed a lot. The Green Lantern is Hal Jordan he doesn't have a personality to begin with. Batman can't stand them and the banter between him and Superman is a real highlight. It's not like The Five are a well organized group themselves Locus is a blue-skinned alien girl who wants to **** Hal Jordan too bad he's not into crazy. The Convent is a powerful telepath who can take over the population of entire planets, the AI can control and shut down any tech. Kaili is the Hindu goddess of death who gets more power when mass murder happens.
Their support is the so called Wonder Twins a pair of super geniuses the guy Terry is a hopeless fanboy who can't see any faults with the League while his sister Teri is a realist borderline pessimist who can every fault of the team.

After Locus "kills" the Flash, kidnaps GL and send the Trinity to a prison planet a sherif there contacts the twins former and fugitive boss who explains to the League that the means to bring them back caused their DNA to completely rewrite the host's DNA to the point that the DNA of each member of the League basically killed the host. This doesn't sit well with them especially when Terry brings the Flash back and adds Firestorm to the mix. Firestorm also doesn't think too much of this new version of the Justice League and he considers them losers. He only goes with the Flash to rescue Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman because he has nothing better to do with his new lease on life. Teri is furious with her brother for bring the Flash back again and bringing Firestorm back because of his unstable duel genic matrix and the personality problems that will come with being two different personalities in one (I'm calling it Firestorm 3000 will have a split personality). Meanwhile Locus shirks Hal and shallows him and I don't want to know which end she brought him back out of him and his constantly making moves and saying she loves him and want him to have sex with her, while Jordan just gives her the silent treatment, Hal manages to escape but Locus learns about this and the two get into a lovers spat and she takes away his magic cloak and he falls back down to her planet.

This book is written by Keith Griffen and JM DeMantis whose work on the Justice League in the 1980s was known for humor as was their really funny sequels in 00s. Here however the humor is darker and at times feels forced especially with Terry who is one of the biggest twits in recent comics. They keep killing the Flash gag is rip off of the they keep killing Kenny from South Park (amazing I know that and I never watched a complete episode of South Park in my life) and his first death by Locus isn't funny it's actually pretty gory (she rips him apart to see what makes him tick). Honestly Locus is the only funny one she's like a god-like Harley Quinn. Superman as an egomanaic is enjoyable but after 5 issues it loses his charm even his banter with Batman gets old after 5 issues.

The artwork by Howard Porter is nowhere near as good as his work on the 90s JLA series with Grant Morrison. It looks a weird mash of his style, 90s Griffen, Kevin O'Neil, and Moebius. While it works it does take some getting used to. Overall I don't know what to make of this series. It's funny but not as funny as Griffen and DeMantis' earlier work and it's tone is all over the place. I like it enough to keep reading but it's not a book I can easily recommend to someone unless they're a huge Justice League fan or fans of the creators. Maybe once the first story arc is done and it'll get out of first gear and find a proper direction. It's a different take on the Justice League and it's core members which is I find it's best thing.

grendeljd · Post by **grendeljd** » Tue May 20, 2014 9:46 pm

This weekend I got a hardcover copy of 'Baltimore: A Passing Stranger & other stories' for half-price. I've only read the first two tales but I am already thoroughly hooked on this title & character. Anyone who is a fan of the Mignola-verse that hasn't tried this book should give it a go. It's not set in the world of Hellboy (to my knowledge) but it is really excellent stuff, with the same supernatural flavour & stands strongly on its own.

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Wed May 21, 2014 2:28 am

Just caught up to the most recent Cyberforce issue. I'm really enjoying the Top Cow stuff. I read issues 5 and 6 of Aphrodite IX and I think is one of the most enjoyable books on my pull list. Can't wait to catch up.

Also read through most of my Death Deluxe edition. I knew it before, but I reconfirmed - Death is my favorite character of all time. So real, so pragmatic, but magical and ethereal at the same time. Such an odd portrayal of such a well-explored entity/force/idea, but it works better than any other depiction. Brief Lives is my favorite Sandman arc because it hinges so much on Death. She's really a very central character in the entire series. She's nearly as important as Dream.

That Death HC is a thing of beauty as well. Bachalo's Death is my favorite depiction, by the way - by far.

My favorite quote ever: "You get what anyone gets. You get a lifetime." So true, and so simple.

I think my favorite part of Sandman was the meeting of Hob Gadling and Death at the conclusion of the series. Two of my favorite characters in an awesome scene.

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Wed May 21, 2014 7:04 am

Just read the Volume 1 trade of "Red Team" from Garth Ennis and Dynamite. The volume collects issues 1-7. Gritty crime drama with a surprise twist that you don't see coming at the end. Great read!

Looking forward to reading my #1 issue of "Caliban" from Ennis and Avatar. Also plan to start reading the Volume 1 trade of "Bedlam" from Nick Spencer and Image Comics.

Mkb28

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Wed May 21, 2014 7:18 pm

mkb28 wrote:Just read the Volume 1 trade of "Red Team" from Garth Ennis and Dynamite. The volume collects issues 1-7. Gritty crime drama with a surprise twist that you don't see coming at the end. Great read!

Looking forward to reading my #1 issue of "Caliban" from Ennis and Avatar. Also plan to start reading the Volume 1 trade of "Bedlam" from Nick Spencer and Image Comics.

Mkb28

Caliban 1 was good enough to convince me to grab #2

jeremycoe · Post by **jeremycoe** » Thu May 22, 2014 11:26 pm

Read Star Wars: Rebel Heist #1 because it sounded interesting and it is written by Matt Kindt. It was a good first issue. I'm going to at least get issue #2 and go from there. I was really impressed with the feel of the book. Dark Horse uses some nice, heavy paper, at least on this book.

grendeljd · Post by **grendeljd** » Fri May 23, 2014 4:03 pm

Picked up a big bunch of excellent comics this week - I missed a week picking up my books, so this was a double treat;

Aside from Valiant (Bloodshot, Q&W, Unity, XO) I picked up;

Afterlife With Archie #5
East of West #12
Hellboy In Hell #6
Invincible #111
Revival #20
Saga #19
Star Wars #17
Walking Dead #127

slym2none · Post by **slym2none** » Fri May 23, 2014 5:41 pm

Over on the CGC board, there is a "1000 comics in a year" thread. I started late, and I am (mostly) reading only TPBs, HCs, Essentials and the like I can get from my library, but I am up over 350 at last count and have many more to add from the past week. I will get the list from there and post it here.

*EDIT* Here you go - a collection of modern and older stuff:

Uncanny Avengers 1-5
Hawkeye 1-11
Young Avengers 6
Wolverine LS 1-4
UXM 172-173
100 Bullets 1-67
Y: The Last Man 1-48
The Sixth Gun 1-6
Locke & Key 1-6
V For Vendetta 1-10
Kick-*SQUEE* 1-8
Strangers In Paradise vol. 1 1-3
SiP vol.2 1-13
SiP vol.3 1-24, 26-32, 34-38, 40-76
X-Men Forever 1-12
Manifest Destiny 1-5
East Of West 1-8
Mythos: The Final Tour (Vertigo) 1-3
Deadman: Exorcism 1-2
The Brave & The Bold Annual #nn (single issue modern reprint collection)
Saga 1-12
Superior Spider-Man 1-5
Walking Dead 1-12
Transmetropolitan 1-18
Batman: LOTDK 16-20
X-Men: Magneto Testament 1-5
Sandman 1-16

361 issues so far

-slym

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:23 pm

kjjohanson wrote:
mkb28 wrote:Just read the Volume 1 trade of "Red Team" from Garth Ennis and Dynamite. The volume collects issues 1-7. Gritty crime drama with a surprise twist that you don't see coming at the end. Great read!

Looking forward to reading my #1 issue of "Caliban" from Ennis and Avatar. Also plan to start reading the Volume 1 trade of "Bedlam" from Nick Spencer and Image Comics.

Mkb28
Caliban 1 was good enough to convince me to grab #2

Thanks, KJ! Looking forward to reading it.

I read the first issue of Bedlam last night and was so confused. I think I need another read, but so far, I am not enjoying it.

Mkb28

lorddunlow · Post by **lorddunlow** » Fri May 23, 2014 11:09 pm

mkb28 wrote:
kjjohanson wrote:
mkb28 wrote:Just read the Volume 1 trade of "Red Team" from Garth Ennis and Dynamite. The volume collects issues 1-7. Gritty crime drama with a surprise twist that you don't see coming at the end. Great read!

Looking forward to reading my #1 issue of "Caliban" from Ennis and Avatar. Also plan to start reading the Volume 1 trade of "Bedlam" from Nick Spencer and Image Comics.

Mkb28
Caliban 1 was good enough to convince me to grab #2
Thanks, KJ! Looking forward to reading it.

I read the first issue of Bedlam last night and was so confused. I think I need another read, but so far, I am not enjoying it.

Mkb28

I bailed on Bedlam after falling asleep trying to read the third issue for like the 10th time. It's just not any good.

Elveen · Post by **Elveen** » Sat May 24, 2014 1:47 am

lorddunlow wrote:
mkb28 wrote:
ShadowTuga wrote:
Elveen wrote:I'm reading my 2 Knightfall tpbs I just picked up.
I read this back in the day when it came out, but did not read the very end.
They have collected Knightsend for the first time in this new TPBs, if I'm not mistaken.
I still think the best bit of it is the first act. I thought Bane was the biggest challenge Bats ever faced, he was stronger than Killer Croc and almost (Almost) as smart as Ra's or the Riddler.

I am getting ready to bind my entire Knightfall collection, which I believe is over 90+ issues into HC volumes. Looking forward to reading the whole story from start to finish.

Mkb28
I have been meaning to read this for quite some time.

I'm in the second Knightfall Trade and it not that good. The scarecrow story is boring.

ValiantFans.com Board - Since 2004