Comics Discussion Thread

[Hamburger Helper]

Oh boy, we're on opposite sides of the spectrum then. I wanted to puke when I saw the trailer for WANTED hahahaha. Kick-Ass, on the other side, is a movie adaptation I actually enjoyed. The movie itself isn't exactly bad, and the tongue-in-cheek style of Kick-Ass was translated really well to the screenplay and to the movie itself.

 

I think the issue is the disastrous movie he got, which kind of ruined him in the eyes of the public eye. He's never been a hugely popular character, which is saddening, for as someone told me the other day he's one of (if not the) best written characters in comic history.

 

I was the same with WANTED originally, but ended up renting it one day when I was bored. It could've been better than what it is because of my expectations at the time, but I still love that film

 

Just finished these two last night after finishing The Walking Dead - Compendium Two:

 

Sin City, Vol. 2 - A Dame to Kill For

Miller

 

Ugh... This was dreadfully bad. The characters, plot, and overall aesthetics were garbage. Everything was largely forgettable with a "plot twist" later in the novel being so cliched that it was laughable. I understand that this is noir, but damn was this bad.

 

Sin City, Vol. 3 - The Big Fat Kill

Miller

 

Better than Volume 2, yet still treading the same gobshite waters. I understand the character trope that occurred in the last Volume that was brought forward in this volume, but this should've stayed a fresh installment with new characters. I can't determine what exactly made this bad, because I really like the plotting, but whatever.

[Hamburger Helper]

 

Superman: Earth One - Vol. 1

Stracynski/Davis

 

I can't believe this ongoing series received a green light in the first place. Fuck this book.

[Nagflar]

 

 

Superman: Earth One - Vol. 1

Stracynski/Davis

 

I can't believe this ongoing series received a green light in the first place. Fuck this book.

 

 

I feel bad for you for actually buying and readin that thing .

[Hamburger Helper]

I feel bad for you for actually buying and readin that thing .

I was actually lucky my college library had a copy available, otherwise I probably would've ended up spending money on it. I seriously cannot fathom how people are rating this any higher than a two across various websites. I thought I was going crazy for a moment

 

 

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Omnibus Edition

Moore/O'Neill

 

Read the first chapter earlier today and was fairly impressed. It's more optimistic than Moore's previous contributions, but nonetheless another engrossing suicide mission tale oozing quality.

Edited October 30, 2014 by scotty243

[Nagflar]

I was actually lucky my college library had a copy available, otherwise I probably would've ended up spending money on it. I seriously cannot fathom how people are rating this any higher than a two across various websites. I thought I was going crazy for a moment

 

 

Just remember many people consider Amazing Spider-Man #700 to be good (or anything by that douchebag Slott), and same goes for Age of Apcalypse or Morrison's New X-Men and many others. There's a lot of imbeciles doing 'reviews' out there, same as tasteless fans.

[Hamburger Helper]

Just remember many people consider Amazing Spider-Man #700 to be good (or anything by that douchebag Slott), and same goes for Age of Apcalypse or Morrison's New X-Men and many others. There's a lot of imbeciles doing 'reviews' out there, same as tasteless fans.

 

Oh, I've heard of that infamous Doc Oct plot point

 

I thought Age of Apocalypse was supposed to be one of the classic X-Men tales? Aside from Claremont's stuff, what other tales from the X-verse would you recommend? I've got the Dark Phoenix Saga ready to go at some stage within the next week. Bendis' Uncanny X-Men has piqued my interest - it seems he's reputable in the industry.

[Nagflar]

I've heard of that infamous Doc Oct plot point

 

I thought Age of Apocalypse was supposed to be one of the classic X-Men tales? Aside from Claremont's stuff, what other tales from the X-verse would you recommend? I've got the Dark Phoenix Saga ready to go at some stage within the next week. Bendis' Uncanny X-Men has piqued my interest - it seems he's reputable in the industry.

 

Oh, it's a classic for sure, but it's not a quality read. It's kind of the same as Todd's Spider-Man run - it's defnitely a classic and the artwork is top-notch, but the storylines are crap.

 

Well, you've read God Loves Man Kills already and got Dark Phoenix as well, so I'd recommend Fatal Attracions next (might as well read Onslaught afterwards, too, but it's not really great). There's also Peter David's X-Factor (from which I've read but a couple of issues but I've been told it's amazing), Wolverine (Miller and Claremont) and probably some of the newer issues, such as Uncanny Avengers. Might as well read House of M, given how related it is to mutant-kind.

 

Bendis is hit and miss. Some love him, others don't and then there's those that are mostly indifferent. I don't really like him. He started building his career by killing everyone he could lol. He's also one of those authors that tend to overlook past details and write characters as he sees fit, disregarding previous situations and decisions that displayed them differently. That said, some of his stuff is worth reading, such as Avengers vs. X-Men (disgrearding some of the more forced plot-points) and, from what I'm told, Uncanny X-Men.

Edited October 31, 2014 by Nagflar

[Carville87]

I read this article a while ago and found it really interesting and i thought i would post it here and get you guys opinions on it

 

http://ie.ign.com/articles/2014/09/01/between-the-panels-sexualizing-superheroes

[Hamburger Helper]

I read this article a while ago and found it really interesting and i thought i would post it here and get you guys opinions on it

 

http://ie.ign.com/articles/2014/09/01/between-the-panels-sexualizing-superheroes

 

To be frank, I think it's simply going with the times. I mean, a classic example is how the Victorian time period, any form of sexuality was deemed morally wrong and society refrained from doing it in public and keeping it withheld behind locked doors. Hell yeah I'd like to see more characterization within my female roles rather than a fit body, but what's more alluring to potential customers is the sexuality and spectacle of how the characters play. I'm all for exploring dark sexual undertones in characters, however being physically provocative is rather unappealing to me, presonally.

 

I'd love to see more characters like the Silk Spectre from The Watchmen, whom I remember being a strong female lead (been a few years since I read it). Substance over spectacle is what matters for me, when it comes to building a memorable character. John Marston is one of the ugliest bastards in gaming, but the more he's unveiled throughout the course of Red Dead Redemption, the more you understand and admire him.

[Hamburger Helper]

 

Saga, Vol 1.

Vaughn/Staples

 

Picked this up Saturday for $10. Later in the day, when I went to Barnes and Noble, I saw the hardcover edition with Volume 1-3 included I wouldn't have minded spending the extra $40 Anyway, going to give this a proper spin later in the month when I'm done with The Broken Empire trilogy, or perhaps in-between books

[Carville87]

So apparently DC is getting rid of the new 52 but it's not a reboot http://ie.ign.com/articles/2015/02/06/dc-comics-is-ending-the-new-52

 

Also at around the same time Marvel will be rebooting the Marvel Ultimate Universe http://ie.ign.com/articles/2015/01/20/the-marvel-universe-is-coming-to-an-end-in-may-2015

 

I'm a bit late on the news but better late than never. What do you guys think?

Edited February 10, 2015 by Carville87

[DaivRules]

So apparently DC is getting rid of the new 52 but it's not a reboot http://ie.ign.com/articles/2015/02/06/dc-comics-is-ending-the-new-52

 

I'm a bit late on the news but better late than never. What do you guys think?

 

I was reading Green Lantern from 1993. Superman from 1991. I stopped reading Superman in 1998. I kept reading Green Lantern and now have a collection of roughly 500 dating from 1960 (GL#2) until about a year and a half ago. I'd love to go get all the issues I missed, but life and work as well as my Vita have overwhelmed my free time and budget.

 

I think it's really cool that Green Lanterns back story hasn't rebooted when all the DC reboots keep happening. I'm referring to the reboots starting with Crisis on Infinite Earths onward, not just the New 52. Even though it's a "mainstream" title, Green Lanterns dealt with some awesome issues and had some really sweet stories.

 

I was also into some early Image titles: Wetworks, Stromwatch, WildC.A.T.S, Backlash, Team 7 but stopped those LONG ago (late 90's). Read a lot of the Death/Sandman early Vertigo stuff, too.

 

Huge fan of Creed (Trent Kaniuga), loved the Snowman series by Matt Martin and Cyberfrog by Ethan Van Sciver.

 

I'd LOVE for the whole MiracleMan/MarvelMan Moore/Gaiman/McFarlane debacle to be ended because this would be the perfect time for such a dark and awesome story to be updated and made into a film. OMG! I Just went to look into it and Marvel ended the spat and is releasing it! Everyone has to check it out!

 

 

Most everything else I've read has been one-offs here and there.

 

I occasionally get some good recommendations and borrow some good TPBs from a cronie of mine. I'd love to get into comics again and for comics as a whole to have the presence they did in the mid/late 90's, but a big part of that was the collecting and trading. Digitally that can't happen without some drastic changes.

 

I hope DC losing the New 52 moniker doesn't turn any people off and does get new readers in. I feel like DC and Marvel titles are gateways to getting people into less-known or new unknown titles.

[Nagflar]

They're not really rebooting the New 52, they're just dropping half the titles and adding a bunch of others. The continuity will stay pretty much the same, but most likely will have some added stuff so Flash and Green Arow are more related to their TV show counter-parts (ugh).

 

As for Marvel, everyone suspects they're scrapping the Ultimate universe and merging it with 616 (as well as other continuities). We're all expecting for Spider Gwen to be added as well, to bank on the moronicly huge success she's had.

[Hamburger Helper]

Not big into the super-hero universe stuff, but I've heard nothing but positive things about The New 52. Batman's stories are supposed to be class.

 

The Secret Service: Kingsman

Millar/Gibbons/Vaughn

 

Anticipated the film since the initial trailer last year and decided to pick up the comic since I've had the time. While I like both adaptations equally, I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Jack and Gary, which wasn't explored in the film due to the drastic changes. The action scenes were also a hit or miss, especially with the climatic battle towards the end which the film elevates. Anyhow, I would recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting "coming-of-age" story.

[Nagflar]

Not big into the super-hero universe stuff, but I've heard nothing but positive things about The New 52. Batman's stories are supposed to be class.

 

All of Batman has been good - not necessarilly excellent, but good. Azarello's Wonder Woman was good, Geoff's Aquaman and Green Lantern runs were good, Soule's Red Lanterns run was good. I think that's pretty much all the 'class' New 52 titles. Everything else's been average - or worse. I'd like to say Future's End is good too based on the premise and the project itself, but I don't read it, so I'd be lying lol.

[Carville87]

 

Curb Stomp

 

Just started reading this it's reminding me so much of The Warriors

 

Also has anyone read Rat Queens it looks good but i'm looking for an opinion first

[Hamburger Helper]

 

The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel

Paulo Coelho

 

Saw this at my campus library so I had to pick this up to get my reading back up. Also managed to find The Pride of Baghdad, which I've heard nothing but positive things about. 

 

Still haven't read Vaughn's Saga, Vol 1. yet, but will do so immediately after these two. Bought Y: The Last Man: Deluxe Edition Book 1 last weekend, too, but haven't started it. Going to probably compile all the deluxe's prior to reading them - pretty excited. 

 

Have any of you guys read The Secret Invasion by Bendis? I'm very curious about it.

[starcrunch061]

Great thread!

 

I read mostly DC nowadays. I've thoroughly enjoyed the New 52 (and I don't think DC is jettisoning it - Grant Morrison's Multiversity has pretty much set the continuity in place, and it's awesome). My subscriptions are

1) Batman (great, but Joker story is yawn-inducing)

2) Batman Eternal (ran out of steam about 10 issues ago - just playing out the string now)

3) Aquaman (Parker and Pelletier have done a good job keeping the story fresh after Johns left)

4) Action Comics (Greg Pak is a hack, and I'll be ending this subscription soon)

5) Superman (Romita Jr.'s art doesn't work well, and I haven't been a fan of Johns' writing, either)

6) Earth-2 (for every good idea they have, there are about 3 issues full of filler)

7) East of West (I don't know why I keep reading this - what a slog)

8) Astro City (I have yet to be disappointed by Busiek's big title)

9) C.O.W.L. (Great, great gritty labor comic, with superheroes in place of public workers)

10) Justice League (I love Luthor in the league, but the faux zombie story wasn't so great)

11) Velvet (I love Brubaker, although this comic was better as Winter Soldier)

12) The Fade Out (Again, I love Brubaker, but this comic has been slow going)

13) Multiversity (Grant Morrison is the most hit-or-miss author out there, but he's been on fire in this series)

I also own a vast panoply of DC Archives (they are incredibly cheap, and I'm a huge Golden Age comic fan), and quite a few omnibi (including a huge collection of Ditko work), all of which have been purchased in the last few months.

 

 

 

 

Have any of you guys read The Secret Invasion by Bendis? I'm very curious about it.

 

 

Yep. I subscribed to it back in the day. It's OK to read in a vacuum, but I didn't like it at the time, because it felt like a lousy retcon of the mess made due to the Civil War. It's one of the reasons I gave up on Marvel.

Edited March 27, 2015 by starcrunch061

[Slipknot_rooney]

I'm relatively new I think to reading comics, building up a nice little collection:

 

All DC comics are from the new 52, apart from Knightfall, figured it was the best place to start reading comics.

 

Batman: The Dark knight Vol 1-3

Batman: Vol 1-5

Batman: Death of The Family (both mask and book and the collection with all death of the family stories, still have the mask in the box, kinda went super nerd on that lol).

Batman: The Killing Joke

Batman: Knightfall Vol 1

Suicide Squad: Vol 1-5

Aquaman: Vol 1-2

The Flash: Vol 1

 

I only have one Marvel comic which I read recently, The Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Seemed like a good place to start.

 

I might have missed some but that's all I can remember at the moment.

[Nagflar]

 

 

Have any of you guys read The Secret Invasion by Bendis? I'm very curious about it.

 

 

Fun read, but nothing else. The best part is the art, as well as the coloring.

[glassthursday]

They're not really rebooting the New 52, they're just dropping half the titles and adding a bunch of others. The continuity will stay pretty much the same, but most likely will have some added stuff so Flash and Green Arow are more related to their TV show counter-parts (ugh).

 

As for Marvel, everyone suspects they're scrapping the Ultimate universe and merging it with 616 (as well as other continuities). We're all expecting for Spider Gwen to be added as well, to bank on the moronicly huge success she's had.

Yeah, DC dropped Swamp Thing, which I was kind of bummed about because I was really enjoying it. At least Sixth Gun is coming to an end without being dropped since Oni doesn't make those kinds of decisions. I'm excited to see how the end will turn out since there's only a few issues left. I've enjoyed everything I've read from Oni and decided to give Hellbreak a try even though I'm not really into the occult stuff. It seems whenever a title ends, there's always something new to get into.

 

I hear you about Marvel since the merge of the Ultimate universe and 616 has taken place in Amazing Spider-Man. I've only read to issue 11, so I'm a little behind, but I thought it was an interesting concept. Regarding Uncanny Avengers, I've heard good things about the relaunch, so I'm looking forward to reading the first two issues since I downloaded them onto my phone. The previous run before the relaunch, I felt, ended kind of abruptly, but I'm interested to see where the current title goes.

[Carville87]

 

Read this after the controversy about the variant Batgirl cover and wish i had sooner the best Joker story out there. It's just so dark

[starcrunch061]

 

Read this after the controversy about the variant Batgirl cover and wish i had sooner the best Joker story out there. It's just so dark

 

I actually don't like that story. I didn't think it added much to the mythos, and I don't like anything involving an origin for the Joker. Obviously this is only my opinion - most people love this book.

 

But anyway, haven't picked up my subscriptions this week, but Morrison's "Multiversity" took a stink dive last week. Too much meta crap in it (and that's hard to believe, given I've already accepted a universe with a 4th-wall-breaking, cursed comic book that I shouldn't be reading). It was bound to happen, and I fear that Morrison will just go down further from here (he rarely recovers once he enters these phases). Oh well.

[Hamburger Helper]

Has anyone here read DMZ? I'm thinking about starting the series beginning of the new year after I've concluded Y: The Last Man and possibly 100 Bullets.

 

Speaking of which, my shipment of Vol. 2 of Saga, Y, and 100 Bullets finally shipped in and I immediately finished Saga on the train ride home. While I do hold the series in a higher standard with the characters, mythos and overall beauty, this volume, I felt, was severely lacking some uncharted quality to it. It could be the comparison to the first edition that was brimmed with content but I felt nothing really exciting happened, but that could be due to the amount of backstory that was flourished in this installment. Either way, should be picking up Volume 3 soon.

 

I've been purchasing the Deluxe Editions of Y seeing as they're cheaper in comparison and offer up longer reads. In any case, I'm very much enjoying this series a lot. There hasn't been something to propel it to new heights however it is an interesting take on a pseudo-apocalypse. This series is more than likely what I finish first out of the three I've mentioned.

 

And last, but not least, 100 Bullets, which a big thanks goes towards my dear friend, Casadeben, for introducing me to the series. Finished the first volume months back and have been eager to get back into the world of Agent Graves and unknown applicants acquiring the infamous case of bullets. While I found it intriguing, I was hoping the series didn't go into the direction of just telling one-off stories and thankfully, from what I've heard, it's going to be on hell of a ride towards the conclusion. Got Vol. 2 sitting on my shelf reading to go after concluding Y in the next few days.

 

Been meaning to pick up The Sculptor since release but will do so in the winter once I'm locked inside my dorm from how bad the snow will get. May even splash a little money towards Secret Invasion, Secret Wars, and Marvel Civil War. Any opinions on the last two?

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

Sooooo... Is this thread dead yet or can it come back to life?

 

Does anyone know which titles in the Marvel Platinum "Definitive" collections are worth getting? I have the Deadpool one already (it's the character I read the most of after Batman) and I just bought the Iron Man one. Next to a lot of Deadpool, Whedon's run on X-Men and Miller's Daredevil origins, I don't really have anything from Marvel that's not Star Wars.