Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

I recently got back into reading comics (as detailed with a post I made a couple months ago) and have taken a liking to the relaunch of Batman and the Outsiders and The Brave and the Bold in particular. In fact, I like that DC has gone back to roots in most respects and ditched the excessive number of comics they had and started emphasizing the "universe" instead.

I have to admit, though, comic selections are slim out where I live, so I can't really look around to see what both Marvel and DC completely have to offer these days by sampling them off the shelf. Definately wanting to subscribe to a few books though.

So I'm curious what Marvel books are worth reading these days and if they're just as crossover-obsessed and convuluted as ever. If they have some titles taking on the streamlined approach DC is, I might be more interested in those books. Crossovers are waaaay to pricy these days. I'd prefer books with self contained storylines or one-shots, really.

BTW, The Brave and the Bold #16 is made of win, go grab it.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

With Bendis in the reins of every major event at Marvel these days, you can expect most books to be heavily crossover based. That can be good or bad, but thankfully he's only writing a few series. The man needs to stop.

Captain America, Thor and Thunderbolts are the three best books currently put out by Marvel in my opinion. Amazing Spider-Man isn't worth the 3-books-a-month cost of admission currently, I find the latest story arcs to be pretty useless. I've never been a fan of X-Men so I can't really comment, though as usual there are like 5 different X-Men books a month.

Those are the three books that constantly satisfy me every month, they never disappoint. I also read The Incredible Hercules (unlike most other series, the Secret Invasion tie-in for this one was fantastic), Iron Man: Director of Shield (it's been ace up until the last arc, which was pretty horrible), and The New Avengers. They're good about 80% of the time and haven't suffered much from the Secret Invasion tie-ins. New Avengers specifically, as most of the story development for the event are split between this and Mighty Avengers, which has picked up some steam since it started focusing on Nick Fury.

As for Avengers: The Initiative, I dropped it from my list after the closing of the first arc (but apparently it's still very good). I hear good things about The Immortal Iron Fist, HULK and The Invincible Iron Man.

If you just want action, the Secret Invasion mainline books are pretty good, though the arc is coming to a close. Dark Reign is the next big Marvel event, beginning this holiday.

Though it's only localized and published by Marvel, I have to plug my all-time favourite book, Sky Doll. The trade hardback is out October 24th for $24.99.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Yeah, I did manage to thumb through a few Spiderman books and was kinda put off with how many there were and how wonky the storyline already was. If it this is the reboot, I'm curious why Eddie Brock has departed from his role as Venom so quickly, yet can become something hokey like Anti-Venom.

Kinda makes me just want to read Spider-Girl instead, which is a reboot of the series they tried to start in the late 90s. I do like that they're using it to spoof some of the old Spiderman stuff, though, such as the clone saga.

I think I'll check into some of your suggestions after the Secret Invasion thing blows over. I've never cared for stories about the Skrull.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Eddie Brock hasn't been Venom for years; the new host has been Mack Gargan (The Scorpion) for some time, and he's a member of The Thunderbolts. It's a reboot, but it still manages to fit into the overarching universe. If you wanna get into that book though (Thunderbolts), I highly suggest beginning with the Civil War arc. That's where it really picked up and got really good. The character relationships and development are absolutely amazing. Great writing on Warren Ellis' part. And with a lineup that includes Venom, Swordsman, Bullseye and others, you can expect excellent action scenes.

And yes, The Anti-Venom is stupid. For a reboot that's supposed to takes the series back to it's roots, it's pretty dumb that there's already another dumb symbiote character. Venom should always remain the only one; I thought Marvel's writers understood that by now.

Most books (Hercules and Iron Man) are done with their Secret Invasion tie-ins. There are dedicated mini-series for any remaining ones, like Secret Invasion: Thor and Secret Invasion: Inhumans. The latter is only worth reading if you're a big Black Bolt fan. Captain America just finished its first arc since the death of Steve Rogers, but every book as been fantastic since as long as I can recall.

Secret Invasion and its tie-ins as a whole are pretty neat, looking at how the Skrull Invasion has developed over the years, since before the time of House of M, even back to Secret War, but like World War Hulk it's mostly good for the action. Having Nick Fury back is pretty awesome, though. I'm hoping Marvel manages to hit another one out of the park like they did with Civil War once Dark Reign comes along, but no one has any idea what it's about.

Also Stephen Colbert is still a presidential candidate in the 616.

[Caspian]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

I was told about an Xmen book that I think came out later on last year that is supposed to be absolutely epic. Can't remember the name for the life of me, maybe someone else will know which it is.

Outside the more mainstream stuff, has anyone been following the Angel and Buffy comic series? I know Angel is supposed to be done running this month I think, Buffy may keep going for awhile. Is it good? I've read a few things about it, I was going to wait for them to compile a bunch of issues and buy them all at once if they were worth getting.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Ran into a comic book geek paroozing the titles at the mall and asked him if there was a comic shop in town, turns out there was after all, a few doors down from where the old shop used to be.

They had almost all the backissues of Batman and the Outsiders (even #1) , so I grabbed those up. I'll go back by next week to start sampling some Marvel and settle on what I want to subscribe to.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

I was told about an Xmen book that I think came out later on last year that is supposed to be absolutely epic. Can't remember the name for the life of me, maybe someone else will know which it is.

X-Men: Endangered Species and X-Men: Messiah Complex were both very good. I can't follow each and every book as they go through their big events, but picking up the trades for both these arcs would be a good idea.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

I've been enjoying DC's Final Crisis quite a bit. I don't really know what Grant Morrison was smoking when he wrote "Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3-D," but "Revelations," "Submit" and the main FC miniseries have all been excellent reads.

Superman Beyond is just inconprehensible, given Morrison is a very sound writer, however, I'm sure Book 2 of 2 will patch things up.

So far, for a "Crisis" the multiverse stuff has been fairly light, the greater emphasis being on the triumph of evil over all that is good in the DC universe. Heroes and villians alike have died, some being surprising picks.

I won't be able to keep up with all the related books, but I do like the different perspectives on the storyarch that the other FC books are giving. Definately give "Final Crisis: Revelations" a read if you're checking out the main FC story already, its got a great subplot for The Spectre and The Question.

I'm also kinda sad about the fate of one of my favorite supporting characters from Superman, I always liked how they made the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit a major part of the stories in Superman back when I read it. A good character falls, but oh the irony, they drew him to look like Jack Kirby.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Picked up some graphic novel versions of Batman and Green Lantern storylines I had missed out on, particularly the "Hush" and "Green Lantern: Rebirth."

Also getting into All-Star Batman and Robin. I love Jim Lee's work and I do appreciate Frank Miller's gift for narritive and monologues, its just his actual diologue sucks ass. Not surprisingly, I felt the same way about Sin City. And just look at all the retarded lines 300 spawned. He's at his best when his characters aren't actually talking lol.

And man, while Jim Lee is awesome, I'm fully convinced he can't draw The Joker for the life of him. Its the one Bat-villian he just can't do well.

I keep trying to pick up Marvel stuff, but I seem to have great difficulty feeling something for any of the characters in thier books outside of Spiderman and Iron Man. I guess its because they have the more human side of thier characters that I enjoy about most of the DC characters.

Picked up the Justice Society of America and I'm liking the Kingdom Come elements they're adding into the book, along with the multiverse elements. Kinda hard to get your head around Earth having two Supermans, but the KC Supes is rather distinctive in appearance and more fitting of the elderly side of the JSA.

Final Crisis is still going pretty strong, I liked the Rage of the Red Lanterns and Resist one-shots quite a bit. The Legion of Three Worlds storyarch is a bit to absorb, though. I'm not big on the Legionnares/Legion of Superheros stuff, but I figured I'd give it a shot since it ties into the Superboy Prime from the previous Crisis storylines.

[Feba]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

I assume you're only interested in American-style superhero comics, not anything like manga, right? Not that there isn't a lot of gray area growing in there. I've seen western books turned into japanese-style graphic novels, and I have a very American looking Robotech sitting around here somewhere.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Yeah, not too terribly into manga. I only pick one up here and there.

[Tek(Selphiie)]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

The girl who played this character before used to be heavily into Manga, and i inherited her collection when she left the US... I picked one up and i didn't know how to read it lol. So i stored it away, i can probably look at the titles again if i unpack them.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

I'm actually gratful for the growing popularity of manga - it makes my preference feel less nerdy

You also don't get stared at for buying comic books, regardless of race. Manga, however, is a different story. I've heard my share of stories about the japanophile white kids making asians feel uncomfortable in the manga section of bookstores.

There was a limited series called Batman: Death Mask, which was originally released in Japan as a manga, then brought over here in both Manga and the usual western format. I haven't picked it up yet, so I can't say how it is but I'm told it does stay faithful to Batman's history. The story covers the time where Bruce Wayne was travelling the world, gaining experience in how to become a crimefigher and how his time in Japan affected that and how an enemy he made there comes back to haunt him.

Also released in October was a hardcover book called "Bat-Manga" which collects a year of stories from the 60s when a Japanese publisher licensed the rights to do Batman stories. It was a ... different take on Batman, that was to be sure. Yes, even wierder than what we saw from 60s Batman. Just think Batman at the height of the Atomic Age hype, a world where he battles aliens and godzilla-type stuff.

There's actually a nod to the difference between the comic-types in Final Crisis #2 which features new-generation Japanese superheroes that team up with Sonny Sumo and Mister Miracle.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Detective Comics #850 broght one part of the R.I.P storyline to a close and I have to say it had a superb ending.

Picked up the hardcover of Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, which comprises the first nine issues and actually brings me up to current. Haven't gotten around to reading all of it yet, but its pretty good so far.

Kevin Smith's first Batman effort was also released this week in Batman: Cacophony, which is a three-issue mini series. Let's just say that its par for course with Kevin, you'll see some similarities between his movies and his work there. Particularly the Joker and Deadshot prattling on just like Dante and Randall.

Also picked up the JSA Kingdom Come Superman special. As always, Alex Ross' pencils are awesome. Story felt a little light, but then there was this whole section showing concept panels and how Ross does his art. He's pretty different in that he goes for a very photo-realistic look and that section made up for the disappointingly short story.

More or less, they've been trying to integrate some of the Kingdom Come story elements into the main DC universe. The concept is that KC's universe was destroyed and that the Superman of that Earth was the only survivor of that universe. So technically, the current Earth has another Superman, but he's rolling with the Justice Society rather than the League.

Its not meant to take away from the original Kingdom Come as much as pose a "what if" similar events were set in motion to the existing DC Universe.

Kingdom Come is an awesome read, by the way, recently re-released in one graphic novel with some added story.

[Caspian]

Re: Comic Book Discussion - Good Reads?

Holy fkn asscrackers Batman.....SUPER EXTRA SPOILERS WITHIN

Anyone reading this (BBQ!)? WTF just happened to my most favorite comic book hero ever? Is this gonna stick or is this another Knight Fallesque story arc?