What COMIC BOOKS have you been reading?

Michael Barnes wrote: I was digging Hellblazer (Delano) until he ran into the travellers...I am not feeling that storyline at all.

I had the same reaction, only worse because of the timing. I read that story back when it came out around the end of the '80s, and the story with the travelers seemed like this big step backwards into a whole hippies/sixties thing that was wretchedly out of time and place except on stupid classic rock radio stations. For what it's worth, Constantine snaps back to form before the end of the story and then it becomes tolerable.

Michael Barnes wrote: You know what rules? Wonder Woman. The New 52 book. I shit you not.

That's actually the more ironic comment in connection to the Grant Morrison quote...I picked up the first issue, and saw more gory beheadings and severed limbs than most Vertigo comics (doesn't something erupt out of the bloody stump left by beheading a horse?). That said, it wasn't bad, and the reviewer who is I think the only good reviewer to primarily review mainstream comics has, I believe, Wonder Woman and Animal Man as the only New 52 books he buys, so I've heard good things about it. Azzarello's 100 Bullets was way, way underrated. But I think the Wonder Woman series is literally at place #1000 in my list of things to read.

dragonstout wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: You know what rules? Wonder Woman. The New 52 book. I shit you not.

That's actually the more ironic comment in connection to the Grant Morrison quote...I picked up the first issue, and saw more gory beheadings and severed limbs than most Vertigo comics (doesn't something erupt out of the bloody stump left by beheading a horse?). That said, it wasn't bad, and the reviewer who is I think the only good reviewer to primarily review mainstream comics has, I believe, Wonder Woman and Animal Man as the only New 52 books he buys, so I've heard good things about it. Azzarello's 100 Bullets was way, way underrated. But I think the Wonder Woman series is literally at place #1000 in my list of things to read.

Who is this reviewer you admire so much? I read a couple of volumes of 100 Bullets and didn't really care for it. I thought it was going to be an interesting moral study on what people would do if just mysteriously presented with completely untraceable bullets. Instead, each character is given a complete dossier on who screwed them over in life. Then it started to be about mysterious cabals and conspiracies. Just teaches me I need to stop having expectations.

Also, picked up Seven Soldiers of Victory vol. 4, Animal Man vol. 2 and New X-Men vol. 2 from the library.

Yeah, there's a pretty gruesome equine decapitation in WW #1, but it's really kind of a mythic thing, birthing a Centaur...the first book in particular is pretty dark, but there again it has a "legendary" sort of tone. Some aspects of it feel like Azzarello was thinking about the Simonson Thor run...nowhere near as good as that, but the influence is there.

It's a neat book...it's mostly about Olympian family squabbles in the modern world, moreso than about Wonder Woman. But so far she's been pretty great, after finding out that she's been lied to her whole life she apparently gets into metal and starts going to shows. There's a great image where they're at a club watching a metal band and she's the tallest person in the audience. So far (nine issues in) it's also very self-contained, not even a mention of the Justice League or any other DC material.

I wasn't that crazy about 100 Bullets either...I read the first two or three trades some years ago, never really considered picking it up again.

Michael Barnes wrote: It's a neat book...it's mostly about Olympian family squabbles in the modern world, moreso than about Wonder Woman.

Reminds me, has anyone read Greek Street? Is that any good?

metalface13 wrote:

dragonstout wrote:

Michael Barnes wrote: You know what rules? Wonder Woman. The New 52 book. I shit you not.

That's actually the more ironic comment in connection to the Grant Morrison quote...I picked up the first issue, and saw more gory beheadings and severed limbs than most Vertigo comics (doesn't something erupt out of the bloody stump left by beheading a horse?). That said, it wasn't bad, and the reviewer who is I think the only good reviewer to primarily review mainstream comics has, I believe, Wonder Woman and Animal Man as the only New 52 books he buys, so I've heard good things about it. Azzarello's 100 Bullets was way, way underrated. But I think the Wonder Woman series is literally at place #1000 in my list of things to read.

Who is this reviewer you admire so much? I read a couple of volumes of 100 Bullets and didn't really care for it. I thought it was going to be an interesting moral study on what people would do if just mysteriously presented with completely untraceable bullets. Instead, each character is given a complete dossier on who screwed them over in life. Then it started to be about mysterious cabals and conspiracies. Just teaches me I need to stop having expectations.

I have mixed feelings about 100 Bullets and need to give it another reread, but: yes, it was marketed completely deceitfully. The marketing, and the initial...4 paperbacks, maybe?, are all about the "100 bullets" of the title. And then it almost COMPLETELY drops that. The seemingly unconnected short stories / novellas of the first few paperbacks turn out to be just introducing the recurring characters of the story, which is yes, a huge ridiculously convoluted conspiracy plot. I personally felt it got TOO convoluted, but it's very smart, very dense, and if for nothing else, it deserves a LOT more people talking about it just because the language becomes among the top 10 richest in any comic I've ever read; it's one of those things that's enjoyable in and of itself, even if you tune out of enjoying anything else.

I have always wanted to love 100 Bullets, but I can't say I ever did. I still haven't gotten around to reading the last two trades. That really sums it up for me. I think I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted because I read it monthly and have a terrible memory. I think I would enjoy reading it all at once, as I would remember details that have relevance later. That is why I haven't finished it, because I have been reluctant to go back and read the whole thing.

dragonstout wrote: 100 Bullets Stuff

But who's the reviewer you like so much?

I got the following:
The Courtyard
Serenity 1 and 2 TPB
Prophet.


I have to say, I like the Serenity ones OK, The Courtyard is just freaky and bizarre, but good, and Prophet is just straight up crazy. It reads like part video game, part book. I was surprised to get to the second section and realize that John is not alone....I think that "twist" was the draw for a lot of people.

In any event, I like Prophet the least of the four. I should like it the most, but the art isn't very good, and the use of weird names for shit feels like its tacked on. Just a weird book.

So, I went back to finishing Cold In July (novel) which should be made into a film. What a great story.

metalface13 wrote:

dragonstout wrote: 100 Bullets Stuff

But who's the reviewer you like so much?

Whoops, was on vacation and forgot to answer this part.

There are definitely reviewers I like better (Joe McCulloch and Tucker Stone are probably my faves, the latter being almost more of a piss-taker than a reviewer, think Matt Drake but with actual insights and also actually funny; Joe aka JogTheBlog sadly barely reviews anything new anymore, but still does weekly writeups on weird obscure Eurocomics & manga), but they mostly review alternative stuff. J Caleb Mozzocco mostly reviews mainstream stuff, at everydayislikewednesday.blogspot.com . Here's this week's "review a ton of random recent stuff" post:
everydayislikewednesday.blogspot.com/201...cs-january-9-23.html
and here's the series that endeared me to him (as with all blog series, you've gotta scroll down to the bottom to start):
everydayislikewednesday.blogspot.com/sea...ultimates%203%20week

Pete: which artist in Prophet did you dislike???!? I was (am) blown away that the art switched between FOUR different artists, two of which I'd never heard of before, and they're all *crazy* good (and distinctive, though the John Prophet artist is somewhat similar to Farel Dalrymple, who does the tail Prophet).

It wasn't bery clean art. It just looked really bland and too abstract. It almost looked like it was a rough sketchbook. Just my taste.

And the story was just kind of "blah". It was like he was trying to out-Conan Conan but with a Tarantino style of interweaving stories. Just wasn't impressed on a variety of levels, especially since I read the 2 Serenrity books, the Courtyard and Joe Lansdale's COLD IN JULY the same day.

That's cool, diff'rent strokes. I think the art in Prophet is better than the writing (which is also very good), so it's easier for me to imagine disliking the writing than the art.

I bought a bunch of books yesterday at the comic shop, as well as three single issues which I read last night: Hawkeye #1, Batman #13 (i.e. Death of the Family part 1), Young Avengers #1. (I would've picked up some single issues of Prophet, since I think it would be nice to read that way, but I'm going to want to keep it anyway, so I'll go with the cheaper paperback; I noticed the new issue has Supreme, WTF???) None of them offended me, but I'm not sure why I bother, because nothing left an impression either.

Hawkeye was the best; it's just fun hanging out with that dude. Except Hawkeye also pissed me off the most, with a couple things near the beginning that I'm beginning to recognize as a Matt Fraction tic: doing something nonsensical and stupid to establish the main character as "cool". In this case, Hawkeye 1) pushes a hospital wheelchair into traffic for laffs and 2) leaves a taxi without paying. This did not establish him as "cool" in my mind, this established him as "complete asshole, to the point where it is completely inconsistent with any possible prior imagining of the character". It's especially dumb because he thereafter is established as being someone who tries to help the lower class. Y'know, another way you can do that is by not destroying hospital property and paying the cab driver after getting him stuck in traffic. It was just so damn transparent how much Fraction thought he was making Hawkeye a "cool rebel who does funny things".

Greg Capullo didn't bug me in Batman at all. Nothing really bugged me, it was just "Joker's back and is WAY meaner this time and everyone's really scared", duh. I miss Joker the clown prince of crime, rather than this Joker who's further removed from that than any Joker I've ever seen.

Over vacation, I stopped in a comic shop that carries minicomics and picked up a little over half the issues of a much more enjoyable series that I'll be buying as a paperback when it comes out sometime later this year, The End of the Fucking World. Constantly surprising, I love the characters and minimalism. Was not at all what I expected.

Mayhap Pete would prefer the Rob Liefield Prophet. (snicker)

The art in that is ANYTHING but bad. It's awesome. Not Rob Liefield awesome (haw haw), but very evocative, stylized, and spare.

I just read that Young Avengers book, I liked it even though I do not care a whit about Hulking, Miss America, and those characters. The writing is great, the art is good...it could be a really fun book. Noh-Varr singing the Ronettes, that was fun. I've not read much Kieron Gillen, I just got his Britpop homage books Phonogram though.

Hawkeye is really good, from about the third issue on it really hits a stride. It is a little too precious at times and yes, Fraction does that "aaaaaaay...cool dude comin' through" thing too much. Once you get to the bit about the tape, it really takes off. The car chase issue is great (I think that may be 3, come to think of it).

The Snyder Joker is a mix of Ledger, Killing Joke, and old Joker. You see this more later on, once his plan unfolds. It's a classic Silver Age style plot...just done in modern terms. The last issue was really cool, apart from the OMG Batman DIED! final panel.

I'm reading old John Wagner/Dave Gibbons Doctor Who stuff today. I love the way Gibbons draws Tom Bakers bug-ass eyes.

Speaking of Rob Liefeld, has anyone read the excerpts from his screenplay about leaving Marvel to start Image.

Is this about a watch?

It is hilariously bad and after you read them, I highly recommend the spoof screenplay at TCJ.com.

Poor Rob Liefeld