What COMIC BOOKS have you been reading?

I always recommend supporting your local comic book store, but if your local store sucks, then there's a HUGE sale on at Tales of Wonder, tons of stuff 50% off:

talesofwonder.com/category-exec/category...5/root_category_id/1

Some 50% off books I'd STRONGLY recommend to everyone, no reservations whatsoever:
Plastic Man Archives vol. 8 (all of them, actually, but they get better and better as they go on, so 8's the best yet published)
All-Star Superman vols. 1-2
Best of the Spirit
The Spirit: Femme Fatales
Why I Hate Saturn
Stuck Rubber Baby
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (also includes the Mongul story)

I also recommend:
Shazam: Monster Society of Evil
Seven Soldiers of Victory (the Grant Morrison paperbacks)


I'm strongly tempted to finally pull the trigger for the Doom Patrol archives and Flash archives...but really they'd be mainly for my kid, and I've already got *tons* of comics for him to read anyway, so that's stopping me.

Despite being a huge fan of Kirby's Fourth World, I do not recommend the Fourth World paperbacks in the sale; they're in black and white, which is completely not how you want to see Kirby's art Go for the color books.

dragonstout wrote: I always recommend supporting your local comic book store, but if your local store sucks, then there's a HUGE sale on at Tales of Wonder, tons of stuff 50% off:

talesofwonder.com/category-exec/category...5/root_category_id/1

Some 50% off books I'd STRONGLY recommend to everyone, no reservations whatsoever:
Plastic Man Archives vol. 8 (all of them, actually, but they get better and better as they go on, so 8's the best yet published)
All-Star Superman vols. 1-2
Best of the Spirit
The Spirit: Femme Fatales
Why I Hate Saturn
Stuck Rubber Baby
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (also includes the Mongul story)

I also recommend:
Shazam: Monster Society of Evil
Seven Soldiers of Victory (the Grant Morrison paperbacks)


I'm strongly tempted to finally pull the trigger for the Doom Patrol archives and Flash archives...but really they'd be mainly for my kid, and I've already got *tons* of comics for him to read anyway, so that's stopping me.

Despite being a huge fan of Kirby's Fourth World, I do not recommend the Fourth World paperbacks in the sale; they're in black and white, which is completely not how you want to see Kirby's art Go for the color books.

I can vouch for some of the above.

All-Star Superman is one of Morrison's better works. It's a self-contained romp through some of the more entertaining ideas of the whole Superman mythos.

Why I Hate Saturn is funny and insightful.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is a conventional superhero tale, but told by the best writer in the industry, Alan Moore.

Seven Soldiers is fantastic, easily one of Morrison's greatest achievements. He writes an epic story that weaves together the fates of seven Z-list heroes that never become a team, spanning time, space, and several genres. Every issue is overflowing with neat ideas, and most of the artists are great. It's like an entire superhero universe distilled down into one amazing 30-part story.

I have heard great things about Shazam: Monster Society of Evil, and the artwork is pretty. I look forward to picking it up at some point.

Thanks to the library, I finally got to read the final two trades of Scalped. That's always been a problem with public libraries, the next book I want to read in a series is always the one that is checked out or on hold. Anyway, Scalped ends well, with both ultraviolence and good characterization. I was hoping against all odds for a happy ending, but at least it was a well-written ending. My only complaint is it seems like Aaron had trouble deciding which characters were going to kill which characters, so there were a few too many final showdowns that should have resulted in certain characters dying sooner.

The first trade of Waid's Daredevil didn't disappoint. In fact, it might just be my all-time favorite Daredevil run so far. Better than Miller, better than the pre-Miller stuff that I liked, and much better than the misery-inducing stories of Bendis and Brubaker.

Shellhead wrote: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is a conventional superhero tale, but told by the best writer in the industry, Alan Moore.

Agreed that WHTTMOT is...fine and good but conventional, but the real reason I recommend that book is for the Mongul story ("For the Man Who Has Everything"); I think that one is Alan Moore's best one-off DCU story.

Check out those Spirit books, Shellhead, they're super-duper cheap so you're not risking much. For writing, I think the Spirit and Plastic Man, both from the Golden Age, beat any other superhero comics from the Golden OR Silver Age. And the art and storytelling are very adventurous and energy-filled. They're definitely not about any kind of heavy angst, though; they're light, frothy, surprising, and funny.

Yeah, that first issue of Waid's Daredevil is just STUPID good. Especially after years of bleakness and woe. It's swashbuckling, light on its feet, funny, and _colorful_. The whole run has been really good so far, the Christmas issue where he's stuck in the snow with all of these kids is really awesome.

I love the Bendis stuff and think it's the best work he's ever done, but I _enjoy_ the Waid Daredevil more. I especially love how they constantly reference the tone of the past years.

All-Star is in two volumes? Mine is in one.

I found a copy of Black Hole at my shop today for $4.99. Snooty comics guy said "great find". I have been validated.

I'mma look at this sale...

Michael Barnes wrote: I'mma look at this sale...

It's frustrating looking at the sale on the website because you have to click through DOZENS of pages; I got an e-mail that just has a big list of everything. I'd copy and paste it here, but it's a gigantic list. I noticed there are some Geoff Johns JSA books, which I know you've been into lately. Also a couple Sleeper paperbacks, I think that's my favorite Brubaker comic.

I've still got those Kirby Caps and Hellblazers, even cheaper than 50% off...

Edit: Looking at the huge list of Archives books...it's no wonder the archive program at DC died. Just way, way, way too much crap. Even series that I'd be interested in, like the Shazam Archives, by volume 4 still hadn't gotten to the "good stuff". That's the huge difference between Archives and Masterworks: Marvel Masterworks, from the very first volume you're getting the classic Marvel comics, Kirby, Ditko, Lee. That's not how DC's series have worked. They should've taken an approach like Fantagraphics is taking with the Carl Barks series, where you start off with the peak era and slowly work your way outward. The Archives (especially golden age) also frequently look like shit, thanks to the Theakstonization process where they literally chemically destroy the comic so that they can recolor it (whoops, those chemicals destroy the black lines too?).

Atomic Robo - bought all the trades on Comixology. It's a lot of fun without being dead stupid, and all-ages without being cloying. Really good stuff that is sort of like Hellboy but not really.

Orbital - French sci-fi comics. Cool sci-fi that manages to exist and interest without having to be tied to some movie property. Based on it I've also started on Aldebaran by LEO, but unfortunately the English translations offered by Cinebook are censored for nudity.

Also been reading some classic Judge Dredd (just finished the Cursed Earth saga), the new Ben Katchor book Hand-Drying in America, and I have 50 Girls 50, a collection of Al Williamson EC stories. And still working through the second Pogo volume.

I've been reading Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant book. It's excellent, in a history geek kind of way.

faceknives wrote: I've been reading Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant book. It's excellent, in a history geek kind of way.

I love this comic. It's all online also so you can preview. Hilarious stuff.

Huge 75% off sale at Fantagraphics:
www.fantagraphics.com/memorialdaysale

So much good stuff here at insane prices I don't know where to begin. Locas II, Luba, Hate, Take A Joke, Petey & Pussy, Search for Smilin' Ed, Crumb Sketchbook, Is That All There Is, plenty other good things...you can get BOTH big Mickey Mouse hardcovers for a total of $12, which, TBH, doesn't interest me since I'm not crazy about those comics, but plenty other people are.

Edit: Sorry to just be posting sale stuff lately, I just haven't been reading much comics lately; mainly been reading investing stuff instead. I did read most of (had to return it) and loved The Demon, and Gilbert Hernandez's Julio's Day. Gilbert Hernandez's comics since the Fear of Comics collection have mostly left me pretty cold; this is actually my favorite of all those that I've read, but still, cold...I LOVE the original Palomar stories from the first volume of Love & Rockets, even more than the Locas stories; they're probably in my top 20 comics of all time. But despite my mentioning Luba up above in the sale (it's still *easily* worth the ridiculously low $10 and a read) even his later stuff with the same characters I used to love is hard for me to emotionally invest in, and I'm so tired of all the sexual fetishes. He still obviously has a tremendous amount of craft, and the super-elliptic storytelling in Julio's Day was by far the most enjoyable aspect of it to me (art-wise, I miss his brush-y Fear of Comics period). I'd actually like to reread it and I'm still looking forward to reading Marble Season, but it's been over 10 years since he's done something I just unabashedly love.

I recently read the first volume of Locke & Key. It's pretty good. The writer remembers what it was really like to be a kid, which is uncommon. The characterization is great, though the story doesn't quite have me hooked. The artwork is also a mixed bag, with average technical quality but superior story-telling ability. Sometimes there are several nearly identical panels, but the minor differences from panel to panel are conveying important information. I like the vibe of their new home, it reminds me in good ways of the house from that Dark Shadows remake last year.

There are a few outstanding moments that I won't soon forget. In one scene, the burly teenage boy is seen at a distance by one of his siblings, working hard on a pathway made of bricks. It's a minor bit of character development, showing that this formerly lazy kid is now dealing with trauma by throwing himself into work, and there isn't even a comment about it. The next panel zooms in and shows that burly kid holding a brick while looking down on his work, and also visualizing the battered body of someone he had to beat down with a brick in the past, when that traumatic event happened. It's a great moment because it goes from a subtle insight to a shocking insight so abruptly, with complete respect for the nature of the character.

By the way, I stumbled across the Locke & Key boardgame entry at BGG. Disappointing game that is both lightweight and somewhat abstracted. Competitive when it should be co-op, and totally missing out on doing a cool board/map representation of the house.

I haven't reported on my comics forays recently. I read Jimmy Corrigan which was really good. Dragonstout was right, the first 80 pages or so are hard to make sense of, but then it gets chugging along. I enjoyed the story of Jimmy's grandfather the most, mainly because all the parts with Jimmy are extremely painful to see how incapable he is of communicating with others.

Sweet Tooth Vol. 4: not the strongest of the series so far, but it's still good.

Star Wars: Legacy Vol. 1: I was at the library a day or two after May 4 and they had this big Star Wars display so I said "what the hell." It's OK. All the Skywalker stuff is a little too blah, but I do think it's a really interesting setting for telling new Star Wars stories. They could cut out all the continuity crap though, especially with that one galaxy invading alien species crap or whatever. But jedi, sith and imperial knights? That's kind of interesting. Although the sheer number of sith who jump around like extras in a ninja flick is a little ridiculous.

metalface13 wrote: I enjoyed the story of Jimmy's grandfather the most

"Of course, he never did." is one of the biggest emotional gut-punches I've ever read in a comic. As is James coming home after the laughter scene.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, I know a LOT of people that hate it for being too damn miserable. I find it tremendously uplifting, but I know I'm weird.

Now, for a COMPLETELY different side of Chris Ware, the crass jokester side, check out the tall red ACME Novelty Library hardcover book. Technically his whole series is called "ACME Novelty Library", but I'm talking about the tall red one that collects the "joke books" as well as a bunch of great fake ads, and adds a bunch more, too. Also, the smallest comic strip ever (it's on the *edge* of the hardcover...not the spine, the EDGE), as well as a comic that is nearly impossible to read without damaging the book (it's on the inside of the dust jacket, and the dust jacket is glued to the book).

Also pick up ACME Novelty Library #10 if you can find it. Lots of great fake ads (including a few that were made less crass and less funny in the aforementioned tall red book), as well as a full-length Jimmy Corrigan story completely unlike the one you read. There's a cruel cruel Superman in it and Jimmy gets stranded on a desert island.

I really love Quimby the Mouse too, but it is the least approachable of his four "graphic novels" (Jimmy Corrigan, Quimby, ACME Novelty Library, and Building Stories). Also, ACME Novelty Library #19 and #20 are technically part of an upcoming graphic novel, but completely stand alone as graphic novels themselves. I have yet to read #20, "Lint", but I have heard that it is his best book yet, and our Jason Lutes called it the best comic *ever*, period.

dragonstout wrote:

metalface13 wrote: I enjoyed the story of Jimmy's grandfather the most

"Of course, he never did." is one of the biggest emotional gut-punches I've ever read in a comic. As is James coming home after the laughter scene.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, I know a LOT of people that hate it for being too damn miserable. I find it tremendously uplifting, but I know I'm weird.

I didn't find it uplifting, but I have no problem with reading stories that make me feel miserable. Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of Confederacy of Dunces that way. Fiction is all about experiencing different kinds of emotions, why else would you read something like All the Pretty Horses?