What comic books have you read today? Part two.19596
 Masculinity takes a holiday.
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Quote:Originally Posted by HeinzDad I honestly thought you were making a joke about the sexual content of the book and the 24/7 implications of the title. I thought it was a pretty solid joke too! |
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 He sounds like a vegan who wants real mayonnaise to be vegan friendly.
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| Let's see... There was... The Uncanny X-Men Annual 7, 10, 12, 14 Annual 7 was just me looking to see how they handled Rogue's first appearance as an X-Men (it came out before issue 171), Annual 10 confirming that it is not the first appearance of the X-Babies, Annual 12 being a top favorite of mine, and Annual 14 being a refresher. The Uncanny X-Men 246-247, 269-280 Truth be told, I love Chris Claremont's copper age Uncanny X-Men stuff. So most of this was a refresher while I try to find out what issues are Rogue keys, and which ones are Rogue tie-in stories. X-Men Adventures 1-2 With both X-Men '97 debuting later this year, and there is a chance it will have ties to the MCU's Multiverse Saga, I felt a refresher was needed. The writing kind of felt bronze age to me. The Avengers Annual 10 I totally needed an excuse to read this! I mean that if I am going to be honest, I am not a bronze age fanboy. So unless Chris Claremont gave me a reason to pick up those bronze age Rogue keys, I might pass unless I see a gap I need to fill. With that said, I think her first was better than Wolverine's. |
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Red Winter: Fallout is the conclusion to Red Winter. Red Winter followed a disgraced ex-NYPD cop who moved to Moscow as muscle for the Russian mob. The follow up series picks up after the first one and follows his son as he tries to escape Moscow while eluding the authorities and other gangs. Good read even if somewhat predictable at times.   Finally getting around to the last 3 or so years of DC Black Label stuff I have. Batman: Three Jokers has beautiful art and a great concept. Batman, Batgirl, and Douchebag are trying to figure how the Joker can be committing crimes in three places at once. It's almost like a look at different eras of Joker as one is the "gangster", one is the "clown", and the other is the "comedian". Very well done story.    Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey. Fun read and Amanda Conner's art fits the style. Harley goes from NY to Gotham to teach a slum lord a lesson. Along the way, the BoP get involved, the Joker and other Batman Rogues are in there and we get The Message the whole way through.     |
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 being an ass and being a clown are two very different things.
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A collection of the King issues of Mandrake. Also contains a lot of background info on the character and cool pictures of vintage items such as movie posters and BLBs. Creature Commandos is a feature I have always thought was underrated. The collection allows one to revisit the stories in order without having to rummage through the boxes. Definitely recommended!  Over the last few months I have been revisiting Iron Man from the Tales of Suspense days forward. I am now into the early 30s of Iron Man’s solo series, and I have to say that the title has really lost steam during this period. Archie Goodwin kicked off the series with some really good work, but by the time of his departure he was clearly running out of ideas. What followed was some frankly not very exciting stories by the likes of Mimi Pond and Allyn Brodsky. The quality of the artwork was also somewhat up and down. I really liked the creative layout style of George Tuska on the early issues. Bringing back Don Heck to fill the void after his departure was a logical move, but pairing him with inker Chic Stone seems like a clash of styles that didn’t benefit either artist. IM has been my go to after work read for several months now, and I am not giving it up, but I do hope things pick up soon.  |
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 Staple topics, nice.
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| Murderworld: Avengers #1 2022. Pretty cool story, ok art. I like enough to seek out the others in the Murderworld series, Murderworld: Spider-Man, Murderworld: Wolverine, Murderworld: Moon Knight. Stargirl: The Lost Children #1 2022 is awesome, dealing with some lost heroes like TNT, and sidekicks-Dyna-Mite, from the golden age of comics, I have the entire set and stoked to finish it. Fantastic Four #21 silver age, just got it from my kids, they picked a copy up for my birthday. A fun read, and it was cool to read Mr. Richards tell Nick Fury, he hasn’t seen him since the war, how time flies since this book came out. Dig reading some of the old expressions, ”Hey, what in blazes is going on?” ”For the love of Pete…” “…You crumb bums...” and it’s a relevant issue. | ||
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Took a few extra days off work and got caught up some reading from last week to today.   It appears every female, besides Leia, is a lesbian in the Star Wars Marvelverse now. Scissor me timbers!   Wonder Woman: Dead Earth. Daniel Warren Johnson's gritty art style really lends itself well to this story (also written by him) detailing how WW pretty much caused the destruction of earth and how she is trying to fix it. Well paced, art fits the tone even if it isn't the best. I'm looking forward to Johnson taking over on Transformers. His art looks good on it so far.     Suicide Squad: Get Joker. Fast paced tale of Jason Todd being "recruited" into the Squad. They have a mission to go after the Joker. Solid work and even provides the ambiguous ending.    Batman: One Dark Knight. Some guy named EMP knocks out the power en route from Arkham to another facility. Batman has to bring him in. Again, another tale where the art fits the narrative tone. It is heavy on the dark inks (not sure if that is right since most everything is digitally done now).    |
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Just finished reading this one for the first time. It is one that has been on my list for quite a while, but I could never quite bring myself to pay the hefty asking prices. The kindle version was 99 cents after my $3 kindle book credit, far more agreeable than what you’ll find it for on EBay and at shows. After reading it, all I can say is “WOW”. You will definitely want to add this to your list if you have never read it. Just awesome. |
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Catwoman: Lonely City. Set 10 years after Fool's Night which killed Commissioner Gordon, Batman, and the Joker, Selina Kyle is released from prison, a reformed Harvey Dent is mayor in an election year, and Gotham has become a dystopian police state. Grim look at a potential future for the city. Solid writing and art present Catwoman coming to grips with the past and trying to build a better future.     Suburban Jersey Ninja She-Devils. Starts off kinda dark, then swerves to a more lighthearted tone. This is another early 1990s Marvel one-shot that is bizarre. An ancient evil attempts to travel back to earth, but can only be stopped by specially trained housewives. It features early Amanda Connor artwork. It is offbeat and fun, but does drag at points resulting in a rushed ending but not too shabby for what it is.  Revenge of the Living Monolith. Gorgeous art and a well written story about the Living Pharoah kidnapping the FF to harness their "cosmic" energy to turn into the Living Monolith and go on a rampage through NYC. Great dialogue between Captain America and other characters throughout. It provides depth and nuance to the characters. It's amazing what can happen when the talent doesn't loathe the industry and actually cares about what they are producing.  Sensational She-Hulk. John Byrne in the 1980s aka a license to print money. My man does his thing with great art and storytelling. SHIELD is tasked with capturing She-Hulk because there is a fear she could go all Incredible Hulk at any moment.  Emperor Doom. Doom kidnaps the Purple Man, and then talks that dumbass Namor into going along with his scheme to conquer the world. Doom uses mind control to convince the UN to make him the emperor of the world. Wonder Man ends up leading the charge to set everything right. Beautiful art.  |
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Batman: Reptilian. Something is gutting the criminal element in Gotham and the signs point to the Killer Croc. Ennis crafts an interesting concept but the execution falls a little flat for me. I've liked some of the more grounded in "reality" tales from the Black Label line. Steve Dillon (RIP) was originally supposed to have drawn this, but Liam Sharp handles those duties. The art is uneven. Good at times and then almost too dark to tell what is happening.       The Incredible Hulk and the Thing: The Big Change. A more lighthearted graphic novel. Thing and Hulk are transported to the world of Maltriculon where they are commissioned to rescue a food engineer from the clutches of a gangster. Good Jim Starlin script with great Berni Wrightson art.  Excalibur: Weird War III. Odd tale that calls back to the Cross Time Caper. Essentially, two separate Earths are merging but one is filled with Nazis and the dominant personalities of a character will merge with the body of the Nazi characters. Interesting idea, but felt a little convoluted to me.  Punisher: Return to Big Nothing. Frank is on the trail of a Marine he was stationed with who is involved in a drug smuggling operation. Excellent script by Steven Grant and great art by Mike Zeck.  |
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 I'm a McNugget guzzler.
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I had a nice break this weekend and I really don’t watch much. Yesterday I ran thru an Ennis run of Hellblazer, Today I read Maus I.  |
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I'm a McNugget guzzler.
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HeinzDad private msg quote post Address this user | |
| I read Maus II yesterday, and today after work. I’m not sure how to approach commentary. Most of the way thru volume I, I wondered why another Holocaust story? I don’t mean to sound insensitive but surely something would stick out? I’d say it’s chapter 4 in volume I where one might begin to feel this story is special, as for me anyways. Also, a stereotype was addressed that I never understood. I find stereotypes funny because the ones I’m familiar with are true. I never got this particular stereotype but if it’s related to this book it’s true but not funny. I’d say that I have plenty more thoughts but I’ll leave it at 3. I’m only familiar with this book from the forum. I understand it causes “controversy” and has been “banned”, and I really don’t understand why. Everyone should read this. Anyways, night night. |
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Been spending most of my time in the golden age lately. If you like variety and not having to remember what happened over the last 13 issues, golden age can’t be beat! Captain Daring is an interesting character. Basically a pirate Robin Hood. This book also features some really incredible art, most notably by Reed Crandall.  Sub-Mariner wasn’t Bill Everett’s only noteworthy creation in the golden age. Aman, the Amazing Man is also great. A hero rooted in Hindu mysticism, with the ability to change himself into an intangible green mist.  Arguably the greatest of the golden age anthology comics, Jumbo Comics began as an oversized collection of mostly Sunday strip reprints but quickly evolved into a standard sized comic book with new stories and a legendary stable of features that remained remarkably consistent over the title’s 15 year run.  I have also been reading some pulps lately, mostly Amazing Stories, which are just that. The more pulps I read, the more I want to read! If only there were more hours in the day…  I have also been continuing on with the Iron Man continuity. I finished this issue last night. After floundering through the 30s and 40s, IM has somewhat righted itself. The wheel of writers stopped spinning for awhile with Mike Friedrich taking up residence. The stories have transitioned from focusing on political issues and the military industrial complex to more of a villain of the month format. Nothing particularly deep, but always some good action, which is what super hero comics are supposed to be about. |
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From the last week or so. Star Wars titles are ramping up for the annual crossover of Dark Droids. Something is Killing the Children is still a solid work even if it is a 3 minute read. Blood Tree was a well done concept of a bible thumper killing the relatives of convicted murderers. I enjoyed that series but it's over as everything is written for the TPB market nowadays.   Generic Comic Book #1. I believe this was meant as a satirical piece on the superhero genre. The unnamed hero has literally every comic book trope thrown at him, then he becomes a hero when a bunch of stuff happens in alignment causing him to gain muscles and powers. I want to say this was done as a joke since there are plenty of uncorrected spelling and grammatical errors throughout. Definitely generic but I commend the effort.  Power Pachyderms #1. Wow. I don't know how I stumbled upon this book but I was intrigued. Short version is some circus elephants are irradiated and gain powers and have to fight against a Magneto ripoff and the Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp). This was pretty much hot elephant shit in a flammable bag but it might entertain some of the folk out there.  Ruins. Two issue series. The anti-Marvels limited series. Grim story, grim art. A good Bizarro tale of what happened on an alternate Earth to the Marvel universe.   She-Hulk: Ceremony. Shulkie feels her biological clock is ticking and wants a baby. She enlists Wyatt Wingfoot to be the donor and they have to fight off a bad guy who is trying to take over Wyatt's people's reservation. Good pacing and art on this one. Supposedly, this series was a pitch for a solo She-Hulk book but John Byrne's pitch won out.   Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants. Pretty much covers the origin of the New Mutants. Quick read, good art, Claremont in the 80s. I'll give it a thumb up.  Marvel Graphic Novel: The Dreamwalker. I only bought this based on the cover. Turns out that Miguel Ferrer (Robocop movie) and Billy Mumy (the kid from that Twilight Zone episode) wrote it. A CIA operative decides to retire but his boss doesn't like that. He finds out his relative was the original Dreamwalker and decides to take up the mantle. It reads like it is made for TV. It kinda felt like a pitch but it was an entertaining read with good art by Gray Morrow.  |
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Iron Man: Crash. An older Tony stays young by taking some sauce that keeps him virile. He has made the decision to sell Iron Man armor to a Japanese business. Tony and an Iron Man suit have a change of heart and fight back to stop this goofy business plan. The suit gains sentience and goes on living its best life. The theme of AI-sentience has some merit considering some of the current events that are of concern to the AI world. The art is rough. Early computer illustration and it lacks any sort of soul. It could benefit from a retelling but I wouldn't trust too many of the hacks in the industry today to handle a linear story with sequential art storytelling.  Batman: Birth of the Demon. Hell yeah. Bats is globetrotting to stop Ra's Al Ghul from digging a new Lazarus Pit. The story is very much a Ra's Al Ghul origin tale and Denny does a great job of crafting it. Batman pretty much just bookends the story. The painted art by Norm Breyfogle lends an epic feel to it as well.  Batman: Damned. Overhyped like a MFer because fanboys like penises. The story isn't bad and has a Twilight Zone vibe to it. John Constantine is helping Bats remember a fight between him and the Joker that resulted in the Joker's death. Good art and an ok story.    Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity. Interesting take on another possible Joker origin story. Harley is consulting with the GCPD on the Joker murders, and it takes a toll on her. She is very determined to catch Joker and bring him to justice. Great art and Kami Garcia laid out the motivation and inner conflict for Harley very well. The art was gorgeous as well even after switching from Mike Mayhew after a few issues. If I had a complaint, it's that the series shifts between B&W and color indicating that something should be flashbacks and the other present day, but both are intertwined within the color and B&W. And the Secret Files issue was kind of a waste of time but it was sent to me as part of the pull list.          I think this wraps up my magazine sized reads for now. I'll switch to some Bronze and Copper goodness next. |
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| @Studley_Dudley that's interesting about the Joker/Harley. Art. If the black and white art was the flashbacks and the color pages were in present time that would be a cool idea. |
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Quote:Originally Posted by southerncross I agree. At first I thought the past is in color, present is in B&W. Then things would happen in the present in color so it was throwing me off had I not already known what was going on. A little confusing for sure. I'm sure it was a conscious artistic choice, and it may have a reason for being, but I found that aspect of it confusing. |
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Read this one this morning: A really fun read that ties up some of the loose ends from the “intelligent Hulk” storyline. Also features the interesting art combination of Steve Ditko and John Byrne. This is a pairing I don’t think I have seen anywhere else. The style of both artists is evident in the finished product. Read these over the last two or three days:  Sun Devils is a mini series that I have enjoyed thus far. Nothing heavy, but an enjoyable read with engaging characters.  Transformers has been okay, although it is extremely caption heavy. If they feel the need to keep rehashing every single transformer’s name and what they can do every single issue, I am going to burn out on it pretty quickly.  Not sure if I’ve talked about Zot! On this thread before, but it gets my highest recommendation! It represents the best of everything that the 80s indie comics movement was meant to be. A true alternative and a lot of fun.  I am not yet sure how I feel about the Machine Man mini series. I am waiting for the conclusion to pass judgement. It is set in the “future” year 2020, so it is interesting to compare the story’s version of 2020 with the real world of today. I think if I ever write a story set in the future I am going full “Legion of Superheroes” with it. That way, by the time the actual “future” arrives, I won’t be around for the comparisons! Also read and enjoyed these:     |
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| @michaelekrupp I remember Transformers being very wordy early on. I don't remember when it got better. American Flagg is a series that I want to check out. | ||
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| @Studley_Dudley American Flagg! Is definitely worth checking out. The early issues are absolute classics. I think they have aged pretty well, although they have the same problem as the Machine Man mini as far as not being set far enough in the future. After Howard Chaykin’s departure, the book struggled a little bit in the art department, although the writing remained pretty steady throughout. | ||
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Cops: The Job. Written by Larry Hama, this tells the story of a rookie police officer's beat in NYC. The editorial page in the back says the series was worked on by a former cop, and some veterans. The idea, similar to the early run of 'Nam, was to bring a sense of realism to the comics. The idea was not to glorify or vilify but just show these are ordinary people doing a job. Enjoyed the series more than I thought I would. Don't let the cover of the first issue fool you, there wasn't any cleavage going on.     Scarlet Witch. Master Pandemonium returns after being banished away in Avengers West Coast #52. He is working on behalf of Lore who happens to be the evil Scarlet Witch of the multiverse who is invading other universes to feed on the life energy. Agatha Harkness helps out Wanda. Entertaining read.     Vision. Vision begins to experience dreams and begins to live out some fantasy life. Turns out that the Anti-Vision is behind it so that he can wipe visions hard drive or whatever and use him as he sees fit. Decent script by Bob Harras, with adequate art by Manny Clark.     Nomad. This wants to be more than it is. Fabian Nicieza scripts Nomad like any generic tough guy. The story itself is ok but it is really set up to launch the ongoing series that would follow in a year or so. There were inconsistencies in the plot and the art could be underwhelming. I remember the ongoing being a little bit better in quality, or at least the first few issues were.     Hawkeye v2. Taking place following Mockingbird's "death" in Avengers West Coast #100, Clint is searching for himself in the Canadian wilderness. He stumbles upon the Secret Empire conducting weird experimentations and creating animal constructs to use as weapons. Story treks from Canada to South America and Clint is helped by War Machine for an issue. Trick Shot and Javelynn provide hired muscle for Viper's group of thugs. Viper is drawn in a super sexy manner, but the hot-to-crazy ratio is in full effect. Chuck Dixon does a good job on the script and pacing while Christie Scheele's colors help make the book pop.     |
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I'm a McNugget guzzler.
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HeinzDad private msg quote post Address this user | |
I let my weekly’s lie around for 3 or 4 weeks on an Ennis Hellblazer binge. These were from last weekend.  My only notes on these are the Tales Of Science Fantasy #2 was pretty sweet. If you like horror. Also cosmic Ghost Rider officially sucks now and Marvel managed to ruin him. Maybe they did for other readers a long time ago but I stayed the course. Just yesterday,  I like the BRZRKR series. They could really do random one shots thru out history Unute had his hands in. 10 dollars a pop is rough though. The Marvel Dark what ifs have been cool. I’m so happy for this new volume of Hulk. When Cates signed on to do the last one I was excited. It sucked hard. One of my favorite writers and characters but it was a dumpster fire. |
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I'm a McNugget guzzler.
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HeinzDad private msg quote post Address this user | |
| @michaelekrupp, you get any birthday pie buddy????? Happy Bday! |
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Quote:Originally Posted by HeinzDad Thanks, brother! Celebrated with pizza, D&D and, yes, homemade apple pie! (made with apples from the tree in my backyard, no less!)   🥧 |
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 I blame the forum gremlins.
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We have a VG/F copy of Sub-Mariner #57 that called out to me today. It's the last complete Bill Everett masterpiece before his passing, and still one of my top three all time favorite comic book covers. |
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being an ass and being a clown are two very different things.
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Alyssa Wong took an interesting character in Doctor Aphra and her turned her into a Men on Film style parody. Good for her. Dark Droids has a neat concept so we'll see how the story fleshes out. Long story short, some program is able to control the droids and replicate itself with any other droid it comes into contact with.  Enfield Gang Massacre is part of the That Texas Blood continuity and takes place in the past. Seems like the gang may have actually been framed. Good set up issue and looking forward to the next.  A Foulness in the Walls. I figured this one out early so the story wasn't much of a surprise. Good coloring though, helps to set the tones throughout when it is time for regular stuff and then to grim.  The Shroud #1-4. Don't know much about the Shroud but the mini retells the origin while going through the main story. A mob deal goes bad and the feds are involved too. Shroud beats up mobsters, his old cult buddies and the Scorpion and takes on Spidey for a bit. It was ok.     Starjammers #1-4. Cool story. The Uncreated are plowing their way through space destroying any planets and cultures that have an organized religion. The Starjammers help out the Shiar with this mess and Lilandra has to protect her empire since her deceased brother D'Ken apparently still has allies. Good character development on Corsair in this story.     Savage She-Hulk #1-10. Look, I respect Stan but he can be hokey a.f. when it comes to his scripting. That said, he does ok with issue #1. David Kraft takes over as writer beginning in issue #2 and it picks up. Issue #1 really just felt like a pilot issue to see if it had wings. The art is good and the stories, while short, are to the point and don't feel a need to get drawn out. The overarching theme seems to be Jen trying to control the She-Hulk side (like Bruce) but also trying to just live her life. Only 25 issues in the series, so I should finish it off over the next few weeks if I get more free time.           |
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I read Void Indigo #1 a few days ago. I found it an intriguing read but it was evident that I was missing out on some of the key story points because I failed to read the Void Indigo Graphic Novel that had preceded the series. Needless to say, I ordered it immediately after finishing Void Indigo #1. It arrived today and I just finished reading it. Steve Gerber weaves an amazing story involving ancient civilizations, barbarian hordes, black magic, space aliens and reincarnation. The artwork by Val Mayerik takes full advantage of the format and the colors really pop! I continue to be impressed by the overall strength of the Epic Comics line. Back in the 1980s, the only Epic books I bought regularly were Dreadstar and Groo. I was really missing out on some quality material, although I am sure enjoying discovering it now.   |
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