Some people thought this might be a fun idea, so here's a thread to chat about new comic releases this week. And Holy CRAP what a loaded week this one is.
DC Highlights:
Batman & Superman #1
Justice League of America #5 (the book itself is shit, but I'm curious how they get out of Catwoman's "death")
Justice League #21
The Dark Knight #21 (A reliably good and creepy title these days)
All Star Western #21 (Jonah Hex + Booster Gold = AWESOME)
Marvel Highlights:
X-Men Everywhere! X-Men #2, All New X-Men #13, Uncanny X-Man #7, and Wolverine and the X-Men #32
Hawkeye #11
Daredevil #27 (I've really been digging the "Matt's Bad Month" story)
Deadpool #12
And that's not even counting the Image and other indy stuff. Whew.
Yeah, I try not to spend more than 20 a week, so I'm going to be leaving a couple in my box this week. Probably grabbing aquaman, jl, cap, hawkeye and Star Wars 2 (decided to catch up on that series), leaving JLA, talon and secret avengers for next week.
ReplyDeleteThe new Mind MGMT is out today! That's all I care about.
ReplyDeleteWow, Scott. I LOVE JLA. One of my favorite books on the stands.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, here are my pulls for the week: JLA, Aquaman, LARFLEEZE (Giffen + DeMatteis + my favorite non-GL Lantern character), Red Lanterns (giving it a shot since the last run was rubbish). All-Star Western is amazing, but I'm keeping up via trade.
I thought Daredevil #27 was pretty good. Not the blow away read that the last 3 or 4 issues have been but still a good read nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteThe list of titles I read is actually pretty short. I really only buy Batman and Daredevil monthly. Otherwise I just wait for trades.
I honestly wish they would have kept Catwoman's "death" going fora while. Her book really needs to be reevaluated.
I don't get why you got 2 downvotes for this comment. Unless some people are upset that you aren't reading Talon this week.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either. I'm not reading the same books in all cases, but who cares? It's a good post.
ReplyDeleteAnd Aquaman is totally awesome.
There are several posters here that are very jealous that I've touched a boob.
ReplyDeleteOnly four books for me this week: Batman/Superman (to see if it's any good), Aquaman, JLA and Scarlet Spider. I too try to spend no more than $20 a week.
ReplyDeleteThe Catwoman ongoing has been terrible since Ann Nocenti took over, which is when I started thumbing through it.
ReplyDeleteYep. I already feel like my pull list is getting out of control. Can't be spending $100 a month on comics.
ReplyDeleteWell let's go easy on Nocenti. It wasn't exactly gangbusters before she took over either.
ReplyDeletePerhaps true, I didn't read it. Her GA was pretty bad too, though, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI've heard great things about Aquaman and Hawkeye both but haven't read either thus far. That reminds me I've also wanted to read Wonder Woman too which has been well received. I'm behind!
ReplyDeleteThere was some decent stuff pre-Nocenti but it wasn't what I'd call a good book.
ReplyDeleteThe only new books I bought this week were Batman/Superman 1 and Unwritten 50 (the start of the Fables crossover), and I'm an issue behind on everything else. Although now that DC isn't doing a $1 discount on 4-week old digital books, I'll probably start catching up to real time on stuff. I really don't want to wait 8 weeks for my books.
ReplyDeleteOther stuff I downloaded this week were:
Teen Titans 20
Superman 20
Justice League of America 4
Justice League Dark 20
Justice League 20
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 2
Ghostbusters 4
It was a ridiculously loaded week, thankfully I get paid Friday.
Er, it was just an example to illustrate the point that DC takes forever to release their collected editions, but OK.
ReplyDeleteUgh, the waiting for the trade crowd has really eliminated a good bit of the great storytelling. For instance, Claremont's xmen run (at the beginning) was episodic. Every issue led into the next. Now, every storyline has to be totally confined. Then when it's over, it's another confined storyline. It's just a collection of miniseries.
ReplyDeleteHey, blame the skyrocketing single-issue prices and sheer convenience of collections. I will say that I don't completely buy your theory. It's accurate in a lot of cases, but I can name several -- and Green Lantern is one -- where it doesn't apply at all. Each story pretty much bled into the next for 10 years.
ReplyDeleteI do see it sort of happening in stuff like Batman, but it doesn't bother me. I got used to it because of rotating creative staffs over the years anyway. "Hush" got me back into comics, and then the next story was "Broken City" by Azz and Risso, who only lasted about six issues.
No way. The Balent art is excellent.
ReplyDeleteAfter Googling, you are correct. I can't say I remember any of the stories though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to Nick: I prefer Darwyn Cooke's Selina to Cameron Stewart's.
If one were to what to start reading comic books, how would they begin? Are any starting up and only on their first couple issues? How do I jump in and start reading?
ReplyDeleteToday I waited for the trade.
ReplyDeleteMost Marvel and DC titles are around issues 21-27.
ReplyDeleteHawkeye #11 came out today so that one isn't too far ahead. You could catch up as I've been planning to do.
At the risk of annoying some, I'd start with a trade collection. Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls is a good place to start, or Thor: God of Thunder Vol. 1 if you're more of a Marvel fan.
ReplyDeleteAs far as single issues, Superman Unchained just started and it's good.
Sorry, yeah, that was kind of a harsh response. Comics aside, this hasn't been the best of days for me today.
ReplyDeleteI think it all depends on what you want to start reading. I mean, do you want to read superhero comics or do you want to try something else? Crime? Horror? Sci-fi? Post-apocalyptic? Humour?
ReplyDeleteTo say you want to read comics is like someone saying, "I want to read books!" or "I want to watch movies!" There are scores of genres out there and publishers where you're not limited to just DC or Marvel.
So my question to you first would be: what sort of things do you already enjoy from other mediums? Movies, TV shows, books, etc?
I highly recommend Wonder Woman, easily one of the best consistently good comics in the New 52.
ReplyDeleteThat makes one of us, I guess. I tried reading it and found it very inaccessible when they tried to introduce Jack's supporting characters and the villains that previously appeared in his book.
ReplyDeletePick up the first trade paperback of Ed Burbaker's "Criminal", Joss Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" and Grant Morrison's "All Star-Superman"- That's a good starting point to see the kinds of things you might be into and three awesome books well worth owning. I'd also suggested the first trade of "Fables", "The Walking Dead" and the first couple trades of "Invincible" - that last one takes a little while to really come into what the series is.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to get back into comics since the New 52 started, but gave up after like issue 2. I think I'll try again and order the Vol. 1 trades of Batman (Court of the Owls), Batwoman (Hydrology), Action Comics (Superman and the Men of Steel), and Wonder Woman (Blood).
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for a weekly thread, though. Maybe it'll motivate me to finally get caught up.
I think the problem you're looking at has more to do with the fact that writers seldom stick to a single title for a long period of time. Geoff John's Green Lantern and Peter David's X-Factor are both titles that have had a single writer for a long time and break that mold. So does Robert Kirkman's Invincible.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why it sucked as a Fables trade and was totally hand-waved going forwards. Oh, Kevin Throne, how I remember your brief time as an interesting mystery with real potential.
ReplyDeleteSuperhero: Scott Snyder's Batman is quite good. You can't go wrong with the current runs of Daredevil or Hawkeye. One of my favourite superhero titles is Invincible. Atomic Robo is fantastic, and also hilarious. I agree with ooknabah's suggestions for All Star Superman and Whedon's X-Men.
ReplyDeleteCrime: Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.Really, anything by that creative team is top notch. There's also Whiteout by Greg Rucka. Darwyn Cooke's Parker books are also great.
Horror: Walking Dead, of course. My personal favourite is Locke & Key, which I loved the first volume of so much that I pirated the rest of the series while I couldn't afford to buy anymore. Never done that before with any other comic. The current run of Animal Man is very creepy; it's a good mix of horror and superhero, actually. You should also check out Fatale, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (see what I mean?).
Agreed. I find it's more enjoyable to follow creators (both artist and writer) rather than characters. A lot of my favourite creators have done great work both on their own creator-owned projects and on mainstream titles.
ReplyDeleteFor crime, go with Scalped Vol. 1: Indian Country. Best crime series ever. Also worth mentioning are Sin City Vol. 1: The Hard Goodbye, and 100 Bullets Vol. 1: First Shot, Last Call. And I concur with the Criminal Vol. 1: Coward recommendations.
ReplyDeleteFor horror, Locke & Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft. And I can't believe no one's mentioned Saga of the Swamp Thing Book 1 or From Hell; cornerstones of any decent comics collection.
Superheroes is too broad. Do you have favorite characters, or at least some you're interested in learning more about? I could recommend more from there.
Everyone's recommending more recent stuff, and that's cool, there's a lot of great stuff. But that's like someone asking for rock recommendations, and you offer the White Stripes. Start with the Stones.
Are you serious, making a joke, or just trolling?
ReplyDeleteI gave on purchasing single issues once they rebooted UXM, so now I acquiring them.
ReplyDeleteBut at the same time, Im reading UXM from 1-541 with al the crossover in between.
Claremont was the shit!
Are you mentally retarded or just monumentally stupid?
ReplyDeleteEh. I had fond memories of Claremont's early 90's X-Men from my youth, and was excited to catch up on the classics like Dark Phoenix Saga, etc. I was really disappointed. His verbosity just grinds narrative momentum to a crawl. The actual formal work is terribly dated.
ReplyDeleteWhere Kirby's even older DC stuff still has a vitality that feels like comics from the fifth dimension, Claremont's stuff is very much of its time. And not in a good way.
I am neither. As the BOD's resident troll, I wouldn't put it past you to applaud Balent's art. And the knowing sarcasm isn't your style. But if you genuinely love it, it's your intelligence that I'm concerned about.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully disagree.
ReplyDeleteClaremont wrote books as if it was the readers first comic ever.
I usually get around that when reading Claremont, so it doesnt bother me as much.
Suck a fat dick, mongoloid.
ReplyDeleteCan we get a moderator in here to finally ban this troll?
ReplyDeleteOh definitely, but Stewart worked on more of the book than Cooke. They share a similar, almost cartoonish style. Is Cooke the better artist of the two? Absolutely, but Stewart's no slouch.
ReplyDeleteCooke not only designed Catwoman's new costume, which she's kept even after the reboot, but he also write and drew the very very fantastic Selina's Big Score.
You're asking to be banned now?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I partly agree with Gideon. The art is still phenomenal. The stories and characters are still great. I'd even go as far as to say the dialogue isn't bad, even if a bit date.
ReplyDeleteBut the narration? Hoo boy, it's bad, even by those days' standards. If the narration were grass, then his editor should've jumped in with a weed-whacker.
I appreciate respectful disagreement. And that said, God Loves, Man Kills is fucking awesome.
ReplyDeleteCooke: great talent.
ReplyDeleteABSOLUTE DICKBAG when i met him at MegaCon.
200 for a headshot sketch? Are you fucking serious.
I got Amanda Conner to do a Pro headshot for free.
Yeah, I concur on that. Got a similar impression at Boston Comic Con a couple years ago. Dude would've rather been anywhere else.
ReplyDeletethats absolutely fair, but I am unashamedly biased towards the X-Men so I will respectfully put my fingers in ears and go LALALALALALALALALALA!
ReplyDeletelol
If you wanna read another good Thor story
ReplyDeleteThor: DIsassembled by Oeming and DiVito "Ragnarok"
I gave them one storyarc after BN and gave up.
ReplyDeleteJust too silly and I hate Larfleeze
My pull list this week was small:
ReplyDeleteDeadpool #12
and
Ultimate Comics X-Men #28
I recently cut my pulls down to 10 titles a month as I felt I was spending way too much on comics.
That is one of my favorite works of Claremont, and since it's so sparse for him I too chalk it up to Miller.
ReplyDeleteI've read it and definitely agree. He pulled his uber-narrating stuff way back for that.
ReplyDeleteTrolling.
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine you get that a lot from people you meet.
ReplyDeleteA-hem, dude, what the fuck is wrong with you? I have asked Scott to review these posts. You are completely out of line. And really, you said you were 37 years old? Why don't you prove it and act like one.
ReplyDeleteWhen people try to insult me, I insult them back. I'm funny that way.
ReplyDeleteI love that by asking an honest question I'm trolling. I asked if he was being serious, sarcastic, or trolling. Lord knows that Dougie never trolls, so to include that as a possibility was clearly out of line?
ReplyDeleteI manage to communicate with most everyone else around here with no more or less conflict than anyone. So the BOD's resident troll accuses ME of trolling HIM, and this becomes the accepted wisdom? Meanwhile, he's trolling me up and down this thread.
"I'd imagine you get that a lot from people you meet."
"Trolling."
These in addition to the over the line-comments you already deleted. Cool 'moderation', Flair. People have been banned for far less. I'm not saying that Chin/Chan wasn't a troll, but even he contributed far more than Dougie, and he's banned. Why? Because Chin irritated Scott, but Dougie amuses him? And now I'M a troll. Awesome.
Are you mad at me or something?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Chin was banned, but maybe Scott got tired of him spamming. This is Scott's blog and he decides who (from the regular posters) gets banned or not. Myself and a few others help moderate and bring items to his attention, but really , it's his blog. This leads me to this, Dougie is banned, per the boss.
I was mad that you'd characterized me or my comment (its unclear) as a "troll": "Two, his "insult" (a troll) did not warrant your reponse." It was a legitimate question, and while I might disagree with someone I'm never trolling.
ReplyDeleteAnd I could give a shit about Chin, but I was just pointing out the hypocrisy which has since been rectified by Dougie being banned. That was my bad, as apparently the process hadn't played out. Apologies to you, and to Scott.
Do you not understand what I meant when I put the word
ReplyDelete-insult- in quotes? You get that, right?
Got it. The "(a troll)" threw me off. An apparent miscommunication. I've already apologized.
ReplyDeleteIt's fine.
ReplyDeleteI picked up the first issue of Lazarus, the new Greg Rucka series from Image and actually liked that quite a bit. Image has been putting out a lot of top notch books lately. Anybody else out there reading East of West?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I picked up issue 23 of the IDW Ninja Turtles series. If you were a turtle fan at all as a kid, you'll probably love the shit out of this series. I don't pick it up every month, but I just hopped back on with the City Fall storyline and I'm totally on board. Shredder kidnaps Leonardo and stabs the fuck out of Casey Jones. He then has some sorceress hypnotize Leo to fight the Turtles and that's where we leave off. It's not earth shattering, literary, Alan Moore comics, but it's fun as shit and I love the Turtles so I dig it.
Also picked up issue 2 of the Wake by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy and I wholeheartedly recommend this series to anyone who likes a good blend of horror and sci-fi.