Read the whole Thor Run by Jason Aaaron. Amazing, with some awesome art. Asks some great questions too (That Thor can't answer) Just starting reading Essential DR Strange #3. I'm starting late in the run, but its supposed to be amazing.
I just bought Quicksand Jack Issue 1 Shallow Graves. It is a new inde comic. The art and story are AWESOME. I highly recommend it. It reminds me of indie comics from the 90's www.quicksandjackcomic.com
I've been out of town for a week (my father in-law passed away wed.) but I did get to read 3 really good/fun books while I was in the Atlanta area with my wife.
Infinite Kung-fu - I loved this book alot. It is kung-fu done correctly using great movie tropes (like the 5 Deadly Venom styles). If you are a fan of kung-fu movies I highly recommend this.
LEOG Century 1909 - I reread this over the weekend it was much better than I remembered. I've only had these books since Century 2009 was released. It seems like a good LEOG story.
Heck - I loved this story. I read it digitally over the week and it was alot of of fun.
I bought issues 100 - 114 of The Walking Dead on sale at comiXology today around 10 am. Despite having worked 8 hours, taken my kid to piano practice, play with my kids and read some of the Hobbit with one just before bed, and watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I've somehow managed to read issues 100-108 already. I don't know how anyone could read this serialized. It would kill me each month.
I'm a big fan of Snyder's BATMAN and haven't missed an issue, so of course, I happily dug extra deep in my wallet to buy the giant-sized/priced issue #24. And though I did really like it a lot...? I felt a bit ripped off, too. Like this could've been recompressed into a smaller page count and it would have been much more compelling (and yes, cheaper).
Granted, I felt like THE WALKING DEAD #115 was even fluffier! It felt like zero happened here. Like it was just a brief prologue to this War event.
Battling Boy is pretty darned good. I can easily see it as a Saturday morning cartoon. If superhero kids fighting an army of monsters sounds like a cool idea to you, then check it out.
Battling Boy is pretty darned good. I can easily see it as a Saturday morning cartoon. If superhero kids fighting an army of monsters sounds like a cool idea to you, then check it out.
I missed the Blackest Night stuff when it came out originally because I wasn't reading a lot and what I was reading was mostly Marvel stuff.
That being said I am reading a bunch of Blackest Night stuff trying to take in as much of it as I can and reading a lot of books. I found a couple of articles on the event and am trying to be as comprehensive as possible.
I can't tell you off the top of my head what exact issues I'm reading but according to the timeline that I'm following I'm about 30% through. Power Level is around 56ish. I'm getting ready to read Blackest Night Superman 2.
I love the whole Blackest Night story however I don't usually like dark comics or a lot of death and gore. I also am not in to the whole Zombie craze. (Don't hate me.)
To balance out the dark stuff I also decided to go back to a more innocent time. I read Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 Issue 1 (Digital version) and I might continue reading those, at least while I'm still reading Blackest Night stuff.
It's like when I have to watch The Smurfs before I go to bed after watching a violent movie.
Velvet #1. Fantastic. Like the espionage flavor of Brubaket and Epting's Cap run, but with some dashes of 60s/70s period spy glamour and style. Loved it.
Okay, JUSTICE LEAGUE #24 was an awesome read. Without spoiling it, the bulk of the story reveals the origin of Ultraman, which is... well, just pretty f--king fascinating. Geoff Johns then folds that into what is essentially a present day continuation of the FOREVER EVIL story, with Ultraman veering from his Crime Syndicate takeover duties to do something of a more personal nature. It's Johns at nearly the top of his form* with wonderful art by Ivan Reis & Company. I give it a "buy."
(* I'd be spoiling the issue if I explained why I qualified my high praise of Mr. Johns. Let's just say that in the FOREVER EVIL event thus far, there are missing ingredients which I find to be necessary for Johns' best recipes. Still a good meal, though!)
I read Velvet #1 & while passing the average bar barely I'm mainly curious to how does Velvet get out of being set up by the guilty party whomever that is. Velvet seems to give 007 a run for his money when comes to chasing tail. I will continue for the first arc (I assume to issue 6) & decide to continue w/ the series or not. Velvet #1 gets a 3.5 stars out of 5. I want more I just hope it reels me in like Criminal & Fatale did by Brubaker & crew.
I'm traditionally a Marvel guy since the 70's, but the past year I've been enjoying my Image titles the most and I am buying way too many, so I'm trying to cut some titles. One I keep thinking about cutting is Great Pacific, but each new issue throws me enough twists, I end up getting the next issue. It's a good book. I picked up the Five Ghosts trade at NYCC and enjoyed it. I'm enjoying Sheltered and Ghosted too. Lazarus, Velvet and Secret are top notch in my book and the cream of the crop, of course, is Saga. I'd skipped Bedlam, but just picked up all 9 issues. If you're looking for something really dark, this is the book. Think Gotham City, if the worst version of the Joker had gotten there before Batman.
But, I think, Afterlife With Archie #1 is my favorite from this month. Such a wonderful surprise. I love the retro Pepoy cover. Francavilla was the perfect choice for Archie meets The Walking Dead art. But it just feels so WRONG. My last experience with Archie was watching the cartoon when I was a kid. This is very nearly sacrilegious, making it a must read comic book experience. I can't believe I bought an Archie comic.
I finished the 5 weapons trade and really enjoyed the first 4 issues of the 5 issues it contained. The last one seems to too hastily wrap up the story but the first 4 were a lot of fun, a little goofy and pretty clever that it will still go into the "something I enjoyed pile"
Finally wrapped up The Unwritten: The Ship That Sank Twice OGN and really enjoyed it. It was really an origin tale that covers the birth of the "real" Tommy as well as the creation of the fictional character. Not needed if you don't want to plunk down your ducets, but worth it if you do. It is a hardcover and the art is beautiful!
I've been in between DCBS shipments so I unwrapped Hercules Prince of Power that I got for 5 bucks at FCBD. It's early 80's and normally I dislike the writing of the 80's but this is pretty funny in a nostalgic kind of way. I've got a similar Hawkeye and Thing hardbacks that I've been putting off reading for a while now but I think I'm looking forward to them.
I finally got around to reading the new Shaolin Cowboy 1. I need to get the obvious out of the way: Darrow is not a good writer. He is confusing, spaced out, and his political commentary is not as clever as he thinks (it's heavy handed and over used).
That being said I really enjoy looking at Shaolin Cowboy 1. It also answered my big question: What in the heck happened in the first volume of Shaolin Cowboy It was a great looking book and even with it's glaring faults I enjoyed it.
Charles Soule is doing a great job with Swamp Thing right now. The annual from last week was really good stuff. Seeing some of the past Swamp Things was really interesting, entertaining stuff. Looking forward to getting the next book in this weeks shipment.
I listened to an interview with Paul Jenkins, during which he'd discussed his friction with DC Comics (e.g., snarky editors warning him that "Batman doesn't sit" lol) as well as his problems with corporate comics in general, and how he'd written a new series for Boom! Studios called DEATHMATCH in which he finally had the freedom to write a superhero comic the way he wanted, without the typical interference. I was so juiced up on Jenkins' enthusiasm - plus a strong cup of coffee - that I decided to give this series a try. And while I'm only two issues in? I am totally on board for this cool ride!
In a nutshell: DEATHMATCH is what I wanted and thought AVENGERS ARENA was going to be. Not to diss the latter title, which I do continue to read and enjoy. But when the concept of Marvel's "Hunger Games" / "Battle Royale" type series was initially publicized, they seemed to promise that each issue would feature a battle and death between two or more of its super-powered characters - and AVENGERS ARENA simply hasn't always delivered that, with some of its issues spending time on backstory flashbacks, or on the sturm and drang emotions of being a teenager, etc. But DEATHMATCH has plenty of action to go around. Part of what I prefer about this title is that Jenkins traps his heroes together with his villains, with everyone clueless as to how they got there and who trapped them. Another thing I really dig about DEATHMATCH is that Jenkins compresses his setting; in other words, while Hopeless' AVENGERS ARENA traps his characters on an island, Jenkins traps his all in one room! With all these powers and personalities forced to stay in the same relative area, they are forced to interact much more - for their own good, or not - which creates much more drama and conflict.
DEATHMATCH is available on comixology, and Jenkins is already 10 issues in (each issh is $1.99), so if you're like me and you hate having to wait a month to continue a story that you're into, then it's a real treat. I give it my Bionic thumbs up! lol
Forgot to put this in from a couple weeks ago, I found Trouble by Mark Millar at books-a-million for 3 or 4 bucks. Being a Millar fan I got it not knowing what it was and read through it. It's ok, Millar has a way with dialogue that I like so it wasn't "boring" but it wasn't really exciting either, just kind of a teen b-movie about teenagers and hormones.
I always take dust jackets off when I'm reading a book so I don't mangle them, well when I finished this one I put the dust jacket back on to put it on the shelf and I just happened to read the blurb on the inside cover and what the story is finally clicked.
It still wasn't a profound story but there were a lot of little things that keep popping in my head about it now and I think I'm going to have to give it a re-read with my new found knowledge.
Finally got to read the first volume of Lazarus by Greg Rucka last night. It definitely lived up to the hype.
I don't know if it was included in the trade but the single issues have a timeline in the back detailing the history of this alternate reality and how we came to this place with the ruling families. If it isn't included I think it is probably worth seeking out. Rucka has definitely thought this universe through and knows where it is going.
Finally got to read the first volume of Lazarus by Greg Rucka last night. It definitely lived up to the hype.
I don't know if it was included in the trade but the single issues have a timeline in the back detailing the history of this alternate reality and how we came to this place with the ruling families. If it isn't included I think it is probably worth seeking out. Rucka has definitely thought this universe through and knows where it is going.
Interesting, that wasn't in there it did have the 4 page comic that was in Previews for the first issue but that's it.
Finally got to read the first volume of Lazarus by Greg Rucka last night. It definitely lived up to the hype.
I don't know if it was included in the trade but the single issues have a timeline in the back detailing the history of this alternate reality and how we came to this place with the ruling families. If it isn't included I think it is probably worth seeking out. Rucka has definitely thought this universe through and knows where it is going.
Interesting, that wasn't in there it did have the 4 page comic that was in Previews for the first issue but that's it.
The timeline runs along the border of the letters page and i kinda overlooked it for the first couple issues. IT is worth checking out even as just an interesting way to communicate backstory.
Comments
Ventriloquist - Buy
Desaad - Pants
Court of Owls - Buy
Riddler - Borrow
Secret Society - Borrow
Black Adam - Borrow
Arcane - Buy
Solomon Grundy - Pants
Killer Frost - Buy
Shadow Thief - Buy
Darkseid - Borrow
Deadshot - Buy
Forever Evil #1 - Buy
Some hits, some misses, but mostly a very average month from DC. Role on my next shipment and getting back to my proper stories.
Thankfully Saga and Sex Criminals delivered for me this months. Saga great as usual. Sex Criminals with a very promising start too.
Might be ok if a lot of the big names had a foes mini series.
Just starting reading Essential DR Strange #3. I'm starting late in the run, but its supposed to be amazing.
www.quicksandjackcomic.com
Infinite Kung-fu - I loved this book alot. It is kung-fu done correctly using great movie tropes (like the 5 Deadly Venom styles). If you are a fan of kung-fu movies I highly recommend this.
LEOG Century 1909 - I reread this over the weekend it was much better than I remembered. I've only had these books since Century 2009 was released. It seems like a good LEOG story.
Heck - I loved this story. I read it digitally over the week and it was alot of of fun.
Infinite Kung-Fu is awesome. And I dig the LEOG books. Will check out Heck.
I like the idea of Infinite Kung-fu have to check on that one.
I read Red Team 5....still enjoying this book
Granted, I felt like THE WALKING DEAD #115 was even fluffier! It felt like zero happened here. Like it was just a brief prologue to this War event.
Matthew
and listen to Pope talk about it >>> http://www.inkstuds.org/paul-pope/
That being said I am reading a bunch of Blackest Night stuff trying to take in as much of it as I can and reading a lot of books. I found a couple of articles on the event and am trying to be as comprehensive as possible.
I can't tell you off the top of my head what exact issues I'm reading but according to the timeline that I'm following I'm about 30% through. Power Level is around 56ish. I'm getting ready to read Blackest Night Superman 2.
I love the whole Blackest Night story however I don't usually like dark comics or a lot of death and gore. I also am not in to the whole Zombie craze. (Don't hate me.)
To balance out the dark stuff I also decided to go back to a more innocent time. I read Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 Issue 1 (Digital version) and I might continue reading those, at least while I'm still reading Blackest Night stuff.
It's like when I have to watch The Smurfs before I go to bed after watching a violent movie.
-PhilyD
(* I'd be spoiling the issue if I explained why I qualified my high praise of Mr. Johns. Let's just say that in the FOREVER EVIL event thus far, there are missing ingredients which I find to be necessary for Johns' best recipes. Still a good meal, though!)
Matthew
But, I think, Afterlife With Archie #1 is my favorite from this month. Such a wonderful surprise. I love the retro Pepoy cover. Francavilla was the perfect choice for Archie meets The Walking Dead art. But it just feels so WRONG. My last experience with Archie was watching the cartoon when I was a kid. This is very nearly sacrilegious, making it a must read comic book experience. I can't believe I bought an Archie comic.
That being said I really enjoy looking at Shaolin Cowboy 1. It also answered my big question: What in the heck happened in the first volume of Shaolin Cowboy
It was a great looking book and even with it's glaring faults I enjoyed it.
In a nutshell: DEATHMATCH is what I wanted and thought AVENGERS ARENA was going to be. Not to diss the latter title, which I do continue to read and enjoy. But when the concept of Marvel's "Hunger Games" / "Battle Royale" type series was initially publicized, they seemed to promise that each issue would feature a battle and death between two or more of its super-powered characters - and AVENGERS ARENA simply hasn't always delivered that, with some of its issues spending time on backstory flashbacks, or on the sturm and drang emotions of being a teenager, etc. But DEATHMATCH has plenty of action to go around. Part of what I prefer about this title is that Jenkins traps his heroes together with his villains, with everyone clueless as to how they got there and who trapped them. Another thing I really dig about DEATHMATCH is that Jenkins compresses his setting; in other words, while Hopeless' AVENGERS ARENA traps his characters on an island, Jenkins traps his all in one room! With all these powers and personalities forced to stay in the same relative area, they are forced to interact much more - for their own good, or not - which creates much more drama and conflict.
DEATHMATCH is available on comixology, and Jenkins is already 10 issues in (each issh is $1.99), so if you're like me and you hate having to wait a month to continue a story that you're into, then it's a real treat. I give it my Bionic thumbs up! lol
I always take dust jackets off when I'm reading a book so I don't mangle them, well when I finished this one I put the dust jacket back on to put it on the shelf and I just happened to read the blurb on the inside cover and what the story is finally clicked.
It still wasn't a profound story but there were a lot of little things that keep popping in my head about it now and I think I'm going to have to give it a re-read with my new found knowledge.