I just finished the HC collection of NIGHT FORCE by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the original 80's run. Pretty good... brilliant in parts, a little overwrought and plodding in others. You can really tell Colan loves drawing people, faces, and old houses... and hates drawing sci fi stuff.
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
I just finished the HC collection of NIGHT FORCE by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the original 80's run. Pretty good... brilliant in parts, a little overwrought and plodding in others. You can really tell Colan loves drawing people, faces, and old houses... and hates drawing sci fi stuff.
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
I was born in 1980, so missed a lot of the early post crisis DC (1986-1990). About 10 years ago I started collecting series from that era instead of new comics (back issues we're super cheap during the recession). Holy carp. DC was on fire, even the 2nd and 3rd tier titles were good (Blue Devil even won awards).
I just finished the HC collection of NIGHT FORCE by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the original 80's run. Pretty good... brilliant in parts, a little overwrought and plodding in others. You can really tell Colan loves drawing people, faces, and old houses... and hates drawing sci fi stuff.
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
I was born in 1980, so missed a lot of the early post crisis DC (1986-1990). About 10 years ago I started collecting series from that era instead of new comics (back issues we're super cheap during the recession). Holy carp. DC was on fire, even the 2nd and 3rd tier titles were good (Blue Devil even won awards).
It's the kind of stuff that I really hope ends up (if not at launch, than eventually) in that DC Universe app.
I just finished the HC collection of NIGHT FORCE by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the original 80's run. Pretty good... brilliant in parts, a little overwrought and plodding in others. You can really tell Colan loves drawing people, faces, and old houses... and hates drawing sci fi stuff.
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
I was born in 1980, so missed a lot of the early post crisis DC (1986-1990). About 10 years ago I started collecting series from that era instead of new comics (back issues we're super cheap during the recession). Holy carp. DC was on fire, even the 2nd and 3rd tier titles were good (Blue Devil even won awards).
It's the kind of stuff that I really hope ends up (if not at launch, than eventually) in that DC Universe app.
I suspect, given how long it took for Suicide Squad to get to collection, that era is the kind of stuff that will be hardest to put in the app, due to the more creator-friendly contracts that were in place at that time.
Unless they already renegotiated that when they were getting that same material into collections.
I just finished the HC collection of NIGHT FORCE by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the original 80's run. Pretty good... brilliant in parts, a little overwrought and plodding in others. You can really tell Colan loves drawing people, faces, and old houses... and hates drawing sci fi stuff.
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
I was born in 1980, so missed a lot of the early post crisis DC (1986-1990). About 10 years ago I started collecting series from that era instead of new comics (back issues we're super cheap during the recession). Holy carp. DC was on fire, even the 2nd and 3rd tier titles were good (Blue Devil even won awards).
It's the kind of stuff that I really hope ends up (if not at launch, than eventually) in that DC Universe app.
I suspect, given how long it took for Suicide Squad to get to collection, that era is the kind of stuff that will be hardest to put in the app, due to the more creator-friendly contracts that were in place at that time.
Unless they already renegotiated that when they were getting that same material into collections.
I've been catching up on the King/Mann/Janin/Jones/Daniel/etc. Batman. Even though I've loved this title, I ended up letting them stack up while reading other things (and at 2 issues/month, they stack up fast!)
I was concerned that the story would be too slow of a drawn out build-up to the wedding issue (which I haven't gotten to yet), but I have been happily surprised by the variety of stories, including really esoteric ones, in these issues.
I think one of the strengths is that there will be single-issue stories, and shorter (3 parts instead of the usual 6) arcs.
I particularly loved "Bride Or Burglar" as a single-issue.
And the surprising and unusual 3 parter "The Gift" staring Booster Gold, which basically let King and Daniel do their own What If?/Flashpoint-style miniseries.
That one also made me interested to see what King will do with Booster as one of his key characters in the upcoming Heroes In Crisis story.
I just finished the HC collection of NIGHT FORCE by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, the original 80's run. Pretty good... brilliant in parts, a little overwrought and plodding in others. You can really tell Colan loves drawing people, faces, and old houses... and hates drawing sci fi stuff.
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
I was born in 1980, so missed a lot of the early post crisis DC (1986-1990). About 10 years ago I started collecting series from that era instead of new comics (back issues we're super cheap during the recession). Holy carp. DC was on fire, even the 2nd and 3rd tier titles were good (Blue Devil even won awards).
In a post a while ago, I made a list from memory of all the diverse stuff DC did in those days, and was amazed at how they just kept coming... even small mini series' like Spanner's Galaxy... stuff that's totally forgotten today. Dick Giordano was really an innovator as a Managing Editor.
Fantastic Four #1 - Whatever faults there are with this comic, it's due to it being released now, and not later when Marvel Two-In-One has caught up to where this starts.
After Secret Wars it was probably right to return the FF to a more traditional approach, and this is Slott putting the wheels into motion to get it there.
So while you don't have much in the way of Sue & Reed this issue you do get Wyatt Wingfoot, Jennifer Walters, Hiram Sheckerberg, The Yancy Street Gang & Alicia Masters among others.
Plus back-up Doctor Doom and Impossible Man stories.
Best bit is Pichelli's art, giving us The Thing that looks like what the Michael Chiklis Thing should have looked like. Also really delivers the sense of elation at the end of the main story.
Hunt for Wolverine - Adamantium Agenda #4 - No idea why this mini-series was called Adamantium Agenda when it deals with DNA not Adamantium... But a better outing for Bendis' Defenders than Bendis gave them, and while it doesn't really progress Logan's story any, it does end with two important plot points for X-23 and the X-Men on the whole (presumably this second point will play out in Taylor's X-Men Red).
Exiles #6 - Guest artist Rod Reis joins as artist for this new arc and so a big part of the fun here is seeing him try and work Lil' Wolvie into his more realistic painted art style.
And it works by him not trying to blend him into this style and instead just painting him in flat colours like a cartoon cel in this painted world. Also cowboy versions of the Brotherhood of Evil mutants!
Fantastic Four #1 - Whatever faults there are with this comic, it's due to it being released now, and not later when Marvel Two-In-One has caught up to where this starts.
After Secret Wars it was probably right to return the FF to a more traditional approach, and this is Slott putting the wheels into motion to get it there.
So while you don't have much in the way of Sue & Reed this issue you do get Wyatt Wingfoot, Jennifer Walters, Hiram Sheckerberg, The Yancy Street Gang & Alicia Masters among others.
Plus back-up Doctor Doom and Impossible Man stories.
Best bit is Pichelli's art, giving us The Thing that looks like what the Michael Chiklis Thing should have looked like. Also really delivers the sense of elation at the end of the main story.
Hunt for Wolverine - Adamantium Agenda #4 - No idea why this mini-series was called Adamantium Agenda when it deals with DNA not Adamantium... But a better outing for Bendis' Defenders than Bendis gave them, and while it doesn't really progress Logan's story any, it does end with two important plot points for X-23 and the X-Men on the whole (presumably this second point will play out in Taylor's X-Men Red).
Exiles #6 - Guest artist Rod Reis joins as artist for this new arc and so a big part of the fun here is seeing him try and work Lil' Wolvie into his more realistic painted art style.
And it works by him not trying to blend him into this style and instead just painting him in flat colours like a cartoon cel in this painted world. Also cowboy versions of the Brotherhood of Evil mutants!
Regarding FF so it worth the cover price. I just can't bring myself to pay that much for a single issue?
Fantastic Four #1 - Whatever faults there are with this comic, it's due to it being released now, and not later when Marvel Two-In-One has caught up to where this starts.
After Secret Wars it was probably right to return the FF to a more traditional approach, and this is Slott putting the wheels into motion to get it there.
So while you don't have much in the way of Sue & Reed this issue you do get Wyatt Wingfoot, Jennifer Walters, Hiram Sheckerberg, The Yancy Street Gang & Alicia Masters among others.
Plus back-up Doctor Doom and Impossible Man stories.
Best bit is Pichelli's art, giving us The Thing that looks like what the Michael Chiklis Thing should have looked like. Also really delivers the sense of elation at the end of the main story.
Hunt for Wolverine - Adamantium Agenda #4 - No idea why this mini-series was called Adamantium Agenda when it deals with DNA not Adamantium... But a better outing for Bendis' Defenders than Bendis gave them, and while it doesn't really progress Logan's story any, it does end with two important plot points for X-23 and the X-Men on the whole (presumably this second point will play out in Taylor's X-Men Red).
Exiles #6 - Guest artist Rod Reis joins as artist for this new arc and so a big part of the fun here is seeing him try and work Lil' Wolvie into his more realistic painted art style.
And it works by him not trying to blend him into this style and instead just painting him in flat colours like a cartoon cel in this painted world. Also cowboy versions of the Brotherhood of Evil mutants!
Regarding FF so it worth the cover price. I just can't bring myself to pay that much for a single issue?
Technically it is, yes. £2.49 for a standard comic on Comixolgy, this is £3.99.
30 pages of the main story. 9 pages of the Doom story 1 page of the Impossible Man story.
compared to 20 story pages in a standard Marvel comic.
Of course if you don't like Simone Bianchi and Skottie Young, some of those extra pages might not be what you signed up for.
I also liked MoS. I just finished action comics and superman#2 and although I think Bendis is giving Supes a sorely needed shot in the arm and doing a fantastic job of getting to the core of the character and how he should be written, he still has this tendency to occasionally write other characters "out-of-character" just for the sake of delivering a quip or some other attempt at humor. In Superman#2 the Flash (either comic book version) is unrecognizable and speaks in dialogue that is far more appropriate coming out of the mouth of the Ezra Miller Flash from Justice League.
Back to old shell head. It's office Christmas party time at Stark Industries but sabotage at a natural gas right forces iron Man into action. The return of Spymaster, and a kidnapping of Tony's woman puts Tony and Rhodey in conflict with the maggia, dreadnoughts, and an old flame out for vengeance.
Bob Layton and David Micheline really did have a fantastic run on iron Man. If you are able to the iron Man Omnibus with David Micheline, Bob Layton and John romita Jr. I really recommend picking it up.
The Seeds #1 by Ann Nocenti and David Aja, from the Berger Books imprint at Dark Horse.
I loved it. Just the sort of thing I have hoping for from this imprint. Had that immersive, hard to contain in a single genre feel of the Berger days at DC and Vertigo. I think fans of DMZ (sorry @brydeemer) would dig this one. I had not read Nocenti in awhile, and it was nice to get to do so again. And Aja is always amazing. Looking forward to the rest of this mini (and it is a nice, concise 4 issues), as well as other things coming from Berger Books.
I read the first volume of Waid & Samnee's run on Black Widow. Decent but there are some parts which just seem too implausible esp. Natasha choosing to become enemy #1 of SHIELD solely to avoid... having Tony Stark become angry/disappointed in her for lying?
West Coast Avengers #1 ends with a fantastic "new" character. And in general it's a great looking comic full of humour. And it's only slightly creepy seeing Clint Barton try to hang out with a bunch of Millennials.
Even though I guess due to the sliding time line he's probably a Millennial himself now, but his comic history means he's been both a Baby Boomer (Iron Man/Avengers) and Generation X (Gerber's Avengers Spotlight/Thunderbolts). And so he's like the uncle who still thinks he's cool.
Brittania: Lost Eagles of Rome This series is a fun read. I could see this as a series of movies released by Lion's Gate.
Sword Daughter Another fun read. I think I'm in for the ride.
Fantastic Four I'll read this through the first arc and then make a decision. This is an old guy gripe, but why is the Thing drawn so large? I prefer the Kirby take when Ben was around the same height as Reed.
I'm skipping ahead for a few issues to Iron Man #144. Marvel revamps Tony's origin to Vietnam. The story is actually pretty good; I really liked that Rhodey was folded into the origin. It's worth a read.
Picked up the Hal Jordan Spectre series and read 1-5 over the weekend. It's, rightfully, a gloomy book. It's also very wordy, but the Ryan Sook art is excellent.
I just finished Peter David's first 20 issue run on Fallen Angel at DC Comics. It had its ups and downs. A standout throughout was David Lopez' art, but I find that Peter David has a tendency to come up with solutions to things that feel too much like contrivances or too easy. Often times he will set the antagonist up as unbeatable or far stronger than the Angel, but then, somehow, inexplicably, like Hulk Hogan in a wrestling match she simply finds the willpower to do so. David takes this idea to its extreme in his Supergirl run (which I've also been reading, and it's not as good as Angel) where he literally has Supergirl realize that things like strength and speed have not really been factors in her battles, but it all comes down to desire and who wants it more. Well that's convenient. By that logic you can have Aquaman beat Superman every time simply by saying "he wants it more". It's silly but David has a tendency to resolve things that way.
However, David wrapped the story up really well and threw in some really unexpected twists near the end. He also made some reveals about the characters motivations that he must've been planning for awhile which really impressed me, so by the end I was hooked. I'm going to continue to read the Fallen Angel stuff he did at IDW. (Even though I know the art is radically different. But I'm also a big fan of David's Sachs and Violens and they're in Bette Noire now so that's another plus for me.)
I read volume one when it came out, I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in this thread. Too save time as a recap the art is great. The story is pretty good.
So I reread volume one because I got volume two in box today. Man I under sold how much I liked marini's art and story. Volume one was really entertaining, but volume two was great. I'm giving this a buy.
Fantastic Four #2 was a big improvement from #1. Enjoyed the issue. Really enjoyed the Future Foundation. Fun high concept villian. Reed & Sue. Good stuff.
My only gripe is that I prefer my Reed Richards "beefy" not skinny. I know it's silly, but...
I'm reading Marvel's 70's Battlestar Galactica run. Really enjoying it despite Roger McKenzie apparently leaving the book for a few issues while leaving a major plot line unanswered. It's actually kind of impressive how the fill-in writers for 3 issues manage to work around it. Klaus Janson also seems to overpower everyone's art with his inks, but I think it looks good.
Comments
I am amazed, perplexed even, that the entire run had the comics code seal on every cover... it deals with demons, possession, sex, murderers, amputation, a loveless marriage, liquefied human beings, and other fairly adult stuff.
Yet another mind-blowing example of the as-of-yet-unequaled fountain of creativity in the mid to late 1980's at DC Comics.
Unless they already renegotiated that when they were getting that same material into collections.
I was concerned that the story would be too slow of a drawn out build-up to the wedding issue (which I haven't gotten to yet), but I have been happily surprised by the variety of stories, including really esoteric ones, in these issues.
I think one of the strengths is that there will be single-issue stories, and shorter (3 parts instead of the usual 6) arcs.
I particularly loved "Bride Or Burglar" as a single-issue.
And the surprising and unusual 3 parter "The Gift" staring Booster Gold, which basically let King and Daniel do their own What If?/Flashpoint-style miniseries.
That one also made me interested to see what King will do with Booster as one of his key characters in the upcoming Heroes In Crisis story.
After Secret Wars it was probably right to return the FF to a more traditional approach, and this is Slott putting the wheels into motion to get it there.
So while you don't have much in the way of Sue & Reed this issue you do get Wyatt Wingfoot, Jennifer Walters, Hiram Sheckerberg, The Yancy Street Gang & Alicia Masters among others.
Plus back-up Doctor Doom and Impossible Man stories.
Best bit is Pichelli's art, giving us The Thing that looks like what the Michael Chiklis Thing should have looked like. Also really delivers the sense of elation at the end of the main story.
Hunt for Wolverine - Adamantium Agenda #4 - No idea why this mini-series was called Adamantium Agenda when it deals with DNA not Adamantium... But a better outing for Bendis' Defenders than Bendis gave them, and while it doesn't really progress Logan's story any, it does end with two important plot points for X-23 and the X-Men on the whole (presumably this second point will play out in Taylor's X-Men Red).
Exiles #6 - Guest artist Rod Reis joins as artist for this new arc and so a big part of the fun here is seeing him try and work Lil' Wolvie into his more realistic painted art style.
And it works by him not trying to blend him into this style and instead just painting him in flat colours like a cartoon cel in this painted world. Also cowboy versions of the Brotherhood of Evil mutants!
30 pages of the main story.
9 pages of the Doom story
1 page of the Impossible Man story.
compared to 20 story pages in a standard Marvel comic.
Of course if you don't like Simone Bianchi and Skottie Young, some of those extra pages might not be what you signed up for.
Alternatively looking at the US prices:
Normal Marvel comic - 19.95 cents/story page
FF#1 - 14.98 cents/story page
Back to old shell head. It's office Christmas party time at Stark Industries but sabotage at a natural gas right forces iron Man into action.
The return of Spymaster, and a kidnapping of Tony's woman puts Tony and Rhodey in conflict with the maggia, dreadnoughts, and an old flame out for vengeance.
Bob Layton and David Micheline really did have a fantastic run on iron Man. If you are able to the iron Man Omnibus with David Micheline, Bob Layton and John romita Jr. I really recommend picking it up.
I loved it. Just the sort of thing I have hoping for from this imprint. Had that immersive, hard to contain in a single genre feel of the Berger days at DC and Vertigo. I think fans of DMZ (sorry @brydeemer) would dig this one. I had not read Nocenti in awhile, and it was nice to get to do so again. And Aja is always amazing. Looking forward to the rest of this mini (and it is a nice, concise 4 issues), as well as other things coming from Berger Books.
Even though I guess due to the sliding time line he's probably a Millennial himself now, but his comic history means he's been both a Baby Boomer (Iron Man/Avengers) and Generation X (Gerber's Avengers Spotlight/Thunderbolts). And so he's like the uncle who still thinks he's cool.
This series is a fun read. I could see this as a series of movies released by Lion's Gate.
Sword Daughter
Another fun read. I think I'm in for the ride.
Fantastic Four
I'll read this through the first arc and then make a decision. This is an old guy gripe, but why is the Thing drawn so large? I prefer the Kirby take when Ben was around the same height as Reed.
However, David wrapped the story up really well and threw in some really unexpected twists near the end. He also made some reveals about the characters motivations that he must've been planning for awhile which really impressed me, so by the end I was hooked. I'm going to continue to read the Fallen Angel stuff he did at IDW. (Even though I know the art is radically different. But I'm also a big fan of David's Sachs and Violens and they're in Bette Noire now so that's another plus for me.)
I read volume one when it came out, I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in this thread. Too save time as a recap the art is great. The story is pretty good.
So I reread volume one because I got volume two in box today. Man I under sold how much I liked marini's art and story. Volume one was really entertaining, but volume two was great. I'm giving this a buy.
My only gripe is that I prefer my Reed Richards "beefy" not skinny. I know it's silly, but...