Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #6 Crazy Choose your Own Adventure style fun. Although it made the book feel much shorter than usual, it was a treat to visit this style of story telling. Truth be told, I probably spent longer re-reading different scenarios, and was "in" the book for more time then I normally would. I'm really digging this series... Robbie Thompson has made me interested in this hodgepodge crew of characters, and I'm enjoying the Javier Rodriguez art much more than I thought I would. His work has really grown on me over the last few issues.
Grass Kings #1 by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins was pretty darn good, though. I've seen Jenkin’s artwork in Peter Panzerfaust, but he’s doing watercolors here, and it’s gorgeous over his loose inking. The paper they used is a heavy, non-glossy stock that I love. It mutes the colors a bit, but that fits the tone of the story.
As for the writing, this feels a bit grittier and more grounded than what I’m used to from Kindt. And this is a great first issue, in that he introduces the main characters, the setting, and some important background details through a plot device that makes it all feel natural, and without any of it feeling like exposition. Not much happens, but the pacing of the story is spot on.
I like that Kindt is stretching in a lot of different directions these days. Dept. H feels like old Kindt, while Ether is more fantastical with shades of light and dark, and now Grass Kings is more human and topical. If he’s not careful, I might be nominating him for Best Writer next year.
I read it. I liked it. I thought it was a great first issue. I read it through comixology and the colors came off great for the story, as @nweathington said they were very muted. The story did everything you wanted a first issue to be.
Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #6 Crazy Choose your Own Adventure style fun. Although it made the book feel much shorter than usual, it was a treat to visit this style of story telling. Truth be told, I probably spent longer re-reading different scenarios, and was "in" the book for more time then I normally would. I'm really digging this series... Robbie Thompson has made me interested in this hodgepodge crew of characters, and I'm enjoying the Javier Rodriguez art much more than I thought I would. His work has really grown on me over the last few issues.
For my money this has been a better Dr Strange comic than Aaron & Bachalo's. It really has that journey into strange realms feel I want from the character.
Enjoyed the audacity of ASM calling an arc The Osborn Identity, and #25 has some interesting returns for people who liked Spider-Man in the 80s. Or from a couple of years ago.
For my money this has been a better Dr Strange comic than Aaron & Bachalo's. It really has that journey into strange realms feel I want from the character.
I am loving Aaron & Bachalo's book, and to be honest I didn't have high hopes for this "Sorcerers Supreme" spin off title. It kind of snuck up on me, and now I am LOVING IT!
Enjoyed the audacity of ASM calling an arc The Osborn Identity, and #25 has some interesting returns for people who liked Spider-Man in the 80s. Or from a couple of years ago.
ha... The Osborn Identity... just got that. It is on top of the pile, haven't had a chance to read that one yet. The price was a punch in the gut.
#25 has some interesting returns for people who liked Spider-Man in the 80s. Or from a couple of years ago.
It is on top of the pile, haven't had a chance to read that one yet. The price was a punch in the gut.
Speaking of that $10 cover price for ASM #25, if you'd rather spend your hard-earned $10 bucks...
1) on a complete Spider-Man story 2) on a Spider-Man story from the 80's, or a couple of years ago 3) in a way that doesn't support Marvel putting out ongoing series issues with $10 cover prices (I'm looking at you, Deadpool)
...there are almost 1000 HC's and TPB's featuring your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, available for $9.99 or less on the secondary market? I simply cannot bring myself to buy a single issue that's part of an ongoing for that price.
So my time lord powers fritzed on me and deleted my Throwback Thursday post on Hellblazer #1-6 while I was trying to make an edit. I'm not redoing it, but I loved the first six issues and think that after 30 years these are still fantastic and horrific and pointed comics.
I read a few strips from the complete Our Valued Customers. Know my yesterday was a little better than yours because of it.
I sold some stuff and treated myself to Starstruck Vol. 1 (Dark Horse) brilliantly illustrated by Mike Kaluta. I've tried to read it a couple of times, but I find myself getting lost in the gorgeous lines.
Making my way through Wilds End Enemy Within and I'm currently on issue 4 (or 6). Such a great Orson Wells' War of the Worlds-esque alien mystery. I loved the first series and this is just as good.
BLACK HAMMER #7 was magnificent. Though Lemire and Ormston are going SO close with their homages to DC and Marvel that I'm afraid they'll be sued :joy:
After bingeing thru my beloved "Vikings" TV series on History Channel I was left feeling peckish for more Hirstian Norse drama, so I picked up Titan Comics' VIKINGS: GODHEAD #1-2 (of 4) which kept my interest. Okay, that faint praise is kind of damning lol. How about.. it's fun to see my favorite characters rendered in comic books? Great back-matter content, too.
I liked Eleanor & the Egret #1, but I didn't love it. I’m going to give it a few issues, because of the creators and the concept. But it isn't Kieth’s best work, and the writing is a bit clunky in places. Still, even though I was hoping for more, the story shows potential to be fun and interesting.
Black Cloud #1 was quite intriguing. We jump right into the story, not really sure what’s going on, learning a bit more with each page, and I'm looking forward to the next issue. The artwork by Greg Hinkle has a frenetic energy to it I’m digging, and Matt Wilson’s coloring is superb. All in all a really good start to the series.
This DC Rebirth meta-arc is tremendous. I like that DC is really playing a long-game here. In fact, some of the seeds of Rebirth were planted back in Superman (2011) #32 from 2014. This was the start of Geoff Johns' run on the New 52 Superman title. and it contains the first appearance of
This DC Rebirth meta-arc is tremendous. I like that DC is really playing a long-game here. In fact, some of the seeds of Rebirth were planted back in Superman (2011) #32 from 2014. This was the start of Geoff Johns' run on the New 52 Superman title. and it contains the first appearance of
Mr. Oz, a major player in the DC Rebirth era.
Who else is keeping up with DC Rebirth?
I'm not reading everything, but what I've been reading I've really enjoyed. Most of what I've been reading doesn't really feel like it's advanced the Rebirth story. Wonder Woman is probably my current favorite.
This DC Rebirth meta-arc is tremendous. I like that DC is really playing a long-game here. In fact, some of the seeds of Rebirth were planted back in Superman (2011) #32 from 2014. This was the start of Geoff Johns' run on the New 52 Superman title. and it contains the first appearance of
Mr. Oz, a major player in the DC Rebirth era.
Who else is keeping up with DC Rebirth?
I've been reading a lot of it. I find it to be a mixed bag; on the whole it's better than the pre-Rebirth New52, but still not nearly as pleasing to me as the pre-Flashpoint universe was.
And wow that Spoiler feature you used was supercool!
X-Men: Blue #1 was way better than X-Men: Gold #1. It too was a back to basics approach, but had enough twists in it to take it beyond that. And the artists were great.
Magneto is in the Professor X role and they have returned to their original role of superheroes taking down criminal mutants who make it harder for humanity to accept mutants. This issue: Black Tom Cassidy.
Of course this is Magneto as written by Cullen Bunn, so he likely has an ulterior motive. Plus: Beast is now using the magic he researched to try to get them home as a weapon, causing tension. And in the epilogue Ultimate Wolverine (James Hudson Jr.) shows up in Canada.
The idea of the time-displaced original X-Men has never really appealed to me, but they made it work for me here. And I now prefer it over a retread of a Claremont-style X-Men over in Gold (though that may have worked with a better artist in place).
Nick Fury #1 is really pretty comic. ACO, Hugo Petrus and Rachelle Rosenberg knock it out of the park. The story is light as a blancmange, but the art is fantastic.
Not speaking for @TheOriginalGMan but it could go either way depending on your knowledge of Marvel continuity. If you weren't reading Captain America, I'm not sure you'd know what was going on. Though at least it was a #0 rather than a #1 like Secret Wars.
Even if you were reading Captain America, right at the start it throws two characters in who've not shown up so far, and aren't exactly well known.
Isaac Newton and Nostradamus from Hickman & Weaver's S.H.I.E.L.D. Newton is in Dr Strange and The Sorcerers Supreme right now, but that's not exactly an A-List title. Are they the actual villains behind this? Do I need to re-read SHIELD to make sense of this? Or is it just a red herring and the answer is a cosmic cube did it?
And then another character later shows up that has been hinted at in Captain America, but without knowing his past from other comics that aren't this run of Captain America, the weight of the scene is lost.
Even though I liked it, it would have probably been better running in Captain America rather trying to make it a stand-alone event, because without knowing the groundwork I can't imagine it comes across well.
Just read BATMAN #21 - the first part of DC's "The Button" event - and thought it was bloody fantastic. Fabok's artwork is stellar, and Tom King chose such an unusual and incredible structure for his story. I'm the first one to confess I've had event-fatigue for the past few years, but "The Button" had me at hello. I am 100% onboard with this story.
I picked up the first issue of Lake of Fire when it came out, but forgot to order subsequent issues. That was rectified in a recent comiXology and Image sale. It was a great, short series. Beautiful and clean art. Not sure if there will be a sequel, but if not, it was a good 5 issue mini. The story follows some Templar Knights in France as they come across a monstrous threat to a small village.
On that same note, I also picked up the second Wild's End story, Wild's End: The Enemy Within. More War of the Worlds/WWI-era Europe anthropomorphic sci-fi goodness. I don't think the first series quite wrapped up everything, but it still had a satisfying conclusion. It was a lot of fun now made better with more story.
If you're the sort of person who likes their shared universe comic writing to give extra meaning to events in comics elsewhere, Ultimates Squared #6 really hits the spot.
It not only explained exactly what that creature was at the start of Civil War 2 #1, but ties it into the grander story that Al Ewing's been telling about the multiverse post-Secret Wars. And it explains why America Chavez has gone to college in her own book.
There's no clues yet, but if they have plans on bringing the FF back, this feels like the lead into the story that would. The Ultimates has basically been the de facto Fantastic Four book, but based on what we know Reed, Sue and the Future Foundation are doing at the end of Secret Wars, it feels like this foe would eventually come after them too.
The foe is The First Firmament, the embodiment of the first universe. An evil Eternity if you will. During the rebirth of the multiverse at the end of Secret Wars, he tried to kill Eternity, but could only imprison him, so he's infiltrated the new multiverse with agents such as The Dark Celestial we saw in Civil War 2
Old Guard #3. I'm continuing to dig it. I'm not 100% certain that the resolution/cliffhanger at the end of #5, when it goes on hiatus, is going to be satisfying, but I'm continuing to read and love the book. Really enjoying the way that they're developing the backstories of the Guard.
Flash 21 was pretty good too. I feel like they may be slow-playing this a bit more than necessary, but I'm enjoying it.
On the flip side, please Gods, get JRJR away from Suicide Squad (and anything else that I might be inclined to read).
Old Guard #3. I'm continuing to dig it. I'm not 100% certain that the resolution/cliffhanger at the end of #5, when it goes on hiatus, is going to be satisfying, but I'm continuing to read and love the book. Really enjoying the way that they're developing the backstories of the Guard.
Flash 21 was pretty good too. I feel like they may be slow-playing this a bit more than necessary, but I'm enjoying it.
On the flip side, please Gods, get JRJR away from Suicide Squad (and anything else that I might be inclined to read).
@hauberk, you are inside my mind. I am also not a fan of JRJR (every male face he draws, even some of his females, seem to be Lee Pace) and I am also digging Rucka's OLD GUARD, and while I also dug FLASH #21, I can already see that I'm going to prefer the chapters of "The Button" which take place in BATMAN instead. One general problem I have with the awesome character of Batman is that his writers usually must make any surrounding heroes seem less intelligent and/or entirely reactive to The Bat - and that happened here, sadly, within the pages of Flash's own title. I get it, they've got to work together on this case. But Barry still seemed so desperate to prove his own mettle around Bruce, it kind of annoyed me.
Speaking of Mr. Rucka, I have *finally* started to read LAZARUS and wow.
Comments
Crazy Choose your Own Adventure style fun. Although it made the book feel much shorter than usual, it was a treat to visit this style of story telling. Truth be told, I probably spent longer re-reading different scenarios, and was "in" the book for more time then I normally would. I'm really digging this series... Robbie Thompson has made me interested in this hodgepodge crew of characters, and I'm enjoying the Javier Rodriguez art much more than I thought I would. His work has really grown on me over the last few issues.
I thought it was a great first issue. I read it through comixology and the colors came off great for the story, as @nweathington said they were very muted. The story did everything you wanted a first issue to be.
Enjoyed the audacity of ASM calling an arc The Osborn Identity, and #25 has some interesting returns for people who liked Spider-Man in the 80s. Or from a couple of years ago.
1) on a complete Spider-Man story
2) on a Spider-Man story from the 80's, or a couple of years ago
3) in a way that doesn't support Marvel putting out ongoing series issues with $10 cover prices (I'm looking at you, Deadpool)
...there are almost 1000 HC's and TPB's featuring your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler, available for $9.99 or less on the secondary market? I simply cannot bring myself to buy a single issue that's part of an ongoing for that price.
I'm not redoing it, but I loved the first six issues and think that after 30 years these are still fantastic and horrific and pointed comics.
I read a few strips from the complete Our Valued Customers. Know my yesterday was a little better than yours because of it.
After bingeing thru my beloved "Vikings" TV series on History Channel I was left feeling peckish for more Hirstian Norse drama, so I picked up Titan Comics' VIKINGS: GODHEAD #1-2 (of 4) which kept my interest. Okay, that faint praise is kind of damning lol. How about.. it's fun to see my favorite characters rendered in comic books? Great back-matter content, too.
Been away from comic books 4 or 5, life eh,..trying to jump back on
The book sets up the other #1 issues brilliantly also, and i've already picked up Batman and the Flash because I want to see where their stories go
Who else is keeping up with DC Rebirth?
And wow that Spoiler feature you used was supercool!
Of course this is Magneto as written by Cullen Bunn, so he likely has an ulterior motive. Plus: Beast is now using the magic he researched to try to get them home as a weapon, causing tension. And in the epilogue Ultimate Wolverine (James Hudson Jr.) shows up in Canada.
The idea of the time-displaced original X-Men has never really appealed to me, but they made it work for me here. And I now prefer it over a retread of a Claremont-style X-Men over in Gold (though that may have worked with a better artist in place).
Even if you were reading Captain America, right at the start it throws two characters in who've not shown up so far, and aren't exactly well known.
And then another character later shows up that has been hinted at in Captain America, but without knowing his past from other comics that aren't this run of Captain America, the weight of the scene is lost.
Even though I liked it, it would have probably been better running in Captain America rather trying to make it a stand-alone event, because without knowing the groundwork I can't imagine it comes across well.
On that same note, I also picked up the second Wild's End story, Wild's End: The Enemy Within. More War of the Worlds/WWI-era Europe anthropomorphic sci-fi goodness. I don't think the first series quite wrapped up everything, but it still had a satisfying conclusion. It was a lot of fun now made better with more story.
I recommend both of these series.
It not only explained exactly what that creature was at the start of Civil War 2 #1, but ties it into the grander story that Al Ewing's been telling about the multiverse post-Secret Wars. And it explains why America Chavez has gone to college in her own book.
There's no clues yet, but if they have plans on bringing the FF back, this feels like the lead into the story that would. The Ultimates has basically been the de facto Fantastic Four book, but based on what we know Reed, Sue and the Future Foundation are doing at the end of Secret Wars, it feels like this foe would eventually come after them too.
Flash 21 was pretty good too. I feel like they may be slow-playing this a bit more than necessary, but I'm enjoying it.
On the flip side, please Gods, get JRJR away from Suicide Squad (and anything else that I might be inclined to read).
Speaking of Mr. Rucka, I have *finally* started to read LAZARUS and wow.