What comic are you reading at the moment.

bombidol

Hellblazer is very hit or miss, Got Authority #1 seemed ok, but its just a first issue so i wasnt expecting action etc

Longshadow

Authority #1 was very slow, even for a first issue, but I did really like it. For a start, the art was beautiful. It was really, really impressive. It gave an incredible .. feel to the comic. I've read it twice since I got it, trying to figure out what it is about it. It's as if there's something going on in the issue that I haven't quite grasped yet. The colouring, combined with so much going on underwater, and perhaps just a little too much slightly more out of focus than should have been throughout the issue?
It's like I've seen something out of the corner of my eye and can't figure out what. I think I have an idea what Morisson and Ha are doing, and I think I like it too.
One way or another, I think it's gonna be a good one.

Wildcats was a solid issue one as well, set the tone for what's it's gonna be more so than Authority managed, and what it's gonna be is obviously a more straightforward action title.

Never read any Authority at all, I'm afraid to say, and the only Wildcats I've read was the (relatively) recent Warblade mini, so the whole rebooting/restarting/repainting and maybe moving the furniture around a little while we're here? doesn't really agitate my fanboy nerve much either. Nice to get in on the ground on what has the potential to be a great few titles. I hope.
I also thoroughly approve of the whole Wildstorm Universe revolving on Bi-Monthly titles. Much easier on the wallet, allowing me to collect several of them, and it means less chance of horribly delayed titles. *cough* Jim Lee *cough*

Tree

Currently reading flight vol 2 (over and over), need to get my own copy maybe... it's amazin

AbusesToilets

I got Flight Vol.3 the other month.Excellent work,i really enjoyed it.I'd love to get the other volumes but i haven't seen any in the shops.I also picked up Pride Of Bagdhad yesterday,another great story from Brian K. Vaughan.The art work is very descriptive and gives a great emotional range to the characters.

Jack B. Badd

Reading The Complete Maus at the moment and I'm well impressed. It's better than most real books (for want of a better word) on the topic of Holocaust survivors and a fantastic example of how good a serious story can be conveyed through the medium of comics when a writer puts his mind to it. Another case of something I'll have to buy my own copy of.

bombidol

Finished "the boys"#3 thought it was pretty good
"The Authority "#1 - Decent build up
"A man caleld Kev" #3 - Pretty damn good if you ask me. Its taking its time to laydown some serious character backgrounds which i like.
"Punisher" Kitchen Irish TPB - Meh was alright, nothing amazing. Frank was more of a background character. The thing that annoyed me more than anything was frickin Ennis's use of the north/Ireland for a story again. Every bleeding comic he writes has to end up in Belfast or Dublin at some stage. Seriously!
Punisher (more than once)
Man called Kev
Hellblazer
Preacher
War stories.
Cant think of anymore, but it is 9 in the morning.

Draco

I don't know what to make of The Authority #1. It was good background stuff, but at the same time too slow. Hmmm. We'll have to see.

Desolation Jones has started up again which please me greatly.

I assume everyone has heard that Nextwave is only going to last until issue 12 and then there will be possible stand alone min-series things in the future?

Longshadow

Longshadow wrote:

I also thoroughly approve of the whole Wildstorm Universe revolving on Bi-Monthly titles. Much easier on the wallet, allowing me to collect several of them, and it means less chance of horribly delayed titles. *cough* Jim Lee *cough*

Looks like I spoke (posted) too soon:

'Please note that orders for the WILDCATS #2 Standard Edition (SEP060282) and Variant Edition (SEP060283) have been cancelled. This issue will be resolicited in the January Previews (Volume XVII #1) to be in stores on March, 2007.'

From a November release to a March release. A four month delay on the second issue. Now that's impressive.
And bloody annoying too. I liked Wildcats #1, but I don't want to go through another All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder. The excessive delay better be to allow them to catch up and keep to schedule in future. Delays on this scale do affect sales. It's just too much.

Draco

ZOMG!
Nextwave. If you don't love it you are DEAD inside.

The Boys #4: Oh look, superheroes acting like oversexed ****s. Great. Could have done with a bit more plot movement.

Planetary #26: Disappointing end for a very delayed series. Just seems all too easy. 1 more issue to go as a prologue.

the Shades

Did anyone read Deathblow #1? I'm not sure what I thought of it. It was enjoyable but some things seemed a little obvious, I guess I expect more from Azzarello. D'Anda's art really impressed me though he's come a long way since the last time I saw anything by him.

Also read X-men 192 this week. Carey's story is finally beginning to hit it's pay off and finale and looks like this could be a great run. Bachalo is my favourite artist so I'd read it anyway but seeing Rogue develop as a leader and more self-confident character is great. Also kind of fun to look at 'her' team getting on the Blackbird and realise that 3 of them are villains. But possibly the one thing that's impressing me most is Carey's use of older character's with a twist to bring new blood to the book rather than simply creating new mutants. Indeed the only 'new' character he has added he's developed out of an earlier storyline that was much neglected. I'm really enjoying his X-men be interesting to see how it plays out.

Longshadow

Read and enjoyed Deathblow #1 as well. The art is brilliant, not sure if I've ever come across D'ando before, but I'll be looking him up now.
Not a lot happened, but it was a solid first issue. I'm a fan of Azarello, but he can 'go wrong' and just make a mess of things. His Superman 'For Tomorrow' arc started strong but by the end was a just a confused mess.
He seemed to strike a good tone with this though, the humour was almost comic, which will be a nice counterpoint to a character as dark as Deathblow. Surprisingly little groundwork layed for a first issue, but it did stand by itself as a single issue.
Highlight was the brilliant political-military speak from the general at the end. Again, Azarello's dialogue can be either brilliant, or just a little hard to follow..but this was inspired stuff..

'It's not that I think you're lying, no sir, don't get me wrong, but.. you might not be telling the truth.'

I really liked what previous Deathblow I've read .. looking forward to this.

constitutionus

well got one or two myself. first up

planetary 26

not a bad book but oddly not as satisfying as earlier issues, guess its winding down now but i expected more of a bang to it. what we get is pretty much a whimper.
cassadays art is gorgeous as usual and i have to point out his work on the ancient shiftship, he seems to really enjoy all the art deco symbolism he injects it with and the scene near the end with wilder at the wheel is absolutely beautiful. a real sense of majesty going on here. its just sad the story seems such a non event with snow basically saying "stay out of our universe, or else!"
as mentioned theres only one issues left but to be honest you could leave the series now if you want, it certainly feels like an ending and with now "next time" blurb if your comic shop didnt get the next issue in you probably wouldnt miss it. lets be honest planetarys main failing was an inability to actually know where the hell it was on the shelf what with the forever chaging cover layouts. the title on this issue was so small if you didnt know who snow was you easily wouldve passed over it in the store

now to number two

new avengers : collective. trade paperback

vol 4 of the series and collects issues 16 to 20. ive been collecting this series as trades seeing as i dont want to spend the money on the regular series but enjoy it enough to get as a trade for half the price which is very handy on the wallet. the story concerns the resolution to what happened to all the powers that disappeared at the end of "house of m". bendis is a capable writer and he doesnt fail to entertain here. the new avengers themselves are an eclectic mix but its increasingly begining to work and work well. for the life of me i cant relate to luke cage at all but his little "PR" stunt works very well and when the first heros to face the collective fall you realise the impact it has on wolverine which is nice and shows how well bendis knows these characters. thers a nic little "Guantanamo" moment with spidey being interagated by the new director of sheild who does a fine job of coming off as a bitch and her interaction with cap and ironman are some of the best minutes in it.
for the life of me i dont know what the hell xorn has to do with any of this but considering the ambiguity of that character they could say he was jesus and find some way of justifying it.

all in all its a good read which brings me to the one downside for me.

the art

steve mcnivens issue is the best in it and you can see how he got the civil war gig. its simple uncluttered and powerful and lends a real quality to the story. the same however cannot be said for mike deodato jr. considering the standard set by previous artist and the industry as a whole this guys stuff just isnt up to scratch. its muddied, badly laid out and coloured awfully making the book feel like a cheap XMEN title from the 90s when everyone and his kid who could hold a pencil was being hired to do work. the story saves the title and its worth getting but you cant help thinking the whole thing done by mcniven wouldve improved it immeasurably

still its set up for "new avengers :disassembled" though civil war is what you want. cant wait:D

Fysh

Draco wrote:

ZOMG!
Nextwave. If you don't love it you are DEAD inside.

Hell yes! Also loved the whole team things toward the end : "Behold...THE HOMOSEXUALITY!....Who will be here as soon as the gay pride march in San Francisco finishes!" (Including the Midnite-Man, which made me laugh out loud when I spotted it).

Also picked up Desolation Jones #7 which is looking quite good for its second arc. The new artist works very well for the story, which is good - after Ellis talked about having to re-do his scripts for the issues he'd got ready when the J H Williams move was announced, I was wondering about this, but it's as seamless a transition as you could hope for. I'm extremely curious to see where the Philip K Dick stuff is going to come in, considering that it's already been established that Jones sees things which aren't there for most people...

Lastly, Seven Soldiers #1. I'm struggling to make up my mind on this. It's a nice closing issue, and I really like the ways in which Morrison jazzed it up (the several-page "newspaper" part, including newspaper-strip sections that continue the story and a crossword based on the events in the series so far, or the Misty/Klarion faceoff drawn in a vintage comics fashion). And yet, somehow...there were bits that disappointed me. The end of Mister Miracle's story, or Klarion's for that matter. They weren't bad, exactly, but they involved things happening that I'd hoped wouldn't happen to the characters (but were completely in keeping with their characters and development so far). What did anyone else make of this?

Jack B. Badd

Nextwave, which even I with my lack of soul can appreciate and love!

Tree

and i appear to love next wave even more thanks to having a soul.

Fysh

Global Frequency : Detonation Radio

At long last managed to get my hands on this the other day and it was pretty good. I like the core theme of the series - having a different artist for each issue and different "hero" characters - enough that I'd happily buy more of it, but I get the feeling that Ellis had gotten bored by the end of it. There were odd moments of what felt like regurgitated characterisation (most notably in the Aleph issue, where all the smart-arsiness disappears and is replaced by an overbearing defence of the work Global Frequency carries out). Still, a good closing to the series given that there was never a greater story arc going on.

Ultimate Iron Man TPB

I'd already read this but wanted to own it. First of all, shiny shiny artwork. (For some reason, my immunity to superheroes flies out the window when it's Iron Man we're talking about, even if he's mostly written quite badly). Anyway, this is a nice opening story with the emphasis on character and build-up - there's relatively little "action" but the story works all the better for it. After seeing Ellis finish up on Extremis and promptly depart, I'd figured that was going to be it for a well-written version of Tony Stark for the foreseeable future, but this has pleasantly proved me wrong.

Jack B. Badd

Fysh wrote:

I get the feeling that Ellis had gotten bored by the end of it.

I get the feeling Ellis gets bored of a lot of things by the end... Transmet seems to be the exception. Tbh it would be really nice to be able to pick up a completed story by him and be confident that he wouldn't have run out of steam three quarters of the way through

Fysh

Why do you think I poiinted you in the direction of stuff like Two-Step? He hasn't got time to get bored in 3 issues (That said, give him six like they did in Ocean, and look what happens...good story, but the ideas part of it just ran out of steam)

constitutionus

anyone check out "bullet point" today? ive sworn off buying mini series forever prefering to wait for the trade but i came this close to buying it. the central premise is Dr erskine,who defected to the USA from the nazis with the super soldier serum, is killed 24hrs ahead of normal marvel history and chronicals what happens there after i.e no captain america. and how events follow on for the marvel characters. im not compleatly sold on the art but JMS is a safe bet and considering its his idea (and he's been dying to tackle steve rogers) it should be a good read.

Longshadow

It's a great concept, and it's in the hands of a great writer, but so far, it's keeping all that great potential a little close to it's chest. First issue was good, but not great (hey, how many times can I use that word in the one post?)
His idea of one incident moved forward just 24 hours changing the entire course of the Marvel Universe has so far just amounted to a shuffling around of who's wearing who's costume. Still a decent read, but if he doesn't start utilizing more of the potential of the idea I don't think I'll last until the end.
I actually love the artwork myself, though, I think it's .. great. (5) And you can't fault Straczfytnvcxinki's (???) storytelling either, he's just not using it to tell a particularly great (6) story.

thumbninja

Jack B. Badd wrote:

I get the feeling Ellis gets bored of a lot of things by the end... Transmet seems to be the exception.

Thats because he sees it as some kind of biography :rolleyes:

I liked global frequency too - the freerunner issue was cool.

Longshadow

I order from Previews. This means I don't always have the luxury of flicking through a comic before I buy it. And sometimes I take chances on comics from publisher/creators I've never heard of.
I'd like to say this practice of supporting the indies and trying new titles pays off in dividends, that there are hundreds of indie gems out there, simply waiting for willing readers to mine them from the less browsed alternative shelves of their local comic store. Unfortunately, most of what I try turns out to be rubbish. We all know there are a lot of rubbish comics out there. It's an unfortunate, but I guess, unavoidable side effect of an industry where the top 15 publishers alone put out 500+ titles every month. They can't all be good. (and they really aren't)
Much as I love sooper-heroes and their comic-book antics (and I do) this isn't all I read, nor is it all I want to read. Comics are a medium as diversely capable as any other, so why so incredible dominated by the one genre? And that's another reason to stick my neck out for the indies or the newbies, 'cos that's where you're most likely to find stories outside of the 'caped justice' mold. (yes, there are exceptions, but it's a consistent generality, so leave it be)
But to the point, as I fear I've wandered almost out of sight of it, so I'll return to my intended path while I still can.
Nightly News looked unusual, different, dealt with media corporations as opposed to men in tights, and was by a creator making his first comic. So once again, I took that chance. And this is just the book I needed to restore my faith in taking chances.
First off, this book is Pretty. The design and layout are superb; it has as little regard for typical panel layout as David Mack, without hindering the flow of the story in the slightest. The artwork is excellent, but most of all, it is absolutely engaging.
There is no 'filling the pages' to stretch if for that six part trade paperback; though it is a six parter, it uses it's space brilliantly, and each page (28 of them, no ads, oh, what joy!) is filled with story, reference points, background details and a great sense of humour. And Jonathan Hickman tell his story like he had being doing it in comics for years. And an interesting story it's looking to be too. Media corporations, and the vast power they wield is fertile ground for story, and deserving of the critical attention that Nightly News affords them.
Pored over this issue for at least twice as long as I'd spend over a regular comic. Check it out.
(edited to remove the more glaringly idiotic spelling errors)

Draco

thumbninja wrote:

Thats because he sees it as some kind of biography :rolleyes:

No, he doesn't and he seems to get quite annoyed at people suggesting that Spider is a distillation of him.

Global Frequency was an exercising in different methods of storytelling for him. It's been some time since I've read them (I got the single issues) but my memory of them is rather favourable. I have a vague sense that I wasn't pushed about one story, but since they're currently in a box in my parent's garage I won't be reminded any time soon.

In keeping with my restricted comic purchasing of late, all I got this week was the 4th part of Grant Morrison's first arc on the main batman title. Good dialog, a little bit of a twist and a nice set up for future stories but I think Morrison could have done better.

Undergod

I'm in need of a serious comics fix- but I've just finished 'Essential X-Men' volume 2, X-Men issues #23-#53. 1960's superhero comics for the win!

PDuffy

I like the Beano.

Jack B. Badd

I preferred the Dandy myself...
Quite liked the Fallen Angel stuff that certain lovely people bought me for my birthday. Tis on my list of things to follow but I've decided that I can't stand issues mostly due to the ridiculous quantity of ads so I'll have to suss out trades in the not-so-distant future

Tree

Tá an Táin á léamh agam anois, tá sé go hálainn ar fad, (sadly i'll have to translate it for a few friends, but that means spending more time reading it )

Jack B. Badd

Warren Ellis' Down: Oh god, he's just getting worse and worse. I dunno if this thing is going beyond 4 issues but I can't see myself reading them if it does. An uninspired piece by Ellis, predictable and lacking in reasoning/background/justification for the actions of the main character. The art didn't blow me away either.
I think I'm gonna go read a real book now...

Undergod

Beano is better than Dandy.

Has anyone read Ultimates 2? I'm considering buying it.

bombidol

Undergod wrote:

Beano is better than Dandy.

Has anyone read Ultimates 2? I'm considering buying it.

Ultimates is savage