What comic are you reading at the moment.

Hanza

I just finished Watchmen for the 3rd time, in antisipation of the movie. Probably will read it again before it comes out.

Reading DC's Identity Crisis... great!

magwea

ztoical wrote: »

And then we have another anthology collection Comic Book Tattoo - 480 pages of comics based on songs by Tori Amos. First off I have to say this book weighs...alot. Seriously its twice the size of flight and twice as thick. Handing it to the girl at the till to pay she nearly dropped it due to the weight, and she couldn't believe it was only $25 for so much book.

I felt mush the same when i saw it in the stores, reading about it online i was skeptical, seeing the sheer size and bulk of the thing is an achievement in itself, the production values look top notch aswell, and the price point makes it a massive bargain even if the pages were blank.

As for the editorial direction, i'd rather know who was behind the project as a whole, it is an image book so it probably isn't an in house job. Was Tori Amos even involved outside of the name. Who is putting the capital into the project?

eltentwelve

Old Shadow of the Bat comics ... those're classics! (Too bad I'm missing a few issues.)

ztoical

magwea wrote: »

As for the editorial direction, i'd rather know who was behind the project as a whole, it is an image book so it probably isn't an in house job. Was Tori Amos even involved outside of the name. Who is putting the capital into the project?

She was involved in the project. It was put together and edited by Rantz Hoseley who is a very close friend of hers and she was at SDCC all last weekend promoting it and there was a big panel discussion for it as well. Will have to have a look round for the transcript of the panel as I heard the back and forth between her and Hoseley was meant to be very funny. The books going to be sold during her up coming tour thou with the weight of it I can't see many people wanting to be stuck carrying it during a concert or lug it home after.

magwea

ztoical wrote: »

She was involved in the project. It was put together and edited by Rantz Hoseley who is a very close friend of hers and she was at SDCC all last weekend promoting it and there was a big panel discussion for it as well.

I didn't mean to diss Miss Amos, the people behind the book seem to know what makes a successful buzz comic to say the least, and have definitely put their money where their mouth is. A lot of work when it this anthology for sure.

As for giving it out at concerts, boy what a step up from some lousy tees.

Delirium

Picked up the Walking Dead : days gone bye. Its the first in the series.
Looking forward to reading it. The writers introduction indicates he is trying to do a zombie series similar to the zombie films I like.

Fysh

Comic Book Tattoo

What can I say that ztoical hasn't already said better? A massive slab o' comics, beautifully put together, and whose only downside is its size & weight. I very nearly bought the hardcover of this, as it was only £7 extra, but decided against it because I didn't have a way to get it home. I haven't finished reading it yet but everything I've read so far has been great. And this from someone who can't recall ever having heard a Tori Amos song...

Flight volume 5

Again, ztoical has already said what I'm thinking about this. I've not read all of it (I skimmed some of it to see what it was like) and to be honest, it's starting to lose its appeal. I think this is the first volume I've read in the series where I wasn't blown away by some part of it, whereas the first time I read volume 2 it blew me away and was my favourite purchase for the entire year. It feels as though there's too much focus on looking pretty and not enough on actually engaging the reader, which is odd considering that most of the stories run to a decent length. I'll give it another go in a while, since it may be that I'm just swamped in anthology stories having picked up two collections in one week.

Chas : The Knowledge #2

Not as strong as the first issue, chiefly down to its use of a John Constantine who's somewhere between a caricature of John as he is now and a version of John written by someone who's never really gotten the series. The actual storyline is, as usual in these things, reasonably straightforward - however, it's the main character and the details that will make or break this mini. The first issue was very good in this regard, this second issue is not as good but still has its moments. Worth a look if you've enjoyed Chas-heavy Hellblazer stories like All His Engines or the last chunk of Mike Carey's run.

Invincible Iron Man #4

Fraction's writing is still strong in this issue, but the first thing I noticed was the horribly botched colouring this time round. It's not that the style has changed much from previous issues, but this time round for some reason everyone has the skin tone of Brazilian mulattos. The issue opens with Reed & Stark talking and Reed is only recognizable because the text tells you who he is. Artistic problems aside, this issue keeps things moving - Zeke Stane is further established as the kind of foil that Iron Man needs to have if he's going to be an interesting character, Tony Stark's intellect and multi-tasking ability is cutely shown off, and the direction of the 5 Nightmares storyline becomes clear. Worth looking at, but I hope that the next issue doesn't have the same colouring mess that this issue did.

Crossed #0

It's cheap, it's Avatar, it's Garth Ennis. Why not have a look? This is a nice setup issue, and if I thought Ennis was going to seriously try and forge new ground in it I'd be on board for sure. As it stands, it looks at risk of turning into Ennis writing his version of Walking Dead only with extra-nasty violence. I'll probably take a look at the first issue or two, but it's been a while since I read something by Ennis that I thought was really good...

Narcopolis #4

I'll be honest, I was really disappointed by this. I hadn't realised it was a mini, I thought it was a new ongoing series, but as a conclusion to a 4-issue story this was rubbish. Delano had pulled together some really interesting ideas and concepts, and the use of language in particular was a very nice touch, but the ending is a real let-down. It's not helped by the fact that the art and colouring are what I now recognize as Avatar-by-numbers, which doesn't really do anyone any favours...

Pilot Season: the Core #1

It's gotten to the point where if Jonathan Hickman announces that he's doing a comic adaptation of the phonebook, I'll buy it without really thinking about it. It remains to be seen whether this will be a long-term thing or a miniseries, but as with Red Mass For Mars this is Hickman tackling a well-trodden genre and managing to put enough of his own spin on it to make it interesting (in this case, sci-fi/space opera about clashes between galactic civilisations). Worth checking out if you've liked any of Hickman's previous work.

Criminal volume 2 #4

I can't praise this enough. If I had to pare back my comics spending to only buy one monthly title, this'd be it. Why? Because Brubaker & Philips are putting together great stories, with beautiful artwork and engaging characters and all the little details that make something worth reading and re-reading. And on top of that there's regularly 8-10 pages of stuff at the back where either Brubaker or someone else talks about stuff they're interested in, be they films or books. This is probably the only ongoing monthly series I'm buying that I have no problem buying in both monthly and TPB form.

Yet to read: DMZ volume 5, Criminal : The Dead And The Dying

constitutionus

well just got through reading

xmen messiah complex

bought it cause im grudgling still a fan of the characters and though rise and fall of the shiar empire was a bit of a mess i still remember what a good job brubaker did on deadly genesis.

i have to say its not a bad book.

i dont really have time for the new xmen characters but it was like slipping on an old pair of shoes getting reaquainted with scott and co and i have to say its the first time in ages i felt cyclops was being taken seriously as a character again as he actually shows some of the leadership skills hes supposed to have. wolverine has kinda taken over the xmen in recent years in terms of exposure so its good to see him just be another team member in this

speaking of which i dont really like this new XFORCE. mainly cause i see that as sams team so i dont think scott really has the right to just set one up himself. beside the teams a little naff. i know theyre trying to big up X 23 but the fact is shes just a female wolverine knock off to me. still its good to see cyclops taking charge and basically trying to reinvent the xmen for the post m day event. in fact theres a good showdown between scott and the professor that reminds me of something cannonball did way back in the 90s

the story essentially brings together xmen, new xmen, xfactor and uncanny in a search for the first mutant born since the scarlet witch eliminated the x gene and though a bit spralling it works. i havent really been following the xmen since before last year so while stuff like rogue being in a coma and sunfire and gambit being on the mauraders came from left field you can still get the gist of whats going on. the art in the main is lovely and the hard back makes a nice heafty tome to read.

in tone its VERY dark , indeed there some nasty stuff done in the book particularly at a maternity hospital, and by the end theres "no xmen" . in fact theres a real dystopian horror vibe to the tale. but its still a very engaging read and though i have no idea where the hell there going after this i can see myself getting another trade or two down the road. considering what a lamentable mess the X books became post the early 2000s thats saying alot

hisroyalbadness

Watchmen because of excitement over the movie trailer, halfway through Y:The Last Man and Batman: No Man's Land as well, great yarns .

Oh and a lot of the original Deadpool series!! Great stuff, would recommend anyone to get a copy of issue 11 from back in the day its comedy genius!

MarkHall

Judge Dredd Volume 10. So far this one has been hit and miss with me. Mostly miss. Ethier I'm all Dredded out or It was just a bad time for them.

Also got Essental wolverine number 3 as a gift so will give that a read durning the week.

Other than that Awaiting Issue 2 of All hail megatron with Glee.

Saruwatari

I was looking through the secondhand comics at Chapters, and I picked up Oni Comics Super Summer Special (cos' it had a Mike Allred cover), a random issue of X-Force (the newer version), and all three issues of this comic called The Amazon. I loved the painted covers, and what got my interest even more was the fact it was drawn by Tim Sale. The colors are fairly bad, but Sale's art makes up for that. It's fairly old as well, but still worth the three euro. :P

GenghisCon

New to this thread, just thought I'd jump in. Was impressed by Messiah Complex. Reminds us why xmen pretty much defined marvel back in the 90's. A lot of the recent fare has sadly been less stellar. I get the impression that currently xmen is in a stage of transition and will dramatically improve once it finds its feet. (i.e school/ no school, Xavier/ no Xavier). At the moment enjoying xmen legacy more than core titles.

Also must recommend "From Hell" which is far more involved and nuánced than the film. Which wouldnt be hard given the fact that it is as thick a phone book.

Also must recommend the mini series "loki", great art very clever premise.

Delirium

Just finished the second book of the walking dead.
Really enjoying the story. The zombies are in the background for most of the story, focusing more on the surviving humans.

Also just read the hardback of Ultimate Human : Iron man vs. Hulk. Good story, first time reading anything in the Ultimates line. Like the reworked origin of Iron man.

Welcome to boards GenghisCon.:)

Fysh

Ultimate Human was quite nice, but a bit "fluffy" in terms of not feeling like an important story - I can't imagine it matters much in terms of the character development for either of the main players, and in fact it could be quietly dropped from history and never mentioned again without feeling like a retcon, which is a shame since the Ultimate Universe has generally done quite a job of appearing to be reasonably cohesive without being excessively so.

GenghisCon

Thanks Koth. Funny old world, Im also living in (and from) Limerick. Ive a friend who collects walking dead so I plan to read them én mass over a lazy weekend. He decribed it as a soap opera for comic fans with zombies thrown in! If you enjoy WD then may I heartily recommend Invincible. Takes the young superhero staple and puts an interesting slant on things.

shenanigans1982

Fysh wrote: »

Ultimate Universe has generally done quite a job of appearing to be reasonably cohesive without being excessively so.

This probably a seperate thread but is anybody finding the Ultimate universe is becoming more and more like the Original Marvel Universe? At first the characetrs did seem to have some differences but now it just seems like they introducing exact copies of the regular characters.

Handsome Bob

Just finished Batman: The Long Halloween and plan on getting The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum next, though they are pricey!

ztoical

LZ5by5 wrote: »

Just finished Batman: The Long Halloween and plan on getting The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum next, though they are pricey!

if you've just read Long Halloween and liked it you should pick up Dark Victory next as its the follow on from Long Halloween.

Handsome Bob

ztoical wrote: »

if you've just read Long Halloween and liked it you should pick up Dark Victory next as its the follow on from Long Halloween.

Yeah I know, I have started a thing about collecting Graphic Novels involving Batman, so far I've got TDKR and TLH. Dark Victory is on my list along with Year One, The Killing Joke, Arkham Ayslum and Haunted Knight.

I'm really eager to read The Killing Joke next though even though the likes of Dark Victory and Haunted Knight are continuations of TLH and look better value for money too. Ahhhh! Now I'm not sure!

GenghisCon

Shenanigans, I tend to agree. Is it just me or is the "regular" marvel universe, with its big dramatic events (which do serve to alter the status quo, at least for a while) stepping on the mandate of the Ultimate universe? Civil War, death* of Cap, Secret Ivasion. If the regular universe has become ultimized you may well question what point the ultimnate line has. Apart from making Joe Quesada more moola.

*warning character may not actually be dead. Please consult your physican before reading any further issues.

Fysh

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

This probably a seperate thread but is anybody finding the Ultimate universe is becoming more and more like the Original Marvel Universe? At first the characetrs did seem to have some differences but now it just seems like they introducing exact copies of the regular characters.

Yeah, I must admit I've been disappointed to notice the same thinking behind the line as well. The hideous drop in quality from Ultimates 2 to Ultimates 3, the utterly pointless Ultimate Power (complete with Greg Land's porn-tastic art!), rediscovering horrible clichés from 80s and 90s comics with the "nothing will ever be the same"-tastic "Ultimate Origins/Ultimatum"....it just looks more and more like something I've got no interest in reading, because rather than focusing on having individual stories worth telling Marvel seem to be trying to weave it into another continuity based around monthly titles.

shenanigans1982

It just seems to me like they are afraid to make any real changes to the characters. When it was launched it was promoted as a universe where anything could happen. Now almost every character is a copy of their regular counterpart. Last time I read Ultimate Spider-man Peter Parker lived with his Aunt May, his Uncle Ben had been killed and Gwen Stacey had been killed.

In the X-men almost every character seem the same as their regular counterparts, Wolverine started out working for Magneto but he quickly became regular Wolverine. Jean Grey got her Phoenix powers in a different way but it's still repeating what happened in the regular Universe.

I have not read all the tie ins and stuff so maybe I am missing out on other characters that have changed but for me three come to mind....

1) Thor
2) Nick Fury .....who is just Samuel L Jackson
3) Dazzler .......who is just Brody Dalle

Is the lack of change down to creators being lazy or would fans not accept a completely new take on the titles?

wet-paint

The final issue of Whedon's Astonishing X-Men arrived today, and I just finished it. Man this guy can write, managing to keep the astronomical scale of the story fairly grounded and believable.

shenanigans1982

wet-paint wrote: »

The final issue of Whedon's Astonishing X-Men arrived today, and I just finished it. Man this guy can write, managing to keep the astronomical scale of the story fairly grounded and believable.

Didn't that finish with annual?

BlaasForRafa

Fysh wrote: »

Yeah, I must admit I've been disappointed to notice the same thinking behind the line as well. The hideous drop in quality from Ultimates 2 to Ultimates 3, the utterly pointless Ultimate Power (complete with Greg Land's porn-tastic art!), rediscovering horrible clichés from 80s and 90s comics with the "nothing will ever be the same"-tastic "Ultimate Origins/Ultimatum"....it just looks more and more like something I've got no interest in reading, because rather than focusing on having individual stories worth telling Marvel seem to be trying to weave it into another continuity based around monthly titles.

I decided from the start not to bother with the ultimate universe as I was already invested in one continuity. And it seems from the evidence that they haven't really exploited the potential that they had.

As to Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men 500 was in my last delivery and I was stunned by the sheer horribleness of his "art", if they plan on having him around for a long run I might as well cancel the comic because as much as I like Brubaker and Fraction as writers I don't think I could stomach getting any more of lands tracings...er "art" I mean...

Fysh

Finished reading Absolute Sandman vol 2 which was as lovely as the first. The extra material at the end was very interesting as well, I never realised how much of a merchandising phenomenon it was at the time. Being able to compare script with finished pencils is not normally something I'm particularly bothered about but in this case it was worth it.

Also reading Stickleback at the moment and enjoying D'isreaeli's new art style. It's a bit odd to get used to at first and there's something about the way he's using textures that makes it look almost CGI-like in places, but it's a refreshing change and works well for the story.

shenanigans1982

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

I decided from the start not to bother with the ultimate universe as I was already invested in one continuity. And it seems from the evidence that they haven't really exploited the potential that they had.

As to Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men 500 was in my last delivery and I was stunned by the sheer horribleness of his "art", if they plan on having him around for a long run I might as well cancel the comic because as much as I like Brubaker and Fraction as writers I don't think I could stomach getting any more of lands tracings...er "art" I mean...

Agreed about Land....I just am not a big fan of the realistic art style that seems to be populare now, I think it should be somewhere in between cartoony and realistic. I would love to see Carlos Pacheco back on an X-men book his X-men run was beautiful lthough I wouldn't mind if Dodson stayed on the title.

MarkHall

D'isreaeli's art is always worth looking at. You got any Examples of this new style?

Over the week I picked up 3 of the Nemisis the Warlock and a She hulk Trade for €35. Nemisis is fun and what you'd expect from 2000AD back in the day. Great Art,Over teh top Backgorunds and A world that is a wonder to move through.

The she Hulk was Number 3. Time Trails. It was amusing enough that I may look for the ones that came before it. I love the file system from her Law firm and a great scene about Floppies versus Trades.

magwea

MarkHall wrote: »

D'isreaeli's art is always worth looking at. You got any Examples of this new style?

D'Isreali has been mixing up his art styles quite a bit lately, and lucky for us posting his thoughts and proseeses on his blog which are not to be missed if your a fan: the posts for Sticleback and the main influence Alberto Brecia; his posts on The Vort are more interesting since the style is much more his own.

Great stuff from my favourite working artist for 2000AD, although i'm not the best judgte since i only infrequently read it.

Delirium

Demo, from the creators of DMZ and American Virgin. All the stories so far are standalone. The majority of each story generally has no emphasis on the special abilities of the characters. All the stories happen to regular people its just when the ability of a character is introduced it allows the story to develop in a different direction. Liking it so far.