What comic are you reading at the moment.

ztoical

koth wrote: »

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.

I really loved the first run of Demo back in 2004 and was delighted when Wood and Cloonan got the rights back and got vertigo to publish the collected trade - can't wait for the new series.

BlaasForRafa

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

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.

Aye, Pacheco is being wasted at dc really, I'd love to see him back too. I'm going to cancel Uncanny X-men, I just can't stand Lands swipes and tracings from porn mags. I'm cancelling x-men legacy too, they're launching into ANOTHER crossover just after coming out of Messiah complex and its too much, I refuse to buy 1 issue of bloody cable or x-factor or any other comic I don't want just so I can read a complete story.

I'll hang on with Astonishing to see what kind of a fist Ellis makes of it even though I'm not that enamoured with Bianchi's art, I don't really get what people see in it.

shenanigans1982

I agree with what you said about Cable, I added it to my grab list because my OH was interested in it but I never got into it. X-factor is another matter entirely. For me it has been the best X=book since it has been relaunched.

BlaasForRafa

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

I agree with what you said about Cable, I added it to my grab list because my OH was interested in it but I never got into it. X-factor is another matter entirely. For me it has been the best X=book since it has been relaunched.

I like Peter David writing She-Hulk and I liked him on Captain Marvel a couple of years ago but I just haven't liked X-factor since Walt Simonson drew it years ago (I've given it a few shots since then, just couldn't get into it)

I was giving those two comics (Cable and X-factor) as examples really rather than picking them out as good or bad comics. I get Uncanny, X-men legacy and Astonishing every month and I don't think I should be forced by Marvel to get other comics from that range just so I can read a full story especially just a few months after they pulled the same stunt with Messiah.

ztoical

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

I was giving those two comics (Cable and X-factor) as examples really rather than picking them out as good or bad comics. I get Uncanny, X-men legacy and Astonishing every month and I don't think I should be forced by Marvel to get other comics from that range just so I can read a full story especially just a few months after they pulled the same stunt with Messiah.

isn't this the on going problem with Marvel and their annual mass event crossovers? Use to wreck my head to have to go track down a random issue of some small x-title I didn't read just to get the whole story. I did it for AOA and the whole on slaught storylines years ago and swore never again after that.

MarkHall

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

I agree with what you said about Cable, I added it to my grab list because my OH was interested in it but I never got into it. X-factor is another matter entirely. For me it has been the best X=book since it has been relaunched.

X factor has been going from Strenght to Strenght. I am looking forwards to seeing what they've done with the secert invasion theme.

Fysh

I haven't been in to pick up this week's comics as I've been away, but I've realised I forgot to post last week's pickings so here goes.

Doktor Sleepless #8

The end of Book One of Doktor Sleepless, this was more exposition than I necessarily wanted. On the other hand, there's a revelation or two thrown in which probably couldn't have been delivered any other way, and the Doktor's intentions are made clear.

I'll keep reading for now, because the themes and ideas have appealed to me so far (transhumanism, body modification, lovecraftian mythology, etc) but the art - specifically, the colouring - is starting to get to me. It's not bad as such, but it is very non-descript and I swear that almost every Avatar book published in colour seems to have either the same colourist or the same colouring technique used on them.

Arcaders #1

A small-press comic about an arcade and the twits who hang out there? I'm sold! It's probably my nostalgia for the crappy arcades I wasted far too much time and money in as a kid, but I really liked this, particularly because these days arcade gaming is mostly racing games or whatever the latest iteration of the Dance Dance Revolution craze is. It's nice to see something written by someone else who remembers the days of playing stuff like Space Invaders as fondly as I do.

(Yeah, I know, I sound like some old fart now, but what the hell...)

Grotesque #1

It's been far too long since I picked up something weird and wonderful from Fantagraphics, and this seemed to fit the bill. I haven't finished it yet but it has glorious artwork and a sense of weirdness that reminds me strongly of The Island Of Dr Moral.

Fysh

So this week had a larger than usual haul for me, on which more later. I've only had a chance to read one of my purchases, which was Invincible Iron Man #5 and wheeee, it continues to be great. Less issues with the face tones this time around, which makes me wonder whether it might have been a printing thing on issue 4, but more importantly the whole story comes to a head with a great action sequence in the last third or so of the book that works excellently. I have an idea as to how it's going to pan out, but still - this is great, great stuff and I will probably keep reading it as a monthly if the quality holds up. (Which is no small feat, given that I don't follow any monthly superhero books at the moment...)

Cadeaus

Sub Mariner: The Depths which came out last week is one of the best comics I've read all year.

Delirium

Picked up Aztek : the ultimate human graphic novel. Written by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. Never heard of it before I spotted it in the local bookstore. Looks interesting. Amazon link

Fysh

The last 2-3 weeks have seen me pick up far more stuff than I've had time to read yet.

This week, I picked up the large hardcover collection of Brian Wood's "Local". It's not cheap but on the other hand for what you get it's not expensive either. It looks gorgeous and while I can't recommend something I've not read, I can suggest at least taking a look. Also got the last issue of Dead Space, the first issue of the Secret Invasion/War Machine mini, and the latest issue of Stormwatch (because Ian Edginton's writing it). And the TPB of All-Star Superman : volume 1.

Other stuff I have still waiting to be read includes:

The Complete Zot! by Scott McCloud
The Other Side by Jason Aaron
Amor Y Cohetes by Los Bros Hernandez
Joe Sacco's Palestine
Grotesque #2

And that's not counting stuff I've started but not finished like Comic Book Tattoo or Metronome (and probably a couple of others)...

ztoical

Fysh wrote: »

This week, I picked up the large hardcover collection of Brian Wood's "Local". It's not cheap but on the other hand for what you get it's not expensive either. It looks gorgeous and while I can't recommend something I've not read, I can suggest at least taking a look.

I'm looking forward to my copy of "Local" to arrive, it looks so pretty. My space comic books have posted issue 3 for anyone who hasn't seen any of Local and don't know if they want to fork out for the hardcover collcetion.

Riddle101

I get
Astonishing Spider-Man
Wolverine and Deadpool
Essential X-Men

And i sometimes get Avengers United

been thinking of collecting Batman Comics, anyone have anything to say about batman? that might help

spooydermot

I have the hard back edition of Local sitting on my desk - waiting for a quiet moment to get stuck in

Fysh

Lordy me, I keep accumulating stuff without having read last week's books, but what the hell....

This week's haul:

Doktor Sleepless #9, No Hero #1, Red Mass For Mars #2, Hellblazer presents Chas: The Knowledge #4, Punk Rock & Trailer Parks TPB, and saving the best for last, the Complete Calvin And Hobbes slipcased hardback collection.

No Hero #1 looks interesting thus far; where Black Summer promised but didn't quite deliver a good blend of politics, scifi and superheroes, No Hero is probably in a better position to deliver a story that's featuring superheroes but also has something interesting to say about the concept. Worth a look, although it's not exactly groundbreaking by Ellis' standard.

Red Mass For Mars #2 is more goodness, helped along by luscious artwork and a distinctive colour scheme that makes the book stand out. Oddly enough, though, I think this is the weakest of Hickman's material I've seen so far. It's still good, but not quite as good as Transhuman or Nightly news because it feels like it's retreading old ground.

Chas: The Knowledge #4 was quite good, there's more of the same authorial voice that was present in the first issue but lacking to an extent since then. The one cringey bit of this was the horrendously clichéd "that's what young people do" scene with Constantine and his latest bit of fluff at the airport. Still, it looks like this will turn out to be a worthwhile story overall.

I've also read "local" and "The other side" from my ever-mounting reading pile.

Local was fantastic, really nice slice-of-life stories assembled together to give you a neat character arc, with some gorgeous illustration and attention to detail in the locations. Definitely worth every penny and a good bit more.

The Other Side was good, better than I expected it to be in fact, but I get the feeling that if you don't come from an American background and thus don't really give a crap about the Vietnam conflict all that much, you won't get the full story. Still, there's some strong writing and the illustration is good, although a tad too stylised to really convey the horrors of war.

Jack B. Badd

\o/ Calvin and Hobbes!
\o\
/o/
/o\
\o/

That is all.

Fysh

So Invincible Iron Man #6 came out recently, and it was pretty good. A solid conclusion to the arc. I'll stick with this as Fraction is on writing duties for at least another year and seems to understand how to make it an exciting and interesting read

Also picked up 100 Bullets vol 12, which worked better as a standalone volume than some of the trades, but I have to make time to sit down and re-read the entire series again now. (Which I end up doing each time I get a new trade in the series, but with writing and artwork this rich it's enjoyable every time).

Doktor Sleepless #9 was a good read, a nice way of moving things on after the somewhat anticlimactic reveal in #8. I always figured I'd be reading this long-term, but it's good to see that Ellis has plans to keep everything ticking over.

Punk Rock & Trailer Parks was a hell of a lot better than I was expecting; I didn't really know what to make of it when I saw it on the shelf but having a soft spot for a lot of punk and liking the cartoony style I picked it up. I haven't laughed this hard at a comic in a long time, and it's wonderful to see that kind of left-field silliness done so well. Guess I'll be looking for more of Derf's stuff then.

Calvin & Hobbes and Zot! are both works in progress, and are both being muchly enjoyed - it's nifty seeing McCloud's comics work since to date I was only familiar with his comics theory writing. It's nice to see that he's actually learned a lot of stuff by doing rather than just watching other people do.

Waiting to pick up the Nothing Nice To Say collection, my ordered copy of Declan Shalvey's Frankenstein book, and Ubu Bubu #3. All of which should rock.

Saruwatari

Bought Paddy's Last Bus three days ago, finished it same day and loved it! I love simple slice-a'-life stories like that, very interesting ending.
I especially digged how loose the artwork was, and the watercolor grey tones only add to it! The third story was quite interesting as well actually...
Awesome work anyway!

Richv1

Well I regularly get Wolverine, Wolverine: Origins, JLA, Vampirella Quarterly, Batgirl, SheBuccaneer, TOR, The Stand, The Dark Tower.
Just reading The Bomb tradepaper back now.
Plus I have been reading some of BlueWater Productions comics such as Atlas, The 10th Muse, Vincint Price Presents, Ray HarryHausen Presents.
I am always picking up different ones to try.


Richard Vasseur
www.jazmaonline.com

Delirium

Just finished the first to 30 days of nights graphic novesl. Really enjoyed them. Will be starting Batman : The Long Halloween next.

Richv1

I'm reading the Brave and the Bold right now. Supergirl and Raven are teaming up in it.
Both these characters have changed a lot since they first appeared and not necassarily for the better.



Richard Vasseur
www.jazmaonline.com

CrossBreed

Just got my hands on the entire "Sandman" collection by Niel Gaiman. \o/

Fysh

CrossBreed wrote: »

Just got my hands on the entire "Sandman" collection by Niel Gaiman. \o/

I presume you got the standard trades? (I ask because I should be picking up volume 3 of the Absolute Sandman soon, with volume 4 out in a few weeks).

How far into it are you, and what do you make of it so far?

CrossBreed

Standard, yeah. I had read volumes II and III about three months ago, and I loved them. Great stories, excellently told, with great art-work. Can't really ask for more than that.

Fysh

They're great stuff alright. I must admit I've enjoyed the re-coloured work in the Absolute volumes, but at the same time they're not exactly an affordable way of reading the series for the first time.

Saruwatari

Hey Crossbreed, you going down to Neil Gaiman's book signing in Easons next Thursday?

CrossBreed

I hope so. Got the day off work so I want to get down early enough. But I've heard a rumor that there's two versions of the book and that he's only only signing the children's version.

Even so, I'll more than likely be about for it.

Richv1

I just read Cyblade # 1 really nice art in it and the start of this story is a good introduction to the character.


Richard Vasseur
www.jazmaonline.com

Fysh

Recent pickups:

Goal Anthology - need to read this again as I read it at the airport after 24 Hour comic day, but awesome stuff all told. Surely everyone knows to just buy a copy at this stage?

Last Bus - excellently, I found a copy of this in my local shop in London. Great stuff, and hopefully leading the way for me to arrange an irish invasion of their shelves...

The Josh Medors benefit comic Pulp Tales came out last week, and it was great! Seriously. It's for a decent cause, plus it's genuinely good. I'd happily buy this kind of thing regularly, because it's so nice to see good action adventure comics that don't have a cape in sight.

Got around to reading and finishing the Zot! collection I picked up a while back. It was better than I anticipated, while not what I expected. It's certainly nice to have a knowledge of McCloud's comics background to inform his academic books. I'm not sure I could recommend it as such, but I did enjoy it despite my waning interest in anything superhero-related.

Delirium

Fysh wrote: »

Recent pickups:

Goal Anthology - need to read this again as I read it at the airport after 24 Hour comic day, but awesome stuff all told. Surely everyone knows to just buy a copy at this stage?

Actually forgot to post that I'm reading this for some weird reason. Just taking my time with it. Generally read a story at a time. Really enjoying the variety of artwork and stories.:)