What comic are you reading at the moment.

Grievous

The Flash: Rebirth #1

it's been about a year since I last stopped collecting the flash ongoing comic due to me not liking the direction it went. Now barry allen, The greatest hero of the silver age is back and I cant' get enough of it. Barry allen is a police scientist, and super fash costumed hero as well, he sacrificed his life destroying the Anti-monitor's cannon back in the crisis on infinite earths story, he recently came back in final crisis to help defeat the omnipotent god dark side, who or why he is back is a mystery and will be resolved and answered in REBIRTH and his ongoing series that will fellow it by Geoff johns and ivan reis.

Delirium

Picked up Huntress year one. Not really too familiar with the character outside of the Birds of Prey series.

Also picked up Batman : Son of Batman.

galactus

Captain Britain and MI13

This isn't the Captain I remember from days of yore. I never got round to reading Excalibur so I have a lot of catching up to do :pac:

Issue #10 has Doctor Doom and Dracula having a pow-wow on the moon. Well worth a look.

Also reading Superman World of New Krypton. Not sure what to make of this yet tbh.

constitutionus

galactus wrote: »

An absolute classic though (sorry can't resist) I prefer the Conan (esp. Thomas/Buscema) on which it is obviously based.

Currently reading The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 5

tut tut tut galaxy !

slaines a rip off of cu cullain. right down to the "warp spasm".

mills practically plunderd the ulster cycle and the leabhar gaballa for the first couple of books.

as for myself i just got done reading the new "xforce".

i got it out of love for the old title , which its feck all like in terms of artistic style, but just as violent. this incarnation of the team is basically a private hit squad for scott summers and is kept secret from the rest of the xmen which is an angle i kinda like.

it also features the return of a character i loved in the form of archangel. ive always thought warren was the most boring of the original xmen and that being messed around by apocalypse was the best thing to ever happen to him.

the story basically revolves around an excuse to resurrect several of the xmens tougher foes in a clear set up for future stories ala what happened in "the breakout" in new avengers, whislt at the same time get archangel back on the scene and all in all it works very well without seeming TOO contrived. . the characters are handled fairly well too . clayton crains art is very well suited for the darker tone of this book and while im not exactly thrilled with some of the team members (i really dont like that wolverine clone x23, you HAVE wolverine in the book already ! ) its great to see jimmy back as warpath cutting loose. though rahne still seems the same as when i first met her WAAAAAAY back in the first few issues of the new mutants which considering all peter david has done with her seems a bit lazy. . craing kyle and christopher yost supply the words and they do a good job

hopefully future issues will expand the team . i'll admit i wish they'd bring in shatterstar as he's criminally underused and would fit right in here. he's virtually a blank slate for a good writer and doesnt fit in elsewhere in the x universe. killing is all this team is about and thats pretty much all shatty does so it seems natural fit . fingers crossed.

RAMAN

Just finished Brubakers first four Daredevil tpbs and thought they were amazing. Had a look to see what else he has done and Captain America came up. Has anyone read them as I'm not to sure about buying a Captain America comic?

shenanigans1982

I have read the Captain America stuff, having not been too familiar with the character beforehand. It is a good read although it is a little corny in places.

Fysh

Just managed to get some decent reading done over lunch, so I figured I'd post up my most recent reading material:

Alan Moore's Light Of Thy Countenance

This is better than some of the other comic adaptations of Moore's prose work Avatar have put out. The artwork has an ethereal quality which complements the story of television-as-god quite nicely. It's not amazing, but it's a nicely executed idea.

20th Century Boys volume 1

After seeing the film (which I didn't realise was the first part of a trilogy, somewhat frustratingly) I decided I should check out the manga it was based on. The first volume is pretty good, which good artwork and the same charm that the film had. This volume starts us out with a group of friends who are reunited in adulthood, only to discover that a secret society they had formed as children has some connection to a cult. To make things stranger, the cult seems to have some connection to a series of disappearances, murders, and the apparent suicide of one of their friends. As things get stranger, the group start investigating.

The collected Mr Maximo & Rabbit

I've been meaning to read this for ages but finally got around to it today and it was great. More musings than I'd expected and some nice easter eggs in the artwork, and you can't go wrong with a zombie bunny rabbit can you?

Essex County Trilogy 3: County Nurse

The final volume of the trilogy introduces new strands of story and weaves them together quite deftly, while maintaining the sparse, bleak art style. The story of the book is quite simple, charting a day in the life of the county nurse who looked after the old codger from the second book, but the scope of the story is impressive - moving back and forth across time as well as across different character groups, the story deftly charts the lives of a group of people in simple yet subtle strokes, evoking far more emotion and nuance than should be possibly with just a few lines.

Richv1

Title: Effing Brutal ( Graphic Novel )
Publisher: Depressing Prospects Films and Media
Writer: Brian Labrecque
Artist: Jordi Perez
Price: $ 29.99 US
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Comments: A guy Josh a sociopathic transvestite-in-denial thinks he is Tori Amos this is our star superhero. Josh leads Team Brutal a group of sorry misfits who do not even seem like they can help themselves let alone anyone else. They and Josh are the most unlikely of heroes.
This is not your ordinary superhero comic. They are all so lame. They are under dogs and losers and so messed up you won't know if you want them put down or to route for them.
The V.O.T.S. are a group of people who are the villians here. They to are a group oflosers. As is the Strict Ninw their enemies. These are people who most people would not care if they lived or died.
This comic has mature themes. Lots of talk of drugs, swearing and sex talk.
Josh and Larry join the Strict Nine cult and begin teaching them. The group is one weird congregation. They are all pathetic losers.
Josh truely believes he is Tori Amos a star. Josh does get into some strange situations.
The story does follow Josh around he is a bit unbalanced. He is mentally unstable and a thief, a con man, a lier. He is selfish and cares only for himself. Even though with all these traits he has a likable side. Its hard to notice perhaps but he does grow on you.
The art lacks substance. Its not streamlined as much as it should be. It leaves people kind of drawn unfocused.
The tween "Fan Girl" girl's lifestyle is not average. She is a rebelous sort. Her parents don't seem to care what she does so she does whatever she wants. She is a tough but likable character.
The story starts getting really weird as Team Brutal is looking for Josh. It just keeps getting stronger. The laws of reality seem to have been paused. Well more so just completely thrown out. Team Brutal actually turns out to be quite the team. The ending is something unexpected. It is a wild ride and getting there is so much fun.

www.depressingprospects.com
www.effingbrutal.com
Richard Vasseur
www.jazmaonline.com

Fysh

It's been a while since I posted in this thread and I can't even start to think about writing up everything I've read since, as I've gotten through a lot. Heck, even listing the titles alone is giving me a headache.

An incomplete list would be:

Dragon Ball volumes 2 & 3;
The Drifting Classroom volumes 1-3;
20th Century Boys volume 2;
American Flagg: The Definitive Edition TPBs 1 & 2;
Classical Comics' Frankenstein (at long last!);
Freakangels Volume 2;
Laika;
Gilbert Hernandez's Sloth;
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century - 1910;


Ignition City #1 & #2;
Hotwire #3;
Final Crisis: Escape #1;
The Great Unknown #2;
Soul Kiss #3 & #4;
Phonogram #2;
Fight Or Run;
Windell Superhero Showcase;
Walking Wounded;
Massacre For Boys;
Ekeemoo #1.

Aside from that, I've recently re-read most of Preacher - like Transmet before that, it holds up well to re-reading but it's interesting to see how my interpretation of things changes when reading it all in one go. (In Transmet's case I noticed that it made the sequence of political events lose a bit of their menace, because there was no waiting between books during which the Smiler's menace would loom; in the case of Preacher I've noticed that the story, when read all in one go, has a lot more humour and is basically a big excuse for talking about what Ennis likes about America and what he thinks makes a decent bloke). The next full thing I'll be re-reading is 100 Bullets, once the last collection is published. I've got the other half hooked on it recently so no doubt we'll end up having a small squabble over who gets to read it first

I've made good headway with that reading list I'd posted up near the start of the year, though I'm still entrenched in Absolute Sandman volume 3 and haven't gotten near Alice In Sunderland. All in good time, though...

Saruwatari

Fysh wrote: »

The Drifting Classroom volumes 1-3;

Ah, what a great series. Umezu is so goddamn awesome.
I read the second Scary Book of his recently, and it was just beautiful. Umezu truly is the king of Japanese horror comics.
I've read qutie a fair since I last posted here as well. A lot of my recent reading is thanks to the new comics my local library ordered in.

Judge Dredd: Justice One - Garth Ennis, John Burns, Dermot Power, Glenn Fabry, Peter Doherty, John Higgins, Anthony Williams
Passable title story thriller where Dredd must locate a murderer on board an in-flight ship. Second story "Talkback" was about a cocky radio DJ who started picking up psychic transmissions after injuring himself. Very dark satire, and extremely well-drawn. "Twilight's Last Gleaming", concerned with the politics of Meg-City One was far better, developed Dredd as a character, and was painted by the gifted John Burns. "Ex-Men" was uninteresting. Same with "A Man Called Greener".

Judge Dredd: Muzak Killer - Garth Ennis, Dermot Power, John Burns
Title story was another well-written dark satire, where a man sets out to destroy modern music and bring back the oldies. I personally loved this story, though the sequel was weaker and had some plotholes. Also digged the art.

Judge Dredd: Total War - John Wagner, Colin MacNeil, Henry Flint, Jason Brashill
A more recent Dredd thriller, a sequel to acclaimed America story. I unfortunately haven't read that story, but I was able to follow this one no bother anyway. The inclusion of the subplot concerning Dredd's clone Nimrod added an enjoyable extra layer to an already well-scripted intense plot. Art was practical, nothing too amazing.

Judge Death: Death's Dark Dimension - John Wagner, Alan Grant, Brett Ewins, Cliff Robinson, Robin Smith
Great first story, centering on Anderson accidentally bringing the four Dark Judges back into her world. Shed more light on the kind of characters Death, Mortis, Fear and Fire were, which I liked.
Second story, "The Posessed" was nothing great. Anderson ventures into a bizzare dimension to save a chosen kid from sacrifice. Only saving grace is Brett Ewins' classic B&W artwork.

Judge Death: Boyhood of a Superfiend - John Wagner, Pete Doherty
Perhaps one of the best Death stories I've read yet. An engaging and deliciously macabre interview with Death himself, exposing a different side to what was a straightfowardly evil character before. Shame the art was't up to scratch.

Judge Anderson: Satan - Alan Grant, Arthur Ranson
Easily one of the best stories I've read in a while. The title story, "Satan" is a powerful tale of the devil himself arriving in Meg-City One. The art only adds to the tale; beautifully atmospheric and hyper-detailed panels on every page. The ending was a little confusing, but ultimately satisfying. Goddamn, what a fecking amazing story.

Ghost World - Daniel Clowes
Finally got around to reading this. Honestly, it was a very interesting and at times hilarious, other times unsettling read. I felt its major drawback was its unbalanced pacing; scenes would suddenly just cut to the next, or there might be a sudden interjecting flashback. Really bugged me. The last chapter was great though, and I certainly want to read more of Clowe's work soon (and see the film!).

Pride & Joy - Garth Ennis, John Higgins
A thriller noirish one-shot. I'll just get straight-to-the-point; it was crap. Started out promising, just went to hell after the first chapter. Becomes standard tale of bad guy vengeance and father-son relationships. Terrible ending. Higgins' art was plain and lacked any energy or emotion.

Maus - Art Spiegelman
Everyone knows what this is about. Well, its now one of my favourite comic works ever. I was pulled through each page with fascination, shock and awe. An insightful account into a Holocaust survivor's experience of WWII. The side-story, where Art engages with his father and tries to sort out their relationship and connect with him is quite heartbreaking, especially when

Vladek calls Art by his dead brother's name on his deathbed

.

Jing, King of Bandits: Twilight Tales volume 6 - Yuichi Kumakura
The sixth volume of this surreal episodic fantasy series I'm in love with. In this volume, Jing searches for an invisible musical instrument held in high regard, with the aid of a girl whose only family were killed by the city's twisted ruler. Crazy as ever, with the usual dose of bizzare characters and highly imaginative architecture designs, drawn in Kumakura's unique chiaroscuro-inspired style. One of the better Jing stories I've read.

Buddha volume 3 - Osamu Tezuka
Tezuka continues to inspire and amaze in this third volume of his epic retelling of Buddha, from his childhood, to his tribulations as a young man, to his enlightenment. More characters add to the wonderful and exceptional cast of courageous bandits, dopey kids, troubled kings and more. As expected, Tezuka weaves tragedy, comedy, horror and excitement masterfully into this unique tale. This is really one of the greatest things I've read, and I'm only three volumes in! (there's eight in total)
Comes highly recommended.

I've more to write about but I'll save them for tomorrow, I'm too tired at this stage. I'll just add that at the moment, I'm reading Joe Sacco's War's End, John Wagner and Trevor Hairsine's Judge Dredd: The Three Amigos and finishing Emmanuel Guibert's Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope.

Fysh

Saruwatari wrote: »

Ah, what a great series. Umezu is so goddamn awesome.
I read the second Scary Book of his recently, and it was just beautiful. Umezu truly is the king of Japanese horror comics.

Yeah, it's really good - at first I was a bit thrown by the art style, but when I realised that this isn't a current series it made more sense. The writing and pacing is excellent, it manages to keep up a level of tension I can't really compare to anything except the Battle Royale film. I'm definitely reading the rest of the series, and will likely be checking out more of his work afterwards.

Saruwatari wrote: »

Buddha volume 3 - Osamu Tezuka
Tezuka continues to inspire and amaze in this third volume of his epic retelling of Buddha, from his childhood, to his tribulations as a young man, to his enlightenment. More characters add to the wonderful and exceptional cast of courageous bandits, dopey kids, troubled kings and more. As expected, Tezuka weaves tragedy, comedy, horror and excitement masterfully into this unique tale. This is really one of the greatest things I've read, and I'm only three volumes in! (there's eight in total)
Comes highly recommended.

I remember reading the first four books of Tezuka's Buddha series and for some reason getting bored of it. I think that was more a case of me not being in the right mood for it, though, as I do remember it had some really cute little touches of humour as well as telling an interesting story. I shall have to check it out again, I think.

hacx

Battle Pope

Proving to be pretty damn epic.


Also, I've started reading into Deadpool.
And, I'm re-reading Superman: Red Son Saga

magwea

Fysh wrote: »

Yeah, it's really good - at first I was a bit thrown by the art style, but when I realised that this isn't a current series it made more sense. The writing and pacing is excellent, it manages to keep up a level of tension I can't really compare to anything except the Battle Royale film. I'm definitely reading the rest of the series, and will likely be checking out more of his work afterwards.

It's worth bearing in mind that the original series was published in a children's comic magazine, something like the Japanese equivalent of the Beano.

I've only ever read bits and pieces of this, but yeah definitely entertaining. I love the way he only ever draws characters screaming at each other.

Following hacx's blasphemous Battle Pope image I give you:



And a great write-up in Shaenon Garrity's Overlooked Manga Series from where i stole the image.

Handsome Bob

I just bought Paul Dini and Bruce Timms Batman: Mad Love and will probably read it tonight. Was it a good move to buy it? I chose it over Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Joker. Damn I just saw IGN gave Joker a rating of 9.8.

jabbathehurt

LZ5by5 wrote: »

I just bought Paul Dini and Bruce Timms Batman: Mad Love and will probably read it tonight. Was it a good move to buy it? I chose it over Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Joker. Damn I just saw IGN gave Joker a rating of 9.8.

Loved "Joker" up there with the killing joke, year one
a modern classic.

Handsome Bob

jabbathehurt wrote: »

Loved "Joker" up there with the killing joke, year one
a modern classic.

Up there with The Killing Joke and Year One? High praise indeed, tis strange that I never heard of it before. People usually bang on about The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, The Killing Joke etc etc as the top Batman Graphic Novels.

I had the both of them in my hands and I was racking my brain over which one to buy. The description on the back of Joker sounded absolutely fantastic, the kind of story that I love. But what swung it for me was that on Mad Love it had a quote from Frank Miller calling it the best "Batman story of the decade." So I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Joker is just another one to put to the list of ones to buy.:pac:

jabbathehurt

Havent read "mad love" lemme know what its like ?

Frank Miller can be a bit hit or miss for me.

Also Im relatively new to boards but may I make a suggestion for a
comic book links thread posting links youtube clips, artists and writers myspaces, website etc.

God I hate being a NOOB

sorry if its Ben Dunne!

Wacka Wacka :pac:**********

magwea

I think you made the right choice LZ5by5. And as proof, Eddie Cambell's withering critic of the Joker graphic novel.

"It looks all very overdrawn and hideous; the wine is made from the same substance as the shrimps and there's a nauseous quality to it all which I suspect is not so much intentional as the artist's normal view of the world. Note that the Joker's coat folds right over left in the universal manner of women's coats instead of that of menswear, left over right."

Handsome Bob

jabbathehurt wrote: »

Havent read "mad love" lemme know what its like ?

Frank Miller can be a bit hit or miss for me.

I will indeed.

magwea wrote: »

I think you made the right choice LZ5by5. And as proof, Eddie Cambell's withering critic of the Joker graphic novel.

"It looks all very overdrawn and hideous; the wine is made from the same substance as the shrimps and there's a nauseous quality to it all which I suspect is not so much intentional as the artist's normal view of the world. Note that the Joker's coat folds right over left in the universal manner of women's coats instead of that of menswear, left over right."

I wouldn't know much about the art, the only thing I don't like is when the art is presented in a way that makes it difficult to read the dialogue. That's not to say I don't have a deep appreciation for the art, I wouldn't spend 20+ euro on a graphic novel if I didn't!:pac:

Fysh

magwea wrote: »

I think you made the right choice LZ5by5. And as proof, Eddie Cambell's withering critic of the Joker graphic novel.

"It looks all very overdrawn and hideous; the wine is made from the same substance as the shrimps and there's a nauseous quality to it all which I suspect is not so much intentional as the artist's normal view of the world. Note that the Joker's coat folds right over left in the universal manner of women's coats instead of that of menswear, left over right."

Heh, while I may not agree with Campbell it's hard not to appreciate a comment like this:
"It can happen because the artist is looking in a mirror, but the overwhelming reason in the last twenty years is that comic book artists generally speaking, though there are a few fashion plates to give exception to the rule, are the worst dressed people in the world who mostly get around in t-shirts and draw people in leotards. Editors too, otherwise somebody would have picked up the mistake."

(That being said, I've flicked through the Joker GN and it looked pretty interesting. The main reason I didn't bother picking it up is that a couple of reviews I read pointed out how jarring it is to read a story in which all of the villains have been reimagined to better fit the kind of criminal careers that are already prevalent in the real world, only to then present the same stylised and improbable Batman that the mainstream comics feature...)

I've picked up more Dragon Ball & Drifting Classroom (volumes 5 & 4 respectively), issue 3 of Ignition City (some interesting background on the city itself and a couple of the supporting characters, but I suspect the remaining two issues will be mostly plot which is a shame, given how many ideas seem to have gone into the series plan), Bayou (who knew Zuda titles were getting the printed treatment?), and a couple of other things whose name I have forgotten...

shenanigans1982

Just read Arkham aylum: A serious house on serious earth.

Wasn't expecting much considering I am not a fan of Morrison and while it was a lot more approachable than some of his other stuff I didn't find it great.

Next up is El Diablo by Brain Azzerallo

Handsome Bob

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

Just read Arkham aylum: A serious house on serious earth.

Wasn't expecting much considering I am not a fan of Morrison and while it was a lot more approachable than some of his other stuff I didn't find it great.

I liked it but I don't think it's as good as some suggest. The guy who sold it to me said it was the best Batman Graphic Novel he had read, not for me I'm afraid. But I thoroughingly enjoyed the characterization of the Joker and Two-Face.

I've finished Mad Love and I regretted buying it from the moment I read the first page. It was good, but it was a carbon copy of a B:TAS episode that I had seen, which is not what I wanted at all for €21.50.

shenanigans1982

LZ5by5 wrote: »

I liked it but I don't think it's as good as some suggest. The guy who sold it to me said it was the best Batman Graphic Novel he had read, not for me I'm afraid. But I thoroughingly enjoyed the characterization of the Joker and Two-Face.

I think the art, while good and fitting the story makes it hard to read. And the Joker's dialogue without speech bubbles doesn't help. But for a change the Morrison writing was ok and lacks the usual wierd stuff for the sake of being weird.

Handsome Bob

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

I think the art, while good and fitting the story makes it hard to read. And the Joker's dialogue without speech bubbles doesn't help. But for a change the Morrison writing was ok and lacks the usual wierd stuff for the sake of being weird.

Agreed and that's one of things I greatly disliked about the graphic novel. It took more than one reading to make sure I got everything.

hacx

Read an Elseworlds thingy last night. Batman:Naine Lives it was called. It's a film-noir style Detective comic, narrated by Dick Grayson.

Fysh

I've just started reading volume 1 of Bayou, one of the Zuda comics. It looks quite pretty, so we'll see how it goes.

The Drifting Classroom continues to be interesting, with some really shocking moments (

the smaller kids jumping off the roof

, amongst others) and an interesting storyline development.

Dragon Ball continues to be great fun, lots of action and humour as Son Goku gets back to his quest for his grandfather's Dragon Ball, after the conclusion of the Strongest In The Heavens tournament. Given that I'm only planning on reading Dragon Ball (ie volumes 1-16) I'm pretty satisfied by this, but I'm sure part of this is the nostalgia aspect of reading the comics that inspired a cartoon I watched and loved as a kid. That being said, it holds up a hell of a lot better than the material in other cartoons I watched then.

I recently read League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910. I like the idea of three prestige-type smaller books rather than six standard issues, but my relative lack of familiarity with the material being referenced in this book meant I didn't get quite as much out of it as I have previous iterations. That being said, it's still a great read, and I'm quite happy whenever I see Kevin O'Neill's artwork.

I also read Gilbert Hernandez's Sloth, and I suspect I need to re-read it. At first it seems to be treading similar territory to Speak Of The Devil, but then it goes into much more surreal and confusing territory, with characters apparently trading places with a supernatural character and being returned to a subtly different version of their world.

More Hernandez goodness was present in Amor Y Cohetes, which appears to be the Misc. pile of Love & Rockets stories. I tried to get started into this ages ago, but it started rather oddly with a fairly dense story (BEM) which I found hard to get into. However, I forced myself back into it and was merciless in my decisions to skip stuff that didn't immediately grab me, which made me realise there's some great stuff in there. I think my favourite part was Frida, a biography of a Mexican artist, but there's plenty of interesting material in here.

My next reading material will Flinch (an anthology from Gestalt Comics with a lovely, though unsettling, cover) and Jan's Atomic Heart (previews here).

shenanigans1982

Fysh wrote: »

Dragon Ball continues to be great fun, lots of action and humour as Son Goku gets back to his quest for his grandfather's Dragon Ball, after the conclusion of the Strongest In The Heavens tournament.

Spoilers please:D....am currently on volume two and enjoying it.

Fysh

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

Spoilers please:D....am currently on volume two and enjoying it.

Heh, sorry bout that - post edited accordingly. Despite the spoiler I posted above, the whole tournament is compellingly choreographed and a really enjoyable read. The fight sequences are handled exceptionally well and never feel padded or drawn out.

Handsome Bob

I picked up Civil War by Frank Millar today. The price was steep but I'm sure that it will be worth it.

Fysh

Out of interest, did you go for the hardcover or softcover Civil War collection LZ5by5?

I've read a fair bit of stuff since my last post, but keep forgetting what I've read and then don't post about it.

Singles:

2000AD 1639 - I picked this up just because Bob Byrne has a Twisted Tale in this issue. It's great stuff, even by the high standards Bob generally maintains. Go out and read it. I didn't really bother with the rest of the strips as they were a part 3, part 7 or part 8 and, well, no.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #2 - This has been a lot better than I would have expected from a big event spinout comic. Mind you, I wouldn't even have picked it up if I just thought it was a big event spinout comic; my current lack of interest in most things superhero-related isn't exactly a secret. I saw some discussion on Whitechapel in which this series was described as The Prisoner meets the DCU, and so far it hasn't disappointed. Heck, even the bits of confusion caused by my limited knowledge of the DCU aren't a problem as they actually feed into the claustrophobic atmosphere of the series. The artwork has some excellent bits of experimentation as well.

Soul Kiss #5 - This concluding issue threw in an interesting twist and ends in a way that I wouldn't have expected. The plot resolution is less important than the character arc, but both are handled rather neatly and this wraps up the entire series quite nicely.

Strange Adventures of HP Lovecraft #2 - The weirdness intensifies in this issue, as the police start investigating the deaths from the previous issue and suspect a connection with Lovecraft. This series maintains the oppresive tone of Lovecraft's fiction quite neatly, and the artwork does a good (though not exceptional) job of conveying the horror where applicable. I'm looking forward to finding out where this is going.

Hotwire #3 - This series continues in the previously established vein, and manages to up the ante somewhat again, with a

threatened jailbreak by the most dangerous bluelights around

. It looks like there's only one more issue to go, although that might be a typo on the cover. Either way it should be an interesting conclusion.

OGNS/collections:

Flinch - an interesting though somewhat unbalanced anthology. It was definitely good, but the opening story is very long compared to the rest of the contents and it has a strange feeling to it. Overall I think it might have benefitted from an editorially imposed maximum submission length. That being said, the standard of the comics was decent and I enjoyed reading it.

Jan's Atomic Heart - this was a great little read - considering its relative shortness as OGNs go, it very deftly suggests a near-future world with cybernetics technology and off-world colonies, without having to resort to waffly exposition or huge amounts of text. The story itself is simple but very well told; I'll keep an eye open for anything else New Reliable put out, if this is the standard they aim to maintain.

Scalped Volume 3: Dead Mothers - I recently re-read the first two TPBs of Scalped so that I could have the story fresh in my mind. I'm really enjoying the story thus far, because Aaron is crafting something complex and nuanced here, with every character a compelling story in their own right. Alongside DMZ this is will be replacing the likes of the now-finished 100 Bullets as one of my regular reads.

The Living And The Dead - I've not read anything by Jason that I can think of (nothing novel-length, anyway), so this seemed as good a place to start as any. I enjoyed this for what it was, and as a novel take on zombie stories it works pretty well. It's a bit shorter than I might have liked, but I suspect the story benefits from it.

Dragon Ball volume 7 - the fun continues as Goku meets another member of the Red Ribbon Army, stops by in Penguin Village (a reference which meant absolutely nothing to me until I went to Wikipedia, having not read Dr. Slump), and then travels onwards to search for more Dragon Balls. Next volume introduces Taopaipai, who I seem to recall is some sort of bad-ass martial-arts hitman type. Good fun, much as the previous volumes have been.

Drifting Classroom volume 6 - things just keep getting worse and worse for Sho and company, as they try to figure out whether they have a plague outbreak in the school and then try to sort out their water supply issues. As someone pointed out earlier in this thread, it's hilarious how often dialogue exchanges occur between two people who are shouting at each other but as an ongoing horror series this is maintaining a tense atmosphere.

In The Shadow Of No Towers - I borrowed this from my local library and can't quite make my mind up on it. On the one hand I have a soft spot for large-format comics, and there's some very clever usage of the oversized pages in here. On the other hand, there are only 10 pages of new comics in this book - the rest are reprints of old comic strips from the early 20th century. The reprints are good, but not exactly what I was expecting or looking for in a book with Art Spiegelman's name on the cover. It's worth reading, but I'm not sure it's worth the hefty cover price...

Swamp Thing volume 3: The Curse - despite enjoying everything I've read by Alan Moore I've never gotten around to reading Swamp Thing before, and it's mostly because the artwork of the time puts me off quite a bit. It's not that it's bad, but the printing standards and paper used are evidently inferior compared to what I've gotten very used to with modern comics. I figured if any part of it was going to hold my interest, it'd be the volume introducing StingJohn Constantine. The ideas in this are creepy, as they'd want to be for a fantasy horror series. There's a good development of tension with allusions to some sort of growing threat (which seems to be linked to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which I haven't read but know some little bit about) and which culminates with the deaths of all those friends who become the first set of ghosts to haunt Constantine, I think.

All of that said, I enjoyed this but I don't know if I'd bother with the rest of Moore's work on the series. It's well-written, sure, but it doesn't really grab me and the artwork puts me off too much (Weirdly enough, the artwork puts me off more than the artwork from much older comics like Little Nemo or Krazy Kat).