What comic are you reading at the moment.

moggie

Draco wrote:

That's what annotations are for.

thank you good sir

excellent stuff
always knew me english degree would come in handy for sum'tin'

Fysh

Recent reads for me:

Atomika - God Is Red #1 - Very strange superhero type book, the opener to a 12 issue miniseries by the look of things. Good artwork and an interestingly weird premise. If you liked Superman : Red Son, you'll probably like this.

Ocean #4 - Continuing the story, we see more about the creatures that have been discovered, find out a bit more about Nathan Kane and the Doors facility manager, and find out why their weapons are so dangerous...

Darkminds : Macropolis - Randomly purchased because I like the look of it, this is the 3rd collected Darkminds book but the first I've seen. It deals with Detectives Nagawa and Nakiko (premier detective in Macropolis, and cyborg, respectively) as a serial killer starts committing grisly murders in the futuristic decaying city of Macropolis. It's reminiscent of Blade Runner in many respects (visuals, setting), although the serial killer aspect is more like Se7en. Irritatingly, this collection doesn't have the complete story, and I can't find anything about it online. *sigh*

The Walking Dead (can't find a useful link for it, which is one of my big complaints about Image - love the company idea, hate the way it's so damn hard to find out anything about any book you want to buy from them!) - saw it going cheap, remembered Draco's recommendation, picked it up. A damn good read for any horror fan who doesn't just want gore, guts, and half-naked chicks.

Jim Woodring's "Frank" Randomly seen and purchased in a Galway book store, this has some wonderful artwork and the kind of strange allure that only purely visual (there's no dialog in the whole thing) comics can have. We follow the eponymous Frank (a purple cat/thing not unlike Mickey Mouse) as he explores his world and finds many a strange adventure lying in wait. Highly recommended.

Drawn & Quarterly Volume 5 - A 200 page collection of work by artists currently on the Drawn & Quarterly, this is a great sampler book to get to know more titles and creators. Six stories, an introduction and an epilogue of sorts - more than enough to satisfy anyone hungry for new stuff. Some excellent reading here, and definitely convincing enough to make me want to buy the other titles in the series.

R Crumb's Waiting for Food #3 - a bit of a strange proposition this, since it's basically a collection of Crumb's sketches from when he sits in restaurants and waits to be served. On the face of it this sounded like a cheeky way to get more money, but on the other hand this is Robert Crumb, a name more associated with indie comics and in particular with American Splendor (the only place I've seen his work, I admit). So I was curious when I was given this. It was very interesting for me because I wanted to learn more about Crumb's style, which is quite distinctive. I wouldn't recommend it for someone who hasn't seen any of his other work and wants a "proper" comic - this is a collection of rough works rather than a polished and complete piece. As an amateur comic artist it's interesting, and worth a look if yiou want to get more familiar with Crumb's style.

Coming soon (I hope) - 100%, Fables : The Mean Seasons, 1602 TPB, Vimanarama #2, Mega City 909 #6, Warren Ellis's Iron Man #3, and

Draco

Nothing startlng this week. Got the latest issues of the various Ultimate lines. The only one of interest was The Ulimates 2 #4 with a nice possible explination of Thor's powers. I think the rest will be dropped fairly soon if there isn't a marked improvement.
I got Vimanarama #2. Not bad but it felt like it sagged towards the end but it picked up very nicely.

Unpossible

last week I got the first comic in the series "lucifer" by vertigo comics. Apparently he's a character from the Sandman comics.


Its pretty good

spooydermot

Fysh wrote:

Recent reads for me:



Darkminds : Macropolis - Randomly purchased because I like the look of it, this is the 3rd collected Darkminds book but the first I've seen. It deals with Detectives Nagawa and Nakiko (premier detective in Macropolis, and cyborg, respectively) as a serial killer starts committing grisly murders in the futuristic decaying city of Macropolis. It's reminiscent of Blade Runner in many respects (visuals, setting), although the serial killer aspect is more like Se7en. Irritatingly, this collection doesn't have the complete story, and I can't find anything about it online. *sigh*


Vimanarama #2, Mega City 909 #6, Warren Ellis's Iron Man #3, and

Darkminds was a Dreamwave publication (i think), seeing as they have now gone the way of the Titanic, it might be that e-bay or maybe Mile High Comics is your bestbet to get the rest of that story

I think Sub-city in dublin have a few issues though, but I'm not sure how they tie into the story that you have....

simu

I just read My new filing technique is unstoppable by David Rees. It's a bit like Dilbert made with images of the kind you get with MS Word. Funneh.

This sort of thing.

J Hendrick

Fysh wrote:

Recent reads for me:

Coming soon (I hope) - 100%, Fables : The Mean Seasons, 1602 TPB, Vimanarama #2, Mega City 909 #6, Warren Ellis's Iron Man #3, and

Emm not to sound like a know it all here but 100% came out last Wednesday and Vinanarama # 2 was released 2 weeks ago. megacity 909 # 6 is rumoured to be the last issue and Iron Man is on a quaterly schedule.

So sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Fysh

Oh I know most of them are out - the "coming soon" part is more to do with local availability and (more pertinently) funding with which to buy them. I'm hoping Mega City #6 ain't the last one, there's info on at least one more issue over at the Devil's Due website and from the structure it looks like it's intended to be a 12-issue maxiseries. We shall see...

Didn't realise Iron Man had gone quarterly though - aagh! Thanks for the info, though.

J Hendrick

Fysh wrote:

Oh I know most of them are out - the "coming soon" part is more to do with local availability

Does Cork not get there deliveries on the same day as Dublin?

Fysh

J Hendrick wrote:

Does Cork not get there deliveries on the same day as Dublin?

Well there's something weird going on. I haven't seen Vimanarama 2 in Other Realms yet, they've got 100% but have told me that Fables : Mean Seasons isn't due to arrive there until today, despite the fact that Sub City in Galway had it two weeks ago...

J Hendrick

Fysh wrote:

Well there's something weird going on. I haven't seen Vimanarama 2 in Other Realms yet, they've got 100% but have told me that Fables : Mean Seasons isn't due to arrive there until today, despite the fact that Sub City in Galway had it two weeks ago...

In all honousty, I doubt it. Other Realms is a regional store.It has no other competitors. Therefore they can be pretty lax about their ordering and not too many people will notice. Here in Dublin we need to be on the ball all the time as there are 3 of us in the city. If Sub-City or F.P. get a title in that we don't it due to whatever readon it maks us look pretty bad.

So have a little patience with your LCS. I'm sure they will get your comics in soon. Anything I have heard about Other Realms has been only positive.

If you do want to keep an eye on release dates I recommend Sean Robinsons threads over on millarworld.

Here is a link to this weeks one.http://www.millarworld.net/index.php?showtopic=47048

It's correct 99% of the time.

Alternativly you can check out Diamonds site but they are very rarely as accurate as the MW listings.

Fysh

I often moan about Other Realms, but truthfully my complaints are generally minor - sometimes they don't get many issues of something that I'd want to get (so it might sell out if I can't get in during the week and pop in on Saturday morning), and more often they'll take a couple of weeks longer than Sub City in Galway (also a regional store, I presume) or Easons to get certain trades in (seems to happen particularly with Fables, which is somewhat annoying) - but they could be far worse. Prices are decent, and considering that comics doesn't seem to be their main focus anymore (more of a gaming shop these days, methinks) their stock is pretty varied. It's just annoying when you know something is available in other stores and then you get told it hasn't shipped yet. But I suppose I can't have it all my own way.

Anyway, onto this week's numerous purchases:

7 Soldiers Of Victory #0
Shining Knight #1
Guardian #1

Grouping these as they are all part of Grant Morrison's 7 Soldiers of Victory project - picked up "7 Soldiers" first to see what it was like, dug it, then bought the other two. I'm guessing that Morrison is looking to do something vaguely along the lines of Watchmen here, but I could be wrong. The writing so far seems to be more accessible (ie not too much crazy crap happening without explanation) than much of his other stuff, although that could be because things are only just starting. Lots of little details I like in these, such as a subway pirate called No-Beard who has lightbulb earrings and fights the sun-lubbers in Guardian, or a talking unicorn who defents his apparently insane logic with the line : "I'm a horse. Whoever heard of a mad horse?"

Lullaby #1

Saw this in the now apparently defunct Comic Book Digest and was intrigued - seems to be kind of like LOEG only with fairytale characters, and aimed at an all-ages market. Lush artwork and the bones of an interesting story here - I'm looking forward to more of this book, as well as the rest of the Alias books.

Army Of Darkness : Shop 'Till You Drop Dead #2

More of the same from the Army of Darkness - laughs and violence aplenty, as well as revisiting a classic scene from the original movies. Not particularly big or clever, but when it's this much fun it doesn't have to be, really.

100%

As mentioned previously, I wanted this purely on the basis of having seen Pope's artwork in Solo #3. It's a hefty enough tome, but a rewarding read. Pope's individual style renders a future that's entirely recognisable as our own world a few years on, while still keeping it fresh and interesting. As he confesses in the afterword, the stories are really love stories wearing the trappings of sci-fi, but they're well-penned, with engaging characters and some interesting ideas.

Fragile

I didn't realise DC were going to release this under the Humanoids imprint, but I'm very glad they did. I've been following it in Metal Hurlant (speaking of which, there must be another issue due one of these days...) for a few issues and enjoyed it as a fairly original take on the zombie apocalypse premise. The storyline is engaging, and there's a nice mix of characters in it, from the military headcases to the unexpected comic relief. And it has one of the most amusing fight scenes I've seen in ages towards the end, too. Well worth a look if you enjoy, say, The Walking Dead.

solo1

Aliens V Predator, Book 1. Mark Veirheden. Whatever his name is. It's quite good.

TCamen

Just moving on to Grant Morrison's "New X-Men Volume 3: New Worlds" -- Volumes 1+2 were excellent, except for a couple of issues with dodgy artwork in Volume 2. It really took away from the story!

It's been a while since I posted here. So here goes.

Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop Dead
A seemlessly non stop barrage of violence and comedy. Im a big fan of the art work and the way that scenes are taken from the films and played homage to in a respectable way.

Shining Knght
and
Guardian
I was quiet taken with the art work in Shining Knight. In fact it was what convinced me to buy it. I have to say that it if Morrision does this properly then this could be one of the great series. I love the combination of magic and machine, and a talking horse, whats not to like? Guardian was more Superhero orientated, in fact it reminded me a lot of Steele.

Mr Majestic
I got into this comic last christmas, when my parents gave me the graphic novel. Originally I thought it was basically Superman, only a bit more fun. But then I read the Alan Moore story and I was taken aback. The first two issues were mediocre, but issue three really took off with the introduction of some characters apart from Mr Majestic.

Strange
I took a gamble on this, only reason I bouth it was becaus eit was J. Michael Straczynski. It was only as I read them that I realised that it was Dr. Strange. I have to say that im really enjoying the story, its got some nice touches and changes which enhance the story.

Toetags
Have'nt had a chance to reafd this yet, but hopefully I''ll get a chance to tonight

Fysh

Slim pickings this week in Other Realms, complemented handily with an order from ComixPress arriving the other day:

The Irregulars Read about this in CSN recently and was intrigued, faint overtones of LoEG although the main characters are as far as I know original creations. Essentially The Irregulars are a street urchin gang (not unlike the Artful Dodger and company from Oliver Twist) who help Sherlock Holmes with his investigations. They're called upon to help clear Watson's name when he's framed for murder, but the story goes deeper than that...It's all good fun, action/horror (although not too horrific).

Alan Moore's Hypothetical Lizard #1 - continuing my apparent habit of only picking up Alan Moore stuff on Avatar ages after it's released, I noticed that Other Realms had this. Interesting art and storyline, although it does feel like a bit of a slow start to the story. Should be interesting to see what it builds to.

Darkness & Light #0 - Negotiations - The first issue of what will hopefully be at least a maxiseries, this is from the horrible man who gave the world Flem Comics. It's an interesting proposition and the artwork consists of manipulated photographs that end up looking somewhat like Tim Bradstreet's work. As with all good #0s, it's frustrating only because I want to be able to read more of the story.

Timmy Kat - from the people who gave the world Two Lumps and the artist who gave you Flem and Darkness & Light (see above). A rather good children's story about judging people for who they are and not what they look like, with a difference....a pleasant story with an unexpected ending, this made me laugh out loud. Beware that it's not quite as cuddly as it might look.

spooydermot

Fysh wrote:

Grouping these as they are all part of Grant Morrison's 7 Soldiers of Victory project - picked up "7 Soldiers" first to see what it was like, dug it, then bought the other two. I'm guessing that Morrison is looking to do something vaguely along the lines of Watchmen here, but I could be wrong. The writing so far seems to be more accessible (ie not too much crazy crap happening without explanation) than much of his other stuff, although that could be because things are only just starting. Lots of little details I like in these, such as a subway pirate called No-Beard who has lightbulb earrings and fights the sun-lubbers in Guardian, or a talking unicorn who defents his apparently insane logic with the line : "I'm a horse. Whoever heard of a mad horse?"

Picked up the "7 soldiers" books after following the links in your post, really good stuff, glad I gave it a look - can't wait for the other titles in the "7 soldiers" series.....

Did anyone else pick up the 'countdown to infinite crisis' book? its pretty cool, but as someone who is not familiar with the DC universe I am woundering if I have any hope of 'getting' the story line that they are spreading out over their titles?

Fysh

spooydermot wrote:

Picked up the "7 soldiers" books after following the links in your post, really good stuff, glad I gave it a look - can't wait for the other titles in the "7 soldiers" series.....

Glad to be of service

spookydermot wrote:

Did anyone else pick up the 'countdown to infinite crisis' book? its pretty cool, but as someone who is not familiar with the DC universe I am woundering if I have any hope of 'getting' the story line that they are spreading out over their titles?

I'm not particularly well versed with DC history either. I know there are various collected books including the Crisis on Multiple Earths and Crisis on Infinite Earths stories, but I have no idea how much they interlink. One day when I have lots of cash and time to spare, I'll buy the lot of them and read them, just so I know what the fuss was about. (The same applies to the Squadron Supreme stories from Marvel - it's more historical curiosity than burning desire to read the actual stories themselves....)

Edit:

Have now gone, picked up the Countdown book (E1.20! - Decent price, wish more books were that cheap. To be perfectly honest, judging by my own experience of such storylines you'll have to at the least be following the miniseries advertised in the countdown book (the OMAC project, Wrath of the Spectre), and probably also the batman/superman/whatever books. It's the sort of huge sprawling crap that generally annoys me about these sort of crossovers - I shouldn't have to buy a load of books I don't normally read, just to follow the story. Sure, the full picture from all the books should be more complete than from any one book, but I shouldn't be left going "huh?" if I only read, eg, the Batman books covering the saga. It's the same thing that put me off the Crucifixion saga and the whole Onslaught nonsense back when I read the marvel perv suit books, and it's probably also going to happen with Marvel's "House of M" thing coming soon.

*sigh*

Shame, that. It looks like it could even just about deal with enough interesting ideas for me to forgive the perv-suited hero aspect (ie the pseudo fascistic aspect of wanting "humans to be ruled by humans, not impostors", the implications of our existing worldwide security and communications networks in terms of power abuse, acceptance and discussion of the improbable number of super-powered individuals in the DC Universe and how they interact, discussion of what it's like to be a second-rate "hero"). But not if it involves buying 15 different monthlies with a load of characters I'm not interested in, as well as trying to learn the backstory for each of them.

spooydermot

Fysh wrote:

Glad to be of service



Have now gone, picked up the Countdown book (E1.20! - Decent price, wish more books were that cheap. To be perfectly honest, judging by my own experience of such storylines you'll have to at the least be following the miniseries advertised in the countdown book (the OMAC project, Wrath of the Spectre), and probably also the batman/superman/whatever books. It's the sort of huge sprawling crap that generally annoys me about these sort of crossovers - I shouldn't have to buy a load of books I don't normally read, just to follow the story. Sure, the full picture from all the books should be more complete than from any one book, but I shouldn't be left going "huh?" if I only read, eg, the Batman books covering the saga. It's the same thing that put me off the Crucifixion saga and the whole Onslaught nonsense back when I read the marvel perv suit books, and it's probably also going to happen with Marvel's "House of M" thing coming soon.

*sigh*

yeah i have to say the price for 'countdown' was fantastic especially for the 80 pages, i completly agree with you on the 'i shouldn't have to buy several different pulications to get one story' slant, in fact thats what turned me off comics years ago when 2000AD ran the story with the dead rising etc, but you also had to buy the Monthly Megazine or you missed part of the story, in fact I haven't picked up an issue of 2000AD since, but i guess that they are probably not the wrost offenders of this kinda thing....just look at the amount of alternative covers that Dreamwave released for some of their books....i think there were 4 or 5 different covers for some of their issue 1s

Deadwing

Reading the maxx atm, love it

americanCat

I'm rereading Kingdom Come by DC Comics. It takes place after Superman has retired and gone into hiding. The art quality is amazing and the storyline is pretty awesome as well.

Chucky

Squee

Fysh

Just realised I hadn't posted in a few days (shock horror! ) so I figured I'd add up my latest reading:

Ocean #5 - As the story draws to a close, we find out the secret of the race buried under Europa's waters. Things get awkward, as Kane and the team find an uncomfortable piece of technology powering itself up as the sleepers awake, and the Doors Corporation mount an attack on the station. I'm looking forward to the closing issue of this.

Seven Soldiers : Zatanna #1 Another one of the series under Grant Morrison's reinvention of the Seven Soldiers. I vaguely remembered Zatanna from her appearance in Gaiman's original "Books of magic", but this seems interesting. Referencing history without requiring you to know it, this is the kind of book that makes you want to actually go and find out what went before it. There's a couple of bits in it that felt like they were taken straight from Filth/The Invisibles in terms of visuals and what was happening, but it's not a bad thing.

Castlevania : The Belmont Legacy #1 A comic adaptation of Castlevania, one of the coolest game franchises I've ever played? I'm there! I can't quite make my mind up on this one though. The storylines in Castlevania games were never all that intricate, but they had a good atmosphere. I know this is a first issue, but the atmosphere it builds up doesn't quite work. The artwork is good enough, and the story seems adequate (Dracula is revived on the wedding night of an unspecified Belmont descendant, and seeks vengeance) but...somehow, there's not enough atmosphere. The opening pages are good and have a nicely horrific setting, but the rest of this sags. Hopefully it'll pick up in issue 2. Mind you, I hope it's a miniseries rather than an ongoing thing, because on the face of it the storyline won't hold up.

The Drowned Random purchase of the week, this was a very cool Image-published horror comic. This is the tale of a young man imprisoned in a Paris asylum who breaks out to avenge his sister's death at the hands of a religious cabal years previously but finds himself embroiled in something much bigger. The tone of the story lightens somewhat towards the end, but this is certainly one of the more innovative horror comics I've read, given the general tendency to focus on serial killers or zombies. And the artwork is excellent too, creating just the right sort of atmosphere throughout. Definitely one to keep an eye out for if you like original horror.

David B's Epileptic By far my preferred read for the week, this is very much a literary graphic novel in the style of Chris Ware or Art Spiegelman. A family history and autobiography, the book charts the effects of a brother afflicted with epilepsy on his family as they visit all sorts of doctors to try and cure him. The artwork reflects this wonderfully, with some great visuals - the brother's epilepsy is represented as a slithering snake-shadow, and the author imagines his way of dealing with the problems it causes as being a suit of armor which we see in fine detail. There's something of everything in here, but what appeals to me is the honesty on display - there's a lot of humour here, but a lot of pathos as well. The author is totally honest about how he handles his brother's epilepsy, openly admitting that he tormented his brother cruelly and analysing his reasons for doing so. If you like Maus or Jimmy Corrigan, this is most definitely worth your time.

(Whew! That took bloody ages to write. Does anyone else read these posts of mine, or should I just post up lists like other people do? )

spooydermot

Fysh wrote:

(Whew! That took bloody ages to write. Does anyone else read these posts of mine, or should I just post up lists like other people do? )

ah, i have to say i enoy hearing about what other people are reading, gives me a few ideas for purchases (drone that i am) cause I'm relativly new to comics, so i mean i can walk into somewhere like Forbidden Planet or 3rd place and i'm faced with this wall of comics and it can be like.....where do i start? So its nice to hear what other people aer erading what thy think etc....its also good to just pick something up on the fly though...

Daelus

I just finished reading 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'. Only my second comic. I got 25% off at Forbidden Planet, so that was fairly good.
I could have probably brushed up on my Batman history before reading it, but I still enjoyed it. Although Robin (the real name escapes me at the moment, Carrie or something? Carrie Kelley? Is that it?) was a bit.. Well Bruce seemed to just take her in pretty easily.

I liked the references to 'Jason', whom I have no knowledge of, whatsoever, other than what was provided.

I'm thinking I'll try 'Sin City' next.

Draco

Fysh wrote:

(Whew! That took bloody ages to write. Does anyone else read these posts of mine, or should I just post up lists like other people do? )

pfft. Just 'cause I've either gotten nothing of note or you've mentioned it already over the last month or so.

The Seven Soldiers thing. Hurm. Not hugely impressed at all. In fact I wasn't going to pick up the Zatanna issue at all bar you mentioned some filth-alike parts. The one with the Flying Horse was okay I suppose. I'll get a couple more of the issues to see hoiw it pans out and then decide if I'm going to drop it or not.

Iron Man #3 was out this week as well. It looks lovely, the story is moved on, there's a huge fight but the delay between issues is a killer. The marvel universe obsession with super soldiers is fierce tiring.

Ultimates 2 #5 is pretty decent as well. I do like the way they've used Loki. Artwork is exactly the same as every other issue. You don't really get to see much of Captain Britain or the other European super solders, which is a pity.

Fysh

Draco wrote:

The Seven Soldiers thing. Hurm. Not hugely impressed at all. In fact I wasn't going to pick up the Zatanna issue at all bar you mentioned some filth-alike parts. The one with the Flying Horse was okay I suppose. I'll get a couple more of the issues to see hoiw it pans out and then decide if I'm going to drop it or not.

I'm in two minds about it still; it could be cool if it has that Morrisson strangeness throughout. Zatanna was probably the weakest book so far, but the weird bits in the middle kept my interest. I'm quite looking forward to Klarion The Witch Boy, so we'll see if that's worth it.

Draco wrote:

Iron Man #3 was out this week as well. It looks lovely, the story is moved on, there's a huge fight but the delay between issues is a killer. The marvel universe obsession with super soldiers is fierce tiring.

Yeah, I really like Granov's style on this - other people have complained that he makes Iron Man seem somehow joyless but I think it's a perfect style for the character. The delay is awful though, at this rate the story won't be finished before the end of the year!

As for the supersoldiers thing....how many times does it have to go wrong before the governments in the Marvel World start, you know, restricting development on ridiculously potent super-being formulas?

Other stuff I've read recently:

The Atheist #1 - A professional hard-line skeptic known to his colleagues as The Atheist is asked to examine a case of apparent mass delusion when thousands of people claim to be possessed by reincarnated dead people. Illustrated, disconcertingly, by the guy who drew Dicks with Garth Ennis. Good #1 issue setting up the start of an interesting horror story, aside from the occasional expectation of seeing Dougie and Ivor around the place.

Mega City 909 #6 At long last this appeared on shelves - looks like there's 2 more issues for the series to be complete, which sounds about right for the story. Artwork is exceptional again, and the story progresses nicely - some interesting plot developments, particularly Kusanagi's hordes pouring into the city and slaughtering pretty much anyone they can find...

Sin City : The Hard Goodbye Somehow the first volume of the TPB reissues manage to arrive after the 2nd, 3rd and 4th volumes in Other Realms but no matter. I got to buy this at a reasonable price and should get a chance to read at least the 2nd and 3rd ones before seeing the film. I quite like the resizing done in these reissues - it's more like a traditional book and I don't feel that the artwork suffers through the compression.

Down to the book itself...well, it's fantastic. There's overtones of Dark Knight Returns in here (partly in terms of character and story tone, partly in some deliberately playful shots where our hard-ass anti-hero, Marv, looks far more superheroish than is necessary) but this is very much noir. Like Chandler's "Big Sleep", this is a fantastic romp offering pulp-style action as well as engaging characters and an intriguing world. I've re-read the book 3 times since buying it on Saturday, and I still want to re-read it again. The artwork is great, lots of moody silhouette shots and excellent use of shadow and contrast; in fact, my only possible criticism is connected to the ending. And even then I shouldn't really comment until I read how the ending is reconciled with the start of the second book. Looks to be another one of those classics that everyone should read....

Fysh

This week featured only single-issue/monthy purchases for me, due to end-of-month skintness. Still, I was very impressed with what was on offer:

Andi Watson's Little Star #2 - second issue of this down-to-earth series about Simon, a father struggling to balance his own interest in his job and his desire to be a full-time dad. I can't think of any word to describe this other than "charming". It's simple and honest and funny, with a pared-down visual style that appeals to me precisely because it's not trying to be lush and detailed.

Atomika #2 Issue 2 sees Atomika's godhood inadvertently challenged by Aronir, who seeks to create heralds of the new world. A curious world and storyline blends with excellent imagery in this comic. I was concerned that it might turn into a lifeless ongoing monthly, but according to the website it's a 12 issue maxi-series. Worth getting in at ground floor for - easily the most interesting superhero idea I've seen in ages (and so far superior to Millar's rather over-rated Superman : Red Son).

The Iron Ghost #1 Picked up on the basis that its cover intrigued me, this 1st of a 6 issue miniseries sets the scene - Berlin, 1945 : The allies and the russians are converging on the crumbling centre of Hitler's 3rd reich. As the Nazi leadership falls apart, police investigate an intriguing series series of murders - all carried out with .45 calibre guns (more usually associated with americans) and targeting SS officers involved in concentration camp administration....

Freakshow #5 Another fine addition to this excellent irish series. Jack and Myles manage to solve the mystery from #4, and receive payment....sort of. But it looks like this is only going to cause more trouble for them, especially going by the "in the next issue" teaser on the inside back cover.

Sea Of Red #1 Another purchase based heavily on a good cover, this is, at first glance, a pirate yarn. Not unlike the pirate yarn sub-story in Watchmen, in fact. There's a twist that's going to be central to the ongoing series, but I won't spoil it for you. Definitely worth a look if you like your horror, and fancy an adventure comic treading off the beaten superhero track.

Seven Soldiers : Klarion The Witch Boy And, on the heels of the rather disappointing Zatanna, Klarion pulls the whole project back into the realms of the firmly interesting (much as I'd hoped, in fact). Everything about this comic enchants me - the visual style is excellent, the main character is intriguing and likeable without feeling
forced, the world he lives in is frankly downright strange...and it draws you in. Aside from a hint at the end, it's hard to see where this is going to overlap with other Seven Soldiers projects, but frankly I'm not worried about that. This issue is excellent in its own right, and if nothing else I'll be buying Klarion 2, 3 & 4 no matter what.

Action Philosophers! Don't be fooled - this is exactly what the title suggests! An action-themed comic...about philosophers! It's a lot of fun, certainly more than one might expect, but then again I do have an interest in philosophy anyway. By no means a definitive guide to the philosophies of anyone featured, this is a fun light introduction to the basic ideas involved. It avoids feeling overly like an edumacational comic, instead mixing intellect and humour in equal measure.

bobbydoo

I've just recently started getting into Horror Comics (and comics in general).

Read The Walking Dead TPBs 1 & 2 and was very impressed. Nicely Done. Good zombie action. The third TPB should be out soon.

Got 30 Days of Night and Dark Days and was a lot less impressed. I didn't think the artwork was up to much and the story/script was boring an cliched.
Don't think I'll bother with the other TPBs in the series.

Aleister Arcane on the other hand was great. The artwork was lovely. Very well done indeed. So I haven't lost faith in Steve Niles.

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend comic adaptation is quite good. Sticks very closely to the book, as I remember. Very expensive though, since it only comes in Hardback.

The best horror comics I've seen are the Tales From The Crypt reprints. EC 1950's horror anthology. The stories are fun and gripping. Just like old twilight zone episodes....but gorier. The TFTC tv series was terrible in comparison. I'd recommend these comics to other horror fans.

Waiting for the following to come in the mail:
Toe Tags, Bigfoot, The Black Forest, George A.Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Remains, Scars, Lurid, Y -The Last Man.

Can anyone recommend any other horror comics?

Anyone read any of these yet?: Wake The Dead, Secret Skull, Containment, Lurkers, Fragile, Boneyard, Night Of the Living Dead, Zombie World, Deadworld, King of the Dead, Spookshow International?

Fysh

bobbydoo wrote:

Richard Matheson's I Am Legend comic adaptation is quite good. Sticks very closely to the book, as I remember. Very expensive though, since it only comes in Hardback.

You may enjoy the Adaptation of Hell House that IDW are releasing then - it's in 3 mini-TPB releases, priced at about 8 euro a go so isn't too expensive (although for the eventual size of the story I'd have preferred just one TPB).

bobbydoo wrote:

Can anyone recommend any other horror comics?

The Atheist might be up your street - although the first issue was more about setting the scene than any real horror. Or the Castlevania comic, if it does anything interesting (hasn't yet, but then again the first issue had to set the scene so it should be forgiven).
Mega City 909 is a scifi/horror hybrid and well worth checking out; lush artwork and a good storyline.
Industriacide might appeal to you, although it's more weird than horror. Worth a look if you see it somewhere reasonably cheap.
I can't think of anything more off the top of my head, but I'll check when I get home.

There's also a bunch of vampire/horror stuff on Vertigo, which you may be interested in. Their graphic novel catalogue is here and their monthly release page is here. Series like Preacher & Transmet have horror moments, but aren't horror-focused so I'd suggest try before you buy. Hellblazer is mainly a horror book and is well worth checking out.

bobbydoo wrote:

Anyone read any of these yet?: Wake The Dead, Secret Skull, Containment, Lurkers, Fragile, Boneyard, Night Of the Living Dead, Zombie World, Deadworld, King of the Dead, Spookshow International?

I've not seen many of those, but I have picked up the Fragile collected book and enjoyed it. It wasn't strictly horror though, since its view of zombies was rather different to the general one. Definitely worth a look anyway though. Wake the dead is one of those ones that's perpetually on my "look at if there's nothing else worth buying" list next to 30 days of night (like you I'm put off by the artwork). The rest havne't turned up in Other Realms and I can't decide if they're worth buying or not without looking at them...