What comic are you reading at the moment.

Khalim

this week, i picked up:

New Avengers#5 - What can be said about this book that hasnt been said before? I am enjoying bendis' style of writing for this book. I have to state that I am partial to team based comics, and although I dont agree with the way they treated Hawkeye in Avengers Disassembled, this new group shows promise although they didn't have to include Wolverine. Highly recommended.

Age of Apocalypse #6 (of 6) - i was really disappointed in this series.
i initially bought this for chris bachalo art and thats the only good thing i can say about the series. Stay away from the Age of Apocalypse spin-offs. Dont buy.

Fysh

Khalim wrote:

this new group shows promise although they didn't have to include Wolverine. Highly recommended

He seems to be getting whored around everywhere these days, since the films made him such a popular character. It'll all end in tears, you mark my words

What have I read lately? A whole bunch of stuff, over the last two weeks or so. I should be seriously worried about how much money I've spent on comics lately, but I don't think there's anything much coming out soon that I want so hopefully the wallet will have a while to recover. Anyway. In no particular order (although split into singles and trades for your convenience ):

Singles:

Shining Knight #2
Not a bad issue as such, although it doesn't do all that much to convince me that the Shining Knight series is strong enough by itself. Basically, Justin the knight has to escape from police custody and find his talking horse, but finds himself taunted by the Mood 7 Mind Destroyer (which reminded me of Garth Ennis's F*ckpig from Hellblazer : Son Of Man )- an ethereal monster that goads him with guilty recollections of the world he left and taunts him with tales of how it collapsed. There's a bit of a typical pervsuit moment toward the end when he rallies his courage. I'll probably keep buying it because for the moment the whole 7 soldiers thing is still interesting me, but it's not a great standalone series so far.

Castlevania #2
A kind of "meh" follow-up, unfortunately. It feels like too much space is wasted on pointless exposition, although at least Belmont's wife has a personality. The art leaves something to be desired too - the motion effects are all done using line effects which manage to look imperfect (which, given that even an amateur like me can figure out how to get better effects using blurs and so on in Photoshop, is disappointing although it may be down to the printing process being used). Might give this one more issue to improve, but it seems to be a bit of a lazy license use tbh.

City Of Tomorrow #1

I can't decide on this. I've read a few things by Howard Chaykin lately and I can't get a handle on his writing style. Given that this is a first issue, it sets up some interesting possibilities and has a fantastic opening sequence. The story feels somewhat like Miller's background in Robocop - someone trying to create a utopian country from scratch. Except here it's not OCP, it's someone with genuine intentions. Of course, fast forward 15 years and it's not quite turned out right, and the future turns out to have crime and sex and prostitution, just like everywhere else. We shall see if it goes anywhere interesting, but it's a promising start at least.

Lullaby #2

I am loving Hector Sevilla's art on this book. Continuing the LoEG-with-fairy-tale-characters theme, in this issue we get to meet the Pied Piper and Little Red Riding hood, who are searching for Red's grandmother. We also see the pirate kid whose name I can't remember save Hansel & Gretel from some weird creatures. A good read all round, which is a particularly good compliment for an all-ages book. Definitely one to look out for.

Mnevore #1

The Vertigo site managed to get me excited about this, and it succeeded a little too well. This is an interesting first issue of a horror story trying to do something different. So far so good - as a fan of original horror, I'm more than happy about this. Problem is, the art is a bit too blah. It doesn't feel like it has a voice of its own, and it's anything but distinctive. Because of this, the story (which is good, but in its opening stages) hasn't drawn me in as much as I'd hoped. With any luck #2 will rectify this.

Sea of Red #2

I have to hand it to Remender, issue 2 of this took off in a completely unexpected direction, although I'm slightly disappointed that having been willing enough to go for something original they have then used that original idea as a way of apparently turning this into a fairly straightforward revenge story. Perhaps there are more twists on the way (to be expected, given some of the characters introduced in this issue) but there's a couple of nagging things that don't quite gel here...tiny things but they stop it from being great, relegating it back to being merely a very good horror comic.


Solo #4 : Howard Chaykin

Another decent addition to the Solo series, but as mentioned previously I can't make my mind up on Chaykin. In both his art and his writing there's something that I can't quite get a handle on. It's as if he makes you think you're getting a story A, then changes along the way and you think "cool, story A was just a decoy, the real story's going to be even more interesting" and then he goes back and gives you a story that seems to be like an incomplete draft of story A. Still, this issue is a good introduction to his visual style and a pleasant if a tad unremarkable introduction to his writing style. I suspect he's more of a "how you get there" writer than a "where you're going" writer, and it may be this that's stopping me from fully getting into his work...

Matador #1

One of those random purchases - the title caught my eye because the cover suggested a bit of a play on the meanings of the word "matador" (a term from bullfighting; the matador is the final bullfighter who kills the bull by stabbing it in the back with three arrows consecutively [something which has to be done with skill, flair and showmanship, even speaking as someone who despised the notion of bullfighting] and then using a sword to stab it through the heart and kill it). So while it literally translates as "killer" there are overtones of ritual, sport and even art to the word. The comic itself doesn't give much away about the overall direction of the miniseries - the Matador is an urban legend serial killer/assassin, but our main character (a female cop who you can't quite pin down as either competent but discriminated against, or bumbling but tolerated) improbably finds a breakthrough in a recent case that helps her pin about 10 unsolved cases on the Matador, figure out the unique aspect of his crime scenes, and manages to accidentally stumble across his next hit. It may do something interesting if, as I expect, it develops the alternative aspects of the Matador instead of just focusing on the assassin/serial killer aspect.

Fysh

And now, part 2. I would have put this all in one post, but it was over the size limit. Either I've read a hell of a lot lately, or I waffle far too much when I talk about comics...but enough of that.

Trades

Walking Dead TPB 2 : Miles Behind Us

Second volume of The Walking Dead, and damn if it isn't still good. One or two parts that felt a tiny bit too much like set pieces (to my cynical eye, having seen a few zombie flicks in my time) but they don't detract from the story at all. This entire series so far has been extremely good, for the sole reason that the writing behind it is fantastic. With every character you realise straight away they're an individual, from their body language to their motivations. And they're not all kindly people either. I'm not too sure what's coming up for this series, but so long as it's this good I don't care - I'm along for the ride and I'll go where it takes me.

Flight Volume 2

Quite possibly my single favourite purchase this year, which considering some of the things I've been lucky enough to find is saying something. This is an absolutely gorgeous anthology from Image, featuring a variety of short stories from less well-known creators. From wordless stories about aliens visiting faraway planets through the tale of two inept monster-slayers to tales of childhood sadness and heartbreak, this is definitely one to read if you like non-superhero comics. It's all-ages, too. Fantastic art and some great stories. A must buy if you see it anywhere, and worth whatever you see it going for (it's over 400 pages long!).

It's a bird...

I'll be honest - when this first came out, my reaction was firmly in the "meh, I'll pass" camp. Particularly since it was in hardcover, a format I object to for comics. But recently it was going cheap in Easons so I thought I'd take a look. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, rather than a book over-analysing superman and his popularity, this was a book about a writer too bogged-down with his real-world problems to identify with the character of superman (meaning he can't think of a decent way to write stories about him, meaning he can't decide whether he should accept the job he's been offered). By focusing far more on his problems and life than how and what he writes, the short vignettes our character comes up with are all the more engaging and succeed in getting even non-pervsuit fans like me interested. The visual style is intriguing because it's varied - a bunch of different types of painted images more evocative than the previews gave them credit for. Weirdly, this feels more like an indie book than anything else. Worth a look.

Reinventing Comics

From Scott Mccloud, he who scribed Understanding Comics, I found myself extremely interested in this book. Since I started reading comics again properly about two and a half years ago, I've found myself constantly interested in what creators have to say about what they do. I'll read webpages, forewords, afterwords, interviews, articles, I'll even subscribe to email lists. Very few people, however, have as coherent a set of opinions and ideas as Scott McCloud, and even fewer have made them as engaging as this book does. Having been following Warren Ellis's mailing list for a while now, I find some of the ideas are talked about by quite a few people. But Scott was talking about them five years ago, and in the context of internet-based comics (which is what half the book is about) that's impressive. The book is one big comic about comics, interspersing comics history with interesting tidbits about different styles, but the theme is how comics should expand in the 21st century. As mentioned, half the book focuses on changes that will (and already have, in some cases) come with the advent of digital communications. The other half is equally interesting since it talks about how the market needs to change and expand to avoid becoming an ever-more-exclusive area open to fanboys alone, where superheroes will be the vehicle for everything. I could go on about this for ages and ages, but if you're interested in the history and ideas behind comics, as well as thinking about the medium itself and how it might change, you should do yourself a favour and buy this book, along with Understanding Comics.

1602

At long last I get my hands on this trade, which I've been looking forward to for some time. Having read it, I'm in two minds. The art and premise are interesting and the sort of thing I'd expect from Gaiman if I could exorcise the memory of reading American Gods from my head. This is very much the man who created the Sandman and his world, rather than the man who ripped of Stephen King and Douglas Adams to make an airport-trash novel. My only problem with it is the problem I seem to have with pretty much all marvel stuff - they never seem to loosen the leash enough. Things are getting a bit silly with Dr Strange and the Watchers, and then to explain a rather staggering series of coincidences, we are given

a temporary anomaly and the suggestion that "the universe likes stories". This is the reason that analogues of the traditional marvel heroes start appearing 400 years before their original versions. Yes, you read that right - the universe likes stories

. I'm sure a creator like Gaiman could have come up with a better answer, but then I'm equally sure that marvel, desperate as they are to not do anything so ludicrous as let one of their books veer too far from its superhero/pervsuit origins, would have rejected it. Until about 5 or 6 issues in, I was enthralled. The ending, however, left a sour taste in my mouth. Still, it's better than a lot of the dross Marvel normally puts out, and certainly more worthy of your cash than self-congratulatory rubbish like "powerless".

Draco

Bum, I forgot about Shining Knight #2, I'll have to pick it up this week.

Walking Dead Vol. 2 was much stronger than the first. I liked the fact that the farm story didn't pan out into the nice happy ending.

I thought the end of 1602 is diabolical but for the life of me I can't think why. I'm not pushed about re-reading it either.

City Of Tomorrow sounds interesting. I must see if I can find an issue of that.

As for what I've been reading, just the usual monthlies with nothing in particular springing to mind. I've been trying to save as well so I haven't been buying trades despite the re-released Sin City ones were calling to me.

John

I've just finished volume 3 in the Preacher graphic novels, about to start 4. Also have Maus by Art Spiegelman to read.

Draco

Didn't think much of Shining Knight #2 at all. Not even the Guilt demon thing made it interesting.
City of Tomorrow came across as a bit of a mess to be honest. It was a bit too light on background and seemed very disjointed. Nice enough artwork. I'll get the second issue to see if it improves.

Stuff I got that hasn't been mentioned yet:
Desolation Jones #1
Warren Ellis' latest offering. the title character is a washed up ex-MI6 operative who has been packed off to LA, which acts as an open prison for 'retired' intelligence agents. He talks on a detective job to track down some very specialised porn. It's very Ellis, with a cast of absolute misfits and his usual style of dialogue. As such, I've a big stonking hard on for it. The art isn't my cup of tea, but I suppose it's nice enough.

Ultimate Spider-Man #77
I really am just getting this out of habit now. Nothing unsurprising happens at all. The art work is same as always and the plot barely moves on.

(oh, and Penny Arcade were very unimpressed with Mr. McClouds take on webcomics)

simu

Bite Club - ok, good light reading but it tries a bit too hard to be shocking

Draco

So this week's haul:

2000AD
A rather weak issue. 'Sláine' is still plodding along. I have been less than impressed with both the writing (Pat Mills in preachy earth goddess shock!) and the cg art. The twist in 'The V.C.s' is too close to the twist in another recent story. 'Bec and Kawl' is okay in it's puntastic way but is just a little repetitive. 'Dredd' is, well, Dredd. 'American Gothic' just doesn't do it for me in terms of style or content.

Ultimate X-men #59
Like Ultimate Spider-man this has gotten to be more of a habit than anything else. This issue see the introduction of Ultimate Deathstrike as Storm goes to Find Wolverine. There's nothing to really lift this issue out of mediocrity. Standard level of art, passable storyline, little twist at the end. Exactly what I've come to expect.

Seven Soldiers: The Manhattan Guardian #2
Awful. this just doesn't work for me at all. Not the witting, not the art, not the characters. I won't be getting the rest of this character's issues anyway.

The Authority: Revolution #8
Erm. Maybe if I knew more about who the revealed villain mastermind this issue would mean more to me. But as it is I don't so the impact is more 'who?' rather than the 'gasp!' they're looking for. At least the is a feeling that they are building up to something rather than just plodding along.

The Books of Magick: Life during Wartime #11
Oh look, John Constaine is a complete bastard. Who see *that* coming. This I get for a friend of mine since he only wants the one comic and I head in anyway. So that's my excuse for reading this rather dull and predictable series.


The Walking Dead Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars
Hurm. I dunno. The shine has kind gone off this for me with this volume. It follows the same formula of the previous volume a little too closely. Still, I do love the art and the dialogue is pretty decent. It is a far more pessimistic story than the previous two arcs and I am interested to see what happens next.

You know, one thing about me actually putting my thoughts down like this is that I'm really weeding out the habitual comics. Means more money for trades!

Geranium

FreakShow #1

Fysh

Draco wrote:

Seven Soldiers: The Manhattan Guardian #2
Awful. this just doesn't work for me at all. Not the witting, not the art, not the characters. I won't be getting the rest of this character's issues anyway.

You didn't like it? Fair enough, I guess. I picked this up on Saturday and really enjoyed it, although the second half flagged a bit. I liked the surreal pirate train battle rather a lot, and dug the way the Guardian was pretty much incidental in it. Not a big fan of the stilted way in which it retreads spiderman territory with the "i can't go on, I'll just get people killed" bit though.

Draco wrote:

You know, one thing about me actually putting my thoughts down like this is that I'm really weeding out the habitual comics. Means more money for trades!

Unfortunately it's the other way for me. I never used to have monthlies (and, by and large, still don't) but now that I've gotten through the main back catalogues of the trades I'm interested in (with a couple of exceptions like Sin City or Cerebus) I find myself more interested in monthly-based miniseries, even though I loathe the format and the everpresent advertising. Gaaaah.

My recent purchases, apart from Guardian #2, have been:

Hellblazer : Red Sepulchre My first experience of Mike Carey writing Constantine and it's a good one. I like the way he ties this in to Ellis and Ennis's last outings on the book, just because it makes Constantine's world seem more interesting and complex. The story is not particularly complex, but it doesn't suffer for it. I liked the opening sequence "High on Life" in particular. And Marcelo Frusin's art is excellent - my favourite ongoing Constantine artist, I think (although I also liked David Lloyd's 2 issues with Grant Morrison rather a lot).

Mnevore #2 Artwork's still a bit blah, story moves in a promising direction but doesn't give us enough to really get stuck in. I'm starting to suspect this should have been trimmed down to a 4 issue miniseries, because about half of this issue felt like pointless character exposition. If it doesn't change my mind by next issue, it'll get dropped.

Desolation Jones Having heard about it ages ago on the Bad Signal mailing list, I was looking forward to this. It doesn't disappoint for Warren Ellis fans, although the art is a bit of a departure. An interesting lead character, curious setting, and some entertainingly ludicrous secondary characters make this entertaining. It may not be high art, but it's a damn sight more entertaining than most of the dross passing itself off as comics at the moment.

Deal With The Devil #1 Even though I've already read the first four issues of this in black and white (they were featured in the now-defunct Comic Book Reader's Digest, also from Alias) I figured I'd pick it up in colour. First of a five-part serial killer story, it's an interesting opener. Not excessively violent, but dark enough to satisfy, it establishes the now-stereotyped jaded homicide cop haunted by the case he couldn't crack. But through meeting the cop's son and finding out about his family life this avoids being totally stereotyped. Worth a look if you're out for something different - plus it should only be a euro, since alias are doing a price promotion at the moment.

Elsinore #1 Another Alias book, this is decidedly weird. Hopping from the Plague in the seventeenth century to the present day in Elsinore asylum, this reminds me of Kingdom Hospital more than anything else (Lars Von Trier's original series, not the dumbed down american version that Stephen King consulted on). Weird goings-on in an asylum overlap with an ancient secret society's quest to save mankind from an unseen threat, as the society recruits a down-and-out doctor to further its mission...

Walking Dead vol 3 is on my list of upcoming purchases, along with sin city vols 2 & 3...there doesn't seem to be much else on the horizon other than the We3 trade (missed the original series) so I may start buying some more exotic stuff online soon. Freakshow 6 is supposed to be out around now - anybody read it yet?

Draco

Fysh wrote:

You didn't like it? Fair enough, I guess. I picked this up on Saturday and really enjoyed it, although the second half flagged a bit. I liked the surreal pirate train battle rather a lot, and dug the way the Guardian was pretty much incidental in it. Not a big fan of the stilted way in which it retreads spiderman territory with the "i can't go on, I'll just get people killed" bit though.

The train thing was a great idea in the whole execution of the thing left me cold.

Fysh wrote:

Hellblazer : Red Sepulchre My first experience of Mike Carey writing Constantine and it's a good one.

I know I have these in issue form, but like alot of that run it's completely unmemorable for me. It seemed to end up in 6 issue arcs that promised loads and then never actually went anywhere.

Fysh wrote:

Desolation Jones some entertainingly ludicrous secondary characters make this entertaining.

I do like the ancillary characters. They're always pitched at the right level of nuttiness for me. I've warmed a little more to the art. I know I've seen the guys work before but I can't think where.

Fysh wrote:

on the horizon other than the We3 trade

Very enjoyable if a little too like Manic-5 (mid-90s 2000AD strip)

Draco

Argh. Bum. twice I've lost my post now through stupidity on my part!
I'm not typing it again so the highlights are:

2000AD - thank goodness 4 of the 5 stories finished. annual summer offensive starts next week so it better be better

Ultimates 2 #6: Best of the Ultimate books, nice to see what's happening with Giant/Ant Man.

Sleeper Season 2 #12: Strong finish, hopefully will end there. I recommend the trades to those who do like superhero stuff.

Losers #24: this gritty A-Team story has always worked for me an continues to deliver

100 bullets #61: I have got to go re-read this. More of the same. Leading to some confrontation at the moment.

spooydermot

The Amazing Spiderman TPBs 1-9

currently engrossed on the TPBs (vol 1-9) of Strazinskys Amazing Spider man (got them for a pretty good price on e-bay.)

Theres an interesting enough story line about the origin of spidermans powers (a kind of alternate origin that still allows for the radioactive spider to play its part)

the art work in vol 8 ('sins past') is pretty impressive and warranted a few second looks.

occasionally though, spiderman himself does a bit too much self indulgent monologing and belly button contemplating, which can get a bit tired...although i suppose if your swinging above the streets of New York city all alone, who else you gonna talk to? Also I read the TPBs all in one go, so i guess it was kind of an overdose as opposed to reading the comics issue by issue.

I briefly flicked through and issue of Arana:Heart of the Spider, which has a couple of links in with the current Spiderman story, but i won't say too much about that.


Manhatten Guardian #2

I'm having trouble seeing exactly where this is fitting in with the rest of the '7 soldiers' storyline,the Sheeda haven't made an appearence yet, but its pleasantly quirky and I have to say i thought the who subway pirate thing was pretty cool.


BeoWolf #1

Picked this up to have a look, I'd never heard of Speakeasy comics before and thought i'd give them a look.

Theres not much too say about the first issue,its set against an outbreak of super-powers among previously normal human beings, which kinda set me off thinking about elements of Watchmen/Supreme Powers/Rising Stars.

Ultimate Ironman #2
I picked up the first issue just to have a look and it interested me enough to have a look at the second issue (i have to say the cover art on the second issue is pretty cool) at this stage the story still deals with the (very) early days of tony stark, I'll give it a few more issues to see how it shapes up.



BTW:
Does anyone know where I can get my hands on issue #1 of Atomika? Its not in any of the shops in dublin? Would anywhere down the country still have it and perhaps 'mail order' it to me?

Fysh

I know Other Realms are carrying Atomika as I've been buying it. I could nip in during the week and see if they have any copies left if you want. I'm pretty sure I saw it in Sub City in Galway too last time I was there, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll have any left in the Dublin branch...

spooydermot

Fysh wrote:

I know Other Realms are carrying Atomika as I've been buying it. I could nip in during the week and see if they have any copies left if you want. I'm pretty sure I saw it in Sub City in Galway too last time I was there, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll have any left in the Dublin branch...

Yeah if you wouln't mind having a look, they definatly dont have it in Dublin Sub city

Fysh

After leaving it, what, nearly 2 weeks since my last post, I triumphantly return!

This week's reading:

Parliament Of Justice - One of the more random titles from image, I picked this up because I liked the cover. The artwork is strong, bold black and white bringing out the steampunk setting nicely, but the story is a bit unsure of itself. It starts out as a fun popcorn romp giving us Victorian equivalents of Batman & Robin, before shifting to become something darker, an examination of the superhero like Dark Knight Returns. But what lets it down is that it doesn't say anything original enough on the subject to get away with it, and I suspect it might have been better if it had just played the popcorn romp approach all the way through. Still, I got it for 6euro so I'm happy enough with it.

The Walking Dead : Safety Behind Bars - a strong continuation of the series, mixing good art with a good storyline and the everpresent excellent characterisation. Although I have to admit, I'm starting to wonder if this is going to go anywhere or if it's just going to be a perpetually ongoing series....

Sin City : A Dame To Kill For Having failed to read any further than The Hard Goodbye before seeing the film (*side note : GO AND SEE THE FILM NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO. Without any qualifiers the best comic-to-film adaptation I've ever set eyes on, because it works as a film, and from what I know of the comics it doesn't change things unnecesarily and keeps the spirit and characters exactly right), I finally got back around to picking up the new Sin City trades. A Dame To Kill For isn't hugely different to The Hard Goodbye artistically speaking (which, imo, is no bad thing) but the story is a more subtle beast. Where Hard Goodbye was Marv's story of brutally uncompromising revenge no matter the cost, Dame To Kill For is a tale of manipulation and double-crossings. Dwight is a man haunted by his past who is contacted by an ex who asks him for help, but the age-old rule of noir applies, and things are not as they seem...

Atomika #3 : Golog Atomika must confront Golog, the ice-deity charged with ruling the work-prisons in which the undesirables of the Empire of Rus are kept, in order to strengthen his position. A bit of interesting history for the Empire, and a strangely hollow-feeling slugfest ensues. Still, this is a compelling story so far and I'll be following it until the close of the storyline if the quality keeps up.

Seven Soldiers : Zatanna #2 As with the last issue, there's a few interesting visual tricks here, but overall it feels like the story was taken from the Hellblazer reject script heap. Zatanna is pursued by a shapeless villain called, imaginatively, the Shapeless One, and ends up recruiting a friend's help. It feels too much like lazily-written Constantine for my liking, but I'll take a look at the next one, at least. The shine is starting to wear off the whole 7 Soldiers project for me, with the exception of Klarion The Witchboy. (Next issue is due on Wednesday, hopefully it won't disappoint.)

Matador #2 Isabel Cordova's confrontation with the musical killer takes a turn for the strange, and subsequent police investigation of the hit she stumbled onto sees her under suspicion of being involved. As she carries on digging deeper, it starts to look like the Mob are involved as more than just victims....not a bad issue, although the artwork is a bit blah. An entertaining read, but not exactly groundbreaking work.

City Of Tomorrow #2 : Bright Lights, Big City A better second issue than I'd anticipated. The artwork starts to take on a bit more character as Chaykin highlights the differences between his robot characters and the human players. The setting is firmly in the corrupted future of the City Of Tomorrow, where Tucker Foyle has returned to the city and meets up with his father after a lengthy time away. There's a whistle-stop tour of the City's history to bring us up to speed, as well as plenty of action and further plot development in the form of a growing dissident robot faction. Issue 3 is looking like it should be pretty good.

Mega City 909 #7 Contrary to rumours that the series had been cancelled, issue 7 is out and a nice one it is too. As demonic creatures infest the city (in lavishly-depicted panels, I might add) Phobia tries to stop it and rescue Jaeminae and Jerome from the tower that Kusanagi has taken over. As troops try to fight the demons and their seemingly invincible leader, Hoek finds a way to save himself from the alternate reality he was trapped in...by removing his neural implant and unleashing the monster inside. This series is shaping up for a hell of a concluding issue.

Army Of Darkness : Shop 'Till You Drop Dead #3 More of the same silly fun from this issue. Ash is pulled 500 years into the future, where Deaduns roam the streets being a nuisance more than anything else. He finds out that the Necronomicon still exists as a computer program in the underground portion of the city, and sets out to get himself back in time....only he still can't remember to get the incantation right, after getting it wrong, what, twice before already? So he manages to - once again - unleash the hordes of the dead onto the future. Except this time they're the dead of the digital world, and its Digi-Ash that he has to fight and bead in a Tron-style game to the death.

Fysh

I also picked up Rick Remender's Strange Girl #1 yesterday. Intriguing concept - essentially that the Rapture (as predicted in the Book Of Revelations) comes and God summons the faithful to him in Heaven, leaving everyone else on Earth at the mercy of Lucifer and the minions of Hell. We see this through the eyes of Beth, who is about 12 years old at the time of the Rapture. After it happens we zoom forward abotu 6 or 7 years, to get a view of what Earth is like as Hell's domain. Interesting story and nice artwork, scratchy but without the lack of definition that some of IDW's horror titles have.

Incidentally, spookydermot - I spent about half an hour rooting through the back issues in Other Realms yesterday, and sadly it looks like no Atomika #1 for you. Maybe you could try somewhere like milehighcomics.com, or wait to see if it comes out as a TPB.

Victor Von Doom

Hey,im a newbie to the frank miller universe,ive seen sin city 3 times and id love to know if anyone has any in dept info on kevins character,i know he only spoke to one person and when he did "it was like an angel",i just think its one of the most interesting characters in Sin City,any info would be great.

Fysh

The story of Marv and Kevin was dealt with in "the hard goodbye", the first sin city story. It's been re-released by Dark horse as a collected 12"x9" book and places like Easons or Waterstones seem to be stocking them, if you're interested. But the version presented in the film was every accurate when compared to the comic.

Victor Von Doom

Cheers i'll give it a look.

galactus

Exiles Vol 4.
One of the story arcs ("With this Iron Fist") features Tony ("Iron Man") Stark who has become an evil World President after defeating Dr. Doom.

The Inhumans are in there (Stark wants their DNA). Also Wonder Man has (not so accidendtly) been given a massive dose of gamma radiation and has to resort Zen meditation or else...


Conan #16
Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord are GODS! I've been reading Conan since the oceans drank Atlantis but this is up there with the best of them (ie Roy Thomas & John Buscema).

spooydermot

This thursdays splurge:

Klarion the Witchboy issue 2

Truly enjoyed this one, Klarion and Shining Knight seem to be the glue holding the 7 Soldiers story togeather, Guardian and Zatanna are generally OK, but the real guts of the sheeda story (so far) seem to be with Klarion and Shining Knight. There are a couple of nice link ins with the Guardian story here, and Klarion as a character is nicely quirky.
It's issues like this that have me looking foward to the rest of the story.


Toxin #1

picked this one up cause the front cover artwork was pretty cool (looks kinda 'swamp thing' like). I only know the basics of the whole 'Venom' story line...symbiot etc. But Toxin is a nice spin, a symbiot who does good under the influence of an ex-cop (pat mulligan). Decent enough artwork and the Toxin character itself is pretty cool looking. I'm not so sure about the internal dialog between Toxin and his host, I guess its necessary, but I wouldn't like to see it become the kind of belly button pondering "will i? - Won't I? - Can I go on?" that I have come to associate with Spiderman.


Ultimate Tales: Spiderman 1-2
I picked up this double issue just to see how the Ultimate Spiderman series started off. There are a couple of nice touches, it's a slow burner, the powers don't really emerge until the end of the second issue, I never knew how Peters parents died before, its mentioned in this issue.
There are a few interesting bits, Norman Osborn being more involved with the radioactive/genetically modified spider than in the other spiderman series.
But at the end of the day the 'how peter became spiderman' story is something that we get a flash back to in every other issue of spiderman, so its hardly a huge revolution. But then the Ultimate Series is generally catered more towards people who want to pick up the comic after seeing the movie, and and have to wade through a couple of decades of back story.

House of M #1

Again, bought this out of curiosity, there is no way I am buying all the connecting parts of House of M, it occured to me recently that I'd really just like to read good self contained storys without having to figure out how is a member of the Avengers and who is a member of .....i dunno the SuperHero SoftBall team. That said the opening sequence with the babies is quite striking and sets the scene well.
Almost worth buying for Wolverine referrning to Professor X as 'chuck' (im not sure if he does this a lot in the other x-men comics)

There is a scene here where we see spiderman with the X-Men and it reminded me of seeing a cartoon in my youth where Spiderman was not allowed to join the X-Men cause he was not born a mutant...i always felt bad for spiderman over that........err..despite the fact that he is of course a fictional comic book character.

All in all I'm sure 'house of M' is going to be a good series for anyone well verses in the Marvel universe and the comic itself is a fairly good read, but I'm just not sure about the whole backing every superhero we've got into the one book and hoping for the best (DC of course are also doing this at the moment)

I'm sure anyone who is big into Marvel already has this, but i saw it on their wed site and thought i'd post a link to it:House of M comic checklist

hmm...a lot of issue 1's this week, I don't normally buy issue 1's for the sake of them, but there you go, thats just how it went.


Back issues:

Transfomers UK #100
Saw this and just had to pick it up for old times sake! I had this issue when I was a kid, i remember the wrap around cover and the 100th issue competition inside...fantastic!
Be interesting to see IDWs take on the Transformers franchise when they release their issue 0 in october.....'Crisis on Infinate Cybertrons' anyone?

Alias #1
Picked this up cause I've heard good things about Bendis (also some not so good things) , not mad about the artwork to be honest. Can anyone tell me, what issue is Alias up to at the moment? and is it worth me catching up?Having difficult telling from this issue.

Fysh wrote:

Incidentally, spookydermot - I spent about half an hour rooting through the back issues in Other Realms yesterday, and sadly it looks like no Atomika #1 for you. Maybe you could try somewhere like milehighcomics.com, or wait to see if it comes out as a TPB.

Thanks for checking Fysh! I truly appreciate it! There are a few good comic stores on e-bay that I can pick it up on. I have the other issues of atomica, but haven't read them yet, I'm sure I'll pick up #1 soon, thanks for checking!

A O Malley

spooydermot wrote:

Alias #1
Picked this up cause I've heard good things about Bendis (also some not so good things) , not mad about the artwork to be honest. Can anyone tell me, what issue is Alias up to at the moment? and is it worth me catching up?Having difficult telling from this issue.

Alias finished at 28, it is now The Pulse. Just bought all the back issues but haven’t read them yet.

baldi1212

currently reading the omac project, ultimates, ultimate spiderman, green arrow, daredevil, batman/detective and gotham, gotham central, captain america. Favourite at the mo is daredevil

galactus

Red Son

What if Superman had landed in the Soviet Union instead of the US and grown up a communist?

Apparently this is an "Elseworlds story"...DCs version of Marvel's "What If?" ...which I always loved but found impossible to find.

Supes has a hammer and sickle instead of the usua "S" chest logo!

Artwork is a bit ropey in parts but well worth a read - even if the writer didn't get as much milage out of the story as he should have (my 2c).

spooydermot

Supreme Power #17


mostly a slow burner, a snippet more information about the Amazon womans real form (as well as that of the entity living in the crystal on the back of Spectrums hand)

This issue also devotes a bit more time to the Sprectrum/Kingsley relationship, but doesn't move that particular plot element as far foward as it needs to be at this stage.


Strange Girl #1

Pretty cool idea for a story. As was stated by Fysh before hand, its set 10 years after the Rapture, the story of those who are left on earth.
Theres a definite Tank Girl vibe here, mostly due to the artwork, as well as a bit of Terry Pratchett (small fat demons sitting in a bar drinking) . On the whole, I would have liked to see less cartoony artwork, it could have made it darker whilst keeping the humour, but all in all, I'm looking foward to how this one pans out. Theres a few concept sketches and a note about where the idea came from at the back of the book.

House of M #2

Interesting enough issue, especially the 'new careers' of some of the x-men, and Dr.Strange as a practising psychologist.
The final page is a nice TV style 'to be continued' cliff hanger.

That said despite the grandeur that Marvel are attaching to 'House of M', it does come across as a bit of a glorified 'What If' series spread across the Marvel universe, ditto for Spiderman House of M #1 which I also picked up.

Dream Police #1

Cops who patrol dreams,thats basically the gist of it....
very good dry humour, Dragnet style (VERY dragnet style, the guys name is Thursday for cryin' out loud) .Nice artwork, front cover looks great. I guess it was the fact that its written by Strazinsky that brought it to my attention. its a good concept all right, but I'm wondering will it prove itself as an interesting way to tell stories or will the idea get old very quickly, in anycase, for the moment this is a one-shot issue, but its been hinted that there may be more in the future. At first glance the idea of using dreams as the backdrop for a comic seems to offer limitless opportunites for different stories, but its the kind of idea that might wear thin, but that said its only the first issue, it read well and we haven't yet been given any idea of how the dream universe works, are the Dream Police real people who are dreaming (like the dreamers) or are they like some of the creatures that live in the dream world. In any case a good start.

Toxin #2
Toxin #3
Half heartadly bought these 2, theres a few interesting elements in here which redeem the series, like the point that the Symbiot makes to Mulligan (the Symbiot host): the fact that mulligan cannot be there to raise is own son, but in a sense is rasing the Symbiot (who is a child).

The idea of troubled teens runnning away from adults and forming a gang serving a master has been done to death in comics, and its done again here.

What is interesting though is Mulligan trying to teach the symbiot values ,the differences between right and wrong and why stealing is wrong, to which the symbiot asks if it was OK for the white man to steal america from the indians, when he's told that it happened along time ago the response is something along the lines of : 'so its not a crime as long as you don't get caught immediatly?'

simu

32 Stories - The complete Optic Nerve mini-comics by Adrian Tomine. Have not read yet but should be good.

fun bus

Sin city-the hard goodbye. ya just gotta love marv. just finished the first copy of fables i ever read- absolutely LOVED it!

Epitaph

fun bus wrote:

just finished the first copy of fables i ever read- absolutely LOVED it!

Read two volumes over the weekend, think it was 4 and 5. Only leafed through a single issue before, and I must say I thought both stories were outstanding, especially "The Last Castle". Fairly easy to get into as well, I thought.

Fysh

simu wrote:

32 Stories - The complete Optic Nerve mini-comics by Adrian Tomine. Have not read yet but should be good.

Ooh, that sounds good - is it one big book or several volumes? I really have to get more of Tomine's stuff...

Lately, I am been reading:

Klarion The Witch Boy #2 - Not a bad issue, really, but somehow it feels a little hollow. Some nice touches (eg the Leviathan children) and it's still the strongest 7 Soldiers series so far for me, but I can't get rid of the itchy feeling that it's a placeholder issue more than anything else. Mind you, the artwork is still grabbing my eyeballs and yanking them out of my head, so I won't complain too much.

Mnevore #3 - As the different threads start to come together, I still can't tell whether this is bland or just a slow-burner. I shouldn't be wondering whether to carry on when I'm at the half-way point in the series, but on the other hand the concept won't get out of my brain because it is a very good one. Very likely I'll stick it to the end, but I hope it's worth it.

"Jimmy Corrigan : The Smartest Kid On Earth" by Chris Ware - I've already read it once, but got the chance to pick it up for £7, which was dead cheap. Certainly one of the best graphic novels I've ever read, and something I'm looking forward to reading again.

"Five is the perfect number" - another cheap purchase (£5), this is a nice self-contained story. It starts with a tale of mafia family loyalty, betrayal and revenge before becoming a story about hopes, dreams and the quest for personal redemption. The artwork is excellent, the murky world perfectly described by the wavering lines and 4-tone colour. Definitely worth a look.

I also wanted to pick up Little Star #3, but by the time I swung by Other Realms they seemed to be sold out. I have to get a box sorted out there, I'm sick of missing issues through not getting in first thing on a Thursday...