The Comic Book Discussion Thread

[megladon8]

When Alan Moore blatantly insults t he readers of his and his peers' work, and yet these readers continue to salivate over everything he so much as spits on, yes it continues to bother me.

[Grouchy]

Bah, he's just an excellent writer. Pablo Picasso was a huge asshole, but none interested in art can ignore his work. Same goes for Moore and comics.

[Irish]

I get it, none likes insults, but the main target of his anger is corporations and not the average reader.

This is where he should have directed his comments -- towards corps & the ever extending Disneyfication of pop culture. Had he any tact at all.

He also could have thrown in a few words about how shitty superhero comics stunt the entire medium. But, he didn't. Oh well. The next time he's got a book to plug, I'm sure there will be more choice quotes. :lol:

[megladon8]

Bah, he's just an excellent writer. Pablo Picasso was a huge asshole, but none interested in art can ignore his work. Same goes for Moore and comics.

I never said I don't appreciate his work. The opposite, actually - I've said a few times during this convo that he is brilliant.

[Sven]

Pablo Picasso was a huge asshole, but none interested in art can ignore his work.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk2hYnPo77M

[Sven]

... and yet these readers continue to salivate over everything he so much as spits on...

Looks like you're doing some overstating of your own.

[ledfloyd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk2hYnPo77M

might as well go to the source
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1agI3u1YUjQ

[Sven]

might as well go to the source

Yeah, but the other one is Bowie, so...

[Sven]

Powers is so goddamn good. Didn't think I'd think it, given the obviousness of the premise and the gigantic BENDIS stamp all over it, but it reads like gangbusters. Has some creative character work, and is surprising in many of its transitions and developments. Still got a ways to go with it, but it's listworthy for sure.

Biggest criticism is too many identical panel sequences. Big peeve of mine when copy/paste is noticeable.

[sevenarts]

Not sure if anyone here cares, but the great art comics publisher Picturebox is closing its doors, and going out with a huge 50% off sale. This is a pretty huge loss, they were one of the very best publishers for the particular strains of weird, arty comics that they put out. They had a relatively compact (and, apart from occasional forays into art/photo books, very focused) catalogue but a significant impact in terms of the things they published: Yuichi Yokoyama, Gary Panter, CF, Brian Chippendale, Frank Santoro, Sammy Harkham, and lots more.

[dreamdead]

Kinda fun to think about this kind of list. Best comics artists in 2013 (http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/12/the-best-comics-artists-of-2013.html)...

[slqrick]

Anyone know where to buy Bendis' Alias? I was trying to get whatever was available but was having trouble on Amazon.

[megladon8]

Any opinions on Jeff Smith's "RASL"?

It sounds wonderful but the reviews seem really mixed.

[sevenarts]

Any opinions on Jeff Smith's "RASL"?

It sounds wonderful but the reviews seem really mixed.

Don't believe the reviews, it's good. A cool sci-fi storyline, some bits that mine more of a horror tone, fantastic art, some especially stellar issues midway through that have more of a philosophical tone, and great genre action throughout. It's definitely a worthwhile read, especially if you're a Smith fan to begin with.

[EyesWideOpen]

Now is a really great time for new comics. I've read more great newly started comic series over the last few months then anytime I can remember. A Voice in the Dark, Alex + Ada, Black Science, God is Dead, Lazarus, Letter 44, Pretty Deadly, Rat Queens, Rocket Girl, Sex Criminals, Velvet, and Zero. I've really dug all of them.

[D_Davis]

Powers is so goddamn good. Didn't think I'd think it, given the obviousness of the premise and the gigantic BENDIS stamp all over it, but it reads like gangbusters. Has some creative character work, and is surprising in many of its transitions and developments. Still got a ways to go with it, but it's listworthy for sure.


Heck yeah it is. It was one of the last things I read when I stopped reading comics the last time, and I really dug it. Need to catch up with it now.

[slqrick]

Now is a really great time for new comics. I've read more great newly started comic series over the last few months then anytime I can remember. A Voice in the Dark, Alex + Ada, Black Science, God is Dead, Lazarus, Letter 44, Pretty Deadly, Rat Queens, Rocket Girl, Sex Criminals, Velvet, and Zero. I've really dug all of them.

Big fan of everything I've read from Alex Kot so far. I'm looking forward to his Secret Avengers stuff when it relaunches.

[Sven]

Kot lost me on issue 1 of Zero, but I hear later issues are better. Seems like a style-over-substance kinda guy. But he's talented and young, so here's hoping he can stay off the junk long enough to become something great.

First chapter down of Moore/McLaren/Johnston/Percio's Fashion Beast and it wallops. Moves like a dream, and I'm honestly having a hard time believing that it (at least this first issue) would translate to film. Speaks to the talent involved.

[sevenarts]

Issue 1 of Zero didn't wow me either, to the point that I wasn't going to keep buying it. Issues 2-3 made it one of my top 10 books of the year. What Kot is really up to in this book unfortunately isn't too apparent in the first issue, but it turns out to be very substantial indeed. It's become something really rich and emotional and powerful, and I really hope he keeps it up. Definitely read 2 at least, it has a few of the most affecting, formally well-realized sequences in comics this year.

[Sven]

Definitely read 2 at least, it has a few of the most affecting, formally well-realized sequences in comics this year.

My LCS was sold out of this today, otherwise I'd've given it a shot. I'm definitely going to give it a try after your rec.

Shaolin Cowboy... jeepers.

Also, last issues of Deathmatch and Copra. What will take their place?

[Sven]

Valiant is the best publisher right now. Unity kicks so many of the butts, Venditti's XO is a gripping potboiler, Bloodshot (& Hard CORPS) is action-thriller comics at their peak, Harbinger just keeps getting weirder and more resonant, Milligan's issue of Shadowman hit it out of the park, Archer and Armstrong offers tight plotting and laughs-a-plenty. I've still not dived into Quantum & Woody or Eternal Warrior, but I may not be able to resist the pull much longer. Valiant editors know exactly how to do it.

[Skitch]

Picked up Batman: Year 100, Essential Captain America vol 3, and Showcase JLA vol 4 for $5 each. :)

[slqrick]

XO is really great, just a bit lacking on the character side.

[number8]

OH FUCK OH SHIT

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bbn3MVhCEAAdYTK.jpg:large

[sevenarts]

Best news in fucking forever.

[number8]

Holy shit they're not even going to renumber it. That is fantastic.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BbtCHk8CAAAvQYy.jpg:large

[Irish]

FYI, the first four issues of the digital edition are free until Mar 12:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/60404-laphams-s-stray-bullets-is-back-in-print-and-digital.html

[Sven]

Many Stray Bullets issues really aren't "self-contained". Many of them are resolutionless chapters in a larger story. I don't know why comics reporters continue to push that they are.

[number8]

Many Stray Bullets issues really aren't "self-contained". Many of them are resolutionless chapters in a larger story. I don't know why comics reporters continue to push that they are.

They're just quoting Lapham himself, who have always insisted that each issue can be read on its own.


I've designed "Stray Bullets" for the kind of reader that I am. I don't go into comic book shops regularly, so when I go in, I don't want to pick up stuff that I'm going to be confused by when I'm reading. If I get stuck with my life and come back to something three months later, I want to come back to a series and just pick up the story. One of the elements about "Stray Bullets" is that every issue is new-reader friendly. When you start getting up into 30, 40 issues, people see the number and feel alienated, like they have to go back and read the previous stuff. I think people could jump in on "Killers" #4, but seeing the #1 makes it easy for new readers to jump in.

[Sven]

It's a nice mission statement, but "new reader friendly" and "self contained" are very different. Also, if that was his intention, I think it says more about his positive opinion of his readers' intelligence (compliment accepted, Sr. Lapham!) than the success of each of his chapters being a sensible introduction.

[number8]

He does seem to see it as individual stories that just happen to form a larger one. Another quote:


One of the things about "Stray Bullets" is that the stories get into arcs, which have themes, but each issue is individually given a complete story. In one way, it's just a continuation of one to the other; it's just a new story.

I think it's pretty much true. I wouldn't use the term "self contained," but each issue is a complete narrative. You can read random issues of Stray Bullets and they will make sense as mini stories. It's just that you won't get what they really mean unless you read the full arc.

Young Liars was the same way.

[sevenarts]

I think it's pretty much true. I wouldn't use the term "self contained," but each issue is a complete narrative. You can read random issues of Stray Bullets and they will make sense as mini stories. It's just that you won't get what they really mean unless you read the full arc.

Yeah, I think this is right. The book has a real modular structure, where each issue can to some degree stand in isolation but has deeper meanings and connections in the context of the whole. For me, that structure is one of the many really fascinating and rich aspects of Lapham's storytelling in Stray Bullets, it works really well. It's like, you can in theory begin and end a story anywhere, but the story will have different meanings depend on where you place those points, and Lapham's structure really emphasizes that idea.

[number8]

I always thought the title refers to that.

[Sven]

Without pulling out the issues for examples, I'll just say that I reread the series this summer with modular narration specifically in mind, and while there may be motions to end each issue with a conclusive gesture, some of the arcs play out like a conventional multi-issue arc--where characters make decisions based on experiences in past chapters and issues open on action continued from the previous issue (that is not reestablished in the text).

Earlier issues were stronger at standing alone, but I do not think that the later issues are any more successful at modular structure than your average contemporary comic (most of which are admittedly not that hard to understand on their own).

This isn't a rag on the series, which I love. But I think that aspect is being oversold.

[Skitch]

Where are some good cheap places to buy physical copies online? Where do you shop?

[Sven]

mycomicshop.com

Their the best as far as selection + price goes. They used to have a free shipping option, but not anymore.

[Skitch]

mycomicshop.com

Their the best as far as selection + price goes. They used to have a free shipping option, but not anymore.

That's were I keep feeling prices are too high. $0.99 for the book, $3.99 for shipping. :crazy:

Thanks tho, I will check out that site.

[Sven]

That's were I keep feeling prices are too high. $0.99 for the book, $3.99 for shipping. :crazy:

Thanks tho, I will check out that site.

Well, there really is no way to ship any book of any size for less than three bucks.

[number8]

The regular cover for the 4th printing of Sex Criminals #1:

https://www.imagecomics.com/uploads/news/images/sexcrim1-4thprint-cov.jpg

[Skitch]

Well, there really is no way to ship any book of any size for less than three bucks.

Turns out I was misunderstanding some of the sites, so I'm a bonehead, but thanks for that site rec, I liked it the best and anxiously await my order!

[number8]

Awww yiss, I now get review copies from IDW too. I need to work on getting onto Valiant's next.

[Skitch]

Detective #598 (part 1 of 3). Holy shit what a great issue. Cannot wait to read the rest of this run.

[number8]

After 2 issues, I was ready to drop Pretty Deadly, but #3 somehow clicked it for me, so I'll stick by it for a few more issues. Still not wild about Emma Rios' sequential art. She's fine with splash pages, but the big action scene in #2 would have been so much better if you could tell who was attacking who.

[number8]

I'm really tempted to add Mick Foley's WWE comic to my pull list. I love that it's basically a Sin City ripoff with wrestling.

[Skitch]

Second order from mycomicshop.com is on its way. Included are Batman: Black And White #2, #3, Detective #603, and seven more issues of Alan Moore Swamp Things.

[Skitch]

mycomicshop.com has all Batman and related titles on sale this week.

[Acapelli]

mycomicshop.com has all Batman and related titles on sale this week.
is there a discount code or something? need to get the issues of batman inc i'm missing

[Skitch]

is there a discount code or something? need to get the issues of batman inc i'm missing

On the site theres a button for 'on sale' (on the right, just below Captain America). If not that, sign up for the preferred customer discount (they just send you emails about their weekly discounts). This weeks password for discount is HAPPYNEWYEAR.

Heres their selection of Batman Inc (http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?q=batman+inc&pubid=&PubRng=) when searched.

[number8]

I just got this email.


The End of an Era

All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.

For those who are new to the industry, Dark Horse revolutionized the treatment of comics based on films. After a history of movie properties being poorly handled with little regard for execution and continuity, Dark Horse took a new approach, carefully choosing licenses and approaching them with excitement and creative energy. Our goal was to create sequels and prequels to the films we loved, paying careful attention to quality and detail, essentially treating those films as though they were our own. Star Wars has been the crown jewel of this approach. We began chasing the title as far back as 1989, and with the launch of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s Dark Empire, a new era in comics was born. I’m not ashamed to admit that we were Star Wars geeks, and we have been determined to spare neither effort nor expense in the pursuit of excellence.

It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever. For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That’s a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014 may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one. We know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.

Mike Richardson

[Skitch]

Wow, I forgot about that connection with the Disney takeover of Lucasfilm.

[EyesWideOpen]

That's got to suck for dark horse. They have about 100 Star Wars titles in previews every month.

[Sven]

I tried reading Brian Wood's Star Wars comic and it was soooooo boring. Here's hoping Fred Van Lente and Mark Bagley can make the franchise sing again.

[/sarcasm, btw...]

[TGM]

For those interested, just released a new chapter for the comic book version of Velcro: The Ninja Kat, which you can now read online. Check it out! :) http://www.velcrotheninjakat.com/2014/01/velcro-comic-chapter-6.html

[number8]

Some good stuff announced at Image Expo. DeConnick's Bitch Planet is obviously the talk of the expo.

Fraction adapting The Odyssey with gender-swapped aliens sounds fucking wild.

Nick Spencer doing a sci-fi book with Frazer Irving is notable.

Gillen and McKelvie doing a new book that sounds like a mix of Phonograms and American Gods.

[sevenarts]

Yeah lots of good stuff here. The big WOW pitch to me, so far, seems like Brandon Graham and Emma Rios co-writing a shared fantasy universe comic with rotating artists (presumably including themselves sometimes). I mean, holy shit.

[sevenarts]

And the big Brubaker/Phillips announcement hinted at in yesterday's Fatale backmatter is that the duo have signed a 5-year deal with Image to do anything they want to do, starting with a Criminal-like series that will start immediately after Fatale ends.

[number8]

Scott Snyder doing a book with Jock for Image??!! That's... surprising.

[Sven]

Only thing in this world I'm sure of is that nothing at the Image Expo is gonna be anywhere near as awesome as V:tNC.

[Sven]

Just looked up "potboiler". Ever since I used it to describe XO Manowar, it's been nagging at me. Turns out I used it correctly, but practically all of the definitions I see for it online have a negative connotation, defining it with "hackwork", "low quality", etc. Am I incorrect in thinking that, especially with the uptick in genre appreciation in these troubling times, "potboiler" is often used in a positive way? To describe something efficiently paced and exciting in that grungy, kinetic kind of way?

[number8]

Yo Copra fans, Marvel has snagged Michel Fiffe to be the new writer of Ultimates when it relaunches in April as All-New Ultimates.

[sevenarts]

Yeah that's pretty crazy and awesome. And despite being called Ultimates it's almost all characters from Bendis' USM run. It looks like it's basically gonna be a Young Avengers-style comic written by Fiffe.

[number8]

Yeah, I dunno what the deal is, with if it's still going to be a government sponsored team, it's kinda weird that the members are just teenagers.

[Gittes]

Can anyone here offer some Chris Ware recommendations? I read (and loved) Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth many years ago and I've been thinking about it a lot lately. So, I'm in the mood to seek out some of his other work, but I'm trying to make up my mind about where to start. I was going to pick up Building Stories, but I'm worried that I won't have the space to store or properly read it. I really want to get that eventually, though. Looks amazing.

My next thought was Lint:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vA%2By-Oj-L._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I'm not familiar with his Acme Novelty Library output. Is each instalment a stand-alone entry or are they narratively related? It seems like it's difficult to get any of the earlier Acme releases, unless I'm overlooking some kind of compilation.

[ledfloyd]

Most of the early ones are collected in Jimmy Corrigan, Quimby the Mouse, and the Report to Shareholders thing. Oh, and Building Stories of course.

Lately he's been working on Rusty Brown, but Lint works as a stand alone, and I would even say #19 does as well. #19 also happens to be my favorite comic ever written.

[Gittes]

Most of the early ones are collected in Jimmy Corrigan, Quimby the Mouse, and the Report to Shareholders thing. Oh, and Building Stories of course.

Lately he's been working on Rusty Brown, but Lint works as a stand alone, and I would even say #19 does as well. #19 also happens to be my favorite comic ever written.

So, I'm guessing Rusty Brown will eventually be compiled into its own work like Jimmy Corrigan?

Your praise for #19 has me interested, so I'll keep an eye out for it. It's not available on Amazon, unfortunately.

[ledfloyd]

So, I'm guessing Rusty Brown will eventually be compiled into its own work like Jimmy Corrigan?
One would assume.

[Sven]

Fiffe's writing was hardly the draw of Copra. His illustration elevated what was basically regurgitated troping. Shorthand characterizations and heavy leaning on knowledge of formula. Hopefully his creative sparkle is not dulled working on a notoriously convoluted corporate team book. The summary does not leave much room for optimism, though.

[Sven]

Remender/Tocchini's Low. Finally announced. Yes.

[Acapelli]

And the big Brubaker/Phillips announcement hinted at in yesterday's Fatale backmatter is that the duo have signed a 5-year deal with Image to do anything they want to do, starting with a Criminal-like series that will start immediately after Fatale ends.
ugh, i'd really rather they actually do more criminal. i really loved the world building of that book and wished they didn't feel the need to start again with another series

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm not sure there's anyone more frustrating to me than Brian K Vaughn. I just finished the first two volumes of Saga. Much like Y: the Last Man, he's crafted an immensely compelling narrative and built a fascinating world, but a reader has to suffer through and/or ignore his shallow themes and terribly juvenile dialogue in order to enjoy that narrative. I'm going to continue, because I'm hooked into finding out what happens, but I can tell I'll find it disappointing on the whole when I finish.

[number8]

Looks fucking awesome. (http://www.southernbastards.com/)

[ledfloyd]

Looks fucking awesome. (http://www.southernbastards.com/)

Looks like the Jason Aaron book I've been waiting for since Scalped ended.

[number8]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/833a5c4d94fc6fd06a9c00596b0c13 a4/tumblr_mzpn55bsHq1r7dgeuo1_500 .jpg

[D_Davis]

Right now, I'm totally into Attack on Titan. Damn - what a fantastic comic book. It's got to be one of the most visceral and exciting things I've ever read. It's pure adrenalin and horrifying, totally weird and insane.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Has anyone read Violent Messiahs? I'm halfway through The Book of Job and I'm loving it.

[number8]

Has anyone read Violent Messiahs? I'm halfway through The Book of Job and I'm loving it.

Why yes. Have you read Dysart's Unknown Soldier?

[Kurosawa Fan]

Why yes. Have you read Dysart's Unknown Soldier?

Nope. Haven't read anything by Dysart. I came across the book at Barnes & Noble of all places (someone had ordered it and never picked it up, so they put it on the shelf) and it looked fascinating so I bought it. Knew nothing about the book or its creators.

[Sven]

Yeah, I commented on Violent Messiahs several months ago. Dysart is one of the very best writers of comics that I've read. Top five-worthy. (His current work with Valiant is killing me.) I love the elegiac tone in VM, combining the grit and tension of a vigilante thriller with the somber poesy of a dirge. There's a follow-up arc called Lamenting Pain that is unmissable.

[slqrick]

Yeah, count me as another Dysart fan. Unknown Soldier was really great, and his Valiant work has been some of my favorite stuff in the last couple of years.

[Sven]

My favorite Dysart book is his run on Swamp Thing. He flexed his environmentalist chops on his sweet, beautifully rendered if not-a-little-ham-fisted collaboration with Neil Young, Greendale. (I attribute the work's overt messaging to Young.) But it is on Swamp Thing that the full force of his passion for ecological concerns is felt. It's also a resonant deconstruction of character, as well as a popping showcase for the Breccia brothers on art. Definitely worth hunting down.

I also really love his short story featured in the Vertigo anthology The Unexpected. Terrific, haunting rumination on property, legacy, and monsters drawn by Dalrymple.

[number8]

I own this and one day I hope to have it signed by him:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/Van_Helsing_-_From_Beneath_the_Rue_Morgue_0 1.jpg

[slqrick]

I know we've done this before, but since its a new year and all that: current series/miniseries worth reading?

[Sven]

OMG, guys. Check out this announcement:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/01/22/joe-casey-brings-back-jack-kirbys-captain-victory/

[Kurosawa Fan]

Very cool that Dysart is someone to pursue. I'll add Unknown Soldier, Valiant, and the Swamp Thing run to my read list, which is pretty much unmanageable at this point.

[EyesWideOpen]

Once my last few DCBS shipments come over the next few months I'm getting out of the comic game. I have most of the major Image stuff (Fatale, Saga, Nowhere Men, Manhattan Projects, Revival, East of West, Mind MGMT, etc) that has came out over the last few years along with some other indie series (Rachel Rising, God is Dead, etc) . I'll be looking to get rid of them for cheap once I get all the issues in. I'll post lists as I get the last few issues of series in but if there is anything you're interested in let me know.

[number8]

Valiant is a company, not a book.

[Acapelli]

OMG, guys. Check out this announcement:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/01/22/joe-casey-brings-back-jack-kirbys-captain-victory/
yeah, this sounds fucking incredible

[Kurosawa Fan]

Valiant is a company, not a book.

Whoops. What titles should I prioritize? Everything he did with Valiant?

[Sven]

Whoops. What titles should I prioritize? Everything he did with Valiant?

He has written Harbinger and is co-writing Bloodshot and Hard C.O.R.P.S. Harbinger is around issue 20... it starts okay, but it gets real good around issue 12. You only need to prioritize Bloodshot once you make it to the crossover arc.

[D_Davis]

Finished the first volume of Attack on Titan. Not since Yoshihisa Tagami's Grey have I read a comic book so overflowing with kinetic energy. The images explode off the page, grab you by the neck, and demand your full attention. It's like being visually assaulted, but only in the best possible way. For the first time in many years, comics feel important to me again - this series has grabbed my attention like only the best things did when I was young and first getting into manga and comic books in general. It's the most punk rock things I've experienced in ages. I might actually purchase these in paper-book, just because I want to have the actual pages to look at over and over again.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5121/phpxbakvyam.jpg

[Skitch]

I saw an anime series of the same name was added to Netflix. I plan on starting it soon.

[D_Davis]

I saw an anime series of the same name was added to Netflix. I plan on starting it soon.

Yep - I'm now fully on the bandwagon. I understand now what it was voted best anime series of last year by so many. It rocks so much.

[Skitch]

Yep - I'm now fully on the bandwagon. I understand now what it was voted best anime series of last year by so many. It rocks so much.

Hot damn I'm gonna start this asap.

[Sven]

Anyone else read Kelly/Greco's Bad Dog? It finally finished and what a weird concoction...
New Eternal Warrior issue rockets the title to near the top of my list.
Mitten's performance on Umbral is my favorite comics art of the moment. Scribblemanes and splatterwraiths... oh my.
And Deadly Class was a groovy surprise. Remender, man.

[Skitch]

Filled a good chunk of missing X-Cutioner's Song gapage today, as well as finally choosing a new book to follow monthly...picked up #0, #1, #2 of Harley Quinn. Hope I like it enough to keep getting it.

[Dukefrukem]

Can people please post photos of how you store your comics?

I'm freaking out on how to store them as I did with my CD and DVD cases.

[number8]

Hah. My shop made this announcement (http://comicsbeat.com/bergen-street-comics-to-go-subs-only-on-big-two-monthly-comics/). Not gonna affect me, really, but this could be interesting.

[Sven]

Ah, good ol' BSC. I was at their opening. Glad they're still around.

[Skitch]

Picked up Wolverine #1 (hmmm, I have reservations about this title), Punisher #1 (this was pretty good), and Batman: Black and White #1. I know B&W#6 came out today...but I didn't know they were doing another run of this! I'm glad, but it puts me behind lol.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Hah. My shop made this announcement (http://comicsbeat.com/bergen-street-comics-to-go-subs-only-on-big-two-monthly-comics/). Not gonna affect me, really, but this could be interesting.

Hey, I spent a freakin' ton of money in there. Loved that shop!

[Sven]

Turok is a good first issue. Made me want the second, anyway. I'm sad that all the other new Gold Key reboots with Dynamite boast milquetoasty specs. Neil Edwards on Doctor Spektor? Hmm...

[number8]

Ugh, Goran Parlov is doing a book with Mark Millar.

[Sven]

Ugh, Goran Parlov is doing a book with Mark Millar.

My exact lamentation when I read about his project with Fegredo.

[dreamdead]

So Locke and Key has apparently wrapped up? We'll be getting to the final volume in the coming couple of weeks once our library gets it in, but were people pleased by it?

[slqrick]

I liked it. I think it delivers on all the mythology stuff, the art is tremendous as usual, and the character growth is earned. I think I prefer the first couple of volumes though, just personally.

[Skitch]

I'm planning on picking up Fuse #1. Anyone else?

[Sven]

I'm planning on picking up Fuse #1. Anyone else?

/raises hand

Should be good.

[D_Davis]

Good lord - just when I think Berserk can't get any more bleak....it gets like 50 times more bleak. This comic book more thruoughly explores the depths of humanity's hell and depravity more than anything else I've read.

[D_Davis]

Berserk has completely absorbed my soul. In the last few days, I've blown through the first 6 volumes. What a tremendous achievement this is. It's got a singular voice and vision that is only rivaled by the likes of Cerebus and Bone, and it takes the idea of dark and twist fantasy to a whole new level (A new high? A new low? The depths of hell?). And what's more, all of the unpleasantness, debauchery, grit, dirt and unease is totally and completely earned; it is over the top, but not superfluous, and each incredibly nasty and tragic thing that happens is there for a reason. Unfortunately, it is NOT something I can read in public, and so I have to sit at work all day thinking about it. It's really cool to see the inspiration for the Souls games in this form - so many things from the Souls games were lifted straight from the pages of the manga.

I've heard that it starts to meander after the first two arcs, and that there still isn't a conclusion in sight, but I'm really enjoying it right now, and I genuinely cannot wait to discover what happens next.

[Skitch]

Sorry if I've already asked this, but have you seen the anime?

[D_Davis]

Sorry if I've already asked this, but have you seen the anime?

I started watching it years it ago when it first appeared on DVD here in the States, but it didn't do much for me.

I did, however, like the Dreamcast game. :)

I want to watch it now, because I think I'll like it.

[Skitch]

I started watching it years it ago when it first appeared on DVD here in the States, but it didn't do much for me.

I did, however, like the Dreamcast game. :)

I want to watch it now, because I think I'll like it.

I own the remastered boxset. Its so fucking hardcore. No idea if it holds up to books though.

[D_Davis]

I own the remastered boxset. Its so fucking hardcore. No idea if it holds up to books though.

I'll check it out for sure.

[Skitch]

/raises hand

Should be good.

I quite enjoyed this. Issue one wasn't mind blowing, but I have a feeling it is going to be a series really worth continuing.

[D_Davis]

Volume 8 of Berserk is the first volume of the series that I haven't liked. Not bad. Out of the first 1600 pages, I've disliked 200 of them.

[Skitch]

Picked up Punisher #2, Harley Quinn #3, Batman: Black & White #3, and UncannyX-Men #294 (X-Cutioner's Song part 1). Just need the other 2 issues of Uncanny and I'll have all of Song.

[Skitch]

Can people please post photos of how you store your comics?

I'm freaking out on how to store them as I did with my CD and DVD cases.

Didn't mean to ignore you Duke, but my answer is mega boring. Borded, bagged, longbox. Nothing special.

[Sven]

Kindt's killing it on Unity, maybe the best-written book on the stands right now. If only they allowed him to do something a little bigger, a little crazier. Something, like, say, a distant-future Japanese crime thriller. Oh wait... what's that...?

http://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/RAI_001_VARIANT_EVANS-227x350.jpg

[Sven]

I checked my shelf. Yes. I think the three best-written current comics are Unity, Satellite Sam, and Catalyst Comix. If we weren't between Ferals series, that would be a contender.

[sevenarts]

I'm totally with you on Catalyst Comix (brilliant meta-writing on every single page) and Satellite Sam (some of the best dialogue in comics right now) but I'm curious what you see in Kindt's Unity. To me, it's one of the least impressive Valiant books, not bad necessarily but not something I'd pick as a standout on any front. I'm much more into the loopy satire of Archer & Armstrong or the well-crafted balance of action, thematic heft, and character in books like Harbinger or X-O Manowar.

[number8]

I'm pretty bummed that there's only 1 more issue of Catalyst left.

[sevenarts]

I'm pretty bummed that there's only 1 more issue of Catalyst left.

I'm thinking (hoping) we'll get more of the same anyway with Casey's Captain Victory. If not better; the roster of artists on that looks insane, and the source material is really rich.

[Sven]

Kindt's writing in Unity is impressive in a different way than the other two. SS and CC rely on writerly wordslinging, like you said, meta (that is, an awareness categorized by the knowing bombast of its vocabulary) and witty dialogue. Kindt's appeal is in the looseness of his imagination, and the rhythm of his storytelling. There's an edge with Kindt that makes it seem like anything could go down, so I never know how his stories are gonna unfold. I love that the idea of "unity" (and "loyalty", "patriotism", Aric/XO, etc) dictates the meat of this complicated tale of fantasy espionage. The framing device with the blogger effectively calibrates the book's interest in perspective as a powerful political tool, and engine of the "unity" theme, which works in a nice tandem with XO Manowar's recent development of Aric into something greater than a fortuitous meathead. It helps that Braithwaite is the best there is, but the sequencing is also impressive. Something that no Kindt book has ever surrendered is economy, and Unity's wham-bam pace and clarity of action is too addictive to deny. (And as much as I like them, I would not describe either CC or SS as particularly economical.)

[Skitch]

Anybody know anything about Evil Empire (Boom, 3/5) or Veil (Dark Horse 3/5)?

[slqrick]

Recently caught up on Brian Wood's Conan the Barbarian run...just as he's finished it, it seems. Really great stuff, and a tremendous last arc.

[slqrick]

Nowhere Men is so, so awesome.

[number8]

It is! The release schedule is killing me, but I can understand it for how meticulously designed every issue is.

[Skitch]

Raided some $0.25 and $1 bins today. Got a bunch of Hellblazer, some of The Question's run, a Phillip K. Dick Electric Ant run, but I think the prize of the day was a Saga #1 in pristine condition for a buck. Did I do good?

[Sven]

Miss Rauch's colors on Umbral, but still loving the constant motion.
Bloodshot and HardCORPS is addictively pitched in the barren Vennspace of action-fantasy-humanist character drama.
Oh, and Black Science does everything right. Nice that Remender's on a roll. Seriously holding my breath for Low.

[TGM]

Hey guys, for those interested, a new chapter of my Velcro: The Ninja Kat comic has been posted, and is ready for your viewing pleasure. :) http://www.velcrotheninjakat.com/2014/03/velcro-comic-chapter-7.html

[Skitch]

Dear Comics Reader,

In the course of a recent review and upgrade of our security infrastructure, we determined that an unauthorized individual accessed a database of ours that contained usernames, email addresses, and cryptographically protected passwords.

Payment account information is not stored on our servers.

Even though we store our passwords in protected form, as a precautionary measure we are requiring all users to change their passwords on the comiXology platform and recommend that you promptly change your password on any other website where you use the same or a similar password. You can reset your comiXology.com password here.

We have taken additional steps to strengthen our security procedures and systems, and we will continue to implement improvements on an ongoing basis.

Please note that we will never ask you for personal or account information in an e-mail, so exercise caution if you receive emails that ask for personal information or direct you to a site where you are asked to provide personal information.

We apologize for the inconvenience. If you have any questions, please contact us by sending an email to support@comixology.com

Sincerely,

ComiXology

...

[Dukefrukem]

I got that e-mail too. Bummer.

[sevenarts]

Anybody else excited for Stray Bullets? I was going to re-read a few selected bits of it before the new material starts coming out, but now I got sucked into reading it all. So good.

[Sven]

Finally got around to Delano/Jock's Hellblazer: Pandemonium. Basically it made me wanna reread all of Delano's work (and I just got through it all!). It's kind of difficult to wrap my mind around how well he writes. Jock's a little different. Not a bad artist, by any stretch, but I'm not compelled by his comics work. Seems like this book would've benefitted from a Chris Weston or JG Jones-type. I'm not convinced by Jock's demons.

Whatever. Masterpiece. The push-pull of hellish terror and online poker feels trivial at first, but it comes out a witty 21st century extension of Delano's approach to Constantine, which is alpha, and defined by self-absorption and casual subversion. I also love that Delano himself is an online poker junkie, and explores well its draw here.

[number8]

Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition comes out today and I forgot to save up money for it.

[sevenarts]

The new Stray Bullets issues are incredible.

[Sven]

The new Stray Bullets issues are incredible.

They are, but also reinforce the bunk of the "contained story issues" marketing angle. While someone could pick up 41 and get the gist, a gist (bolstered as it is by excellent writing and an unparalleled knack for sequencing) is all they're getting.

Also, one of Lapham's primary appeals as an illustrator is the smoothness and crispness of his lines. I don't know if it's newer digital rendering, new paper, change in technique or what, but it seems like these new books are rougher about the edge. Less precise. Juice Squeezers is visually tighter.

Why I always gotta nitpick...?

[sevenarts]

I reread the entirety of Stray Bullets in the last week and I still don't really agree that the self-contained story angle is just a marketing thing or that it's overhyped. It's true that Lapham obviously made more of an effort to keep things contained in the early days of the series: everything through the Other People arc works really well as individual issues, even when building towards larger stories, but Dark Days and Hijinks & Derring-Do are structured somewhat more traditionally as continuous arcs. Even then, though, Lapham breaks things up in ways that are subtly different from the usual ongoing storyline, suggesting that even in his most fluid, cliffhanger-laden narratives, he's still thinking a lot about the individual issue and the story that's told in each issue.

The Hijinks arc is probably Lapham's most conventionally structured storyline, but even in that one, most of the individual issues tell more or less complete stories that build towards the larger whole: #31 contains a full character arc for Leon, #32 is all about the Finger Man and the kid making funny faces, #33 is a light farce about Virginia setting the jocks and the stoners against each other at a party, #34 introduces Huss and his issues with sex, #35 is the story of Tony & Stef, #36 is the viciously funny issue about Virginia's mom and Craig, #39 is the Amy Racecar Rashomon story that only obliquely comments on the events of the surrounding issues, and so on. All this stuff gradually builds into a complete story, and the later issues of the arc flow together more seamlessly, but this is still a very granular way of building a story, very different from the usual "to be continued" structured. It gives the impression of all these individual stories gradually connecting and layering as the characters overlap and intersect in various ways. I think it's a very unique way of dealing with the serial narrative structure of the monthly comic, and dismissing it as a mere marketing angle overlooks one of Lapham's great strengths as a writer and storyteller. It can be easy to lose sight of when reading the series in one big chunk, which tends to smooth out the narrative and ease the transitions between issues, but when you really look at the issues as individual pieces, the way each issue is built to tell a full story in itself (while also connecting to both previous and future issues) is very striking. Anyway, issue 41 itself is probably not the best example of this - in fact, it gets much of its power from knowledge of Virginia's past and from the culmination of the Hijinks storyline - but that doesn't invalidate Lapham's attention to the individual issue. And Killers #1 is a great standalone that requires no prior reading.

I noted the rougher look of Lapham's art in these issues, especially in #41, but I quite like it. In #41, the slight jaggedness and looseness of the art gives a raw edge to the closeups of Virginia's bruised face or the scenes with Jesse and his mom. Smoothness and cleanness is very appropriate for Juice Squeezers (which hasn't done much for me, honestly, beyond liking the art) but some roughness around the edges only adds to the appeal of Stray Bullets for me.

[number8]

I posted this in the TV thread, but you guys probably care more. The guy they got looks like he stepped out of a Glenn Fabry painting.

https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/q71/s720x720/1947843_631116713608426_136703 0491_n.jpg

[Kurosawa Fan]

I thought that was Michael Vartan at first glance.

[Skitch]

Looks pretty perfect.

[Sven]

It gives the impression of all these individual stories gradually connecting and layering as the characters overlap and intersect in various ways. I think it's a very unique way of dealing with the serial narrative structure of the monthly comic, and dismissing it as a mere marketing angle overlooks one of Lapham's great strengths as a writer and storyteller. It can be easy to lose sight of when reading the series in one big chunk, which tends to smooth out the narrative and ease the transitions between issues, but when you really look at the issues as individual pieces, the way each issue is built to tell a full story in itself (while also connecting to both previous and future issues) is very striking.

I'm definitely enamored of the tapestry being woven. The large world and all its characters, spread out over space and time. It's part of what makes the series so addictive. But the idea of a narrative being built from modular components is hardly unique. In fact, it's the very definition of comics. Read any pre-modern comic and chances are good that you're going to get a complete story built from constituents that, if not already developed, provide enough internal context to fuel the engine of engaging conflict. These stories then move on to influence other stories. Read any issue of the Dark Phoenix saga, Kirby's Fourth World, Cerebus, Bone, Miller's Daredevil, etc, etc, etc and you won't be lost. Lapham's Stray Bullets structure is "making them like they used to," with a bit of a Pulp Fiction how-do-these-stories-connect? intrigue. And I can't stress enough how much I like it, in case you think I'm being a hater, but the format is not so unique to warrant the rampant association the book has with the phrase "self-contained". Hence, marketing angle.

I feel like that's probably as much complaining about that as I want to do. I only want to encourage love and interest.


I noted the rougher look of Lapham's art in these issues, especially in #41, but I quite like it. In #41, the slight jaggedness and looseness of the art gives a raw edge to the closeups of Virginia's bruised face or the scenes with Jesse and his mom. Smoothness and cleanness is very appropriate for Juice Squeezers (which hasn't done much for me, honestly, beyond liking the art) but some roughness around the edges only adds to the appeal of Stray Bullets for me.

I don't have a problem with the roughness, per se. It's just a slightly jarring transition from 1-40 to 41-SB:K. Seems more consequent of digital production than a style choice, but considering Lapham's docket, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some rushing.

[slqrick]

Just started Stray Bullets, and judging by the first two issues, this was a great idea.

[Skitch]

Just started Stray Bullets, and judging by the first two issues, this was a great idea.

I think I just may get the omnibus of the first series.

[dreamdead]

Finished out Locke and Key. A little frustrated by how ambivalent Hill is to nuancing some of the secondary characters (pyro-girl), which leads to arcs that feel more prescriptive than lived-in. Ultimately, though, really liked this series all the way through. Loved the family dynamics, even if Bode's recovery is a tad out there. Good denouement, too.

Did the first volume of Nowhere Men. I'm certainly interested enough to keep tracking along--the various cultural artifacts that Stephenson weaves throughout make it weightier and a fuller experience. Some of the art feels a little bland--interiors feel remarkably barren and undetailed at times--but this resonates better for me so far than Manhattan Projects...

[number8]

Yeaaaah.

445661684720361473

[Skitch]

Niiiiiiiice.

[Skitch]

Is anybody else reading The Fuse? I'm liking it.

Raided another .25 cent bin. I am now 9 issues away from owning every The Question comic ever.

[Sven]

Is anybody else reading The Fuse? I'm liking it.

You know I am, sucka. 2nd issue was one of the best new single issues I've read recently, mostly in terms of keeping it tight, upping the ante, building the world, and developing its characters subtly. Not a huge fan of Greenwood, but the illustration works well.

[Sven]

Although I wouldn't hesitate to call it beautiful, even brilliant comics, my immediate impression is that Rose of Berlin is the weakest LoEG book so far. Even the text piece in the back has a more superficial air than any past League supplements. O'Neill's strength is in full form, however. The seamless fusion of German Expressionism and cyberpunk futurism is a wondrous illumination of the continuum of twentieth century's sci-fi pop proclivities.

[Skitch]

You know I am, sucka. 2nd issue was one of the best new single issues I've read recently, mostly in terms of keeping it tight, upping the ante, building the world, and developing its characters subtly. Not a huge fan of Greenwood, but the illustration works well.

Its really compelling. The artwork style isn't my favorite, but it kind of works for the world in an odd way. I can't wait for the next issue.

[Sven]

Anybody get Roberson/Maybury's Sovereign? I'm going back and forth on whether I want to check it out or not...

[number8]

Si Spencer's new Vertigo miniseries sounds interesting if you like magical proceduralism:


The initial pitch was, "four time periods, four detectives, four murders – same M.O, same location, same victim…. someone’s being murdered — forever" ….and that pretty much covers it. Four detectives are each investigating a brutal and inexplicable murder, each believing it has something to do with a larger case they’re already engaged in. They’re all wrong – it’s far bigger than that.


Edmond Hillinghead is a buttoned down Conan Doyle fan trying to bring science to a police force that essentially exists to protect the rich; Charles Whiteman is a Polish émigré, career-criminal who fled the Nazis and signed up with the London police; Shahara Hassan is a fast-tracked female Muslim detective in the London Mets and Maplewood is an amnesiac cop trying to police the few survivors of an apocalypse while struggling to remember who she is at any given moment.


So I set myself a basic template – six pages per issue per character. In essence, each issue is four self-contained mini-episodes with a beginning, middle and a cliffhanger, but ordered in such a way in each issue that as each detective uncovers a small piece of their own puzzle, the reader also gets a complete over-riding 24-page story arc of the bigger story with its own beginning, middle and cliffhanger.

Each time period is drawn by a different artist.

http://i.newsarama.com/images/i/000/126/426/original/BDS_Cv1_low-res.jpg?1395960949

[Sven]

Just met Ales Kot at my LCS. Nice, reticent. Had him sign the Shadowman issue with his short. Then I proceeded to buy about ten pounds worth of comics (the bulk being the second Fear Agent omnibus...).

[number8]

I met Michael Fiffe at MoCCA Fest! I bought Copra #13 and he signed all the ones I brought with me. No one else was at his table so we got to talk for a while. He told me that he wishes he could draw the Ultimates books instead of just writing it but he'd rather be spending his time drawing Copra anyway. Then we talked about the John Ostrander Suicide Squad. Cool dude. Looks a lot like JJ Abrams.

[Acapelli]

I met Michael Fiffe at MoCCA Fest! I bought Copra #13 and he signed all the ones I brought with me. No one else was at his table so we got to talk for a while. He told me that he wishes he could draw the Ultimates books instead of just writing it but he'd rather be spending his time drawing Copra anyway. Then we talked about the John Ostrander Suicide Squad. Cool dude. Looks a lot like JJ Abrams.
this was the second year in a row that i met him. i'm a dummy for not getting him to sign copra #13, but he did sign the copra compendium i bought when i first met him last year along with a little sketch. super friendly guy to boot

[Dead & Messed Up]

Reading through The Death of Superman.

It's... pretty bad.

[Grouchy]

What came after is even worse.

[Skitch]

I was the right age at the time all that happened. I still enjoy that whole run.:|

[Dead & Messed Up]

I was the right age at the time all that happened. I still enjoy that whole run.:|

I'm only reading the one major trade paperback, so I'm doubtless lacking critical context, but Doomsday's emergence and fight with the whole JLA (including some guy whose name is Bloodwynd (Bloodwynd)) and Superman is just a repetitive mess of destruction and punching. Some good-looking artwork, to be sure.

It reminds me of Knightfall a bit. Is this whole shift a derivation of the Liefeldian style - roided-out oversized wrestlers pummeling through issue after issue?

[Skitch]

It reminds me of Knightfall a bit. Is this whole shift a derivation of the Liefeldian style - roided-out oversized wrestlers pummeling through issue after issue?

...another series that hit me at the right age and I loved. I don't think its quite that extreme, but perhaps there is some connection.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Amazon has acquired Comixology (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=52079)

Here's to hoping they integrate comics into Amazon Prime somehow. Maybe rotating titles in the Lender's Library?

[Grouchy]

Skitch, I also read both comics as a kid and loved them. But I've had them around to re-read enough times that I started thinking they suck.

Actually, Knightfall is not that terrible. And Funeral For a Friend, which is sort of sandwiched between the two big events, is pretty good.

[Skitch]

Skitch, I also read both comics as a kid and loved them. But I've had them around to re-read enough times that I started thinking they suck.

Actually, Knightfall is not that terrible. And Funeral For a Friend, which is sort of sandwiched between the two big events, is pretty good.

I like the middle section of Knightfall best (Who Rules The Night), and the third part (The Return Of Superman) as well. I know, they're not Watchmen or anything, but I still dig 'em. Return feels so big to me...with the rise of the Supermen and their motivations, which are actually good and bad...Steel just trying to be a hero...Cyborg nuking a city...it just feels so huge.

[number8]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Scalped is being adapted into a TV show on... WGN?!!!

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/wgn-america-adapting-dc-comics-696035

[number8]

Man. Stray Bullets 2. That is depressing as hell.

[Skitch]

I have stacked a tower of comics next to the couch. Bring on the vasectomy.

[sevenarts]

Man. Stray Bullets 2. That is depressing as hell.

These 2 issues have been just fantastic. Some of the best, most harrowing stories in this series, which is really saying something.

[Sven]

Decided to do a quick rundown of my current pull list. Hastily-fingered musings (heheh) adjoined, if you are wanting to kill a couple of minutes. Separated by publisher, otherwise in no order.

Uncanny Avengers - Remender accomplishes the Verhoevian feat of deftly melding epic fantasy violence and investigating consequence, all with color, scope, panache.
Doop - The game is on. My sloggy limping through the non-event was worth it; so far some facets now gleam.
Moon Knight - Badass. Will read much better in trade, I imagine, with greater character context and without all those ads.
Avengers - Weeeeelllll, I am still attracted to Hickman's long game, but all these distracting crossover businesses are kinda bumming me out. This last arc with Larocca was a pretty cool little present.
New Avengers - Now this is what I'm talking about. Still totally doom metal in its tone, which is laden: dire expressions of apocalyptic futility, god powers abused left and right... this is my jam.
X-Force - Love that you can tell a Spurrier page just by looking at the words. A writer's writer, creative with language, syntax, layout, font, censorship, etc. Meme is a cool character. Wondering what the big picture is.

Turok - This book is beautiful. Color me surprised. And it's not just the artwork, but Pak's writing style, which I can now definitely feel, is perfect for this. Terse, but with an emphasis on emotive action, and working with Colak, who's as strong here as Parlov I swear it, is just DYNAMITE!

Eternal Warrior - Is this book cancelled? They keep not soliciting new issues. Speaking of Pak, though, this is an equally fantastic milieu with similar narrative needs to Turok, so hurray for more adventure romps from Pak who does a good thing right.
Unity - An impossible summer movie, the kind that would cost too much to be any good but is actually a whole lotta good.
XO - My least favorite of the Valiant titles, mostly I think due to a shifty world-rendering by a roster of somewhat iffy artists, but also because the title character comes off as a bit too much of a cipher. Which could be a point, but Venditti doesn't really make it. But it does have some glorious moments of high-octane thrills or whatever.
Harbinger - A rarity, being the well-balanced teen team book, also one that isn't obvious in its pandering and is open with its hang-ups. Dysart is only a candid storyteller, and mixed with supernatural action and unusual sensitivity, it all resonates.
Shadowman - Soon to be segued into an "End Times" miniseries and then Milligan says it's not cancelled but everyone's speculating that it's cancelled, in which case I say tosh. Still, amazing book, every writer so far doing his own thing but building a sound core. The ideal.

Sex - I think I'm in it for Kowalski. For certain, the story has built (built? it's mostly inertia) into something almost interesting after 12 issues, but damned if Kowalski's lines don't just mesmerize me. Still, the best issue (because of its break from Casey's slowburn) is the Morgan Jeske-drawn psychedelic setpiece issue.
Bounce - Another Casey slowburn, but much more intriguing than Sex. More violent. More jokes. Art's less good, but the multidimensional story is effectively told.
Black Science - Contender for favorite current title. The cynical tone and the family imperative mixed into a desperate survival story set in an inexplicable universe just feels like truth to me.
Deadly Class - Bit of posturing here from Remender, who is clearly tapping into his younger spirit wanting to stick to all kinds of the man. Luckily he's a talented mofo, and this Spencer/Loughridge thing the book has going for it is real nice.
Stray Bullets - Great. Just great. More depressing-ass comics to make me all morose with their depressingness. Great.
Satellite Sam - My perceived-contrarianism is flaring up in my about-face on Mr. Fraction's particular style, which I'm finding played out mostly, but Satellite Sam still shows that he's got the goods. A very complicated bit of comics, especially with Chaykin on board, and I'm hooked. These creeps bring it.
Umbral - The majesty of the mystery has somewhat died and is yet to be replaced, but I can sense something lurking that will rear soon. Mitten's lines are like oh my god I love them.
Fuse - Involving procedural, written like a well-written police show.

God is Dead - This is the sleeper hit right here. An initial concept of warring deities from the world's religions swiftly becomes a scriptural account of the US scientists who martyr themselves to transform into a new generation of Gods to vie for omnipotence. The serviceable artwork is definitely the hump to get over, but what you'll find on the other side is a tremendously entertaining and nearly-serious action fantasy religion thriller (the last issue ends with a priestess of Gaia flying a dragon clutching a nuclear bomb toward inevitable devastation).
Caliban - One issue in, impressively atmospheric. Alien reveal was all Event Horizon heavy. Typically excellent writing.
Rover Red Charlie - Approached it as a lark but hate that it has full control of my heartstrings. Always a fine time coming across writers experimenting with animal perception in creative ways.

I also get Ballistic and Copra and see new issues as a bonus, because the appeal is to bask for untold minutes (hours now?) in the glory of their illustrative zaniness as a salve against some of the thornier work one encounters as a comics reader.

In Trade
Crossed - Maybe next TPB's Way tale will undo my addiction, but doubt it.
Manhattan Projects - A truly unpredictable whirlwind of impossible science ideas. The best part is it's funny.
East of West - Still haven't read the second trade. Should. Sure it's juicy. Dragotta's from another planet.
Mind MGMT - I'm so frustrated that I started reading this before it finished. Argh.

[number8]

Warren Ellis is going to write the Supreme relaunch!!

[dreamdead]

Finally read Ware's Building Stories. That was a psychological beatdown, although Ware intelligently balances moments of tranquility against the more existential moments. Somehow the Bee sequences were some of the best, and the house's own reflections were also incredible. Great stuff.

[Skitch]

Question: Do you seek out variant covers before buying your books? When I come across multiple covers, I look through them and pick the one I like the most, then go home and see which is the variant. Apparently I selected the variant of this weeks Fuse #3.

[Sven]

Question: Do you seek out variant covers before buying your books? When I come across multiple covers, I look through them and pick the one I like the most, then go home and see which is the variant. Apparently I selected the variant of this weeks Fuse #3.

Generally with Image, Valiant, Avatar, etc, the variants are just as expensive as the regulars, so I will pick and choose my favorites.

With the Big 2 and sometimes exclusives from other publishers, variants are often much more expensive, so unless it's utterly essential, I'll skip it. I think the only two I have purchased are:

http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/1005457.jpg
and

http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/1005673.jpg

[Skitch]

Yeah, it would have to be pretty amazing for me to throw down extra cash for a variant cover. Nice picks.

In case you haven't cried today...http://www.tencentticker.com/somethingterrible/

[ledfloyd]

https://www.humblebundle.com/

Good deals here.

[slqrick]

Been trying to read some classic runs while I have the free time.

Stray Bullets - nothing to add that hasn't been said, other than it's just really great.
Saga of the Swamp Thing (Alan Moore) - Thru 5 volumes, one of the best things I've ever read.
Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD - The stories are cool, but Steranko's art blew me away.

Just started reading Claremont's X-Men stuff for the first time. I read occasional issues as a kid in the early 90s, but I never realized how many small things they carried over from the 70s ("bamf", "snikt").

[Kurosawa Fan]

https://www.humblebundle.com/

Good deals here.

Thanks for this. Spent $10 and got everything but the Walking Dead series, of which I have zero interest.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Thanks for this. Spent $10 and got everything but the Walking Dead series, of which I have zero interest.

So far I've read Chew and Revival. Anyone read these two titles beyond vol. one and have any thoughts or opinions? I'm conflicted on both, and am not sure I want to drop money on a series that doesn't improve.

[dreamdead]

So far I've read Chew and Revival. Anyone read these two titles beyond vol. one and have any thoughts or opinions? I'm conflicted on both, and am not sure I want to drop money on a series that doesn't improve.

Sarah and I collect the trades on Chew. It's consistently engrossing on a short term level and the mystery continues to expand (also, Poyo!!!!!!!!!), but it's the kind of thing that's entertaining to read and consume. It should be noted, though, that we don't really come back to them to reread them.

I'd think a decent library system would have more than the first volume if you're hesitant to commit more than you have...

[Kurosawa Fan]

Sarah and I collect the trades on Chew. It's consistently engrossing on a short term level and the mystery continues to expand (also, Poyo!!!!!!!!!), but it's the kind of thing that's entertaining to read and consume. It should be noted, though, that we don't really come back to them to reread them.

I'd think a decent library system would have more than the first volume if you're hesitant to commit more than you have...

My library system is far from decent, and has next to nothing when it comes to comics.

Thanks for the info on Chew. It was definitely fun, I was just worried the narrative would get repetitive (have Chu eat something putrid, altercation, hint at bigger mystery, repeat) and that the experience would wear thin too quickly. Glad to hear it has remained engrossing for both of you.

I have the Motor City Comic Con coming up in a couple weeks, and awesome deals can be found. I'm trying to get an idea of what I want to look for while I'm there.

[number8]

Chew dropped the procedural approach pretty quickly.

The first couple of arcs is why Showtime wanted to make it a TV show. Everything beyond that is why that never went anywhere and it's now going to be a cartoon.

[ledfloyd]

Maybe I should give it another shot. I only ever made it about 10 issues in.

[Skitch]

21 comics for $5. I love quarter bins! Also found an antique store that had a nice selection of older titles. I got Detective #500 for $5. Wouldve got a couple of early Swamp Things, but want to see what I can find for deals tomorrow.

[Kurosawa Fan]

East of West. Wow. Went out and purchased vol. 2 immediately after finishing the first volume.

[slqrick]

If you like Hickman's writing, I highly suggest his Fantastic Four/Future Foundation (FF) run from a few years back. I've never been a fan of them, but he really builds an epic story while maintaining a really emotional family drama throughout.

He's got a lot of good indie stuff too that is shorter in length (Nightly News, Red Wing), but those Books are my favorite thing he's written so far.

[Kurosawa Fan]

If you like Hickman's writing, I highly suggest his Fantastic Four/Future Foundation (FF) run from a few years back. I've never been a fan of them, but he really builds an epic story while maintaining a really emotional family drama throughout.

He's got a lot of good indie stuff too that is shorter in length (Nightly News, Red Wing), but those Books are my favorite thing he's written so far.

I have his omnibus of FF on my list of stuff to look out for at the comic con, but I'll keep an eye out for anything else. Gotta say, it's not only the writing but the art in East of West that really sets it apart. Remarkable stuff.

[Sven]

Yeah, Dragotta's unparalleled. Vengeance is a great book he illustrated.

As for Hickman, I just read Secret, which recently concluded. Bodenheim's portraits are all very samey and mostly inexpressive and eventually it wears, but whenever he busts out his action/mech/tech chops, he justifies to the reader his paycheck. And I was surprised at how intricate and resonant the storytelling was, after hearing middling things. I'm glad it wasn't the case.

Same goes for this new issue of Star Wars by Kindt. The illustration is fairly functional, but it's a beautiful story. Don't know what "Heist" has to do with it yet, but I'm in.

[ledfloyd]

Dragotta does some of the best work on Hickman's FF run as well.

[number8]

So. Southern Bastards, anyone?

[slqrick]

So. Southern Bastards, anyone?

Amazing. I was spoiled when I read Scalped, because when I got into it it was already about 35 issues in. I want this whole series right now.

[Sven]

Oh yuck. The Bounce ended. Massively annoying final issue, cheapens all the neat stuff it was doing. Casey really phoned this one in.

[number8]

How redundant is it to come into this thread every month to say that Stray Bullets is incredible?

[number8]

Oh yuck. The Bounce ended. Massively annoying final issue, cheapens all the neat stuff it was doing. Casey really phoned this one in.

I keep getting surprised by his books ending. Probably because the way he hypes these projects is to talk about them like they're going to last years. I was surprised when i found out that Catalyst Comix was actually just a 9-issue mini.

[sevenarts]

How redundant is it to come into this thread every month to say that Stray Bullets is incredible?

I'm pretty amazed by how consistently it's been blowing me away month after month in this new incarnation. I feel like Lapham's reached a new peak here. Issue 2 was just devastating, while #3 was mostly funny and oddly charming, before gradually ramping up the sense of dread in the second half. And Virginia is one of the best characters in fiction, let alone comics - she's right up there with Jaime Hernandez's Maggie for me.

[number8]

The revelation that The Finger's name is actually Mr. Finger is really funny.

[sevenarts]

Oh god yeah, that killed me. Also love Lapham's knack for throwaway but telling psychological details, like the Finger's one-line explanation for why he won't get a divorce.

[number8]

David Goyer is a terrible person, and has terrible ideas. (http://www.themarysue.com/david-goyer-calls-she-hulk-sex-fantasy/)

[Acapelli]

what a gross person

[megladon8]

That's pretty sickening.

But in a semi-related note, I have always been bothered by the prevalence in comics to not have original female characters - just slap "She" or "Woman" on a male character's name, and there ya go!

It's getting better, but the change has only begun to occur very, very recently.

I suppose I shouldn't talk when I support Batwoman as one of DC's premiere properties...but in general I would like to see more original female characters.

[number8]

That trend was the reason she was created. Stan Lee was afraid that the producers of the Bill Bixby show would introduce a female Hulk and decided to beat them to the punch. She was a copyright maneuver, essentially, which is why it's funny to me that she's a lawyer.

[Skitch]

Maybe he thought...perhaps he was trying to be...

...

...theres just too much incorrect and stupid to dissect.

[Skitch]

Stan Lee responds... (http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/05/stan-lee-responds-to-david-goyers-she-hulk-remarks/)

Particularly like this bit:

Current She-Hulk writer Charles Soule alluded to Goyer’s comments — and the subsequent Internet backlash — last night on Twitter, saying, “Working on She-Hulk #8 today. Man, she’s a great lady. [...] Don’t spread the negative. If people are confused about a character’s value, don’t waste time hating them. Skip outrage, try outREACH.”

[slqrick]

Charles Soule seems like a groovy dude...I gotta read more of his stuff.

[sevenarts]

She Hulk is by some distance the best thing I've read by Soule, it's awesome. One of my favorites right now, and one of the top 5 books in a Marvel lineup crowded with great stuff.

[number8]

Soule is like the ultimate fix-it guy right now. He got handed some crappy setups (Swamp Thing, Thunderbolts, Red Lanterns, Superman Loves Wonder Woman) and turned them into solid stuff. Thunderbolts especially. His Deadpool is the first one I laugh to in a really reaaaaally long time.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Rolling Stone's The 50 Best Non-Superhero Graphic Novels (http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/drawn-out-the-50-best-non-superhero-graphic-novels-20140505).

Any thoughts from the MC experts? I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the list.

[number8]

I mean, anyone can argue the rating of their importance or quality, and I'm not the biggest Chris Ware or Dan Clowes fan, but I'll definitely say that anyone who wants to get serious about comics needs to at least check out all of that Top 20. I'm only unfamiliar with King Cat and Hicksville. Maybe someone else here has read them.

Love and Rockets is pretty damn great, if you're wondering its worthiness of being #1.

[sevenarts]

That's a surprisingly good list, actually. Like number8, I can quibble over rankings and point out stuff I love that missed the list, but most of those books are good-to-great and even the ones I don't personally like much (Fun Home stands out for being so highly ranked, I never thought it was a great comic at all) are arguably "important" so pretty much anything there should be read by someone looking to get a good overview of comics.

Pretty happy to see Multiple Warheads (not King City, though, right?) make the top 50, that's quite a left-field choice and a real delightful book. Also happy to see Finder on there, another book that doesn't get nearly enough attention. Dal Tokyo's really cool though as a huge Gary Panter fan I'd say that pretty much any other book by him would be both a better choice overall and a better intro for unfamiliar readers. Jimbo In Purgatory seems like his masterpiece to me. Stray Bullets is way too low, Curses is way too low, Cowboy Wally is one of the funniest comics ever made so it's also way too low even though I guess it's pretty well ranked. I would've picked some other Clowes books (Velvet Glove, David Boring, The Death Ray) over Ghost World which has never really hit me too hard in comparison to Clowes' best work.

I absolutely agree with their #1, though, there's really no other choice for me. Love and Rockets is definitely the best comic ever made.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I mean, anyone can argue the rating of their importance or quality, and I'm not the biggest Chris Ware or Dan Clowes fan, but I'll definitely say that anyone who wants to get serious about comics needs to at least check out all of that Top 20. I'm only unfamiliar with King Cat and Hicksville. Maybe someone else here has read them.

Love and Rockets is pretty damn great, if you're wondering its worthiness of being #1.


That's a surprisingly good list, actually. Like number8, I can quibble over rankings and point out stuff I love that missed the list, but most of those books are good-to-great and even the ones I don't personally like much (Fun Home stands out for being so highly ranked, I never thought it was a great comic at all) are arguably "important" so pretty much anything there should be read by someone looking to get a good overview of comics.

Pretty happy to see Multiple Warheads (not King City, though, right?) make the top 50, that's quite a left-field choice and a real delightful book. Also happy to see Finder on there, another book that doesn't get nearly enough attention. Dal Tokyo's really cool though as a huge Gary Panter fan I'd say that pretty much any other book by him would be both a better choice overall and a better intro for unfamiliar readers. Jimbo In Purgatory seems like his masterpiece to me. Stray Bullets is way too low, Curses is way too low, Cowboy Wally is one of the funniest comics ever made so it's also way too low even though I guess it's pretty well ranked. I would've picked some other Clowes books (Velvet Glove, David Boring, The Death Ray) over Ghost World which has never really hit me too hard in comparison to Clowes' best work.

I absolutely agree with their #1, though, there's really no other choice for me. Love and Rockets is definitely the best comic ever made.

Nice. Thanks for the quick posts. I'm never sure how much credence to give a list from a publication like RS. I'll be on the lookout for any of the top twenty when I'm making future purchases. Hadn't ever heard of Love and Rockets before.

[Melville]

Definitely a decent list. Random commentary:

Puma Blues - I haven't read it, but I've loved Zulli's art since I read a TMNT comic he did back in the day. Very detailed and atmospheric.
100 Bullets - I've only read one issue and thought it was clunky and posturing. For crime comics, I'd go for Criminal or Sin City.
Stray Bullets - or this.
Paying For It - Interesting look into Brown's thoughts about sex and love, but it's basically an essay structured around flawed arguments. Brown's Louis Riel is a masterpiece. I Never Liked You and The Playboy are also very good.
It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken - Good stuff. I really like Seth's clean, solid lines. The story is pretty minimal though.
Our Cancer Year - I can't remember if I've read this. Other than his collaborations with Crumb, Pekar's comics don't do much for me.
Akira - Great. More thematically dense than the movie. More massive explosions too.
Black Hole - One of my favorites. Some of the imagery is haunting.
Pyongyang - A pretty superficial examination of its subject.
King Cat - The simple, crude DIY style left no impression on me.
A Contract With God - Eisner is a brilliant artist, but he's too hammy for me.
Cerebus - Another of my favorites, even if the last two collections are almost completely unreadable. Incredibly ambitious.
Tintin - I've only read one story. Too wordy and too goofy.
Alec - I've only read bits and pieces of Campbell's Alec stories. I love the art, but I was never drawn into the stories.
Hicksville, Persepolis, Epileptic, Fun Home - Meh to all of these. But they're all highly regarded.
From Hell - Moore's masterpiece. A monumental exegesis on metaphysics and murder.
Ghost World - Probably my favorite of Clowes' comics because it has the most genuine pathos. But they're all good.
Invisibles and L&R - I haven't read enough. What I have read didn't leave an impression.
Crumb - No individual story I've read by him is spectacular, but he works well in collection.
Maus - Very good.
Jimmy Corrigan - The best comic ever made.

[ledfloyd]

Pretty decent list. Some weird inclusions like Sex Criminals and Saga that haven't been around very long. For the most part it hits most of the bases. Sacco, Ware, Clowes, Brown, Lynda Barry, Seth, Pekar, Burns, Spiegelman, etc. I might have chosen different books by certain people, but most of the touchstones are there. And some more eclectic choices like Panter and Huizenga. It's hard to argue with Love & Rockets at number 1. It's overwhelming as a newcomer, but worth the effort.

[Sven]

Hurray for boring consensus lists.

[Sven]

Journey's a pretty cool choice though. But c'mon, Freakangels was your Ellis pick? No offense, Duffield.

[TGM]

Check it out guys, the latest chapter of the Velcro: The Ninja Kat comic has been posted! :) http://www.velcrotheninjakat.com/2014/05/velcro-comic-chapter-8.html

[Acapelli]

Journey's a pretty cool choice though. But c'mon, Freakangels was your Ellis pick? No offense, Duffield.
genuinely curious what your non-cape ellis pick would be

mine might be fell. wish he would actually get around to finishing that

[number8]

Knowing Sven, it's probably Black Summer.

[Sven]

Knowing Sven, it's probably Black Summer.

Close, but that one is about superheroes, so I wouldn't count it.

First, lemme just say sorry for my tone: deriding a list for boring choices, then berating it for choosing something unique is hardly the way to have a reasonable conversation about something.

Now, my preference... hmmm... Well, esoteria says Supergod. Wisdom says Transmet. Proper reason says Global Frequency.

[EyesWideOpen]

Getting rid of a bunch of comics so if anyone is interested in any let me know:

3 Story: Secret Files of the Giant Man (One Shot) Matt Kindt
Alex + Ada 1-4 (Image) Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
Attack on Titan Vol 1 (Kodansha) Hajime Isayama
Bedlam 1-11 (Image) Nick Spencer, Riley Rossmo, Frazer Irving & Ryan Browne
Black Science 1-4 (Image) Rick Remender & Matteo Scalera
The Bunker 1 (Oni) Joshua Hale Fialkov & Joe Infurnari
Colder 1-5 (Dark Horse) Paul Tobin & Juan Ferreyra
Deadly Class 1-2 (Image) Rick Remender & Wes Craig
The Dream Merchant 1-3 (Image) Nathan Edmondson & Konstantin Novosadov
East of West 1-10 (Image) Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta
Fatale 1-22 (Image) Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
God is Dead 1-7 (Avatar) Jonathan Hickman, Mike Costa & Di Amorim
Harvest 1-5 (Image) A.J. Lieberman & Colin Lormier
Helheim 1-6 (Oni) Cullen Bunn & Joelle Jones
Lazarus 1-8 (Image) Greg Rucka & Michael Lark
Letter 44 1-5 (Oni) Charles Soule & Alberto Alburquerque
The Manhattan Projects 1-20 (Image) (Issue 1 has rip in cover) Jonathan Hickman & Nick Pitarra
Mara 1-6 (Image) Brian Wood & Ming Doyle
Mind MGMT 0-19 (Dark Horse) Matt Kindt
Nowhere Men 1-6 (Image) Eric Stephenson & Nate Bellegarde
Pretty Deadly 1-5 (Image) Kelly Sue Deconnick & Emma Rios
Rat Queens 1-5 (Image) Kurtis Wiebe & Roc Upchurch
Revenge 1 (Image) Jonathan Ross & Ian Churchill
Revival 14-18 (Image) Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
Rocket Girl 1-5 (Image) Brandon Montclare & Amy Reeder
Saga TPB Vol 1 collects issues 1-6 (Image) Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples
Saga 7-18 (Image)
The Saviors 1-3 (Image) James Robinson & J. Bone
Secret 1-7 (Image) Jonathan Hickman & Ryan Bodenheim
Sex Criminals 1-5 (Image) Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky
Stumptown Vol 1 1-4 (Oni) Greg Rucka & Matthew Southworth
Stumptown Vol 2 1-5 (Oni)
Suicide Risk 1-8 (Boom) Mike Carey & Elena Casagrande
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys 1-6 (Dark Horse) Gerard Way, Shaun Simon & Becky Cloonan
Uncanny 1-6 (Dynamite) Andy Diggle & Aaron Campbell
Undertow 1 (Image) Steve Orlando & Artyom Trakhanov
The Unwritten TPB Vol 1-2 (Vertigo) Mike Carey & Peter Gross
Velvet 1-5 (Image) Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting
A Voice in the Dark 1-4 (Image/Top Cow) Larime Taylor
Zero 1-5 (Image) Ales Kot & Michael Walsh

[Acapelli]

Knowing Sven, it's probably Black Summer.
was gonna say it had to be something with ryp, but all that stuff is capes

anyway, i should really get around to reading global frequency. and desolation jones (is that superheroes? i own all of it and haven't read it yet)

[Acapelli]

Getting rid of a bunch of comics so if anyone is interested in any let me know:

3 Story: Secret Files of the Giant Man (One Shot) Matt Kindt
Alex + Ada 1-4 (Image) Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
Attack on Titan Vol 1 (Kodansha) Hajime Isayama
Bedlam 1-11 (Image) Nick Spencer, Riley Rossmo, Frazer Irving & Ryan Browne
Black Science 1-4 (Image) Rick Remender & Matteo Scalera
The Bunker 1 (Oni) Joshua Hale Fialkov & Joe Infurnari
Colder 1-5 (Dark Horse) Paul Tobin & Juan Ferreyra
Deadly Class 1-2 (Image) Rick Remender & Wes Craig
The Dream Merchant 1-3 (Image) Nathan Edmondson & Konstantin Novosadov
East of West 1-10 (Image) Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta
Fatale 1-22 (Image) Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
God is Dead 1-7 (Avatar) Jonathan Hickman, Mike Costa & Di Amorim
Harvest 1-5 (Image) A.J. Lieberman & Colin Lormier
Helheim 1-6 (Oni) Cullen Bunn & Joelle Jones
Lazarus 1-8 (Image) Greg Rucka & Michael Lark
Letter 44 1-5 (Oni) Charles Soule & Alberto Alburquerque
The Manhattan Projects 1-20 (Image) (Issue 1 has rip in cover) Jonathan Hickman & Nick Pitarra
Mara 1-6 (Image) Brian Wood & Ming Doyle
Mind MGMT 0-19 (Dark Horse) Matt Kindt
Nowhere Men 1-6 (Image) Eric Stephenson & Nate Bellegarde
Pretty Deadly 1-5 (Image) Kelly Sue Deconnick & Emma Rios
Rachel Rising 1-23 (Abstract) Terry Moore
Rat Queens 1-5 (Image) Kurtis Wiebe & Roc Upchurch
Revenge 1 (Image) Jonathan Ross & Ian Churchill
Revival 14-18 (Image) Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
Rocket Girl 1-5 (Image) Brandon Montclare & Amy Reeder
Saga TPB Vol 1 collects issues 1-6 (Image) Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples
Saga 7-18 (Image)
The Saviors 1-3 (Image) James Robinson & J. Bone
Secret 1-7 (Image) Jonathan Hickman & Ryan Bodenheim
Sex Criminals 1-5 (Image) Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky
Stumptown Vol 1 1-4 (Oni) Greg Rucka & Matthew Southworth
Stumptown Vol 2 1-5 (Oni)
Suicide Risk 1-8 (Boom) Mike Carey & Elena Casagrande
The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys 1-6 (Dark Horse) Gerard Way, Shaun Simon & Becky Cloonan
Uncanny 1-6 (Dynamite) Andy Diggle & Aaron Campbell
Undertow 1 (Image) Steve Orlando & Artyom Trakhanov
The Unwritten TPB Vol 1-2 (Vertigo) Mike Carey & Peter Gross
Velvet 1-5 (Image) Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting
A Voice in the Dark 1-4 (Image/Top Cow) Larime Taylor
Zero 1-5 (Image) Ales Kot & Michael Walsh

are you trying to get rid of complete runs, or is it cool if i cherrypick?

[EyesWideOpen]

Not trying to break up runs at the moment.

[Acapelli]

Not trying to break up runs at the moment.
understood, i'll pm you a list of stuff on your list i want if you do end up deciding to, but i'm sure you'll get plenty of interest

[ledfloyd]

What do you want for these?

[number8]

Yeah, I'm actually missing some issues on some of the titles you're posting, but I understand why you don't want to break them up.

[number8]

Close, but that one is about superheroes, so I wouldn't count it.

First, lemme just say sorry for my tone: deriding a list for boring choices, then berating it for choosing something unique is hardly the way to have a reasonable conversation about something.

Now, my preference... hmmm... Well, esoteria says Supergod. Wisdom says Transmet. Proper reason says Global Frequency.


was gonna say it had to be something with ryp, but all that stuff is capes

anyway, i should really get around to reading global frequency. and desolation jones (is that superheroes? i own all of it and haven't read it yet)

Doh, forgot that we're talking about non-supes, not just non-Marvel/DC.

Speaking of Ellis, what do we think about Trees? #1 is pretty much all table-setting so I don't have a good feel yet, but it's a pretty intriguing premise. I can see him pitching it as a Neill Blomkamp movie or something.

[ledfloyd]

I don't know anything about any of the other books in this week's Humble eBook Bundle (https://www.humblebundle.com/books), but if you haven't read From Hell, and want a legitimate copy of it, it's totally worth your $10.

[Sven]

Speaking of Ellis, what do we think about Trees? #1 is pretty much all table-setting so I don't have a good feel yet, but it's a pretty intriguing premise. I can see him pitching it as a Neill Blomkamp movie or something.

It's groovy. Awkward exposition scene, but I do like the move-it-along-ness of it. Otherwise, drawn to the heavy atmosphere, love the scope. I found nestling in me a sense of languor, the wide shots and the quiet rhythms of the post-prologue introductions, the balance Ellis always nails of dialogue and action. Howard's art is amazing.

[number8]

I feel like it could have benefited strongly from a double-sized issue. I wouldn't want them to change anything about its pace, but because the page count is divided into these vignettes, it was more ambiguous than I expected a first issue to be. I'm sure it'd read great on trade, though.

[sevenarts]

Trees definitely has a really cool premise, but the first issue felt a bit too much like a movie trailer - or worse, a movie pitch. I'll probably at least get issue 2 to see if it starts quickly moving beyond this setup phase.

[EyesWideOpen]

What do you want for these?

Depends on how many books someone buys. Comics are kind of expensive to ship so if someone just wants like 10 issues it's also going to cost me like $7 to ship them since comics can't be sent media mail. Where as if someone buys 30-50 comics I can ship them in a flat rate box and it would only cost about $15.

If people are interested let me know what books and I'll give you a price but without shipping around a $1-1.50 an issue depending on series.

[EyesWideOpen]

And sidenote holy shit Rachel Rising went up in price. The first print of issue 1 is selling for like $150.

[Acapelli]

And sidenote holy shit Rachel Rising went up in price. The first print of issue 1 is selling for like $150.
oh jesus. get that money ewo

totally forgot ellis was doing an image book. finally getting out of the avatar ghetto and working with some decent artists again

has avatar had anybody as good as ryp do a book these past few years?

[Sven]

Andrade's work on Ferals is quite excellent, and is better storytelling than Ryp, who's a great illustrator, but deals in virtuosity over comprehension. Dipascale's Red Rover Charlie is novel anthropomorphism. I tremendously love Renato Guedes's contributions to Anthony Johnston's Yuggoth Creatures. (Actually pretty much everyone's chapters were immaculate. That book is some kind of sorcery...). Wolfer's Gravel books explicitly and evocatively explicate all kinds of thorough horrors. And I stand by Burrows.

I know what you mean though. Ryp's role in the Avatar pantheon is as the most outré-stylish. I love his/Huston's Wolverine book so much.

[Skitch]

Interesting.

http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/05/28/garth-ennis-colleen-doran-and-more-join-alan-moores-electricomics/

[ledfloyd]

He didn't invite Grant Morrison along?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Grant Morrison? Great segue...

I just read my first Morrison, Arkham Asylum, and what the fuck it was so good. It was Carnivale and David Lynch and Lewis Carroll and Christian eschatology and Norman Bates and I wanted to tear the pages up and crumple them and swallow them and grok Morrison's essence. Every page, and the whole notion - predictable in theory - makes for magnificent reading. Special credit goes to McKean obviously for the insane art design. His renditions of the Joker and Clayface especially just vibrated off the page. The TPB I read had his full script complete with annotations, and I immediately read that in its entirety after reading the comic. This all happened in a day.

So, A, wow, goddamn, etc. And B, Morrison. What Morrison do I do next? I'm sure you experts have some good opinions.

[EyesWideOpen]

We3

[Sven]

I'd say ease your way into his chaos through his early mainstream: Animal Man, Doom Patrol, even his more conventional batbook Gothic. All essential for different reasons, all seminal, all surprising and entertaining.

You may like Kid Eternity. The art is full painted Duncan Fegredo, which--I don't know how "into" comics you are but--is like crack for folk like myself. It's more early literate superhero reconceptualizing.

Lots will rightly point you at definitive things like Invisibles, Final Crisis/his Batman run, and Flex Mentallo but I found those more rewarding when I was more familiar with Morrison's angles. I'd save them for a little more down the line.

New X-Men, We3, and All Star Superman are very accessible and noteworthy.

I'll leave my suggestion at a primer at that, because I could detail all night, know I need to put a stop somewhere, and trust that others here will contribute to the legend on your fractal roadmap into the glinting brain of G-Moz.

[Sven]

Last bit of input, and sorry if it's too much, because it's kind of too much, but for about the fifth time, I'll make mention that his collaboration with Doug Mahnke on the Frankenstein module of his Seven Soldiers apparatus never fails to bring tears to my eyes at even just a passing mention, it's so lovely. The rest of the series is brutally brilliant too, but like the others I mentioned, is really Advanced Theory Morrison Mechanics, and best engaged at at least a senior level. I was held back a couple reads. Teaches didn't realize I hadn't read 52 or knew Earth-what from -what or anything. Suuuuuper dope first go, but I'll be goddamned if I could tell why anything was happening. Lovely bits of business that glom in mind-busting forms. Knowledge of DC crucial.

[ledfloyd]

I agree more or less with Sven. Animal Man is a good place to start. Doom Patrol builds nicely on that. After that maybe New X-Men and All-Star Superman. Then Flex Mentallo/Invisibles/Batman. Could probably squeeze We3 and Seaguy in anywhere along the line. I'm also fond of The Filth, but that too is a little higher level Morrison.

I wasn't super fond of his JLA run, but I didn't have much understanding of the history of the DCU when I read it which it draws on pretty heavily. I haven't dug into Seven Soldiers yet, but I think that's the only major Morrison work I have left.

[sevenarts]

All good recommendations so far, I concur that Animal Man, Doom Patrol, All Star Supes, and Flex Mentallo are the essential reads for Morrison beginners. I used to not like his JLA much but I re-read it recently and loved it; I'm not sure if it hit me better because I had more DC history knowledge or if I was just more receptive in general to the pleasures of a straight-up fun superhero story, but now I think it's great and very accessible.

I'll just add, don't skip DC One Million, it's very underrated, maybe not absolute top-tier Morrison but close to it for me. It ties into his JLA but can be read alone too.

[EyesWideOpen]

oh jesus. get that money ewo



Just sold my Rachel Rising issues for $225. That's more than I'll make off all the other comics combined.

[Dukefrukem]

Is anyone reading the Big Trouble In Little China series?

Animal Man- bleh.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Forgot to rep you all - thanks for the Morrison recs! I'll check at the librariums and see what they have.

Although I do feel stupid for forgetting that I read All-Star Superman last year and liked it quite a bit.

[ledfloyd]

I'm finally reading Locke and Key. I was waiting for it to finish so I could read it in one go. It's not transcendental or anything, but it's really good.

[Sven]

I'm finally reading Locke and Key. I was waiting for it to finish so I could read it in one go. It's not transcendental or anything, but it's really good.

Yeah. It was okay. Too-King-like climax suffered from protraction, and the whole last act complicates the magic in ways I could always follow. Some brilliant touches, and Rodriguez offers terrific visuals, down the line, to be sure.

[ledfloyd]

I assume you mean couldn't always follow.

It's a shame to hear Hill acquired his dad's Achilles heel for climaxes.

[Sven]

I assume you mean couldn't always follow.

Yessir.

I'm into Rai. Really makes me wanna go back and get some of the originals.

[Sven]

Hey all. I'm unloading lots and lots of stock. Tons of great comics listed below, all varieties, HCs, TPBs, single issues, and runs. Pretty sure everyone can suss out how they're organized. If you're interested, let me know and we'll discuss prices and stuff. As with Mr. WideOpen, whose thunder I hope I'm not stealing, I lean toward giving massively awesome discounts.

HCs

Justice League International vols 1-4
Superman/Batman: World's Finest: The Deluxe Edition
Camelot 3000
Batman & Robin vol 1
The Flash Omnibus vol 1
The Metal Men Archives vol 1
Neil Young's Greendale

Hawkeye vol 1

Doc Bizarre, MD

Madwoman of the Sacred Heart
The Killer vol 1 (sleeve crinkle)

TPBs

The Other Side
Superman/Batman: Big Noise
The OMAC Project
Batman: Tenses 1 & 2
Plastic Man vol 1
JLA: World War III
Identity Crisis
The Unwritten vols 4-5
Green Lantern: the Sinestro Corps War vol 2
Azrael: Death's Dark Knight
Batman: Joker's Asylum vols 1 & 2
Batman: The Black Glove
Batman: RIP
Lobo: Bounty Hunting for Fun and Profit (.25 sticker)
Lobo: Highway to Hell 1 & 2
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Green Lantern: Agent Orange
JLA/Avengers 1-4
52 vols 1-4
Batman and Son
Batman: Snow
History of the DC Universe
JLA/WildCATS
Point Blank
The Compleat Moonshadow
Ladytron
WildCATS 3.0 vol 1
Rogan Gosh

The Silver Surfer vol 1
Avengers Assemble vol 1
Skrull Kill Krew
Marvel Visionaries: Walt Simonson's Thor vols 1-3
Defenders: Indefensible
Venom vol 1
Secret Warriors vos 1-5
Wolverine Weapon X vol 2: Insane in the Brain
Havok/Wolverine: Meltdown 1-4
District X vols 1 & 2

Change
Firebreather vol 1
Prophet vol 1
Chew vol 1-6
Popgun vol 1
Lazarus Churchyard: The Final Cut
I Kill Giants
Ministry of Space
The Pro

Train Me, Gamble
Pictures that Tick
Strange Embrace
The Armory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 vol 1
Classical Comics' Frankenstein
The Metabarons 1: Othon & Honorata
The Beast Trilogy: Chapters 1 & 2
Cerebus vol 1
Jon Sable: Freelance
Project Superpowers: The Death Defying Devil
Hellboy vols 1-10 (7 has a tiny tear along cover binding)
The Umbrella Academy vols 1 & 2

Streets of Glory
Fashion Beast
Switchblade Honey
Atmospherics
Blackgas

Straight runs

Batman: LotDK 24-26: Flyer
Batman 620-625: Broken City
Captain Atom 0-12
Spaceman 1-9
Jenny Sparks 1-5
WildCATS vol 2 1-28
Dreamwar 1-6
Superman/Madman: Hullabaloo! 1-3
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge 1-3
The Authority: Revolution 1-12
Detective Comics 871-881
Batman 686-687: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (686 stained corner)

X-Men: 198 1-5
Civil War: X-Men 1-4
1985 1-6
Captain Britain and MI13 1-14
Wolverine & the X-Men 1-6
Daredevil (Waid) 1-14
Young Avengers (Gillen) 1-9
John Carter: the Gods of Mars 1-5
Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis 1-5

The Bounce 1-12
The Infinite: Deluxe Edition 1-4
The Atomics 1-15
Madman: Atomic Comics 1-6

Single issues

Batman Incorporated 4 & 13
Collider 1
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds 1-4 (of 5)
Batman & Robin 3, 5, 20
Final Crisis: Submit
Final Crisis Sketchbook
Final Crisis 1: Director's Cut
Final Crisis 1, 2, 6, 7
Final Crisis: Escape 1 (of 6, .25 sticker)
Hitman 20
Detective Comics 866
Batwoman 6
Batman Annual 28
Gutsville 1, 3
Lobo: Blazing Chain of Love 1
Lobo: Chained 1
Lobo Goes Hollywood 1
Lobo/The Demon: Helloween 1
Lobo: Death and Taxes 1-4
Brave and the Bold presents Batman and the Metal Men 1
The Metal Men 100-Page Spectacular 1
We3 1
Batman 656
Final Crisis: Requiem

Beta Ray Bill: the Green of Eden
Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter 1 (of 3)
Infinity Heist 1
Deadpool MaX-Mas 1
X-Force 8
Thunderbolts 12 & 13
X-Men Legacy 14

Morning Glories 26
Fatale 1
Incognito 1 & 2
Criminal: The Sinners 1 & 2
Lazarus 1
Sex Criminals 1

Deathmatch 5 & 7
The Invincible Haggard West
Strontium Dog 11
Extermination 2
Crossed 2013 Special
Butcher: Baker, Candlestickmaker 1, 3, 4
Bruce Wayne: Agent of SHIELD 1

[Skitch]

Just read a story about a guy finding a giant sized X-Men #1 at a garage sale for $20, and while waiting for his friend to bring him his wallet, they sold it to someone else.

I would cry for days.