Everyone else on their list is better than Lee.
Although they leave off my personal favorite, Marshall Rogers. Breyfogle would be #2.
Everyone else on their list is better than Lee.
Although they leave off my personal favorite, Marshall Rogers. Breyfogle would be #2.
What think we of Ellis/Lotay's Supreme? Initial impressions are swoony. Just the right level of aloof, lovely art, even if the facial renderings nerf expressiveness.
Those who've read Satellite Sam and East of West--are those two series worth continuing through their first volumes? I like how diverse Image's titles are and those two both have solid first volumes, but I want to ensure that the series doesn't become meandering, as I felt Fatale started to become...
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
Sorry, dd. I can't speak to the second volume of either, as I, too, have yet to engage with them. Both are among my favorite current titles, I've just been unable to prioritize reading them. Wish all of Fraction's stuff was so loaded with nuance. His star is quickly fading, I think, but I'm holding out for more SS and Casanova.
On another note, I'm fairly certain that Valiant's Armor Hunters is the most successful crossover event I've read. Attribute it to a more modest scope, being only a few titles large, so there's little room for sprawl or contradiction. But simultaneously, each mini- so far, incl Unity and Manowar, has been brutally efficient and lovingly rendered. With no aspect phoning it in, and a writer pool that includes Venditti, Dysart, Kindt, and Harris (along with some of my favorite artists, Hairsine, Gill, esp. Braithwaite), I'll be surprised if this doesn't wind up the best comics event in years.
Kinda funny that you would say that the week the final issue came out.Quoting dreamdead (view post)
I think East of West is meandering a little narratively, although I still find it engaging because of its big ideas. SS, on the other hand, is just consistently firing on all cylinders every issue.
Movie Theater Diary
62 books for $15.50. I loooove raiding .25 cent bins! And most of it was on my checklist. I will definitely be stopping by that shop again. Interesting how some shops quarter bins are total garbage I would throw away before giving away, and other shops are a jackpot for me.
Todays pickups mostly consisted of Nightwing, Titans, The Outsiders, Red Robin, some Crow and Stray Bullets, and a few other indys I'm willing to risk a quarter. Great day.
Thought the first issue of Transmet was entertaining and goofy, even if, mother of God, the satire was so broad.
But We3 was something else. Quitely's artwork was succulent, the animals' dialogue felt so precise and true. Some great stuff in there.
Now I'm trying to get through Moore's From Hell, which quickly feels like the Moby Dick of comics - at least from the three chapters I've finished. Excellent so far, but thank God for the TPB's endnotes that clarify the more esoteric story stuff (Jabuhlon? Bwuhahama?).
First volume of Image's Velvet was wonderful. Sophisticated art and love the adult take on noir (rather than the Frank Miller take). Hoping its second volume keeps up the quality--if so, I'm along for the ride.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
So is 100 Rooms the first great Locas story? Because I think it might be.
Yeah, Velvet is fantastic. The second volume just started and if anything I feel like the first issue of the new arc upped the ante. It's such a clever twist on the genre, placing a character like Velvet at the center of the story when she'd usually be at the fringes. But I mean, it's Ed Brubaker, of course it's a great noir/spy thriller. If you've never read anything by him before and want more smart noir, check out Criminal, Sleeper (superhero noir!), and the just-finished, really brilliant Fatale (horror noir!).
Yeah that seems to be where Jaime really found his voice and everything started to come together in a big way. There are good stories earlier than that but that's the first one that really suggests that this is going to be an all-time classic work of art as opposed to just another fun indie book.
I read "The Girl from HOPPERS" awhile back, and I've finally gone back and picked up "Maggie the Mechanic." Now they just need to hurry up with the "Perla La Loca" reprint. Or I could jump over to Palomar and see what things are like over there.
I don't have those new collections (I love the big, old OOP ones, even if it cost me more to gather 'em all) but it looks like Perla la Loca contains Wigwam Bam, which is just awesome. One of the best things about Locas, which you'll realize as you get further in, is how well Jaime's storytelling works over the long term - he's basically made these characters feel like real people, growing and changing in surprising ways in something like real time as they age. It's a phenomenal accomplishment and really sets his work apart from almost anyone else in comics.
I've never been quite as big a fan of Gilbert as I am of Jaime, but of course considering that I'd call Jaime the best cartoonist ever, it's all relative. Palomar is very much worth reading, too, and has a very different feel and set of concerns from his brother's work.
Dynamite's new issue of Captain Victory is cool, but too tardy, feeling less exciting by a wide margin given that Spurrier beat him to the plotpunch in X-Force. Surely Fox/Farinas/esp Rugg's pages sing, but alas, Casey's scripts are becoming rapidly staid. Even his good ones aren't ending all that well.
Also finally caught up with Satellite Sam, and it, too, is becoming more predictable in its use of its milieu. There doesn't seem to be a lot of investment in the mystery aspect of the narrative, it mostly seems like a vehicle by which Mike can pick up where his father left off, which is a trite bit of characterizing seeing that nothing is being explored or peered at. Just Mad Men-esque "hey, look at all this quaint-era sex"-ness, highlighted by token social concerns like race and homosexuality in unimaginative ways. Still dig the presentation, and can't deny that I am curious where it's going, but I can also see that it's moving into pretty boring territory.
To be fair, the plot point you're talking about came from the original Kirby Captain Victory, so it's more like they're both taking from a common source - and Casey, unlike Spurrier, kinda couldn't avoid it considering his source material. Anyway, I can't fathom being unexcited by this issue. The beginning summarized the Kirby concepts a bit but it quickly went off in its own directions in the second half, and I can't wait to see where Casey goes with this. Fun, frenzied, beautifully drawn stuff, every bit as much of a blast as Catalyst Comix was. So Casey at his very best, basically.
I get what you're saying about Satellite Sam to some degree, but it continues to surprise/provoke me in moments like the "passing" exchange with the elevator operator. That was downright searing.
I'm not saying drop the concept. Obviously it's part of Captain Victory. But Spurrier managed to take the element and make it a surprising and relevant thing, while Casey's use of it in the first issue is perfunctory. Of course, we'll see where it goes, but I have a feeling that this is gonna be an artistic showcase, not a narrative one.
That's exactly the kind of exchange that feels like a wet noodle to me. How did that scene provoke you? It was such an obvious construction, stacked for maximum race points without actually offering any observation beyond the superficial.
As much as I like Spurrier's X-Force, he's kinda just doing exactly what Kirby did with the clone/dying thing, playing it for maximum pathos and commentary on the nature of the self. It's great stuff, in both cases. I love the concept, and love what Spurrier's been doing with it, especially parallel to the even more interesting stuff he's been doing with Fantomex. The cliffhanger of the most recent X-Force issue was jaw-dropping. I like that Casey seems to be going somewhere else with it - I could be wrong but I got the sense he's going for more of an Orion-style Darkseid's son story, splitting the protagonist into "good" and "evil" versions to examine the two sides of his personality. Whatever, I certainly won't argue that like 70-80% of the appeal of this thing is going to be visual, but I had a great time with the first issue. Can't wait to see Fiffe's pages in the next one.
As for SS, I just thought that scene was really emotionally compelling. In just a few panels, Fraction & Chaykin managed to very economically and intensely communicate the mental anguish of this guy who's passing for white. It's contrived, sure, but such contrivances don't really bother me in this book in part because Chaykin's style is so broad and naturally suited to melodrama. If you think of the book as lurid melodrama, which I definitely do, that was a prime moment, just packed with juicy emotions. Yeah, I don't think Fraction necessarily has a lot of substance to say about this era (decidedly *unlike* Mad Men, incidentally) but the emotional storytelling and the sharp-edged dialogue remain top-notch.
Yale Stewart? FUCKING YALE STEWART? The guy who makes JL8 harasses women with his dick pics?
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT.
Movie Theater Diary
There's only 3 comics I'm regularly reading, Walking Dead, Batman 52 and X-files, but I just picked up the first three volumes of Black and White Batman and I'm kinda of exited.
Please tell me I should be.
-Duke
I own both B&W Batman series'. Possibly my favorite Bat books ever.
What's Walking Dead up to after Regan in #100 or so?
I'm waiting on the Django/Zorro release before I go back to the stores again and check out anything.
I was actually going to ask for a good Batman recommendation. It's been a very long time since I read a comic. I'm trying to figure out what's interesting and seemingly worthwhile. I was going to check out the trade paperbacks of The Court of Owls, but apparently the story kind of fizzles out in the end? It sounded intriguing. I know Grant Morrison has done some interesting stuff with Batman but, the last time I checked, that entails a huge commitment and the acquisition of a hefty amount of TPBs in order to absorb the entire story.
I'm also curious about Miles Morales, but I'm not sure if that series is held in high esteem (I flipped through a random issue at a comic book shop a while back and I liked the art and the dialogue). I guess I'm drawn to that series because the last time I was into comics in any substantial sense was when I was collecting the Ultimate Spider-Man series that launched back in 2000 (I stopped reading around the time that Carnage was introduced).
I've been meaning to check out Hawkeye and Saga for a while. I know those have definitely been well received. There's also a lot of topical chatter out there about Multiversity, but I'm not sure if it's the sort of thing that will more or less stand on its own or if it will cater to those who are more conversant with a wide array of DC characters and storylines.
This. (see DC thread)
Also, Hawkeye and Saga are both overrated. Alternative suggestions: Simon Spurrier's X-Men Legacy, which is as funny, innovative, and insightful as anything in Fraction's book, with half the posing. And Jonathan Hickman's Manhattan Projects is every bit the hysterical, sprawling sci-fi strangeness as Saga (headier, yes).
Also, be mindful of my minority opinion in taking these recommendations into advisement.
I'm trying to figure out if you're asking what is currently happening in the series or if you're asking something else.
In any case, we're at #130.
If you liked the old Ultimate Spider-Man, the Miles Morales stuff is probably gonna be up your alley too. It's worth catching up on what you didn't read yet of USM in general: Bendis' whole run on this book, with either Peter or Miles, has been some of the most consistently fun, entertaining, accessible comics around. If you stopped with Carnage you missed some real good stuff. I'd suggest reading straight through from where you stopped to the current Miles series.
For Batman, I'd definitely stay away from Court of the Owls or any of the other current Scott Snyder stuff. Every arc he's done since the New 52 started has fizzled out - that is, if they didn't start lousy to begin with. Morrison's Batman is daunting, and scattered across a confusing array of collections, but well worth the commitment if you feel like tackling something wildly ambitious. If you just want random, non-recent Batman recs, some of the better Bat books I've read of late have been Matt Wagner's Faces, any of Peter Milligan's Detective Comics issues from the early 90s, and virtually the entirety of Alan Grant's 80s/90s stint as writer on various Bat books. Although, of those, only Faces has been collected as of now (a Milligan Bat collection is coming next year).
Hawkeye is brilliant and well worth the praise it gets, it's funny, formally inventive, and emotionally layered. Saga is quite enjoyable, I don't rate it as "best book" or anything like others but it's fun. Sven's not steering you wrong by pointing to X-Men Legacy or Manhattan Projects either, those are/were great books that don't get nearly enough attention. If you want a hefty completed run, you could also do worse than checking out Hickman's Fantastic Four/FF run (heady sci-fi epic mixed with a lot of family-themed heart) or Remender's Uncanny X-Force (frenzied, almost non-stop action that never quite obscures the complex character arcs Remender builds for this great cast).
Great. Thanks for the recommendations.
I like the premise of Manhattan Projects so I'll definitely keep that one in mind. It's too bad that Multiversity demands a more robust understanding of DC, as I wanted to check that one out. It seems like a lot of people are enjoying it. Of course, the fact that it's so decidedly esoteric is probably one of the primary reasons why it's being received well.
I will consider returning to USM. I still have the big Barnes and Noble hardcover that I bought many years ago, and I probably still have the TPBs and individual issues that I began collecting afterwards. Thanks for noting Faces, as well. I'll have to look into that one.
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