Comic Book Chatter

This is the place where you can conflab about all the other stuff besides videogames
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duskvstweak
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

Post by duskvstweak »

Chopper wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 9:50 am Thanks for the suggestions folks, much appreciated.

I read a bit of Fables last night and it was great; really like it. The humour, the framing, the story: all excellent. It really brought home how great a job TellTale did on the Wolf Among Us, really cementing its place as the #1 Telltale game (for me of course).

I struggled a bit with Superman and Action Comics #775. I think it was to do with comic literacy, if that makes sense. I'm not up to date with the idea of universes full of all the superheroes and all the villains, for example (I don't really know anything about superhero stuff), and I found the lettering to be a bit crazy - for example the bolded words are meant to be emphasised in speech, yes? The emphasis seemed to be all over the place here, almost random, and contributed to my disorientation.

I liked the underlying themes and nods to the issues we are having with populism, and will read again when I've mulled it over a bit.
You know, if you want Superman but not the continuity requirements, DC tends to be a lot better than Marvel with putting out standalone stories. Might I recommend,

Birthright
Red Son
Secret Identity
All-Star Superman
Secret Origin
Kryptonite by Darwyn Cooke
and maybe Superman: Earth One (though I didn't love it.)
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Chopper
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

Post by Chopper »

Pitwar wrote: May 2nd, 2019, 11:34 am The bold words are probably just a printing thing from back when the issue was published, and not in any way meant to be emphasised when reading.

DC and Marvel still used actual letterers back then rather than relying on computers, so that's why some text can standout more than others.
Ok, I'll not pay much heed to it from now on, thanks.

Thanks for the further recs, both. I will refer back to this thread a bit going forward. Cheers!
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Chopper
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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duskvstweak wrote: May 1st, 2019, 5:28 pm Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run
This Hawkeye stuff is currently 60-70% off on Comixology which seems good value.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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Chopper wrote: May 4th, 2019, 11:24 am
duskvstweak wrote: May 1st, 2019, 5:28 pm Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run
This Hawkeye stuff is currently 60-70% off on Comixology which seems good value.
It's great stuff.
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Chopper
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I've been going pretty hard at a few graphic novels:

Fables 1 - great.
Jinx - very interesting noir-ish story done in black and white and with very extravagant use of the page's real estate. Story about small-time grifters making a big score, with the usual influences. The interesting part was the flashbacks to previous parts of their lives showing how they got to this point (emotionally).
Judge Dredd: Mega City Zero - this was a bit all over the place. I didn't fully follow the how and why of it, and there seemed to be some leaps of logic that the reader was asked to make to follow the story. Some major swipes at social media and the men's rights (for want of a better word) movement spiced it up but felt out of place. Pretty interesting overall though (and pretty cheap right now for the sheer amount of content).

Continuing to dip in to various recommendations; it's not cheap, this comics lark, is it? :lol:
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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There's a Judge Dredd sale on at the moment on Comixology so I bought some stuff. There's also a free Judge Death comic on there at the moment, all very 80s British: :D

Image

I enjoyed Hawkeye Vol 1 as mentioned above. Bro!
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I actually just started an X-Men podcast called Previously on X-Men, with a friend of mine. Our introduction episode is out and then we're talking Giant-Size X-Men #1 this week.
https://radiomeanwhile.com/previously-on-x-men
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I have some embarrassing gaps in my X-Men reading, so I started going after those, beginning with where I left off of Claremont's run. I had read that from the beginning to the Mutant Massacre era, but then fell off. Now, I'm loving it. Not just because I get to return to some of my favorite X-Men and era, but because the post-Massacre stories, leading up to and including Fall of the Mutants, are so cool. The team is so oft-kilter and strange compared to previous lineups, the stories seem a bit darker and edgier, it's really a wild time. I'm now post-Fall of the Mutants, reading through what builds to the Inferno stories, and I'm glad I made sure to go back.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I just finished the first All Star Batman book from the Rebirth line. Its Batman taking Two Face back to where they grew up to try to cure him. It's a little messy, and I've not read any of the other Rebirth books yet* (got some of the Batman main series ones for Christmas but not got round to them yet). It was a good read though overall, and worth the trip to the library for.

*So I have no idea why Duke Thomas is Robin!
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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Alex79uk wrote: May 1st, 2019, 4:52 pm Preacher, Y The Last Man, American Gods, Gotham Central, Sandman...

Fables is good, too.
That’s a really good list.

I’d add Garth Ennis’ The Boys to the list and stick it right near the top. If you handle the graphic nature and twisted sense of humour then you will love it. My recommendation would be to find a half decent comic shop and read the first 10 or so pages. Either you love it or you will hate it.

My absolute favourite is Starman. The complete collection is quite small standing at 6 books spanning the entire series. Outstanding. It’s very nostalgic and in some circles quite an iconic run. Wonderful stuff.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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Can you be more specific with Starman? Sounds good but I googled it and just found the DC character who's been in loads of books. Which ones did you mean? Thanks!

Also, I hope this isn't true :( Vertigo was a brilliant part of DC...

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/06/04 ... e-vertigo/
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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http://www.comicscube.com/2012/10/a-sta ... ction.html

I found plenty of retrospectives but most had spoilers. This one doesn’t. There’s only a few comments at the end of the short article but they resonate with me.

Starman would be my desert island comic book series. It is in my opinion the finest piece of comic book writing ever and the most magnificent self contained superhero story there has even been. There’s guest appearances but often from niche characters, it’s nostalgic but forward thinking. It rewards you for knowledge of obscure characters but doesn’t penalise you if this were the first comic you ever read. I get goosebumps when I read it.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I recently signed up for a month of Marvel Unlimited and am loving going back to events that I had missed before from not wanting to spend £££ on the graphic novels. I had already read The Infinity Gauntlet as someone bought it for me for Christmas a few years ago but after that went on to The Infinity War and then The Infinity Crusade but just the main series none of the tie ins.

Now I'm part way through House of M but actually reading all the tie ins for this one and am so glad I have done because it adds so much more depth to the story.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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FemalePheromones wrote: June 6th, 2019, 7:16 am I recently signed up for a month of Marvel Unlimited and am loving going back to events that I had missed before from not wanting to spend £££ on the graphic novels. I had already read The Infinity Gauntlet as someone bought it for me for Christmas a few years ago but after that went on to The Infinity War and then The Infinity Crusade but just the main series none of the tie ins.

Now I'm part way through House of M but actually reading all the tie ins for this one and am so glad I have done because it adds so much more depth to the story.
I LOVE the Unlimited app. It helps the way they collect events, like House of M, makes reading the tie-ins that much less of a hassle. Also, if you enjoyed the Gauntlet sequel series, I'd suggest Marvel: The End as well as the whole Annihilation story-line.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I'll add them to the list. I'm going to go from House of M to Age of Ultron and then Infinity and then Age of Apocalypse. It really is a great app, I only signed up for a month and then quickly cancelled so it won't auto-renew for the next month as I didn't want to pay again thinking it won't be worth it but now odds are that I will renew.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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FemalePheromones wrote: June 6th, 2019, 5:42 pm I'll add them to the list. I'm going to go from House of M to Age of Ultron and then Infinity and then Age of Apocalypse. It really is a great app, I only signed up for a month and then quickly cancelled so it won't auto-renew for the next month as I didn't want to pay again thinking it won't be worth it but now odds are that I will renew.
Age of Apocalypse is my favorite, one of the greats! And, I did the same thing! Did the free month to read some stuff quick but then broke down and got the year sub. It's one of the few monthly subscriptions where I know I'm getting my money's worth.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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I've been into Marvel since I was a kid from the X-men and Spider-man cartoons in the 90s but only bought the odd graphic novels. Actually got into Deadpool for a while and have I think up to number 8 of the classics collections. I actually just looked on Ebay to see if it was worth selling them but I haven't decided if it's worth the effort.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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DC closing Vertigo Comics is sad news. Really down about this.
The Vertigo imprint taught me to love comic books, not just superheroes. My appreciation of the medium as a whole is due to Vertigo and a big reason I branch out and try new things as often as I do.
And Sandman basically re-wired my brain when I first read it as a teenager.

https://io9.gizmodo.com/dc-comics-just- ... 1835249469
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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Well this has the potential to be fantastic!

https://www.nme.com/news/film/horror-le ... 528535/amp

John Carpenter, horror legend, to write new Joker comic.
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Re: Comic Book Chatter

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Some comics I read recently,

Umbrella Academy Vol. 1 &2 - Finally got to this series. Glad I did. I would have loved this had I read it upon release, but better late then never. I need to check out the show now.

The Quantum Age - Not as good as the main Black Hammer series. I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by all the spinoff titles.

Deadpool vs. The Punisher - Read this mainly because I interviewed the author for my podcast. The book didn't blow me away and was never as funny as it should have been, but there's a running gag about the Punisher "resetting" Deadpool that got me every time. Also, I thought the "My mother's name is Martha!" well was dry, but the joke still worked for me in this one.
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/off- ... -van-lente

Transmetropolitan Vol. 10 - Finished the series. I loved it, but I imagine it's not for everyone. It's disgustingly impressive how politically relevant this book is, twenty years later. So much of the parody of this series is our everyday life now. Check it out if you haven't.

The Sheriff of Babylon - I was mourning the death of Vertigo so I went looking for some of their books I haven't read. This might be the best of Tom King's writing that I've read. It's only twelve issues, so it's a quick, depressing read.

We3 - More Vertigo mourning. I've known about this forever but finally cracked it open. It's off the wall, but, darn it, that dog got me. Really liked it, as weird as it is. Or because of how weird it is.

We Stand On Guard - I was also on a Brian K. Vaughan kick. Following the rebel forces of Canada who are defending their homeland from an America out for fresh water, it's a big concept that focuses on the characters. I liked it, but it was also depressing.

The Private Eye- Part of the Vaughan kick. This book was brilliant. The internet is outlawed, everyone's identity is secret with multiple aliases, the press has replaced the police. So many great ideas here and it's all wrapped up in a neo-noir story.
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