Comic Book Chatter

[Alex79]

Xbox Gamepass Ultimate subbers now get a 3 month trial of Marvel Unlimited comic service, which is pretty awesome!

EDIT: US only. FFS

[duskvstweak]

Xbox Gamepass Ultimate subbers now get a 3 month trial of Marvel Unlimited comic service, which is pretty awesome!

EDIT: US only. FFS

Sorry to hear that, it's a great service, even when it's not free. Am I right in thinking you don't have access to Comixology or DC Infinite either?

[Alex79]

I think we have Comixology, but I'm not sure about the DC one. Kindle Unlimited is actually pretty decent for comics too, but not a patch on the Marvel service.

[Alex79]

I started reading the comic book adaption of Stephen King's The Stand. I'm delighted.

I read that a while back and really enjoyed it.

[DeadpoolNegative]

I started reading the comic book adaption of Stephen King's The Stand. I'm delighted.

Yup, it's a pretty solid take on the material. Certainly better than Paramount Plus' version!

--Dan

[Alex79]

I've been wanting my own copy of Gotham Central for years. I've been after the omnibus edition but it's no longer in print and almost £100, so I'd resigned myself to the 10 issue volumes (x4) but volume 3 is never in stock on Amazon.

So just now I stumbled across this:

https://shop.eaglemoss.com/hero-collect ... ume-1-book

Hardcover deluxe editions, two volumes (20 issues per volume) and only £25 each in the sale. I found a code for another 15% off, meaning I got both volumes for a decent price, hardcover and they come with a nice slipcase to keep them in!

Well pleased with this

[Alex79]

Reading a really good one at the moment. I picked up The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. I've been a fan of Brubaker's work since reading Gotham Central a few years back, and he's become one of my favourite writers. He tends to write a lot of hard-boiled noir type stuff, and this is totally on brand for him. The Fade Out is about a murder cover up on a movie set in 1940s Hollywood and has all the hallmarks of a classic noir story. I'm only about halfway through, but I've sat and read that in one sitting which is really something for me these days. I have no doubt the end will be as equally great as the first half, so if you've any interest in Brubaker or the genre, it's a recommend from me!

[Alex79]

I just discovered a podcast called The Batman Book Club, and they do episodes based around particular Batman storyarcs. Only listened to the first episode so far, but it seems worth sticking with. Had a glance through the episodes list and they've been going a couple of years, having covered loads of my favourite batstories. Seems like the perfect reason to re-read some old favourites and then try to read along with the show for any I've not read before.

[Alex79]

I read the whole of Black Hole by Charles Burns in bed last night. All 12 issues (available as a collected trade). I was only going to read a few pages but it absolutely gripped me. I know it's critically acclaimed but you don't hear much talk about it, and it really is an incredible work. I won't spoil too much but it's about teenages and an STD known as 'The Bug', which causes severe deformation of the body. It really was a good read.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hole_(comics)

[Alex79]

Just finished reading The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemire which I got for Christmas - https://amzn.eu/d/3B8focU

Really good collection of stories which intertwine and were, I believe, previously published separately. They're real character driven pieces, set in small town America, and are a really intimate depiction of a small community with stories about loss, family, deception.

Quite sparsely drawn, the artwork is really effective. I stumbled across this whilst browsing Amazon and finding another of his series which looked interesting (Gideon Falls - just ordered myself the first book in the series), and ended up having a look at what else he's written. Turned out he'd written a book I enjoyed a whilst back; The Underwater Welder. I don't think he's a massive name in comics, but he writes some very interesting tales which are well worth the attention of any comic/story fan. Recommended.

[Alex79]

Just read Portrait Of A Drunk by Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot, and Olivier Schrauwen, which I got a couple of Christmases ago. It's a beautiful book, nice oversized hardback, thick pages and nice artwork. The story itself is a bizarre, almost fever-dream, light on plot and dialogue, and follows a drunkard named Guy through a period of his life in the 17th century. I didn't fully understand it, and couldn't really work out what was real and what he was imagining, it might need another read or I'd usually search for some analysis online, but there doesn't seem to be much written about it. It seems well reviewed, and I'm glad I own the book as it really is a nice one, but as for the story itself, I'm undecided. It's a hard one to recommend as it's not a cheap book, but I feel like there's probably more depth to it than I fathomed on an initial read through.

[Truk_Kurt]

Random request and no worries if not but I was wondering if anyone had a copy of Batman Year One and/or The Fade Out I could borrow. I wanted to read through them specifically in preparation for an upcoming Back Page Podcast episode. I would happily cover postage costs.

[Alex79]

Random request and no worries if not but I was wondering if anyone had a copy of Batman Year One and/or The Fade Out I could borrow. I wanted to read through them specifically in preparation for an upcoming Back Page Podcast episode. I would happily cover postage costs.

I can give you links to download both books for, erm... free, if you're not adverse to reading them digitally. However, if you'd prefer physical I have them both, you're most welcome to borrow them.

This sounds interesting, is it a Patreon exclusive show? What's the idea behind it (just because they're two quite randomly different comics!)

[Truk_Kurt]

Random request and no worries if not but I was wondering if anyone had a copy of Batman Year One and/or The Fade Out I could borrow. I wanted to read through them specifically in preparation for an upcoming Back Page Podcast episode. I would happily cover postage costs.

I can give you links to download both books for, erm... free, if you're not adverse to reading them digitally. However, if you'd prefer physical I have them both, you're most welcome to borrow them.

This sounds interesting, is it a Patreon exclusive show? What's the idea behind it (just because they're two quite randomly different comics!)

Thanks Alex. It would be much appreciated if I could borrow the physical copies only because something I have started doing this year is reading for half an hour or so before bed rather than looking at any kind of screen to help me get better quality sleep and to stop me looking at Twitter for too long scrolling forever and end up going to bed later than I intended to. It's only really before bed that I read too so in order to avoid having to look at a screen, borrowing the physical ones would be really appreciated. If you send me a DM on Twitter I can send you my address and let me know how much postage would be.

In regards to the BPP episode, yeah it's a Patreon episode coming at the end of the month (30th) and is called "30 comics that are worth reading". Whilst we don't know what those 30 comics are, Samuel did tell people in the discord that if they wanted to do some reading alongside the podcast, that those are the two he would suggest. Looking online I saw that Fade Out has multiple volumes, but I think Volume One should suffice for time and postage cost reasons . Might be worth subbing o their patreon just for this month if you're interested in that episode, also because the other patreon episode for the month is "Rockstar Open world games ranked".

[Alex79]

I'll message you, by the way, my The Fade Out is the complete collection, so it's all three trades (or all 12 issues) collected in one volume.

I do plan on subscribing to The Back Page at some point even if I only do it every few months to download whatever episodes have been released up to that point...

[Tleprie]

Past month or so I've been catching up on bits of my unread comic stacks. Some of my favorites:

• Orcs / Orcs: The Curse by Christine Larsen.
  A really fun fantasy adventure, great characters and art, the storytelling is super engaging, and feels like a great arc of adventure time, or similar cartoons
• The Kill Lock: The Artisan Wraith by Livio Ramondelli
  The 2nd book in The Kill Lock series, super recommend for anyone that likes big robots and well done sci-fi world building. Definitely start with the first book.
• The Rush by Si Spurrier and Nathan Gooden
  I'm about halfway through this, and so far it has been a really compelling Western cosmic horror sort of thing. A lot of excellent dialogue and the art is great and it feels like a lot of thought was put into page/panel compositions and perspective and stuff. Hoping it sticks the landing.
• What's the Furthest Place from Here? by Tyler Boss, Matthew Rosenberg, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
  I'm only on the 3rd issue, but have kept the book on my list since it was announced, based on the strength of their previous book: Four Kids Walk Into a Bank. So far this is doing a lot of great stuff with the pacing of the art, the humor, the world, and the dialogue. It feels like a book I could binge, but I want to keep going at a steady pace and live with it for a bit longer.
• It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood
  An auto-bio graphic novel about the making of itself, and depression and Art. This book does so much fun stuff with the art and writing, it gets weird, but never without intentionality and self awareness. Reminds me a lot of Bojack Horseman and Bo Burnham's specials.

I've been in and out of the forums over the years, but am looking forward to participating some again and digging through this thread to find some more good books now that I'm getting caught up with comics

Cheers!

[Alex79]

I'm re-reading Preacher at the moment. I read it for the first time back in 2010 and am pleased it seems to still be great fun. I've forgotten 95% of it so it feels like reading it new.

Also just about to start Cinema Purgatorio by Alan Moore, which I got for Christmas, and is a collection of short stories, I think. Moore is heralded as a genius of comics, but I do find him to be a bit hit and miss. The stuff I like is amongst my favourites, but he can be a bit hard going sometimes. This is one of his more obscure books, so not really sure what to expect...!

[Alex79]

Every so often I'll google for the best new graphic novels, or "top ten graphic novels of 2022" etc. I've read some great stories through recommendations I've found via The Guardian or some other website. Just finished reading Days Of Sand by Aimee de Jongh. Based on a programme that existed back at the time, it's about a photographer sent from New York to head out mid-west and document the dust bowl in the 1930s. It's a really touching story, with a satisfying conclusion, and worth a read. Really nice art work, too.

[Tleprie]

I think the only Moore I've read is Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and The Killing Joke. I enjoyed Watchmen and V a lot, though have lost interest when going back to re-read V. The Killing Joke I thought was solid, but I think it was too hyped up for me.

I'd like to read his Swamp Thing at some point. Let us know what you think of Cinema Purgatorio!

[Alex79]

I think the only Moore I've read is Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and The Killing Joke. I enjoyed Watchmen and V a lot, though have lost interest when going back to re-read V. The Killing Joke I thought was solid, but I think it was too hyped up for me.

I'd like to read his Swamp Thing at some point. Let us know what you think of Cinema Purgatorio!

I enjoyed Cinema Purgatorio - I hesitate to recommend it, it's probably the most 'Alan Moore' thing he's written, very odd and, at times, seemingly deliberately obtuse, but I enjoyed it.

Swamp Thing is great, I've got his whole run on that in the collected editions. I've only read about half of it so far and probably read about one book a year of it, but what I've read has been excellent. It's kind of dated with regard to the art and some of the writing, but it's still well worth a read in my opinion.