I Read Comic Books discussion
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What are you reading right now? (May 2024)
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Today's trip to my LCS.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #150
Nightwing Annual 2024
Get Fury #1 <--- Marvel's MAX line returns, probably just for Garth Ennis
Immortal Thor #10
Incredible Hulk #12
Invincible Iron Man #18
X-Men #34
Zorro: Man of the Dead #4
Deadpool Wolverine: WWIII #1
Space Ghost #1
Blood Hunt #1: Redband Edition <--- It's polybagged with an additional 8 pages of gory violence
I also wanted to remind everyone that Saturday is Free Comic Book Day.
https://www.freecomicbookday.com/catalog
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Kara: Castle Waiting by Medley, Linda (2006) Hardcover
- Kait: Camp Spirit
- Paloma: Dandadan, Vol. 7
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
Today's FCBD haul. Energon Universe #1
Flash Gordon #0
Spider-Man / Ultimate Universe #1
Romeo Vs. Juliet
Cursedverse #1
Archie Horror Presents The Cursed Library Prelude #0
Blood Hunt / Uncanny X-Men #1
Doctor Who #0
The Worlds of James Tynion IV
The Valiants
Absolute Power #1
Jonny Quest
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles FCBD 2024
Gatchaman #0
Hellboy FCBD
Dying Inside FCBD <--- Written by Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy
Star Wars FCBD
Also I asked about the promotion Marvel is doing with Marvel Insider points and a chance to be drawn into a comic book. He said they threw them all out because it was promoting Marvel Unlimited instead of comic book stores and that all of the other retailers in New York were doing the same. I thought that was strange but whatever.
Last week's adventures in comics.Invasion! ★★★
I started off the week with a buddy read of the old DC event Invasion! All of the major alien races decide that Earth's metahumans are becoming a problem and form an alliance and attack. There's lots of tie-ins with DC superheroes fighting different aliens. I won't go into too many details but it's solid stuff.
Just Another Story: A Graphic Migration Account ★★★★
The story of a man living in the U.S. who reflects back when he came here from El Salvador a decade before with his mother. It goes into great detail how they worked with coyotes to travel here over a vast distance all the way through Guatemala and Mexico. You also get a sense of their fears and worries as the whole time they were at the mercy of these shady people. Really interesting to see other people's perspectives and makes you very thankful that we have so much here.
The Strange Death of Alex Raymond ★
This is what happens when you sit alone in an echo chamber for the last 20 years. When you are your only sounding board, everyone involved agrees. It starts off as an examination of art styles. By the end, it's 6,000 notebooks of gibberish that Dave Sim couldn't even be bothered to finish. After 250 pages are so, he just up and ended it, leaving Carson Grubaugh holding the bag with no idea how to finish it.
Hellsing, Vol. 6 ★★★
London has been overrun with vampires and Alucard is out of commission. Should make for some tense action. The terrible accents lose all sense of drama for me. They're all real bad caricatures. Then you have Catholic priests show up in Klan hoods. WTF?
Duke Volume 1: Knowing is Half the Battle ★★★★
This was nicely done. Duke is a top notch soldier. People also think he's crazy after he was attacked by Starscream since no one knows the Transformers exist. So we get G.I. Joe characters introduced organically as the story calls for them.
Salt Magic ★★★
If you are the kind of person that likes answers posed by the story, this is not the book for you. Multiple things are just sprung out of nowhere and you are expected to go with it. The story begins with a little girl in Oklahoma in the 1920s. Her older brother has just returned from World War I a changed man with the scars, physical and mental, to prove it. But things are different now and she misses the closeness they once shared. Then out of nowhere a witch appears and turns the farm's water to salt water and she goes on a quest to save her family.
Blade, Vol. 1 ★★★★
Blade gets his first ongoing series in decades. This reminds me a lot of the TV show Angel. It's not just Blade fighting vampires. All kinds of supernatural creatures and demons appear. He unwittingly unleashes something real bad on the world and is on his back foot trying to make up for it from there on out.
Zorro: Man of the Dead ★★★★
Another great comic from Sean Gordon Murphey. This is about a town in Mexico that is run by the cartels. 20 years ago, a drug lord killed the father of a boy and a girl while they celebrated the anniversary of Zorro. Now they are out to finally take their town back.
Immortal Thor Vol. 2 ★★★
First up is a flashback story where Loki and Thor relive the Marvel version of some traditional Norse myths centered around Utgard-Loki. Then Dario Agger, Enchantress and the Executioner return to mess with Thor's History. The Roxxon Presents: Thor issue is genius. The rest just OK.
Captain America, Vol. 1: Stand ★★★★
This new Captain America series features the return of J. Michael Straczynki to Marvel. It takes place now and when Steve Rogers was a teenager, trying to get by before he became Captain America. In the past, he's standing up to the German American Bund in 1938 before the U.S. entered World War II. In the now, a new threat is rising. A human powered by a demon.
Petar & Liza ★★
Just a real nothing burger of a story. One that goes on for 175 pages. It's about a guy who returns from military service and then drifts through this city for 100 pages before he meets a girl and they drift through life together for awhile.
I had to give "The Strange Death of Alex Raymond" one extra star, for a total of two, because the art in the early part is so well done, and the investigation and description of how the art was done is also great.Of course, the story is nonsense, and Sim behaved badly, but the art in the first part is just so good.
Ed wrote: "I had to give "The Strange Death of Alex Raymond" one extra star, for a total of two, because the art in the early part is so well done, and the investigation and description of how the art was don..."The art is fantastic, Ed. I agree. Some of Sim's best. I was just so angry by the time it ended at how poorly he behaved and it's so typically Sim trying to blame it on how no one wants to read what turns out to be a garbage story with no end and nonstop rabbit holes. Woe is me. Yeah, of course no one wants to read the random gibberish from a madman. Come out of your hobbit hole and join the human race again. Maybe then you'll get back to the creator I used to put at the top of my pile of comics each month.
Short thoughts on all of the FCBD books I read. In general, this was a banner year. So much good stuff coming out this year.Gatchaman #0 ★★★
I was really excited to see this on FCBD. Battle of the Planets was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. This was OK. I hope it expands on things more than these 3 short stories did.
Dying Inside (FCBD 2024 Preview) by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz ★★★★
There's trigger warnings all over this thing. It's about a sixteen year old girl who is planning on killing herself on the same day and in the same way as her idol, Elliot Smith.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1 ★★★★
I enjoyed the Star Wars story more than the Darth Vader story, mainly because the Star Wars one stands on its own while the Darth Vader story takes place between issues #45 and #46 of Darth Vader.
Jonny Quest FCBD 2024 ★★★★
These revivals of my favorite cartoons in comic book form is going to kill me. Or at least my wife is when I buy them all. A new story set in the classic era of the show. I gotta admit I was a little worried when I saw Casey's name attached just because he sometimes likes to change things but it's what you'd expect. There's also teases in here for the Thundercats and Space Ghost series coming out now which I have already been picking up.
Hellboy: The Fortune Teller / Stranger Things: Deliver Me From Evil ★★★
The Hellboy story is solid. It takes place in 1983. Hellboy is investigating a fortune teller because one of her clients who was 22 turned up dead of old age.
The Stranger Things story is your typical Dark Horse Stranger Things story where nothing is really allowed to happen. It's about Argyle and Jonathan delivering a pizza while he tells anachronistic stories.
The Worlds of James Tynion IV ★★
Zero new content here. All three are terrific series. If I knew it was a reprint though, I would have left it for someone else who hasn't read Something Is Killing the Children, Memetic, and The Woods.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles FCBD 2024 ★★★
This whole Nightwatcher thing is kind of dumb. There's one turtle missing. Who do you think Nightwatcher is going to be? The classic story from Paul Allor is kind of fun fluff. Not a fan of Andy Kuhn's art though.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe / Spider-Man #1 ★★★
The Ultimates is the big winner here. It looks like this series will be terrific with the Ultimates operating as freedom fighters in a world under The Maker's control. The Spider-Man story was a bit fluffy with Pete fighting some knock off Chucky Cheese robots. The Venom story has been incomprehensible from the getgo. Not sure what Al Ewing is doing over there but it's over my head.
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt / X-Men #1 ★★★★
Pretty good lead ins to both the Blood Hunt event and the new X-Men comics coming out this summer. You've suckered me into picking up Blood Hunt and I was in the bag for X-Men already but this seems interesting. Plus, I dig the great Gail Simone. Plus the rock devil horns is now the mutant symbol upside down. Rock on!
Flash Gordon #0 FCBD 2024 ★★★★★
This was really good. It's going to wind up on my pull list. It's traditional Flash Gordon but one where something goes horribly wrong and I presume the miniseries will be dealing with it.
Romeo vs Juliet: A Kill Shakespeare Adventure Free Comic Book Day 2024 ★★★
A new story set in the Kill Skakespeare universe. This one has Romeo and Juliet recovered from that famous play but at odds in this war.
Archie Horror Presents The Cursed Library Prelude FCBD #0 ★★★
The editors are promising more than just the short horror stories in the one shots Archie has been putting out the last few years. Apparently there will be some kind of miniseries with Jinx. We'll see. Archie Horror has lost the credibility it used to have with me.
CursedVerse FCBD 2024 ★★
A new shared universe taking place right before World War II. Doesn't seem like anything we haven't seen before though and the women have quite a bit of cleavage showing for the thirties.
The Valiants FCBD 2024 ★★
I don't know man. I used to be the biggest proponent of Valiant comics. Their comics were consistently great until they weren't the last several years. This new relaunch by Alien Books seems to be a continuation of the same universe. It's just one that is no longer interesting and epic like it used to be.
Energon Universe FCBD 2024 Special ★★★★★
Teasers for Year 2 of the Energon Universe. I've loved everything released so far. This was no exception. Great stuff.
Doctor Who FCBD 2024 ★★★
A solid lead in to a new story featuring the newest incarnation of the Doctor and his companion. This is one I may check out when it comes out.
Absolute Power 2024 FCBD Special Edition #1 ★★★★
DC's been leading up to this event since Dark Crisis. It looks pretty good. Amanda Waller has went off the deep end and plans on putting all supers in chains or working for her. It's Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Can you really go wrong there? Yes, I know Mikel Janin drew this prelude.
The past week I read:- Predator versus Wolverine
- Survival Street
Manga:
- Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 1
- Ossan Idol!, Volume 1
Today's trip to the LCS.The Devil That Wears My Face #6
Beneath the Trees #5
Beneath the Trees #6
Avengers #14
Birds of Prey #9
Captain America #9
Doctor Strange #15
Geiger #2
Wolverine #49
X-Men Forever #3
Transformers #8
Giant-Size X-Men #1
Faith Returns #1
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: Limerence by Koki Miura
- Danny: Bloodhunt #1
- Brian: Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
Favorite reads in the last week or so:Ice Cream Man vol 9 - just in time for new issues to restart next week
Fangirl vol2 - it turns out I need more YA in my life
Defiant #14 - part 3 in a brain parasite story, always fun
Kaya #18 - one of my favorite ongoing books; the art this issue is particularly colorful and cool
Nightwing annual - a bit of a break from Grayson to get Bea Bennett’s backstory
Last week's adventures in comics.Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies: The Collected Conceits, Delusions, and Hijinks of New Yorkers from 1974 to 1995 ★★
This is a neat idea and works well once a week. Mack takes odd things he hears people around New York say and puts them in comic strip panels. Each panel is its own thing though so each two line strip is sometimes 14 different conversations. Multiply this by 300 pages and it's an exhausting read.
Zawa + The Belly of the Beast ★★★★
I found this delightful. It's about an island nation that is much like the modern world. It's homogenized the food into garbage while abusing its natural resources. A brother and sister come across Zawa chained in a basement and free her. Zawa is the island's connection to the earth. Setting her free sets off a chain of events that will forever change it all. I thought it was a great all-ages story.
Potions Inc Vol. 1 ★★★
Not bad. The art can be suspect at times. It's about some siblings from a magical world who come to Earth in search of a magical stone. There's also an evil sorcerer looking for it. Kind of your standard tropes apply.
Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense ★★★
A pretty extensive biography of the Master of Suspense. All of the jumping around in time made it really difficult to follow though. And it pretty much ignores all of his obsessive behavior with his leading ladies or at the very least plays it down to the point where it seems overblown which it really wasn't. If you're going to do a biography, it should tell the good and the bad.
The Devil That Wears My Face ★★★★★
This series was badass. It's The Exorcist crossed with Freaky Friday. It's the 1700's and a priest is dispatched to Spain from the Vatican to exorcise Legion from a noble. That's when things go horribly wrong and a game of cat and mouse throughout the Vatican begins. This was just terrific. David Pepose shows again why he's one of my favorite writers these days.
Over The Ropes Vol. 2: Broken Kayfabe ★★★
If you're really into wrestling, you'll probably love this. My great grandma would have loved this. She watched wrestling all the time and would tape matches on her VCR. To me, it's all just an over the top script. Still, this isn't bad.
Dahlia in the Dark Vol. 1 ★★★★
I had fun with this. It's set in a world where the fey can visit Earth. Two enforcers are sent to take a package across country but have no idea what's in the package. Turns out it's something that could start a war between fey and humanity. So you've got one of those stories where everyone is on the lookout for this car, both fey and human.
John Tiffany GN ★★
This didn't work for me. It's about a bounty hunter that has a bounty put out on him and it has to be one of four close confidants who ratted him out. The storytelling though is so disjointed with nonstop time jumps that I couldn't keep the timeline straight at all. Plus, the main character is so unlikable that I kind of wanted him to get tagged.
Giant-Size X-Men (2024) #1 ★★
What a boring story. Not sure why it's called Giant-Size X-Men and not Regular Size Angel. Angel is the only one in this story and nothing happens in it. It's terrible. It's only Giant Size because there's a reprint of Marvel Two-In-One #68 in the back half. It's a real poor excuse to change an extra $3 for. These Giant-Size books are a ripoff.
Taka ★★
You can tell this was written by someone that writes children's comics. It's got that same kind of hand waving over nonsense like "hard lightness" and "hero metal". This thing is filled with all this gibberish that means nothing when it all just comes down to an excuse to fight robot animals.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees ★★★★★
This is one little messed up puppy of a story. It's set in an anthropomorphic world like something Richard Scarry would do. It's about a person in a small town who has been secretly murdering people off in the city for years. But now another killer has appeared in her town, one that's leaving bodies on display. Now she has to find the killer before it leads the police to what she's been doing. The art is interesting because it's got this fluffy look to it and then all of a sudden there will be a graphic murder. Looking forward to seeing what Horvath does next.
Once Upon a Time at the End of the World, Vol. 2 ★★★
This was alright. The two finally find their oasis and go through a bunch of free love stuff that drags on and on. Then things begin to turn seemingly just because. There is no reasoning behind it. Hopefully that gets explained in volume 3 or this is going down another star.
Exorcists Never Die ★★★
This wasn't bad. It's distilled down so there's not much world building. It's about two warrior priests who find a soul auction occurring and have to fight the seven deadly sins to stop it from happening. They fight the demons with martial arts with some help from a side of angel based warrior forms. The two warriors used to be a couple and bicker throughout. It's actually pretty wordy for something that's nonstop fighting.
Lower Your Sights: A Benefit Anthology for Ukraine ★★★★★
Some really powerful stories pertaining to the war in Ukraine. Most of the stories are heartbreaking. Some are about keeping your spirits up. What really bowled me over though was the artwork from Ukrainian artists in the back. They were all given a page to talk about the war in addition to displaying their artwork. That kind of just wrecked me.
Speed Republic Vol. 1 ★★
This just wasn't fleshed out enough to be good. It's a really basic story about a car race through Europe where the winner gets rich and apparently resources are running out. Too much is left unexplained. There's all kinds of missing connective tissue where a few different panels could have made a big change in furthering the plot. Instead you're left with "Wait! Why is this happening now?"
Manix Abrera's 12 ★★
Twelve perfectly serviceable silent comics but also twelve unremarkable ones.
Manix Abrera's 14 ★★★
These silent stories are more coherent and interesting than Abrera's first collection of silent stories, 12. Each of the stories is about a creature from Filipino mythology. Still these silent stories still had a difficult time holding my interest.
Ghostlore Vol. 2 ★★★★
You never know what you are going to get with Cullen Bunn but I quite liked this. Each issue alternates between Harmony and her father. Both of them can talk to ghosts and help them move on. Both are being hunted by a faction of others who can talk to ghosts but force you to join them or be killed.
Radiant Black, Vol. 1: (Not So) Secret Origin ★★★★
This falls into the normal schlub gets superpowers genre. Nathan is a failed writer who has to move back in with his parents. He comes across a floating black sphere one night while drinking with his buddy and BAM! he's got superpowers. Then he starts having dreams where he's talking to this being about an alien that is coming to Earth to destroy it. And then he finds out he's not the only person who received a suit. A lot of this is reminiscent of X-O Manowar mixed in with some Invincible. The art is solid, very Ryan Ottley like.
Rivers of London Vol. 2: Night Witch ★★★★
It's a cool idea to make the Night Witches from World War II actual witches. The story is this. The little girl of two rich Russians is abducted apparently by a supernatural creature. The Russian mob is trying to force Peter Grant and his boss to help get her back. There's a ton of characters and factions to juggle. This is something where you probably want to read the books first and then mix these stories in as they come up.
The Boys, Volume 1: The Name of the Game ★★★★★
Garth Ennis writes Preacher with superheroes. The dialogue is still spot on for the most point. The heroes are all vile, doing terrible things that are covered up. With the Boys put back together as a group of spies watching those who are supposed to be watching out for us. Robertson's art is terrific. This series in not for the faint of heart. It's over the top in how graphic and gross it can be both with its dialogue and artwork. It certainly pulls no punches.
The Boys, Volume 2: Get Some ★★★★
Some of that first story was hard to get through. It's about a Batman / Iron Man wannabe who starts screwing anything, not just people but inanimate objects and the like too. It got even too juvenile for me. Then there's this story about a young gay man who died after seeing a wannabe Nightwing that night. It's a strange dichotomy because there's a lot of slurs in this but there's also a lot of actions where they are completely comfortable around gay men. It may be that it was just that Irish look at things with a different perspective, just like the nonstop use of the "C" word in this that Americans find so offensive. But I do think if it was written now a lot of the dialogue would be changed.
The second story takes place in Russia and lays some of the ground work for the series to come. I liked it quite a bit better and you start to get a sense of how Vought-American operates. Plus, Love Sausage is hilarious.
Right now I’m reading the Punisher comics by Garth Ennis
This past week I read:- Third Shift Society, Vol. One
- We Only Find Them When They're Dead, Vol. 1: The Seeker
Manga:
- Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 1
A mostly lighthearted reading week.
Today's trip to the LCS.Ultimate X-Men #3
Batman / Dylan Dog #3
Redcoat #2
House of Slaughter #23
X-Men Forever #4
Outsiders #7
Barbaric: Born in Blood #1
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Blue Box, Vol. 1
- A Condition Called Love, Vol. 1
- Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide, Volume 1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at
https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
Last week's adventures in comics.What If We Were... ★★
The first half of this got real tedious, real quick and had to be read in small doses. It's about two best friends as they play this game called "What If?", like "What if we were superheroes?" or "What if we wore different clothes?" It was basically a series of 2 page web comics that did the same thing over and over.
What If We Were... Book 2 ★★★
This book works best when it abandons the "What if we were" format and tries to tell an actual story. I was by no means surprised when I got to the end and Lenoir talked about how she wrote these as short strips for a magazine because that's exactly what these feel like.
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 1 ★★★★
Garth Ennis at his most over the top. It's even more graphic and vulgar than Preacher but not as bad as Crossed. Dynamite let him do whatever he wanted. And in the foreword it says this was originally set to be part of the main DC universe. I can't even imagine what that would have looked like, but it certainly would have been neutered to say the least. It's about a small group (The Boys) working with the CIA to corral the worst superhero behavior. And that behavior is worse than you could possibly imagine.
Rivers of London: Detective Stories ★★★★
I thought these one off stories were actually the most well done so far in the series. Grant is seeking a promotion and an officer is going over his old cases. Each issue is a look at a different untold story in Grant's time with the police department and the Folly.
Rivers of London: Black Mould ★★★★
Peter Grant investigates some sentient mold that is invading apartments. It's actually a nifty little story. There's more to it but that's all you really need to know in this between the numbers Rivers of London story.
Rivers of London: Action at a Distance ★★★★
We take a step back from the regular series to look at a story from 1957 when Nightengale had to help an old friend track down a serial killer. It's real good stuff, especially for this series which can fell slight at times.
Rivers of London: Water Weed ★★★★
Peter Grant investigates a new drug operation who is delivering pot along the Thames. The person behind it all is pretty scary. A unique take on a subject that's been tackled plenty of times before.
Rivers of London: Cry Fox ★★★★
This s a sequel to Rivers of London: Night Witch. The little girl from it gets kidnapped while her parents are in prison. Peter Grant's niece is also in the picture now and gets involved as well. They've reduced these between the numbers series to 4 issues now and I do feel this one could have been longer.
Rivers of London: The Fey and the Furious ★★★
Peter Grant goes poorly undercover to investigate street racing which somehow lands him in fairy. It's alright. I don't think the actual racing comes across well in the comic.
Rivers of London: Monday, Monday ★★★
Four interconnected issues told in nonlinear fashion from different view points. The story is is very slight. It's more about making readers happy with nice little moments. I will say this is the best art I've seen in one of these spinoff comics.
Batman & Dylan Dog ★★★
Batman and Italian comic character Dylan Dog team up when the Joker heads to London to join up with Dr. Xabaras. Dog is a self proclaimed nightmare investigator digging into the supernatural. I do like that they open this up to some other DC characters besides just Batman. This kind of feels like a couple of different stories slapped together though.
Vampirella Dracula: Unholy ★★★
This was alright. Like a lot of Priest's comics, his disjointed storytelling style can make this hard to follow. Vampirella marries some guy who is "destined" to become Dracula due to some kind of virus. Again, it's a strange book.
Kings in Disguise ★★★
Set during the Great Depression, a 12-year-old boy is left on his own and goes off to become a hobo. This is really bleak and never really gets any better or even really ends. Life just keeps going on, like real life. It's interesting with really detailed artwork.
Resonant: The Complete Series ★★★★★
I really like this series. This is actually my 2nd time going through it. There's no real setup. It's about a family in a post apocalyptic world. There are these waves of madness that come through and turn everyone incredibly violent while they are happening. Shortly before they happen the cicadas go crazy giving people time to quickly prepare to keep from hurting others. A father has to go off and find medicine for his sick son leaving his older brother and sister in charge even though they are still kids as well. And the sister is on crutches, missing a leg. So the story takes place in two locations, one about the father trying to get back to his children. The other, the kids trying to survive alone in this cabin in the woods.
These Savage Shores ★★★★★
Absolutely stunning. Ram V's story execution, Sumit Kumar's gorgeous art, all of it is brilliant. Set in 1760's India where the English are trying to invade, a vampire is exiled from London to India where he comes across an Indian demon, a Rakshasa. The story spirals out from there.
IMMORTAL X-MEN VOL. 5: X-MEN FOREVER ★★★
Yet another Fall of X book that's not a self contained story even though it's a miniseries. What the Hell is Marvel doing? I need a board with all of the Fall of X comics on it and pieces of string between them to figure out the reading order of these goddamn comics and I'm reading them as they come out. It's ridiculously frustrating.
Patience & Esther ★★★
A recommend due to something we don't see very often, an Eduardian queer romance along with body positivity. The story's a bit basic. Think Downton Abbey if two of the servant women were a secret lesbian couple with Skinemax level sex scenes.
Alec: The Years Have Pants ★
I made it through about 150 pages before finally giving up on this nonentity of a book. It's kind of a diary where nothing happens. There's panels but they rarely tell a story. The art's not very good either. I just didn't get the point of this tomb of a book and figured I'd stop punishing myself by continuing with it.
Jules Verne's Lighthouse by David Hine ★★★★ was a nice action story of space pirates, adapted loosely from Verne's sea pirate story.Kafka: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Nishioka Kyoudai ★★★ is a nice adaptation of about 10 of Kafka's shorts. I like his novels more than the shorts, but the art here is quite interesting. Somewhat cubist or surreal.
The Great God Pan by Adam Fyda. ★★ Another adaptation! I imagine that the original gets much of its power from the use of language. As a graphic novel, it isn't terribly interesting to me.
Klik Klik Boom by Doug Wagner ★★★★ surprised me. It is essentially a revenge story starring a girl with almost super-human abilities to set and evade traps. And yet, I quite liked it!
Love Everlasting Volume 2: Too Hip for Love by Tom King. ★★½ Volume 1 had a lot of "re-starts" to explain the situation. Volume 2 sticks with one story all the way through. Not sure what I really think of this. I don't understand how or why these time loops are happening.
The Ballad of Halo Jones: Full Colour Omnibus Edition by Alan Moore. ★★★½ A sci-fi story from the 1980s starring a female protagonist. She is not a superhero, nor is she sexualized like Barbarella. Just an ordinary woman who gets into some interesting experiences. Apparently Moore was writing this at the same time as Watchmen. It isn't as deep, but it is quite good.
Mosely by Rob Guillory. Guillory (Chew, Farmhand) writes but doesn't draw this story of humans being willingly enslaved by A.I.s, until one super-powered man fights back. Too close to super-hero stories for my taste, and the post-singularity setting made it hard to know what was real.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 ★★★★Like most, the first turtles I knew were the animated ones in the 80s. This isn't them! The artwork isn't amazing in that the characters aren't quite consistent, but the backgrounds are wonderfully detailed, especially as it's black and white where detail can easily be lost. A nice mix of action and drama and an all round fun sci-fi romp. Each issue is followed by annotations which provide a fascinating insight into the development process, but also how quickly Eastman & Laird's relationship became strained.
Legends ★★★
A more focused story than the Crisis on Infinite Earths that precedes it with less characters and fewer locations. Guy Gardner is still a jerk, but in an entertaining way. Some repetition with catch-up pages at the start of each composite issue. Darkseid and The Stranger's monologues became rather tiresome. Perhaps a fault of this publication, there seems to be something missing as there are several references to a scene that is absent.
Ongoing
Batman: The Arkham Saga Omnibus
I've been reading this while playing the games in chronological order. I've finished the Arkham City DLC, so now begins the Arkham Knight run of comics.
Spawn, Compendium 1
I've been on something of a quest to find the books referenced by "Tom" in the main text to try and build the full story. So far, this has been Violator #1-3, Spawn :Angela and Spawn: Bloodfeud. Several of the ill-fated Youngblood issues are referenced, and one of them concludes in an issue not referenced. They've all arrived and are Youngblood Strikefile #4, Youngblood #7 -> Team Youngblood #11 and Youngblood #8 -> Youngblood #10. Confused? I was.
Those original TMNT comics are pretty great. I love all of the annotations in those ultimate collections. The later ones start collecting things out of order as the relationship between Eastman and Laird started to disintegrate. They started alternating issues and getting more and more fill in artists on the book. If you haven't read the IDW TMNT series that just ended. It's pretty well written. Eastman was involved with those as well and does some of the covers.Good luck trying to find all of those old Image comics Mike. Your best chance may be the bargain bins at the back of the comic book store. I went through a similar frustration when trying to read the compendiums as well. I lucked into getting some of them with an old Spawn Humble Bundle I bought like 6 years ago. I finally read all of it last fall on a dare. None of it is very good and there are lots of editorial mistakes.
Big week at my LCS this week.Rook Exodus #2
Thundercats #4
Batman / Superman: World's Finest #27
Cobra Commander #5
Fall of the House of X #5
Immortal Thor #11
justice League Vs. Godzilla Vs. King Kong #7
Nightwing #114
Something Is Killing the Children #37
Titans #11
Void Rivals #9
Ultimate Black Panther #4
Spectacular Spider-Men #3
Feral #1-3
Blood Hunt #2
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: The Last Mermaid #2 and #3
- Paul: Batman/Dylan Dog (2024) #1 through #3, The Boy Wonder (2024) #1
- Danny: Doom (2024) #1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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Re: Chad: I'm glad the Rivers of London series seems to be good. The Night Witches story in particular sounds interesting to me. I started reading the Rivers of London comics and novels but got distracted after a few volumes of each. Also, I was interested to see your thoughts about the Doctor Who FCBD. I thought the first issue with the new doctor was very promising!
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Black Cloak Volume 1★★★★★
Based on the number of people who liked this I figured I would as well. Luckily it's on Hoopla! I really enjoyed the combination of semi-post-apocolyptic, murder mystery, mysterious backstory, and fantasy. I look forward to more of this series.
Summertime Rendering, Vol. 1★★★★ and
Summertime Rendering, Vol. 2★★★★
This manga is also on Hoopla. I read volume 1 a little while back and re-read it in order to refresh my memory before reading volume 2. The series starts with an odd supernatural mystery and then grows into a horror series by the end of volume 2.
kaitlphere wrote: "Also, I was interested to see your thoughts about the Doctor Who FCBD. I thought the first issue with the new doctor was very promising!."I'm woefully behind on the show but I'm looking forward to catching up now that I checked out the new Doctor in the comics. I feel the writing comes and goes on the show with whoever the showrunner is.
Chad wrote: "Good luck trying to find all of those old Image comics Mike. Your best chance may be the bargain bins at the back of the comic book store..."Thanks to the wonders of eBay, I did manage it, but cuss my completionist ways as they are indeed dire. Badrock is about the only likeable character. I've got a handful of issues left to read from the first compendium with the second volume on standby. I noticed an editorial blip the day after your message where Cog was referred to as Cag twice.
I've always had a fascination with Armageddon and the idea of the battling Heaven and Hell so that probably helps carry Spawn through it's weaker points for me. It's also why DOOM is one of my favourite game franchises. Of course the other piece that carries Spawn is Greg Capullo's art. When I finish my Modern Era DC run, I am very much looking forward to Capullo's New 52 Batman run with Scott Snyder.
There's a lot of editorial messes in Spawn. Characters' names were sometimes changed (often poorly) in the trades after lawsuits were filed. McFarlane was a big hockey fan and used the names of real players for some of his mobsters (Tony Twist was the big one but there were others). The compendium has it changed in some places but not in others and sometimes has a third name. I think he must have done the editing himself and just used find and replace. Then there's the lawsuit over Angela which Neil Gaiman won and then just gave her to Marvel as an FU. So all the printings after that was resolved are really messed up. I bought the first 200+ issues in a Humble Bundle I got years ago as I'd given up on Spawn after issue 12 or so, whenever those guest written issues finished. That's also why the Cerebus issue isn't in most of the collections. Dave Sim refused to allow it in the collection but you can find that issue by itself on Hoopla.
BTW, once Capullo leaves after issue #100, the art gets real bad. Angel Medina takes over for 50 issues and he's an awful artist.
I first encountered Spawn at a signing with Dave Sim for that very issue #10, which hangs framed to this day, but I didn't get into Spawn then. It was around issue 65 and, with the help of a number of Titan books, I got caught up. As you note #10 was missing, which I found amusing as it was the only issue I had.I didn't realise that there was so much other legal drama, thanks for the history. I stopped buying the individual issues around #98 for reasons of life, but it's been fun so far. Capullo leaving may mean I don't go for Compendium 3, we'll see.
It gets better after issue #150 when a new team comes in. Then it gets weird again around #185 when there's a new Spawn for a while without any explanation.
Last week's adventures in comics.This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America ★★★
Two city folk from San Francisco move to rural Idaho purely because they can afford to buy a house there so they buy a tiny house and set it in the middle of nowhere on the 6 acres they bought. It starts off two-fold as the story of 2 dummies that don't know anything about owning a home now have to fend for themselves in harsh country. The other half is moving to a rural and very conservative area filled with racism and conspiracy theories right as Trump became president. Meanwhile, the author is Iranian. It all quickly becomes very surface level though as Mahdavian can't decide what stories he wants to tell. It starts to become more and more about very little.
Always Never ★★★★★
A story about the one who got away. Begins with chapter 20. An elderly couple go on their first date after decades apart. Each chapter steps back in time as things introduced in chapter 20 are explained along the way. Zeno is the boy who left town to travel the world as a sailor while Anita has been the mayor for the last 20 years. It's a terrific love story as long as you overlook one foible that I'm guessing bothers Europeans less than it does Americans.
Contagion ★★★
It's actually a good idea but the execution is lacking. A contagion is unleashed on Manhattan and spreads by touch. It quickly turns into a cameo fest without much plot until the end though.
Punisher Kill Krew ★★★★★
Absolutely ridiculous and absolutely terrific. After the War of the Realms, the Punisher avenges some war orphans. He gets a hold of one of Thor's battle goats and starts traveling the nine realms in search of war criminals. So much bloody fun. Juan Ferreyra makes this book look spectacular too.
Justice League Vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong ★★★★
This was surprisingly good. It's simple in concept. The Legion of Doom sends the Legendary monsters to the DC universe where the Justice League fights them. This is out of continuity. Superman and Lois aren't married yet for one thing. There are some really fun moments in this.
Cobra Commander Volume 1: Determined to Rule the World ★★★★
A different take on Cobra Commander. I certainly didn't expect them to lean into the Cobra-La stuff. That's when the cartoon jumped the shark when we were kids. This version of Cobra Commander seems to be full on crazy.
Wasted Space, Vol. 1 ★★
It was really hard to get past the awful art in this. The art was sketchy and lacked much detail. It was almost like they took thumbnails and blew them up full size. The story was OK but confusing at times, especially the first couple of issues. Once it got rolling, I was able to figure out what was going on, but initially this just meandered into nothingness.
Wasted Space, Vol. 2 ★★
Man this book has not gotten any better in volume 2. Hayden Sherman's art is so terrible. I didn't realize one of the characters was even a woman until they were referred to as "she" in issue #7. I honestly thought she was having a gay relationship with Dust until that point. Besides that, I have very little idea about what's going on with the plot other than pretty much everyone in this universe thinks it's shit. At this point, I'd rename this comic Waste of Time.
Wasted Space, Vol. 3 ★★★
This side volume where the main characters split up and Billy takes a look at himself and how much of a douche he is, was better.
Wasted Space, Vol. 4 ★★★
These clowns finally make it to Earth where they have to decide if they are going to kill the creator or not. I've grown to accept Sherman's poor art on this thing. The story is still way too convoluted though with way too much talking.
Wasted Space, Vol. 5 ★★★
Actually, not a bad finale to this after a weak start. Sherman has upped his game in this volume too. His art is not too shabby when it used to make my eyes bleed.
Nightwing, Vol. 6 ★★★★
Bea from the Ric Grayson era returns. Nightwing goes off with her to play pirate and wear some ridiculous shirt that's completely nonexistent in the front. We're just leaning into the Nightwing is hawt thing at this point, I guess. Stephen Byrne is a great artist for when Bruno Redondo's not around. The backup stories by Michael Conrad are a waste of time.
Rom: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1 ★★★★
After 40 years of infighting and lawsuits between Mattel and Marvel, we finally get a collection of the first 29 issues of Rom. Rom was a really cool toy back when I was a kid, one that also had a pretty cool comic.
I still remember those X-Men issues with the Hybrid freaking me out as a kid. Rom along with the rest of the Spaceknights gave up their humanity to battle the evil Dire Wraiths, shape shifters who could take any form and turned to dust when murdered. The book often has a real Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe as you never know who is actually human and only Rom can see them through his neutralizer before dispatching them to Limbo. He's come to Earth to root out all the Dire Wraiths that are secretly permeating our society.
Today's trip to the LCS.Avengers: Twilight #6
Fall of the House of X #5
Ultimate Spider-Man #5
Wolverine #50
Marvel Voices Pride: X-Men: The Wedding Special #1 <--- Mystique and Destiny's untold wedding day
Batman: Dark Age #3
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees through #6
- Nick: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, and Green #1
- Brian: Predator vs. Wolverine
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, and Green #1 (other topics)Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (other topics)
Doom (2024) #1 (other topics)
The Last Mermaid #2 (other topics)
Batman/Dylan Dog (2024) #1 (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
David Hine (other topics)Nishioka Kyoudai (other topics)
Adam Fyda (other topics)
Doug Wagner (other topics)
Tom King (other topics)
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