Mariella
Sorceress in Training
I'm re-reading the (reasonably) new Dungeons & Dragons Fell's Five series. Stereotypical, for sure, but laced with humor and action, it's like an RPG campaign brought to comic form. I love it.
What comic books/graphic novels are you reading at the moment?
- Thread starter Talysia
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Hex_Enduction_Hour
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Fun Summer Reading.
So far this summer, I've revisited several books in my collection.
With so much vacation time in front of me, I'd like to reread from my collection: Torpedo 1936 volumes from Catalan Communications, Slaine, and horror manga.
So far this summer, I've revisited several books in my collection.
- I reread Charles Burns' Black Hole and came away just a little more impressed than my initial read.
- Next, I reread Burns' X-ed Out and The Hive. Both these books feature gorgeous artwork and colors and lots of Tintin references. I'm still trying to find them all while I sort my way through the unsettling narrative.
- From Burns, I went to my two volumes of Freddy Lombard by Yves Chaland, published by Humanoids Publishing. It's been a great experience to reread these books and I am surprised copies sell for peanuts on Amazon and there are no reviews. All five Lombard stories prove to be unique, but swift reads. Comet of Carthage is strange, but oh so sumptuous in art and color.
- Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller
- Man Without Fear by Miller and John Romita jr.
- Building Stories by Chris Ware
With so much vacation time in front of me, I'd like to reread from my collection: Torpedo 1936 volumes from Catalan Communications, Slaine, and horror manga.
Pedro Del Mar
I am content
Just finished reading the boxed set of Freakangels by Warren Ellis:
Freakangels Complete Box Set: Amazon.co.uk: Warren Ellis, Paul Duffield: Books
Been a while since I've sat and gone through a number of books in one sitting but I did with these. Very enjoyable, fun to read, and a bit more adult than I was expecting, which was a bonus.
Freakangels Complete Box Set: Amazon.co.uk: Warren Ellis, Paul Duffield: Books
Been a while since I've sat and gone through a number of books in one sitting but I did with these. Very enjoyable, fun to read, and a bit more adult than I was expecting, which was a bonus.
Darkchild130
Cat loving Mercenary scum
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Just finished the boys series by Garth Ennis, love most of his work.
About to re-read the original battle angel Alita series, after being consistently disappointed by the last order series.
About to re-read the original battle angel Alita series, after being consistently disappointed by the last order series.
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Not really posted here much recently, but am still working my way through a never ending backlog.
Just thought I would say a word about something that has really stood out to me recently.
As far as comic franchises go, The Crow has been - trying to be fair - has been lacklustre.
James O'Barr's original was such a personal work of raw emotion that everything that followed has paled. It also seemed to dilute the idea, almost as though Eric Draven was the crow and nothing else compared. The same could be said about the films.
The Crow comics have come and gone, normally three issue series, that feature someone come back from the dead seeking vengeance...
Recently, after a break of a few years, the Crow books returned with one difference, O'Barr was writing them. The first, Skinning The Wolves was the tale of a Jewish victim of the Nazi death camps, who comes back as a crow. It had all the failings of previous sequels and seemed to be in poor taste some how.
IT has been followed up by Curare, and O'Barr has managed to do something that no-one else has done. Brought a Crow story that is unique, different, disturbing and original.
It is also very adult, which considering the subject matter is understandable.
If you love kids then it's going to be a hard read, but it is magnificent in it depravity.
A washed up detective, a previous case involving the brutal rape and murder of a little girl has cost him his family and his job, is visited by a little girl who drives him to seek revenge on the 'monsters' who killed her.
Bringing back a child is something daring and different, having someone act as her hand is genius, especially as what is being done is helping him is stupendous, reducing the Crow to a friendly Birdy is a nice touch, and the end of issue 2 when asked her name, replies Curare is enough to make your blood run cold.
Not quite as good as the original, but something that shows you can find a way to make a franchise work again.
Just thought I would say a word about something that has really stood out to me recently.
As far as comic franchises go, The Crow has been - trying to be fair - has been lacklustre.
James O'Barr's original was such a personal work of raw emotion that everything that followed has paled. It also seemed to dilute the idea, almost as though Eric Draven was the crow and nothing else compared. The same could be said about the films.
The Crow comics have come and gone, normally three issue series, that feature someone come back from the dead seeking vengeance...
Recently, after a break of a few years, the Crow books returned with one difference, O'Barr was writing them. The first, Skinning The Wolves was the tale of a Jewish victim of the Nazi death camps, who comes back as a crow. It had all the failings of previous sequels and seemed to be in poor taste some how.
IT has been followed up by Curare, and O'Barr has managed to do something that no-one else has done. Brought a Crow story that is unique, different, disturbing and original.
It is also very adult, which considering the subject matter is understandable.
If you love kids then it's going to be a hard read, but it is magnificent in it depravity.
A washed up detective, a previous case involving the brutal rape and murder of a little girl has cost him his family and his job, is visited by a little girl who drives him to seek revenge on the 'monsters' who killed her.
Bringing back a child is something daring and different, having someone act as her hand is genius, especially as what is being done is helping him is stupendous, reducing the Crow to a friendly Birdy is a nice touch, and the end of issue 2 when asked her name, replies Curare is enough to make your blood run cold.
Not quite as good as the original, but something that shows you can find a way to make a franchise work again.
opuscosmos
Member
Just starting on the Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zhan. Not bad so far. I wonder if they'll use for new line up..
Darkchild130
Cat loving Mercenary scum
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Before watchmen. I don't know what I was expecting but they were all horribly disappointing.
And Batman killing joke. Not bad, not bad at all.
And Batman killing joke. Not bad, not bad at all.
Last graphic novel I picked up was an adaptation of Nightwings by Robert Silverberg. A little disappointing as I had read the novel years before and found Alalueva (sp?) was drawn somewhat less beautiful than I thought she should be. Then again, they always are, as I think I imagine idealized women.
Wouldn't it be great if you could draw without having to, like, use your hands and stuff?
Wouldn't it be great if you could draw without having to, like, use your hands and stuff?
Pedro Del Mar
I am content
Got all these waiting to be read. Think they might be waiting quite some time which is disappointing as I was looking forward to them when they were first launched
Darkchild130
Cat loving Mercenary scum
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By the gods they were terrible, absolutely nothing original at all. I would've been ok if they were heavily derivative of the source material, but they're not.
It's as if the writers were concious of being in Moore's shadow so attempted to strike out on their own, but fell flat and created savagely dull, generic characters in the process.
It's as if the writers were concious of being in Moore's shadow so attempted to strike out on their own, but fell flat and created savagely dull, generic characters in the process.
Pedro Del Mar
I am content
Thanks pal, doesn't sound promising, I'll have a go and see how I get on but I've a feeling the whole collection might be making an appearance on eBay if they're as bad as you say!
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I'm going to wade in here and disagree.
Although on the whole the entire Before Watchmen was probably not the best idea in the world, and was probably an exercise in futility, after all when you take the completeness of the original graphic novel there is very little else that needs to be said, it is when you look at the mini-series in their own rights as individual entities that they are not bad books (well not all of them).
There seems to have been a brief, that there must be some form of unexpected twist toward the end of the story, because they all attempt to do it, some with more success than others.
But all the stories were well written, and well drawn, although in some cases they just weren't good. You know you can write something, and write it well, but it's still bad.
A few of the titles seemed to be rushed, almost as though DC saw how popular the original line up was and tried to squeeze more out of it.
And there were disappointments Rorschach should have been one of the highlights, but for me it was abysmal. Considering that the writer was Brian Azarello, whose style should have been perfect for the character, it just seemed listless, wandering around in circles and getting nowhere. Possibly this is because everything we needed to know about the character was given to us in Watchmen so there really was nothing left to add. But the art by Lee Bermejo was to die for.
The Silk Spectre though was a pleasant surprise, as was The Minute Men. In both cases they told a good solid story that was entertaining and fun.
Dr. Manhattan was an excellent way of taking the story of what we know, and rather than trying to do something different, or to mimic the original, gave us a closer look at the way he worked, his unique take on time and with a nice little twist at the end. Well written by J Michael Straczynski with stunning art by Adam Hughes it is a worthy read in its own right.
Ozymandias was another excellent story, maybe not giving us anything new, but certainly a well told story that served to deepen the character, and was aided with some of the best art in the series by Jae Lee.
Dollar Bill failed to hit the mark (possibly one of the rushed add ons), but Moloch almost managed to steal the show.
The Comedian did something that was quite daring, and worked beautifully - it might be considered in some ways bad taste, but wasn't that the character all over.
Nite Owl was distinctly average, but is worth of a look simply for being the last title that the legendary Joe Kubert worked on (it was delayed because of his death and was finished by his son Andy.)
The ultimate answer is still that there was no need for the titles to be written, but they were and some of them are a very entertaining read.
Although on the whole the entire Before Watchmen was probably not the best idea in the world, and was probably an exercise in futility, after all when you take the completeness of the original graphic novel there is very little else that needs to be said, it is when you look at the mini-series in their own rights as individual entities that they are not bad books (well not all of them).
There seems to have been a brief, that there must be some form of unexpected twist toward the end of the story, because they all attempt to do it, some with more success than others.
But all the stories were well written, and well drawn, although in some cases they just weren't good. You know you can write something, and write it well, but it's still bad.
A few of the titles seemed to be rushed, almost as though DC saw how popular the original line up was and tried to squeeze more out of it.
And there were disappointments Rorschach should have been one of the highlights, but for me it was abysmal. Considering that the writer was Brian Azarello, whose style should have been perfect for the character, it just seemed listless, wandering around in circles and getting nowhere. Possibly this is because everything we needed to know about the character was given to us in Watchmen so there really was nothing left to add. But the art by Lee Bermejo was to die for.
The Silk Spectre though was a pleasant surprise, as was The Minute Men. In both cases they told a good solid story that was entertaining and fun.
Dr. Manhattan was an excellent way of taking the story of what we know, and rather than trying to do something different, or to mimic the original, gave us a closer look at the way he worked, his unique take on time and with a nice little twist at the end. Well written by J Michael Straczynski with stunning art by Adam Hughes it is a worthy read in its own right.
Ozymandias was another excellent story, maybe not giving us anything new, but certainly a well told story that served to deepen the character, and was aided with some of the best art in the series by Jae Lee.
Dollar Bill failed to hit the mark (possibly one of the rushed add ons), but Moloch almost managed to steal the show.
The Comedian did something that was quite daring, and worked beautifully - it might be considered in some ways bad taste, but wasn't that the character all over.
Nite Owl was distinctly average, but is worth of a look simply for being the last title that the legendary Joe Kubert worked on (it was delayed because of his death and was finished by his son Andy.)
The ultimate answer is still that there was no need for the titles to be written, but they were and some of them are a very entertaining read.
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While I'm here, I have spent a few days trying to catch up on my never ending backlog.
I've read to the end of the previous series of Wolverine and caught up with the latest, while I've done the last 40 or so issues of the current X-Factor run, and can now look forwards to the new one.
I'm up to date with The Battle of the Atom, and am only a few issues behind of each of the regular X-titles.
I've managed to finish the adaptation of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World. Although it was a faithful retelling of the novel, it was over written and far too wordy. In some ways it would have been easier to re-read the book.
Amid all the current stuff I'm doing my best to catch up with, I have been tempted into re-reading the original classic Alpha Flight, mainly the original John Byrne issues which to me are a masterclass in how superhero comics should be done.
And although there is a lot more that really stands out, from Fables and Fairest, through to Earth 2 and The Game of Thrones adaptation there is one comic that is really worthy of a comment, which is Curare the latest Crow title. Most of the spin offs from the original story have seen little more than different tellings of the same story, but this, by the original creator James O'Barr is probably one of the most disturbing, unsettling things I have ever read.
I've read to the end of the previous series of Wolverine and caught up with the latest, while I've done the last 40 or so issues of the current X-Factor run, and can now look forwards to the new one.
I'm up to date with The Battle of the Atom, and am only a few issues behind of each of the regular X-titles.
I've managed to finish the adaptation of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World. Although it was a faithful retelling of the novel, it was over written and far too wordy. In some ways it would have been easier to re-read the book.
Amid all the current stuff I'm doing my best to catch up with, I have been tempted into re-reading the original classic Alpha Flight, mainly the original John Byrne issues which to me are a masterclass in how superhero comics should be done.
And although there is a lot more that really stands out, from Fables and Fairest, through to Earth 2 and The Game of Thrones adaptation there is one comic that is really worthy of a comment, which is Curare the latest Crow title. Most of the spin offs from the original story have seen little more than different tellings of the same story, but this, by the original creator James O'Barr is probably one of the most disturbing, unsettling things I have ever read.
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I have been reading the Marvel Max comics.
This is the line of comics that Marvel produces for more mature readers much in the way that DC uses Vertigo. The big difference is that, rather having all new characters and adventures, the MM line removes the potentially more adult characters from continuity and has the written in a more... realistic fashion.
The latest two have been Fury: My War Gone By. This takes Nick Fury (original version) and gets to see the world of war through his eyes, ranging through Korea, through Vietnam and beyond. There is no simple comic non-aging. Here we see an old, disillusioned Fury recounting with some bitterness the events that have brought him to this point in his life.
It is nasty, unrelenting and does not give the ending the reader might want, but that is what makes it all the more grown up. Well worth a read.
The other title under the banner is Wolverine. If any character deserves an adult book it is Logan. I mean the guy has claws, and is not afraid to use them! This is a good solid study of what it would be to be a near immortal, with severe memory issues, and a violent nature to boot. It started out slightly shaky but soon settles into an intriguing and gripping adventure. It's not finished yet, but has set itself up well.
I believe the Punisher is up next, and that could be superb.
This is the line of comics that Marvel produces for more mature readers much in the way that DC uses Vertigo. The big difference is that, rather having all new characters and adventures, the MM line removes the potentially more adult characters from continuity and has the written in a more... realistic fashion.
The latest two have been Fury: My War Gone By. This takes Nick Fury (original version) and gets to see the world of war through his eyes, ranging through Korea, through Vietnam and beyond. There is no simple comic non-aging. Here we see an old, disillusioned Fury recounting with some bitterness the events that have brought him to this point in his life.
It is nasty, unrelenting and does not give the ending the reader might want, but that is what makes it all the more grown up. Well worth a read.
The other title under the banner is Wolverine. If any character deserves an adult book it is Logan. I mean the guy has claws, and is not afraid to use them! This is a good solid study of what it would be to be a near immortal, with severe memory issues, and a violent nature to boot. It started out slightly shaky but soon settles into an intriguing and gripping adventure. It's not finished yet, but has set itself up well.
I believe the Punisher is up next, and that could be superb.
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It's easy to see I've had a bit of time to catch up on the comic reading.
Much like the movie inspired by the original comic books the sequels to James O'Barr's original tale have suffered. It is understandable to see why, part of the depth of the original story was the emotional pain that was O'Barr trying to work his way through a very traumatic time, and once told what was left to be said?
Virtually every sequel, be it film or comic has had the same problem, how can you tell the story again, when everyone knows what is going to happen? An innocent is killed. The Crow raises the victim, bloody vengeance ensues. Each retelling seems to water it down, and no matter how much it is changed you get the same story again.
Only the television series seemed to break the mold, but it was retelling the first story all over again, and it was only toward the end that they came up with some original twists, but it was too late and it was cancelled.
O'Barr returned to his creation this year and hit us with Skinning the Wolves, a tale set in the Nazi Concentration Camps. Despite the different setting, it was pretty much run of the mill stuff.
It has been followed up by Curare. This three issue limited series is the first time the format has been successfully broken, O'Barr writing at his best, with some stunning art by Antoine Dode (over O'Barr sketches).
When the Crow brings back a little girl she is unable to bring vengeance herself and is forced to draw help from a broken down police man, the very detective who investigated her case. It's destroyed his life, marriage, health and now has the chance of putting things right.
But it is grim reading, possibly some of the most disturbing material I have seen in a long time, but it is the Crow taken in a new direction, that feels different, fresh while remaining true to the mythology of the original.
Much like the movie inspired by the original comic books the sequels to James O'Barr's original tale have suffered. It is understandable to see why, part of the depth of the original story was the emotional pain that was O'Barr trying to work his way through a very traumatic time, and once told what was left to be said?
Virtually every sequel, be it film or comic has had the same problem, how can you tell the story again, when everyone knows what is going to happen? An innocent is killed. The Crow raises the victim, bloody vengeance ensues. Each retelling seems to water it down, and no matter how much it is changed you get the same story again.
Only the television series seemed to break the mold, but it was retelling the first story all over again, and it was only toward the end that they came up with some original twists, but it was too late and it was cancelled.
O'Barr returned to his creation this year and hit us with Skinning the Wolves, a tale set in the Nazi Concentration Camps. Despite the different setting, it was pretty much run of the mill stuff.
It has been followed up by Curare. This three issue limited series is the first time the format has been successfully broken, O'Barr writing at his best, with some stunning art by Antoine Dode (over O'Barr sketches).
When the Crow brings back a little girl she is unable to bring vengeance herself and is forced to draw help from a broken down police man, the very detective who investigated her case. It's destroyed his life, marriage, health and now has the chance of putting things right.
But it is grim reading, possibly some of the most disturbing material I have seen in a long time, but it is the Crow taken in a new direction, that feels different, fresh while remaining true to the mythology of the original.
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At the time of writing The Wake is on issue 4. It was not something I was going too pick up, but having not seen a single bad review - in fact not one below top marks - I decided to give it a look.
A group of scientists and experts are brought together by the CIA on an illegal undersea oil rig in the Arctic Ocean. They are there to investigate a strange sound, that might be linked to whale song, but what they find is something a lot more horrific.
Written by Scott Snyder with art by Sean Murphy we are given what could be a straight forward horror tale in the vein of Aliens. But it is so much more, the story spans vast tracks of time from the dawn of human existence, to a future in which the world is an environmental disaster. And there are all kinds of teases, from Mars to evolution, but nothing is elaborated on, just little bits of detail that seem separate yet somehow connected.
It is a book that does not treat the reader like an idiot, drip feeding you bits of the picture, so you have to wait for when it will all come together at the end.
A very worthy read.
I'm a newcomer to the whole Graphic Novel and Comic scene, so I'm probably detailing some old news here. Anyway, what got me into reading these novels has been the "Scott Pilgrim Series," which I am still making my way through. What really gets me is the cultural relevance and pop culture references that litter the story. Although apart from the writing and originality of the it all, what really gets me is the artistry. Now its not "expertly" drawn, but that's obviously not the point; so much of the story is translated through character facial cues (which are hysterical) and body characteristics. It's in the simplicity of the drawing and dialogue as well that really fleshes out the characters because in the end, after all of the fighting and super-human destruction, its about a very simple problem (boy and girl in love, other boy is stopping this love) but is made into a very complicated way with all the fighting and what not.
So, two questions? Has anybody had the same feelings about Scott Pilgrim and are there any other Scott Pilgrim-type books I should be reading?
So, two questions? Has anybody had the same feelings about Scott Pilgrim and are there any other Scott Pilgrim-type books I should be reading?
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One of the few comic books I have never looked at so am unable to help, really, I have not even seen the film. But I will be interested to see if you get any responses.
For myself I am continuing to eradicate my not so large backlog of comics.
Just caught up with Fables and it's offshoot Fairest. Anyone who enjoys Once Upon a Time on TV will probably enjoy these, but somehow they are a lot better than the show. The saddest news being that it has been decided to end the parent series at issue 150.
For myself I am continuing to eradicate my not so large backlog of comics.
Just caught up with Fables and it's offshoot Fairest. Anyone who enjoys Once Upon a Time on TV will probably enjoy these, but somehow they are a lot better than the show. The saddest news being that it has been decided to end the parent series at issue 150.
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Moving away from the more mature comics, the one I have followed longer than any other is the X-Men. I even tried to stop for a while but changing creative teams and the fact one of the top writers (Brian Michael Bendis) was moving in on the title was enough to draw me back.
I'm now up to date with the core X-Titles having just finished the crossover event Battle of the Atom.
The new status quo for the merry mutants, is that there is a split between them, having a more pro-active in your face team - The Uncanny X-Men, a young team All New X-Men, and then the traditional school Wolverine and the X-Men, with far too many titles orbiting around these.
The central concept is that Cyclops has gone down the Magneto road and has his own team, Wolverine disagrees and is trying to educate humans and mutants.
But the big plot twist sees the Beast worried about what they have become, uses a time machine to bring the five original X-Men into the future hoping to shock them into changing their ways so things don't play out as they have.
Needless to say it all goes wrong, culminating in the battle, as future X-Men come back (confused yet) to send the originals back to where they belong, only the future lot are not really the X-Men, and the real future X-Men are drawn in as well.
Lots of twists and very entertaining, setting up the launch of a new X-book.
It's fun, the best the X-Men have been in a long time, but it is till not quite at it's best, and Bendis is not quite at his best.
(That being said the first issue of Amazing X-Men has potential of hitting all the right notes...)
I'm now up to date with the core X-Titles having just finished the crossover event Battle of the Atom.
The new status quo for the merry mutants, is that there is a split between them, having a more pro-active in your face team - The Uncanny X-Men, a young team All New X-Men, and then the traditional school Wolverine and the X-Men, with far too many titles orbiting around these.
The central concept is that Cyclops has gone down the Magneto road and has his own team, Wolverine disagrees and is trying to educate humans and mutants.
But the big plot twist sees the Beast worried about what they have become, uses a time machine to bring the five original X-Men into the future hoping to shock them into changing their ways so things don't play out as they have.
Needless to say it all goes wrong, culminating in the battle, as future X-Men come back (confused yet) to send the originals back to where they belong, only the future lot are not really the X-Men, and the real future X-Men are drawn in as well.
Lots of twists and very entertaining, setting up the launch of a new X-book.
It's fun, the best the X-Men have been in a long time, but it is till not quite at it's best, and Bendis is not quite at his best.
(That being said the first issue of Amazing X-Men has potential of hitting all the right notes...)
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It features stories by those who are considered to have been instrumental in the success of the title, centred around a new story by Chris Claremont the writer who turned them from a second rate title to the best selling comic in the world. Joining him are stories by Louise Simonson, with art by husband Walt - scripted by Stan Lee, then for me the best of the bunch a story by Len Wein the guiding light behind the new X-Men, with an excellent Fabian Nicieza tale as well. Add Roy Thomas and you have some of the mainstays of the last 50 years.
As a whole the stories can be inserted in the given writers run, but that is all they are a scatter shot of stories that are mostly average. It is fun and a nostalgic look back rather than a triumphant celebration. The writers are there, but with the exception of Simonson, where are the great artists that helped made the team great. Most notable absence John Byrne, but Jim Lee, John Romita Jr and Neal Adams. In addition ot this, although both artists are no longer with us, Jack Kirby co-created the group and Dave Cockrum helped revise it. Surely they could have had something included, if only a pin up or old sketches.)
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