What comic books/graphic novels are you reading at the moment?

[alexvss]

Just started this:
View attachment 78073
No lack of imagination, that’s for sure. But I dunno, jury’s out, way out for the time being. Interesting to see what my tolerance for filth is.

I believe this got old fast. The things it predicts and criticizes already got outdated and outlived by us.

 

[alexvss]

Just finished book one of Brandon Sanderson's Dark One. Interesting take on Good vs Evil. This is fresh out of the prints as there's barely two weeks of launching.

Although Sanderson only wrote the overall story and not the actual scripts, you can see his compulsive, wordy hand here. The story demands patience at the beggining, but it gets better on the second half. I just missed the explanation on the magic here. Feels like Brandon betrayed his own Cult by applying a lot of weird, unexplained magic. Still, I think it was worth it.

 

[dask]

I believe this got old fast. The things it predicts and criticizes already got outdated and outlived by us.

Didn’t finish it. Just couldn’t connect.

 

[alexvss]

Just decided to come back to Monstress. I've read some issues and then dropped a couple years ago. I remember enjoying the art but hating the story. I thought the worldbuilding was weak and that this comic was overhyped because of its art.

I must've had a screw loose.

The graphic storytelling is brilliant, and the steampunk worldbuilding is all around. The non-human races are believable and the protagonist is simpatetic and has clear motivations. Maybe the art is just so good that outshines the worldbuilding sometimes, but this comic is by no means overestimated. I'm in for a treat.

 

[HareBrain]

I must've had a screw loose.

Ha ha, you surely did.

I'm in for a treat.

With five collections now available, you very much are. I will say, though, that it might be difficult to keep track of everything in one read. My experience was reading them with one-year gaps, and each time I got a new collection, I read it through, got a bit confused, then read the previous ones (all of them) and the new one again, and got much more out of it (and out of the previous ones too -- there are always new things to spot, new connections to make). It might have been easier if I'd been able to read them all straight off one after the other, but I'm not sure how much.

 

[CupofJoe]

Alien: The Original Screenplay
It is very different from the later film based illustrated story and more so from the film.
I'm not a fan of how the Xenomorph looks but the story is good and draws you in...

 

[alexvss]

Ha ha, you surely did.


With five collections now available, you very much are. I will say, though, that it might be difficult to keep track of everything in one read. My experience was reading them with one-year gaps, and each time I got a new collection, I read it through, got a bit confused, then read the previous ones (all of them) and the new one again, and got much more out of it (and out of the previous ones too -- there are always new things to spot, new connections to make). It might have been easier if I'd been able to read them all straight off one after the other, but I'm not sure how much.

One of the things that pissed me off a couple of years ago is the appendix that comes at the end of every issue. It's the talking cat telling the story of that world, and it's just text inside balloons. It's heavy and tiresome.

 

[HareBrain]

It's heavy and tiresome.

A bit, I agree. I think I might have skipped some of them on first reads. But they do contain useful knowledge that would have slowed the pace if the writers had tried to cram it into the story, so I can see why they did it.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

After decades of not getting the appeal of superhero comics at all, I am now completely obsessed with the X-Men universe. Last year I stumbled across the "House of X" / "Powers of X" miniseries(es), which are a relaunch-but-not-reboot. Utterly brilliant, and provided a good jumping-on point. They move the series on to the next stage of history by establishing a full-on independant mutant nation in the Pacific. Now my shelves are filling up with multi-coloured volumes of X-Men, X-Force, Excalibur, Marauders.... the latest was the two new volumes of "New Mutants." (Confusingly, they're both called "vol 1", because two different writers are doing it? Not sure that was the best idea on Marvel's part.) So far, the John Hickman New Mutants stories are whimsical pastel-coloured space adventures, while the Ed Brisson stories begin with a hostage situation gone horribly wrong. So, a bit of mood whiplash there. I'm also getting my head around the back catalogue- the local library network has a random selection of older X-Men graphic novels.

 

[HareBrain]

I had a reread of books 1-4 of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing from the early 80s. Hugely variable in quality and tone, but at its best, it's extraordinary, with the Arcane/Hell arcs and the Nukeface Papers being the highlights for me.

 

[HareBrain]

Reread three Grant Morrison titles: Nameless, Joe the Barbarian, and The Filth. All three wildly inventive, but only JTB is what I would call enjoyable.

 

[Overread]

Started a big chunk of the second Deluxe Collection of Berserk manga. These collected hardbacks seem to go in and out of stock very fast and 3-5 are sold out everywhere. I'm basically setting alerts for each one on multiple sites and waiting for them to appear then snapping them up when I can. Logically if I had free cash I should grab the latter ones that aren't sold out yet

 

[Guttersnipe]

The Hulk vs. The Absorbing Man

 

[dask]

Is this a reprint of a comic?

 

[alexvss]

Re-reading Chainsaw Man prior to the release of the anime adaptation. And boy, does it feel like the first time!

 

[elle telle]

I just finished reading Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, and boy I cannot recommend it highly enough! It's fun fantasy romp in a small town, with space to get to know and care for the main characters. Had me tearing up at several points. And, I have to admit, I didn't realize this going in but one of the main characters is nonbinary! I'm nonbinary myself and it's so rare to read stories, including comics, with nonbinary characters that it felt extra special.

 

[dask]

Reading this right now:

Excellent so far.

 

[alexvss]

Began reading The Empty Man. The movie made quite the uproar among indie horror fans, so I'm going to read the comics before watching it.

I dig the story so far. A good addendum to the Mythos. It's also written by Cullen Bunn, the author of Harrow County, a comic that I read recently and enjoyed a lot. The man knows how to write horror.

 

[HareBrain]

Today is Monstress Vol 6 Day! Later I hope to be getting my grubby mitts on a copy. If past experience is any guide, I will then read it, reread vols 1-5 to remember what's going on, and read it again. Then rave about its brilliance.

 

[HareBrain]

Today is Monstress Vol 6 Day! Later I hope to be getting my grubby mitts on a copy. If past experience is any guide, I will then read it, reread vols 1-5 to remember what's going on, and read it again. Then rave about its brilliance.

Well, it was good, and didn't need a reread of the previous volumes, but I'm not sure it added a great deal to the sense of story progression. Anyone else reading this series?