Dynamite Comics - discussion and sale deal

[Overread]

https://groupees.com/dynamite3

Sale bit out of the way first, that might interest some; scroll down for the full list; they've also got the option to purchase the previous bundle sales they had and also a $200 box of stuff for $50 or $200 store credit in their Dynamite shop.


So a newbies to comics and I'm well aware of the big super-hero ones of Marvel and DC (as if anyone could not be aware of the giants); however it would be interesting to hear if any here read this or other brands of comic that might not be as high profile; or at least high profile to the more casual readers of comics.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I've read (well surprise, surprise it is me...) some Dynamite comics, very few of which are included in these bundles.

I've read Game of Thrones, and it is a rather straightforward adaptation of the novels.

Others from Dynamite include -

The Wheel of Time: A straight adaptation of the Robert Jordan Epic. The completed the Eye of the World and there has been no news on whether there will be any more.

Blood Queen: A retelling of the Elizabeth Bathory legend, the woman who bathes in blood to keep herself young.

Jennifer Blood: A story of a mobsters daughter who sets out on a path of revenge after her father is murdered by his brothers. It started brilliantly and the spiralled downwards as they tried to stretch the concept beyond it's structure. The last mini-series was a big improvement.

Alice Cooper - a fantasy series based on the rock singer. It is a weak title that could have been so much better.

They mostly sell licensed titles, comics based on existing franchises, whether novels, TV series or films. They do have their own super hero range, overseen by artist Alex Ross, and have the rights to some unpublished Jack Kirby work. Mostly though it is material like Vampirella, Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter books, Harry Dresden and they have just acquired the rights for James Bond.

In the past they had massive success with Garth Ennis' The Boys and alternative take of the Superhero genre, which is very, very adult.

Ennis published a number of other titles through them including his Battlefields and Red Team, all of which have been good fun!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Of the other publishers there are three that spring to mind.
The first is Titan.

I'm only aware of them as they currently hold the license for Doctor Who and are producing a number of good, solid titles featuring the Time Lord. There are regular titles for the Tennant, Smith and Capaldi incarnations. There has been a limited series for Ecclestone and there is a current limited series featuring Four Doctors (Tennant, Smith Capaldi and the War Doctor.

 

[Perpetual Man]

The next is Image.

Image comics sprang out of the 1990's comics boom when the big names - artists whose names could sell comics more than the titles they were on - left and started their own line, featuring their own creations. Technically an interlinking superhero universe it introduced characters such as Todd McFarlane's Spawn and Erik Larson's Savage Dragon. Along with them were Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S, Rob Liefeld's Youngblood and Jim Valentine's Shadowhawk. Whilce Portacio was meant to be part of the initial setup, but dropped out due to personal problems, coming in at a later date.

However the whole thing fractured over time, with the group splintering and their titles dropping out of the publishing schedule. Only Savage Dragon and Spawn have continued regularly, while Jim Lee's creations are now part of the DC universe.

Image seemed to founder for a while, they brought in new 'big name' creators, new titles that drifted in and out of publication and the whole shared universe disintegrated.

In the last few years they have started to produce some of the most innovative and exciting creator owned titles (along side Avatar press) and although I do not read that many there constant excellent reviews.

I'm reading the Fantasy epic Birthright and there was, for a while A Voice in the Dark, which was a remarkable work for a number of reasons. (I'll try and come back to this at a later date).

 

[Perpetual Man]

Avatar Press is probably my favourite of the growing Independents.

They started producing more visceral horror titles, and while that still makes up a portion of their output they have brought in new material, supported by big name writers including Alan Moore.

Their main franchise is 'Crossed' a take on the Zombie apocalypse, originally written by Garth Ennis it has been through a number of hands and continues to thrive.

As well as producing work by Moore, Avatar have made Garth Ennis one of their core writers, resurrecting his excellent War Stories series, a well researched series of stories set during various wars.

For me though, their best title (and my favourite comic at the moment) is Uber by Kieron Gillen an intriguing tale of an alternate World War II where the German's acquire the means of making superpowers. Despite the fantastical element it is well researched and follows a well structured progression.

Gillen has just started a new title Mercury Heat which deals with a murder investigation on a small base on Mercury. It looks promising.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I forgot to include Dark Horse Comics. One of the log established publishers.

They have their own superhero range, but I'm not familiar with them. For me I read the Buffy and Angel spinoff titles, official continuations of the TV series overseen by Joss Whedon.

 

[Overread]

Ahh neat Per....Tim... Pertim! *yes you are now renamed again *

Sounds like you've dipped into a good few of the comics! You reminded me of Spawn, I saw the TV series for that and was rather sad that they cancelled it part-way through and dropped it at a huge and key part. Sadly it seems to be the way of solid series that they can often get dropped without warning or having only been able to develop part of the series; I'll have to check out the comic series as well now to catch-up. Whilst I'm not always taken with super-heroes Spawn struck me as one which was more mature in style and structure and depth; plus whilst it appears to have had a few revisions its not into the whole multiple-reboots approach that one oft gets with marvel and DC and most of the standard super heroes.

Uber also looks and sounds very interesting! A techno-monster-mutant take on WWII with a strong story and structure sounds really great and looking at the artwork they've a very good style!

 

[Perpetual Man]

Pertim... hmmm adding that to the Timmy and Timbo over in the 75 word discussion thread I'm heading for the running of the most nicknames ever on Chrons....

Yeah Uber is very good, if a little gruesome every now and then, but it adds to the story. It's also got a little bonus in the writer Gillen does a text piece at the end of each issue that deals with the events of the issue, placing them in a pseudo-historical context, talking about what was happening in the real world and why his story has taken the route it has. Quite fascinating.

 

[Overread]

I'm going to take a moment to talk about Requiem Vampire Knight a little more (after my "what are you currently reading" post)
https://www.comixology.co.uk/Requiem-Vampire-Knight/comics-series/27517

What draws me to this comic is first and foremost the artwork; the lead artist has an eye for detail which surpasses many comics and really shows when you zoom in a bit on digital displays for these comics. Sweeping vistas filled with little details and a very well crafted dark gothic world. Also whilst he retains a strong level of style to the artwork there's also a clear display that he understands form and structure, which shows through most, to my eye, when drawing beasts within the world. They look "real" rather than highly fancified(?) creations which to me adds to the depth and attraction to the artwork.

The story is also very interesting and since its set in Hell it begins with the death of the lead character; but at the start of each comic we get a little snippet of history as to the characters past. As to what shaped them as a person and what ultimately led to them coming down all the way to Hell. As such its a bittersweet experience as we see a character unveiled and learn more about the mystery of their background whilst also finding out that they are more and more a monster in their former life.

I've not gotten all the way through but its an exciting read with twists and turns. I'd also say its one comic where you can turn a page and spend more time looking at the page visually than at the words upon it - indeed I'd say that some pages would be worth having purely with just artwork and not a single word upon them.

If you like a dark gothic world; if you like the idea of darker stories with darker heroes and some really great artwork then I'd say check it out