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Post by wildfire2099 on May 14, 2014 22:50:49 GMT -5
I'm shocked to here Doomed is good, too. It seems like a retread at best, and a cash grab at worst.. maybe I'll get the trade.
I agree Star Wars has been really fun.. at least they have enough notice to have a satisfactory ending.
I just dropped Batgirl.. though I might have #31 coming for DCBS... too depressing.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958 
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Post by Crimebuster on May 14, 2014 23:20:09 GMT -5
Okay, I managed to track down the full run of Rat Queens and read it today. I enjoyed it. As I suspected, #6 is more entertaining and understandable in context. I really wouldn't call it a perfect jumping on point, as has been advertised, new arc or no. Some of the storytelling hiccups I mentioned before are also present, to a lesser degree, in some of the earlier issues, but they are not as noticeable or widespread as they are in the first few pages of #6.
#3 I think was my favorite because while #1 and #2 were fun, I was glad to see some depth to the characters start to come out in #3. I liked the little spotlight character bits there, as we slowed down from the action and started to get invested in the characters before the fighting started again. Adventure and humor is great, but if there's no heart, it's going to get one note pretty fast. The character bits in #3 in particular, as well as in parts of #5 and #6, suggest these characters may have staying power.
Also, I would certainly recommend the series to anyone who plays or has played table top RPGs in the past, as there's a lot of inside humor D&D fans will enjoy. It's not overt, though, so people who don't do RPGs can enjoy it just fine as well - it's not Knights of the Dinner Table or anything. But there's an extra dimension if you do play RPGs.
I liked it and added it to my pull list.
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Post by Action Ace on May 14, 2014 23:33:20 GMT -5
I'm shocked to here Doomed is good, too. It seems like a retread at best, and a cash grab at worst.. maybe I'll get the trade. I agree Star Wars has been really fun.. at least they have enough notice to have a satisfactory ending. I just dropped Batgirl.. though I might have #31 coming for DCBS... too depressing. Cash grab? Yes. Retread? Thankfully not. Batgirl #31 may be the best issue of the entire series. (not a high bar to clear I must admit) Ragdoll gets a good moment at the very end. |
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Post by Dizzy D on May 15, 2014 3:27:26 GMT -5
Asgard is definitely still floating over Broxton, OK (now owned by Roxxon).. I think it has been continuously since it moved there. I haven't read Gillien's Loki stuff, though I've heard good things. The Sif Stuff was pretty good. Yep, it's still got an Oklahoma zip code... I had to look on Wikipedia to understand what was going on: Odin did briefly come back, rebuilt a heavenly Asgard (that's what happened in the first few pages of JiM) but then got himself killed again in the Fear Itself crossover. Tony Stark rebuilt the Broxton Asgard (that had been levelled in the Siege crossover), now renamed Asgardia, and unless another "event" removed it, it should still be there. Gillen has a good "voice" for young Loki, and I like the way he makes use of the love-hate relationship of the two Odinsons seen in the movie. (That's one of the intrusions of the movie world into the comics world that I don't mind overmuch). I'm two issues in and it's still good. Knock on wood for the rest! Not sure if it's an intrusion of the movie world. Gillen's JiM was written around the same time as the movie came out and both seem to draw from the relationship between Loki and Thor in the myths (some stories have them travelling together, others have them as bitter enemies). The series would probably have made my Top 50 stories if it applied, but it's too recent for the Classical Saga lists. As for Odin and Asgard: Odin's not dead, he's in self-imposed exile in Heavenly asgard, which he has sealed off. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 15, 2014 5:51:24 GMT -5
Yep, it's still got an Oklahoma zip code... I had to look on Wikipedia to understand what was going on: Odin did briefly come back, rebuilt a heavenly Asgard (that's what happened in the first few pages of JiM) but then got himself killed again in the Fear Itself crossover. Tony Stark rebuilt the Broxton Asgard (that had been levelled in the Siege crossover), now renamed Asgardia, and unless another "event" removed it, it should still be there. Gillen has a good "voice" for young Loki, and I like the way he makes use of the love-hate relationship of the two Odinsons seen in the movie. (That's one of the intrusions of the movie world into the comics world that I don't mind overmuch). ! Not sure if it's an intrusion of the movie world. Gillen's JiM was written around the same time as the movie came out and both seem to draw from the relationship between Loki and Thor in the myths (some stories have them travelling together, others have them as bitter enemies). Well, in the Norse legends they were not brothers and had little reason to care for each other; Loki did sleep with Sif under false pretenses and played Thor for a fool in many occasions after all! But in any case, whether the relation is an influence from the films or a Gillen initiative, I welcome it. |
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Post by Dizzy D on May 15, 2014 6:30:48 GMT -5
Not sure if it's an intrusion of the movie world. Gillen's JiM was written around the same time as the movie came out and both seem to draw from the relationship between Loki and Thor in the myths (some stories have them travelling together, others have them as bitter enemies). Well, in the Norse legends they were not brothers and had little reason to care for each other; Loki did sleep with Sif under false pretenses and played Thor for a fool in many occasions after all! But in any case, whether the relation is an influence from the films or a Gillen initiative, I welcome it. Yes, but there are also various stories where Loki and Thor are wandering the Earth as friends. (Most of them adapted in Peter Madsen's Valhalla if you want the comic book equivalent.) The weird different relationships are because Loki became a very different character once Christian influence hits and he changes from trickster to adversary. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 15, 2014 7:35:31 GMT -5
I'm shocked to here Doomed is good, too. It seems like a retread at best, and a cash grab at worst.. maybe I'll get the trade. I agree Star Wars has been really fun.. at least they have enough notice to have a satisfactory ending. I just dropped Batgirl.. though I might have #31 coming for DCBS... too depressing. Cash grab? Yes. Retread? Thankfully not. Batgirl #31 may be the best issue of the entire series. (not a high bar to clear I must admit) Ragdoll gets a good moment at the very end. That's sorta why I dropped it.. it seemed like they weren't really forward the interesting plot lines much (the bad guy vigilante group, Barbara's boyfriend, the commissioner knowing about her or not), in favor of Batman badguy of the month. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 15, 2014 7:37:12 GMT -5
I like Loki a lot better as 'the God of Mischief' than 'Evil'... it's alot more unique and interesting.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 15, 2014 8:00:45 GMT -5
I like Loki a lot better as 'the God of Mischief' than 'Evil'... it's alot more unique and interesting. Well, was he ever evil in the old tales? As Dizzy D. says, the later stories are probably influenced by Christianity (Snorri Sturlusson was a Christian, and in Heimskringla explained away the divinity of Odin, Thor, Freyr and company by making them ancient chiefs that had been deified by the heathens). When he describes Loki in Gylfaginning, Sturlusson does give him aspects a Christian would associate with Satan: . He's also the father of Hel, goddess of death, Fenrir, who will kill Odin, and Jormungandr, the world-serpent... with offspring like that, he must be evil! However, just like Satan seems to be pals of sorts with God in older books of the Bible (the Book of Job), Loki does live and travel with other gods, including Thor, even if he loves to play tricks on him. The two of them went on a mission to retrieve Mjolnir (stolen by the giant Thrym), and Loki must have been delighted that the thunderer had to go disguised as a woman! I agree with you: a trickster Loki is much more interesting than a purely evil one, and even moreso than the bitter and jealous kid brother he was described as in Stan andJack's original run. The unpredictable trickster was well represented, I thought, in Wagner's Rheingold where he is something of a loose cannon, helping Wotan/Odin with his cunning but at the same time helping seed the end of the gods. It all seems like a game to him. |
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Post by Dizzy D on May 15, 2014 8:56:49 GMT -5
One of my favourite old Loki stories is Loka Táttur, where Loki is the one god that protects an innocent human boy.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2014 8:59:56 GMT -5
Neil Gaiman had a very interesting take on the Loki, Odin, Thor dynamic in his young adult book/novella-Odd and the Frost Giants. It's classic Gaiman but a far cry from the way they were portrayed in Sandman.
-M
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Post by Dizzy D on May 15, 2014 9:20:09 GMT -5
For that matter his take on Odin and Loki in American Gods, where the two of them as pulling a 2-man con, was pretty good as well. Oh and I mentioned Peter Madsen, so obligatory image (that's Thor and Loki, the later series gets a bit darker, but the early issues are Loki and Thor running around getting into adventures. The kids are Tjalfe and Røskva). Attachment DeletedOh and the animated movie made of it, is on Youtube. Loved that a lot as a kid and recently rewatched it and still it holds up to me. |
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Post by The Captain on May 15, 2014 10:21:49 GMT -5
What I read this week:
Captain America #20 - it was just OK, much as this entire NOW relaunch/reboot/season has been. Just a couple of years removed from the greatness that was the Brubaker run and Cap has settled into mediocrity once again.
Iron Man #25 - this was much better, as Tony takes on Malekith and his band of dark elves in Svartalfheim in an effort to retrieve the three Rings of the Mandarin that Malekith has managed to acquire. The "technology versus magic" battle ends up really one-sided, as Tony proves just how crafty he can be, and some good one-liners from Stark just add to the enjoyment.
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Post by impulse on May 15, 2014 10:58:52 GMT -5
Has anyone read The Walking Dead # 127? It was surprisingly great! Without spoiling anything, this is where I was hoping they would go a few years ago before the whole Negan business. Great new direction!
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 15, 2014 11:11:55 GMT -5
What I read this week: Captain America #20 - it was just OK, much as this entire NOW relaunch/reboot/season has been. Just a couple of years removed from the greatness that was the Brubaker run and Cap has settled into mediocrity once again. Iron Man #25 - this was much better, as Tony takes on Malekith and his band of dark elves in Svartalfheim in an effort to retrieve the three Rings of the Mandarin that Malekith has managed to acquire. The "technology versus magic" battle ends up really one-sided, as Tony proves just how crafty he can be, and some good one-liners from Stark just add to the enjoyment. Good to hear Iron Man was good.. so far the whole run has been pretty medicore. The space stuff petered out pretty hard, and Iron Metropolitian I THOUGHT would be great, but instead they just used to give Arno something to do until someone wants to take him out of limbo. |
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