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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2017 2:37:17 GMT -5
Read Volume 4 of the Rebirth Wonder Woman title, Godwatch, by Rucka & Evely (and others). Mostly filled in backstory to some of the events that fueled the story in Volume 3. I am not so sure I like the every other issue collection pattern that the trades have, seems the past arc provides insight to the present arcs but don't really stand on their own as a story in an of themselves very well, and reading the present arcs without the background available until afterwards (if trade waiting) makes for a story that feels like it's missing context. Rucka's Rebirth run has been alright, but not spectacular (pretty much how I felt about his first run on Wonder Woman too, I really like Rucka as a writer, but his Wonder Woman has never resonated with me the way his work on other characters has. For me, these versions of Cheetah, Ares, etc. still pale to the Perez version and I'd rather see new material than reinterpretations of past material that doesn't feel like an improvement. It's a solid title, well crafted, and all but it just leaves a been there, done that before taste in the mouth that ultimately makes it unsatisfying.
-M
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 4, 2017 1:25:09 GMT -5
I'm getting a little more caught up on Astro City! I got #25, #28, #29, #30 and #31 in the mail yesterday, so now I have every issue from #22 to the most-recent issue (#49) of the current series from Vertigo. I started getting this series in the mid-30s, I think it was the second part of last year's Jack-in-the-Box storyline, and when I heard #41 would be an anniversary issue (the 100th issue overall since it started back in the 1990s), I decided to stick with it at least that far. And here I am, still picking it up every month and now I've started working on the back issues. (And when I look at the years leading up to the first issue of this series in 2013, it doesn't look like I really missed that much. It looks like Busiek had a few years where he didn't work on Astro City as much. I have all six issues of the original limited series, and then all 22 (I think) issues of the first ongoing, plus several issues of Local Heroes. And I read The Dark Age digitally earlier this year.) Some of the issues in the 20s are a little disappointing. I like the idea of the gorilla playing the drums, and the story was OK, but I was expecting more. Exactly what, I couldn't say. But once it gets going, this run I have hits its stride with one really-good to great storyline after another. I loved the Wolf-Spider/Queenslaw story (#28) and then the Hive/First Family two-parter (#29 and #30), and then there's the Living Nightmare (#31), a new three-parter with Steeljack (#32 to #34)(I love the Steeljack stories!), and now we get to where I came in, the Jack-in-the-Box story (#35 and #36). Then the Jazzbaby! (#37 and #38)! (I love the Jazzbaby!) And a return to Shadow Hill, a sequel to the story in #4 of the original mini-series (#39 and #40). It's been one great storyline after another! I liked the 100th issue celebration in #41 well enough, but I've found the series to be a bit more of a mixed bag since then. I still like it well enough, and there have been some good ones! "The Cat Who Walked Through Walls" in #44 is a major contender for my favorite Astro City story ever! Anyway, I'm sticking with it, and looking forward to the 50th issue, and also to all those issues that I haven't read from #1 to #21. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 4, 2017 22:47:41 GMT -5
Just wait until you get to G-Dog, Hoosier. Pretty sure it was written with you in mind.
A 2nd volume of Wildfire did indeed never come out, though Hawkins' Eden mini is suppose to contain some connection with it (as well as his other previously stand alone minis)
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 6, 2017 1:54:00 GMT -5
Astro City is a really good, self-contained Bronze-y title.
Need to get caught up again, but have always really liked it.
My only complaint about it is by shifting back and forth to spotlight different characters, which I love, we don't see or hear from others for too long (at least for my oldish memory).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2017 22:47:04 GMT -5
Just read the first volume of Regression, the new horror series form Image by Cullen Bunn and Danny Luckert...  dealing with hypnotism, past life regression and diabolism. Bunn is a very good horror writer (I like his horror stuff much better than his super-hero stuff) and apparently his father was a stage hypnotist, so he is drawing form some personal experiences here. Luckert's art is stylistic and appropriate for a horror comic, especially if the reader is horrified by bugs and guts. Like a lot of Bunn stuff, the longer you read the deeper you get into what's going on, but early on you barely scratch the surface (Sixth Gun and Harrow County both started that way and got much richer the farther you went in the series), and that seems to be the case here again (though the first volumes of both Sixth Gun and Harrow County were more enjoyable reads on their own than this one was). I was sold on the other two series after one volume, here not so much. I liked it, I am somewhat interested to find out more, but I am not going to go looking for the next volume right away (especially since the second arc hasn't even started yet, but even if it had I wouldn't be jonesing to get it to read). I'll read more if/when the opportunity presents itself, but if not, oh well. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 17:31:40 GMT -5
Read Vol. 1-3 (collecting all 18 issues) of The Hinterkind, the Vertigo series by Ian Edginton and Francesco Trifogli.  It is a post-apocalyptic fairy story, literally as in after mankind has been nearly wiped out the fey (i.e. the Hinterkind) reemerge form their hiding places and resume their dominant place in the world. The series focuses on the struggles of a few members of one of the last human settlements, the dynastic struggles of the Sidhe and a burgeoning war between the Sidhe and other faction in faeriekind led by the goblins. Overall it is really well done, it just never found an audience and got cut short so the final issue not only had to wrap up the war but address the B and C subplots that had been building in the background adding to the strife and tension of the war plot and had to be addressed in a 2 page epilogue in the form of a journal written by one of the main characters of her adventures (a la Mr. Baggins writing the Hobbit) which was unsatisfying, but unavoidable due to the cancellation of the series due to low sales. The characters are engaging, the story hooks you in and the art is very good but it suffered form not being a mainstream super-hero book and not coming out from Image by someone who made their name at the big 2 previously at a time when those are the only types of books able to find audiences in the direct market. Worth the read, I only wish the rest of the story had been able to be done. -M |
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Post by Dizzy D on Dec 11, 2017 4:16:28 GMT -5
Read Vol. 1-3 (collecting all 18 issues) of The Hinterkind, the Vertigo series by Ian Edginton and Francesco Trifogli. It is a post-apocalyptic fairy story, literally as in after mankind has been nearly wiped out the fey (i.e. the Hinterkind) reemerge form their hiding places and resume their dominant place in the world. The series focuses on the struggles of a few members of one of the last human settlements, the dynastic struggles of the Sidhe and a burgeoning war between the Sidhe and other faction in faeriekind led by the goblins. Overall it is really well done, it just never found an audience and got cut short so the final issue not only had to wrap up the war but address the B and C subplots that had been building in the background adding to the strife and tension of the war plot and had to be addressed in a 2 page epilogue in the form of a journal written by one of the main characters of her adventures (a la Mr. Baggins writing the Hobbit) which was unsatisfying, but unavoidable due to the cancellation of the series due to low sales. The characters are engaging, the story hooks you in and the art is very good but it suffered form not being a mainstream super-hero book and not coming out from Image by someone who made their name at the big 2 previously at a time when those are the only types of books able to find audiences in the direct market. Worth the read, I only wish the rest of the story had been able to be done. -M I liked the series as well, only disliking the final issue because it was clearly wrapping up 50 issues of material in 1 or 2 pages to tie up the story. The first issue did feel like "What are the most popular series right now? Saga and Walking Dead? Right, we'll throw those in a blender", but it quickly became its own thing. Post-Berger Vertigo just had a lot of problems to market their own series. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2017 17:57:11 GMT -5
Read Lantern City Vol. 1 from BOOM! Studios.   The concept is interesting, the artwork beautiful, and the visual storytelling good, but the basic plot point that drives the series is so ridiculous (it has a plot hole destroying any sense of verisimilitude for this story that is bigger than the US deficit) that it renders any and all of those positives moot. It's almost as if the writer didn't bother to think through what happens form his initial plot point and consider any of the consequences or what would happen if the characters were people and not plot puppets that will act in any idiotic or nonsensical way to make the plot work. That's either incredibly lazy or just plain bad writing. I mean really if the basic point is that your protagonist is going to don the uniform of a fallen enemy commander to infiltrate their base, it get shim through the door, but he is going to be able to live that person's life because they wear masks so o one will know it's someone different under the mask? So I guess no one has ever heads their commanding officer speak, no one has ever seen him without the mask before, they wear the uniform and mask 24/7 etc. I mean he puts some obstacles that the protagonist has to deal with because of the disguise, but he totally ignores the basic and obvious problems making the whole thing eye roll inducing and worse than B-movie writing. Such a gambit could work in a short term infiltration scenario, but not if the idea is he will take over the officer's identity long term. I mean he has people suspect the deception but they all use such complex cockamamie ideas to try to prove hes's a fake when they ignore simple basics, so everyone comes across as a freaking idiot too stupid for the empire they are a part of to ever survive anyways. It's a shame, because as I said, it's a glorious setting and set up, an interesting concept and some gorgeous art, all of which intrigued me when I saw it being promoted, but the actual execution was so shoddy and disappointing. I don't ask for realism in sci-fi, I do expect verisimilitude, a sense that the world you are creating could function, but if the people in it are too stupid to consider such basic things that are totally ignored to make the plot work, there's no way that world could function on any level. real missed opportunity here. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2017 23:53:24 GMT -5
Read the final issues of Bug! The Adventures of a Forager 9#6) and Terry Moore's Motor Girl (#10). Both series were a lot of fun to read, with some serious thematic underpinnings and both had satisfying endings to their runs. Looking forward to seeing Terry Moore return to Strangers in Paradise even though I enjoyed Motor Girl, but the story was done, the tale had been told, so I am content with it ending. Bug's ending was a little more open ended, and there could be more tales to tell, but even if not, this story stands up well as a one and done mini as it is, so I look forward to seeing what the Allred's tackle next.
-M
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 27, 2017 0:06:20 GMT -5
Read Lantern City Vol. 1 from BOOM! Studios. The concept is interesting, the artwork beautiful, and the visual storytelling good, but the basic plot point that drives the series is so ridiculous (it has a plot hole destroying any sense of verisimilitude for this story that is bigger than the US deficit) that it renders any and all of those positives moot. It's almost as if the writer didn't bother to think through what happens form his initial plot point and consider any of the consequences or what would happen if the characters were people and not plot puppets that will act in any idiotic or nonsensical way to make the plot work. That's either incredibly lazy or just plain bad writing. I mean really if the basic point is that your protagonist is going to don the uniform of a fallen enemy commander to infiltrate their base, it get shim through the door, but he is going to be able to live that person's life because they wear masks so o one will know it's someone different under the mask? So I guess no one has ever heads their commanding officer speak, no one has ever seen him without the mask before, they wear the uniform and mask 24/7 etc. I mean he puts some obstacles that the protagonist has to deal with because of the disguise, but he totally ignores the basic and obvious problems making the whole thing eye roll inducing and worse than B-movie writing. Such a gambit could work in a short term infiltration scenario, but not if the idea is he will take over the officer's identity long term. I mean he has people suspect the deception but they all use such complex cockamamie ideas to try to prove hes's a fake when they ignore simple basics, so everyone comes across as a freaking idiot too stupid for the empire they are a part of to ever survive anyways. It's a shame, because as I said, it's a glorious setting and set up, an interesting concept and some gorgeous art, all of which intrigued me when I saw it being promoted, but the actual execution was so shoddy and disappointing. I don't ask for realism in sci-fi, I do expect verisimilitude, a sense that the world you are creating could function, but if the people in it are too stupid to consider such basic things that are totally ignored to make the plot work, there's no way that world could function on any level. real missed opportunity here. -M I'm sad to hear this as the cover and artwork are superb !
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 20:33:34 GMT -5
Read the first volume of Old Guard by Greg Rucka and Leandro Hernandez from Image...  It's the story of a group of soldiers who cannot die. Rucka and Hernandez did some great stuff on Queen & Country, and I was looking forward to this and was not disappointed. It's different from Q&C but good stuff. Great character work and Rucka gives the characters who originated in antiquity some believable tics about dealing with modern technology and pace of life. And Hernandez is on point throughout. Well worth checking out. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 22:17:24 GMT -5
Just finished Volume 1 of Royal City (Next of Kin) by Jeff Lemire...  This is a story that seems to draw on some immensely personal experiences for Lemire, and he does the visuals as well as writes it in his idiosyncratic water-color style that is so distinctive and expressive, and it works so well for this story. It is the story of the Pike family, and when the father has a stroke, his wife and children have to deal with the ghosts of their past (sometimes in a literal sense) and the challenges of their life and the shambles they have made of it with poor decisions and self-doubt. It is a gripping drama with strong character work and a little fantasy in a kind of magic realism cum A Christmas Carol style dramatic narrative. -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 27, 2017 22:50:33 GMT -5
Lantern City gets a bit better plot wise as you go on... he gets exposed pretty quickly. The art is by far the best part though for sure. I thought the authors notes about other media and such were a little ambitious for what it was for sure.
Read some Vision on Marvel Unlimited (I'm trying with the online thing, I really am)... it's OK, and maybe I'm being influenced by the good press, but so far I'm a bit disappointed (especially at the lack of Viv). I'll reserve judgement until I finish it though.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 23:57:38 GMT -5
Still exploring titles I hadn't tried that made the AV Club's best of 2017 list, and this time it was Extremity Vol. 1 The Artist by Daniel Warren Johnson with color art by Mike Spicer form Image Comics that made Olivia Sava's list.  It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy comic that is set in a world that looks like a nightmare after someone had after spending too much time checking out Roger Dean paintings, a world made of floating sky islands and monsters, with rival clans holding each of the islands and altitude of the island determining prestige of the clan. The story is one of revenge in a world of clan warfare, where the chieftain (called an Abba) of a clan raided by the top clan seeks revenge for the death of his wife and the mutilation of his daughter (an artist who had here hand (or extremity) severed as punishment by the rival clan and the depths he will sink to in order to achieve his vengeance, no matter what the cost to his family or clan. It's extremely well done, the story is interesting, the world developed well but still holds mysteries and intriguing surprises, the characters have hooks and depths to keep the reader's interest while the art is both beautiful and brutal in its depiction of the ravages of war and the ugliness of combat. I am not sure I would list it in my best of the year books, but I liked it a lot and it's well worth checking out. It's available on hoopla for those who have a library that subscribes to that service. -M |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2018 11:27:38 GMT -5
The second volume of The Nameless City series, Stoneheart, by Faith Erin Hicks made several best of lists for 2017, but I hadn't read the first volume, so I sought that out and read it this morning. The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks with colors by Jordie Bellaire  set in a semi-mythical ancient China analogue, this is in the mode of a young adult fantasy novel, but a very, very good one. The two protagonists are from opposite ends of the social spectrum, Rat is a city waif, one of the conquered people of the Nameless City, skilled at running the rooftops and staying hidden. She lives with a group of monks in a monastery on the outskirts of the city. Kaidu is the son of a prominent Dao family (the Doa are the conquerors of the city) who has never met his father, a general and adviser to the ruler of the city, as he lived in the country with his mother and his father attended the Supreme General at court, but he has come to the city to further his education and to serve his people. They meet and forge an unlikely friendship over time, until Rat learns of a coup attempt to assassinate the supreme General and Kaidu has to foil it. It's a fun romp of adventure, but with fully realized characters, great character work and intriguing world building. The story and the characters suck you in and keep you enthralled until you get to the last page (it's a 232 page OGN I read in one sitting and didn't even blink about the length, just eagerly turning the next page to see what happens), and leave you wanting more. Some sample pages... from the prologue  this page shows Kaidu (whom Rat calls Dao until they overcome their differences) and Rat  the start of the roof running...  Hicks is a superb visual storyteller. Her slightly cartoony style is very expressive and she is strong with body language and facial expressions in that slightly exaggerated style so her characters really come to life on the page, and Bellaire is just a superb color artist. She elevates everything she works on. Now I need to hunt down a copy of Stoneheart, the second volume, and pick up copies of both for my shelves when I get the chance. Hey The Captain and shaxper, you both have daughters who are somewhat into comics, and this book is well-suited for that target audience if you think it might interest them -M |
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