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Post by tingramretro on Mar 16, 2016 8:42:06 GMT -5
Shaxper do you have the entire run of Suicide Squad? I think it might be a little more up your alley than the JLI even though there's no sword welding rabbit in it. . You're not the first to suggest this! In the few issues I read, none of the team members left me with much of an impression, but I am intrigued by Amanda Waller as their morally ambiguous leader. This is definitely a "get to it someday" run, but right now the prices are prohibitive what with the movie coming out. It was probably one of the best DC titles of its time, though it took awhile to really come together. As I recall, by about the middle of the second year it was near the top of my monthly 'must read' pile. |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Mar 16, 2016 9:21:58 GMT -5
Justice League International #12  even if all Giffen is doing is recycling the age old story of Faust  Wow, I have this, but it's only now that I see how Maguire could have been an early but strong influence on Bachalo! On those two pages, many details are striking, as well as the panels structure. |
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Post by Action Ace on Mar 16, 2016 13:30:30 GMT -5
Shaxper do you have the entire run of Suicide Squad? I think it might be a little more up your alley than the JLI even though there's no sword welding rabbit in it. . You're not the first to suggest this! In the few issues I read, none of the team members left me with much of an impression, but I am intrigued by Amanda Waller as their morally ambiguous leader. This is definitely a "get to it someday" run, but right now the prices are prohibitive what with the movie coming out. Due to the movie they are putting the trades back in print. Volume 3 of the Ostrander series is due out next month. The first three volumes collect issues 1-25, Annual 1 and JLI #13. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 16, 2016 15:40:02 GMT -5
I've been getting the trades, which are very good value for the price. I didn't really have any interest in the characters either, but they're growing on me as I read them... I just hope they do the whole run, and not stop in the middle like Ostrander's Spectre run (which I suspect got bumped for Suicide Squad)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2016 15:45:17 GMT -5
I've been getting the trades, which are very good value for the price. I didn't really have any interest in the characters either, but they're growing on me as I read them... I just hope they do the whole run, and not stop in the middle like Ostrander's Spectre run (which I suspect got bumped for Suicide Squad) Well this is the second time they tried to do the Suicide Squad series in trade, they started it in 2011 and cancelled it after the first volume because it didn't sell well enough. This was before they did Spectre or Ostrander's Martian Manhunter(or Grell's Green Arrow or any other number of series form that era that they started collecting then stopped because of poor sales a few volumes in). So hopefully the trades sell well enough to keep it going this time. In 2015 they rereleased that first volume and have followed up with 2 more, but we will see how far they get this time. -M |
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 16, 2016 16:30:58 GMT -5
I've been getting the trades, which are very good value for the price. I didn't really have any interest in the characters either, but they're growing on me as I read them... I just hope they do the whole run, and not stop in the middle like Ostrander's Spectre run (which I suspect got bumped for Suicide Squad) Well this is the second time they tried to do the Suicide Squad series in trade, they started it in 2011 and cancelled it after the first volume because it didn't sell well enough. This was before they did Spectre or Ostrander's Martian Manhunter(or Grell's Green Arrow or any other number of series form that era that they started collecting then stopped because of poor sales a few volumes in). So hopefully the trades sell well enough to keep it going this time. In 2015 they rereleased that first volume and have followed up with 2 more, but we will see how far they get this time. -M I'm still waiting for Infinity Inc: The Generations Saga Vol II. |
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Post by Action Ace on Mar 17, 2016 0:10:46 GMT -5
DC does seem to be making headway on Suicide Squad. I see a listing for a Volume 4 in late July which will be the Janus Directive Crossover. At that point, they'll be just under the halfway mark at issue #30.
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Post by Action Ace on Mar 17, 2016 0:12:49 GMT -5
Justice League International #12 even if all Giffen is doing is recycling the age old story of Faust Wow, I have this, but it's only now that I see how Maguire could have been an early but strong influence on Bachalo! On those two pages, many details are striking, as well as the panels structure. Pencils by Kevin Maguire, Breakdowns by Keith Giffen. |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Mar 17, 2016 0:38:43 GMT -5
Yes, but it's obvious Bachalo never took inspiration in Giffen pencils, but those Maguire pencils, man, if you look at those early Shade issues, even the LOTDK issue! The panel structure of the page, the way to highlight details and contour with a dark background in that first panel, the mixture of cartoony and realism... It's all there!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Mar 18, 2016 8:22:49 GMT -5
DC does seem to be making headway on Suicide Squad. I see a listing for a Volume 4 in late July which will be the Janus Directive Crossover. At that point, they'll be just under the halfway mark at issue #30. Thanks for this! As others have similarly noted here, I've learned from past experience never to start buying trades until I'm sure the entire run is getting reprinted. I hate incomplete sets. I'm also relatively sure the run will come down in price once some time has passed. I already own Legends (the team's first appearance) and the key Barbara Gordon issues. It's just a matter of getting the rest for a fair price. |
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fred2
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Post by fred2 on Mar 30, 2016 21:22:51 GMT -5
Ha, I kinda of thought this thread would peter out. I myself started to lose interest after issue 10. The lack of Macguire art didn't help. By this point, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, Doctor Light, Black Canary, Batman and soon Mister Miracle are gone or leaving. That leaves only three of the original nine (Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle and the Martian Manhunter. Issues 16, 18 and 19 are worth reading; but no sense continuing on beyond those in my opinion.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Mar 30, 2016 22:10:32 GMT -5
Ha, I kinda of thought this thread would peter out. It hasn't. I've been extremely busy and have actually gotten to this review thread more often than any of my others in the past two months. Being the site custodian comes with its share of time-consuming behind-the-scenes responsibilities, as does being a full time teacher and father. But, ya know, thanks for rooting against me. |
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fred2
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Post by fred2 on Mar 31, 2016 0:10:28 GMT -5
Ha, I kinda of thought this thread would peter out. It hasn't. I've been extremely busy and have actually gotten to this review thread more often than any of my others in the past two months. Being the site custodian comes with its share of time-consuming behind-the-scenes responsibilities, as does being a full time teacher and father. But, ya know, thanks for rooting against me. My apologies. Did not mean that post to come off as rooting against you. I just assumed that the series is starting to lose its interest for you. Because issues 11-20 is where I left off, after enjoying 1-10. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Mar 31, 2016 7:29:55 GMT -5
Did not mean that post to come off as rooting against you. Much thanks  Actually, the crossover with Suicide Squad was some of the best stuff I've yet seen in the run. Several have cautioned me here that the run may ultimately prove tedious, but I'm not feeling it with the last few stories. I should have today largely free, so I'm hoping to get in a few reviews, at least one for this thread. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Mar 31, 2016 8:57:09 GMT -5
Justice League International #14  "Shop...or Die" plot/breakdowns: Keith Giffen script: J.M. DeMatteis pencils: Steve Leialoha inks: Al Gordon letters: Bob Lappan colors: Gene D'Angelo editor: Andrew Helfer grade: B+ The slow evolution of Giffen and Dematteis' work on this title continues with this story, where we see them continuing to hone their strengths and also continuing to face obstacles they've yet to surmount. Concerning strengths, we've got comedy stemming from characters who are self-aware when employing conventional comic book tropes:  and even more comedy stemming from repetition:  ...LOTS of repetition:  and, of course, the lovable faceless minions bringing a surprising amount of comedic everyman to the story as they wait on the sidelines:  But Giffen and DeMatteis have also since learned that such comedy works best when used with the villains, relegating them to two-dimensional self-aware archtypes while giving the good guys a chance to develop as characters. In fact, Giffen pretty much avoids moving the plot forward in this issue so that he has more time to bring out the personalities of the JLI, having Booster and Beetle over at Scott and Barda's house in order to further develop all their relationships, but it doesn't yield as much as we might have hoped:  More than a year in, I still don't really know or care about these characters yet. Speaking of characters, Fire and Ice finally appear to be joining the team as of next issue. I almost didn't recognize them at first. Leialoha certainly makes Fire look different:  Not a fan. Also worth noting in this issue is the return of G'Nort. However, beyond his arriving in an escape pod that manages to make it look like G'Nort is climbing out of a dingy sewer hole once again  G'Nort didn't really work as a comic element this time around. It was all too forced, especially when he randomly wonders how the aliens aboard their massive vessel go to the bathroom. Sure, funny to bring up toilet humor in a mainstream comic, but it's not really one of those "Yeah, good question! ha-ha, he said what I was thinking" moments because I have no trouble assuming a massive spaceship with gravity control would also have bathrooms, just like any large structure that people live in. Lame attempt. Of course, the other fun of this story is Giffen once again poking fun at international politics, as the world is given twelve hours to decide whether to trade resources with their new alien visitors or perish, and absolutely everyone watching from the sidelines immediately realizes the United Nations will never reach a decision in that time. Best yet, though this was almost certainly unintentional, we have a full page of pointless and maddening bickering at the UN  immediately followed by this when you turn the page:  So we finally know what turned The Joker insane. Really, my first thought was that this was an in-story reaction to the UN's gridlock. So I really enjoyed this one and can see Giffen and DeMatteis continuing to hone their craft, but we still need more personality from the JLI. I don't mind giving the plot secondary emphasis; in fact, I think it works well for a book like this one. I am curious, however, to see if the team will finally actually WIN against someone. Minor Details:Really, the one comic book trope I'm honestly surprised Giffen did not draw attention to was how often aliens show up in Earth's orbit, broadcasting a demand with a countdown tied to it that interrupts folks' regularly scheduled TV programs. Couldn't one viewer have been like "Not another deadline from space! Moonlighting is on!"? Oh, and what's up with Giffen's choice of names in this story? "Lord Manga"? I assume the robot "L-Ron" is some sort of nod to (or dig at) L. Ron Hubbard, but I must admit to not getting the joke.
Important Details:- J'onn informs a U.N. bigwig that "Batman is in something of a...SNIT, sir -- and we can't seem to locate Black Canary --". So Batman isn't necessarily gone for good, and Black Canary is just...gone? We know from a letter column spoiler two issues back that she's off the team, but no explanation given? Nothing shown or hinted at on panel? What gives??? Plot synopsis:
An alien race that devours the basic resources of worlds, leaving them barren, shows up in orbit of Earth, demanding that its inhabitants trade resources or die, but the United Nations is unable to come to an agreement in time to meet the imposed deadline. Meanwhile, G'Nort is on his way to Earth in order to assist, and the JLI, now without Batman or Black Canary, begrudgingly decides to allow Fire and Ice to join them for this mission. |
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