Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
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Post by Confessor on Oct 11, 2015 9:10:12 GMT -5
I finished reading Alan Moore's From Hell a few days ago and all I can say is..."wow!" This was one of the best things (comics or otherwise) I've read in ages. A real page turner that I couldn't wait to get stuck back into every evening. Beautifully written, thought-provoking, meticulously researched and wonderfully illustrated, with real Victorian era evoking artwork, by Eddie Campbell. It's just a fantastic graphic novel that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes comics.
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Post by The Cheat on Oct 11, 2015 15:27:21 GMT -5
New Frontier - Wish I'd read this before watching the animated film. Knowing the plot, this was more of an exercise in artistic appreciation. Luckily, there was some beautiful, beautiful art to appreciate. The design of the 'big bad' was pretty lacklustre, but everything else about it was pure gold. The deluxe edition had some nice extras in the back, and lovely matte paper, but suffered from the usual crappy DC build quality which spoiled some of the double page spreads. Shame.
Next up: Hellblazer - Volume 11
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Post by The Cheat on Oct 12, 2015 16:16:23 GMT -5
Daredevil: Widows Kiss Epic - This was from the time I started reading american comics, so I may be a bit biased, but I enjoyed this one. Nothing ground breaking or revolutionary, just some nice solid easy reading. Sometimes that's all I want from my big two comics. Lobdell's 4 parter was probably the highlight. Only complaint was that it ended on a bit of a stinker by Chichester. Bit of a shame DDs first volume had to close on such a low note.
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Post by fanboystranger on Oct 12, 2015 17:25:07 GMT -5
Judge Anderson: Psi Files 4 - Never found Alan Grant a hugely engaging writer on 2000AD, not compared to Wagner anyway whose work I mostly adore. This was surprisingly enjoyable though. Some of the dystopian scenes in the Deadworld arc really struck a chord with me for some reason, beautifully depicted and really made me stop and take in the panels, which is rare for me. Also, always raises a smile from me whenever an Anderson plot requires it to be pointed out in dialogue how old she is, when the art has her drawn as being in her 20s Grant's best work as a solo writer is definitely his Judge Anderson stuff, particularly the stories illustrated by Arthur Ranson. I have a soft spot for Mazeworld, too, which is also illustrated by Ranson. (I guess what I'm really saying is that I love Arthur Ranson art.)
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Post by fanboystranger on Oct 12, 2015 17:31:42 GMT -5
Daredevil: Widows Kiss Epic - This was from the time I started reading american comics, so I may be a bit biased, but I enjoyed this one. Nothing ground breaking or revolutionary, just some nice solid easy reading. Sometimes that's all I want from my big two comics. Lobdell's 4 parter was probably the highlight. Only complaint was that it ended on a bit of a stinker by Chichester. Bit of a shame DDs first volume had to close on such a low note. These are good stories, and I'm glad that Marvel reprinted them. Anyone who thinks that DD was in decline before the Marvel Knights revamp is completely wrong-- DD had been rebuilding itself after the post- Fall From Grace fiasco and DeMatteis' overly grim and New Age-y follow-ups for a few years when it was announced that DD would be relaunched. However, I would have reprinted Karl Kesel's run first as that informs so much of Kelly's run. Some great art, too-- Gene Colan returns, Lee Weeks illustrated that Chichester story, Cully Hamner, Cary Nord, and Ariel Olivetti.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 21:32:29 GMT -5
I am getting ready to re-read Fantastic Four #176-218(ish). Wolfman/Perez/Pollard & Byrne 70's goodness!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2015 22:33:54 GMT -5
I am getting ready to re-read Fantastic Four #176-218(ish). Wolfman/Perez/Pollard & Byrne 70's goodness! The build up to issue #200 and the battle with Doom is one of my favorite runs on the title.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 12, 2015 23:35:25 GMT -5
I am getting ready to re-read Fantastic Four #176-218(ish). Wolfman/Perez/Pollard & Byrne 70's goodness! That brings back memories. I started reading FF with #165 and didn't stop until the #290s. I'm probably in the minority, but I like FF #140 to #200 better than the Byrne issues. Some of the Byrne issues were great, but when it wasn't great, it was at times pretty bad.
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Post by dbutler69 on Oct 13, 2015 8:27:37 GMT -5
I am getting ready to re-read Fantastic Four #176-218(ish). Wolfman/Perez/Pollard & Byrne 70's goodness! That brings back memories. I started reading FF with #165 and didn't stop until the #290s. I'm probably in the minority, but I like FF #140 to #200 better than the Byrne issues. Some of the Byrne issues were great, but when it wasn't great, it was at times pretty bad. I love that run, too, though I don't know if I'd put it ahead of the Byrne run. FF #172 was the first or second superhero comic I ever bought. I think from #164 up through #215 (Wolfman's run) is really, really good, except for a couple of stinkers in there.
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 13, 2015 9:05:55 GMT -5
Not even remotely a fan of Wolfman's Fantastic Four (especially when Pollard is pencilling), nor of Conway's or Moench's. I like Thomas' run okay and Wein's a bit better. Then again I'm not especially fond of Stan's post-Kirby FF or Byrne's post-Secret Wars issues. I don't think any of the above are necessarily bad comics (though all those scripters have delivered the occasional stinker), they just don't float my boat the way Lee/Kirby and early Byrne do.
Cei-U! I summon the Fantasticar!
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Post by dbutler69 on Oct 13, 2015 13:43:07 GMT -5
I like the Wein run, but it was so short that I didn't really consider it. Lee/Kirby is great, but it didn't really take off till #44. The best thing about the first 43 issues is the couple of Thing-Hulk fights, plus the Thing's general humor.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 14:25:57 GMT -5
Not even remotely a fan of Wolfman's Fantastic Four (especially when Pollard is pencilling), nor of Conway's or Moench's. I like Thomas' run okay and Wein's a bit better. Then again I'm not especially fond of Stan's post-Kirby FF or Byrne's post-Secret Wars issues. I don't think any of the above are necessarily bad comics (though all those scripters have delivered the occasional stinker), they just don't float my boat the way Lee/Kirby and early Byrne do. Cei-U! I summon the Fantasticar! Really? Hot Damn...Pollard was awesome, wish he would have drawn more FF, especially with Joe Sinnott inks. Pollard drew one bad ass Dr. Doom!
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Post by The Cheat on Oct 13, 2015 15:53:55 GMT -5
Hellblazer: Volume 11 - Jenkins run on Hellblazer is a bit hit and miss with me, sometimes solid, but often confusing, leaving me not quite sure of exactly what just happened in a story. Hellblazer's always been a book of ambiguous endings, but I can usually figure out what lesson/point the author was trying to make. Not so with some of Jenkins stuff. The stories in this volume were all fairly straight forward in that respect, but also didn't really contain anything hugely notable either. I did enjoy Chas getting one over on John for a change in the 10th anniversary issue
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 13, 2015 22:35:05 GMT -5
Not even remotely a fan of Wolfman's Fantastic Four (especially when Pollard is pencilling), nor of Conway's or Moench's. I like Thomas' run okay and Wein's a bit better. Then again I'm not especially fond of Stan's post-Kirby FF or Byrne's post-Secret Wars issues. I don't think any of the above are necessarily bad comics (though all those scripters have delivered the occasional stinker), they just don't float my boat the way Lee/Kirby and early Byrne do. Cei-U! I summon the Fantasticar! Oh, yeah, Lee/Kirby is the best! I'm reading The Essential Fantastic Four, Volume Three, right now, that's FF #41 to #63, and this is the best the FF ever was, possibly the heart of the second best comic book run ever! (I slightly prefer Spider-Man #1 to #40.) I've read them before, I had every issue from #51 to about #120 for a while and the others I had in reprints, but I never sat down with them and read them in order over a few weeks as I've done with other runs I've had. So this has been pretty awesome! I just read #55 the night before last. So the great "Dr. Doom steals the Power Cosmic" story is coming up! I think the great strength of these issues is the continuity. In a way, there are no primary characters. There are so many recurring characters, all of them with their little subplots, that it becomes an ensemble show instead of just a team comic book. Look at how many characters appear numerous times in these issues! Even the villains! Even the Sandman becomes more of a supporting character because he's in so many issues. And consider the Inhumans. How many of them have their own little individual dramas while they're trapped behind the Great Barrier? Crystal is all upset about Johnny, Black Bolt has the weight of the whole race, Medusa is worried about BB, Maximus is a crazy nut, Triton is dealing with the fact he's a water-breather. Look at how many issues the Silver Surfer is in! I got a little off-topic. I wanted to say, yeah, sure, the Lee/Kirby issues are the best, but the FF was a great for a long time after that. There's a period from about #125 to #140 (roughly) that has a few more rough spots than usual, but the first few issues of Thundra are in there, and OMG! Thundra (a character I never thought too much about in the late 1970s) was genius in her earliest appearances. (I only saw them for the first time a few years ago.) So I wasn't saying the late 1970s/1980s was the best period for the FF. But a lot of the time, the period between Lee/Kirby and the Byrne era are treated like some kind of Dark Ages, but we sure didn't feel like they were bad comics at the time!
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Post by berkley on Oct 14, 2015 3:39:17 GMT -5
The Kirby/Lee is the only essential FF run for me, unlike, say, Doctor Strange where there is at least one other run you can't do without if you want to read the best of the character. But I admit that as a kid I was very much into the first 10 or so FF issues after Kirby left. Maybe that was because I was so young - I haven't read them since, so I'm curious myself how I'll react to the early post-Kirby FF whenever I do get around to it. I came back to the series around #160 or so and read it pretty steadily up to #200 but nothing from that era left a deep impresssion. I hate what they did with Crystal, but that took place when I was away from comics so I only know about it from hearing about it online.
I thought Pollard's art was exceptional when he inked himself, very good with the right inker, and inoffensive but rather bland and dull when inked by Joe Sinnott, unfortunately.
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