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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 30, 2016 18:50:40 GMT -5
The close of the year is but a day a way so I thought it time to reflect on the new books we've consumed this year. It's been a long year so it's easy to forget what came out when, thankfully I keep a running tally of my reading so it should be easy for me to brush up in the next day or two, but for those not as prone to list making as myself there's always Comicchron to remind you. So, what did you guys read? What did you love? Share it here! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2016 20:13:25 GMT -5
I love the New Riverdale Archie titles. They were my favorite each month. Jughead has been the one I like the most.
I also loved DC's Rebirth. The Superman titles became great. I really like the Superman as Dad story plus the "old school" feel.
I also liked reading Wonder Woman again. The Year One story line has been awesome.
Aquaman has been a favorite. It was great reading a Titans title that was good. I like the friendship angle.
I was glad to see Thor Odinson return to the MU.
I was happy to read a married Spider-Man in Renew Your Vows. It's another fun old school style of title.
I enjoyed the new Capt Canuck. Hopefully the relaunch in 2017 will get the book back on schedule.
I liked Millar's Huck at Image. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2016 19:31:18 GMT -5
I enjoyed the DC Rebirth. It is nice to read and enjoy Superman again! Wonder Woman as well. I read lots of D.C. titles before the new 52 relaunch and then dropped them all with the exception of Grayson. Happy to see the classic Titans back.
I also am happy to be reading Archie comics again! I missed out on Archie and jughead, but may get those in tpb. Love Betty and Veronica, Reggie and Me, and Josie and the Pussycats.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Jan 1, 2017 2:42:45 GMT -5
Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo and Andrea Castilian's Mickey Mouse keep me looking forward to my pull list each month.
Valiant continues to keep the quality high and the characters/franchises in a constant state of change. Anyone wanting to relive what Marvel felt like in 1968 needs to be reading this stuff.
Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes has been better than I had any right to expect.
That's really all I've been keeping up with.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2017 3:47:11 GMT -5
From DC I've been getting Future Quest and Scooby Doo Team Up and enjoying both immensely.
From Image, the only books I get in floppy rather than trade right now are Kill or Be Killed by Brubaker and Phillips and Seven to Eternity by Rick Remender, and I am grooving to both. Trees, Injection, Descender and a few others I have been keeping up with via trade.
From Dark Horse I am getting Black Hammer and Conan the Slayer. Really grooving on Hammer, but not sure about Bunn's Conan yet. I feel like I've read all these plot twists in other books he's written and he's recycling them as Conan stories. I am catching up on the Mignolaverse stuff in trade too.
From IDW I get Rom and Micronauts. I like both, but fleet they both got a bit derailed and suffered from participation in the Revolution even series (of which I go the first 2 issues to see and dropped without finishing it. It was lots of people running around and fighting each other without any reason except a technobabble MacGuffin with no real character arcs or story besdies get them together and make shit explode and fanboys squee. Rom may have become a casualty of it, but I'm giving Micronauts a little longer leash.
Started picking up Terry Moore's new Motor Girl series too. The last 3 issues of Sixth Gun came out this year too and I got them in the final trade. A excellent end to an excellent series. Bunn is capable of great stuff like this, but his big 3 stuff and his Conan seems to fall short for me.
From Marvel I get Black Panther and Doc Strange via print sub and have Marvel Unlimited but haven't read much of the newer stuff with it yet. I also have a print sub to Heavy Metal. I reupped just prior to Grant Morrison taking over as EIC for 2 years, I have 1 year left and I am thinking of cancelling/asking for a refund. The stories have dipped in interest level to me to the point the last 2 issues (Oct & Dec) are sitting unopened in their polybag as I haven't been inspired to read them yet.
Looking forward to Kamandi Challenge and the DC/Hanna Barbera cross-over annuals from DC in 2017.
-M
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 1, 2017 15:43:05 GMT -5
For me the highlights of the year were both by Mignola with his conclusion of Hellboy in Hell and the BPRD. I've also been enjoying the new Young Animal imprint from DC.
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Post by hondobrode on Jan 1, 2017 16:55:42 GMT -5
I've cut way back on most of the new stuff as I've shifted gears heavily to Valiant, always a favorite of mine.
As Shax said, Valiant does very much feel like what Marvel would've been like back in '68 (I was only 2 at the time).
Their market share is criminally low, but I'm supporting them. The quality, and love, is there. It's amazing to me the level of commitment of all parties involved.
I have bought other new titles in 2016 but haven't gotten around to reading them yet so I can't really comment other than to mention them and that I look forward to getting caught up with Secret Wars, Spider-Man / Deadpool, Old Man Logan, Batman, Superman, Action, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Saga, Robin Son of Batman, Grayson, Squadron Supreme, Tokyo Ghost, Outcast, Sinestro, Descender, Earth 2 Society, B*tch Planet, Weirdworld, Black Knight, Southern Bastards, Jupiter's Circle, Black Science, Justice League 3001, We Are Robin, Midnighter, Twilight Children, Omega Men, Nailbiter, Justice League, Judge Dredd, Island, Citizen Jack, Brittania, Black Hammer, Karnak, Power Man & Iron Fist, Sex Criminals, Gold Key Alliance, Betty Boop, Renato Jones 1%, and Postal.
The other new title I've read and really like is Young Animal's Doom Patrol.
I'll eventually hop back to DC as the Superman family of titles looks outstanding. I'm in for Kamandi Challenge as well as when they eventually bring back the Legion, Shazam, JSA, and the Freedom Fighters.
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Jan 2, 2017 4:20:36 GMT -5
In general DC Rebirth good. Marvel Civil War really bad.
Johnny Red
Life After
Saga
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
...and there's a new Hook Jaw comic so things is looking up
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 2, 2017 20:27:56 GMT -5
Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo and Andrea Castilian's Mickey Mouse keep me looking forward to my pull list each month. Valiant continues to keep the quality high and the characters/franchises in a constant state of change. Anyone wanting to relive what Marvel felt like in 1968 needs to be reading this stuff. Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes has been better than I had any right to expect. That's really all I've been keeping up with. I'm really liking Tarzan too, the middle issues weren't as good but the first two and the latest were great. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Jan 3, 2017 7:24:56 GMT -5
2016:
Honestly, I'm getting old and the years are kinda flowing together for me, so it's likely that several points I'll make will be 2015 rather than 2016.
Dark Horse: I've not been reading much Dark Horse this year, there's been a little Hellboy and I'm still getting Buffy for my sister, but that's mostly it. I don't think this year had an issue of Empowered? I did get the Dark Horse Humble Bundle, which had some interesting stuff, but nothing that made me pick up back issues. The loss of the Star Wars license doesn't seemed to have influenced them much, DH just keeps on publishing their combo of licensed comics and smaller indie titles.
DC: DC managed to bring me back this year after they had driven me off a few years ago. Pre-Rebirth Grayson and Midnighter were solid titles and after Rebirth I gave several titles a shot; even if I'm not liking them, DC looks much better than a few years ago when the books were riddled with editorial interference and creative teams being switched out every second. Vertigo is sadly nearly dead, but the Young Animals line does give some much needed fresh blood. Doom Patrol has been great and the DC title I'm most excited for at the moment.
Image: If I'm harsh, this was a weaker year for Image, mostly because previous years were so strong and this year most of the new titles did little for me or were continuations of creative teams doing pretty much the same thing they were already doing. But even with that, Image remains my favourite American publishers, the one I'm most likely to try out new titles just because and the one most likely to pleasantly surprise me with new titles. The Fix is doing what Superior Foes did, but still a very enjoyable title. Seven to Eternity is just brimming with potential. Phonogram vol 3 was mostly published in 2015, but I'm counting it for 2016 because the trade came out this year. I'm tradewaiting for Black Monday Murders, but it was looking very interesting. East of West, Wicked and Divine, Saga, Sunstone, Casanova, Brubaker/Philips works, Injection, Sex Criminals and many others are still going strong for me. Only bitter point was the way Rat Queens ended.
Marvel: A weak year for Marvel, many interesting and good titles were cancelled or were drawn into the Civil War II crossover which was terrible. The X-Men franchise, which was my gateway to Marvel once many, many years ago, is going through a rough patch even when they have writers that can do good work, but are sadled with fall out from various events and the future is not looking that bright to me either, only Generation X interests me of the announced upcoming titles. I was kinda disappointed by Coates' Black Panther. It's still a good comic that I enjoy, but I was expecting so much more. There are still good titles though: Lemire's Moon Knight which has a great selection of artists, Ewing's Ultimates. Various fringe titles have the freedom and creative teams to do interesting things. I enjoyed the first issue of the new Hawkeye.
Others: I read relatively few indies this year. (Can hardly count a Disney comic published by IDW and written by Trondheim). Most of it was pre-2016 anyway.
European: Spirou had some strong entries this year in both the main and subseries. Lucky Luke had its birthday which delivered a comic which was not great but certainly not bad. The Meta-Baron returned but lacked the craziness of the earlier entries. Romano Molenaar is pumping out Storm spin-offs, this time without Roy Thomas, but I'm more interested in the main series, so I haven't read them. Eagles of Rome returned with an issue (see more above for that one). Silas Corey had a new entry which I didn't get a chance to check out yet. Thorgal had a new writer which seamlessly took over the current storyline, a storyline that is losing my interest sadly. My avatar returned for its 2nd issue, which was enjoyable enough but not reached the heights of the first issue. We got a half-completed issue of Ambrosius, its creator Gideon Brugman died a few years ago while working on it and for the fans this half issue was released. Franka's 1948 finally came out after several delays, but was still worth it. Cutting Edge started out very strong, but had a weak ending. Lanfeust and Ythaq kept on trucking.
Overal: Like always European titles are diverse, but this year I saw many reprints of classic material and modern takes on classic. The reprints are welcome, but I still have the originals (though sometime in a terrible condition) and the modern takes so far are 50/50 on things that work for me and not. Also a lot of new series that go for a nostalgic look and feel. Original new series look mostly to be aimed at a younger audience, or are fantasy orientated titles that have great art, but often feel sparse on story.
Manga: I don't think I've read any manga this year. Completely lost touch with manga when my long-running series all ended or in the case of Berserk, suffer from long, long delays so I just check every 3-4 years now.
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Post by String on Jan 3, 2017 19:17:59 GMT -5
From Marvel, still loving Aaron's continuing run on Thor. The Lady Thor has been a constant surprise and entertaining change for the status quo and the new focus on Odinson is tight and fun.
The X-franchise has had it's ups and downs but this year has seen some better form of consistency. Biggest surprise has been Hopeless on All-New X-Men. He's invested more characterization and angst in these teens than Bendis ever did. #8, featuring a brutal confrontation between a desperate Toad and Young Cyclops has been the highlight so far. Lemire on Extraordinary has been decent and Bunn on UXM has been intriguing, mainly due to his strong handling of Magneto which carried over from his previous solo title.
Avengers by Waid, as expected, fun and entertaining. Iron Man under Bendis...still under debate. Some good points coupled with usual Bendis idiosyncrasies. Daredevil by Soule has been interesting but he's dragged out the mystery of how Matt fixed his secret identity for too long.
From DC, Rebirth has been a success to me. Superman stable of titles have all been fun and engaging, especially his relationship with Jon. Who knew adding family to Superman would make him more interesting? Williamson on Flash has been strong with fresh takes on now-traditional elements. Titans has been fun, not only because of Wally, but because of the friendship between the team members. The new GL title with Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz presents an interesting partnership and new angles on what it means to be a Green Lantern.
From Others, the recent Presidential election would suggest we may have inched slightly closer to the world depicted in Rucka's amazing Lazarus. The level of world-building and detail remains incredible. I discovered Williamson's work on Birthright, a strong grounded take on fantasy. This year's Doctor Who crossover event from IDW was also fun. Also surprised by Bunn's Sixth Gun after reading some from Comixology Unlimited. Usagi Yojimbo - 'Nuff Said.
And I do hope shax is correct, as again, for some strange reason, I cannot find none of IDW's Disney titles on Comixology so in order to read these stories for which he has extolled heartily, I had to add them to my small pull list from my LCS. So, fingers crossed as the latest issues of Mickey and Uncle Scrooge have just been released.
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