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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 5, 2019 6:27:59 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever read one single issue of Bone.
Gaimans Sandman , I've read a few tpb's.
DC's New Frontier- just some stories in the Omnibus.
I've never been a huge fan of Dr. Strange, so I've missed out on the Lee/ Ditko and Englehart/Brunner runs.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 5, 2019 6:49:14 GMT -5
Of Grant Morrison’s JLA I have read only the rock of ages arc.
Of his Animal Man I have read only the last issue.
Of his Doom Patrol I have read only one issue.
No Invisibles at all.
One issue of Planetary.
One of Sandman Mystery Theatre.
Not even one issue of Astro City.
Never read Pogo.
No Batman except for the Moench/Newton run, Dark Knight/Year one and something like a dozen scattered issues during the mid to late 80s.
No Wonder Woman prior to Perez's run, and only a half-dozen issues of those.
TMNT? Not a single issue.
... and were it not for the recent wave of big reprint collections, I would be quite ignorant of what went on in the pages of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, Starlin’s Captain Marvel, Hogart’s Tarzan, Raymond’s Flash Gordon or Jack Katzks the First Kingdom. We live at a great time when it comes to the availability of classic comics, and I hope a comprehensive and affordable run of the Spirit comes around soon! (I read enough stories not to count it, but... you know... gotta catch ‘em all).
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Dec 5, 2019 7:02:21 GMT -5
I changed my mind. Read Preacher. It isn't good but it is fun to have opinions about.
I should read First Kingdom. It always seems a little bit daunting to me... I keep flipping through it at the library or wherever and never reading it.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 5, 2019 7:20:00 GMT -5
So much that I haven't read or sampled over the years. Just to toss out a few:
Astro City
Sandman Mystery Theatre
Preacher
Walking Dead
Fables
Runaways
The Spectre
The Authority
Planetary
New Marvel Conan
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Post by DubipR on Dec 5, 2019 8:45:09 GMT -5
Never read the following:
Cerebus
A majority of Thor, sans Simonson's run
Pretty much all of Iron Man (never cared for that character)
Kelly's Pogo
A majority of the Kane/Finger Batman run; I've only read a few issues and that's it
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 5, 2019 9:47:05 GMT -5
Of Grant Morrison’s JLA I have read only the rock of ages arc. Of his Animal Man I have read only the last issue. Of his Doom Patrol I have read only one issue. No Invisibles at all. One issue of Planetary. One of Sandman Mystery Theatre. Not even one issue of Astro City. Never read Pogo. No Batman except for the Moench/Newton run, Dark Knight/Year one and something like a dozen scattered issues during the mid to late 80s. No Wonder Woman prior to Perez's run, and only a half-dozen issues of those. TMNT? Not a single issue. ... and were it not for the recent wave of big reprint collections, I would be quite ignorant of what went on in the pages of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, Starlin’s Captain Marvel, Hogart’s Tarzan, Raymond’s Flash Gordon or Jack Katzks the First Kingdom. We live at a great time when it comes to the availability of classic comics, and I hope a comprehensive and affordable run of the Spirit comes around soon! (I read enough stories not to count it, but... you know... gotta catch ‘em all). Please give Pogo a chance. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,222 
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Post by Confessor on Dec 5, 2019 10:16:48 GMT -5
Maybe I'm a weirdo, but I don't automatically want to read comics just because they're deemed classics by a lot of other fans. Of course, there are runs that are considered classic which I intend to read one day, like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, for example, but that's more because I like Moore's writing, rather than some notion that I must read it. But I don't ever expect to read Simonson's Thor or the Walking Dead or Preacher because I either have zero interest in the characters or I dislike the genre/writer. And I feel no embarrassment or shame about admitting that.
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Post by rberman on Dec 5, 2019 10:30:08 GMT -5
The only time that happens in 193 issues is in the war with Woodbury. I disagree. It started with Herschel's farm. There wasn't a human villain per se, but the pattern started with the zombie horde they discovered in the barn, which upset the appearance of a safe sanctuary, with Herschel acting as a sort of villain because he was acting as an antagonist towards Rick (though ultimately he became part of the group). Then the prison, followed by the Governor conflict. Then the move to Alexandria, followed by the war with Negan and the Saviors. They manage to stay in Alexandria and surrounding communities, but they discover Alpha's group and then the Whisperer War followed. I stopped reading when they made contact with the Commonwealth, and there were indications of things being "off" there, with a possible conflict brewing on the horizon.
After the Governor and Negan, I felt like we had enough of the amoral strongman villain. I wanted to see the series provide a new kind of conflict. I was initially intrigued when the Whisperers debuted -- I was sort of partial to the notion that the zombies might be evolving in some fashion, thereby making them a more formidable threat instead of just mindless hordes. It sort of reminded of when I used to play the Resident Evil video games, and discovered the dead zombies would mutate and resurrect into the zombies that could run instead of just stumble about. Well, there's not much story in "Rick found a safe place to live, and everything was great there!" But the circumstances of Rick's departure from Hershel's farm (both times) are wildly different than his departure from the prison. Those are the only two homes that he is forced to abandon in the course of the series. There's no denying that stories have genres. Jane Austen writes books about a plucky, clever young woman seeking a husband who is both virtuous and financially secure. JRR Tolkien's most famous works are both about a Hobbit persuaded by a wizard to leave the comforts of home and face goblins and giant sentient spiders and travel to a dangerous mountain and win a foreign king his throne. Fantastic Four stories generally involve interactions with foes from other dimensions and planets, while Spider-Man copes with miscreants menacing the common people of Manhattan. Indiana Jones is going to be in a race to recover an ancient mystical artifact, but James Bond is not. And so on. The Walking Dead is in the post-apocalyptic survival genre. Stories in that genre typically involve some combination of environmental and human hazards. People to help, people to fight or escape. The closest comparison to The Walking Dead is probably Watership Down, which also deals with a band of refugees navigating a harsh world and finding that other existing colonies each have their own brand of dysfunction. But noting the existence of a broad thematic superstructure is not a criticism in itself. The question is whether the details are interesting in terms of characterization, word play, plot twists and (for comic books) nice pictures. Looking at the variety of antagonists Rick faces: Shane: Romantic threat, also hasn't faced the reality that rescue isn't coming, and cities should be avoided. Hershel: Overly protective of his own family. Kicks Rick out but then joins him, for the sake of his family. The Felons: Vary from harmless to serial killer to ruthless. The Governor: An insane rapist whose own people finally sicken of him. The Hunters: Brutally pragmatic, to the point of eating their own children because "we can make more later." Douglas Monroe: Complacent, doesn't understand the need for proactive fortifications and training. Gregory: Craven, insensitive, and short-sighted. Who put him in charge? Negan: Thinks he's Clint Eastwood, keeping order through force. Charmingly vulgar, generous to his defeated foes, and protective of women, but not above keeping a harem or cowing insurrectionists with random executions. The most complex villain. Alpha and the Whisperers: Rejects all trappings of civilization in favor of complete tooth-and-claw living in the woods, to the point of allowing her teen daughter to be constantly raped. Pamela Milton: Civil and friendly. Uses the restoration of pre-disaster civilization as a cloak for personal advancement and nepotism. A capable administrator but values her own privileges above the welfare of her people. Sebastian Milton: The "Joffrey Lannister," a snotty crown prince, pampered beyond redemption. All these stories (and those by a thousand other authors) boil down to "people are the worst." There was never going to be a "zombie cure" or "zombies mutate to become more of a threat" or "zombies evolve sentience and demand equal rights" plot because Kirkman already saw other authors telling those stories. Instead, his story is about rebuilding civilization after global catastrophe, starting from one man who awakens alone and culminating in a community of 50,000 people reaching out to another similar community across the continent. I was disappointed that the story stopped there, before contact was made, but I guess Kirkman didn't feel that he had a compelling story to tell about that circumstance, so he ended the series rather than keep it going after the life is gone, like a zombie. Which is a credit to him. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 5, 2019 10:31:11 GMT -5
I too, never read Bone, beyond the first issue. Even at that early point, it was being praised with comparison to Pogo, and I was neither amused by the story nor impressed with the art, which was somewhat in a Kelley style, if simplified.
I never read Don McGregor's Jungle Action featuring Black Panther run. I recently read a few random pages from one issue, and the writing was even more unbearable than I remembered other of McGregor's work being.
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Post by MDG on Dec 5, 2019 10:42:27 GMT -5
Post-Kirby FF
Post-Ditko Spidey and Dr Strange
Pretty much any DCs after 1992
Pretty much any Marvels after 1972 (aside from scattered issues)
Usagi Yojimbo
Plenty of newspaper strips--those are the ones I feel bad about missing
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Post by berkley on Dec 5, 2019 10:52:15 GMT -5
Love and Rockets (I've read the first collection but not the rest) Strangers in Paradise (read the first 2 pocket omnibi but not the rest) Cerebus (read the first phone book, not the rest) original TMNT from Mirage (read bits and pieces of a friend's back in the mid-80s) American Flagg! (just finished putting the run together this year, haven't gotten to it yet) Grendel (same, just finished putting the run together) Nexus (got about 10-15 issues in and got interrupted, never got back, need to) Kamandi ((have the run, haven't gotten to it yet, but read an issue here or there and know I want to) Grimjack (just finished putting the run together earlier this year, haven't got to it yet) Sandman Mystery Theatre (read and enjoyed the first 3 arcs, but am missing a handful of issues at the end of the run and haven't gone further in it yet) Legion of Super-Heroes (any) Barks' Ducks-only sampled a few Fables-I've read the first 3 trades and want to get to the rest, just never have Runaways-I picked up the first trade as a freebie from Lonestar last month and want to sample it, but it's one of the modern Marvel series that has picked up a large fanbase that I never got around to trying, even though I quite like a lot of other stuff I have read by BKV Persepolis-I have just never gotten to it Lone Wolf and Cub-I have read the first 2 digest sized collections Dark Horse did, but need to get to the rest Akira-I have the first trade, just haven't gotten around to reading it Blake & Mortimer-have only read one volume Jonah Hex-just picked up the Showcase volume I was missing will get to it hopefully soon Unknown Soldier-same as above Golden Age Wonder Woman (have three trades, haven't gotten to them yet) Golden Age Spectre (been looking for an affordable copy of the Archives forever) Some I started but never finished by choice Walking Dead-read the first omnibus, loved the Charlie Adlard art, but it all started feeling the same after 8 trades of material so never went further Preacher-I've tried four times now and I just can't get past the third trade. 100 Bullets-haven't gotten past the second trade in three tries I'm sure there are a few more I am not thinking of off the top of my head. -M I am or have been in much the same boat with a few of these:
Cerebus - read the scattered few issues here and there and then the 1st phonebook, have always meant to start again at the beginning and do the whole thing but hasn't happened yet. American Flagg - gradually found the first 12 in back-issues and read the first 3 or 4 a few years back, liked it immensely but then became distracted by something else; will start at the beginning again when the mood strikes. Persepolis - would liek to read it but always balk at the price; maybe I should check the library
Lone Wolf and Cub - I think I've only read the first DH digest; maybe the second too, it's long enough ago now (20 years?) that I can't say for sure. Sandman - read the first trade, liked it, but not so much that I felt compelled to carry on with it.
Fables - bought the first couple trades when it was one of the most talked-about series around but never got around to reading any of them and seem to have lost whatever interest I once had.
Akira - also have the first trade, I did read about half of it way back in I think the mid-90s but it never really grabbed me, probably won't try again. Blake & Mortimer - just read parts 1 & 2 of Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide in Sept and Oct, and will likely read La Marque Jaune later this month.
Preacher - I think I got stuck around that same spot the first time I tried to read it; I remember it was the character Ass-Face that tuned me off: not the character himself but the way, as it seemed to me, he had been created and exploited in a nasty, scoffing way for the sake of a few cheap laughs by writer Ennis. Eventually I went back to it and later on, the character returns in a manner that convinced me I had mis-judged Ennis's intentions all along. What had happened to me in the meantime was that I'd really gotten into Ennis's The Boys, which made me re-think my earlier opinion of him as a writer and basically gave me a feeling of trust in his work that I hadn't had before, which enabled me to carry on past the point I'd been blocked at in that first attempt.
Most of the others I have no interest in and will probably never try, except for Love & Rockets, which I have read and highly recommend: and the first book is in many way not indicative of the rest of the series, so you have something new to look forward to.
oh, and also Kamandi, which I've read about half of, all over the place, not consecutive issues. Not my favourite Kirby but still classic.
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Post by rberman on Dec 5, 2019 11:03:35 GMT -5
I too, never read Bone, beyond the first issue. Even at that early point, it was being praised with comparison to Pogo, and I was neither amused by the story nor impressed with the art, which was somewhat in a Kelley style, if simplified. Bone is like Lord of the Rings in that the author seems to have started off thinking he was writing a children's story...  ... and then as he wrote, it gradually became something else entirely.      |
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Post by berkley on Dec 5, 2019 11:20:57 GMT -5
Maybe I'm a weirdo, but I don't automatically want to read comics just because they're deemed classics by a lot of other fans. Of course, there are runs that are considered classic which I intend to read one day, like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, for example, but that's more because I like Moore's writing, rather than some notion that I must read it. But I don't ever expect to read Simonson's Thor or the Walking Dead or Preacher because I either have zero interest in the characters or I dislike the genre/writer. And I feel no embarrassment or shame about admitting that. No, looking at pretty much any list of "classics" I might be directed towards and it's going to contain a majority of stuff I have no interest in, so that tag doesn't mean a thing to me in comics. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2019 11:31:40 GMT -5
Maybe I'm a weirdo, but I don't automatically want to read comics just because they're deemed classics by a lot of other fans. Of course, there are runs that are considered classic which I intend to read one day, like Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, for example, but that's more because I like Moore's writing, rather than some notion that I must read it. But I don't ever expect to read Simonson's Thor or the Walking Dead or Preacher because I either have zero interest in the characters or I dislike the genre/writer. And I feel no embarrassment or shame about admitting that. No, looking at pretty much any list of "classics" I might be directed towards and it's going to contain a majority of stuff I have no interest in, so that tag doesn't mean a thing to me in comics. For me, I like to discover new things, especially in comics. Things I might not have otherwise known about or tried. When I was a kid, every comic offered that sense of discovery because everything was new to me, and I became a fan of certain things, but after a while, even though I enjoyed the things I became a fan of, they didn't offer that sense of discovery and wonder they once had, so I began to explore other types of comics. First it was exploring DC in the 80s after growing up a Marvel kid, then some of the early direct market indies, then I discovered McCloud and Eisner and really began to explore all the corners of what comics had to offer. So when I look at best of lists or lists of classics, I am not looking for what are things like the stuff I already lie, but what on this list can offer me the sense of discovery that only finding new comics can. If it weren't for that approach, I never would have picked up Sandman when it was first released based on the recommendation of one of the lcs owners where I grew up, wouldn't have picked up the first issue of Watchmen when Dick Giordano recommended it to me at a store signing, never given Eisner or Bone a chance etc. and some of the books that are my absolute favorites of all time would have remained undiscovered territory. SO I see those lists not as things I should read because other people like them, but things I can explore to see if I like them. And if I find even one new gem in such a list, then the exploration was worth it. -M |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 5, 2019 11:37:42 GMT -5
Bone really kicks in with the humor around issue 10, with the Great Cow Race. Really funny stuff in there. The drama also kicks up several notches and then never lets go.
Preacher is another I haven't read and have little interest to do so. Apart from his war comics, I haven't cared much for Ennis.
A lot of Vertigo stuff wasn't my cup of tea; but there were some that intrigued me; but, I never got around to reading:
Y The Last Man
Fables
Also, Ex Machina, from Wildstorm.
Still haven't read the tintin albums or more than a couple of Asterix. Lot of Blake & Mortimer still to read and some of Valerian (about a third to half). Read the First comics Lone Wolf and have the complete collection from Dark Horse; but, haven't continued. Only skimmed Akira.
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