|
Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2022 15:08:42 GMT -5
I've decided to use spoiler tags to hide previous months on my post on page 1, as the post was getting long and a pain for me to scroll through, so I thought it must be worse for others scrolling past it to get to their posts, so the spoiler tags should make the post more condensed and easier for folks to navigate down the page. Everything I read is still there, you just have to click on the show spoiler to see it.
-M
|
|
|
Post by commond on Jun 4, 2022 19:07:56 GMT -5
I didn't binge read anything in May. The most I read of any title was 7-8 issues. Instead, I made a dent in my reading list. I think I'll continue to do this in June since the list is a bit unwieldly. (Of course, I spent the first few days of June reading new books I wanted to try.)
I like the vast majority of what I'm reading. There are only a few disappointments. The highlights are the books that stood out as being especially good. I tried EC comics for the first time this month. I was not disappointed. Can't wait to dig deeper into their catalogue. Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier stood out as the best book I read all month, and would make my short list for best books from the 00s. Shade, the Changing Man has started to get really good and has become a book I actively want to read instead of a book that's tacked onto my reading list. I was never really a huge fan of Milligan's work in 2000 AD, but he's won me over on Shade. It took a good year or so to establish the book, at least in my eyes, but it's become compelling reading. I began reading Yummy Fur almost on a whim and was quickly reminded of why I loved picking up back issues when I was a teenager, though it's definitely not for everyone. Mordru's debut in Adventure Comics was a joy to read. Heavy Liquid definitely has me wanting to read more Paul Pope. I desperately wish Bissette had finished Tyrant. Criminal ended up being enjoyable, though I don't think it's a patch on Brubaker's influences. Murder Me Dead is a really fun side project by Lapham. I actually think Lapham does noir better than Brubaker, for the record. Uzumaki is brilliant. One of the best modern horror stories I've read, especially the early chapters.
One thing I've noticed is that it's hard to start reading a comic monthly after you've binge read it to that point. I really haven't been able to get into Saga that much since I began reading it monthly. I'm not sure if that's due to the current arc or the fact that I can't simply read the next issue after a cliffhanger. I'll be interested to see if the same thing happens with Fables.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2022 20:07:50 GMT -5
Don't think I am going to get anything else read before midnight tonight, so might as well wrap up June. Big reading month. About 270 comics read-I got ona Marvel kick late last year after not reading much Marvel other than old Conan for a couple of years, and reading Wolk's book All the Marvels has only heightened that kick. With the heatwave and being out of work, I spent a lot of time in June in the AC reading Marvel Unlimited, so a big chunk of what I read this month was a mix of classic and modern Marvel. I'm closing in on 1000 for the year already, and even with a slow month in July I will most likely cross that threshold.
Highlights-Lee/Kirby FF, Aaron's Thor and War of the Realms, Ewing's Immortal Hulk, Steranko's Captain America
lowlight-Belit & Valeria: Swords vs Sorcery which ranks as one of the worst comics I have ever read. Surprisingly the other lowlight for me was the ongoing Books of Magic series form the 90s. I started the omnibus last month and gave up on it at the beginning of this month after only a few issues. It was bleak, repetitive, and utterly lacking all of the charm of the Gaiman mini. The first 2 arcs that I read last month, were solid, but the book quickly devolved into something I was not enjoying reading after that.
Not sure how long the Marvel kick will last, I felling a need for a little more diversity in my reading, but still have a hankering for some Marvel madness, so we'll see what July brings.
-M
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 1, 2022 8:30:14 GMT -5
At 33.5 books it’s the lowest month of the year. Part of it is work being busy. Part is readers block. Even where I try to start a series I peter out. Whatcha gonna do?
|
|
|
Post by commond on Jul 2, 2022 20:57:52 GMT -5
I had a quiet month by my standards. Still not binge reading anything. Just chipping away at my reading list while getting the occasional itch to start something new. Two-Fisted Tales is the best book I'm reading at the moment and will no doubt serve as a catalyst for reading more EC comics. Yummy Fur has been a pure joy. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that series. Uzumaki remains a horror masterpiece. I haven't been binging it as it's not that long a series and I want to enjoy it. As for the rest of the highlights, Gotham Central remains the best police procedural television drama style comic you could hope to read. Flaming Carrot has been a delight. Lone Wolf and Cub finally has a story arc, which I'm pleased about, and I began reading some more Moebius.
|
|
|
Post by commond on Jul 31, 2022 22:06:21 GMT -5
I spent another match chipping away at my reading list, getting bored, starting something new, and expanding the list instead of shrinking it. Kind of like a failed diet. I didn't really binge read anything except for maybe The Boys, which I'm reading while watching the show (the show's better, fwiw.) I realized that most of my favorite books I read on a Sunday hence why I read five issues of each. I'm thinking of changing my approach in August and binging a few series through to their end, but I'm 100% certain I'll replace them with something else.
I only had one real disappointment this month and that was Brubaker and Cooke's Catwoman not being that great. The most pleasant surprise was the new volume of Strangers in Paradise being closer to what I envisioned the series to be. Lone Wolf and Cub is getting really good, and Paul Pope's comics continue to be impossibly cool.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2022 0:06:59 GMT -5
July is over and I read a lot of comics, 300 to be exact (but not 300 by Frank Miller).
Still lots of Marvel, but some other stuff. Highlights include the first 2/3 of Paper Girls (need to finish the last third), some Kirby/Lee FF, some Romita era Spidey, Lemire's Black Label Question series, House of Slaughter, Cantwell's Iron Man, Cates' Thor, Moore's Swamp Thing #20, the conclusion of Busiek's Arrowsmith Behind Enemy Lines, Hulk Grand Design #1 by Jim Rugg, among others books I am enjoying on a regular basis (Usagi, Busiek's Marvels, Gene Yuen Yang's Shang Chi, MacKay's Moon Knight, etc.).
The biggest disappointment, and it wasn't bad it just felt a little meh compared to other Lemire/Sorrentino books was Primordial. And I still can't get into the SA Sub-Mariner and Hulk strips in the later issues of TTA, I can only read 1 or 2 issues and I need to take a long break from them. I have about 8 more to finish the TTA run and I am not sure I will finish in August.
This was one of my heaviest comic reading months in years, but I read very little prose (just a few chapters not finishing any prose book really). Just haven't been in a prose mood and am enjoying indulging in comics while staying in the AC to beat the heat.
Let's see what August brings.
-M
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,332
|
Post by shaxper on Aug 1, 2022 0:24:01 GMT -5
Most of my reading this month was devoted to Claremont's Excalibur. It was a big letdown. Seriously considering selling off the run now.
|
|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Aug 1, 2022 5:34:06 GMT -5
Most of my reading this month was devoted to Claremont's Excalibur. It was a big letdown. Seriously considering selling off the run now. I acquired many of the early issues , just for the Alan Davis art, but I haven't read it yet. I'm afraid of the Clearmont dialogue.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,332
|
Post by shaxper on Aug 1, 2022 10:34:34 GMT -5
Most of my reading this month was devoted to Claremont's Excalibur. It was a big letdown. Seriously considering selling off the run now. I acquired many of the early issues , just for the Alan Davis art, but I haven't read it yet. I'm afraid of the Clearmont dialogue. It's less the dialogue and more predictable character arcs that continuously retread without ever arriving at anything deep and so many B, C, D, and E plots hinted at that take ages to go anywhere (if at all). In one of the earliest issues, a scared little boy gets whisked away to a parallel dimension as set up for some later story and, nearly thirty issues later, this has never been mentioned again. Plus the plots themselves are so devoid of logic and depend far too heavily on convenient coincidence. It feels like a nobody writer trying to immitate Claremont and doing it badly.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 1, 2022 13:37:33 GMT -5
At 97 this was the second highest month of the year. Most of it was due to a re-read/read of Irredeemable and Incorruptible and a read of a two year run of Dondi.
Mostly though comics are taking a major backseat to prose.
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 2, 2022 9:01:17 GMT -5
I acquired many of the early issues , just for the Alan Davis art, but I haven't read it yet. I'm afraid of the Clearmont dialogue. It's less the dialogue and more predictable character arcs that continuously retread without ever arriving at anything deep and so many B, C, D, and E plots hinted at that take ages to go anywhere (if at all). In one of the earliest issues, a scared little boy gets whisked away to a parallel dimension as set up for some later story and, nearly thirty issues later, this has never been mentioned again. Plus the plots themselves are so devoid of logic and depend far too heavily on convenient coincidence. It feels like a nobody writer trying to immitate Claremont and doing it badly. This is resolved during Davis' second run on the book.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2022 22:17:41 GMT -5
Another month has passed as I don't think I will get anything read in the last hour. Some 160+ comics read this month, so a little over half of last months huge tally, which is fine, as I got into a bit of a reading funk towards the end of this month. I am creeping up on 1400 for the year already, and with an average month will hit 1500 in September.
Highlights for August include finishing up Paper Girls, TMNT: The Last Ronin, Little Monsters, regulars like Usagi and the Marvels, and Superman: The Space Age among newer releases, and some Kirby Thor and Romita/Lee Spidey.
Lowlight had to be the final volume of Savage Avengers (1st series) read out of morbid curiosity.
Baffling to me was Shaolin Cowboy Cruel to be Kin. I have seen praises heaped upon the Shaolin Cowboy series and I like Darrow's work elsewhere, but I hadn't read any of the Shaolin Cowboy stuff and decided to jump on the latest release mini, and was completely lost. The art is gorgeous, but I had no clue as to what the story being told was supposed to be about. Usually I can pick up enough to get the gist if I jump into a series midstream and decide if I want to go back and fill in gaps or not. Not the case here. I've preordered the rest of the mini, so I will finish it out and see if I can figure something out. I can get access to some of the earlier stuff via Hoopla and I may try starting at the beginning, but I was lost without a compass by the first two issues of this one.
-M
|
|
|
Post by commond on Sept 4, 2022 17:58:53 GMT -5
I read a lot of high end stuff this month because of my Eisners project. I have a couple of new series that I'm interested in following (Xenozoic Tales and Omaha the Cat Dancer), which is the goal. Other than that, there were no real surprises. I'm starting to slowly appreciate Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve, and I really like Strangers in Paradise even though I loathe the poetry and prose parts. Elfquest has become a bit meh. Kings of the Broken Wheel is drawn out with very little happening. Two-Fisted Tales has also lost some of its appeal after they switched the format from war stories to adventure tales. My interest in The Boys also dipped after I finished season 3. I haven't made a ton of headway in reducing my reading list, but I'm trying hard not to start anything non-Eisners related. Fingers crossed.
EDIT: Epicurus the Sage #1 was the most fun I've had reading a comic in a mighty long time. The second issue wasn't nearly as good, though.
|
|
|
Post by tonebone on Sept 14, 2022 14:29:00 GMT -5
I acquired many of the early issues , just for the Alan Davis art, but I haven't read it yet. I'm afraid of the Clearmont dialogue. It's less the dialogue and more predictable character arcs that continuously retread without ever arriving at anything deep and so many B, C, D, and E plots hinted at that take ages to go anywhere (if at all). In one of the earliest issues, a scared little boy gets whisked away to a parallel dimension as set up for some later story and, nearly thirty issues later, this has never been mentioned again. Plus the plots themselves are so devoid of logic and depend far too heavily on convenient coincidence. It feels like a nobody writer trying to immitate Claremont and doing it badly. Loving that new avatar!
|
|