Every comic you've read in 2014


Missy

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 338
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Fairest in All The Land: Original Graphic Novel spin-off of Bill Willingham's Fables spin-off. It focuses on Cinderella who has become one of my favorite characters in the series. The thing I like is that, while it is a single story, its made up of thirty different sections, each done by a different art team. The story has some good moments and, since it's a detective piece, it was fun putting all the pieces together. That said, some of the art sections were weaker than others and a lot of it is so built into both of the series that spawned it that it almost screams cash grab. A good cash grab but a cash grab nevertheless.

Graphic Novels: 1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The West Coast Avengers (original 1984 miniseries #1-4 and ongoing issues #1-34): This was always a favorite of mine as a kid, more so than the flagship title. I never got quite why, but re-reading it now it's obvious: this is much more a team book. Where The Avengers was usually a case of heavy-hitters with their own titles saying "Look, it's Kang, let's team up and fight him", this featured much lower-tiered characters, most of whom couldn't carry their own book, generally fighting weirder obstacles.

The mini was written by Roger Stern and drawn by Bob Hall (an 80s mainstay who should be better remembered today), and is a good example of decent, competent comics storytelling. Stern is one of my all time favorites, but this wasn't his best work. Still, it's fun, and the team (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Wonder Man, Tigra, and the Jim Rhodes Iron Man - this is when Tony was recovering from alcoholism) works well together.

The ongoing is generally pretty strong. Written entirely (except for one issue) by Steve Englehart and drawn by Al Milgrom (with finishes by Joe Sinnott and Mike Machlan), there are some terrific stories here. The "Lost in Time" saga is one of my all time favorite Avengers stories. The team is also interesting; Tony's back in the armor (this is the Silver Centurion era, so... meh), and they add Hank Pym in his scientist/not a super hero mode (and they dress him as Tom Baker for one unfortunate arc), and then bring in Moon Knight when Tony gets kicked out during the Armor Wars thing (in addition to the Thing joining for about an issue, and the Wasp coming on board as I leave off). The vibe is a lot looser than in the main title, and Englehart was always a terrific writer who snuck a fair amount of stuff through that I never picked up on as a kid (Tigra has a LOT of off-panel sex with her teammates, and there's a weed reference every few issues). What's amazing is the shift in tone over these 34 issues, as it starts off very Bronze Age and gets more and more "almost-90s" over a three-year period, despite the same creative team throughout.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Snapshot-Andy Diggle and Jock on a crime book? How could it be bad? That's what I thought when I ordered it, not thinking that the only other thing I've read by those two - The Losers - wasn't very good. And neither is this. It's rote boring crime stuff that is completely ludicrous and lame at times. Jock's work is looser and quicker than usual, which doesn't make it very appealing to me. The only good this book is for is to count the cliches. Don't turn it into a drinking game though. Probably not a good idea. Pretty sure I've never enjoyed a Diggle book. Time to put him on "the list."

Trades: 1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have very similar thoughts about Snapshot. When I heard the premise, I ordered it straightaway. Then I read it. Or, more accurately: I read part of it before giving up. A day later, I gave it another try, this time quitting after only a few pages. It's dumb but thinks it's smart, and overly complicated in an effort to be clever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage-One good thing the Morrison documentary did for me was to remind me to start rereading his Doom Patrol run. I'm writing their fanfic at DC Omega and want to introduce some of Morrison's stuff into the series so i needed a refresher. I'm really struck this time by Robotman and Crazy Jane's relationship. It's very real amidst the bizarre. The villains are crazy. It would not be surprising to find the Scissormen or Red Jack in the SCP files.

Trades: 2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 Month 2 Live #1: Pretty, but incredibly overwrought. I can see why I didn't continue.

2099 Unlimited #3: For as awesome as Spider-man 2099 is, (and he's got a pretty classic feeling Spidey story in this issue), I think how awful some of the other 2099 stuff is can be forgotten. Case in point, Hulk 2099. Featuring an incredibly bad story, art so bad I can't believe it's in a professional comic and the ludicrous design that is Hulk 2099. There's also a incomprehensible back up by Ned Sonnatag, but at least that was pretty.

Comics: 2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think how awful some of the other 2099 stuff is can be forgotten.

The bulk of the 2099 line was pretty bad. Marvel tried so hard to do grim 'n' gritty and it just wasn't in their wheelhouse. Ravage was one of the worst things the company ever produced, and that's saying something. Doom was reasonably interesting. Punisher was soulless. Spider-Man is the only title that was consistently readable, and quite a bit of it still holds up fairly well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sheltered volume 1: I bought this because I mistakenly thought it was a miniseries. It's an interesting take on apocalyptic stories and "prepper" style thought. I thought it moved very quickly - too quickly maybe? - and was nicely drawn. Brisson's writing is something that is growing on me. It ends, however, exactly how I thought it would. Will I buy volume two? If the price is right, I suppose.

Trades: 3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a couple of things to catch up on last year before the thread got closed, but didn't.

Anyways, the highlights of the end of last year:

Spider-men: This was the crossover of the Ultimate Spider-man Miles Morales and 616 Spider-man Peter Parker, it was one of the best things to come out of the reboot. I liked this more than the Death of Peter Parker arc actually, although that cover and the last few pages from that arc was absolutely amazing.

Hickman's Ultimates: Months later, I have no memory of this at all. It was fine and entertaining while reading it.

Age of Apocalypse by Dave Lapham: Meh, it's a decent book, but it's hard to care about characters that originated in a cross over at least a decade ago and I hardly have a memory of.

Now the big stuff:

I read a crap ton of Warren Ellis, some I liked, some I could care less. According to goodreads, Scars and Atmospherics were the highlights there.

Young Liars vol. 1-3 by Dave Lapham: I've been meaning to read this, and I was on board in the first few issues, especially as the theme of people creating the stories that they want, where every person is the hero of their own story. But as it got along, and it got weirder and weirder, somewhere along the line, I was reading because I wanted to see how this was going to all come together. The answer is that the end comes together in an interesting way, not in a way that will make you go A-HA! but more like a way that will make you go hmmm.... It's a weird book, and nobody is really all that likable, much less the main character, who is very unsympathetic, but it's a book that's a headspinner with no clear answers, fun action, ridiculous events, and yes, it's got a killer soundtrack.

The Punisher vol. 1-3 and Enter the War Zone by Greg Rucka: I've never been that into the Punisher, strangely enough because he should be a character by all accounts I should love, I read half way through Ennis' run and found most of it enjoyable. This run by Greg Rucka turned that around, by focusing on the lives that Punisher touches, showing the Punisher less as a man and more of a force of nature that touches peoples lives, you can tell where this is going from the beginning, but seeing the interaction between Frank Castle and a certain supporting character really makes the book worth it. Enter the War Zone was slightly lesser in quality as superheroes and Punisher never really mixed that well, but it resonates as it's a thematic capper to the run. Really enjoyed this run.

This YEAR I'm making it a point to get through some of the series that I've accumulated over the years.

I've been reading 100 Bullets since the beginning of the year, maybe a little bit before. I'm 4 trades in which is about 30 or so issues in of the 100. I'm liking it, I'm actually enjoying the plots that focus on supporting characters more than the plots that focus on the large super-duper conspiracy, which while little hints are thrown here and there, seems to be dragged out for the sake of it. I started the 5th trade this morning and I really loved the first two issues of that arc. I'll be working my way through this for the next couple of months. It doesn't seem like a keeper for me though that I'd want to come back to to read again (like Preacher, Y the Last Man, Criminal, Sleeper and Ex Machina were), so I'll be getting ready to sell off the set that I have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Young Avengers (Vol. 2) #1-14: Let me start by saying that Kieron Gillen is one of my favorite comic book writers. Phonogram is one of my favorite books. I am not the kind of guy who reads comics for the art, I read for writers. Jamie McKelvie is one of the ones who can always get my attention. What I love about this book is that they get the art. We get a lot of what I love about Kieron Gillen (Noh-var is doing some full-on Phonomancer stuff here with his commenting on music). But the big thing is all of the metatextual flairs to the work. There are some moments where borders, boxes, the stuff that makes up your standard comic panel just gets so wonderfully used in the art itself and becomes integrated into the story. The last two issues are mainly wrap-up and me so sad that the series is done. Also, for the record, I am a huge mark for the character of Wiccan. The book is filled with awesome Wiccan moments. I am happy with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I decided to try and catch up on some New 52 to give them a shot:

Earth 2 #1-19 + Annual 1: Not good. The elements are there for greatness, but Robinson can't seal the deal (he never can) and Nicola Scott's artwork is bland. I do enjoy her character design unless that's Jim Lee doing it. Good stuff. Overall, not good.

Trades: 3

Comics: 20
Link to comment
Share on other sites

John Carter, Warlord of Mars Omnibus: collects the entire series (1-28, annuals 1-3) of the 1970s Marvel title. Released a couple of years ago to capitalize on the 2012 film, this was a really interesting read. The first fifteen issues were written by Marv Wolfman, and they are a blast. He has ERB's voice down cold. He's clearly living a lifelong dream of playing in this sandbox, and the stories are incredibly fun as a result. The artwork by Gil Kane for the first ten issues is also quite good, and I say that as someone not normally a big fan of Kane's. He's very inker-dependent, but when you're being inked by Dave Cockrum and Rudy Nebres, the results are damn fine work that play right into Kane's strengths as a storyteller (i.e., action, and lots of it).

The second half of the run is less successful. Chris Claremont (at the height of his X-Men days) takes over as writer, and he just doesn't have the same vibe at all. It's not overwritten like most of his work; in fact, most of these issues breezed by quickly with little to show for it. He just doesn't have the same passion as Wolfman, and it shows. The art is also inconsistent, with the bulk of it by Mike Vosberg (with some early Frank Miller work as well). Okay, but nowhere near as good as the top half.

The cover is a very nice piece by Alan Davis, but does not resemble in any way the Cockrum character designs in the series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fray 1-8: See Big Damn Heroes #62

Young Avengers 1-16: Put down whatever you are reading and go read this NOW. Amazing metatextual work on the art, as Will pointed out, and one of the most straight up fucking fun books I've read in a while. The last two issues are a fucking New Year's dance party that resolves any loose threads that are left. Relies on some knowledge from Journey Into Mystery, but if you haven't read it it explains it. Also lays out things nicely for Loki: Agent of Asgard.

Red Son: One of my favorite Elseworlds, and probably the best thing that Millar has written. Love the way the Trinity's dynamic is twisted, and everything with Lex and Lois. The ending is perfect and I love the way it makes everything a cycle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus, volume one: collects Marvel Comics #1, Marvel Mystery Comics #2-12 (1939-1940).

Like most Golden Age anthology titles, especially pre-1941 ones, the ratio of good to not so good is not awesome, but it's better than it would be once America enters the war. Everything is being thrown at the wall, and not a lot of it is sticking.

Carl Burgos' The Human Torch strip is the lead feature in every issue, and while I can see why this took off - holy shit, that guy is on fire is a pretty exciting state of affairs - it's actually quite amateurish. It's interesting in that the Torch takes some time to figure out how to use his powers without a lot of destruction, and is not afraid to kill people, but within a few issues he calms down, takes a human name, and is indistinguishable from other superhero characters.

Far and away, the best thing here is Bill Everett's The Sub-Mariner. This is a gorgeous, lavishly illustrated strip, starring a complete, unrepentant asshole, and is the outright villain of the strip for the first few issues. It's a serialized story, where Namor (who has reddish hair) comes to the surface to fuck up humanity. Eventually he comes to realize that some humans are worse than others (i.e., Nazis), and directs most of his energy to sinking U-Boats, but he still doesn't have a lot of time for Americans, either, and even that much progress takes a few issues. Beautiful, exciting, and I can see why Stan and Jack brought him back as early as they did.

The third major feature is Paul Gustavson's The Angel, and this is a nicely drawn but utterly boring strip. If Batman wore Superman's costume and grew a pencil mustache, you'd pretty much have the Angel. Gustavson was a major talent in those days (Mike and I covered his The Arrow strip the last time we did Grumpy Old Fans), and Marvel really tried to put the Angel over (in the first twelve issues, he had the cover five times), but there's no mystery as to why this character's been forgotten.

The fourth significant strip is Ben Johnson's adaptation of Ka-Zar (a pulp character Martin Goodman owned), who was every bit the Tarzan rip-off then as he is now. More so, actually, because instead of the Savage Land he was just another African jungle lord, so we have some typically uncomfortable depiction of natives. The art is quite good but otherwise this is forgettable stuff.

Other than that, there's The Masked Raider (a Lone Ranger rip-off), Electro (a robot that gets sent on crimefighting missions), various detectives and pilots and what have you.

A very mixed bag, more historically intriguing than actually enjoyable, but those Everett Sub-Mariner strips are well worth seeking out.

Also, my copy has a painted recreation of Frank Paul's famous but really fucking ugly Marvel Comics #1 cover, and it looks phenomenal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finished up my read-through of 100 Bullets.

The hook is better than the pay-off. In fact, near the end, after about the 60th or 70th issue, it definitely felt like there were plot twists for the sake of having plot twists. In fact I'm not sure if I understood anybody's motivations by the end of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fables #137: Pretty much setting up the final 12 issues of the comic.Ends an interesting story arc touching on the Camelot legend.

Locke and Key Vol. 6: Alpha and Omega: The coda to one of the best comic series I have ever read. The ending is far from disappointing and just as brutal as the volumes before. There are some great horror moments as it goes on and the art is just as upstanding. I'm going to have to go back through and reread the entire series at some point soon.

Graphic Novels: 1

Trades: 1

Comics: 15

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Justice League #0-26, 23.1-23.5: Overall, not great. There are great moments (particularly the Shazam backup, which is excellent) but it is heavily uneven. The opening arc is bunk. I am planning on watching JL War with my sons on Friday and I hope that they changed the shit out of the arc for the movie because it is the very perfect picture of sound and fury signifying nothing. For ever arc that is good, there are two stories that are pretty awful. I wouldn't recommend.

Trades: 3

Comics: 51
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Avengers Epic Collection: The Final Threat-This is a fucked up collection. The first half of it is fucking horrible. Some of it includes some of the worst fucking comics I've ever read. Then the Lethal Legion comes in and then Thanos and everything is alright with the world. So weird.

Grendel Omnibus Volume 4: Prime-The end of the Grendel Saga. This includes two of my favorite Grendel tales sandwiched around a prose novel connecting them. A pretty damned good collection if I do say so myself.

Doom Patrol Volume 2: The Painting that Ate Paris: Genius. This is why people love Grant Morrison. Case's artwork is fucking great here too.

Morning Glories Volume 6-I DON'T HAVE A SINGLE FUCKING CLUE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ONNNNN!!!!!

Avengers: Endless Wartime-This is not very good at all. It's about as good as Warren Ellis has been the past decade, which is to say, slightly awful. Even McKone, who in the past has been a guy who I would buy for the art alone, turns in a middling effort. To be avoided.

Trades: 5

Comics: 51
Omnibus: 2
Graphic Novels: 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.