Every comic you've read in 2010


Missy

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I'm not even attempting to keep a list this year, since it gets unwieldy pretty fast.

Green Lantern #49 - Hey, they remember that John Stewart exists!

Blackest Night #6 - I spoiled this for myself reading the thread, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. Who would have guessed this direction when the whole thing began?

Absolution #5 - The penultimate issue full of some good action. I have no clue how this is going to end, but I'd guess it's not going to be pretty.

Crossed #8 - This redeemed itself after the last issue. The Crossed didn't appear a single time and most of the violence was off-panel. Proof that Ennis can hold back and tell a simple, effective story when he wants to.

Comic Books: 4

TPBs: 0

HCs: 0

Graphic Novels: 0

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52: volume 3. So, reading this, I felt disappointed, it was really dull, and nothing happened, and really, I was regretting reading the series. Then stuff started to happen, and the book became fun again. I realised my problem was with one story, the Ralph Dibny one, it was going nowhere, or where it was going bored the hell out of me. The infinity inc stuff was awesome here, and Lex's mass murder of them was just fucking awesome, I know now what the problem was with the other members being killed, including my beloved bald man in armor(He could have been somebody! :shakehead: ) but here, it just shows that Lex really is a fucking psycho, and was awesomely placed.

Overall, I ended up enjoying this, and not thinking that at points, it was violent for no reason, here the violence felt natural to the story, like it had to happen, and now that the story is in motion it got fun, with the exception of Ralph, who was just bland.

The reveal of Supernova, I saw coming a few issues before it happened, which was great writing, as they fed me clues, and it didn't feel like it was coming out of nowhere.

Skeets is made of fucking win, and I cannot wait to see what happens next with him.

Also, the city of Kandor, I thought that in current continuity, Superman only just brought it back to earth last year, so what was it doing here?

All in all, it got off to a terrible start but when I started to get to the last issues, I started to say to myself "This can't be it! I want more!" Now, I have the hard part, the places I usually buy trades from have up to volume 3, and amazon only has 2, so looks like I may have to go the ebay route.

Ambush Bug 7 of 6 You know how something that sounds funny, really isn't when you look at it for a little while, you get this issue. It trys to answer questions about what happened to issue 6 while at the same time taking pot shots at Dan Didio, it feels like their should have been two copys of this comic, one that was a joke gift to Didio from Giffen and the other that actual comic that should have been published, and this is what this is, just an inside joke poking fun at the EIC, that really, isn't as half as funny as it thinks it is.

Trades: 1

HC:0

Comics: 1

GN:0

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Blackest Night: JSA - Average set-up issue. Not much to say.

The Last Days of American Crime: Book 1 - Crime noir stuff is usually not my thing and this is no exception. Great if you're a fan of the style, but it didn't do anything for me.

Comic Books: 6

TPBs: 0

HCs: 0

Graphic Novels: 0

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Astonishing X-Men, volume three: Torn

No pun intended, but I'm always torn when it comes to this story. It's cool what Joss was trying to do with Emma, but I don't think it totally worked. Plus, the villain is never really seen. While gutsy, it doesn't work well in a superhero comic book. Also, though she was being manipulated, I don't like that the X-Men willingly accept Emma back into the fold post-Torn. She is responsible for some of her actions, so where's the doubt from her teammates? Kitty's the only one who stands up to say something, but it's brushed off by everyone else.

That said, the childlike Wolverine and Kitty's homage to Logan are both brilliant moments.

Astonishing X-Men, volume four: Unstoppable

The big finale does tend to jump around from one place to another, hurrying to the conclusion, but there are so many awesome moments! Scott getting his power back, the post-crash conversation between Armor and the barbecued Logan, Colossus' attempt at a joke, the twice-seen planning scene, Spider-Man's fantasy and his reaction, Armor attempting to lift Logan's spirits, and, best of all, how the day was saved. Wow!

Comic books: 0

Trade paperbacks: 2

Graphic novels: 0

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Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? (Deluxe Edition)

The three stories included in it are great, but the two that really stand out are "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" and "For the Man Who Has Everything." The former is great classic Superman storytelling, but with horrific world-ending events. I'd really like to see what someone could do with the story today, with current art style and whatnot.

"For the Man Who Has Everything" is really interesting to read after having already seen the JLU adaptation several times. There are some things that I like more about the book (its more mature style), but a lot of other things that I like about the animated version (Robin's absence, Superman's dream-Krypton actually being happy, etc.)

Comic Books: 0

TPBs: 0

HCs: 1

Graphic Novels: 0

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Angel Annual #1: I now know the reason I've been holding off on this one. I know it's supposed to read like a bad tie-in since it's a parody of them but, at the same time, it really feels like it's trying to be more clever than it actually is.

Fall of the Hulks Alpha: Surprisingly, I liked this one. It boils down to using a clever idea that Marvel had (The Illuminati) and then continuing to run it into the ground with yet another such group. Still, it was well written and if it weren't for the fact that it's setting up yet another event with the Hulk, I would have greatly enjoyed it.

Comic Books: 2 (1 Marvel, 1 IDW)

TPBs: 0

HCs: 0

Graphic Novels: 0

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Found an AMAZING comic shop in Fort Collins, Colorado, and I splurged a bit.

The Dark Knight Returns: Been meaning to read this for years, and I was spectacularly let down. Art is clunky, and I know this was revolutionary at the time, but it's just Frank Miller being Frank Miller, which I'm not a big fan of. Some things were great (fight with the mutant leader in the mud, the Joker's character design), some things were just fine (Carrie Kelly, Alfred) and some things were terrible. Chief of the terrible things is the treatment of Superman in the book. I don't know why Miller hates a symbol of hope so much, but cripes. I see why it's revered, and I'm glad it got Batman his balls back, but I wasn't floored. 4/10

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth: Fucking A. Amazing. Dreamy, scary, disgusting and shocking. Morrison packs the script with symbolism and Dave McKean's art is a religous experience. Never before have I read a Batman that was so broken and beaten. The reimaginings of the the villians are great, Mad Hatter and Black Mask especially. My only complaint is that some of the lettering can be tough to read. 9/10

The Question: Epitath for a Hero: I'm not going to surprise everyone with excessive fellatio. In short, I loved it. The stuff with Vic reading Watchmen is awesome, the relationship with Question and Green Arrow is awesome, the issue that the TPB is named after is awesome, if a little heavy handed. The art is much less eighties than the previous volume (I.E. The mullet is gone.), which I call a great win. Not as good as Poisoned Ground, but a great, great read, all the same. 8/10

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Iron Man: Extremis

God I love this book! It nails Tony's personality perfectly, and gives him a motivation to be Iron Man now that his heart is fixed. The technobabble is there -- as it should be in an Iron Man comic -- but it's not so heavy that the story and characters are lost in the process of delivering it.

And the art? It's amazing that Adi Granov's digital painting holds up five years later, and, frankly, it still defines the look of Iron Man. It has hints of believable sci-fi, but is rooted in our world.

I firmly believe that if it weren't for this comic making Iron Man cool and smart again, we wouldn't have the Iron Man movie.

Comic books: 0

Trade paperbacks: 3

Graphic novels: 0

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52 Volume 4

This was great, I got it yesterday, and just finished it. Saying that some parts were pretty bad, like the late 40 issues, they were just a chore to get through.

I was disappointed with some of the endings, like Black Adams in particular, but it was great how they brought back things I forgot about, and Ralph Dibnys story, had an awesome ending for him, that made me give a shit about the characterm which even ten issues before his end, I didn't care about.

As I got closer to 50 I started to think, maybe I should read world war 3, then I read the tie in issue and said, fuck this shit, as that issue, was just plain shit.

So, I really enjoyed the series, even if some issues were really bad. The JG Jones covers were awesome, and I would love to have a poster of the Question one from around 40.

So, a good series and I'm glad I finally read it.

Origins of Siege

Well, this was meant to make me say "Wow, a free comic, now can't wait for Siege!" now, I'm saying "Wow, a free comic, now I can just leave Siege!" it was nice Marvel gave this out free, with a 2010 calendar. I'll wait for someone to say if the storyline is any good before I pick it up now.

Trades: 2

HC:0

Comics: 2

GN:0

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Inhumans-Wow. How have I not read this entire series by now? Seriously beautiful storytelling that, plotwise, could have been done in eight issues. But 12 offered the breathing room this one needed. Despite a little bit of the explaining what's happened in previous issues that all TPBs suffer from, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Jenkins delivered easily the best story of his career and Jae Lee's art is stunning to behold. I love how he makes the humans look almost ghoulish but gives serene beauty to the freaks. 10/10

Comic books: 0

Trade paperbacks: 1

Graphic novels: 0

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Criminal: The Deluxe Edition volume 1-Wow. I seriously thought that there was no way this book would ever possibly live up to the shitheaps of hype thrown its way over the past year and change. But it does and then some. The story is nasty and gritty but still draws you in to these horrible characters in the hopes that they'll redeem themselves. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. Like life. Brubaker and Philips are officially the best team in comics right now. 10/10

Comic books: 0

Trade paperbacks: 1

Graphic novels: 0

Omnibuses: 1

Edit: decided to add another category to my list of collections. This will include everything I read that collects more than 12 issues. Like Criminal Deluxe edition.

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Some of these were leftovers from 2009 that I just hadn't had a chance to type up yet, but screw it. 2010 HO!

Yoshihiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life - Weighing in at over 800 pages, this autobiographical manga centered on the first decade of Tatsumi's illustrious career is easily the most intimidating volume of work I own. Yet despite its encyclopedic page count, I found it an exceptionally quick, easy read. More than that, it's a tremendously earnest, personal look at the author's work - warts, freckles and all. I found that I had a lot in common with the younger version of our narrator, both in his quiet personal life and his ongoing professional struggles with motivation, uncertainty and less-enthusiastic superiors and peers. Tatsumi's artwork, at a glance extremely simple and elementary, proves to be magnificently versatile and technical as the story bears on, a lesson in effective simplicity with every page. This is an outstanding work that's both overflowing with honesty and infectiously creative. I needed a book like this, not just to temporarily satisfy my fascination with Japanese history and pop culture, but to add a bit of fuel to my own fire.

10/10

Daredevil #503 - Not to sound like a skipping LP, but I'm still not sold on the new creative team. Andy Diggle's writing is taking a few appropriate cues from several of the most monumental tales in Daredevil's life, shaking up the status quo for both Murdock and his supporting cast, but there's a big gap between the two that's growing tough to bridge. This may as well be a pair of monthlies, with Matt struggling to come to terms with his new role at the helm of The Hand on one side and Foggy and the firm's legal difficulties on the other. In retrospect it may seem like a lot's gone down but on the printed page many of the big plot points have been lost in the shuffle or simply glossed over as the characters fail to react appropriately. There's still time for everything to come together and resume this book's long run of excellence, but at the moment it's not really working.

5.5/10

Dark Avengers #11 - Nice to see a little depth granted to Victoria Hand, Osborn's oft-seen but rarely-obeyed right hand (no pun intended) in HAMMER. Up until this point I've always regarded her as a bland Maria Hill clone, so it's cool that she's finally enjoying a bit of development, belated and lightning-quick though it may be. When the spotlight leaves her past, Hand is thrust right into the fire as the Avengers' last hope in a chaotic, confusing battle against the Molecule Man, affirming the trust Osborn has evidently placed in her and establishing her status as an active member of the team itself. The battle scenes with Mr. Molecule are a bit tripped out, climaxing in yet another faux death scene for the Sentry, andmostly come off as half-baked and melodramatic. The constantly shifting artwork just makes things worse. Sometimes when Bendis sits down in his sandbox he produces something fantastic, but lately he's been just as likely to lose control and wet himself. This is a little bit of both. Dark Avengers just isn't the dependable powerhouse it was last spring.

4/10

Dark Avengers #12 - If there were an annual quota for Norman Osborn ass shots, we'd have filled it up with this issue alone. After a few pages, Victoria gets in on the act, too, as the Molecule Man's dastardly plan for disarming her involves disintegrating everything she's wearing outside of her underwear. It's kind of bizarre, actually. I don't really get what either had to do with the story, but hey, it's sure to endear ol' BMB to the fanboys. As the big conclusion to the evil Molecule's master offensive, this issue comes off as fairly generic, with the villain's defeat coming suddenly and borderline inexplicably. I get the feeling this was supposed to be a watershed moment for the Sentry, as he comes to a personal epiphany that somewhat explains how he's managed to come back to life four times in the last three months. Thing is, he's been treated as such an oddball lately that I'm not entirely sure if I should take it at face value or just pass it off as the latest mental hurdle he's bound to bowl over in an awkward drunken swagger and forget about. I really enjoyed the breakthrough moment Victoria reaches with Osborn in the book's final pages, but loathed the cheap tie-in to Siege that immediately undermined it. It's like we're running in place.

5/10

Ex Machina #47 - Sort of a ho-hum issue without much purpose until the three-quarter mark, when we're slapped in the face with one of the biggest "oh shit" moments of the series. Vaughan's put together a nice, solid lead-in to the series finale, building up Suzanne as a real threat while undermining our faith in Mitchell. No signs of his customary late-issue failings as this series nears the home stretch - in fact, the book's rarely been better, which makes Tony Harris's unusually weak showing even more disappointing. Each time I was ready to be awed by a sweet visual, I was hit with a sudden letdown instead. Let's hope he's just saving his best for last.

7.5/10

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Original Sins - It's been a while since I lifted this one off the shelf, and while a lot of the themes have begun to show their age, the basic premise remains rock solid. Jamie Delano never enjoyed the notoriety of many of his Vertigo counterparts, and while I can't argue that he was on the same level as Gaiman, Moore or Morrison, he was just as much at home within the imprint as its more well-known contributors. His writing in this series is a feast for the imagination, modernizing a demonic mythos that had previously been stuck in the middle ages. His Constantine is an enigma, not so wrapped up with magick that he couldn't enjoy a good drink and smoke with some regularity, or so caught up in himself that he couldn't afford to step off a bus at a remote stop in the middle of nowhere on nothing more than a whim and a wild hair. While this trade wraps up with a multi-part story arc that loses some traction, the real meat is in the first few self-contained issues, where Delano takes us on a set of brief, neck-snapping joyrides through hell and its various incarnations on the mortal plain. One chapter he's face-to-face with the selfish spirit of greed itself, the next he's toying with satanist yuppies. The artwork's not always pretty and the colors genuinely stink, but this writing is almost good enough to redeem the both of them. A fascinating glimpse back at frustrations on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid '80s, tinged with the kind of demon-wrangling that's defined Hellblazer ever since.

8.5/10

Siege: The Cabal #1 - With so many sets of brass balls in the same room, it was really only a matter of time before they started to collide. Norman Osborn's secret pact with Namor, Doctor Doom, Loki and the Hood seemed like a bad idea from the start, and here's where we start to find out why. Make no question, there's a lot (no, a LOT) of posturing this month, but that's really what makes it so much fun. Osborn and Doom in particular are such bold, abrasive personalities that Bendis could really just set the two of them loose in a room, let nature take its course and have enough material for a twelve issue maxi-series. And honestly, that's just about all he does here. I'm ashamed to admit I liked it so much, but truth be told this really was a fun little ride.

8/10

And two IIWY books from my last contribution in 2009: Gen13 #33 and X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #1

Comics: 7, TPB: 1, Graphic Novel: 1

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Crossed #8 and Gravel #10 -14. Crossed is kind of hit or miss, but it hits more often than misses and this issue really hit hard, but not quite as hard as the shocking twist in the previous issue. Damn, that was harsh. Gravel wrapped up its second story, The Major Seven and left me hungry for more.

6, so far.

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Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2: I liked this one but had a problem with it at the same time. Most of the Blackest Night side-books are still a somewhat connected story. With issue 2, we jump right to Black Lantern Wonder Woman fighting Mera when last issue ended with WW flying off to Coast City. It mainly takes place during Blackest Night #6 and I enjoyed one part of the issue, especially what turned Wonder Woman's Black Ring off.

Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love #3: Part 3 of what is essentially a supernatural spy story with a silly sub-plot about shoes. Still, Cinderella has been my third favorite character in Fables so it's still pretty good. The interaction between her and Aladdin is funny without being too corny.

Suicide Squad #67: This is mainly an extension of Secret Six. That said, I loved it. It's the Secret Six/Suicide Squad crossover that I have been wanting since day one of the series. We really only get about five pages of Black Lanterns but the next issue of Secret Six appears to be that fight.

JSA All-Star #2: I'm still not sure about continuing to get this book. On one hand, I like that art (other than half the characters were missing their eyes for the issue) and characterization but there's just something about the story that isn't getting me. On a side-note, the character of Geomancer is growing on me. He makes an awesome Wizard of Oz reference in there that makes me want to reread some of the Geoff Johns JSA because the character was apparently in there also.

X-Factor: Nation X: I kinda liked this one-shot. I want Peter David to write one of the main X-Books after reading his Cyclops. There were a few laugh out loud moments and even a Rob Liefeld joke. It was more a character study than a story but forgivable.

Weird Western Tales #71: I didn't really care for this one in the least bit. Then again, I've never been a huge fan of DC's western characters. Still, I didn't care for any of the living characters and it took looking it up to find any connection between the one-off character and Jonah Hex.

Comic Books: 8 (5 DC, 2 Marvel, 1 IDW)

TPBs: 0

HCs: 0

Graphic Novels: 0

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Continuing my read of David's X-factor...

X-factor vol. 4: Heart of Ice - I really like this series, this volume takes a decidedly superhero team turn, it seems at this point David has fully made the transition from noir mystery book to more urban superhero book. Doesn't mean it's bad, it's still very solid and David juggles his characters and his meta-plot very well, never losing sight of either.

Messiah Complex - This really didn't go over well with me on this re-read. It's still a big action blockbuster, but it's definitely less exciting than the last time I read it, I like the portrayal of Cyclops in this book, I like the formation of X-force (pissed that Rahne's going there though), I like anything to do with Layla Miller and Madrox's quest for information, but the art gets terrible at times with the cartoony manga style really not meshing well, it's also very hard to tell what going on at times especially near the end. The book is very much not new reader friendly, the characters really get lost in the big battles, and it's really dumb fun. The writers are all on the same page so the plot doesn't really feel all disjointed but didn't the X-factor volumes establish or bring about the theory that mutants born at birth aren't really mutants but a third species, yes it was dropped soon after, but that's the weirdest thing about it for me and the weirdest disjointment.

Next up: The Layla Miller one shot that I had been looking for for a long time along with X-factor post Complex, vols. 5-7

TPBS: 2

X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex

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Red Robin #8 This was bland and average and felt like it was an awful formulaic action movie from the early 90's, with the ending having Tim:

Blow up Ra's hideout. Tim breaks into the system and causes the cave to blow up, with the bad guys still inside, but they are shown in the last page to have survived.

The art is poor and the dialogue is average, also, we never do get told how Tim works out:

Bruce is lost in time. Which is meant to be the main feature of the next issue.

Planetary #1 It was alright, but I don't love it as much as everyone else does. Might get a trade down the line.

Suicide Squad #67 This was a set up for the next issue of Secret Six, also Amanda Waller is fucking bad ass, and I can't wait for more from this story in secret six. Wasn't self contained, as you need to read the next issue of secret six for the story.

Batman Confidential #40 Sam Kieth wrote and drew this, and it was alright, nothing special,it was nice to see something different, even if the story and dialogue were shit, it looked nice and different.

Trades: 2

HC:0

Comics: 6

GN:0

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The Unwritten #1

I bought the trade because DCBS was selling it for $5, so I figured it was worth a shot. And, well, that's five bucks I'll never get back. After just the first issue I set it aside. The basic plot is that a writer based his most famous character on his son, with whom the fictional character shares a name. Over the years the son has grown up and is now a worldwide celebrity, because people are nutty for this book series. However, it then comes out that he might not really be the son of the author and he might have killed his father, so the world turns on him. Hard. But, oh wait, now they love him again because some woman makes it look like he's survived an explosion... so now the world thinks he's the messiah. Wait... what? It's so mind-numbingly stupid.

Comic books: 1

Trade paperbacks: 3

Graphic novels: 0

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