elnino14

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Everything posted by elnino14

  1. May's got a lot of interesting stuff for me: Definitely getting: Dark Avengers vol. 2 Maybe getting: Spiderman Gauntlet: Electro/Sandman Thor Omnibus Young Avengers Ultimate Collection I'm really not sure on any of these, I've been interested in reading the Gauntlet series, and I'd like to give the Straczynski's Thor run a shot especially with all the critical acclaim it received, and I'd like to know more about the character so I can follow Siege event properly, and so I can see some bad-assery come to life in the film next year...but the price tag is a bit high. Waiting for the Trade: Secret Warriors Marvels Project
  2. I will want to sell the trades, but not in a month or so. I'm going to try giving it another shot in about a week or two, to see if it still floats over my head or not. Have you read them? If you have maybe you can shine some light on it for me, and I can come at them with a different perspective? I've also got Animal Man and Final Crisis that I'll be getting rid of around the same time, if you're interested.
  3. Immortal Iron Fist vol. 1-3, - I really enjoyed this, a lot more than I expected to. There's a huge underlying theme of family in these books and really it's a family drama set in a Kung Fu universe. I really like the blend of both the mythological aspects with the more noir/detective like aspects. And the rest of the Heroes for Hire play strong supporting roles and are implemented into the story well. I really liked this, it's not as strong as other series, but it's also pretty different. Even without Fraction/Bru spearheading the character, I'm interested continuing with other trades from this series (vol. 4 and 5, plus Immortal Weapons). Anybody else read them and give any advice? Seven Soldiers of Victory vol. 1 - I'm done with Morrison's non-superhero, more experimental works. I didn't care for this at all and even though I own the rest of the series, I don't think I'm going to continue reading them. I didn't care for any of the characters, there was a lot of spiritual babble in a lot of the books that was hard to follow and I didn't care for, and the general themes (at least what I think are the general themes) seem to have been done better and elsewhere. And finally, the book is corny as hell, and I just didn't find myself having fun. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 36 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1 and 2, Incognito, Earth X, Alias Ultimate collection vol. 1-2, Animal Man by Grant Morrison, Mek/Reload flip TPB, Red/Tokyo Storm Warning Flip TPB, The Losers vol. 1 and 2, Final Crisis, Immortal Iron Fist vol. 1-3, Seven Soldiers of Victory vol. 1
  4. I'm not interested in most of those movies, I'm not familiar with the Power Pack, Dazzler is just an entirely lame character (and while that mockumentary sounds like a neat idea, it doesn't spell BOX-OFFICE HIT to me), Dr. Strange was never that interesting to me but I can see the appeal for others. The only one that sounds like a good idea to me is Luke Cage. I'd really like to see them build up these street level characters. Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones (Alias), Daredevil all building to a Marvel Knights Crossover film. Using the same strategy they're using now with the Avengers. Each character could stand on their own as a film, and at the same time have enough links where they could easily crossover. Purple Man could easily cameo in Luke Cage's film while being the main villain in Alias, Cage and Iron Fist could easily cameo in each others films, Kingpin could be pulling strings in the background for all the villains appearing in the films except maybe Iron Fist's, Murdock could have Jones and Cage as bodyguards in one part of his film, I think it could really work. I'm reading Brubaker's Iron Fist right now and that would make an awesome movie with all of the mythology being involved. In the crossover, I can see a good director/cinematographer reintroducing the characters but comparing Iron Fist's kung fu technique to Luke Cage's street fighting style to Daredevil's more acrobatic style. Man...give me that, Marvel.
  5. Red/Tokyo Storm Warning Flip TPB - More Warren Ellis. From reading his work little by little I've enjoyed everything he does (except for The Authority, and I've heard his run on Astonishing X-men has been pretty mediocre) and think that some work is some of the best or funnest shit ever (Thunderbolts, Planetary, Fell, Iron Man Extremis). I haven't read everything mind you, but he puts a fun twist on everything he does and still keeps the narrative flowing and logical. Tokyo Storm Warning is basically, what if Ellis wrote the Power Rangers? It's not the greatest, but it is a fun little revisionist viewpoint of global politics between U.S. and Japan spinning out of WWII. Red on the other hand is absolutely awesome. Simple story, less is more approach, fun, and has that depth if one really looks for it. It's an excellent story, that I suggest everybody go read. It's action done right. The Losers vol. 1 and 2, - Ahh...the Losers, short on plot, high on action scenes. Like someone said earlier, the first half is quite excellent, partly because it was only meant to go mini-series length. The story is hardly there throughout the book, but the action scenes are fun and it introduces a fun group of characters each with one defining characteristic. The cinematic action is good, but even this wasn't that great once you hit the second volume. By that point everything falters, it's not as funny, it's not as cool, it's not as action packed, the story (what little story there is) is not as tightly plotted, the pacing is off, the tension is almost non-existant. It's ultimately little more than fluff. Fun fluff, but fluff nonetheless. I'm not continuing this. Final Crisis - Yeahbutwha....? Grant Morrison, oh man. Yeah I didn't get this, I don't know enough about the DC Universe so add to the fact that there are a gazillion characters and then you throw in Morrison's experimental writing style, it's just insanity personified. I'm giving Grant one more shot with this weird experimental shit, Seven Soldiers of Victory, then I'm sticking to his work on superheros that I like (Batman and X-men thus far). Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 32 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1 and 2, Incognito, Earth X, Alias Ultimate collection vol. 1-2, Animal Man by Grant Morrison, Mek/Reload flip TPB, Red/Tokyo Storm Warning Flip TPB, The Losers vol. 1 and 2, Final Crisis
  6. Taking this a step further, if you look at the ones the Joss himself directed, especially in Buffy, you'll see that many of the BEST episodes came from him behind the camera. Even during the so-called "crap" era of Buffy (I personally really like season 5 and 7, but didn't care that much for season 6 or 4), he directed Hush in season 4, he directed The Body in Season 5, and Once More With Feeling in Season 6, as well as the Finale in season 7 So even though one may not like his concepts or writing, it's hard to deny his ability as a director, at least for episodic television.
  7. Don't be ridiculous. You know when people use the ensemble cast argument, they're talking about more than just directing a group of people. By saying ensemble cast, he knows how to handle not just a group of varied stars, but also knows how to invigorate his work with realistic team dynamics, balanced character spotlight, and strong character development of not just the main character but many supporting characters. Whether he can do this in a shortened time frame and whether he can direct action setpieces is the main concern, but in terms of hero team characters, I think he's got a pretty strong grasp given his resume. I mean Buffy and Angel feature basically hero teams.
  8. I really like Joss, but I am also concerned about his ability to direct a big budget movie. I think he can do well with an ensemble cast and we know he has a passion for comics (and has done excellent work with the X-men) but like was said by Dread, he's never done a big screen film. On the other hand, I wasn't sure about Sam Raimi doing Spider-man, Peter Jackson doing Lord of the Rings, or Jon Favreau doing Iron Man.
  9. Animal Man TPBs 1-3 by Grant Morrison - So before this I've only read Grant Morrison's work on New X-men but since he is one of the most talked about comic creators, I figure I should check out some of his other critically acclaimed work. Animal Man is interesting. It's not amazing, but it is interesting. It's a mind-bender and often people put mind benders and amazing work in the same category. Morrison comes off as a more aware Richard Kelley (director of Donnie Darko, and bombs, The Box and Southland Tales). His run on Animal Man could have been very stupid (which he himself talks about) and could have been a straightforward superhero story where Animal Man fights other animal inspired villains. But it's not stupid, it's quite smart actually. Morrison is able to push his agenda of animal rights through this character, and brings up pretty interesting philosophical questions about who decided that humans are more important to this world than animals are. Of course there's also a lot of zany stuff here too that plays into a larger arc that develops over his entire arc mainly dealing with the themes of reality and identity. Ultimately, I liked the book, but I didn't love it. The message is often too forced and the zaniness is too much for me at times, I honestly think it borderlines on ridiculous. Also there's not a strong supporting cast. But it's still interesting. I have Seven Soldiers of Victory and Final Crisis, I'm going to give those a spin before I make my judgment on my appreciation of Morrison. Mek/Reload Flip Tpb - Ever since reading the post-civil war Thunderbolts and Planetary, I've found that I really am interested in reading more Warren Ellis. So I picked up a lot of his one-off books. This is the first of that lot. Two very different stories and Ellis really flexes his world-building muscles here in both of them. Reload starts off feeling like a familiar world (albeit set 10 years into the future) but it flips on its head and shows it's not all that familiar. Mek is the opposite, it's look and style, and the characters don't feel familiar but all the themes of resistance and grassroots organizations are familiar. It shows while that technology may advance, human nature doesn't change that much. Both have strong plots and fun stories for relatively short books, so it's worth a read. They're not going to blow you out of the water, but they are fun and interesting takes on society. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 29 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1 and 2, Incognito, Earth X, Alias Ultimate collection vol. 1-2, Animal Man by Grant Morrison, Mek/Reload flip TPB,
  10. I LOVE the Ratchet and Clank series. Just beat Future Crack in Time and each new game is better than the last.
  11. Alias Ultimate collection vol. 1 and 2: I read the full series of Alias over the past 2 1/2 weeks, I really liked it. Its up there with Brubaker's wildsorm universe Sleeper. Its another noir series about identity, but this time the lead character is female and a private eye, instead of male and an undercover agent. Jessica Jones is a great character and this book lives and dies on her progress and her search for identity. Easily the best issue of the series is the Daily Bugle issue, it's hilarious, self-contained, fun, and continues the meta plot about identity for the series. A great read, and I really liked the use of cameos in this book, Luke Cage, Murdock, Ben Urich, Jonah James, and others are weaved seamlessly into this story. As for Bendis, I understand he's getting hate these days for his work on Avengers and the whole series of Marvel Events (especially Secret Invasion), but this work reminds me more of his excellent run on Daredevil than his run on New Avengers. Mind you, I liked New Avengers, especially everything pre-Invasion, but this work is better than that stuff, and is much grittier and focused than that work was. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 25 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1 and 2, Incognito, Earth X, Alias Ultimate collection vol. 1-2,
  12. Earth X - HATED IT. It was interesting in the beginning how they were connecting all these stories together, but it just went on and on, and I seriously didn't care. After reading the 5 origin story I was tired of the book. It didn't click with me, it was long and laborious, lots of exposition, lots of telling and not showing, just didn't click with me at all. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 23 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1 and 2, Incognito, Earth X
  13. Sleeper Season 2: I finished this series last weekend. It's good shit. Like I said, it's a chess game that really keeps you on your toes. It's got some great themes about identity and what makes up who we really are. Holden Carver is a great character and there were some bits in Season 2 that really are far beyond what's in Season 1 as Holden goes deeper and deeper in the intricate web he's in and also becomes bigger than a pawn on this game for his soul. I really liked this series. Incognito: Very much in the same vein as Sleeper, but kind of the opposite. Brubaker does some great world building in this book, and really makes it seem fully fleshed out even though there's only this miniseries involving it. The main character is not as great as Holden was, the themes are a lot more overt in this book instead of the subtlety that was played so well in Sleeper. Also the lines between good and bad are much clearer in this book. Overall, it's still enjoyable, but there's too much that's similar to Sleeper and Sleeper was better. Next is Earth X: I've read two issues so far, it's really interesting take on the Marvel chronology, but I'm not LOVING it. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 22 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1 and 2, Incognito
  14. I agree with a lot of what you said, that definitely was one of his weaker stories. I'm almost done with Sleeper got two more issues left, and man that book is crazy, I know there's a lot of shit that I missed because everybody is basically playing a game of chess with each other and on a first read, I'm like Carver, I feel like I know what's going on but I'm getting fucked with left and right. This book, while not essential, is definitely a good intro to a few of major characters in Sleeper (TAO, Lynch, and Holden). You said you love the Wildstorm universe what else is worth a look?
  15. Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1: I thought Point Blank was okay, it helps get the reader familiar with the wildstorm universe in which the much better Sleeper takes place. It also provides an introduction to the Lynch, Tao, and, very briefly, Holden Carver characters. I didn't like the idea of a tour of the wildstorm universe as much of the supporting characters in Point Blank were so mildly fleshed out in terms of character, and served little purpose than getting our main character one step closer to answers. Sleeper on the other hand, is freaking off the chain. It's got a great dark mood to the whole thing, and you never really know who to trust like Holden doesn't. Plus it's a great series about identity, and how actions shape who we are and who we become. Love it. Going to jump into Volume 2 tomorrow. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 20 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk, Point Blank, Sleeper: Season 1
  16. Isn't Batman on the run and unaccepted now...I'd love to see a different take on the Riddler, who starts off as a famous P.I. trying to solve the biggest case of all and capture Batman but his obsession with Batman leads him to devious means and methods. Great developing character like Two-Face was. I also liked the Bane idea thrown around, get rid of all the ridiculousness about him, the mask and the steroid metaphor, and just make him an assassin, muscle. Maybe like a vigilante hired by Nygma because his puzzle solving methods are failing. I don't know. I trust Nolan to keep the grounded reality spirit of the film in tact. IMO, keep Peguin and Catwoman out. The stuff unique to Penguin is really comic booky, once you take that stuff out he's just another crime boss, albeit shorter and rounder. Robin doesn't belong in Nolan's universe at all. I'm all for a mention or even a cameo by Joker. I'd love to see Harley Quinzel in this movie, as the psychiatrist at Arkham. They can do Joker again, but not in number 3, they need to ease people back into it. Maybe in a 5th film with a new director and a new trilogy continuation. If Nolan was going to stop at 2 films, there's no way he's going to do another after number 3.
  17. American Virgin vol 1-4, entire series: I reread vols. 1-3 and read vol. 4. I didn't like it as much this time around, I didn't think it was profound or anything. It is drama filled and it does touch upon the themes of religion, extremism, faith, love, loss, and sex, but more than all of that is it's a coming of age story. Adam is extremely unlikable in the beginning mainly because he's so selfish and he's pretty incompetent and euro-centric. But in the end he's just a kid, he learns and he matures in this book and his story comes full circle. The book takes its time, and then rushes the fourth volume. It's not a great book and it'll never be considered one of vertigo's all-time-greats, but it's an interesting book. Planet Hulk: I wanted to watch the movie, so I re-read this. This is the third read I think, and I liked this read the most. I still think it's a little long, and it drags at parts in the middle. But it's still very good and one of the best Hulk stories I've ever read, which is saying a lot from me considering I'm not a big fan of Hulk. I really liked how Miek was used in this book, and the first act (The Gladiator act, what most of the movie was based on) was excellent and a lot of fun. The second half of the book with Hulk joining the resistance is good thematically as Hulk finds a home and becomes the savior of the land, but the standout issue, the one I really liked, is when they are housed by rebels and Miek finds out that these rebels still enslave his race...that was a powerful issue "Never stop making them pay". Next up: Point Blank, Sleeper Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 18 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-4, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia, Planet Hulk
  18. Sounds like Bullshit...and I hope it is because it's an absolutely terrible idea.
  19. Still playing gta iv, pretty far into it, I'm enjoying the missions. They're easily the best part of this game. Just did a mission where I have to steal a truck from the Triad, the truck zooms off and you hop on the back and try and climb your way to the front. That was pretty cool. In the next version, they need to completely demolish the friends system and they need to make races a bit shorter. Most of the races I've played thus far have been spent way ahead of the competition, and it's a pain in the ass to do that for 2 and 1/2 laps. Each race takes about 6 minutes, and they feel like a chore. The best side-mission addition: the assassin missions. They get the feel of why I play GTA, they're fun and there's not too many of them (something that the Most Wanted missions suffer is that there's way too many and they're incredibly repetitive).
  20. Deadpool vol. 3: X marks the Spot (probably my last volume, the last volume was seriously disappointing) Thunderbolts: Widowmaker (maybe my last volume, I've liked Diggle's run thus far, it hasn't been fantastic like Ellis but fun, I don't have a lot of faith in Parker who takes over after this volume, and the new team is full of D-list characters that I don't really care about to stick around and see) X-factor vol. 8: Overtime (I really like this book) Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk
  21. Avengers/X-men Utopia - I read this at a Barnes and Noble and I'm glad I didn't buy it, because it wasn't very good. It set up the new status quo for the X-men, and was less of a crossover between the Dark Avengers and X-men and more of X-men with cameo appearances by Norman Osborn and the Dark X-men. I liked the idea of the Dark X-men being a secondary team to represent mutants, but it was only a short term story idea. I only read the main arc, I didn't bother reading the Legacy side story, or the Dark X-men miniseries which looks at each member of the Dark X-men and the reasoning/mindset behind them joining the team. I read a couple of them...Norman/Namor and one other I think, they seemed to be good if you like the characters, I really just like the idea of villains acting as heroes, plus I was burn out (this was a huge book) and thus just skipped it and put it back on the shelf. Kind of annoyed by the story as a whole, as it's just a lot posturing and politics with nothing really happening. While I like the politics stuff with Normie in Dark Avengers Assemble I didn't care too much for any of it here, it didn't seem as sadistic, it was all lacking oomph. Like I said, this is more for X-fans than for Avengers fans. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 16 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-3, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell, Avengers/X-men: Utopia
  22. Fell vol. 1: This book is amazing! The less said about it the better. Every issue stands on its own, its kind of like a dark bleak crime noir version of Planetary. I've got a whole bunch of Brubaker to read and I need help decided what to read first: I've got Incognito, Sleeper/Point Blank, and Criminal. I think it'd be best to read it from the worst to the best as not to get outblown from the story before, but I'd like to hear what you guys suggest. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 15 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-3, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1, Fell
  23. So I've been reading a lot of Dark Reign related material and I've found it all to be pretty fun. Thunderbolts: Burning Down the House - This was a reread and I liked it more the second time around. Again, the wrapping up of storylines with the characters from Ellis' run was really excellent and again the second half is weaker comparatively. But it is all still pretty fun. The plot is a ton of fun, and in all honesty the only thing holding this book back is the weakness and unfamiliarity of the characters. There is only one A-lister in Osborn, and the rest are all unfamiliar. They bring up some intriguing plots and this team works together much better than the other one which takes a bit of fun out, but Diggle seems to be weaving in seeds of paranoia amongst the team. We'll see where it goes but this went over much better with me the second time around. Dark Avengers: Assemble - Again another, re-read. This one is more Norman Osborn, there's less focus on the other characters like Ellis run had, and that is a bit disappointing because I really like Bullseye, Venom, and Moonstone in Ellis Thunderbolt run. I think Bendis does a pretty good job getting the concept across and writes Norman very well, and that's what this first volume is here for along with setting up the relationship between Osborn and Doom. Again, I wish they had gone on a more PR-friendly adventure instead of helping Doom because it would help the flow of the book. Also Daken and Noh-Varr have very little personality in this and really don't need to be there. Dark Reign: Deadpool - Man I keep getting disappointed by the Deadpool books, what I though should have been a really fun crossover with the new Hawkeye, ended up letting me down. Not nearly as fun as it should have been and not nearly as fun I expected. Fewer laughing moments than the previous volume. There are still some ridiculous sequences and it was funny, but less so than usual. Secret Warriors vol. 1 - I really liked this, it seems like Hickman is setting something big up and it's a little off the beaten path compared to a typical Marvel hero book. It's more of a spy book than anything else, and there's a lot of characters being juggled here and it's all done pretty competently. This more of a book about Nick Fury than anybody else and it's a good book that really knows how to build to a climax of act 1 in issues 5-6. I liked it, I'll stick with it, as it's right up my alley. I think it'll take at least one more tpb to really gear up and see if it's worth sticking long term, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume, so I'll definitely give it the chance. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 14 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-3, Incredible Hercules: Against the World, Dark Avengers Assemble, Thunderbolts Burning Down the House, Deadpool vol. 2, Secret Warriors vol. 1
  24. American Virgin vols. 2-3: I just put in an order for the final volume, volume 4. I don't think this is the next great Vertigo series that will go down in history like Preacher, Sandman, and Y: The Last Man, but it is an enjoyable title that does deal with adult themes of sex and religion. The characters are all highly unlikable, yet they do grow on you, especially in volume 3 when you start to feel sympathetic for their plight. I think more than anything I'm interested in seeing where this goes and seeing how much more Adam matures as a man who is faced with doubt in everything he believes in. It's an enjoyable series that will make you think a bit, but it's not one of the all time greats. Incredible Hercules Against the World vol. 1: Speaking of all time greats, we're talking about freaking HERCULES man. I heard a lot about this series, and really it's just pure fun, through and through. I don't think it convinced me to pick up more, especially when there's so many other titles I'm interested in. But I really enjoyed this volume that I read. It's pure comic book, it's got a lot of cheese, but it knows what it is and it doesn't fail to be fun with it. I enjoyed it. I'm not familiar with all the characters, and they really do all come off as D-listers but Pak uses them all quite well, and makes the action seem epic and an entertaining story out of it, even with a bunch of C and D-listers. Comic Books: 1 TPBS: 10 X-factor vol. 4, X-men: Messiah Complex, X-factor vol. 5-7, X-factor: Layla Miller, Authority: Relentless, American Virgin 1-3, Incredible Hercules: Against the World.
  25. Authority: Relentless (Warren Ellis) Issues 1-8. I read the Authority early last year and I didn't think too much of it, yet I still saw hype everywhere about how it is one of Ellis' best work if not his best. I figured I'd give it another shot, I picked up the trade super cheap, and it still wasn't worth it. Same thoughts as last time, it's fun, but hardly good. The action is large and the characters are almost non-existent (sounds like almost all of the big summer blockbusters of 2009). It's not deep, at least not now, maybe in 1999 this was fantastic and super influential, but when you've read these big widescreen action super hero stories and done better (Millar's Ultimates comes to mind) it doesn't quite hold up. Interesting concept that isn't taken as far as it could. I don't know, just somethings were missing, one of them was definitely character development. American Virgin vol. 1 (Issues 1-4): I picked up the first three trades for under $10, so that's cool. The book deals with a lot of themes about morality, unfortunately there are no likable characters, in fact, the characters can be downright unlikable at times. It's still got a good plot that could go somewhere, and the characters could always grow on me, it's just character wise, I don't really like anybody in this book.