Every comic you've read in 2010

[Koete]

I'm re-reading through Countdown

At least tell us you're drunk. Drunk Preston's Countdown Commentary would be worth your pain.

[Molly]

I'm re-reading through Countdown

At least tell us you're drunk. Drunk Preston's Countdown Commentary would be worth your pain.

Of course I'm drunk. And because I'm drunk, I don't hate it. I mean, it's boring as shit, but, it's holding my atten-- NO. MARY MARVEL ISN'T A WHORE. DONNA TROY WOULD NEVER USE A MACHINE GUN! KARATE KID IS BORING. JIMMY OLSEN SUCKS.

EDIT: Also, why in the fuck is Jim Califore drawing an issue that Tony Bedard wrote. An issue that starts with the Troy/Todd/Choi/Bob Bullshit. ...I mean, if you want to rip off Exiles, fine. BUT AT LEAST DON'T USE THE SAME FUCKING CREATIVE TEAM.

[Molly]

Read Death of the New Gods: I didn't hate it. It was trying to be epic and Kirbyesque, but the presence of Superman really hurt that. That said, Superman's viewing of the final fight between the extremely amped up characters was a nice touch. I loved, loved, loved the characterization of Scott Free, throughout, too. The mystery kept me guessing, but Starlin has done better with these characters, and some of the digital effects are just dire.

[elnino14]

I read a whole bunch of stuff from the library:

Batman Snow (really good year one Batman story, I liked the art, and the story was clever and new for a batman story)

Batman War Crimes (ahh the after-math of War Games, which I didn't read, but I got brought up to the story pretty quick, it's a pretty average story, par for the course, not actively bad, but not actively good either)

Batman Broken City (I can't remember this very well, just disappointed because its by Azzarello and it had severely bad pacing and a medicore, convoluted story.)

Batwoman: Elegy (Fucking fantastic!!! Beautiful Art, Heartbreaking story, I feel that everything was so alive in this book, I have to think about picking it up for my own collection)

Mirrormask (Pretty decent children's story, kind of dark for a children's book, which I'm not even sure it was. Imaginative, like you usually get with Gaiman and a quick read. Ultimately I didn't understand the point of it all, and feel like I'm missing something. Want to check out how it translates to film.)

Violent Cases (Don't remember much of it, outside of it being pretty good, but not something I'd buy).

Vertigo Crime series Dark Entries (My first Constantine story, and man do I want more, this was really good, but those Hellblazer books are impossible to find).

I've been re-reading through Bendis' Meta-marvel universe, along with a couple of major character runs.

Last time I popped in here, I had finished Avenger's Disassembled, Secret War, and House of M. I also read the the Winter Soldier and Red Menace arcs of Brubaker's Captain America.

Now I'm through the Civil War and on the road to Secret Invasion. It's been a long time, but I covered the following:

New Avengers up to Civil War (TPB 1-4)

Road to Civil War

Civil War

Captain America's Civil War trade

New Avengers Civil War

The Confession (part of New Avengers vol 3 HC)

The first arc of New Avengers vol. 6 (With them going back to Japan to help out Echo)

Iron Man: Director of SHIELD vol. 1 (from the library)

Some thoughts:

-So far the best part of this meta-story is something that was pretty much on the fringes and that's Brubaker's Captain America. If I keep anything from this, it'll be that. The Civil War Trade was a step down from earlier ones, but still serviceable side stories to the Civil War and let us spend time with that books supporting cast. The Winter Soldier one-shot is really, really good too.

-New Avengers is a very divisive book, like much of Bendis' meta-marvel stuff. So far, I feel that the series is okay. When taken as the big blockbuster book it is, it can be fun, it can be quite enjoyable. And obviously you get a lot more out of it if you are following Bendis' big meta-arc. You see the little things that Bendis is doing, like reintroducing Sentry (in an arc that I kind of liked), building up Luke Cage as a prominent player, the playing up the Cap/Iron Man relationship, and the spider-woman subplot. He also ties up some left-over threads from House of M. So as a book with the purpose of pushing his larger marvel vision forward, it's actually not so bad. The one thing that doesn't really fit, is the Japan stuff, there are two arcs in Japan in the first 6 volumes, and I can't really see what the purpose of it all was outside of the reveal of Elektra as a Skrull at the end of vol. 6.

- Road to Civil War - solid but forgettable stories that show the Iron/Man Spidey relationship and teasing the return of Thor. An Amazing story about the Illuminati, some great art-work and I love Namor's character in that book.

-Civil War reads very choppy, not early on but in the later chapters, the flow is just really choppy and feels like somebody is jump-cutting from one scene into the middle of another scene in a movie, like you really NEED all those extra books to get a better flow. The art is nice, and I like the concept, but the trade doesn't read very well.

-The Confession is easily the best thing that Bendis wrote in this entire story. It brings out the emotion that might have been missing in some of his earlier work. It's hard-hitting and truly heart breaking.

-Like I said earlier, I didn't care for the first arc of New Avengers after Civil War, the plotting on the book is trying to be edgy instead it's a bit frustrating and awkward. I really liked the return of Hawkeye story with him searing for the Scarlet Witch, that was a really nice one-off story and really brought his arc full circle. Don't know about the new outfit and line-up, glad to see Iron Fist getting some love though.

-Finally, Director of SHIELD actually builds off of the story in the Extremis book, which I haven't seen ANYWHERE, except in a short mention in Confession. I thought it was forgotten about. Anyways, I liked that they picked up where Extremis left off. The story itself had some pacing problems, but it's an interesting subter-fuge take on Iron man, and you can tell a lot of thought was put into it. I wouldn't recommend it at full price, as it didn't completely grab my attention but hopefully it's leading to something exciting in the second volume (also available at the local library).

Up Next:

All Star Superman vol. 1 - I usually NEVER read Supes, but this book has so much hype, and it's free (library), that I couldn't pass on checking it out.

More Bendis' New Avengers, Illuminati, and Secret Invasion.

Then my FIRST reading of the Death of Captain America Arc (vol. 1-3, and Man Without a face).

[Missy]

Earth-2.net: The Show 426 or 427

Batman: Streets of Gotham - Leviathan

Irredeemable, volume 1

Nextwave, volume 1

This is exactly what superhero comics needs: fun, irreverent takes on the characters that embrace the medium and genre.

Captain America: Winter Soldier, volumes 1 and 2

I was worried these books wouldn't hold up, but man! They are excellent even five years later. Brubaker gets these characters

Comic books: 109

Trade paperbacks: 63

Graphic novels: 1

[You Know Who]

I've only recently gotten into comics and didn't pick up my first DC book until 2008, so my comments might be a little shallow

-Kingdom Come- interesting story though I slightly prefer Ross' work in "Justice" to this one and wasn't too crazy about Norman McCay and the handling of his character

-Battle for the Cowl- Picked up because I wanted to see if I liked Dick as Batman; art was alright but think I would've enjoyed it more if I'd read "Batman: Under the Red Hood" and more stories with Damien Wayne; Terry McGinnis is still the other person other than Bruce Wayne who I'd fully accept as Batman

-JLA: Earth-2- Picked up in anticipation for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, but was turned off Frank Quitely's ugly character designs and the lack of a satisfying resolution to the story; my first and, to date, only exposure to Grant Morrison as a solo writer; not new reader friendly at all

-Sinestro Corps War, Part 1- Epic storyline and my first exposure to Geoff Johns and what he's done to the Green Lantern mythos; particularly like the fight between Kilowog and Arkilo

-Superman: Brainiac- Very strong Geoff Johns Superman story, with awesome art by Gary Frank and very sad ending

-Superman and the Legion of Superheroes- Another awesome Johns-Frank Superman story; appreciation of it was enhanced by watching The Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon around the same time and getting to know the legionnaires through that show

-52, Volume 1- Intriguing storyline making me interested in characters I otherwise wouldn't give a shit about like Ralph Dibny and Renee Montoya; looking forward to Volume 2!

-Sinestro Corps War, Part 2- Suffers a bit from me not having read the first part in a while and the art is kinda weak in the eighth issue, but still a good follow-up to Part 1; ending makes me interest in picking up Blackest Night

Those are my two cents; spend them as you will.

[Koete]

-JLA: Earth-2- Picked up in anticipation for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, but was turned off Frank Quitely's ugly character designs and the lack of a satisfying resolution to the story; my first and, to date, only exposure to Grant Morrison as a solo writer; not new reader friendly at all

I won't argue your point about Frank Quitely since I know he's very much a love him or hate him artist (I love his work, but will admit JLA: Earth-2 has my least favorite art of his), but what did you find lacking about the resolution and how was it not new reader friendly?

[SuaveStar]

-Battle for the Cowl- Picked up because I wanted to see if I liked Dick as Batman; art was alright but think I would've enjoyed it more if I'd read "Batman: Under the Red Hood" and more stories with Damien Wayne; Terry McGinnis is still the other person other than Bruce Wayne who I'd fully accept as Batman

I would say if you want to see Dick as Batman and see it done well, try and read the first volume of Batman and Robin (Or just get the first three issues) that will let you see him in the role, and done really well. Although you've said you don't like Quitely, his art there is awesome.

BFTC was a crap story with great art in my opinion. My main problem with the story was Daniel was setting up a bigger arc in those three issues of the main story, and the rest felt forced, and the ending was just lame.

I've only recently gotten into comics and didn't pick up my first DC book until 2008, so my comments might be a little shallow

I got into comics fully in 2007, mostly Batman shit, before I joined E-2. So, comments still count no matter how long you've been a fan.

Also, you should do a tally list, like some others (like myself) are doing, to give you a running total, and an idea of how much you've read in the entire year.

[You Know Who]

-JLA: Earth-2- Picked up in anticipation for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, but was turned off Frank Quitely's ugly character designs and the lack of a satisfying resolution to the story; my first and, to date, only exposure to Grant Morrison as a solo writer; not new reader friendly at all

I won't argue your point about Frank Quitely since I know he's very much a love him or hate him artist (I love his work, but will admit JLA: Earth-2 has my least favorite art of his), but what did you find lacking about the resolution and how was it not new reader friendly?

Maybe "not new reader friendly" isn't the right term, but it still felt as though this wasn't the first time we'd seen them before in the series. As for the resolution, I was expected a big-ass battle between the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate, rather than the former just going into the latter's world and putting them in check, but I suppose the book was too short to allow for that.

[Koete]

Maybe "not new reader friendly" isn't the right term, but it still felt as though this wasn't the first time we'd seen them before in the series.

The Crime Syndicate from Earth 3 was introduced back in the Silver Age, but this was the first appearance of the modern Crime Syndicate (which blends ideas from the Silver Age and an earlier anti-matter Crime Syndicate).

As for the resolution, I was expected a big-ass battle between the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate, rather than the former just going into the latter's world and putting them in check, but I suppose the book was too short to allow for that.

It wasn't a big drag out fight, but there were fights on the positive-matter Earth between the Syndicate and League. Besides that, it isn't a story about a standard superhero team vs. supervillain fight, but establishing that the old adage of "good always triumphs over evil" is an actual law of reality in the DC Universe.

[You Know Who]

good triumphing over evil is a known law of reality within the DC universe? I'm sorry but that's really LAME

O, and forgot to add DC: New Frontier to the list of comics I read this year; fantastic book

Trade paperback count: 10

[dc20willsave]

good triumphing over evil is a known law of reality within the DC universe? I'm sorry but that's really LAME

Trade paperback count: 10

But it makes sense. The heroes always win in the end and Lex Luthor is the closest we get to a Karma Houdini among the villains. But, in a later Crime Syndicate story, they do establish that due to the events of JLA vs Avengers (a crossover that's in continuity, what?) the laws were changed up so good doesn't always win on New Earth, evil doesn't always neccesarily win in the anti-matter Earth. Both stories are pretty good (Kurt Busiek wrote both.)

[KnightWing]

good triumphing over evil is a known law of reality within the DC universe? I'm sorry but that's really LAME

Is it, though?

Think about it. When have you ever read a superhero story in which evil actually won? I'm not talking about in the short term; I mean overall.

Superman will always defeat Lex Luthor. Spider-Man will always defeat Doc Ock. The Fantastic Four will always beat Doctor Doom. It's a law of virtually EVERY superhero story, not just the DCU.

The DC Universe is a place where the literary laws of storytelling become literal laws. Ideas and concepts are actual entities unto themselves.

It's actually pretty brilliant.

[You Know Who]

good triumphing over evil is a known law of reality within the DC universe? I'm sorry but that's really LAME

Is it, though?

Think about it. When have you ever read a superhero story in which evil actually won? I'm not talking about in the short term; I mean overall.

Superman will always defeat Lex Luthor. Spider-Man will always defeat Doc Ock. The Fantastic Four will always beat Doctor Doom. It's a law of virtually EVERY superhero story, not just the DCU.

The DC Universe is a place where the literary laws of storytelling become literal laws. Ideas and concepts are actual entities unto themselves.

It's actually pretty brilliant.

What incentive do you have to read ANY story if there's a law within the universe dictating that the hero will eventually win??? You expect it to happen but it being stated within the work does give you any reason to care about whether the hero succeeds or not.

But anyway, we're getting off-topic...

[KnightWing]

What incentive do you have to read ANY story if there's a law within the universe dictating that the hero will eventually win???

For the same reason you read any story despite the fact that you know the hero will win in the end. It's not about the fact they win; it's about how.

[Koete]

What incentive do you have to read ANY story if there's a law within the universe dictating that the hero will eventually win??? You expect it to happen but it being stated within the work does give you any reason to care about whether the hero succeeds or not.

It's speaking what is unspoken in superhero comics. I see no difference.

[Molly]

What incentive do you have to read ANY story if there's a law within the universe dictating that the hero will eventually win???

For the same reason you read any story despite the fact that you know the hero will win in the end. It's not about the fact they win; it's about how.

And you don't know that the hero will win, you only know that the villain will have to fail. I mean, Supergirl and Barry Allen didn't exactly beat the Anti-Monitor, did they? But the side of good still triumphed, despite catastrophic losses.

[Dread]

Hard Looks: stories adapted from Andrew Vachss into comic form in a nice black and white anthology of crime stories. A little uneveven. Liked the inclusion of text pieces of new stories by Vachss. A bit of a mixed bag but interesting nonetheless. 7/10

Hotwire: Deep Cut #2: Somewhere this became one of my favorite minis of the year. Steve Pugh is a God. I also have a feeling that Warren Ellis has even less to do with this volume than he did the first. Why you ask? It's better. 9/10

Abattoir #1: An interesting, creepy first issue. I liked it a lot. 8/10

The Dylan Dog Case Files: I wish i lived in Europe. I can read French. Comics are so much better over there. Smart, funny, creepy and sexy. Goddamn. 7 graphic novels/700 pages/ best horror comics around. This is a great marker because if you don't like this then you can officially be removed from my social circle. 10/10

Comic books: 262

Trade paperbacks: 57

Graphic novels: 4

Omnibuses: 9

[Venneh]

Nextwave (all of it): More awesome than you could ever hope to be. FUCK YEAH out of 5

[Missy]

Nextwave (all of it): More awesome than you could ever hope to be. FUCK YEAH out of 5

Post of the Day!

[Dread]

Fall of Cthulhu volumes 1-3-Volume 1 is one of the best Lovecraftia stories put to comics. Volume 2 is a mess but a little necessary. Could have been done much better though. Volume three is oh snap good. Very good.

Alpha Flight Classic Vol. 1-Been a long time since I've read this. Classic for sure. Fun stuff that I really miss. Byrne's art has never been better than when he's drawing Puck in action. Buut, one thing I've never noticed until this read: he calls people from Newfoundland "inbred." Not just inbred but so inbred that they are so used to deformities that no one bats an eye when a green skinnned amphibian girl is born from a golden egg. Wow.

Our Fighting Forces One Shot: a pretty stock Losers story. Not as charming as Kirby's stuff. Great art but I have officially never read anything I liked from B. Clay Moore.

Weird War Tales One Shot-Mixed bag at best. Darwyn Cooke's segment should have been silent. I can watch skeletons fighting all day if it's drawn by him. But the writing is so stupid it diminishes him in my eyes.

The Walking Dead 77,78-Well, alright! Didn't see that coming. but that's kind of the MO. So, I did see it coming.

Comic books: 266

Trade paperbacks: 61

Graphic novels: 4

Omnibuses: 9

[Molly]

Question Quarterly #2: I really, really did not care for this. Denny's normally flawless dialogue was stilted, the plot was unengaging, and characterization was weak, what with Vic deciding he's okay with killing people out of nowhere. Cowan's art is the worst I've seen from him, too. 3/10

[Molly]

52: The Covers: Not strictly a comic, per se, but there's more storytelling in one of these covers than some books have in a whole year. I love Jones' commentary, as well.

[Koete]

Batman: Nosferatu and Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon OGNs - The other two in the trilogy of Weimar cinema inspired Elseworlds. Compared to the first, these two go far from the source material. This isn't inherently a bad thing, as you don't want a note for note adaptation, but some of the changes went against the points of the original films. Overall, while Ted McKeever's art was still great, they were a bit disappointing

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #3-6 - This series was a mixed bag. I enjoyed issues 2, 5, and 6, but 1, 3, and 4 left me a little cold. I think the main problem was the issues being oversized. The alternate timelines probably could have sustained a normal length comic, but with the oversized format, they dragged at times. I did like the backstory on Dr. Hurt and the connection to Final Crisis though, particularly how dense issue 6 was. The art was mostly good, though marred by a few artist changes and fill-ins. Not a terrible series, but not the best Morrison has done on Batman.

Batman and Robin #13-16 - On the the other hand, these four issues were some of, if not the best, writing Morrison has done in his Batman opus. The first arc of B&R was great, the second not so much, and the third and fourth were good. His final arc on the book, however, was fucking incredible. The Joker, Damian, Dr. Hurt, and the resolution to plot points established earlier on the title were written perfectly. Especially The Joker, I fucking love how Morrison writes The Joker. Morrison's fantastic story is matched with equally fantastic art from Frazer Irving. I know there's been some debate about his work on the forum, but for my money, he's one of the best artists working in comics today. His depiction of The Joker is now one of my all time favorites. After this arc, I'm disappointed that Morrison is leaving the title and I hope that Batman, Inc. is going to be able to match the level of quality he's set.

Total

Comic Books: 100

TPBs: 4

HCs: 1

Graphic Novels: 4

Manga:

Atlas #1, The Authority #2, Avengers vs. Atlas #1-4, Batman and Robin #7-16, Batman: Nosferatu OGN, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-6, Boondock Saints: In Nomine Patris #1, Brightest Day #0, Casanova #1, Chew #1, Chimichanga #2-3, Cowboy Ninja Viking #3-6, FCBD Atomic Robo, FCBD Doctor Solar/Magnus, FCBD Iron Man/Thor, FCBD Iron Man: Supernova, Fist of Justice #3-5, G.I. Joe European Missions #3, The Guns of Shadow Valley Convention Preview, Hellblazer #25-26, The Indomitable Iron Man, Invincible #1, Joe The Barbarian #1-5, Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1-3, Marvel Must Haves #1, 3-4, 9, 15, Marvel Must Have: Vengeance of The Moon Knight, Morning Glories #1, Mysterius The Unfathomable TPB, The Mystic Hands of Dr. Strange, Orc Stain #1-4, Pinocchio Vampire Slayer OGN, Proof #1, Sam Slade RoboHunter #27, Savage Dragon #1, Scalped #1, Secret Origins #50, Spider-Man: Fever #1-2, Spider-Man/Human Torch: I'm With Stupid Digest TPB, Superman's Metropolis OGN, Thor by JMS Vol. 3 HC, Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1-3, Time Twisters #2,8,15,17,20-21, Weird War Tales #3, Weird War Tales #1 (2010), WildCats #1, Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon OGN

[SuaveStar]

Batman and Robin #16: What a great ending to the series, answering what RIP really meant, and the art by Cameron Stewart really tried its hardest to be Quitley, while still being awesome on its own. The Irving pages that didn't feature the Joker weren't as good, but all in all a great issue. And sadly, the perfect place for me to drop B&R, as I was only on for the Morrison issues. I can see this book taking a big hit in sales in the coming months with others feeling the same way.

Return of Bruce Wayne: Well, that's a mini series of my life I'll never get back, I think I only really enjoyed two issues of this series (them being 1 and 3) the rest, I didn't really get. Something about this issue just didn't really rock my boat, as much as it was something I was just reading, and added a little to Batman and Robin 15. I am trying hard not to say it was good, but nothing special, but really at the end of the day, this comic and the whole series was just that.

Knight and Squire #2: Knight and Squire go against a bunch of Morris dancers who are a cult. Why didn't I find this completely awesome? Cause it took for fucking ever for them to face them, and then it felt like Cornell noticed he only had two pages left for a comic, so he had to rush to a really weird ending. Art was awesome by Jimmy Broxton, which was the highlight. Not as good as the first issue, as I feel that was better paced, but still a fun comic. One complaint with the art is one of the pages looks badly photocopied, like off a photocopier, with the ink blurring a little, and being noticeably darker than the rest of the book.

Red Robin #17: Well, I guess I'm going to be in the minority that didn't really enjoy the big moment of the issue, no matter how touching it was. Issue was a not bad way to end the teams first arc on Red Robin, which involved cutting in the Road Home shite, but still, it was enjoyable. Art by Marcus To was awesome, he really is making this book his.

Trades: 17

HC:1

Comics: 173

GN:0

Omnibus: 1