Molly Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 I *had* to add some of Kleist's art, the guy is like Chris Samnee meets Mike Mignola, just stunning stuff: A bunch more from Esquire's Preview of the Cash book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Scare Tactics #1-7: I was a lot fonder of this in my memory. There ARE some strong characters with a GREAT premise, but it never really goes anywhere, or thanks to DC editorial of the 90s (which was shockingly almost as bad as it is now), was never given the chance to go anywhere. Cullen Bunn posted on twitter that his proposal for ST in the New 52 was turned down which both bummed me out and kind of made me happy. 'Cuz I gots me a pitch in my back pocket. Comics: 1152 Graphic Novels: 22 Trades: 46 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 7, 2012 Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 Marvel Preview #1-3: I guess I'll count these as comic books. This was an amazing run of single-themed magazines in the early to mid-70s when Wein and Wolfman ruled the roost. The first three break down as follows: 1-Basically a Chariots of the Gods special based on the popular book series. The highlight is the Man-Gods story plotted by Roy Thomas and drawn by Neal Adams. It's beautiful. It really is. It drones on a little long though. There's interesting "non-fiction" material here about the book series and the archaeological "evidence" to support it. It's a damned shame that there aren't magazines like this anymore. 2-a Punisher special featuring an amazing 50-ish page story by Gerry Conway and Tony DeZuniga. It's pretty amazing, and I THINK it's only the fourth or fifth appearance of the character. One of the first Punisher stories I ever read as I got it in a bundle with a bunch of other Marvel magazines (including the much later published Punisher Magazine with Zeck art) at a flea market as a kid. Also has a Howard Chaykin Dominic Fortune story. It reminded me of why I like that character. Also, a Don Pendleton interview! If you didn't know, Punisher is basically a ripoff of Pendleton's Executioner character. 3-is basically a four chapter Blade graphic novel written by Claremont and drawn (in the first 2 chapters) by Tony DeZuniga. I think this was clearly meant for one of the other mags (Monsters Unleashed or Legion of Monsters probably), but it's one of the least intrusive pieces of Claremont writing I've ever read. Still not great, but fun. Looking forward to reading the rest of these. Blueberry 4: Lone Rider: Fuck these are dense. They're oversized, and reading the 60-80 pages of these books can take a long time as there's on average 10-12 panels on a page with TONS of dialogue crammed in. The visual storytelling is the real star here. Obviously, seeing as it's Moebius and all. I can't read them one after the other, but I'll pick one up every couple months methinks. It's very John Ford pre-Spaghetti stuff. Very cowboys and indians. Kind of nice to read that once in a while to get back to the roots of the genre. Comics: 1155 Graphic Novels: 23 Trades: 46 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 8, 2012 Report Share Posted December 8, 2012 Marvel Age Iron Man - Not a much fun as the other Marvel Age books. Not really enough variation in the stories either. Marvel Age Gus Beezer - Insanely fast read that is rather bland. I get the idea (put the child reader in the story itself), but the main character is just annoying, rather than a gateway. Comics: 86 Graphic Novels: 1 Trades: 189 (1115) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 9, 2012 Report Share Posted December 9, 2012 Shadowman #1: While this is the first issue I liked the most of all the Valiant rebirth, it still doesn't cut the mustard. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm just losing interest in comics. Oh well. I love Zircher's art though. Beautiful stuff. I'll probably grab the first trade, especially if it's at the reduced price that they announced. Marvel Preview #4-6: 4 is the introduction of Star-Lord...and it stinks. 5 and 6 is basically a graphic novel adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles in two parts. I am in no way a fan of Holmes, in fact I'm quite bored of it all. But, this has pencils by Val Mayerik and inks by Tony DeZuniga. Lovely. Bunch of horror ones on the horizon! Huzzah! Comics: 1159 Graphic Novels: 23 Trades: 46 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 11, 2012 Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills - I enjoyed this. Nice to read an X-Men comic when there are not 58 characters, and no one is massively overpowered. X-Treme X-Men - I would say I enjoyed this the most out of the three X-Books of the time. Not to say it is perfect, but this feels like a team, with natural departures and additions. The first half of the series is better than the second, more due to a somewhat aimless feel and Storm. Storm is just a mess of a character during the latter issues, and I don't think I followed the point of her solo story. At the end, I would have liked to see this team stay on the west coast and not be a part of the X-line reshuffle. And since I read the above Graphic Novel because this contains the 'sequel', I feel I should add my thoughts. It wasn't bad, but I don't think it should have been called God Loves, Man Kills II. This takes William Stryker, just a powerfully connected man with the power of speech, and turns him into just another mutant hating man with a gun. And body armor. It just altogether seems false. Add in that when I Wiki'ed him to see if he made any appearances between the stories (no), and I had forgotten that he was the villain in the New X-Men series that I liked. And I just read that, less than six months ago. Just a disconnect in my brain between the original character and what became of him. Comics: 139 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 189 (1115) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molly Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Batman and Dracula: Red Rain, Batman: Bloodstorm, Batman: Crimson Mist: Bar none, the worst Batman comics I have ever read. Doug Moench is a hack, and Kelley Jones should be painting a wizard fighting a tiger on some asshole's van, not drawing professional comics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Ha! Ouch! I like Moench and Jones, but that collection is bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted December 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 I used to love those books. Then I reread them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koete Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 Doug Moench is a hack, His run on Moon Knight disagrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molly Posted December 12, 2012 Report Share Posted December 12, 2012 I'll give you that one, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 15, 2012 Report Share Posted December 15, 2012 Uncanny X-Men #441-474 - Claremont picking up where X-Treme left of, kinda. You can tell he is running out of steam. The real team aspect that I liked in X-Treme is gone by moving everyone back to the school. And House of M killed dead any momentum that the book may have had. I know I felt the same thing with New X-Men, and I am sure it will be the same when I read X-Men. After 75-ish issues of Claremont, I am looking forward to someone else in the X-Universe. Batman: The Brave & The Bold - Batman wearing a top hat riding a dragon. Boom. Comics: 168 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 191 (1127) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 16, 2012 Report Share Posted December 16, 2012 Marvel Preview #7-21: Nearing the end here and the book is as still varied with each issue. Some intensely amazing quality stuff. Some abhorrent lame shit. The later we get, in this bundle anyway, we've already seen two reprints from earlier in the run. Not sure about that. There was an editorial change so I suppose it's possible he saw the pages laying around and thought he could use them, not knowing that they'd already been used. A lot of this series IS a clearing house for stuff they can't put elsewhere. Marvel Tales by Alan Davis: This trade collects a three part Clan Destine story written and drawn by the master Alan Davis across the FF, Daredevil and Wolverine annuals of earlier this year (and an unrelated Thor oneshot by Davis because, fuck why not?). The stories are interesting in that they encompass a big timeline with a certain set of characters that don't end up really interacting much with the general Marvel Universe. In a lot of ways, it fits a lot with what the Clan Destine has already done in the Marvel U. Ultimately, you buy it for Davis, and boy is he having fun! I love him most on the FF and, even though a lot of that annual is based on psychedelics, he doesn't disappoint in this Thing/Johnny tale that sends them back to Woodstock? Crazy. The DD part has one of, if not THE, favorite DD page. Beautiful. The Thor story is great too. The Shadow: The Fire of Creation-The only thing I'd read about this is that Ennis makes the Japanese out to be so despicable , the only saving grace of the story is that you're hoping for them to be murdered mercilessly by our antihero by the end. Now, I've probably been desensitized to Japanese WW2 atrocities more than most (see Philosophy of a Knife, Men Behind the Sun, Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre and Warren Ellis' story in the Hellblazer: Haunted collection; all of which are true stories , by the way, and at least in the case of the films you could take a random ten second snippet and you would see based on real life atrocities that make this story look like a schoolyard bullying event). So, for me, what we have here is The Shadow returns to the far east and stops the Japanese from attaining a MacGuffin that they basically spell out as a MacGuffin. Ennis shows us again why he is the most overrated writer in comics. BUT, Aaron Campbell's art is astonishingly beautiful. Almost to the point where you don't want to read the words. IN fact, you could have cut out 2/3 of the written word form this comic and it would have been better. I'll buy the next trade solely for the fact that I want to see what Victor Gischler does with it. Danger Club Volume One: Death-I bought this on a whim as I think there was an Image sale at DCBS the month this was solicited. And now it's my favorite new comic. To be reductionist, you could call it Watchmen for sidekicks. Or you could just call it a grim coming of age story about a class of super-powered operatives who have to face an extinction level event in world without their mentors. The trade has the first four issues and essentially the first mission with some scant character development. I LOVE the Kid Vigilante character (who is essentially Robin). I love the art as its cartoony but still highly detailed and extremely brutal at times. I'll be buying these trades for as long as they're being put out. Edit: Oh yeah, there's a girl named Yoshimi and she battles robots in the book. Also, the introduction by Matt Fraction is the best thing I've read of his. Comics: 1174 Graphic Novels: 23 Trades: 49 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Avengers Academy #14-20 + 14.1: Great way to handle the Fear Itself spinoff idea by playing off the team's insecurities and using it to both bolster their esteem as well as change the team dynamic completely by the end. I have to say though: I really like Sean Chen's art, but reading two/three issues of Chen and then switching to two/three issues of Tom Raney makes switching back to Chen horrible. I wish Raney was on a solid book. Comics: 1182 Graphic Novels: 23 Trades: 49 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 17, 2012 Report Share Posted December 17, 2012 Uncanny X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire (#475-486) - I really enjoyed this, much to my surprise. Given my general dislike of the Shi'ar, I think I went into this with low expectations. My only real complaints are the inclusion of Warpath and the lack of an ending. Warpath seems like a completely random person to use. And the lack of an ending if more of a lacking of a place to read the further adventures of the space team. Uncanny X-Men: The eXtremists (#487-491) - Solid, but unspectacular. Also, Xavier has been coming off as the biggest douche in this run. He certainly has moved to the dark, dark grey area. X-Men: Endangered Species - I like this, in that it really drives home that M-Day is absolute. There is no way of changing things. Not Science, not magic, not time travel. Nothing. I gives the real feelings of hopelessness that I think will tie into Messiah Complex. Which just so happens to be next on my list. Comics: 168 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 194 (1152) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 X-Men: Messiah Complex - Was not a fan. Again, it just seems like a hard left turn for the X-Universe right when things had momentum. I think reading this now, with knowledge of all the twist, turns, shocks (& and baby chests) made for a rather blah reading experience. And this book just has too many people running around for its own good. At one point, I felt like I was trying to read all 200 remaining mutants at once. In the big end fight, I have no idea who is doing what with who. And I know I said this when I read the Civil War tie-ins, but Layla Miller is just incredibly annoying. "I know stuff". Just shut the fuck up. This vague knowledge shit is not endearing or clever; it is a convenience. Maybe it plays better in X-Factor, but based on my 5 issue sampling, it has put me off from reading X-Factor anytime soon. Comics: 168 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 195 (1165) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc20willsave Posted December 18, 2012 Report Share Posted December 18, 2012 She plays a lot better.in X-Factor. Also, how she knows stuff is fully explained and occurs a lot less now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 DC vs Marvel #1-4: Kind of a mess storytelling-wise, but that's kind of to be expected. It's a weird, mismanaged way that the characters are thrust together and yet it's very cool to see Wilson Fisk buy the Daily Planet. Jurgens pretty much kills this. You either like him or not, but he's kind of the perfect guy to pull this off art-wise as he is kind of the 90s DC house style (when they weren't trying to rip on Image) and he has a fresh Silver Age Buscema to him. All right. Amalgam 1996: Twelve oneshots that, for the most part, are totally awful. Two stand out, and, ironically, they both feature Hydra. It's odd because some of the characters are actual Amalgams like Amazon (Storm/Wonder Woman) and then again, the better ones are just anachronistic (Bruce Wayne Agent of SHIELD). Also, who better on fucking earth to tackle a Captain America/Superman amalgam than Mark Waid and Dave Gibbons? Shit, that's amazing! Time to dig out the next year's stuff. I remember them being worse, but then again, I remember a lot of Amalgam being good... Comics: 1198 Graphic Novels: 23 Trades: 49 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 CSI: Demon House / CSI: Dying in the Gutters - Because I hate myself. The latter is mildly amusing for two seconds to see random comic creators being bags of douche. Comics: 168 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 197 (1175) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted December 23, 2012 Report Share Posted December 23, 2012 Amalgam 1997: 12 issues of a second wave, and it's way worse than the first wave. You'd think Lobo the Duck would be awesome, but it's not. Though, Romita Jr. on Thorion of the New Asgods is beautiful looking. All Access #1-4: THIS was great! Really fun teaming cross universe guys together again with a story far more succinct and contained than in DC v Marvel. Ron Marz is on his game here and Jackson Guice's art is nice. Unlimited Access #1-4: Not very good at all. After this, I need to read JLA/Avengers to clear my palette. Avengers Academy: Second Semester- Love the characters and the story. This series is also some of the best treatment Hank Pym's ever gotten at Marvel. But the inconsistency of the art is grating. Chen, Grummett, Moline and obviously Raney are all great, but back and forth between them from issue to issue is too much. Hellraiser vol 4: Goddamn. Best Clive Barker comic yet, I think. The mythology is so thick. I have to imagine a non-Hellraiser fan/Barker adept may be lost reading these, but as one of those (both of those actually) I LOVE it! Comics: 1218 Graphic Novels: 23 Trades: 51 Omnibus: 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand (#495-499) - Kinda a letdown after Messiah Complex. Not in that this is a light, 'goofy' story. The first issue is what I wanted. X-Men 'disbanded' and everyone doing their own thing. I wanted more of that. Having forgettable fights made this, well, forgettable. I read this about ten hours ago and I was drawing a blank on what happened outside of the first issue. A missed opportunity for some deep character development. Uncanny X-Men: Manifest Destiny (#500-503) - For some reason, I was expecting something more epic. Maybe it was the trade title, but I was thinking EVENT!!~! and I got a short, simple story with set-up for things ahead. The back-up material is simple, but the David Yardin art on the Karma story really stood out. It was donkey ass. X-Men: Manifest Destiny - And this is why I hate these X-Men trades. This collects Wolverine: Manifest Destiny. Marvel, your naming system does not work. Also, would it kill you to have some sort of reading order listed in these trades. I have to use google. You list the available trades on the inside back cover already. Just put them into a damn reading order. Oh, this book is okay. Standard Wolverine doing Wolverine shit, rougher art that fits. Back-up material is back-up material. Comics: 168 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 200 (1194) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 Uncanny X-Men: Lovelorn (#504-507, A2) - I hadn't noticed until this book, but there really isn't a team anymore. It is the Scott & Emma show feat. Wolverine. It should annoy me more (like it did in earlier books), but with the wagon train moving west, I can just go with it. Now Uncanny is the mutant book, more than a team book. As for this story, it is weak. The science team forming is rather paint by numbers. Uncanny X-Men: Sisterhood (#508-512) - I read this earlier in the year, out of context. Reading it now, it is more confusing in a way. Until the villains attack, there is not sense of flow. Wolverine gets bad news that pisses him off. His response is to go recruit Northstar and not track down the people who messed with him. There is a massive psychic attack. No one cares, it is as if it never happened. And I was unaware that Psylocke was missing. If she was, then we just did this. Just sloppy writing. Comics: 168 Graphic Novels: 2 Trades: 201 (1199) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molly Posted December 26, 2012 Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 So, the "Salvation" arc of Preacher is sure... ...different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted December 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 Though I like certain elements of that storyline, it really feels like a lot of filler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molly Posted December 26, 2012 Report Share Posted December 26, 2012 I completely agree. I can't imagine reading it month to month and not seeing Cassidy or Tulip for almost a year. The reveal of Jodie, however, makes it worthwhile, it's just different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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