Books i read lately

[The NZA]

I've recently picked up New X-Men - while i dont like Frank Quitely's art like Wizard does, Grant Morrison's still a great writer (JLA, The Invisbles - a vertigo book loosely adapted into The Matrix).  Fun, smart team stuff, like X-Men hasnt had in a long-ass time.  The team's just Wolvie, Beast, Cyk, White Queen & Phoenix but its suprisingly good, new villians & everythin.

My regular stuff, tho:

-Ultimate Spider-Man: Some of the best dialogue and pacing ive seen in a comic, and Mark Bagley's still my favorite Spidey artists. This shit's so good, ya dont notice its been 20 issues and he's fought like 3 people, maybe.

-Ultimate X-Men: Artistic is right that Wolverine shouldnt be 6', but otherwise, a good book gettin better each month. The Weapon X stuff was great; last month's book was my favorite of the series.

-The Ultimates: Only 2 issues out so far, but no complaints at this point. #1 is a Captain America "Saving Private Ryan" type battle scene, lotta run.  

-Ultimate Team-up: The artist changes ever arc, but this book is conistently good.  The Punisher/Spidey/Daredevil Teamup was badass, and the joke issue of Fantastic Four was fuckin hilarious.

-Amazing Spider-Man: J. Micheal Strazinsky can do no wrong.  New villians, some of the best Spidey ive read, and ive read tons.

-The Hulk: Also featurin new writing and John Romita Jr's art, new creative team started only 3 issues ago but its gettin interestin.  This one looks promising.

-Green Arrow: Kevin Smith is quickly becomin one of the better comic writers out there, pick this one up before its prices go through the roof, if they havent already.  This one's worth it just to see Smith write the JLA in some issues.

-Powers: Brian Micheal Benids is a machine, doin this many books a month. This is his flagship one tho; the usual great dialogue in a supehero crime story.  Surprisingly good.

-The Red Star: Doesnt show up too often, but its a really good fantasy/war book, lot of its own mythology behind it & excellent digital art.

-Bone: This bi-monthly classic is in its final story arc, i believe.  Ive never seen such a lighthearted book go epic so seamlessly, if you enjoy fantasy and humor, this might be a favorite.

-Rising Stars: Today's equivalent to Watchmen: how a real superhero team would exist in today's society.  Phenomenal, wish it'd show more often tho - damn movie rights are holdin it up.

-Midnight Nation: Along with Rising Stars, also by Strazinsky.  This guy used to do Babylon 5 episodes, apparently...anyway, he's very innovative, new ideas are all over these books.  Borth books are lookin to end in a year or so. Anyway, this is a short tale of a cop whose literally lost his soul & has to travel to the other side to get it back; sounds cliche, but i assure you its not.

-Transmetropolitan: Sadly in its last year...Warren Ellis' opus tale of a bastard journalist against a corrupt President, amongst other things.  Political, yet funny/nasty as shit.  Not for the light hearted, but a great fuckin book that more folks oughta be readin.

-Hellblazer:: Written by Azarello (Banner, 100 Bullets), this one's the best its been since Ennis wrote it.  Dark, moody stuff as usual: current storyline has investigators lookin into who killed John Constantine (!).  

 

You must read:

-Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again: Miller's second go at it doenst feel like milkin a sequel at all; its one book shy of finishin, but damn, the last book made me think if it keeps this pace, it might just end up on par with the original.  If youre used to Lyn Varley's art (300, Dark Knight Strikes Back), this book'll really shine.

-Origins: Yeah, i know, im a huge Wolverine fan, but fuck this is some really amazin shit comin from Marvel.  4 of its 6 books are out, which is killin me how theyre draggin their feet to tie it up, but then again, take your time - each book has been a blast.  Paul Jenkins (Vergito, amongst other things - think he won an Eisner once) is carefully allotin a new secret each issue, some huge, some more subtle.  The direction he seems to be goin in makes the character 10x better, for me....Adam Kubert (favorite Wolvy artist) dont hurt the book either.

 

Less recommended but still OK:

-Wolverine: Sweet merciful crap, this one's finally pickin up! Next month, now that Wolverine's lost healin factor (yeah, again), he gets to take on a teamup of Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike & Omega Red....yeah, im a dork & a huge fan of this often poorly written book, but its gettin better again, so im excited.

-Outlaw Nation: Yeah, im just buyin this one 'cause i was 15 issues into it before i realized it wasnt that damn good, and now its just bout to end.  Took it for a Preacher clone, but nah.

-Punisher: Dear god, please put Ennis back on this book. I cant wait till issue 13 when he & Dillon are supposed to return...the first issue after Ennis left, its Frank teamin up with Mr Fantastic to travel back in time to take down Al Capeone...:ill: :ill:

 

Yeah..that bout covers my monthly books, or so.  Still sad Fury's over...so what's everyone else's recommendations? Anyone got books im missin? For what its worth, im curious bout 100 Bullets.

[Mulan]

Wow are we really suppose to list all the books we are currently reading or have read?  Well I'll try to do both.  Don't think I'd go into too much description cause did that plenty.

1. Green Arrow Kevin Smith is a God.  Seeing him on panel just further reaffirms my faith in this man.  He's all about dialogue and dang he's a master.

2.   Ultimate Spiderman, Ultimate Team-up Bendis is just too cool.  Didn't think  a teenage spidey would fly but Bendis knows what he's doing.

3 Bone, Rose Jeff Smith's Epic with little bone creatures and who could forget the great cow race?

4. Amazing Spiderman, Midnight Nation, Rising Stars Hail Strazinsky he's just never cease to amaze me.  

 

I 'm also reading DKSB, Ennis' punisher, origen and Ulitmate X-men.  Whew is that all of them ?

[The NZA]

The idea is just your current books; past favoritres are for another thread(s).

Well, ya got most...but forgot Warlands & Shidima.  I havent read em in a while, but you still seem to be a fan of Pat Lee's fantasy stuff.

[King of Snake]

Well, first of all I never used to buy any Marvel books until those damn whore writers like Bendis, Ennis and Morrison started writing for them and forcing me to buy em. Europe's got a very different comics culture to America's, in America you look for heroes, super-heroes even, to look up to. The European vibe is more about anti-heroes, proof seen in the sort of writing in Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Hellblazer, Judge Dredd....you'll find most of the characters are bastards, hell they even call themselves bastards!

 

Anyway, point is I'm only reading some of the books you've mentioned so far:

New X-Men: Dont like Frank Quitely's art either, Grant Morrison's writing could be better really for the scenes but he's been given a lot of license by Marvel with the plot, which he's doing a hell of a job with.

 

Ultimate Team-up: The Punisher/Spidey/Daredevil arc was pretty good, haven't picked up any of the others though.

 

Transmetropolitan: Reading it in trades, just picked up Gouge Away but I think that only leaves me with up to #36 read.

 

Powers/Hellblazer/Outlaw Nation/100 Bullets: These are ones that I've read some of, fell behind on but buy anyway cos my bro's reading 'em....

 

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again: This was always liable to be a disappointment considering the quality of the original. I think it's a great book but it'd have to do something pretty extraordinary now at this late stage storywise, to be on a par with the original I feel. And by the way, Frank Miller does the art, Lynn Varley only does the colour. This is a big disappointment as Lynn Varley's a fantastic painted colourist but has elected to use photoshop to colour which she doesn't seem to have the grasp of yet.

 

Origin: damn fine book, all I can say! Never read the X-Men comics before but as a kid watched the cartoons and decided when I grew up I wanted claws! As it turned out I invested in wings instead but that's another story...anyway, I always wanted to know where the guy came from, etc., so I picked it up found the story and art great so I'm seeing this one through to the end.

 

Punisher: Like a fool I picked up the Capone one, thought give it a chance, ignored the 'writer of VIP'-type warnings, fuck but was it bad.....I've not read the next though I've bought it, the writer Tom Peyer did a stop-gap story for The Authority when Quitely jumped ship that wasn't bad so I thought I'll give it a chance.

 

 

 

Ennis's current Punisher run's over, Fury's over, Op Bollock too which sucks, Just A Pilgrim will be back soon though. I'd meant to pick up the Ultimates, I'm a big fan of Bryan Hitch's since reading Authority stories he'd done with Warren Ellis, might get it if it hasn't sold out.

 

 

 

What else am I reading? Hmmm:

Grip: The Strange World Of Men: On Vertigo this one, art's very cartoony, the stories extremely strange but after starting with what appeared to be chaotic unrelated sets of characters and a bizarre plot, amazingly it's starting to make sense!? It's only a 5-part mini so that's nearly done.

 

Elektra: Lost track of this one too, keep buying it although I'll probably read my back issues and realise it's shit or something with my luck.

 

Alias: Bendis writing, kinda like Powers, ex-superheroine turned PI. Don't get all the in-jokes, as I said I don't know much Marvel U, still good book.

 

Authority/Establishment: Two superhero team books on Wildstorm, Authority's on an arc that Quitely left them in the lurch for but the art's good. The story's good but the series is in doubt after that finishes next issue. Establishment is a British team, just up to #6 but the story and characters are unfolding well, if playing a little to stereotypes.

 

Fray: A Buffy spin-off on Dark Horse, a slayer of the future that Joss Whedon's co-writing, not bad so far.

 

Lone Wolf and Cub: I tried to get you into this when it started IC, a reprinted manga in pocket sized volumes of about 300 pages each. The epic is 26 volumes long and I'm up to 17. I was very tempted to post in the Wallace vs Maximus thread, "It doesn't matter, if Ogami Itto turned up they'd both be fucked!"

 

Pulp: Manga magazine and anthology, have to say I'm only reading 3 of the stories:

Uzamaki (Spirals) a horror series based on a town taken over by spirals, better than it sounds.

Short Cuts, one-page gags, some lost in the translation but a lot of quality.

Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga: The first thing I read when I get a new batch of comics, this is a mock guide on how to write and draw a successful manga, this is absolutely fucking hilarious, I'll have to scan some pages! A lot of the rules apply to American comics too, amazing how Preacher even follows the 'Shonen manga shish-kebab'!

 

 

 

That's about it apart from saying damn you IC for making me type so much! I really need to get touch typing lessons!

[The NZA]

I'm adding X-Force to my list.  Hadnt follow Milligan before (from Vertigo's Shade: The Changing Man) and im one of the few people at comic cons who dont go for Mike Allered & his Madman, only read its first issue but i just didnt go for the style. Didnt mind when he did Oni Double-Feature with Kevin Smith's Bluntman & Chronic, but just didnt catch me.

Anyway, X-Force is unlike any other X book there; while im still bigger on New X-Men these days, Force feels like hte first Vertigo book in Marvel.  Its really somethin different.  Finally got the last 10 or so issues from when the new creative team jumped on, highly recommended.  A Wolverine guest star didnt hurt, either, as usual.

So anyway, once again, those not readin some of these titles are missin out.

[Saint5 stimpy]

well Im picking up Herobear and the kid the foremention Just a pilgrim hellblazer once in a while DK2 which is why you should never go back to your greatest work origin there not much out there at the moment what i want to pay for

[The NZA]

Yeah, lots of folks seem to be bashin DK2....alright, its not as good as the original, but i dont think anyone expected that.  I still say if it finishes at its current pace, itll be damn close, or at least a lot closer than we expected.

Hey, i had an old thread here bout Dark Knight Strikes Again, where the fuck did it go? Cant find it anywhere....argh.

Guess ill start a new one later.

[shazam2009]

My most recent delivery contained;

 

Power Girl #1: Really enjoyed this hope this gets a decent run

 

Captain Britain and the MI13 #13 Man I am stilll bummed about this getting cancelled, at least they are going to finish the tellling the story they planned to i guess

 

New Avengers #53 Have loved this series right from the start and am glad to see the return of dr strange to the book

 

Uncanny X-Men #510-511 I am still undecided about the current Uncanny X-Men creative team, none of the story arcs since Messiah complex have really grabbed me, though I have enjoyed the brief Magneto cameos

 

X-Force #15 this is just a fun book, love the artwork and the character list and evrything!

 

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #28 Am still enjoying this book, and hope we see more of Mr Teth Adam of over the course of the run

 

Green Lantern #42 What can I say that hasnt allready been said Johns run on this book has been spectacular, roll on Blackest Night!!!

 

X-Men Legacy #225 Have really, really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to see what happens with Xavier from here (Hopefully there will be more appearances by Mags)

[The NZA]

yeah, i hear Legacy X-Men is good again. i dont read JSA or a few others there (i dindt take to Captain Britain, despite the hype) but agree with much of your list, especially Green Lantern, where Johns is running shit.

 

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