What did you read? September 2007

[torippu]

It's a new month so it's time to start a new thread.

I read a couple of books last night and I'm really jazzed about what I read:

Wasteland #11 - In the past week, I've gone from not being sure that I'm going to continue reading this monthly to not being able to wait for the next issue. This issue really clicked with me and may not require I re-read of the first 10 issues.
DMZ: On the Ground Vol. 1 - This was so, so, so good! The concept, writing & art were great. I thought that I was going to slowly make my way through Vol. 1 this week and then save Vol. 2 for my business trip to Japan on Friday. Nope - not going to happen! I have a feeling that Vol. 2 will be finished before my head hits the pillow tonight. The only (very minor) quibble that I have is that I'd love to know a little more about the Civil War.

Trip

[kevhines]

now I am re-reading Dan Jurgens run on Captain America.

Solid, fun stuff.

[goman]

It's a new month so it's time to start a new thread.

I read a couple of books last night and I'm really jazzed about what I read:

Wasteland #11 - In the past week, I've gone from not being sure that I'm going to continue reading this monthly to not being able to wait for the next issue. This issue really clicked with me and may not require I re-read of the first 10 issues.
DMZ: On the Ground Vol. 1 - This was so, so, so good! The concept, writing & art were great. I thought that I was going to slowly make my way through Vol. 1 this week and then save Vol. 2 for my business trip to Japan on Friday. Nope - not going to happen! I have a feeling that Vol. 2 will be finished before my head hits the pillow tonight. The only (very minor) quibble that I have is that I'd love to know a little more about the Civil War.

Trip

Can't wait to get back home and pick up that new issue of Wasteland. Glad to hear you enjoyed DMZ, on the plus side, Vol 3 comes out on thursday, so you might be able to pick it up before your flight.

Wishing I had taken your suggestion and brought Savage Dragon Vol 2 with me. Just finished the volume of Essential X-men that I brought with me. Great stuff. Rogue joins the team, Cyclops gets married to a clone, Wolverine almost gets married, and God Loves, Man Kills. Weird to see early John Romita Jr art. His style has completly changed. Paul Smiths art was great though.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Greg Rucka's PATRIOT ACTS novel. Everything else is on hold. =)

-Augie

[torippu]

Greg Rucka's PATRIOT ACTS novel. Everything else is on hold. =)

-Augie

I've decided to re-read CRITICAL SPACE before diving into PATRIOT ACTS. At the same time, I'm going to try and wait for the MMPB. That is, unless a kindly family member decides to send it to me from my Amazon wish list for my upcoming birthday.

[torippu]

Can't wait to get back home and pick up that new issue of Wasteland. Glad to hear you enjoyed DMZ, on the plus side, Vol 3 comes out on thursday, so you might be able to pick it up before your flight.

You were right about DMZ. I'm just about finished with Vol. 2 of it and am ready to proclaim this book as being F***ING AWESOME! (Pardon my French)

I was going to wait and order Vol. 3 from Instocktrades.com once I'd built up enough of a want list to equal $50 to qualify for the free shipping offer but may not be able to wait that long. My LCS may be getting an extra $10 from me this week!

[torippu]

now I am re-reading Dan Jurgens run on Captain America.

Solid, fun stuff.

How long did his run last? Was he post John Rey Neiber/Cassaday MK Cap and Pre-Kirkman/Brubaker relaunch? Or was he post-Waid/Garney/Kubert Cap? I'm drawing a blank here. Of course, that's not very hard to do when the only significant Captain America runs in my collection are the Gruenwald/Lim issues and the Brubaker/Epting/Perkins stuff.

[dancj]

now I am re-reading Dan Jurgens run on Captain America.

Solid, fun stuff.
Heh - when ever anyone refers to Dan Jurgens it's always hand in hand with the word "solid".

For me:
Spider-Man (JMS) v10: New Avengers - This was decent. Mike Deodato's work is a bit varied in quality, but all of it is light years ahead of the tripe he churned out in the 90's. (I've had his and Warren Ellis's Thor TPB kicking around for a while but the ugly art keeps putting me off)
Singularity 7 - Brian Templesmith's post apocalyptic sci-fi jobby. The art is great as always - which it really shouldn't be the way he completely ignores the lines when he's colouring. The story is okay. Fairly slight really but it passed the time.
Wolverine: Origins v1 - Another one that passed the time okay. Daniel Way is taking this story way too slow. If he's going to use so many panels for his action scenes then he really needs to put more panels on a page. Steve Dillon's art is good as always, but he's really completely unsuited to drawing Wolverine.

[kevhines]

after Waid/Kubert was Jurgens/Kubert (Issue #25-50) although Jurgens took over the art in there somewhere.

Jurgens is always described as solid, isn't he? He's also consistent, which doesn't sound like high praise either. But like Jurgens run better then some of Waid's issues (but Waid's best was more fun then Jurgens).

Jurgens wrote a strong super-hero Cap, and a really great super-hero Nick Fury (who is all over the run).

Compared to Brubaker's Cap work where it feels less like super-heroes, and more like secret agents. Not to say that isn't good, its amazing....but its nice reading Cap as a super-hero and seeing it done well.

[pmpknface]

Just finished FRESHMAN vol 2 which was good! I loaned out Vol 1 last week so I can hand this one out now too.

I read X23: TARGET eariler this week. I really liked this, and the current / past time difference worked very well. Some nice holes filled in in X23's life.

I also read the most recent Marvel WHAT IF tpb. Some good stories there! The art on the AoA one was very cool, and the PAD Spidey story was good too. Jeff Parker & Rick Remender also wrote issues which were cool. Glad I got this one as I think it's better than the last What If event.

[De Carabas]

I plan on finishing Critical Space and moving into Patriot Acts tonight.

With the big spotlight on Grendel right now, I've been going back and re-reading old favorites and new purchases.

Grendel: Devil By the Deed HC--This is the third time I've re-read this and I love it every time. Absolutely beautiful art and fascinating story. I can not recommend this highly enough. Love the new colors on the anniversary hardcover edition BTW.

Grendel Archives HC--Interesting to see, *if* you are a Grendel fanatic. Think of your favorite musical band/artist. Now imagine finding a rare studio recording from a time before their first albulm. that is what this is. I enjoyed it as the glimpse into the past, and am glad I bought it, but really wouldn't recommend it to new readers.

Grendel: Devil Tales TP--Original published after Christine's and Brian's stories, this is Wagner's first look back at Hunter Rose. I thought his decision to barely use Hunter made for a great storytelling device.

Grendel: Black, White, & Red TP and Grendel: Red, White, & Black TP--While individual mileage may vary regarding the different artists, I love both of these collections. I felt it was a nice balance of unseen moments/greatly expanded moments with Hunter and then insight into the world of Grendel through the eyes of other characters. Tim Sale's and David Mack's are two that fight for my favorite.

I read X23: TARGET eariler this week. I really liked this, and the current / past time difference worked very well. Some nice holes filled in in X23's life.
I just finished that too. I felt the story was good, but that the art was great! Mike Choi drew his proverbial ass off on this one.

EM

[kevhines]

If you were going to recommend a Grendel collection to a Wagner fan who had never read much Grendel, what would it be?

Now, what if that Wagner fan was me? The only Grendel I have read was the two Batman cross-overs, and one issue of one of the Anthologies.

[De Carabas]

If you were going to recommend a Grendel collection to a Wagner fan who had never read much Grendel, what would it be?

Now, what if that Wagner fan was me? The only Grendel I have read was the two Batman cross-overs, and one issue of one of the Anthologies.

Hey Kevin,
I have three recommendations for you (and anyone else who is interested),

Grendel: Devil By the Deed is the top of the list. Whether you buy the newly released, re-colored hardcover or find the single issue reprint from a few years ago in a back issue bin, this is the one that started it all. It is the story of the first Grendel, the illustrious Hunter Rose. The whole issue/volume is in prose with illustrations, and sadly, this is only Grendel story that is also illustrated by Wagner (so far). If you enjoy this, then move on to the black, white, & red anthologies and keep an eye out for the upcoming Behold the Devil.

Second recommendation is Grendel: War Child TP. This one takes place in the far future and focuses on Jupiter Assante, the son and heir of the world's leader, Orion Assante, and Jupiter's protector, Grendel-Prime. Grendel-Prime is the Grendel that Batman faces in Batman/Grendel II. This was my first Grendel series, so I can vouch for the fact that it is new reader friendly, even though the future it is set in is from the previous two story arcs.

Third, if anyone is curious about the world of Grendel, I highly recommend Grendel Cycle. It was released by Dark Horse when Wagner moved Grendel there, and it serves as an introductory guide to new readers. It recaps every storyline with art excerpts, spending several pages on each arc. I like this a lot more than Marvel's recent Runaways one-shot, because this doesn't use any fictional framing devices (e.g. someone reading a diary), and talks directly about Wagner and what inspired each story arc.

Oh, and Kevin, Paul Grist did the art on Grendel Tales: The Devil in Our Midst TP. Just thought I'd mention it. ;)

EM

[pmpknface]

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544 - Look in the other thread for this one. I liked it, art was awesome, but not much there yet.
INCREDIBLE HULK #110 - This is the coolest story! I'm loving me some Amadeus Cho, and I can't wait for WWH #4 now!
UNCANNY X-MEN #490 - Good stuff. Lots of good X-things happening.
WOLVERINE #57 - Pretty cool. Can't wait to see where this goes. Chaykin's art was ok. A bit stiff, but enjoyable.

[kevhines]

Oh, and Kevin, Paul Grist did the art on Grendel Tales: The Devil in Our Midst TP. Just thought I'd mention it.

well played.

Thanks for the recommendations. Now I know what books to flip through (and probably buy!)

[goman]

I picked up the Grendel: Devil by the Deed HC while I was at the store today. Looking forward to it.

[torippu]

Dynamo 5 #6 - another great issue.
Ms. Marvel #18 - I really like this book although I could do without the focus on Arana.
Amazing Spider-Man #544 - see my comments elsewhere on this board.
Nightwing #136 - Decent issue. Not fond of the art.
World War Hulk #3 - Um, OK. Strange Smash?
Omega Flight #5 - Beautiful art from Scott Kolins and a satisfying conclusion to this mini-series. May have to follow up story in MCP.

Against my better judgement, I did end up bringing some comics with me to Japan. We'll see if I get around to reading either DMZ Vol. 3 or 100 Bullets Vol. 11 in between my busy schedule this week.

[De Carabas]

Fear Agent vol. 1 TP--Re-read in preparation for vol. 2 and loved just as much as I did the first time. If volume 2 holds up to this standard, this will be one of those series I go back and re-read periodically.

Narcoleptic Sunday OGN--Listened to Haun's interview/conversation on Word Balloon and met him at Seattle Comi-Con, so I gave this a chance. Sadly, I was disappointed. the story just never quite pulled together for me. There is a line between the classic elements of a genre and then outright cliche. This crossed that line just enough to make me feel that it could have been a little better.

I picked up the Grendel: Devil by the Deed HC while I was at the store today. Looking forward to it.

Cool! I hope you like it!

EM

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Eric - Having just read through FEAR AGENT Vol 1 and 2, I can tell you that Volume 2 holds up the level of quality from Volume 1. It starts off a little slowly, but it's always fanciful, imaginative, and exciting.

-Augie

[goman]

Cool! I hope you like it!

EM


And, I've finished it. A little short, but mostly just because it was good enough that I wanted more. I really liked the design on it, Wagner's art and text mix together well. I wish the type was a little larger, and I could see someone with worse eye sight than me having a big problem with it. After doing some reading and finding out that Wagner has said some of the other stories will be getting new printings, I'm looking forward to them.

[dancj]

I'm not so fond of Devil By Deed - probably mainly because it's prose.

Personally I think I'd reccomend Grendel Classics as a good entry point.

[De Carabas]

Borrowed from the library, months ago, and have been slowly working my way through:

Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives vol. 1 HC--Great stuff! I really enjoyed this. I was hesitant at first for two reasons. One, it has such a reputation and I was afraid that my expectations would be too high. Two, in direct contrast to reason #1, no amount of high praise can get me to muscle through Golden Age comics. So, I wasn't sure if this would be to my taste. I worried over nothing and wasted time that could have been spent reading these. :D

Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives vol. 3 HC--Enjoyed this one even more than vol. 1.

Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives vol. 6 HC--It's good, but the strips collected in this volume were from when Eisner was in the army, so he had very little to do with them. Good, fun reads, but not what everyone is talking about when they refer to Eisner's Spirit as the high watermark of graphic storytelling excellence.

Sadly, the library system does not have every volume, so the next two I read will be vol. 15 and 16.

I'm not so fond of Devil By Deed - probably mainly because it's prose.

Personally I think I'd reccomend Grendel Classics as a good entry point.

Which story arc is that? Is that the one with a retired Det. Wiggin dictating two previously untold Hunter Rose stories with art by Wagner

With everything being re-packaged from Comico to Dark horse, I have a hard time keeping track of which is which.

EM

[torippu]

Fear Agent vol. 1 TP--Re-read in preparation for vol. 2 and loved just as much as I did the first time. If volume 2 holds up to this standard, this will be one of those series I go back and re-read periodically.

EM

You haven't read Vol. 2 yet? It's goooood (typed in my best Southern accent). I was really digging the art from Jerome Opena in that volume.

[dancj]

Which story arc is that? Is that the one with a retired Det. Wiggin dictating two previously untold Hunter Rose stories with art by Wagner
That's the one.

My actuall favourite stuff is probably the final arc of the ongoing with Tim Sale on the art, but for no apparent reason that hasn't made it into TPB yet

Dan

[dancj]

Thor: World Engine - Meh story - terrible art. Both Ellis and Deodato have improved massively since this was written.
Fables v8: Wolves - This was fun, but not my favourite Fables volume. The wrap-up was a little too neat. That said I reserve the right to change my mind if it turns out to not be quite so neat further down the line. Normally I love Mark Buckingham's work on this book, but his stuff in this volume didn't seem to be quite as good. The decorations at the top and bottom of each page have gone and it somehow seemed a bit average - except when he drew the kids. No-one can draw children as well as Bucky.
Criminal v1: Coward - Good stuff - but then with Brubaker and Phillips working together I knew it would be. I hope the newspaper strip is continued in the next volume.
Utimate X-Men v11: The Most Dangerous Game - Decent enough, but not as good as Millar's stuff on the title and not as good as Vaughan's other work.

[De Carabas]

That's the one.

My actuall favourite stuff is probably the final arc of the ongoing with Tim Sale on the art, but for no apparent reason that hasn't made it into TPB yet

Dan

I am getting sooooooo impatient waiting for Dark Horse to collect God and the Devil and Devil's Reign. They reprinted the single issues over three years ago now, and yet still no trade. Devil's Reign, which is the one with art by Tim Sale, is fantastic, but I hesitate to recommend something that isn't available under one cover. :mad:

EM

[dancj]

Onward...

Billi 99 - Old Tim Sale art - and any Tim Sale art is a good thing! The story was a decent one about the daughter of a Zorro-esque vigilante in the near future (at the time it was written - 8 years ago now) taking her father's mantle to investigate his death.
Ultimate X-Men v12: Hard Lessons - Not bad, not great. Not vintage Vaughan or vintage Ultimate X-Men
Ultimate X-Men v13: Magnetic North - Better than the previous volume, but not massively so - I was looking forward to the Robert Kirkman volumes until I read Captain America: Disassembled (see below)
Punisher Max v4: Up is Down and Black is White - After reading the original slapstick Punisher TPB that Garth Ennis wrote I came to the conclusion that slapstick comedy was the only way to make a Punisher story work for me - but then along came Max Punisher to prove how wrong I could be. This is another great volume!
Captain America: Disassembled - The first three issues of this reprint issues of Captain America amd The Falcon and as far as I can tell have nothing to do with Avengers Disassembled. I feel like I've missed the beginning and end of whatever story is being told here and what I'm left with was just a waste of my time - but then I've never enjoyed James Owsely's writing. The other four issues are Captain America issues by Robert Kirkman who's work I've always enjoyed on Invincible and Walking Dead, but these are just silly. Once again there is no real connection wtih Avengers Disassembled beyond the fact that it happens between a couple of the issues and puts him in a bit of a bad mood for five minutes of the story. This whole trade really is a load of rubbish and is going straight onto my "sell on ebay" pile. (the art was fine though)
1000 Steps to World Domination - This is a fun bit of silliness. Unfortunately the book doesn't list the 1000 steps - or even any of them - but it is quite an amusing read.

[De Carabas]

Captain America: Disassembled
IMO, the whole Disassembled thing was mis-managed by Marvel. There were issues of Waid & Ringo's FF that were labeled as part of Disassembled that had nothing to do with it. From reading interviews & blogs after the event, it turns out that everyone else was supposed to write one of the worst days in their respective characters' life, while Bendis does his thing on Avengers. That way the Disassembled theme is carried on, but the big reveal of Crazy!Wanda isn't ruined should something get delayed or ship before the Avengers issue. Now, I guess that is fine, because lord knows I'm not asking for another "buy three more issues of a different book for the complete story" crossover, but it wasn't really advertised as such beforehand. Thus, the confusion and disappointment that gets exacerbated by the uniform trade dress.

Now, I am a big Owsley/Priest fan, so I'm going to stick up for him here. :p All of the bizarre hallucinations Cap is experiencing and Wanda's behavior were all supposed to tie into her going crazy in Avengers. She was already supporting cast in the book, so when O/P was told of the Disassembled story, this is how he connected his already ongoing story into the crossover. And no, sadly, I can not imagine someone just picking up this trade and understanding just this part of it. It really is the second act to a much larger story.

The Kirkman story just sucked. First thing I read by him after Invincible and boy, was that a harsh comedown.

EM

[De Carabas]

Fear Agent vol. 2: My War TP--Loved it! Love the new penciller, Opena. Some of the humor from the first volume is gone, but in this case, I prefer the more serious approach. Great read and I'm going to chomping at the bit for "The Last Goodbye".

EM

[torippu]

Fear Agent vol. 2: My War TP--Loved it! Love the new penciller, Opena.

EM
I'll admit to being a little worried about the direction of art in the book when it was announced that Corey Walker was leaving. Luckily, Jerome Opena surpassed all of my expectations! He was a very good compliment to Tony Moore - so much so that I may enjoy his pencils more than Moore these days.

[pmpknface]

Yeah, I've been MIA for a week and a half. Actually, I've been on jury duty - and STILL AM! Ugh... I don't like logging in at home, but what can I say? I missed you guys! :) Anyway, I've has a lot of time to read lately, so here's most of what I've read:

LOST GIRLS - ALL 3 VOL'S - wow.... porno-riffic!
PATH OF THE ASSASIN, VOL'S 4-6 - still addictive. Got vol 7 this Monday
SATSUMA GISHIDEN VOL'S 2-3 - Not as action packed as vol 1, but still interesting.
MDP PSYCHO VOL 2 - f'd up stuff. storytelling is still a tad muddy.
APOLLO'S SONG (thats 500 pgs!) - Osamu Tesuka doing some amazing stuff. Going to get his "MW" soon too!
MUSHISHI VOL'S 1-2 - Pretty cool. A bunch of stories about 1 guy. Interesting concept.
ABANDON THE OLD IN TOKYO - Yoshihiro Tatsumi's 2nd Vol. Excellent stuff!
GOTHAM CENTRAL VOL 5, DEAD ROBIN - Cool! Is this it though? poo...
Jack Kirby's 4th World Vol 2 (only 1/2 so far) - This stuff is killer! I hope to finish it this week!

Oh, and every issue from the 12th (which was my BIRTHDAY!) and all from the week before. Yes, I've been manga-tastic!

[torippu]

World War Hulk #3 - Um, OK. Strange Smash?

Wow - it's been a crazy couple of weeks. I don't even remember reading World War Hulk #3 before I left for Japan! May require a re-read before I get to #4 that is shipping this week.

Trying to make a dent into my reading pile:
The Walking Dead #42 - Yep, things were too peaceful the last couple of issues. It'll be interesting to see how our merry band of survivors make it out their current predicament.
Ultimate Spider-Man #113 - 2 issues in and I am already digging Immonen's art on this book. In particular, I love his rendition of the Green Goblin. I can't wait to see his art in an oversized HC.
New Avengers #34 - Did I read that right? Did the Hood shoot Wolverine in the crotch about 14 times in this issue? Does Bendis have a crotch fetish? First Elecktra gets punted there and now Logan gets shot - what's up with that? Otherwise, this was a really good issue. Couldn't really make heads or tails of the last panel on the last page. What is happening to Echo there?
Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #3 - Good stuff as always. The typos (of which I counted 2) still tend to annoy me a lot more you think that they would. In the afterword, Remender talks about this being a love letter to old Joe Kubert war comics - certainly feels like the old DC books (Combat? GI Combat? what was the name of those books) that I used to read at my grandmother's house back in the early 80s.

[panjisudoyo]

I've just re-read Nextwave : Agents of H.A.T.E vol. 1 for the umpteenth time and it still hasn't bored me yet!! I truly regret not getting vol.2 while i had the chance ( the same time i bought vol. 1 ) and now the opportunity is gone. :(
Halo : Uprising # 1 was so-so..Don't know if i'll continue it, though.
And i recently came across Nova # 1 yesterday and duly picked it up..It was great!! That's how a Nova series should be done. There's a big chance that i'll get the Premiere HC when it comes out.
Speaking of which, since Y: The Last Man is only two issues away from its finale, i'll better catch up on getting the TPB's again ( i'm still only on vol. 7 ).

[dancj]

It really is the second act to a much larger story.
Which is exactly what it felt like - which is also why it should never have been in this trade in the first place.

[torippu]

I've just re-read Nextwave : Agents of H.A.T.E vol. 1 for the umpteenth time and it still hasn't bored me yet!! I truly regret not getting vol.2 while i had the chance ( the same time i bought vol. 1 ) and now the opportunity is gone. :(

Has the Vol. 2 TPB shipped yet or are you referring to the HC? If it is the TPB, then I missed this and need to go find me a copy as well.

[torippu]

Ah, the joys of jet-lag - I'm up at all hours of the night with lots of free time to read comics!

The Order #2 - SOLD! I was unsure after reading the first issue but this one was great. Barry Kitson's art, Fraction's words, that crazy cold war era Soviet superteam. Can't wait to read the next issue.
Amazons Attack! #5 & 6 - It's a shame that Pfeifer's and Woods' talents were wasted on this lame mini-series. Didn't really understand why Granny Goodness (I think that is her name) showed up at the end.
Wonder Woman #12 - I sure as heck hope that Gail can save this series. After starting out smashingly, the last 6 issues have been rubbish. An Annual and one more issue and then the "relaunch" begins?
Black Canary #3 & 4 - Well, it ended up finishing the plot points that I expected from the beginning - writing out Sin from the Black Canary storylines and Dinah saying yes to the wedding proposal. Not sure it needed 4 issues to complete this story.
Avengers: The Initiative #5 - Good story. Who is Mutant Zero and why should I care? I'm interested to see who the Scarlet Spiders are under the masks.
New Avengers: Illuminati #4 - This series contains some beautiful art from Jim Cheung but nothing else for me. It took me a while to figure out what the correlation was between the cover and the interiors.

[De Carabas]

Which is exactly what it felt like - which is also why it should never have been in this trade in the first place.
To make matters worse, Marvel collected the series like so:

Captain America & the Falcon vol. 1 TP collects #1-4
Captain America & the Falcon vol. 2 TP collects #8-14

The middle part of the story (#5-7) gets collected in a trade that doesn't even bear the name of the series. Gah!

EM

[torippu]

Green Lantern #23 - You know, everyone is loving this crossover but I'm just not feeling it. Can't really place my finger on it but I'm wondering if it because I am Green Lantern newbie and other than Guy Gardner and John Stewart don't really have a real affinity for most of the characters. The art from Ivan Reis is nice though.
Okko: Cycle of Water #4 - Eh, not sure that this mini-series was worth the $15 I spent on it. ASP books are pricey!
Star Wars: Legacy #16 - a bit of a slow issue.

I've now created an opening where I can start the new DMZ trade tonight. Woohooo!

[pmpknface]

Finished Kirby's 4th World Vol 2! That's like 400 pages this week. And I suqueaked in about 10 other comics in there too.

Working on Path of the Assassin Vol 7 now...

[goman]

World War Hulk #4 I thought was a bit of a let down, perhaps because the first half is built on a plot point from some decades old Dr Strange story and his whole power upgrade meant nothing to me. the second half had some good moments though, and closed on a pretty cool shot. Glad I'm only buying the mini and whatever tie-ins I'd buy anyway. The story in the mini is holding up on it's own.

Suprise of the week has to be The Umberla Academy #1. Ba's art is great, and I think really improves with Dave Stewarts colors over the usual green tint that was used on Casanova. The issue also has the best single line of the week, "Zombie Robot Gustave Eiffel!" That single moment sold the issue for me.

Also flipped through the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special at the store, but didn't buy it. The ending is quite a suprise, but another reason I'm glad I'm not reading the majority of DC titles these days.

[pmpknface]

Working on Path of the Assassin Vol 7 now...

DONE! The last chapter in this one is the first in a next story. I'll end up rereading it whenever Vol 8 comes out. Does anyone know how many of these they are planning on putting out?

[kevhines]

A local comic shop was selling the first 10 issues of Gail Simone's Atom series for 10 dollars. Not a bad deal, so I got it and am going to start reading that soon.

Is this thread called "What will you read?".

[goman]

Read the Dr. Thirteen: Architecture and Morality trade over the weekend. Brilliant!! The most fun, exciting, meta thing I've read in a while. Azzarelo writes some good jokes and Cliff Chiangs art is great. You may not get as much enjoyment if you're not a DC fan at the moment, as the ending is a big meta look at the current DCU. It's a just a totally fun book. Highly recommended.

[dancj]

Punisher Max v5: The Slavers - Probably Ennis's darkest Punisher story yet - and possible his best.
Loveless v2: Thicker than Blackwater - This was a good story again. Good art from Marcello Frusin and Danijel Zezlj.
Crossing Midnight v1: Cut Here - This is quite an interesting start to this series. I'm not fully grabbed but it does show potential. Mike Carey's work tends to have potential constantly just around the corner though so I'm a bit wary.
Legion of Superheroes v2: Death of a Dream - Mark Waid continues to be on top form for this annual Legion reboot. Good stuff

[pmpknface]

Punisher Max v5: The Slavers - Probably Ennis's darkest Punisher story yet - and possible his best.
Loveless v2: Thicker than Blackwater - This was a good story again. Good art from Marcello Frusin and Danijel Zezlj.

I'm with you on both of those. I caught up with Loveless a little while back and I read the MAX Punisher in HC. ;)

Yesterday I read the last 2 issues of REX MUNDI that I had lying around, 6-7. Issue #6 was a flashback story to something that had happened 20 or so years prior to the current story, and I'm not sure how it ties in at ALL to what's going on. But the issues prior and the 1 after are all good. Hell, even #6 was good it was just confusing.

I also read Marvel Zombies VS. Army of Darkness HC. Not bad! It fills in some holes and is a good read, in the same zombie sense.

[panjisudoyo]

Has the Vol. 2 TPB shipped yet or are you referring to the HC? If it is the TPB, then I missed this and need to go find me a copy as well.

I was referring to the Premiere HC ( i kinda collect these ), actually..I picked up the Nextwave Vol. 1 Premiere HC on a whim ( along with a bunch of other Premiere HC's..Around 6 or 7 ) in Singapore and was surprisingly very pleased with it..but now i can't get vol. 2 because they don't have it in my country..Dammit.
Judging by what i have read so far here, it seems that my next trade run should be Fear Agent and Dr. Thirteen : Architecture and Morality.
Oh, and if i get the dough, i sure as hell gotta get me them Lost Girls HC's.

[pmpknface]

Oh, and if i get the dough, i sure as hell gotta get me them Lost Girls HC's.

I think Amazon still has them at a good deal. FYI - Just be prepared for some freaky stuff! I read all 3 books in 1 day and dug it. The art is amazing and the production quality is top notch.

Also, if anyone cares, I found out that (according to wiki) Path of The Assassin should be 15 volumes. So add that tally to the Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima tally of books I own.

28 (LW&C's) + 10 (Samurai Executioner) + 15 (eventually, PotA) = 53 volumes! Multiply 53 x 300 pages per volume, which is conservative = 15,900 pages!!! And I also have all 4 volumes of Lady Snowblood that Kojima didn't draw so you could tack on another 1000 pages or so. I haven't gotten to Crying Freeman... yet. ;)

[De Carabas]

Motley assortment of things I forgot to post this month:

Thunderbolts Presents Zemo: Born Better TP--Really, really liked it! I confess that the end of Nicieza's run on the T-Bolts disappointed me. My preference in Nicieza stories are the more down-to-Earth personal stories, and that's what this was. Great insight into Zemo's character. I will argue that we should have gotten this years ago, as it helps explain his change from villain to hero(?), but it is well worth reading if you have ever had an interest in the T-Bolts.

Sea of Red vol. 1 TP--Liked it. Not as good as Fear Agent, but willing to continue.
Sea of Red vol. 2 TP--Didn't like it. At all. The art took such a nosedive that I had to force myself to finish it. Factor in the increase in story elements that I did not like and I don't think I'm even going to bother with vol. 3. Which I already own.

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, & Thunder Lizards--Wow! Learning can be fun! OK, seriously, this a great read. Like most little boys, I went through a stage of being fascinated by dinosaurs, so I was both intrigued and apalled by this tale. Next time I see Zander Cannon at a con I am going to have to see if he still has pages for sale.

Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception--Another Jim Ottaviani book. I was disappointed with one thing: it is short and I wanted more! To be fair, the title does just say "levitation" and not "all stage magic", but I was so enthralled that I felt let down when there wasn't more. Curse you, Ottaviani! I want more mysteries revealed!

Snake Woman vol. 1 TP--Good, but I'm not sure if it was enough to bring me back for vol. 2. I like Wells, so I'm thinking of giving it one more, but it is absolutely humorless and I like Wells's humor. I do recommend that if anyone has a chance to read it, give it a try. It wasn't bad, just not sure if it was to my personal tastes. Great Gaydos art though.

EM

[torippu]

What an absolutely crazy month it has been. I've been so busy with work that I've got a lot more books on my reading pile than I have had in a long time!

Here's all that I have read in the past 9 days:
Ultimate Spider-Man #114 - All I have to say is that it was awesome. I am loving Immonen's work on this book. Prior to this arc, I had never really enjoyed the Goblin stories but this one seems different. Love the little changes that Immonen/Bendis have made in the appearance of the Green Goblin this time around.

[dancj]

I feel I've been a right moany git in these threads for ages now, but this batch is quite a positive one...

Superman: True Brit - From what I've heard about this I'd braced myself to really hate this, but I actually thought it was quite fun - even though the ending was a bit lame.
Ultimate Galactus v1: Nightmare - Good art from Trevor Hairsine (labelled a "hot newcomer" on the back cover even though he's been around for 10+ years) with a bit of help from Steve Epting (not labelled as a newcomer even though I'd never heard of him before Winter Soldier). A decent story from Ellis which is basically 5 issues of people walking around a cave, but the guy does some of the best dialogue in the business.
Ultimate Galactus v2: Secret - Passable art by that guy who used to do Stormwatch (who's name escapes me). Again very decompressed. Again excellent dialogue.
Ultimate Galactus v3: Extinction - Either decent art, with zip-a-tone stopping me from appreciating it or crappy art with zip-a-tone stopping me from realising it. Either way the effect is passable. Somehow despite all of the decompression Ellis managed to give this quite a satisfying conclusion. One thing I don't get though...
Whose side were the bald clone women one? If they were on Galactus's side they why did the one at the beginning shoot one of the heralds. If they weren't then why did they attack Sheild at the end?
Punisher v6: Barracuda - Another good outing from Garth Ennis. Not as dark as the last few stories, but still not back to the old slapstick. Great art from Goran Pavlov. I didn't particularly notice his art either way in Outlaw Nation, but here he seems to be channeling Alex Toth and that can only be a good thing. (When I first flicked through the book the art looked kind of familiar and maybe a bit European. Then I say the artist's dedication to Alex Toth at the beginning and realised that's exactly who I was thinking of)
Lost Dogs (http://www.jefflemire.com/lost1.htm) - This is a very good quick read, and really sad read. Nice expressive art. All in all recommended!
Re-Gifters - Pretty in Pink meets Karate Kid aimed at teenage girls and no doubt mostly read by 30-something men (like me). I enjoyed this. On the strength of this Mike Carey seems much better at this type of thing than the Neil Gaiman impersonations he usually does. The art was good, though it was a shame that although Mark Hempel is listed as one of the artists, I couldn't see any evidence of his style.