What Did You Read - October 2008

[dancj]

This week I have mostly been reading:

Outsiders v6: Pay as You Go - Another good volume. This is definitely a better book without the likes of Jade, Starfire and Captain Marvel Jr.

Simon Dark v1: What Simon Does - Very nice. I find Steve Niles a bit uneven, but this was good moody work with perfectly suited art from one of those Hamptons. If anything it was a little too quick to reed (but you know that going in with Steve Niles)

Brit v1: Old Soldier - Good Kirkman goodness! Does anyone know if the post-Kirkman stuff is any good?

The Horror of Collier County - Not a bad creepy story here. I just can't help feeling that this is the sort of thing Charles Burns or Dan Clowes would have done much better.

[torippu]

Brit v1: Old Soldier - Good Kirkman goodness! Does anyone know if the post-Kirkman stuff is any good?



I'm reading the book and am enjoying it. However, please note that I am certified Kirkmaniac so I may be looking at it through rose colored glasses. With the shipping delays, I do think that reading the first arc in one sitting is probably more enjoyable than waiting for the next issue to ship.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

I just finished reading "Brit" Volume 2, coincidenally enough. I liked it. It's not as great as "Invincible" or "Walking Dead," but if you're a fan of the Kirkman Universe, I think there's a lot to enjoy there.

Right now, I'm in the middle of reading "The Astounding Wolf-Man" Volume 1 and "Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller" Volume 1. (Still in the book of stories not written by Miller.)

-Augie

[dancj]

Thanks for the info on Brit. I'm a TPB man so delays won't be a problem for me.

Augie - Glad to see you've finally got round to Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller after about 5 years! I thought even the first book written by Roger McKenzie was good, and it only gets better with volume 2 when Miller starts writing.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Dear God, I'm in the middle of the issue where Foggy gets married. I'm pretty sure it was a fashion nightmare even in 1979.

And in the span of a few issues, DD has already pushed one lover away and is mere issues away from losing the second.

-Augie

[Limited edition]

Augie what do you think about wolf-man?
I have all the comics but I'm also thinking about buying the HC. Is it worth it?

[torippu]

Augie what do you think about wolf-man?
I have all the comics but I'm also thinking about buying the HC. Is it worth it?

Has a HC been solicited yet for this? I'd be interested in seeing which format Kirkman goes with first. I jumped onboard the HC express with the release of the first The Walking Dead Omnibus. Then got the Invincible Ultimate Collections as that was the only format available at the time. In hindsight, I really wish that I would have waited a while longer for the Invincible Library as this is one series that I'd really love to have in the gigantic format.

[torippu]

Groo: Hell on Earth #1 ~ 4 - Have I outgrown Groo? Was the allegory too heavy handed? For some reason, I didn't enjoy this series as much as I thought I would.
Invincible #52~53 - Oh how I love this book. Good to finally see some Titan & Isotope action. The colors are really starting to grow on me.
New Avengers #45 - Purty art from Jim Cheung (when isn't that the case?). The big problem is that I neither remember nor care about the original House of M mini-series.
Savage Dragon #137~138 - Yay to Erik for pumping out 2 issues of Dragon in the span of 1 month. Didn't like the coloring in 137 (unless that is how The Amazing Joy Buzzards book is colored) and loved the coloring in 138. Erik's in the latter issue was the best that it has been in a while. If this comes out on a regular basis from here on out, I will be a mucho happy reader!
Ultimate Spider-Man #126 - Great issue!
War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33 - Is that the real name of the book now? Good to see Sean Chen drawing guys in armor again. When did Rhodey's face get so effed up? Looking forward to the next issue.
Invincible Iron Man #5 - After last issue, was thinking of dropping the book. Now I am back in. A really good issue. Although, can someone tell Frank D'Armata that Maria Hill's hair color is black and not light brown?
Captain Britain & MI:13 #5 - Happy to be done with the Secret Invasion tie-in. Fun reading that is only going to get better. Nice fill-in work from Pat Oliffe. How about that last page splash?!?
Captain America #42 - This is the end? It was good but I was expecting an epic finish for this epic arc.
Ms. Marvel #31 - A throw away issue...except for the last line on the last page. Can't wait to see where that leads!
Nova #17 - Is it bad that I am a comic nerd from the '90s but don't care at all about Darkhawk?

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Trip - No word on Wolf-Man hardcovers yet

-Augie

[dancj]

New week...

Fantastic Four: Foes - This was a fun story from Kirkman. I was a little bit nervous after how bad his contribution to Captain America: Disassembled was, but this was much more in line with things like Invincible.

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia - Decent (if unspectacular) story from Greg Rucka. Decent (if unspectacular) art from J G Jones. Decent.

Scandalous - Decent McCarthy witch-hunt story from J Torres. The story felt a bit directionless at times though and the ending just came out of nowhere and ended it all a bit abruptly. Still worth a read though.

Black Cherry - One of Doug Tennapel's less convincing works. He just doesn't feel at home doing gangster stuff with swearing and the like. That was also a bit of an uneasy fit with the Christian stuff that Tennapel always throws in. As always there is a decent story behind this, but the religious stuff always gets in the way of me enjoying it quite as much as I otherwise could.

[torippu]

New week...

Fantastic Four: Foes - This was a fun story from Kirkman. I was a little bit nervous after how bad his contribution to Captain America: Disassembled was, but this was much more in line with things like Invincible.


I think that the art from Cliff Rathburn helped to give it that Kirkman feel.

[dancj]

Yeah - I never went back to check, but it looked very similar to the art in the second half of the Brit TPB.

[torippu]

Yeah - I never went back to check, but it looked very similar to the art in the second half of the Brit TPB.

Oh yeah - I had completely forgot that Cliff drew the last one-shot after Tony Moore. Cliff's art in the Vol. 2 is pretty solid as well but I am probably loving Nate Bellegarde's art more.

[torippu]

Atomic Robo Volume 1: Atomic Robo & the Fightin' Scientists of Tesladyne - Oh my goodness, this was as AWESOME as I had heard! Great art, crazy fun time-hopping stories and a wise-cracking robot - what more could a comic reader ask for in a book?!

[DF2506]

I need to get that Atomic Robo #1 trade sooner or later...

STILL waiting on the Proof #1 trade I asked my comic shop guy to get for me last month...

Anyway, yesterday I read:

Ender's Game #1: Really good. Seems like a straight adapation dialogue wise. The artwork is very unique and interesting. Kind of an animated style. Sort of. I like it though. I think it fits the comic. Hopefully, Ender's Shadow (next month) is cool too.

Savage Dragon #138: Haven't read the backups yet, but wow. The main story was pretty cool. I was a little lost cause I haven't been keeping up with recent issues, but man, Erik's artwork was awesome this issue. I love those double-page spreads! Plus: the coloring was VERY good.

I'd say I liked Ender's Game #1 the best, but Savage Dragon was cool too.

I saw the Stand & Dark Tower at the comic shop, but I'm waiting on trades.

I need to get that Dark Tower: Long Road Home hardcover. Hmm. Maybe for Christmas? :)

DF2506

[torippu]

I need to get that Atomic Robo #1 trade sooner or later...


It was very hard for me to leave the first 2 issue of the new mini-series on the comic book store shelf yesterday. I'm going to try and wait for the trade for this book from now on...

STILL waiting on the Proof #1 trade I asked my comic shop guy to get for me last month...

I ordered PROOF and PHONOGRAM this week from instocktrades so I hope to see if these books live up to the hype of the iFanboys soon.

Savage Dragon #138: Haven't read the backups yet, but wow. The main story was pretty cool. I was a little lost cause I haven't been keeping up with recent issues, but man, Erik's artwork was awesome this issue. I love those double-page spreads! Plus: the coloring was VERY good.

Agree. 138 was Erik's best art in a long, long while. The lines were very clean and the coloring popped off the page. I'd love to see the colorist join the book permanently. I was so excited about Dragon after reading the last 2 issues that I am contemplating a complete re-read of the series. Reading that many single issues is a significant task so I need to clear out some of the trades from my reading pile first.

[torippu]

The Walking Dead #53 - I love it when this book introduces new characters! Also, loved the last page cliffhanger...although I hope that it is a swerve. I really don't think that it is a necessary for this book to continue on successfully.
Venom: Dark Origin #3 - The art (especially the 3 or 4 double page splashes) from Angel Medina was excellent. Not sure that the tweaks to Venom's origin (it seems a little different from what I remember when Michelinie & McFarlane introduced him in ASM#300) are something that I am ready to buy into just yet.
Invincible Iron Man #6 - Larocca's art for the suits of armor and buildings is outstanding. His people still are too photo referenced for my tastes. I'm also still very much annoyed at the coloring for Maria Hill's hair in this book!
House of M Civil War #2 - A surprisingly good mini-series so far.
Supergirl #34 - Nice art from Jamal Igle - I'm sure that he will only get stronger as his run continues. Not sure that the new status quo for the book is going to keep me around. I'm going to read some of the issues through the "New Krypton" arc and then make a final decision on whether it is worth my time and money.
Nightwing #149 - Lots of blood in this issue. Excellent art from Don Kramer - the tag team art team on this book rocks! Amazing to think that I will soon have 150 issues of NW in my collection.
Cyblade Pilot Season #1 - With the new series starting up, I wanted to give this book a read as (for some reason) I have fond memories of Cyberforce. This issue didn't get me as excited to read the continuuing adventures of Cyblade as the Casey/Maguire Velocity one-shot did with that character.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Read TOM STRONG Volume 1 this morning while watching over sleeping baby. Ah, it's good to be a Daddy sometimes!

-Augie

[torippu]

Read TOM STRONG Volume 1 this morning while watching over sleeping baby. Ah, it's good to be a Daddy sometimes!

-Augie

Definitely the best time to read comics with a newborn. Of course, at some point the parents need to take a cat nap as well!

I read SIREN #1 ~ 3 today and really enjoyed it. Bummed that I missed out on this book when it was first released (how about those ads in the back of the book?) but very happy that you were able to spotlight it in a recent column. I think that this is my first exposure to both J Torres and Tim Levins and I now feel the need to seek out some of the other books that they have worked. We've got The Copybook Tales, some Batman animated comic and what else?

[dancj]

Leatherjack - From the pages of 2000ad. Meh... John Smith can write some great stuff, but just as often his stuff falls flat for me. This didn't grab me.

Water Baby - Woohoo - a Minx book that isn't about a Korean-American schoolgirl! Whodathunkit? That said we do see in about one panel that the main character's dad is Asian so maybe she is part Korean. As for the book, it was like a lot of Ross Campbell's stuff in that nothing much happens, but somehow I find it compelling all the same. I'm still into his stuff for now and his art is fantastic, but I might start to get tired of his writing soon.

Catwoman: It's Only a Movie - Decent stuff. Not much more to say than that.

The Flash #243 - The last issue of Tom Peyer's short run which stands out as a beacon in the sea of mediocrity that was the last couple of years of The Flash. It's a shame Peyer's gone now.

Fused: Think Like a Mountain - Whoops - I accidentally read volume 2 first. The first half seemed quite similar in tone to Concrete (only without the mind-numbingly-boring part), and then went into the obligatory (and more than a bit silly) action for the 2nd half. Quite enjoyable overall.

Batman: Jekyll & Hyde - Paul Jenkins annoys me. He's a decent writer, but he has this habit of writing stuff that feels like it should be much better than it actually is. This was a decent Batman story, but nothing special. Sean Phillips was an inspired choice to take over from Jae Lee halfway through though. You can see the jump, but they maintain the same mood. Out of curiosity, is Two-Face's ugly half of his face back to green now? I thought it was read/purple in the post-COIE DCU.

[torippu]

Action Comics #870 - The big death at the end really did nothing for me but I am really looking forward to New Krypton. Gary Frank's art is the perfect compliment to Johns' scripts (no surprise there).
Green Lantern #35 - I'm as big a Geoff Johns fanboy as the next person and am constantly amazed at his ability to tell a flashback story while incorporating elements that will be seen in future story arcs but this origin story was a little too long. Bring on Rage of the Red Lanterns and The Blackest Night!
B.P.R.D. - The Warning #4 - All out action issue! This arc has been really, really good and this book has been so good that it is slowly creeping up into my Top 5.
Y - The Las Man Vol. 1 ~ 3 - 1/3 of the way through my re-read in anticipation of finally getting to read the ending.

[dancj]

Fused: Canned Heat - Volume 1 of the comic I recently read volume 2 of. Not bad. The jump to Brian Templesmith art for the final issue was very jarring though.

Daredevil (Brubaker) v3: Hell to Pay v1 - The first issue in this book was completely pointless to anyone who's been reading Daredevil for years and doesn't need a catch-up. From then on though it's great stuff.

Daredevil (Brubaker) v3: Hell to Pay v2 - More great stuff. The quality of this Daredevil series has just been consistently high through all of the main writers.

Kissing Chaos v2: Nonstop Beauty - Meh. This feels more like a snippet of a story than a whole story in its own right. There is something I like about the art, but there's not enough to keep me reading. This is going to eBay.

Hey, Wait - Quite a tragic story from Jason. Good stuff, though I didn't quite get the ending.

[torippu]

Last day of the month...might as post something:

Y: The Last Man Vol. 4 ~10 - The last volume was the only new one for me and it was really, really good! I avoided all spoilers when issue #60 was released so I went into it not know what happened. The final fate of a couple of characters was heartbreaking...almost brought tears to my eyes. Pia Guerra's art was outstanding from the beginning but was superb by the end of the book. I'm now really torn about whether or not I should get the HC for my bookshelf - did anyone pick the first book up?
Guardians of the Galaxy #6 - I love this book so much...but could do without the covers. The latest one had nothing to do with the insides of the book. Why won't Marvel let Pelletier do the covers? Arrggh. That would be my only complaint.
Dynamo 5 #17 - solid issue with a nice backstory on Maddie.
Invincible #54 - What's with all the gore in this book recently? The double page spreads over the last couple of pages was some outstanding stuff from Ottley.
Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #3 - Hmm, I read this twice and both times was a little disappointed. Still can't wait for The Flash: Rebirth next year. Still think that Kolins' art looks best with an inker.
Amazing Spider-Man #573 - Ended a little too easy for our hero. The art from JRJr was good, although looked a little rushed in spots.
Secret Invasion #7 - Chaos reigns (the storytelling was a bit disjointed in the beginning) with Clint Barton finally picking up the bow & arrow. Still enjoying and looking forward to the conclusion.

[Tim Levins]

SIREN #1 ~ 3[/B] today and really enjoyed it. Bummed that I missed out on this book when it was first released (how about those ads in the back of the book?) but very happy that you were able to spotlight it in a recent column. I think that this is my first exposure to both J Torres and Tim Levins and I now feel the need to seek out some of the other books that they have worked. We've got The Copybook Tales, some Batman animated comic and what else?

Glad to hear that you enjoyed Siren! The only other projects J. and I have have worked on together are a short story for Jay Faerber's Noble Causes: Extended Family, and the very recent DC Comics miniseries, The Family Dynamic. The former may be tough to track down, but the latter's third issue was released just last month!

TIM

--

[pmpknface]

Yesterday I sat down and read Paul Pope's HEAVY LIQUID and totally loved it!!! The color pallate is a bit like an issue of Cassanova, but the design work is unreal. You're totally living in another reality when you read one of Pope's works.

I highly recommend picking this up. I was reading the recent HC that just came out. AWESOME!!!

[dancj]

I didn't really like Heavy Liquid. The art was great though, and I still feel drawn to Paul Pope's stuff in the hope that I'll find something I like.

I went through the same thing with Brian Wood and eventually found DMZ which made it all worthwhile!

The Big Book of Grimm (bathroom book) - Supposedly uncensored adaptations of the Brothers Grimm stories, but a few of them seemed a lot tamer than the versions I'd heard about - Sleeping Beauty is the one that springs to mind. Still it was a decent enough book, though I think it would have flowed better if they'd halved the number of stories and doubled the length of each.

Punisher War Journal v1: Civil War - I wasn't taken with this for the most part. The final issue with the wake was good though - and at the moment that final issue is the only thing keeping Matt Fraction in the list of people whose work I'm still willing to try (see Paul Pope and Brian Wood above). My biggest issue with this book though is the outragous decision to include a black and white reprint of the first issue at the back and reflecting that increased page count in the cover price. Why on earth would anyone want that?

Spider-Man: The Death of Jean DeWolff - I'm sure this was shocking in its day. Something like 25 years later it's not so outrageous. Still not bad, but Peter David writes much better stuff these days.

Astonishing X-Men v3: Torn - Decent story - if unspectacular. John Cassaday's art is passable, but I can't see the huge love he gets.