What Did You Read - December 2008!

[dancj]

New month - it's been raining a lot here in Blighty so I've only got through 4 books:

Red Menace - Something about Jerry Ordway's art and period pieces makes books feel like they're going to be a slog. This was actually quite easy reading and an enjoyable book though. I always find the McCarthy witch-hunts fascinating so this went down well with me.

Ultimate X-Men v14: Phoenix? and Ultimate X-Men v15: Magical - The first couple of trades in Robert Kirkman's run. So far I can't see why people don't seem to like this stuff - maybe it gets worse. These two trades tell a good story while laying down seeds for some future stuff. I particularly like the last few pages of the Magical storyline which take what appeared to be a bit of a lazy ending and put a nice twist on it.

Caballistics Inc. v1: Going Underground - Occulty stories from 2000ad. Probably good enough that I'll give the second volume a try if I see it cheap enough, but just barely.

[dancj]

Just me? Ah well.

This week:

Charley's War v3: 17 October 1916 - 21 February 1917 (bathroom book) - More excellent stuff. Still highly recommended.

Ultimate Spider-Man v16: Deadpool - I was expecting this to be a light-hearted slapstick book as I always thought that was Deadpool's style (though admittedly I've never read any), so I was a bit surprised that it's one of the darker USM volumes. Still there was no excessive decompression going on here. This book probably had about twice as much going on as the the Ultimate Six tpb had.

Ultimate Spider-Man v17: Clone Saga - One of the better USM stories. I liked this. It was amusing tyo read the introduction by Gerry Conway where he seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that the original Clone Saga is almost universally reviled.

Ultimate Spider-Man v18: Ultimate Knights - Decent enough. It'll be interesting to see the slightly altered status quo and Stuart Immonen art going forward.

As always I'm still getting tripped up by those bloody double page spreads that seem to plague all Bendis books.

[pmpknface]

Man... I'm just trying to keep up with all the new issues I've gotten. I've been slowly getting there, but I still have a TON on new stuff to read.

However at least I'm all mived in to my new house! WOOHOO! So I'll be able to get to my unread stuff soon. Hopefully! ;)

[torippu]

With Christmas shopping and planning for my end of the year vacation, I haven't been able to read as much as I would have liked but here goes:

Secret Invasion #8 - The Skrull stuff was wrapped up too quickly but Dark Reign has me super excited for the post-SI Marvel Universe. I think that I said the same thing at the end of Civil War!?!?
The Walking Dead #55 - Didn't see that death on the last page happening just yet.
Guardians of the Galaxy #7 - Awesome issue! Pelletier's art was outstanding...as usual. Was really hoping for a long run on this book by him but it looks like Marvel has pulled him in favor of the War of the Kings event/mini-series (http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.6324.Tuesday_Q%26A~colon~_Paul_Pellet ier) next year. :mad:
Nova #19 - Another excellent issue. I really need to track down issue #1 so that I can read the first 8 issues of this book.
Savage Dragon #140 & 141 - What is this, 1990? Is Erik trying to emulate his speed from when ASM shipped bi-weekly in the summer? Not that I am complaining...it just means that I need to go back to re-read a bunch of Dragon issues to refresh my memory as to what has been going on over the past couple of years.

[torippu]

Ultimate Spider-Man v18: Ultimate Knights - Decent enough. It'll be interesting to see the slightly altered status quo and Stuart Immonen art going forward.


Stuart Immonen's art has been great and has renewed my enthusiasm for the book. I think that you have some good stuff to look forward to.

[pmpknface]

I could have done w/o the conversational dialogue in SI #8, but honestly I dug it. And that last splash also has me totally psyched! :)

[dancj]

Stuart Immonen's art has been great and has renewed my enthusiasm for the book. I think that you have some good stuff to look forward to.
With the exception of Ultimate Fantastic 4 v2, I've liked pretty much all of Immonen's work so I'm optimistic.

[mgs]

Caballistics Inc. v1: Going Underground - Occulty stories from 2000ad. Probably good enough that I'll give the second volume a try if I see it cheap enough, but just barely.
not sure of the set of stories I read, but there were some 2000AD that i got and Caballistics was one of the stories that i got it for. i remember the art being really good and the story was pretty dark.

[dancj]

Yeah the aret is quite nice and along similar lines to Sean Philips/Charlie Adlard

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Read the Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso Batman story, at long last.

Eh.

-Augie

[pmpknface]

Read the Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso Batman story, at long last.

Eh.

-Augie
Yeah, I thought the same thing.

[kevhines]

Read the Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso Batman story, at long last.

Eh.

To each his own. I loved it. My favorite Batman story in ages. Loved it way more then the Loeb/Lee stuff that preceded it.

[torippu]

Read the Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso Batman story, at long last.

Eh.

-Augie

You really are following through on your statement to get caught up on books that have fallen by the wayside over the years, eh? To tell you the truth, I don't remember how I felt about these issues...don't think that I was too impressed though.

[torippu]

Ultimate Spider-Man #128 - Kind of knew the outcome after reading Ultimatum #1 but the fight between Venom and Carnage was well done by Immonen.
Ms. Marvel #33 - Hmm, last issue was really good and this one was a little confusing. I have no idea if the 2 male characters in the book are well-known or brand new.
Birds of Prey #124 - Loved the cover and quite enjoyed the insides of this issue as well.
Iron Man #35 - The ending to a 3 part War Machine SI story. Interested to see if Rhodey can sustain a regular series.
Invincible Iron Man #7 - Really, really good Spider-Man/Iron Man issue.

[dancj]

Christmas is slowing down my reading...

The Sandman Presents: The Furies - This was passable. Not close to the standard of the better parts of Lucifer

No Dead Time - Quite a fun little comedy from Oni Press. The art took a bit of getting used to.

New Avengers v4: Secrets and Lies - Decent stuff. I know some people think Bendis is completely unsuited to writing The Avengers, but so far I'm enjoying his run much more than any of my (admittedly few) previous attempts.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Read the two volumes of "Chickenhare" from Dark Horse comics. Excellent, fun comic. I need to review this in Pipeline in the next month. Didja like "Bone?" Give this one a shot.

-Augie

[torippu]

Christmas is slowing down my reading...

I right there with you...it seems to be this way every year!

New Avengers v4: Secrets and Lies - Decent stuff. I know some people think Bendis is completely unsuited to writing The Avengers, but so far I'm enjoying his run much more than any of my (admittedly few) previous attempts.

Outside of an occasional issue here and there through the years, I never read the Avengers until Bendis Disassembled them so I have no idea knowledge of what the book should be. I've been happy with the overall product...although the upcoming price hike to $3.99 is going to be a tough to accept.

[torippu]

I'm in re-reading mode right now saving Watchmen for my trip to Atlanta this weekend.

Brit #7 ~ 10 - I'm interested to see how this second arc of the book ends the series. There have been some storytelling problems with the book but overall an enjoyable read. The one question - do I purchase again in trade form so I have 3 volumes of Brit for my bookshelf?
Savage Dragon #133 ~ 141 - Read in one sitting, this is a been an incredibly enjoyable bunch of issues of Dragon. The new colorist has added a new dimension to Erik's art (doesn't look as flat or incomplete) and his rededication to the book since quitting the Image Publisher position has been one of my most pleasant surprises of 2008!
Youngblood #6 - Better late than never. Still enjoying the book although I was reading this issue thinking that Derek Donovan would be a great artist to have on a Kirkman book. Bill Crabtree color influence?
Scalped Vol. 3: Dead Mothers - Such an awesome book. Interesting that we are 18 issues into the monthly series and it seems like only a couple of days have passed in time since the 1st issue. It's going to be a long wait until the next volume is released in Q2 2009! Was it me or did R.M Guerra's art style change a bit from the first two books?

[Abraxas]

Bat-Manga!,a great collection, worth every penny. David Lapham's Murder Me Dead, great romance/crime comic. Savage Dragon Archives books One and Two, finished them in one day, and made not hate Savage Dragon anymore.

[torippu]

Savage Dragon Archives books One and Two, finished them in one day, and made not hate Savage Dragon anymore.

Why would you hate Savage Dragon? Was this your first time reading the book? Did you grow disillusioned with the book in recent years?

[torippu]

Ex Machina Vol. 7 - Ex Cathedra - another enjoyable volume. I particularly liked the one and done issue at the end of the book with the Police Commish.
Criminal Vol. 1 & 2 - Would I be burned at the stake if I said I wasn't overly impressed with these 2 books? While I understand the love and care Brubaker and Philips have put into each issue, I didn't get that "it was so good, must read again" vibe that I get from books such as Scalped or 100 Bullets.

[pmpknface]

Ah... Murder Me Dead is a fav of mine.

Travelling back and fourth from TX I was able to read:

- Parasyte 3-4
- Jack of Fables V 4
- Fables V. 11
- about 1/3 of American Flagg V. 1
- Probably 10-15 issues of various stuff

I've got a stack of recent issues that I have to catch up to, but I don't go back to work until 1/5 so I'll get there. :)

[dancj]

Christmas slowed me a bit, and new year will again, but I managed this lot:


New Avengers v4: The Collective - Not bad. A good sense of build up if maybe a tad over-decompressed. It felt a bit like a Warren Ellis comic in retrospect.

New Avengers v5: Civil War - A decent enough selection of single stories, but it feels a bit like it's treading water. The big surprise for me was Howard Chaykin's apparant inability to draw legs. I don't know if he just had a problem with this issue or if the problem's always been there and I've only just noticed it. I'll have to dig out some of his other stuff that I've got.

New Avengers v6: Revolution - This one didn't really work for me. Lenil Yu can turn out some pretty art, but I'm not sure if his storytelling is up to scratch - some of this book just seemed like a cluttered mess.

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder v1 - Loved it! Jim Lee who normally leaves me cold turned out the best work of his career. This Batman is a really nasty piece of work - and Dick Grayson is possibly even worse! Good stuff!

[torippu]

I did it! One of the goals that I had for my return home to Atlanta was to re-read the following issues that have been sitting in my long boxes at my folk's house for way too long:

Amazing Spider-Man #298~350 - As my first issue of ASM was #283, I really do consider the Michelinie/McFarlane/Larsen run on the book to be my golden age of Spider-Man. Some thoughts: McFarlane's art was definitely a step up from what had been seen previously in the book but it was not nearly as strong as I remember it being when 17 year old Trip read them back in high school. The paper, color and printing quality (I noticed lots of pages were not centered) of those late-80s books was really bad so I think that that had a negative effect of my opinion of the art. Other than soapy, married Peter & MJ stuff, the Webs tour arc and Assasin Nation Plot stuff didn't really strike a cord with me anymore. The Venom stuff was good. McFarlane's rendition of Venom is still the best. It was fun to see the exaggerated evolution of the character's physical appearance as he started to show up every 10~12 issues. Colleen Doran's art between the McFarlane and Larsen runs is still pretty jarring. It's also interesting to note that Todd & Erik drew all of the issues in this run with the exception of two. Larsen's storytelling was very strong from the get go and I still really dig the stuff from the first part of his run (Tri-sentinel, Punisher, Return of the Sinister Six, Powerless) better than the ending (Cardiac, Black Fox/Dr. Doom). The change to a higher paper quality and coloring at the end of these issues also negatively affected the art to me. It was way too bright. Overall, it was lots of fun re-reading these issues...I'm not trying to figure out if I move on to the Bagley drawn issues or if I move to the adjective-less Spider-Man issues by McFarlane & Larsen?