Comics: The Weekly Rundown (was Heroes Con 2006) (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

Which brings me to gripe. Secret War has a "Dossier" issue that appears to be a bunch of text about the characters, as opposed to having an actual plot function to the story. Anyone else feel ripped off iwth these? Earth X, Paradie and Universe X all had issues like this as well.

Marvel's been putting out a bunch of Western titles this summer, and I've been buying every one of them. If my LCS is any indication, Marvel won't be doing it again. My store gets two copies, I buy one, and the other remains. Anyway, I bought one called Western Legends sight unseen, and it turned out to be nothing but text. That's $4 that could have been better spent, but I guess I'll get around to reading it one day.

 

[Ruz-El]

I'm awiting for the ineveitable TPB of the Marvel westerns.
That's the nice thing with the manga wave of the last few years. Nearly eveything I want to get get's collected into a TPB to try to sell it to manga fans. Like HATE 1-20 is available in original B&W in a nice manga size collection.
It's pretty sweet.
Uhm anone know the reading order of Pulse/Secret War?

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Late review:

Detective whatever: Dini's first issue was the level of work I expected, and it's nice having 11 more of these to look forward to. Self-contained, faithful, and smart. A great stand-alone issue, and a good time to jump into Batman.

I am also collecting many of the Absolute Books:

Kingdom Come is being released this month, so keep an eye out for it. The Dark Knight Saga next month (includes DKR and DKSA), and The New Frontier later this year. Amazon has good prices on these collections, if you have the budget for them.

I know this is now our weekly discussion, but let's get to know one another.

My collection started with G.I. Joe #25. One year later, I added my first superhero comic, X-Men #195. I stayed Marvel for a few years, until the Batman film hit 17 years ago. I was not a speculator, but I'm one of the fans that made Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, and Whilce Portacio stars. The 90's soured me slowly, Kingdom Come brought me back, and then Onslaught killed my interest. The 90's also brought a new level of narrative awareness; DKR, Watchmen, Sin City, Hellboy, etc opened up to me. In the early 90's, I cared who was drawing it. Now I care who is writing it. Though I still admire and follow the better artists.

I don't own any super-valuable floppies. I do own some premium hardcovers (all of the Astro City HCs, DKR: 10th Anniv. HC, Kingdom Come; HC, JLA/Avengers: HC, Hellboy's Red Leather HC. I own no original art (yet).

I'll work on these as well:

Favorite single issue (ongoing series)

Favorite storyline (ongoing series)

Favorite storyline (open to anything)

Favorite limited series

Favorite cover (ever)

Favorite page (ever)

Any other categories? Geeky, I know. but this is a comic thread, you nerds. Let's at least be social.

 

[BrettGallman]

Cool idea, Chuck.

I really can't remember my first comic, but I know that I got into comics after seeing Batman in '89 when I was about 5 years old. It was the first movie I ever saw in theaters.

I do know that my first favorite series was X-Men, and the earliest issues I remember having is from the Inferno and X-Cutioner's song era. The first big comic among my friends and I was X-Men #1 in '91, with Jim Lee on pencils. Everyone had that thing. From there on, I never missed an issue in Uncanny or X-Men until about '98, I think. Other than that, I'd collect a few other titles on the Marvel side of things.

As for DC, I got into Superman with the Death of Superman, and Batman with Knightfall, and collected both off and on ever since.

Other than that, the only non-Marvel or DC titles I ever picked up were Spawn and WildCATS because I was a huge McFarlane and Lee fan.

After Onslaught, I pretty much dropped everything in terms of picking it up regularly. I did keep up with the "Twelve" storyline in X-Men, and part of Morrison's run. I got back into things on a regular basis with Identity Crisis and the House of M storylines.

Favorite single issue (ongoing): a tie between X-Men 25 and 30. The former was the issue of the Fatal Attractions arc where Xavier mind-wiped Magneto, with the latter being the marriage of Scott and Jean (which has been pretty much tainted the last few years).

Favorite storyline (ongoing): I guess Age of Apocalypse would go here. It wasn't really a mini-series because it was an alternate timeline.

Favorite limited series: Dark Knight Returns was here for a long, long time, but it's been replaced by Earth X. Absolutely wonderful story.

Favorite cover: This is a tough one, so I'll go with one from recent memory: Astonishing X-Men #6, featuring the return of Colossus.

Favorite page (ever): I think it was Superman 82 that featured the return of the real Superman. I love the page where he gets his powers back and destroys the Cyborg.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Favorite cover ever? That's easy:
http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/imag...mazing/039.jpg
My copy is in better condition than the one in the scan. I go cuckoo for the homages to that one, too.
I'll do my comics history later.

 

[Ruz-El]

really cool idea! Here I go!!
My first comic would of been an Archie comic of some sort from my adult, hillbilly 2nd cousins. I collected a little Batman when the movie came out, but became die hard in the 90's w/Death Of Superman and Nightsfall. Since then, I've mostly been a DC guy, although I drifted away from Superheros for more indendent books, than kinda drifted back to super heroes lately.
Favorite single issue (ongoing series) - Promethia 13(I think) in which Alan Moore describes the history of the world, magic, and a linear storyline, using the first 20 odd tarrot cards in a deck as reference, in RHYME. And it makes sense. And the art is fantastic. AND it's funny.
Favorite storyline (ongoing series)- I really liked Knightsquest I think, when Azbats went ape shit and sarted killing guys. I know alot of people hated it, but it was pretty sweet. All that Zero Hour stuff was pretty good.
Favorite storyline (open to anything) - Promethia is right now the one that comes to mind. It started as a homage to wonderwoman, and sort of shifted into an almost biographical history of magic, and than changed again to be a almost study of how all that fits into the act of actually reading a comic. While still being entertaining.
Favorite limited series - Kingdom come/Watchmen/Dark Night Returns.
Favorite cover (ever) - Dark Night #2, when Batman is all kick assy.
Favorite page (ever) - That Ultimates issue where Captian America kicks the hulk in the balls. It might be my favorite moment as well.
Another Question: DC or Marvel? (BE POLITE!!)
I always liked DC more. The heroes just seem more iconic. The charm of the Marvel books for me is the human element, in that they are very much like us. DC's characters just deserve more respect, as they are like Gods and seem more ready for business. It's fun when Spider-Man shows up to lend a hand, but when Superman shows up, you know some serious shit is going down. I just like the more epic/mythic feel of the DC universe.
As an aside, like Brett, I loved, LOVED Earth X, only to be baffled by Universe X, and completely miffed by Paradise X. I'm guessing it's because I never really followed Marvel, so I didn't know who any of these characters where. The dialog was like Clint talked to Tony and they went and saw bruce who...". I was all like" Who? Who are these people? Are they X-Men?" Yet, I still liked the books.
Most surprising book? 1602 mini-series by Gaiman. It soundedlike a bad idea, and ended up being a wonderful story.

 

[BrettGallman]

I've always been a Marvel guy myself, just because I liked more characters. For example, I love Spider-man, Captain America, the Avengers, the Hulk, and of course, my all-time favorite, the X-Men. I'd rather read any of these characters than anyone in DC besides Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. This probably stems from the fact that I read a LOT more Marvel as a kid. Outside of Batman/Superman/GL, I never read much DC, but had a passing knowledge of the characters.

However, I'll say that in the past few years, I've started to like some of the smaller DC characters more. Like Elongated Man, Captain Marvel, and Countdown to Identity Crisis made me a fan of Ted Kord (the Blue Beetle).

I still need to read Marvel 1602. I see it all the time, and just haven't gotten around to picking it up.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm feeling really old reading these replies...

 

[Ruz-El]

Does it help if I say I own almost all of the EC comics reprints???
I've actually been enjoying the 60's reprints from marvel and DC. One of the best books I read last month was a digest sized Sgt. Rock collection.

 

[Andy Sheets]

It's actually annoying. I've been trying to find a good HP Lovecraft anthology for a while, but all I can find are comp books with 2 lovecraft stories and than a bunch of other authors writing their own stories. I ended up just downloading the complete lovecraft poems and stories.

Probably the most inexpensive way to get most of Lovecraft's best work is to get the three paperback volumes from Penguin, which have the corrected texts.
Favorite single issue (ongoing series): Tough choice but I think I'll go with...I always forget the number but it's the Ditko Spider-Man issue that climaxes the Master Planner storyline. The one in which Spidey is stuck under all that machinery, injured and hopeless, yet somehow manages to lift it off his back, escape the undersea lair, and save Aunt May. I wouldn't complain at all if they wanted to adapt this one for the movies
Favorite storyline (ongoing series): Dark Phoenix saga. It never fails to hold up for me.
Favorite storyline (open to anything): League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The whole thing really plays to my particular reading interests while telling a great story in its own right.
Favorite limited series: From Hell.
Favorite cover (ever): I'll say Frank Frazetta's cover to Creepy #1. Just because it's Frazetta
Favorite page (ever): Probably that one page in Kirby's OMAC, in which OMAC somehow manages to slug seven guys with only one punch

 

[TonyD]

Favorite cover ever? That's easy:
http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/imag...mazing/039.jpg
My copy is in better condition than the one in the scan. I go cuckoo for the homages to that one, too.
I'll do my comics history later.

that link doesnt work but i'm guessing the cover to amazing #39.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Yeah. I guess spiderfan has some kind of script that won't allow you to link images. Here's another scan that blows my copy away in terms of grade:
http://www.samruby.com/AmazingSpider...der-Man039.jpg

 

[Greg_S_H]

My first encounter with comics came after I cut my lip on the edge of a table in the first grade. A teacher took me to a local clinic to get stitches, and bought me a Slurpee and a comic book on the way back to school. I don't remember what it was, but I want to say it was the X-Men. After that, I read some generic war comics, the Star Wars adaptations, and a book called Beyond the Black Hole, but I wasn't really in the scene. The first time I actively sought out a comic book at a comic book shop was when G.I.Joe 11 came out. It was heavily advertised on TV, the cover was cool, and I was a G.I.Joe fan already. I loved it instantly, and was completely blown away a little over a year later when issue 26 hit the stands. I think that pair of Snake-Eyes origin issues still ranks among my favorite comics of all time. I didn't buy any comic other than G.I.Joe for many years, and it was the only title to which I ever subscribed. My subscription ran out with issue 37, which was when I got out of comics for a while--a pattern that has continued throughout my comic reading life. Typically, I get out at the worst possible time--right before something big and soon-to-be-expensive hits.

Anyway, I happened to find myself in a comic store a few years later, and I saw the cover for G.I.Joe 55. Cobra Commander, Destro and Snake-Eyes unmask! It turned out to be a tease of a cover, but it got me back reading for probably the best run I ever had. I soon saw the cover to Web of Spider-Man 33, and that pushed me firmly into the Marvel Universe. From there, I was reading every MU title, while buying as many Spider-Man and X-Men back issues I could. Back then, all but the earliest Amazings and Uncannys were affordable, and I made a lot of headway. I can't say for sure when I quit comics that time, but I do know it was shortly before the McFarlane Spider-Man came out. I came back not too long thereafter, quit again, and came back in time for the Clone Saga. I stayed all through that--and, I'll admit, though I disagreed with some of what they did, I overall enjoyed it--and quit again a year before the titles were canceled and restarted. Went back to comics for the Devil's Due G.I.Joe, but only started reading Marvel titles again about three months ago.

By now, I know your eyes have glazed over, so I'll wrap this up. I definitely prefer Marvel over D.C., to answer one of the questions.

 

[BrettGallman]

I find it interesting that so many of us have left comics for a period of time, only to come back. Does anyone else really regret it, like I do sometimes? I start thinking about it, and I realize that I could have the entire run of X-Men (vol. 2), a title that almost has 200 issues now. I know there's always back issues, but still.

 

[nolesrule]

I think the first comic book I ever owned was the comic adaptation of Superman III.
The book that got me into comics was Spawn #5. A friend gave it to me, and it got me into the LCS. That was about the time DC killed off Superman, which pulled me into those titles. I was mostly a DC guy, getting into Superman, Batman and Green Lantern. I went on a break (like many of you from about 1998 until 2001. I got back into comics when JMS started writing Amazing Spider-Man.
I sold off most of my comics from the 1990s, only keeping a small amount of the books, and the only title I still collect from my first go-round is Spawn. I have every issue except #99. Other titles I used to collect were DC's Star Trek titles, Image's The Maxx, ShadowHawk, various Spawn spinoffs, & Dark Horse Star Wars series. Now, I don't buy nearly as much as I used to, and other than Spawn, Transformers books, ASM and Fantastic Four, I don't really purchase mainstream titles. I got into Nexus thanks to the Dark Horse run, and I've picked up about 75% of the back issues pre-Dark Horse.
My wife likes to read some of my comics. She reads 'True Story, Swear to God' and my trades of Bone and Sin City.
Oh, if anyone has a copy of Spawn #99 that they want to part with, let me know. I've been looking for it for ages.
And I finally picked up a trade of V for Vendetta today. Looking forward to reading that one.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Does anyone else really regret it, like I do sometimes? I start thinking about it, and I realize that I could have the entire run of X-Men (vol. 2), a title that almost has 200 issues now. I know there's always back issues, but still.

Definitely. I was a big X-Men reader--have most everything from Dark Phoenix to issue 300--but the number of issues I missed is just insurmountable. It was bad enough having to fill in the missing 8 years of Spider-Man, and I'm not willing to do it for a title that is now convoluted and confusing to me. I also regret that I stopped right before Ultimate Spider-Man, but I'm finding that's not as bad to catch up on as I feared it would be. The first one will run me between $100 and $200, the second about $50, but everything else is okay. There are a few other early ones that are usually pretty expensive, but my LCS has them cheap to begin with, and I think I can make a deal for them. If nothing else, they periodically have 40% off sales. Assuming no one gets them first. . . .

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I do read Astonishing X-Men, and it's sometimes quite good. I gave up on the main X-titles after Onslaught, and I'll NEVER go back When I left, the writing was terrible, the continuity in shambles, and my interest in the toilet. I loved X-Men for years and years, but they eroded my goodwill and interest. Letting go was liberating. I do want to check out the Morrison run sometime.
I grew up Marvel, but morphed into a DC boy. I'm not particularly loyal to one or the other, but Quesada (as EIC) seems content to hype everything, recycle plots done better by others, and make crossover events the priority. Marvel is still making some great books, though. And I love Quesada the artist. But not the decisionmaker or salesman. So for now...DC. More iconic characters, more writer focused. They have their own problems admittedly.
I'll answer what I can...I'm still thinking on the others:
Favorite limited series: The Dark Knight Returns
I didn't get it in high school. But I did in college. Probably one of the greatest concentrations of narrative power I've ever seen. I love movies, books, comic books...because I love stories. DKR is one of the best stories I've ever read. It's full-on mythology by a writer at his best. I maintain to this day, if adapted well for a film, the fourth act would absolutely blow the back of the theater off. The downside is plenty of hacks learned the wrong lessons (about Batman, Superman, and vigilantism) and it paved the way for the "grim and gritty" shitpiles that infested the stores for years. It took a decade for Marvels and Kingdom Come (both strong runners up to this tome)to undo that. But that wasn't Millers fault.
Watchmen was more seminal, and I consider Moore the finest writer the medium ever saw. He's brilliant in a way the best novelists are. But Watchmen doesn't have that visceral response for me, even though it's genius is no less impressive. But DKR has the icon of Batman at the center. Like LOTR in the fantasy genre before it, it was so big and so good, everything after followed in it's wake.
Favorite storyline (ongoing series):
I also love the Dark Phoenix saga. It defined Marvel comics. Completely. But oddly enough, 1986 (year of DKR and Year One) provided my favorite ongoing comic storyline...also by Miller Born Again is sympatico with why I love comics. Philosophically and narratively, it's gorgeous to read, gorgeous to experience, and I revisit it pretty often. You could never have read Daredevil and pick it up. It's a character study, and a great one.
More later,
Chuck

 

[Andy Sheets]

I don't recall the first comic I read. I vaguely remember tagging along with my brother to the house of one of his friends, and this guy had a room that was drowning in comics. Comics falling off the tables and chairs, piled on the ground in huge mounds, hanging from the walls...collectors would have been aghast. I remember digging through all that and reading some 70's X-Men, some Star Wars, and this Godzilla issue in which Godzilla was shrunk to human size and was disguised in a trenchcoat and fedora.
After that I sort of picked up some here and there over the years, such as when the black and white boom started and my friends and I were into Elfquest and TMNT. I finally started buying them weekly in the mid-to-late 80's and I haven't really stopped since, although these days I'm more likely to get them in a mail order every month instead of actually going to the store

 

[Ruz-El]

Does anyone else really regret it, like I do sometimes?

Everyone I know who's into comics seems to have the regret bug. I collect for the stories, so I don't have the inflated back issue prices blues, as I'm happy with reprints, TPBS and (a little ashamed) illicit means.
Speaking of prices: I can understad a hot issue going up in price a few weeks after relea because of demand, but I call bull shit on the price of a book being $15 on day of release. I'm seeing it more and more, particularly with Civil War books. this is one of the other reasons I'm not collecting them, I'll wait for the TPB.
I picked up my months worth of comics! From memory:
Schizo #4 (6 years in the making??? Crazy)
Supreme : The Return - Alan Moore. I relize that this is a continuation of "Story Of The Year" TPB, so I guess I'll seek that out tonight.
Showcase Presents: Elongated Man (never read a story of his before) and "Haunted Tank" (dido)
Squadron Supreme 5 (I think)
Apocalypse Nerd 3
Eternals 1
Oldboy 1 (Manga version inspired the movie)
Crying Freeman 2 (Dark Horse Manga that's a little on the porny side, but so far not bad)
Path Of The Assassin 1
samurai Executioner 10 (final book!)
Golgo 13 vol 3 (I'm a little pissed at these reprints, but the stories are great so what ever.)
Pussy! Dan clowes TPB, Re-done.
Americas Best A-z "T" (I'm happy to say I own every Americas Best Title, just top notch comics work all around)
I think that's it. Now I got a book a couple weeks vacation to get caught up.

 

[BrettGallman]

Russell, I don't really have inflated back-issue blues, as you would put it, as I'm more than content to get reprints or trades of stuff I missed. It's just that in my case, there's a lot of stories that aren't collected that way. That, and I'd be pretty damn proud of a collection that spanned 15 years. I have pretty much no interest in going back and getting every single issue now, unless I just had wads of cash to blow. I've only gone back and gotten issues of storylines I'm interested in, just like you said.
Chuck, what did you think about The Dark Knight Strikes Again? It was one of those stories I found myself buying when I was pretty much away from comics. I don't know if I'd call it disappointing, but it wasn't up to the quality of DKR. I thought Superman was poorly written, especially; then again, it is a sort of Elseworlds tale, so it's not really the Superman of main continuity.
Oh, and I'll throw in another one of my favorite storylines ever: Days of Future Past. I don't know how I forgot to mention that one in my earlier post.