Comic books and Manga Thread

[Johnny Sorrow]

I'm currently reading the book "American Comics: A History " by Jeremy Dauber. It's outstanding and essential reading for comics fans. 

[Ricky Jackson]

I've got my eyes on that one and will probably pick it up or get it for Kindle soonish 

[Shrike02]

I checked out a couple of reviews, and yes, I will likely pick it up too.

[ohtani's jacket]

I made it through all nine issues of the Howard the Duck Magazine. I'm not a fan of Howard the Duck, but I thought it was one of the better black and white Marvel mags. Mantlo is more concerned with continuity than Gerber. He wraps up loose ends from the color series. and even gives characters like the Kidney Lady an origin (which may not please some Gerber HtD fans.) There is plenty of satire, but it's not as outrageous as Gerber's work. There's some obligatory nudity in the early issues, and an infamous bedroom scene between Bev and Howard, but eventually they ditch the adult approach. Howard works as a cabbie in Cleveland for a while, becomes a vampire, returns to Duckworld, and eventually breaks up with Bev. Mantlo had a plan to have Howard become a huge TV star overnight, plummet out of popularity overnight, end up as an attraction at the Los Angeles zoo, and be reunited with Bev, leading to a wedding. However, he quit the series, and they decided to can the black and white magazine. They claimed he was returning to the world of color comics but that never materialized.

The magazine's biggest strength is its art. Colon's work looks better in black and white, and when Colon's not penciling the stories, you get art from John Buscema, Michael Golden, and even a Marshall Rogers Batman parody. There's even a pin-up page by Dave Sim. If you want to read about the further adventures of Howard after Gerber departs then the magazine is the closest thing to the original, and blows other black and white mags like Dracula out of the water. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon Punisher mini-series. I guess Ennis' take on the Punisher character wasn't bad, and Dillon's art was all right, but the sophomoric attempts at black humour were too much for me. 

I also read the re-colourized collection of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer. I normally dislike re-colouring of older comics, but I have to admit it was a pretty good colouring job. I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the quality of Stevens' work. It's just a shame that the stories up and end just when it's getting good. 

Another thing I finished was Terry Moore's original Strangers in Paradise mini-series. This was a series I was aware of back in the 90s but didn't really know what it was all about. The art was slightly more cartoony than I was expecting, but I liked the overall dynamic. I could easily have seen myself picking this series up in the 90s alongside Bone and the other titles I was reading. 

And I also made it to the end of the first arc of John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake's Spectre. I know I've read this series before, but I can't recall if I made it through to the very end. It was so long ago that it feels like I'm reading it again for the first time. I don't entirely love the first arc, but the last three issues are some of the most intense stuff I've read in a while. I guess I had completely forgotten the details of the story because the finale hit me like a ton of bricks and the last panel is flat out amazing. It's a really grim and gritty 90s comic, but the storytelling is uncompromising, especially for a non-Vertigo book.

I finished the 40th volume of Yasuhisa Hara's Kingdom, which marks the halfway point in the series. It was easily the most impressive volume of the manga for me personally. I ran through a gamut of emotions, almost cried, gave the book a clap of applause, was taken aback by the depth of the storytelling, and was overwhelmed that Hara had stayed so committed to the manga for ten years. What I thought was a good manga has now been elevated to the next level. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished reading Planetary, which is very good, excellent even, and the ends. Although, I believe there were delays in real time. I've been looking for something to sink my teeth into. I started reading Fables and Saga. Both are in the world building stage. Fables has a stronger hook given it uses famous fairy tale characters. I'm not how I feel about Saga yet. It's strange reading fantasy characters that speak and act like contemporary adults, but that is very much Vaughan's style. 

Does anyone have recommendations for a binge-worthy book? 

[Reel]

Since I've been enjoying Ram V's run on Swamp Thing, I checked out Paradiso, a comic he did for Image. It only goes 8 issues, and Ram seemed to indicate that he didn't feel like it was successful on a financial or creative level, but I really dug it, and it has me interested to check out some of his other stuff, including a run on Carnage, a character I don't recall care about, starting soon. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I've found a series I can binge read, and that's Fables. I've had a poke around and a lot of people seem to think it's an allegory for Bill Willingham's questionable politics, but to me it's a damn good yarn. I guess when I need something to binge read, I always end up turning to Vertigo. First Preacher, then Ennis' Hellblazer, Sandman Mystery Theatre, and Y: The Last Man. There's this buzz I get whenever I open a Vertigo book that makes me feel right at home. I guess I was a target reader for the imprint, or perhaps it's nostalgia since the imprint was launched right around the time I got into more serious comics. I'm also enjoying Saga. 

The other title I'm reading daily is Ms. Tree, after reading some discussion about it on another forum. Love Mike Tree, don't love duotone. Especially the brown duotone. Blue is okay, but I wish they had stuck with four colors. 

I also read Marvels for the first time (yep, that's right.) Is it the best Marvel comic of the 1990s, and if so, does it bother anyone that the best Marvel comic of the 90s was a reimagining of the glory days instead of something completely new? 

Another mini-series I read was James Robinson's Golden Age. I have no affinity for the DC Golden Age characters, but for some reason I like reading 1990 reinventions of them (Starman, Sandman Mystery Theatre, etc.), which is strange because post-Crisis reboots have been bothering me so much lately. Golden Age started strong but lost steam halfway through. In the end, it wasn't anything that Alan Moore hadn't done better in Watchman and Miracleman. 

[Shrike02]

Yes, I'd say Marvels was clearly the top comic published by the company for the decade, and no, the premise of the story it told did not bother me in the slightest.

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished a few miniseries.

I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League is the final Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLI miniseries. Lots of banter. The plot is secondary but there is some emotional growth to the characters (I imagine it was strictly limited to the Giffen/DeMatteis Bwahaha-universe, however.) Maguire's art is as good as ever.

Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo wasn't the Michael Fleisher Jonah that I know, and the supernatural bent wasn't handled the way I expected, but Truman's art was nice. Jonah looked too much like Grimjack though. 

Sword of the Atom was decent. It felt like a pitch for an ongoing series. Not sure it would've had the legs for that, but as an experiment in turning Atom into a sword and sorcery title, it was pretty cool. I was surprised by how quickly things turned sour between Palmer and his wife. It happens only a few pages in, and it's pretty ugly. Gorgeous art by Kane. I was impressed at the effort Strnad & Kane went to to describe the physical effects of the Atom shrinking. That was really cool. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished Tomb of Dracula Magazine, which ran for six issues. There was no reason for them to resurrect Dracula for this series. At first it seemed like the magazine would continue on from where the monthly series left off, but then Wolfman left, and it became more of a Dracula anthology series (something they could have easily done without resurrecting the character.) Roger McKenzie writes some of the stories, and the last issue is penned by none other than "James" Shooter himself. As with the other Marvel black and white mags, the highlight is the gorgeous artwork from the likes of Colon and Buscema. There's even a quirky Ditko story, whose Dracula has a passing resemblance to Dr. Strange. Tomb of Dracula is one of my favorite Marvel comics from the 70s, and I was surprised to learn that the magazine came out only a month after the regular series ended. Instead of being excited about more Dracula stories, I found the magazine largely unnecessary and not worth reading even if you're a fan of Tomb of Dracula. 

Another comic I want to talk about is Mister X. This comic completely fell off a cliff once the Hernandez Brothers left. I have never read a comic of this ilk (touted indy comic) that crash dived so quickly after such a promising start. There may have been a few that were cancelled, but never one that crashed and burned like Mister X. Others may not agree, but I was shocked. 

I ended up re-reading Concrete: Think Like a Mountain. This was the mini-series where Concrete got involved in an eco-war. I believe it was also a time when Chadwick got heavily into the environmental movement. In terms of Chadwick's craftsmanship, his work was starting to reach new peaks, but the story kept bugging me. Then it kept bugging me that the story was bugging me, like I must be some kind of anti-environmentalist if the story bothers me, or that Chadwick was telling me things I didn't want to hear. I still haven't figured out what to make of it. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Heading into the home stretch with Tomb. This Dracula and the Satan cult/Dracula getting married and having a baby story has gone on for a long time. Title has lost some steam since around 50. Hoping the last dozen issues end things on a high note.

Finished a 50 issue run of 70s FF (103-154). This was up and down the whole way, finishing on a down note with Thundra's long awaited (by me anyway) origin story being, imo, a drawn out 3 issue dud. This was far from Gerry Conway's best stuff, which is funny because at the same time he was writing a pretty good stretch of ASM. Oh well. I fell in love with the Medusa character (running around in basically a bathing suit and with all that red hair, what can I say) after all these years, so it wasn't a total loss.

Still buying and reading a bunch of Dick Tracy, going through New Direction EC (currently Piracy, next Aces High) and other bits here and there. Going to start scratching a Batman itch next week with the new Batman in the Fifties trade

[Beast]

Read through a bunch of Tom Taylor comics this month and INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US is so damn good. It's a tour through the DC Universe as a prequel to the video game of the same name (which I've never played). I guess it was initially released digitally and is collected into two huge omnibuses. 

Joker changes Superman's life irrevocably and he decides to end war, which slowly devolves into him becoming a benevolent dictator. Batman opposes, and all heroes and villains either choose sides or get caught in the crossfire. Each year is represented by 12 issues, and year two introduces the Green Lantern Corps into the fray, while year three focuses on John Constantine and DC's magic characters. I haven't read years four or five yet as Taylor steps down as the main author, but I will soon. He returns for INJUSTICE 2 anyways, so I'm curious enough to keep going and it's likely I'll eventually pick up a copy of the video game.

I read a review that said this series (though not in the main DC continuity) featured all-time character moments for figures like Dr. Fate, Green Arrow and Harley Quinn, and that's absolutely true. Although it's the modern equivalent of an "Elseworlds" series, it rarely feels like fan fiction and the stakes feel truly real. Things are allowed to happen that would never fly in the main comics and it can be a brutally emotional read (although still full of humor and levity at times).

I also read DCEASED and it's followups which are stellar alternate reality stories in themselves (DC version of MARVEL ZOMBIES). Taylor's NIGHTWING deserves all the praise it's gotten, but it's clear his bread and butter are these continuity free deep dives. I haven't read MARVEL DARK AGES or DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL, but I look forward to checking them out. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I read Hulk: Future Imperfect and The Thanos Quest, both of which would make my (very short) shortlist of best Marvel comics of the 90s. The former is set in a future where the Hulk has become the insane ruler of a nuclear wasteland, and the latter sees Thanos travel around the cosmos kicking butt and collecting Infinity Gems. Both books have outstanding artwork, Perez on Future Imperfect and Ron Lim on The Thanos Quest, as well as solid writing. Peter David was knee deep in his Hulk run at this time, and Starlin had just made a triumphant return with Silver Surfer. In many ways, this was the end of "my" era of Marvel where the writers still had equal billing to the artists. I was particularly impressed by Ron Lim's artwork. I didn't realize that he was so good. My biggest memory of Lim is being profoundly disappointed when he took over the pencils on Infinity Gauntlet. What surprised me most was the range of facial expressions he was able to get out of Thanos, especially those looks of despair whenever he was in the doghouse with Mistress Death. Villain-led titles aren't the easiest to pull off, but Thanos is such a multi-dimensional character that Starlin is able to make it work. You know he's going to succeed in his quest and claim all of the Infinity Gems, but it's a bunch of fun. The Maestro in Future Imperfect is likewise charismatic, and quite an outstanding character in an era not renowned for introducing a lot of new outstanding characters. So yeah, thumbs up for both. 

[Ricky Jackson]

A month late, but yeah, I dug Future Imperfect back when I read it years ago. A long term Perez-David run on Hulk would've been great. Speaking of ol' Greenskin, Hulk: Grand Design by Jim Rugg is coming out at the end of the month and I'm hyped for it. Very much enjoyed the previous Grand Design entries, X Men by Ed Piskor and FF by Tom Scioli. FYI, the three have a YouTube channel called Cartoonist Kayfabe that often reviews old school comics and is really cool 

https://youtube.com/c/CartoonistKayfabe

I enjoyed Thanos Quest but still haven't pulled the trigger on Infinity Gauntlet for whatever reason, even though I've read all the other Starlin cosmic stuff. Got to finally get around to that.

As far as my personal reading goes, I finally finished Tomb of Dracula a few days ago. The series rallied for the final 5 or so issues and delivered a fairly satisfying conclusion, considering the series was (I think) abruptly canceled and Wolfman had to tie things up quickly. Overall, a really good series, well deserving of its reputation as an all time classic. The peak was from about 15-45, with good stuff on both sides, but the early stuff is inconsistent and the later stuff loses its focus imo.

Otherwise still plugging along with Dick Tracy, 50s Batman, EC New Direction and 70s Kirby (currently Black Panther, which is fun so far). Clearly nothing too deep or serious, I need an escape from the bleak modern world 

[ohtani's jacket]

It was cancelled and immediately rebooted as a black and white magazine. I don't recommend the magazine unless you're into Colan's artwork.  

Cartoonist Kayfabe is awesome. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Yeah, I considered checking out the mag but wasn't sure if it advanced the story or not. I'm going to check out the Dr. Strange storyline with Dracula from a few years later. Also going to read Night Force soonish, the book Wolfman/Colan did together at DC in the early 80s

[ohtani's jacket]

The black and white mag immediately undoes the ending of the original series. I think it was meant to continue the story, but it quickly turns into an anthology series. There's some nice art from Colan and Buscema, and a quirky story from Steve Ditko, but it doesn't add anything to the Tomb experience. 

I am interested to hear wat you think of Night Force. I wanted to check that out at some point. 

[Shrike02]

That Cartoonist Kayfabe recommendation was gold. Thanks.

I'm just a bit sad there's not a lot of Steve Ditko or Kurt Busiek content that I've seen so far.

[Reel]

I got some new stuff in the mail recently that I've really liked. The new Swamp Thing: Green Hell was really good. It's only one issue, but I think I already like it more than the new Ram V run, and I really like that run. I've been reading He Who Fight with Monsters, a comic about the Nazi occupation of Prague, its good, a bit heavy, but good. I also got the trade for Sandman: Waking Hours, its the first non-Gaiman Sandman thing I've ever read, and I thought it was great. It did a great job of existing and paying tribute to the Sandman while having its own spin. It made me, even though I still haven't, want to check out the rest of the stuff they've been doing with that new imprint. Also got the first issue of the new run on Arrowsmith, which I thought was just ok, but I like Busiek so I think I'll see it through. 

[Shrike02]

The Cartoonist Kayfabe material is vast. Have really enjoyed the commentaries about Akira and its predecessors; Dumo and Fireball I clearly need to track down.

The Lone Wolf and Cub artist edition is amazing. Jim and Ed go to bat for the artwork and get into some great analysis of manga production.

[ohtani's jacket]

I've mostly been reading Brubaker's Captain America and Bendis' Daredevil.

Brubaker's Captain America is one of the most cinematic comic books I've ever read. It reads like a film. It has the most beautifully choreographed fight scenes of any superhero book I've read, and no matter who the artist is, the book has the same look. Even the coloring adds a lightning effect similar to the visual tone of a film or television series. It has an incredibly realistic feel to it, right down to the detail in Captain America's costume. I don't know how many years ago it was released, but to me, this is a cutting edge comic and what modern comics should aspire to surpass. Another notable thing about it is how drawn out the storylines are. It feels like Brubaker is playing the long game, which writers aren't always allowed to do when they're given the keys to a Marvel character. 

Bendis' Daredevil isn't as good, but it's piqued my interest enough that I actively want to read it. Daredevil is one of my favorite characters, but I haven't read any of the modern runs on the title. The hook for me in Bendis' run so far is the idea that all this tragedy follows Matt every time he puts on the Daredevil costume, and the notion that he should retire as Daredevil and never wear the costume again, which of course plays into the idea of how much of Matt's identity is made up of the Daredevil persona, and vice versa. The art is kind of unusual for a Marvel comic, but I keep reminding myself that I grew up on Frank Miller/Sienkiewicz comics. Some of Maleev's art is really beautiful, and some of it is awkward and poor storytelling. Bendis' over-writing isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sometimes he'll throw in a reference to a song or something that makes me cringe a bit, but that's about it. 

I am slowly discovering that there is value in comics post-2000.

[Matt D]

2 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I am slowly discovering that there is value in comics post-2000.

There are 40 2000s Marvel runs worth reading pretty easily.

[ohtani's jacket]

Name me 5 to start with. 

[Matt D]

12 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Name me 5 to start with. 

This is not a top 5. It's just a 5 fairly diverse ones:

• Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente's Incredible Hulk/Incredible Hercules run (one leads into the other)
• Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors
• Peter David's Madrox into X-Factor v2
• Jeff Parker's Thunderbolts
• Kieron Gillen and Margueritte Bennett's Angela