Comic books and Manga Thread

[ohtani's jacket]

I literally have no idea what any of those are, but thank you!

[Shrike02]

Pretty much anything Hickman has done for Marvel is worth checking out.

[ohtani's jacket]

Are there any Hellboy fans here? I re-read the original mini-series, and the DHP serial that followed. I don't want to judge it too harshly since Byrne scripted the first series, and the serial was Mignola's first crack at doing the writing, but is there a point where Hellboy comes into its own?

[Graham Crackers]

Wolves of Saint August is the first great Hellboy comic.

[Shrike02]

I'm a big fan of Hellboy and have read and collected almost all of it in dead tree editions, either original issues or trades. It is a lot of fun if you have patience with it to grow into its own.

[Ricky Jackson]

Just finished Night Force, the Wolfman/Colan book from 82-83, which reunited the Tomb of Dracula team at DC (minus inker Tom Palmer). I really wanted to like this. It has its strong points, such as lead character Baron Winters, and the initial seven-part story arc, combining horror, adventure, science fiction and Cold War espionage, is pretty good, but the remaining 7 issues are nothing special. In fact, I would avoid the final 4 issues completely, as the book goes off the rails and the series ends with a whimper.

Finally reading 60s Doom Patrol and it's really fun. Also finally reading Jason Aaron's Thor run from the beginning and I love it so far. Still on the Dick Tracy train, and to add to my classic newspaper strip reading, I'm ambitiously attempting to go through Li'l Abner from the beginning. I know Al Capp turned out to be scum, but I've been intrigued by this strip for years and finally have the means to read a large chunk of it if I want. We'll see how it goes. Also reading Roy Thomas-era Avengers, 70s Phantom Stranger and about to dive into Kubert's Tarzan, which I read bits and pieces of many years ago but never the whole run

 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished a few things, which is pretty good going considering how many new books I've started.

I really enjoyed Camelot 3000. Ordinarily, I would hate this sort of premise -- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are resurrected and fight space aliens in the future -- but Bolland's art was brilliant. I understand there were all sorts of delays with the book because of how slowly he worked, but it left me wishing that he'd done more interior work during his career. Probably more of a triumph in collected form than it was off the shelves. Nonetheless, DC's 80s experiments were a fertile time in mainstream American comics.

Stan Sakai's run at Mirage was nowhere near as good as his stuff at Fantagraphics. I prefer Usagi in black and white much like I prefer samurai films in black and white to color. The stories didn't seem to resonate as much, either. They were easy reads, but didn't have the same energy. I believe things pick up again with his Dark Horse work.

The Aardvark-Vanaheim/Renegade Press Flaming Carrot Comics were a lot of fun. I really enjoy Bob Burden's sense of humour. His ideas didn't always stick, but he was the master of absurd situations and quirky one-liners. I'm interested to see how well Flaming Carrot transitions into the 90s.

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished Fables today, a series I first began reading back in December. It had its ups and downs as you’d expect any series to do that lasts 150 issues, but it consistently entertained me day in, day out for a solid five months. I read that Willingham originally envisioned the series running for one issue longer than Cerebus. I don’t know if Willingham had that many stories left to tell, but now I hear that the book is returning for another 12 issue arc, so we’ll see how that goes. 

A lot of people comment on how the book should’ve ended after the first 75 issues, and would have been better as a standard 60-75 issue Vertigo series. I never really felt that way reading it. In fact, I didn’t find the reveal of the Adversary’s identity, or the final battle against his Empire, to be hugely momentous. I actually felt that the conclusion to a lot of the arcs were anticlimactic. It got to the point where I started wondering if it was intentional on Willingham’s part or a weakness of his as a writer. What held the book together for me was the rich cast of characters and the uniform look that Buckingham and Leialoha gave the series. Willingham was lucky to have the same artists on the book for the majority of its run. 

Many people had strong opinions about this series. It almost rivaled the type of feedback you see from a television show. As I read the complaints, I began to develop a type of mentality of “Ok, let’s see what the writer chooses to do with these characters” instead of worrying about what I wanted to see happen. I didn’t agree with every decision Willingham made, but I wasn’t incensed by any of them, and I remained invested in the characters. Nobody’s forced to like the direction an artist goes in, but I sometimes think we lose track of an artist’s right to take things in a new direction. 

That said, I’m not sure where Fables would rank in my echelon of great comic book runs. Probably in my top 25 If it had been a bit more emotionally satisfying instead of intellectually stimulating it may have ranked higher. There were a few moments that were genuinely emotional, and well built, but the highs weren’t quite as high as other runs I’m fond of. Still, a remarkable achievement for any creative team to last that long, and now they want to come back for more?

[Shrike02]

Highly recommend the Cartoonist Kayfabe episode where Rob Liefeld guests and does a Neal Adams tribute. He also did a podcast tribute which I'm going to track down.

[Reel]

The Screw it...Comics with Jeff Smith is also a great tribute Adams. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Two Titans of comics two weekends in a row. George Perez passed away last night

[Shrike02]

Sad but not unexpected news about Perez. I absolutely adored his long run as writer/artist on Wonder Woman. I re-read my collection recently. Despite proper care the pages are yellowed; this detracted from Perez's outstanding art. I will have to pick up some reprints to reprise my original awe at his artistic achievements, which, combined with a very good use of Greek mythology, made it such a great comic for so long.

[Clayton Jones]

I was rooting for Perez to continue to beat the odds for as long as possible but at least he got to be in control of a terrible circumstance. I respect the way he chose to leave this earth surrounded by family and friends in his home. And his work had more of an impact on my life than almost any comic creator. RIP

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished the first arc of Strangers in Paradise. I was surprised by how violent it was. I was expecting some sort of slice-of-life relationship drama like Maggie and Hopey, but instead there was a crime fiction element to the story. It had its moments, but I wasn't a fan of the poetry and prose, and I thought the final chapter was weak. 

I also managed to finish Bendis' run on Daredevil, which was very good, and at times excellent. It didn't really break any new ground as it was more or less an extended take on Born Again, but I liked the way that Bendis did a deep dive into Matt's psyche, and I thought he did some really cool things with the comic book form. I especially liked the storyline that was basically a group of people sitting around in a support meeting. 

I really liked Batman and the Monster Men. I'm sure some people might find the idea of taking a single issue Golden Age story and turning it into a six issue mini series to be of dubious merit, but I really like Matt Wagner's version of Batman and he has a great feel for the era. Personally, I found it to be one of the more interesting Batman stories I've read in a while. 

Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier wound up being one of the best things I've read in quite some time. I don't have a strong affinity for DC Silver Age characters, so I don't know how others would view his take on the era, but I thought it was fantastic. I wasn't sure at first whether I liked his Batman: The Animated Series style artwork, but he won me over by the end of the first issue and I wound up loving it. I haven't read Kingdom Come, but I thought it was easily better than James Robinson's The Golden Age and one of the best superhero books I've read in a mightily long time. 

I also finished Tyrant. I really loved that book. Just a fascinating and brilliant concept. It's a crying shame that Bissette couldn't finish it. Apparently, it's somewhat outdated in what paleontologists think dinosaur life was truly like, but I thought it was a riveting piece of work. The other series I finished this month was Terminal City, which was decent but somewhat confusing. I still have trouble following Dean Motter's writing at times. Nice art by Michael Lark, though. I also read the first Lucifer mini-series, which was okay but didn't leave me hankering to read the ongoing series. Not just yet. 

Howard Chaykin and Jose Luis García-Lopez' Twilight was really good. The story is a bit dense, but you really get to see Garcia-Lopez cut loose and show his penciling chops. I was super impressed. There's a couple of other lesser known projects of his I'm hoping to check out where I'm hoping he does the same. 

I started reading Maze Agency, which is charming, and I reached the point where Shade, the Changing Man starts getting good after a rough first year that is somewhat similar to the first Sandman storyline or the early Hellblazer in terms of being a little shaky. 

[Tetsujin]

I'm addicted to this new Era of Krakoa for the X-Men, been this last month catching up since House of X/Power of X and right now I'm in the middle of the Reign of X run. Sadly, readcomiconline doesn't have the last volumes, where can I read the rest?

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished Martin Wagner's Hepcats. Ed Piskor unfairly shat on this series when Cartoonist Kayfabe were going through Palmer's Picks in an old Wizard mag. Wagner was a friend of Dave Sim's, and part of that small wave of self-publishers that grew up around Sim and clashed with Gary Groth all the time. Hepcats started off as a story about anthropomorphic college buddies and grew into a more ambitious story when one of their girlfriends tried to commit suicide and we slowly discovered the harrowing details about her past. On the surface, it was "famous" for showing nudity and having anthropomorphic characters have sex, but there was more to it than that. Unfortunately, like most self-published titles it was beset by poor sales and production delays and only lasted 12 issues. I actually read the reprint series, which contained new material and was supposed to restart the series with issue 13, but issue 13 never happened, and Wagner left the comics industry instead. Kind of a shame as I thought Hepcats had the potential to go down as one of the seminal books of the 90s instead of a footnote. There's an argument to be made that the writing was shallow. I wouldn't go that far, but I do think Wagner was still finding his voice. He only made 12 issues. Can you imagine how well regarded Cerebus would be today if it only lasted 12 issues? I couldn't find a lot of fault with the art. Wagner used a lot of cross hatching and screentone, and never short changed the reader on background details. In fact, he probably would have been a lot faster if like Sim, he had someone else doing the backgrounds. I'm not a huge fan of the way Wagner's anthropomorphic characters look, but then again, I'm not a fan of how Sim's humans look, so I can live with that. There's not a whole lot to recommend as Wagner never finished the series, but if you're interested in the early 90s period of creator-owned comics (Bone, Cerebus, A Distant Soil, Strangers in Paradise, etc.), it's worth checking out. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished reading All-Star Superman. Personally, I thought it was kind of weird. I've read a lot of weird Grant Morrison stories, so you'd think that wouldn't be a problem, but I read that Morrison wanted to create a timeless Superman story and to me it kind of came across as a weird European arthouse take on Superman. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with the Silver Age stories that Morrison drew inspiration from, but I kind of felt like Alan Moore wrote better Silver Age homage stories prior to Crisis, and possibly later on with those Image characters (I haven't read that stuff yet.) I did like the overall portrayal of Superman. He was extremely likeable. I didn't care for the portrayal of Lois or Jimmy, though, and I didn't like how Quitely drew them either. I suppose I'm not a big enough Superman fan to truly love a series like this, but it show plenty of heart despite how strange it was at times. 

[EnviousStupid]

I've been gradually diving into Superhero comics and recently finished Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright. I wasn't sure how much I would like reading an origin story for a figure so well-known in the pop-culture, but it turned out being one of my favourite Superman stories. I had been poisoned in the past with the idea that Superman is a boring character for being the clear-cut good guy and having all the powers you could dream of, not recognizing the human side to him that had me getting so invested in why he became a hero in the first place. Waid adds a few extra story beats that build on this, as well as establish the importance of a symbol to people, before bringing that idea full circle in the final issue. It's surprisingly captivating despite never really doing anything that I wouldn't have expected, and that's probably the best outcome for a tale like Superman's. No need to compensate when you've great characterization already.

[ohtani's jacket]

Cinder and Ashe is another worthy Jose Luis García-Lopez side project from a time when DC was releasing a slew of mini series to the direct market. The artwork was nowhere near as gorgeous as Twilight, but it was a different genre. Conway has a reputation as a bit of a hack, but I thought he did a deft job of weaving together the narrative on this series, incorporating the use of numerous flashback devices to provide a backstory for the series while driving the central narrative forward. In fact, it felt more a leftover pitch from Conway's TV work than a regular comic script. The only fault I found with the series was the Master of Kung Fu style yellow coloring for Asian characters. I would have thought that was completely unnecessary in 1988. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished reading the complete 1960s Doom Patrol run. It gets a bit inconsistent towards the end, as most runs do when they're coming to a close, but remains a much beloved series. I still maintain that the backup origin stories are better than the lead features. In fact, I'm not sure the lead stories ever live up to their true potential. I'd be hard pressed to name the best story over the course of the entire series. They all blend together into a stream of wacky Silver Age goodness. In that respect, I don't think you can compare Drake's work to what Lee & Ditko or Lee &  Kirby were doing. It's clearly a better series than second tier Marvel, but it's the characters that are the hook more so than the stories. 

Kirby's OMAC starts off with a brilliant first issue, tapers off after that, and goes out on an absolute whimper. That first issue is phenomenal, though. Fleisher and Aparo's Spectre is a lot of fun waiting to see what gruesome way the Spectre will kill the bad guys this month. It's a shame that DC didn't have the balls to keep publishing it. Make sure you check out the Wrath of the Spectre series to read Fleisher's final three stories. 

I read a couple of Gene Colan projects from the 80s. The 80s wasn't really the best time for Gene Colan work, but I was hoping to find some gems. First up was the Phantom Zone mini-series he did with Steve Gerber. I'm not entirely sure what the point of having a Phantom Zone mini-series was. It's entirely unrecognizable as a Gerber story, aside from some of the mystical elements. Superman is strangely aggro once he's released from the Phantom Zone. There's even a scene where he laments the fact he has a code against killing. It was interesting seeing Colan draw Superman, and some of the other DC superheroes, but largely pointless. Nathaniel Dusk seemed like it had more potential, as a pulp detective story is right up Colan's alley. It was okay, but I didn't like the coloring. 

The Shadow is not Bill Sienkiewicz' finest work. There's a reason why people don't talk about Bill Sienkiewicz' Shadow work. In six whole issues, there were only a handful of panels that impressed me, and the story is confusing as hell. 

Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such is much worse than the first Vertigo Jonah series. Felt completely pointless to me. I didn't appreciate the crude humor at all, even if I'm sure the West was more than likely full of it. Truman's version of Jonah is really ugly. There are times in the Fleisher run where Jonah would get filthy, and was in need of a bath and a shave, but he was never as grimy as Truman's Jonah. But again, it's an aesthetic they were going for. I did love Truman's old 1800s style photographs, though. 

I also finished Hellboy: Wake the Devil. I still don't get the appeal of Hellboy. I'm sure it gets better later on, but the writing isn't very strong in the first few series. 

Finally, Daredevil: End of Days. I'm not sure if this book is still canon. It was at the time it was released. Anyway, Daredevil is killed by Bullseye in the first issue, and Ben Urich goes on a long crusade to uncover the meaning of Daredevil's final word ala Jerry Thompson in Citizen Kane. The series has some ugly, but visual striking, artwork by Klaus Jansen and Bill Sienkiewicz. Unfortunately, the meaning of Daredevil's final word isn't that interesting, but it's a decent coda to Bendis' work on the character. 

[Ricky Jackson]

OJ, finally our reading syncs up, at least a little. I have 3 issues to go on 60s Doom Patrol. I feel about the same as you. The characters are fun, the stories are mostly forgettable. Very repetitive main plots (Doom Patrol fight the bad guy of the month) with the most interesting stuff coming in the ongoing subplots (although I hate Steve Dayton/Mento and can't believe Rita married that loser lol). My favorite backup was Larry's origin and his comical struggle to find a job post accident. I also agree with OMAC. Great start, like most of 70s Kirby, then a slow fizzle to the end. I think I even preferred Devil Dinosaur as an overall series tbh. I read Phantom Zone a while back during my Gerber kick, and yeah, it was pretty pointless.

It's been a while since I've updated my current reading in this thread, so here's a quick rundown. Still plugging along with Roy Thomas' Avengers run. Really up and down. Basically, the issues with John Buscema on art (especially with Tom Palmer on inks) are very good superhero fare, otherwise, mostly skippable. I'm coming up on the famous Kree-Skrull War storyline, which I've only read a little bit previously, so we'll see how Thomas/Adams goes.

I've tried a few of the series that recent MCU shows are based on, like 2014 Ms. Marvel and Dan Slott's She-Hulk. I enjoyed both. I may give She-Hulk a longer look. Planning on giving the complete Spider Verse from 2014 a whirl soon.

As for DC, I've been reading all the Jim Aparo illustrated Brave & the Bold from his start on the book. Mostly fun, but the team-ups get very repetitive, and writer Bob Haney loves his Batman strolling around in the daylight hours a bit too much for my liking. Started Ostrander's Spectre from the beginning and digging it so far. And, wonder of wonders, I read the first 8 issues of The Sandman, motivated by the debut of the Netflix show. I like it so far, especially issue 4, which is an all-time great single issue.

Also still reading classic comic strips, alternating between Dick Tracy and Li'l Abner. And if anyone out there has any leads on reasonably priced volumes of Fantagraphics Popeye reprints, let a brother know

[Shrike02]

Found myself speeding through the 2004-2009 era She-Hulk title which ran 38 issues.  I found the first 24 issues or so quite fun, fast reading but when Slott leaves the magic fades quite noticeably. Peter David does manage to tell a fairly okay finale with the last two issues ... until the very last panel, where he tells an awful joke by any standard. The art is pretty decent throughout although the colouring ranges wildly in quality and the cover illustration style of that era leaves me cold after a while.

Thumbs marginally up, especially for the first half of the run.

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished Jim Shooter's run on Adventure Comics. It loses its charm when Curt Swan leaves. Win Mortimer isn't a bad artist, but I was used to the aesthetic Swan gave the book. Shooter was getting older too, and didn't have quite the same youthful enthusiasm. It's a great run, though, with some classic stories and a ton of folklore. The first appearance of Mordru is a brilliant two-parter and the peak of the run to me. I understand that Shooter continued to write some backup Legion stories in Action Comics, but I can't imagine that they're much better than the final Win Mortimer stint. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Someday I'll finally pull the trigger on 60s Legion/Shooter's Legion. I had a false start about 2 years ago, reading the first 5-6 issues of Shooter's run and then getting sidetracked. I've read bits and pieces of 60's Legion over the years but not much. It looks like it might end up being my final frontier, after going through so many other long runs in the last few years and still having a bunch ongoing or in the queue.

I'm currently on Kirby's Kamandi, which will take a while since it's by far his longest sustained run of the 70s. I've entered the home stretch of Thomas' Avengers run with the famed Kree-Skrull War. I started Spider Verse from 2014 last week and it's interesting so far. I really like the Spider Man Noir concept. I didnt realize it is essentially a Golden Age/Earth 2 take on Spidey, which of course I love. And 90s Spectre really ramped up around issue 13. Really cool stuff here as the Spectre goes full-on "the whole human race is beyond redemption" mode

[ohtani's jacket]

The first time I read Shooter's Legion, I just read the famous stories. This time, I read the entire thing. I was impressed by how solid the rest of the stories were. It's not that long a run, especially if you skip the final year without Swan. 

I've been slowly reading Kamandi. It's the same as every other Kirby series from the 70s. It starts off with a bang and quickly fizzles out. Kirby diehards can't seem to accept that fact and are always looking to blame editorial, but how many times can it happen before it's no longer a coincidence?

I had the opposite reaction to Spectre. I liked the storyline that run through the first year and pretty much hated everything that followed. I don't really like Tom Mandrake's art, either.