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Post by majestic on Aug 10, 2022 20:00:00 GMT -5
I even liked Damien Wayne. I've never read a comic with him before, and I was expecting not to like him, but he seemed kinda cool. Definitely check out Tomasi's Super Sons, it's a great little team up book between Damien and Jon there are 3 separate series. The first 2 were excellent. The last one was Ok |
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 10, 2022 14:24:21 GMT -5
I read Star Wars: Lando - Double or Nothing. It takes place some time before The Empire Strikes Back, and it was pretty good.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 10, 2022 17:34:17 GMT -5
Reading some of my Ollie's Haul.... I realized I definitely have read the Tomasi Superman before.. it's the end of the story with the Kent's in the town of Hamilton.. not bad.
The Batman trade is the end of Snyder's run (it seems a bit of a pattern, that)... Mr. Bloom is ODD. Is he supposed to be a person with powers? Or a construct? I really have no idea. Some of the story elements (like Jim Gordon being the lead of a robot Batman program) where fun.. and I could see that leading to some good future stories... but the rest.. wow. I definitely did NOT like whiny Alfred (and he lost a hand somewhere apparently)...the 'reborn' Batman literally just wiped the floor with the bad guys, but I guess that makes sense since techinically he was a zombie.
Weird that there's a whole 'nother trade that's just epilogue.. might read that later, or maybe tomorrow. Glad I read it, but didn't inspire me to check out the rest.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 17, 2022 20:25:28 GMT -5
So that Batman epilogue.. not sure I like the concept of Batman trying to clone himself forever? A bit creepy and evil. different, at least.
Couple other things I picked up... this was a re-issue, but new to me... Best Shot in The West a comic version of the autobiography of Nat Love. Definitely a YA writing level, but still pretty good.. the watercolor art really worked well. It was mostly all positive (there was a bit about his childhood as a slave, and a bit of bad treatment in the framing sequence) but overall a bit overly positive and nice, but fun none the less. Alot of the review critized both the accuracy and attitude of the native Americans in the story, but it seems appropriate give the source material to me. If they were the focus, that would be a totally different thing.
The other one was Estranged: The Changling King.. a tweenish fantasy comic that I picked up from my recent Ollie's trip. It's the 2nd of 2 (and signed, which was a neat surprise), but it's not a hard plot to figure out. Definitely a fun YA fantasy romp.. reminded me a bit of Amelia Cole (though that was not particularly tweenish). Definitely recommended if you have an under 12 comic fans in your life.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 1, 2022 12:46:54 GMT -5
Read the recent Flash books I got... had the two stories leading up to 'heroes in Crisis. I thought maybe giving the comics a try might be better than just being annoyed at the plot. No such luck. These are just not good comics. They try hard to add emotion and grativas to everything by having every character overshare their emotions... until they stop doing so for false drama. Also, it didn't really make any sense at all when they suddenly decided they couldn't help Wally look for his family, but they could definitely try to help 'Commander' Cold get home (who, I suspect, will turn out to be a relative). A stranger from the future using a super villains gimmick gets the benefit of the doubt, but WALLY WEST gets thrown into super hero jail? ridiculous.
I know I'm a bit biased (I've never really liked Barry Allen, Wally is 100% my Flash), but if this was the plan, they would have been better off leaving him in limbo. Happily, since the DCU makes it's living on alternate universes, it doesn't really matter much.
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Post by Trevor on Oct 12, 2022 20:18:03 GMT -5
100 Horror Comics in 31 Days - Days 1 and 2
From last year, DC’s Soul Plumber issues 1-6 were a total blast of ‘comics should be ridiculous’, while also being a surprisingly slightly respectful attack on religion and man’s nature. The art is amazing, and the story kept me engaged and surprised at a couple of the turns. Highly recommended.
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Post by Trevor on Oct 15, 2022 9:12:34 GMT -5
100 Horror Comics in 31 Days - Days 3 and 4
The Conjuring: The Lover 1-5
An odd title that I wouldn’t have expected from DC. It was actually an anthology title, sort of. The five part main story was an average tale of a first love wedged into the Conjuring universe and apparently leading into last year’s film. Each issue also included a backup story called a Tale from the Artifact Room, and these backups were much better stories from a rotating cast of creators, including one deliciously drawn by Kelley Jones. Also included in each issue were a couple pages of fake ads, bringing to mind the ads from the 70s. Oh, and wonderful main covers from Bill Sienkiewicz. Not strongly recommended overall, but I’m not upset that I bought these, as DC horror anthologies were key to me becoming a comic book fan and collector.
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Post by Trevor on Oct 15, 2022 9:25:56 GMT -5
100 Horror Comics in 31 Days - Days 5 thru 7
The Silver Coin 1-10
Wow, wish I hadn’t waited so long to read this one, as I should have been raving about it in the local shop for over a year now. An anthology title done in a way I don’t remember seeing before, Michael Walsh provides the amazing art for every issue, and we have a rotating cast of writers, including some of the top names in the business like Ram V and Jeff Lemire. The ‘mythology’ issues 5 and 10, exploring the origins of the coin, and written by Walsh as well, are the strongest. I hope this title continues for a long time.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 16, 2022 4:51:42 GMT -5
Slatescript: Davor Radoja, art: Nenad Cvitičanin (2016)  Slate is a superhero (he can fly and shoot some kind of lethal electrical bolts from his hands) who has been MIA for about 15 years. It ends up that he’s been living in some flyspeck town in the middle of the Arizona desert, where all of the other residents are CIA agents specially trained to keep an eye on him. All of this is found out by a reporter whose car breaks down just outside of town, and who ends up recognizing Slate, despite his long hair and beard, in the local diner. Slate eventually agrees to chat with the reporter, and tells him about his origin – he’s not actually American, but a Bosnian named Amar Jovanovic, with a Serb father and Muslim mother, whose powers manifested during the war in the early 1990s when he was a small boy and his family was attacked by Bosnian Army soldiers. His father was killed before his eyes, and then he killed the soldiers with his lightning powers. He eventually ends up in the US as a refugee, and a few years later he stops an armed robbery in a bodega where he’s working. When a big honcho in the CIA finds out about this, he takes Amar under his wing and trains him to be an anti-terrorist superhero. But things eventually go sideways there as well. Except for the protagonist’s ethnicity, there’s not very much original here. Its dark and cynical take on superheroes has a been-there, done-that feel to it, and there’s nothing about the writing art that makes it stand out in any way. The dialogue is also a bit clunky, and part of this has to do with the fact that it was translated into English by the editor/publisher (a guy named Igor Maricic) who is himself not a native English speaker. The art is also nothing to write home about – it’s competently done, but rather unremarkable and workman-like.  ( Two sample pages - the second is a flashback, which is all done in that monotone color scheme) I mainly purchased this book recently because I’ve been curious about the publisher, Epicenter Comics (more details in a few recent posts in the European Comics thread). This one also interested me because it is an original creation rather than a reprint and translation of Italian comics, which account for the bulk of Epicenter’s output, and because the writer and artist are ‘local’ guys, a Croat and a Serb, respectively. I was, however, mostly unimpressed and it’s also a bit disappointing because this was intended to be the start of an ongoing series, but they never did any more than this one installment – and likely never will, according to some posts from a few years ago I found at a Croatian comics forum.
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 18, 2022 19:40:49 GMT -5
I've been reading graphic novels & memoirs recently. I hope this is the place to post about them.
Sunstone by Stjepan Šejić - a wonderful rom-com about a very kinky lesbian couple and their friends. Seven volumes are done; the first five are the first arc. Number 8 is in progress and new pages are posted every month or two on deviantart. It's incredibly romantic and completely NSFW.
The next two are online comics on webtoons.com, created by Stjepan Šejić's wife, Linda.
Blood Stain - this one takes place in the same universe as Sunstone; the main characters appeared briefly there. But this is a G-rated (so far) story about a woman getting a job as a lab assistant with an eccentric chemist. It's fun. Apparently people agree - it was just nominated for one of Webtoons' Canvas awards. "Blood Stain" is the chemist's nickname - his name is Vlad Stein.
Punderworld - this is a new version of the romance of Hades and Persephone. The idea's been done before but this is really good. It's on hiatus now; I hope it returns soon.
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe - the most-often-challenged book of 2021 according to the American Library Association. It's a clear, sweet, moving memoir by someone who never fit any of the standard gender roles.
Good Talk by Mira Jacob - a memoir focusing on race and identity in America and a bit in India too. Mira is Indian, her husband is Jewish, and their six-year-old son likes Michael Jackson. The boy's questions lead the author into a wide-ranging exploration of what it's like to be different in different ways. The art is unconventional; for most characters the same drawing is used every time they appear. There are a few versions of the author used, according to her age and situation. It looks like a collage of pictures cut and pasted on the page. It's unusual and effective.
Becoming Unbecoming by Una - a memoir by a victim of sexual assault growing up in northern England in the 1970s when the Yorkshire Ripper was on the loose. It goes from the author's own experiences to look at the surrounding culture and how it made things worse. My wife criticized this book for not explicitly saying or showing what exactly happened to the author. That didn't bother me as much, it just seemed like the author chose to focus on other things and did those things well.
A Child's Life and other stories by Phoebe Glockner - this one my wife was happier with. Glockner shows what happened in graphic detail. After reading this I wanted to do two things - congratulate Glockner for such well-written and well-drawn stories, and wrap a warm blanket around her and protect her so no one could hurt her again.
Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal - More "explorations of race, xenophobia, visibility, tokenism and assimilation" as one reviewer put it, but unlike Good Talk, the minority group here is fictional. In this book, the Cyclops minority lives amid the two-eyed dominant culture in a world otherwise like our own. Clever satire that weaves together ten characters who live in the same city. They take turns as the focus of two- and three-page chapters which apparently were first posted on Instagram.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 19, 2022 2:24:03 GMT -5
(...) Sunstone by Stjepan Šejić - a wonderful rom-com about a very kinky lesbian couple and their friends. Seven volumes are done; the first five are the first arc. Number 8 is in progress and new pages are posted every month or two on deviantart. It's incredibly romantic and completely NSFW. (...) I read the first arc of Sunstone (i.e., the one focusing on Lisa and Ally) about a year or so ago. The characters are really likeable and the basic story is good, but I thought it dragged on for a bit too long. Despite the absolutely gorgeous art, I'm not as interested in reading the follow up stories. |
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Post by berkley on Oct 19, 2022 20:56:53 GMT -5
Slatescript: Davor Radoja, art: Nenad Cvitičanin (2016) Slate is a superhero (he can fly and shoot some kind of lethal electrical bolts from his hands) who has been MIA for about 15 years. It ends up that he’s been living in some flyspeck town in the middle of the Arizona desert, where all of the other residents are CIA agents specially trained to keep an eye on him. All of this is found out by a reporter whose car breaks down just outside of town, and who ends up recognizing Slate, despite his long hair and beard, in the local diner. Slate eventually agrees to chat with the reporter, and tells him about his origin – he’s not actually American, but a Bosnian named Amar Jovanovic, with a Serb father and Muslim mother, whose powers manifested during the war in the early 1990s when he was a small boy and his family was attacked by Bosnian Army soldiers. His father was killed before his eyes, and then he killed the soldiers with his lightning powers. He eventually ends up in the US as a refugee, and a few years later he stops an armed robbery in a bodega where he’s working. When a big honcho in the CIA finds out about this, he takes Amar under his wing and trains him to be an anti-terrorist superhero. But things eventually go sideways there as well. Except for the protagonist’s ethnicity, there’s not very much original here. Its dark and cynical take on superheroes has a been-there, done-that feel to it, and there’s nothing about the writing art that makes it stand out in any way. The dialogue is also a bit clunky, and part of this has to do with the fact that it was translated into English by the editor/publisher (a guy named Igor Maricic) who is himself not a native English speaker. The art is also nothing to write home about – it’s competently done, but rather unremarkable and workman-like. ( Two sample pages - the second is a flashback, which is all done in that monotone color scheme) I mainly purchased this book recently because I’ve been curious about the publisher, Epicenter Comics (more details in a few recent posts in the European Comics thread). This one also interested me because it is an original creation rather than a reprint and translation of Italian comics, which account for the bulk of Epicenter’s output, and because the writer and artist are ‘local’ guys, a Croat and a Serb, respectively. I was, however, mostly unimpressed and it’s also a bit disappointing because this was intended to be the start of an ongoing series, but they never did any more than this one installment – and likely never will, according to some posts from a few years ago I found at a Croatian comics forum.
The artwork looks good. I don't find myself much in the mood for superheroes of any kind these days but I'd be interested in seeing what else the artist, Cvitičanin, has done. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 23, 2022 7:00:47 GMT -5
A friend lent me his copy of My Friend Dahmer, by Derf Backderf.
Considering that there's a new Netflix series about that particular serial killer, one could reasonably think that this is a book taking advantage of a trend... however, it is anything but. In fact, it's not about Dahmer's murders at all and is in no way tied to the series (which came after it anyway). It's a book decades in the making, by a comic-book creator who happens to have personally known Dahmer in High School and who tries to understand how a kid with obvious problems can become a monster. What were the forces that shaped his path? Why did nobody realize what was going on?
It's a very personal and moving work that in no way tries to exonerate Dahmer or simply "blame society" for what he became... but which at the same time shows the deeply human and tragic side of what could have been reduced to a sordid tale horror just fit for commercial exploitation. Human stories are never as simple as that.
Highly recommended.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2022 10:01:05 GMT -5
A friend lent me his copy of My Friend Dahmer, by Derf Backderf. Considering that there's a new Netflix series about that particular serial killer, one could reasonably think that this is a book taking advantage of a trend... however, it is anything but. In fact, it's not about Dahmer's murders at all and is in no way tied to the series (which came after it anyway). It's a book decades in the making, by a comic-book creator who happens to have personally known Dahmer in High School and who tries to understand how a kid with obvious problems can become a monster. What were the forces that shaped his path? Why did nobody realize what was going on? It's a very personal and moving work that in no way tries to exonerate Dahmer or simply "blame society" for what he became... but which at the same time shows the deeply human and tragic side of what could have been reduced to a sordid tale horror just fit for commercial exploitation. Human stories are never as simple as that. Highly recommended. Derf has posted repeatedly since the Netflix series dropped that his book has nothing to do with the series, but despite this he has been constantly pestered by ill informed media and people about the series. I think he has taken a bit of a social media sabbatical until this blows over, which is a shame, because his posts about things like the collection at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library are wonderful reading. -M |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Oct 25, 2022 22:02:56 GMT -5
Picked up the first trade for Dan Abnett's 'Lawless'... a space western set in the Judge Dredd Universe... really great stuff! You can really go wrong with a space western that had an uplifted Gorilla as a deputy.. but even without that it's a great set up story that both stands alone and sets up some plots fo the future.
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