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Post by jabba359 on May 20, 2016 17:01:58 GMT -5
Since I had a free month of Marvel Unlimited last month, I decided to read the series Runaways, as I'm a fan of Brian K. Vaughan's Saga. I enjoyed the Vaughan run, but felt that it immediately got worse once he left. I also had two major problems with the post-Vaughan stories. The first was right after Iron Man discovers the hideout. The very next issue suddenly has them in New York, with no explanation as to what immediately followed their discovery by The Avengers or how they came to be in New York and in the situation they were in. Then, the series ends on a cliffhanger with a major character either dead or dying and that is never resolved. I guess I should have just stopped at the end of the Vaughan run.
Having just seen Captain America: Civil War in the theater and thoroughly enjoying it, I decided to use the last few days of my free Marvel Unlimited subscription to read the Civil War storyline. While I felt that the comic book made more sense of Spider-man's involvement (in the movie, it was just shoehorned in as a way for them to say, "Hey, we have Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now!"), overall I felt the movie did a much better job of playing character dynamics and making me care about the motives. The comics, on the other hand, felt like the story device was merely an excuse to have everyone fight each other in a giant battle.
On a more positive note, I got hooked on Mind MGMT after meeting Matt Kindt last year. So when I saw that the had a new series coming out, Dept. H, I knew I had to pick it up. Sure, it's only two issues in at this point, but I'm pretty sure this is a series I'm going to follow to the end.
While not a recent development, I'm still working my way through all the back catalog of Usagi Yojimbo. I just finished volume 25: Fox Hunt, so only have four more volumes and Space Usagi to go (plus vol. 30 which comes out in July). I've been trying to pace myself with one volume a month (to spread out all the Usagi awesomeness), so should be pretty well caught up by the end of the year.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 21, 2016 23:25:05 GMT -5
Rai #13, it goes into detail of the creation of the first "Rai" in 3001 AD, who I got very strong vibes of Tezuka's Astro Boy from
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on May 22, 2016 5:25:47 GMT -5
So although its not quite on target for this thread I have a question.
Ive backed a book on Kickstarter by Ostrander and Mandrake which Im patiently waiting for, and loving the previewed art they've shown so far.
The other day I saw a new Kickstarter of John's with Jan Duursema which looks amazing as well, and Im sorely tempted to opt in for this too.
So my question is, Why in these days of Image(and Dark Horse to a lesser extent) do creators of this calibre have to Kickstart projects ?
Surely these 3 creators have enough proven ability for even Image to sign them, or would it be a case of the project not fitting their publishing philosophies ?
I just don't get it.
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Post by Dizzy D on May 22, 2016 7:00:54 GMT -5
Kickstarter is money up front, Image you get paid afterwards, based on sales.
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Post by Icctrombone on May 22, 2016 8:41:38 GMT -5
I'm guessing that to be published in Image, you have to front the money for your book. Kickstarter is for creators that don't have the cash. Thanks Dizzy, I never actually saw this in writing, although I sensed it to be the case.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2016 16:50:39 GMT -5
Got caught up on the past year's worth of Batman.
I've been a big fan of Scott Snyder's tenure on the character, but wish he'd picked a better story to go out on.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 25, 2016 12:52:12 GMT -5
Nighthawk #1, kind of getting a Jim Valentino Shadowhawk vibe from it
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Post by The Captain on May 25, 2016 15:37:28 GMT -5
In the first issue of his new series, Nick Spencer has effectively decided to piss all over everything that made Captain America exactly who he is, adding backstory where none was needed and having a last-page reveal that should be offensive to anyone who is a fan of the character. It's an absolutely nonsensical turn that is completely contradictory to the essence of the character, probably so they can set up a big event between him and Sam with "the fight for America's soul" or some such crap as the stakes. I'm hoping it turns out that it somehow ties into the garbage Pleasant Hill storyline and how Steve was de-aged by KOBIK, as this part of his previously-unknown past was tapped into by KOBIK and brought to the forefront, because that is the only way that it even remotely makes sense, and even then it's a stretch that even Mister Fantastic would have trouble making.
Oh, and they put Rick Jones in the book, which is almost as big a transgression as the above character assassination.
Unless something changes rapidly in issue #2, I may be sitting this "season" of Captain America out, because while I'm not one to need things to stay exactly the same to enjoy a book or character, I am one to be completely against garbage writing done solely for shock value.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 25, 2016 16:07:09 GMT -5
Yeah, it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth tbh. I mean it was a bit of a slog to get through with Skull barking a Trump-esque "grey area nationalist" agenda to hundreds of disinfranchised & destitue people. Not to mention that Sinclair woman obviously being so head over heels in love with Steve's mom that you'd wonder if Spencer had ever heard "subtlety" mentioned in passing before.
Cap has always been a mouth piece for the current political climate dating back to at least when Englehart took the character in a more favorable direction. But Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 reads more like a "satirized commentary played straight" on how "far-left" Marvel tends to skew these days, which isn't to say that they haven't always been liberal-minded, quite the opposite. It's just, you know, they actually had some dignity back then and didn't try and to force feed their readers sophomoric level political diatribes/rhetoric through a beer keg funnel. It's kind of nauseating really how these types of people utterly refuse to tolerate a differing view point that might challenge or shatter their frail little egos
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Post by lobsterjohnson on May 25, 2016 16:39:31 GMT -5
Since I had a free month of Marvel Unlimited last month, I decided to read the series Runaways, as I'm a fan of Brian K. Vaughan's Saga. I enjoyed the Vaughan run, but felt that it immediately got worse once he left. I also had two major problems with the post-Vaughan stories. The first was right after Iron Man discovers the hideout. The very next issue suddenly has them in New York, with no explanation as to what immediately followed their discovery by The Avengers or how they came to be in New York and in the situation they were in. Then, the series ends on a cliffhanger with a major character either dead or dying and that is never resolved. I guess I should have just stopped at the end of the Vaughan run. Having just seen Captain America: Civil War in the theater and thoroughly enjoying it, I decided to use the last few days of my free Marvel Unlimited subscription to read the Civil War storyline. While I felt that the comic book made more sense of Spider-man's involvement (in the movie, it was just shoehorned in as a way for them to say, "Hey, we have Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now!"), overall I felt the movie did a much better job of playing character dynamics and making me care about the motives. The comics, on the other hand, felt like the story device was merely an excuse to have everyone fight each other in a giant battle. On a more positive note, I got hooked on Mind MGMT after meeting Matt Kindt last year. So when I saw that the had a new series coming out, Dept. H, I knew I had to pick it up. Sure, it's only two issues in at this point, but I'm pretty sure this is a series I'm going to follow to the end. While not a recent development, I'm still working my way through all the back catalog of Usagi Yojimbo. I just finished volume 25: Fox Hunt, so only have four more volumes and Space Usagi to go (plus vol. 30 which comes out in July). I've been trying to pace myself with one volume a month (to spread out all the Usagi awesomeness), so should be pretty well caught up by the end of the year. I read Runaways on Marvel Unlimited a while ago, and I feel the same way. I enjoyed the Vaughn issues, but I think it should have ended there. That is actually a problem I have with a lot of fiction, stories continuing even when they should conclude. This is a big part of why I don't read many Marvel or DC comics anymore, as I feel that many of the stories retread similar ground to stories that I've already read. |
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Post by Trevor on May 25, 2016 17:27:27 GMT -5
Just read Rebirth #1. Best book I've read in years.
For reference, DC books were what brought me into comics around 1972. I read them religiously for the next 20 years, then sort of sporadically the next 14. It looks promising that this rebirth can wash away the mediocre taste of the new 52 and make DC great again.
And fwiw, I was very skeptical and almost skipped this book/event altogether. I figured there was nothing Geoff Johns could write to get me back in the fold. Looks like he might have after all.
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Post by Batflunkie on May 25, 2016 17:52:36 GMT -5
Decided to give the new "Ultimates" book a chance and let's just say that I wasn't disappointed. Even if the Fantastic Four is dead in the water, if Ultimates keeps going on the path it's on, I think it will be a more than worthy successor in terms of taking to heart the matters between man and the unknown
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2016 19:13:51 GMT -5
As I said elsewhere, I loved Rebirth.
But I got the chance to read the whole "Final Days of Superman" crossover and while the quality of the art varied from issue to issue, it was a good read.
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Post by Gene on May 25, 2016 19:51:45 GMT -5
In the first issue of his new series, Nick Spencer has effectively decided to piss all over everything that made Captain America exactly who he is, adding backstory where none was needed and having a last-page reveal that should be offensive to anyone who is a fan of the character. It's an absolutely nonsensical turn that is completely contradictory to the essence of the character, probably so they can set up a big event between him and Sam with "the fight for America's soul" or some such crap as the stakes. I'm hoping it turns out that it somehow ties into the garbage Pleasant Hill storyline and how Steve was de-aged by KOBIK, as this part of his previously-unknown past was tapped into by KOBIK and brought to the forefront, because that is the only way that it even remotely makes sense, and even then it's a stretch that even Mister Fantastic would have trouble making. Oh, and they put Rick Jones in the book, which is almost as big a transgression as the above character assassination. Unless something changes rapidly in issue #2, I may be sitting this "season" of Captain America out, because while I'm not one to need things to stay exactly the same to enjoy a book or character, I am one to be completely against garbage writing done solely for shock value. I'm intrigued. I had a lot of reservations about Marvel launching this book so early into Sam Wilson's run as Cap, but this twist went a long way in alleviating them. I'm also thinking this has something to do with Pleasant Hill and Kobik, but not Steve's restoration. I don't want to say any more because of spoilers, but if Spencer's doing what I think he's doing this could end up being a good story. |
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Post by The Captain on May 25, 2016 20:07:44 GMT -5
In the first issue of his new series, Nick Spencer has effectively decided to piss all over everything that made Captain America exactly who he is, adding backstory where none was needed and having a last-page reveal that should be offensive to anyone who is a fan of the character. It's an absolutely nonsensical turn that is completely contradictory to the essence of the character, probably so they can set up a big event between him and Sam with "the fight for America's soul" or some such crap as the stakes. I'm hoping it turns out that it somehow ties into the garbage Pleasant Hill storyline and how Steve was de-aged by KOBIK, as this part of his previously-unknown past was tapped into by KOBIK and brought to the forefront, because that is the only way that it even remotely makes sense, and even then it's a stretch that even Mister Fantastic would have trouble making. Oh, and they put Rick Jones in the book, which is almost as big a transgression as the above character assassination. Unless something changes rapidly in issue #2, I may be sitting this "season" of Captain America out, because while I'm not one to need things to stay exactly the same to enjoy a book or character, I am one to be completely against garbage writing done solely for shock value. I'm intrigued. I had a lot of reservations about Marvel launching this book so early into Sam Wilson's run as Cap, but this twist went a long way in alleviating them. I'm also thinking this has something to do with Pleasant Hill and Kobik, but not Steve's restoration. I don't want to say any more because of spoilers, but if Spencer's doing what I think he's doing this could end up being a good story. I hope you're right, my friend. This would be very unfortunate unless it were part of a GIGANTIC swerve. |
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