[Distict5-9]

Did a quick Google search, since our own search function seems to have broken down for some reason, and it turns out that apparently we don't have a comic book discussion thread... Since the forum activity seems to have significantly died down recently, I'm just gonna go ahead and make this a thing and see how long it will stick around.

Discuss your latest reads, rant about what you loathe the most or shamelessly recommend and promote your favorites. It can be either a western comic or a manga; as long as it has speech bubbles, "pretty" pictures to go with it and it could be referred to as a comic book in some backwater corner of the planet, anything goes!




I finally got around to reading my copy of Mike Mignola/Al Williamson's version of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Definitely an overall good read, and it makes for a decent standalone volume, although the artwork tends to wobble between being very fitting at times, and almost impossible to decipher at others. Maybe I just favor one artist's style over the other's...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wILJck-Td7g/UJsIKyZe38I/AAAAAAAACgc/jcEBccB1aJs/s1600/Mignola+Leiber.jpg

[the4ten]

I'm loving the **** out of Black Science. Rick Remender knows how to pen a character and Matteo Scalera's panels have been gorgeous so far.

I've had Sex Criminals in my queue for a few months, but can't seem to start. No particular reason, other than how good people keep saying it is. Instead, I'm thinking about going back and rereading Ghost World.

[Haar]

I recently read. Planet Hulk. I liked it. After that, I read World War Hulk. It was kind of silly and some parts made no sense, such as the Heroes for Hire suddenly caring about something other than getting paid and semi-cosmic level entities like Ghost Rider getting involved, yet not stopping the Hulk's rampage. It was basically like reading a DBZ fan fiction. Despite all of this, I still kind of liked it for certain reasons beyond my comprehension. Oh, and if you end up reading this story, please skip every tie in except Frontline. They're all mediocre at best. The Gamma Corps story was just kind of pointless and also edgy. The X-Men tie-in was also fairly pointless and seemed to take place in some pocket dimension where time progresses differently, because I can't tell when the Hulk was supposed to have time to visit Xavier's school since he was supposed to be laying siege to New York City. I liked the Punisher tie-in, but I just really like the Punisher, so that's no surprise. Also, I don't see how there wasn't a bigger controversy over this cover. Maybe it had something to do with the artist being a woman.

http://i.imgur.com/ozQum27.jpg

A few months before this, I read Saga. It seemed really interesting, but due to it being an ongoing series and also unfinished, I can't recommend it to most in good conscience. As you can probably guess from how I phrased that, most of the series I like are completed ones. Speaking of completed series and Brian K. Vaughn's works, I spent a month or so reading Ex Machina. I enjoyed it, though it didn't really seem to be the kind of series I thought it was going to be, nor do I think it filled in the blanks about the other dimensions very well.

While I was reading Saga, I also read Rat Queens. It seemed like a series for "the Tumblr crowd," or at least "the edgy scene girl" crowd, seeing as how half of the jokes were about drugs and candy or something stupid like that. The only character I really liked was Hannah, with the rest either having some quirk I didn't like or simply not being very interesting. Now, the later issues got a little better and a bit more serious, but the first few were just an edgy trudge of edginess. I mean, they said **** more than I say ****, which, as a general rule of thumb, you should assume is way too many times. I know it's supposed to be a "parody" in some regards, but that seems to be the excuse that everyone uses these days to get away with doing whatever they want. Edgy hipster stuff aside, the actual art seemed good enough and the cast is fairly "inclusive," for those of you that care about that kind of thing. There's even a transsexual orc. I think this is the first time I've seen that kind of character in any sort of story.

Additionally, I've been reading Copperhead. I'll keep you guys posted on my opinion of it as it progresses. I still can't tell whether or not I actually like it.



Shamelessly recommend and promote your favorites.

Y: The Last Man should be read by a few of you. It is about a man's quest to find out why the rest of the people of his gender died and if he can do anything to restore humanity to its former glory. He is assisted by a government agent, a scientist, and a monkey. I'd post more details, but I assume most of you have seen me talk about it before.

[SilentChaz]

Only read a handful of Superman comics, but Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_vs._Muhammad_Ali) was pretty damn funny (Ali wins).
The final image makes me smile.
http://i.imgur.com/MTtJVnD.jpg?1

Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_Asylum:_A_Serious_House_on_Serious_Earth) was… an interesting read.

http://i.imgur.com/c2HJ0nS.png

The artwork is delightfully grotesque, particularly with the Joker. People seem to praise the lettering on his dialogue, but the way I see it- it’s just needlessly difficult to read what he’s saying in many panels.
The highlight of the story had to be the flashback sequence involving Amadeus Arkham discovering his murdered wife and daughter, the reveal was genuinely chilling.
Stupid ending however.
I’d love to see this adapted into a feature film, the name alone would sucker in a large audience- then the story would scare everybody senseless.

[Distict5-9]

Y: The Last Man should be read by a few of you. It is about a man's quest to find out why the rest of the people of his gender died and if he can do anything to restore humanity to its former glory. He is assisted by a government agent, a scientist, and a monkey. I'd post more details, but I assume most of you have seen me talk about it before.

I've been meaning to read this for a while now, but I'm having trouble finding it at my comic book stores, since I'd rather flip through the first volumes before seeing if I like it enough to warrant a purchase...

I've started reading through the Sandman series, as of late. Really liked the prologue volumes, and am enjoying it so far. Still, I can't say I'm really liking the idea of setting it in the DC universe that much so far... I love Gaiman's writing and all, but most of his stuff tends to be a bit "larger than life", in it's own way. It's just the kind of stuff that I don't think fits too well in any sort of pre-existing, shared universe...


Anyway, to give a bit more variety to this thread, let's talk about Wolfsmund (http://bato.to/comic/_/comics/wolfsmund-r3700)!

Being always willing to read a comic about Medieval Europe, I was actually genuinely interested in this horribly mean-spirited, trashy series after the first few chapters. It was like a badly drawn, edgy Middle Ages slice of life with the grimdark turned up to eleven and a "clever" but entertainingly and irredeemably scummy main character. Add in the fact that it's set in bloody Switzerland, of all places, and that's some serious guilty pleasure-fodder right there, for someone like me...

As you might be probably guessing, though, gore is only rarely associated with "genius storytelling" and "compelling characters". In the span of a couple of chapters, the focus was suddenly changed to some upstart little jackass, and my expectation for an interesting villain main character ended up having a pole literally rammed up its ass. (Dramatization (http://i.minus.com/iblaRxI9gJBPOl.png).)

To make a long rant short, you know your historical series has taken a weird turn when "Ninja farmers" are suddenly a thing (http://i.minus.com/iZgsMU82M3Zx3.png)...


Bottom line: much like the actual fortress, steer clear from Wolfsmund. Still, I would personally recommend the first few chapters to the most curious of you...

[bonehimer]

Have a small trip next week and so I bought My Friend Dahmer for a read on the way, as soon as it arrived I read a few pages and ended up reading all of it one sitting. The stories and anecdotes by writer and classmate of the teenage future serial killer homosexual necrophiliac cannibal Jefferey Dahmer paint him as surpassingly sympathetic.

http://images.tcj.com/2012/04/pg20-650x1040.jpg

[the4ten]

I read a few pages and ended up reading all of it one sitting.
Had a similar experience with it. Definitely recommend it.

[the4ten]

Sorry for the double post, but picked up Ninjak #1 and wanted to recommend it. I've never counted myself among the ninjak fans, didn't hate him either, but decided to pick this one up because I saw it as a new release and happened to have a $5 in my pocket. #1 is exciting and a good start. Excited to see where Matt Kindt and Clay Mann take it.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/imgsrv/covers/900/0/1/NINJAK-001-COVER-B-MANN-000.jpg

[Zarxrax]

I was into comics when I was a kid, but stopped reading as I got older.
But I remember randomly buying a comic in the bargain bin where batman fights the ku klux clan.
The dark knight vs the white knights. So much potential. But the comic kinda sucked if I remember correctly.
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/6/8/9/0/2/1/webimg/543937506_tp.jpg

[the4ten]

Joker stars in June Variants for Superman, Batgirl, others. (moar (http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/exclusive-the-joker-stars-in-june-variants-for-superman-batgirl-and-more))
http://www.comicbookresources.com/imgsrv/imglib/0/0/1/SM-Cv41-joker-variant-solicitation-55598.jpg