I Read Comic Books discussion
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What are you reading right now?
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What are you reading right now? (December 2024)
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Last week's adventures in comics.Fortune and Glory: The Musical ★★★
Bendis's story about how he was approached to write the book for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the famously failed musical of the past decade. That's just a small part of the book though. At least half of it is how he became a writer and got into comics. For those of you who haven't read his earliest comics, he also started out as an artist before learning that his real talent laid solely in writing comics.
Captain America: Scourge of the Underworld ★★
I remember Scourge randomly showing up and killing criminals in the Marvel universe in the 80s and thinking it was really cool. And the story at the Bar with No Name in Captain America was pretty cool. Yes, they are mostly obscure villains that die but they had been in other comics back then. And a bunch of these guys get resurrected decades later during Dark Reign to become Punisher fodder. But to get back to this. This story becomes a real muddled mess with Scourge working for the Red Skull. What the Hell is that? It makes no sense that a guy who kills criminals would work for the freaking Red Skull. The U.S. Agent mini at the end tries to make sense of it all but it's too little, too late. This is put together really strangely too. There's only a few full issues. Over half of it is excerpts from comics, only cherry-picking the pages where Scourge shows up. The whole thing is just a real mess.
Star Wars: The Stark Hyperspace War ★★
A really lackluster story told in flashback by several Jedi masters. The story structure makes this even more boring than it would seem even. Ostrander is typically a very reliable writer. It's about a couple of groups scheming to limit bacta production to raise profits. The art's not very good either. This was just an all around pass.
U.S. Agent ★★
The biggest jerk in comics got his own miniseries back in the 90s. Finally lays down the deal with Scourge who was this person who went around murdering costumed criminals in the Marvel universe in the 80s and 90s. It was all very unfulfilling after dragging it out for about 10 years.
JLA: Year One ★★★★★
I love this comic. I loved it when it came out in the 90s and it's still just as good in 2024. Waid and Augustyn provide the perfect combination of action, story and subtle humor. I love how they mix so many obscure DC heroes into the story as well, yet they never seem out of place. My only complaint is that they didn't ever do a Year Two with Green Arrow, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, Zatanna, Red Tornado and Elongated Man joining the team. Barry Kitson's art is just terrific too. I don't where he's been lately but I'd welcome his return. His team-ups with Mark Waid are always golden.
Frank Miller’s Ronin Rising Manga Edition ★
Frank Miller continues to tarnish his legacy in the 21st century with this nonsense sequel to Ronin. I had absolutely no idea what was happening. It was all pinup pages of gigantic monsters floating in space (or the womb, who the Hell knows) with the same repetitive dialogue for 300 pages. Then there's a mother and a toddler with Superman's powers killing them and talking repeatedly about Virgo and one of the other zodiac signs that I can't be bothered to remember. This is easily the worst comic of the year. This new publisher, Cana, needs to pay people to get them to read it. It's that bad. It wasn't even worth reading it with the free ARC I received.
Star Wars: Rite of Passage ★★★
Jedi Quinlan Vos and Padawan Aayla Secura take on this newer race that has kidnapped Aayla's child cousin who is the heir to a big Twi'lek clan. There's a lot to like. Jan Duursema's art for one which is much better to me than Davide Fabbri's.
Star Wars: 30th Anniversary Collection, Volume 4: Jango Fett & Zam Wesell ★★★
Two separate but connected stories featuring the bounty hunters from Attack of the Clones. They are fine.
Star Wars: Jedi Quest ★★
An all over the place story about people being put to slavery by some random bad guy. Anakin and Obi-Wan randomly work to free everyone. The story is kind of a mess and the art isn't very good.
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Menace Revealed, Vol. 3 ★★
Proof that not all of the Dark Horse Star Wars stories were golden. One of the weaker Star Wars Epic collections. It's full of just OK art and stories.
Godzilla's 70th Anniversary Deluxe Edition ★★★
The 70th Anniversary special is pretty good. I gave it 4 stars when I first read it. This deluxe edition adds these random Best of Godzilla comics that I think bring down the collection as a whole. They are all very random. Some of them are incomplete stories. If you're a Godzilla fan, you've probably already read all of it in previous collections. It just seem like a scam to take more of your money.
Thief of the Heights ★★★
A YA dystopian comic about three friends who create prosthetics for people inflected by some disease that requires limbs to be amputated. The best of the best get lifted out of the darkness to cities higher up on the food chain with better resources and daylight. It's fine. My problems are that we've read this story many times before. So many times before that Son M. doesn't really even bother to go into details about much of this world. You're supposed to just take what was given and go with it. But this is also 240 pages long so what else were they were doing with these pages? The ending feels like it comes out of nowhere too. All of a sudden there's a revolution plot that wasn't really there at all before. It was so rushed that I thought maybe towards the end, the publisher told the creators that they were not getting a second book and they had to cram the rest of the story in the last 50 pages.
Batman: Resurrection ★★★
I thought it was odd to write a new prose book based on Batman '89 in 2024. After all, why wait 35 years? But it actually wasn't half bad. It takes place between Batman and Batman Returns, bridging the gap. It answers some perceived plot holes in the first movie with the Joker. Batman is having nightmares about the Joker still being alive and it seems like he may have returned. I do remember those rumors being told about what Batman Returns would be about. Two more Batman villains make their debut in the Batman '89 universe and I thought they were both done pretty well. They both maintained their comic book roots while getting updated to fit this world. Miller does a good job of bridging the gap between the two films. He also seems to have laid some seeds for another Batman book to come out next year, Batman: Revolution.
Last week's trip to the LCS.Incredible Hulk #19 (800th issue)
Thundercats #10
Absolute Wonder Woman #2
Feral #8
Flash Gordon #4
Gatchaman #5
Galactor #4
Void Rivals #14
Uncanny X-Men #6
Ultimate Black Panther #10
TMNT #4
Justice League Unlimited #1
West Coast Avengers #1
Hornsby & Halo #1
Hyde Street #1
Mystique #2
Today's trip to my LCS.Cheetara #5
Avengers #21
Ultimates #7
X-Men #8
Absolute Superman #2
Birds of Prey #16
Thundercats: Apex
X-Force #6
Mod
Here's what folks read this week:
- Paul: Tomb of Dracula (1972-1979) #50
- Danny: Justice League Unlimited (2024-) #1
- Nick: She's Running on Fumes (Comixology Originals) #1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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Thief of the Heights ★★★★★
Loved the dynamic between the friends and how their families were included in the story. I also appreciated that the amount of time spent at each level seemed to reflect the physical size and population of the level. The different designs of prosthetics were very good. The art and pacing really worked for me up until the fast ending. This felt like a part 1 of a larger story (I agree with what Chad said about this). There's a natural opening for a prequel and at least one sequel.
Last week's adventures in comics.Blue Book Volume 2: 1947 ★★
A really boring drive by approach to UFO sightings throughout the 20th century. It's written in a factual style that is extremely dry and there's no real story. Just a few panels for most of the major sightings. I'm honestly not sure why this even exists. Disappointing considering I like both creators involved.
Batman: Resurrection ★★★
I thought it was odd to write a new prose book based on Batman '89 in 2024. After all, why wait 35 years? But it actually wasn't half bad. It takes place between Batman and Batman Returns, bridging the gap. It answers some perceived plot holes in the first movie with the Joker. Batman is having nightmares about the Joker still being alive and it seems like he may have returned. I do remember those rumors being told about what Batman Returns would be about. Two more Batman villains make their debut in the Batman '89 universe and I thought they were both done pretty well. They both maintained their comic book roots while getting updated to fit this world. Miller does a good job of bridging the gap between the two films. He also seems to have laid some seeds for another Batman book to come out next year, Batman: Revolution.
The Midnight: Shadows ★★
Some guys in a band I never heard of, The Midnight, created a comic to go along with their album. It's set in 2 different time, 1999 and a 100 years in the future. The guy in 1999 is starting a family and goes to play an old video game that may have transported him into the future. (It's never very clear which reality in the real one.) In the future most of Earth has been destroyed by some vague shadows. That's my problem with the whole thing. Everything stays very vague so they don't have to commit. There are also 3 different artists working on this and it can be some grating changes between them.
We Called Them Giants ★★★
A bare bones dystopian future comic. Lori is a foster kid, waking up one day to find everyone missing. Eventually she finds another girl. For some reason most of the food has also disappeared which makes no sense other than video game sense. The two girls have to fight for resources with this gang called the Dogs until these giant aliens show up. The idea here seems to be that we are the aliens pets but I don't think its conveyed very well. The shining star here is Stephanie Hans's art. It's gorgeous. It's detailed. It's the concepts though just aren't fleshed out very well. Maybe they should have added an additional 20 pages to this OGN and did a bit more world building.
The Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection ★★★★
Kirby's first big comic after returning to Marvel in the 70s from his time creating crazy comics over at DC. It's bursting with big ideas and leaves the superheroics behind for pure sci-fi. It introduces that there have always been 3 races on Earth, humans, Eternals and Deviants. Then come the Celestials, these giant behemoths who kind of just walk around the Earth and created all 3 races. You can see all of the seeds that were in the movie (along with the terrible decision to make the Deviants just some kind of generic demons, where here they are just mutants but still intelligent). It does feel like Kirby had some ADHD at times. He flits back and forth to completely different characters every few issues. Still, this was cool to go back and finally read one of the few missing bits of my comic book history.
Do a Powerbomb! ★★★★★
I'll just say that I hate wrestling. My great grandma was kind of obsessed with wrestling when I was growing up. She'd have boxes of VHS tapes she'd break out and make us watch it every time I came over. But if real wrestling was nearly as good as this comic, I'd instantly be a fan.
It's about a father and daughter with an estranged relationship who have been in wrestling their whole life. Lona's mother was the champ, until an accident happened and the wrestler Cobrasun was the cause. Now no one will train Lona until one day she gets involved with an interdimensional tag team tournament with the prize being you get to bring a loved one back to life. And her partner? The man who killed her mother, Cobrasun.
This thing is packed with so much heart. The visuals are great. You can feel all the moves as they fly off the turnbuckle. Mike Spicer's colors pop off the page. If you like comics, do yourself a favor and read this book.
DC: the New Frontier: The Absolute Edition ★★★★★
I love this take on 50's era superheroes. Yes, it is not the regular DC universe. The big three take a backseat to the rest of the DC universe (which I'm more than OK with). I love Cooke's take on things, pulling in elements from the culture of the time like the communist witch hunts (Yes, I know comics like The Golden Age did this first.) and racism. It's all just very cool. But not only is it cool, Cooke's art just fits the time period so well. Just chef's kiss to the whole thing.
Billy Hooten, Owlboy ★★★
Not really a comic but Eric Powell does the illustrations and Tom Sniegoski wrote it so I'll count it. A fun book for middle schoolers. Billy Hooten is a sixth-grader and a big nerd who is into comic books. He comes across a portal to Monstro City (packed full of monsters of course.) where he becomes the next Owlboy. This is a story of him growing into the role, overcoming his fears to do the right thing. It's solid stuff.
Magic: The Hidden Planeswalker ★★★
A new Planesmaster is introduced, one who is a necromancer and teacher at a school for magic.She is poked by Tesserit into a plot to free a mage of incredible power who causes almost instant madness in those around her. It's actually not bad. It takes place between volumes 2 and 3 of the Magic series from Boom by Jed Mackay.
The History of Science Fiction: A Graphic Novel Adventure ★★
Dense doesn't even begin to describe this thing. It feels like a dissertation disguised as a comic book. It's packed with information if you can keep yourself awake enough to retain the information in it. The pages are heaps and heaps of text between talking heads (typically known science fiction authors) listing off authors and their books but with little other information provided. The biggest pro for this book is to make some listicles of the books mentioned within and then go out and actually read those instead.
Annihilator ★★
I guess I've read too many Grant Morrison comics because this felt like Morrison doing his shtick. Grossly unlikable characters. Meeting your creations. Getting very meta. At times, it almost felt like a parody of himself as if he did it on purpose. I find Frazier Irving a conflicting artist. What he draws is very good. My problem is he draws zero backgrounds. It's all just background fuzz and it makes the panels feel very static when everyone is just floating in space. It's almost like looking at a sketchbook.
When The Blood Has Dried ★★★★
Some solid fantasy. It's about a warrior who was left for dead and rebuilt her life in a small town eventually taking over the town bar. Now 5 years later, her past has come looking for her. You don't get all the answers you may be looking for during the course of this but I got enough that I want more.
Hillbilly, Volume 1 ★★★★★
Eric Powell shifts from his signature series, The Goon, to this new character of the Hillbilly. The Hillbilly walks the back roads of Appalachia with his Devil's Cleaver hunting witches that plague the small towns therein. The art is just absolutely gorgeous. Just exquisite pencil works with subtle colors. The Buzzard does make an appearance so I guess this is set in the same world as The Goon.
Hillbilly, Volume 2 ★★★★★
Eric Powell's stories of Rondel, keeper of the Devil's Cleaver. He roams Appalachia killing monsters and righting wrongs in hillbilly fairy tales. There's no larger story here although the extras mention plans for the characters to reappear in future stories. I'd imagine there's a plan to eventually kill all the witches.
Hillbilly, Volume 3 ★★★★★
Visually this book is stunning. Powell's creatures are fantastical and original. The character designs are stylized, yet perfect. I love the washed out, almost sepia tone coloring. There's a larger story at this point with both the Hillbilly and the witches building armies to throw at one another. I do wish this was left to breathe a little longer.
Hillbilly Volume 4: Red-Eyed Witchery From Beyond ★★
Hillbilly is typically excellent but Powell only drew one issue of this. Without his art and subtle colors, this looked awful. That combined with a lesser story of Rondel fighting aliens just wasn't a good fit.
Mod
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
This week's belated trip to my LCS. Had to go into NYC for a couple of days to a conference.Defenders of the Earth #4
Storm #3
Uncanny X-Men #7
Transformers #15
Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1
Incredible Hulk #20
Ultimate X-Men #10
X-Factor #5
Last week's adventures in comics.Spookhouse ★★★★
A Halloween anthology series from the creator of The Goon. Good stuff for all ages.
Spookhouse 2 ★★★★★
Eric Powell knows how to put together a horror anthology. This hearkens back to old comics like Eerie or Creepy. Adults into fun horror books will enjoy this along with those who have youngsters who are into things that go bump into the night. The book is kept at a PG level with the most gruesome elements being some undead creatures and very little gore.
Once Upon a Time at the End of the World Vol. 3 ★★★
An OK ending to a series that to me never lived up to its full potential. After the last volume, the two have split off, living a lonely existence and kept on screwing up royally. Now they have to band together again to stop the end of the world. I get what Aaron was trying to do here. I just didn't connect nearly as much as he was striving for.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 40th Anniversary Comics Celebration—The Deluxe Edition ★★★
I don't know that this is any longer than the regular edition as far as actual comics though. It does collect the 40 different covers but the content of the anthology is still only about 100 pages. I did like how they got most of the creators from all of the different iterations of the Turtles to return for stories. The stories themselves are all pretty short and inconsequential. The idea to bring all of these creative teams back though was a good one.
The Marvels Project ★★★★★
Basically a golden age Marvels. It's the Marvel universe in the lead up to World War II. It follows Captain America, Namor, the Human Torch, the Angel and some of the other Marvel heroes of that age. It's good stuff, made even better by Steve Epting. His classic looking art is perfect for this.
Army of Darkness Forever Vol. 1 ★★★
A solid continuation of where the director's cut of Army of Darkness left off. It takes place in three different time periods with Sheila still back in the past fighting deadites, Evil Ash back in 1993 wreaking havoc in S-Mart and Ash stuck in the future. It does end on a cliffhanger so we'll see how the back half of this winds things up. I do wish this license wasn't separated so we could just continue on from the end of the TV show.
Butcher Queen: Planet of the Dead ★★★
Pretty good. It's set in a future where aliens reside on Earth. Humans from another dimension are trying to invade this Earth as they have destroyed their own planet and want to take over this one. I do recommend reading this first volume before this one.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, and Green ★★★★
IDW gets in on the black, white and one color game that the big two love so much. The stories are all about 10 pages and generally pretty good. The last two stories make the mistake of using white lettering with no background color and I couldn't read the narration at all. The one story that stood out to me was the one from Dave Weilgosz and Riley Rossmo, mainly because I typically hate Rossmo's art with a passion. He's adapted a Frank Miller, Sin City style though that really works and ditched the caricatures he typically draws.
Ripple Effects ★★★★
I thought this was really well done. It's about a man who along with getting powers also became diabetic. Now he has to manage it while also learning how to fight crime. Each issue also has an essay in the back about someone who battles an invisible disease. My wife has MS and you can see the days when she is struggling with it while trying to put on a brave face. I thought this was pretty realistic (with the caveat that this world also has a few superheroes).
Vampirella: Dead Flowers ★★
Frank Frazetta's granddaughter writes her first comic. The art and coloring are pretty great. The story has some potential but doesn't connect the dots. The ending was just weird with Frank Frazetta actually in the comic looking like it's going to start another story that just ends abruptly, maybe due to cancellation.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Starring Boris Karloff ★★★★★
A faithful adaptation of the classic horror novel, but with Boris Karloff's face as the face of the monster. It's an interesting idea and done very well. I really like Kerry Gammill's artwork. Not only does it have a classic look, he in no way cuts corners like a lot of modern artists. Every panel is incredibly detailed with full backgrounds. You'll find no basic shapes floating in panels here. Just a really well done comic.
Teen Titans: Starfire ★★
A generic version of Starfire where she and her sister are just Cali girls with powers. Her powers are different now too. For some reason she can do things like instantly speak Japanese. Most of this book is a whole lot of nothing. It does introduce Cyborg as well. Then there's weird things like talking about how pale Kori is supposed to be even though she's colored the exact same color as her sister. The highlight of this series is Gabriel Picolo's art.
Ranger Academy Vol. 3 ★★★
The kids from Ranger Academy finally fight Dark Spector. Some things still aren't explained the best. If you aren't fluent in Power Ranger, you'll definitely miss things like I did.
Today's trip to my LCS.Freddie the Fix - A one shot from Garth Ennis under his new Image imprint, Ninth Circle.
Challengers of the Unknown #1
The New Gods #1
Flash Gordon Quarterly #2
House of Slaughter #28
Johnny Quest #5
Thundercats #11
TMNT #5
G.I. Joe #2
Absolute Batman #3
Rocketfellers #2
World's Finest #34
Captain America #16
Immortal Thor #18
Spectacular Spider-Men #10
Ultimate Spider-Man #12
Mod
Here's what folks read this week:
- Mike: The Tin Can Society #1 through #3
- Kate: Briar, Vol. 1: Sleep No More
- Brian: A.X.E. Judgement Day (2022)
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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ACID TOWN ★★★
This manga is a promising story where a teen is trying to earn the money he needs to get his younger brother medical care. However, everyone in this book needs therapy and I'm worried all they're going to get is more violence. I like the positive relationships in this story and how much the friends and family look out for one another. But there are a lot of threats implied and violent backgrounds that make this a rough read at times.
Queenie: Godmother of Harlem: A Graphic Novel ★★★★
I appreciate the introduction regarding the history of Harlem as well as the glossary of characters and historical terms. There are a few things handled in an unique and effective way artistically. One very important footnote is presented as a scene from a movie. A few things are explained as full spread artful diagrams. I love the cover. I feel like I would have benefitted from reading this in one sitting. I lost track of characters and who had done what between sittings. There are a lot of moving parts in this story.
The One Hand and The Six Fingers ★★★
I really enjoyed this dual issue set up where one issue is from the detective's POV and the next issue is for the same range of time from the suspect's POV. This went off the rails at the end and I was left with questions.
Moon Knight, Vol. 1: From the Dead ★★
I expect this wasn't the best place to start with Moon Knight. The anthology style collection didn't give me much of a feeling for the character, other than all the ways he's similar to Batman. There are multiple references to his other personas but they are only seen passively in this volume, not used as part of a story.
Last week's adventures in comics. Mr. Boop ★★★
This was interesting. It's really weird. It's a comic strip where the artist has inserted himself as Betty Boop's husband. There are no jokes. Each 4 panel strip just ends without jokes. Betty and Mr. Boop are really into each other and having sex and they bring other cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny and Peter Griffin into their bedroom for orgies. Then later on, it turns to be about IP infringement and the end just kind of peters out. It's a very strange concept.
Deadpool in Mission: Improbable ★★★★
Deadpool's first solo comic with two big time creators (Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness) just starting out. Deadpool's still full of quips. The stories are pretty dark. It's solid stuff.
Deadpool Epic Collection, Vol. 2: Mission Improbable ★★★★
Deadpool gets his own comic. One by the, at the time unheard of, team of Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness. The main gist of the first 9 issues is his infatuation with Siryn and then Typhoid Mary shows up for several issues and we cross over with Daredevil which Joe Kelly was also writing. The stories are surprisingly dark. Blind Al is Deadpool's kidnap victim, trapped in his house. The stuff with Typhoid Mary gets dark and murdery. Overall, it's pretty good. Plus Ed McGuinness makes the book look great. You almost don't even miss the missing backgrounds that how good his art is.
Time Before Time, Vol. 1 ★★★★
A time travel book where organized crime owns all of the time machines. They're ferrying people back to the past where things are better while also smuggling future tech back to their time. The book travels through a lot of different times but the years are always stated. I never felt lost since they typically are only jumping back and forth between a couple of different years at a time. There's some complex world building going on with rival gangs controlling different eras of history while our main character just wants to get out of the game before his time runs out.
Conan the Barbarian Vol. 4 Frozen Faith ★★★
Jim Zub's take on "The Frost Giant's Daughter". Zub has expanded the story to include some flashbacks to Conan's childhood. I guess there wasn't enough content in the original short story to get four issues. I know it's not all that long but it's been a while since I read it. Doug Braithwaite's art is perfect for Conan.
Swamp Thing, Volume 1: Raise Them Bones ★★★★★
I love how Snyder does his own version of Swamp Thing while more than acknowledging the groundbreaking Moore run. He establishes his own horror tilt with the battle between the Green, the Red and the Rot. Yannick Paquette makes this book look badass. I love the page layouts with various plant matter providing the panel edges. The subtle nods to past creators popping up randomly was a nice touch as well. Finding the omnibus at the library was the perfect excuse to run through the whole thing again. The rare New 52 series that is worth reading.
Swamp Thing, Volume 2: Family Tree ★★★★
DC of course had to put this together strangely. It's become a part of DC's schtick in the New 52 era. The beginning is really a continuation of the story from volume one, with Abby fighting becoming part of the Rot. There's some really cool visuals here. She looks really out there and different. Then we have a zero issue with Abby growing up and an annual before the beginning of a crossover with Animal Man. There's good stuff here, just not put together in the best way from DC.
Swamp Thing, Volume 3: Rotworld: The Green Kingdom ★★★
Swamp Thing and Animal Man get tricked. They come out of the rot a year later and Arcane has taken over most of the world, killing everyone. The few people left must stop him or it's the end of humanity. With this much destruction, you know there's going to be a moment that will reset it all and that does happen. The ending is heartbreaking. However, even though both Swamp Thing and Animal Man are crossing over in this, they also aren't. It feels disjointed when it should just be one big story. Paquette's art is pretty great, although some of the pages can be odd to figure out what order to read the panels in.
Swamp Thing, Volume 4: Seeder ★★★
For an arc titled "Seeder", Seeder hardly appears. He's randomly popping up in places, altering the Green in ways that Swamp Thing has to then fix. Seems like that story won't build to a head until the next arc. The main thrust are some smaller stories with Superman and Constantine. Soule's takeover of the book is fine so far. That's about all I can say for it.
Swamp Thing, Volume 5: The Killing Field ★★★★
Jason Woodrue returns as Seeder. The Floronic Man, I guess, was pre-New 52. DC continuity is confusing. Anyway he's back and challenging Swamp Thing to be the new avatar of the Green. I like all of the history we get for these new characters of the Green. The ending does feel abrupt though. Still, a step up from the last volume. I greatly enjoy Jesus Saiz's art too, even if it's not as inventive as Yannick Paquette's.
Swamp Thing, Volume 6: The Sureen ★★★★
Charles Soule's best work to date. Nothing like that swill he's written for Marvel like Wolverines. Feels like a Vertigo title set in the DCU. Jesus Saiz may be the best artist working at DC today. I'm always surprised he hasn't been enlisted to draw their top tier books. I dug the quick Aquaman crossover too.
Swamp Thing, Volume 7: Season's End ★★★
It's the rise of the machines as a new paradigm arises to join the Green, Red, Grey and Rot. It starts off decently. Part way through it begins to feel rushed. My feeling is that DC squashed the book early since it only made it 40 issues instead of 52. The book ends with a Future's End one shot. It was an interesting concept but slapping these all into their individual books without any context made it really confusing to anyone not aware of what was going on here (which is most people.)
The artwork by Jesus Saiz and Javier Pina is excellent. These two like to ping-pong off of one another on books and their art works well together. (They've been doing the same lately on Captain America.)
What If... Loki Was Worthy? ★★★
This is a prose novel, not a graphic novel. This is more the spirit of the What If Disney+ show than the comics where one change in their story sets a character down a different path. It's just another world than the MCU. In this one, there are no superheroes. Thor has secretly been visiting Earth and has a family there. He dies while visiting Earth setting Tony Stark and Asgard on a collision course towards one another. It's fine. It doesn't feel like the author has the greatest grasp of the Marvel universe though.
Christmas with the Super-Heroes #1 ★★★
DC digs through the archives to find some comics set during the holidays. Some are pretty good, some not so much. The strangest was Superman's teamup with Santa Claus. My favorite was the Legion of Super-Heroes story.
Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 ★★★
This is odd because Christmas with the Super-Heroes #1 was a bunch of Christmas related reprints where this is all original stories. It's got some big time creators from the 80's, John Byrne, Eric Shanower, Dave Gibbons, Paul Chadwick, Andy Kubert, William-Messner Loebs, Colleen Doran. The list goes on and on. They're all nice little uplifting stories of the holidays. I do like that we get some obscure characters like Enemy Ace and Deadman in addition to Batman and Wonder Woman stories.
DC Universe Holiday Bash (1996) #1 ★★★
Some solid holiday stories featuring DC characters both popular and obscure. The oddest one was probably the Demon story where someone sells their soul. The best was the Flash story by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn.
DCU Holiday Bash II (1997) #1 ★★★
A bunch of shorts centered around the holidays. Hanukkah and Kwanza made the cut this go around too. Solid stuff, mostly by the same creators working on each character's book at the time.
DCU Holiday Bash III (1998) #1 ★★★
The third of these holiday bashes featuring DC's trinity along with some more obscure characters like Bat Lash and Shrapnel. I think my favorite story was with Shrapnel in jail and he just wanted to see his kids for Christmas.
DCU Infinite Holiday Special (2006) #1 ★★★
Your standard short stories set around the holiday. I did appreciate the stories using the more obscure characters like Shadowpact. I'd forgotten about the Trials of Shazam and Bart as the Flash era too as they were pretty quickly scrapped.
DCU Holiday Special (2008) #1 ★★
One of the lesser holiday specials from DC. Most of these are duds and at least half have very little to do with the holidays at all. Lesser stories by lesser creators for the most part.
DC Holiday Special (2009) #1 ★★★
A weaker bunch of holiday stories for 2009. I did like that they slipped some more obscure characters in there like Bwana Beast and Enemy Ace. Still it was just OK overall.
DCU Holiday Special (2010) #1 ★★
Not so much a holiday special as it is a lecture on holidays in other cultures. Not sure whose idea that was, but it was a terrible one.
DC Rebirth Holiday Special (2016) #1 ★★★
After a several year break, DC's holiday anthology returns. Too bad they didn't bring some bigger creators along as well. Most of these feel kind of slight.
DC Holiday Special (2017) #1 ★★★★
DC did break out some of its bigger creators for this holiday special. Tom King, Jeff Lemire, Denny O'Neil, Greg Rucka, Christopher Priest and Joshua Williamson all write stories.
DC Nuclear Winter Special (2018) #1 ★★★★
DC's holiday anthology for 2018 was a strange one but a goodie. All of the stories take place in apocalyptic DC futures. Mark Russell ties them all together with one of his offbeat stories. This one featuring Rip Hunter trying to distract cannibals from eating him. The Supergirl story was quite good as well. Most of them were actually.
New Year's Evil (2019) #1 ★★★★
This made for a nice change of pace, to let the villains take over the holiday anthology. I like it so much I'd love to see it on a regular basis. The Kurt Busiek and Dale Eaglesham story about the Prankster was, no surprise, a standout. But so were many of the others. If you're curious about DC's holiday anthologies, this is a great place to start.
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Here's what folks read this week:
- Mike: Bug Ego 1-5
This is available for free right now at https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapte...
- Danny: Plastic Man No More! (2024) #1 through #4
- Zach: Freddie The Fix #1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 5 ★★★
Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 6 ★★★
Most of the time I like a big cast of characters but something about this series is just chaotic. The characters all have existing backstories but for the most part they don't matter to the story. The volumes are more like anthologies of stories with only minor threads to string them all together. I want to like this series but six volumes in I'm not feeling committed to it.
A Chinese Fantasy: Law of the Fox ★★★★
This anthology of stories focused on romances and fighting/working to be together. In each one, one of the partners was a spirit, a human/animal hybrid, or a shape shifter. Some of these stories were sweet and others were odd. In general I like this series and would like it to be longer.
Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 4 ★★★★
Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 5 by Kyousuke Motomi ★★
This shojo series is getting hard to find in print. Luckily it's on the Viz app. I read a different long-ish series by this author previously and I really like the way they place their stories and character building. There's a hacker subplot that's gone on for a few volumes now that I'm getting tired of but otherwise I'm enjoying this sometimes-goofy sometimes-heartfult series.
Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, Volume 6 ★★★★★
There are a handful of volumes of this on hoopla now! It's a mostly chill series about a modern Japanese restaurant in a medieval town. I like the balance of new and returning characters in this volume. The threats in this volume are usually low-stakes and easily resolved but there's a bigger threat inferred in this volume.
Yesterday's trip to the comic book store. Absolute Wonder Woman #3
Space Ghost #8
Exceptional X-Men #4
Geiger #9
Hornsby & Halo #2
Justice League Unlimited #2
Redcoat #8
Ultimate Black Panther #11
Void Rivals #15
Timeslide #1 <-- Marvel's annual one-shot to set up the next year
X-Men #9
West Coast Avengers #2
Mystique #3
Metamorpho the Element Man #1 <-- We'll see if Al Ewing can work his magic here.
Last week's adventures in comics where I went down a Christmas rabbit hole.Dread The Halls ★★★★★
This was great. Four horror stories revolving around the holidays and winter. Every one of them was really good. The art was good. Jordan Hart's story at the end about his grandmother encountering Krampus in Germany after World War II was terrific as well. This is horror comics done right.
Creepshow 2024 Holiday Special #1 ★★
Neither of these stories had much to do with the holidays. Nor were they any good. The first one was by Tini and Blake Howard. It's about a guy who meets a mummy and takes a bite out of it and then starts eating people. It's beyond dumb with terrible art that makes it difficult to follow the story.
The second story was a bit better. It's about a late night talk show host doing a Christmas special who is awful to everyone. Pye Parr's art wasn't bad.
DC's Very Merry Multiverse #1 ★★
Like with most of these anthology comics, the stories are a mixed bag. I did like that these took place on different Earths so we get things like a gender swapped Justice League, a cool Batman Beyond story, the Batman from Gotham by Gaslight shows up, etc. The end of the Booster Gold story was really strange though. Even if it's an alternate Earth, having Booster and Maxwell Lord sitting at a booth having dinner with Blue Beetle's mask is in poor taste given that Lord killed Blue Beetle. And then two Bizarro stories. Ugh! I hate him so much.
Tis The Season To Be Freezin' (2021) #1 ★★★
The standout from DC's 2021 anthology is the Robin and Mr. Freeze story by Paul Dini set in Batman the Animated Series. The worst by far is the Bizarro story. It made my brain hurt.
DC's Grifter Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2022) #1 ★★
Great title but this turkey was overcooked and dried out. These stories stink.
DC's 'Twas the 'Mite Before Christmas (2023) #1 ★★★
These holiday specials have morphed into tryout stories for new creators. I knew very few of the creators involved. They aren't bad stories, but they are run of the mill.
DC's Batman Smells, Robin Laid an Egg (2024) #1 ★★★
This one starts out really strong with John Stewart having to team up with Mrs. Claus. It was good enough that I'm going to seek out whatever else Dorado Quick has done. The Secret Six story was a nice surprise as well. I loved that Gail Simone penned series and this team does the series justice. The other stories weren't quite as good and a couple of them, John Constantine and Superman I'm looking at you, were downright bad.
The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1 ★★★★
Five holiday themed stories set in the world of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini's terrific Batman cartoon. Good stuff.
Harley Quinn (2013-2016) Holiday Special #1 ★★★★
Long time Harley writers Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti give Harley her own holiday special with 3 goofy stories. The main story is a bit all over the place with Harley first giving away unwanted pets and then following one of them to their new home to help a father and daughter who'd lost their mother. Then the 2nd story is about this humbug that gets in Harley's ear and causes her to hear nonstop Christmas songs. The art style makes her look like a Bratz doll and I hated it. Surprisingly the great Darwyn Cooke illustrates the last story about Harley finding her first grey hair.
Swamp Thing Winter Special (2018) #1 ★★★★
This is really a tribute to Swamp Thing's creators, Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson who both died the same year. The main story is really good. It's by Tom King and Jason Fabok. Swamp Thing is taking care of this boy as they are chased through a snowy landscape. There's more to it but that's all you really need to know, other than Fabok's art is fantastic.
The second half of the book is the first issue of a new Swamp Thing series Len Wein was working on with Kelley Jones. He died before it could be completed so it's presented as is. Jones and Madsen did all of the artwork but there's no lettering as Wein hadn't went back to fully script it. After the issue, is the script Wein had written. This was a really nice tribute to two legends of the industry.
Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special (2010) #1 ★★★
Larfleeze comes to Earth and of course doesn't get Christmas. He just wants Santa to bring all the presents. He's the interstellar epitome of greed and just wants things to want them. He's a one-trick pony, making this just OK.
Top Cow Holiday Special All Through The House #1 ★★★
Witchblade remembers the Italian Christmas witch. The Darkness puts a twisted spin on Twas the Night before Christmas and Aphrodite IX heads through a labyrinth based on The Twelve Days of Christmas. The Darkness story was easily the best of the three.
Creepshow: Holiday Special 2023 #1 ★★★
Two OK Christmas themed horror tales. My problem with these is you know exactly what is going to happen in each 2 pages into them. There's no surprises. Just awful people getting what's coming to them.
Vertigo: Winter's Edge ★★★★★
This is how you do an anthology of Christmas stories. Bring out all of the creators on their regular books and have them do a story. You've got Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Matt Wagner and more doing stories for the Endless, the Dreaming, Hellblazer, House of Secrets, the Invisibles and Sandman Mystery Theatre plus a few others. It's really good.
Vertigo: Winter's Edge #2 ★★★
Not as good as the first go-around with this. Still has all the big names: Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Steve Gerber, Garth Ennis... It's just that the stories aren't as enthralling this go around. Plus the framing story stunk.
Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3 ★★★★
Christmas tales of the Endless, the Dreaming, 100 Bullets, Book of Magic, Transmetropolitan, Swamp Thing, Dead Enders and more. All by the original creators like Neil Gaiman, Brian Azzarello and Warren Ellis. Good stuff.
Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special (1991) #1 ★★★★
The story's not bad but I'm not a fan of Bisley's art at all. The story is funny. The Easter Bunny hires Lobo to kill Santa. Things get really violent with elf deaths left and right. I liked this badass version of Santa too.
The Authority vs. Lobo: Jingle Hell ★★★★
Things get meta when Jenny Quantum finds the old comic of Lobo's Paramilitary Christmas Special where Lobo kills Santa Claus. Her belief makes it actually happen since she can pretty much do anything and she's only 3. I like the absurdist nature of this.
Ali Cross: The Graphic Novel ★★★
A faithful adaptation of the James Patterson book for younger readers. It follows Alex Cross's son, Ali, as he searches for a friend who has gone missing. Yes, it's lower stakes but it's still entertaining. My only complaints are minor in that some of the character designs don't match the characters from the books. Cross's partner, Sampson, is supposed to be a huge behemoth of a man who is 6' 9" and Nana just looked like a normal character with gray hair instead of actually looking much older.
Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes ★★★
A graphic novel biography about a queer writer from the first half of the 20th century who has largely been forgotten even though she traveled in the same circles as Hemmingway. T.S. Elliot and Peggy Guggenheim. She lived a very unconventional life made more so by her attitude later in life. It's an interesting story. It's just one that I often felt disconnected to because of the writing style.
Luminous Beings ★★★★
A last night before going off to college story set in a world full of zombie squirrels causing everyone to wear hazmat suits when outside. Other than that the world is more or less like ours. Two best friends want to be indie film makers but one of them is going off to college and hasn't told the other. Meanwhile, they along with two others are after a $20,000 reward for a missing adult. It becomes one long, crazy night. (You know, what I'm talking about. You've more or less seen this movie before.) The story is good. So is the art. I like the pink and blue color palette as well. Good stuff.
Swamp Thing: The New 52 Omnibus ★★★★
This New 52 run of Swamp Thing is actually pretty good. Scott Snyder decides to do his own thing separate from the Vertigo run. Alex Holland is now the Swamp Thing again instead of just a different creature with his memories. Snyder's 3 volume arc is very much horror focused, revolving around Anton Arcane and the Rot, a third kingdom in addition to the Green and the Red.
Charles Soule takes the book over thereafter, steering back toward the Vertigo era with its concepts. It's more hit than miss and I quite liked as well, even with a somewhat abrupt ending. The art is very good throughout with Yannick Paquette and Jesus Saiz as the main artists in the run. They both have their own strengths and are really talented.
Hi, I’m Jordan. I’m new here, and a bit new to forums in general. I love comics, books and movies & I’m happy to take part in the discussion 🌀So…Stopped procrastinating it (due to my enormous softness for animals) and read Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s We3.
I love Guardians of the Galaxy and the third installment of the movies is something that has not left my mind since I saw it in theaters. It’s an AMAZING movie but I haven’t been able to bring myself to rewatch it due to the inhuman amount of tears I shed in the process. So I learned about the existence of We3…
Amazing, creative, complex & simple all at once grotesque read. I recommend to anyone wanting a look into some inspiration behind GoTG 3…or an instant timeless and eerily relevant feeling classic.
On my coming up list for want-to-read heading into the new year:
-start Absolute Wonderwoman (Thompson, etc. 2024)
-cont. NYX (Kelly, etc. 2024)
-cont. Ultimate X-Men (Momoko 2024)
-cont. Exceptional X-Men (Ewing, etc. 2024)
-House of M (Bendis, etc. 2005)
-Batman Dark Victory (Loeb and Sale, 1999)
-Laura Kinney: Wolverine (Schultz, etc., 2024)
We3 is a very good comic. Not sure if you're aware but the Rocket stuff in GotG3 is inspired from an old Rocket Raccoon miniseries from the 80s. It's by Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola. Marvel put it all in a collection some years ago with some other Rocket stuff. It should be on Marvel Umlimited as well.You've got some good comics in your want to read list as well.
I did not know this! Thank you for telling me about, just looked it up and adding it to my list.
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I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites (other topics)Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (other topics)
A Chinese Fantasy: Law of the Fox (other topics)
Freddie The Fix #1 (other topics)
Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 6 (other topics)
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