Comics Thread.. resurrected!

[Amy Lawn]

The old comics thread is dead! It met a heroic demise after being archived by the boards because nobody gave enough of a shit to post in it. But as we all know, nobody stays dead in comics (and that's literally nobody now that Mar-Vell is back), and the thread has risen again! The thread will now have an edgy mullet to modernise it as well, how exciting!

What's everybody reading? I've been on some amazing stuff this year.

Currently I'm skipping between the Gotham Central omnibus and Walt Simonson Thor omnibus for my comic reading, both incredible. Earlier in the year I read Roughneck by Jeff Lemire which just might be one of the best graphic novels I've ever read, I'm a huge Lemire fan, and this was remarkable even by his own standards. The Nick Cave biography by Reinhardt Kleist was really good, essential reading if you're a Nick Cave fan, don't know how much you'd get out of it if you aren't; it's definitely good comics on its own merit but it does rely on knowledge of Cave's material to make sense. The first hardcover of Giant Days came out, and it's one of the most endearing and bingeable comics I've ever read, proper feelgood stuff. 

Monthlies for me at the moment is Saga, Paper Girls, Wicked + Divine, Daredevil, Thor, and Southern Bastards (whenever that decides to actually come out). The Autumnlands is on the list as well but I'm pretty sure that's died off. I regret not following All-Star Batman in monthlies, going to have to go for the trades on that one. I'm intrigued what Bendis is going to be doing at DC, that could potentially be another monthly title for the list, because I do like Bendis when he's on form, and he always gets very good artists. I love that Ennis and Parlov are working on a Punisher Max in 'nam series at the moment, their Fury Max is one of my all-time favourite comics, so I've held off the monthlies for this one because I know I'll be getting the hardcover when it comes out.

I recently circulated my Christmas list to my family, including the March slipcase, Ms Marvel vol 3 hardcover, Northlanders vol 3, so hopefully I'll be seeing some lovely comics surprises on Christmas morning. I've also got my eye on the impending Jack Kirby Fourth World omnibus as a Christmas present to myself.

In the new year I've got Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez's The Vision director's cut hardcover pre-ordered, I've heard only great things about it so I'm pretty excited to read it. I'm also looking into finally reading Watchmen in the new year, Comicbookgirl19 on YouTube is doing a Watchmen reading club, so this seems as good a time as any to finally give it a go.

Discuss comics! Don't let the new thread die as the old thread did.

[kaosmark2]

8 hours ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

Earlier in the year I read Roughneck by Jeff Lemire which just might be one of the best graphic novels I've ever read, I'm a huge Lemire fan, and this was remarkable even by his own standards.

Better than his other stuff? Recently lent Sweet Tooth to a friend and read Underwater Welder a few months ago. Comic book genius.

[slash's hat]

This will be my one and only contribution I imagine as comics are the domain of my son normally. However this weekend I have taken possession of the new Iron Maiden comic, Legacy of the Beast. Signed by the cover art illustrator Santi Casas. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I suspect that this will be my one and only contribution on this thread, but you never know.

I met someone a few times who used to contribute to comics. It was a long long time ago. I'm fairly certain that he drew for well known comics. Not sure if he created the wording too. His name was, and hopefully still is, Hunt Emerson. My then girlfriend was sharing a house with him in Handsworth. I recall him being a very affable bloke.

[Amy Lawn]

19 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Better than his other stuff? Recently lent Sweet Tooth to a friend and read Underwater Welder a few months ago. Comic book genius.

Well, hard to say, Essex County is in my all time top 5 comics, so I have rather a lot of emotional connection to it. But I can safely say that Roughneck is easily his most skilled work, and one of the most technically brilliant comics you're likely to come across. It's very much in the same vein as Underwater Welder and Essex County, it carries the same emotional heft and again focuses on a lonely man in rural Canada carrying round a lot of regret stemming from his past and his family. It's classic Lemire territory and he sells it beautifully, I love seeing him draw those wrinkly faces with little haunted dots for eyes. I think he's been sat on this story for a while, you can tell it's something he really wants to tell, but he's actually put it down on paper at a time where he's a much more confident and accomplished cartoonist than he was for Underwater Welder and Essex County. And maybe he's been helped out a lot by the success of his monthly series, he's making a good living off other stuff now so he could clearly afford to have Roughneck on the go as a labour of love rather than have any pressure to put it out before he was completely happy with it. This is coloured as well, but done sparingly; there's a real economy of storytelling to the whole thing which makes it an incredibly effective read. It'll take you about 2 hours to read it (and I'd say there's no other way of reading it than sitting down and reading the whole thing in one go with no distractions), and it's really satisfying to re-read it again afterwards, I'm on about 6 re-reads now and getting more out of it each time. Can't recommend it enough really.

[jump]

My jaw is still on the floor from Bendis quitting Marvel to go to DC.

[Wooderson]

On 11/21/2017 at 10:39 AM, jump said:

My jaw is still on the floor from Bendis quitting Marvel to go to DC.

Poor hoor nearly died last week.

[vintagelaureate]

Again another thread I've just discovered!!! 

I read a fair few monthlies but I'm well behind at the moment as life has got in the way for a few months.

Monthly I read Batman, TEC, Flash, Green Arrow, Suicide Squad, Trinity (all from Rebirth),  All Star Batman (but it's finished?), GoTG, Black Panther (from Marvel) and Kill Or Be Killed from Image. 

I trade wait on loads though - Southern Bastards, Harrow County, Birthright spring to mind but as said I'm well behind. Following Metal and Doomsday Clock but on #1 of each. If you're ever looking for trades or singles my friend actually owns a comic book shop...

Have you guys ever been to Thought Bubble? I'd highly  recommend it, I go every year and they've just announced next years dates. It's far and away the best 'true' comic con in the UK. 

 

[MrZigster]

Does Viz Comic count? I've been collecting that for almost a couple of decades. Too mainstream?

Definitely not as funny as it used to be.

Q magazine seems like a comic these days.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

15 hours ago, MrZigster said:

Does Viz Comic count? I've been collecting that for almost a couple of decades. Too mainstream?

Definitely not as funny as it used to be.

Q magazine seems like a comic these days.

[Amy Lawn]

On 12/29/2017 at 11:15 PM, vintagelaureate said:

Have you guys ever been to Thought Bubble? I'd highly  recommend it, I go every year and they've just announced next years dates. It's far and away the best 'true' comic con in the UK. 

I've been intending to go for years and years and end up never going, something always stops me; the last one clashed with me being in London for LCD Soundsystem. Hopefully this will be the year. I get all my comics in Travelling Man Manchester though, and they always have a group of creators coming in the day before Thought Bubble starts, so I always get to meet some people and get some signatures. I always much prefer the look of The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal to TB though, and still never been to that one (mainly because hotel rooms in Kendal be fucking expensive). I think I've no excuse not to drive up for a day of at least one or the other of them this year though.

[Amy Lawn]

I read Superman: American Alien this weekend. Absolutely iconic stuff there, I've read Superman's origin retold god knows how many times, but this the real deal. I know that Max Landis is a massive DC fan (when YouTube first started up there was this video him and his friends made at University, grainy as all shit, they're all running around with binbag capes and buckets on their heads re-enacting Knightfall, used to watch it all the time when I was a kid) and I think this story is going into the pantheon of Superman stories along with stuff like All-Star and A Superman For All Seasons, must be fucking sick to be a fan and be able to contribute something like that, 80 years into the character's lifespan.

[guypjfreak]

Off to see Ed Byrne next week.. Never seen him live but I do know he's a massive pearl jam fan lol 

[vintagelaureate]

On 08/01/2018 at 9:19 PM, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

I've been intending to go for years and years and end up never going, something always stops me; the last one clashed with me being in London for LCD Soundsystem. Hopefully this will be the year. I get all my comics in Travelling Man Manchester though, and they always have a group of creators coming in the day before Thought Bubble starts, so I always get to meet some people and get some signatures. I always much prefer the look of The Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal to TB though, and still never been to that one (mainly because hotel rooms in Kendal be fucking expensive). I think I've no excuse not to drive up for a day of at least one or the other of them this year though.

They changed TB alot for 2017 - made it bigger, switched venues etc. - perhaps because they bought Gerard Way across. Previously it had been all about the comics but the crowds were bigger etc. However, many people said it was better! If you've not been, definitely check it out.

[vintagelaureate]

Free Comic Book Day - Saturday 5th May

https://www.freecomicbookday.com

[Amy Lawn]

Tell you what, I like the sound of Dan Slott and Sarah Pichelli on FF. Quite a few things Marvel have been putting out recently that I regret sleeping on, particularly Chip Zdarsky's stuff on Spectacular Spider-Man and Marvel 2 in 1, I'm going to make an effort to get back in with the relaunch.

On 29/03/2018 at 8:53 AM, vintagelaureate said:

Free Comic Book Day - Saturday 5th May

https://www.freecomicbookday.com

Usually I don't bother with it, but it's definitely a really great thing for the industry. Brings in loads of traffic of people who wouldn't normally come in there, good for anybody wanting to get into comics or get a flavour of what it's all about.

[vintagelaureate]

I'm lucky as a friend owns an independent comic shop, so I use whatever he has left in my school as introductions to comics. 

In other news: Marvel have announced the return of the Fantastic Four. 

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/io9.gizmodo.com/its-official-the-fantastic-four-are-returning-to-marve-1824177130/amp

 

[jump]

So Marvel has finally stopped being bitter about not owning the movie rights of the FF, good hopefully it's a sign they are also gonna give up trying to make the Inhumans a major franchise.

 

 

[Amy Lawn]

5 hours ago, jump said:

So Marvel has finally stopped being bitter about not owning the movie rights of the FF, good hopefully it's a sign they are also gonna give up trying to make the Inhumans a major franchise.

This happened a while ago with the film being pushed off and downgraded to a TV show nobody watched or liked. I wonder what the driving factors behind this were though? Was is that the comics audience rejected the Inhumans? Or was it that the original Inhumans movie idea got morphed into Black Panther? Maybe a combination of both.

[jump]

6 hours ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

This happened a while ago with the film being pushed off and downgraded to a TV show nobody watched or liked. I wonder what the driving factors behind this were though? Was is that the comics audience rejected the Inhumans? Or was it that the original Inhumans movie idea got morphed into Black Panther? Maybe a combination of both.

I thought that was due to Fergie and Perlmutter's argy bargy over Civil War so Fergie once freed from Marvel dropped Inhumans as he never saw potential in it but the comic side has always been different to the studio side.

[Wooderson]

Thinking about re-reading The Invisibles.

[HeyPorter]

Y The Last Man should definitely work more as a tv show, pilot greenlit finally is great news. 

[Wooderson]

4 hours ago, Retro P said:

Y The Last Man should definitely work more as a tv show, pilot greenlit finally is great news. 

Y is fab.