SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic

Posted: Nov 05 2009 07:47 pm

And he writes great comics.

Joined: Oct 19 2009 Location: Nashville, TN

If you want some smart in your comics, I highly recommend the Neil Gaiman Sandman series that was published by DC's Vertigo imprint in the early nineties. It's fairly amazing.

Quote:

lately, i been buying the Carl Barks' collections from amazon, and those old stories are also good fun

As far as I'm concerned, Carl Barks is the single greatest force in all of comics. If anyone hasn't gone read his classic Scrooge or Donald stories, I highly recommend them.

Title: Crazy Robofuck Batman Joined: Jun 07 2006

this kinda fits here. I'm on percocet for an injury and am having trouble posting. I probably won't post after this for a while.

http://www.shortpacked.com/comics/20091118youarenotalone.png

Posted: Nov 18 2009 01:01 am

FNJ wrote:

this kinda fits here. I'm on percocet for an injury and am having trouble posting. I probably won't post after this for a while.

http://www.shortpacked.com/comics/20091118youarenotalone.png

well, hope everything turns out alright homie

Title: Crazy Robofuck Batman Joined: Jun 07 2006

fuck that, we should be LOLing about the EVA joke!

BTW, how is hawk doing with the knowledgeification?

Title: Mr. Serious Business Joined: Dec 17 2007

she has done some comic reviews so I'm assuming well.

Posted: Nov 22 2009 01:38 am

Optimist With Doubts wrote:

she has done some comic reviews so I'm assuming well.

Indeed:
http://soldierhawk.wordpress.com/category/comics/

I've mostly focused on comics, actually, and anime has slightly gone by the wayside because I've been renting superhero cartoon movies to help me put together storylines, origins and backstories. (Stuff like Green Lantern: First Flight, some of the JLA movies, Batman and Superman, etc.)

Comic education has gone extremely well though. I've met my local comic dealer, and am now a regular at least once or twice a week. My current pull list is (in no particular order):

-Deadpool
-Deadpool: Team-Up
-Deadpool: Merc With a Mouth (did I mention I like Deadpool?)
-Amazing Spiderman
-Detective Comics (Kate Kane's Batwoman = best superhero I've come across, ever. Will follow her to any comic she transitions into.)
-Captain America (also bought the 'Reborn' miniseries and will get the last one when it comes out)
-Invincible Iron Man (and the Armor Wars miniseries)
-The Avengers (planning to start pulling in December with the start of the Siege storyline)
-Batman: The Widening Gyre (to tide me over til Bruce Wayne comes back)

I'm also working on figuring out if/when/how I want to start pulling some Green Lantern (probably after the whole Blackest Night event is over and a new storyline kicks in) and Flash or Daredevil (lower on the priority list). Will probably also start following Batman once Bruce returns, and am desperately trying to sort through the bog that is the nine million X-men comics currently running to see if any of them interest me and/or are at a point where I can easily jump into the book.

Aside from that, I've been devouring trade paperbacks like a mofo. Working my way through Brubaker's Captain America run, gotten through volume 2 of Ultimate Spider-Man, tons of random Deadpool ones I picked up because they were Deadpool, volume 1 of Astonishing X-Men, a couple of Iron Man trades (Armor Wars and Extremis), also Batman: the Killing Joke (fuck Joker, seriously. Sick bastard), Year One and Dark Knight Returns. Also discovered a series called Birds of Prey about a team of female superheros led by Barbra Gordon. Read the first volume and really liked the concept behind it, but I'm find it really, REALLY difficult to get past all the male fanservice and get into the actual story. Will have to wait and see if I like it enough to continue. High on the priority list of trades to pick up are more Ultimate Spiderman (and Amazing Spiderman), more Iron Man and Captain America, and also some Flash and Green Lantern--I'm thinking the beginning of Geoff Johns' run on each of them would be a good place to start. Also want the Death of Captain America Omnibus, and the Brubacker Daredevil Omnibus. I also really want to buy the current run of Red Robin when it comes out in trade. I'm not interested enough to drop the cash to catch up in issues, but I do want the story when it hits the book.

Not bad for about a month's worth of self-education (with more than a little help from Jeebus, I might add.)

(Incidentally, if you're wondering why I finally caved in and started whoring out my Amazon wishlist on the 'about the blogger' page of my blog...that would be why. Way too many comics, way too little cash. Razz

)

I am planning to start renting some good animie movies and series' over the X-man break though. Figure I'd start with the acknowledged classic Princess Mononoke, and move through the list of recommendations here. I doubt I'll become as interested in or passionate about anime as I have comics (although who knows, I never would have called the comics thing either!), but I do want a decent working knowledge of the good stuff. So onward we go!

Posted: Nov 22 2009 04:06 am

I can't remember what the series was called, but I think it was the Spectacular Spider Man line, anyway, if any of you remember tell Hawk about it. You know, the one where Spider Man Captain America Silver Sable and the Paladin team up to kick Red Skull's ass for like 3 or 4 issues? Confused

Joined: Feb 16 2008

You might want to check out Batman now, starting at issue 691, It's no longer 'Batman Reborn' It's just Batman again. Dick is still Batman, but the new writer (the guy who did battle for the cowl) and the new artist is absolutely fucking phenomenal.

Also, seriously, pick up Red Robin. Tim Drake is the best Robin in the whole world, and more of a suit for Batman then Dick will ever be.

Another thing, the new Batgirl series, again, (not batwoman) but Batgirl, it's up from 1-4 now. Stephenie Brown is a fantastic character.

I don't know if I reccomended this already, but Year One, The Long Halloween both are fantastic!

You might also want to check out ASTRO CITY, it's an 'indie' comic, but Alex Ross is the artist and it's a wonderful homage to the idealistic Golden Age of comics.
Also, it's my favorite thing of all time.

Right there. You go out, and you buy the shit out of that.

Posted: Nov 22 2009 10:44 pm

Koji, thanks so much. Speaking my language when it comes to comics, man. Couple questions:

Red Robin and Batgirl will def be picked up by me now, and added to my pull list. But on Batman...if I start at 691, how many back issues will I have to bring myself up to speed? (Just want to get an idea of just how much I'll be breaking the bank at the comics store tomorrow lol). Also, when Bruce comes back (and he IS coming back, right?) will be be back as Batman in just...Batman comics, or will he be in Detective Comics? Or both? (I'm assuming at some point they'll take Batwoman out of Det. Comics and give her her own book.)

I'm looking to pick up the Battle for the Cowl trade too, when it comes out. I'm not quite willing to go buy all the issues, but I did hear it was great.

I read Year One btw! I must not have mentioned it. Hfs that shit was fantastic. I'm not in total love with the art style of it, but the story was awesome, and the art was more than good enough. I think thats going to be one of my next comic reviews. (I have one other in the pike before that, but yeah.)

Also...Astro City eh? With that kind of recommendation, how could I say no? Is it still in print in such a way that my local comic store (its pretty small) would have it, or is this something I'll be buying off the 'net? I'll take more indie recs too; as much as I live for the superhero comics, I'm more than willing to branch out. The indies are much more confusing as to whats good and what isn't to me though, so any guidance anyone wants to provide, I'm all over.

Er, also, for the Astro City cover, did you mean this:

?

Title: Mr. Serious Business Joined: Dec 17 2007

Astro city should be at your comic store, it's still in print.

Joined: Feb 16 2008

Anyway, boys and girlies, this post is about to get really long so if you want to skip a bunch of comic book jargon you might want to past it.

Yes, that's Astro City. Atomic Robo is an 'Indie' comic, but by all rights you should be able to find them at comic stores. Atomic Robo is in three collected volumes so far.

If you start at 691 for Batman (I came in around 680 Mad

) you might just want to buy the collected volume "Batman R.I.P." which is the story where Bruce dies( or ends right before it, can't remember) and then get battle for the cowl, and start back ordering issues from wherever Battle for the Cowl ends.

A few reccomendations:

The Immortal Iron Fist

If you don't know who the Iron Fist/Danny Rand is, then you haven't been reading Marvel Comics lately. He and Luke Cage(Power Man) used to be the essential B-List heroes, before teaming up and making a pretty decent comic called Power Man and Iron Fist. He was invented in the 70s when kung-fu flicks were the in thing, so his appeal was lost as time went on, and until recently he has always been a B-List hero.

Now, just like his partner Luke Cage, the Iron Fist is getting his fifteen minutes of fame.

The Immortal Iron Fist is Danny's first solo book since before he teamed up with Luke Cage, and it does the hero justice. It explores Danny's backstory, the origins of the Iron Fist, and Iron Fists that existed before Danny took up the mantle. The initial year of the book involves telling the story of Danny's predecessor, explaining the hated rivalry between the Iron Fist and the Steel Serpent(As well as many other never-before-seen fighters), the history of the mysterious city of K'un-Lun, more than one fella plunging his hand into the heart of a dragon whom he just beat the shit out of, and teaming up with Heroes for Hire to stop a Hydra plan. Brubaker and Fraction do an excellent job of expanding the story of the Iron Fist, and I believe it will likely set the standard for when the time comes for other undeveloped heroes to strut their stuff.

David Aja's artwork is incredible. Unlike some artists, he doesn't seem to have a propensity for drawing all the males rippling with muscles or the females ludicrously proportioned and nigh-bursting from their tops. I mean, Luke Cage is a massive guy, and yet he looks well-proportioned in this comic. The shading is sometimes a little weird, like when Danny is at a meeting and everyone is shaded like there's a spotlight blaring on them when it is clearly a well-lit room.

But Aja excels on the minor details and little things that bring out the character of every single person in the comic, and makes up for some of the problems I have with the shading by bringing even minor characters to life with the most minute of details.

For instance, in this panel, every Hydra agent is carrying a gun. Every single one of them! Really brings out the feeling that the Iron Fist is about to fight the horde.

The Immortal Iron Fist is absolutely amazing, and though I don't think it's been collected into a single volume yet it should still be buyable through back issues.

Conan - Issues #1 to #50
Conan The Cimmerian (part 2) - Issues #1-#8 (on going)
(Also there are one shots and mini series that tie into the main scope of the tale)

First started in the 70's by Marvel Comics under the writer Roy Thomas called simply Conan the Barbarian, who did a fairly decent adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Conan mythos lasted a good 20 years (Oct. 1970 – Dec. 1993) with 275 issues. It also had a sister title which was more adult and in black and white called Savage Sword of Conan

Years passed and Conan wasn't as popular to media as it once was in the 80s (what with the Arnie movies and all) and faded from the majority. However, in 2003 Dark Horse had received the rights to publish and start anew the Conan franchise. Shedding off any previous Comic or Magazine work before it and beginning fresh, and starting with star comic writer Kurt Busiek and soon to be hit Cary Nord. The series started with a one shot, an issue 0 depicting the legend of Conan. What set it apart from the other Conan titles before it is the framing sequence at the start of each arc between The Prince and his Wazir, who stumble upon the ruins of Conan's empire, which ignites a fashionation to learn more by The Prince to the chagrin of the Wazir.

The first volume starts with the telling of The Frost Giant's Daughter, with the series following what seems to be the Dale Rippke's "Darkstorm" chronology and continues from there. What helped immerse me into the book was Nord's art, me already being a fan of Busiek's work on such things as Iron Man v3, Avengers V3, and Marvels (which he wrote with famous comic painter Alex Ross). Nord's art didn't use ink work and instead pencil crayon which gave it a very soft and almost rustic feel to the book, that and his key eye for definition helped sell alot of Conan's movements and the terrifying Cthulhubased monsters he fought.

What I also enjoyed was how the series didn't entirely sap direct quotation from Robert E. Howard's works but used the essence to help form its own feel to the mythos, giving it a unique direction that didnt alienate old Howard fans, but rather rewarded them. And whats best is it doesn't require any additional reading from newcomers to the Conan mythos. Being the best of both worlds.

Around Issue #33, writing duties were shared by both Busiek and Timothy Truman then left entirely in Tim's hands. I for one didn't notice much, and though I'll miss Busiek on the book, Tim sells the original feel presented in the earlier issues. Near the end of Conan art direction changes as well to Tomás Giorello, who gives the books a classic 70s Conan feel, and continues to draw with Tim on the new Conan the Cimmerian, which also has its own one shot issue 0 (which had a classic Robert E. Howard poem about Conan's homeland).

While maybe not the best monthly to pick up, it reads phenomenally in trades. Not to mention, most of the mini series are also collected are just as interesting with their own takes, not deriving too much with what's laid down.

If you like any sort of fantasy, low or high, or even just want a break from capes or zombies this is a great read that isn't just a dumbed down hack and slash (though there are some wicked fight scenes), but an immersion into the fantasy land Hyboria!

Transmetropolitan is the story of a gonzo journalist (a nod to Hunter S. Thompson) named Spider Jerusalem as he struggles to deal with life in a a dystopic society where people have become so apathetic that the exact year in time is not known to anyone. After years in solitude heavily using drugs, Spider gets a call from an old employer who he is in debt to and is forced to return to a city where no deed is too low and child prostitution is a common business. The government is as self-serving as the criminals, doing nothing for those in need and eradicating those who can't pay their bills.

At first Spider thinks he's just going to be writing a few books and hitting the country once more, but when he decides to follow the new presidential campaign, and sees no hope of a new future in either of the two leads, Spider finds himself on a mission to make sure no candidate wins.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 08:46 am

FUCK.

YES.

TRANSMETROPOLITAN.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 02:09 pm

^ Oh my god. Going to the top of my buy list TODAY.

Comic books SO fucking rock, and screw anyone who thinks they're just kids stuff.

Title: Best of the Worst Joined: Nov 19 2009 Location: AZ

I would definitely recommend the Blackest Night storylines from DC right now. I honestly think that they're really pushing character development, and the fact that they killed Kyle Rayner alone caught me by surprise, not to mention the Hawks, Damage and a couple others. Admittedly, it's a big cross-company event so there's a lot of titles, but you can always download them as cbr files on 4shared if you don't want the hard copy.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 02:43 pm

SoldierHawk wrote:

^ Oh my god. Going to the top of my buy list TODAY.

Comic books SO fucking rock, and screw anyone who thinks they're just kids stuff.

Anyone who thinks that is an idiot. Aside from Sonic, Archie, and some Pixar stuff, almost NO comics are appropriate for kids. We have a small spinner rack at the front of the store which has pretty much all of the comics in the entire store that are appropriate for kids. There are some old Disney comics and the like in the back issue room, but we're talking about a a few hundred comics in a store of tens of thousands that are suitable for children.

aeonic wrote:

I would definitely recommend the Blackest Night storylines from DC right now. I honestly think that they're really pushing character development, and the fact that they killed Kyle Rayner alone caught me by surprise, not to mention the Hawks, Damage and a couple others. Admittedly, it's a big cross-company event so there's a lot of titles, but you can always download them as cbr files on 4shared if you don't want the hard copy.

Basically, Geoff Johns is rewriting the entire DC universe. He's turned the Green Lantern books from being moderate sellers to the current focal point of the entire DCU. He's rebooted The Flash with Flash Rebirth and is writing what will likely be the definite Superman origin story in Secret Origins. It looks like, one by one, Johns is going to go through the entire DCU and fix everything. I only hope he's the one they use to bring back Bruce Wayne, because clearly Grant Morrison can't be trusted to do it.

Title: Best of the Worst Joined: Nov 19 2009 Location: AZ

Grant Morrison can't be trusted with any title unless it's Animal Man, as far as already established comics characters go. And frankly, Jeebus, I hope if they bring Bruce Wayne back, they do it in such a way that he's not Batman again. I think it's about damn time they elevate another character (in this case, Dick/Nightwing) to fill their predecessor's boots and cowl and don't actually bring said predecessor back as a super/meta/vigilante/whatever. It'd be hella refreshing, and I really love the good Batman/dickish Robin dichotomy that's going on in the title right now (although the whole cryo solution thing for Batman-Blackest Night #3 was pretty lame).

Title: Mr. Serious Business Joined: Dec 17 2007

aeonic wrote:

Grant Morrison can't be trusted with any title unless it's Animal Man, as far as already established comics characters go. And frankly, Jeebus, I hope if they bring Bruce Wayne back, they do it in such a way that he's not Batman again. I think it's about damn time they elevate another character (in this case, Dick/Nightwing) to fill their predecessor's boots and cowl and don't actually bring said predecessor back as a super/meta/vigilante/whatever. It'd be hella refreshing, and I really love the good Batman/dickish Robin dichotomy that's going on in the title right now (although the whole cryo solution thing for Batman-Blackest Night #3 was pretty lame).

The role bruce had in batman beyond might be good for a while when he comes back.

Title: Best of the Worst Joined: Nov 19 2009 Location: AZ

That's exactly what I was thinking, frankly. I think that all of the members of the Batman family have a lot of depth, and maintaining the status quo all the time really keeps them from realizing their full potentials. Per example, I'm loving Tim Drake as Red Robin. I also chafe whenever I hear people talking about the "real" Justice League, being of course Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. I'm really excited for the new lineup that they've got slated for the new Justice League comic... if anything, I'd stop reading it if they brought all the aforementioned back.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 03:54 pm

aeonic wrote:

Grant Morrison can't be trusted with any title unless it's Animal Man, as far as already established comics characters go. And frankly, Jeebus, I hope if they bring Bruce Wayne back, they do it in such a way that he's not Batman again. I think it's about damn time they elevate another character (in this case, Dick/Nightwing) to fill their predecessor's boots and cowl and don't actually bring said predecessor back as a super/meta/vigilante/whatever. It'd be hella refreshing, and I really love the good Batman/dickish Robin dichotomy that's going on in the title right now (although the whole cryo solution thing for Batman-Blackest Night #3 was pretty lame).

The original plan was to kill Bruce Wayne and bring him back as one of the New Gods. Warner Bros. gave that plan the axe, however, since Batman Begins was coming out. Maybe that's the plan now, though.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 04:00 pm

i might have to pick up astro city

Title: Best of the Worst Joined: Nov 19 2009 Location: AZ

Astro City is a fantastic read. I was a comic book shop employee for about two years in Florida, and opening in the mornings and having little to nothing to do the first hour or two really allowed me to expand my horizons on a bunch of different titles. I would highly recommend it.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 05:42 pm

Well today I bought Red Robin 1-6, Batgirl 1-4 and Batman from 687-present. Also picked up ASM: The List....just....because I felt like it.

No Astro City or Transmetropolitan (said they sold their copy of Astro City like ten minutes before I came in heh) so I think I'll pick them both up on Amazon here later this week. Looking forward to them both.

On Geoff Johns...from what I have read of his and what I hear of him so far, the guy is a miracle worker. I have a bunch of his Green Lantern/Flash stuff on my Amazon wish list and will be picking them up in the next few weeks. Really looking forward to it.

No opinion on the Bruce Wayne situation really since I'm not very up to speed at all (might have more thoughts after catching up on the Batman comics I picked up.) I'm a sucker for tradition so as of now I really wouldn't mind seeing him take up the Bat Mantle again, but having him in an advisory role a-la Batman Beyond (or for that mater, like Barbra Gordon did for Batgirl and the Birds of Prey) would be pretty okay too.

Having just started to get in on the current Bat-Plot though, I still have a rather hard time getting used to the idea of Grayson as Batman. It just feels...wrong. But, what the hell. I'm up for anything as long as the story is good.

Title: Best of the Worst Joined: Nov 19 2009 Location: AZ

Johns has really been a breath of fresh air as far as I'm concerned with regards to DC. I used to be an adamant Marvel fan, but when Identity Crisis came out, I decided to take a look and was really drawn in by the depth of character development that I saw taking place in there. I think, right now, considering what I've read from Marvel in comparison to DC, DC's currently miles ahead in terms of telling a story, and really, that's why I read them in the first place. Marvel's still got some good stuff, don't get me wrong, but just not enough to pull my monthly allotment of comic bucks.

Posted: Nov 23 2009 07:23 pm

^ Agree. The only thing I've really got going from Marvel right now is Captain America (Brubaker is fucking amazing), Amazing Spiderman (not incredible, but I love Spidy and the current arc looks to be pretty good) and Invincible Iron Man. Other than that, it's all DC.

Oh and Deadpool. But that's just because I enjoy the humor, not so much because the writing and stories have been anything special.