The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[probablyoliver]

Just finished Things To Do In A Retirement Home Trailer Park When You're 29 And Unemplyed and I swear to god I have the biggest lump in my throat ever. So very sad.

[GoGo Yubari]

Last week's Avengers Academy was great. Very Iron Giant.

[TKz]

Last week's Avengers Academy was great. Very Iron Giant.

Did you hear it might be cancelled with the new Marvel Now thing happening in October?

[GoGo Yubari]

Christ, really? The comics industry really doesn't want me buying things from them.

[TKz]

Christ, really? The comics industry really doesn't want me buying things from them.

Well there's nothing concrete about it just yet, but the basic idea is the same as New 52 - All new comics, all from issue one. There's a chance it could stick around, but Hank Pym is apparently most likely to get a new Ant Man series to tie in with the film in some way (the same reason there's now a Nick Fury Jr who's black and missing an eye. Ugh.) and it seems like that might lead to Avengers Academy disappearing.

It's not a bad idea to do a New 52 type reboot, but the way they've handled it so far is really not getting me optimistic. I'm especially not keen on Bendis having nothing to do with any of the Avengers series anymore. Nova is also back but not Richard Rider and Thanos and Star Lord will be returning without much explanation yet.

[GoGo Yubari]

I thought they were just rebooting shit to issue #1 without sacrificing prior continuity like DC did. If it's the same deal I'll quit Marvel too.

[TKz]

I thought they were just rebooting shit to issue #1 without sacrificing prior continuity like DC did. If it's the same deal I'll quit Marvel too.

Oh I don't think there's any continuity loss, because it's all off the heels of Avengers Vs. X-Men (which apparently ends fine, because one of the series announced is Uncanny Avengers, an Avengers/X-Men team up.) and deals with the world after that. Maybe some kind of time jump, but that's about it. The biggest change is that all the writers and artists are being shuffled around. The reason there's a chance Avengers Academy could end is because they might decide to call it quits on the series when it comes around. Again it's all rumors right now, but I haven't been able to find anything about Avengers Academy being included in Marvel Now.

[GoGo Yubari]

Oh. Then I probably won't ditch Marvel. I'll be very disappointed if Avengers Academy is done and there's no follow-up with those characters, but it's one of those titles where I think the very fact that it's made it past 30 issues is kind of a success.

[TKz]

Oh. Then I probably won't ditch Marvel. I'll be very disappointed if Avengers Academy is done and there's no follow-up with those characters, but it's one of those titles where I think the very fact that it's made it past 30 issues is kind of a success.

Yeah, it'll be a shame but I don't think the characters will disappear. Marvel's been pretty good about keeping their heroes around in some capacity. I can see some of them ending up in other teams, if not, at least getting an epilogue of some kind.

[=BK=]

About how many issues in are the DC comics since the reboot? I just finished Suicide Squad #7.

[GoGo Yubari]

Judging from their website, eleven.

[TKz]

Batman and Knightwing are about 13, I think. So not too far, probably take you about £20-£30 to catch up.

Just don't bother with Superman or Action Comics. What a massive let down.

[zero]

Any New 52 recommendations? I've read Wonder Woman, which I enjoy and have heard great things about Batman and Batwoman, but the whole line is just so overwhelming, I'm afraid to dive in?

[TKz]

Any New 52 recommendations? I've read Wonder Woman, which I enjoy and have heard great things about Batman and Batwoman, but the whole line is just so overwhelming, I'm afraid to dive in?

Detective Comics has been my favorite so far. I really liked Nightwing too, much prefer it so far to the previous series that I've been reading as well. Green Lantern was also pretty good, as was the regular Batman comic, but I wouldn't say they were as good as Nightwing and Detective Comics. There's also some decent things about Batman and Robin.

Action Comics wasn't very interesting and neither was Superman. I'd also stay away from Green Arrow and The Dark Knight, which haven't had very kind reviews. I've heard really good things about Batgirl and Batwoman, so they're probably worth a look too. Of what I've read though, I'd say go for Detective Comics if you like Batman.

[GoGo Yubari]

but the whole line is just so overwhelming, I'm afraid to dive in?

This is amusing to me because that's exactly what they were trying to fix by doing this whole thing, supposedly.

[TKz]

It's not really a fixable problem short of dropping a bunch of series. I think it works so much as it's a good way to jump in. It's just one of those things where you can't have it all, so you've got to pick a series and stick with that rather than try and get them all.

Worst part of being a comic book fan, really. I'm trying to collect all of Avengers Vs. X-Men but the price of your average comic isn't making it easy. Nor is the fact that I'm trying out new comics with each one and finding a lot more I want to read. >_>

[GoGo Yubari]

I think honestly it's just the way DC is viewed and nothing's going to change it. Marvel has always come off as the more accessible brand; in 1997 when I started buying non-Sonic the Hedgehog and Bone comics for the first time, I went straight for the X-Men and Spider-Man and nowhere near DC for a long time.

[zero]

Yeah, obviously you can't read everything, I have a hard enough time keeping up on the three monthlies I do follow - Buffy, Angel & Faith and Walking Dead - but I would like to start getting back into DC/Marvel. It's tough though, they're huge universes.

[GoGo Yubari]

Honestly, I think the best way to get into Marvel/DC isn't to just start buying new issues but rather if there's a library with a decent stock of TPBs to just start reading through those. I don't know what it's like outside of Seattle (according to a friend of mine who is getting into working at libraries in LA, Seattle's known for having a very good public library system), but here there's usually tons of recent or semi-recent stuff around.

[TKz]

Does DC do the big crossover events like Marvel? I think that's a bit part of it, it's a lot easier to jump into Marvel starting at Civil War or House of M than it is with DC, where there's not really anything like that I'm aware off.

Whilst we're bashing DC, can I just say that their back catalogue of villains is pretty lame? I mean Marvels isn't amazing either, but they all feel different and kind of interesting, most of DC's just kind of make me go "...really?". Dudley Soames, for example. Or Torque. Who's special ability is that his head has been twisted backwards.

...Yeah.

And if I'm honest Zero, best way to get into current Marvel is to find a starting point, and torrent it. I know it's not supporting the industry, but it'd cost so much to read up on all the great stories and read all of it. It's what I did and now I'm caught up I've purchased about 60 comics in like two-three months. It's also how I found out which series' I liked the most (by reading all of Civil War and so on) and decided which ones to buy regularly.