The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[Avenged Probably]

I have secret wars, and yes while the style of the storytelling is somewhat dated it is well worth reading all the way through I feel. You have to remember also, that this was the first crossover of its kind so they probably felt the need to introduce everyone in such a fashion.

[TheRaySays]

I have secret wars, and yes while the style of the storytelling is somewhat dated it is well worth reading all the way through I feel. You have to remember also, that this was the first crossover of its kind so they probably felt the need to introduce everyone in such a fashion.

Yeah, readers were much bigger loyalists back then. Lotsa Spidey fans didn't read Cap or X-Men and vice-versa and forget about Marvel fans reading DC. That was blasphemy! It was the first attempt at a mega crossover and was a huge success. Like all huge successes, it ended up sadly overrated and emulated ad infinitum.

I think it still holds up on a nostalgia level and as a watershed moment, but would hardly put it amongst the ranks of Watchmen, Planet Hulk, or The Dark Knight Returns.

[TGC]

Wow did Ray just equate Planet Hulk with Watchmen and TDKR? Really? Oh this I need to hear reasoning behind.

[rocksta]

Planet Hulk was absolutely wonderful. One of my favorite story arcs in god knows how long.

[TGC]

But was it really as epic as Watchmen and TDKR? I would say it was the best thing done with The Hulk since Peter David left the book for sure, and maybe the best thing done ever with him, but it's not an instant classic that is going to still be relevant and is timeless like those other two.

[Dr. Rated-R]

I'm looking to get into the main Batman comic series. Where's a good place to start, without having to go all the way back to the first issue?

Price and availability don't matter. I can start anywhere, really, I just don't feel like reading through the awkward '50s and '60s periods.

[TGC]

Why would you even want to go back that far? Best choice for modern stuff is go to the beginning of Morrison's run on Batman and/or Dini's run on 'Tec. If you REALLY want to go back aways and read forward, keeping in mind that the stuff is very hit and miss, then start with Jim Starlin's Batman run and whoever was reading Detective at the time and move forward. That would be late 80's.

[Dr. Rated-R]

The only reason I wanted to go back a ways was for the possibility of a nice, convenient backstory. I've read Year One and figured that may be a good place to start from, but I'm leaning towards starting from Morrison's run now.

Also, being a bit of a newbie (I've stuck mainly to limited series stuff, like The Long Halloween and Spider-Man: Blue) to reading a proper series, I'm wondering if there is a set "way" to read? Like, just how interwoven are Batman and Detective Comics? Do I need both to get the big picture, or are they set in different continuities?

I'm sure I phrased that question terribly. I'm a little short on sleep.

Edited August 26, 2008 by The Rated-R Superstar

[TGC]

Whenever a title has a family of books, if you want the WHOLE picture then sure you need to read all the titles from the family. However for Batman that would be

Batman

Detective

Nightwing

Batman And The Outsiders

Robin

Teen Titans

Titans

Birds Of Prey

Are you willing to read ALL of them every month for the bigger picture? I'd say if money is not an object, and based on what is currently going on in Batman's world, Batman and Detective are mandatory, with Robin and Nightwing being secondary but well worth it.

[Dr. Rated-R]

That's a bit too much to keep up with, so I'm gonna start off trying to read the four you suggested.

Google tells me Morrison picked up Batman from issue 655 in June 2006, so I guess I'm starting with...

-Batman 655

-Detective Comics 821

-Nightwing 122

-Robin 152

...and moving up from there. I've got a lot of free time these days, so these shouldn't be too hard to get up to date on.

Edited August 26, 2008 by The Rated-R Superstar

[Jimmy]

The Batman Detective comic is my favourite out at the moment, I think I started reading at 837 or something like that. It's one of my must have comics, so I'd totally recomend that one.

Edited August 26, 2008 by Split Second

[rocksta]

Detective has been mandatory Batman ever since Dini took over, great stuff.

As far as Planet Hulk goes I doubt it will be remembered as fondly as TDKR and Watchmen. It's a different kind of thing though. Those were contained stories which gives them more free reign and such. While Planet Hulk was wonderful it couldn't do that so it was always be one of the best Hulk stories and nothing more but that's still enough to make it quite good.

[TheRaySays]

Wow did Ray just equate Planet Hulk with Watchmen and TDKR? Really? Oh this I need to hear reasoning behind.

LOLz~! I really didn't think of it like that. I was trying to present a continuum, not three of a kind. I kind of didn't really present them in order.

For the record, I consider Watchmen revolutionary. Changed the medium. Considered one of the great novels of the 20th century.

The Dark Knight Returns changed the way the world looked at a character who'd grown tired and stale. DC's still riding that gravy train.

Planet Hulk was a rollicking good time and found a fresh take on a simple character.

I'd generally rank Brubaker's Captain America above Planet Hulk, but it suffers from 2 caveats:

1) It kinda panders to Cap fanboys. I don't think I would like it as much if I wasn't already a huge Cap fan and suffered thru so many shitty Cap stories.

2) It's not over. I think it unlikely that it'll finish on a sour note, but I still need to reserve my final judgement.

Sure, the finish of Planet Hulk really just serves as a set-up for World War Hulk, but the story does have a discernible end and you can (and I did for the most part) stop reading there.

I also echo the love for Detective. I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone with even a passing interest in Batman. If you LIKE Batman, it's a must read. You should give up breakfast to buy Detective. Important note is that Dini has created such a style on Detective that he hasn't even written every arc, yet they all feel part of the same run. I really liked the "Siege" two-parter by Stuart Moore and "Triage" by Royal McGraw.

In the world of story decompression, these are brilliant short stories with underlying subplots that continue through the run. In the hands of Brian Michael Bendis, we'd still be reading about The Riddler hiring a secretary...

And Grant Morrison's Batman?... Not a fan, sadly.

[TGC]

Okay now I understand.

And based on his handling of Batman in The JLA I always really wanted to read a Morrison run on the book. Unfortunately, and maybe it's just the timing, but it is so not working for me. Or maybe it's the left over effects of the bad event storytelling mostly happening at DC. I don't care about much of anything at DC aside from Manhunter actually. But that's just me.

[GhostMachine]

If what I've heard is true, all the titles featuring Batman may suck once the "Batman R.I.P." storyline is over.

[RoyWill Rumble]

I will third (fourth?) the love for Detective. I haven't been keeping up as much as I should, but from what I've read it's been great.

I just finished the four-part TCM comics. If you're not a massive fan of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you're not missing out on much. Fun to read, though.

Caught up on The Walking Dead. I love it.

I will continue to pimp Elephantmen and Fell. They both need to be read. Fell is eight (maybe nine?) issues, so it's short and it's fucking brilliant. I'm still eagerly awaiting the long-delayed tenth issue.

Halfway through re-reading Gotham Central and I'm still in love.

Spoiler: Click here to view

The arc with Joker terrorizing Gotham during Christmas was awesome.

I just started Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men after missing out on its original run, too. So far, I like.

Spoiler: Click here to view

Anyone else still trying to figure out why Marvel's running The Ultimatum arc for the Ultimate universe? Ultimate X-Men from what I remember was great, Spidey was a lot better than what's going on with Amazing Spidey, Ultimates 1 and 2 were great, and Fantastic Four I unfortunately never read up on. Is it to do with sales, or...?

[TGC]

Will

Spoiler: Click here to view

Aside from Spidey the Ultimate line of books don't sell like they used to.

[MalaCloudy Black]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzriRiKT5xQ

I cannot tell a lie. I'm excited. >_>

[JairusCain]

Wow, a cartoon series with a deep and well thought out, mature story to it. Haven't seen that outside of anime in probably ten years. I think I may actually be excited to see that.

[apsham]

I'm just glad they didn't go all animefag on this one.