The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[TGC]

You read Civil War, so I'd just suggest following Avengers from there. There are like three (New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and Avengers Initiative(I think)).

As for JLA, the last time I read it and it was good was about 14 years ago by Grant Morrison. That is all I can recommend. I have not read any of the newer stuff.

[Richie S]

Cheers man I will head down forbidden planet on payday and get the ones you mentioned.

[stokeriño]

If you want to follow on directly from Civil War, the New Avengers volume you'll want is #6 (Revolution). You could get #5, which is their Civil War volume, but it doesn't have anything of real value... It essentially goes as thus: Issue 1, "Captain America says 'Fuck no' to the Registration Act". Issue 2, "Luke Cage says 'Fuck no' to the Registration Act". Issue 3, "Spider Woman says 'Fuck no' to the Registration Act". Etc. Etc.

With that said, New Avengers #6 was really fucking confusing to me when I read it, because a bunch of stuff seemed to have happened since Civil War (e.g. Iron Fist joining the group etc.) that just came out of the blue (don't suppose anyone else know where that is covered?). Also, just looking at it now, the first issue in it is about Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff...which will REALLY make no sense to you if you haven't read Avengers Disassembled and House of M. Maybe Mighty Avengers would be you best bet.

Unlike New Avengers, Mighty Avengers and Avengers: Initiative both start anew after Civil War, so volume 1 of each will do. I view Initiative as more as a tangent with a bunch of new characters, whereas the Mighty and New Avengers are more 'core' to the Marvel storylines. Still good, though.

Aside from all of those, it might actually be a good idea for you to read The Death of Captain America. It's immediately after Civil War and, well, is kind of a big event, as the title might suggest.

Also, if you want to get some of the side-stories to the main Civil War volume, there are loads about but a lot are naff (like the New Avengers one as mentioned above, or Iron Man's). One that is really worth it though is Civil War: Front Lines (vol. 1 and 2). Spider-Man's is also worth a look.

[Boulder]

Figured I'd try to spur on some discussion with a few thoughts about some of my favorite books each week. Spoilered for safety:

Going into the week, I was most looking forward to two books. The first Batman and Robin #14, was especially tantalizing, considering I've worked my way through Grant Morrison's entire Batman run over the past couple of months. I know it's been a polarizing story, but I absolutely love it. It's really not difficult to understand if you start at the beginning and work your way through, and I love how it's converging on a conclusion from several different story points. Anyway, this comic. I liked it well enough, I just had one problem- the situation eventually boils down to Dr. Hurt versus the Joker, with Batman as Joker's "knight," as Hurt puts it. It's an interesting reversal from RIP, where Hurt was using the Joker against Batman, but I don't love the concept of Batman (the top babyface, loath as I am to use that expression here) playing second banana to a different conflict. And I suppose that it's immaterial, since the real conflict is Bruce versus Dr. Hurt and Bruce is likely to swing back in and give hurt his comeuppance, but then that makes Dick Grayson look second-rate when he's been carrying all the bat-books for a year and a half. I mean, I like Grayson as Batman- I'm planning to keep up with this series after Morrison leaves, since it's still going to focus on Dick and Damian. I guess years of watching wrestling has made my view on booking babyfaces pretty parochial. Still, that's how it is.

The other book I was anxiously awaiting The Thanos Imperative #4, was filled to the brim with top level babyfaces- part of the draw of this issue was just that it was the next step in DnA's cosmic saga, and the other part was Nova's team of space heroes taking the fight to the bad guys. The bad-assery of Nova, Quasar, Beta Ray Bill, Silver Surfer, Ronan, and Gladiator all united did not disappoint. Some surprising twists and turns, and, while I didn't enjoy it as much as last month's issue, all good.

Doom Patrol #14 was a bit of a surprise; it's always good, but I don't usually enjoy it this much. This is one of those books that NOBODY'S reading- and it's really not fair. I've never read Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, but Keith Giffen is certainly keeping this cerebral, creative, and filled with emotion. This issue focuses largely on Chief Niles Caulder, and while I'm not about to spoil everything, we get a great look into his head as he crosses a definite line. Giffen is great with all of the characters, especially Cliff and Larry, who feel quite real in terms of their relationship and conversation. I don't know if this is a jumping-on point, and I don't know how long the book will be around, but a great issue.

Irredeemable #17 came so close to being ranked as the book of the week- I didn't think anything would overtake it. It was a great book in the conventional sense- many plots advanced, a twist ending- but the real draw was the revelation regarding the relationship between Modeus and the Plutonian. It was a brilliant move by Waid that really makes a reader look at classic supervillain/hero dynamics in a new light. It's also the best kind of shock- one that seems so obvious afterwards. I've only been reading since issue #12 (in the process of tracking down the back issues), but now I literally can't wait for the next issue. Literally. I'm driving to Boom headquarters and sending this from my iPad.

It took an incredible showing to outdo Irredeemable, which is why the Weird War Tales One Shot from DC ranks as one of the best single issues I've read all year. It's three short stories by three creative teams- each very different, but each, well, weird and about war. Besides that, the only thing joining them is quality. The first story, by Darwyn Cooke, is quite funny and maybe a bit offensive to the easily offended, and the last, "Private Parker sees Thunder Lizards," is poignant and bittersweet. It's the middle story, though- "The Hell Above Us"- which really wowed me, though. It's got a Twilight Zone vibe and a brilliant atmosphere, put across in just a few pages. I really urge anyone to pick this book up- it's just a one shot, not an investment in a new series, and it's worth every penny.

What did you all read?

[Your Mom]

I dont go every week anymore but I am so very much looking forward to X-23 coming out tomorrow

[the machine]

I don't go to the LCS every week either, but I went over the weekend and picked up a decent backlog of stuff.

Captain America: not really digging the current Zemo arc. I don't really get why he's suddenly turned heel again: just finding out his dad didn't actually kill Bucky is that big a deal to him? Too much of the arc has been Bucky putzing around, considering Zemo hasn't appeared in this book at all prior to this arc and his motivations aren't particularly clear. I feel like if this were the glory days of Cap we'd get a 2-3 issue arc where Cap took care of business while we were re-introduced to Zemo instead of immediately throwing Zemo at the new Cap.

X-Factor: PAD has played the pregnancy card again, but cliche plot twists aside, I still love this book. It's fun and full of great characters, and it's one of the funniest books Marvel puts out, Deadpool comics included. Every character has an individual voice, and most of them are pretty aware of how ridiculous their lives are, week to week.

Young Allies: I really like this book. I think I have every appearance of girl Nomad, or I did until the Onslaught returns story a few years back. I've liked Gravity ever since his excellent little mini from a few years ago, and while I hate that Firestar is such a non-entity in the current MU at least she's in a comic that's not called "Marvel Divas." Seriously though Speedball is more prominently featured. One of the benefits of comics characters never aging is they never lose their spots, I guess. Somehow there's 3 Avengers teams and still no room for Justice or Firestar. Seriously though the comic is a fun little New Warriors type book.

Shadowland: I'm digging this crossover. While certain revelations about what's causing Daredevil's current actions might seem like a cop-out, they make sense and mean the character will still be salvageable when all this is over, only he'll have to account for his actions. Plus it's just been a fun book. I love Shang Chi lamenting that he is no longer the Master of Kung Fu, because Daredevil kicked his ass.

Wonder Woman: dropped this book after intensely disliking the first issues of JMS' run. His solution to her character being too set in stone appears to be to turn her into a completely generic vigilante with no supporting cast. It's gritty and violent and well drawn so a certain percentage of fans will like it, but it's just completely bland. I became interested in the character after reading most of Perez's amazing run on the character, and that character is completely unrecognizable here.

[StevenRichardsRules]

New comics out tomorrow, which I haven't got yet, but I have bought a couple last week.

Kill Shakespeare - This is awesome. A comic book populated entirely by Shakespeare characters, where Will himself is a god-like figure and several characters intend to kill him. Also, the main character is Hamlet. It is greatness!

Thor #614 - Kinda intrigued by the direction they have been building, though I admit that I'm not really a Thor fan. This one I could take or leave and will probably stop reading right away.

X-Men Forever2 #7 - First time reading the series and I am utterly confused. Seriously, what the hell is going on? I guess that's what I get for picking it up late but seriously. Why is Sabertooth with the team? Why does Rogue look like Nightcrawler? Hell, why is Nightcrawler human? What's with young Storm and 50s gangster Gambit? Does. Not. Compute. Also, the clone thing and Nathan Summers makes no sense to me. And what the hell happened to Wolverine? I haven't really been following X-Men but I assume he died. So why is he back and randomly stabbing Kitty Pryde? >_> Seriously, someone explain.

American Vampire - Hate vampire comics, like this book. It's been interesting thus far, though I think this issue skipped ahead a bit. Yeah, definately worth a look.

Red Robin #14 - Red Robin has really surprised me as being pretty interesting. Granted, I'm not sure my interest will stay with it but it's been good thus far. I do like the systematic way he's going about capturing these criminals and await the inevitable backfire of this plan. This issue was kinda filler but wasn't the bad type. I liked it.

Edited September 15, 2010 by StevenRichardsRules

[Johnny Latino Heat]

X-Men Forever2 #7 - First time reading the series and I am utterly confused. Seriously, what the hell is going on? I guess that's what I get for picking it up late but seriously. Why is Sabertooth with the team? Why does Rogue look like Nightcrawler? Hell, why is Nightcrawler human? What's with young Storm and 50s gangster Gambit? Does. Not. Compute. Also, the clone thing and Nathan Summers makes no sense to me. And what the hell happened to Wolverine? I haven't really been following X-Men but I assume he died. So why is he back and randomly stabbing Kitty Pryde? >_> Seriously, someone explain.

OK, as you know, X-Men Forever is the series Claremont would've written had he stayed after X-Men 3 waaaay back, right? So, to answer your questions...

Sabretooth is on the team because he wanted to avenge Wolverine's death, being that he is Wolverine's father. Wolverine was killed by Storm who betrayed the X-Men to a secret organization, originally led by Tony Stark, called the Consorcium. In the battle against the X-Men, Stark turned face and sacrificed himself along with the Beast to destroy a space station designed to depower mutants.

Rogue looks like Nightcrawler because Nightcrawler gave her mouth-to-mouth ressuscitation and they swapped powers. Now Rogue has his powers and vice-versa.

There is a young Storm around because... well, I don't think that was properly explained yet. It seems that when Storm was aged again in the original run, it wasn't actually her, it was the traitorous Storm, and the original Storm was still around, underaged. Gambit just changed his look, as well as most of the team.

Nathan Summers just grew up, never having been kidnapped by Apocalypse nor infected by the techno-organic virus.

It has been stated that the Marauders are a bunch of clones, so presumably Sinister just cloned and brainwashed Wolverine.

Also, of note is that Kitty Pryde, in the very first issue, kinda fused with Wolverine and got one of his adamantium claws, as well as some of his healing abilities and personality. There is also a disease that affects mutants called Burnout. When mutants reach a certain age, their powers... well, burn out and kill them. It's what happened to Magneto during that original run, when Magneto's powers were erratic and Fabian Cortez gave him little power boosts. It's also what was happening to Wolverine during the original run, because his powers were getting weaker and weaker. Sabretooth is also being afflicted by this during this run. And Nick Fury and Daisy Dugan (Dum Dum's niece, I think) are with the X-Men in their new hideout, which is the mansion, just out of phase with reality, in hiding and pretending they're dead, because SHIELD was infected to the core with Consorcium's spies. Consorcium is currently being led by Ziggy Trask, Bolivar's descendant, I think she's his niece too. Oh, and the Stark and Trask families are related.

Hope that cleared at least some of those doubts up.

Edited September 15, 2010 by Johnny Latino Heat

[Herr Matzat]

New Walking Dead Teaser for the december issues.

I consider this "somewhat" more spoiler heavy than the other posters. It gives you a good sens of what direction the will get the comunety storyline next.

http://imagecomics.com/gallery2/g2data_373ph4nt/albums/news/TheWalkingDead_NWO_teaser4.jpg

[Crybaby Bunting]

After watching Scott Pilgrim I decided to go on a comic book spree to get all the books... and then after reading them decided to get a few more 'cult' comics that I've been meaning to read for AGES. I've really missed out :/

I've tried to pick up 'volumes' of standalone comics like Spiderman, Deadpool etc. but because the stories aren't contained I always feel let down once I reach the end knowing that I'm going to have to buy the next one to complete the storyline (and so on...) wheras I can just re-read Watchmen whenever I want and all the episodes are right there in the book. AND IT HAS AN ENDING!

Here's a brief list of what I own:

Watchmen

Maus

Kick Ass

Scott Pilgrim 1-6

Lost At Sea

Persepolis

Civil War (I feel bad for not reading this yet...)

Batman: Killing Joke/Year One/The Dark Knight Returns (and the one after that)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Book One (currently reading this)

And of course the complete Death Note manga collection (pretty fucking awesome) and the first six volumes of Battle Royale (such a stupid waste of money...)

So what standalone comic books would anyone recommend? I get the feeling that I've covered most of the 'mainstream' choices... but that could just be me buying a chunk of the top 100 Amazon comic books and ignoring the rest

[Benji]

So apparently Wildstorm is being ended and absorbed into other DC imprints. It'd be a sad day if they'd ever published anything beyond Ex Machina that was worth regular reading >_>

[Gabriel]

So apparently Wildstorm is being ended and absorbed into other DC imprints. It'd be a sad day if they'd ever published anything beyond Ex Machina that was worth regular reading >_>

Weren't they responsible for W.I.L.D.C.A.T.S.? I never read the books, but the cartoon was friggin' awesome.

[Herr Matzat]

So what standalone comic books would anyone recommend?

Jeff Smith - Bone - One Volume Edition - 1344 pages - $26.37

http://www.amazon.com/Bone-Complete-Cartoon-Epic-One/dp/188896314X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1285186014&sr=8-1-spell

Best Value on a Comic you will ever get. If you want better paper qualety you can also buy the nine Volumes on it´s own (it should all be around in HC, SC and for a cupple of years now even an amazing colored version HC).

http://www.boneville.com/shop/

But you don´t need to buy the Volumes, a cupple of pages in the book will have drawn you in it´s world so much that you don´t even notice anymore how thin the paper is! I have read my One Volum Edition Numerus times and it´s still fully intact.

If you want an Epic story that concludes, get it... you´ed be the first person i know disapointed by it.

Another comic i´ed like to recomend would be "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck".

I think i pluged that one here before... i know it´s disney and you´ll prolly feel to old for it but Don Rosa is an amazing artist and his comics in genneral arent just another Donald Duck Magazin Comic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_and_Times_of_Scrooge_McDuck

Bone and The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck both won nummerus awards, including several eisners... in case my word issent enough. :-p

If you are more into established Superhero Storys there are a cupple of alternate Universe ones that are considered quit good. "Superman: Red Son" for example...

a selfcontained story about "what if supermans capsule would have gone down in the USSR?". It´s no watchmen by any means but it´s a fun read at least once.

Or "All star Superman"

wich i have not read but heared about to be considert as good as watchmen (wich i cannot imagin).. i think it´s suposed to be a 12 issue run like Marvels "Ultimate Universe", just that it covers the entire live of Superman from birth to... well, i havent read it, but i asume death.

The old Marvel "What if?" Storys were pritty good sometimes. Therre should be TPBs around aswell containing some classics.

The Sin City Comics by Frank Miller all conclude in themselfs.

The original "The Crow" Comic by James O’Barr. (the followups he did werrent as good)

Edited September 22, 2010 by Michael Matzat on a Plane

[Saladin777]

Any Vertigo fans? Check out Vertigo's monthly series "The Unwritten". It's really a fascinating story so far. Main character's the son of a guy who wrote a bunch of highly successful Harry Potter knock-offs and ends up having to deal with the repercussions of a secret society powered by stories. This one's the work of Mike Carey & Peter Gross.

I also enjoy "DMZ". Great stories about a civil war in modern times and an interesting perspective on the media covering it all. It's also a monthly series by Brian Wood.

I would also HIGHLY suggest getting hardcovers of "Y - The Last Man". It's the story of... well... the Last Man on Earth. It's also complete so, feel free to grab all the hardcovers and start reading already! Brian K. Vaughan did some masterful work here.

[Herr Matzat]

The Unwritten is on my to do list. Not enough time to get it started right now.

Bat-Manga - The Secret History of Batman in Japan

Edited September 23, 2010 by Michael Matzat on a Plane

[StevenRichardsRules]

I believe Y - The Last Man has been mentioned in this thread before, but it is awesome. It's probably one of my favourite graphic novels of all time. It's seriously an awesome story.

Last week's comics musings -

1 Month 2 Live - I admit to being interested in the supposed plotline of this one. Guy gets superpowers but only has a month to use them. Also, it's implied that he begins to use them destructively. However, it's been kinda dragging for me. I just want something to happen. He's just kinda dicking around and his family (wife and adopted daughter, who his actual niece) are mostly an annoyance. D

DV8 (Gods and Monsters) - This series is awesome. The first issue grabbed me right away. The issue I was reading (number 6 of 8) is just beginning what should be an epic battle between the members of the group with their respective tribes. I'm anxious to see where this is going and am putting money on an unexpected death twist. C+ (maybe a B-)

Batman Beyond - It's Batman Beyond. I had to buy it. The whole Hush storyline has been interesting and the reveal was certainly good, though I had guessed in the general direction of Hush's identity before that. Still, it's good, suspenseful enough to make you want to see what Hush's next move is (and how Terry can counter him). One question though: what the fuck is with the Catwoman? She's been kind of an oddity, so I hope she gets fleshed out a bit more at the end (I'm expecting she will be). C

Deadpool #27 - I'm a shameless Deadpool whore. I can admit it. I found this issue to be very funny (in comparison to the last couple, which have been only chuckle-worthy). Also, I'm interested to see Deadpool as a member of

the Secret Avengers

. Yeah. B-, mostly because I love Deadpool.

[GRIFT]

Alright, so I've been reading A LOT of comics lately -- like entire runs. Needless to say I could use a few recommendations, as I've burned through a lot of my own 'catch up' list.

Here are some of the things I've read lately, and my thoughts.

Transmetropolitan, the entire run.

To those who know me, or those of you who've just plain been around long enough to catch a whif of the Grifterman's stink, it is probably no shock to find out that I reread this series once or twice a year. Politics, debauchery, and mad bastardry abound in Warren Ellis' undisputed masterwork, and Darick Robertson's art work explodes across each page with a savage and layered frenzy that not only matches the pace of Ellis' lightning quick acerbic dialogue, but at times passes it cold.

Ultimates 1 & 2/Ultimate Iron Man/Ultimate Human/Ultimate X-Men #1-100/ Ultimatum

I avoided the Ultimate universe for a good long time. I know there are a lot of folks on the board who love it, but when I checked out Ultimate Spiderman a few years ago I hated it. I thought some of the changes to the characters they made (I am looking at you Green Goblin) were needless, and fractured attempts at making old stories feel new again. When I saw an image of Sabretooth with 4 adamantium claws sticking out of his hands, I told myself it must be more of the same in the X Books.

What ended up making me give the Ultimate Universe another shot was enjoying the two animated films quite a bit, and deciding to give the Ultimates a chance. Whoever said this book was Michael Bay's Marvel had it dead on-- but in a good way. The first thing I loved was their version of Captain America (The God Damned Captain as I joked to a friend). Everything was just so damn over the top, I found myself laughing out loud for most of these books.

But the shinning accomplishment in my eyes, was Ultimate X-Men. It took everything I loved about decades and decades of X-Men books and condensed it into 100 issues. Not only did it stay true to the original themes of series, but it explored things that had been passed over in the original arcs like the relationship between Jean and Xavier. Actually, what I think this book did better than anything was its work with Xavier/Magneto -- I wouldn't be shocked to find a lot of this pre-X-men stuff popping up in the new Origins movie. There were a few moments in the book that left me groaning, but for the most part their retelling of these stories were done gracefully and this book above all others had the most character examination.

Then Ultimatum happened... and if we could just... just not talk about that event that would be ok.

Blackest Night and most of the tie ins.

Maybe it is because I don't care for the DC universe at large, but this really didn't do anything for me. I dig the Green Lantern corps, I did Batman, I enjoy Superman for the ways you can use him to explore the superhero archetype, and mostly when he is used as a foil for Batman, and I have a soft spot for Green Arrow, but the rest of DC is tough for me to care about. A lot of their B-listers are just too hokey, and they just don't do the shared universe thing as well as Marvel.

Y The Last Man

Re-read, and finally got around to the finally. This one has gotten a lot of play in this thread lately so I will keep my praise brief and just say that it had the best series ending of any comic book I've ever read.

Batman RIP and Batman and Robin (Amazing Spider-Man, pre OMIT)

Wow, Grant Fucking Morrison. Batman is one of my favorite characters. Not just comic book characters, but in any medium and yet for the last few years I haven't been reading his books. It has felt like the character had been treading water until Morrison grabbed the reigns. What I think I like the most about Grant's writing is that he doesn't just write Batman well, he write every character well. Joker, Dick, Damian, Gordon, Tim, all pop with their own unique voices. Batman and Robin has consistently been one of the most fun reads I pick up. It reminds me a lot of the work that they had been doing with The Amazing Spider-Man before the OMIT storyline. It has been back to basic, out in 3 story arcs that revitalized their respective rogues gallery and even introduced new threats.

[Benji]

The problem I have with Morrison is that his characters are great, but I cannot stand his storylines. I've rarely read a Morrison story that I felt totally invested in because they're so often ridiculous, even by comic book standards.

[SeanDMan]

That cat should not be smoking.

[GoGo Yubari]

I realized that I had completely fallen out of love with Morrison when I read that "Batman of ZU-EN-ARRH" tripe. He's done good stuff with the Dick Grayson/Damien Wayne dynamic, but I'd like to see writers that are less obnoxiously self-indulgent have a crack at it now.

Also I hate what he did with Jason Todd. Those issues rang really false for me as far as his character went.