The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[Your Mom]

Anyone think this FF issue will be worth some money? I got it spoiled for me so if it might be worth some money I had thought about not opening it.

[TGC]

Only if you have one of the variants inside the bag signed by the writer or one of the variant covers, buyt to know that youd need to open it.

[GoGo Yubari]

Son of a bitch. RIP Dwayne McDuffie, creator of the Milestone comic line (including most notably Static/Static Shock).

[TGC]

Son of a bitch. RIP Dwayne McDuffie, creator of the Milestone comic line (including most notably Static/Static Shock).

I remember him fondly from my teenage years writing Damage Control. While I didn't like everything he wrote, he was a very talented writer. This is a big loss.

[the machine]

Wow, what a huge shock. Great writer and a great guy. That really sucks.

[Boulder]

I was very sorry to hear about this. While I've only read a fraction of his work, I enjoyed what I did read. It was sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and always well written and thoughtful. More importantly, from his online presence, he seemed like a really nice guy. He'll be missed in many communities, that's for sure.

[Horus]

I just reread Immortal Iron Fist and the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven (beautifully collected as a hardcover) and wow, if ever there was a single storyline of a character that needs to be turned into a film this is it. I think I posted about how much I loved this run after the first time that I read it and it has certainly held up on the second read. It introduces the character of Danny Rand wonderfully and without the burden of being an outright origin tale all while building a rich multi-textural mythology.

What are some of your favorite storylines that you could see being turned to film?

Finally atleast, someone else who enjoys the Iron Fist comics! Haha! I'm just starting to re-read these comics (never got to finish them on the first outing ) and even without the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven storyline being used as the first times storyline, with a proper writer whom respects any part of the comic book industry, Iron Fist could easily become a B/C-list Marvel hero breakout movie character ala Blade was back in the day. Even with a proper origin story to give movie goers a chance to warm up to the characters, SCCoH would make such an amazing sequel.

I for one know that Ray Park has been pushing for the better half of a decade to get this character on-screen, and with Marvel's new plan to tie there movie world together, I don't see why it couldn't be done.

[Nick Adams]

The most I've seen of Iron Fist is the recent Deadpool Team-Up with him. Which was fun.

[parkamania]

I haven't been to the comicbook store in a month or two can someone give me a recap of Fear itself and how did things end up in Brightest Day?

[TGC]

Fear Itself hasn't started yet.

Brightest Day hasn't ended yet.

[parkamania]

Fear Itself hasn't started yet.

Brightest Day hasn't ended yet.

Worded incorrectly I meant could someone give me a recap of Brightest Day and tell me anything the build up to Fear Itself(All I know is from the pictures marvel post on FB all the time which aren't enticing me much)?

[Nick Adams]

So I somehow missed issue 19 of Batman and Robin (found out because I just got #20 in the mail the other day). Anybody care to tell me how the story line with The Absence ended?

Also, I just saw "Old Man Logan" in paperback last Friday. I'm so glad I bought the hard back version, because in the hard back edition, they scaled up the whole run to Giant-Size, whereas in the paperback, they scaled down Wolverine: Giant-Size Old Man Logan to regular comic size.

[NM!]

Just finished The Walking Dead Compendium and oh man is it amazing. The ending is just a huge game changer.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Personally I could sorta see where Matzat was going with his huge rant against Marvel... mostly that serials are pretty hit and miss, because you have several different writers and artists over the lifespan of said comic.

I like reading more concise comics, or comics that at least have an ending planned out from the conception. I don't have the time to read a story that goes on forever, when I could read an incredible graphic novel over the course of a fortnight or so. Scott Pilgrim, Maus, Waltz with Bashir, Alan Moore, Bone etc. There is a beginning, a middle and an end, leading to an emotional payoff for reading the book.

I understand that Marvel have written some amazing comic books recently (aka Runaways, Daredevil and many others) but, because Marvel is too scared to kill a cash cow, you never see a total conclusion just "End of Series 1". Notice how many Marvel heroes have been killed off? Noticed that it only took a few months until they were back? The only emotional payoff you get is at the end of a storyline, but of course, you transition from one storyline to another without it really being able to sink in.

From that logic it's easy to be cynical about Marvel, especially from a comic book fans point of view. I have only a finite amount of time and money, so I can't buy 40 volumes of Amazing Spiderman just so I don't miss out on anything. It makes sense for me to buy a complete graphic novel (or one in a series of ten) because I can complete it and move onto the next one.

I guess I just view comics as books, rather than a different medium altogether :/

[the machine]

Personally I could sorta see where Matzat was going with his huge rant against Marvel... mostly that serials are pretty hit and miss, because you have several different writers and artists over the lifespan of said comic.

I like reading more concise comics, or comics that at least have an ending planned out from the conception. I don't have the time to read a story that goes on forever, when I could read an incredible graphic novel over the course of a fortnight or so. Scott Pilgrim, Maus, Waltz with Bashir, Alan Moore, Bone etc. There is a beginning, a middle and an end, leading to an emotional payoff for reading the book.

I understand that Marvel have written some amazing comic books recently (aka Runaways, Daredevil and many others) but, because Marvel is too scared to kill a cash cow, you never see a total conclusion just "End of Series 1". Notice how many Marvel heroes have been killed off? Noticed that it only took a few months until they were back? The only emotional payoff you get is at the end of a storyline, but of course, you transition from one storyline to another without it really being able to sink in.

From that logic it's easy to be cynical about Marvel, especially from a comic book fans point of view. I have only a finite amount of time and money, so I can't buy 40 volumes of Amazing Spiderman just so I don't miss out on anything. It makes sense for me to buy a complete graphic novel (or one in a series of ten) because I can complete it and move onto the next one.

I guess I just view comics as books, rather than a different medium altogether :/

I totally get what you're saying and you're right in some respects. Ever since Marvel was sold the first time in the late 1960's, they have been a media franchise that also sells comic books. That's when you saw the slightly slowed aging process stop entirely and Marvel comics start distancing themselves from real world connections. It also saw Spider-Man and others turned into a brand, which tends to outright get in the way of good stories.

Not only that, there's some good stuff out there, like Moore's now mostly defunct ABC line and Busiek's Astro City that try to keep that same spirit of early Marvel but disconnected from conservative marketplace-based decisions.

That said, Matzat's incoherent rant ignored the fact that Marvel can and has produced some really good stuff in the past few years, and that a good story is a good story, no matter what comes after. Alias is a quality crime/mystery comic, and as lame as I think it is that bendis brought his Jessica Drew fanfiction into the mainstream universe and made her an Avenger, it doesn't suddenly make Alias a bad comic.

[Skummy]

Killing off, and bringing back, marketable characters is the nature of the beast, though. Marvel are under pressure to produce regular copy, to keep coming up with new storylines, and to keep up the visibility of their recognised brands. Criticising a comic book company for that kind of thing is a little stupid.

It's all well and good to say "Marvel don't produce anything as good as {insert Alan Moore serial of choice here}", but Alan Moore serial of choice is, more often than not, a self-contained story, while a Marvel story exists within a larger universe, and within a larger corporate structure.

Considering the narrative restraints that are imposed on a company of Marvel's size and esteem, I think they "hit" far more often than they "miss".

Comic books are sequential - the whole point is, and always has been, to get you to buy the next issue. It's not cynical to realise that, that's their entire purpose.

[Steeb]

Recommend me books/sagas/arcs to read.

I've recently read and enjoyed the entirety of Blackest Night and Kingdom Come, I am currently reading through Brightest Day (about halfway through), and have an 'Essential Batman Reading' collection and a full Ultimates collection to go through.

I already have 52 and the Final Crisis HC, and am aquiring the Infinite Crisis and Countdown to Final Crisis collections.

I am, obviously, a DC fan over Marvel.

Shoot!

[Steeb]

Recommend me books/sagas/arcs to read.

I've recently read and enjoyed the entirety of Blackest Night and Kingdom Come, I am currently reading through Brightest Day (about halfway through), and have an 'Essential Batman Reading' collection and a full Ultimates collection to go through.

I already have 52 and the Final Crisis HC, and am aquiring the Infinite Crisis and Countdown to Final Crisis collections.

I am, obviously, a DC fan over Marvel.

Shoot!

[Boulder]

All-Star Superman

[GoGo Yubari]

Recommend me books/sagas/arcs to read.

I've recently read and enjoyed the entirety of Blackest Night and Kingdom Come, I am currently reading through Brightest Day (about halfway through), and have an 'Essential Batman Reading' collection and a full Ultimates collection to go through.

I already have 52 and the Final Crisis HC, and am aquiring the Infinite Crisis and Countdown to Final Crisis collections.

I am, obviously, a DC fan over Marvel.

Shoot!

If you liked Blackest Night, start reading through Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run. Great stuff top to bottom and that's, of course, where all the various Lantern Corps have sprung from.