General Comics Thread

[Psychotime]

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/the-new-52/

The first day of the new 52 has passed and the series have begun!

We can't really complain about it anymore (I know I tried) they've done it and there's no turning back. Might as well make the best of it.

So, what are people's thoughts on the current releases? And what do you plan on getting that's on the way in the coming weeks?

I rarely buy floppies, but I was interested enough to pick up a few.


JLI looks interesting.
Static Shock was ok.
Green Arrow was ok, but I think the character looks too young now. He needs the beard!
Batgirl looks decent. Still a shame it appears Oracle isn't canon anymore. I guess Barbara is walking again thanks to rehabilitation (nothing far fetched), it's not explicitly stated but whatever.
Batwing was a bit gory (somewhat subdued in comparison to other things I've seen, thankfully), but it surprisingly kept me reading.
I have yet to read the Morrison run, but the new Animal Man is interesting.
Detective Comics, god damn was that final page really necessary? Other than that it was what you would expect, your run of the mill Batman vs Joker story. Nothing badly done.
I was excited for Action Comics once I saw the preview and learned that Morrison was on board, but upon reading it I don't know what to make of it. I'll stick around to see how it all plays out.


Initially the only things I said I was gonna bother with were Action Comics, Static Shock, and Blue Beetle, but meh, I got sidetracked.

Ugh, Maybe I'll look at Green Lantern Corps, which releases on the 21st. C'mon, it's got Guy Garderner and John Stewart (no, not the real one). What better way to get into Green Lantern than those two in the same series?

[Psychotime]

New day!

I'll pick up the stuff I had on my list (only one or two things) tomorrow.

But c'mon! No one has something to add to this thread? Really?

[Arshes Nei]

I've strayed away from comics when there was a jump from 1.50 to 4 bucks for 32 pages. I understand things like print quality (using different stock of paper etc) but it became too much.

I had settled for Manga but even that has become limited.

I am interested in hearing how it is going though with superhero comics, but I'm usually more invested in any of the animation or movies that comes out these days.

[Psychotime]

Personally I hate buying floppies because they're too short, you need extra crap to maintain them, you can't put them on a bookshelf, and yeah, they're pretty expensive right now.

Trade collections are better in every single way.

At the end of this I'm just gonna give away the stuff I bought. If I ever go back to any those series, it's gonna be a trade paperback.

I'm honestly starting to think that floppies should just phase out altogether.

The Japanese stuff is basically the same thing, but worse, despite the things the do opposite of floppies. At least floppies don't have to be disposable (these days).

From what I've seen, Japanese comic magazines like Shonen Jump are printed on such horribly cheap recycled paper (but they make sure the ads are on something decent) that the stuff will just age horribly and you can't do a thing about it. The things are basically supposed to be recycled to make next week's magazine, not be collected or kept as souvenirs.

Of course as an American I can't really complain much, since all the Japanese stuff comes over here in trade format from the get go.

Truth be told, I would love to see an American publisher experiment with the serial anthology format Japan uses. Preferably a company that isn't fixed on one genre.

But I'm just moving away from the topic.

Batman and Robin might have thrown in decent idea into the mix (not sure if other writers will pay attention to it), but it was ok.

[MidgardSerpent]

I've strayed away from comics when there was a jump from 1.50 to 4 bucks for 32 pages. I understand things like print quality (using different stock of paper etc) but it became too much.
You mean like 'regular'' Dc/marvel comics? I can't remember the time when I could buy a comic for $1.50 and there were quite a few price points over the years before they reached $4.00. I don't count the ads, so it's 22 pages, which is 4 dollars for like a 10 minute read. That's admittingly not the best bang for your buck. And you read comics for a long enough time you'll grow very tired of Batman putting the Joker back in Arkham, knowing full well he'll be out in the next week.





Personally I hate buying floppies because they're too short, you need extra crap to maintain them, you can't put them on a bookshelf, and yeah, they're pretty expensive right now.

Trade collections are better in every single way.

At the end of this I'm just gonna give away the stuff I bought. If I ever go back to any those series, it's gonna be a trade paperback.

I'm honestly starting to think that floppies should just phase out altogether.

I buy monthlies and trades. I just like dropping by my store once a month to get a nice stack of monthly comics. Trades I buy mostly online because they're cheaper.

I always thought a Jump-like magazine anthology would be very interesting for mainstream comics. They tried that with releasing Metal Hurlant (I believe) in America which had a lot of European-flavored stuff. I think it bombed though, unfortunately.



Not much to say about 52 yet, I've only read JLA #1 and the Flashpoint crossover which I thought was pretty bad. Lots of forced and hasty writing.
I'll give a few titles a try, mostly for some artists, like Greg Capullo on Batman and Rags Morales on Action Comics.

[Psychotime]

Blue Beetle was ok. Gonna read Batman next. I don't particularly like Greg Capullo, but I've heard really good things about Scott Snyder, and his interviews make him seem like a smart guy.

And what do you know, it's pretty decent! And I originally wasn't even planning on touching it at all! The only thing I'm kinda iffy on is how high tech Batman is now. I mean, yeah, it's 2011 and he's a billionaire, but I draw the line at electronic disguises (This is Batman, not Metal Gear Solid 4) and discreet long range lip reading machines.

I was expecting Jason Todd and the Outlaws to be pretty bad, but damn, according to Linkara, it's REALLY bad. (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/09/thats-all-im-saying-9-22-11.html)

[Arshes Nei]

I think these two articles are kinda covering my feelings with this launch if this really what they're doing http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/22/starfire-catwoman-sex-superheroine/

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls43bjAA3j1qkinreo1_500.png
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls43bjAA3j1qkinreo1_500.png

[Psychotime]

They make a big deal out of rebooting everything, supposedly start from scratch (which is actually a bit of a lie), try to draw in NEW readers, and they let garbage like that go through.

I feel a silly rant coming on.

How? It should be common sense, given the superhero genre's existing reputation, to 100% do away with that kind of mess for the greater good of all parties involved. First for their own sake, as the point of this whole mess was to open to new audiences and MAKE MONEY off of more than just the loyal niche that's barely keeping you afloat. Second, for the sake of the genre, because for some time it's had the stereotype of being chock full of this kind of material, which has hurt the genre as a whole. And third, but most importantly, the entire medium of comics itself, which thanks to some bad history is practically defined by the superhero genre here in the states and unfortunately still is to this day.

No, it doesn't matter if it's just 2 out of 50 books (granted there's one week left) that do this, ALL of them have that weight on their shoulders and you should have known what could and probably will happen.

Comic books are still a niche here in the states, and it's their responsibility as one of the BIG TWO comic companies that dominate the medium (and the superhero genre) to realize that with niches, one bad apple will spoil the rest!

In America, comic books are not viewed as a medium the same way movies or tv shows are, and that's it's largest handicap. This reminds me of something Scott McCould said in Reinventing Comics. Ignoring the strange or plain wrong predictions he made about the growing internet, he says alot of things that I vehemently agree with, one major one being that there's nothing inherently wrong with the superhero genre, but it's domination of the medium has done nothing but hurt it. And this also goes for the genre as well. Not all superhero comics make their female characters vapid sex dolls for the sake of fanservice, but it's become so common that it hurts everyone, as well as the reputation of the genre, and in effect, the medium.

DC should KNOW that they need to move their comics AWAY from that.

We had a thread about this recently, didn't we? Yeah, I think so.

Kinda back on topic, I guess...

But even without the porn star characterization of the Starfire character, the front cover of the book was already a middle finger to readers from the get go (from what I've gathered, EVERYTHING about the comic is a middle finger to readers, old and new), but I don't want to bore you guys with all that.

I haven't read them, but I've heard that Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman aren't particularly great, but don't fall into the same boat Catwoman and Jason Todd fell into. I've also heard that Batwoman is good. As I said before, Batgirl looks like the start of something decent, and doesn't fall into the trap either (well, the writer is one of the creators of the Women in Refrigerators website, Gail Simone, and has been writing the specific character for a good while, now).

But I'm pretty sure with Catwoman and Jason Todd, they've killed any prospect of new people buying those books now. Great job, DC! In your own little way, you're adding harm to not only yourselves, but to the superhero genre, and to the medium of comics itself, when the entire point of this whole mess was to do the complete opposite!

Boy, that was fun! I like getting a little rant here and there.

[Arshes Nei]

I don't mind TnA even though I'm female. I understand it. I am ok with guys having all the TnA they want in a lot of things. However, I admit though allowing the guys to dominate that market for so long it does get alienating.

The problem is DC knows this is really a franchise, movies and series. So like the girl who is in that comic I posted about Starfire... I just don't see it making sense from a standpoint where people who did grow up on the cartoons, coming in and getting a Dick Pastry of a character. You had the audience from the Teen Titan cartoons, and the reboot gave them the perfect opportunity to gain from it.

This is just....well fail.

I think Storm is one of those, where you know she's good looking and sexy, but rarely have you seen her just posted to be just wank material. Sure she's been nude at times, or times she might wear something that makes a guy drool. But she's always kinda been well regarded I think.

Rogue is a character I really liked where despite her having to cover up for the sake of not accidentally absorbing people through skin to skin contact, maintained a spunk and personality about her.

When I look at DC's reboot and try to look for good women, the only interesting thing at this time may be Batgirl (as you said). Catwoman seems to have been trashed which is a shame cuz despite her "villainous" nature, she was an interesting character.

Oh well DC, just being reminded again why I don't bother with comics anymore.

[Psychotime]

The hilarious part is that from what I've seen, the original Starfire from the comics and the cartoon version are barely any different from each other other than the designs. Compared to the others, there was little change from the comics. Old school fans aren't happy about this change, either.

But some of the other characters did change for the cartoon...

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/CaptainKRool/Beast-1.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/CaptainKRool/Beast2.jpg
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/3/36169/1810434-douchebag.jpg

Beast Boy was the douchebag that no one liked that loved to crack AWFUL jokes. Wait a minute, that's what he was in the cartoon, nevermind.

Ah well, the DC 52 is on it's last week. Here's hoping something good shows up to end it.

[Raoul Duke]

I can't follow Marvel or DC. I did when I was a wee little lad in the early 90's, back when X-men trading cards were all the rage. I realized Wolverine was the ONLY marvel character with a coherent story arch. All the rest turned into a pin up contest and I couldn't tell what dimension I was in anymore. I guess DC wants to follow in Marvels foot steps. It's amazing how those two companies can dominate 80% of the market when they have such a huge track record of turning off their loyal readers and alienating new readers.

[Arshes Nei]

I realized Wolverine was the ONLY marvel character with a coherent story arch. All the rest turned into a pin up contest and I couldn't tell what dimension I was in anymore.

LOL I hope you weren't around during the Roger Cruz run.... http://blog.adlo.es/swipe_of_the_week/2006/08/

It really WAS a pin up contest in Wolverine, full of swiping goodness.

I stopped reading for several reasons, the x-books were way too many (whcih was my primary interest). The alternate covers. I got tired of that really quickly. Costs and story lines and artists leaving just lost my interest.

The Comic Alliance nailed it with the creepy Catwoman Batman sex on the rooftop, it looks like creepy fanfic images. Even as silly as comics are...

[Psychotime]

Oh man, I'm usually not scared off by long continuity (I can just google the character and read a fan page to know what's going on), but I am downright frightened by how huge and convoluted the X-Men is.

Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X, New X-Men, Age of Apocalypse, Cable, New Mutants, Mutant X, X-Treme X-Men, Cable and Deadpool, ect, ect! And then there's all the mess that centers around Wolverine.

I can understand why there's so much of it (X-Men was the only thing getting Marvel profits at the time, but they still had to file for bankruptcy during that decade), but no way, man. Just no.

It doesn't help that it was a major series during the Dark Age (the time period where I almost never touch mainstream books, period), and as such, Rob Leifield in particular was a huge cornerstone of the franchise during that time. Plus I don't like Jim Lee.

Back on topic, there's nothing coming out this week that I want to buy, so...Eh. I guess we'll see if DC's plan worked out for them in the coming months.

I think it'll be a dud, honestly. It's like the time Marvel made Spider-Man team up with Obama, it'll make press and maybe sell to a point, but right after that it's just back to the loyal fanbase and no one else.

[Raoul Duke]

So you read all of them and there is nothing worth recommending huh. What a surprise! I like comics that were created for the solitary purpose of telling a good story. I have no interest in shelling out my money to see what's going to happen next.

Even those shitty X-books started with the premise of giving the reader a satisfying ending. I think they ran out of steam and were forced to shovel out a product with no story and hope illiteracy works in their favor. When I hear reboot I think they are just trying to start the cycle over. Fanboy consumers favor tangled up story lines. Don't beleive me check out this site (http://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales.html) with the history of the numbers.

[Elwell]

What I posted on Facebok when I linked to the Comics Alliance article:
The degree of DC's institutional tone-deafness regarding female characters, creators, and most of all readers in the relaunch is truly mind boggling. THIS is how you grow an audience for a dying medium?

And, what would, in a just world, be the last word on the issue:
http://michelelee.net/2011/09/24/dear-dc-comics/

[Arshes Nei]

Girls will read comics, girls will read comics intended for boys. I think manga has shown that. I remember when my ex bf founded MixxZine (he left and it turned to Tokyopop) he had Sailor Moon, Ice Blade, Parasyte and Magic Knight Rayearth.

So 2 titles were intended for girls, and 2 for boys. You know a lot of the girls went and read the gory Parasyte title? I loved that series when I was reading it.

Girls will read Naruto and Bleach. It's got it's TnA too. So obviously even with some sexuality, girls will read comics. However, of course with manga there's a lot of comics intended for girls and they will purchase.

Several times the comic companies noticed this and kept getting it wrong. It wasn't because of the character designs - so you didn't need to make a Manga version of DC characters.

It was because manga wrote stories people could relate to, stupid.

So even with the people going on about Narutards, and anime weeaboos, at least they remembered with all the ridiculousness that you still need characters people can relate to.

[alesoun]

Urgh, but the whole stereotyping thing is just predictable and boring. Men in furs and women in bikinis?

Who, but a 13 year old boy would fall for that? It would mean that women were actually tougher than men, don'tcha think? Or are men so delicate that they need thermals while women sashay in scanties?,

My daughter switched off super-heroes stuff at 13, 7 years ago. Maybe if they portrayed women as real people she might not have done.

A re-boot needs depth of character, not a change of costume.

Both sexes probably relate the images to what they want to be. 13-yo boys want a heroic bodytype. 13 yo girls want to be more than boobs and booty in a bikini. There's about 50% of the readership gone before the next breath.

[Psychotime]

Girls will read Naruto and Bleach. It's got it's TnA too. So obviously even with some sexuality, girls will read comics. However, of course with manga there's a lot of comics intended for girls and they will purchase.

And also bishonen. How many fangirls do characters like Sasuke (whos an AWFUL character, but regardless) and Byakuya (well, Bleach is just terrible, but whatever) have again?

So you read all of them and there is nothing worth recommending huh. What a surprise!

Woah, now. Where'd you get that from?

If you're talking about the new 52, I've only read ten. And of those, Batgirl, Batman, and Animal Man are the only ones that were better than "ok". Action Comics I'm still iffy on, but I don't mind giving it another go.

If you're talking about all the X-Men mess, I've read zero.

By the way, maybe it's just me, but I'm getting the implication that some people are thinking that the two offenders are red flags saying that the rest of the 50 other books are the same, which isn't necessarily true. Letting them happen period was a plain stupid move on DC's part, yes. But I think it's unfair to jump to any conclusions about the 37 other books which have already been released in the previous weeks or the 13 will be released tomorrow.

Granted, the writer of Jason Todd is also the writer for the Teen Titans book that's coming out, so expect the worst there.

Only thing I'll be doing is waiting for Linkara (Lewis Lovhaug) to post a new video, because he's a cool guy. If you've never heard of him he's a comedic video reviewer (who specializes in comics) in league with the Nostalgia Critic and is a self proclaimed feminist, which gets him a little bit of ire around the net whenever he criticizes offensive characterizations or pointless fanservice.

I posted a link to last weeks video earlier, but here's the rest of his thoughts on the relaunch if anyone's interested, split into weekly videos. (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/search/label/TAIS)

[Raoul Duke]

Oh I was talking about 52. I guess I wasn't clear about that. Then I ranted about x-marvel to make matters worse.

[Elwell]

By the way, maybe it's just me, but I'm getting the implication that some people are thinking that the two offenders are red flags saying that the rest of the 50 other books are the same, which isn't necessarily true. Letting them happen period was a plain stupid move on DC's part, yes. But I think it's unfair to jump to any conclusions about the 37 other books which have already been released in the previous weeks or the 13 will be released tomorrow.

Wonder Woman was released the same week to pretty much universal praise (the first time that could be said about that character in a generation), but it was swamped by all the Catwoman/Starfire hullabaloo.

[Psychotime]

Wonder Woman has such a strange history, and it's probably a good thing most people aren't aware of it.

It's just hilarious that a fetish comic created by a polygamous psychologist with a bondage obsession eventually became something of a representative of female superheroes. Or hell, the fact that despite that, it was STILL aimed at young girls when it debuted!

You just can't make up stuff like that. It sounds so implausible.

[Raoul Duke]

thanks for the link to that critic. He gives pretty in depth reviews. Even if his tastes differ from mine he keeps it pretty objective. I might just check out a couple titles now.

[Arshes Nei]

I posted a link to last weeks video earlier, but here's the rest of his thoughts on the relaunch if anyone's interested, split into weekly videos. (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/search/label/TAIS)

HAHA OH GOD. Thank you for the "Secret Organization" My roommate and I are watching a lot of the comic to TV series like Young Justice and Wolverine and the X-Men, the latter of which surprised us and we're only upset they could only fund one season.

We liked Young Justice but they keep having this secret organization of The Light. It's like 10 episodes and all you get is villains snickering at the end of "yes this is all going to plan for the Light" and I'm just starting to tune out what is otherwise a fairly decent show.

Because of that, the Wolverine and the X-Men show has become our favorite, despite some issues with the stylization and character designs. The origins and characters have been bounced around to different groups, but they still seem to keep to the essential of those characters keeping them interesting. Let's face it, there are a lot of mutants but that show balanced it well.

I was actually ok with Lobdell for some time when he took over when Claremont left...though I do find him pushing the Rogue/Magneto thing and the Prof and Jean Grey thing rather creepy. But I think after Age of Apocalypse there was not much left. I didn't find his writing great and I actually dropped out of comics and went to manga shortly after.

I really got more into art and wanted to be a comic book colorist because of comics, and now seeing how they are going now, I don't miss it so much. It's a shame too.

[Arshes Nei]

What I posted on Facebok when I linked to the Comics Alliance article:

And, what would, in a just world, be the last word on the issue:
http://michelelee.net/2011/09/24/dear-dc-comics/

and...I'm sure you've seen DC's response to this article? http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/28/dc-comics-on-starfire-controversy-pay-attention-to-the-ratings/

Because obviously it's about the teen rating :/

Which is infuriating to a point. The mother simply showed a few panels WITH SUPERVISION. She didn't just give a ticket to her daughter to go see The Watchmen movie and leave her alone.

Plus the issue (the comics....wtf batman catwoman sex) is kinda pushing the boundaries if I was a mother as what's acceptable for teen.

A teen rating to me means, look at what your kid is watching of course and make the judgment call. That's what the mom did. Teen also means I can feel ok with my teenager reading it unsupervised.

Mature is really questionable to leave around with a 7 year old.

DC gives me the impression of MATURE than Teen.

[Psychotime]

Bah, I lost what I was gonna write.

I'll try again.

I've said this elsewhere, but with the big name superheroes, do we really need all the pointless violence and sex in the first place? Shouldn't all the major superheroes, ESPECIALLY characters like Batman, still be ok for kids to be able to read, instead of just some?

In Detective Comics, they end the comic with a splash page of the Joker's recently removed face nailed to a wall and still dripping blood out of it's orifices, frozen in a wretched smile.

Wasn't the reason Vertigo came to be was as a place to put it's more violent and sexual series? (Preacher, American Virgin, Watchmen, ect.)

Maybe I'm just a prude (and I kinda am), but there's no reason for this sort of excess in mainstream superheroes. Most certainly not the ones that get cartoons made out of them every few years.

Yes, DC has a kids line that has series that expand on the cartoons or do their own thing entirely (Like the Eisner winning Tiny Titans), but I don't think that should matter.

Look at the Dark Knight. If I were a parent I'd be fine with letting my kids see it because it never crosses any lines. Hell, go even further back to the Batman Animated Series from the 90's.

Making something that's still ok for kids doesn't mean you have to dumb down your stories and make them childish. All you need is (I'm out of words) good taste in how you accomplish your story.

Hell, Bone turned into a Lord of the Rings-style fantasy epic halfway through and it still was ok for all ages.

Anyway, Linkara's final review of the New DC 52. (http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2011/09/thats-all-im-saying-9-28-11.html) And he says Aquaman is awesome.

I think I should change the thread name now that it's over.

[wiggum]

I started reading comics regularly back in the 90s with Spawn. I lost interest in that after the 100th issue. Since then the only character I've followed is Hellboy (who is far and away my favorite comic book character).

I went to the store to pick up some of the New 52, but the only ones available where Action, Justice League and Supergirl. I liked all three, and added a few more to my pull list while I was at the store.

I like that young Superman in Action actually has a rougher edge than in versions I've seen previously. Action was maybe a little rough, but I like it enough to keep reading new issues.

I liked Justice League as well, nothing in particular popped out at me as being bad. Same with Supergirl (also, based on its brief appearance in Supergirl and Justice League, I say I now officially approve of the new Superman costume)

I'm not willing to judge this whole endeavor based on the very first issues of the series I've managed to read so far. And I should point out I've never been a reader of any ongoing marvel or DC titles. But, as a new reader, I really enjoyed what I've seen so far and am looking forward to seeing more.

[Raoul Duke]

The Starfire controversy seemed to be less about the maturity of the content, but more the immaturity of the content. They were targeting horney tween-age boys. Little had DC known it developed a wider audience and blew it.

[Psychotime]

I remember Scott McCloud having an issue with how the words "adult" and "mature" are somehow synonymous with sex and violence when applied to entertainment. And I agree with him about it. There's nothing inherently mature about sex or violence in entertainment, and it usually exists for the exact opposite mindset. Sturgeon's Law and all that.

Now for some appropriate Calvin and Hobbes.

http://cdn.svcs.c2.uclick.com/c2/c1e8d656250d102d94d7001438c0f03b

[Arshes Nei]

I think Avatar the Last Airbender dealt with some pretty heavy themes nicely.
Genocide (Aang loosing the Air Tribe)
Child Abuse (I think a father willingly burning his son on his face counts as child abuse)
Possible Sexual themes involving minors. (I'm not saying they actually did it but Sokka and Suki had some....tent hijinks that Zuko walked in on.)

There were the considered immature jokes like bathroom jokes. However, they were done in a way that wasn't "Pull my finger hurh hurh"

On a side note, why would you want to turn off the female audience? Guys don't like seeing girls dressed up at cons? You think girls will really WANT to go dress as the new Starfire?

[Psychotime]

I'm pretty sure most cons wouldn't allow someone to enter dressed like that, but I've only been to Heroes Con.

Here's the Catwoman writer attempting to defend himself. (http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a342129/catwoman-writer-judd-winick-defends-sex-scene.html) Not really.

Winick claimed that he is simply representing how the character would act in modern times given her personality and characteristics, but didn't directly refer to the scene in question.

"This is a Catwoman for 2011, and my approach to her character and actions reflect someone who lives in our times. And wears a cat suit. And steals," Winick told Newsarama. "It's a tale that is part crime story, part mystery and part romance.

"In that, you will find action, suspense and passion. Each of those qualities, at times, play to their extremes."

[Arshes Nei]

Modern times, it's ok to force sex on a guy who said no...because men only think with their penis and really mean yes?

XD

Look, I don't think the argument that Batman and Catwomen wouldn't have sex but claiming this is how women would do it in modern times is silly.


I think the two would have sex, but given that Batman is a friggen control freak, this "no, ....oh but this makes my penis harder" argument is effing ridiculous on its face.

I also recognize Catwoman isn't a white hat character. I don't also peg her for a person that screws on rooftops cuz she's emo over her apartment blowing up. You know, cuz that's the first thing I need when stuff like that happens to me. Modern times and all.

As far as personality besides what was already established through years of mythos, what DID the author bring in during his reboot run in this issue? Other than exploring creepy fanfic sex?

Another article here http://blastr.com/2011/09/has-dc-screwed-up-two-mor.php

[Psychotime]

The issue at hand is that, unlike their male counterparts, DC female characters in the new 52 thus far seem to be largely T&A first, everything else a distant second.

And there we go again. TWO incidents out of the 52 (and one other one that deputed in the final week, Voodoo) and they think they can say that? It's just untrue and unfair to all the other writers.

They need to back up that claim, because to me it looks like a dubious and purely reactionary response from a preexisting bias.

It reminds me somewhat of the Dwayne McDuffie interview where he talked about how people would scour his work looking for any hint of an "agenda" to turn the Justice League all black and erase all the other established characters. Confused? I'll try to explain.

I'm certain there were reactionary people out there simply waiting for any chance to make those kinds of claims. As I yapped about before, superhero comics have a stereotype attached to them about how they represent their female characters. Like all stereotypes it's not completely true, but there's no denying that there it is pretty common these days.

It took 3 weeks, but the people sitting in wait finally got the offenders they were waiting for. But what happened to the two previous weeks? If there was something to criticize during those days they would have been made, wouldn't they?

And before someone somehow gets the wrong idea (with the internet you always have to make this stuff clear, even if it is CA), I'm not saying that the books shouldn't be criticized. They most certainly should. But there seems to be some kind of unfair bias from some of the people involved.

For every good mindset there seem to be some zealots. Is "intellectual dishonesty" the correct term? I'm not sure if it is, but whatever word I'm looking for, it's just not cool, regardless of how good the intentions might be.

As a black person I've met and seen many many silly people who try to find racism in everything or are simply racists themselves, despite claiming to be the opposite. Does that mean all arguments against racism are somehow illegitimate and we shouldn't be trying to pinpoint and remove any racism or inequality in our society? Of course not! But good mindsets and ideas still have subscribers who make flubs in reasoning, create generalizations, and show unfair bias. This is not a perfect world. It seems to me too many people want to think everything is black and white.

[Arshes Nei]

And there we go again. TWO incidents out of the 52 (and one other one that deputed in the final week, Voodoo) and they think they can say that? It's just untrue and unfair to all the other writers.

They need to back up that claim, because to me it looks like a dubious and purely reactionary response.

Well there were more examples like one of the lanterns crazy open body costumes too.

I understand your point, and being reasonable I understand and agree it is unfair. There are some good writers on the books, but because this was kinda big and offensive it's kinda like a fart that clears the room. :P

Or something like the cantaloupe scare going on right now. 16 people died. But as far as people see it 16 was way too many to take chances on food.

I think if DC was more amicable about it, people would feel less offended. However, getting a twitter post about watching the ratings, and Didido's smart ass remarks during SDCC can you blame the backlash now?

[Psychotime]

I get it.

Well there were more examples like one of the lanterns crazy open body costumes too.

I think you're referring to the modern Star Sapphire costume from before the relaunch.

http://www.shugashug.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Carol-Ferris-1.jpg

Big change from her original costume, that's for sure.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c6/StarSapphire01.jpg/200px-StarSapphire01.jpg

Now, I don't know much about Green Lantern, especially not the stuff that's happening right now, but the relaunch has started some kind of team book of one of each type of Lantern, and I think cleavage aside, the new costume of the Star Sapphire character showcased in that book is a hell of a step up.

However, it's probably a completely different character than the one above. I don't know what happened, because I haven't read anything Green Lantern related.

What do you think?

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20471_400x600.jpg
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2011/06/Green-Lantern-New-Guardians-1.jpg

I haven't read it so I don't know anything. Linkara recommended it but says it's too obtuse for new readers (Haha). And I haven't heard anything negative...yet.

[Arshes Nei]

I think it's much better than that open one. I was like that with the Huntress outfit too.

I mean of course it depends on which Huntress ( the future Catwoman/Batman spawn lol thanks rooftop sex :P ) Or the "female Punisher" one. I say female Punisher loosely because I felt with her origin it gave her reason to be exactly that. Yet they put her in that retarded belly outfit.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/11893/Huntress.jpg
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/11893/Huntress.jpg

The above doesn't make me think she means business. It doesn't mean it looks covert (not that most superhero costumes exactly read then and look silly when they're doing stake-outs)

This works for me
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101111010909/casscain/images/7/7e/Huntress-suit4.jpg
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101111010909/casscain/images/7/7e/Huntress-suit4.jpg

It's funny because my complaints with DC is the mistreatment of females as being something significant. I also have this complaint with Marvel, and I remember Lady Breasts...oops Death too and other stupid crap coming out where I finally just said enough (along with the Marvel stuff).

I still enjoy Berserk. Berserk has one of its main females raped in a horrible way. However, Guts was raped as a kid...which is pretty brutal. When he and Caska have sex which was graphic...it just felt believable. It was awkward and even then Guts look like he gave a crap about his partner.

Berserk has a lot of violence and sex. However, in its what...over 20 years of making...not everything is graphic sex, and it can run dry for a long time with long periods of violence. So I don't mind it. I mean it feels like it's part of the story, and not necessarily just "sweeps week" like Catwoman #1 is. I mean when I think of Caska's current state all I can think of was how brutal that scene was with her...and...well can relate and understand why she's so damaged. I even understand why Guts is so damaged.

That doesn't mean every book needs to be Berserk. I am simply saying, I don't mind the graphic violence and sex when it's more to the plot than worrying if it helps push the number of sales that week.

Also this "well it's for boys" argument about the main two comics. There's a difference between a demographic it tends to reach, whereas manga does have "shonen" "senin" "shojou" etc where they're direct about the categorizations. DC/Marvel doesn't really tell you it's for boys because I believe it just wants better sales overall, so if they get women it's great for business. All I see is the Teen Rating.

[Psychotime]

If series like Inuyasha, Naruto, Bleach, and especially Death Note are any indication, Shonen these days is really gender neutral with it's audience and draws both girls as well as boys. Seinen not so much from what I've seen though. But I see alot of bad seinen. The only seinen creators I can say I like are Urasawa, Otomo, and Masashi Tanaka.

Not to mention there are some female creators like Rumiko Takahashi who specialize in the male demographics. I don't think ANY of her major works in her 30 year career are shojo or josei series.



In the past Marvel did actively try to make new characters to get girls to buy their books (in the 70's) but they just failed and kinda fell into obscurity.

In 1972 there was a trio of Shanna the She Devil, (something like a female Tarzan). The Cat (obviously), and Night Nurse which was trying to be a medical/romance drama.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3d/The_Cat_1.jpg/397px-The_Cat_1.jpg

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061230142804/marveldatabase/images/thumb/3/3d/Night_Nurse_Vol_1_1.jpg/275px-Night_Nurse_Vol_1_1.jpg

Say what you will about Night Nurse, but I'm certain they were honestly trying.

http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/3/3e/Shanna%2C_The_She-Devil_Vol_1_1.jpg

[Stan Lee] had the idea, and I think the names, for all three. He wanted to do some books that would have special appeal to girls. We were always looking for ways to expand our franchise. My idea ... was to try to get women to write them. ... I thought of my friend Carole Seuling, who had done a bit of writing for her ex-husband Phil in conjunction with his comic cons. I approached her to do the Shanna book because I knew she liked jungle comics and adventure comics. ... I put Ross Andru on as the Shanna artist [beginning with issue #2], with Vinnie Colletta inking to make Ross' Shanna look attractive. Roy Thomas interview, Alter Ego #70 (July 1970): pp. 49-50


Comics turning into a "boys" medium and being dominated by superheroes is the result of just plain bad luck that it unfortunately still hasn't really recovered from all the way. But I'm just gonna repeat myself if I get started on that again.

It's information cuts off right at the beginning of the Dark Age of comics and has vague musings before the manga boom, but I recommend Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History Of Comic Art (http://www.amazon.com/Comics-Comix-Graphic-Novels-History/dp/0714839930) as a balanced and varied book to get a good grasp of comics history of the US and UK up to the early 90's.



Did you ever read Gail Simone's run on Birds of Prey before the relaunch? Huntress was one of the main characters.

[Arshes Nei]

I heard her run was good. I know even a TV show was tried (and failed of course) because I watched it. Oddly enough I was more of the cartoon/movie fan of DC than the comic fan, where Marvel was more the opposite. I watched the 90's X-men cartoon and all but I really liked the comics.

Don't forget about the awful Dazzler comic. I got them for my sister but we were like....uhhhhhh

One character I liked but never followed her books was the TV created Firestar....but there's a lot of redheads in comics lol.


DC ...well more Warner in this regard created very good cartoons with well balanced characters. Though at some point Batman in the animated series became a dick lol. When we were watching one episode with Clayface (my younger sis) there was some point we were trying to figure out why Batman was being such an ass and couldn't help poor Clayface out. It was like the Batman Joker interrogation ...resolved by growls and punching.

w2yv8aT0UFc


When it comes to manga, yes there is a percentage of crap too... I don't want people to get me wrong thinking "precious manga, stupid American comics" It's just that when it was more rare and not as saturated there were a lot of series that drew me in due to the stories. The style was part of it, but I can tire of that easily. I mentioned Parasyte, and that didn't have the best art style, but it did have good story.

Even now I'm more picky about choices due to the saturation, but it was nice that manga had interesting male and female characters.

I think Hellsing is a very strong example of female characters that weren't window dressing. Integra is a beautiful woman, with some interesting ethnic diversity to her, but you didn't get some panty shot of her, or some shot of her naked fanservice cheesecake. She was a very strong woman. Seras is another example. She didn't turn into sexy vampire chick like most shows do. The series is graphic too but it was well done with its treatment of females in that series.

I noticed some of the people trying to defend DC are using a strawman about how Marvel has some sexist stuff going on like Wolverine and Domino on X-Force. Or would it be more of a red herring? The argument isn't just about DC - it's the major problem of a lot of American produced comics. It's not some DC agenda, it's just that DC got the spotlight because 1. they paid for it with advertising and this reboot, 2. the comments at SDCC were heard like a gunshot. Replace DC with Marvel and it's the same problem.

I think Voodoo is something of a double slap since she's supposed to be an ethnic female in her own title and...that's what we're greeted with.

If anything it also seems that some of these writers are trying to recapture the magic of Gen 13. A title both me and my sister read. We did enjoy its silliness and humor, but we also dropped out of it after a while too.

There was another argument that the reboot was to keep the its current roster of viewers. This of course is a bs argument. DC is trying to reign in new people. To say they ONLY want teenage boys or a certain demographic is silly. As the cartoon about Bad at math states, they had a very large audience with animated series. You're saying DC WANTS mediocre numbers? Really? I agree with the 4th wall reviewer, if these are relaunches, I'm left more confused with some of these because they don't seem to be origin stories to draw in new readers? I wish they did do the Wonder Woman origin story first issue. It was a good story if you know Wonder Woman well enough, but it's an okay story if you don't.

As far as the excuse that there are comic versions of the cartoon only works for a few years. The reason being is that you have to remember your audience is getting older, so of course kids will gateway into the main titles.

We always liked cartoons and comics, and such but oddly enough what got us into BUYING comics were the Joe Jusko Marvel Masterpiece cards.

[Psychotime]

I noticed some of the people trying to defend DC are using a strawman about how Marvel has some sexist stuff going on like Wolverine and Domino on X-Force. Or would it be more of a red herring?

It sounds like those people are basically saying DC shouldn't be criticized because other people are also part of the problem as well. What kind of logic is that?

It's amazing how the people who try to defend that tripe will try to pull any kind of half baked fallacy they can instead of just realizing that the comics were offensive and that steps need to be made for the good of everyone, plain and simple.

[Arshes Nei]

It sounds like those people are basically saying DC shouldn't be criticized because other people are also part of the problem as well. What kind of logic is that?

It's amazing how the people who try to defend that tripe will try to pull any kind of half baked fallacy they can instead of just realizing that the comics were offensive and that steps need to be made for the good of everyone, plain and simple.

Definitely. Omission in an article doesn't equal acceptance.

In addition, there are people saying DC doesn't want feedback...but what is going on here? http://blastr.com/2011/09/patton-oswalt-dcs-new-52.php

Looks like DC has Nielsen out there gathering feedback. Survey is also linked in the article. (Forgot to note you will not qualify for the survey unless you tell them in the survey you bought any of the issues listed).

I also had a chance to pick up Batwoman because I was interested in seeing who this character is and came to be. It was a sad disappointment because none of that was addressed - which goes back to the problem is that MOST of these reboots, don't actually reboot or give you good story about the who, what, when, where and why of these characters.

[Psychotime]

Are than any Kodansha releases worth looking at since they're publishing new stuff now instead of just reprints?

I've only bothered with Gon at the moment. I might get Sailor V or something just for the heck of it, though.

What I REALLY want them to do is publish Cyborg 009 (all that's out there are those scarce prints by Tokyopop from around 2005) Yankee-Kun to Megane-chan (it was partially translated into English, but only in CHINA) and Billy Bat (which will most likely happen, seeing how Viz is on a good Urasawa kick which is getting them awards).

And speaking of Viz and Urasawa, I really hope they can publish Happy! soon.

Anyway, with Gon I gotta say I really like the new logo they made for the reprint. It's not like there's anything to translate in the comic, so why not make a spiffy logo?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Obb9J8GwL._SS500_.jpg

It kicks the crap out of the weak one DC made for it.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51a3vcRWZxL._SS500_.jpg

Yes, a few years back DC started translating and publishing Japanese comics under the label CMX, but because most of the properties they released were more on the obscure side, it folded under in about a year.

[OmenSpirits]

I. LOVE. GON!

[Psychotime]

Speaking of "silent" comics, has anyone here ever read The Arrival?

http://www.carlemuseum.org/images/uploads/EricCarleMuseum/shop/9613_MD.jpg

I've heard good things about it. But they're really vague.

[OmenSpirits]

Age of Reptiles.

http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/iss/600w/644/656441/3743181_1.jpg

[OmenSpirits]

I get it.



I think you're referring to the modern Star Sapphire costume from before the relaunch.

http://www.shugashug.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Carol-Ferris-1.jpg

Big change from her original costume, that's for sure.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c6/StarSapphire01.jpg/200px-StarSapphire01.jpg

Now, I don't know much about Green Lantern, especially not the stuff that's happening right now, but the relaunch has started some kind of team book of one of each type of Lantern, and I think cleavage aside, the new costume of the Star Sapphire character showcased in that book is a hell of a step up.

However, it's probably a completely different character than the one above. I don't know what happened, because I haven't read anything Green Lantern related.

What do you think?

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20471_400x600.jpg
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/files/2011/06/Green-Lantern-New-Guardians-1.jpg

I haven't read it so I don't know anything. Linkara recommended it but says it's too obtuse for new readers (Haha). And I haven't heard anything negative...yet.
The most powerful lantern is...THE LUCKY CHARMS ELF!

[Arshes Nei]

Gon is awesome!

I used to read Elfquest back in the day. They weren't necessarily shy about elves doing the nasty. Nor some of the violence, and had that fun fantasy storyline I loved. I kinda stopped reading after the going to the castle and back thing but it was a good read with interesting characters.

One series that seemed to develop interestingly despite the older women going after little boys fetish was Ubel Blatt. It looks like the author is going back to it again. It's kinda like looking at a "Dark Link" in terms of Link from Zelda lol. There's the cheesecake/fanservice but I found a lot of the characters and the story more interesting than just the standard superhero fare. Well I'm also a sucker for high fantasy ( and more than just knights and stuff, I like magical and mythical elements too). I freely admit I'm a Game of Thrones fan too.



Also looking at the panels for Catoman because it does look confusing it's more sky apartment sex than rooftop sex, but still...What if that was Batman doing that to Catwoman, he'd be called a rapist.

Anyways, on another note, this Comics Alliance post on this http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/09/30/superhero-costumes-redesigns-aaron-diaz/

I actually like the Starfire redesign but wish she had her curly hair. I'm tired of artists making hair straight because they're effing lazy. Not a fan of the Ms Marvel or STATUE of Wonder Woman but I am digging the outfit for WW. Dr Strange is pretty decent too.

Superman I'm ok with, it's better than the used basketball they movies seem to be fond of for the Spiderman and Superman reboot

On a manga/anime note been meaning to get into Moribito. It has that strong female vibe like Blood the last Vampire - iirc was the same studio involved (for the anime)?

[Psychotime]

I don't like the Dr. Strange (not that it's bad), but the Ms. Marvel is cool because it's much more interesting than the normal costume. (Ugh, how can both DC and Marvel both have so many characters with Marvel in their name?)

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lolgpvlL551qcbajko1_500.jpg

This is really cool. Not so sure about Robin using a gun, though. But seriously, he needs to pitch that to make an elseworlds one shot or something.




I've never been much for high fantasy. It's almost like my feelings on most science fiction, but in the case of high fantasy too much of it just looks the same to me; generic Tolkien-inspired Dungeons and Dragons setting.

Even though I like it a bit less (at least the more technophilic ones), science fiction has so many different subgenres to choose right from the surface. Fantasy takes a little bit more digging.

I'm a strange nerd.

[Arshes Nei]

I've never been much for high fantasy. It's almost like my feelings on most science fiction, but in the case of high fantasy too much of it just looks the same to me; generic Tolkien-inspired Dungeons and Dragons setting.


I get tired of to Tolkien clones too, but I love it when people can take things and create new worlds. I think Dark Crystal is a good example of what I like.

It's funny, that when I look back a lot of artists and writers I was ok with at the time are over at DC now, but the stuff they're doing is the same reason I'm turned off by it.

[OmenSpirits]

dc = heroes reborn.

same shit they (image wildstorm) did for marvel, and we see how well that took!

[Psychotime]

Oh man, I totally forgot the Craig Thompson's Habibi came out!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512vsg%2BtjJL._SS500_.jpg

Anyone read it?

[Raoul Duke]

Any anthologies you guys can recommend? I like the sample platter of style they can provide and short stories that get right to the point.

[Psychotime]

Off the top of my head there's Flight.

I need to start looking into anthologies, myself.

[FightingSeraph]

I don't usually get to buy comics very often, but have read quite a few of them. Namely the ones that Nintendo Power magazine used to have throughout the late '80s to 1994.(Charlie Nozawa and Benimaru Itoh are overlooked.) Of course, I also like the old Transformers comic by Marvel, All Star Superman, and a few manga. (Go Go Ackman and Angel Sanctuary are two of them I like.)

[Raoul Duke]

Here's a great one by Tomer Hanuka
http://www.thanuka.com/dirties.html

[Kjesta]

Speaking of "silent" comics, has anyone here ever read The Arrival?

http://www.carlemuseum.org/images/uploads/EricCarleMuseum/shop/9613_MD.jpg

I've heard good things about it. But they're really vague.

Oh, I absolutely LOVE "The Arrival"! I bought it when I was in Belgium, which is every comic book fan's utopia :geekg: Whenever I open the book I'm amazed again and again how it reads just like any other book, no words needed, and it makes you want to cry and to laugh because it's just so honest and beautiful. The story is so clear and yet mature, it's very beautiful and I cannot recommend it enough.

A comic I used to read was "W.I.T.C.H." and I loved it a lot, but by season 2 it got bad... Actually, the first six or so issues were pure gold but then Alessandro Barbucci left and Disney took over completely, which really shows in both the art and the plot. It's a pity in my opinion! It made my teen years so much better, I really loved having so many great female characters to admire.

http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/15/1578/SUNDD00Z/poster/witch.jpg

Barbucci also did Sky Doll and Monster Allergy. Sky Doll has been on a long hiatus and still is, but it's a great series that, despite being very generous in terms of T&A, still has great female characters that make me care about them. And Monster Allergy is one of the best things ever, it's funny and creepy and just overall great entertainment, with beautiful art and great characters and plot.

http://www.sceneario.com/Planche_bd_171_SKY%20DOLL.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Q01qNWH7TEU/SBbFH7TaCPI/AAAAAAAAAYg/Po8SBt0HQPE/s400/4.gif

And something that's grabbed my attention right now is "Young Avengers". I've read reviews, checked out the fandom and read the first issue online and I'm really in love with what I know of the characters so far, especially Wiccan and Hulkling. A gay teen couple whose relationship is not the hub of incredible coming-out drama? Perfect. Those cliches get old so fast but these two are just part of the team, like everyone else. Besides, the series hasn't been running for long so it's still possible to catch up. Ordering the Ultimate Collection as I type :)

[velderia]

Off the top of my head there's Flight.

I need to start looking into anthologies, myself.

I was at a Dark Horse panel once and there was this editor that said that anthologies just don't sell well for some reason. I guess it's because people tend to flourish in a single artist/artist group's work. I dunno. When I heard that it was kind of a bummer but then I realized I don't really buy anthologies myself.

So, run, don't walk to anthologies. ;)

[Psychotime]

I wonder if there's a way to fix that?

I've only looked at one, but apparently the big mainstream superhero stuff will occasionally have annual specials that follow one script but have multiple artists do different segments of the story. The only annual special I've ever read (Ultimate Spider-Man) actually had Craig Thompson do a short segment. Yeah, you read that right. Nothing actiony, just Craig doing what he made a name for himself doing: a teenage boy being emo.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/CaptainKRool/UltimateSpider-ManSuperSpecial1-Page29.jpg

Or on the flipside annual issues are just more traditional anthologies. At least I suppose they are. I haven't read any recently.

[Raoul Duke]

The last anthology I read was Creepy #1. I picked it up at the con and when I found one of the artists to sign it, he said it had already sold out. I bet the problem is with retailers. As I understand they bank on proven creators.

My favorite anthology in my possession is Doomed. I like showing it to people that have never read comics before. The stories are based on Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch who wrote for Hitchcock and the Twilight Zone. In my opinion it's Ashley Wood's very best storytelling.

Here's a couple of previews I found for it
Legion of Plotters (http://www.eagleonemedia.com/Preview/IDWDOOM04P.pdf)
Fat Chance (http://www.eagleonemedia.com/Preview/IDWDOOM03P.pdf)

[MidgardSerpent]

I've only looked at one, but apparently the big mainstream superhero stuff will occasionally have annual specials that follow one script but have multiple artists do different segments of the story. The only annual special I've ever read (Ultimate Spider-Man) actually had Craig Thompson do a short segment. Yeah, you read that right. Nothing actiony, just Craig doing what he made a name for himself doing: a teenage boy being emo.
Marvel also released Strange Tales. a collection of stores by indie creators (Dash Shaw, Stan Sakai, Kochalka, the dude who does Perry Bible Fellowship,etc) take on Marvel characters. There's also a second volume out.

And yeah, The Arrival is great. I showed it to someone who's not into comics or illustration at the slightest and she loved it. That's one of the reasons I love Adrian Tomine's stuff because it's the kind of book you could give a non-comic book reader because it's totally relatable to the 20-something college-type person.



The last anthology I read was Creepy #1. I picked it up at the con and when I found one of the artists to sign it, he said it had already sold out. I bet the problem is with retailers. As I understand they bank on proven creators.
You mean the 'new' Creepy anthology? I got 2 issues, Kev Ferrara did some work for them too!




I know people are tired of the X-men franchise ( I know I am), but I can recommend Uncanny X-force. The general tone is gritty with a rogue team consisting of Wolverine, Psylocke, Archangel, Deadpool, and Fantomex, the first arc they take on reborn(?) Apocalypse as a kid. I thought it was just another X-men spin-off by a B-team, but the art's been great and the writing is solid, good pace and characterization. This title was a really nice surprise, glad I gave it a chance, can't wait to get the seconde trade. It's probably the best X-book currently on the stands, although I don't read that many anymore. ;)


I've also read some of Dc's new 52. Enjoying the slight horror take on Animal Man and the Swamp Thing titles so far. I also heard they tie together somehow. Justice League on the other hand was just a generic, phoned-in story with flat characters by Johns, whom I always considered pretty overrated in the first place. Jim Lee is okay, but his work has gotten really stale over the years to me, it's the same ol' same ol' by him, and his work is very one-note, making it shallow, still nice eyecandy if you're not too critical, I suppose. And JL is a good fit with Lee being a straighrforward big action hero comic.

[Psychotime]

I'm almost halfway through Habibi, and uh...

Craig Thompson may be a great artist (and he is), and is truthfully one of the most important names in comics because he's shown people what the medium is capable of. I particularly love how unpretentious and painfully honest the guy appears to be.

But truth be told I find it really hard to stomach the story in this one. I think anyone who's read at least 25 pages can see what I mean. 2 pages in we have the main character, Dodola, start as a child bride, then gets kidnapped and sold into slavery, escapes slavery and saves a baby boy in the process, then years later as an adult she becomes a legendary prostitute (you heard that right, she becomes legendary by word of mouth) to get food for the both of them to survive (and one transaction ends in rape), and from there she is captured by the royal guard and is forced into the sultan's harem, but her sexual prowess gains her super stardom in the palace and the sultan gives her special privileges, much to the ire of the other concubines. There's more than that, but that's the important stuff.

The dialogue is freakin' WIERD, too. I know the setting is this anachronistic amalgam (oh yeah) of Arabian Nights and modern times (which is just jarring in itself), but I NEVER EVER thought I'd see a line like "I don't got much patience for honkeys..." I am not kidding. Page 234. There was enough weird dialogue beforehand, but man. That broke the camel's back. And is the "1,001 cocks" line (which has shown up at least 3 times) supposed to be funny or something? Why do so many characters talk like they're from 2011 when it's something of an Arabian Nights story? It's jarring! And the stuff near the end! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

And what's with the short advisor who keeps farting? What's up with that guy? He even farts when the sultan gives him orders to commit mass murder! What the hell? This is for adults, right?

My whining aside, I really love the way Thompson draws demons/djinn. And he does have some genuinely funny scenes here and there. Just some of the humorous bits come at inappropriate times and look really messed up. All the jokes around Noah's ark are pretty good, though. Scratch that, the stuff with Noah is just awesome.

EDIT: I think the story picked up when it stopped being about child brides, rape, prostitution, and sex slavery, and started focusing on Zam's (the secondary character, the boy Dodola saved and raised, but they got separated) time spent with a group of cross dressing eunuchs and "promotion" to palace servant. The dialogue is still jarring, but at least I'm actually being entertained instead of depressed or repulsed.

Well there was the castration thing, but it was his own idea.

EDIT2: I seriously think the comic gave up near the end. I feel like I just lost my mind or fell asleep reading it. I have no clue what makes sense anymore. Ugh.

EDIT3: Haha, and he chose not to draw Muhammad's face, despite the comic being 25% Quran references.

EDIT4: Ok, I finished the whole thing.

Did I like the whole thing? No. I felt the same about Blankets. Habibi has parts that are endearing, funny, a little heartbreaking, and just plain good. Thompson is a master of his craft, most definitely. But the bulk of the story was either repulsive or just confusing. The only character I felt that had any real depth to them was Zam, and he was a pretty good character at that. But Dodola was pretty much just a lifelong victim of sexual cruelty but had the Scheherazade gene. I couldn't pin down any kind of personality to her. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I failed to see the point of all the Quran references at all. I assume there was one, but I have a hard time seeing how any of them had anything to do with the story. Blankets didn't have this problem, if I remember right. I liked the ending, though.

Does the comic world need Craig Thompson? Of course it does. But saying that and truly liking his work outside of the art are two completely different things.

[Psychotime]

Remember the internet madness over the new biracial Spider-Man? I wonder if it actually sold decently.

EDIT: No numbers, but it's first issue supposedly did well. (http://www.newsarama.com/comics/ULTIMATE-SPIDER-MAN-Digital-Record-110916.html) But then again, those always do.

Two issues have dropped so far, and while issue 1 was really slow and had the new kid act like wallpaper, issue 2 picks things up as we learn more about the new powers this Spider-Man will have as well as his friends and family.

They should rename the comic to Ultimate Spider-Boy, though. The current storyline is naturally a big dump of backstory from BEFORE he makes his own costume and all that, but the kid is like 11 when he gets his powers.

And those new powers so far (besides the agility and wall crawling) are invisibility (stronger than the Invisible Woman's invisibility) and some kind of knockout venom he can secrete from his hands.


I still don't know what to think of Action Comics. I wonder how long Morrison's run is gonna be.

[wiggum]

Any anthologies you guys can recommend? I like the sample platter of style they can provide and short stories that get right to the point.

I know its been mentioned, but Doomed! is a fantastic black and white book.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bwJaSQiUhIo/TBG98rYvR3I/AAAAAAAAAVc/-O9DF0BihDU/s1600/completely+doomed.jpg


The new Creepy Comics are getting steadily better and better, I especially liked a recent story about an insane demon hunting clown. You could also spend some money and get some of the high quality reprints of the original Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella magazines that Dark Horse and Dynamite have been putting out. (These are especially cool because you can check out some stuff from some of the "old" masters like Frazetta and Neil Adams)
http://cdn101.iofferphoto.com/img/item/896/195/61/creepy-eerie-magazine-full-run-warren-comics-on-dvd-fb26a.jpg


You could also try out the Sandman Endless Nights book, has some great artwork and storytelling.

If you are not interested in straight horror should try out Batman: Black and White. The first volume is probably the best, with art from Simon Bisley, Richard Corben and Kevin Nowlan (I'm not normally a fan of Nowlan, but his story in this anthology is excellent).
http://talesofwonder.com/images/JUN020399.jpg

You can also try out some Hellboy. Because of the weird way that hellboy has been published over the years, some of the early trades have more of an anthology feel. You can try out Chained Coffin and Others, The Right Hand of Doom and The Troll Witch and Others. All of these collections are great and Troll witch even features a stories illustrated by Richard Corben and P. Craig Russell.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5gznc9_9DxE/S7u-7FpciXI/AAAAAAAAHIs/-SzBnkr6268/s1600/The+Art+Of+Hellboy(2006)(SnipeIt-DCP)045.jpg

Speaking of Hellboy...Does anyone else here read his titles regularly? If not, please try it out, you'll thank me.

[Psychotime]

I haven't read Hellboy in a long long time, but I need to start BPRD before I go back.

Last thing I remember is some stuff with mermaids or something like that? Hellboy had already quit the Bureau and was on his own.

[Raoul Duke]

Bruce Timm has to be the classiest story teller DC has ever come across.
TrQArvMrHxs
Oh yeah Paul Dinni and Alex Ross are an awesome pair.
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[N D Hill]

You can also try out some Hellboy. Because of the weird way that hellboy has been published over the years, some of the early trades have more of an anthology feel. You can try out Chained Coffin and Others, The Right Hand of Doom and The Troll Witch and Others. All of these collections are great and Troll witch even features a stories illustrated by Richard Corben and P. Craig Russell.

Speaking of Hellboy...Does anyone else here read his titles regularly? If not, please try it out, you'll thank me.

I'm a huge Hellboy fan and I've been following all of the Hellboy books with the exception of weird tales. And yes; Richard Corben's contributions have been amazing. BPRD is just as fun, quirky and creepy. It started off feeling like spin-off titles typically do but it came into its own very quickly. Guy Davis's art and John Arcudi's writing has done a lot to define it as a rich and fully realized title. The characters are rich and multi-demonsional and have great, believable interplay between each other. Especially considering that they are a fishman, a poltergeist, a pyro-kinetic girl, a homunculus and a zombie, etc.

http://www.majorspoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/BPRDHOE4.jpeg

[FightingSeraph]

Raoul: I have to agree with you on Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alex Ross.

By the way, I don't know if you guys would like this, but:
http://www.i-mockery.com/comics
I Thought that this was worth mentioning before this thread went under.

[Arshes Nei]

On a business note, looks like there's an odd spat over Amazon's exclusive Kindle release of DC comics http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/07/technology/kindle_dc_comics/index.htm?section=money_technology

[Psychotime]

Wow, that sounds really petty.

Doesn't really affect me because more often than not I buy trades off of Amazon over Barnes and Noble anyway. I don't even like digital books unless I have no other choice.

The only comics I can say I buy out of Barnes and Noble are the Japanese ones because I can get the best price there thanks to signing up for their yearly membership thing that shaves 10% off any purchase. They have the occasional 20% off coupon that adds to the 10, but those get used on anything but comics. More often than not it's still cheaper to get it on Amazon.

68HANPTuuUA

[Arshes Nei]

Comics have the advantage to ...well take advantage of digital medium. Zooming in on panels, an animation or sound effect can make it fun if done right.

[Arshes Nei]

Bumping, may be a tired subject for some...

I actually like this article because it has a roundtable of people remarking on comics (mostly Superhero ones) but it can go for a lot of artists too.

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/13/female-characters-superhero-comics/

I really like Kurt Busiek's response because that's what hit the nail on the head. The Sameness.

Also Men-Ups has totally made my day.

[TinyBird]

I know this is supposed to be more for current comics, but because "current" as a word associated with comics is pretty much a joke here (there are no weekly comics here, stuff like Spider-Man gets a monthly magazine which collects all the weekly American mags) hope you don't mind if I indulge in more general comic buggery? I mean this was published this year at least, that's as current as I can get.

Because Marvel, what the hell were they thinking when they re-released Vampire Tales... in A5 format?!
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I mean I'm happy that they did re-release them so that I don't have to.. uh.. "read them from the internet" if you know what I mean or buy all the single magazines that were printed in 70's and cost ridiculously in postage but man, why didn't they stick to the Essential Marvel size but squeezed all that text and gorgeous ink to a size of a malnourished puppy?

But in any case, if you like short vampire stories, interminable angsting of the Spider-Man villain Morbius and some really great ink work, I suggest to check these out, even in the teeny size.

[Psychotime]

I know this is supposed to be more for current comics,

Don't worry, it isn't.

Anyone out there able to recommend some stuff by Jill Thompson? Scary Godmother and Beasts of Burden have been on my list for a while. Her watercolors are amazing.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jMmH2sKzDHs/SaRdeRvrErI/AAAAAAAAA8w/dj2oZ3jaVAo/s1600/beasts1p10+copy.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jMmH2sKzDHs/SPP1Rjcae3I/AAAAAAAAAnw/AsIQuDgU0ag/s1600/jimmy+decoy+plus.jpg

[TinyBird]

I haven't read much of Jill Thompson outside Beasts of Burden (which is excellent) and Dead Boy Detectives (which... um.. yeah, not very fond of the "pseudomanga" in that) but I may suggest you to search down the the short stories she did for Hellboy: Weird Tales and Grendel:Black, White and Red/Red, White and Black. They were pretty neat.

[wiggum]

OMG!!! I forgot to mention The Amazing Screw on Head!!!
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhcufbwxGN1qd5kb1o1_400.jpg

This book collects 4 or 5 stories written and drawn by Mike Mignola. It is quintessential Mignola. It represents him in the same way the Sin City books represent Frank Miller.

It has some of the strangest stories I've ever read, The Prisoner of Mars is a particular favorite. If you happen to run across this collection it is worth a purchase.


As far as Jill Thompson goes...I've only seen the stuff she did in Neil Giaman's Sandman. And to be perfectly honest I thought it was pretty weak. That probably isn't representative, but it's not the best place to see her work.

[Joncameronli]

Did anyone here check out Morning Glories? Really well written thriller/mystery. Always holding you by the nose and never revealing enough.

American Vampire, too is a fantastic comic by Scott Snyder that plays with everything you expect a vampire to be but nothing like what they're portrayed in pop culture.

[Vermis]

why didn't they stick to the Essential Marvel size but squeezed all that text and gorgeous ink to a size of a malnourished puppy?

Reminds me of the Black Library, Games Workshop's publishing arm. Their Warhammer Monthly comic didn't feature too many great stories and artists, but they did have some examples like Darkblade, Titan, Daemonifuge, etc. Then when they published the TPB collections, they thought it'd be a good idea to print them in a shrivelled, pocket-size manga format.

[Psychotime]

The Japanese stuff gets shrunk a good bit as well when they go to trade paperback.

EDIT:For some reason I can't Google a good example. I'll take a picture or something.

[Turaziel]

Good thing Barbucci and Skydoll are mentioned in this thread. :)

Anyway, I loved getting into a comics with a rich background. seeing at least a page referencing towards an earlier issue or different series does make it look like the comic it self is but a small piece of a larger story.

I started reading Spider-man comics for about a year or 2 but got out of it after "A brand new day". The entire story seemed a like a cheap way to restore the status quo so we can go back to the Monthly chasing of the green goblin who kidnapped aunt May.

Right now I'm catching up on tons of Batman lore. (I've never watched the cartoons or the comics)

[OmenSpirits]

Wow, that sounds really petty.

Doesn't really affect me because more often than not I buy trades off of Amazon over Barnes and Noble anyway. I don't even like digital books unless I have no other choice.

The only comics I can say I buy out of Barnes and Noble are the Japanese ones because I can get the best price there thanks to signing up for their yearly membership thing that shaves 10% off any purchase. They have the occasional 20% off coupon that adds to the 10, but those get used on anything but comics. More often than not it's still cheaper to get it on Amazon.

68HANPTuuUA
That was the shortest KR series to date.

But I still want it (completist in me). :D

[Psychotime]

It's probably my favorite KR of the Showa era, just because of how strange it is compared to all the others I've seen. Lacking of a better word, it's trippy. I wish I could find the Henshin sequence on youtube, it just sets the tone. Plus it's unusually violent for a kids show, let alone a Rider series. That was the reason it got canceled, if I read correctly.

Has anyone here read Jen Wang's Koko Be Good? It's been siting on my shelf since the beginning of summer. I do know it got pretty popular on the other forum I go to, though. How odd is it that I'm most likely the one that showed it to them in the first place?

[Raoul Duke]

I wonder if the feature length Goon movie is ever coming out. I'm guessing it got canned. If you look it up on IMDB, it never happened.
EaLCSs1HVY0

[bhanu]

Looking at Al Columbia's Pim and Francie
Work of a genius cartoonist
http://lambiek.net/artists/c/columbia_al/columbia_pimfrancie.jpg
http://voidmanufacturing.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/toyland-sm.jpg
http://thedailycrosshatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/alcolumbiapimfrancietree.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t58vIG5017M/Tm2sefzWFzI/AAAAAAAABuQ/xty_UOobBYM/s1600/pimandfrancie.jpg



Raoul- Really??????
Damn I was so looking forward to it. :/

[Tim Murphy]

Just finished the first volume of Skullkickers.

If you enjoy some humorous fantasy violence, or if you play/enjoy D&D or other D20 type games, I'd definitely check it out. It's not deep or anything if that's what you're looking for, but it's not really supposed to be.

[Psychotime]

Anyone here ever read stuff by Jim Woodring? Anyone who claims that their biggest inspiration is BIMBO'S INITIATION is definitely someone I should give a look.

[bhanu]

Jim Woodring's the boss.

And heres Michael Deforge
His aesthetics might be in the same area as Woodring..
Anyways... heres some stuff

http://whatthingsdo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/wtdff1.jpg

http://whatthingsdo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/wtddogs.gif

[TinyBird]

Decided to ask, has anyone read The Heckler comics? Though bit hard to find (at least the name is unique enough to not get lost, unlike ugh... the "Warlock" comics...), I'm planning on buying some of these since they look pretty interesting (and it's not hard to see that the same guy created Ambush Bug).
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[Psychotime]

The 80's had some weird but interesting stuff, didn't it?


Action Comics #3 is a nice step up from the last issue, which felt a bit like a speedbump. My only complaint is I think the artist made Jimmy Olsen look too old. I liked the way R.B. Silva drew him better in that one shot from last year.

Ultimate Spider-Man #4 has gotten the origin stuff over with now and is starting the story right after Miles first made his debut fighting that Kangaroo dude or whatever his name was.

I really need to finish the Peter Parker story before I continue with Miles. I was only about halfway through and kinda dropped it when the new one came around. It's enjoyable.

When I was picking those up I noticed that Marvel is making the Defenders reassemble (or redefend, or whatever their catch phrase is) once again. They're doing some really lame thing with the Hulk.

See that purple thing in the background? That's his new form, Nul, some kind of demon or something that possesses his body and he's going to Dr. Strange for help because he's frightened of what the monster inside him is capable of. Yes, very creative.

Dr. Strange has a terrible new costume, too.

http://i.annihil.us/u/prod/marvel/i/mg/7/70/4e78b3d696a87/detail.jpg

For a team up book, they lack variety in colors, and that's criminal for a team up book. These characters are only a team under special circumstances, they aren't the X-Men or the Fantastic Four, so there's no reason their costumes should blend together so much. And it's an easy fix! Give Dr. Strange his classic flamboyant costume that he should always have, and put Namor back in his speedo, or at least change the color of the vest. Only one character should be wearing a black costume. Two is too much, and three shouldn't be tolerated.

Also, I know I'm REALLY late to be asking, what was the point of making a Red Hulk and Red She-Hulk? Granted I don't know anything about the characters or their origin stories or whatever, but look at them! They're recolors! They didn't even want to try and give them good names!

And how dare they split up Iron Fist and Luke Cage! Ok, now I'm just being a baby. I've never even read an Iron Fist or Luke Cage story (but I plan on it).

[OmenSpirits]

Stick with 2003 and back for Marvel, IMO.

[Vermis]

They're doing some really lame thing with the Hulk.

See that purple thing in the background? That's his new form, Nul, some kind of demon or something that possesses his body and he's going to Dr. Strange for help because he's frightened of what the monster inside him is capable of. Yes, very creative.

Er...? Sounds like you've been out of the loop.

The latest big (and fairly disappointing) Marvel crossover event was Fear Itself. Odin's long-lost and evil brother, the Serpent, who feeds on humanity's fear, is freed from millenia of imprisonment. To make the world properly stain it's pants, he summons seven hammers (a bit like Thor's) which cause seven heroes and villains to be possessed by his servants, the Worthy. The Hulk was possessed by Nul, and looked like this...

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/5/58550/1769522-the_worthy___hulk_super.jpg

... not purple and tusky.
Now the event's over and the Serpent's defeated, the seven aren't possessed anymore. But apparently Nul's still running around somewhere in a physical form and the Hulk needs help from Strange's magic powers to take him down.
If you want to talk about terrible things they're doing with the Hulk, look at his own rebooted title.

Also, the Red Hulk caused a bit of ill-feeling when Jeph Loeb threw him at the Marvel U and made all kinds of crazy things happen as only Jeph Loeb can. But now most Marvel nerds (that I've seen) agree that current writer Jeff Parker's turned the title into one of Marvel's best at the mo. Some of us even prefer Red Hulk to the original, right now...

But you might've known some of this if you'd bothered finding out about the characters or their origin stories or whatever. :) Recolours are nothing new or inherently bad, either. Look at Joe Fixit. Look at Miles Morales, even. DC has several full corps of them too, IIRC.

[Psychotime]

Er...? Sounds like you've been out of the loop.

I should mention the last up to date (main line) Marvel related thing I've ever read was the Spider-Man arc that makes Eddie Brock anti-venom. Story's ok, but John Romita Jr and Klaus Janson are a great combo.

Anyway, I came to this odd conclusion from skimming the free preview pamphlet Marvel put out to promote the series that's mostly just the creators talking about what they have planned for the return. I should read it again, I guess.

Also, the Red Hulk caused a bit of ill-feeling when Jeph Loeb threw him at the Marvel U and made all kinds of crazy things happen as only Jeph Loeb can. But now most Marvel nerds (that I've seen) agree that current writer Jeff Parker's turned the title into one of Marvel's best at the mo. Some of us even prefer Red Hulk to the original, right now...

But you might've known some of this if you'd bothered finding out about the characters or their origin stories or whatever. :)

The mention of Jeph Leob already makes me wary. But it seems She-Rulk was Banner's ex-wife/girlfriend and Rulk is her father, who if memory serves was basically Hulks main antagonist for decades. The latter's actually an interesting idea.

"Some day I'm gonna kill that filthy anim-WOAH, so this is what it's like!"

Recolours
Look at Miles Morales.

Lol, nice.

DC has several full corps of them too, IIRC.

I haven't read any of the stories, but each corp has a different power source and different characters. The idea itself is very intriguing, and I'm surprised that it's a recent development. It seems like something that should have been made decades ago. I can get where you'd call them recolours though.

[TinyBird]

Also, I must really tout Olivier Schrauwen's "Mon Fiston" (translated in finnish as "Poika Kulta", that meaning "Dear Boy"). If you enjoy really old fashioned looking comics (as in Winsor McCay old-fashioned), this one is for you:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/eurocomics/6646/

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[Psychotime]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-11-30/top-selling-manga-in-japan-by-series/2011

Sometimes I wonder how rich Oda has to be with the kind of sales his comic constantly makes. It's so weird how One Piece is nowhere near as popular outside of Japan. Er, it's pretty obvious just from looking at it why animu fans wouldn't wanna look at it, but still; the highest selling IP in Japan is only really popular in Japan. I mean, look at this!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-11-30/top-selling-manga-in-japan-by-volume/2011

HAHAHAHA!

I'm surprised Blue Exorcist is in 3rd. It's really that popular? I remember hearing it's doing decent in the states, too.

FMA is only in 21st place? You disappoint me, Japan.

Does anyone know what the usual sales for popular comic books in Europe are?

The sad fact is that in the US, comics are lucky when they manage to sell 100,000 copies.

[TinyBird]

Does anyone know what the usual sales for popular comic books in Europe are?

That might be pretty hard to say, as different European countries have different in-country comics (for example, France has a huge comic industry, but very little of the comics actually get outside [as in translated to other places] the country) and most of them probably aren't series.
Also depends on whether you count the comics that are subscribed to or just the ones that are sold. Like in here (Finland), the Donald Duck has average of one million readers per week (being the most popular comic here, even more so if you count the Donald Duck-spinoffs, like one of the Donald pocket books was the most sold comic of 2006, with 92 700 buyers), meaning that people who buy the comic are at least in hundreds of thousands (depending on how that was counted, like whether they counted just the household that bought the comic or all the kids/parents in that household that also read the comic). Compared to US that's not that much, but considering Finland has about six million people...

Another top-sellers would most likely be the monthly Marvel magazines (since I guess they collect all the weekly ones from America and publish them as a single issue) and different newspaper comic collections that appeal to non-comic readers too.

Anyway... Speaking of Marvel comics, I might give another recommendation of Pretty Obscure Comics, though this one is less obscure that the Heckler...
The Awesome Slapstick. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheAwesomeSlapstick http://blackmarketpies.blogspot.com/search/label/Slapstick
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It's not the best or funniest comic I've read (though definitely not the worst either), but it has only four issues that you can find pretty easily, and to me, seriously this three panel snippet alone was worth of buying the comics:
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[Psychotime]

I've heard of Slapstick but never read it yet. I probably should soon.

The grim and gritty time period he appeared needed a character like him.

monthly Marvel magazines (since I guess they collect all the weekly ones from America and publish them as a single issue)

That sounds like the anthology thing I was thinking about near the beginning of the thread.

[TinyBird]

The grim and gritty time period he appeared needed a character like him.
But alas, even Slapstick couldn't escape the Civil War which pretty much made him out of character and violent.

That sounds like the anthology thing I was thinking about near the beginning of the thread.
Well, not exactly like the Japanese anthology types, but close. In here some selected comics (mainly Spider-Man and X-Men these days) get their own magazines that collect mainly the specific comics, but do add other comics if it's required for the storyline, like I just recently noticed the latest X-Men mag on the shelf, that was collected from both X-Men Legacy and X-Force comics (and I would guess previous issues had stuff from New Mutants too) to keep the storyline straight. However this means that either stuff gets left out or it's ridiculously late. Like the issue of X-Force (#26) was apparently published in April 2010 in US, and has already been collected as a trade (which I own) and now, November 2011 it gets here.
It is much simpler though, than trying to hop between several series.

And for those interested, here's visuals:
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Both magazines are around 50-60 pages long, zero ads in the middle (something that I was shocked to see when I first started collecting American comic magazines, how many full-page ads can you put into one issue?!). However, the Spider-Man comic does miss couple pages, for reason I'm not sure of (possibly page constraints, as the missing pages were basically fluff that had less to do with the plot and that issue was kinda extra thick already).

Also since I just managed to get this to my grubby little hands today...
1376789
If you're ANY sort of Steve Ditko or Creeper fan, I can really recommend this book. It's kinda pricey, but it's hardcover and the book is nicely large, the print quality is good, and even the colouring is so close to the original that I almost couldn't even say whether it was digital or really good re-print, so it avoids the "painfully obvious digital colours that don't fit the original or look garish" like in some other collections.

Also some of the storytelling is just so neat.
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[Arshes Nei]

You know I was wondering if the DC 52 sales are still going strong or did it drop off a lot from hype?

[MellowPsycho]

Well they suckered me in. I went from reading zero DC series to 5.

Dectective comics, animal man, swamp thing, frankenstein and omac. I'll probably give up on omac though, I like the retro scifi art but it's pretty boring storywise.

[Psychotime]

Huh. Gene Yang says that Azzarello's Wonder Woman reboot is his favorite of the New 52. (http://geneyang.com/nuff-said-reviews-wonder-woman-2)

You know I was wondering if the DC 52 sales are still going strong or did it drop off a lot from hype?

No idea. Last time I heard anything, which was a month or two ago, they were still doing respectably. I'm still certain the hype will die soon and it'll be back to normal numbers, if it hasn't already.

[Blackthorne]

Speaking of Ditko, I have this in my cart at amazon and I'll probably pre-order it http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1606994980/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER Sounds about right up my alley.

I've been on a book and comic buying spree lately, mostly older stuff. Getting a lot of trades of series that I missed out on or only have a few issues. Like Swamp Thing, which is just awesome. I've also been enjoying the Wrath of the Spectre mini series.

[Psychotime]

Aha! Finally Derek Kirk Kim's "Same Difference" is back in print!

http://www.amazon.com/Same-Difference-Derek-Kirk-Kim/dp/1596436573/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323269832&sr=1-1

[Psychotime]

Only somewhat comics related. Marvel has announced a new line of prose novels starting with a Civil War adaptation. (http://www.comicvine.com/news/marvel-announces-new-line-of-prose-novels-beginning-with-civil-war/144024/)

Releasing our most acclaimed graphic novels as prose fiction not only allows us to reach a different audience with these stories,

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/CaptainKRool/Reactions/pshaw.jpg

People who aren't interested in superheroes aren't gonna be bought from changing the packaging.

Speaking of Fullmetal, the final volume came out this week in English.

[Psychotime]

Bandai Entertainment to Stop Releasing New DVDs, BDs, Manga (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-01-02/bandai-entertainment-to-stop-releasing-new-dvds-bds-manga)

Huh.

[FightingSeraph]

I want to know what people here think of the following:
Fist of the North Star
Kaori Yuki (Even though I already made a thread about her years ago.)
Comic parodies
Riki-Oh
Draxhall Jump
Cooljaw: Dreaming Darkly & The Sugar Claws by Celx Requin
Lazy Mode Comics by Jake Hollander

[Psychotime]

I only know about North Star and Riki Oh. Neither are really my kind of stuff, but on the plus side, North Star is classic Jump and the live action movie of Riki Oh starring Fan Siu-wong is pretty hilarious.

Is Kaori Yuki worth checking out? I'm desperately trying to find a shojo comic to cling onto* but so far all I can say I like is Pet Shop of Horrors.

*I try everything, and shojo is the demographic that's hardest to get into. Sure, that's to be expected, but I'm confident there's something really cool that I just haven't discovered yet. I already like a handful of Josei stuff, it's just Shojo that's the difficult one.

I've read from a book on Tezuka that modern shojo is supposedly the most narrow demographic out of all of them, which makes it the polar opposite to shonen, which (despite it's name) generally draws in readers and creators of all ages and sexes.

[ShroudStar]

I've read from a book on Tezuka that modern shojo is supposedly the most narrow demographic out of all of them, which makes it the polar opposite to shonen, which (despite it's name) generally draws in readers and creators of all ages and sexes.

Yeah, shoujo in of itself is a hard market to bust into. In Japan now, many shoujo magazines are going bankrupt, forcing many shoujo manga artists to scurry over into the shonen market. CLAMP is only one of many but one of the most well-known industry names to do that. I don't know if it's a change in interests in general or the shift in the overall demographic but shoujo just doesn't sell much anymore. I also blame lack of variety in shoujo, as you can only read so many romances and sparkle pages with shiny eyes and girly-looking guys and Mary Sues before you shut out most of the genre. This is why as a manga reader, I only stick to josei (older women) and seinen (older males) manga now. There's not only a wider range of variety in storytelling but a much broader sweep of different art styles as well.

There is one manga artist I've only recently started following and that's Fumi Yoshinaga (Antique Bakery, Ooku - the one series I'm reading). Antique Bakery didn't interest me much (I like some boys' love but not all) but the gender role reversal in Ooku set during the Tokugawa era was amazing. Reads like a social commentary.

[Kjesta]

CLAMP is only one of many but one of the most well-known industry names to do that.

CLAMP has always been kind of ambiguous though... Very shoujo in visual style but they've always loved their gore, looking at older works like RG Veda and X/1999. TRC and xxxHolic are very ambiguous in terms of genre too, which I like. (I also like them best visually out of all of CLAMP's works.) Gohou Drug is more straight-forward shounen-ai than shoujo too... But they started out as yaoi fanartists, so it's only natural they like their gays and lesbians. Chobits was very much on the fanservice-y side as well, although the ending contradicted that message... Ah CLAMP, you're a bunch of twisted minds. (Just look at the plot of TRC and try not to agree with me. I dare you.)

Of the comics listed I've only read "Count Cain/God Child" by Kaori Yuki and I loved it. It's not my usual type of manga but the art is gorgeous and the stories are very, very dark. The ending is interesting too. It can get kind of confusing at times, though, keeping track of the story, but I love it anyway.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I'll have to pick up Yakitatte!! Japan again. It's like a sports manga, all crazy competitions and reaching your dreams etc... but with bakery. Chasing after the creation of a perfect bread. Oh yeah.

[Psychotime]

The ultimate quest to create Ja-Pan. Yeah, I remember that one. Never really got into it, though. Sunday, Sunday.

[ShroudStar]

CLAMP has always been kind of ambiguous though... Very shoujo in visual style but they've always loved their gore, looking at older works like RG Veda and X/1999. TRC and xxxHolic are very ambiguous in terms of genre too, which I like. (I also like them best visually out of all of CLAMP's works.) Gohou Drug is more straight-forward shounen-ai than shoujo too... But they started out as yaoi fanartists, so it's only natural they like their gays and lesbians. Chobits was very much on the fanservice-y side as well, although the ending contradicted that message... Ah CLAMP, you're a bunch of twisted minds. (Just look at the plot of TRC and try not to agree with me. I dare you.)

Of the comics listed I've only read "Count Cain/God Child" by Kaori Yuki and I loved it. It's not my usual type of manga but the art is gorgeous and the stories are very, very dark. The ending is interesting too. It can get kind of confusing at times, though, keeping track of the story, but I love it anyway.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I'll have to pick up Yakitatte!! Japan again. It's like a sports manga, all crazy competitions and reaching your dreams etc... but with bakery. Chasing after the creation of a perfect bread. Oh yeah.

Yeah, CLAMP is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to their style + marketing. They did do a ton of gore (holy crap, X/1999 was flowing with it whatnot with the women exploding giving birth to swords, crucifixion, some really creepy bloodplay fetish between the protag and antag males *shudders*, and the general fighting amongst the two factions) and yet, their early stuff was marketed in shoujo magazines. I believe in Japan, your comic is tagged by which magazine it came out in. So if a shonen magazine picked up X/1999 instead, it'll be classified as shonen instead of shoujo.

Weird.

I also saw way early in the thread that Arshes mentioned Ice Blade/Jiraishin. I loved that manga, and later read it online since they stopped localizing it way back (for shame!). The main male lead was hard-edged, cold, calculating, but also very human as the story goes on and the art style was to die for, especially when the artist improved as the story wrapped to a close. It's also funny, because the artist for that manga was Tsutomu Takahashi, whose assistant for Ice Blade was Tsutomu Nihei, who's now well-known for his own manga series BLAME! (which I love so much for being so different).

[Psychotime]

I believe in Japan, your comic is tagged by which magazine it came out in. So if a shonen magazine picked up X/1999 instead, it'll be classified as shonen instead of shoujo.

Of course! I don't understand the problem. That's truly how you define these demographics.

[ShroudStar]

Of course! I don't understand the problem. That's truly how you define these demographics.

It's just interesting to think of a shoujo-esque story ending up in a shonen demographic. Of course, there are no boundaries when it comes to who's interested in what but with Japan's system, it can just as easily make something like 'Yukikaze' (a fighter jet novel turned into a manga into a five-episode OVA) shoujo based off the artwork for the characters alone. And for groups like CLAMP who straddle the line, it gets even more 'What?' if you try to pigeonhole them by style or storytelling alone.

It just gets my head into tangled knots. XD They have so many categories that it seems endless.

[Psychotime]

Black Butler is published in Shonen Gan Gan but from what I've seen of it (one chapter and a few random episodes of the cartoon), everything about it feels extremely shojo, especially it's setting and title character.

[ShroudStar]

Black Butler is published in Shonen Gan Gan but from what I've seen of it (one chapter and a few random episodes of the cartoon), everything about it feels extremely shojo, especially it's setting and title character.

That is interesting. Black Butler to me feels extremely shoujo (art style-wise, too) and it's earned the nickname Gay Butler for many people (it seems to be very popular with the yaoi fangirls). That's actually a great example of what I was mentioning in the previous post. If anything, I'd throw that into the shoujo category (or the BL category), not the shonen one.

[Psychotime]

The only thing about it that seems "shonen" about Black Butler would be the fighting, but ALL the demographics have that in some shape or form...

[Psychotime]

It's been over 20 years, but DC is about to make Watchmen prequels. (http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/02/01/watchmen-prequels-exclusive-details/) Of course Moore has nothing to do with it.

My initial reaction is NO, but it could be ok, I guess. They don't seem to be trying to drop the ball by putting anyone stupid on it. At least I don't think so.

So far the people set up are Amanda Conner, Darwyn Cooke, Brian Azzraello, Lee Bermejo*, J.G. Jones*, Adam Hughes, Andy and Joe Kubert, Len Wein*, and Jae Lee*.

* I have no idea who that is.

I think something like this needs a thread. This is Watchmen we're talking about, after all.

[TinyBird]

Welp, only couple more days until we get the first part of Groo vs Conan: http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/15-632/Groo-vs-Conan-1
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/tumblr_lzaeokT1YP1qkrdte.jpg
I have to say I'm really interested on how they manage to do this, crossovers overall tend to be very prone to failure if they start to unfavour/overfavour too much either participant (like with Tarzan vs Predator, where Tarzan just kills dozens of Predators with his tiny knife).

[Elwell]

Len Wein*

* I have no idea who that is.


Really? REALLY?!
:nohope:

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

[Psychotime]

Conan? Wearing CLOTHES?! What madness is this?

Really? REALLY?!
:nohope:

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

Huh. Ok then. I said months back that I never bothered with X-Men comics...

Oh, Watchmen's editor (I don't pay attention to editors)? I guess he definitely has some room to participate in those prequels then.

[TinyBird]

Huh. Ok then. I said months back that I never bothered with X-Men comics...
Come on man, surely you have read the original Swamp Thing comics at least?!

[Psychotime]

Not yet. The Alan Moore run is on my list, though.

[Star Eater]

One of the greatest comic covers of all time.

http://i43.tinypic.com/nc9c5.jpg

[TinyBird]

Well, I've been wanting to do a comic about this for a long time and for this thread it seemed just fine...
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So yeah, for some weird reason Warlock from New Mutants http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlock_%28New_Mutants%29 was translated as "Sotakone", which means "Warmachine" in English. Also the actual War Machine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Machine is translated as "Sotakone". I don't know if James/War Machine is know as Sotakone or War Machine in the current translated comics (they sometimes don't seem to know whether translate or stick with some name translation) but if he is, then we have two Sotakone named characters in the same Marvel universe, and both series do interact with each other.

Warlock's translated name does kinda fit better but he also could be known just as "Warlock" in Finnish too, and both characters are old so I don't know what sort of flub happened here but man, this sort of thing really shouldn't happen with translated things. I guess it's best to hope that nobody puts the New Mutants and Iron Man posse in the same comic or it's going to be really weird.

[ronin356]

Welp, only couple more days until we get the first part of Groo vs Conan: http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/15-632/Groo-vs-Conan-1
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/tumblr_lzaeokT1YP1qkrdte.jpg
I have to say I'm really interested on how they manage to do this, crossovers overall tend to be very prone to failure if they start to unfavour/overfavour too much either participant (like with Tarzan vs Predator, where Tarzan just kills dozens of Predators with his tiny knife).

What? When did this happen??

[TinyBird]

What? When did this happen??

Well, if you click on the link in that post, you'll see it's going to happen in the 18th of April. But it was announced officially about... year ago?

[Star Eater]

Reading The Maxx right now. Only good thing to come out of Image IMO. It's actually too good for them. Makes me want to make my own comic.

Also, on the opposite end of the spectrum, reading some Youngbloods, just to laugh at its writing and art. Its incredible how bad it is.

[TinyBird]

Only good thing to come out of Image IMO.

Well, depends on what you consider "coming out of Image"... Like if you only consider the series created in Image during the infamous Image time (the 90's) maybe then, but if you consider the series created on the individual studios and the stuff they have also published (but not necessarily created), then the list might get bit longer, after all they also have published, for example, Astro City, Groo, Bone, Invincible, Flaming Carrot Comics as well as other short comics (one of my favorites being "Vampire's Christmas" if for nothing else for the art) and Wildstorm has quite a few good titles (even though most of my favorites were done under DC). (And well, Battle Pope and Bomb Queen...)

[Star Eater]

Forgive me, yeah I mean the Image time.

Holy shit, Youngblood, I can't even begin to list the unintentional hilarity in this stuff. It's addictive.

[Star Eater]

Am I committing some kind of terrible comic crime by admitting I don't like Niel Gaiman at all? I just cannot get into any of his work and it's not for lack of trying on my part. My wife is a fan of his and I admit I liked the movie Stardust, but I found Mirrormask unwatchable.

I kept hearing how great Sandman was, my wife has a whole bunch of the comics and a trade paperback or two, I can't even make it through one issue without getting bored. Maybe I'm just thick? It's not like I'm a tights and capes addict either. I'm a fan of the brit comics, specifically 2000AD, which had plenty of esoteric 'out there' stuff in it. (Journal of Luke Kirby, Indigo Prime...etc)

But on the subject of 2000AD, I wish I could find a website for Kevin Walker. Have I totally missed it? He's such a great artist in my opinion, but has such little exposure considering the amount of work he's done.

[Elwell]

But on the subject of 2000AD, I wish I could find a website for Kevin Walker. Have I totally missed it? He's such a great artist in my opinion, but has such little exposure considering the amount of work he's done.
Kev has quite a bit of (mostly non-comics) work up on his Facebook page, but no, I don't think he has a site.
As for Neil Gaiman, a lot of people couldn't get into Mirrormask. Did you start on Sandman from the beginning, or try to jump in midstream?

[Flake]

2000AD had so much good stuff.

Considering the current Hollywood obsession with comic movies I'm surprised some of the 35 years of 2000AD back catalogue hasn't been snapped up. (No, the Stallone "Judge Dredd" movie doesn't count.)

I'd love to see Durham Red (hey, vampires are cool now), Rogue Trooper or (especially) Glimmer Rats..

Anyway, comics thread, here's the new Avengers trailer. You'll grumble about Joss Whedon, you'll hate Caps costume but you'll go to see it anyway.
tY9DnBNJFTI

[Star Eater]

@Elwell You guessed it right. I have not started Sandman from the beginning. Would that make a difference? I'll be the first to admit my ignorance on the series. Gaiman's obviously very gifted but I'm just not sure he's right for my taste. I also tried reading a once off of his, The Childrens Crusade. I had the same problem. But I'm open to any suggestions. I'm glad that I was not the only one that had a hard time with Mirrormask.

I'll look for that Facebook page. Would just love to know more about Kevins techniques and influences.

@Flake Buddy! The new Dredd film is out this year, in September. :) Simply titled 'Dredd'. Here is the wiki article

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

Dredd is being played by Karl Urban. (Eomer, Bones from Star Trek) principle shooting was done here in Cape Town. A buddy of mine was on the security team and for what its worth he told me that Karl, apart from being a helluva nice guy, also took the role very seriously. He did not see Karl remove the helmet once during any of the shoots. The film, from what I understand, looks to be more like a day in the life of Dredd, like a case file.

Still my dream role for Dredd would have been an 'Unforgiven' era Clint Eastwood...man that would have been awesome.

[TinyBird]

@Elwell You guessed it right. I have not started Sandman from the beginning. Would that make a difference?

I would suggest it greatly, even though the art is not maybe... well, the best (and some of the earlier stories might not work as well, like the required tie-in with Justice League in one story), especially compared to the later books, the start explains much, something that's pretty required when we see the same strange characters often and return to them in later books, see how they have changed and moved on from the things they experienced in earlier books, and I wouldn't wonder if it's harder to get into the stories with only half of the story.

But, I might suggest this book that can work better on its own: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandman:_Endless_Nights Some great artists in that, and the stories are short and more self-contained, even though again it helps if you know who the Endless are, but I don't think it's required for that.
Though personally I really liked Mirrormask, and I loved the Spawn story that Gaiman also wrote, so (but I don't really care for his books, for some reason, Coraline being the exception)...

Also on Sandman related note, you might enjoy this more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandman_Mystery_Theatre
This is the new version of the original Sandman comic that Gaiman's Sandman is based off/a new version of. The art is best on the first book (of the ones I've read) but they are basically crime/murder mysteries happening in the 30's, with the utter teeniest mystical twist on the character.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/tumblr_lvsowgm9Lz1qkrdte.jpg

[Elwell]

Man, I really Loved Sandman Mystery Theatre, it's an unjustly forgotten book.

[TinyBird]

Hmm, talking about Sandman Mystery Theater made me remember couple other pretty underrated/unknown comics that I personally like a lot.

C. Scott Morse's Ancient Joe, which doesn't even have a proper Wikipedia page, but it's very calm and nice, even touching comic. I guess there was supposed to be a second part to the book, but I haven't heard about it. It tells about Ancient Joe, El Bizarron, who's some sort of ageless trickster from local folklore and who cheated money from the devil but now is afraid that his late wife is now held by the devil as revenge for his trick and hopes to find a way to check if it's true. It sounds like it could be your basic superhero fare, but it's done almost completely in wide panels which makes it really calm, and it has little to none stereotypical action. I would really recommend checking it out if you happen to see it somewhere.
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Another would be bit more usual superhero comic, Marvel's Sleepwalker. But this too takes a bit different turn than superhero comics usually. It's about the Sleepwalker, an alien "police" from a "mind/dream dimension" who accidentally gets stuck inside a young guy's (Rick) mind and can only come out when Rick is sleeping, but because Sleepwalker also looks like an alien, the guy is desperate to stay awake so that he doesn't let what he sees as a monster that gives him nightmares loose to the real world, but at the same time Sleepwalker is frustrated when he can't help people and gets snatched back from capturing criminals when Rick awakes.
The dynamic is pretty interesting and the comic goes through more of the consequences and drama of what would happen when you had to stay awake/asleep for someone else to work.
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[Star Eater]

Sleepwalker was great. Marvel does not seem as willing to invest in its fringe characters that much anymore. Last I heard, guys like Sleepy, Darkhawk and a few others had been relegated to whats called the League of Losers?

[Star Eater]

I'd like to highlight one of my favourite comics. Nemesis the Warlock in The Gothic Empire

Winner of the Eagle Award for best graphic novel. It concerns the planet of a group of shape shifting aliens called Goths, who have emulated their entire empire on what they perceive as the 'golden age' of the Victorian Empire here on Earth. Everything has a fantastic steampunk look to it.

Unfortunately the Goths are taken by complete surprise and astonishment when the ultra-xenophobic alien hating human empire (from its base on Earth now known as Termight) reaches out to conquer them. The Goths cannot understand why the human empire (basically referred to by the name of their policing/military force, The Terminators) see them as nothing more than filthy aliens and the goths overly long attempt to parley costs them dearly. Adding to the Gothic Empires growing problems are an underground radical youth movement known as the Young Goths who want to set about the wheels of change and force the ruling empire to adopt the modern technology of other star systems.

Nemesis attempts to convince the Goths military leaders to contact The Cabal (an alien alliance) for assistance against the Terminators, but the Goths refusal to class themselves as anything less than human hampers these efforts, moreso when Nemesis is framed for murder by his enemies.

Here are some sample pages. Unfortunately soon after this, Pat Mills took his anti-establishment anarchist stance to levels of parody and tired cliches, the writing took a down-turn as he sought to muddy up the lines between good and evil. It's a pity really. This was one of my first experiences with Nemesis with Mills at his best, so I was lucky.

http://i42.tinypic.com/ic7k7o.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/zjulh0.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/2gy68g7.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/hug6fb.jpg

[Psychotime]

Anyway, comics thread, here's the new Avengers trailer. You'll grumble about Joss Whedon, you'll hate Caps costume but you'll go to see it anyway.

The last Marvel movie I've seen was the Hulk reboot and nothing else. I doubt I'll bother with the Avengers.

[TinyBird]

The last Marvel movie I've seen was the Hulk reboot and nothing else.
Well I'd personally recommend checking out the X-Men:First Class movie too. Again I'm not really the best on judging movies, but to me it was definitely better than all the other X-Men movies combined and I loved the slightly retro feel they got to it.
And yeah I'm totally going to see the Avengers in theater. I liked Iron Man, and Captain America and the new Hulk were okay to me (and I haven't seen Thor) so I'm getting a positive vibe of it. Well, except that the actor for Hawkeye looks like one of my co-workers and it's kinda creepy.

The new Ghost Rider movie however... Yeaaah... It can't manage to be as bad as the first one, not even with Cage in it still, because I swear that most of that crap in the first one was because of the director so I'm hoping it's at least better paced/structured and has less stupid crap in it.

I'd like to highlight one of my favourite comics. Nemesis the Warlock in The Gothic Empire
I actually own bunch of the (original? other? sequel?) Nemesis comics translated in Finnish. Sadly they decided to stop translating the series and left the comic to the part where Nemesis' son comes along.

Anyway, here's another favorite of mine, a polar opposite of the others I mentioned, pure brainfart fun, just in case there's someone in the world who hasn't heard of Warren Ellis' "Nextwave". Another short series that pokes a lit of fun of other Marvel characters and all sorts of things while being hideously entertaining.
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[Star Eater]

Er...are those mindless ones doing a dance fight? :D

The Vengeance of Thoth was when Nemesis' son attains so much power he kills his long suffering foster parents and seeks revenge on Torquemada and Nemesis for his mother (Nemesis wife' Chira's) death.

That was the last good book, I honestly would not recommend tracking down any of the other issues, even to read them in english, it would just be a disappointment.
Mills just kept pushing his own agenda into everyone of his characters and stories after that point, eventually railroading them completely. Slaine and the ABC Warriors included. (Still, I would recommend Slaine The Horned God and the ABC Warriors The Black Hole as well as Khronicles of Khaos if only for the stunning artwork)

ABC Warriors: Hellbringer, again with -beautiful- art by Kevin Walker is really ruined by Mills terrible writing. It's like watching an angel fall...but not to the same extent as Frank Millers latest Batman issues.

I own multiple copies of the early Nemesis works as well. :) Whenever I by chance come across another Gothic Empire copy I snap it up. Its like an OCD thing.

Here's one of my favourite Kevin Walker pieces of all time:

[Arshes Nei]

Dunno if anyone else saw this post, but GREAT storytelling!

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/03/01/manga-yusuke-murata-twitter-digital-comics-paper-deadlines/

[Star Eater]

That was well done indeed. Apart from the innovations of the pages, I also enjoyed the drawings themselves.

[TinyBird]

I just got Osamu Tezuka's Dororo collection in my hands: http://www.amazon.ca/Dororo-Osamu-Tezuka/dp/1935654322
And man, that book is thick! It collects the three previous books and it's basically thicker than my arm. And still really cheap, as this sort of more unknown old manga collection books tend to be (much like Cat Eyed Boy collections).

It's one of the more "lighter" Tezuka comics (at least if you compare to something like Ode to Kirihito) and the plot is mainly about how Hyakkimaru slays different demons and it has no real ending, but it's classic Tezuka goodness and I personally enjoy comics with no complicated plot and though it's no Hakaba No Kitaro, the demons are interesting too.
Also there's a guy riding giant sharks.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/dororo3.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/dororo4.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/dororo1.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/dororo2.jpg

[Prometheus|ANJ]

Oh. Nemesis the Warlock was a comic. I only knew of the C64 tune sharing the name. Is that (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=reprint&page=gnprofiles&choice=nemesis4&Comic=) his mouth or baleens? Gills? If it's his mouth, that completely changes his character from cool squid thing to grinning idiot.

[TinyBird]

Oh. Nemesis the Warlock was a comic. I only knew of the C64 tune sharing the name. Is that (http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=reprint&page=gnprofiles&choice=nemesis4&Comic=) his mouth or baleens? Gills? If it's his mouth, that completely changes his character from cool squid thing to grinning idiot.

I think that's a mouth. He breathes fire from it http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=reprint&page=gnprofiles&choice=nemesis2&Comic= and the similar female alien (Magna, Nemesis' other wife?) ate the little sidekick critter through that, so...

[Star Eater]

It's his mouth. Like a grill mixed with a bailleen type thing.
He is able to part it in the centre, but when you see him eat
he uses a feedbag like a horse. (Gothic Empire) The females
don't have that grill but can stretch their mouths to the same height.
Nemesis can actually change the expression of his grill to reflect his
mood. When it has the upside V shape near the bottom it normally
means he is upset or serious. Though not every artist abided by
this.

Magna was Nemesis' second wife...only for a short while. She
arranged for the murder of Chira his first wife. She uses her diabolical
charms to seduce Nemesis. (Magic-wise the females are the more powerful
of the species.) She accidently drops her psychic guard as they are about
to depart for their honeymoon and Nemesis discovers she arranged for
the murder of his first wife and runs her through with his sword. (Both
still in their wedding outfits when this happened they were married for
that long.)

Yeah she ate poor Grobbedonk, which was a pity. But typical of 2000AD.
They have no problem killing off established characters.

Ro-Jaws was pretty hilarious, he missed his little pal Grobbedonk
too. (Was very fond of him.) He suggests he beomes Nemesis
new familiar as apparently Purity says he's always too
familiar with everyone...

Sorry, was a HUUUGE fan of the comics while they
were still good.

[Psychotime]

One Piece has now sold 100 million units in four years time. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-05-10/one-piece-manga-is-1st-to-sell-100-million-since-2008)

One Piece cannot be defeated. Man, I am so out of the loop. I don't think I've kept up in the last two months.

[TinyBird]

Just read up on Thor:The Mighty Avenger miniseries (basically re-tells [again] Thor's origin on Earth, but differently than the other comics), written by Roger Langridge (and it shows, I might say) and honestly this is one of the most charming superhero comics I've read. It takes a very "un-epic" way of handling things, is pretty "subtly" humorous and oh the expressions Wilson draws on these characters, I love them.
It's more "real" or at least a step more down to earth, and less on the "epic catastrophe lots of dynamic posing blaargh blaargh moneyshot pompous dialog" stuff.
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[TinyBird]

Also, in the recent comics Loki got turned back in to a child (a change I like much better than him squatting in a woman's body) and honestly this last part kinda blew my mind:
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh60/Arkakoira/loki5.jpg

I can't help but feel that after some years the Tumblr reference will be horribly out-dated but honestly referencing real life things like that is not something I've really seen to be done so it came totally from the left field (well, kinda as he's been shown to know what memes are and get trolled in the internet before this, but..) :D