[Abyss]

Hammerhead88, on 15 December 2018 - 02:01 PM, said:

Any particular book by Morrison you would recommend?

His mid 90s JLA run is pure epic comic candy.His XMen run was mostly solid, tho I thought the choice of artist weakened it somewhat.
ALL STAR SUPERMAN is fantastical entertaining.
I haven’t read THE INVISIBLES yet but am told it’s worthwhile.
And then there is We3. If you have not read this, you must. And then you will hate me for having told you so.

[polishgenius]

Also: his Animal Man is fucking amazing.

I'm also a fan of his Seven Soldiers.

[T77]

Agree with everything Abyss said. I'm going through his JLA run now and it's incredible. Invisibles was very good, albeit very confusing and not a good place to start. His Batman run should be read in order and in its entirety. Should also add his Doom Patrol is great and might be a good place to start.

[Studlock]

The best comics I've read this year, which I list here, but also go through them below. My tastes tend to pulp more so than literary, so many great comics I read this year which were more literary is probably not going to make this list (something like Brazen, for example, or the Strange or Why Art?). Anyways the list is Head Lopper, Prism Stalker, Immortal Hulk, Black Hammer, Sleepless, The Wild Storm, Sword of Ages, Coda, Domino, Giant Days, Daredevil, Eternal Empire, the New World, Redlands, and, Mighty Thor/Thor.

Here's why:

Head Lopper is a classical sword and sorcery series on its third 'book' by Andrew Maclean (writer and artist), and Jordie Bellaire (colors), and its probably, for my money, the best sword and sorcery story of the last decade in any medium. A large part of that is the art, Maclean is somewhere between Mignola and Herge in terms of style--it's clean and expressive, but can often dip into a Mignola-style moodiness if the scene demands it (he also works with shadow very well). The story itself is pretty standard but overall well executed. Rampaging barbarian hero called Head Lopper, and his sidekick who is a caustic blue witch head, go from story to story, from people to people, have adventures, often violently. Its fun and funny and tickles that vibe a lot of fantasy, outside of say video games and table top rpgs, don't really got for anymore.

Prism Stalker is a magical girl biopunk story that is heavily focused on issues of colonialism, identity, and how those things interact, and is written, drawn, and coloured by Sloane Leong. This is probably the best looking book I've read all year, the use of colour, character and world design, and trippy visuals combine seamlessly with the story it's trying to tell to create a complete experience that is often missing from comics (or at least, American comics). The story and world is sparse in terms of worldbuilding in the way Malazan is, the world is drip fed to us, and while by the fifth issue its still not all the clear it doesn't really matter because we know what we need to know in terms of the main characters relationship to other characters, both individually and in terms of identity. Over all probably my favourite book this year.

Immortal Hulk is by Al Ewing, Marvel's best writer, and mainly drawn by Joe Bennett, with a number of other artists filling in. This book is probably Marvel's best book in a pretty strong year overall in terms of interesting ideas and interesting executions. It is mainly talked about, in the media, as a horror book, and while it definitely is that, mainly body horror, it is also deeply tied to Hulk comics of the past, pulling in stuff that no one has thought about in like 50 years, which is awesome because one of the reasons superhero comics are so interesting is that they have these deep wells of stories to draw from that entirely new interpretations can still be connected back to those who came before. It's how I imagine oral culture would be like. Anyways the book is great overall, has a strong thematic throughline (duh, its Ewing), and amazing art that demonstrates the horror and terror of the hulk extremely well.

The Black Hammer books are written by Jeff Lemire with the main series primarily being drawn by Dean Ormston, and the various spin-offs being drawn by a number of great artists and the best I could describe it is if you combined a Jeff Lemire book with golden age superheroes. It was a weight to the stories it tells, not only because it is Jeff Lemire, but also because it utilizes the various golden age super powers as potent stand-ins for emotional or physical problems. I don't have much to say outside of if you're interested in golden age superheroes I highly recommend these books.

Sleepless is a fantasy court romance from Sarah Vaughn and Leila Del Duca. This is probably one the most well done romance books I've read in a long time, maybe ever. The fantasy trappings around the book are small, more mysterious than flashy, but are utilized in such a way as to heighten the romantic drama between the various players at any given time--Sarah Vaughn has a very good control of pace in terms of writing. The art is, as this is a trend here, great, and I'm somewhat taken back by Leila Del Duca's ability to go from something like Shutter, which is wild and crazy, to this is much more muted, both in terms of the what is being depicted, and in scope. She handle's both scales extremely well. If you're looking for a court romance with light fantasy elements highly recommend.

I'll continue this later I have to go to work, but overall 2018 has been a great year for comics, both starting and returning.

[T77]

Almost done with the first volume of Hickman's Oblivion Song. The first issue was just OK, but it has its hooks in me now. Really like the art and the premise. I'm sure Hickman has some wild plans for where this is headed.

Been working my way through Wagner's Mage: The Hero Denied and it's been just as great as the first 2 volumes/chapters or whatever they're called. Mage is up there as one of my favorite comics. I know this series has its supporters, but it feels like this should be more popular.

[polishgenius]

Started reading Grant Morrison's Multiversity. It is the most Grant Morrison thing you could possibly imagine.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 23 December 2018 - 08:06 PM, said:

Started reading Grant Morrison's Multiversity. It is the most Grant Morrison thing you could possibly imagine.

Morrison Batman taking out martians with a pack of matches, or Morrison Superman sings Darkseid to death?

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 24 December 2018 - 06:36 AM, said:

polishgenius, on 23 December 2018 - 08:06 PM, said:

Started reading Grant Morrison's Multiversity. It is the most Grant Morrison thing you could possibly imagine.

Morrison Batman taking out martians with a pack of matches, or Morrison Superman sings Darkseid to death?

Morrison superheroes are getting possessed by a demon disguised as a comic book.


It is essentially a sequel to Final Crisis, specifically the universe-hopping bits (it appears to be a series of almost one-shots, though interlinked by a broad plot, in separate universes), but it seems so far to have much more time to develop those ideas so, so far, it's better. It's a massive chunky trade collection though.

Eta: having finished it now, it is peak Grant Morrison in both good ways and bad, though ultimately I think it's worth a read. In many ways it's a very similar story to Snyder's Dark Knights: Metal, in that both are multiverse-jumping epic series seeking to introduce a threat Beyond Even Darkseid, and I do think Multiversity succeeds at that better- the worlds in DK just aren't introduced well enough in the series proper, whereas Multiversity's one-shot-in-each-universe approach gives more time to delve into them.
It is far more self-referential and meta and all that stuff, though, so anyone's enjoyment of Multiversity is very much gonna depend on their enjoyment for that kind of stuff. I mean, for crying out loud, it introduces at long last the real main villain of the DC Universe:

Spoiler

reader apathy.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 24 December 2018 - 02:26 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

Y'all going on about Deadly Class, and now there's a Humble Bundle for it: Get the first 2 volumes for $1, 4 volumes for $8, or 7 for $15.

[Hammerhead88]

Salt-Man Z, on 09 January 2019 - 09:05 PM, said:

Y'all going on about Deadly Class, and now there's a Humble Bundle for it: Get the first 2 volumes for $1, 4 volumes for $8, or 7 for $15.

Saw this earlier. So annoying. I bought it a few weeks ago. It did not cost me £11....

I would recommend anyone who doesn't have it to buy, especially for that price.

[Abyss]

Hammerhead88, on 09 January 2019 - 09:20 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 09 January 2019 - 09:05 PM, said:

Y'all going on about Deadly Class, and now there's a Humble Bundle for it: Get the first 2 volumes for $1, 4 volumes for $8, or 7 for $15.

Saw this earlier. So annoying. I bought it a few weeks ago. It did not cost me £11....

I would recommend anyone who doesn't have it to buy, especially for that price.

It’s a stupid good deal. I paid $8 just for vol 7 not that long ago.

[QuickTidal]

Wait...$15 for SEVEN trades?!

I’m grabbing it...even if I don’t like it, that’s a hell of a deal!

Looks like I’m giving Remender another shot

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 10 January 2019 - 02:09 AM, said:

Wait...$15 for SEVEN trades?!

I'm grabbing it...even if I don't like it, that's a hell of a deal!

Looks like I'm giving Remender another shot

You should. It is REALLY good comic.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 10 January 2019 - 02:38 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 10 January 2019 - 02:09 AM, said:

Wait...$15 for SEVEN trades?!

I'm grabbing it...even if I don't like it, that's a hell of a deal!

Looks like I'm giving Remender another shot

You should. It is REALLY good comic.

Nabbed it. I'll hold you PERSONALLY responsible if it's not...and send Ingenious Toronto Racoons after you and your green bins!

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 10 January 2019 - 01:53 PM, said:

Abyss, on 10 January 2019 - 02:38 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 10 January 2019 - 02:09 AM, said:

Wait...$15 for SEVEN trades?!

I'm grabbing it...even if I don't like it, that's a hell of a deal!

Looks like I'm giving Remender another shot

You should. It is REALLY good comic.

Nabbed it. I'll hold you PERSONALLY responsible if it's not...and send Ingenious Toronto Racoons after you and your green bins!

The Ottawa Raccoons would beat them senseless and send them back in a box, or the Montreal Raccoons would just get them drunk and throw them in the river.

Anyrate i think you'll enjoy. It's less high concept than other Remender work but the characters are very well done and the story is surprisingly tight consider the cast size and subplots at work. And he does an astonishing job of making teen drama not be irritating. Mostly by having those teens fuck, stab and shoot each other, but i digress.

[QuickTidal]

Mark Waid's BLACK WIDOW run...I heard a lot about this being the BEST BW comic out there. It's not. It's FINE. It's not in any way amazing. I was left disappointed after expecting it to be "The best".

[Traveller]

I'm really engrossed in the Darth Vader series.

Up to a point where Vader has to find a new saber to 'bleed' into a red one; followed by the appearance of Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian from Clone Wars, who survived order 66.

The story fits really well into the period directly following RotS, and Vader finding his new powers and limitations. It must be well done as I can still see a lot of Anakin behind the suit; it's kind of a vulnerable phase for him, as even the Clones don't know who he is, and his first suit has to be adapted as he keeps bashing it up. Nice to see good solid links with Clone Wars series, and Rebels now too, as the Grand Inquisitor and the Inquisition has been introduced.

Well worth checking out imo.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 22 January 2019 - 02:04 PM

[T77]

Traveller, on 22 January 2019 - 02:03 PM, said:

I'm really engrossed in the Darth Vader series.

Up to a point where Vader has to find a new saber to 'bleed' into a red one; followed by the appearance of Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian from Clone Wars, who survived order 66.

The story fits really well into the period directly following RotS, and Vader finding his new powers and limitations. It must be well done as I can still see a lot of Anakin behind the suit; it's kind of a vulnerable phase for him, as even the Clones don't know who he is, and his first suit has to be adapted as he keeps bashing it up. Nice to see good solid links with Clone Wars series, and Rebels now too, as the Grand Inquisitor and the Inquisition has been introduced.

Well worth checking out imo.

Are you referring to Soule's current run? I've been starting to read more current comics on MU and really enjoying them. I'll add this to my list. Others worth mentioning are Immortal Hulk and Cate's Venom and Cosmic Ghost Rider. Marvel is producing some quality comics lately.

[Traveller]

T77, on 22 January 2019 - 02:36 PM, said:

Traveller, on 22 January 2019 - 02:03 PM, said:

I'm really engrossed in the Darth Vader series.

Up to a point where Vader has to find a new saber to 'bleed' into a red one; followed by the appearance of Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian from Clone Wars, who survived order 66.

The story fits really well into the period directly following RotS, and Vader finding his new powers and limitations. It must be well done as I can still see a lot of Anakin behind the suit; it's kind of a vulnerable phase for him, as even the Clones don't know who he is, and his first suit has to be adapted as he keeps bashing it up. Nice to see good solid links with Clone Wars series, and Rebels now too, as the Grand Inquisitor and the Inquisition has been introduced.

Well worth checking out imo.

Are you referring to Soule's current run?

That's the one. I read the first few of the other Vader run with Dr Aphra, but couldn't really get into them. These ones are much better (although I still wonder why the only 'sounds' are vowel-less words like 'Kkch' and 'Sshk' and 'Ng!' It really bugs me for some reason, its like there's an unspoken rule that comics have to do this!)

This post has been edited by Traveller: 22 January 2019 - 04:24 PM

[T77]

Traveller, on 22 January 2019 - 04:24 PM, said:

T77, on 22 January 2019 - 02:36 PM, said:

Traveller, on 22 January 2019 - 02:03 PM, said:

I'm really engrossed in the Darth Vader series.

Up to a point where Vader has to find a new saber to 'bleed' into a red one; followed by the appearance of Jocasta Nu, the Jedi librarian from Clone Wars, who survived order 66.

The story fits really well into the period directly following RotS, and Vader finding his new powers and limitations. It must be well done as I can still see a lot of Anakin behind the suit; it's kind of a vulnerable phase for him, as even the Clones don't know who he is, and his first suit has to be adapted as he keeps bashing it up. Nice to see good solid links with Clone Wars series, and Rebels now too, as the Grand Inquisitor and the Inquisition has been introduced.

Well worth checking out imo.

Are you referring to Soule's current run?

That's the one. I read the first few of the other Vader run with Dr Aphra, but couldn't really get into them. These ones are much better (although I still wonder why the only 'sounds' are vowel-less words like 'Kkch' and 'Sshk' and 'Ng!' It really bugs me for some reason, its like there's an unspoken rule that comics have to do this!)

Thanks. Added it to my MU library.