[polishgenius]

I picked up a complete collection of The Killer, a French crime comic that's the basis of David Fincher's next movie. Basically about a hitman who's not quite as detached and emotionless as he tells himself he is. Very good (some way into the second story arc) and a perfect fit for Fincher's sensibilities.

[Abyss]

T77, on 01 March 2023 - 02:25 PM, said:

Abyss, on 01 March 2023 - 03:58 AM, said:

Abyss, on 28 February 2023 - 09:13 PM, said:

...
Next up, Kirkman n co.'s FIREPOWER.

maybe i just may have kind of marathon'd the first four tpbs by accident and HOLYNINJAFUCKSTARS this is SO GOOD.

Glad you like it. I read the first trade or two, thought it was just OK and never returned to it.

The start, the prologue first trade, is ok... it's very basic... good art, good enough story but nothing novel. When the setting and cast shifts in the second (vol 1) and the real story begins, if you're engaged by the cast - and i ack it's a certain appeal that won't work for everybody esp readers wanting more of WALKING DEAD's 'desperate found family' or INVINCIBLE's massively dysfunctional fam w extra teen angst and also broken bones jutting out of limbs - then the situations they find themselves in completely yank me right in. It's a family friendly kung fu fantasy story and it's so... nice... even when all hell is breaking loose.

The feel is very similar to 7 SECRETS per my upthread posts, but w more grownup notes, somewhat less teen wish fulfillment.

Also, the 'big' action scenes are balls out wild.

[T77]

Abyss, on 01 March 2023 - 06:46 PM, said:

T77, on 01 March 2023 - 02:25 PM, said:

Abyss, on 01 March 2023 - 03:58 AM, said:

Abyss, on 28 February 2023 - 09:13 PM, said:

...
Next up, Kirkman n co.'s FIREPOWER.

maybe i just may have kind of marathon'd the first four tpbs by accident and HOLYNINJAFUCKSTARS this is SO GOOD.

Glad you like it. I read the first trade or two, thought it was just OK and never returned to it.

The start, the prologue first trade, is ok... it's very basic... good art, good enough story but nothing novel. When the setting and cast shifts in the second (vol 1) and the real story begins, if you're engaged by the cast - and i ack it's a certain appeal that won't work for everybody esp readers wanting more of WALKING DEAD's 'desperate found family' or INVINCIBLE's massively dysfunctional fam w extra teen angst and also broken bones jutting out of limbs - then the situations they find themselves in completely yank me right in. It's a family friendly kung fu fantasy story and it's so... nice... even when all hell is breaking loose.

The feel is very similar to 7 SECRETS per my upthread posts, but w more grownup notes, somewhat less teen wish fulfillment.

Also, the 'big' action scenes are balls out wild.

I've checked and I have read vol 2. I guess it's just not for me. I do agree with you on Seven Secrets. As mentioned I need to get back to that.

[Abyss]

Fair, as with most comics what works is subjective and you're obviously cold and dead inside and would never survive a ninja fight and your socks smell weird .
7 SECRETS is worth your time and money whenever you get around to it you communist sock zombie .




In unrelated comics stuff, i returnd to the DC app for 2009's WORLD WITHOUT SUPERMAN and WORLD AGAINST SUPERMAN, the sequels to the NEW KRYPTON storyline that ran through the Supes' titles that i had read last year. It's a very inconsistent read... there are multiple parallel stories involving various parts of the Superfam, and unlike my recent DETECTIVE read where i was pleasantly surprised by the Batfam's ability to carry their own stories and raise my interest in Batman, i find a lot of it uninteresting. Part of it is the usual problem w characters who have Superman level powers... it's way harder for writers to find ways to really challenge them. It's made harder by the sense that some of the storyline are just filler while Supes is off on New Krypton finding his roots and clashing w Zod... which IS a totally enjoyable storyline for a few reasons... it has him acting as a politician, as soldier and a military leader, and surrounded by people with his same powers but none of his experience. In a nutshell, it's a new story for Superman, in striking contrast to the parallel stories for Mon-El and Supergirl, that lack the novelty, or the Flamebird/Nightwing thing that so clearly had no long-term prospects that it's only worth reading to see how they are killed or written out. Plus the usual Jimmy Olsen cub reporter and Lois Lane spy ninja commando reporter stuff that i suspect only die-hard Superfam fans care about. And the other distinction from DETECTIVE... Batman moves in and out of the other characters' storylines... he's part of it and his interaction w the other characters is important. Superman is near wholly absent from almost everything which makes reading a Superman story a bit annoying. I ack that's what i should expect from a story titles 'World Without Superman' but he's right there, just doing other more interesting things. That worked when he 'died' fighting Doomsday and a bunch of replacement Supes showed up with related mysteries - everyone knew he'd be back eventually, but the when and how and wtf were well played. Here they're just killing time and my interest, but fortunately the app makes skimming easy.

[Abyss]

Finished the Superman New Krypton arc w WAR OF THE SUPERMEN.
It was... fine. I ack there was really only one way this could end, but each step was so heavy handed it left me just barely satisfied.
SPOILERS

Spoiler

Of course New Krypton gets sploded. Of course most of the pop is wiped out. Of course the remaining Kryptonians get Phantom Zoned.
Of course Lex Luthor is behind the entire thing. Of course every Superman-level supporting character except for Supergirl is killed, sidelined, sent to the future or otherwise written out.
Of course, of course, of course.
It's the same trap Big 2 comics spring on me again and again... fun build up but a resolution i've seen before, many times. Sure, it's done well, it's fun to read, but utterly forgettable.

Anyrate, a rather diverse comics read ahead, i picked up the ELFQUEST Humble Bundle, as ive wondered about this series for years. Started and very engaged so far. It's very traditional fantasy, brave wolfrider elves forced to leave their cozy forest home due to human stupidity and venture out into the harsh world. It's very well written to engage the reader w the characters and even in b&w the art is well nice to look at.

At the same time on the Marvel app i've started catching up towards the Avengers v XMen v Eternals xover. So far ive read the last six or so months of KNIGHTS OF X, marginally better than earlier Excalibur replacements but only barely marginal; WOLVERINE, always fun; XFORCE, also fun; IMMORTAL XMEN, brilliant; and XMEN RED, more brilliant because Storm and Magneto kicking all kinds of butt across Mars is simply too good not to enjoy.

Over on WebToons on the weekly waitathon between chapters of WAYNE FAMILY i was almost accidentally pulled into a series called HOOVES OF DEATH. ...how to explain this.... at the ugly end of a zombpocalypse, humanity's only hope is the last herd of unicorns ooops most of them got eaten by zombie gnomes now we're really screwed.... unless a couple of fugitive unicorns, one human girl, and the very angry, very there against his will Hound of Death, can find the Four Horsemen and make them fix things. It's... this should not work i should not enjoy this the art is just ok and it is silly and the plot is blunt and the HOLY CRAP THAT JUST HAPPENED and and THAT and and WTF WAS THAT??? RUN, RUN FASTER dammit it's 3am ok one more chapter. Also it's completed so i know i'll get to read the end, unlike many many other webcomics.

[amphibian]

My brother handed me the first two trades of The Nice House On The Lake. It's quite good horror/escape story that mostly takes place in a "bottle" type situation with many flashbacks to the past to provide context and occasionally a jump forward to people telling stories after the present.

The art is consistently great, the writing is good to great, I'm looking forward to more.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 04 April 2023 - 02:00 PM, said:

Anyrate, a rather diverse comics read ahead, i picked up the ELFQUEST Humble Bundle, as ive wondered about this series for years. Started and very engaged so far. It's very traditional fantasy, brave wolfrider elves forced to leave their cozy forest home due to human stupidity and venture out into the harsh world. It's very well written to engage the reader w the characters and even in b&w the art is well nice to look at.

Still reading this, still enjoying it. The rather huge volumes are split into very nicely self-contained stories. It's well paced, i can read one whole stoyr, break and come back.

And during that break....

Quote

At the same time on the Marvel app i've started catching up towards the Avengers v XMen v Eternals xover. So far ive read the last six or so months of KNIGHTS OF X, marginally better than earlier Excalibur replacements but only barely marginal; WOLVERINE, always fun; XFORCE, also fun; IMMORTAL XMEN, brilliant; and XMEN RED, more brilliant because Storm and Magneto kicking all kinds of butt across Mars is simply too good not to enjoy.

MARAUDERS was ok. Not brilliant, but good enough.
And then LEGION OF X.
Nightcrawler's previous series WAY OF X was disappointingly meh and ended with some ONSLAUGHT thing that was even more meh.
This is the opposite of that. While WAY had a potentially great supporting cast the team clearly didn't know what to do w them so we got weirdness like Mercury and Loa's love story and Blink not doing much of anything while Kurt wandered around angsting and Legion babbled.
LEGION is way way more focused and better for it. We have Kurt in his 'Krakoa cop' role, dealing with an Arraki trickster god, an interdimensional deal broker, and an Arraki deputy, Weaponless Zhen, who is awesome and plays wonderfully off Kurt and also their sex banter is hilarious and i can't believe DisneyMarvel let that through. At the same time we have Legion dealing w the same issues while trying to preserve the Astral Plane playground he made in his head for Krakoa. The focus on just Nightsrawler and Legion pursuing two separate angles on the same stories w their own closer supporting casts works WAY WAY better.

Thus all caught up on the XBooks pre JUDGEMENT DAY crossover i was about to start that when i glanced through the list of other involved series' and notice Slott's FANTASTIC FOUR was there. Slott's SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN and SPIDER-VERSE were some of my favorite reads in the last few years, so i decided to add that to the read-up. Am around floppy 21 of 40 (40 being when J-Day happens) and very enjoying this. Not quite as 'wow!' as the Hickman run but Slott nails the characters and the FF's family-adventurer angle so so well... Reed sits up all night working on something and Sue tells him she loves when he gets that way. Reed gets an idea and barely states it before Sue executes the plan better than he could. Johnny gets an alien girlfriend and everyone cracks jokes about Crystal and the time he married a Skrull. Ben... Ben marries Alicia and its perfect and then has the absolute GREATEST Thing v The Hulk fight EVER. And Franklin and Valeriya are well written even if Slott is ignoring Val's mentor/student/buddies relationship w Doom which was possibly my favorite aspect of the Hickman and Waid runs. It's really great comics even if i am skipping roughly 1/4 floppies due to line wide crossovers i cannot care about (War of the Realms, Empyre, King in Black)

Anyhoo it's a fun way to catch up and i may even extend it to some other titles too and get my $s worth from the MU app.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 18 April 2023 - 05:23 PM, said:

...
Thus all caught up on the XBooks pre JUDGEMENT DAY crossover i was about to start that when i glanced through the list of other involved series' and notice Slott's FANTASTIC FOUR was there. Slott's SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN and SPIDER-VERSE were some of my favorite reads in the last few years, so i decided to add that to the read-up. Am around floppy 21 of 40 (40 being when J-Day happens) and very enjoying this. Not quite as 'wow!' as the Hickman run but Slott nails the characters and the FF's family-adventurer angle so so well... Reed sits up all night working on something and Sue tells him she loves when he gets that way. Reed gets an idea and barely states it before Sue executes the plan better than he could. Johnny gets an alien girlfriend and everyone cracks jokes about Crystal and the time he married a Skrull. Ben... Ben marries Alicia and its perfect and then has the absolute GREATEST Thing v The Hulk fight EVER. And Franklin and Valeriya are well written even if Slott is ignoring Val's mentor/student/buddies relationship w Doom which was possibly my favorite aspect of the Hickman and Waid runs. It's really great comics even if i am skipping roughly 1/4 floppies due to line wide crossovers i cannot care about (War of the Realms, Empyre, King in Black)

Anyhoo it's a fun way to catch up and i may even extend it to some other titles too and get my $s worth from the MU app.

So i did...
Pros - Slott made Alicia dangerous... in a completely credible and in character way. I am in awe;
- i adore Ben and Alicia's kids and the entire dynamic between the four of them;
- the expanded family and the way they bounce off each other is wonderfully done, and working in extended cast like Iceman, She-Hulk, Spidey, Wyatt, really emphasizes what works for an FF title;
- Slott gets Doom. Doom isn't a villain, Doom is a hero inside his own head who doesn't care what anyone else thinks;
- i am blown away every time an FF member does something and credits another member for it... trapped in 'perfect' deathtraps... they each find a way out based on lessons earned from other FF members. It's SO good.

Cons
- The Reckoning War was meh. It had some big moments, but overall, it just felt like a rushed/trimmed Infinity w a bunch of 'isn't that conveeeeeeenient' moments. The baddies were generic evil big bads from beyond. Johnny's storyline read like all the bestest parts happened off-page. Sue had to be missing for most of the story to get a truly excellent Moment of Awesome. Reed and Ben's styrlines were never credible risks. ...Doom, however, did manage to steal the show, repeatedly.

Next up on the run-up to A.X.E., i see a short AMAZING SPIDER-MAN run and some AVENGERS.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 26 January 2023 - 03:51 PM, said:

If you happen to be a fan of the X-Men, i recommend this podcast to your attention:

https://www.connorgo...ith.com/cerebro

The host is a long time xbook fan. Each ep he picks a character, reads more or less their entire history (give or take an overtly garbage crossover or storyline), gets a cohost who has some connection to the character, and chats their way through the history (usually while drinking alcoholic beverages).

...Worth a listen.

He just posted his 100th podcast.

12 hours discussing Madelyne Pryor...

TWELVE.

HOURS.

Covers the Marvel politics of the Claremont Run and how Claremont and Shooter clashed about Jean's 'death' and Maddie's intro, X Factor, Inferno, Fall of the Mutants, the Australia years, Cable, X-Man, Maddie's various 'returns' and her most recent resurrection(s).

It's really well done, the host and guest did a detailed reread of the relevant issues and gave it a LOT of thought.
Their analysis of Inferno is frikkin brilliant, they make all of the obvious connections but then go way further, and i am tempted to reread bcs of it. If you're an Xbooks fan who read the Claremont Run, you owe it to yourself to check this out.

[QuickTidal]

So Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch are bringing the Ultimate universe back into the fold with ULTIMATE INVASION.

I'll be really honest, I enjoyed the hell out of ULTIMATE X-MEN, and some of the other titles of the era (20 years ago now)...but I was kinda relieved when Hickman destroyed that whole universe in SECRET WARS a few years ago....so to see them go back to that well? I'm not crazy excited....BUT It IS Hickman (who rarely disappoints me) and it's also Bryan Hitch (whose art was one of the first comics I ever read as a series comic consumer; AUTHORITY) and it's a min-series, so not a long commitment.

We'll see how it goes...and if I get the Ultimate X-Men....I might be into it.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 27 April 2023 - 03:15 PM, said:

So Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch are bringing the Ultimate universe back into the fold with ULTIMATE INVASION.

I'll be really honest, I enjoyed the hell out of ULTIMATE X-MEN, and some of the other titles of the era (20 years ago now)...but I was kinda relieved when Hickman destroyed that whole universe in SECRET WARS a few years ago....so to see them go back to that well? I'm not crazy excited....BUT It IS Hickman (who rarely disappoints me) and it's also Bryan Hitch (whose art was one of the first comics I ever read as a series comic consumer; AUTHORITY) and it's a min-series, so not a long commitment.

We'll see how it goes...and if I get the Ultimate X-Men....I might be into it.

The choice of these particular gents to do this particular project is interesting.
The Ultimate universe is memorable for some HUGE highs when it was introduced, and some really, really low lows as it progressed. It set the stage for the Avengers movie, but also had the Blob eat the Wasp, Wolverine sleep w an underage Jean, and other points of note.


Hickman's INFINITY story made some fun 'adjustments' to the Ultimate/1610 Reed Richards that i'd be very surprised if he didn't pick up again in a new Ultimate story. That said, Miles Morales has made a firm jump to 616... on one hand flipping him back to 1610 is a logical way to bring in eyeballs, but on the other a step backwards and a risk to his status in 616. Rumours - unproven but not unlikely - are that since Marvel just introduced a very white Spider-Boy, they want Black Spider-Man out of the picture... which seems utterly backwards w the next Miles-centric SPIDER-VERSE film a month away and a 'part 2' sequel to follow.

The Hickman - Hitch pairing is interesting... Hickman is arguably at the height of his fame right now after the Xbooks reboot, tarnished somewhat by the way he gave up control over the story because it was so successful (and is now kind of suffering without his coordination) and Marvel decided not to let it end. Hitch... in his own social media feeds lament that from a massive career high post AUTHORITY he hasn't seen the success he feels he should have. He's still an immense talent from what i've seen of his recent work. This has the potential to be a masterwork by two great talents, or a really sad low.

[QuickTidal]

Hitch’s problem is deadlines. His art is spectacular…but he’s DEEPLY slow at it. There are so many series he started but couldn’t finish because the book timeline got well away from him. And others he started and never finished.

He’s. Phenomenal artist….but he has to work at his own pace and that absolutely RUINS his chances of ever being as big as he was back in the day. The big 2 expect you to keep up to monthly deadlines, and Hitch has proven time and time again that he can’t.

He was meant to be the pencils on PLANETARY when it was conceived by Ellis…but the company balked due to the length of time they knew he needed and hired Cassaday instead….which worked out cause Cassaday’s pencils on PLANETARY are exquisite.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 04 May 2023 - 07:10 PM, said:

...Hickman's INFINITY story made some fun 'adjustments' to the Ultimate/1610 Reed Richards that i'd be very surprised if he didn't pick up again in a new Ultimate story. ...

Preview pages are up and yah, called it. The Maker is right there dissolving people. Curious whether he's the Big Bad or just a gateway villain to someone bigger.

QuickTidal, on 04 May 2023 - 07:23 PM, said:

Hitch's problem is deadlines. His art is spectacular…but he's DEEPLY slow at it. There are so many series he started but couldn't finish because the book timeline got well away from him. And others he started and never finished.

He's. Phenomenal artist….but he has to work at his own pace and that absolutely RUINS his chances of ever being as big as he was back in the day. The big 2 expect you to keep up to monthly deadlines, and Hitch has proven time and time again that he can't.

He was meant to be the pencils on PLANETARY when it was conceived by Ellis…but the company balked due to the length of time they knew he needed and hired Cassaday instead….which worked out cause Cassaday's pencils on PLANETARY are exquisite.

You're right. I'd agree on PLANETARY that worked out for the best, not the least bcs it made the art style distinct from THE AUTHORITY. Some irony re delays, but from what i understand most of that was Ellis being ill, and Cassady finding other work during the interval.


Hitch's work so far is looking good.

I am curious where Marvel thinks they're going w this Ultimate Universe revival. I remain suspicious it's just a sneaky/not-so-sneaky way to get Miles out of the way without damaging the Spiderverse movie side of things, or possibly set up another mega crossover...
ULTIMATE INFINITY WAR OF THE INFINITE ULTIMATES!




In other news my AXE Judgement War prep read took me down the rabbithole of Jason Aaron and co.'s AVENGERS / AVENGERS FOREVER run. I've seen a lot (seriously a LOT) of commentary slamming this. I enjoyed Aaron's THOR run so was curious what the fuss was about. I'm liking it. The line-up is solid, the 'new history' tieing most of the cast to proto-Avengers from 1million BC works well enough, the action scenes are fun and the lineup of villians are good. There is an element of 'i've seen this before' that keeps this firmly in like not love zone for me... Namor declaring war on the surface world, Celestials doing Celestial things, villains who are alt-multiverse versions of the ones we know... none of this is remotely new. As far as 'new' goes, having She-Hulk Hulk out further was ... a choice. Having Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider join was good but trying so very very hard to make him important was not. Phoenix... no one needed the Phoenix back again... no one at all. Black Panther in charge works but putting the Avengers under Wakanda and actively split from the US seems too blunt. Blade on the team... look Dracula and the Vampire Nation have a place in the MU and i don't think it's in Avengers comics, but as an excuse to bring Blade in i can let it go bcs Aaron clearly enjoys writing the character in the 'team psychopath' role and Logan Wolverine is busy in six other titles anyways. I do like the new and blatantly artificial Squadron Supreme as opponents. The Winter Guard are always fun. And Mephisto going full active villain is a nice change from his usual behind-the-scenes role.
I'm appreciating my Marvel Unlimited subscription this month.

[T77]

Abyss, on 12 May 2023 - 02:05 PM, said:

In other news my AXE Judgement War prep read took me down the rabbithole of Jason Aaron and co.'s AVENGERS / AVENGERS FOREVER run. I've seen a lot (seriously a LOT) of commentary slamming this. I enjoyed Aaron's THOR run so was curious what the fuss was about. I'm liking it. The line-up is solid, the 'new history' tieing most of the cast to proto-Avengers from 1million BC works well enough, the action scenes are fun and the lineup of villians are good. There is an element of 'i've seen this before' that keeps this firmly in like not love zone for me... Namor declaring war on the surface world, Celestials doing Celestial things, villains who are alt-multiverse versions of the ones we know... none of this is remotely new. As far as 'new' goes, having She-Hulk Hulk out further was ... a choice. Having Robbie Reyes Ghost Rider join was good but trying so very very hard to make him important was not. Phoenix... no one needed the Phoenix back again... no one at all. Black Panther in charge works but putting the Avengers under Wakanda and actively split from the US seems too blunt. Blade on the team... look Dracula and the Vampire Nation have a place in the MU and i don't think it's in Avengers comics, but as an excuse to bring Blade in i can let it go bcs Aaron clearly enjoys writing the character in the 'team psychopath' role and Logan Wolverine is busy in six other titles anyways. I do like the new and blatantly artificial Squadron Supreme as opponents. The Winter Guard are always fun. And Mephisto going full active villain is a nice change from his usual behind-the-scenes role.
I'm appreciating my Marvel Unlimited subscription this month.

I agree. His run got a lot of hate. But overall I enjoyed it. As with all Aaron I've read, his runs are a bit uneven, stuff I like, others not so much. This was no different.

[Salt-Man Z]

As a big She-Hulk fan, I was not happy with what I heard Aaron was doing with her. That said, I own almost the entire Aaron Avengers run, so I'm looking forward to getting into it to make my own judgement.

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 22 May 2023 - 07:23 PM, said:

As a big She-Hulk fan, I was not happy with what I heard Aaron was doing with her. That said, I own almost the entire Aaron Avengers run, so I'm looking forward to getting into it to make my own judgement.

It's not as dire as some reports make it, and there's more going on than the simple 'SHE HULK SMASH (THEN SUCK FACE WITH THOR)' the usual suspects were ranting about.

This seems to be typical for Aaron's run... people nitpicking their hates and ignoring the larger story where the thing they hate either fits or at least works.

Am in the finale stretch now, i think maybe four floppies to go, am VERY invested in seeing how it ends. ...also also slightly annoyed as how they structured this with two parallel series and some one-shots, but at least it's all part of the story and not just peripheral money grab garbage.

[Abyss]

I did not realize the last two issues of the massive Avengers Assemble story i've been reading are not yet on the app.
I am literally in the middle of the great big finale fight to save the universe just when everything looks bad for the good guys.


Crap.

I will not pirate comics it is wrong and cheats creators who are utterly underpaid i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics
i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics
i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics
i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics i will not pirate comics

[JPK]

I decided I wanted to read something that is good high quality material. I then proceeded to browse the selection at my local bookstore for an hour and come up empty.

All is this is to say that I'm rereading East of West and it's some seriously top-shelf stuff even on a reread.

[JPK]

I'm still working my way through my reread of East of West and I've made it back to Vol 5 now. I had forgotten just how excellent this particular volume is. The Widowmakers revelation as well as the bath scene are just really well done storytelling and absolutely gorgeously done art.

If you haven't read East of West yet, do yourself a favor and add it to your list asap.

[Tiste Simeon]

I don't know if this is the right thread but...

I just finished reading the Joe Nobody vs Elan webcomic, a true story about a guy who was put through a behavioural school in the US. And it is utterly horrifying. The school relied on extreme abuse and punishment for their methods and "Joe" goes into quite some detail about how repulsive it was there.

It is very long (97 chapters) but it is so worth it, no matter how uncomfortable and upsetting it gets. It's all true as well.

Chapter 1:
https://elan.school/rude-awakening/