[mxlm]

Falco;151278 said:

Sucks. I didn't even realise they'd gone under till I tried the website printed in the books and got one of those domain-selling sites. Reading the Wikipedia article was a sucker-punch.

If it makes you feel better, some company (checker book publishing, whoever the hell they are) bought up the rights, and at the very least will be making all the Crossgen stuff available again in TPB form (including some stuff that either wasn't published or was only published in floppy/single/pamphelt form). Not sure if they intend to continue the series or do new work with the ip, though.

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Yeah, I've finished Identity Crisis. Thought the twist was acceptable, even if nothing special. It worked in the story.

What I found amusing was that I saw the twist telegraphed (er, foreshadowed) early on in the series, but assumed there was no way they'd make that the twist, so I ignored the telegraphing. Oops. Could've been just me, but the ending annoyed me as much as the ending of Gemmel's Dark Moon, and that's saying something. As for the rest of the series, the first few issues were fairly strong, but it went downhill, IMO.

Infinite Crisis was just incoherent. Tried to cover too many bases all at the same time, didn't do a good job with any of 'em. That, and it seemed to have a bodycount quota ("okay, I want x millions of civvies and y number of heroes to die each issue; get to it").

[polishgenius]

I'm a DC man myself, though so far I've mainly focused on their Wildstorm stuff, until the last two weeks when I bought some JLA stuff and the Crises. I do like the 'more realistic' Marvel way, but the archetypal stance in the DCU appeals to the same bit that makes me love a certain series of novels so much. My sister's into Marvel though, so I do get to read some of their stuff.

stone monkey said:

Superboy punches the universe? Good grief!

That's actually the worst explanation for anything ever, but in the defence of Geoff Johns, it wasn't actually in the main IC event, or indeed the companions, so he didn't write it. I think it was just thrown in afterwards by a DC editor who thought it was an easy cop to explain continuity changes.


Also, I bought the first trade of Astro City the other day. It's wicked.

[stone monkey]

I love Astro City, I have the floppies of the first mini-series (which is probably the trade you have) and a couple of the others. The Samaritan/Winged Victory date story is truly a thing of beauty.

[polishgenius]

Aye, that's the one. I might have to order the second of t'internet (because my local shop takes a bit to get them in and only has the last three) but I'll certainly be getting them in.
That story is pretty cool. I love the way the whole thing's written.

[polishgenius]

Sneaky bump disguised as a reiteration of my admiration for Astro City now that I have the first four TPBs.
Cunning, eh?

[Illuyankas]

HERE COMES THE NIGHT TRAIN

So, so awesome.

[polishgenius]

I got and read Jeff Smith's Bone t'other week, the full volume, it's rather good. Manages to be both humorous and a proper (if rather slight) fantasy story, and I like muchly.
It's uncoloured, am I missing much for not seeking out the coloured rereleases?

[stone monkey]

Good bump. I should've done one myself.

Anyway, those of you who haven't bought the floppies of All Star Superman (And you know who you are!) have no excuse now as the first 6 issues are out as a collection. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely provide sheer comics goodness.

The Authority (the new one that is) also written by Grant Morrison (if I were a girl, I'd have his babies - and then cheat on him with Warren Ellis...) is shaping up well despite having a release schedule that, annoyingly enough, appears to be quarterly.

Speaking of Mr Ellis, his new joint for Marvel newuniversal, which is a reimagination of their New Universe project from the early 90s, is also shaping up quite well. It's only available as floppies at the moment but I suspect it will eventually be released as a collection. We should also mourn the demise of NextWave, which was too good for this world...

Has anyone read any of the Battle Angel Alita stories. I just scored an old collection (Angel of Destruction iirc) and am not sure whether I like it or not. Are the others worth reading?

[polishgenius]

I don't collect floppies, alas and alack. Too fragile and too expensive considering the content for me.
I am considering picking up the All Star Superman trades. I don't usually like Superman much because he's either used to his (physical) potential and overwhelms the story, or held back and is bland. But Morrison's great, the art looks nice (Quietly seems to have finally figured out how to draw people using his style) and it's entirely unconstrained by the strictures of being within the main DCU, which means he can be occasionally unleashed in stories designed to sustain that sort of thing...

I also got the first two trades of Manhunter at the same time as Bone, and I like, though the second volume's tying in to the whole omac thing was forced and unnecessary.

[Tsundoku]

I didn't mind the Marvel Civil War stuff. Gave us a look at a situation where neither side was completely right or completely wrong, but it was those differences that led to Shit Happening. Best Marvel stuff in ages.

A mate of mine is a big collector, and was pleasantly surprised by the Birds of Prey (DC) stuff. So was I, actually - and not just because of the artwork.

Cheers,

La Sombra, Mmmmmmmm ... Huntress ...

[mxlm]

If Civil War was the best Marvel stuff in ages, then...

hmm. Actually, I was going to make a cutting comment, and then I thought about Avengers Disassembled, The Other, and so on. Nevermind. You're right. It is the best Marvel stuff in ages, but that doesn't mean it's good.

I submit: http://the-isb.blogspot.com/2007/02/civil-...30-seconds.html

Spoilers, but frankly, you're better off not spending the money/time on it anyway. IMO.

[iscariot]

I'll third or fourth [whatever] Transmetropolitan - especially Spider's cat...

Can I also note:

Fables - a few weak bits, but overall, very cool

Matt Wagner's - Mage Series; The Mage Discovered and The Mage... err... Defined [I think] -there's supposed to be a third series but no sign of it...

There's a Two, Two-Issue Series called Tongue Lash by (iirc) Rene and Jean-Marc L'officier - it's set in ancient Mayan times and combines mysticism and sarcifice and sex and a detective agency...it's very cool; the art style is similar to the work that Moebius does.

[Morgoth]

I thought fables suffered quite bad from the awfull ending syndrome that a lot of series of graphic novels seem to struggle with.

Btb, if one were to want to read something from marvel, but not relly knowing anything about the universe apart from that which one has picked up through movies and other aspects of popular culture.. Where should one start?

[stone monkey]

To be honest I wouldn't start reading any Marvel Universe stuff ,if I were you, (616 that is - and yes I do know that I'm great big geek) there's far too much historical baggage (I mean, there are X-Men sub plots that are 4 decades old ffs). Your best bet is probably the Ultimate Universe stuff IMO (Ultimates 2 has just finished...*sigh* finally) as there's less backstory.

If you were going to read a mainstream MU title, I'd recommend The Immortal Iron Fist which is insane kung-fu goodness, and surprisingly central to the post Civil War Marvel Universe (sort of, the character is a memeber of the underground New Avengers). Lovely art too.

[polishgenius]

The Ultimates universe would be a good place to start, being a seperate universe started a few years ago for that very reason. Basically pick any Ultimate line that interests you. Other than Ultimates - the Avengers of that universe - being brilliant, I haven't read much of it. Ultimate Spiderman's meant to be fairly good, and X-men's also meant to be okay, but I've only read small parts of either. Enjoyable enough. Don't know about the rest.

Also, my sister collects Astonishing X-men and Amazing Spider-man from the main universe, having not read any Marvel previous.

Edit, hah, beaten to it.


Also, I agree with Stone Monkey. Nextwave is far too good!

[mxlm]

Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimate Spiderman are all solid. I'd stay away from Ultimate Fantastic Four, but YMMV.

As far as 616, start with Ennis' Punisher stuff. Can't go wrong with that. Also Bendis' Daredevil, Brubaker's Captain America. Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

I'd recommend avoiding the mainstream crossover stuff (House of M, Avengers Disassembled, Civil War, Planet Hulk, World War Hulk, Annihilation, etc), as it's been mediocre at best. Not worth paying for, at any rate.

[stone monkey]

I suspect World War Hulk is going to be immense fun,and the Mark Millar run and the first part of Mike Carey's run on UFF were quite enjoyable.

I see another fan of The ISB

[Tristan]

Also try Criminal and Powers, which are published by Marvel but have nothing to do with the Marvel Universe. Also look for Nextwave in tpb, it's great!

[mxlm]

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I suspect World War Hulk is going to be immense fun

Could be, but the setup makes me cringe.