[T77]

Thanks for the impressions Abyss. Just re-subbed to MU, will be checking some of those out. I picked up where I left off with XMen, 11 or so, and the issue was excellent.

[Abyss]

I hope you enjoy. I am realy loving this current binge back into the xbooks.

Wrapping up X FACTOR just ahead of the Hellfire Gala xover, we move along to
S.W.O.R.D. .
And wow the current crop of xwriters are having a bast and a half w the extended cast list. Up in space on a sword shaped space station geosync'd above Krakoa, representing the Mutant Nation in matters interstellar... the concept alone is glorious whe Marvel has such a rich cosmic setting to work with, but the cast....
Abigail Brand, sure, she's a mutant, has the history but is enough of a blank slate they can do anything they want; Lil' Cable, Marvel wants him on teams, so on teams he goes,,, but then...
Risque and Random.. barely b-list 90s Xforce n XFactor characters w tonne of potential, Wiz Kid... i HATED the original Fallen Angels LS, and even so i am psyched to see Taki back and levelled up... and then Marvel just reaches into my long time disillusioned xbooks fan soul and gives me Gateway! Blink! Armor! Manifold!... and the mandatory sort of reformed baddies... Frenzy! Cortez! Vanisher! Peeper FFS THE BROUGHT BACK PEEPER. And drop Magneto into the middle of it all just for shits n giggles.
And the giggles... Magneto utterly disses Cortez then gives Peepers the full old friend brother in arms treatment and i am dying this is Claremont-level subtext and humour.


Onwards...

[Abyss]

Continuing w the REIGN OF X period with WOLVERINE... it's Wolverine vs Dracula and other vampires and it's mostly boring. There's a fun Omega Red subplot but most of it reads like filler... Wolverine isn't going to die and neither is Dracula and their confrontation when it happens is weak.. i've read better Wolverine fights against nameless thugs. Meh. Too bad because the core idea of the rise of Krakoa prompting the vampires to become active and aiming towards a conflict with the mutant nation is solid, but this Dracula is barely a trope and his minions are worthless and Wolverine isn't so much wasted as just killing time (and vampires) til something more interesting comes along. I swear they wrote in a near exact same fight in a barn three times in four floppies.

On to CHILDREN OF THE ATOM...

[Abyss]

Wait.... X OF SWORDS.. i forgot to cover X OF SWORDS.
X OF SWORDS happened. it was an xbook xover. Some of it involved swords. Those fights were cool. We got a pile of new characters from Arakko and I hope some of them stick around.
Gorgon had an epic moment. So did Storm, Wolverine, and Magik.
The rest was silly. The plot was contrived nonsense. The contest itself rendered useless when the xmen say 'oh fuckit' and just invade to stop the invasion because reasons.

[Abyss]

CHILDREN OF THE ATOM was not bad. None of the action beats or character swerves were all that original, but the underlying plot twist
...i'll block this even tho it's been widely spoiled for months now...

Spoiler

...that the team or teens are all humans using found alien tech to pretend to be the mutants they wish they were...

...is well done and plays nicely into an otherwise unexplored element of Hickman's Krakoa era. The writing is good, the characters are mostly types we've seen before but not bad examples at all.
The end feels a bit rushed, but i can see why this went from an ongoing to an LS with potential for more. It doesn't scream MORE. It seems like a couple of more floppies would have been enough.
I wouldn't mind seeing these characters again in their own series or as part of an xmen story.

WAY OF X - This was marketed as Nightcrawler leading a team of teleporters - Blink, Loa, Pixie - as he tries to something something belief mutant religion god something something. The team is barely a background element, this is all about Kurt's crisis of faith, and he mostly comes across as conflicted an way way older than the characters that are supposed to be his team. Also, Pixie has come a long way from this. Blink... i suppose she's intended to be the 616 version and not the experienced leader from the Age of Apocalypse that she was in EXILES, so fine.
Also, Legion - not dead, again - shows up and drops ugly hints that Onslaught - also not dead, again - is back. Again.
I hope this picks up.... Nightcrawler deserves a cool ongoing. Only three floppies in the REIGN OF X phase.

XCORP had all of one floppy during REIGN and it was meh. Great concept - Archangel and Monet running a corporation pursuing mutant interests, but both leads are written in almost entirely new ways, and whatever they are doing is unclear.. not in the big plot yet to be revealed, but in panel by panel i'm not sure what these people are doing. Could get better, the parts are all there.

And thus end REIGN OF X. As a transition from the X of Swords crossover to the next big thing it was ok enough. Some titles are nailing it, some less so, that's to be expected. Next up are the HELLFIRE GALA followed by TRIAL OF MAGNETO. At least three months til GALA is complete on the MU app.



Also read something call SHADOW WALK - a Mark Waid written indy thing that's a cross between ALIENS and Van de Meers' ANNIHILATION and... i dunno, maybe M Knight Shyamalan's SIGNS.
It's meh. Team of soldiers and scientists and a priest on mission into strange area where weird things happen. Inconsistent art, incomplete /unclear sequences, weird jumps in storytelling, underlying message about 'belief' is kind of smushed in for the sake of having an underlying message.


Now on the N K Jemisin's Green Lantern series FAR SECTOR. Am psyched for this!

[T77]

Reading Far Sector too, only read the first issue, but I've heard great things about the series.

Been addicted to comics lately, subbed to MU and DC Infinite and I can't stop reading every night.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 27 October 2021 - 02:43 AM, said:

...

Now on the N K Jemisin's Green Lantern series FAR SECTOR. Am psyched for this!

T77, on 27 October 2021 - 02:22 PM, said:

Reading Far Sector too, only read the first issue, but I've heard great things about the series.

Been addicted to comics lately, subbed to MU and DC Infinite and I can't stop reading every night.

Hit floppy #6 last night. This is good comics. Very much a Green Lantern as cop type story (on a massive Dyson sphere world where three races biohacked their own emotions to keep from killing each other.
The new GL is solid. Jemisin is characteristically creative here, the world is interesting, the characters diverse and engaging, she even does interesting things with the ring... it's still incredibly powerful but not sheer Hal Jordan / John Stewart fighting armadas level and this forces protag Sojourner to be a different kind of Lantern, more cop and diplomat than powerhouse (but also powerhouse).

[T77]

Going to bump this higher on my queue Abyss. All but one issue is on DC Infinite for those that might want to jump in. The last issue (12) should be there soon. The monthly sub is 7.99. It's also all on Hoopla.

[Abyss]

No DC Infinite in Canada (dammit) and my local Hoopla doesn't carry comics (dammiter).

I have 1-12, am at issue 8... i know 1-12 are supposed to be an arc with a conclusion, but i know... i KNOW Jemisin and Campbell and co are going to murder the keep reading hook at the end of this.

[T77]

As far as I know, this was always planned as a 12 issue series. I hope it sold well so we see more.

Sorry that there is no DC Infinite in CA. Hopefully they get there soon.

[Abyss]

T77, on 28 October 2021 - 06:11 PM, said:

As far as I know, this was always planned as a 12 issue series. I hope it sold well so we see more.

Sorry that there is no DC Infinite in CA. Hopefully they get there soon.

Ah, for some reason i thought it was an ongoing. I suspect we'll see a Vol. 2.
Got to the explanation for the ring... damn, that IS a game changer. I'm surprised DC allowed it.

[T77]

I think this is Jemisin's first comic. They probably figured a 12 issue run was a good trial for her.

[Abyss]

Makes sense and likely fits with the time commitment she could make around her writing and now the BROKEN EARTH series in dev.

I need to google some of the background to this, am curious who approached who, who suggested a GL story, etc.

Considering how quickly they rushed out the tpb on the heels of 12 i suspect DC was happy with the numbers. They should market the hell out of that for the holidays... a complete and self contained green lantern story is money to be made even before we get to Jo being bi and following on the recent Jon Kent thing,

[T77]

As mentioned, I've been reading a lot of comics lately. I'll update today the non-DC and Marvel stuff. All of these were recommended by Vince B from the 11 O'Clock Comics podcast. Which is, IMO, the best comics podcast. All of these are available on Hoopla - sorry Abyss.

Magic by Jed McKay from Boom Studios. Yes, this is a Magic the Gathering comic. I've been reading the single issues as they're released on Hoopla, and I'm enjoying it.

Proctor Valley Road by Grant Morrison and Alex Child from Boom Studios. This is a five issue mini that takes place in the 1960s and is a horror/monster tale. I'm guessing Morrison more oversaw this than wrote it. That said, I liked this much more than I thought I would.

White Ash by Charlie Stickney from Scout Comics. The first 20% or so I thought was a bit slow and I considered shelving it. But I trust Vince's judgement and persevered. Glad I did, as once you find out what's going on it turns awesome. Highly recommended. Can't wait for volume 2.

[Abyss]

Just Finished FAR SECTOR, by NK Jemisin and A Campbell and co and HOLY FUCKLANTERNS DID I JUST READ THAT?

Great story, Green Lantern digging deep into the sf peacekeeper cops in space aspect. Brilliant setting, glorious characters, Jo Mullein the new GL is an absolute treasure and the supporting cast is great and the action is what I want to see when a power ring wielder unleashes whupass on aliens, the aliens are nicely alien but human enough, and the pacing... flawless use of the 12 floppy format. Great art. Great comics. Jemisin should write all the comics.
Recommended.

[Abyss]

Just finished Ta-Nahis Coates and co's BLACK PANTHER: THE INTERGALACTIC EMPIRE OF WAKANDA.

Solid. 24 issues, good storyline that moves forward steadily. The core plot, that Wakandan space explorers set up a space empire that the Black Panther knew nothing about until he discovered it by accident and ended up a mindwiped rebel, is great comics and great sf. None of it is wildly novel, i never thought that key cast members were in jeopardy, and they were never going to wipe out Wakanda, but the extended cast is definitely at risk and the stakes felt high even if the status quo was unlikely to change by the end. A pile of Marvel heroes make fairly gratuitous guest appearances but Storm absolutely shines in this.
Terrific sf and superhero and mystical action sequences gloriously drawn.

It's on the MU app, worth a look.

[T77]

Abyss, on 29 November 2021 - 07:57 PM, said:

Just finished Ta-Nahis Coates and co's BLACK PANTHER: THE INTERGALACTIC EMPIRE OF WAKANDA.

Solid. 24 issues, good storyline that moves forward steadily. The core plot, that Wakandan space explorers set up a space empire that the Black Panther knew nothing about until he discovered it by accident and ended up a mindwiped rebel, is great comics and great sf. None of it is wildly novel, i never thought that key cast members were in jeopardy, and they were never going to wipe out Wakanda, but the extended cast is definitely at risk and the stakes felt high even if the status quo was unlikely to change by the end. A pile of Marvel heroes make fairly gratuitous guest appearances but Storm absolutely shines in this.
Terrific sf and superhero and mystical action sequences gloriously drawn.

It's on the MU app, worth a look.

Agree Abyss, though I've only read to issue 13.

I highly recommend the 5 issue series Beta Ray Bill by Daniel Warren Johnson. I heard great things about it, but the first issue was just OK, but I stuck with it. Glad I did. It's on MU - this is a must read!

Having never heard of Daniel Warren Johnson, so I checked if he had anything else on Hoopla. There is, I'm almost done with volume one of Extremity, and it's a real good science fiction comic. I will be reading more from him.

This post has been edited by T77: 02 December 2021 - 12:58 AM

[Abyss]

Comics legends oh fuckit COMICS GOD George Perez announced today that he has untreatable pancreatic cancer and has been given six months to a year to live.
He drew this....



....and so much more and ....
Dammit.

Also, an incredibly nice person. He drew this...

Spoiler

...and at the request of a fan at a con he did this...

Spoiler

Dammit.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 08 December 2021 - 05:02 AM, said:

Comics legends oh fuckit COMICS GOD George Perez announced today that he has untreatable pancreatic cancer and has been given six months to a year to live.

Dammit.

One of my faves (EDIT: one of the greats, possibly THE greatest in fact...), and the fact that he has exactly what my mom has and has been given the same timeframe for survival...fuck me that hits close to home.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 08 December 2021 - 02:39 PM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 08 December 2021 - 02:29 PM, said:

Abyss, on 08 December 2021 - 05:02 AM, said:

Comics legends oh fuckit COMICS GOD George Perez announced today that he has untreatable pancreatic cancer and has been given six months to a year to live.

Dammit.

One of my faves (EDIT: one of the greats, possibly THE greatest in fact...), and the fact that he has exactly what my mom has and has been given the same timeframe for survival...fuck me that hits close to home.

Thought of your fam when the announcement hit. Hope you're all hanging in there.