Maritimus

Mushrooms, huh? :) Have you ever tried reading some of the more out-there stuff like The Invisibles, while under the influence? Or anything for that matter? I know Morrison was tripping a lot during the period of writing that book. Wonder if 'shrooms gave you some extra insight into the story.

Why don't you ship them there sea-mail, it takes 3 months but is quite cheap?.

 

Possessions end up possessing you. :)

I don't want to be shipping them back and forth if i end up going back to NY in a few months. I will send some money over and ask someone to do it if i get stuck in Poland.

slink - never had to leave so much stuff before. it's a bit tough, but also a bit liberating, isn't it?. Too bad now i can't get new things here, because comic book market doesn't exist in Poland anymore. There are a few trades here and there but 4X the normal price like it was some rare Michaelangelo prints not comic books.

I just moved from New York to Poland for at least a while, and had to work really hard on which books i can take with me. Had to leave all my Transmet, Hellblazers, big ones like From Hell, Kirby's Cap essential, Martha Washington, Sin City, Dark Knight Returns.. boy does it suck :)

Agreed on 100 Bullets being absolutely dope. I just read through the first couple of trades again, and they worked better for me the second time around, since i know who the characters are, so there is less confusion. Pretty much perfect comics.

Have you guys read Harbringer yet? It is the most phenomenal beginning of a story i read in years. Grab issue #1 while it's still hot on the shelves. I picked it up by chance after flipping through the first few pages, hoping it would be good, and holy shit, I'm in. It's written by Joshua Dysart, who quietly is doing some great stuff. I believe he alson wrote The Unknown Soldier, which, well, is unknown to me, but i think it's time to find it.

That's more like it. A solid opening chapter of the storyline, which promised nothing but pain. For some reason though, all the pieces clicked here and the characters felt real, John seemed like himself, his exchanges with Epiphany realistic and interesting, art had a nice rough edge to it, fitting the grim, moody story. I really liked the scene where John is asking around the protest site, and people give their responses, they ring true, the activist guy, the old lady.. They only appear in one panel each but seem like people who could exist.

I'm not getting my hopes up for the rest of the arc, but this was a good issue. For some reason I got a "all his engines" vibe from it. a Constantine story done right. Gets an 8 from me

Lance Henriksen is writing a comic book!! It's called "To Hell You Ride" and is published by Dark Horse. How awesome is that? :)

My link

I do realize this info doesn't really fit here, but it doesn't anywhere else either, so per the invitation in this thread's title..

I think you will not be disappointed.. The only problem i can think of is that it is an ongoing story and the trade does not wrap the arc, but there's plenty to enjoy in the meantime. That said, each issue has a little theme or a little story to it, it's not like Azz is taking advantage of the format and writes for the trade. Also, issue 7 kicks ass, so keep reading after you finish the trade..

Has anyone mentioned how good Azzarello's Wonder Woman is? I never gave a shit about the character, couldn't even imagine caring about her story, but hearing all the good things, I picked up the singles from the local library. What can I say? Azzarello clearly hit his stride as a writer, showing just how versatile he is. We have all the wordplay that can be expected from Azz, but he doesn't overdo it, the characters and the story are the real meat and bones. I won't spoil anything, but Wonder Woman has more in common with Sandman than 100 Bullets. The art by Cliff Chiang is smooth and a perfect pairing to the story Azzarello is telling. Seriously, give it a chance

Yeah, I was just going to mention Starlin! I haven't read much of his work, but i found a book in Barnes and Noble's, it had his art and interviews, and i wrote down a bunch of titles to seek out. Warlock was one of them. His art is great, no one draws space beings quite like him, glad to hear the stories hold up. I can't find many good cosmic stories. Looking forward to reading Starlin.

He does, for a page or two, but there's more to it, and thinking about it really makes me question Peter's state of mind.. I respect the hell out of him, but what the hell was that? I would like to hear if anyone has any idea, I'm just baffled.

I hardly ever agree with the critics, but I'm genuinely surprised this movie got good reviews. From watching the trailers, and being a fan of Scott in general, i expected something more compact and focused, but this movie is just all over the place. The characters are inconsistent in their actions, and sometimes completely insane, the android being the best example. The biologist who is terrified of finding an alien dead body, all of a sudden decides that it's a cute thing to do to play with an alien cobra. There is just so many things that make no sense there.

It may be said that the recent Hellblazer issues felt like they were written by some 14 year old, but this one here is a whole new beast.. I would say that the person who wrote this is no more than 8.

In issue 292 Peter Milligan boldly explores new heights of incoherence. The story is hard to talk about, without the brain overheating from having to process this randomly put together, uninspired nonsense. I gotta give it to Pete though - he is onto something here. Not even grant Morrison was able to break the 4th wall in such an effective way. The horror in Milligan's Hellblazer stories leaks out to the reality, giving the reader a truly horrific experience..

Now, how can he possibly top that? Can he make something that makes even LESS sense, after writing something that makes no sense at all?

I guess we have to wait to find out - I know i can't wait to look forward to reading Hellblazer again!

The Biz artwork was really great here - but like with "Prometheus" - even the best looks can't make up for incoherent mess of a story.

Sorry i disappeared, busy, i appreciate the recommendations, will begin the hunt soon! Thanks for your extensive list Christian! I am wondering - has anyone read Roy Thomas' "Conan" with Barry Windsor Smith? Is it good? Also, never heard of Bill Mantlo.. i feel like I'm missing a big, good chunk of comics history. Steve Gerber - another one I'm hearing about everywhere, but never had a chance to read anything.

Just purchased something called "Negative Burn - The Best from 1993 - 1998", a collection of short stories with an indie flavor from the likes of Alan Moore, Darko Macan, Brian Bolland.. not sure if i'm enjoying it yet, but the Godzilla story by Moore is pretty funny.

If you could recommend a comic run or a storyline that you think is really great, but is nowadays largely overlooked or completely buried in the past, but you want people to find out about it, what would it be?

I find myself digging through the old issues of a lot of titles, whether it's trying to get into Denny O'Neill's and Ann Nocenti's Daredevil runs, or catching up on Judge Dredd.. there's just so much stuff out there. And these are just the obvious, classic ones. So, regardless of hype and how many issues it sold, what are some of the outstanding older titles you read and want to share the experience? I'm thinking 70s and 80s mostly, we all know what happened in the 90s.. and 00s i'm guessing we are mostly familiar with.

At one point Peter Milligan didn't even need a story to write like a person possessed. He could have written a dialogue between a dumpster and a toy car and still create something unique with multiple meanings and a dark sense of humor at the heart of it. He used to write poetry in a comic book form. Ridiculous poetry, but poetry. Now he lost his hunger, doesn't challenge himself anymore, doesn't really pursue any meaning in the actions of his characters. Maybe some writers just burn through their gasoline quickly. The great ones often do. Who knows.. It would be nice though if Milligan recognized that he isn't doing anything meaningful with Constantine, and just handed it over to someone who still cares.

I was hoping that the numbers are enough.. the 2 comments are just for flavor, one of which I am tasting right now :) (Blue Moon is a Belgian beer, the 10 is subjective here, but that's a part of the fun of starting a poll)

Ok, let the flagellation begin.. Vengeance can be sweet. Those who ever had a chance to get back at someone who did them harm will tell you.. Was Gemma's revenge sweet? She did get it, but was it a good? It was by-the-numbers. She put as much emotion into it as a surgeon does, while removing an appendix. It was not sophisticated. It was not emotional. It just kind of was. Did we feel bad for the twin? Yes, that was a waste of a perfectly good John Constantine cardboard cutout. It could have been used for advertising Hellblazer at the entrance of Midtown Comics, and now it's a mess.. It was an okay issue i guess, did not hate it. It just felt like a child of an Arizona couple that Pete described on the first page of The Enigma, where the parents are regurgitated, 3-rd generation Hellblazer cliches. The dialogue was somewhat enjoyable, but ultimately the whole thing felt a bit pointless. Pete! Stop doing those drugs. Or go back into doing them. Just write something that feels like you are trying.. God bless you.

That was a generalization on my part probably, I'm not reading enough of Vertigo series currently to form that opinion, I'm sure both are fine books. I just don't feel the urge to read them as much as I feel towards that first wave of the yearly 90s, for whatever reason.

And these are huge names spawning multiple books every month.. i hope Vertigo doesn't fall into a trap of publishing Hellblazer assuming that the readers are going to buy it out of sentiment for good old buddy John. I feel like Vertigo books used to be "about" something, some adult oriented issues, psychology of the characters. Nowadays it's more sex and violence approach

Yeah, that Punisher story (which i admittedly never read), but i don't think it's just one story that did that. Years of uninspired concepts and increasingly ridiculous scenarios, where the heart of the character gets lost, do that. Man, whatever happened to Pete Milligan who wrote Enigma.

Sometimes a character goes through a total collapse before being rebuilt.. it happened to the Punisher in the late 90s, Daredevil became a joke for a while.. maybe this is this for Constantine, or at least we are going towards something like that.. and hopefully someone who cares enough about John will come and breathe new life into him. for some reason Jeff Lemiere comes to my mind, he seems to have an affection for Constantine.. let's hope Milligan writes something truly awful soon, and after that Doug Moench comes around to deal the final blow. Turn John into a vampire and Chas has to kill him with a holy-death gun.

I think Carey clocked at 41 plus one issue after Mina. And All His Engines. Garth had 42 issue run i think, but then did Son Of Man which was another 5. I guess there is still hope for Pete to avoid the record. He is at 40 now, but with a new storyline kicking off 3 issues from now, i think he will get there. "Curse of the Constantines" somehow doesn't sound like a one-and-done :).

I wonder if we will really see the payoff to what The First plans for Terry.. That looked like a BIG plan on his strategy wall (or whatever that was..). It would be nice to have some closure to the setup, but surely Mr. Milligan must realize that with the upcoming arc, his run becomes the longest in the title's history.

A colossus with clay legs, is what this arc is. Milligan is trying hard to make the events appear dramatic and profound, but the plot holes are too jarring to allow for any serious drama. Why is John so adamant about not looking for Cheryl's child? Oh, because the lie in Hell was necessary to fuel the plot.. So who gives a shit - Terry died, Gemma is in a coma and John becomes pals with the First - Blood! Drama! Irony!. Who cares about some little sacrifice in the "character motivation" department. The quote at the end was forced and not earned at all, but rather quite an obvious device to make the reader think there's something DEEP happening. Just bring on the Werewolf Constantine already..

I recently bought the final missing trade as well with "The Entropy in the UK". I read the whole run once, but keep re-reading the trades in various order to try and piece the damn thing together in my head. I do love many of the individual stories. One thing that slightly bothers me is lack of a consistent artist who would create visual fluidity. Some characters keep looking different with every artist and with all the craziness of the storyline, I keep thinking "Who is this guy with the mustache? Did I see him before or is it a new character?". Great Bolland covers, he works so well off of Grant Morrison.