Maritimus

Something tells me I should read the Belgian comic XIII. Right?

I didn't read much of it, but there is another series by the same writer I can't recommend highly enough - Thorgal, it's really great story with gorgeous artwork..

There's no comic I enjoy reading more than Hellboy. The latest hardcover House of the Living Dead is the sequel to the excellent Hellboy in Mexico, a tale about demon fighting luchadores.

Same here, it's just crazy how consistently great it is, love Corben on the art. 15 bucks for 56 pages story though.. I might wait for the softcover

I like John Constantine being written as a person, a bullshitter, a big unknown that sometimes seems like just a regular guy, whatever you think of him, but a person. The way Milligan is portraying him recently is as one big stereotype, and that's one thing i don't think John should be. There's nothing wrong with how Milligan writes him, it's all true to the character, and i like quite a big chunk of his run, but somehow i don't feel like its fully Constantine, unless he got old and is now just a shadow of his former self :)

Some of the faces remind me of those computer animated television programmes. Plastic and false.

He uses Poser 3D software as a reference.

He really does it with pretty much every book - and sometimes it works really well.. I miss the way he handled Human Target in the first arcs. Some great scenes there when Chance impersonated the dead husband so the grieving wife could take her anger out on him. I guess what is lacking now is the psychology and emotion of his earlier work. I wonder what's the obsession there with the triangles.. He really boils it down to sex only these days. I know that i really don't care about horny Deadman, that's just silly and kind of disrespectful to people who are paying for the book.

Justice League Dark #2 felt like it was made out of scenes that didn't make it into first issue.. and for a good reason. Deadman wants to get laid for half an issue. Another variation of a bizarre sex triangle in Milligan's writing and boy, it's getting a bit old. Can someone please tell Pete to stay away from Constantine? "I will perform my dark magic now, ho ho. Pain and smoke.." It's not even funny anymore. The scene with John meant nothing and we saw it a 1000 times before. I try to see it as a way of introducing John to a group of new readers, but it doesn't seem to work that way either. This book made my brain hurt. Pretty art though.

Spaceman #1 by Azarello and Risso was quite good. The wordplay has always been a big part of Azarello's storytelling and here he goes even further with it than before. Interesting world, reminded me of movies by Jean-Pierre Jeunet like The City of Lost Children mixed with Total Recall. Curious to see where it goes

I really need to track down that Aliens story.. Is it an issue or a trade?

New Hellboy trade is out, The Bride Of Hell and Others, collecting the one-shots from the past two years, and it's just spectacular. Mignola's single stories reprinted here are some of the best Hellboy work in recent memory. Richard Corben, god damn, his storytelling is spotless. He seems to have adapted Mignola's style for Hellboy, a lot of shadows and objects strangely fading at the bottom.. Can't wait for their upcoming OGN. Dave Stewart on top of it, really makes for the most involving, elegant and creepy horror book out there.

For those who read and liked Alan Grant's work on Detective Comics with Norm Breyfogle.. Batman Retroactive 1990s one-shot.

A brand new story by the reunited team! There are plenty references to the classic run in this story, i really got a blast from reading it. There are many Batman cliches used here which is fun.. you will know what i mean when you see them. Alan Grant delivers a pro script and Breyfogle's art is amazing here. I always liked his work, but he took his storytelling to another level since. Apparently he has been illustrating Archie recently and some of that style carries through to this book, which is just awesome. I would read this Batman ongoing! In addition to the new story, there is a reprint of "Trash" included, which happens to be the very first Batman book i ever read.

Agreed on Transmetropolitan being a godly series, sublime transcendent excellence.. whatev, one of the best series ever.

On the occasion of an upcoming Frank Miller new graphic novel, I reached for Martha Washington, which got published in it's entirety by Dark Horsesome time ago, 600 hundred pages, an epic tale of a black girl's struggles during the second civil war in thr future America. I haven't seen it mentioned in a while, and this book is really great, Frank Miller madness up there with his best work. Dave Gibbons provides the art.

I thought Batman Inc 8 was rather excellent, what didn't you like about it? It was also a one and done story, with pretty much the same premise as #7 - a reimagination of Batman and exploration of themes it comes with. The art was drastically different, but served the story very well.

Speaking of Straczynski, Midnight Nation is really worth reading.. one complete story told in 12 issues, his most personal and perhaps finest work. It's THE story he wanted to tell, when he still cared about telling good stories. It's about a man called David, who walks through America to regain his soul after having it torn out. Accompanying him is a mysterious girl called Laurel who appears to be some kind of divine entity. The world they walk in is similar to ours, but not seen by us, populated by homeless, the lost and forgotten people. The story begins as a murder investigation, but like certain other book beginning in a similar way, has much more to offer. Real pain, real darkness of human existence, and a dim flicker of hope.. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Straczynski used a motif of a walk recently in Superman, maybe trying to tap into something that mattered to him once, before he became a Hollywood big-shot. What i read of it was preachy and pretty boring. Midnight Nation is much much better.

Did i mention that MN has gorgeous art by Gary Frank at his best?

Braithewaite drew a lot of (mostly dreadful) Punisher stuff in the '90s. Is he who you're thinking of here, or are you more taken with him drawing a decent story?

Perhaps but his recent art in general has been pretty damn good in my opinion.

He drew Ennis' Punisher MAX Mother Russia arc if you recall.

Sorry Rohne, I didn't realise what I meant wasn't clear when I was writing it last night.

Braithewaite did some fine illustrations for a lot of fairly dreadful Punisher scripts (some of which were so bad that they barely deserved art from Rob Leifeld, never mind Braithwaite, Marc Texeira or JRJR's early "bizarro Kirby" style) around the turn of the '90s.

 

Better now?

Police Action and Eurohit with Brithwaite on art were pretty damn good, just re-read the former one a few weeks ago, and it has some great moments. Unlike most of the Punisher stuff from that era (it was mostly Chuck Dixon if i remember properly), these two arcs were written by Abnett & Lanning.

I want to pick that up...does it matter if one does not read any other Flushpoint titles?

You don't need to know any other Flashpoint titles, it only involves the Batman universe, although an alternative version of it. And it is pretty good indeed.

Uncanny X-Force #11 - if i could only pick one book a month, this would be it. Not because i am a big X-Men fan, in fact I haven't read any x books since Claremont/Lee era, with the exception of Whedon's Astonishing. It was the art that made me buy issues 2-4, and than hunt for #1 which sold out, but i found the story interesting enough to continue my interest in the title.

At first it seemed like the premise of the title is short, self- contained stories with a big kill in the end, but i really like how Remender is starting to build up on the consequences of these actions and connect the arcs into a big story. He clearly found his place in Marvel, after The Punisher, which was fun, but not very consistent. Every issue of The Uncanny X- Force is just bursting with enthusiasm for the characters and content, the only one that didn't quite do it for me was the Magneto one, all the other ones are so much fun.

Even the parts that lean on the continuity don't really need the reader to know the details, Remender gives just enough of a summary, that one gets the idea and doesn't feel lost at all. I haven't read The Age of The Apocalypse, which is featured in the current storyline, but have no problem whatsoever enjoying the hell out of this book.

"Dark Knight, Dark City", I was so happy to see this reprinted, still reads great after so many years, a dazzling story, 3 issues that contain a year worth of someone else's story, with beautiful artwork by Kieron Dwyer. The Riddler is a real psycho here, sick and clever. Very well written Batman as well.

Speaking of Hellboy, does anyone know what's going on with the Trades?

It's been a while since the last edition was released, and according to Amazon, there aren't any more scheduled until the end of 2011...and that will be another short story collection.

Although, it does look like there's a Hellboy OGN coming towards December, with artwork by Corben, called The House of the Living Dead. There's no desciption of the book, but it's listed as a hardcover, and I can't figure out anything else it might be.

I'm not happy with this lack of collections.

They are releasing The Fury sometime soon, June I think, and it's the continuation of the 3 parter The Storm, as well as the conclusion of the big story that started when Fegredo took over the art, Darkness Calls, and especially the Wild Hunt. The Fury is 3 issues so most likely it will be combined with The Storm. There was a few one-shots with Corben along the way (Bride of Hell, the Mexico one, and the Double feature of Evil), they will probably get a separate trade.

I'm gonna have to check out 5 Ronin,Thanks Maritimus.

 

You are welcome. The issues can be read in random order, except part 5 because it works as a conclusion. I started with issue 4 and i think it's really a good place to begin, because it sets the tone for the whole story nicely, than i went to 3, 2 and 5. The earliest one happened to be the weakest (Hulk) of the lot, so i'm sort of glad i didn't start at the beginning.. Hope you enjoy.

 

Grant Morrison is so heavy I have to read all his stuff at once...just can't do it in doses. Really looking forward to this.

 

If only it wasn't so damn hard waiting for the trade.. in Batman case it took like 3 years to get to the conclusion of one huge story started in RIP.

Just finished the Final Crisis TPB, and what a great read it was, except for maybe the ending. What the fuck was that about?

 

You mean to tell me that Superman just wished for a happy ending and that's what happened? Or did we really pull ourselves into a nearby dimension, something like that of Earth Zero, and make it up from bits of time and history from other dimensional Earths? Wouldn't that sort of fuck up the other said Earths? Anyway, still loved the book, had a lot of cool moments like "Let me tell you about the first time I met Frankenstein." and just how bad ass Darkseid is (was) and the black Superman who is also President.

 

Now I'm off to read all of Morrison's Batman stuff.

Also.. Superman having to memorize all the parts of the God machine :) I think when he sings into the machine, he is supposed to recreate the order of the Universe, because it's based on rhythm, expressed as music.. Haven't got to the ending myself second time, but it's how i remember it..

That Batman run is epic, RIP is so much better in the trade as well.. it makes a whole lot of sense seen as a whole story. Although i am still confused by that part with the red and black tiles, it seemed like it was leading to some profound discovery. Joker saying "Now do you get it?" etc. Anyone know what that was about?

The final part of 5 Ronin did not disappoint, i didn't have big expectations from this series, but i picked it up and the last 3 issues (Punisher, Psylocke/Wolverine, Deadpool)were great. This one is a Deadpool issue, and i don't know anything about Deadpool (except spaced-out monologues from The Uncanny X-Force), but this was a cool spin on the character and a believable origin story within this world. The ending is hilarious, especially for Wolverine who

The other lives of the characters are well done, it's funny to hear Frank Castle utter words like

because this is excatly what Punisher would say, and we realize that's how the story HAD to end for him.

Each issue has a different tone, the Punisher one feels like a Punisher comic, Psylocke is quite dramatic, Deadpool is ridiculous and funny, but the story has unity and consistency. A fun book, especially if someone digs japanese samurai culture, Kurosawa and these characters well written by Pete Milligan and drawn by 5 very good artists.

I'm not sold on the new Earth elemental.

At least there's a new air elemental, as the old choice of Red Tornado never made any sense.

 

 

Spoil it for me brother, I ain't ever gonna read that shit.

 

I'm right in the middle of Final Crisis TPB and damn is it getting good; the falling of Darkseid*, resistance fighting back, the Flash, Superman in 4D!**

 

*and I love the way he phrases that with his falling actually being his rising/rebirth on Earth.

 

** I actually have the floppies and read them beforehand and out of context that was some confusing shit! (fuck, even in context really)

I re-read Final Crisis in the trade as well and it was sooo much better than in the issues, that Superman story blew my mind away with it's density and panels just bursting with concepts and HUGE ideas.. I skipped it completely the first time around, and since it introduces the main villan of Final Crisis, the ending of FC didn't work for me. I thought RIP and Final Crisis to be very chaotic as they were coming out, but read as a whole one can appreciate them as great stories they really are.

I picked up 5 Ronin #4 by Milligan and Parlov, haven't read any of the previous ones, only flipped through the Wolverine one and put it back with a "meh". This one focused on Psylocke, who is herself but in Feudal Japan and with no mutant powers, only the ability to read men through their behavior.

There was something very graceful and balanced about the story, maybe it's the butterfly motif, used in a nice poetic way. The stories of Wolverine and Psylocke have pain, anger and loss that feels real, both characters act in a way we can empathize with.

A fantastic issue, with art by Goran Parlov, who beautifully evoked the spirit of Japan with references to original Japanese art and strong body language. Loughridge on colors much better than buring his Hellblazer run.

yea, i thought the part where [ Spoiler : Michonne and Rick get captured by that other camp and what happens to them ] was seriously fucked up, then it got a little mellow, people talking about tomatoes and shaving, so you let your guard down and then.. BOOM.. not what you think.. [ Spoiler : delete.. goodbye Tyrese, Lori and the baby..goodbye everybody.. ] again, that was one intense read.. cant wait for the next ones

I finally got into the series, just finished reading the fourth hardcover, up to issue 48. Damn.. one of the most devastating and intense stories i have ever read or seen.. the moral ambiguity of the choices that Rick faces, the drama and sheer terror of some parts here are unbelievable..

 

Now, The Return of Bruce Wayne was really hit and miss.

Spreading the issues out before me now, the first issue didn't impress me, but the second issue drew me in.

The third issue (Black Pirate) was forgettable, but not horrible.

The fourth issue (Jonah Hex) was just plain boring. Don't go there again Morrison, it's not your thing.

But, the fifth and final issues really brought it all home. The fifth issue was great fun, really well done, and the final issue was Morrison at his best.

Read as a whole, it's probably read less than stellar (a few issues to slog through just to get somewhere interesting), but it's all worth it getting to the two end issues.

Now, we'll have to see what Morrison has in store for Batman: The Return.

Completely agree on that summary.. issue 5 was very good and it could have gone anywhere from there.. it went into the fantastic last issue. The end was more conclusive and gave more answers than i had anticipated reading the previous issues.

Animal Man was the top of Peter Milligan's game as well.

 

;-)

The Return of Bruce Wayne, although enjoyable, was in my opinion the weakest part of Morrison's Batman run.. it had it's good moments, but was uneven in the least and the changes in art didn't help.

Yet if you read the whole storyline, going back to R.I.P and some even older threads, you realize that we are dealing with something comparable to the Lord Of The freaking Rings in its scope! (if LOTR was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on drugs that is..)

I greatly appreciate most of Morrison's writing but i feel like he has become an even better storyteller recently.. he must have no life these days, judging by the amount of Batman stuff he's putting out

Yeah, that Milligan story was hilarious :)

I just read Incognito having taken ages to get #1 and that is some very good superhero comics.

 

Also read that Bruce Wayne Was Never Dead Anyway and it manages to remind me why I dislike the Grant Morrison comics you all seem to like.

A shame, because I quite enjoyed the Rick Veitch Swamp Thing rip-off.

Have you tried reading The Animal Man? That was the moment when I saw the Truth..