apart from the above which i read in a bookstore while waiting to go to a screening i have been too depressed to read any comics. instead i have been reading the Image: long road to independence book which is interesting albeit too fanboyish in many places and not really critical at all.
Too depressed? Maybe you’re reading the wrong comics.
Can anyone recommend any Hellblazer TPBs? I already have “All His Engines” and I don’t know what I should read next.
I just finished reading The Sentry 2000 TPB. Man, this was some great stuff. The story was slow-paced but it really worked for this type of plot. Gotta love the whole hoax story they cooked up with Wizard years ago. 
I wonder if Sentry: Reborn trade is worth the dough. I read issue 1 of 8 back in 2005 and I thought it was decent but I wasn’t really impressed.
I thought about buying another Death of Superman trade but I saw the $12.99 price on that sucker and said screw it. I still have my $4.99 copy that I got back in 1995. It may not be in perfect shape anymore but its in fair condition and the cover is still on it.
Next up, Batman: EGO and Other Tails.
All His Engines is one of my favorites, for sure. That’s a great one. I am pretty sure the rest of Mike Carey’s Hellblazer run is pretty kickass, but I haven’t read any of the TPBs yet. I think the first one of his run is Red Sepulchre, but I could be wrong, so check.
Dangerous Habits by Ennis is probably considered one of the definitive Hellblazer stories. The basic premise is that Constantine has lung cancer (too much smoking) but he doesn’t want to die. It’s pretty awesome because it basically shows you why Constantine is such a clever bastard. He really outplays demons and angels and it’s gotta be just the quintessential stories. Plus, Dangerous Habits is the first Ennis Hellblazer TPB and Ennis’ run has always been regarded as one of the best or maybe the best.
Hard Time by Azzarello and Richard Corben is pretty great, too. I can’t think of any other Americans who have written Hellblazer so it’s just cool to see Azzarello’s name on it. It’s different from most other Hellblazers I’ve read. This one is about John stuck in a prison. He uses his con man skills to work his way up the ranks and slyly fuck people over until he wins the Get Out of Jail card.
Empathy is the Enemy is another pretty amazing TPB. It’s the first arc by Denise Mina (she’s also a pretty amazing crime novelist). Also has art by Leo Manco from All His Engines, so it looks pretty great. This story arc is interesting because it’s John encountering his worst enemy: empathy, as you can surmise. It’s funny to see him struggle with the fact that he actually starts caring for things that aren’t self-centered, and he fights against that feeling, but he’s been cursed.
The first Hellblazer TPB I ever read was Haunted by Warren Ellis. Before I even knew that the “tine” in “Constantine” was pronounced with the long “i” sound, this book hooked me in. I mean, I haven’t even read THAT many Hellblazer comics, and there’s a lot of stories I never got around to reading because there’s just so many it’s overwhelming. But Haunted is a great standalone arc. It’s about John tracking down the murderer of an old friend, and what he does when he finds the killer. You know he’s gonna put a big hurt on the killer, too. It’s just got a great sense of build up and your anticipation gets rewarded pretty satisfyingly at the end.
Yup, good man. The original Sentry TPB is a really good Marvel. To quote Will Smith, “Parents just don’t understand.”
I just finished the first Conan TPB (The Frost Giant’s Daughter and other Stories). I love the art.
good stuff.
Yeah, I read that Conan TPB a few months ago (several pages ago?). That’s probably one of the best Busiek things I have read other than Astro City or Secret Identity. And the Cary Nord art was so cool. Like after that Conan came out, a bunch of other people started just drawing detailed pencils, skipping the inks, and going straight to colors. Looks nice, but I still think it works better with Conan than with Star Wars comics. Either that, or none of those other pencilers can compare to the Nord.
Thank you, sir. You are a treasure to the world of comicdom. I tip my hat to you.
Hey, I’m a comic newb who’s a DC fan. I’m trying to get into Marvel’s limited series but I can’t find many. Does Marvel do much of it or do they perhaps focus on their monthly issues? I mean, when I go to the comic book store I see all these DC TPB with original stories (especially the Batman ones), but there’s mostly re-released stuff on the Marvel shelf (like the Essential series).
I’ve read Civil War and Maximum Carnage though, and they were good. I might also get Earth X and Beyond!. So, any recommendations?
Edit: Man, there are also five TPB’s that I want and at the moment, I just have enough dough to get one: Miller’s Ronin, Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel, Identity Crisis, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth, or Green Lantern: Rebirth.
Marvel does a lot of miniseries. Most of them tend to be even more self-contained than DC’s books, particularly recent stuff.
Earth X is a very good read. There’s a buttload of characters and it can seem overwhelming, but I think the story is focused and it just makes for a whirlwind introduction to the Marvel Universe. And the art’s amazing, too. This is just something that will take you a couple hours to read, and it’s something you can reread over and over.
One book I’ll recommend without any reservations is Inhumans. http://www.amazon.com/Inhumans-Marvel-Comics-Fantastic-Four/dp/0785107533/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194922071&sr=8-2
Even if you’ve never given a crap about the Inhumans, this book will make you care. It’s not just the best comic Marvel ever published, it’s the best thing they’ve ever been involved with. I like to talk big.
I would say go for either Luthor: Man of Steel or Ronin. LL:MoS is one of my favorite Superman stories ever, and we’ve pimped it over in goody’s Superman thread. Ronin is just a classic Frank Miller comic - can’t go wrong with that. Plus, I think a movie’s in development, so if you read the comic now, you can show off your comics elitism to all your friends and acquaintances when the movie comes out.
Arkham Asylum is a classic but I’m just worried that it may break your mind. If you can handle Grant Morrison on dishwashing soap and Jiffy Lube, then it’s going to be the best Batman you’ll ever read.
GL: Rebirth is a nice story but it’s just not as amazing as the aforementioned three.
And I just have an intense personal bias against Identity Crisis. Most people seem to love it. I think it sucks. I don’t like the plot, I don’t like the climax, I don’t like the purpose of the story, I don’t like how it set up the direction of the DC Universe, and I think it’s pretentious as hell for a superhero story that tries to humanize the characters. Oh yeah, and the Deathstroke fight makes no sense. I was about to go off into a rant, but I think I’ll control myself for the moment.
Well I just finished reading Batman: Ego and Other Tails. Cooke is a legend. I officially delcare myself a huge fan of his work. I must read New Frontier and anything else he’s worked on.
Back to Essential Fantastic Four vol. 1. I read the first two issues. Issue 2 felt kinda weak, even for the Skrulls first appearence in the Marvel world.
Hey guys, amazon canada fish let it be known that dc is coming out the hardcover “deluxe” versions of Grant Morrison’s JLA run. All the specs arent known yet but it sounds really cool.
I needed to buy the just-released re-issue of Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1 so I did that and grabbed some other books I needed in the process: Art of Grendel hardcover, Green Lantern Corps vol. 2, Exterminators vol. 3, X-Factor visionaries vol. 3, Flash: Wonderland tpb, JLA Ultramarines (morrison jla classified + wildcats arc), Gunslinger Born PHC, AvP omnibus vol 2, and a few others
Yeah, I saw that JLA: Ultramarines TPB at the store today. They FINALLY got around to collecting his three issue arc from JLA Classified. Took forever. I thought about buying it but it was stinking 15 bucks. And I already have the JLA/WildC.A.T.s. (Which is basically Morrison cashing in the check in order to pay off the gold rims for his hovercraft. And the art sucks. People rag on Howard Porter’s JLA art, but the Val Semeiks art in JLA/WildC.A.T.s was truly bad.) It was already an expensive week for me with the new Ex MAAAACHINA!!!111 and the new LoEG.
Stuff I have read lately:
American Splendor: Unsung Hero - This was basically a short biographical story about a Vietnam vet. Pekar’s just a great writer, though. The story is kind of like a documentary without too much bias or sentimentality.
Emily the Strange: The Rock Issue - First Emily the Strange thing I’ve ever read. I didn’t even realize this was a comic. I used to just think she was a character Hot Topic invented to slap on t-shirts. Anyway, this book was below average. Nothing special, really. The art really reminded me of an SLG comic, with a definite alternative/punk/borderline goth aesthetic. (This was actually published by Dark Horse.) There was no real story. It was pretty much just about namechecking random bands and rock artists. I doubt I have enough motivation to read any more Emily the Strange in the future. It’s probably something for people who are more into the art and design elements of comic book layouts than for people who want to read.
Johnny Jihad - This was about a white American teen who decides to hook up with Islamic terrorists. The art was interesting; sort of reminded me of a homeless man’s Brian Wood. The story was average. The main character’s life is basically a cliche and it made the first third or so of the book boring to read. The middle third is somewhat interesting as he goes on a terrorist mission, but the ending also seems cliched. (He gets caught by the CIA and they easily convince him to switch sides and work as a double agent?! Then he gets killed by a stinger missile just as he wishes he had done something better with his life.) Also, the lettering was very typewriter-ish and blocky, and I think the artist could have used a better font. This book was trying to tell an important story, so at least I respect the attempt. And on the upside, it was a very quick read.
Fantastic Four: The End - I really enjoyed this one. It’s Alan Davis writing and penciling, and I dig his work. His Elseworlds JLA: The Nail and Another Nail are two sleeper JLA classics. FF: The End was a grand tour throughout the Marvel Universe, I guess 'cause the FF are basically the cornerstone of the MU. Davis juggles several plots at the beginning of the story, but they eventually intersect and the plot remains focused and exciting throughout. There’s kind of a retro (Silver Age) feel to the tone of the story at times, but it’s modern on the surface. Overall, FF:The End is a great The End tale. And it’s way better than Stan Lee’s The Last Fantastic Four Story.
Bad Company: Goodbye, Krool World - This is one of Peter Milligan’s earliest works, from 2000 A.D., and with art by Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon. You know I love Peter Milligan hardcore. It kicked ass. This is one of the best things I’ve read in the past few weeks. The story has aged well and the writing is still better than most comics today. Bad Company is a futuristic, soft science fiction war/horror epic. It follows the adventures and maturation of a rookie soldier over the course of a war. Hardcore stuff. The black and white art is top tier, too. The character designs, vehicles, settings, page layouts - it’s all done right. Even the monsters and aliens look suitably threatening and disgusting. I don’t usually feel that way about comics with creatures, but the artists did a remarkable job designing them here. Bad Company gets my highest possible recommendation. Even if you’ve never read any 2000AD before, this is a great intro because it’s completely stand alone and not connected to Judge Dredd or any of that stuff. British artists rock me long and hard.
The Marquis volume 1: Danse Macabre - This is Guy Davis’ creator-owned series from Oni. It’s a few years old, but I finally got it. Damn good comics. He’s one of my favorite artists. Just look in this book (or SMT, or whatever else). The architecture he draws is astounding. I can just examine the art for minutes. Everything is so detailed and when he draws a cityscape, it’s really convincing. And his people just have this awesome raggedness about them. Also very convincing. The story is about a European dude (the Marquis) in the 18th Century who thinks he’s been tasked by a Catholic saint to hunt down and exterminate demons who walk the Earth. However, as the story progresses, he begins to question his sanity when it starts looking like the devils he’s hunting exist only in his own mind. This is a fantastic read written and drawn by a master storyteller.
Essential Wolverine volumes 1 and 2 - I guess I should surrender my indie hipster street cred at this point. The Claremont run at the beginning of volume 1 was pretty terrible, writing-wise. LOL at Logan’s “Patch” disguise. That’s worse than Clark Kent’s glasses. Peter David wrote a decent number of issues and he rightfully mocked Patch. Most of the stories weren’t anything too special, other than a few classic David stand-alone issues and his six parter (The Gehenna Stone Affair). Also, Larry Hama/Marc Silvestri’s Wolverine was one of the things that hooked me into comics when I was young. Looking at Silvestri’s Wolverine art in black and white, I think it’s pretty good. It isn’t terribly overly crosshatched like it is today and it reminds me that I used to like Silvestri more than Jim Lee when I was a kid. There’s a surprisingly good amount of awesome artwork in these two volumes, though. John Buscema had a long run, and Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz contributed inks and pencils on various occasions, and even Barry Kitson drew a couple issues. So even when the stories sucked, I was able to plod on thanks to the fantastic art.
JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice - Read this back when it first came out. Borrowed it from a buddy because I was in the mood for some team-up action. It’s good Geoff Johns work. Fun and entertaining, with a nice pair of villains for the two teams to face off against. The Carlos Pacheco artwork really gets the job done well, too. This ain’t really a life-changing JLA or JSA story, but it’s just very entertaining and fun to read. Sometimes, that’s all you can reasonably ask for.
Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways - Finally got around to reading this one. I didn’t think it was too bad, to tell the truth. I didn’t enjoy the art as much as I usually enjoy Cheung’s or Alphona’s, but it was all right. The plot was good, although there were times when the dialogue was kind of obviously expository - but I guess that’s to be expected with a four issue mini that uses two recently created superteams AND a Grant Morrison character. It was cool to see Noh-Varr back in action. He’s like the Hood (or the Sentry. Lol, where you at, Clinty?) - a great character created a couple years ago by an A-list creator but never been used since.
I’m about half way through Essential Marvel Team-Up vol. 1 I read 3 issues today. The art is good except when Gil Kane gets involved. Peter ends up looking like he’s been smoking crack when he unmasks. Gil Kane has to to be one of the most inconsistent artists ever.
I’ve got a ton more Essential Marvel books to read. I usually focus on just one but I thought about jumping around a bit. I still have to get to Hulk vol. 2, X-Men vol. 2, and Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 2. Essential X-Men vol. 1 was one of the best Essential Marvel books I’ve ever read. I love Claremont’s writing in these stories. Say what you will about John Byrne. Yes he’s a fag but man his art is dope in these stories. Of course David Cockrum is also a tight artits. The man drew some fantastic action scenes.
Zeph, I didn’t know you read any books in Marvel’s Essential line. Thought I was the only one. 
they need to get on the ball with the punisher. has a vol. 2 come out yet? I want some war journals too dammitt
Just finished the Y: The Last Man TPB #2.
good shit.
I’m really feeling this story now, and I can’t wait to see what happens when the Astronauts finally get to earth (which may have been spoiled already on the cover of one of the TPBs).
I have a couple of them. The Wolverines I got in the mail with some other stuff (FF: The End and Powers Definitive HC) from an eBay auction, so I read them. Plus, I had Essential Wolverine v.3 since 1998 and it was getting lonely. I also have Essential Silver Surfer v.1 and I’ll get v.2 sooner or later.
Essential Howard the Duck is a good read, too. I have it. Gene Colan’s art in black and white is pretty incredible, and it’s a consistently great read. At least one of the issues is genuinely groundbreaking, too, in a pre-Morrison/Quitely sense, especially considering that it was the '70s.
I also have Essential X-Men v.2. It’s the one with the Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past. I got it several years ago when I was getting back into comics seriously. I could live without it, though. I’m not particularly attached to anything by Claremont and/or Byrne, no matter how much “diehard” X-Fanboys say it’s the best. I am sure it was good for its time, but only compared to typical ‘80s superhero stuff. Still doesn’t match up to Miller’s DD or pretty much any of First Comics’ or Comico’s big guns.
Most other Essential books, like Spider-Man and FF, look good to me but I just feel like if I buy 'em, I’ll only ever read them once and that’s it. It’s hard for me to get into the horribly dated dialogue and redundant narration captions. I think a lot of that art kicks all sorts of ass - those old dudes had some mad drawing skills. I just haven’t been in a mood to read any more Stan Lee or Claremont dialogue.
One old '60s Marvel that I think has aged well, though, is Steranko’s Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s in a color TPB and you can still have fun reading it while admiring how obviously groundbreaking it was. I mean people today still stripmine that run for their ideas. It’s just that damn unstoppable. Even if the dialogue is over the top most of the time, it’s okay because you can just feel the passion that Steranko put into his work. (I guess back in the '60s, everybody shouted at everyone else all of the time, because every single sentence is punctuated with an exclamation mark.)
What I really wish is that Marvel would do Essentials of recent comics. Like, for example, Essential Deadpool or Essential Marvel Knights Black Panther. Those are things that are definitely worth bringing back into print, and I am sure there would be a great demand for them. But I think there’s some kind of financial reason almost all the Essentials (and DC Showcase books) are reprints of stuff that is usually over 20-25 years old.
You wondering about War Journal v.2? I think the PHC is coming either by the end of the year or early next year. The TPB of v.1 came out a while ago, but it’s kind of a shitty value - retail price of 14.99 for issues 1-4 and the black and white version of #1.
I just read CSI: Dying in the Gutters. Oh, man, it was a great, GREAT read. I have never even watched an episode of CSI (or any of its spinoffs), but this book entertained the crap out of me.
It’s about someone allegedly murdering Rich Johnston (writer of the Lying in the Gutters rumor column at CBR.com) at a comic book convention. Lots of other real comics people have roles or at least make cameos in this: Joe Quesada, Kirkman, Chuck Dixon, Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Gail Simone, Peter David, Rucka, George Perez, the Great Bru, and even Stan Lee.
It’s so worth reading. There are so many injokes for comic book fans that I don’t even know if CSI fans would “get” this story. I totally recommend tracking this down. It’s written ably by Steven Grant. The artist is some dude I never heard of, but he did a fantastic job with likenesses. Everybody actually looks like how they actually look in real life.
It’s a semi-serious crime story, but told with plenty of humor. Like when Quesada first makes an appearance at the con, he’s smoking a fat cigar and he’s got his arms wrapped around two random sexy girls. And then he’s got like Kirkman and Brubaker flanking him like true lackeys. Then some editor from IDW asks Quesada, “Why the heck are you smoking? I thought you banned that in all your company’s comics!” And Quesada just laughs and says, “Oh, the smoking ban? That’s only for public sympathy and my personal image. Wolverine can’t smoke, but I can.”
Just track this baby down. CSI: Dying in the Gutters. Written by Steven Grant, penciled by Stephen Mooney, published by IDW. It’ll put a smile on your face.
i was referring to essential punisher vol. 2 and essential punisher war journal vol. 1
they are releasing an omnibus of howard the duck next year
Man, I wanted to get Inhumans and Lex Luthor: Man Of Steel but they didn’t have it. Ergo, I burned the cash on other stuff:
Ronin - It felt old school at first; typical 80’s with all the non-problematic, black and white relation betwixt the save-the-world-protagonist and evil-just-for-the-heck-of-it-antagonist. Kind of Highlander-esque or Willow-esque, or Krull-esque, or something like that. I loved it. So - without saying too much - when the story developed even more, so to speak, towards the end, it felt totally epic. I was enamoured.
The only thing I didn’t like was how Frank Miller kept switching “scenes” just when it was starting to get exciting. It’s alright the first few times, but he literally did it every time a battle ensued or when there was an interesting conversation going.
Arkham Asylum: Serious House On Serious Earth - I didn’t read much about it, except the premise, prior to my purchase, so I got pretty much smacked in the face, in a good way, once I realized what I was reading. The way the story is told is morbid, eccentric, symbolic and scary, which is awesome but still the opposite of the usual down-to-earth detective-ish Batman story that one’s used to (though I might be wrong, considering that I’m a comic-neophyte).
Anyway, so the story was good. I couldn’t comprehend it, so it felt like I was pretty much guided, like how Dante is guided through heaven and hell or something like that. The art is amazing, and disturbing. I remember reading a Silent Hill comic once and it was dull as heck. Whoever wrote it and whoever drew it should’ve learned a thing or two from Morrison and McKean.
I have the 15th anniversary edition, where Morrison goes indepth with all the symbolic stuff in the story, page by page, so I got a better understanding of the story. However, if I didn’t have the 15th anniversary edition, I wouldn’t understand as much. It would be kind of random and dim, like a dream. I didn’t even realize that the villains had been redesigned until I read all the extra stuff :wasted:. Oh, and Joker is portrayed like an OG. I like that.
Kingdome Come - I’d heard good things about it. I got the impression it was epic, that it’s pretty much a must-buy for a DC-fan and so on. I didn’t like it that much though. The premise is good and it’s not a bad story, I enjoyed reading it and all. But the “epicness” felt forced, and Alex Ross art is too overdramatic for me. I also don’t like how he has to redesign everything. Heck, I didn’t realize who Robin was until much later. Because of the nature of the premise - where alot of new ones are introduce and lots of old ones are reintroduced - the story felt short and alittle rushed. Millar’s Wanted suffered from the same symptom. It was a new world there as well, so not many characters got the chance to develop.
The heroes were out of character too. I mean, sure, I can understand that Superman wasn’t the same old big blue, but there were times were he was portrayed like a wuss.
Kingdome Come
Spoiler
And why the heck would Superman abandon his super hero role, just because Magog was declared innocent for killing the Joker? Sure, it was controversial and all that, but Superman doesn’t usually intervene in politics to begin with, so why would he abandon earth just for a trial? Sounds silly to me.
But yeah it was a nice read, despite its flaws. Just alittle silly.
Kingdom Come
[details=Spoiler]It wasn’t the trial that made him quit, it was what the trial meant to him. Magog was acquitted by a jury of ordinary people for murdering a villain in cold blood, something that Superman refused to do. To Superman, this was a signal that his way of doing things had been cast down by the people of Earth, and that he no longer had the trust of the public. He felt that if the people wanted a different kind of hero, one that he could never be, and if he could no longer operate with the confidence of the public, then he couldn’t be Superman anymore.
It’s still a lame reason, but not THAT lame.[/details]