thanks tales of wonder looks nice and helluvalot cheaper than those greedy limeys at amazon.co.uk stealing my moneys
EDIT: Unfortunately money orders doesnt really exist over here.
EDIT2: Im in Europe anyone who knows of good sites that arent located in the uk?
reading has been slow but new thoughts on tpb’s coming soon including agents of atlas and annihilation vol. 3
Stuff I have read lately:
Phonogram: Rue Brittania - This is an awesome book from Image. It combines two of my very favorite things- comic books and Britpop. The story is basically about a phonomancer, or a guy who works magic through music. It’s like a cross between Hellblazer and Blur’s Parklife album. The art’s really clean and somewhat reminds me of a black and white Luna Bros. All the covers a homages to iconic Britpop albums, and there are lots of references to that era of music. Might be tough to penetrate all the references if you aren’t familiar with the era, but I think as an example of something the comics medium can accomplish, this book is a pretty proud achievement.
Off-Road - I read this Oni comic by Sean Murphy at a library. It’s great stuff. It’s a story about three good buddies, the power of friendship, and a jeep. Hilarity ensues.
Sloth - This is actually the first real Gilbert Hernandez book I’ve read. I’ve read some of Jaime’s stuff (Locas) but I never did get around to Palomar or any other of that Love and Rockets stuff. But Sloth was really good. It’s very clever and if you dig any Vertigo or alternative comics, this is some great stuff. The characterizations and dialog in particular really stand out. And his art really fits his story.
Orbiter - Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran. It’s about space and astronauts, but with an Ellis-ish twist of horror. It’s a pretty fast read, but it’s pretty interesting as well. I noticed it has some overlapping themes with some of Ellis’ other works, like Ministry of Space and Ocean, but in his intro to Orbiter he explains that he just loves outer space and the notion of exploring space. However, I do feel that Ocean is probably my favorite of his space tribute comics.
Chicken With Plums - Marjane Satrapi. This was pretty good. I know it’s not fair to expect her to write anything else like Persepolis, but I was kind of disappointed with her last book, Embroideries. Chicken With Plums is something I enjoyed a lot more. It’s a kind of tragic but kind of humorous story about a guy who decides to let himself die after his wife breaks his favorite musical instrument.
A.L.I.E.E.E.N. - This book had a lot of hype and respect. I can understand where that comes from, but I didn’t really enjoy this very much. I mean I can recognize the fine cartooning and the great color work, but this just didn’t resonate with me at all. It’s got kind of a cutesy, all-ages look, but also some dirty things like a flood of shit and some blood and guts. This sort of thing reminds me of Happy Tree Friends.
Grease Monkey - Once in a while, I will discover something that blows me away completely. Grease Monkey is an example. I never even heard of this book until I found it at the library. This kicks so much ass that I need to go out and buy my own copy. It’s a light science fiction/space opera/sitcom comic, complete with a few talking apes. There’s really nothing else like it. I sure can’t think of reading any comic like this. It’s just a very well-produced unique comic that deserves more love. This is actually by a guy named Tim Eldred (used to do American manga comics back in the '90s before most people here even heard of manga) and the art is superb. He’s a master storyteller. I cannot recommend this comic enough.
look at his official marvel water, haha.
PG, get Heavy Liquid by Paul Pope.
I’m betting you will like it.
Anyone picked up any Omnibuses from Marvel?
Me and my friend were looking at them at our comic shop today.
I might have to get him whichever one is the cheapest at the moment for his birthday/christmas as a SURPRISE!!!
They seem like they are really really nice.
If I ever felt inclined to get an Omnibus HC, it’d probably be Alias or New X-Men. The only thing that holds me back is that I already own the TPBs… One day, when I get a better paying job and have extra cash, it would be great to spring for those babies.
But what I REALLY want is an X-Force/X-Statix Omnibus, including the short story from I Heart Marvel and the Dead Girl mini. AND make it uncut and have Allred and Milligan go back and do the Henrietta/Princess Di storyarc the way the had originally intended!! If Marvel did that, I’d buy TWO copies. And I already have all the issues.
I own the Amazing Spider-Man omnibus which I am reading through right now and it is AWESOME! Not only does it reprint a bajillion issues but it also has all the stan lee introductions from the masterworks, all of the original letters pages as well as the various pin ups and so forth usually cut out of collected editions. The book is also monstrously huge but gutter loss isn’t that bad because of the way silver age books generally stay in-panel.
Alias, Fantastic Four vol. 1, Eternals, and Uncanny X-Men vol. 1 omnibuses are out of print although FF and X-Men are being re-released next month. Morrison’s New X-Men omnibus I huge and I hear suffers from some bad gutter loss. I own the OHC’s so I didn’t pick it up. There is also Frank Miller’s Daredevil which I hear has some stiffness problems in terms of being able to open the book and lay it flat without the pages sticking straight up but you can judge for yourself. There is another Miller Daredevil omnibus coming out collecting Born Again and his other stuff.
That run of X-Statix was THE SHIT.
It was so good I got a subscription to it. Remember when the skater kid got his legs blown off?
X-Statix didn’t play around.
I think my friend is going to get the Captain America BRU Omnibus. I don’t think he knows what he is truly in for in terms of greatness.
Darn straight, my brother. Remember the letters pages and how people kept clamoring for the “old” X-Force with Shatterstar and Cannonball and Cable to come back? Those were hilarious. I remember at one point the editor suspected Milligan was writing some of those letters himself. We need more comics like X-Statix.
Agents of Atlas - I can easily see why this became a cult favorite. The biggest draw are the quirky characters - from the main team to the supporting agents and the weird villains, this book definitely swims in originality. On the other hand, I could also see how AoA was not a big seller: This thing moves pretty slow, with a lot of narrative boxes and small panels. There are many characters to meet and not all of them are as interesting as the monkey and the robot. The villain plot thread is also somewhat lackadasical and the drama never really kicks into high gear. This was my first “Premiere Hardcover” and I must say I don’t especially like the format after being spoiled by OHC’s. The extras were nice, especially the What If…? issue that spawned the mini-series.
Annihilation vol. 3 - Hmm…don’t really know what to think about this one. Something about it just didn’t feel big enough. We got five 4-issue mini-series leading into this 6 issue series but since each of those series were somewhat wrapped up in their own right the Annihilation mini proper really didn’t feel like a culmination or raising of stakes, unlike say how the Countdown to Infinite Crisis mini’s directly fed into IC. Another problem feeding into this that was also somewhat of a problem with the other mini’s is the genesis of the series in the first place: The threat of Annihilus. I mean come on now, Annihilus? Isn’t he like 3rd rate by this point? Who HASNT beaten up on Annihilus? Wasn’t he even a good guy in the original BLINK mini? I dunno, his whole threat just didn’t seem to be that big of a deal. I also thought Nova should have been a little more front and center and all the main characters felt cluttered. I Loved Ronan’s story arc and thought it had great payoff but Drax less so.
My other big beef with Annihilation is that these guys have the same names as the cosmic marvels I grew up with but they certainly don’t act or sound like them. Specifically Silver Surfer but really almost everyone seems completely disembodied from their previous incarnations. After hundreds of comics and decades of continuity all of a sudden Surfer and Galactus just make lovey-dovey? Come on. Maybe they should have ditched Giffen and brought in Ron Marz.
Currently reading: JLA/Avengers absolute edition, Amazing Spiderman Omnibus (up to Annual 1)
are they making nextwave into a tpb or hc? if so im there
My friend bought the Silver Surfer Omnibus today.
Man, he had a crappy life. They really need to bring him back to that whole spiel, the whole “My entire planet is gone and I serve the person who destroyed my life forever god I am depressed” sort of thing.
It was also nice to see all of the old marvel characters not queered out. Loki was actually scarred of Hercules, no one is scared of hercules now, does he even exist?
Nextwave got collected into two Premiere Edition HCs. I know for sure there’s a TPB of the first volume, and if the paperback isn’t out for the second it should be out soon.
The Surfer was possibly the first truly emo superhero. Stan Lee was just ahead of his time. Until about 1968 when his dialog started to sound horribly dated.
But yeah, I don’t know if it’s just that I’m blinded by my love for the Surfer but those old school Silver Surfer comics are some of the few comics from that era that I still dig.
I think I’ll probably pick up Agents of Atlas at some point. Probably when they make the paperback. It does sound pretty decent. And I don’t want Giddy to flame me, because I definitely fear his wrath.
AAAAAHHHH!!! Awesome!
Definitely what I have been waiting for. I reeeaaaally hope they plan on continuing this with a second and third omnibus that collects the heroes appearences in the DHC and DHP anthologies (mainly X and Ghost i think) as well as the respective regular series: Out of the Vortex, X, Ghost, and Barb Wire.
Well, I did it. After a long time of putting it off, I finally did it. I bought Watchmen. It wasn’t the hardcover. That one costs too much. Was just a regular $20 version. Haven’t read it yet but after hearing nothing but good things about it, I had to pick it up. Though, I did hear John Byrne say he didn’t like Watchmen. His reason? He said it was garbage or something to that extent. But I’m not a Byrne fan anyway so meh.
Is The Return of Superman and Superman: Doomsday worth picking up?
God, John Byrne sucks so hard. It figures he’d hate Watchmen.
Picked up the Amazing Spider-Man The Complete Collection on DVD-Rom. 560 Amazing comics from 63-06 for only 40 bucks! Really cool, reprints the issues and the letters pages, even the ads and the back of the comic book, everything lol! Reread Amazing Fantasy 15 and issue 400 - wish that was Aunt May’s real death afterall. Lots of reading/rereading ahead for me so I’ll try to read a few issues a week or something.
They ain’t worth it. Read them at the store if you must, but those are a waste of time. Definitely an example of the '90s lowpoint.
I remember there was a thread on his forums where he was just bashing Alan Moore. What a jackass. He said that he tried his hardest to finish Watchmen but got bored after a couple issues because it sucked that bad. Byrne was basically saying that Alan Moore only knew how to tell one story, and every comic he’s ever written has the exact plot: “Everything you know is wrong.”
Um… Right. So Byrne says that V For Vendetta, From Hell, Top Ten, Watchmen, Supreme, Swamp Thing, Promethea, Superman, A Small Killing, WildC.A.T.s, and everything else are trite and boring because they all riff on the fact that “everything the reader THINKS he knows about the characters is WRONG.” What an idiot.
The motherfucker is flat out washed up.
Hah, yeah, tell me when you get to the issue that explains who that Aunt May in #400 was supposed to be. Was she a clone or a genetically altered actress hired by Norman Osborn to TRANSFORM into the role of Aunt May, just as Raul Julia TRANSFORMED into M. Bison?
Lol I never got the issue that explained it and I don’t much care for the answer anyway to tell you the truth. Um, remind me in 2 years when I’m up to that story? Off to reread Lee/Ditko. :lovin:
If I recall right, Alan Moore has four (maybe more) issues of Superman to his name. I think those four issues show a far greater understanding of who Superman is and what makes him great than John Byrne did in his entire time with the character.
And I HATE his drawings.