Ken Aldred

And, for the first time here, I’ve exceeded 500 comics in one year. Exceptional, by my standards.

Seem to be reading a lot of multiverse stories recently, picked purely by chance… Bullet Points 1 to 5 Quite a good What If? story, although Straczynski overcomplicates it with a lot of exposition about the behaviour of bullets, when it’s basically that by moving any agent of change in time and position you’re likely to see differences in the resultant butterfly effect. One-liner, not page after page of it. Nice art from Tommy Lee Edwards. Before Watchmen Prequels Liked these. Good variety in story and art, all worth a read. Minutemen 1 to 6 Hollis Mason reminiscing about the history of the old school team, with typically excellent art and storytelling from Darwyn Cooke. Silk Spectre 1 to 4 Couldn’t help thinking that if modern Archie can produce gory horror comics, then a teen / college period super-hero comic from them might feel a little like this one. Nice art from Amanda Conner Nite Owl 1 to 4 The early days of the Nite Owl / Rorschach partnership, and the relationship between the strait-laced and inexperienced Nite Owl and the somewhat polar opposite Twilight Lady. Dr Manhattan 1 to 4 Again, as with Bullet Points, a story about profound multiversal effects resulting from a small change in initial starting conditions, foreshadowing what you see in Doomsday Clock. Excellent art from Adam Hughes. Moloch 1 and 2 The one I was most surprised by. A really excellent and extremely sad story. Doomsday Clock 1 to 12 As said a couple of times previously, another multiverse / butterfly effect story, using the same principle as Bullet Points and Before Watchmen: Dr Manhattan, integrating the Watchmen Universe into DC continuity. A good read. Typical high quality art from Gary Frank. Actually, I’ve been happy with all of the artwork in these comics, throughout. No complaints. 37 comics together 2023 total = 524

Possibly distracted by playing Mass Effect? Andromeda’s the weakest game in the series. The original trilogy’s my favourite RPG.

Yup. That’s the analogy I had in mind, but expressed really well.

Just watched Rise of Skywalker. Atrocious film, and as said in an earlier post about the MCU, a classic example of a franchise feeling milked out. One scene after another of overfamiliar ideas that you’ve watched played out time and time again in the earlier films, and a tedious chore to sit through. Cranking the scale of events up to 11, and sad nostalgia, doesn’t disguise that vacuity.

At the time, 1987 or so, it was quite a fresh and exciting style, something different worth following. But, it got old, fast for me, as a new normal of comic illustration. Pretty much the only one I continued following was Arthur Adams: figurework similarly exaggerated to some degree, but without a doubt incredibly talented.

Astro City Vol 1 issues 1 to 6, and Vol 2 issues 4 to 9 Some of Kurt Busiek’s best work, with impressive variety in the done-in-one stories and the individuals focused in on in the first volume, some revolving around ordinary people in the city, some around the super-powered, but telling the story of the city itself just as much. Always fun to spot the Easter egg names of older comic book creators used for the bridges and buildings and other features of the city. The second volume is the extended storyline about The Confessor, and the journey of a new kid in town, ultimately attempting to understand and discover himself, and also experiencing how volatile the attitude of the public can become, quickly switching from admiration to hostility, how good and bad, constructive and destructive, can get misinterpreted. Brent Anderson does some of his best art here, a bit Adams influenced, and very solid. Definitely an example of a great 90s comic. 12 issues in total 2023 total = 487

The Snyder Cut of Justice League was good in that respect.

Looks like Jon Bogdanove’s style. A bit too prolific to narrow down easily if it’s interior art.

Just in the process of reading Jughead The Hunger, where he’s a werewolf. Plenty of gory scenes in that which fit the description. Whereas, Vampironica is tamer and more Gothic. Not your traditional Archie. Plus, there was an ironic, joke element to my post as well, comparing the big difference of old with new.

A comment made in a documentary about 70s TV in Britain, and the huge viewing figures, especially for prime time weekend shows, that the public wasn’t so much enthralled by the quality of material on offer, they were in thrall to the format and had no other option but to give in and apply full and immediate attention to the provider. Similarly, we have other options besides the dictates of book exchanges, LCSs, conventions, back issue dealers and much more diverse means for reading and acquiring a comic story without similar, prehistoric dependencies, and many alternative feeding grounds to explore and graze upon. Only the same depletion effect; the old school businesses begin to starve, some down to oblivion, others like vinyl resurge. Basic food chain theory, a scenario in which the predator becomes the most vulnerable and struggles the greatest. In some cases it’s sad and I’m less clinical about it, such as when you see a store owner who’s looked after you for years close down due to the falling demand which is being analysed here. In other cases, the sense of freedom and convenience and finding a format that works best from out of all the myriad options, away from malign dependency, is quite a relief.

As a soon-to-be 60-year-old who can find some modern comics to be at least as good as many of the best from my youth, clearly I’m a bit of an anomaly.

No. Allows you to get deeper into the story and dialogue, spot foreshadowing, etc.

For me, there’s also the problem of paying $3-99 for part of a story which in the end turns out to be mediocre, even terrible, or something that you don’t emotionally connect to or get anything of value in any way, shape or form. A bit of a risk, and, in the end, there have been many impulsive purchases that I could’ve done without, having bought them fresh off the newsstands or from the LCS on delivery day. At least with digital bundles you can accept that not all of the material may suit your tastes, or some books may pleasantly surprise you, but with a stack which often works out at 50c a copy or less you can more easily, literally, afford to be experimental, without as much remorse as I’ve felt in recent years about my physical copy collection.

Yup. Classic recent example for me was Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt, which I got for £12, including free PS5 upgrade, which we’ll compare more directly with the approximate price of a trade paperback collection, typical 6 issue story arc. Played the game, on-and-off, several completions, for over 6 months. Says it all.

You see an occasional showing at the local cinema here with this.

Very similar for me now. I tend to fall asleep at the cinema, lose attention after about half an hour or so, and it’s better that I can break up my viewing conveniently, and also the top end of my hearing is shot by listening to too much loud metal in my younger years and some bad ear infections. Always watch films at home with subtitles on, otherwise with ADD and about 50% normal hearing I’m missing too much detail.

Be careful with Archies from the 2010s onwards. Zombie epidemics, werewolves eviscerating their victims, satanism. Not all-ages entertainment.

You’re roughly my age, a veteran comics reader, and understandably a bit jaded. Likewise for me. I can still find some interesting books, here and there, such as an Image or Kodansha digital bundle. My physical cut-off point was at $2-99 cover : if you were buying a lot, that was high enough, IMO.

Over the long term you can get bending, slight spine creasing, or indentations in the cover. Many of those Superman comics, though low value, are nice books, and I wished I’d bagged and boarded and taken better care of mine despite that. (I recently had a look through my entire collection.) The early Byrne / Ordway comics, for example, were ones I bought while at college and couldn’t afford the acid-free boards for the volume of material I was reading, but didn’t correct that later on. Some survived intact, but there’s variability.

Okay, I know I’m one of the more forgiving boardies posting in this thread, but that is truly appalling. (Maybe it’s plot-related? Otherwise, it’s appalling.)

As much as I like Kirby, the late period stuff isn’t great. Reminds me of this….

A Greg Horn or Greg Land cover is an easy pick for a thread like this. No great mystery.

Wait for the reviews to come in, let the opinions settle, wait a few months for it to come down in price on Blu-ray and, at the end of all that, consider buying it if it seems to be a good film I’d watch repeatedly. Common sense, patience and restraint, rather than nihilism.

Looks like a bad case of Habsburg jaw.