Talapas1 Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 (edited) 1391-1410 My daughter spent the week in the hospital so I packed a few books with me while I’m staying with her. Stranger Things: Six: My kids checked this out from the library and told me I had to read it. Fun read with some backstory on their universe. If you are a fan of the show, this is worth adding to your list. Justice League Odessey: Pretty fun story featuring Cyborg, Jessica Cruz, Starfire, and Azrael. Space hijinks as they encounter a universe with some problematics dietys. Seekers of the Weird: Picked this series up in a lot as I had never heard of it and figured my kids my enjoy it. Fast paced five issue story that does a good job of world building and character introduction. Downside is that it at times really leaned into the Disney channel style dialogue. Still was a serviceable read. Deadpool versus Punisher: Two of the characters who were each overexposed during a different eras of marvel. This team-up was fun though. A pretty goofy, though dark at times story. Punisher discovering Pool’s reset button was a pretty funny running gag. This story was more fun than I expected. Worth the read if you are no into cartoon levels of deadly violence. Black Cat: found this in a fifty cent bin Wasn’t a bad read, but not anything to make me go out and hunt down the rest. Marvel Voices: loved this book While the different stories all had their strengths and weaknesses, I was glad to see Marvel doing something for Native American Month and showcasing their indigenous characters and creators. My goal is to hunt down the last Veregge variant I need, which is this issue . Edited November 28, 2020 by Talapas1 Forgot a pic F For Fake, Ken Aldred, Raze and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 (edited) Been a while since my last update, might be a sprint to make it at the end here. So, let's see, start with the books I was reading before.... Sandman 35-37 Finished up A Game of You with the family. Starting soon on the next collection. Something Is Killing the Children 9-12 Still finding the storyline interesting, wondering how it is going to close off. Not looking to be very pretty... Defenders 71-75 Continuing where I left off, less than satisfying resolution to the Lunatik story. Astro City 39-52 Great series, particularly for the Silver Age Marvel and DC fan. Read all the previous issues during one of the One Hundred Back Issue a Week Challenges at my local comic shop, and decided to finish off the series since I had just organized this part of my collection. Hope to see it return sometime soon. Highly recommended. Fables 30-41 Continuing to read this along with my son, and continuing to really enjoy it. More good stuff here, including a two-part Jack story, as well as the big reveal on The Adversary. Don't know why I didn't get this book years ago when it came out. Justice League of America (vol 1) 107-113 Picking up where I left off before. Batman 618 My son recently read a collection on Hoopla, "Batman vs Superman: The Greatest Battles" and had recommended it. Read the first one, part of the Hush storyline, and was pretty good. I think that's it. Let's see ... looks like 46 new reads. Last time it was 624. So the total for the year reaches... 770. Yep, a lot left for the year. Edited December 2, 2020 by ttfitz Removed junk. Raze, F For Fake, Talapas1 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srezvan Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Somewhat randomly, my young daughter asked me to read the Age of Apocalypse comics to her. We're watching the 90s X-Men cartoon (which holds up well, BTW) and she recognized a Weapon X figure in my office as Wolverine, but asked about why he looks different. So I started to explain the AoA storyline, which I really enjoyed when it came out. I asked her if she wanted me to read her the comics, and she said yes. So we're reading one issue each night, starting with X-Men Alpha. We're reading them chronologically, which is basically X-Men Alpha, all 1s, all 2s, all 3s, all 4s, then X-Men Omega. So far we've finished 6 issues. Reading comics aloud is not easy, but we make it work. I still really enjoy the story. It's fun to see the cameos from the normal continuity. Like in X-Men Alpha, Unus and Blob (called by his real name) appear a few pages apart in very different situations. Unus is working for Apocalypse and Blob is the subject of genetic experimentation by Mr. Sinister. In normal continuity, those guys are best buds and fought side by side many times. If anyone knows who "Esposito" (I think) is from Astonishing X-Men, please let me know. I can't place him. Big dude, possibly Caucasian. These are my original copies, purchased off the shelf when I was younger. X-Men Alpha was autographed by Mark Waid at a signing event in 1996 or so. I'm also reading (on my own) the original Uncanny X-Men series. The original series, in TPB form. I've just never read them. I'm getting ready to start #3. I enjoy it, but some of the writing is dated. The writing around Jean is so bad. I had the same thought about the characterization of Scarlet Witch in the Kree Skrull War event. It'll be interesting to see how she's written in #4. Raze, Ken Aldred, ttfitz and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raze Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 417-48 Punchline 1 oneshot It was OK. I didnt feel that it added anything to the character. Phantom Starkiller 1 This was a fun read! It was like reading Star Wars with Bounty Hunters with Skelator as the main character. Ken Aldred and Talapas1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talapas1 Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 1411-1451 Probably not going to make 2k this year, but it will be close. I really put in some reading the past couple of days. Jessica Jones 1-18: I finally got around to reading Bendis’s final Marvel run and it was a blast. I was a fan of Alias when it first premiered so many years ago and this reminded me of the writing that really brought me into comic books as a young adult. So many beats in this book that really worked for me. Hopefully Bendis can come back at some point and write a future Danielle story. Batman White Knight 1-8: “White Knight” get it? SJW? Ha ha. “Clever” wordplay aside I enjoyed this Batman story. I’ve gotten to the point that these standalone stories for the Bat work best for me. They can use whatever part of the mythology they want and try to weave something new. In this case it was the Joker trying to save Gotham from the Bat. Now I want to read the next installments of the White Knight series. No Justice: 1-4: Justice League broke the universe in Death Metal and have to deal with the consequences of it in this mini. Amanda Waller is ridiculous as an action star and I find her much more intimidating as an administrator than an operative. Story was fine for what it was. It was nice getting some of the background for Justice League Odyssey. Brave and the Bold 138: Got the story for Mister Miracle. It was okay. I haven’t read a lot of these but Mister Miracle seemed to upstage Batman throughout the book. It just seemed odd. The situation was definitely a silly one too. But I’m not sad I read it as I’m trying to find most of Mister Miracle’s early appearances. Random Subscriptions and ect: For the most part, my comments previously stand. I grabbed the Spawn mainly due to the fact that a couple of the shops I frequent were listed on the cover. The Dark Multiverse stuff is still fun to me. Liked the Hush story better than the War Gods, but both were enjoyable. I’ll keep snagging them as they come out. Maestro is still good. I’ll be interested to see where they go with it in the finale next issue. That’s it for now. Looks like I have about 550 comics left to go. Wish me luck. Ken Aldred and Raze 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 13 hours ago, Talapas1 said: Brave and the Bold 138: Got the story for Mister Miracle. It was okay. I haven’t read a lot of these but Mister Miracle seemed to upstage Batman throughout the book. It just seemed odd. The situation was definitely a silly one too. But I’m not sad I read it as I’m trying to find most of Mister Miracle’s early appearances. Read a bunch of the B&B issues last year, would agree that the stories are rather hit-or-miss. Ken Aldred and Talapas1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talapas1 Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 1 hour ago, ttfitz said: Read a bunch of the B&B issues last year, would agree that the stories are rather hit-or-miss. Make sense as they are often an opportunity to throw work to creators who aren’t on a regular gig. ttfitz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F For Fake Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Finished this up last night, having started it in October! My reading really fell by the wayside during the fall, in favor of watching classic horror movies. Now I'm back in a reading mood, but will be hard pressed to hit 1000. This one puts me at 722, I believe. I've always favored HoS over HoM, and this revisit didn't change my mind. But there's still lots to love here, including some classic Wrightson, Redondo etc, and a buncha Neal Adams covers, if that's your thing. I'm not a big fan, especially his cover run here, which is overwhelmed by hideous coloring jobs. I know, I know, Adams revolutionized comic coloring processes, leading to a wider array of color possibilities, but these covers are so very brown/orange/green. Ugh. No thanks. Raze, ashsaytr, Talapas1 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talapas1 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 1452-1457 Imaginary Fiends 1-6: my reading has slowed down this week as other hobbies and commitments have taken over. I did have time to read this series during a break the other day. I thought it was pretty interesting. Imaginary monsters, FBI, and a town with a secret. What not to enjoy? That being said, it was fine. Nothing that I’m gonna put on a recommended reading list anytime soon, but it was okay. Some really cool ideas were bogged down by other less cool threads that could’ve been better written. If you are an x-files/supernatural fan, you may enjoy it. F For Fake, Raze and Ken Aldred 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kccoig14 Posted December 11, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 11, 2020 I started keeping track of my comic book reading over on the DC app in May but I thought I'd share my reading adventures here also. I'm just gonna copy and paste a couple posts here and there over the next several days so I'm not just bombarding this thread with a huge list of books. But here we go... This was posted May 16th I’ve decided to start to keep track of my comics read in 2020. I dont know if ill be able to go back and remember every comic I’ve read so far but here’s what I’ve read recently. I’ll go through my stacks and update with what I know I’ve read. Itll be interesting to see how many comics I actually do read in a year. This week I’ve read: Swamp Thing (2011) 0-12 Animal Man (2011) 12 Swamp Thing (1985) 96-109 Green Lantern (1960) 76-81 Batman: Black & White (2013) 1-4 Detective Comics (1937) 27 Batman (1940) 251-252 Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History 1-2 Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 113-116 Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle Here’s also what I’ve read in the past couple months since going digital on both DC & Marvel… Superman/Batman Annual 2006 Batgirl (2009) 1-2 Batman: Gotham Knights 1-9 Batman: Streets of Gotham 1 Batman and the Monster Men 1-6 Batman/ Dracula: Red Rain Year One: Batman/ Scarecrow 1-2 The Omega Men 1-2 Green Arrow: Year One 1-6 Batgirl: Year One 1-9 Strange Adventures 205 Brightest Day 0-1 Marvels: Eye of the Camera 1-6 Rocket Raccoon & Groot 1-3 Superior Carnage 1-5 & Annual Death of the Inhumans 1-5 Secret War 1-5 Black Cat 1 Deadpool vs. Thanos 1 House of M 1-8 & :The Day After 1 Death of Wolverine 1-4 Hunt for Wolverine 1 Man Without Fear 1 Venom: Lethal Protector 1-2 Doctor Doom (2019) 1 Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) 1-10 Thanos: The Infinity Revelation, Relativity & Finale Thanos (2016) 1-18 From Hell: Master Edition 8-10 Total:121 Yearly total: 169 There is much more that I need to track, this may be half of what I’ve read so far. I’m looking forward to keeping this updated as well as looking at everyone else’s reading lists. Happy reading everyone! Raze, ttfitz, Ken Aldred and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Previous total, 770.... Here's what I've read since the last update: Batman Damned 1-3 Or as we call it around my house, Naked Batman. My daughter and I read this one, her assessment was, "I don't think I liked it really." To which I agreed. Sandman 31 First issue in the Fables & Reflections collection. Started up the collection with my family again, although I'm the only one who has read anything so far. Have to say I think this was my favorite single issue story in the entire series. Based on a true story. Man of Steel 3 Another from the Batman vs Superman: The Greatest Battles collection. Classic first (post-Crisis) meeting of the World's Finest pair as related by John Byrne. Good story. Justice League 2 (2011) Yet another selection from the above. My least favorite of this collection, okay overall but only "meh" on the theme. Superman / Batman 78 (2011) One more from the above collection, and by far the best of the bunch. Who Would Win? tells the tale of two boys playing the age old game trying to decide the victor in a battle between two superheroes. Lots of fun moments in this one, I'd urge anyone who loves the superheroes to give this one a read. Defenders 76-79 Continuing on with the original run of this series from the 70s. A little bit of "whatever happened to Omega?" where we tie up Steve Gerber's storyline unfinished from the Omega series, a little bit of the female Defenders fighting one menace, while the original team of Dr Strange, Namor, and The Hulk go after the Unnameable. Mostly unmemorable. Action Comics 393-402 Continuing where I left off, typical Bronze Age Superman tales. JLA 114 Same. Klaus 1-7 Klaus Crisis in Xmasville 1 Recent efforts to organize the collection unearthed the one-shot listed, so I read it and then dialed up the original mini-series on Hoopla. An interesting origin story for jolly St Nick from the imagination of Grant Morrison. Not his best work, but even standard fare from Morrison is worth a read. If I did my math correctly, that's 30 more comics, to bring the total to.... 800. Gonna be close... F For Fake, Ken Aldred and Raze 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kccoig14 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 2nd post from the DCU app where I've been keeping track of my comics read in 2020. This was posted May 17th. Adding on the trade paperbacks that I’ve read so far this year. (Number of issues in parenthesis) -Justice League Odyssey Vol. 1 (5) + 2 (7) -Batman: Death and the Maidens (9) -Batman: Moench + Jones vol. 2 (17) -Batman: Earth One (1) -Batman by Ed Brubaker vol.1 (13) + 2 (10) -Batman: The Man Who Laughs (4) -Batman: Arkham Reborn (6) -Batman: New Gotham vol. 1 (8) -Batman: Gates of Gotham (8) -Kingdom Come (4) -Birds of Prey: Huntress (6) -Harleen book 3 (1) -Joker/Harley 1-3 (3) -Superman: Year One 1-3 (3) -Joker: Killer Smile 1-3 (3) -Wonder Woman: Dead Earth 1-2 (2) -Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt (6) -Amazing Spider-Man: Soul of the Hunter (1) -Amazing Spider-Man (2018) Hunted (12) -Avengers: Brian M.B. Complete collection vol. 1 (19) +3 (14) -Avengers World: Next World (7) -Avengers: The Initiative The Complete Collection vol. 2 (16) -Secret Invasion (8) -Captain America: Marvel Knights vol. 2 (17) -Daredevil Ultimate Collection vol. 3 (19) -Black Panther (2005) Complete Collection vol. 1 (20) vol. 2 (17) -Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Complete Collection vol. 2 (19) -Heroes for Hire (2012) Complete Collection (18) -X-Men: Children of the Atom (6) -Fantastic Four (2010) (6) -Bad Weekend (1) -My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies (1) Total:324 2020 Total: 493 Raze, ttfitz and Ken Aldred 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post srezvan Posted December 13, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted December 13, 2020 Up to 274 issues for the year, plus a few novels. More than 3 times what I did last year. Age of Apocalypse storyline continues. We've started the #2 issues. Years ago, before I had kids, I set a goal to read every issue of every x-title, starting with GSX #1. I made it through a few hundred issues of Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor in chronological order, plus crossovers and mini series. Sadly, I never finished. Recently it occurred to me that in all my reading, I've never read the original X-Men stories, so I just read reprints of X-Men #1-10 in the Marvel Milestone reprint. My overall opinion is mixed. Some of the material just doesn't age well. How easily the villains were defeated and just let go to go away on their own is pretty silly. The writing around Jean/Marvel Girl is so poor and cringeworthy by today's standards. I had a similar comment when reading how Scarlet Witch was written in the Kree/Skrull War. There's also no diversity at all, in any panel, of any issue. Again, quite strange through the lens of today. But still a fun read to see how the whole X-Men universe got started. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Marvel Milestone compilations and seeing how different teams mature the X-Men into what we see today. I can definitely see how Giant Size X-Men was needed to give the series a fresh start. I'll just share two panels from the TPB. The first is just silly. For some unknown reason, Magento is suddenly drawn super chubby in the middle of the fight. The second panel is a thought bubble of Professor X thinking about how he's in love with Jean Grey. Early in issue #1, Cyclops was introduced as the oldest team member at 18, and Iceman was introduced as the youngest team member at 16. It's creepy. Also, unrelated, you can see on the covers that the Scarlet Witch appears in a green costume, but she's in her red costume inside. This happens on both issues #4 and #5. ttfitz, Ken Aldred, D2 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 4 hours ago, srezvan said: Years ago, before I had kids, I set a goal to read every issue of every x-title, starting with GSX #1. I made it through a few hundred issues of Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor in chronological order, plus crossovers and mini series. Sadly, I never finished. Recently it occurred to me that in all my reading, I've never read the original X-Men stories, so I just read reprints of X-Men #1-10 in the Marvel Milestone reprint. My overall opinion is mixed. Some of the material just doesn't age well. How easily the villains were defeated and just let go to go away on their own is pretty silly. The writing around Jean/Marvel Girl is so poor and cringeworthy by today's standards. I had a similar comment when reading how Scarlet Witch was written in the Kree/Skrull War. There's also no diversity at all, in any panel, of any issue. Again, quite strange through the lens of today. But still a fun read to see how the whole X-Men universe got started. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Marvel Milestone compilations and seeing how different teams mature the X-Men into what we see today. I can definitely see how Giant Size X-Men was needed to give the series a fresh start. When I first saw you say "every issue" followed by "starting with GSX#1" I thought, "But he's starting in the middle!" Years ago, when I completed my Uncanny run, I read straight thru from #1 to close to the end at the time (don't remember exactly where, I know Claremont was still on his first run, because he was on the Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum and I talked with him about a lot of it). Like you said, much of it is very dated, but since I've recently read a long run of Fantastic Four (1-115 or so) and Avengers (1-20, I think), I know that ALL of those are rather dated. Still, there's some fun stuff, too. D2 and Ken Aldred 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kccoig14 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 (edited) My third post over on the DCU app didn't come til a few months after my last one. I had just lost a very close friend so I was going through some pretty major grief and then with the pandemic starting to really rear its ugly head at the time, my priorities wasn't really focused on keeping track of what I was reading. But here we go with the 3rd post of the comics I've read in 2020... Posted: September 8th Its been awhile since I’ve updated, but here’s what I’ve read the past few months, I’m sure I’ll be forgetting some. -The first 21 issues in the Knightquest series(21) -Superman: Red Son Book 1 -Batman 676 -Batman: Turning Points 1-4 (4) -Batman: Gordon’s Law 1 -Batman: Kings of Fear 1-6 (6) -Batman: Gotham Knights 37 -Superman (1986) 204-209 (6) -1st 5 issues in the Brightest Day series (5) -Catwoman (1988) 1-3 (3) -Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 44, 168, 192-193 (Snow is so good so far, highly recommend it to any Freeze fans that haven’t read it yet.) 207-211 (9) -Fantastic Four: Grimm Noir -Annihilation: Conquest- Wraith 1-4 (4) -Avengers of the Wasteland 1-2 (2) -Star Wars: Darth Maul 1-5 (5) -Star Wars: Rise of Kylo Ren 1-2 (2) -Deadline (2002) 1-4 (4) -Miles Morales:The End 1 -Ravenscroft 1 -Spider-Man FCBD 2020 1 -Incoming 1 -Batman 75-78 (4) -Curse of the White Knight 8 -DCeased Dead Planet 1 -Daphne Byrne 4-6 (3) -Detective Comics 1021-1026 (6) -Batgirl 47-48 (2) -Batman: Three Jokers 1 -Catwoman 80th Ann 1 -Dark Knights: Death Metal 1-3, Legends of the Dark Knights 1, Guidebook 1 (5) -Joker 80th ann 1 -Strange Adventures 1-5 (5) -Adventureman 1 -Alien: Original Screenplay 1-2 (2) -AvP: Thicker than Blood 1-2 (2) -Amazing Spider-Man 43-47 (5) -ASM: Sins Rising 1 -Chu 1 -Decorum 1 -The Goon 9-11 (3) -The Last God 1 -Marvels X 4 -Mercy 1 -Spawn 306-309 (4) -Spider-woman 1 -Thor 4-6 (3) -Negan lives 1 -Wolverine 2-4 (3) -Venom 25-27 (3) -Cruel Summer (9) -Pulp -Criminal Volumes 2-7 (23) -The Fade Out vol. 1 (4) -Baltimore Omnibus vol 1+2 (44) Total: 225 2020 total: 718 Edited December 14, 2020 by kccoig14 Typo Raze, ttfitz, Ken Aldred and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Aldred Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 (edited) 505 to 535 Secret Wars mini-series, Part 5 (31 issues in total) Infinity Gauntlet (5 issues) A very different Gauntlet story, and one of the very best mini-series here, with excellent art by Dustin Weaver. Recommended. Korvac Saga (4 issues) Always liked Korvac ever since his Bronze Age Avengers story, and this is good stuff as well. Marvel Zombies (4 issues) A must read story about Elsa Bloodstone that succeeds on several different levels. The cocky, sarcastic, tough, British protector of the Siege wall, enough gory zombie action, and a very sad character study about her childhood, with harsh and actually very, very abusive treatment by her father, ostensibly to turn her into a tough-as-nails survivor and monster / demon hunter, but which is excessive, painful and very sad to watch. Certainly a must read ‘zombie story’; quoted because it’s more than that. Runaways (4 issues) One of the better stories, basically an X-Men Academy. A nice modern art style, slightly manga. Weirdworld (5 issues) A must-read story for sword-and-sorcery fans by Jason Aaron, and really impressive painted artwork by Mike Del Mundo Siege (4 issues) Again, one of the best stories, here by Kieron Gillen, about the protection needed to hold back the constant threat from the regions of Battleworld inhabited by forces such as zombies, Ultrons and Annihilation Waves. The main artwork here has quite a distorted look, but, strangely, works well. There are also some excellent double page spreads, drawn by different artists, which look great and emphasise the monumental task faced in protecting Battleworld from the unceasing attacks made by the armies of destruction to the south. Ultimate End (5 issues) As a coda to the long saga of destruction of the Marvel multiverse that I read this year, this felt very disappointing and a bit padded out. Edited December 15, 2020 by Ken Aldred F For Fake, Raze, Talapas1 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttfitz Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Ken Aldred said: Korvac Saga (4 issues) Always liked Korvac ever since his Bronze Age Avengers story, and this is good stuff as well. Hey, I read the original storyline this year! One of those weird things, I had read the What If? issue with him a long time ago, so it was kinda backwards for me. Ken Aldred and Talapas1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F For Fake Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 On 12/13/2020 at 9:35 AM, srezvan said: Up to 274 issues for the year, plus a few novels. More than 3 times what I did last year. Age of Apocalypse storyline continues. We've started the #2 issues. Years ago, before I had kids, I set a goal to read every issue of every x-title, starting with GSX #1. I made it through a few hundred issues of Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants, and X-Factor in chronological order, plus crossovers and mini series. Sadly, I never finished. Recently it occurred to me that in all my reading, I've never read the original X-Men stories, so I just read reprints of X-Men #1-10 in the Marvel Milestone reprint. My overall opinion is mixed. Some of the material just doesn't age well. How easily the villains were defeated and just let go to go away on their own is pretty silly. The writing around Jean/Marvel Girl is so poor and cringeworthy by today's standards. I had a similar comment when reading how Scarlet Witch was written in the Kree/Skrull War. There's also no diversity at all, in any panel, of any issue. Again, quite strange through the lens of today. But still a fun read to see how the whole X-Men universe got started. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Marvel Milestone compilations and seeing how different teams mature the X-Men into what we see today. I can definitely see how Giant Size X-Men was needed to give the series a fresh start. I'll just share two panels from the TPB. The first is just silly. For some unknown reason, Magento is suddenly drawn super chubby in the middle of the fight. The second panel is a thought bubble of Professor X thinking about how he's in love with Jean Grey. Early in issue #1, Cyclops was introduced as the oldest team member at 18, and Iceman was introduced as the youngest team member at 16. It's creepy. Also, unrelated, you can see on the covers that the Scarlet Witch appears in a green costume, but she's in her red costume inside. This happens on both issues #4 and #5. I did a "full read" of X-Men myself, several years ago, from X-Men 1 through what was current at that time, which I believe was A vs X. And yeah, the early X-Men stuff really is a chore. That panel you posted re: Jean/Prof X really illustrated how they didn't really have a firm grasp of where they wanted the book to go. It didn't have a strong identity. And once Kirby leaves, it gets reaaaaaaaally dire. Neal Adams shows up eventually and gives the book a shot in the arm, but it's too little too late. Obivously, from GSX 1 onward, things pick up quite a bit. But yeah, of that entire read, getting started was the hardest part, aside from some really ugly 90's/00's stuff (particularly the Chuck Austen, Joe Casey, etc runs, which are trash.) ttfitz and Ken Aldred 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D2 Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 On 12/13/2020 at 2:34 PM, ttfitz said: When I first saw you say "every issue" followed by "starting with GSX#1" I thought, "But he's starting in the middle!" Years ago, when I completed my Uncanny run, I read straight thru from #1 to close to the end at the time (don't remember exactly where, I know Claremont was still on his first run, because he was on the Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum and I talked with him about a lot of it). Like you said, much of it is very dated, but since I've recently read a long run of Fantastic Four (1-115 or so) and Avengers (1-20, I think), I know that ALL of those are rather dated. Still, there's some fun stuff, too. So great to read these reviews. This ‘challenge’ as it were, actually makes for some amazing reviews and helps me narrow in on what I should focus on next. Back on topic, I also decided to read old old X-Men and didn’t make it far with the original series. I struggled and made sure to, at the very least, get to the Juggernaut and Sentinel appearances. These books are really awful to read now. I skipped right to GSX and X-Men 94 shortly after, and I’m sorry to say these are bad too. I failed to get passed 109 and skipped right to DOFP, which I really really liked. Thank God. 141 and 142 were great. I’ll go back to reread 110 to 140, but I needed some hope. Surprised how dated these books got. ttfitz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srezvan Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 1 hour ago, F For Fake said: I did a "full read" of X-Men myself, several years ago, from X-Men 1 through what was current at that time, which I believe was A vs X. And yeah, the early X-Men stuff really is a chore. That panel you posted re: Jean/Prof X really illustrated how they didn't really have a firm grasp of where they wanted the book to go. It didn't have a strong identity. And once Kirby leaves, it gets reaaaaaaaally dire. Neal Adams shows up eventually and gives the book a shot in the arm, but it's too little too late. Obivously, from GSX 1 onward, things pick up quite a bit. But yeah, of that entire read, getting started was the hardest part, aside from some really ugly 90's/00's stuff (particularly the Chuck Austen, Joe Casey, etc runs, which are trash.) Interesting. I was hoping things pick up - there are so many interesting characters introduced before the series goes on hiatus. I'll keep my expectations low. F For Fake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...