1000 books in 2020 1 1

[Talapas1]

1033-1041

Finally around to posting the last of my backlog.  
 

Some fun titles that I’m still keeping up with.   

•Death Metal is interesting.  It’s not in my must read pile, but it’s keeping my attention with each new chapter.

•Transformers Galaxies is great because is allows some focus on specific characters each arc.  ultra Magnus is the focus currently and he’s had a number of different retcons so this one is pretty decent and not going too far off base

•So I recently just started with spawn again    I don’t think I’ve read since issue 100, but had to snag the Gunslinger run     It’s interesting but I’m having to figure a lot out as I’m missing a lot of history.   Gonna stick it out a bit longer.

•Immortal She-Hulk: Interesting story   I haven’t read Immortal Hulk yet but feel like there may be some information I’m missing about the current status of the Hulkverse.

•Speaking of Hulks, I love the Maestro series and am loving the seeds being planted in showing Hulks path to becoming the Maestro The other Marvel hero making an appearance was great and pretty fitting and portends some amazing conflict coming up soon

•Marvels X is a fun read.   The Earth X Universe has always been a favorite of mine and I love this prequel to it.

•Once and future is good, but I think I need to save it up to read a few issues at a time to really follow it.
 

[Talapas1]

1042-1063

I’ve been on a reading tear lately.   Took a break from floppies to read these TPBs.  
 

Lobster Johnson:The Iron Prometheus:   This was a fun dive into the pulp hero genre.  I didn’t have any preconceptions going in and doing myself enjoying really enjoying it. The art is definitely in a style I am drawn towards and it was perfect for for the tape being told.

 

Thunderbolts:  My brother happened into possession of these books and asked it I wanted them.   A week later I was plowing through them.   I liked the books for the most part but I wouldn’t say they were anything truly groundbreaking.   Taking all the loners and throwing them on a covert team was fine and using Deadpool to take the edge off and keep the book from taking itself too seriously.   I loved the Dillon art in the first volume, but subsequent artists felt Ike they were unsuccessfully imitating his style.  All in all I liked the series and may keep  digging to  see if I can the rest of the series and see how things shake out.

[paperheart]

306-410

Sculptor - Scott McCloud

Richard Stark's Parker by Darwyn Cooke: Books 1-4

Hellblazer #101-200

[Ken Aldred]

33 minutes ago, paperheart said:

Richard Stark's Parker by Darwyn Cooke: Books 1-4

Superb crime noir graphic novels.

Edited November 1, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[F For Fake]

Forgot to add this one to my total, which speaks to the quality of the material. This is the last collection I had to will myself to power through, as the Morrison run is up next! Not much to recommend here, aside from the inclusion of X-Men Forever, which is a fun read for X-continuity nerds, and features the great Kevin Maguire on art. The rest mostly ranges from bad to dull. Search for Cyclops is both!

This brings to total to 634.

 

[F For Fake]

Next up was House of Secrets Omni v2, which I came just a day shy of finishing during Halloween season! Sweet bronze DC horror, that's the stuff! Alcala, Redondo and Aragones shine as always, but I think Ramona Fradon's work may be the best in this volume. Clean, animated, just great stuff. You likely know how these stories read; most are amusing, a handful may be genuinely creepy, and some are more than a little goofy. But they're all a pleasure. Good times. I could eat this stuff with a spoon.

Brings my total to 677. Time is getting tight!

Edited November 2, 2020 by F For Fake

[srezvan]

I completed the Squadron Supreme Omnibus. This includes the original 12 issue run and a Captain America crossover. This was highly recommended on these boards, so I picked up a copy. Not the first print with the ashes - I have a 3rd print. Overall, a very good read. Interesting storyline and some great plot points. I have some complaints, but I'll put them in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

I'm not a fan of time travel and alternate dimensions, in general. I thought the time travel by Tom Thumb was especially ridiculous, and his character was pretty annoying at times. Some of the names (e.g., Whizzer) and characters (e.g., Pinball) were just terrible. However, the path that Nighthawk took to battle Hyperion was very interesting. There were some thought provoking parts throughout, like when the Squadron's base was attacked and Whizzer's first reaction was to go get a gun from the confiscated gun stash. The ending was great - a battle with consequences. Nighthawk's death was unexpected, and I liked the little detail of Moonglow finally appearing in her non-illusion form. I thought the ending scene in the hospital was a great wrap up for the story. I'm going to track down a copy of the Death of a Universe TPB and add it to the reading list.

 

[Raze]

401-405

Batman Tree Jokers 1-3

I really enjoyed this series. I like the ending as well. 
 

Catwoman 26

Im keeping with this series. I only started reading because I think Joelle Jones is a great creator and artist and wanted to support her. And now I think she is only going to do the covers. Im staying on because Ram V is an up coming writer and I liked his horror/love book These Savage Shores.

Batgirl 50

This was boarder line unreadable for me. I only read this for the Joker War tie in (which it really didnt) and this last issue was pure garbage. Ill leave it at that because politics are not allowed here on the boards!

Edited November 7, 2020 by Raze

[Talapas1]

1064-1072 Rebels

It’s been a while since I’ve read something that had me feeling as conflicted as I have.   In this case it wasn’t the story itself, but more the issues that I have with the writer.    I was a big Brian Wood fan a while back.  I really enjoyed the comics he wrote and just seeing his name on an upcoming project was enough to get me to check it out.   His characters were interesting and he generally wrote female characters in a way that would make it seem that he has some respect for them.   Fast forward to just a few years ago, and allegations about him and his behavior towards women professionals in the industry surfaced.   His harassing behavior led to some big consequences for him.   Dark Horse severed ties with him and I haven’t seen as many titles of his on the shelves as I once did.  

What does this have to do with “Rebels”?  Everything, and in some ways, nothing.   I enjoyed the story of early American revolutionaries and what they went through to defeat the British.   Wood wrote tensions into this tale that were believable and kept me engaged.  The few female characters that were present were strong and independent.   Unfortunately the whole time I was reading the story, my knowledge of Wood’s actions just sat in the background, tarnishing any enjoyment I was getting from the reading of these books.  

As knowledge about the lives of creators become more open to the consumer of media, we are faced with decisions.   Wood moves into a class of artists that I have some problems with.  I will always be thinking about his actions and as I read his stories, be constantly analyzing what he is writing and if it gives an evidence of his deeds.   I hate feeling like that.  It takes so much away from the story and questions that the author poses take a backseat to the ones that have sprung up.   In this Wood joins a growing list of creators whom I have previously enjoyed, but now avoid.   It sucks because I have fond memories of their previous works, but don’t want to support them any longer.  

As for Rebels itself, it was a good read.   The characters were interesting and his focus on forgotten heroes of the Revolutionary War is always a something I am interested in.  It was worth the dive in the fifty cent bins to collect these. 

If anyone out there has suggestions for other Revolutionary War period comics, please feel free to share.

   

[Ken Aldred]

423 to 434

Secret Wars mini-series,  Part 1

(12 issues in total)

- Captain America and the Mighty Avengers 8, 9

Ties into Secret Wars 1 and the final battle between the 616 and Ultimate universes.  Interesting, as in the later stages it focuses on ordinary people just before the end arrives.  Good story from Al Ewing and art by Luke Ross.

- Civil War 1 to 5

One of the essential series to read; an America divided into two sectors, one controlled by Tony Stark, the other by Steve Rogers.  I’d never read anything by Charles Soule before, but it’s an excellent story with nice Leinil Yu art.

- Future Imperfect 1 to 5

Old Hulk, The Maestro, as you’d expect.  Good story by Peter David, raised later by a surprising, twist ending.  I’m not much of a fan of Greg Land’s photo-referenced art when it comes to ordinary, human-looking characters, but here his versions of The Hulk and The Thing are surprisingly impressive.

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[Talapas1]

1073-1074

Generation X/Gen13

Gen13/Generation X

I do love me some inter-company crossovers and this one was not an exception.   Neither was what I would refer to as high art, but they were fun enough.    I enjoyed the Marvel produced one more as I wasn’t really digging on the Art Adams art In the wildstorms issue.   The Marvel story was also marginally better written in my opinion.  The best part of these books is that I found them for fifty cents each so I figure it was entertainment well worth a buck.  

[Ken Aldred]

 

435 to 446

Secret Wars mini-series,  Part 2 

(12 issues in total)

Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde (3 issues)

Fairly throwaway, although it does tie into the much better story later on.  Peter Quill from Earth 616 has decided that the best way to keep a ‘low profile’ is by working as a lounge singer in a Manhattan nightclub , and Kitty is working for Doom, hunting anomalies from the worlds before.  The usual predictable, initial hostility, later warming to each other as in the 616 universe. Romantic fluff, mediocre artwork and story.

Guardians of Knowhere  (4 issues)

Brian Michael Bendis phones it in story-wise for Secret Wars, and this is a quite average super-hero comic, saved by some excellent Mike Deodato artwork.

Attilan Rising (5 issues)

One of the very best mini-series, from Charles Soule again, tying into ‘Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde’, with Black Bolt working as the owner of the Manhattan nightclub, and secret rebellion leader.  Intriguing enough to keep interested in the story through to what’s ultimately an excellent twist ending, despite artwork that for me has a sloppy-looking, distorted and unappealing modern style.

Definitely looking for more from this author somewhere down the line, such as his Daredevil run.

 

[F For Fake]

Had a chance to read volumes 3,4 and 5 of the Dawn of X trades this weekend. Each volume contains a month's worth of issues of all of the X-books, so vol 3 has issue 3 of X-Men, Marauders, Excalibur, etc. I really love this format, and hope they keep it up, as I enjoy keeping up to date on all of the X-books, but the only one I'm likely to buy in hardcover is the actual X-Men book by Hickman. It's helpful to have all of the titles in one volume, as characters cross back and forth, and events from one title may affect another. Also, you can't beat the price, as a $17.99 cover means it's aroud $14 at most retailers, and only $10 and change at IST.

Still very much enjoying the Hickman-headed relaunch, and as we get further into these regular ongoing series, the books are beginning to separate themselves. Unsurprisingly, I think the two Hickman-written books (X-Men and New Mutants) are the best. X-Men itself doesn't have a lot of action, but has plenty of big ideas and some political intrigue. New Mutants is a more lighthearted and fun book, as it splits its time between a space-faring adventure, and the adventures of the younger X-Men on earth. 

I'd say my next favorite would be Excalibur, which is digging into the Captain Britain mythos, which I've always enjoyed. 

Marauders and X-Force sort of blur together with the other titles, which is fine. I see them as fleshing out the larger world of the X-Men book.

The only title that has completely failed to capture my interest is Fallen Angels. I don't think I've finished a single issue of that book so far. There's just nothing there for me.

This should put my total at 695. Yikes! Gotta get to readin'!

[srezvan]

I'm up to 230 for the year. Not going to get close to 1,000, but I've already passed last year's total.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1-6. A quick read, but a fun series. I'm getting ready to read volume 2 next. I saw the movie years ago, and didn't really like it. There were elements in the movie that I liked, but the overall execution was poor. Skip the movie, read the comics.

 

[Ken Aldred]

447 to 468

Secret Wars mini-series,  Part 3

(22 issues in total)

 

Marvel 1872 (4 issues)

A story about The Avengers in a town called Timely, out in the old Wild West.

Worth a read; good story by Gerry Duggan, and nice art which works very well for the period setting from Nik Virella, who I’m not familiar with, but I’ll look out for more from him.

 

Modok Assassin (5 issues)

Written by Chris Yost, one of my favourite modern writers, this is an absolutely ridiculous and often fun story, in which psychopathic killer Modok gets a crush on one of Marvel’s hottest characters, Angela.

Worth staying with to the end, despite the art not really working for me.

 

Squadron Sinister (4 issues)

As a standalone alternate universe story, just an excuse for Marc Guggenheim to create an absolutely evil version of the Squadron, going around barbarically conquering adjacent regions of Battleworld, with typically solid art from Carlos Pacheco.

 

Thors (4 issues)

One of the very best Secret Wars series, from one of the best Thor writers ever, Jason Aaron.  A police procedural murder mystery featuring Doom’s enforcers, the parallel universe Thor Corps, with nice art from Chris Sprouse.

 

Where Monsters Dwell (5 issues)

I’ve never been a fan of Garth Ennis’ sadistic hyper-violence, but here he’s in mainstream, comparatively-restrained Marvel territory and this is just a ridiculous exercise in pure, British smut humour in the style of a 'Carry On' film.  Nice art from Russ Braun.

 

[Talapas1]

1073-1089

Thunderbolts Vol 1-3

These were given to me so I figured I should read them before throwing them on the shelf.  It was ridiculously violent and pretty fun.  The character choices were pretty predictable for a book of antiheroes and it was the first time I really read anything with Red Hulk.   I’m currently collecting the full Hulk run with Ross so hopefully can get some background on him.    
mall in all it was a fun quick read and though I doubt I would’ve ever spent money on the series, I’m glad I read it.  

Edited November 11, 2020 by Talapas1

[Ken Aldred]

14 minutes ago, Talapas1 said:

 

I didn't read the Infinity tie-in, which would've introduced me to Charles Soule's work sooner.  I tried to keep it to material that had a more direct effect on the Secret Wars story progression.  

Edited November 11, 2020 by Ken Aldred

[srezvan]

On 11/10/2020 at 7:46 PM, srezvan said:

I'm up to 230 for the year. Not going to get close to 1,000, but I've already passed last year's total.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1-6. A quick read, but a fun series. I'm getting ready to read volume 2 next. I saw the movie years ago, and didn't really like it. There were elements in the movie that I liked, but the overall execution was poor. Skip the movie, read the comics.

 

I got through volume 2 in record time. I think the TPB format helps. Overall, not as good as the first story. There were a few things that I enjoyed, and a few things that I really didn't like. I think I'll hold off on reading the next volume for now.

Edited November 12, 2020 by srezvan

[Talapas1]

21 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

I didn't read the Infinity tie-in, which would've introduced me to Charles Soule's work sooner.  I tried to keep it to material that had a more direct effect on the Secret Wars story progression.  

I didn’t realize it was a secret wars story progression.  I was out on marvel from about 2014 to just this last year.  I almost have collected the whole secret wars line. Only missing like 10 books.  Then I’ll have some reading ahead of me.  May be part of my read 1000 books in 2021

[Ken Aldred]

20 minutes ago, Talapas1 said:

I didn’t realize it was a secret wars story progression.  I was out on marvel from about 2014 to just this last year.  I almost have collected the whole secret wars line. Only missing like 10 books.  Then I’ll have some reading ahead of me.  May be part of my read 1000 books in 2021

This year, as far as Secret Wars goes, I read the Avengers and Infinity prequels and the main Secret Wars storyline.  At present I'm playing catch-up posting about the Secret Wars / Battleworld series I've read; far more than "the tip of the iceberg", but not even close to the whole run of them.  

Edited November 12, 2020 by Ken Aldred