1000 books in 2021 5 5

[srezvan]

I'm up to 555 comics so far this year.

Rise of the Dungeon Master was an interesting, quick read. I would have liked to hear more about the demise of TSR, but Gygax was gone by then and it wasn't the focus of the book. Although I haven't had time to plan in 20+ years, I still like the game, reading about it, and occasionally watching games online.

 

Conan the Barbarian - The Original Marvel Years Epic Collection Book 1. I started reading these as Conan Saga Magazine, which reprints the original issues, but doesn't include the full run. I like this size of this TBP (13 issues + extras) better than the omnis. After I read each issue, I read the related chapter from Barbarian Life, where Roy Thomas talks about that issue. And, of course, I need to use a Conan bookmark.

 

Next up: Dr. Aphra omnibus.

[Scrooge]

September Count:

Comics: 17

Chariot # 5

Chip'n'Dale # 7

Compass # 2 - 3

Crack Western # 81

Johnny Mack Brown # 7

Lone Ranger # 10

Moonshine # 25 - 26

My Own Romance # 31

Seven Swords # 2 - 3

Something is killing the children # 11 - 15

European Albums: 10 @ 2 each = 20

Carthago - 12

Double Masque - 1 - 5

Golias - 1 - 4

Manga: 18 @ 5 each = 90

Beast Complex - 1

Blood on the tracks - 5

Blue Giant - Omnibus 2 (v. 3 - 4)

Demon Slayer - 21

Dr. Stone - 16

Haikyu!! - 44 - 45

One-punch Man - 22

Ooku - 14 - 18

The way of the house-husband - 5

Weathering with You - 3

Yona of the Dawn - 29 - 31

Collections: -

That's a total of 127 for September.

January - 219

February - 243

March - 268

April - 114

May - 177

Summer - 437

September - 127

------------------

Total - 1,585

Best Read: Ooku - still comes out on top. As we get closer and closer to current time, the speed at which we abandon characters is slowing down (understandably as the author will run out of history). That's a benefit to the story as we get to spend more time with these characters and see them go through more experiences. These volumes explore the relationship between the Shogun and the Emperor now that the Shogunate is weaker. Tragedy abounds.

Book I did not know I would still be reading: The Way of the House-Husband has not yet overstayed its welcome. The premise is ludicrous: a retired yakuza is now a stay at home husband sharing new recipes, chasing food deals and home-making with the best out there ... all the while scaring the out of everyone around him  ... yet, we have not quite hit the point where this is played out.

Book I do not know why I am still reading: Carthago. I get it, Megalodons are cool ... but we're 12 albums in and the story has lost all sense of directions. Each new album is almost like just a one-shot, I don't know anymore from reading this installment than I did before what is going to happen next. But, still, Megalodons *sigh* When is the next one?

One ending: Haikyu!! (Volleyball) is officially over @ volume 45. I liked that the series only covered one high-school season for the main characters, their freshman year. The final volumes moved them up through the beginning of their pro careers and showed us their first clash at the pro level and allowed them to continue on without us tagging along.

Books we all read at the house: Yona of the Dawn. Volumes 29 - 31. # 29: battles and yes, good; # 30: conclusion of an arc and actual conversations and yes, great; # 31: we move on and Yona is acting completely out of character!!! No one in the house cared for the volume. # 32 is coming soon and there'd better be an explanation for the weirdness / letdown of # 31.

Quick takes: Enjoying Blue Giant, about a Japanese kid's desire to become a great tenor sax jazz player ... Double Masque: the two masks are in the possession of Napoleon and an underworld kingpin; how are they connected and what is their fate? Nice period piece intrigue-filled series ... Weathering with You # 3 - yawn, probably worked better as in anime than in manga format, glad it's over ... Beast Complex is a nice set of one-and-done vignettes in the Beastars world ... I am enjoying Seven Swords as much as I thought I would  

[ttfitz]

Previous count, 878.

First up, what I'm treating as a "request." Earlier this year, @srezvan read Marvels and asked about the more recent followup. So, I dug in and grabbed some stuff:

Marvels 1-4

As excellent as I remembered it. I didn't find the ending as abrupt as srezvan did, but I can see how it might be taken that way.

The Marvels Project 1-8

I'm a pretty big Ed Brubaker fan, and this was certainly good, as I expected it to be, but it didn't really have that Marvels feel to it - a story told from the "man on the street" viewpoint.

Marvels Epilogue

Pretty good followup for the 25th anniversary, I enjoyed many of the parallel images from the original X-Men issue, and the interviews were very interesting, too. I have "Eye of the Camera" somewhere in this mess I call a collection, hopefully I can find them soon.

The Boys 48-55

Been enjoying this twisted tale very much - and so glad I didn't read it as a monthly, since I can't imagine having to wait for the next issue to come out. Hopefully Garth Ennis won't cancel on Baltimore like so many of the folks who I read this year.

Okay, so looks like we are at ... 899.

 

[Ken Aldred]

194 to 213

Several Fantagraphics EC Artists collections...

Accidents and Old Lace and Other Stories by Graham Ingels (172 pages)

The last run of Ingels stories from 1953 to 1955.  Classic, creepy gothic horror and his trademark, horrible undead from a master of the genre.  I didn't bother with the New Direction stories from Impact.

T'Aint the Meat It's the Humanity and Other Stories by Jack Davis (198 pages)

A complete run of his stories from Tales From the Crypt.  Gory, often darkly humorous, inventive; classic pre-Code horror

Came the Dawn and Other Stories by Wally Wood (181 pages)

A half-and-half collection.  Firstly, all of Wood's horror stories.  Most of them are quite lacklustre ones from the early Harry Harrison period, but there are a few that clearly show he could've made an excellent horror artist along with Ingels and Davis.  The second part consists of his social commentary material from Shock SuspenStories.  Undoubtably very important relevance stories, but reading them one after another leaves you feeling a little bludgeoned into submission by the relentless heavy-handedness.  Powerful material, but perhaps better paced out with the variety of stories and genres which were found in the original anthology comic books.

 

As per last year's ECs, equivalent to 20 issues.

[ttfitz]

On 10/18/2021 at 3:07 PM, Ken Aldred said:

T'Aint the Meat It's the Humanity and Other Stories by Jack Davis

Love this title!

[paperheart]

#435-472

Moon Knight #1-14 (Lemire)

30 Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales #1-8

Justice League Dark #1-8

Robin Year One

[Raze]

Its been awhile, so heres my update!

261-273

Confessions Illustrated 1

Shock Illustrated 2

Terror Illustrated 1-2

All of the EC Illustrated books were very nicely done!

Nightmare 12 I always liked this cover, decent stories

War Against Crime 5

Beta Ray Bill 1-5 Daniel Warren Johnson kicks

Flash 54 Great one shot story!

Marvel Fanfare 18 Frank Miller cover and art, This has to be my favorite Cap story.

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Raze

[Ken Aldred]

On 10/24/2021 at 4:21 AM, Raze said:

All of the EC Illustrated books were very nicely done!

They're great.  The Picto-Fiction set was the last one I needed to complete my EC Library hardcover collection.

[ttfitz]

Been a while since my last update, at last count I was at 899.

The Boys 56-72
Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker 1-6
Dear Becky 1-8

Finished off the rest of Garth Ennis' fabulous series The Boys and all the associated miniseries. Not much to say other than really, really good. Glad I got to meet Ennis and one of his main artists, Russ Braun, at the Baltimore Comic Con last weekend. Highly recommended series.

Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril 1-6

This was okay, but not nearly as good as I remember the original series being. Then again, I'm guessing writer Peter Hogan isn't nearly as good as Alan Moore, either (no offense to Peter Hogan).

Something is Killing the Children 16-20

Origin story for our monster killer Erica. Really looking forward to The House of Slaughter coming up.

Spencer & Locke 2 #1-4

Really enjoyed the original mini-series from David Pepose. This was also good, but I think I liked the first series better.

Thomas Alsop #1-8

Waiting in line to see Garth Ennis in Baltimore, writer Chris Miskiewicz took advantage of his captive audience beside his booth to hawk some of his stuff. Admiring his approach, I returned and he talked me into picking up the two volume collection of his story of The Hand of Island, the protector of New York handed down through the generations for 300 years. Pretty good story, if you like the Dresden Files I think you'll like this one, as Alsop is kinda a screwed up Harry Dresden. Okay, a more screwed up Harry Dresden.

So if I've done my math right, that gets me to ... 945!

[Scrooge]

October Count:

Comics: 16

Sabrina the teenage witch - Something wicked # 1 - 5

Stillwater # 1 - 6

The department of truth # 1 - 5

European Albums: 10 @ 2 each = 20

Double Masque - 6

Les enfants de la résistance - 1 - 6

Les innocent coupables - 1 - 3

Manga: 32 @ 5 each = 160

20th Century Boys - 3 - 4

Asadora! - 1 - 3

Beyond the clouds - 2 - 3

Blue Flag - 7 - 8

Chobits - 4 (aka 7 - 8)

Dr. Stone - 17 - 18

Golden Kamuy - 21 - 23

Heaven's Design Team - 4 - 5

Hell's Paradise - 8 - 10

How heavy are the dumbbells you lift - 6 - 7

Mermaid Saga - Omnibus 1 (1 - 2)

Pluto - 004 - 005

The girl from the other side - 10

To your eternity - 14

Witch hat atelier - 8

Zoom 100 - 2 - 3

Collections: 15

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish lieutenant

Delilah Dirk and the King's shilling

Delilah Dirk and the pillars of Hercules

That's a total of 211 for October.

January - 219

February - 243

March - 268

April - 114

May - 177

Summer - 437

September - 127

October - 211

------------------

Total - 1,796

Best Read: Les enfants de la résistance - I could not wait to read the next volume and that should be the test for the best. The story is as the title promises: 3 kids in France during the German occupation finding a way to stand up and making sense of their new reality. Though reality is stretched a bit in the storyline as the 3 kids organize a resistance network all on their own. However, the plot is cleverly constructed and they have to overcome their fears and their limitations and enlist the help of others and face potential repression and the consequences of their actions (one of the kids' dad is executed in the second volume). The books come complete with a short historical dossier at the end by the --script writer documenting the parallel real life events during the war. The story is progressing at about 6 month in real time per album.

Best (re)Read: Delilah Dirk. The world Tony Cliff creates in these Delilah Dirk collections is exciting, colorful, and funny. The interaction between the leads is warm hearted and funny in the vein of the best buddy comedies and Cliff often riffs on classic movie scenes and themes to punch up the pages and moments. It's a great romp through early 1800's Europe when Delilah is taking charge of her life of adventure. He is working on the fourth volume. All info at DELILAH DIRK: the very best action-adventure comics about sword-based conflict resolution and instigation in the 1800s 

Naoki Urasawa Month: I am continuing going through Urasawa's work available in English with reads of 20th Century Boys, Pluto and Asadora! Maybe, at times, it's not the best plan since Urasawa's style is not just his drawing style but his story-telling style as well and reading these works (though written years apart) together draw your attention to the similar structures of their stories. Still, quite enjoyable when rendered by a master and Asadora! is off to a great start.

Heavy Manga Month: I am trying to empty my TBR pile from the library @ home and that's mostly Manga. I hope to have it down to 0 by year-end to leave my options open for next year reading plan / resolution. As a result, my reading was fairly unbalanced this month. Doesn't mean unenjoyable but it leaves little room for much else and it generates a downside (upside?) is that I am getting impatient with those series that aren't performing well. A couple are now on the short list to be dropped ...

Quick takes: The Department of Truth is not as good as Black Monday Murders (and the art is challenging) ... Zoom 100 is fun ... Mermaid Saga by Rumiko Takahashi has that classic clean manga style and a dark undertone that makes it a page turner ... To your eternity: the current day reboot is meandering but the next volume adjusted just in time to survive on my reading list ... Beyond the clouds is interesting enough but the art is too scratchy to push it to the next level ... Stillwater is dead in the water 

Edited November 3, 2021 by Scrooge

[F For Fake]

I fell so far behind on my reading, and on my board activities, that it's impossible to catch up now. So I will just salute those of you who are sticking it out, I enjoy seeing the posts!

[paperheart]

#473-508

Punisher: Silent Night

Iron Man 2020

Deadpool Max II #1-6

Black Panther #28-30, 38-40

Red Team #1-7

Ever After #1-12

[F For Fake]

Ok, I'm a lying liar. We took one last trip for the year down to the lake, and I brought a stack of stuff I'd been meaning to read. So, I may as well update my total. Still not gonna hit 1000, but I'll go down swinging.

This stack included:

Blue and Gold 3, Human Target 1 - I don't buy many new books (pretty much Love and Rockets and Aliens stuff, these days) but my JLI fandom means I can't pass these up. The Blue and Gold series is...not good. I will stick it out, but it's pretty standard stuff, which is a shame, as I love these characters SOOOO much.

Human Target, on the other hand, was great. The art is lovely, and I'm hooked on the premise. Looking forward to the rest, although I really hope they're not going to do another hatchet job on my beloved JLI. Seems like whenever they need to destroy some sort of legacy that people will care about, they turn to JLI. Killing off Ted in Infinite Crisis, doing whatever the hell it was they did with Booster etc in Heroes in Crisis, etc. Just leave my guys alone!

Reign of X 1 & 2 - I'm running behind on these (vols 3 through 5 are on their way) but still digging it altogether. As has been the case with the entire House of X relaunch, some titles are more interesting than others, but I am still loving this monthly digest version. I wish they'd do this for so many titles.

Detective vols 3, 4, 5 by Tomasi, and Batman 4 by Tynion: I am still just not getting much out of the modern Bat books. I will trudge along, as I've not missed an issue since I was a kid. I've read 'em all since I was in middle school. But these most recent runs just aren't very inspired, to my eyes. I am sick to death of the Joker and anything related to the Joker or Harley or clowns. And the books are just so grim and dour. I thought Morrison did a good job of mixing the dark stuff with the sillier aspect of Bats, and to be honest ,that was the last time I really loved the main Batman books. the Snyder run was fine, the King run was fine, and this stuff is fine, I guess. But not much fun. (Also, for reasons I can only assume are Covid related, the entire Tomasi run has been released in HC's, except for Vol 3 Cold Vengeance, which was only released as a trade. That drives me a little nuts, but I realize that's a personal failing.)

Marvel Masterworks Tomb of Dracula Vol 1 - I haven't read these since I bought the omnis when they were first released, and then stupidly sold. But I'm onboard for the MMW line. And to be honest, the masterworks are a much nicer reading experience. As much as I enjoy the "all in one" aspect of the omnibus, and how imposing they are on a bookshelf, the masterworks are so nicely sewn and printed, and so much easier on the wrists. Beautiful reproduction here. As for the content, Gene Colan looks as beautiful as ever. The book gets off to a shaky start (never been a Roy Thomas fan) but once Marv Wolfman shows up, things start cooking. Looking forward to the rest of these. They will hopefully be done reprinting the run sometime before I die.

Hellboy in Hell - my revisitation of the Hellboy comics in the form of the hc Library editions is now complete. Now THESE are comics. I love this series so much, now I just want to read them all again. And the library editions are THE way to read them. Just a beautiful presentation of the material. Heavy paper, perfect binding, delicious oversize trim. My only complaint is the fabric covers, which attract hair like nobody's bizness (see the pic) but all in all, I can't complain too much.

So that makes my total for the weekend: 64.

Now, since I last posted, I'm sure I read other stuff, but the only ones I can remember for sure are the JLI Omnibus 1 (40 issues), and a couple of Barks Duck books, which I usually place at about 10 issues per book, so call that 20.

So, altogether, my total is at 497. I'm sure I've ready more than that, but at this point I'm not splitting hairs. Just glad to be sharing some cool books with you folks!

[paperheart]

#509-539

Black Magick #1-5

Todd, Ugliest Kid on Earth #1-4

Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur #1-6

Domino #1-6

Criminal Macabre: Die, Die My Darling

Cal McDonald: Supernatural Freak Machine #1-3

Slash & Burn #1-6

[Ken Aldred]

214 to 248

(35 issues in total)

Constantine 1 to 23, new 52 series 

I've never read anything by Ray Fawkes before, but it's quite consistent stuff.  Average art.

Quite tame compared to the original series, but worth a read.

Constantine The Hellblazer (2015) 1 to 12

By James Tynion IV and Ming Doyle.  Good read. Much darker than the previous series, though not quite as much so as the original Vertigo series. Very nice art in some issues by Riley Rossmo, but, sadly, doesn't remain on the title to the end.

[Ken Aldred]

249 to 262

(14 issues in total)

Crisis on Infinite Earths 1 to 12

History of the DC Universe 1 and 2

For me, Crisis still holds up very well.  Marv Wolfman has the most difficult of the Crisis tasks, triaging and integrating nearly half a century of convoluted parallel universes and characters, whereas the later events, Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, Flashpoint, Rebirth, etc, only have to deal with simpler retconning over a few short years.  The tone is quite grandiose, but fine for a story on such a cosmic scale.  George Perez, of course, is truly excellent, and can do it all, art wise.  The perfect choice for a comic book with an enormous cast of characters.

The History of the DC Universe books have a very different tone, quite dry, scholarly almost, as you'd expect a history textbook to read, perhaps.  They were originally intended to be the last two issues of Crisis before the series was expanded, but the tonal shift would've been jarring.  A good decision to separate them out.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Ken Aldred]

263

Invisible Differences GN

Based upon the experiences of a woman who's lived with Asperger's Syndrome, this French graphic novel is actually absolutely spot-on, hitting on many situations that I've encountered myself down the years.  Quite brilliantly authentic.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Ken Aldred

[Raze]

274-282

Adventures into Terror 4- A few fun stories in this one

War against Crime 6- EC Crime!

Mystic 25- Cool Zombie cover!

Vault of Horror 31 & 38- Ive been looking for these 2 books for awhile. I always lose them on ebay. Found both at a small show same dealer!

Nellie the Nurse 12- Always thought this was a funny cover.

Crime Suspenstories 6- Great cover, good read.

Voodoo 3- First of this title I own and it was good.

Marvel Tales 108- always liked the cover, OK stories

Edited November 22, 2021 by Raze

[ttfitz]

Last count was 945. Let's see now...

Black Hammer Visions #8

These have been hit or miss, as previously reported, but I thought this one was pretty good. Scott Snyder's take on the classic Western horror character, it worked for me.

Marvels Eye of the Camera #1-6

As I had hoped, the last remaining Marvels series on my list was unearthed in the recent back-thru-time organization of my collection. As with everything Busiek, this one was top rate, and in the classic Marvels mold. Really enjoyed this.

S.C.I.-Spy #1-6

A Vertigo mini-series from the early 21st Century, written by Doug Moench and art from Paul Gulacy. Rather standard Spy in Space drama, but an enjoyable read. Thought at first from the premise - 1000 years after the destruction of the Earth with humanity moved to another solar system with 17 planets, the inner planets fully developed with the outer ones still on the wild side with the inevitable conflict between the two - that this might be a little bit of a Firefly ripoff, but it appears to have hit print a bit before the show aired, so probably just parallel evolution.

David Lapham's Young Liars #1-12

As some pull quotes on the covers put it: "Pure, chaotic bliss" - Aintitcoolnews.com "This is one twisted book" - ign.com "One of the best series going, if you can handle it" - comicbookbin.com "You'll hate it so much you'll love it" - comicsbullentin.com "Wonderful art and [a] demented story" - popsyndicate.com

Not sure I can say it any better. I am enjoying it so far, even though I haven't the slightest idea what is going on. My hope is it will all come together in the end. 

Gun Honey #1-3

Caught my eye when looking thru recent "New this week" lists, thought I'd give this Hard Case Crime series a try. Good so far, looking to see what happens with the conclusion in issue 4.

So let's see... carry the 3... looks like 973 for the year.

[ttfitz]

On 11/8/2021 at 1:49 PM, F For Fake said:

Blue and Gold 3, Human Target 1 - I don't buy many new books (pretty much Love and Rockets and Aliens stuff, these days) but my JLI fandom means I can't pass these up. The Blue and Gold series is...not good. I will stick it out, but it's pretty standard stuff, which is a shame, as I love these characters SOOOO much.

Sorry to hear this about B&G, I was really looking forward to this.