1000 books in 2023 2 2

[Ken Aldred]

Promethea 1 to 20

This was so boring and pretentious that I decided to give up at this point. Just now.

I posted this bit in another thread…

”Currently reading the Promethea series by Alan Moore for the first time.

If you enjoy wading through dense exposition about tarot cards and levels of creation, an entire issue of the mysticism of tantric sex, and lots more interminable, pretentious metaphysics, then you'll enjoy it. 

I was thinking about breaking up the experience with some weeding in the garden, but I think I'll watch the grass growing there instead as a more fascinating interlude in between issues.”

2023 total = 349

[cbalroman]

763-777 TMNT Vol 1 #48-62

778-781. Amazing Spider-man vol 6 #31-34

782. Batman vol 3 #137

783-784. Big Game #2-3

785. Black Hammer: The End #1

786. Daredevil vol 7 #14

787. Daredevil vol 8 #1

788. Dark Ride #8

789-790. Immortal X-Men #14-15

791. Nocterra #16

792-793. Parker Girls #9-10

794. Saga #66

795. The Magic Order vol 4 #4

796. Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country The Glass House #4

797-800. Walking Dead Deluxe #68-71

801. Unsicovered Country #25

802. Void Rivals #3

803-804. Wolverine vol 7  #36-37

805. X-Men vol 6 #26

[Ken Aldred]

Promethea 21 to 32

Being stubborn, I decided to finish reading the series.  After a couple more issues of pretentiousness, the storyline becomes a much more grounded super-hero tale, still with that distortion of reality angle, but better paced and without the previous mind-numbing boredom, up to a conclusion in issue 31. Then, Moore spoils it for me with one last onslaught of metaphysical overkill in issue 32.

I posted this in the Water Cooler’s UFO thread…

” Yup. Belief manipulating what is perceived as reality, giving substance to the imagined.

I’ve just been bored by 32 issues of Promethea in my 2023 reading pile,  with incessant, turgid soapboxing about that basic concept.”

2023 total = 361

[Djedi]

This is the first Robyn Hood comic I've read. It was a good place to start because I really enjoyed the spider visuals, from the low level cultists wearing spider masks, to the higher ups who are giant spiders, and of course plenty of cobwebs. Robyn gets a variety of arrows like fire arrows that adds another layer of fun. It's a simple yet entertaining read.

In the Archie Digest called Archie World Tour, Bollywood Love is the first "chapter". I didn't realize until later that it's two separate story archs. Four chapters are the music tour and the later four are an adventure mystery. In the music tour Archie is seeing Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats. There is sort of a love triangle because Archie shoots a music video with Amisha, a young Bollywood star. Amisha is a nice addition to the Archie world. The comic has a little drama but it's mostly good vibes while seeing different places like the koalas in Australia.

The second part is not connected to the first. It's a separate story where Archie and the gang are on a school trip, traveling to other countries, while criminals keep messing with them. For me it felt less focused than the music tour. Its new characters aren't as memorable as Amisha. Yet the Riverdale guys do get some nice moments. Jughead helps Archie in some crazy situations and Chuck receives a rare spotlight in the finale chapter. Plus there is a good character moment for Moose.

[srezvan]

265 books so far this year.

 

Adventures of Tintin: King Ottokar's Sceptre

After 8 Tintin books, I'm going to take a break. I'll come back to them at some point, but I've been disappointed overall.

 

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed #1

The game was always fun, but really hard for me to get through. I don't remember anything about the story. My 6 year old son picked this for us to read. I don't care that it's Legends, I 'm just interested in a good story. I thought the premise was goofy. I don't have Part 2. I asked my son if he wanted me to get it, and he said no. So that's it for this series.

[paperheart]

#346-376

Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye

Batman: Killing Joke

Authority #1-29

[ttfitz]

Previous total - 927

After the 500 last month, a real slowdown this month as I caught up on a number of other things.

DC Comics Presents 1-2, 9, 26, 47, 53, 69

Continuing my Superman related reading, picking up the few issues of this pre-Crisis Superman team-up title that I hadn't read before. Nothing really to comment on, other than the first New Teen Titans preview, and the first DC comics appearance of He-Man, Master of the Universe.

Invincible 80-84

Finishing off the trade paperback collection, still a very fun title.

Amazing Spider-Man 283-289
Web of Spider-Man 21-28
Spectacular Spider-Man 122-129, Annual 6

Picking up where I left off with the Spider-Man titles. Wow, so Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin! Glad that finally got straightened out!

So looks like that brings me to ... 963 for the year.

Edited October 6, 2023 by ttfitz

[ttfitz]

On 9/23/2023 at 10:33 PM, Ken Aldred said:

Promethea 1 to 20

This was so boring and pretentious that I decided to give up at this point. Just now.

I posted this bit in another thread…

”Currently reading the Promethea series by Alan Moore for the first time.

If you enjoy wading through dense exposition about tarot cards and levels of creation, an entire issue of the mysticism of tantric sex, and lots more interminable, pretentious metaphysics, then you'll enjoy it. 

I was thinking about breaking up the experience with some weeding in the garden, but I think I'll watch the grass growing there instead as a more fascinating interlude in between issues.”

2023 total = 349

Ouch. I remember enjoying this series back when it came out, but I didn't have to go thru 20 in a row, so maybe better in small doses?

[Ken Aldred]

On 10/6/2023 at 6:58 AM, ttfitz said:

Ouch. I remember enjoying this series back when it came out, but I didn't have to go thru 20 in a row, so maybe better in small doses?

That’s quite possible.  Moore gets interminable, on and on and on, with the soap boxing and pretentiousness, and, after about 20 issues in a row of this, you start to seriously run out of patience, hoping that it’ll end. It does, and becomes more grounded, but getting there is an absolute drag.

[Djedi]

The story is based on Frazetta's painting. It's solid but basic. The real star of the show is the art by Francesco Francavilla. The muted, almost black and white, colors evoke the early Universal Horror era, with a moody gothic atmosphere. The lighting and shadows are really well done. A lot of care was put into the details. There are more comics based on Frazetta's paintings and after this I'm definitely curious to pick up more.

Each Tales From Oz issue is a prequel on a different character. I really liked the artistic choices here. There are two separate pages that parallel each other. One is Zamora as a kid using her magic to cause havoc from far away. Another is her as an adult doing the same thing but her magic is more dangerous now. The brief medieval art inspired style to introduce her dad was cool too. In a single issue you learn all about Zamora and get a good sense of her, without it feeling overwhelming or rushed. I really enjoyed this one.

Van Helsing Vs. The Mummy of Amun-Ra 1-2

I don't have the physical edition of the first issue. Anyways, the cover of the second issue is one of my favorite covers because I love the Egyptian aesthetic. The villainess looks awesome and the sarcophagus glows like it's coming alive with magic. Issue one isn't terrible but definitely not the greatest. The humor is questionable and it's kind of a slow start with a lot of characters. At the end you start to see the villainess display her intelligence, which she does more of in the next issue. I'm not a fan of the stupid villain trope most of the time so I appreciate her seemingly being a worthy adversary. The second issue was better in general.

Edited October 11, 2023 by Djedi

[srezvan]

10 more issues down in the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus. Just finished the Alpha Flight fight. My daughter and I are still enjoying it.

 

I re-read House of X / Powers of X so I can start reading Dawn of X. I read this two years ago, but I wanted it fresh in my mind. It's such a great series.

For anyone reading these, any help on the reading order would be appreciated after Reign:

1    House of X / Powers of X HC
2    Dawn of X TPB #1 - 16
3    X of Swords TPB
4    Reign of X #1 - 14
    
?    Trial of Magneto?
?    Sabretooth?
?    Juggernaut?
?    Hellfire Gala?

[Norrin_Radd]

After taking the summer off, I decided there was no better day to restart reading Tintin than 10/10. 

Read Red Rackham's Treasure.  One of Herge's best Tintin stories.  Leaving off from The Secret of the Unicorn, Tintin and Captain Haddock set out on a voyage to find the wreck of the Unicorn.

They are joined by a new character, Professor Calculus.

Discovering the island and the wreck (thanks to the professor's shark submarine), they have an adventure recovering items from the sunken ship but no treasure.

They return home when Tintin discovers that the Bird brothers home (Marlinespike Hall from the previous story) is the ancestral home of Haddock.  With Professor Calculus' help, Haddock buys the home and they find the treasure.

A great end to a great Tintin story.

[Ken Aldred]

Alias 1 to 28

Highly recommended series.

A rare case of a series that starts out good, and gets better and better. The Mattie Franklin / Spider-Woman story is excellent, but the final Purple Man storyline is one of the best that Bendis has ever written, though far from a comfortable read. Killgrave is an appalling person, how someone on the remorseless antisocial behaviour spectrum would act if they could make anyone totally compliant, without even the slightest ability to resist their demands. 
 

2023 total = 389

Edited October 17, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[Ken Aldred]

Agents of Atlas Complete Collection Vol 1

Agents of Atlas 1 to 6 (2006 series)

Spider-Man Family 4

Wolverine Agent of Atlas 1 to 3

Agents of Atlas 1 to 5 (2009 series)

What If ? 9 (1st series)

I do like my retro super-hero teams, here the reintroduction of the “1950s Avengers”,  first seen together in the What If? Issue.

Variable in quality, but I particularly liked the two main Agents of Atlas mini-series, also with lots of nice art from Leonard Kirk and Gabriel Hardman.

 

16 comics

2023 total = 405

 

[Djedi]

I really dig this cover's style that looks like if they did a Helsing adventure cartoon. After reading issues 3-6 I finished this series. Visually it makes the most of its themes between brief appearances of mythic monsters, the white colored pharaoh outfits of the henchmen, and of course Hatshepsut, the mummy herself. She starts as a beautiful woman in stylish clothes. Then the decay happens bit by bit until finally in battle her skin is burned off and her appearance becomes more monstrous. The details were really well done.

On the negative side though, while there are great moments, the story juggles too much. It would have benefited from fewer characters. I don't think Hatshepsut (or as she prefers to be called, God-Queen) reaches her full potential character wise. Maybe I went in with overly high expectations because I love Egyptian stuff. It's good but not the best. There is a nice ending.

[paperheart]

#377-419

Black Science #1-43

[Ken Aldred]

Umbrella Academy : Apocalypse Suite and Dallas storylines, plus FCBD issue 

The first part, Apocalypse Suite, seemed to jump around a bit without much explanation of what was going on in places, especially related to the Number Five character, but the far superior second part, Dallas, fills a lot more in, and overall it’s a very good read.  Always liked Gabriel Ba’s cartoony art after first reading the excellent Casanova.

13 comics

2023 total = 418

[Djedi]

Got this issue and hoped the story would be standalone enough for me to jump in. Fortunately, it was, and I really enjoyed it. The fairy tale atmosphere was fun, and I enjoyed the characters, including Sigurd who is apparently one of Wonder Woman's romantic interests.

There was a good balance of humor and seriousness. The main monster has two faces side by side. The creatures in general are over the top and the kind of fun science experiments gone wrong you don't see that often in mainstream horror these days.

Uploaded a pic to get better quality than what I saw online. Found this for a dollar. There are four stories at six pages each. A monkey doll with a top hat and cane wrecking things is just what my life needed. Just wish there was more of him. Hope I can find more from Boris Karloff Tales of Mysteries.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Djedi

[Ken Aldred]

Hellblazer Vol 1 : Original Sins

Hellblazer 1 to 9, Swamp Thing 76 and 77

Still, for me, classic horror comics.  Jamie Delano's style might seem slightly verbose, but it suits the genre and material really well, and he provides a great start to the series, and to building Constantine's jaded, cynical personality.  John Ridgeway's art is gritty and also very well-matched.

The Swamp Thing crossover issues by Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala are good, a very significant story for that character's journey as well.

11 comics

2023 total = 429

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[Norrin_Radd]

Read The Seven Crystal Balls for the first time.  A fun Tintin mystery/adventure where members of an expedition to bring back an Incan mummy are targeted by an apparent curse involving crystal balls.

The adventure ends on a cliffhanger and continues in Prisoners of the Sun (which I've also never read).