1000 books in 2023 2 2

[Norrin_Radd]

Read Prisoners of the Sun.  A continuation of the adventure in Peru.

A classic Tintin tale with lots of peril, twists, and turns culminating in their breaking into the inner sanctum of an ancient Inca temple.

All ends well and our heros are back on their way home to Europe.

Next up is Tintin in the Land of Black Gold.

[Ken Aldred]

Zero Hour : Crisis in Time

Showcase 94 issues 8 and 9 (two 10 page shorts introducing Extant = 1 book)

Zero Hour 1 to 4, and 0

 

Time gets obliterated with pretty much the same effect as we saw in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The mastermind behind it was a surprise at the time, and I always found Dan Jurgens’ stories and dialogue at the very least entertaining. Not anywhere near as good as the 80s original, though.  Some of the art, Jurgens pencilling and Jerry Ordway inking, is actually excellent.  An interesting period piece in that it features quite a number of characters introduced in the 90s that didn’t take off at all, and have now faded into oblivion.

6 comics

2023 total = 435

[srezvan]

300 comics so far this year.

I'm reading the Legend of Zelda Box Set with my 7 year old son. We finished the first two books (10 books total in the set). He's really enjoying it. It is very youth-focused, but not bad. I'm looking forward to the books related to the games I recognize. I never played the N64 games.

 

Only 4 issues left before my 10 year old daughter and I finish the first Uncanny X-Men Omnibus! We are going to read a novel after this that a buddy of mine wrote, then go back to the omnibus #2. I never liked (and still don't) like Arcade. But the Proteus storyline still holds up well. I also love the slow burn building up to the Hellfire Club.

[cbalroman]

806-851. East of West #1-45

852.  East of West: The World

853. Amazing Spider-man vol 6 #35

854. Batman vol 3 #138

855-856. Black Hammer: The End #2-3

857. Daredevil vol 8 #2

858-859. Detective Comics #1074-1075

860. Fables #160

861-862. Fire Power #27-28

863. Immortal X-Men #16

864. Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country The Glass House #5

865-866. Walking Dead Deluxe #72-73

867. Transformers #1

868. Void Rivals #4

869. Whats the Furthest Place From Here #14

870. Wolverine vol 7  #38

871. X-Men vol 6 #27

[chromium]

And yes the 1000 mark has been reached 

 

September 176 comics read

Hunt, kill repeat 4-5
Mosely 4-5
Murder Inc Jagger Rose 1-3
Newburn 6-9
Nightwalkers 2-3
Noir Burlesque 2 (5 comics)
Old Dog 4-6
Once Upon a Time at the End of the World 6-7
Panya - The Mummy's Curse 1
Parker Girls 7-8
Past Tense (5 comics)
Phantom Road 3-5
Planet of the Apes 2-4
Predator 3- 5
Punisher 11-12
Red Goblin 3-6
Red Sonja 1
Savage Highway 1-3
Scarlet Witch 5-6 + annual
She-Hulk 12-15
Silk 2-3
Silver Surfer Ghost Light 4-5
Sirens of the City 1
Something Epic 2-3
Space Job 4
Star Trek Annual 2023
Star Trek Day of Blood 1
Star Trek Defiant 3-5
Star Trek The Motion Picture Echoes 1-3
Star Trek 7 - 10
Star Wars - Darth Vader 33-37
Star Wars - Return Of The Jedi The Empire
Star Wars - Return Of The Jedi The Rebellion
Star Wars - The Mandalorian Season 2 1-2
Star Wars Yoda 6-9
Star Wars 34-36
Starsigns 1-3
Survivial 1-3
Swamp Thing Green Hell 3
Swan Songs 1
Tales from Nottingham 3-6
The Frontier 1
The Incal Sying Star (5 comics)
The Joker the man who stopped laughing 7-9
The Nasty 2-3
The Planetoid and other Stories (10 comics)
The Riddler Year One 4-5
The Rock Gods of Jackon, TN  (10 comics)
The Rocketeer in the Den of thieves 1
The Sandman Universe - Nightmare Country - The Glass House 1-3
The Sandman Universe - Dead Boy Detectives 4-6
The Seasons have Teeth 2-3
The Three Ghosts of Tesla (7 comics)
The Walking Dead Deluxe 67
Torrent 2-5
Travelling to Mars 6
Trojan 4
Ultimate Invasion 1-2
Under the Influence 1
W0rldtr33 1-4
Warlock - Rebirth 1-4
Where Monsters Lie 4
X-O Manowar - Unconquered 1-2
You've been cancelled 1-2

 

October 158 comics read
All Tomorrow's Parties (9 comics)
Antartica 2-3
Big Game 2-3
Black Hammer the End 1-2
Blade 2-3
Blade RUnner 2039 6
Captain America Finale
Captain Marvel Dark Tempest 2-3
Carole - What we leave behind (10 comics)
City Boy 3
Conan the Barbarian 1-2
Damn them all 7
Daredevil & Echo 4
Daredevil 14
Deadbeats V1 (8 comics)
Deadbeats V2 (8 comics)
Dead Romans 6
Dr Who - Doom's day 2
Exorcists Never Die 5
Fantastic Four 10-11
Fantastic Four Annual 1 (2023)
Guardiand of the Galaxy 5-6
Haunt you to the End 2-4
Hunt Kill Repeat 6
Ice Cream Man 36
Immortal Sergeant 8-9
Indigo Children 6
Invincible Iron Man 9-10
John Tiffany (5 comics)
Loki 3-4
Magneto 1
Miss Truesdale and the fall of Hyperborea 4
Moon Knight - City of the Dead 02
Moon Knight 26-27
Moon Knight annaul 2023
Murder Inc. Jagger Rose 4-5
Night Fever (5 comics)
Outlaws 1 (2 comics)
Panya - The Mummy's Curse 2-3
Planet of the Apes 5
Red Goblin 7
Red Sonja 1-2
Scarlet Witch 7-8
Silk 4-5
Something Epic 4-5
Star Trek Strange New Worlds Scorpius Run 1
Star Trek the Motion Picture Echoes 4
Star Trek 11
Star Wars - Darth Vader 37
Star Wars - Return Of The Jedi Max Rebo
Star Wars - The Mandalorian Season 2 3
Starsigns 4
Supercult 1
Survival 4
Swan Songs 2
The Cult 1
The Day the Clan came to town (6 comics)
The Enfield Gang Massacre 1
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos 3
The Pursuer (5 comics)
The Rocketeer in the Den of thieves 2
The Sandman Universe - Nightmare Country - The Glass House 4
The Sandman Universe Special Thessaly 1
The Vigil 3
The Walking Dead Deluxe 68-71
The Witches of WW2 (7 comics)
Ultimate Invasion 3
Under the Influence 2
Victory 2-4
W0rldtr33 5
Warlock - Rebirth 5
What if Dark Moon Knight 1
You've been cancelled 3

For a total of 1014 comics read in 2023

 

[Ken Aldred]

The Losers 1 to 32

Book 1 is one of the best action-orientated comic books I’ve ever read.  Book 2 starts off with some back story about the team and then shifts emphasis more onto being a conspiracy theory. The villain goes a bit Dr Evil at the end, with an interesting twist to his story.  Didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did, but good stuff.

2023 total = 467

[Ken Aldred]

Shadows on the Grave 1 to 8

Richard Corben is one of my all-time favourite comic artists, and one of the best horror artists ever, but this was a very disappointing read.

Very much late period art from him, some of it still works really well, a lot of it I thought was mediocre.

The book was promoted as being a homage to the short stories published by EC in the 50s, but as a writer he’s no Al Feldstein, and the stories are predictable and quite vacuous throughout.  Nowhere near as good as the classic material he produced for Warren Magazines, in Creepy and Eerie, aided by far superior writers, and the comparison to the classic EC horror comics is a bit of a stretch, really.

2023 total = 475

 

[Djedi]

The main female character is Gann or 003. Apparently she was introduced in a previous series, 007 (2022). I didn't know this at first, but I could pick up what was going on well enough so I kept going. A big focus of this series seems to be introducing a lot of double 0 agents starting with issue one where a new 002 is shown. Let's just say Bond has a lot of enemies this time around.

The series has very cool and stylish covers. Since there is no Bond intro, they kind of take the place of that in my mind. As far as tone goes this one definitely leans serious and is plot/action focused. Some of the highlights are 006 shooting at Bond with his excellent marksmanship and Bond killing someone in a brutal and creative way.

I've only read the first four. Issue 6 was delayed till Nov. 29th. At the moment I would say it's pretty good but could be better. The main issue is also what many will get a kick out of. There is a lot of characters involved, including the various double 0 agents. I like seeing them since they are hardly in the movies. But I think fewer characters in general would allow the ones that are there to be developed more.

[Norrin_Radd]

Read The Land of Black Gold.

Very entertaining tale of sabotage and international intrigue leading Tintin, Captain Haddock, and the Thomson twins to Arabia.  Tintin has a run in with Dr Muller whom we last saw in the Black Island.

The story ends satisfactorily with resolution of the mystery.

[Ken Aldred]

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

Edited November 15, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[cbalroman]

872-873. Amazing Spider-man vol 6 #36-37

874.  Batman vol 3 #139

875. Dark Ride #9

876. Detective Comics #1076

877-879. Walking Dead Deluxe #74-76

880. Transformers #2

881. Undiscovered Country #26

882. Void Rivals #5

883. Whats the Furthest Place From Here #15

884. X-Men vol 6 #28

885-888. The Tick vol 1 #1-4

Edited November 16, 2023 by cbalroman

[Ken Aldred]

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

 

 

 

 

[Ken Aldred]

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

Exceptional, by my standards.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[paperheart]

#420-433

Battle Pope #1-14

[cbalroman]

889-896. The Tick vol 1 #5-12

[srezvan]

On 11/17/2023 at 9:39 PM, cbalroman said:

889-896. The Tick vol 1 #5-12

Are you reading these as floppies or in TPB format? They eventually published "Pseudo #13" (or something similar in name) to close out the original story. I really love that character.

[Ken Aldred]

Parallel universes, one where vampires won out, the other the werewolves.
 

Vampironica 1 to 5

Quite old school, Gothic horror. A fairly tame start to the extended storyline.  Nice art from Greg Smallwood, who went on to do the Human Target mini-series with Tom King.

Jughead The Hunger 1 to 13

For an Archie comic, surprisingly gory.  Frank Tieri’s story is really a quite engaging page turner. Nice art from the Kennedy brothers.

Jughead The Hunger vs Vampironica 1 to 5

The two parallel universes collide after a spell is cast by Riverdale’s Antichrist.  That is, the saga becomes even more mental, and continues to be entertaining.

Vampironica New Blood 1 to 4

Back home, the story concludes with a return to a little more tame, old school vampire horror.

27 comics together

2023 total = 551

 

[Djedi]

Brave Chef Brianna Issue 2-4

Thought that finishing up a series related to food made sense for November. I don't own these physical, just digital. The idea of a human restaurant in a monster town is cool. I enjoyed the art style and liked that the primary characters have distinct looks and personalities. The characters are written believably. There is a good message, through the main character Brianna, about persevering despite intrusive thoughts about failure and impostor syndrome that doesn't feel heavy handed. Her journey makes the relatively short story feel substantial.

While reading this, I kept thinking it would be nice to have some kind of continuation, where they flesh out not just the leads more, but the customers and see different parts of the monster city. They could do an issue spotlighting the energetic skeleton businessmen for instance. Because the writing and art has fun with even the minor characters, I wanted more of just about everyone. As it is though, it's a solid and unique 4 issue story.

[Ken Aldred]

Sweet Tooth 1 to 12

A sad story about a sheltered, naive mutant kid forced to go out into a brutal, post-apocalyptic world.

Good indie comic stuff from Jeff Lemire.

2023 total = 563

[srezvan]

My daughter and I finished the first Uncanny X-Men Omnibus. It ends right in the middle of the Dark Phoenix Saga, so we started the next omni.

304 comics this year.