1000 books in 2023 2 2

[Ken Aldred]

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

First time I’ve read this since the 80s. 

That said, not quite as emotive for me this time around, I suspect because there have been many documentaries and many other personal, survivor accounts of the Holocaust since then, and exposure to quite a lot of material on British TV in recent times. Nonetheless, still very powerful, from my viewpoint with my interest in understanding antisocial behaviour disorder, and here, literally illustrated, the destructive consequences of the actions of some apex examples of this spectrum.

One of the most significant works of our comic book medium, and essential reading for all.

2023 total = 564

 

[Ken Aldred]

On 11/19/2023 at 8:24 PM, srezvan said:

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.

Great pick.

You can’t go wrong there.

[Cat]

Just tallied up everything I've read since starting tracking on May 19th. 

I'm currently at exactly 950 comics, and 11 novels. Now, the comics may be slightly off, as I've assigned that if it's say, an IDW Collection it had 18 issues for counting purposes, when some did have less. But it gives me an estimate of where I am. And with the Invincible Compendium 3 coming this week I'll be sure to safely break the 1000 mark by the time New Year's hits anyway. 

For the first time ever, I'll have done it. 

[cbalroman]

On 11/18/2023 at 10:15 AM, srezvan said:

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.

I read the floppy's.  I had purchased them off the shelf back in the day and have been in my PC ever since.  I havent read them in quite some time so wanted to do a re-read.  They still stand up over time and were as funny as I remembered them.  

Also I have never read the "Pseudo 13" so I guess I need to track that down.  Thanks for bringing that to my attention.  

[srezvan]

This was okay, but not as good as the GI Joe Saturday Morning Adventures series.

[Norrin_Radd]

Read Destination Moon (1953).

A fun tale of professor Cuthbert Calculus designing a nuclear-powered rocket to go to the moon.

Tintin and Captain Haddock get involved in the project and some intrigue along the way ending with the rocket launching to the moon with them aboard.

Continued in the next album Explorers on the Moon...

Edited November 26, 2023 by Norrin_Radd

[Ken Aldred]

On 11/28/2023 at 1:19 AM, Amazeron said:

Black Hole by Charles Burns 

My first time reading this one, it was excellent. I was impressed by Burns’s ability to write three-dimensional female characters. My only complaint was the male characters looking the same and at times I confused them. Besides from that, this is a must read for indie fans. 

Absolutely. Burns is one of my favourite indie creators, and this a classic. 
 

I have the Kirby book, but haven’t got to it yet.

[Cat]

Black Hole was the first comic my ex-fiancee ever collected. Her very first question about comics to me - "do all comics have this graphic penetration?" 

"No hon. Sorry to disappoint." 

"I don't know if I'm disappointed or not." 

[F For Fake]

I am woefully far behind on my buying, reading, and reporting! Went to my LCS last week for the first time in about 7 months, and caught up on all of my new books. I don't get many titles these days, really just Love and Rockets, Alien, and the various Mignola-verse titles. Caught up on a good portion of reading over the holiday weekend. This represents my reading from the last few months, comics-wise. Just not enough hours in the day!

TMNT/Batman Omnibus - about 18 issues. The first miniseries was pretty cute, and I was into it. By the third I was kinda checked out, but the art by Freddie Williams III has an underground funkiness that I very much enjoyed throughout. Fans of both franchises should find plenty to enjoy here.

Tomb of Dracula MMW V2 - my Halloween reading material, haven't revisited these in a minute. Colan's art is always great, it takes Wolfman a while to get going with the stories. A bit of a bore at times, but still hits the nostalgia zones pretty hard, and as noted, much beautiful art to enjoy.

Transformers #1 - grabbed a second print of the 1st issue of the new series from Skybound. It didn't do anything for me, art or storywise, but it's only one issue, so I won't judge too much. At this point I've sampled, so I'll just trade-wait to read the rest of the story, and see how it shapes up. Can't say I liked the art either, just not my thing. It's fine.

Human Target 10,11,12 - FINALLY got to see how this story wrapped up. Loved loved loved the whole thing. Smallwood's art is terrific, and the story is engaging and fun. Of course, I'm a longtime, die-hard JLI fan, so it's fun to see those characters portrayed through a more contemporary lense. Looking forward to revisiting this, hopefully in an Absolute format, as the art certainly warrants it.

Alien v3 5&6, V4 1-5, Annual 1, V5 1 - At least I think I have the volume #'s right. I wish they'd give these titles like DH used to, it would be easier to keep them straight. I will say that the books have improved from the execrable first series, and thank god  Salvador Larroca and his photoshop antics have moved on, but there's still nothing remarkable here. Marvel is laying an egg with this franchise. Really wish it was still with DH, even though they fumbled the license a bit in their later years as well. I still believe there are interesting stories to be told in the Alien universe, but it's been a while since anyone was up to the task.

-ton of Mignolaverse minis-

Castle Full of Blackbirds 1-4

Frankenstein The New World 1-4

Hellboy and the BPRD: From Below, Fearful Symmetry (one shots)

Giant Robot Hellboy

Hellboy in Love 4,5,6

Lady Baltimore - Dream of Ikelos

Miss Truesdale - The Fall of Hyperborea 1-4

Young Hellboy 4

Panya The Mummy's Cure 1-4

 

Although I love the Mignolaverse, encompassing both his "World of Hellboy" and "Outerverse" titles, some of them feel like a bit of a rip. These books are $3.99 each, and some of these minis can be breezed through in about 10 minutes. The value isn't always there as far as floppies are concerned. Quality varies from title to title. I really enjoyed the Frankenstein series, the Hellboy one shots, and the Miss Truesdale series. The rest were kind of a "meh". 

 

So, by my count that's 70 new books read, added to my previous total of 293, giving us 363. Looks unlikely that I'll even make it halfway this year. I'm currently about 1/3 through the Phantom Stranger Omnibus, would like to at least finish that one up before the ball drops.

Happy reading,  y'all!

Edited November 29, 2023 by F For Fake

[Cat]

On 11/30/2023 at 6:08 AM, F For Fake said:

I am woefully far behind on my buying, reading, and reporting! Went to my LCS last week for the first time in about 7 months, and caught up on all of my new books. I don't get many titles these days, really just Love and Rockets, Alien, and the various Mignola-verse titles. Caught up on a good portion of reading over the holiday weekend. This represents my reading from the last few months, comics-wise. Just not enough hours in the day!

TMNT/Batman Omnibus - about 18 issues. The first miniseries was pretty cute, and I was into it. By the third I was kinda checked out, but the art by Freddie Williams III has an underground funkiness that I very much enjoyed throughout. Fans of both franchises should find plenty to enjoy here.

Tomb of Dracula MMW V2 - my Halloween reading material, haven't revisited these in a minute. Colan's art is always great, it takes Wolfman a while to get going with the stories. A bit of a bore at times, but still hits the nostalgia zones pretty hard, and as noted, much beautiful art to enjoy.

Transformers #1 - grabbed a second print of the 1st issue of the new series from Skybound. It didn't do anything for me, art or storywise, but it's only one issue, so I won't judge too much. At this point I've sampled, so I'll just trade-wait to read the rest of the story, and see how it shapes up. Can't say I liked the art either, just not my thing. It's fine.

Human Target 10,11,12 - FINALLY got to see how this story wrapped up. Loved loved loved the whole thing. Smallwood's art is terrific, and the story is engaging and fun. Of course, I'm a longtime, die-hard JLI fan, so it's fun to see those characters portrayed through a more contemporary lense. Looking forward to revisiting this, hopefully in an Absolute format, as the art certainly warrants it.

Alien v3 5&6, V4 1-5, Annual 1, V5 1 - At least I think I have the volume #'s right. I wish they'd give these titles like DH used to, it would be easier to keep them straight. I will say that the books have improved from the execrable first series, and thank god  Salvador Larroca and his photoshop antics have moved on, but there's still nothing remarkable here. Marvel is laying an egg with this franchise. Really wish it was still with DH, even though they fumbled the license a bit in their later years as well. I still believe there are interesting stories to be told in the Alien universe, but it's been a while since anyone was up to the task.

-ton of Mignolaverse minis-

Castle Full of Blackbirds 1-4

Frankenstein The New World 1-4

Hellboy and the BPRD: From Below, Fearful Symmetry (one shots)

Giant Robot Hellboy

Hellboy in Love 4,5,6

Lady Baltimore - Dream of Ikelos

Miss Truesdale - The Fall of Hyperborea 1-4

Young Hellboy 4

Panya The Mummy's Cure 1-4

 

Although I love the Mignolaverse, encompassing both his "World of Hellboy" and "Outerverse" titles, some of them feel like a bit of a rip. These books are $3.99 each, and some of these minis can be breezed through in about 10 minutes. The value isn't always there as far as floppies are concerned. Quality varies from title to title. I really enjoyed the Frankenstein series, the Hellboy one shots, and the Miss Truesdale series. The rest were kind of a "meh". 

 

So, by my count that's 70 new books read, added to my previous total of 293, giving us 363. Looks unlikely that I'll even make it halfway this year. I'm currently about 1/3 through the Phantom Stranger Omnibus, would like to at least finish that one up before the ball drops.

Happy reading,  y'all!

I'm really surprised you didn't like Transformers. Fair enough and all, just surprised. I'd have thought you'd have been into it, is all. Too violent? 

[F For Fake]

On 11/29/2023 at 3:42 PM, Cat said:

I'm really surprised you didn't like Transformers. Fair enough and all, just surprised. I'd have thought you'd have been into it, is all. Too violent? 

Well it's only one issue at this point, so it's too early to say I straight up disliked it, it just didn't really grab me, you know? Maybe because we've seen the origin story, the ark, all of that stuff, retold so many times in comics, cartoons, etc I'm willing to give it another chance once it gets going somewhere, which is why I'll trade wait. I don't buy many floppies anymore, and this one didn't grab me enough to make me feel like I needed to keep up with it month to month. Whenever they collect the first storyline, I'll pick it up and try it all in one go, and it may be more engaging at that point. 

And no, violence isn't a turn-off, gimme that carnage! (Not the character Carnage. Carnage sucks. But the idea of actual carnage, yes, I like that.)

It's a tough thing to do, relaunch Transformers once again, in a world which has had so many comics, cartoons, toylines, etc. To have to reestablish the whole idea of the world, the core characters, and do something new with it, I'd imagine that's very tricky. So I won't say this was bad, it just wasn't interesting or new enough to make me feel like I couldn't wait for the next issue to hit. Once they have a few under their belt, I'll try it again, maybe it'll head somewhere new or different.

[F For Fake]

@Cat did you read Void Rivals? Is it worth checking out, maybe flesh out the new TF stuff a bit more?

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 11/30/2023 at 9:32 AM, F For Fake said:

@Cat did you read Void Rivals? Is it worth checking out, maybe flesh out the new TF stuff a bit more?

Here is where his discussion on it is, everything important is in spoiler, so no worries 

[Cat]

On 12/1/2023 at 1:32 AM, F For Fake said:

@Cat did you read Void Rivals? Is it worth checking out, maybe flesh out the new TF stuff a bit more?

It doesn't flesh it out as such, as tell a completely disparate story that guest stars two Transformers. I'd pick up, or read online, as much as I hate that, but we're talking about a 1 page cameo here, issue 1 for more info on a certain character involved in Transformers #1 if you were interested (it's minor, but it's a bit of an explanation of how things happened). The rest is very much it's own story, moving at a slow pace, but enjoyable enough. I'd give it a 6/10, buoyed by the Transformers cameos. 

[Cat]

On 12/1/2023 at 1:26 AM, F For Fake said:

Well it's only one issue at this point, so it's too early to say I straight up disliked it, it just didn't really grab me, you know? Maybe because we've seen the origin story, the ark, all of that stuff, retold so many times in comics, cartoons, etc I'm willing to give it another chance once it gets going somewhere, which is why I'll trade wait. I don't buy many floppies anymore, and this one didn't grab me enough to make me feel like I needed to keep up with it month to month. Whenever they collect the first storyline, I'll pick it up and try it all in one go, and it may be more engaging at that point. 

And no, violence isn't a turn-off, gimme that carnage! (Not the character Carnage. Carnage sucks. But the idea of actual carnage, yes, I like that.)

It's a tough thing to do, relaunch Transformers once again, in a world which has had so many comics, cartoons, toylines, etc. To have to reestablish the whole idea of the world, the core characters, and do something new with it, I'd imagine that's very tricky. So I won't say this was bad, it just wasn't interesting or new enough to make me feel like I couldn't wait for the next issue to hit. Once they have a few under their belt, I'll try it again, maybe it'll head somewhere new or different.

Ah fair enough. If it helps, issue 2 was a lot better, and tied things together nicely, I thought. Except for the deer. #2 has the world's stupidest deer. But aside from that, it's good stuff. 

[F For Fake]

On 11/30/2023 at 12:01 PM, Cat said:

Ah fair enough. If it helps, issue 2 was a lot better, and tied things together nicely, I thought. Except for the deer. #2 has the world's stupidest deer. But aside from that, it's good stuff. 

Cool, i really will give it another chance down the road, but these days I'm more of a collections/trades guy. The only stuff I'm really buying monthly is the stuff I've bought forever. A new book would have to be pretty mindblowing for me to buy it on the montly these days. TF didn't quite get there, but I will return!

[Cat]

On 12/1/2023 at 3:35 AM, F For Fake said:

Cool, i really will give it another chance down the road, but these days I'm more of a collections/trades guy. The only stuff I'm really buying monthly is the stuff I've bought forever. A new book would have to be pretty mindblowing for me to buy it on the montly these days. TF didn't quite get there, but I will return!

Hope you like it when you do. I think (think) issue 2 might change your mind a bit. It's a bit more original, and also rounds out what we saw last issue nicely, giving us direction. But what can I say. I've been loving the series so far.

[F For Fake]

On 11/30/2023 at 12:38 PM, Cat said:

Hope you like it when you do. I think (think) issue 2 might change your mind a bit. It's a bit more original, and also rounds out what we saw last issue nicely, giving us direction. But what can I say. I've been loving the series so far.

If they have #2 the next time I stop by the shop, I'll try to pick it up. How many are out so far? 

[Cat]

On 12/1/2023 at 5:11 AM, F For Fake said:

If they have #2 the next time I stop by the shop, I'll try to pick it up. How many are out so far? 

Just the two. 

[chromium]

November...cold and rainy..so a big number this month

 

November 186 comics
Alien 3-6
Alien annual 1
Avengers 5-6
BRZRKR - Poetry of Madness 1
Captain America 1-2
Children of the Vault 1-2
Daredevil 1-2
Dark Spaces - Good Deeds 3-5
Drive Like Hell 1
Golden Rage (7 comics)
Green Arrow 4
Harlem 2 (3 comics)
Hey Kids Comics V3 5
James Bond - 007, For King and Country 4-5
Lamentation 1-3
Miracleman The Silver Age 6
Moon Knight - City of the Dead 3-4
Monarch 6
Nemesis  1-4 
Newburn 10-12
Once Upon a Time at the End of the World 8-9
Parker Girls 9-10
Postal Deliverance V1 (6 comics)
Saint John 1
Sherlock Holmes 1-3
Slumber (8 comics)
Star Wars - Obi-Wan Kenobi 01 
Travelling to Mars 7-8
Abbot 1979 1
Alice Never After 1
Antarctica 4
Arcade Kings 1-3
Beneath the Trees where nobody sees 1
Black Hammer - The End 03
Black Sight 1
Blade 4
Blade Runner 2039 7-8
BRZRKR - Pen and Ink 1
By a thread 1
Captain Marvel Dark tempest 4
Captain Marvel 1
Crypt of Shadows 1
Exorcists Never die 6
Fantastic Four 12
G.O.D.S 1
Giant Robot Hellboy 1
Godfell 5
Green Arrow 5
uardians of the Galaxy 07
Hallows Eve The Big night 1
Haunt you to the End 5
How I slept my way through college and other tales 1-2 (4 comics)
Ice Cream Man 37
Invincible Iron Man 11
Jay Garrick the Flash 1
Mall Goth (11 comics)
Midlife 1
Moon Knight 28
Murder Inc Jagger Rose 6
Power Girl 1-2
Project Riese 1-3
Red Sonja 4
Scarlet Witch 9
Something Epic 5-6
Star Trek The Motion Picture Echoes 5
Star Trek 12-13
Star Wars - Darth Vader 38-39
Star Wars - The Mandalorian Season 2 3-5
Star Wars Yoda 9-10
Star Wars 37-39
Starsigns 4-5
Subgenre 1
Sudden Death 1 
Survivial 5
Swan Songs 3
The Army of Darknesss Forever 1
The Devil that wears my face 1
The Devil's cut 1 (5 comics)
The Gimmick 1
The Joker the man who stopped laughing 10-11
The Madness 1
The Midnite Show 1
The Neighbors 5
The New Golden Age 1
The oddly pedestrian life od Christopher Chaos 4
The Penguin 0-2
The Riddler Year One 6
The Rocketeer in the Den of thieves 2-3
The Sandman Universe - Nightmare Country - The Glass House 05
The Seasons have Teeth 4
The Trasporter 4 - The Final Mission (3 comics)
The Vigil 4-5
The Walking Dead Deluxe 72-75
The Wrong Earth - we could be heroes 1
Under the influence 2-4
Victory 4
We Wicked Ones 1
Webster & Jones Space Agents (5 comics)
Whisper of the Woods ( 4 comics)
You've been cancelled 04

 

For a total of 1200 comics read in 2023