[Official] All things Comic Book Related Thread!

[LigerBomb]

Well currently my pull list features:

Amazing Spider-Man
Batman & Robin
Avengers
and will also soon feature Superman as it will be written by J. Michael Straczynski who is a fantastic writer.

I'm a huge Spider-Man fan...

Spoiler

but the current direction of the title has been driving me away from it for a while. Back at the end of 2007 there was an event entitled One More Day in which saw Spider-Man's marriage to Mary-Jane end after they traded the marriage for Aunt May's life (that's right, they traded a perfectly good marriage for an old woman who had stated that she WANTED to die). Not only that but they made the deal with the devil himself, Mephisto (Marvel Comics Representative of the Devil).

This was seen as a re-launch and the title has morphed since then. There is a Braintrust rather than a recurring writer, artists also rotate. The book comes out three times a month. The new era was entitled Brand New Day (BND for short). BND was mostly solid to good for the first year (The Shocker Two Parter, The One off Flash Thompson in Iraq issue and New Ways to Die were all very good while the annual and pretty much anything written by Bob Gale sucked) but there was a sharp decline in quality over the course of the last year and a half. Editorial problems are be4coming more obvious and some stories are ridiculous. The book is an All Ages title and Spider-Man is having promiscuous masked sex with the Black Cat..? WTF? On top of that, there have been several instances where rape (or at least if you interpret it that way) has featured. In it's first instance it wasn't that bad as it worked within the story but when the Lizard does it to someone, I mean come on.

Most recently there was a story entitled SHED which was absolutely atrocious. It was written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Chris Bachalo and it was very, very bad. The art was awful, the writing was terrible but worst of all were the glaring plot holes, most notably: The Lizard talking. The Lizard has been able to talk since his first appearance back in the 1960's and then this happened:

WHAT THE HELL?
This was would have taken a few seconds to research. There have only been two stories I can remember off hand where the Lizard couldn't talk and both were because he was under the influence of something else. This time, it was brain-dead writing. I was rather offended by this and the crapyness of the story.

As we hurtle ever closer to OMIT (the follow up to One More Day) I've given myself an ultimatum, OMIT answers and fixes something’s or I walk.

Echo. Dude don't even get me started on the fiasco that OMD/BND has been. Madonna mia, the level of crap Spidey has had to endure because writers want to fuck around and dick with the character is mind boggling. Fingers crossed OMIT puts this shit to bed once and for all.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

[/spoiler]
Echo. Dude don't even get me started on the fiasco that OMD/BND has been. Madonna mia, the level of crap Spidey has had to endure because writers want to fuck around and dick with the character is mind boggling. Fingers crossed OMIT puts this shit to bed once and for all.

I doubt it. I mean, things aren't going to change until Quesada steps down.

 

[The Doctor]

If we can talk about comics, we can talk about manga.

READ THIS.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

If we can talk about comics, we can talk about manga.

READ THIS.

Done & Done. It is probably the greatest thing I've read. No that wasn't a joke, that was an actual statement.

 

[LigerBomb]

If we can talk about comics, we can talk about manga.

READ THIS.

no.

 

[MasterShakeIz4Real]

AWESOME. A comic book/manga thread.

Dunno WHERE to start so I'll just put what I'm currently on.

X-Men: Second Coming: The culmination of the "Messiah Trilogy". (Messiah Complex, Messiah War, Second Coming). Great storyline, shocking deaths & returns, good action. Perfect storyline so far.

Return of Bruce Wayne: Grant Morrison's writing, Bruce Wayne's coming back. 'Nuff said.

Ultimate Avengers 2: Ghost Rider is now a villain in this story, fighting the Avengers that conists of The Punisher, A Black Hulk [Whom Bruce Banner learned everything from] named Tyrone Cash, War Machine, and Hawkeye. It's also written by the writer of Wanted, Kick Ass, and The Ultimates 1 & 2; Mark Millar. Highly Recommend this.

And also, Doc, good suggestion on Death Note. Even if a person doesn't care for manga, I'd still recommend you read Death Note; probably one of the very best stories I've ever read/watched.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Ok so its a new day, new week which means new comics......

The Comic I am currently reading is


Brightest Day

The Brightest day starts off from the end of DC Universe's most epic battle the blackest Night. With most of the deceased heroes braught back to life by an unknown force what will there purpose be?, and who is behind it.

same rules apply

- Has anyone read the book?

I don't read story arcs in weekly issues, i prefer getting the collected editions. Sure it means i have to wait months after everyone else to read the story (am getting so impatient waiting for Blackest Night to be released), but that's just how i prefer to do it.

- What do you think?

Brightest Day is following the same format as '52' and 'Countdown to Final Crisis' did, by spacing the story out across an entire year. They also tend to focus on a few familiar faces who interact with several bizarre and obscure ones.

Reading '52' got me interested in reading Booster Gold, Black Adam and The Question.

Reading 'Countdown to Final Crisis' got me interested in Jimmy Olsen and the New Gods, as well as The Legion of Superheroes and also convinced me to check out more stories surrounding The Flash, because Trickster and Pied Piper (two reformed Flash villains) have an awesome story in 'Countdown....'

And Brightest Day focuses on Aquaman, Hawkman/Girl, J'onn J'onnz, Firestorm and Deadman, and personally i wouldn't mind seeing a story which centers around Firestorm or Deadman, because they are characters that intrigue me, but not enough for me to rush out and spend £20 on a book about them only, whereas reading 'Brightest Day' may just convince me to do just that.

- Discuss the current storylines?

Couldn't care less about Aquaman, or Hawkman or Hawk Girl for that matter. Wouldn't mind seeing some more Martian Manhunter and as i said Deadman and Firestorm as well. It'll also be interesting to see which of these guys mess up their lives because the premise for BD is 'Second chances.... but not all of them work out.....'

Im currently reading Issue 2,3 and 4 working my way through this, will this lead to a new corpse?, who knows.

A new 'corpse', lol, yeah it will. Apparently if Aquaman goes into the sea now, all the sea life around him instantly dies, so i'm sure there'll be some new 'corpses'.

But will there be a new 'corps' as in yet another group of beings who are a certain colour and embrace a certain emotional state or life/death? Well Deadman has already been reanimated with a white power ring, and in Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, Sinestro and Carol Ferris are investigating a White Lantern that none of them can use, despite both Sinestro and Jordan becoming temporary White Lanterns during Blackest Night.

On top of that, in Justice League: Generation Lost which focuses on the surviving JLI members, Maxwell Lord has been resurrected, and now when he tries to control another person's mind, they end up turning into Black Lanterns.

So it's safe to say that the White and Black Lanterns are going to have a whole new impact on the DCU following from the defeat of Nekron. Hell, Black Hand could easily die again and become the embodiment of Death all over again, so why the hell not?


Other series i'd recommend:

Secret Six by Gail Simone.

Focuses on 6 random villains that form a merc squad after forcefully declining to join the Secret Society of Supervillians during Infinite Crisis. Members die frequently and are replaced just as frequently.

The original Six consisted of:

-Catman (replaces The Fiddler in the first story)
-Deadshot
-Ragdoll
-Scandal Savage
-Cheshire
-A random Paradaemon that left Apokalips

Knockout and The Mad Hatter join later
Harley Quinn replaces Hatter (for literally one issue of Birds of Prey)

Bane and a new villain named Jeanette join the current team.

Catman, Ragdoll, Scandal and Deadshot are the core members, everyone else changes just about every arc.

Basically pick up any book featuring these guys and fuck the backstory. Gail Simone's has fine tuned her ability to mix gruesome disturbing imagery alongside even more disturbing comedy dialogue into a fine art, and i'd recommend this series to anyone who likes reading villain team ups and even those who don't.

 

[Via Armbar]

Good to see we finally have an [Official] Virgins Thread.

 

[DirtyJosé]

Good to see we finally have an [Official] Virgins Thread.

I thought that was the tournament where kids where arguing over the supernatural powers of a Pokemon and debating if anything could stop Batman?

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Good to see we finally have an [Official] Virgins Thread

Really? Where's that then? And why are you telling us about it in the Comic Book thread?

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Comic books are another thing on my "if days had 37 hours in them, I would do this" list

 

[DirtyJosé]

Meh, it's not too hard to find one title and stick with that. One quick read a month doesn't take too long.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

you really dont understand what my life is like

 

[DirtyJosé]

This much is true.

Now that I think about it, why isn't there a "The Mighty NorCal" comic yet?

 

[The Doctor]

I thought that was the tournament where kids where arguing over the supernatural powers of a Pokemon and debating if anything could stop Batman?

That tournament was fucking awesome.

Ech never put up the final round so I think Mega Man won by default.

 

[DirtyJosé]

I can live with that.

Still on an X-Force kick, but I've missed a lot of Second Coming because I was, you know, laid off. Thank god my local store owner is the shit and held a bunch of the back issues for me.

Also, The Return of Bruce Wayne has been major ass-kickage. The 3rd issue probably has my favorite art so far, but the story has been excellent through each issue. Highly recommended.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

Recommended in this thread so i decided to read it:

Just completed reading the Messiah Complex, Messiah War and am currently reading Second coming...

All these stories currently link together in regards to the Birth of the worlds first Mutant since M Day, it is also one of the bloodiest storylines in regards to seeing X men and X villians alike getting destroyed in one of the X books most bloody battles to date.

I emphaise with Scotts Summers in this story as he has had the daunting task of attempting to keep it all together attempting to secure a future for the mutant populus which is currently on the brink of extinction.

what i do like about this series is the bond between family, father and son in more ways then one and we also get to see the true colors of one of the Xmens most prominent characters who descends into madness nearly killing one of the Xmens prominent players attempting to rewrite history.

so far this story has amazed me, and has braught together the most unlikeliest of characters, great Arch and i cant wait to see where this will bring the X men and the Mutant characters of Marvel in general.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

After months and months of waiting, i will finally be buying Blackest Night, Blackest Night: Green Lantern and Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps in their collected editions after work today. Over 800 pages of superheores fighting their hardest not to be killed by their undead loved ones.

Seriously i bought Green Lantern: Agent Orange and Green Lantern Corps: Emerald Eclipse several months ago and have been waiting eagerly to see:

Spoiler

A) Sinestro regain his corps from Mongul II and attacking the Star Sapphires.
B) Larfleeze attack the Blue Lanterns on Odym
C) Kyle Rayner get 'killed' and Guy Gardener go apeshit and turn into a red lantern
D) Scarecrow and Lex Luthor with power rings.

Oh, and i meant to put this in my first post, but if any self-respecting comic book fan hasn't ever read any of Robert Kirkman's 'The Walking Dead' then go, GO NOW! You WILL have to start from the very beginning because it's an ongoing story as opposed to separate arcs, but trust me it's worth it. I'm at volume 7 and there's like 6 more yet to get and the story is STILL going.

And of course Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman' series. Start with 'Preludes and Nocturnes' and you should be hooked from there on.

Ya know we should try and get a separate section on the forum for comic books instead of just having a random thread in the Bar Room..... sorry, 'GSD'. I mean Movies, Music, Video Games, Sports, serious discussion and bullshit discussions all have thier own section, so why not comic books?

Then we can have separate sections for DC, Marvel, Image, 2000AD etc and then just general banter, and even review threads and recommended reading threads. Anyone else like the idea or are they happy with just this?

 

[klunderbunker]

Just read Kick-Ass. Movie is better.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

I've read the comic and watched the Movie, its pratically the same thing Klunder lol, I love it when Hollywood gets it right.

The stories there, the plot is there, the characters are there and the dialogue is there.

Just like watchmen it didnt need to be bastardise and im glad kick ass wasnt.

shame about tekken though

 

[LigerBomb]

Kick-Ass: Prefer the Book, but not by much. They changed what they had to change i suppose just for the sake of the medium/audience. Clean it up and made it peppy for the big screen and all that. Did not agree at all with the heavy change in Big Daddy tho'. It will be interesting to see how they approach the sequel and if there will be another film.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

Another week starts and another comic reviewed, I am currently reading:

Batman Beyond 2010

Hush Beyond Part 1

Terry Mcguinnes returns as the air to the Wayne thrown, Terry and Bruce are currently investigating a mysterious killer, a government project gone wrong.

The only clue to this abomination is that this mysterious killer is targeting those familiar to Bruce's past, can Batman Beyond stop this killer before its too late?.



what i would like to see here is

- Has anyone read the book?

- What do you think?

- Discuss the current storylines?

Im currently on Part 1 of this 3 part series, Part 1 is the beginning of this deep story, it plants the seeds of what is to come, we may see the ressurgance of Hush, the most vangful character is batmans past, but what does he want? and why come back now?

any opinions?

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Another week starts and another comic reviewed, I am currently reading:

Batman Beyond 2010

Hush Beyond Part 1

Terry Mcguinnes returns as the air to the Wayne thrown, Terry and Bruce are currently investigating a mysterious killer, a government project gone wrong.

The only clue to this abomination is that this mysterious killer is targeting those familiar to Bruce's past, can Batman Beyond stop this killer before its too late?.



what i would like to see here is

- Has anyone read the book?

- What do you think?

- Discuss the current storylines?

Im currently on Part 1 of this 3 part series, Part 1 is the beginning of this deep story, it plants the seeds of what is to come, we may see the ressurgance of Hush, the most vangful character is batmans past, but what does he want? and why come back now?

any opinions?

I read a review of the first issue on IGN stating that this first issue spent waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much time focusing on Bruce's decrepid rogue gallery than it did actually developing any kind of story or development regarding the relationship between Terry and Bruce.

Also the fact that the villain is Hush is a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong I love Hush, while most people don't seem to appreciate his debut arc and most of the ones that followed, I've always had a spot for Thomas Elliot amongst Bats' most dangerous villains.

But the Batman Beyond cartoon did everything it could to revolutionise the Batman franchise, by rarely ever referring to anything that happened in the original series. Ok so Bane and Mr Freeze both made appearances for like one episode each, as did Ra's Al Guhl through Talia, and of course there was Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker, but 3 cameos and one film out of a 3 season tv series doesn't really count as re-hashing all the old ideas.....

Using Hush as the villain in this arc does. They could have used Inque or Sonar or a brand new, more ruthless vigilante could have come forward to 'help' Batman, but no instead we have Thomas Elliot killing off all of Bruce's old enemies, most of which haven't done anything to warrant being hunted in at least 40 years. The only way this idea could be done worse, is if it turned out to be Jason Todd for like the billionth time.

This could however all be a ruse, because the villain could actually turn out to be Two-Face. It wouldn't be the first time that Harvey has disguised himself as Hush. In fact in the first arc, Dent walked around in the exact same costume as Elliot for a while before revealing himself to The Joker and Jim Gordon, bandages and all. Plus in DCAU continuity Two Face was said to have disappeared following his last confrontation with Batman, and no one's seen him since.

Now if Two Face was the villain then i guess it would make more sense, since his whole schtick is 50/50 justice. Maybe he finally decided that fate has given up on the Arkham crew and has simply decided to go with death sentences all round? Who knows?

But since Hush's only beef is with Bruce, and to a lesser extent Selina Kyle (for stealing all his money in 'Heart of Hush' and then stopping him again when he posed as Bruce in order to take all his money out of his foreign accounts) and the Joker (who's already dead), there's no reason at this stage for Hush to even be doing this, although i bet they'll go deeper into his psyche throughout the arc.

So Deexter, has he actually been seen, bandages off and referred to himself as Thomas Elliot or his family history, or have you just seen a guy wrapped in bandages and wearing a trench coat who quotes philosophers repeatedly and Terry/Bruce jumps to a conclusion? And if it definitely is Thomas Elliot, have they shown him kill The Scarecrow? Because they're supposed to be quite close considering that Crane got him out of the psychiatric hospital, knowing full well he was psychotic, in the hopes that Elliot would get worse, and of course he did. They even refer to each other as 'Tutor' and 'Student'.

My other problem with it, is more of a problem with Bats Beyond anyway. I never really like Terry McGuinness as a character. He's like Bruce and Dick Grayson merged together but with 1/3 of the brain power of either of them. He'll beat you shitless but crack a joke every now and then, but unless Bruce is in his ear he can't figure out shit!

The original Batman was reknowned throughout the world as the World's Greatest Detective. Terry McGuinness probably couldn't do the crossword puzzle on his own. While yes Batman is supposed to be all about beating up fuity psychos with cool gadgets, it's also supposed to be about the process Bats takes to work out every little detail of a villains crime, and why they've chosen to do what they have in what way, BEFORE he goes off to beat them shitless, and just about all of that is taken out of Batman Beyond.

I'll quote Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker to summarise:

Joker You? What's to know? You're a costumed errand boy taking orders from a senile old man.

And to be honest, even before i saw that film, that's how i felt about Terry McGuinness, and that is NOT the Batman i came to enjoy so much. But then again this was a very popular franchise back in it's day, and a LOT of people were pissed off that it got cancelled, so whether this series succeeds or bombs in retrospect, it's likely to make DC a mint in the process. Kudos to them for milking a popualr character, but they're not likely to see a penny out of me.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

Sorry Im late with another round up of what I am currently reading, had a very busy week, now onto the good stuff:

Spiderman: Brand New Day.

A deal was made with Myfisto to restore the ailing aunt may, a sacrifice was the incentive, Peter woke up one morning living with his aunt once more, in this world he never revealed himself and those who passed on returned to the world alive and well.

with a new world arise new problems, new villains and a new chance for hapiness, will peter be able to manage life with his dual identity?.

as always

what i would like to see here is

- Has anyone read the book?

- What do you think?

- Discuss the current storylines?


any opinions?

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I posted a few pages back about OMD/BND, but I'll talk a bit more about it.

As a HUGE Spider-Man fan, I was intrigued by the new status quo, (I think everyone universally despised OMD as a story) and was willing to give it a chance.

I in fact was very pleased with year one of BND. I really enjoyed Kraven's First Hunt, New Ways to Die, The Flash Thompson One Off and The Shocker Two Parter (Plus a Letter I Wrote in was Shown in Issue #576, which was awesome).

Hell, things were going well, but suddenly around year two, the story quality began to decline. Stories seemed less thought out and more, thrown together for the sake of it. Don't get me wrong, there were still some good stories (#583 was a Great issue and Red Headed Stranger was a Good Arc) but everything was overblown/over-hyped and the quality was decreasing.

Then, most recently came the truly abysmal SHED. Here were my thoughts on SHED:

Most recently there was a story entitled SHED which was absolutely atrocious. It was written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Chris Bachalo and it was very, very bad. The art was awful, the writing was terrible but worst of all were the glaring plot holes, most notably: The Lizard talking. The Lizard has been able to talk since his first appearance back in the 1960's and then this happened:

WHAT THE HELL?
This was would have taken a few seconds to research. There have only been two stories I can remember off hand where the Lizard couldn't talk and both were because he was under the influence of something else. This time, it was brain-dead writing. I was rather offended by this and the crapyness of the story.

Truly an abysmal story. Overall, BND started well but started tanking circa mid-2009.