Comics Extravaganza - Pow Bang Smash!

[TheLastBaron]

Between reading the new 52 Batgirl comics and watching Arrow I'm becoming more and more interested in DC, but I've heard some concerns as to how good the rest of the new 52 line-up is. Has anyone here read any of the other titles in that line-up? Anything worth checking out?

I think Animal Man was great, the last issue was in March so it's over now. It's definitely a Vertigo book being put out by DC proper, so if you liked Batgirl I can't say if this is something you'd like as it's very different. The only New 52 book like it is Swamp Thing (again, previously a Vertigo book) which it also does a cross-over with.

If you like Arrow then Green Arrow seems like an easy choice, though the first year or so was kind of a mess with the creative team changing a lot and a bunch of poor arcs. I stopped reading it pretty early, but jumped back on when Lemire got put in charge and I think most people agree it's been great since.

Wonderwoman is also good, Brian Azzarello isn't for everyone, but Cliff Chaing's art is stunning no matter what your tastes are.

I think of all the Batman family of books Batman proper has been the one I liked the most (there are a ton of Batman books and a lot of them are pretty bad and a few have already been canceled.) It's very much in the dark Miller style of Batman that's big right now, but it's written by Scott Snyder (who also did previously mentioned Swamp Thing) and this style is right up he started off as a horror writer.

I've always been mostly on the DC side of the big 2, but I'll be the first to say that I think by and large the New 52 has been a disaster. I don't read that many superhero books these days anyway though, so my don't necessarily line up exactly with the standard comic book audience that DC is aiming at. At this point I mostly follow creative teams I like and don't read too many other books so I could be missing something great going on.

P.S. I'll second the DCAU stuff done by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for learning more about DC stuff, though obviously it's Batman and Superman focused.

[namman siggins]

Between reading the new 52 Batgirl comics and watching Arrow I'm becoming more and more interested in DC, but I've heard some concerns as to how good the rest of the new 52 line-up is. Has anyone here read any of the other titles in that line-up? Anything worth checking out?

Animal Man but read until The Rot crossover/arc, skip that arc and read the aftermath of it.

Dial H for Hero is another great comic that got canceled too soon; definitely a Vertigo comic.

Soule's Swamp Thing is pretty good and better than Synder's run./.

[tegan]

P.S. I'll second the DCAU stuff done by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for learning more about DC stuff, though obviously it's Batman and Superman focused.

 

Someone once pointed out to me that the Timm/Dini DCAU is secretly all about the character arc of Batman, all the way from naive newbie in Mask of the Phantasm all the way up to stubborn, bitter wreck in Epilogue.

[TheLastBaron]

Comixology is currently running a sale until the 21st on the books published by Image which were nominated for Eisner awards.  There's a lot of them, and they're all probably good (hence getting nominated for Eisner's), but Saga, The Manhattan Projects, Lazarus, and East of West are the books I read every month that I would personally recommend.  If I were to make a top 10 list of my favorite ongoing series' currently being put out they would all be on it.  I've also been interested in Zero for a little while now, I guess this is as good a time as any to try it out. 

 

By the way, the sale is the issues are 99 cents each, and trades are also discounted, but in some cases the trades now end up costing more than buying multiple issues.  For example, there are three trades of Saga out, the first one is $5, but the second is $7 and the third is $8.  Each trade is six issues, so only the first one is actually cheaper than buying single issues for 99 cents each.

[Architecture]

Anyone near San Francisco , Mission Comics is having Simon Roy, Brandon Graham and Robin McConnell on April 19th.

Brandon Graham is a genuinely great dude. I've always enjoyed his posts on Royal Boiler and his willingness to discuss the things that bug him about the industry is a breath of fresh air. I got to meet him a couple years ago while working at a comic store and can report that he's as gracious with his fans as anyone I've ever seen. I got him to sketch something for me in my copy of Multiple Warheads #1 and gave my roommate a signed copy of the first Prophet TPB for his birthday that year.

 

 

I'm not usually much for superhero comics, and maybe it's because I just finished reading Speed Racer, but the new Ghost Rider looks like something I'd genuinely like. This artwork is amazing.

 

Tradd Moore is awesome and I'm glad to see him working in the big leagues.

[Tanukitsune]

I just read all The Goon issues and it was pretty awesome, it's kinda like Hellboy only slightly sillier and cartoonier. The issue where they make fun of mainstream comics is rather brilliant.

 

I also read the first volume of The Runaways that's been on sale on Comixology for an eternity and... It wasn't satisfying? The whole six issues feel like a pilot, Molly barely had a few lines, but since it seems it has an actual ending, I'm willing to buy at least the next volume... when it's on sale on Comixology.

[Architecture]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't get the adoration of BKV. I will cop to not having read Y the Last Man, but Saga does absolutely nothing for me, it just feels so flat and lifeless. I really dislike the voices of the characters in his dialogue, which is too bad as Fiona Staples is doing maybe the best work of her career.

[TheLastBaron]

I really like him because of how good he is at writing episodic stories. There are a few things I think BKV does just as good if not better than any other person in comics right now. He always has great first issues which hook you in, usually he has some sort of reveal right at the end with like with Runaways, Y, and Ex Machina. There are lots of good first issues though, the hard part is both following through with the story and then finishing it. Brian K Vaughan's stories stay consistently good after the start and then manage to have satisfying endings. There are so many writers that let their books get out of control and don't know how to reel them in, or those that don't know how to end a series (like Fables), so when Brian K Vaughan does it again and again it's worth a lot.

He's not my all time favorite writer and I don't like every single thing he's put out, but I enjoy most of his stuff especially his creator owned work. I personally enjoy Saga, though I think I like The Private Eye more.

[Architecture]

Yeah, the issues of Private Eye I've read were markedly better. It's just a more interesting concept to me than Star Wars meets the San Fernando Valley. Also, I absolutely love Marcos Martin, he's one of the best artists working today.

[tegan]

I read the first issue of All New Ghost Rider and liked it, but I'm not entirely sure if I want to continue. Maybe I'll wait for a TPB release.

 

I know it's not likely to happen, but if this series were guaranteed to never cross over with anything else I'd probably be a lot more willing to get into it.

[tegan]

I know it's a long shot, but has anyone here read No Straight Lines? It's a collection of LGBT indie comics, which sounds right up my alley, but it's like fourty dollars and I'm not sure if I want to make that investment. It also has work by Dan Savage, who is an asshole.

[TheLastBaron]

I know it's a long shot, but has anyone here read No Straight Lines? It's a collection of LGBT indie comics, which sounds right up my alley, but it's like fourty dollars and I'm not sure if I want to make that investment. It also has work by Dan Savage, who is an asshole.

I haven't, though it's been on my radar after it got a ton of buzz last year.  I remember looking at it on Fantagraphics' site last year after it won the Eisner and they had a pretty long preview, like maybe 20-30 pages, though you have probably already seen it.

 

 

Oh man, new Stray Bullets. It's been almost 10 years since the last issue came out and I was a little worried if David Lapham could jump back in. It's just as bleak, just as nihilistic, and just as good as it's ever been.

Issue #2 is out and man this is in the same boat for me as Optic Nerve in that it's insanely good, but it's also just soul crushing so I don't know why I read it.

[tegan]

I haven't, though it's been on my radar after it got a ton of buzz last year.  I remember looking at it on Fantagraphics' site last year after it won the Eisner and they had a pretty long preview, like maybe 20-30 pages, though you have probably already seen it.

 

I liked most of the preview, but thought it was pretty terrible that Dan Savage did a comic about how much he understood the idea of playing with gender expression as a kid when he's such a famously transphobic asshole.

[TheLastBaron]

Well chances are that in any anthology there's going to be good things and bad things, I wouldn't let one thing ruin the whole collection if you think you'll like it and enjoyed the other stuff you've seen in the preview.  I just skimmed through the table of contents and it looks like out of 328 pages he has just that one 6 page piece.  By the way, the book is only around $20 on amazon.

[tegan]

Well if it's only six pages I guess I might give it a shot.

 

Unrelated: I started reading a lesbian manga called Honey & Honey that I'm really digging. It's got a real Rica 'tte Kanji vibe to it.

 

[Ben X]

The first part of Evan Dorkin's Eltingville series closer is out today!

Re. Dan Savage, I don't want to take the thread off-topic but I just want to say that I've been listening to and reading his stuff for years and don't think he's a transphobic arsehole (famously or otherwise).

[TheLastBaron]

The deluxe hardcover came out yesterday and I picked it up since my issues are loaned out to someone. Man Daytripper is gorgeous, and I don't just mean the art. As far as I'm considered the wonder twins can do no wrong, after reading this again I now want to read Casanova even though I don't usually like Matt Fraction.

[Ben X]

The first part of Evan Dorkin's Eltingville series closer is out today!

 

Dammit, the bank holiday screwed this up. It should be in tomorrow!

[Mangela Lansbury]

The deluxe hardcover came out yesterday and I picked it up since my issues are loaned out to someone. Man Daytripper is gorgeous, and I don't just mean the art. As far as I'm considered the wonder twins can do no wrong, after reading this again I now want to read Casanova even though I don't usually like Matt Fraction.

 

The art is amazing in Casanova, but the writing is VERY Matt Fraction. It's alright sometimes, but like a lot of Matt Fraction projects it gets real bogged down with referential humor for referential humor's sake and inane little in jokes. I wouldn't say it's a good idea to read it if you don't usually dig the guy.

[namman siggins]

Oh! Two "new" reviews are up on the blog.

I agree with Lansbury. If I were you, skip it, the art doesn't save the series because Fraction's writing is so bland.

The Boxer is coming out soon and I recommend that instead of Casanova.

[TheLastBaron]

Oh yeah, I read the first volume of Casanova (I didn't care for it). I mostly meant I wanted to read volume 4 when it comes out as it is going to have backup stories written by Gabriel Ba (and Michael Chabon). I probably still won't like it though.

[namman siggins]

Brandon Graham is a genuinely great dude. I've always enjoyed his posts on Royal Boiler and his willingness to discuss the things that bug him about the industry is a breath of fresh air. I got to meet him a couple years ago while working at a comic store and can report that he's as gracious with his fans as anyone I've ever seen. I got him to sketch something for me in my copy of Multiple Warheads #1

101% agree.

Oh, he offered my friend James a five page back-up for Prophet! And of course my friend took it.

https://twitter.com/larrybvossler/status/457959311264595968 Roy and Graham did this

[tegan]

Re. Dan Savage, I don't want to take the thread off-topic but I just want to say that I've been listening to and reading his stuff for years and don't think he's a transphobic arsehole (famously or otherwise).

 

You already know this because I've brought this up to you before in chat, but Dan Savage once responded to a woman who had written in about her MTF ex-partner and how she was worried about their transition embarrassing their son. Savage responded by calling her a "selfish, stupid tranny" who should have waited to "cut his dick off." Note that apart from using slurs and being needlessly assholeish about the whole thing, this also boils down to Savage telling someone that it's selfish to receive mental health treatment if it's embarrassing to one's family, which is fucking terrible advice (almost as terrible as the time he told a guy to drug his wife so he could rape her while she slept!).

 

Seriously though, fuck Dan Savage.

[Ben X]

I only remember us discussing his use of the term "tranny", but if you posted links to those articles in the QUILTBAG thread I'd be interested to read them.

 

The Eltingville Club part 1 was absolutely amazing, I cannot wait for the finale. Sadly it's not going to hit its May 25th release date due to various injuries and illnesses in the Dorkin household, but hopefully won't be too long. This isn't a good starting point for new readers, but when they do the collected edition I wholly recommend it. Apparently, idiots who are unable to do 30 seconds research have been calling it a Big Bang rip-off - in fact, it's a smarter, sharper, funnier version of that about the dark side of nerdery written with an insider's perspective.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Do any of you guys love Tank Girl? It's a pretty great comic made by Jamie Hewlett (of Gorillaz fame) and Andy C. Martin. If so there's a pretty sweet Tank Girl Kickstarter. Check it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/332295438/21st-century-tank-girl-a-book-by-hewlett-and-marti