I've been rediscovering Jodorowski's Metabarons.
I've been rediscovering Jodorowski's Metabarons.
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And of course the name baron is indeed a reference to his (canned) Dune.I've been rediscovering Jodorowski's Metabarons.
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I'd say the comics are also insane.I had no idea he wrote comics, I've just seen some of his (insane) movies!
I'm very much out of the loop for most modern comics but I read your writeups here all the same just for the entertainment value, so keep 'em coming when you can my friend.(A lot more brief than the previous sections, but I got side-tracked by work and really lost my train of thought. It's so damned difficult to get "in the mood" to write sometimes.)
The bane of all ongoing comics existence. We talked about the Clone Saga way back when in this thread already, but it's just what happens to like every big event. Just look at what happened to Doomsday Clock...One of the major issues with these issues (so sorry) is they're hamstrung by release dates and editorial concerns
Thanks, and happily!I'm very much out of the loop for most modern comics but I read your writeups here all the same just for the entertainment value, so keep 'em coming when you can my friend.
I had to go back and catch up on Doomsday Clock some years later, the absolute hubris of making it that many issues. There wasn't that much story to tell!The bane of all ongoing comics existence. We talked about the Clone Saga way back when in this thread already, but it's just what happens to like every big event. Just look at what happened to Doomsday Clock...
I have been reading a little bit of comics actually here and there; I re-read Born Again for the first time in quite a few years since the new season of Daredevil just dropped, (it has nothing to do with the story as they already did it in Season 3 essentially, but I took the excuse to read it again; also, watched the first two episodes today and it's...okay so far) which is of course an amazing story and I think probably up there for Frank Miller's best.
That reminds me, I left it out because I was focusing on current ongoings, but I found a collection of issues of Conan the King, starting with #20 in 1984.I've been reading the classic Savage Sword of Conan comics which was a solid hell yeah.
That's fair, but you're missing out to me; all three Netflix seasons are amazing stories outside of being superhero shows, but season two was the weakest of them. Especially when Frank wasn't on screen, he steals the show in it and it's the only appearance of Netflix Punisher that actually got the character; his two solo seasons were middling at best, other than the finale of season 1 which was a 10/10 surrounded by 6/10 episodes. Season Three was 80% a straight Born Again adaptation that they really nailed, and also gives a good reinvention of Bullseye.I clocked out on Daredevil a few episodes into season two, the Netflix shows just weren't connecting with me. David Tennant was a real nasty little freak in Jessica Jones though!
Classic Red Sonja, dude.She tricks him onto a boat and cuts him loose though, she wasn't about to share the reward.
Shame, that sounded actually really good and interesting; I'll have to check it out sometime. I assume it was probably the editorial side that retconned it. That's unfortunately the thing though is that it was 'interesting', and for the next run they had to return to status quo all over again. Such is comics.There's more to it, and it was really interesting stuff, but it seems like it rubbed people the wrong way: The creative team gets replaced by #30, and the new writer sets in making Conan the star again, setting him at war with the rest of the continent to form an empire, and takes pains to reassure us that all of the drama from the last ten issues totally didn't happen.
I am curious about season three, I'll probably grab it here tonight actually. Hard agree about Frank/Jon Bernthal, a real great performance with so-so writing to match in his series.That's fair, but you're missing out to me; all three Netflix seasons are amazing stories outside of being superhero shows, but season two was the weakest of them. Especially when Frank wasn't on screen, he steals the show in it and it's the only appearance of Netflix Punisher that actually got the character; his two solo seasons were middling at best, other than the finale of season 1 which was a 10/10 surrounded by 6/10 episodes. Season Three was 80% a straight Born Again adaptation that they really nailed, and also gives a good reinvention of Bullseye.
It really is! This was more aggressive than I was used to seeing though, the new team *hated* the previous ones work. Every plot thread was left dangling, the letters pages were full of people asking "what happened, what changed?"Shame, that sounded actually really good and interesting; I'll have to check it out sometime. I assume it was probably the editorial side that retconned it. That's unfortunately the thing though is that it was 'interesting', and for the next run they had to return to status quo all over again. Such is comics.
I've finished reading Superman: Red Son. I liked some of the mini-arcs and it almost felt like Luthor was the actual protagonist of that story but I gotta say that the ending kinda was confusing to me.
Finished Vikings vs The Thing.
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Oh shit, how was it?
I love the movie of course, I've never read any tie-ins though.
The fact that Superman's city has the same name as the movie (and book) is maybe for a reason.It's a bit of a weird one, yeah. I suppose you can look at a few ways.
On the one hand, as dramatic irony: Luthor despises Superman for "devaluing" humanity with his presence, but Kal-L(uthor) turns out to be the destiny of mankind, sent here from a future Earth. It's a sort of "if he only knew" kind of thing, albeit overly convoluted.
On the other hand, it could be an extension of the political themes of the book, which I imagine can go one of two ways.
View attachment 38582First, it could be a kind of reconciliation of socialist/capitalist beliefs, in the sense that the capitalist world of Lex Luthor seems to be lost without the tempering humanitarian leanings of Superman. Splitting the difference, essentially, to say that the the future lies somewhere in the middle. This viewpoint would be drawing from work like Metropolis (1927), the massively influential sci-fi movie that inspired the name of Superman's comic book hometown, among a million other things.
(Truthfully, that's a bit of a milquetoast "Can't we all just get along?" message, and the director Fritz Lang actually hated the ending of Metropolis later in life. Being a German who moved to America once the Nazi's conquered the country, he re-thought a *lot* of things.)
Second, you could *mayyyyybe* say that Mark Millar is transposing Superman's "Never ending battle" onto the concept of struggling for a more equitable, presumably socialist world. His life being a predestination paradox - where losing to Luthor and America keeps creating the conditions for Jor-L to send his son back in the hopes of saving Earth - could represent the idea that the struggle continues until we change the world.
That said, for all the Millar comics I've read, I never got the impression he thinks that way, sooooo I'm gonna call that "Unlikely"! Those are my best guesses as to interpreting the ending though, and ultimately of course it's up to each reader.
It's probably a mix of dramatic irony and the political "middle road" interpretation, though. The book is chock-a-block with references and nods to the character of Superman and his roots, so saying it's drawing on Metropolis feels like a safe bet.
Either Batman: Year One or The Watchmen.More importantly, whatcha gonna read next?
Spawn is fantastic ?Gonna read through Watchmen tomorrow. My dad gave it to me a few birthdays ago and I’ve had it on my backlog since before then. He really loves it.
Today I’m reading some old early Spawn issue in Swedish I bought at a flea market years ago.
It really is. It’s like the epitome of ’90s edge and grit. Just naming a villain ”Violator” is so radical. I wish I had all the issues that released in Swedish but it’s almost impossible to track them down.Spawn is fantastic ?
Plus the main antagonists are literally god and satan, and spawn wins by becoming god. Todd was as subtle as a brick.It really is. It’s like the epitome of ’90s edge and grit. Just naming a villain ”Violator” is so radical. I wish I had all the issues that released in Swedish but it’s almost impossible to track them down.
My parents used to own the comic before they sold it. I also got one for birthday (or Xmas I forgot).Gonna read through Watchmen tomorrow. My dad gave it to me a few birthdays ago and I’ve had it on my backlog since before then. He really loves it.
This reminds me of the name Mechanical Violator Hakaider from the 90's.It really is. It’s like the epitome of ’90s edge and grit. Just naming a villain ”Violator” is so radical. I wish I had all the issues that released in Swedish but it’s almost impossible to track them down.
This got me starting the day with a good laugh, thank you, @ATenderLad!Apparently Doom gets all of Strange's fucking assets with the Sorcerer Supreme title, so the school and the responsibility of guiding the youth falls to a dude who's been an international terrorist for decades.
Ah, Watchmen for the first time! There's probably been more written about it than any other comic, so I'll just say take your time with it. The artwork has a lot of repeated motifs and symbols, and one of the issues/chapters has fun with symmetry; the first and last pages mirror each other, and so on for each corresponding set of pages till the you reach the center, where you can see them overlap in a big splash image. (Issue 7 or 8, I think, you'll know it if you see a guy getting walloped by a CEO.)Gonna read through Watchmen tomorrow. My dad gave it to me a few birthdays ago and I’ve had it on my backlog since before then. He really loves it.
Today I’m reading some old early Spawn issue in Swedish I bought at a flea market years ago.
This got me starting the day with a good laugh, thank you, @ATenderLad!
I'm now a big fan of your comic book write-ups, btw! I haven't taken the plunge into this media format yet but I do love to listen to/read a regular's thoughts on the matter. There's always some interesting topic to broach.
(And ridiculously cool comic panels to seeIloveTREXdoomHNNNNNG)
Hey, it's good to have a writer passionate about non-video-game media! We stan all media in this houseHere's a rarity from me, something video game related! (It's amazing they let me write articles on here.)
Hello again, sorry for my late answer! I'll be looking for Hellhunters, seems cool. Nick Fury is a great character and i love things like the issues of Kirby inked by Russ Heath, the Steranko run or graphic novels like Scorpio Connection (one of the comics that i bring to Howard Chaykin to sign in his visit to my country). Recently i was reading the manga Her Frankenstein and Hulk: Future Imperfect, every time i read something of Hulk or Doctor Strange i enjoy the hell out of it, something similar happens with the Silver Surfer or Daredevil. Classic Squadron Supreme is one of my favourite comic-books of all time, i have the two TPB's and hope to obtain the Marvel Graphic Novel Death of a Universe someday, years ago i did an article for the argentinian site Comiqueando about the miniseries and his follow-ups in titles like Quasar (another great comic by Gruenwald, at least the first 25 issues). Thanks for the recommendations!That's pretty excellent taste, in my opinion!
The Absolute books I've praised here a few times now, and New Gods is only three issues in but has me hooked. Ram V and Federici are making some real cosmic fantasy, Jack Kirby would love it.
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Superman is in a weird place, plot-wise, but Dan Mora is a real monster on the layouts.
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Great Marvel picks too, The Ultimates is growing on me but I'm a little wary of what the story is building to. I dig the new versions of some of the characters, do you like the re-imaginings?
On the other hand, Immortal Thor is usually the first book I read out of a weekly haul, with a "meta" story that manages to stay fun and not feel overly much like navel-gazing. The way it uses the storytelling of Norse skalds, with quotes and adapted passages from epic poems (The Edda's, I think they're called?) is pretty clever; one of the larger themes being "Beware who tells your story". It's basically a sequel to Al Ewing's Loki as the God of Stories, while being one of the most interesting depictions of Thor I've ever read. They aren't really related except by author, but have you read Immortal Hulk?
Oh you like the *real* sickos, I see. Gorilla Grodd is so silly and so evil, he's hard not to love. I really enjoy the Flash villains for being such an assortment of weird lowlifes, it keeps the stories grounded at sometimes. I occasionally feel nostalgic for old-fashioned bank robbers and the like, with comics often stuck in a loop of warding off...actually hang on, Grant Morrison sums it up better.
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...basically a good-natured slam on Scott Snyder and his events like Justice League: Metal and the whole Dark Multiverse thing. (All of which I kinda enjoy, but The Batman Who Laughs got *obnoxious*).
I'll have to think up a top five villains of my own here in a bit, I enjoyed reading yours!
Green Lantern: Dark was so unexpected; a Tangent series in 2025? Unreal....but also pretty good, or at least I really enjoyed the first issue.
I'm really in the bag for All Along The Watchtower, it *is* a bit of weird new role for Renee but the image of her as the Justice League Sheriff gets me right in my western lovin' heart, having grown up watching too many cowpokes slap leather. Really though, it seems to be a conscious effort on DC's part to re-align their big name comics with their best-known entry point, the animated shows and movies. I think that's why the Question is serving as a kind of Internal Cape Affairs officer, keeping the superhero community honest. (The actual book isn't really capitalizing on that right now though, I dug the first issue but the mystery is turning underwhelming recently.)
Seems like you're into the more human characters, with a touch of dark and mysticism. Have you seen Hellhunters?
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Private Ghost Rider, along with Nick Fury, Wolverine, and the other wahoos kicking around back in WWII for a Dirty Not-quite-a-Dozen to fight Nazi zombies prowling through Europe. Pretty fun!
It's a good one! It takes the base premise but goes so much further than just a Yakov Smirnoff joke, they used the Elseworlds format to explore a politically active Superman and what that might mean for the world. Not a new concept at the time - Alan Moore's Miracleman is the easiest thing to point to, or Mark Gruenwald's Squadron Supreme mini-series - but it was rare to actually tell that story with the intended character.