Anyone currently reading comics?

[Cuestionador]

Yeah, I think I'd have significantly fewer issues with Tower of Babel if it was just clearly marked as an Elseworld story or something like that. Even if it came to influence mainline comics then, I don't think it would have been as drastic as what we have now. I think the biggest thing that's always irked me about it though is that, while it's definitely first and foremost supposed to be a deconstruction, it also kinda feels like a sneaky backdoor "Batman isn't really powerful enough to stand next to all the other superheroes, we have to power him up" kind of plot, which I think really misses the point of why Batman is on the team to begin with. He doesn't need to be the guy that can single-handedly take anyone out with planning, but he absolutely should be the guy who can figure out how his team can get there together.​

Regarding Batman, i think one of the things i miss about the current state of the character it's the draftmanship of artists like Jim Aparo and Norm Breyfogle, with the enough touchs of urban adventure and sillines/campyness, inherent to the character. Writers like Jim Starlin or Alan Grant didn't needed a battle against a classic supervillain every issue. Recently i was checking a short story done by Peter David and P.Craig Rusell (inked by Michael T.Gilbert) done for the issue seven of Showcase'94, it's an underrated classic:

 

[Octopus]

Udon Street Fighter

Ah, also another man of taste.



Great books, of course.

 

[ATenderLad]

Regarding Batman, i think one of the things i miss about the current state of the character it's the draftmanship of artists like Jim Aparo and Norm Breyfogle, with the enough touchs of urban adventure and sillines/campyness, inherent to the character. Writers like Jim Starlin or Alan Grant didn't needed a battle against a classic supervillain every issue. Recently i was checking a short story done by Peter David and P.Craig Rusell (inked by Michael T.Gilbert) done for the issue seven of Showcase'94, it's an underrated classic:

View attachment 75051

The Bat-Signal reflected in his monocle is so good, what a great page. (I really like the panel layout and that high perspective of Cobblepot's room near the top!)

 

[tryrushdeppy3]

Today I am reading some collected Dick Briefer's Frankenstein comic reprints. I know you can read them online for free since they are public domain, but I just prefer to read physical copies if possible.

 

[Mr. Daddy]

Regarding Batman, i think one of the things i miss about the current state of the character it's the draftmanship of artists like Jim Aparo and Norm Breyfogle, with the enough touchs of urban adventure and sillines/campyness, inherent to the character. Writers like Jim Starlin or Alan Grant didn't needed a battle against a classic supervillain every issue. Recently i was checking a short story done by Peter David and P.Craig Rusell (inked by Michael T.Gilbert) done for the issue seven of Showcase'94, it's an underrated classic:

View attachment 75051​

It kinda bums me out how little writers are willing to use old or new villains that aren't the same classics sometimes, especially with more noir-style characters like Batman or Daredevil. I've always felt that one of the strongest ways to use these characters is to pit them against unknowns that the reader and the character in the story doesn't really know what they should expect from them, and when you combine that with things that are occasionally a little over the top or silly, even if that silliness is just on the surface like with characters like Calendar Man, I think you can really get something special and interesting to read.

As for Cracks though, I love that paneling so much on that page. I'll need to give it a read sometime, because I don't think I'm familiar with it.​

 

[Cuestionador]

It kinda bums me out how little writers are willing to use old or new villains that aren't the same classics sometimes, especially with more noir-style characters like Batman or Daredevil. I've always felt that one of the strongest ways to use these characters is to pit them against unknowns that the reader and the character in the story doesn't really know what they should expect from them, and when you combine that with things that are occasionally a little over the top or silly, even if that silliness is just on the surface like with characters like Calendar Man, I think you can really get something special and interesting to read.

As for Cracks though, I love that paneling so much on that page. I'll need to give it a read sometime, because I don't think I'm familiar with it.​

Cracks was published in Showcase'94, who includes stories about many batman villains, i have all the issues. I love this origin story of Scarface by Alan Grant and Teddy Kristiansen. Here's the (great) Ted Mckeever cover:

About Calendar Man...here's a great comic by Dixon and many artists about Julian Day coming out of jail days before the Y2K, it's really worth it. One of my favourite tales by Dixon is his Riddler Annual with Echo and Query, one of the best works of Kieron Dwyer too.

 

[Yousef]

How it feels to be the only DC hero with 90% of Dr Manhattan’s powerset, but like semi unironically.

 

[Octopus]

How it feels to be the only DC hero with 90% of Dr Manhattan’s powerset, but like semi unironically. View attachment 80185

 

[pingugaming]

i've been a "dc kid" my whole life so i would love to jump back in. i took a look around and i got my eyes on absolute wonder woman, seems like a good read.

 

[silver9000]

I've been reading Spawn (the main series). Started from issue #1 some years ago, now I'm caught up. There have been ups and downs, lots of retcons, but I'm enjoying it.

 

[Octopus]

I've been reading Spawn (the main series). Started from issue #1 some years ago, now I'm caught up. There have been ups and downs, lots of retcons, but I'm enjoying it.

The on-going Spawn storyline was such a beautiful combination of everything from the 90's, for both good and bad; it's a hell of a ride. I have some of the collected early trades somewhere in my collection, it's been a while since I last pulled them out.

 

[madmadworld2]

Has anyone been reading James Tynion's stuff? He's a horror writer that likes to focus on conspiracy's and action. I started reading Department of Truth a year ago and got hooked on his other stuff. His best work right now is Something is Killing the Children, a really cool action title. He's also doing W0rldtr33 a cyberpunk horror, and he just started Exquisite Corpses which looks like a mix between the purge and battle royale. I love his stuff so much i even bought a globalcomix subscription so I can keep up.

 

[bigstinkie]

i read my first comic book a little while ago, it was called the darkness

very cool artwork, i love the gothic style it sometimes has
jackie estacado is one of the coolest sounding names i have ever heard

 

[Yousef]

i read my first comic book a little while ago, it was called the darkness

View attachment 81482

very cool artwork, i love the gothic style it sometimes has
jackie estacado is one of the coolest sounding names i have ever heard

This looks cool

 

[Octopus]

i read my first comic book a little while ago, it was called the darkness

View attachment 81482

very cool artwork, i love the gothic style it sometimes has
jackie estacado is one of the coolest sounding names i have ever heard

A 90s edgy classic, I used to read it back in the day alongside Spawn. Also, the fantastic first Darkness video game is a cult classic.

 

[Cuestionador]

This was a month where i have to sell many of my comics, but looking at the bright side, i adquire i couple more than are worth the space: Tales from Beyond Science includes the eight chapters of a short 2000AD serial published in the 90's (at the same time, Dredd was in the storyline Inferno). It's an homage to old series like Twilight Zone, but with a full english setting (i read the voice of the host presenting the histories as a mix of Doctor Orpheus from Venture Bros and the old Hannah-Barbera narrators of shows like Birdman). Rian Hughes illustrated each tale, and designed the TPB who includes faux covers homaging Kirby and Ditko and bizarre ads. My favourite shorts where "Long Distance Calls" by Mark Millar (an intimate and disturbing look at the origins of radio), "The Eyes of Edwin Spendlove" and "The Secret of the organism" (both written by John Smith). I suppose i have to check some Vector13 shorts, who was the spiritual successor to this anthology:

Besides that, i was reading Custer by Carlos Trillo (one of the finest comic-book writers of my country, and one of the creators of Cybersix) and Jordi Bernet. I'm in a Bernet mood lately, re-reading some old issues of Torpedo 1936 published by Glenat. The man can draw and is a worthy follower of artists like Frank Robbins and Milton Caniff:

 

[Yousef]

When gorse deletes his acc and Lad leaves mod and goes offline so the only person I’m left with to talk to regularly about comic books is @Octopus

 

[fake-kun]

When gorse deletes his acc and Lad leaves mod and goes offline so the only person I’m left with to talk to regularly about comic books is @Octopus

View attachment 84026​

You can always talk to me about how terrible Archie Mega Man is.

 

[Yousef]

You can always talk to me about how terrible Archie Mega Man is.

Heck YEAH I knew I could count on my goat.

 

[Octopus]

When gorse deletes his acc and Lad leaves mod and goes offline so the only person I’m left with to talk to regularly about comic books is @Octopus

View attachment 84026​

I'm honoured, my friend. I too miss ATenderLad, wherever they are. Unfortunately I haven't really been getting into any new comics lately, just not enough time (or money). It's the one form of media I actually have an aversion to obtaining on the high seas, I got to be holding that in my hands to make it feel right, ya know?

But I have been going through various back issues and tradebacks I showed off like months ago when this thread had like 2 pages to it.

I am a Marvel fanboy, but I enjoy DC too (and more than just Batman). I feel these two don't need any introduction, some perennial classics. I fucking love Swamp Thing, by the way.


I'm also a sucker for some SF comics, and I recently found this Dead Space comic randomly in my basement about a week ago; it's probably an old roommates. I took the liberty of reading through it of course, and it wasn't bad; this specific comic is a prequel to the first game showing what happened on the colony pre-Ishimura carnage. It was also adapted into one of the animated movies, but I think the comic was better than the movie (imagine that).


The X-Men is a reprint of course, ain't no way I'm walking around with an original run Kirby era book obviously. Elfquest I recently uncovered from my closet, I remember reading it back in the day but have pretty little memory of it so I'm kind of excited to jump into it next; I hear the series is really damn good.


And of course my beloved Daredevil. I reread Born Again for like the 90th time not that long ago, and decided to go back to Miller's pre-BA run as it's of course absolutely legendary. I think it's still up there as one of the greatest character reinvention ever, but I'm incredibly biased. DD: Yellow is another absolute classic, love Loeb and Sale (RIP) together; it's from the era when the two of them started doing these kinds of one-off origin reinventions for a bunch of characters, bringing in all the many later elements of them into one cohesive story. And Means and Ends is a great DD/Frank crossover. It's not the greatest one, but it's good David Lapham does both writing/art duties, and I like the angles he brings to their contrasts; (spoilers) Frank actually gets arrested at the end, and it ends with DD seeing how crime has skyrocketed since he's been arrested and he has a moment of 'mhm, maybe Frank does work'. Also one of the many times Bushwhacker fucks with Frank, they had a weirdly high amount of interactions despite being entirely separate world characters originally.

 

[Cuestionador]

When gorse deletes his acc and Lad leaves mod and goes offline so the only person I’m left with to talk to regularly about comic books is @Octopus

View attachment 84026​

What happened to Atenderlad? Talking about comics is one of the things i enjoy doing in this site.

I'm honoured, my friend. I too miss ATenderLad, wherever they are. Unfortunately I haven't really been getting into any new comics lately, just not enough time (or money). It's the one form of media I actually have an aversion to obtaining on the high seas, I got to be holding that in my hands to make it feel right, ya know?

But I have been going through various back issues and tradebacks I showed off like months ago when this thread had like 2 pages to it.

I am a Marvel fanboy, but I enjoy DC too (and more than just Batman). I feel these two don't need any introduction, some perennial classics. I fucking love Swamp Thing, by the way.
View attachment 84031

I'm also a sucker for some SF comics, and I recently found this Dead Space comic randomly in my basement about a week ago; it's probably an old roommates. I took the liberty of reading through it of course, and it wasn't bad; this specific comic is a prequel to the first game showing what happened on the colony pre-Ishimura carnage. It was also adapted into one of the animated movies, but I think the comic was better than the movie (imagine that).
View attachment 84032

The X-Men is a reprint of course, ain't no way I'm walking around with an original run Kirby era book obviously. Elfquest I recently uncovered from my closet, I remember reading it back in the day but have pretty little memory of it so I'm kind of excited to jump into it next; I hear the series is really damn good.
View attachment 84033

And of course my beloved Daredevil. I reread Born Again for like the 90th time not that long ago, and decided to go back to Miller's pre-BA run as it's of course absolutely legendary. I think it's still up there as one of the greatest character reinvention ever, but I'm incredibly biased. DD: Yellow is another absolute classic, love Loeb and Sale (RIP) together; it's from the era when the two of them started doing these kinds of one-off origin reinventions for a bunch of characters, bringing in all the many later elements of them into one cohesive story. And Means and Ends is a great DD/Frank crossover. It's not the greatest one, but it's good David Lapham does both writing/art duties, and I like the angles he brings to their contrasts; (spoilers) Frank actually gets arrested at the end, and it ends with DD seeing how crime has skyrocketed since he's been arrested and he has a moment of 'mhm, maybe Frank does work'. Also one of the many times Bushwhacker fucks with Frank, they had a weirdly high amount of interactions despite being entirely separate world characters originally.
View attachment 84035View attachment 84034

I love Swamp Thing! Besides the legendary Moore run, i have a soft spot for all the pre and post Moore ST comics (i did an article about the Pasko/Yeates era a long time ago, for a defunct site called 9 Paneles, who keep running his archive as a wordpress). About Crisis, i was the only person in my country who give the 12 original issues to Marv Wolfman to sign it in an event promotioned by the U.S Embassy, but some years later i have to sell all the issues to save the life of my sick cat (comic book collecting in a third-world country can be a monkey's paw more often than you think). Since then, i don't have any physical edition of COIE, but i love it.

Miller's run of Daredevil is akin to Moore Swamp Thing, a long an influential run with excellent artists, well worth the (re)read. I only have the issue 191 in my house, it's not in best shape but i love that issue, Terry Austin did an oustanding job inking Miller and the story it's a blast. Daredevil Yellow is great (all of the Loeb/Sale collaborations tends to be very good or great, with a few exceptions) and you reminded me of the J.M Dematteis issues of Daredevil in the nineties, with Ron Wagner in the artistic duties (just before Karl Kesel made a good run on the character taking back to his silver age roots, a motif that Mark Waid will done years later too).

Daredevil vs Punisher it's a must have, David Lapham is an excellent writer and artist, and his brief incursions into the mainstream comics are worth the time. I'm stuck in the Punisher PC game since the past year, i can't beat the damn Bushwacker and every time i see him mentioned i go nuts (?)

 

[Octopus]

About Crisis, i was the only person in my country who give the 12 original issues to Marv Wolfman to sign it in an event promotioned by the U.S Embassy, but some years later i have to sell all the issues to save the life of my sick cat (comic book collecting in a third-world country can be a monkey's paw more often than you think).

That's sick, of any comic guy I'd love to talk to someone like Wolfman, a career writer-into-editor type guy; I can only imagine how many stories and insights he could have since he's seen every angle of the business really. I'm sorry to hear about having to sell them later, we've all been there at least once.

J.M Dematteis issues of Daredevil in the nineties, with Ron Wagner in the artistic duties

That was where he got the armoured grey costume I think? Never read it, but I do know of Dematteis other work. He also worked on the first few drafts of the cursed Daredevil movie before essentially everything got changed, as it goes in Hollywood.

I'm stuck in the Punisher PC game since the past year, i can't beat the damn Bushwacker and every time i see him mentioned i go nuts (?)

This guy walks into the boss fights and spanks you, what do you do?

I remember it, he was pretty bullshit like a lot of the boss fights are in that game, honestly. I remember getting really frustrated at the Bullseye fight too, and also laughing at how odd he looks in the game. Why'd they go with the Colin Farrell look?

 

[ATenderLad]

How it feels to be the only DC hero with 90% of Dr Manhattan’s powerset, but like semi unironically. View attachment 80185

With not nearly enough actual stories to go with 'em, thank God Absolute Martian Manhunter is *amazing*.

i've been a "dc kid" my whole life so i would love to jump back in. i took a look around and i got my eyes on absolute wonder woman, seems like a good read.

It's been fantastic so far, the new take on the character is fun but familiar, and the artwork by (primarily) Hayden Sherman is a monthly delight. I love their style, and I'm particularly fond of the layout designs.



Like, it isn't a strict adherence, but I believe the influence is in part Grecian pottery, which is neat!

I've been reading Spawn (the main series). Started from issue #1 some years ago, now I'm caught up. There have been ups and downs, lots of retcons, but I'm enjoying it.

That's fun, I read through a bit of it this year too!

Has anyone been reading James Tynion's stuff? He's a horror writer that likes to focus on conspiracy's and action. I started reading Department of Truth a year ago and got hooked on his other stuff. His best work right now is Something is Killing the Children, a really cool action title. He's also doing W0rldtr33 a cyberpunk horror, and he just started Exquisite Corpses which looks like a mix between the purge and battle royale. I love his stuff so much i even bought a globalcomix subscription so I can keep up.

I'm reading Exquisite Corpses now, though in general I'm kinda half and half on Tynion. I find his stuff very digestible, but none of it really sticks with me so far. (I haven't started reading Something is Killing the Children yet though, which I've also heard is his best!)

i read my first comic book a little while ago, it was called the darkness

View attachment 81482

very cool artwork, i love the gothic style it sometimes has
jackie estacado is one of the coolest sounding names i have ever heard

Look the 90's could be goofy slop, but the slop never looked better than The Darkness!

This was a month where i have to sell many of my comics, but looking at the bright side, i adquire i couple more than are worth the space: Tales from Beyond Science includes the eight chapters of a short 2000AD serial published in the 90's (at the same time, Dredd was in the storyline Inferno). It's an homage to old series like Twilight Zone, but with a full english setting (i read the voice of the host presenting the histories as a mix of Doctor Orpheus from Venture Bros and the old Hannah-Barbera narrators of shows like Birdman). Rian Hughes illustrated each tale, and designed the TPB who includes faux covers homaging Kirby and Ditko and bizarre ads. My favourite shorts where "Long Distance Calls" by Mark Millar (an intimate and disturbing look at the origins of radio), "The Eyes of Edwin Spendlove" and "The Secret of the organism" (both written by John Smith). I suppose i have to check some Vector13 shorts, who was the spiritual successor to this anthology:
View attachment 83826
View attachment 83832
Besides that, i was reading Custer by Carlos Trillo (one of the finest comic-book writers of my country, and one of the creators of Cybersix) and Jordi Bernet. I'm in a Bernet mood lately, re-reading some old issues of Torpedo 1936 published by Glenat. The man can draw and is a worthy follower of artists like Frank Robbins and Milton Caniff:
View attachment 83835

All new to me, thanks for always giving me something interesting to look for! The shadows in that Bernet page are *LUSH*, and the way they're depicting pouring rain, with the little details like the hem of her jacket to suggest the wind, or how we know *exactly* which direction the light is coming from as she opens that door slowly? Amazing. I love film noir, I'm an easy mark for this stuff.

When gorse deletes his acc and Lad leaves mod and goes offline so the only person I’m left with to talk to regularly about comic books is @Octopus

View attachment 84026​

Definitely the first time we've been grouped together in a sentence.

I'm honoured, my friend. I too miss ATenderLad, wherever they are.

Well, well, well, if it isn't the warming of the cockles of my little black heart!

Unfortunately I haven't really been getting into any new comics lately, just not enough time (or money). It's the one form of media I actually have an aversion to obtaining on the high seas, I got to be holding that in my hands to make it feel right, ya know?

My personal code of ethics functions somewhere around 1 TPB purchase=10 GB of comic, trash that I am. (I also got rid of a lot of stuff to share the space once I was engaged, and organizing a digital collection has just been easier for the relationship).

*snip of you revisiting your collection*

Buncha classics - well, maybe not Street Fighter, but I share your sick compulsion for those. I haven't read Elquest but I've always meant to. I'd never see it at the comic shop growing up, but the adverts always looked so cool.

What happened to Atenderlad? Talking about comics is one of the things i enjoy doing in this site.

Just your typical life aggravations, but I've missed talking about comics on here too!

I love Swamp Thing! Besides the legendary Moore run, i have a soft spot for all the pre and post Moore ST comics (i did an article about the Pasko/Yeates era a long time ago, for a defunct site called 9 Paneles, who keep running his archive as a wordpress). About Crisis, i was the only person in my country who give the 12 original issues to Marv Wolfman to sign it in an event promotioned by the U.S Embassy, but some years later i have to sell all the issues to save the life of my sick cat (comic book collecting in a third-world country can be a monkey's paw more often than you think). Since then, i don't have any physical edition of COIE, but i love it.

That's amazing! (Sick cat notwithstanding, hope they kept you company a good long while).

Miller's run of Daredevil is akin to Moore Swamp Thing, a long an influential run with excellent artists, well worth the (re)read. I only have the issue 191 in my house, it's not in best shape but i love that issue, Terry Austin did an oustanding job inking Miller and the story it's a blast. Daredevil Yellow is great (all of the Loeb/Sale collaborations tends to be very good or great, with a few exceptions) and you reminded me of the J.M Dematteis issues of Daredevil in the nineties, with Ron Wagner in the artistic duties (just before Karl Kesel made a good run on the character taking back to his silver age roots, a motif that Mark Waid will done years later too).

Riiiight, Dematteis got rid of that awkward "tacti-cool" phase that they tried in the mid-90's.


It's embarrassing, but I'm weirdly nostalgic for it? My first Daredevil comic was the Fall From Grace arc where he gets the outfit. (I don't remember it very well, but in hindsight he's stalked by a devil that he can't detect through the city, and it may have been a bit inspired by Predator 2).

(I don't really think it's a terrible design, it's just a bit flavorless. Like, play up the Japanese/ninja influence on the character a bit, make it a little more demonic, something).


EDIT: Okay I went and read a bit of it again, I was just thinking Predator 2 because the devil is invisible (to Daredevil) and speaks with a Jamaican accent.

 

[Octopus]

The comic summary god has returned, and I now actually have a chance to know what's going on in comics nowadays once a week or so.

My personal code of ethics functions somewhere around 1 TPB purchase=10 GB of comic, trash that I am.

That's a good compromise, but I just can't do the digital hoard for comics for some reason. It just feels wrong, plus I like to actually move the page around in front of me and look at the art from different angles and shit and zoom in only goes so far.

Buncha classics - well, maybe not Street Fighter, but I share your sick compulsion for those.

The UDON series ain't bad, but I can't deny that a good chunk of my love for them is just the art. That and the usual SF lore insanity.

It's embarrassing, but I'm weirdly nostalgic for it? My first Daredevil comic was the Fall From Grace arc where he gets the outfit. (I don't remember it very well, but in hindsight he's stalked by a devil that he can't detect through the city, and it may have been a bit inspired by Predator 2).

(I don't really think it's a terrible design, it's just a bit flavorless. Like, play up the Japanese/ninja influence on the character a bit, make it a little more demonic, something).


EDIT: Okay I went and read a bit of it again, I was just thinking Predator 2 because the devil is invisible (to Daredevil) and speaks with a Jamaican accent.

I'm with you, I dig the armoured costume. It would be better if there were more trademark DD elements in it like a red mask but it's one of the better silly 90s overkill costume reinventions I think, it's still relatively tame compared to some of the other famous ones. I'd get rid of the weird banded leg guards personally and just keep the shoulder pieces, but at least there's no thigh pouches or spikey shoulders to be seen unlike the others, like whatever the hell Wonder Woman was wearing then or whatever the hell was going on with feral Wolverine.

Never read the actual issues, but I think that invisible predator guy was Hellspawn? He was from the same dimension that the Spidey doppelganger was from back in Secret Wars, and he looked absolutely bonkers too. I think there was some appearances with those two and I think a Beast doppelganger too for a hot minute, before they got dropped pretty quickly past the early 90s.