Nerds...NEEEERDS! (Comic Discussion Thread)

[MRSKELETON]

I was going to post what I was reading earlier but I guess I mustve forgotten and closed my window.

DC:

Batgirl: Stephanie Brown is everything Cassandra Cain wasn't. She's witty, peppy, youthful and filled with absolutely naivety: She's could be compared to a re-touched Barbara Gordon starting off for the first time. With Oracle (Barbara herself) as her supporting character and everyone in universe against her, the comic series starts out with a bang and hasn't let up yet.
(it's also got great artwork)

Red Robin: Another series with great artwork. While Dick Grayson may be off gallivanting in the Bat Costume: Tim Drake is shaping up to possibly be a better Batman then the guy currently in the costume!
This series has a flow of self narration by the key character, and carries an adventure vibe with a slight noir tinge. (It could kind of be considered similar to episodes of the animated series.)

I'm also reading Batman's regular series and Batman and Robin, but don't have much to say about those.

[Weasel]

Okay, so I don't read a lot of comics so I don't know what the entire medium is like, but I have to wonder what's with Marvel and DC's apparent fascinations with making EVERYTHING canon. Everything from Infinite Crisis to the new guy's silly one-off Batman parody is apparently part of the same timeline, and it could be mentioned anywhere else.

It makes me wonder what it'd be like if video games were like this too, to the point where even something as completely bombastic as Super Smash Bros or Cross Edge would be deemed canon on all fronts. Like, say Etna somehow develops a romantic interest in Strider Hiryu...and the next Strider game has Etna appear in it chiefly to tie it in with the other game. Or perhaps Gordon Freeman cameos in Halo, only for the next Half-Life game to have Covenant Elites raining from the sky. It's unnecessary and does not further either game's lore. So why do comics do it?

[rorshacma]

There's plenty of "non-canon" stories for both major companies. And company crossovers are never considered canon, so your examples don't really compare to anything in comics.

[Deleted]

Apr 25, 2010 22:38:05 GMT -5 thethird said:

Try Invincible.

The lack of a humongous goddamn universe and history allows for a sense of old-timey storytelling without all the soap-opera stuff, but you still get gigantic amounts of gore and sweet art and stuff!

It's seriously probably the best superhero book on the market. Really.

Totally. Kirkman is hit or miss, but Invincible has been consistently good since it started; it also bothers to deal with questions like the consequences of not killing your enemies.

Have you read the Marvel MAX miniseries "Destroyer"? It's simple in scope and kind of dumb fun (an aging superhero has a heart attack and decides to kill all of his rogues gallery to make sure his family is safe), but it's really awesome and one of the best mini series they've produced in a long time.

[Atma]

My name is Atma and I'm here to chime in about some comics. I grew up reading a lot of my dad's boxes of stuff like old Conan comics from when he was a kid, and I haven't sat down and read some good old fashioned American stuff for a long while. Anyways...

Just got done reading Kick-Ass Book 1. I feel it lived up to its name. I'm not one for overpowered cheesy superhero comics, and never have been, but this was very spot-on in portraying what it'd be like to actually live our greatest geeky wet dreams of saving the day, as even I've had such fantasies. It was short and easy to digest and even though I guessed a few things right away, like who Red Mist was, I still find it enjoyable and laughed/grinned at it a lot, but that was probably just my sick sense of humor. Here's hoping Book Two improves on it, whenever they put more out.

I'm also reading Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight but haven't read anything past their adventures in Japan, which is a damn shame, and I should go fix that ASAP. I'm throughly enjoying this as well, as a friend of mine lent me his Buffy DVDs back in 08 and had me marathon it with him, and the fact it got continued in any form,especially with Whedon at the helm, makes for a happy fangirl. It rivals the best of the actual show easily without sacrificing any character integrity. If they do a Season Nine or more, let's hope they can keep the current team on and I will gladly pay them forever.

My absolute favorite Western comic of all time though will always be Bone. If you haven't read it, you're doing a crime to yourself, and owe yourself a complete read through of it. The complete one volume collection was easily some of the best $40 I ever spent. Loved it as a kid when it was still in production and it's every bit as magical and horrifying and filled with personality as an adult, if even more so.

Next on my to-read list is both The Invisibles and Transmetropolitan. If you hear a loud boom, that's just my mind being blown all over the pavement.

Anyone got any recommendations for me based on what I've discussed here? I'm fine with downloading if needed.

[Smithee of Zur-En-Arrh]

Speaking of Kirkman, I read The Walking Dead. I really need to pick up Vol. 10 since it is out.

I read up to volume 9 from a friend, and then stopped once I switched schools, so I was glad to find vol. 9 was exactly where I left off. I'd still like to buy the older TPBs to fill in the massive starting gap, and I also need to get vol. 10.

[rorshacma]

Apr 26, 2010 8:28:09 GMT -5 Atma said:

My absolute favorite Western comic of all time though will always be Bone. If you haven't read it, you're doing a crime to yourself, and owe yourself a complete read through of it. The complete one volume collection was easily some of the best $40 I ever spent. Loved it as a kid when it was still in production and it's every bit as magical and horrifying and filled with personality as an adult, if even more so.

I really, really need to get Bone one of these days. Its one of those books that I constantly hear people raving about, but then keep putting off picking it up for myself.

Currently, most of the comics I read are superhero fare. Though a couple of on-goings that I love are Usagi Yojimbo (though I'm way behind), and Fables. And I also need to eventually read the last couple of volumes of The Walking Dead.

[America Young Fusion]

Apr 25, 2010 22:38:05 GMT -5 thethird said:

Try Invincible.

The lack of a humongous goddamn universe and history allows for a sense of old-timey storytelling without all the soap-opera stuff, but you still get gigantic amounts of gore and sweet art and stuff!

It's seriously probably the best superhero book on the market. Really.

I haven't read this one in a while but agreed. It even does Dragon Ball Z right if you think about how they set up the story arcs.

Anyway, the only thing I'm interested in following lately is the batshit new Robocop and The Punisher, both Max and Franken Castle. El Zorro's pretty great too out of nostalgia. Used to also read X-Force and Cable but um, don't care for Second Coming.

And DC = Batman for me as well, even though what I've only bothered to look at is Arkham Reborn and Gotham City Sirens.

[Haz]

Man, I need to check out some more out-of-the-norm stuff (and more comics in general) myself. Last thing I read was a couple of old Bob Kane-era Batman comics from 1967-69 in an anthology at a library a few weeks ago, and before that, a couple pages of Marvel Zombies that a friend had 2 years ago. I'm so out of touch that it's fucking illegal.

Though I do plan to finish the latter, read Civil War, Kick-Ass (in preparation for the movie, even though I hear it differs) and Watchmen (SUPER slowpoke.jpg). So yeah, I'll just sit back, see what's being raved about, and make my decisions of what else there is based on that.

[ryochan]

Geh, don't remind me of Usagi Yojimbo. I'd be afraid to even find out how far behind I am on that, since I stopped collecting back in the '90s (for some reason, several of the comics I was collecting were no longer carried at the stores I went to, in favor of more X-whatever comics and more Batman and whatever).

[Pitchfork]

The avatar might have tipped you off, but I've been on a pretty massive Rogues kick lately. For a while I wasn't even aware the Flash had a regular set of villains, but then I picked up Rogues' Revenge last year and have since become sort of a fanboy. It's such a great miniseries. No, it's not terribly deep, but it's a lot of fun to read and look at.

The following two pages deserve some kind of award for best use of the "BWOOOOSH" sound effect.




And for your further reading pleasure, here is the heartwarming reunion between Captain Cold (he's the eskimo-looking guy with the freeze ray and 3D glasses) and his estranged father :D

Page 1
Page 2
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Page 4
Page 5
Page 6

<3

[thethird]

I haven't finished Bone yet but man that series is great. The artwork is awesome and every single character I can think of in the series is great. They've all got tons of personality and the story has a sweet fantasy/fairy-tale vibe to it without being juvenile.

I'm currently reading Scott Pilgrim.....again. Third time around. I can't wait for the release of the last damn volume. This is my favourite comic of all-time. I never thought I'd enjoy a videogame slice-of-life comic as much as I do but god, it just makes me so happy. Such a sense of humour and even through all the wackiness it gives a compelling story.

ALSO: Even though any villain named Captain Cold should be a complete failure, good lord he is a badass. I once went through a Captain Cold respect thread and it was full of ridiculous amounts of kickassry.

[rorshacma]

The Rogues just plain kick ass. People unfamiliar with them would probably just see them as some corny relics from the 60's that have no place today, but man would they be wrong.

[Smithee of Zur-En-Arrh]

Holy shit those guys are cool.

Man, I gotta get into comics.

[Deleted]

Can't say that those Rogues panels did much for me. It comes across as a really lame attempt to make a group of washed up never-beens into something edgy. While a character with Captain Cold's proposed background sounds interesting in theory, the fact remains, he's a lowest-rung supervillain. His primary opponent is a guy who can move faster than the speed of light, let alone the rest of the superhero community. He simply doesn't cut it.

Instead of rebranding loser characters, DC should just chuck what doesn't work and start all over with a fresh slate. Flash's villains have always been comical at best, so either give him an entirely new set of enemies, ones that are both interesting and plausible, or get rid of Flash himself, in the process.

I know none of this will ever happen, of course. God, the way they tried to echo Barry Allen's death in Crisis with Wally West in Zero Hour...the people at DC have absolutely no shame.