I Read Comic Books discussion
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What are you reading right now?
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What are you reading right now? (January 2024)
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I set the same reading goal I've set for the last 5+ years. A thousand graphic novels and books for the year. (Uh, I read a lot!)
New reads for the month are The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman and the BOTM Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang. I first learned of Maus when it made headlines for being banned, and like LeVar Burton says, "read the books they're banning, that's where the good stuff is! If they don't want you to read it, there's a reason why."Ongoing reads are my big Spawn read through, currently up to issue 34 having taken detours through the Violator, Angela and Bloodfued miniseries.
I'm also working through my Modern Age Batman timeline and just completed Crisis On Infinite Earths. I'm retreating in the timeline a bit having missed Batman: Prey and Batman: The Man Who Laughs. Not sure how I missed the importance of The Man Who Laughs, downside of trying to cherry pick the "main" volumes. As for Prey, I encountered Dr Strange again in Arkham City and remembered that this book was his modern era introduction.
Mod
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at
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My main reading goal for this year is to structure my reading less, if that makes any sense. I've been following some reading challenge (mostly for prose books) for the last few years and it's lead me to read some things I felt like were a waste of time. So I want to embrace "DNF" if I don't like something and not force myself to read something just because I feel like I need to.
That being said, I still plan to do the IRCB Reading Challenge and I'm excited to see what people pick for it!
Today's trip to the LCS.Doctor Strange #11
Shazam #7
Fall of the House of X #1
Birds of Prey #5
Captain America #5
Mike wrote: "New reads for the month are The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman ..."I still haven't gotten around to reading that, though I will someday.
But I just read two of his other books: Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! and The Wild Party.
"Breakdowns" is a collection of short things he published in various places. It includes the first version of "Maus" which was only a few pages at that time. Some of the other stuff in there is really weird and experimental, and sometimes sexually graphic.
"The Wild Party" isn't exactly a "comic book". Rather it is a "scandalous" 1926 poem by Joseph Moncure March with drawings by Speigelman. I enjoyed it, but more for the poem than drawings.
Last week's light comic book reads.Harlem β β β�
The story of Queenie, a self made woman during the Harlem renaissance who runs a numbers game in Harlem. She refuses to back down to anyone including Dutch Schultz or the police who are both looking to end her rule of the area.
Heart Attack β β
An OK update of the X-Men in a post COVID world. 30 years in the future variants were created due to some gene therapy or the like. It's only vaguely explained. The powers don't really matter either. It's about the disenfranchised in Austin and some wall that was built around a section of it. None of the setup makes a lot of sense. The storytelling gets better after the initial setup is forced to tell the story the creators want to tell. The main two characters fall in love out of nowhere after one night together. It mainly an extension of the politics that have taken place since Trump came on the political scene, just expanded and extrapolated for vague superpowers.
The Werewolf at Dusk: And Other Stories β β β�
A collection of three stories, two of which are adapted from other authors. The title story is about a werewolf that has grown old, both in his human and werewolf form and is no longer as dangerous as he used to be.
Monomyth β β β�
A story about 7 people who arrive at a haunted castle where they are told the last one standing will gain magic. It's alright. Much isn't explained. You're just supposed to accept what you are given with little backstory or worldbuilding to support it.
Ink Girls β β β β
A middle school graphic novel about the power of the press. It's set in the Italian Renaissance. It's about a girl who is learning to be a printer. Her Mestro is arrested for printing papers that implicate the city's magistrate for extortion. Her apprentice, Cincia, escapes meeting the Principesca along the way. The two sneak out of the palace in order to gather evidence to save Cincia's Mestro. From there it's all about tracking down sources and getting them to vet things while hiding from the palace guard in order to save the day. It's a great story of people rising up to take back the power from those exploiting them. The art is detailed and bright, propelling the story. This is an all out terrific read for kids.
Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham β β β β
One of those Elseworld books where everything just clicks. Batman's world easily mashes up with Lovecraftian horror. Mignola has a long history with C'thulhu and it shows. I would have liked to see the Wayne family's backstory expanded and the Robins be more than cannon fodder but all in all a well crafted story with great coloring and pretty good art from Troy Nixey.
Batman - Santa Claus: Silent Knight β β β β
This is way better than it has a right to be. Batman and most of the Justice League team up with Santa Claus. I like how they lean into the Norse version of Santa making him part of the Wild Hunt. If anyone has ever read any of The Dresden Files, it uses some similar mythology. There's a good chance I'll be digging this back out in future Yuletide seasons.
Predator versus Wolverine β β
This was fine. A Predator keeps hunting Wolverine through his various eras, Alaska wilderness, the Team X days, Weapon X, Japan, early days of the X-Men, etc. I mean, you knew how it was going to end.
How War Begins: Dispatches from the Ukrainian Invasion β β β β
Terrible reports of what is happening in Ukraine from the earliest days of the war. Some of these are harrowing. This will really make you feel for the people of Ukraine who just want to go on with their lives while Russia is bombing entire cities down to rubble.
Conquest: Julius Caesar's Gallic War: A Historical Memoir & Graphic Novel β β
This was like reading a dusty text book. It's filled with a gazillion different European tribes and characters as Caesar conquers most of Europe.
Timeless (2023) #1 β β β β
Marvel's comic that they put out each year to tease the year's upcoming stories. This one is about an Old Man Luke Cage fighting Old Man Moon Knight for the fate of the Earth. I quite liked it and I can't always say that about Lanzing's and Kelly's writing.
From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates β β β�
This was alright. It felt like something that would have popped up at Vertigo back in the day. Don't expect Patton Oswalt's humor in this. This is a straight up take on minor superheroes that have saved the world. They spent years in another dimension where they reached their full potential. Now they are back in the real world and have formed a support group now that they are back to their normal minor selves.
Immortal X-Men, Vol. 4 β β β β
The only Fall of X book that truly matters. This explains what's going on and sets up the future. A lot of the other Fall of X titles are little more than filler.
X-Force, Vol. 8 β β β�
It FINALLY comes to a head that Colossus is being controlled by his brother. For once, this arc was pretty solid. Maybe, because for once it wasn't about the Beast turning evil. I am curious about this new direction although I'd be more excited about a new writer on this book.
Life Is Strange Vol. 6: Settling Dust β β
This is the epilogue to the game that makes the game pointless. And it is boring. It's the happy ending to every movie that doesn't have one.
Dungeon: Twilight - Vol. 1: Dragon Cemetery β β
I had no idea what was going on here. There may have been some things lost in the translation to English. This is set on some fantasy world where the main character is walking somewhere to die. There's lots of absurdity and very little of it makes any sense.
Book of Butcher β β β β
Like last year's Book of Slaughter, this was some good stuff in a thick square-bound format. It's set in the Something Is Killing the Children universe. It follows Maxine Slaughter in her training to be a black mask. She's training down in New Orleans and the story is interspersed with illustrated pages from the Book of Boucher. It documents all of the known monster types out there including several never seen before along with traditional monsters like vampires, werewolves and zombies. I'm very curious how soon Maxine's story is going to collide with Erica's.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Stranger Things β β β�
This worked better than I thought it would. It takes place right before season 3 of Stranger Things and uses the original 80's version of the Turtles. The kids are in New York on a field trip when they are attacked by demodogs. Someone has opened a portal in the subways under NYC. Things escalate from there.
Scum and Villainy β β β�
Some fluffy stories featuring characters on the skeevier side of Star Wars. The stories are all one and done and don't pack much of a punch. This is really only for the completists out there.
Rosa Parks β β β β
A story that needs to be retold every few years because people keep forgetting things like this happened only 60 years ago and keep rising back up.
Magical History Tour Vol. 7: Ghandi β β β�
A good primer for kids on Gandhi's life. It's not going to get super into details but what do you expect for a book for children.
Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons β β
Setting Godzilla's monsters back in the time of settling the New World is actually pretty smart if done well. Seaman talked of sea monsters all the time back then and they would appear on maps. This only worked OK though.
Hound β β
An extremely dark story about a new soldier arriving to the front during World War I. Due to his experience working in sewers, he's assigned to the Hounds, a group that goes off on its own, always wearing gas masks. He's given an initiation that he must pass in order to stay alive. Things continue to head south from there.
I Run to Make My Heart Beat β β
This story was all over the place. It's adapted from a book but not all that well. It's about a girl in Paris who is part Jewish, part Senegalese. It starts off with her getting kicked out of ballet at 14 for having darker skin. Then the story jumps ahead to college without telling you. It took me about half the book to pick that up. For some reason, she's recruited to run track but it seems like it's outside of school. (Maybe that works differently in France.) There she's sexually assaulted by the hammer throwers but she tells no one and is told the track program will be shut down if she tells anyone. The focus doesn't seem to be about that though even though she went through a violent assault by three men. Instead it becomes about a boy on the track team that Nina likes. This plot is so scattered it makes my head hurt.
Stray Dogs: Dog Days β β
Trying to milk what was a fantastic series for a few more dollars. The original miniseries was terrific. This was almost all little vignettes about each dog before they came to live on the Farm. Some of them even showing the master attacking his victims while the dogs are oblivious to what's happening.
Janus Silang and the Struggle for Kalibutan: Volume Two in the Janus Silang Saga β β
I know these books are super popular in the Philippines but I had no idea what was happening in this adaptation reading it in America. There needs to be a glossary to look up all of these terms that are only found in Filipino folklore. It's a frustrating read of nonstop exposition.
Vixen NYC Volume One β β β�
This was originally on Webtoon and it sometimes shows in the paneling. Webtoon comics are out of continuity. In this Vixen comes to NYC to attend college. She has just inherited the totem from her grandmother and has no idea
Zombillenium, Vols. 5-6: Black Friday/Sabbath Grand Derby β β β β
Vol. 5 is a fight to save the guests in the park from being sacrificed to Hell while Vol. 6 is a combination of quidditch and roller derby between witches.
Gold Goblin β�
I'm not sure how this even became a comic book. It's almost incoherent. Then dumping it in the Dark Web event in issue #2 made it even more confusing. This feels like Joe Quesada's kid was given the greenlight to make a comic book.
Edge of Spider-Verse β β
More Spider-People variants. Are we done with this yet?
Iβm re-reading Sandman this month. Itβs the first time in a couple decades, and brings back a lot of memories. Thereβs also a lot I appreciate differently as a grown up. I put this off for a while for a lot of reasons - too much new stuff to read, fear of spoiling sacred nostalgia, etcβ¦but Iβm so glad to be back with these stories.
Just got done reading The Riddler: Year One HC. Wasnβt a huge fan of the movie, but someone suggested this to me and I enjoyed it. I felt like it did great laying out why the Riddler is the way he is. Riddlerβs plan in the movie still doesnβt make a lot of sense but the book makes clear his motivations for it.
Dingleberg wrote: "Just got done reading The Riddler: Year One HC. Wasnβt a huge fan of the movie, but someone suggested this to me and I enjoyed it. I felt like it did great laying out why the Riddler is the way he ..."I'm glad to hear it's good. I've been curious about it but Paul Dano writing it had steered me away from it so far. I didn't care for the movie either. Incels as the villain didn't do it for me. That's a little too much like real life.
Shane wrote: "Iβm re-reading Sandman this month. Itβs the first time in a couple decades, and brings back a lot of memories. Thereβs also a lot I appreciate differently as a grown up. I put this off for a while ..."I did a re-read of Sandman a year or so ago and thought it was just as good as when I was reading it monthly as it was released.
Last week's light comic book reads.Ms Tree: Heroine Withdrawal β β β β
More terrific noir from Max Allen Collins and Terry Beatty. Ms. Tree is a private eye who tends to shoot first, meting out her own form of justice. If this one, Dan gets framed for the murder of the head of the Muerta mob. Then there's a case involving an abortion clinic.
Captain America: Cold War Aftermath β β
For an ending that felt very rushed in the final issue, the preceding issues felt bloated. You could honestly not even read this and it wouldn't make much difference to what's came so far and where it's probably headed in J. Michael Straczynski's new run. This whole century game deal just wasn't very interesting to me.
Zatanna & The Ripper Volume One β β
Zatanna gets transported back in time to the days of Jack the Ripper in this Webtoon book. Given the subject this was surprisingly boring.
Strangers In Paradise Volume One β β β β β�
It's been a few years so it's time for another edition of Strangers in Paradise. This time in 4 volumes collecting the entire 107 issues across a gazillion publishers. Terry Moore is one of my favorite comic book creators, specifically because of this series. While everyone else was drawing over muscled superheroes, Moore created this unique and hilarious series with a darker side to it. Moore is a gifted storyteller. He makes being an artist look so easy. These characters express so much emotion but never overdoing it. It's just chef's kiss. His writing is often hilarious. But sometimes the story turns darker as we delve into the Parker Girls. This still remains at the top of the pile when it comes to my all time favorite comics.
When I Arrived at the Castle β β
While the art is beautiful, the story didn't make any sense. It's some lesbian horror thing with a werecat arriving at a castle to kill a vampire and then this dreamlike, sensual dance of nonsense occurs on the rest of the pages.
Captain America, Vol. 1: Stand β β β β
This new Captain America series features the return of J. Michael Straczynki to Marvel. It takes place now and when Steve Rogers was a teenager, trying to get by before he became Captain America. In the past, he's standing up to the German American Bund in 1938 before the U.S. entered World War II. The Bund was a bunch of Nazi sympathizers. In the now, a new threat is rising. A human powered by a demon. It's good stuff. So is Jesus Saiz's art.
Red Sonja Vol. 3: Children's Crusade β β β�
Even though Red Sonja won her war, the people have no food. She heads to another nation to beg for food and the tyrant prince puts her in charge of his armies in exchange for food for her people. The only problem is that all the able bodied men have already died leaving her with boys for soldiers. It's a unique take on the nature of war and if it's worth it.
Red Sonja Vol. 4: Angel of Death β β β�
Mark Russell's time on Red Sonja ends with her abdicating her throne in order to go after a tyrant she had a hand in making.
After Eden β�
I liked some of Chitwood's other comics but this was not good. It's about what happened to Adam and Eve after they were forced out of Eden. Most of it if from the perspective of their two guardian angels as they protect them from two demons. It felt like it was written by 10-year-olds in bible school.
Afterburn β β β�
A massive solar flare destroyed one side of the world. Now this group of survivors rescues treasures from that side of the world for the rich. It's a decent B movie plot going on here.
Download β β β β
This was good. Chitwood's comics tend to be better when he works with Luckert. The art is certainly better as well. This is about 3 kids, one of who is hit by a beam of light and then starts receiving visions of machines to build. So he starts building them even though they don't know what they do, some of which are incredibly powerful. They try them out by trial and error until they start getting scared by burning holes through multiple walls and the like. Things escalate from there until we get an explanation and a good time.
Vampirella: Feary Tales β β β�
A horror anthology in honor of Vampirella's 45th anniversary. It's an ode to all the old Warren comics. Vampirella gets sucked into a book of fairy tales and has to get through all of them to escape. She plagued by a narrator who makes awful puns along the way. It was actually quite fun.
Vampirella Bites β β
Four one shots spoofing other horror TV shows and movies. We have stories about Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood and Dexter. All slightly changed so Dynamite doesn't get into trouble and none of them done very well.
Through the Woods β β β β β�
Five dark short stories fit for middle schoolers into the macabre and those older as well. The artwork is fantastic. Carroll often switches away from traditional paneling letting the art define the panels. She also steers clear of traditional exposition lettering, putting it directly on the page but in a way that is still easy to read. The difference give the stories more of a dark fairy tale feel to them. This is a terrific read for tales that are sinister but not too graphic.
Today's trip to the LCS.Abbott 1979 #3
Fables #161 <--- even though Willingham went off on DC, these last 2 issues are still coming out.
Wolverine #41
Rise of the Powers of X #1
Ultimate Spider-Man #1 <-- Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto's new baby
Avengers #9
Transformers #4
Titans: Beast World #4
Outsiders #3
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: A frog in the fall, Pine and Merrimac #1
- Kate: Blue Book Volume 1: 1961
- Paul: Batman #140, I Am the Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at
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β β β β
I'm making my way through the Cells at Work series on KManga. It's hard to tell how many volumes I've read when reading in chapters, but I think I'm through volume 3. It's a very educational series about how different kinds of cells work in the body, all presented in the form of a cute story that follows one red blood cell person who gets lost all the time.
American Gods, Vol. 2: My Ainsel β
β
β�I'm pretty invested in how this war between the new gods and the old gods turns out, but wow this series get uncomfortable or abstract at times. The covers are stunning.
I've been trying to get through the Witcher omnibus. It was gifted to me Christmas 2022, so there's an obligation to read it despite having no interest in the series. has anyone read this? is it worth finishing?
Red wrote: "I've been trying to get through the Witcher omnibus. It was gifted to me Christmas 2022, so there's an obligation to read it despite having no interest in the series. has anyone read this? is it wo..."I've never played the games, read the books or watched the Netflix show but still enjoyed the comics. I thought they were solid fantasy stories.
Superman The Golden Age vol 1
A bit dry, but hey, it was the late 1930βs. So far, my biggest surprise is how much of a jerk early Supes was π
Mod
Last week's adventures in comics.The Poetry of Ran Vol. 1 β�
A generic manga about a guy fighting kaiju with a sword. He's part of the Children of Impunity and the kaiju are called karma for some reason. The rest is generic fighting with ridiculous swords and dumb jokes about the bard with humongous breasts.
Legenderry: Vampirella β β
Not nearly as good as the Legenderry miniseries that started this little Steampunk version of Dynamite. Vampirella's steampunk costume is far better than the regular one she normally wears. Not much of a coherent plot here though.
Haunted β β β�
Ghosts and demons enter our world and 15 years later there's little left, just a few ragtag humans scavenging. Then a scientist comes along that says he knows how to fix it. Not bad. The one thing I thought was cool is that part of it takes place at Brookhaven National Laboratory, which is a huge research facility near my house on Long Island.
Hollow Girl: Collected Edition Volume 1 - Identity β β β β
Hollow Girl is a girl without a soul. She's killed her parents and now lets vengeful souls take over her body in order to enact revenge on their killers. The art is minimalist but solid.
The King Of The Moths β β β β
This was interesting. It's about a couple who are celebrating their 4 year anniversary. Then this man made of moths comes and steals the love from one of them leaving the other one to get it back, battling this moth creature. It's got a lot of heart. The art is kind of cartoony but works very well. One of those things you find in a more diverse comic environment like Europe. Kudos to Ablaze for bringing it to America.
Charlie's Angels VS. The Bionic Woman β β
Yeah, so there's a reason this has an average rating in the 2's. It's not very good. A lot of things aren't clear or don't make sense. For instance, the first time the Angels meet Jamie, they are in a parking garage. The very next panel they are chasing each other through the woods. I had to double check to make sure I hadn't skipped any pages. People act out of character. It didn't really feel like the writer had read more than a synopsis of either show.
Superman: The Harvests of Youth β β
Superboy vs. the Incels. Clark is a junior in high school when someone at their school commits suicide. The first part of the book is how the kids are dealing with this and it's not bad. Although Kent does very little to hide his identity, constantly flying around Smallville in street clothes and knocking steel doors off their hinges at school. Come on, Superman should be way more careful than that or he wouldn't have made it out of high school without being outed. The latter half of the book delves into a friend joining a vague incel group with half baked plans.
Vampirella Vol. 4: Red Mass β β β β
Christopher Priest finishes out his Vampirella run in nice fashion with the maybe return of Dracula (Read it and find out.). You probably do need to like Priest's writing style to like this book.
Gotham City: Year One β β β�
Gotham City gets its own version of the Lindbergh baby story. This is about Bruce Wayne's grandparents. When their baby daughter (She would be Bruce's aunt too, even though I've never heard of her before.) is kidnapped, they drag one of DC's oldest characters (He's older than Batman even!) onto the case, Slam Bradley. It gets into race relations of the era with Gotham segregated but the safest city in the country. Slam Bradley is also retconned heavily here if this is in continuity as he's 94 when telling this story to Batman. (He was a supporting character through the Ed Brubaker Catwoman era.) The story gets real dark. There's some ham-handed Batman references that landed like I just got slapped in the face with a mackerel.
Kitsune β β
A less well done Usagi Yojimbo clone.
eJunky β β
A story that's been done before but poor execution on the art front made this difficult to follow. It's set 30 years in the future where most people live in VR instead of doing anything productive. The main character is an eJunky always looking for new thrills in VR. He used to work for the police until he became addicted. The story keeps circling back on itself as our main character is sucked back into this world he used to frequent. The art is sometimes very good, reminding me of artists like Pat Broderick. But then in the next panel the main character will be missing a nose. Other times it looks like he has a beak instead. I guess drawing noses is difficult. The characters all look the same except for hair style so as this went along it got harder and harder to keep characters straight.
No Ghosts in Hiroshima Vol. 1 β β β�
Some pretty solid stuff. Combining nuclear physics and religion actually works surprisingly well here. A med student is sent by a professor who can make himself intangible to take a briefcase to a woman in San Francisco. Meanwhile he's being pursued by demons.
On The Way β β β�
A nice story about a woman who makes a pilgrimage in Spain. It's kind of the Spanish version of the Appalachian Trail here in the U.S. It's about her healing from a bad breakup and the other hikers she meets along the way.
Wannabes β β β�
An OK story about two nerdy kids who decide to become vigilantes and fail. Then they get powers.
Killchella β β β β
A very good Hoopla find. It's about a pop star who goes nuts and lures people into a special concert at Coachella to be murdered by her fans as part of some ritual. Stan culture at its darkest. The art is terrific too.
Crucified β β β�
I've read this now and I'm not sure I could tell you the impetus of the story. Even though it revolves around this Christ figure, he's barely in the book. It's about the people surrounding him, all of whom are pretty awful. The main character is an assassin under contract to kill this modern day Christ.
Wretches Vol. 1 β β β�
It's humans vs. robots in the far future, although it's more like androids as they look human. Besides that it may as well be humans vs. humans as they act exactly like humans and are in no way more difficult to kill.
Zinnober, Vol. 1 β β β β
This was pretty cool. It reminds a lot of Reign of Fire. It's about an Earth where dragons of all different sizes have taken over, leaving what's left of humanity to struggle to survive. There's a lot going on that hasn't been explained yet. Unfortunately, this ends pretty much midstory. Hopefully there will be more in the future.
Wendigo β�
The story of some hunters coming across a wendigo somewhere in Canada around the turn of the twentieth century. This was clearly written in another language and then poorly translated into English. Lepka may have just used Google Translate. Everyone talked like Yoda. Pronouns would change gender back and forth even though only 5 men appear throughout the story. If it wasn't Google Translate than this thing was created by A.I.
Brynmore β β β�
About what you'd expect for Steve Niles these days. An OK horror story that sometimes feels like an outline more than a full plot.
Little Guardians: Trial by Spirit Fire β β
A comic for younger kids about two kids switched at birth. One of them was supposed to be the next guardian of the village but was switched because she was a girl. It's all a very basic story with poor art.
Wolverine: Enemy of the State β β β β β�
This is one of the better Wolverine stories out there. Wolverine gets abducted by the Hand and gets full-on brainwashed, murdering people left and right as Hydra tries to dominate the world. This has got everything Secret Empire was missing.
Today's trip to my LCS.Beyond Real #1 <-- A comic from Vault that my LCS gave me for free.
Cobra Commander #1
World's Finest #23
Invincible Iron Man #14
Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs Kong #4
Nightwing #110
Titans #7
X-Men #30
Zorro: Man of the Dead #1 <--- New Sean Gordon Murphy miniseries
Avengers: Twilight #1
Deviant #3
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: Ruination #1, Masterpiece #2
- Paloma: The Great Beyond, Ghost Roast
- Kait: The Six Fingers #1, The One Hand #1, Daytripper
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at
Just got into Dr Strange, reading comics again after 20 years (38 years old). Starting with Strange Tales series. My 3 year old loves Spider-Man so reading Amazing Fantasy #14 to her, tge intro of Spider-Man. After Dr. Strange going to read Dawn of the Jedi series. π
Last week's adventures in comics.The Horror β β
This is meant to be a prequel to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It works okay. There are a lot of characters and it's hard to follow at times.
In Utero β β β β
I thought this was interesting. It's about some kids at a daycare in a dilapidated mall. They come across a life form and this turns into kind of a monster movie. Points for coming up with an original, enjoyable story. Points off for not coming up with any kind of meaningful backstory for why things were happening.
Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography β β β β β�
This isn't a comic, but it is a biography from one of the biggest artists of the last 40 years. Not a traditional biography, but a terrific one. Dave Gibbons has presented this as an A to Z guide to his life, giving him the ability to tell anecdotes from throughout his life. It feels like going down to the pub and sitting with Gibbons for several hours while he regales us with stories over pints. If you aren't familiar with Dave Gibbons, you should be. He's the artist behind Watchmen and Martha Washington along with one of the best one off Superman stories ever told.
Albion β β
This would probably mean more to someone familiar with all these obscure British comic characters of the sixties. To me, it was more of a chore to get through. It's also pretty clear that Alan Moore may have had the idea for this comic, but it was his daughter and son-in-law who wrote it and they are nowhere near the writer Alan Moore is.
The Magic Order, Vol. 4 β β β�
This is a series that could be better if Millar spent more time on it instead of just letting things fly by. It's a cool premise but Millar likes to blow his wad early and often. Not sure if there's even enough characters left for a volume 5.
Usagi Yojimbo Saga Legends β β β�
All of these stories are little offshoots that are not part of Usagi's official canon. The first half of the book is all of the Space Usagi issues. I don't really get it. It's clearly influenced by Star Wars. At the same time, it feels like the regular Usagi comic with laser blasters and goofy stuff like a castle floating in space on an asteroid and everyone is still wearing kimonos. It's weird.
Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai β β β β
Created for Usagi Yojimbo's silver anniversary Stan Sakai paints the full book in gorgeous watercolors. Just when you think Sakai's art can't get better, he does this.
Masters of the Universe: Forge of Destiny β β β�
This is billed as a prequel to the Netflix show but it equally works with the original cartoon. It's basically the origin of Sy-Klone.
Quentin Tarantino: A Graphic Biography β�
A Quentin Tarantino biography that doesn't really tell you anything new if you've seen his movies. It's all surface level stuff. Either there are some translation issues or Michele Botton writes really poor dialogue. Maybe it's both. These don't sound like real people. They sound like people written by A.I. software.
Hogbook and Lazer Eyes β�
This was almost completely incoherent. It's like random asides noted down in a diary, but by dogs. I thought it was going to have a point, but the only point seems to be that Maria Bamford and her husband like to adopt elderly pugs.
Atana and the Firebird β β
A cutesy fantasy stories for young girls. It's about three girls, a mermaid, a firebird and a witch who become friends while trying to keep a prophesy from being fulfilled. It drags on for too long at 250 pages and this is only half of it.
Nina Simone in Comics! β β
I'm just not a fan of how this was constructed. NPM used to put out some great biographies. Now they are a mixture of comics and prose and it just doesn't work. The comics never seem to tell you much and then that's followed by a couple of pages of text that goes more in depth and it'll go back and forth like that throughout the book.
Alan Moore's Complete WildC.A.T.s β β
This is OK. Don't expect any Alan Moore greatness here. The WildC.A.T.S. are thought dead but in reality returned to Khera after hundreds of years and things aren't what they thought they would be. It's the "You can't go home again" story. Meanwhile a bunch of screwups have started a new WildC.A.T.S. on Earth. Man, I remember really liking this when it came out in the 90s. I guess you really can't go home again.
Found an inexpensive and excellent condition Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper. It overlaps and continues her story from Batman Year One. Having finished the second book of Catwoman Lonely City, it is Ted Grant, a.k.a Wildcat, that helps to train Selina Kyle both at the start of her career, and the resumption of her career.
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: House of Lowther, Stray
- Danny: Cobra Commander #1, Judge Dredd/A Better World parts 1-3
- Nick: Magic #1 through #3, Our Bones Dust #2, Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat
- Zach: Local Man Vol. 1: Heartland, Behold, Behemoth
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at
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I read this whole series on KManga. I had a good time with it and gave all the volumes 4 or 5 stars. It's an educational series about the different cells of the body. It would have been nice to see the cell characters develop closer friendships, but understandably they were always working. I enjoyed watching their hijinks as they defended against intruders.
Wool: The Graphic Novel β
β
β�I read this with no context a few years ago and enjoyed it. I recently read the original novel by Hugh Howey and watched the Apple TV adaptation. I feel like the comic was too short to really dig into the depth of world building I enjoyed in the novel and show, and some of the art was too dark for me.
Today's trip to my LCS.Penguin #6
Punisher #3
Ghost Machine #1 <--- Kick off for Geoff John's Image imprint.
G.O.D.S. #4
Immortal Thor #6
Titans: Beast World #5
Resurrection of Magneto #1
X-Force #48
should I have read immortal hulk if I want to read immortal Thor?
I like Ewing's work, but I got back into comics around the time that the artist for hulk exposed how problematic he was so I've just avoided it. it may end up being a library pull
Red wrote: "should I have read immortal hulk if I want to read immortal Thor?"No, they have little to do with one another other than similar titles and sharing Al Ewing as the author.
Last week's adventures in comics.Hypericum β β
Two very different stories that are only tangentially related. One is Howard Carter finding King Tut's tomb. The other is about a young Italian woman who has come to Berlin to set up an exhibit about King Tut in the late 90's. That story is a whirlwind romance between her and a lazy hipster boy she meets. As a warning, their story is very sexually explicit so maybe don't read this one in public. Other than both stories also having a passing acquaintance with the title (Hypericum is the scientific name for St. John's wort.) there's no real reason why both stories are in this book.
Return to Eden β�
There may have been something lost in translation here. It never really came together. It's about an old woman looking back on her life in post-war Spain. They are very poor and we take a look at all of her family members but not much at herself or how she got to where she is in life. It's all very depressing and the family members aren't very kind to one another. I felt very disconnected to the whole thing instead of being brought into the story.
Nemesis β β β�
Evil Batman travels to different cities around the world to outsmart their top cops. Now he's headed to Washington to do it for the first time in the West. Millar's all about shock value, leaving any kind of characterization along the wayside. This is fine. It's the elevator pitch of a better, more fully fleshed out story, where this is just the story beats.
Kingdom Riders β β β β
It's pretty easy to tell Denton comes from an animation background. This reads like a fantastic cartoon from your childhood. It's set in a fantasy world where most people are part of the low caste with a select few ruling over them. The only bright spot people have is to watch these epic and deadly races with humans riding these behemoth creatures in deadly races. The main character is a young girl with a special rapport with animals. She and her mud toad that she rides on can seem to wiggle out of any mess. She gets the opportunity to race for her freedom and attempts to make the most of the opportunity. This was fun and action packed. Marcus To's art is so good and he makes it look so effortless.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine--The Dog of War β β β β
A "lost" episode of Deep Space 9 for the 30th anniversary. To place it in the timeline, Jadzia is still kicking around and in a relationship with Worf.
The Mushroom Knight Vol. 1 β β β β β�
Every once in a while you come across these obscure, magical comics that make reading stuff you've never heard of all worth it. This is about a tiny little knight living just out of sight in the woods. He's made of mushroom and is investigating the murder of a squirrel with his frog steed. Along the way he gets hurt and needs to borrow something from a little girl in order to heal himself enough to get home. Now he's trying to get back to the human realm to repay her generosity. I can't wait to read more of this. The art is absolutely gorgeous. It's so detailed I just found myself staring at the pages.
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth β β β β
A raw, unfiltered look at depression and low self-esteem. Zoe Thorogood decides to record what it's like to be her for six months. This isn't really a memoir. At 23, she hasn't lived much of a life yet. It's more what's it's like to be in her head for a time. Where this excels is the art. She uses a variety of ways to portray herself and others, sometimes all in the same panel.
Kingsman: The Red Diamond β β
A pale imitation of the previous series and movies. The art is really weak as well. This just felt like a bad imitation of a Roger Moore era James Bond flick with some stupid subplot about Eggsy's mum and little brother thrown in. If I was Mark Millar, I'd be embarrassed.
Ranger Academy Vol 1 β β
I'm not familiar with this setting for the Power Rangers. It's way in the future. A girl lives alone with her father on an isolated moon when two academy students crash land and she has to save them. She sneaks off with them to go to the academy and that's where things begin to get really boring.
Batman: The Dark Knight Detective, Vol. 8 β β β β
This was fun. Two annuals with tie-ins to Armageddon 2001 and Eclipso: The Darkness Within. Villains like Ra's al Ghul, Scarface and Cluemaster. The first appearance of Spoiler. A cool Huntress team-up. I love Tim Drake as Robin back in these days too. Good stuff. I hope DC keeps going with these.
Underground: Cursed Rockers and High Priestesses of Sound β β β β β�
This is a terrific successor to the Big Book series of comics Paradox Press put out in the 90s. It's packed with stories from outsider artists from all kinds of genres. There's more recognizable artists like Jonathan Richman or Captain Beefheart all the way to people I'd never heard of like Yma Sumac and Eugene Chadbourne (who used to sell cassettes at shows tucked into a sock). I really liked that the writer is French so that there were plenty of European artists in there as well.
Spider-Man, Vol. 2: Who is Spider-Boy? β β β�
This just hasn't hit the highs of Slott's first go around with Spider-Man. It's OK. Spider-Man supercharges his Spidey sense which causes him to save people nonstop. Spider-Boy is running around in the background trying to adjust to no one remembering him.
Ghostlore Vol. 1 β β β�
This started off pretty cool. It's about this father and daughter that can suddenly see ghosts. But then it loses some focus, giving us smaller ghost / body horror stories in each issue by guest artists.
Space Story β β β�
A love story set on a dying Earth told from 3 different time periods differentiated by the color palette. The first is about this queer couple falling in love. The other two are about them separated, one up in space while the other is trapped on Earth. There's not much to the story itself. It's more about the two of them and their feelings of being forced apart. The art is very cartoony. I kept thinking of Alice the Goon from Popeye for one of the characters.
Monster Crush β β
Well, this was kind of terrible. It feels like it was written for really young children. It's about a girl figuring out she likes girls. But it's also about some kind of monsters that are werewolves without being werewolves and some generic scientist that wants to catch them and experiment on them.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: A Graphic Adaptation β β β β
This was first written in the 90's. It isn't so much that your teacher lied to you as it is that your textbooks take a revisionist version of history to make the U.S. look more positive removing many of its warts from history. Most of the book looks at atrocities in American history such as our treatment of Native Americans, slavery, income inequality and the U.S.'s involvements in the overthrow of foreign governments throughout our history. Powell's graphic adaptation of the content doesn't make this any less dense, nor does it make it less powerful. It's sobering stuff that makes you think of all the whitewashing we try to do to our past. Powell does add in some 21st century events into this version such as 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq.
I'm back from the Christmas season at the Post Office. 
Inuyashiki β β β β
After a spaceship crashes into 2 people, aliens rebuild their bodies with spare weapons, creating unstoppable killing machines. The first one, a sad, old man, tries to find purpose by becoming a superhero. The other lives lives out their fantasy as a slasher villain.
Inuyashiki has a lot of content warnings, but gets to some touching and human moments. It's all on K Manga for free, except 3 chapters. CW: (view spoiler)
Batman and Robin Eternal β β β�
Vol 1 is fine. Vol 2 is built on everything from Grayson and sticks the landing. Great to close Harper Rowβs story. We get to see all the Robins bounce off each other.
Robin War β β β�
It's been months since I read this, but I remember the book being full of itself. This along with Batman Vol 9: Bloom are the introduction of Duke Thompson. And the Court of Owls is there. Maybe its b/c I read this right after Batman & Robin Eternal, but I don't know why this needed to exist.
Grayson, Volume 5: Spiral's End β β β�
Fine. Vol 4 was a waste of time. There were fun moments, but Grayson is not worth reading. None of the new characters had a real impact. The secret behind Spiral was an over complicated lore dump.
New X-Men by Grant Morrison: Ultimate Collection, Book 1 β β β β β�
Excellent. Morrison keeps the amount of characters small so it's perfect as a starting point. I thought I would have to get used to the art, but it engrossed me immediately. I love the new outfits. The Third species is a perfect metaphor for toxic fans. I've read 4 volumes.
Spider-Man Unlimited Infinity Comic β β β�
Itβs barebones, but itβs easy to read on my break. Deals with different multiverse shenanigans. The first arc deals with Insomniac Spider Man and the spot. You can tell one of the game's writers is involved b/c they insist the gadgets are cool. The second focused on the renew your vows universe and is a christmas story.
Spine-Tingling Spider-Man Infinity Comic (2021) #1 β β β β
Spider-Man is haunted by a demon in his sleep. When he's taken to this dream realm, it switches to a colored pencil style. I ate this up in one day.
Essential X-Factor, Vol. 1 β β β β
Read with Marvel Unlimited. The original X-Men come back together under Louise Simonson and Bob Layton. It don't compare to Claremont's run, but there's iconic moments including the Mutant Massacre and Angel losing his wings.
Murder Falcon β β β β β�
This is my favorite Daniel Warren Johnson Book so far.
Past few days I've ran through a few books.Batman: The Winning Card by Tom King and Mitch Gerards is a great retelling of Batman and Joker's initial meeting.
I Walk with Monsters by Paul Cornell and Sally Cantirino is a book that is a bit shaky in execution but does try to tackle some very serious subject matter.
Roaming by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki is kind of the opposite, it's a not especially deep coming of age story about three girls clashing during a trip to NYC, but the execution is flawless.
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: Universal Monsters: Dracula #4, World Heist
- Zach: World War Hulk #1 through #5, Incredible Hulk (1999-2007) #106 through #111, World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1
- Paul: Essential Rogue Trooper: Genetic Infantryman, Transformers #4
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at .
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Living-Room Matsunaga-san, Vol. 1 β
β
β
β
I've read volumes 1-7 of this series in the last week, all on KManga. It's a slice-of-life/potential romance story about a teenage girl moving into a boarding house and the hijinks with her roommates that ensue. The series is named for one roommate she has a huge crush on. I find this series incredibly binge-able. There's a significant age gap between her and Matsunaga, which is what's keeping me from giving this series 4 stars.
Chad wrote: "...Underground: Cursed Rockers and High Priestesses of Sound β
β
β
β
β�..."Thanks for mentioning that. I immediately started reading it, too.
Since you say you'd never heard of "Yma Sumac", I'll assume you don't do crosswords. "Yma" is one of those names, like "Eno" or "Ono", that shows up in crosswords far more often than in the real world.
Ed wrote: "Since you say you'd never heard of "Yma Sumac", I'll assume you don't do crosswords. "Yma" is one of those names, like "Eno" or "Ono", that shows up in crosswords far more often than in the real world."I used to do them every day when we got the paper but I don't remember ever coming across "Yma". It was typically something like "obi" for a 3 letter word.
Today's trip to the LCS.Unnatural Order #1 <-- It was free for whatever reason.
Incredible Hulk #8
Titans: Beast World #6
Wolverine #42
Batman - Superman: World's Finest 2024 Annual
Avengers: Twilight #2
Duke #2
Dead X-Men #1
Chad wrote: "... I used to do them every day when we got the paper but I don't remember ever coming across "Yma" ..."I often do "American Values Crosswords", which started out as the crossword for the Onion, but developed into its own independent thing. It has more pop-culture references than, for example, the NYT.
Go listen to Yma Sumac on youtoob at least once. Her voice is unique.
I'm enjoying the "Underground" book. But I'm disappointed in the chapter on the fabulous, but strange, Nurse With Wound. Unlike the other chapters, this one says absolutely nothing about their music and simply mentions that they once created a list of other musicians.
Ed wrote: "I'm enjoying the "Underground" book. But I'm disappointed in the chapter on the fabulous, but strange, Nurse With Wound. Unlike the other chapters, this one says absolutely nothing about their music and simply mentions that they once created a list of other musicians."Yes, I thought that was odd as well.
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I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Essential Rogue Trooper: Genetic Infantryman (other topics)World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1 (other topics)
Living-Room Matsunaga-san, Vol. 1 (other topics)
Transformers #4 (other topics)
World War Hulk #1 (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Art Spiegelman (other topics)Joseph Moncure March (other topics)
Art Spiegelman (other topics)
Cliff Chiang (other topics)
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