Superboy

Y: The Last Man #58.

Wow. Just...wow. I was BAWLING by the end of this issue.

Bronkster

Amazing Spider-man #544 "One More Day" part 1 - very underwhelmed with the story, which simply felt like a continuation of recent Spidey events involving Aunt May. No idea where this "One More Day" thing is headed (I prefer skipping review spoilers) but this was a very weak beginning IMO - I hope it picks up. And Joe Quesadea's art looked like he was trying to channel McFarland.

Hulk #110 - More World War Hulkiness - story is moving slowly: needs more smash.

JasonF

Maybe someone can explain this comic to me. It features characters that look like Spider-Man and Iron Man, and Spider-Man's name is even on the cover. But Spider-Man and Iron Man are heroes, while the characters in this comic act like complete douchebags -- so they can't possibly be Spider-Man and Iron Man, right? I know the dickening of my favorite Marvel characters has been going on for a few years now, and Straczynski is not the only culprit, but really -- is it too much to ask that superheroes actually behave like heroes instead of petulant brats?

I also like how Straczynski managed to display a complete ignorance of the healthcare system ("If you don't have money, Aunt May will have to go to the loser ward! Not that it matters because she's going to die no matter what ...") and the criminal justice system ("If I help a fugitive's sick relative, then that's aiding and abetting .... unless I launder the money through my butler. Nobody will ever figure that one out!").

Also, I know decompression is all the rage and so super-cool, but was the plot advanced even a smidgen over the course of this issue? We went from "Aunt May is dying of a gunshot wound" to "Aunt May is dying of a gunshot wound, but at least Tony Stark is paying the medical bill." Perhaps of interest to the people in the hospital's accounting department, but I can't imagine anyone else cares.

boredsilly

So you're saying you didn't like the book Jason?

I haven't really read anything in the last few weeks. I guess it's time to get caught up on Y with it nearing its end. I stopped reading at the low 40's so I could just read the whole thing in pretty much one long shot. I should probably get on that so the end isn't spoiled for me.

Superboy

You see, once upon a time superheroes weren't superPOWERED. They were simply great people with great ambitions who did great things. They had courage and bravery and they reflected the feelings of an entire generation of children, teenagers, and adults who had to go out and face a terrifying world.

Then, people started to get confused and nothing was black and white anymore. Good and evil were sometimes the same thing, and it became harder to tell which was which. Superheroes faced these same conflicts. Superheroes had to start making some tough choices, but in the end there was still a fine, clear line between good and evil, even if it was crossed from time to time.

Now, we have the modern age, and no one looks to heroes anymore because no one WANTS to be a hero anymore. There's no reason to be. There is only boredom-fueled fantasy adventures. The Dark Knight Returns, Earth X, and other modern works eschewed this attitude. That's the problem with Spider-man. When he grows up he's supposed to become someone like Superman, only he's become Batman instead. Who is probably one of the worst comic-book characters ever.

Superboy

Trust me, you will want to wait until it's all done...the last 10 issues have driven me insane waiting for the next to come out. And the book has gone bi-monthly until it's finale. It's going to be at least 4 months before it's over.

JasonF

What are you talking about? Batman was a great character! It's a shame they stopped publishing stories about him back in the early 80s.

Superboy

taffer

Batman is my favorite super-hero. I do agree that his comics haven't been great in recent years. Heck, all of mainstream Marvel and DC hasn't been very good for the last decade or so. The best Batman era IMO was between the Crisis reboot in '86 until the Knightfall saga in the early '90s.

Patman

As soon as I saw the cover, I knew what was coming. Damn.

Superboy

PEACE!

JasonF

No way! That was the era of everybody trying to one-up Frank Miller, and Batman increasingly becoming more and more of an asshole. Give me Neal Adams-era Batman any day of the week!

taffer

I cannot stand pre-Crisis DC comics. For me personally, DC does not exist before 1986; I pretend Batman: Year One and John Byrne's Man of Steel miniseries are the first Batman and Superman stories...

I am however not a Frank Miller fan. I hated DKR. The only good Batman story he has done is Year One in my opinion.

Bronkster

As one of the older collectors here, I remember back when those issues were coming out and the impact that Neal Adams had on comics. His art was a style that just hadn't been seen yet and it was awesome! And Batman became cool again (having been mostly a joke ever since the TV show destroyed the character for a few years). And Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow just blew my young mind! I don't know if Neal Adams could be given lone credit, but that time period was when comics lost their innocence.

Superboy

It's a very common misconception that the Adam West Batman ruined the character. In fact the TV show's popularity revived interest in the character. Regardless, it's just another era in the character's history. When a character is 80 years old you can't expect them to be the same throughout their entire lifetime.

I do love All Star Batman and Robin. It's a post-modern Batman that really sticks it to both the creators and the fans.

Giantrobo

Sure, the show revived the character. But turning Batman from "The Dark Knight" to "The Campy Goofball" was a sad sad thing.

ytrez

boredsilly

Batman hate? What? Moderators, Superboy must be banned!

Superboy

It's also a common misconception that Batman had the same sort of "Dark Knight" image in the Golden Age. Granted, works like DKR and Year One were definitely inspired by his Golden Age roots, Batman was concieved more in the vein of a pulp/horror hero. He had the dashing adventures of Zorro, Green Hornet, was as smart as Doc Savage and solved his problems the same way, yet had an element of horror and mystery much like Dracula. The Golden Age Batman was probably the best incarnation of the character, which is what o'Neil and Adams did with the character in the 70s. Remember, above all, Batman is a detective.

fujishig

Yay, Monthly Shipment time. Man, my "pull" list is way, way down:

Alan Moore The Complete Wildcats HC: Umm... it's not a HC... I'm not sure if it's mailordercomic's fault or the solicitation was wrong. I have all these stories in one form or another, but I like Alan Moore and I miss Travis Charest.

Godland Celestial Edition HC: Can't wait to crack this open, because of the recommendations of others here

Invincible vol 3 Ultimate Collection

Justice League of America #12: Cool retro story, I guess... is this supposed to be a prelude to the new Outsiders book, or just a coincidence that these two narrators are in that book?

Justice Society of America #8: Did the whole Hourman/Liberty Bell romance happen during OYL? Anyway, an upbeat book, I like it.

New Avengers vol. 6 Premiere HC: After that Civil War stuff, I kinda like the humor in here, though I'm still ambivalent about the big reveal

New Universal Vol. 1

Supergirl #20

Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes #33: Yeah, my favorite Legionnaire is back (maybe). I'm a little confused at what the motivation for Mekt Ranzz was here, but overall enjoying this book.

Teen Titans #50: Ah, a reminder of all the incarnations of the Titans I liked better than the current version. Why is Cyborg leaving the team? I miss Young Justice (though I may be the only one). Not a huge fan of the Titans of Tomorrow, but I'm interesting in seeing where this goes.

Wonder Woman #12: Another issue where nothing happens but somehow we go back to the status quo of issue #1. What a waste of time this book has been. Sorry Gail, I'm sure you'll do wonders on this book, but I'll wait for the trade to see how good it is. Dropped.

X-men Supernovas HC: Haven't read it yet, in fact, haven't read any X titles besides X-factor since Morrison's run, figured I'd give it a try and see if it's as incomprehensible as I fear.

Fables vol 5: Still slowly going through Fables, I'll be disappointed when I finally catch up, as I've been devouring the trades.

Patman

Anyone else down on "Countdown" after 18+ issues into the run? I just don't know if I can stick around for the remaining 30+ issues.

JasonF

Batman hadn't been the Dark Knight for 20 years by the time the Adam West show came along. Pick up Batman in the 50s or Batman in the 60s -- it wasn't high camp prior to the Adam West stuff, but it was a lot closer to that than to the moody stuff of the 40s or 70s and beyond either.

areacode212

I liked the early part of this era, with Aparo on Batman, Breyfogle on Detective, Jim Starlin writing cool stories like "Ten Nights of the Beast", etc. I skipped out on early-and-mid '90s Batman, so I was only passingly familiar with the whole Bane thing, Jean-Paul, then Dick taking over, etc.

I really enjoyed late-90s Batman, especially Morrison's take on him in JLA, the whole No Man's Land thing, and the post-NML Rucka run. Yeah, some writers took "asshole Batman" too far, but overall, I liked him as Gotham's dickish drill sergeant.

Josh-da-man

I believe DC's original plan was for this book to be a hardcover (and there was at least one released solicitation that said HC), but changed their minds at some point shortly after.

There is no hardcover edition available.

Giantrobo

I get that. The point is the TV Show took it to a whole new level and it wasn't a good thing.