Gamblor187

I was busy last week and forgot to start a new thread. Let's try this again. Today I picked:

Electropolis #2 If it's as good as the first issue, I can forgive the long delay. It's a shame that DC passed on this book, as I would have loved to see writer Dean Motter hook up with artist Michael Lark again (Check out their highly underrated "Terminal City" miniseries for Vertigo), but at least the story's still being published....even if it does still pain me to buy any book put out by Image.

Strangers In Paradise #43 - This week's "Why The Hell Am I Still Buying This Crap?" title. It was once a wonderful, humorous, "slice of life" book. Then it switched to a silly action/suspense story that refused to die. It has never recovered.

Bone #44 - The fantasy elements are coming together well and Jeff Smith is starting to bring more humor back to the book. A consistently good read.

Daredevil #23 - Will this cursed storyline ever end????

Alias #1 - The last time Marvel tried to produce an "adult line", the results were laughable. This time, they've actually got some talent involved. It's good to see Bendis doing a monthly crime comic again.

Ultimate Spider-Man #13

100 Bullets #28

jim

kvrdave

Gotta' love Bone!

Liquid Death

Argh! My comic shop was all out of Origin #1 (sold out in less than 2 hrs). So far, I've read:

Ultimate Spider-Man #13 - I *really* enjoyed this issue - a real heart-felt issue between Peter and Mary Jane.

Alias #1 - It was alright, but it really picked up at the end, and I'll prob. stick around for #2 to see what happens.

And I just picked up Kindred #2 (from ages ago) from the comic shop, so I went back and re-read 1-4, and it was a decent mini (w/ Wildstorm's Grifter and Backlash) that I really liked.

Gamblor187

I've never been a big fan of Wolverine or the X-Men, but I was tempted to pick this up. It's about time they get around to Wolverine's true origin. Still, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $3.50 on it. I probably would have given it a shot if there was a different writer, but Paul Jenkins doesn't do much for me.

jim

kevin75

yeah and even though you missed it, in today's age of quick reprints you gotta think that about 6 months after they get done with the series, they will have it either in HC or SC. i am not even picking up the loeb/sale daredevil series cause i would rather get the inevitable HC coming out. now won't i look stupid if they don't release one?

Gamblor187

You're really not missing anything. This series has been a big disappointment, in my opinion.Not necessarily a bad book, but definitely not near the quality of most Loeb/Sale pairings. I got the first three issues and it was just a typical "Year One" book, which doesn't make much sense since we basically got the same story in the Frank Miller/John Romita miniseries not too long ago.

jim

fooze

You are very wrong about this, especially the hardcovers. D.C. are the guys putting out the super-fast trades. Marvel rarely if ever puts out trades of anything, & they have no trades out of any recent books or story arcs. I can garaunty there will not be a trade out of Daredevil or Origin for at least a couple of years.

Anyway I picked up this week.

X-treme X-men #5 - (Ships next week),awesome cover, this is such an awesome book, & Lorroca is the most underrated artist working today.

Ultimate X-men #9 - (Ships next week)I really don't like this book that much, but Nick Fury plays a huge role in this issue & what they did with him is pretty cool, he's black & has some cool powers.

Obergeist: Ragnorak Highway #5 - Pretty cool series, very different from anything else being published but definitely not for everyone.

Alias #1 -

Origin #1 - Haven't read it yet

Wolverine #167 - Love Sean Chen's work on this book.

Green Lantern #142 - I HATE Judd Winnick

Cable #96 - Very sad to see Weinberg leave this book

Batgirl #20 - This is such a great title, & Damian Scott's covers & pencils are just awesome.

Superman #174 - REally glad to see Our worlds at war finally over.

sinned

Picked up the following this week:

Batgirl #20
One of the most underrated books out there
Ultimate Spider-man #13
Fantastic Four #47
Wolverine #167
The artist for this issue is Dan Fraga, not Sean Chen
I'm also beginning to hate those BWS covers
Exiles #4

My comic shop sold out of the following:
Origin #1
Alias #1
What's the controversy about this book? Who's the artist?


BTW, is X-treme X-men an ongoing $2.99 title?

Liquid Death

Under Joey Q, Marvel is starting to put completed mini-series into TPBs very quickly - case in point, Marvel Boy, Daredevil Ninja, and Daredevil/Spider-Man - those all came out fairly quickly. Even Punisher (Maxi) didn't take too long. I can't imagine Daredevil Yellow not being out in TPB within 3-4 months of the completed series.

But Dark Victory (also by the same team) sure is taking A LONG time coming...(I think its October the HC finally comes out).

Liquid Death

I can't remember who draws Alias, but Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Powers, etc) writes it. Its the first Marvel Max title (swearing, sex, etc) and its not too bad. My comic shop, strangly, had at least 30 copies of Alias #1 on the shelf when I got there thursday and 0 copies of Origin....

The Antipodean

Nonsense. That might have been true once but it isn't any more. Marvel's putting out 2-3 TPBs a MONTH now under Quesdada and is collecting things like Ultimate Spider-Man, the new X-Force, etc. practically as soon as the comics are out. Your information is very out of date, Marvel has really stepped up their TPB program and been very vocal about it for the past year or so. I can guarantee you'll see an Origin TPB within the next six-eight months and I'm saving my pennies for that one.

sinned

I believe Joe Quessada even said in an interview that writers are now instructed to write their stories in arcs (4 issues or so) so that Marvel can easily compile them immediately in TPB form.

I've been waiting for the BATMAN: DARK VICTORY for the longest time too..... the softcover should be available within a few months of the hardcover's release.

fooze

No my info isn't really out of date, & putting 2-3 trades out a month is pretty pathetic considering D.C. will sometings put 3-4+ out in a week. I wasn't aware things like Daredevil: ninja & Marvel Boy came out yet. you are right about the ultimate books & Quesada is trying to make them ship faster since D.C. makes a killing in trades however 2 of my best friends just took over ownership of our local comic store & Marvel trades are still horrendous. Stuff like the first new Captain Marvel trade & reprints of the Nick Fury: agent of Shield trades were originally solicitated for January of this year & Nick Fury just came out last week , Captain Marvel has yet to hit shelves & keeps getting pushed back. Quesada is trying to push for more trades but I still would not count on these as soon as you think.

Liquid Death

The Nick Fury: Agent of Shield TPB that just came out last week is the 2nd print of the sold out TPB that came out earlier this year (whether or not that was January, I can't remember). At least, thats what I read.

Also, Captain Marvel, Daredevil: Yellow, and Origin are all quite different. Origin will no doubt be a HUGE seller, and I'd be very surprised to see Marvel wait more than 4 months after the series ends to compile it in a TPB. Esp. considering the first issue sold out in less than 24 hrs.

The Antipodean

Actually (and this is kind of a tangent), just wondering how many of you comics buyers are getting more TPBs and less individual issues. I get all my comics shipped once a month via mail because I don't have a decent comics shop within 100 miles of me, but I find that I'm passing up on more miniseries, story arcs, etc. in favor of the inevitable TPB (stuff like the new X-Force issues, Origin, the Punisher maxiseries, Rising Stars, Grant Morrison's Fantastic Four miniseries - I'm just getting all these in TPB format).

Part of it is space - after collecting comics for more than 20 years I've gone from a "high" of 20+ "short boxes" of 200 comics or so each to the 12 boxes I have now - sold a lot on eBay, exchanging original issues for the TPB format (example: I sold Ultimate Spider-Man #1-7 on eBay for $97; bought the TPB for $15, made a $60 or so profit if you count the cost of buying the original comics). I just find these days that I prefer the "permanence" of the TPB format to original comics, if it's a story I particularly like - they also take up less space and can be stored on a bookshelf instead of in annoying boxes, bags and boards.

Anyway, just wondering how many others out here are moving away from buying so many individual comics and getting more TPBs - in the long run, since I'm not a "collector" mentality that is buying comics to make money, but because I love the stories - I think TPBs are a better deal for me.

Liquid Death

There are quite a few books that I like to read on a monthly basis, a few of which are very infrequently collected in TPBs (Savage Dragon immediately comes to mind). I also can't afford to buy everything I like, so I usually get TPBS of the stuff that I can "wait" to read (Tom Strong, Powers, etc). I also try out new stuff with TPBs, especially if they're discounted.

Liquid Death

I just read Ash 1-6 & 0, and I really enjoyed them. I had read part of the series when it came out, but could never find 1&2 till the week before last when I found em for $.50 each. For those interested, there are several TPBs (1-5) on ebay that are going for cheap.

I'm also reading the Angela TPB, which I'm enjoying - I stopped reading Spawn around #30 and never got the mini (which sold out)...

As for new stuff, I just read Generic Comic Book #1, and its hilarious. A great spoof on superhero comics in general.

Nazgul

No mention of GIJOE #1?
This is why I got into comics in the first place. The new issue is awesome! This is what was supposed to be!!!!!

Liquid Death

This is the thread for LAST week's comics - GI JOE #1 came out this week I'm sure when the new thread opens up, people will be more apt to discuss it there. However, I'll weigh in on some thoughts on the new books in a few minutes.

Liquid Death

This week's comics (9/12/01) - I'll repost this in the new thread, when it appears:

GI JOE #1 - I'm a child of the 80's, so when Wizard ran the feature awhile back about bringing the 80's to comics today (Transformers, Voltron, He-Man, GI JOE), I was excited and when GI JOE #1 was announced, I marked the day on my calendar. Well, its here - and the cover (by Campbell) is AWESOME! However, I had mixed feelings on the issue itself. The art, though not by Campbell, is very Campbell-esque...though the artist doesn't seem to draw faces very well (IMO) - he gets Cobra Commander right, but thats about it. The storyline is fairly cool (Cobra Commander is sighted in the US in Dreadnok territory and GI JOE is reactivated with lots of the old Joes being called in), and I look forward to the next issue...but it wasn't as good as I had hoped.

Danger Girl: Kamikaze #1 (of 2) - I've only read a few of the Danger Girl Comics (Preview, #1, #4), but I picked it up coz I liked what I had read previously. Its very manga-esque and its a decent story with some cool art. The Danger Girls (Natasha, Sydney, and Abbey) take a back seat in the story, as the first part focuses on Valerie (the computer girl), though they come in at the end. The plot is something about them trying to track down some old Japanese weapon of mass destruction that was lost in WW2 on some island.

Fury #1 - Very good. Fury tries to cope with his place in the new "SHIELD," which is basically run by bureaucrats. Fury, given the freedom of the MAX Line, is much more of a hard@$$, though its all in character (this is the same Fury you're used to, uncensored).

US War Machine #1 - Um. I really wanted to like the book (its black and white, written and with art by Chuck Austin (?), but it was WAAAAY too confusing (especially when War Machine flips the truck) in the art. The plot is equally mysterious (who is in the armor?), but really, I have no idea how this is supposed to fit in with current Iron Man continuity (I don't think its supposed to).

I've still got some more to read, and I'll weigh in on those as time permits.

Liquid Death

List of comics that came out today (9/12), for those interested:

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #596
ANGEL VOL 2 #1 (Of 4)
ANIMERICA EXTRA VOL 4 #10
ARCHIE #514
ATLAS #1
AUTHORITY #26
AVENGELYNE DRAGON REALM #2
AVENGERS CLEAR & PRESENT DANGERS TP (C: 2)
AZRAEL AGENT OF THE BAT #82
BEST OF DORK TOWER #1
BLACK PANTHER #36
BLACKHAWK ARCHIVES VOL 1 HC
CAPTAIN AMERICA 2001
CEREBUS #270
COVEN DARK SISTER #1 (Of 2)
CYCLOPS #2
DANGER GIRL KAMIKAZE #1
DEFENDERS #9
DETECTIVE COMICS #762
DRAGONBALL PART 4 #2 (Of 10)
DRAGONBALL VOL 6 TP
ESTABLISHMENT #1
FEMME FATALES VOLUME 10 #4
FLASH SECRET FILES #3
FURY #1
GI JOE #1
GREEN LANTERN ALAN SCOTT SOFT TOY
HARLEY QUINN #12
HUNTER THE AGE OF MAGIC #3
IMPULSE #78
INU YASHA PART 6 #5 (Of 15)
IRON MAN #46
JUGHEAD WITH ARCHIE DIGEST #169
KATMANDU #25
LADY DEATHS BLACK BOOK PREMIUM ED
MAGIC PICKLE #1 (Of 4)
NIGHTWING #61
NINJA HIGH SCHOOL #87
NINJA HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK 2001
PA PI PO SEP 2001
PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #61
PINK PANTHER WACKY WOBBLER
PLANET OF THE APES CHRONICLES TP
PULP VOL 5 #10 (MR)
PUNISHER #4
RANMA 1/2 PART 10 #6
RING OF NIBELUNG GOTTERDAMMERUNG #4 (Of 4)
RONIN ART OF CHRISTOPHER SHY HC
SAILOR MOON #35
SAINT TAIL #11
SAMURAI GUARD #3
SCOOBY-DOO #52
SCREAMING KITTY #1
SCRYE VOL 8 #7
SHADOW REAVERS #2
SIGIL #16
SILENT MOBIUS ADVENT #3 (Of 6)
SILKE #4 (Of 4)
SOJOURN #3
SPIDER-GIRL #38
STAR TREK NEXT GENERATION ENEMY UNSEEN TP
STAR WARS JEDI QUEST #1 (Of 4)
STARLOG #291
STEAMPUNK #9
SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #61
SUPERMAN VS PREDATOR TP
SWAMP THING #19
TENTH BLACKOUT TP
TOMB RAIDER #1/2
TOYFARE STAR WARS CVR #51
TOYFARE CELEBRITY CVR #51
TRANSMETROPOLITAN #49
ULTIMATE MARVEL MAGAZINE #8
ULTIMATE X-MEN #9
US WAR MACHINE #1
VERONICA #118
X-TREME X-MEN #5

Gamblor187

I have been starting these threads every Thursday because most of us comic nerds...errr...collectors usually have our books by then. I could start one up on Wednesday evenings when the books are first released if people want that, but I figure that posting on Thursday gives time for more people to pick up their books and give their thoughts.

My thoughts on some of the books I picked up last week:

Electropolis #2 - Love it, but I had to go back and read the first issue to refresh my memory. I hope that there isn't such a long wait for #3.

Strangers In Paradise #43 - Huh??? What the??? Anyone else reading this book? Thoughts on the developments in this issue? This issue caused quite a stir on the book's official website. I've been thinking of dropping this title, but I guess I'll keep it for a few more issue until I know what the hell has happened.

Daredevil #23 - ....And still it drags on.

Ultimate Spider-Man #13 - Sure to cause a bit of controversy with fanboys, but I thought it was a good move. Appropriate for this title.

Bone #44 - Not much to advance the story this issue, but enough of Phoney and Smiley to keep me happy.

Alias #1 - I'll give it a few issues to see where it goes, but I was a bit disappointed. It seems like Bendis enjoyed being part of an "adult line" a bit too much. He seemed intent on pushing it as far as he could <spoiler> especially with the bit of anal sex</spoiler>. If you're pushing the limits to try to do something new within the medium, that's great. But some of this just felt like it was trying too hard to be "adult"...and did so in a very juvenille way.

100 Bullets #28 - I always save my favorite titles for last, so I haven't even read this one yet. I'll get started on it tonight.

I also picked up the final Stormwatch TPB, "Final Orbit". It's not Elliss's best work, but it does bring a bit of closure to the title and plant the seeds for "The Authority".

jim

Liquid Death

Some thoughts on a few older books I just read (thanks to ECC "speedy" shipments [eyeroll]):

Danger Girl Special - OMG this book sucked hard. This book bears pratically NO relation to the Danger Girl series, for the "exception" of the story about Val dreaming to be a Danger Girl. Whoopdee. The other story about the Mod Bods was ....amusing in a stupid way. Chido's art (recently seen on the covers of Codename:Knockout) is great, however.

Iron Man Annual 2001 - a great story by Claremont in which Tony Stark, shot down over a foreign country in his Iron Man armor, must regain & fix his armor, as well as just stay alive. More of a Tony Stark story than an Iron Man story - I really liked it.

Flash - Iron Heights - Due to the recommendations a few weeks ago, I got it - and its excellent. The last Flash story I read (and actually, the only one) was Terminal Velocity, which while I enjoyed it, it didn't compel me to pick up the book on a monthly basis. Iron Heights is great though, and like many others, I recommend it to every fan of comics (not just Flash/DC fans). I might even pick up the monthly title to see where it leads.

X-Force #119 - The Orphen must save Paco...and the team encounters a dilemma over what to do with him. I liked it, though I don't think its *as* good as the last few issues. I guess this current storyline wraps next issue, so its almost a sure bet for a TPB.