Very light week for me....

Strangers In Paradise #45 - Why do I punish myself so? This book hasn't been worthwhile for ages, but I just can't bring myself to drop it. Terry Moore is trying to return to the book to its modest beginnings, but I fear that the damage has already been done. I don't think there's any saving this title.

Deadman #1 - Okay, the recent Deadman miniseries was awful, but I like the character too much to not give this new monthly title a chance.

I also picked up the DC Direct figures of Solomon Grundy and Gorilla Grodd.

jim

I picked up:

X-Force #122 - I liked it, though I didn't think it was as good as some of the previous issues. Still an enjoyable book though

Sojourn #6 - I still have to track down #5, as my comic store seems to be only ordering 1 or 2 copies of the book.

Negation #1 - After reading the "prequel" (which should've been #1), I was looking forward to #1 and it was a decent read. I'll be sticking with it for awhile to see where it goes. For those unfamiliar with the basic plot, the Negation have taken people (some ordinary, some with sigils, some of the First) and put them on this planet to see how they react and work together so they can conquer their homeworlds easier. Of course, they try to escape too

Midnight Nation #9 - Good lord. I'm going to have to go back and find #8 so I can find out what happened. I think this one is 6 months late?

I passed on Fury #4 and Punisher #7 after looking through them. I might pick them up if they're discounted in the future, though the Punisher one didn't seem to offer anything new.

I just got Daredevi: V - FM Vol 3 and it looks great

More of a big drop week for me & I can't even explain how rarely I drop a title, it's very hard for me to do, regardless I finally dropped. . .

The Gay Lantern - I have every issue of this comic for the past 14 years & finally I can't take anymore from that liberal blowhard Winick.

Nightwing - Once one of the best & most underrated books being published, I have every issue & really did not want to give this up b/c I love the character so much but the horrid art was just to much. I don't know what D.C. is thinking.

Cable - Again after getting all 100 issues so far the art is just to bad. It hurts my brain to look at.

Anyway, the books I picked up are.. .


Cable #100 - My last issue & boy did it suck. I do not like this new direction.

Suicide Squad #4 - May be dropping this book also next issue, I understand the point of the fill-in artist for a retro look to go along w/ the story but I did not like it.

Haven't had a chance to read the rest of these yet. . .

Video Noir - I'm a huge Eduardo Risso fan. Can't wait to read this.

Midnight Nation #9 - I didn't think this book still existed. Have to go back & read issue #7 & 8 again but I really like this book.

Elektra #5 - Can't wait for Rucka to take over.

X-treme X-men #8 - Sweet Cover.

X-force #122 - Damn this is a great book, can't wait to read it.

Sojourn 6 - Greg Land may draw some of the best covers in the business, pretty much only buy this book for the art.

Negation #1 - Don't know about this one, the prequel was o.k. but I think 3 crossgen title may be to much for me.

Also picked up my Elektra statue today, looks awesome next to my Daredevil statue.

Some old trades I got. . .

JLA: Earth 2 - Despite his lateness I like Quitely.

Starman: Sins of the Father - I've always wanted to read Starman as I think Robinson is just a brilliant writer. Can't wait to check it out.

X-Force and Midnight Nation came out???? I guess I'll be heading back to the store. I don't know how I missed them.

jim

I really liked JLA: Earth 2 - you're in for a treat And I thought Elektra was a six issue mini? Did they extend it for Rucka? Sojourn, btw, has a great fantasy story - you should read it

One of my favorite series and the first few pages are perhaps the best beginning to any title I have ever read. Robinson is one of my favorites. (Can't wait for the Hawkman series!!!!) He has a great love for the Golden Age characters, and it really shows in this book. He knows his DC characters very well and treats them with great respect. (I don't think that anyone else could make me care about minor heroes like the Crimson Fox and the Red Bee.) He also introduces a strong cast of supporting characters, including a revamp of The Shade which is just brilliant. (Check out the Shade miniseries. Unfortunately, I don't think that a TPB has been released, yet. We also get a big revamp of Solomon Grundy.) Robinson takes his time telling his stories. There are a lot of detours and side roads along the way...issues exploring supporting characters and great collections of "Times Past" tales involving Golden Age characters. Although these breaks in a storyline may be a bit irksome from time to time, they are always entertaining and provide plenty of character development...something missing from most comics. And then, of course, there's Tony Harris's art. Harris and inker Wade Von Growbadger (not sure about that spelling) are one of my favorite teams, and it's wonderful to see the art progress as the series goes along.

The series did slide a bit during the last year or so. Robinson had big plans and tried to tie everything together, but he did go on a bit too long during the last few storylines. (Robinson himself has admitted as much.) And Peter Snejberg's artwork after Harris left the book is quite poor, in my opinion.

But those are minor complaints. I miss this series and its wonderful characters. A fresh, smart, and just plain fun superhero book. I envy you. I'd love to have the thrill I got from discovering this book and reading it every month. The series gets my highest possible recommendation.

Of course, if you have not yet done so, I also suggest picking up Robinson's "The Golden Age", which is available in TPB.

jim

I just got this too and I have to say while the stories are friggin' awesome, I am really disappointed with the reproduction quality in both this and volume 2 - specifically, the lettering. If you look at it close enough, it's "bit-mapped" as all hell looking and doesn't have the smooth, uniform look it should. I don't understand why in such a nicely-put together book they had such lousy scan quality or whatever they did to the lettering - heck, I even have a few of the original comics and while they suffered that awful '80s color work, the lettering wasn't so jagged looking in them. I know I sound like a total perfectionist but most of the couple hundred trade paperbacks I own have just fine lettering, but DD Vol 2 and 3 seem kinda weak in this department; it doesn't "ruin" the books for me but it is a little annoying to me – anyone else notice this at all??

Swamp Thing: Murder of Crows

Pretty good week for me, this was the weakest of the three books I read. I think Alan Moore's Swamp Thing is the best work he's done and this volume does have some nice touches. The biggest downfall of this collection is that it captures the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover issues. For those unfamiliar with the Crisis storyline, do yourselves a favor and keep it that way. One of the most tragically stupid storylines I've ever read.

The Authority: Under New Management

With this second collection, I finally get The Authority, and I really enjoyed it. The first story arc in this book is by Warren Ellis, while the second is by Mark Millar. When I read Millar's storyline, I really began to understand why character development has been virtually absent from the series. Millar takes a look at superhero teams as they might be in the real world. He exposes them as a group of adolescent adults that have never developed "character" because of their immense power. They pursue causes and, ultimately, believe themselves to be "heroes," when this conclusion is questionable, at best. I very much like what Millar did with this series in his first arc, but have to admit that I may not continue to the third book. It seems to me that the stories from here can only repeat what has come before. Still, a recommended read.

David Boring

Surprisingly, although this was my favorite read of the week, I don't have much to say about it. Give it a try if you haven't already. I'll definitely be looking at some of Clowes other work after having read this.

I don't have any recommendations off of Swamp Thing since this series has been my first discovery in the horror comic genre. V for Vendetta is another enjoyable work by Moore that contains elements of superhero comics as well as horror and sci-fi. Those who enjoy The Authority should try Planetary or, of course, The Watchmen another take on "real life" costumed heroes. To fans of David Boring I would suggest trying Jimmy Corrigan or any novel by Vonnegut.

No, Elektra was always intended to be a monthly & still is. Rucka takes over next issue which I think is much needed as this was the worse, & only dissapointing book I have read by Bendis.

Anyway, I know new books come tomorrow but I finally got caught up on reading everything last night, & now I;m stuck home sick so here are some thoughts on last weeks books.

Cable #100 - This book utterly blows, glad I dropped it. It will probably be cancelled soon.

Video Noir - DAMN I love Eduardo Risso's work. This is an italian noire book that Dark Horse published under their new mature venture line. A very cool almost 100 bullets like twist at the end & would be my book of the week if not for the writing. Can't help but compare this book to 100 bullets although they are very different. There was not 1 likeable character so that hurts the impact of the ending. Still I highly recommend it.

Midnight Nation #9 - I really enjoyed this series up untill this issue. 9 issues building up to meet the man (or entitiy) behind this story & he just turns out to be your typical evil guy.

X-treme X-men - My favorite marvel silent issue so far, but that doesn't say much. Lorroca does the best Gambit since Jim Lee.

Negation #1 - I think Ruse & Sojourn & possible Crux(I'll decide this week when the new one comes out) are enough Crossgen books for me. This book just doesn't do a thing for me, the art & colors remind me of a valiant comic, & don't know anything about the crossgen universe so I don't care about having the different characters & there is one semi-interesting one in the whole book.

X-Force #122(Book of the week!) - Pretty much it is safe to say for 8 straight issues since the new team took over this is my favorite book of the week. I love the Lacuna story & this creative team just never dissapoints.

JLA: Earth 2 Tpb - I did, really enjoy this book, mostly b/c Quitely is one of my favorite artists & outside of authority this may be the best work of his career. I am however very dissapointed in that I would have loved & expected to see a huge fight between the opposite heroes. How great would it have been to see the real Flash take on the heroin addicted anit-flash.

Starman: Sins of the Father Tpb - Gamblor & completely see why you enjoy this book so much. AS mostly a Marvel fan my life & for the most part typical super-hero fan I have never read anything like this book. Although I only read the first couple of issues in the trade so far I am blown away by Robinson's writing & never read a comic where the city itself seems to be such an integral character in the story. Although I am very impressed with the book, I feel like I would enjoy it a lot more if I was familiar with the characters, I have never ever read a comic with any of them in it before.

Not really a bad issue, but I do agree about the villain. This is a bit of a let-down, especially after the great build-up it was given. Still, I enjoyed it. I'm just not sure how he's going to end it in 3 issues. Strazynski, though a fine writer, does seem to have a bit of a problem with anticlimactic endings.

Book of the week?!? Hell, this may be the book of the year! I can see why some X-fans are criticizing it, but I think it's brilliant. (Then again, I'm not an X-fan.)

You ain't seen nothing yet! You learn enough about the original Starman (Hell, every incarnation of Starman!), the Mist, the Shade, and most of the other characters as the story goes on. Although I'd love to have all those Golden and Silver Age stories, I never felt lost because I didn't know the complete histories of these characters. The odd thing is, as the series goes on, Robinson makes you care for characters that you have no right caring for...forgotten, bottom-of-the-barrel characters like the Red Bee (even more silly than the name makes him sound) and the Blue Devil. And I totally agree about the city being an integral character in the story.

Dang! I think I'll go back and reread my issues now!


Strangers In Paradise #45 - After all the complaining that I've done about this title, it's nice to finally have something good to say. A funny, touching, well-written issue. The best in ages. I hope that Terry Moore can keep it up.

Deadman #1 - Now here's a character that James Robinson could work wonders with. Instead, we get Steve Vance. The humor and originality of the character is stripped in favor of a bland story and generic art.

There's really not much that you can say about this book. It's hard to describe it without sounding crazy or giving too much away. I also highly recommend Clowes' "Ghost World" and "Pussey!". I'll be picking up "Like A Velvet Glove Cast In Iron" after the holidays.

Am I the only one who can't stomach the interior art in Elektra? Ugh.

Am I the only one who buys half a year's worth of comics, and then plows through them in one or two sittings?