I got out of work late, so I didn't have time to cash my check. I'll pick up my new books tomorrow. Just wondering what everyone else picked up and looking for some recommendations.

jim

I actually ordered all my stuff online for this week.

<rant>My comic shop has been sucking for quite some time (barely orders anything, doesn't pull everything for my folder, hasn't ordered supplies in 3+ months) so I decided to stop giving him so much of my business. I have stacks of comics covering my room coz he won't order boxes. </rant>

Does anyone know where one can buy long boxes cheap (well, less than $10 each shipped) on the 'net?

2 for 13.50 at bags unlimited:
http://www.bagsunlimited.com/catpages/catpage20.pdf
(bottom of page)

I really liked Marvel Mangaverse. I also don't pick up Superman on a regular basis, but Ed Mcguiness' artwork looked so cool, I had to pick it up. Interesting story by Loeb.

And Origin #4 finally showed up this week. Now I shall wait until Jan. 30th for Dark Knight Stirkes Again #2.

I'm recommending it even though I haven't read it yer, which normally would be weird but it's a trade I've been looking forward to being published for years, that finally came out this week.

Captain Britain TpB - Yeah some may think the character is lame(although I've always been a fan of him). But this is some of the very first work by a little writer named Alan Moore & my absolutely all-time favorite artist Alan Davis. The book shas been given new colors & although I'm not expecting the best work from either creator, I believe this may be their very first comic book ever or close to it, so I am very curious to see both their work before they developed.

Anyway, haven't read a thing yet I probably won't till next week, but Ialso picked up. . .

Elektra & Wolverine: Redeemer #2 - Even if you are slightly a fan of Greg Rucka this is an absolute must read, beautiful comic. Rucka's writing as it was meant to be read, in prose form. And stunningly captivating art. I highly recommend this book & you still should be able to find the first issue if you haven't yet.

Powers #16 - I am still enjoying this book as much as ever & can't wait to see where this story arc is going.

X-Force #123 - This is actually the only comic I read since it's still part of that F'n terrible Nuff said crap from Marvel, which is extra annoying since it was only suppose to be a december event & will still getting them in late January. Anyway like every other Marvel nuff said book, except Daredevil this book sucked & took away from one of the best comics every single month. Although weird Alred's art was still good & original though.

Sojourn #7 - I only buy this comic for Land's art & alhtough I haven't flipped through it yet, I'm annoyed that it has a fill in artist. I've never been a fan of Immonens.

Uncanny X-men Annual 2001 - Only 3 or 4 months late with ugly Ashley Wood art. This kind of art does NOT belong on an X book.

Captain Marvel #27 - Such a great book. One of my favorites every month.

Daredevil #29 - Woo Hoo!!! Daredevil day. My favorite monthly comic with who is becoming one of my favorite artists in Alex Maleev. Really can't wait to read this.

Superman #178 - Another comic I buy pretty much for the art, & it's nice to see McGuiness back doing a full issue.

Birds Of Prey #39 - Perhaps my guilty pleasue comic as this book has utterly sucked for the past year, yet I can't bring myself to drop it.

X-treme X-men #9 - Many people may complain about this comic, but it still one of my favorite books every month. but then again, I am an X-men fan.

Light week for me....

X-Force #123 - Great! Another "'Nuff Said" issue. This should take about 30 seconds to "read". What a terribli idea!

Powers #16 - Except for all of the pointless cursing, last issue was one of my favorites so far. this looks to be a very promising new storyline.

Daredevil #29

jim

Spiderman: Tangled Web

I very much like the idea of this series and that it allows a variety of writers and artists to take a look at the world surrounding Spiderman. I liked "The Thousand" the least of the three story arcs, Ennis missed the point and wound up overusing Spiderman. My favorite story was "Severance Package" by Rucka. I don't believe I've read anything by Rucka in the past, but after reading this story, I'll definitely pick another of his books up.

Ultimate Spiderman: Learning Curve

This TPB carries you through issues 8 to 13 of the series. It's a little lighter (physically) than the previous TPB, but I found this story line just as involved as the last one. Issue 13 is particularly good, taking time out to develop the characters. I highly recommend this series.

Rising Stars: Born in Fire

I hadn't ever read anything by Straczynski until this book. It would be fair to say I was not a big "Babylon 5" fan - a show that inexplicably made it to air, featuring acting barely worthy of a second grade play. Nonetheless, I'm rating this my top read of the week, and probably my favorite superhero book since I picked up the first Planetary. It speaks well of a comic when you actively note the flaws while you read, but you just can't bring yourself to care.

Sadly, I've just had Rising Stars: Volume Two cancelled from an Amazon.com order. Has the series been shut down, or has it simply fallen behind in production?

For those that liked Rising Stars, I might recommend the Wild Cards series edited by George RR Martin. I haven't read these books in about 8 years, so the recommendation carries some risk. As I recall, at least the first three volumes were entertaining.

I'm looking forward to picking up this TPB. I didn't know it was out yet. Who writes the other story arc? I recommend picking up "Flowers From Rhino", which I believe was the fourth story arc. Written by Peter Milligan with art by Duncan Fegredo, it was one of the best stories I read last year. (I somehow forgot to add it to my "best of 2001" list a few weeks ago.


I agree completely. The book is not without its flaws, but it succeeds in spite of them. A great epic book in the spirit of "Watchmen".

I'm guessing that they're just late getting the TPB out. The series is always very late.

jim

I thought the last issue for the 2nd arc just came out - so the TPB probably got rescheduled.

And I totally agree about Tangled Web - I liked issue #4, but felt 1-3 weren't all that terrific. I dropped the series before the Flowers for Rhino arc...

The "Flowers for Rhino" story is included in this first TPB and was the reason I picked it up, actually. I forgot to mention it in my review only because that was the one story I read before purchasing the book. While "The Thousand" was disappointing, "Severance Package" and "Flowers for Rhino" make this collection worth a read.

My copy has been on order from Westfield Comics for months - it was slated to come out in SEPTEMBER. I thought I saw online somewhere though that it was supposed to actually have come out a few weeks ago? I haven't gotten my latest Westfield shipment so I can't verify. Anyone know if it's out or not?

Regarding the series in general, I've really enjoyed the first book - with the exception of the gaping Achille's heel that is the artwork, which is mediocre at best (and two of the main characters look wayyyyy too much alike in the artist's hands). It's a shame someone like Romita Jr. (who does great work with JMS in Spidey) didn't get the art assignment on this one, because IMHO it keeps a great book from being classic (and I'm not even a big "art" man in my comics, stories always come first).

I liked the art in the first arc, though the art in the second arc isn't all that great (and thats putting it kindly). Poet and Ravenshadow look too similiar in a few issues, which makes figuring out exactly whats going on a bit too difficult.

Amazon now lists Rising Stars: Volume 2 as slated for a June 2002 release. Pity, if that's true - I'm highly anticipating the upcoming storyline.

I recognize that artwork is an integral part of any comic, but I generally only look for the art to impart mood and facilitate storytelling. Although I did fall victim to the character confusion at least once in the first volume, I didn't have any other major complaints. I hope it doesn't get significantly worse in volume two.

Which brings up the big question...Just how important is the art to you (Not just you, AI...I mean everyone else, too.) when you buy a comic book?

My opinions on the subject later.

jim

I think that more than most fans, the art is VERY important to me. There are stories that many people consider classice that just because I can not stand the art I just can't get into. Dark Knight Returns & it's predecessor are perferct examples of that. I hate Miller's art so much I just can't get into the story. I am not saying it's bad, I just don't enjoy it. Earth X is another comic where I absolutely love the story, but I just hate the art so much I can't consider it a classic comic for me.

I will also be quicker to drop a series because the art is poor. At least to me, comics are a visual medium. If you want nothing but a well written story, pick up a book. For me the art must be appealling to truly be an all around quality comic. Nightwing, Crux, JLA are just several comics recently, where I like & am huge fans except for Crux of the characters in the books, but I did not enjoy the art so I dropped the titles.

There are tons of artist who I really enjoy but there are only 4 creators who I will buy abslolutely anything they do just because I enjoy their art so muchJohn Cassaday, Greg Land, Jason Pearson, Alan Davis, ). There are many writers I love that I will always check out(i.e. skim through, or begin to read in the store) whatever work they do, however I will not always buy anything they do.

I'd like to post some reviews of last weeks comics but I still haven't gotten around to reading them yet

Art is less important than story to me, usually, although it adds to the experience. For example, I really love both Alan Moore's WATCHMEN and his MIRACLEMAN, but to me WATCHMEN slightly gets the edge because Dave Gibbons is so firing on all cylinders, intimately involved with Moore on the writing; whereas in MIRACLEMAN, on the first 2 books, the changing artists and varying tones they created create a little flaw for me in re-reading the book; whereas, in Book III, Olympus, you had John Totleben on all issues and Moore's best writing on the title and that sequence stands head-and-shoulders with Moore's best work.

I guess I'm saying that the "perfect" comic to me has a synthesis of great art and story working together. If the art is lacking it doesn't ruin the book for me, but it does take it down a notch.

However, great art and a crap story are WAY worse to me. I think Jim Lee is technically a good artist and I thought the same about McFarlane, but the stuff they write is such junk most of the time that I can't even be bothered. The "nadir" of modern comics to me was the mid-90s when the "Image" style (as in, "All Image, No Substance") took over and every comic was filled with distorted figures with uncommonly sharp elbows and knees.

Art is important to me, but less important than story. For instance, I really love Todd McFarlane's art on Spiderman, but its painful trying to read some of his stuff ("Torment" especially). With medicore art, the story has to be amazing to draw me in so much that I start to ignore it (like Earth X). I won't buy books just for the art (with few exceptions) - there has to be something there worth reading.

From my perspective, art is an extremely important component of comic book stories. Most of the stories we discuss every week could be written in a straight prose format, but the reader would be aware that something was missing. I think this was evident in Neil Gaiman's earlier novels (e.g. Neverwhere, Stardust). Some stories contain such a strong visual component, they virtually require illustration.

That said, my own preference in artwork is pretty basic. As I stated above, I feel the art in a comic should lend the proper mood and act to keep the story moving, while remaining relatively unobtrusive. If, for some reason, I feel those demands are not being met that can severely damage my appreciation of a book. Examples:

Startling Stories: Banner!

Many enjoyed the artwork in this story, but I thought the characters were too cartoony, wrecking the mood.

Arkham Asylum

I've been a fan of Dave McKean's work with Gaiman in the past. Unfortunately, I found myself having to repeat entire pages in this book because the artwork interfered with my comprehension of the action.

On the other side of the coin, it's difficult for me to just rattle off art that I find especially enjoyable. McKean's work on Mr. Punch comes to mind, along with Muth's Dracula: Symphony of the Night. I have a difficult time being impartial in my judgement of Alex Ross' work - when he touches a project, the writing automatically becomes a second priority, and it shows.

I'd almost buy Elektra, but I can't get past the artwork, so I don't buy that title (Then again, I only buy 5-7 titles a month nowadays).

Well.. i decided to go back to comics after quite sometime taking 'off', so i was wondering whats hot and whats not and what did i missed for the past 2 years..

can anyone post any online coupons or places to shop for comics?

ahadi....

I have copies your post over to this week's comics thread. It'll probably get more views there.

jim