I must say...Legion of Superheroes is turning out to be possibly the best book being published by DC right now. It surpasses the mighty Superman/Batman, which is quite possibly the best "pure" superhero book out right now. Invincible would probably take a close second, although I can already feel the novelty wearing off and Kirkman needs to start advancing the story as quickly as possible.

Ultimates 2 is such a vast improvement over the first volume it's almost a totally different book. We went from "everything you loved to hate about the Avengers" to something a little more creepy. I love how Millar keeps the reader constantly guessing - it's a cheap tactic to keep people on the book, I know, but I love a good mystery. It sure makes up for the aweful mystery that was Identity Crisis.

I heard a rumor that Astonishing X-men is being ghostwritten as Joss is too tired or something to keep up with it's schedule. I wouldn't blame him, but the last 3 issues have been incredibly stellar. The opener for this storyarc almost read like something Ellis would write. It had a real Planetary feel to it, and I almost didn't recognize the F4. Speaking of which:

JMS on F4 is bringing his trademark unfunny humor and uneventful revelations to Marvel's first family. Marvel at this point should just drop this book and give Knights 4 the headway. Do we even really need 3 FF books in this world? cheers to the F4 not being turned into some weird cosmic-ray totem monster. No, he will never live that down...

I must say...Hulk has been an unusual read...although the whole "It was all a dream" was coming a mile away. And Brian Azzarello did the whole split personlity thing a little better. here it just seems comical. The ending is really cheap too. Is this the end? the beginning? what happened to all the plot development from Jones' arc? It's nice to keep a reader guessing, but it's masochistic to never answer them.

Of course, all my usual reads are great and then some. Ex Machina, Y: TLM, Walking Dead, Gotham Central, Superman/Batman, Ultimate X-men, Daredevil, Young Avengers...

While I am diggin' the relaunch of Legion, it's not even close to the best book DC publishes. It isn't even the same league as Fables, 100 Bullets, Y, Ex Machina, & it's not even close to the best superhero team book DC puts out, JSA is month after month the best team book on the stands IMO & Teen Titans is much better than Legion as well. I disagree on Invincible as well, I think the book is as good as it's ever been & definitely the most innovative superhero comic being published & I cannot wait for the events in #25.

This just sounds like a crazy internet rumor. Whedon is way too big a name & doesn't strike me as the type of person that would let somebody write his material while he takes the credit for it. Plus, Marvel has WAY later books than Astonishing X-men, & if they haven't done it with the likes of a Kevin Smith title, I seriously doubt they would do it here. They don't seem to have any problem putting out titles late & they know the fans will buy the book even if it comes out once a year.

I agree that there should not be 3 FF titles. I agree that JMS is not good w/ humor & his debut issue was a let down, but I'm not going to sound the alarm yet b/c the art is amazing. I disagree that FF should be cancelled in place of the Knights book which is total garbage & Waid's run on FF was phenomenal.

This one I'm with you on. I only started getting the hulk again b/c PAD was back on it, I thought the Jones run was one of the most underrated runs in comics. I miss the glory days of PAD's original Hulk run.

Here is what I'll be picking up this week. (& remember everyone that does the right thing & pick up their books weekly at their local funny book store, new books ship Thursday in the states this week).

ATOMIKA #3 - What an absolutely awesome first 2 issues for this little indy Russian superhero comic. If your looking for something different, check this fantastic comic out.

BATMAN VILLAINS SECRET FILES 2005 - I enjoy secret files books, but they are very hit or miss. I thought the recent GL secret files was pretty awful aside from the always brilliant Cooke art.

DARKSTALKERS #6 - A guilty pleasure. I really dig this & Street Fighter from Udon.

DETECTIVE COMICS #807 - The best Batman has been written in years & all everyone can talk about is the god awful Winnick run. This is pure detective pulp goodness.

DRACULA VS KING ARTHUR #1 - Man I've been looking foward to this since it's first solicitation. How can anyone pass up Dracule vs King Arthur.

HOUSE OF M #1 - I'm only reading this one, I'm not buying it. If I didn't run a comic book store I wouldn't touch this cheap scam by Marvel to counter the sales of Countdown.

INCREDIBLE HULK #82

INTIMATES #8 - Been diggin' this book but I fear it will be canned soon.

INVINCIBLE #23 - As good as anything being published.

JSA #74 - It never dissapoints.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #9 - A really fun comic by the great Robert Kirkman, but they really need to lay off using Wolverine & Spider-man.

NOBLE CAUSES #10 - Another one of the absolute best superhero comics on the market. Completely original & unique, which as usual, means nobody is reading it.

PACT #2 - The first issue was a lot of fun. A must read for Invincible fans.

SEVEN SOLDIERS ZATANNA #2 - Diggin' the hell out of SS so far & the first issue of Zatanna was my favorite issue so far.

[b]SHANNA THE SHE DEVIL #5 - Only buying this for the Cho art. It has boobies & exploding dinosaurs, I could care less about the story.

SMALL GODS #9 - See Noble Causes but w/out the superheroes. Go & buy the TPB people, it's only $10. This comic is all kinds of awesome.

SON OF VULCAN #1 - I'm trying to stay away from mini-series but I have to check the first issue out.

SUPERMAN #218 - Can't get enough Benes art. Last issue was OK.

SUPERMAN BATMAN #20

TRIGGER #6 - I'm still torn on this one. If the art wasn't so good, I'd probably drop it by now.

UNCANNY X-MEN #460 - It's hard to write a worse comic than this has been.

VILLAINS UNITED #2 - What an awesome issue the last one was. I'm so into Countdown.

WALKING DEAD #19 - Now that Sleeper is done, this is officially my favorite monthly comic right now.

Here's my pull list:

New Avengers - Wow, this book really makes me miss the "old" avengers. I like sentry though....

Wolverine - I've loved the whole Millar/romita run. Great summer blockbuster type stuff.

Iron man - Errrrr. The 3 issues they've managed to release have been ok but I really wish they'd just go ahead and reboot this book again.

Astonishing X-Men - the ONLY x team book worth buying.

Incredible Hulk - Peter david's return has really kinda sucked.

Daredevil - i am getting so sick of bendis. I mean the characters...the characters... they all... well, they all talk the same.

Fantastic four - Not really the world's greatest comic's magazine right now.

Punisher - The greatest run Ennis has had so far. This current story is insane.

new thunderbolts - Great stuff. Well pretty good at least. I pretend its avengers.

captain america - Really pleased with the way things have been going. Good stuff. Much better than the entire Marvel Knights series already.

Powers - See Daredevil.

Walking Dead - Best zombie book on the market. Wish there were more actual zombies.

Supreme Power - I'll be dropping this as soon as it restarts with #1 in 2006. F that.

i probably am forgeting something. I've dropped so much stuff over the past year i can't keep track anymore.

I meant books that take place in the DCU, not strictly by the company itself, although you probably knew that already. The Wildstorm/Vertigo books will always be tops, but they're really in a totally separate category. JSA is a great book, but it has tremendous flaws that render it almost unreadable by the average comic reader. One is that it is extremely dependent on knowledge of the past history of these characters, old, new, and the history of the team as well as an overall knowledge of the DCU. Another is that issue-to-issue, it is VERY slow and unsatisfying. I converted to trade format for JSA because it holds up much better in sequence. That's not to say that I don't enjoy a nice, extended story, but i'm not quite as eager to grab each new issue as I am with Legion. I feel there's the right balance of issue-to-issue impact and story while still maintaining the overall backstory. The art is also much better than most books. Consistency = good.

Teen Titans has SERIOUS problems. It's a good book sometimes. SOMETIMES. There are about 2-3 panels out of every 3 issues that make it worth reading. Everything else is pure fanboy garbage, Johns trying to show readers...? how many interesting factoids he can throw at readers? and all the "surprise" revelations in the series were all about characters no one really gives a shit about. I'm still waiting for Superboy to get a real costume too.

Jones's run was NOT underrated. It pushed HULK into the top 25 Diamond charts for over 3 years and consistently sold out. That's the Marvel Knights formula done right: a good author paired with a good artist on a book consistently that is a single title that builds character and develops an extended storyline. It was also raved by fans and critics alike. The end was just shitty though, seriously another case of Marvel Beaurocratic nonsense.

Regarding Invincible as well, I started in trade and I realized that it's best suited towards that format. Kirkman is really going for a decompressed feeling, although with his book it's really necessary given the long stretches of dialogue that are needed for exposition. In single issues it would frustrating as hell to read one issue of all action and another of all dialogue. Pacing problems like that are eliminated in trade format. The art is also amazing, never disappoints. The humor is spot-on (he should give JMS a call), and sometimes it's a real intense page-turner. Although right now I feel like all Kirkman ever does with the book is set up future stories. There wasn't enough really going on in trade #4 (issues 12-16) to keep me alive. Just more on the revelation of his father, etc etc, and then he set up about 4 or 5 more stories! At this rate, the series will probably continue for another 10 years to tie up all the loose ends. With his writing abilities though, it'll probably be worth it. Maybe he could give Clairemont a lesson or two.

I'm so far behind on my reading. Although I've been the my LCS each Wednesday just like always, I bet I haven't read a monthly for more than 5 weeks. They just keep stackin' up. It's hard to find time in the summer. I keep telling myself I'll just read entire arcs when they're through since I'm so far behind, yet there have been a number of arcs finished up in this span.

Maybe I need to take a day off of work and just spend 10 hours reading comics.

Yeah, I definitely agree on this (except for the last part of having knowledge of the DCU), but I don't think this is a flaw or knock on the books quality. I think it is even more of a reason to praise the book. This is one of the few titles nowadays that takes advantage of the TPB market. One of my biggest complaints nowadays is that every single issue of a monthly comic (especially by Marvel) tries to be geared so much for new readers. If you want back story of JSA, the trades are available.



I just coudn't disagree more about this. "fanboy garbage" as you call it is what makes this such an exciting superhero comic.

I had a brain fart, I get those. I meant overrated. I thought the Jones run was utter shit & the epitome of all that is wrong with Marvel. Some of the most padded comics every created with a story that went absolutely nowhere & took way too long to get there. I LOVE slow paced comics, I wish there were more of them, but slow paced comics where stuff actually happens. There would be entire story arcs by Jones, where not a single thing happens.

I have the total opposite take on this. I think it reads great as a monthly & switching up from an all action issue to heavy dialogue is even better for monthly comics. It changes the feel & doesn't get repetitive. Plus, witih a loaded letters column this is what monthlies use to be. Books need to be supported in their monthly format, buying a TPB of a brilliant comic like this, doesn't help its sales. If more & more people did that, it would be cancelled, fortunately people have been buying the trades, & then switching to the monthlies b/c it is so good, they cannot wait for the next trade, & sales have been increasing. The best part of the comics to me, is the way Kirkman sets up future stories.

Tell me about it. Can you beat 2 long boxes & one short box of recent monthlies & 3 stacks of about 60 recent trades to read?

Comics no. Equivalent number of unwatched DVDs? I think I have that beat.

I wonder, if there was absolutely no hype or message boards, would I be buying all of these comics I'm not reading?

When I first read your post last night, I was thinking you meant overrated, and I have to agree. Jones' run started out interesting - I even have the first HC (tho mostly because of Banner) after upgrading the single issues - but I dropped the series after 15-20 issues, as nothing really happened and it moved at a snail's pace. It had promise at the beginning tho.

I think Invincible reads fine either way (single or TPB), tho I don't think I could stop buying the single issues. I did order the HC after selling off my originals (1-13), though - the HC just looked great.

Drop these books. Drop them now. Don't wait for a renumbering, or a reboot, or the end of the storyline. Stop giving your money to publishers for books you don't like. Use the $15-$20 you'll save each month by dropping these books to check out new stuff.

Supreme Powers & Powers are probably the only books I would actually agree to just drop as I have no real connection to the characters.

It's just that I have so much history with Iron Man, Daredevil, FF, & Hulk. The current stories are not that bad compared to some of the dry spells I've already read through in the past 30-40 years worth of back issues. I've dropped so much and I've decided to just collect these couple marvel characters that I've known and read all my life. I'm sure it will pick up. The only character who I used to collect regulary and I gave up on completely is Spider-Man.

I didn't think Jones's run was that bad, but the filler stories REALLY hurt it...and most of the time there wasn't even a fully satisfying conclusion. The whole Banner mystery also carried on too long and had a crappy ending. I seriously think i'm going to go back and burn all those issues.

That's ALL of Bendis' characters in ALL of his books.

Regarding the "fanboy garbage" in Teen Titans...it's one thing to have a comic that is an homage to comicdom (see: invincible), but another to have a comic that is nothing more than a concerned effort to stuff some fanboy's wet dreams into a comic. The whole Titans Tomorrow storyline was extremely boring and it's all been done before - and better too. i've yet to read a single Titans story that actually had a good plot.

I've only read the first six issues of Teen Titans (got behind, tho I have up till 15), but I thought the storyline was pretty good, and McKone's art was great. For the most part, though, Flash has been the only consistent DC book I've enjoyed over the last few years (tho after issue 200 when Kolins left, the book went downhill). But for clarification, I'm not a huge DC fan and I'm not including Vertigo/Wildstorm titles (b/c I read 100 Bullets, Fables, Y, Ex Machina, and Sleeper).

I agree about Flash. It was consistently good before issue 200...Kolins really helped carry that book. Although Porter is not doing a bad job, the storylines have been really stale lately...Rogue War has been a major disappointment.

I thought the Jones HULK run was good at the start but I seriously could not believe how long it just kept going on and on and on and on and on and not making any more sense then when it started. Probably not something I'm going to go back and reread. I also had a problem with the art too! A lot of the women from that run I could NOT tell apart. I had no idea who was who...but I guess that was part of the writing's blame as well.

I kinda liked when the Abomination came back around, but the Absorbing Man storyline was weak. The best thing about Absorbing Man and the reason he's always been one of my favorite villians was his ability to touch something and take on it's qualities, and thats exactly what he DIDN'T do.

DUH. Come on....

I agree to a certain extent... the Dr. Light arc was an excuse to tie in to Identity Crisis, but also had this kinda fanboy throw-in-every-possible-Titan that made little sense. As a longtime Titan fan sure, I liked it, but it had been done before in the JLA/Titan miniseries, and it made little sense (besides Nightwing wanting to prove a point, "If you wanted to take on the Titans, you got it"). I still love the concept, though, even if it meant the death of Young Justice and has a cast that clearly was influenced by the cartoon (though comic starfire, which has little to no relation to cartoon starfire, is now gone). McKone's artwork is great, too. Although anything was preferable to the previous Titans run.

both JSA and Titans seems to run off of the huge nostalgia factor both franchises create, and most of the references, etc., are sure to be lost on the non-hardcore fan. Of course, as a hardcore fan, I have no idea how these two titles are recieved by the non-hardcore. It kinda reminds me of Buseik's run on Avengers, where you could see Buseik was a big fan of the history of the Avengers and included all these homages. The fanboy in me loves that kind of stuff (which is also probably why I eschew the mostly no-regard-for-continuity current-day marvel stuff, except for trades... and also why I resist the new Legion). But I admit, it's not going to bring in the new reader as well as Invicible might. (I also wonder what percentage of the cartoon JLU's audience actually gets who most of these characters are... I would assume just a tiny fraction)

The other title I collect monthly, Superman/Batman, also does this a lot: the recent story arc featured the Legion of Supervillains and Kamandi, among others. The only downside was that JSA, Titans, AND Superman/Batman were telling alternate reality/time travel stories AT THE SAME TIME. And I swear, JSA does it every other storyline or so.

OH NOES!!! ARCH ENEMIES ARE IN A COMIC!!! THAT MUST MEAN IT'S NOSTALGIC CRAP!!!!

wait.. no, it's not. Legion of doom is in the upcoming Alex Ross Justice comic. Comics always have throw backs and really, you see fights between classic villains all the time. I've noticed that superboy in general just doesn't care for Johns' writing anyways.

I dislike Wolverine, what do I do? I just stop reading it.

The Loeb Sup/Bat arc in general was just a cluster fuck with the time travel shit. Add to the final that they remember it.. ugh.

I personally love Johns books. Green Lantern #1 was slammed a little because it's a Green Lantern monthly without Kyle. I think it's the same sort of slamming that Kyle first got when he took over for Hal 10 years ago. I liked it. explained a good number of things and got the arc going to some positive direction.

Are you serious about this? If so, wow, how times have changed...

I don't really get this. You say the Jones run wasn't that bad, then you go on to post a paragraph explaining what is wrong with it ending with "I seriously think i'm going to go back and burn all those issues."


From your posts, I don't get why you read a book like this. I think the stories & the plotting have been great in this book & the "fanboy" stuff is what is so great about the book & one of the most essential components, if you have a problem with that why bother reading it. And it's no different than the Batman cartoon having episodes w/ Jonah Hex or Zatanna, that is just for "fanboys" (I hate that word so much), & a comic book fan appreciates it there, much I think the same way a superhero fan appreciates what Johns is doing with Titans. And it makes no sense at all, why you complain about there never being a single good plot in the book, yet you continue to buy it.

I guess I'm the freak here becaues I -ONLY- do DC books. No Marvel for me thank you very much.

As far as the Non-hardcore fan and JSA goes, speaking as a "kinda hardcore fan but nearly as into it as you guys here on dvdtalk who fight over who writes what and how much they suck or don't suck, I love JSA.

I decided this year to start reading it as one of my main comics. I started with January and caught up the monthlies then I went and loaded up on the JSA trades which was fun. Some of my Favorite heroes are in JSA like Dr. Fate, The Hawks, Star Spangled what's here name, Power Girl , WildCat , and many others. I must admit that while catching up on the trades I felt like I was watching STAR TREK with all the bullshit TIME TRAVEL storylines but I got over it. The Legend of JSA as far as them being "The 1st" superpowered team is another exciting aspect of the book. Learning the history of the ones from the past and how they relate to the New JSA members also has me interested.

I've really liked the New X-Men: Academy X series. Even though it looked like a chance to cash in a little more on the x-gene, I thought the first issue of the Hellions mini-series was well-written too. It definitely humanized some of the characters that were turning into a bunch of Draco Malfoy clones in the main series.

Say, what's up with the "Return of Donna Troy"? I might be falling for the "Crisis Hype" but why is she suddenly so important in the DC universe and does her return tie into the "Crisis"?

Ok, I can answer this. I have absolutely no ties what so ever to the Teen Titans outside of Robin. I got the latest run of comics maybe around December or so and sat down to read them. I was blown away. The thing about Johns is that he writes stories that are deep enough for the hardcore fan, but fun enough for people like me who are just trying stuff out. This is one of my favorite books now. Granted some of the stuff may be going over my head, but I'm really into it - all the drama and the continuity between this book and the outsiders (and hell DC at large). It's fantastic. That art is also really great.


Another book I read that I enjoy with stuff that is surely going over my head. Superman/Batman (why they couldn't call this Worlds Finest is forever beyond me) was really fun to begin with but they kind of lost me around the Supergirl arc. I'm still reading it but it just seems to be really weighted down now. Loeb is trying to spin this run into something larger (to tie into the Crisis maybe?) and maybe that's hurting the book. I was surprised that DC editorial let all those time travel/alt-u stories go out at the same time too. The Titans one was great though.

You ARE a freak! But I can understand, DC books aren't as rough and demanding in bed.

DC is definately where it's at right now. It's like their universe is getting smaller each month the new Crisis gets closer. Some may hate this, but I LOVE it. DC really feels like a universe now. However I do read and enjoy Marvel titles, as well as the indies.

I think Astro City and Arrowsmith are coming out this month

I only do marvel books!!!! Well, aside from Walking Dead. And I don't know if Powers would really count since its "icon" or whatever.

I used to have a pretty good sized DC collection ranging from 70's - mid 90's, but I was running out of room, so I decided to sell them and focus on Marvel a few years ago. I believe the only DC title I have left is Ambush Bug. I can't part with Ambush Bug. hehehe.

Then my marvel collection was getting too large so I had to pack up all the b grade titles and store them in my closet. I have a bunch of stuff I'd like to get rid of but eBay is not really worth it when it comes to selling comics most of the time. If anyone is looking for something marvel related, let me know!

I need some GI Joes!!!!