Yeah I'm pretty much with you on this one. Actually it was a bit of a weird read in places. But it was a first issue so I'll wait and see what happens next.

I really dug Ultimate Fantastic Four 21. Greg Lands artwork is not my cup of tea (way too static), but the story was interesting. The cliff hanger appealed to me bunches - something I'm sure GiantRobo would identify with if he reads it. Speaking of the FF I finally got around to reading JMS's first two issues and I'm really digging his take on the team and especially Reed. I don't buy that Reed never thought about the question posed in the issues, but whatever - it's still good stuff.

Batman 642 was a waste. Not terrible (I'm one of the few here who's actually into the red hood story it seems) but they totally dropped the ongoing story for this issue which was a let down for me.

Haven't read JLA 116 yet but you all don't make me look forward to it.

The best part of All-Star Batman was . I was on the floor.

It wasn't a great first issue, but like someone else said, it's a bit too ambivalent. The next issue is due in September so this issue should have done more to blow audiences away and entice us to come back. Hype usually only holds out for so long and without solid storytelling this series might tank.

I'm looking forward to All-Star Superman. I think I might be one of the few people on this planet who actually likes Frank Quitely. His artwork is extremely clean, consistent, and best of all, expressive. He's not as good with facial expressions as Maguire but his body language is always spot-on. His characters never look posed. The writing's by Morrison so of course it's going to have some weird sci-fi bent as well as some great conceptual re-imaginings of Superman's powers/persona. Given that it takes place in it's own little bubble he might actually be able to write a decent story.

i just go one of the weekly mile high emails and he had some con pics up. i thought this was pretty cool.

http://www.milehighcomics.com/sandie...sday/vader.jpg

Only if it screams "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

I agree on the "m'eh". But, it seems pretty rare that the retelling of an origin story ever is all that interesting (excepting Miller's own "Year One", of course).

Maybe some of the "punch" is knocked out of this issue because it is so heavy on the Robin side of things and we just got a "Nightwing: Year One" which read like a "Nightwing & Robin: Year One"? Probably not.

<b>Superboy</b> you aren't alone as I really dig FQ's work too. But I'm a sucker for any artist who brings a certain kind of stlye to a book and isn't just trying to be as realistic as possible (though that has it's place too). His work on Authority was awesome. My only problem with him is not being able to consistently put out a month to month book, so I love that he'll have time to work on All-Star Supes and not miss any issues.

In light of the discussion of Batman & Robin, would this be an appropriate time to post this panel from Justice League of America #44?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...eofAmerica.jpg

:lol:

Re: Legion. I wish they would release more LSH archives. The last few are pretty minor, and I think the next batch would be from when the Legion got going again.

In general, I only read trades these days (holding out for Astonishing X-Men 2 and Endsong), but Great Darkness was much better in the old days reading month to month rather than getting the spoiler on the cover.

Anyone remember Mike Grell's Warlord series? Would love to have that in a high-quality compilation.

Remember Mike Grell's Warlord series? Good God, man, that was the comic that made me read comics. I'm thinking there will be an announcement soon for a compilation. With the new series coming out in January, they have to rehash the old, good stuff.

Totally agree on both parts, as someone who has been getting JLA & various Justice League series since I was a little kid, I have no idea how anyone can see these 2 Johns issues are the "worste" or even one of the "worste" JLA stories ever written. The Busiek story however just may be & I'm really diggin' the current story as well.

I so behind in my comic book reading, but here is what I picked up last Wed. . . .

Blade Of The Immortal #103 - Nice stand alone story, since nobody here semes to get this book, I cannot recommend enough checking out the first trade.

Serenity #1 - All 3 covers b/c I'm a dork like that & I want to support anything Firefly related. I haven't read it yet though.

Action Comics #829 - I know I'm the lone Superman fan here, but I've been diggin' the hell out of all the new creative teams.

All Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder #1 - Picked up both covers. Haven't read it yet.

Batman #642 - What a glorious day to see Winnick's name finally not on the cover, even if it is for just one issue, I can enjoy Batman again.

Breach #7 - Damn this book is just all kinds of awesome. Buy this book people, it needs support.

Desolation Jones #2 - I keep trying to wait for trades on mini-series but this is Ellis at his best, I just can't wait.

Fables #39 - As good as anything being publisehd, but I'm literally about 20 issues behind reading this.

Green Arrow #52

Hawkman #42

JLA #116

Seven Soldiers Guardian #3 - Hasn't been a bad issue to any of these series yet.

Wonder Woman #218 - I say it all the time, the most underrated superhero comic on the market.

Y The Last Man Vol 5 Ring Of Truth TP - Along with 100 Bullets, one of the only 2 comics I only read in TPB format.

Body Bags Fathers Day #1 - Just to support it. Body Bags, while pretty much no one has ever read it, is LITERALLY my all-time favorite comic book mini-series & Jason Pearson is my 2nd favorite comic book artist ever. What an awesome comic this is.

Invincible #24

Small Gods Special #1 - What the shit? This was suppose to be the "color" special, I was looking foward to seeing this amazing & little read series in color for a change.

Walking Dead #20

Zombie King #0

New Avengers #7

New Thunderbolts #10 - F' new Avengers, this is the Marvel book to read if you want some old fashioned, pure superhero goodness.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #21

Banana Sundays #1 - Haven't had a chance to read this yet, but it looks great.

This week's haul:

All Star Batman and Robin: This is the best pure Batman book to be published since Rucka and Brubaker left the main Batman books.

Fables: You know, I have every single issue of this series and I haven't read a single one.

JLA: I've expressed my thoughts on this before...but something really needs to be done to fix this book. First of all...why is it that Johns is trying really hard to restore the Silver Age of DC feel, yet the DCU has become and increasingly dark and dreary place? that and I despise major retcons like these. Their promise of "far reaching consequences that will be everlasting" is an empty promise at best. If anyone dies, they're coming back. If teams break up, they won't be major ones, and if team members are shuffled around it won't matter for more than a few issues. And the fact that EVERY DC book has to participate really bites.

The Walking Dead: Considering the debut of Zombie King, it doesn't manage to steal any of this book's thunder. It's ultra-realistic without being gratuitiously shocking.

New Avengers: Steve Mcniven art makes this almost a good issue. Almost. Considering that this team is little more than a rag-tag group of heroes thrown together at the last possible second for no reason whatsoever than to have a fanboy team, this issue works surprisingly well. It's a little too predictable though, especially in the large battle that dominates the book; it would have been nice to see a team that's actually coordinated in it's attacks. The Avengers are written here a bit too much like the Justice League, in that they rely more on muscle than their wits. Considering that all of these characters, though a little rough on the edges, have all participated on a real team before, it's confusing. The ending is a nice break of the Fourth Wall. Overall, this series is already showing signs of improving.

Seven Soldiers: Guardian: The best maxi-series to come out since Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Could not disagree more. What Lapham is doing on Detective comics is the absolutely epitome of what Batman should be, both in the books essense & the look of Gotham & especially making Gotham as important of a character as Batman is.

Lapham's run has really been overrated IMO. He's no better a writer than most and his storylines really remind me of many characterizations that were seen in The Animated Series. It's not bad but it's not good either.

We just look at things so differently. Stray Bullets & Murder Me Dead are phenomenal & most writers haven't done anything close to the level those books are so he is MUCH better than most writers. I have no clue what you are referring to in the characterizations being similar to the animated series you can say that about any Batman book, I don't even know what that means. The animates series characterization is based on the comics, almost any Batman back is going to have the similar characterizations. Plus, Lapham has made this a much grittier street level crime book which makes it stand out from things like the Animates series & the supero fluff that is in the other Bat-titles. So many writers on Batman, especially in recent years, neglect the impact of Gotham, which is just as important of a character as Batman. I can certianly see his Detective run as not being your cup of tea, it is different from anything on the Bat books in recent years, but that doesn't mean it is not good, it just means you don't like it. I don't like Sandman, but that doesn't mean Sandman isn't "good".

Haven't posted much recently, but I definitely felt strongly about what I read this week. I'm not much of a DC reader, but I thought All Star Batman was the worst Batman and/or Robin story I've ever read and the last 2 issues of JLA are probably the worst JL issues I've ever read. I've pretty much liked everything I've read from Johns and I really like Heinberg. I don't understand how this comic can be so bad.

OTOH, New Avengers was great. The art was fantastic. The fight was the most enjoyable fight I've seen recently. I don't quite know how I feel about the ending since I never liked the Sentry, but it was still a nice twist.

I'm a big Stray Bullets fan too but the writing just seems off at times for me. Sort of like Kirkman's Marvel work, it's seems as if his talent is only barely bleeding through. The characterizations in TAS were also much more street-level and very introspective of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The best episodes of that series brought a real pathos to the villiains (Mr. Freeze, Clayface) but there were also great episodes like "I am the Night". What I do like about his writing is that it's not gloomy for gloomy's sake. It's real human reactions. That's something that even Rucka and Brubaker goofed up at times on. Overall though, it's not the second coming of Batman like most forumdwellers made it out to be. Still definitely worth reading though considering the absolute drek that is the other core Batman books. Even Nightwing is really weak these days.

Wow, after having read these posts over the last few days, I'm glad I can still enjoy comics for what they are.... ;)

Wasn't it though? I still think the premise of the team is lame, but the book itself is proving to be quite fun. The art really is top notch. I also really like the art on House of M.

I loved Coipel's old work, but I haven't liked his House of M work that much. It looks like he's trying to copy JRJR's stlye a bit.

Coipel's art went from being somewhat mediocre to very good, consistent, clean, and stylized without being totally unreadable, to being a little too artsy for my tastes. Much like Chris Bachalo. His recent work (especially on the Ultimate titles) have been really weak.

Finally went to my comic store after 3 weeks absense and only had 5 books in my pull box. Last year I would have had 30 books in that thing after 3 weeks. I have really dropped a lot. Anyway, WALKING DEAD, NEW THUNDERBOLTS, INCREDIBLE HULK,
FANTASTIC FOUR, and PUNISHER. All of which I am enjoying quite a bit which is what really matters.

OFFICIALLY DROPPED: New Avengers and Powers. I gave New Avengers 6 issues to improve but I should have known from Disassembled that there was no hope. That book is complete GARBAGE. The writing, the art, everything. What a joke. Any word on a real avengers book coming out anytime soon? At least I have Thunderbolts.

What do you guys think about the rumor that Stephen King is going to write for Marvel?

Eh, Stephen King is too busy doing his editorials in Entertainment weekly.

True, but by him writing anything, it could be a big boon for the comics industry. His name should pull in some new readers. And if the book is any good, maybe they'll try new books too.

Stephen King could take over Daredevil. Somebody has to.

I was hoping Brubaker would take on Daredevil. His writing, Sean Philips art. Perfect combo for Daredevil.

Brubaker would be great. It is going to be so strange having someone else write Daredevil after Bendis. Matt Murdock will have to get used to talking like a normal...ou know...a normal person. A normal person? Normal person. Like what? You know like how normal people talk. Oh. Normal.....as opposed to how he talks now? Now? Yeah, how he talks now. Normal.

Plus, there's a good chance there might be some action. Or tension. Or drama.

Maybe they could get ann nocenti. Is she still writing? I've recently been re-reading Daredevil #250-300. Now that was quite a mixed bag. It started off good with the whole typhoid mary story and then it got freaking weird when Inferno happened. Daredevil had to fight demon dentist cops and mailboxes and a think a vacuum. Then he left NYC and became a drifter. He eventually got involved with a animal rights activist, a biologically perfect woman, and the inhumans. They all fought a schizophrenic Ultron. Then they all went to hell and battled Mephisto. Say what you will but that run had a lot more memorable moments then Bendis has had. Not that I dislike Bendis' run it's just that its all blurred together now like Jones exhausting run on Hulk. Well, maybe not that bad.

I'd buy Stephen King on Man-Thing or Werewolf by Night or some other horror revival. (Tomb of Dracula!!!). That could actually be kinda cool.

I bought all those books for JRJR's art but, man, what was she smoking when she wrote those? The demonic vacuum takes the cake.

Brubaker on an X book? Could be cool....

X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS PREVIEW!
Read a special 5-page comic book preview about the X-Men’s biggest event in 30
years by Ed Brubaker (Captain America) and Trevor Hairsine (Ultimate Nightmare)!
A shameful secret comes back to haunt the team and shake it up forever.

I think Nocenti is, hands down, the best writer Daredevil ever had. Better than Miller, better than Bendis, better than Lee, better than Smith. Yes, some of her stuff was trippy, but it was damned good.

Do yourself a favor and pick this up:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/07...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I liked Ann's run too, but I'd put her's just behind Miller's - I mean, 'cmon, Born Again? - that's just about the best piece of comic book work every done.

Man, I think Brubaker on an "X" book sucks. I'd so much rather have him on something else.

Haven't had a chance to read a thing yet, but here is what I picked up today. A great new comic book day.

100 BULLETS VOL 8 THE HARD WAY TP One of only 2 comics that I only read in TPB format. This comic is as good as it gets.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #642 - Been diggin' the hell out of the new Superman creative teams.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #11

BATGIRL #66 - Back to being one of the best superhero comics on the stands.

BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHTS #67 - The most underrated Bat-book on the market.

BIRDS OF PREY #84 - I really miss Benes on this book. I wish Adrien (sp?) Mello would stop doing covers & do the interiors on BoP.

CONAN #18

DAREDEVIL #75

DAY OF VENGEANCE #4

DETECTIVE COMICS #808 - This I did read & it continues to be an amazing story with phenomenal art.

EX MACHINA #13 - Keeps getting better & better.

EXILES #67

GIRLS #3

GOON #13 - You can't get better than the Goon.

HELLBOY THE ISLAND #2

INCREDIBLE HULK #84

INVINCIBLE VOL 1 ULTIMATE COLL HC - Even though I have all the issues, I still can't pass this up. Hopefully this will sell good, & Walking Dead will get the HC treatment.

JSA CLASSIFIED #1 - Both covers. The only thing better than JSA is having TWO JSA monthly titles.

MANHUNTER #12 - With the Saiz art, this has been a really good series so far.

NORTHWEST PASSAGE #1 - The solicitation of this really sounding unique & innovative, so I've been really looking foward to this.

RED SONJA #1

TEEN TITANS #26

I've been really into Darwyn Cooke lately, re-reading what little stuff I have by him. I have New Frontier, Batman: Ego, the Spider-Man: Tangled Web stories, and his recent issue of Solo (which was excellent by the way). I know he also did Selina's Big Score, but I don't have it, yet. What else am I missing? I'm particularly interested in books where he is both writer and artist.

The Invincible Ultimate Collection is the coolest damn comic book I've ever owned. It makes me proud to be a comic reader. Man oh man. Try as I might, I couldn't put it down.


SESSA, I'm ready for Party of Five. You in? What email address should I send it to? If I remember last time, you said you don't use that email account I used that often.....

Born Again is extremely good, I will grant you, but Miller's first run on the title is soooooooo overrated.

I disagree. I read Miller's first run on Daredevil when they were originally being released in the early 80's and it made an impression on not just me, but comics overall. First, Frank's storytelling was a breath of fresh air. His artwork wasn't particularlly pretty but, man could he tell a story. The action jumped off the page. His stories brought a maturity that newstand comics of the day just hadn't seen. His technique was also in top form, employing flashbacks and noir-styled voice over narration well before their time in comics. He introduced Daredevil's catholicism, Maggie, Elektra, and, for better or worse, ninjas. He also made the Kingpin a "real" kingpin of crime. The drama was top notch from the Kingpin storyline to ninja saga. He certainly gave the villains teeth, especially Bullseye and introduced a level of violence that was pretty much unheard of in newstand comics. The death of Elektra was one of the best "death of" comics. At least until her resurrection, but I digress.

Given the impact of Miller's storylines to many subsequent DD stories, the contribution of Elektra, the influence on other comics, and, in my opinion, the top notch quality of the work, I have an extremely hard time finding it "overrated".