Maybe I'm dense, but I haven't noticed a great change in Bats. He's different, but not all smiles and giggles, just a lot more even tempered.

I won't front though, I loved "Tower of Babel" Bats. He was wicked awesome.

You haven't?

They've made him a bit more social. He's back to working with others and he's less of the old, "I can handle this alone and better than any of you so beat it" Bats.

Ok, that cover with The Hulk and all those purple things sticking out of him gives me the heebee geebees.

http://www.comicworldnews.com/cgi-bi...=ST;f=3;t=2965

Absolute Long Halloween.

Sometimes I think I could be completely satisfied just collecting these.

Yeeee haw. This is one of the best Batman books ever. Fantastic!!!!

I have some issues with some aparts of Long Halloween (see spoilers below, but be warned that I talk about the ending of the book), but all in all, it was a very entertaining book. I'm not sure I'll shell out the cash for the Absolute Edition, but it's definitely worthy of the format.

I like the asshole Batman as well. In his line of work, he's gotta be paranoid and tough because he does not have any powers. Criminals have to fear him.

Jeph Loeb's Batman in Hush was pretty good. He had allies but he wasn't super friendly with him.

So, I'm about half way through the second Ultimate HC of INVINCIBLE. This book is awesome. It's gotten better every issue, too. I love how Kirkman continually links old issues with new by tying together characters or events. Like when Mark first learned to use his powers, he throws that bag of trash way into the air....about 10 issues later, we see the bag land on some guy's head. That's hilarious. This is one of the best books out there. Read it! Own it! Love it!

Books from the past 2 weeks:

Ultimate Power 1 - I'll reserve judgment after a few more issues as this one was purely setup from the Ultimate universe.

52 Week 23 - Decent issue with Isis's brother in the mix. I did like Dave Johnson's art in the issue, more more vitality to the storytelling.

Gen 13 vol. 4 #1 - This issue threw me for a loop just because I don't know if this a total retcon/reboot of the original Gen13 crew (Fairchild, Roxie, Rainmaker, Grunge, and Burnout).

Mystery in Space 2 - Comet finds himself rejuvenated and seeks out an old friend. The Weird was really weird.

I admit I don't read any of Batman's normal titles, but in the last issue of Superman/Batman I read, he pretty much invited Martian Manhunter into his cave and set him on fire. I realize he was taken in by a dupe the issue before, but that hardly seems like a less paranoid, more social bats to me.

How delightfully heroic!

I love that book so much. It's a sweet Spider-Man esque coming of age book. that kicks you in the nuts, smacks you in the face with a hot iron, and steals all of your money. Great, great, comic. Those Ultimate HC's are the way to read it.

What's your take on the art? At first I thought it was just pretty good, but now I can't imagine anyone else drawing it.

I didn't like Walker's art (issues 1-7) that much. But Ottley has improved each and ever issue. It's fantastic. I love the little details he throws in. At the same time, it's not detailed art...it's almost cartoony. I love it.

Well that's what happens when you have a character spread across many books with each writer putting their own stink on 'em. Trust me, Batman has been tweaked.

Finished the second book last night. Great, great read. INVINCIBLE has to be my favorite "fun" book of all time. It's fantastic. And in the HC, Kirkman makes fun of himself in the special features section, particularly about his overwhelming use of subplots. And he's right...I've never seen so many subplots. But from what I've seen already, he'll tie them all together soon enough.

The Wicked West II: Abomination is due in stores this week. It's the first graphic novel to have my name in it (I was co-editor). Sure, I'm biased, but it really is a fun anthology that mixes westerns with elements of horror. And the art is spectacular. So if westerns/horror are your thing, or if you like good art, or hell, if you just want to support a fellow DVDtalker, get to your LCS and fork over the $15.

I read Invincible in trade. I'm not a big fan of oversized hardcovers - they're difficult to read and pages are printed too close tot he spine. It's also very expensive. Still, it's a durable format.

I got my HC for a little over $20 a pop. Considering it contains 13 issues, that is cheaper than buying the regular issues. How is that expensive? Note: I have no idea what the MSRP is for these, I always go the amazon/instocktrades route for HC's.

bishop2knight, that is quite cool. This might be a dense question, but what goes into co-editing a book? Are you mainly just checking for grammar and stuff, or what?

ETA: Uh oh. I just read the preview for this weeks and the 100 issue of Birds of Prey. I hope they don't go and pull a Teen Titans on me.

The price on the book is $40. But yes, I got both of mine for $20 or less. Well worth it. I've already read the first one twice, so that's a bargain in my book.

Well, it's like regular editing, I just didn't have to manage the writers or artists and I only had input on a few of the stories up front. What I did was read a few scripts, offer suggestions, brainstorm ideas with the writers, "help" the story at the early stage. I also edited the dialog here. Then later, after the art was done, I proofed the lettering, wrote the back and inside cover text, etc. A full blown editor does all that for every story, but also manages the teams, gets assignments, posts deadlines, etc.

I gave up on BoP already. Loved the book early on with Simone's run, but the last 8 issues or so petered out.

Last time I pimp the book, I promise: Broken Frontier interview.

Very light week for me. I have finally given up on 52 as the series has been very slow as of late, so the only titles for me were The Authority #1 and the Fables graphic novel, 1001 Nights of Snowfall. I'll have to post my thoughts on Fables later as I'll probably read it tomorrow or this coming weekend.

The first issue of the relaunch of The Authority was quite good, very reminiscent of The Abyss, but in a good way. I'm a newcomer to the title as I did not read it back when Mark Millar was writing, but I may have to go back and pick up the Absolute Editions if I can find them as I'm quite intrigued by the book. The artwork by Gene Ha is quite good, not what I expected from him at all. I'm not that interested in the WildStorm relaunch titles, but this seems like it could be quite good - it also doesn't hurt that Grant Morrison is writing it.

Haven't been to the comic store since earlier in the month but I just finished volume 1 of the manga monster. Kinda interesting, hope it stays grounded and doesn't get too supernatural.

Anyone read it?

I enjoyed them too. When I heard Morrison was relaunching it, I got chills from when Ellis relaunched the X-men books - he started it off well enough, but it quickly collapsed underneath the weight of the bad writers who didn't know where to go with the material.

Loving lately:

Pride of Baghdad - the best graphic novel to come out in years. Great art and story. I love how the interpretations are so open ended, which is rare for a politically charged work.

The Escapist - For anyone that's read The Adventures of Cavelier and Clay and the Escapist comic series, this book will drive you crazy. It captures the spirit of everything that people love about comics - the pure imagination, this history behind comics, and most importantly of all, the the people who make comics a success both inside and out of the industry.

Y: The Last Man - Never before have i read a series with so much momentum. Even Preacher felt weak at times, when there were issues with only stuff blowing up.

Lately, not knowing what I feel yet:

Civil War - This is on the opposite end of the spectrum with regards to political works. Millar is trying to make a point about civil liberties and somehow, proves himself right by writing a story that bends to his whim - we know who the heroes and the villains are, and since he can CONTROL the way the characters act with regards to their affiliations he can always make himself come out the winner. Political works like this disgust me sometimes, because they already invalidate their point by the mere fact that their expected outcome only exists in fiction.

52 - a tiresome novelty that's beginning to remind me of Action Comics Weekly. Weak art and poor storytelling abound in every issue. The thing that's been bothering me the most is that the fact that it's a weekly magazine is almost an excuse for the writers to not have any substance in each issue.

fixed

I picked up the .50 absolute sandman special. It has the entire first issue and a few pages of behind the scenes. 1,000 times better then the max special.

Also read the first 6 issues of astonishing xmen and picked up issue 13 today. I have no clue whats going on, why are there two queens, whos the old lady, when did kitty have a kid, who's the guy with the gun at the end. Again I'd like to point out this is why I usually wait for the trade. Another 3 dollars wasted on marvel.