I figured it was time for a fresh start for our general comic discussion, since the last "monthly" one took us through most of Spring. Summer is (un)officially here! Let's generally discuss comics!

Anything big happening this summer? I bet there's a major crossover or two...right? The only new stuff I am looking forward to is the new Ambush Bug mini series in July.

There's new Ambush Bug coming? Is it Giffen/Flemming?

Yup! I can't wait to see what they come up with. Here's the info from the solicitation:

AMBUSH BUG: YEAR NONE #1
Written by Keith Giffen & Robert Loren Fleming
Art by Giffen & Al Milgrom
Cover by J.H. Williams III
Variant cover by Giffen
The wait is over — everyone's favorite Bug is back, courtesy of the original AMBUSH BUG team of Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming! Cities will be destroyed! Cats and dogs will live in sin! Every unanswered question of the DC Universe will be answered! Live heroes will die and dead heroes will live! Okay, none of that actually happens, but join us anyway for this totally irreverent romp through the DC Universe as only Ambush Bug could give you!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by J.H. Williams), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Keith Giffen). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale July 23 • 1 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Ambush Bug rocks!

Dare we hope that the original Ambush Bug stories will be reprinted? DC, my money is yours for the taking. You know what you have to do to get it.

June is the first month I'll be officially subscribed to any comics. Getting all my stuff from Midtown comics.

Right now my list is just everything Batman related and one Spider-Man.

I'll be checking out Final Crisis. I enjoyed the heck out of the first issue even though it was completely non-accessible to anyone other than longtime DCU readers. Hopefully, this get the DCU back on track after miscues with Infinite Crisis, 52, and Countdown.

I'm passing on Final Crisis, as I haven't been reading comics for years. Don't see the point reading something that is going to just confuse me. I'll spend the next few months catching up on trades and reading stuff that happened, then when Final Crisis trade comes out, I'll read it and maybe be ready for the next big event.

Kick Ass #3

Are all comic writers tortured ex-nerds who can't cope with urban life? that seems to be the running theme in yet another book where Mark Miller has written himself in as the hero. It's not that I don't find this cathartic release through the artistic medium cheap or ineffectual in exposing the inner turmoil of a writer; the JMS Amazing Spider-man "Columbine" story certainly touched a nerve.

The first issue of this comic set up a brilliant premise, a boy in pursuit of superheroics that finds reality much uglier than comics present it; perhaps being raised on a steady diet of force-fed fiction so fantastically realized it substitutes the boundaries of reality that even our own imagination can muster, he must learn harsh truths first hand. Halfway through issue two, however, our sympathy for the protagonist vanishes when the basis of the book's reality suddenly does an about face. This is no longer a tough lesson in development of character and morality; it's yet another dumbed-down jockstrap violent macho-boy comedy. This issue fuels the further descent of this story into outright idiocy, losing all of its potential for intelligent storytelling.

What Mark Millar really needs is a story editor. He has too many ideas here and most of them have all the heart of someone sitting at a computer masturbating to pornography.

I knew it - I'm not surprised at what happened, I'm just surprised Marvel was cheap enough to go there.
[major Secret Invasion spoiler]
I don't know - fuck it, it's just comics...

Wow... I thought (in interviews or something) that they said that was the one character who absolutely was not.

Well...

I dunno... it's only the 3rd issue (out of 8! collect 'em all!!1!) so I imagine a few curves will be tossed out. Overall, I'm (so far) enjoying this as a massive crossover than the past few - but I'm always optimistic about these things.

I think it's too much to ask that the big two make any sense anymore. You can just enjoy it on an absurdist level.

Originally posted this in the old thread by accident:

Ok, so got my last month's batch of comics and trades... yay, no more Supergirl! Teen Titans still bites, though.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21: decent issue, though the arrogance of the "Big 3" kinda surprises me... having them be the masterminds behind the league made sense maybe in pre-Crisis days, but post-Crisis, aren't all three about the same, experience-wise, as a lot of the other heroes on the roster?

TEEN TITANS #59: I guess Morrison's version of the New Gods is now canon. Other than that... meh.

I'm about halfway through COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS TP VOL 01. They priced it pretty reasonably. The cover has some blurb from a review about how it's amazing the kind of talent they put together for the book... the writers, maybe, but the art is hit and very, very miss at times. I realize it's a weekly book, but geez. Like 52, it's like a condensed version of the "important stuff" happening in the rest of the DC Universe, with some side stories about relatively minor characters sprinkled in. I don't think it works as well as 52, mainly because it's happening in real time, and if someone were to just read this book and not the other DC series, they'd feel lost and/or like they missed out on the best parts. Which may be by design, as I'm sure it helps sell books. But it just does not work when read by itself, sequentially, because you have these big gaps in continuity that are briefly touched upon. For instance, if not for reading JLA and JSA, there's no way I'd be able to make heads or tails of why Karate Kid fought Batman, then got put behind bars, then got released.

Still have yet to read:
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #42
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #15: always the last monthly I read, because it's always my favorite
STARMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 01: Looking forward to this, even though I collected these issues when they first came out... it's been a while since I revisited the series.

I HATE Morrison's New Gods. If Kirby created it, don't dick around with it. Please.

I thought this had a lot of potential, but when the guy

the book kind of lost me. It's funny, of all the shit I read, I found that to be too unbelievable.

I don't necessarily hate them, but I'm still really confused as to how the Seven Soldiers minis tie in timeline-wise to the DC universe. And do Morrison's versions come out as a result of the whole Death of the New Gods thing, or is it something else entirely?

Of course, I'm also confused about Father Time (also, I think, introduced in the Seven Soldiers minis) and the whole Freedom Fighters thing. Speaking of which, how has the series been? I think the first trade just got solicited, and I was thinking about picking it up.

In a similar vein, I enjoyed Gaiman's Externals mini, though it didn't really have an ending and I have yet to read the follow-up.

In order:

I've got no idea what Morrison or DC is thinking with any of this. Did they even know they were doing the Death of the New Gods series when they were releasing 7 Soldiers?

I read the trade of the Freedom Fighters mini series and, while the artwork was nice, the story left much to be desired. I didn't bother with the regular series.

Gaiman's Eternals was more of a prologue than a story. Or even a chapter of a story. The artwork in the follow up is by Arcuna(sp?) who also did the Freedom Fighters mini IIRC, so at least it'll be nice to look at.

The big two have been a total clusterfuck when it comes to continuity lately.

However, I still enjoy reading certain stories. WWH was a great story. As was Beyond!

Alright, so I read Kick Ass 3 and I'm changing my tune...that quick. I'm now enjoying this series much like I do All Star Batman, simply for it's ridiculousness. Plus JRJR can draw his ass off.

I'm also still digging the hell out of Justice Society. This, more than any other comic I read, feels like one epic story. The contained continuity of this comic is outstanding, as each issue dovetails beautifully into the next. For those of you who read the previous volume, how does it compare to this one? I plan to read it soon.

Kick Ass kicks...um, ass.

re: this week's Booster Gold - No more Ted. Though, I wasn't too pleased with the way Johns had Skeets acting this issue.

Also, I haven't gotten around to reading a Supes title in a long time, but Action was pretty good.

And, I had to change my underwear after my store's owner gave me the promo poster for Astonishing X-Men by Simone Bianchi. (thanks John!) He's up there with Ryp, in my opinion (Simone, not my store's owner).

Trinity - I've read the first 2 issues, and I can't make heads or tails out of this title yet. I'll probably give it another 2 issues, but if I'm not getting much out of except confusion and befuddlement, I'm dropping it.

I'm loving Gary Frank on Action Comics, he's really stepped up his game on this assignment.

Buffy (conclusion to the Dracula storyline) actually had some fun dialogue, so kudos to Drew Goddard. Dawnzilla was a hilarious sight gag.

The Dawnzilla stuff didn't work for me, but the rest of that comic was really awesome. I can't believe I didn't get with this series until 8 issues in. It's really been great at picking up the feel of the show to where it actually feels like another season. Makes me wonder if I should go back and give the Angel series a try. That first issue was just so damn bad.