June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

We breezed right through the Spring edition of general comic discussion and now we're headed into Summer. Still not a lot going on these days? I personally haven't been to the shop to pick up my comics in months. Can't say I really care either. I've only got 3 books left on my pull list and I think I'll be dropping at least 2 of those soon.

Any good summertime comic book memories?

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

1. I just finished the 4 Justice Society KC trades.

I was very unfamiliar with the JSA, but i kept hearing that everyone loved the series, so i picked them up. I almost stopped after the first one, because i just didn't get it. I thought it jumped around too much, i didn't understand where they were going with all the emphasis on the recruiting and the legacies...I thought maybe this was something you had to into to be into if you know what i mean...But then i read the 2nd trade, which was the KC part 1...I really liked it, I was only a casual DC fan as a kid, so I only know of the multiverse through other peoples' complaining and recaps of the Crisis books, but I found myself loving the Power Girl part on Earth-2 or 22 or whichever it was. (I'm probably gonna pick up the multiple Crisis, Identity Crisis and Final Crisis trades to see what i have missed). Over all i really liked the series...so from that i have a few questions...

How has it been since Johns left?
I see that Johns wrote some of the books front he last JSA series. Does anyone recommend picking those up? or for that matter is there any of the older JSA stuff that is really good?


2. I also read GL: Rebirth, which i heard great things about. I have always been a casual fan of GL, and I was a reader during the parallax days, but after that my interest fell off. Last summer I read the Sinestro Corps war and was hooked, so i figured I would pick up the trades and give them a read. About halfway through this i was disappointed. It wasn't much fun...but i continued, and I thought the end was really great. Green Arrow using the ring was a highlight for me, and Hal's return at the end was really good. SO im gonna start reading the rest of the trades next...

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

As far as memories go, Between the ages of 7 and 13, as soon as school would let out, my mother and I would go on business trips with my dad between Washington DC and New York / New Jersey and I would take boxes of comics with me and read the whole time. As soon as we would get to a hotel, I would look up COMICS/COLLECTABLES in the phone book and get out my dad's atlas and plot the trips. I saw so many awesome comic shops during those years. When I started working in Pittsburgh last fall, I started going to Eides, which is a big comic shop downtown. I don't buy much there, except for used trades and Random toys, but sometimes I go there just to chill out and relax. They were having a big sale in late Sept early Oct, and I saw a kid with a British accent there with a paper list and a pile of comics and his mom said "let me go out to the car and talk to dad," and I got the chills, because I remember that conversation happening every time i went to a different store with my mother, while my dad waited in the car.
My dad was very sick last year, and ultimately passed away in October. He and I hadn't seen eye-to-eye in a long time, so while i was there for support when he was diagnosed with cancer, I still harbored a lot of hostility, but hearing that kid and mom's interaction reminded of some good times with him, and stopping at every comic shop on the eastern seaboard was one of the things I thanked him for before he died...wow, this paragraph took a whole different turn from where I intended, but those are my summer comic memories...

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I think Johns has only just left the book... at least, the last issue I read from last month's shipment seemed like his farewell. I highly recommend starting from the beginning of his run (from the previous JSA series)... while there are a lot of things deeply steeped in DC continuity (pre-Crisis stuff), I feel the new characters are well developed for newer readers who have no clue who the Golden Age Mr. Terrific was, for instance.

I'm curious though... did you read Kingdom Come? That probably enhances the last JSA KC issue, at the very least. Also, while I can wholeheartedly recommend the original Crisis, I can only halfheartedly recommend Infinite Crisis, and I haven't yet read Final Crisis, but all signs point to it being terrible. Johns did a great job, IMHO, of keeping his books understandable outside of the big events.

And I have nothing but praise for GL... although the last "origins" trade I read was a little disappointing, the thing I like about Johns' series is that even in the seemingly mundane issues there is a ton of setup to what will happen.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I wish I liked GL better. It's not a bad comic by any means, but I just have a bear of a time connecting with it in any way. For me, it's just "ok", which is fine, but does not gel with the comic community treating this book like it is the best thing since sliced bread. Granted, I've never been big on the Green Lanterns (outside of their use in the Justice League), so that could be it, but I haven't cared about other character that Johns has wrote in the past -- whom he eventually made me love (JSA springs to mind). I keep reading it though, because it is mildly interesting, and the library keeps getting in the latest volumes. However, I think I'll probably be done once Blackest Night passes.

I will say I read a comic that completely surprised me. Jeph Loeb catches a lot of shit these days. I personally enjoy his stuff, but I totally get why so many don't. However, above any personal tastes, I think his Captain America Fallen Son story was just a really great comic. It's not surprising that he was able to capture what it's like loosing someone important to you, but man -- he really knocked this out of the park. Especially the speech by Falcon, which really tugged at the heart strings.

And while it's not a comic, I am PUMPED to read this!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...sL._SS500_.jpg

Comic book novels and novelizations have gotten really really good in the last 10 years, and I'm hoping this is no exception. It's about the first meeting of Batman and Superman in the 50s -- which is a story I never get tired of reading. If it is half as good as It's Superman! by Tom DeHaven (one of my favorite books of all time) then I'm in for a treat. The guy who wrote Enemies and Allies also wrote the book about the last days of Krypton, but I haven't read that.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Thank you, I am goiong to pick up those trades, i see there are 12 of them, and Johns started on issue # 5, so I might as well start from the beginning...

I planned to mention this, in the first post, but after reading the first JSA KC trade, I planned to dig through my comics that are in storage to get out the KC issues, because I had read them, but that was around the time I quit reading, I was just graduating HS, so what i did read was only half-assed, and I had never picked up issues 5 and 6. That weekend, i attended a toy show and found the absolute for $30 or $35, i can't remember, so I did end up picking it up and rereading it between the JSA KC 1 and JSA KC 2...I really liked the ending of the last JSA trade, it was satisfying...

yeah, i find that his stories are very planned out. I have no doubt that the whole blackest night storyline was something that he had been planning for for years...and they are just so much fun, nothing feels like it was throuwn togeter to meet a deadline...

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

ivelostr2, thanks for sharing your summer comic memories!

A lot of my best memories of summer and comics come from early morning visits to the local drug store to pick the latest Marvel releases. They would come into the store in big bundles, and they always let me open them up and check out all the new arrivals. Back then it seemed like one comic could last me an entire day. I would read that thing from cover to cover, every ad, every bullben bulletin, every subscription offer. Now I get through an issue in about 5 minutes and box it away.

I also have a lot of great memories of going on trips with my family and visiting new comic shops. It was always overwhelming to me, because I wanted to spend all day in there checking out everything (and wanting to buy everything). Not only that, but hitting up the racks at every convenient store we stopped at. Wow, I can even remember they had comics in the gift shop at a hotel we were staying at. I know the exact issue of Iron Man I bought too (still have it). Great times.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

My memories of summertime comic book collecting probably revolved around riding my bike to the nearby 7-11 to pick up comics and slurpees, though I forget it that was on Mondays or Tuesdays for new releases. One summer, for about 2 months, I'd draw one character/night, either a head shot, or a full body pose. Not much in originality, more of a swiper. Didn't really see many different shops growing up because the direct market hadn't occured yet, so I was reliant on bookstores, supermarkets and 7-11s to get my weekly comics fix.

While I dropped JSA after Geoff Johns was done with the title last month, I did pick up Jerry Ordway's issue last week, and will most likely drop JSA for good once the new creative team shows up. I'm done with JLA as well, unless the post-Len Wein creative team gets me excited again. McDuffie got fired for airing his feelings on always being stymied by the demands of crossovers/events on his JLA run because the title went from being a team book to being a book that feels in gaps of the most current "event" in the DCU. That's too bad, but his run wasn't all too exciting, though he did give the characters some flavor to their dialogue.

Marvel is really trying to see how inelastic the demand is for their popular books, raising the prices on them to $3.99 to maximize profits (in the short term, I'm afraid) and hoping enough will stick around to make the price hikes profitable. I seriously doubt they'd reduce the prices back if demand drops drasticly.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/06/...ness%e2%80%9d/

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I just picked up Werewolves on the moon vs. Vampires... There is no way that this can live up to the awesomeness of that title.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Anyone read Captain America 600 yet? It showed up today at LCS everywhere on a Monday just so retailers would have some extra time to get their orders for Reborn adjusted (as Reborn #1 ships in a few weeks on July 1th). Just finished it, and I'm on the fence about the whole thing. I may just jump off, or pick up the issues in the dollar bins later as they are jacking up the Reborn miniseries to the $3.99 price point, and if it's still 22 pages of story/art, I just won't buy at at the inflated price. Got to take a stand and vote with my dollars.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I've moved to trades with most of my comics because of the cost. It's just too much money. And I can be more selective about my purchases, without feeling that collector's itch. Most comics read better in trades these days, and to be honest, that's not a bad thing.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

It is for the guys collecting the monthlies... :)

I may be joining you soon... I've collected Teen Titans and JLA for a while now without really being happy with them, and JSA is turning over a new leaf, so maybe the time is now (plus, there's no Legion monthly).

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Considering I've been collecting monthlies and stacking them in my "too read" pile, I think I should go the way of trades too. I'm so far behind it's not funny. I used to ignore trades because they took too long to come out. But now I'm so behind the trades of issues I still haven't read are passing me by.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Ok, you guys warned me, but I like Joe Mad art too much... so I picked up and read Ultimates 3 by Loeb and Mad. Ugh. Ughugh. Seriously, what's the story behind this series, did someone lose a bet, or did Loeb have to script around already drawn pages, or what? And Amazon lists this as a v.1... are there really more issues of this coming out?

I don't even understand what the point of the main bad guy doing all that was... he certainly didn't fool anyone. The longest lasting effect of this seems to have happened in issue 1. And the Black Panther "mystery?" Please. Ugh.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I am really starting to feel like Marvel is starting to pad their collections to up the page count and not including so many issues. Bought the World War Hulk HC, and just read it... it retails for 34.99 and 304 pages, collecting only the 5 main WWH issues and padding it with a couple of specials with interviews with the creator. The Planet Hulk Hardcover was 39.99 for 416 pages, and collected 14 regular issues, one giant size issue, and a side story.

Granted, the WWH issues were oversized and pricey (4 bucks a piece, I think) but I still feel ripped off, and not only because WWH was lackluster compared to Planet Hulk. Would it have killed them to include some of the tie in issues, especially the important ones?

My own fault for not reading the solicits closely, though.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Between the X-world and tfaw sales in May and the Marvel Omnis shipping in June, I have had a lot to read the last few weeks...

1. Ultimate X-men tpb 1-17
I finally finished the last one today. I know there are 2 more trades, and a few other issues, but these 17 I got during the TFAW sale at 85% off and they were worth every penny. Before this, the only Ultimate title I had read was the Gah Lak Tus trilogy, which I had gotten in HC during an earlier sale...The quality dropped off a little after BKV was done. the first Kirkman issue almost gave me a seizure, but they were still enjoyable.

2. Iron Fist Omni -
I am only 10 issues in, but I have never been a fan of IF before, but figured I'd give it a read since Bru was given a lot of acclaim for it. It is a really good read, I actually like the way it jumps around and shows how everthing is connected...I just read the (first?) fat cobra duel, and while only a few pages, the way it was put together visually was very pleasing...I'm glad I picked this up...

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I did buy Captain America Reborn at the $3.99 cover price (minus discount at my LCS) because it had 30 pages of artwork (though a lot more splash pages than necessary in my eyes). Let's hope the page count stay at the 30-page range, else I'd hate to drop it and then pick it up in the cheap bins months down the line. Sometimes I hate having to rationalize my comic buying addiction.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

That Iron Fist-Omni is one of the greatest collections to come out in recent years. I cannot recommened it enough if you had to buy just one giant hardcover. The art is brilliant & you don't need to know anything about Iron Fist.

I've been slowly catching up with my backlog of books.

Ghost Rider has been one of my least favorite characters ever, but I just read the entire run of the most recent series only b/c Jason Aaron took over as a writer & wow is this book phenomenal once he got on board. Does anyone know if the series has been cancelled though? There hasn't been a new issue in the past couple of Previews.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Sadly Ghost Writer was cancelled. A couple books I've really been digging just barely outside the norm:

House of Mystery - picked up the first two trades and was surprised to see there was a complex framing story interwoven with the somewhat unrelated anthology style tales and promptly added ALL house of mystery trades to my pull/preorder list.

Unwritten - The new Vertigo series where the first issue was only $1 (we may have mentioned it at the end of the May thread) but this series is just one big fun mystery with a large amount of fantasy influence and the artwork is great.

And then lastly if you haven't checked out Mark Waid's work over at Boom, his two current series are a lot of fun.

Irredeemable is a bit of a miracle man lite but he's definitely taken his character further into the villain realm rather than just mere ambivalence at the human condition and it's making for an interesting read so far.

The Unknown is straight up mystery with a bit of an encyclopedia brown leading character who is definitely too smart for her own good. This one is a limited series and if he keeps up the quality it'll definitely be worth it to pick up the trade.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I'm glad to hear this, since my latest shipment of books included the Iron Fist Omni, Brubaker's DD omni and Starman Omnibus #3. Who needs weekly comics?

I did get 4 monthlies, up one from my normal mainly because of the insane deal Mailordercomics gave me on issue 1. A brilliant ploy, because it ensures I'll pick up #2 and #3 before I even get to issue 1...

Batman and Robin #1
JLA #34: This is the culmination of the Starbreaker arc? Seems like a clunky way to explain all the Milestone Universe combining with the DC universe, referencing a crossover from more than a decade ago that even I can barely remember, and I was a huge Milestone fan. I know McDuffie had some problems on this book, but any reason to stick around after this? I think I mainly started picking up the latest run because of the hype, but I don't think I ever really loved the book.
JSA #28
Teen Titans #72: Actually enjoyed this issue, though Bennet does a lot more cheesecake than I remember. Ironically, I think my enjoyment of this has gone up as a result of the new Blue Beetle growing on me because of the Brave and the Bold cartoon. Cross marketing works!

I see they're bringing the old Archie/Impact characters back... Interesting. Also looks like JSA isn't going to be dropped by me anytime soon, with the new writing team announced.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

Robinson and Bagley are taking over, and his Cry For Justice story will feed into JLA

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I finally read these:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg

I've already bought Invincible 2. I'm not as pumped up about Sable 2 but will probably get it as well since I'm a Grell fan. In fact, I got the first two Warlord floppies and thought they were pretty decent (much better than that bad series from a couple years ago). Issue #2 had a story recap, and it wasn't ringing many bells for me. Granted it's been many years since I read those, but I'm wondering if they might have rebooted the origin story a bit.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I'm reading through the Final Crisis HC right now (currently on the Superman special). I kinda like it, though my expectations have been greatly lowered by all the criticisms. But it is classic, over-the-top Morrison. It does seem like he just gave the guys who did "Countdown" vague story ideas and the editors did a horrific job into making sure they match up ("At the end of Countdown, I want the New Gods dead, Zodiac as a prominent criminal and Mary Marvel evil... I don't care how you do it, just draw it out for a year. And then I'll change everything anyway."). Haven't made it to the end yet, so there's still time for me to sour on it.

I heard good things about "Incredible Hercules" but the first trade, collecting the crossover with World War Hulk, was pretty bad. I'm guessing this is not the tone of the rest of the series? Because the Champions (really Herc, Angel, Cho, and Namora) basically show up and go back and forth on whether the Hulk is a good guy or bad guy, ultimately doing absolutely nothing except get beat up.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I've been enjoying Phonogram: Singles Club, Locke & Key, and The Umbrella Academy. These are the only singles I've been picking up, although I probably should've waited for the trades/HCs.

Re: June/July/August General Comic Discussion (Summer Fun Edition)
 

I finally got around to reading the first Umbrella Academy, and it definitely is a really fun book. Lived up to nearly all of the hype.