ytrez

Shazam! #2.

And I'm not liking it. I'm not a fan of the extended Marvel Family. Mary & Jr. I'm perfectly fine with. But now Billy, Mary, and Freddie are all foster kids with the same family and there are three other foster kids in the same house. (Sounds like those foster parents are running a scam on the state or something). Anyway 6 foster kids and they all have Shazam! powers. Oh, and I've got to put the exclamation point in there because, like all the letters in "SHAZAM" it identifies a being that provides a power to Billy. That's right, there someone out there named ! (not sure how you pronounce that) or his name starts with ! or something. DC, please, please, PLEASE, reprint the Don Newton stories from Adventure Comics and World's Finest!

PhantomStranger

I love most everything Geoff Johns has done at DC and I believe he's doing a sincere reimagining of the characters, but there is almost nothing I like about it. I am saying this as a huge long-time fan of Captain Marvel and family. My honest take? Johns created all those new characters because he gets paid for every single new character of his own that shows up in the movies. It's a lame Hollywood-style "imagining" that changes most everything about the Shazam concept and universe of characters.

The Valeyard

Over the weekend, I read the Marvel A-Team mini-series from 1984. Man, did it take me back. Storytelling was extremely simple. I'm surprised it wasn't released under their Star Comics imprint.

ytrez

The only DC versions I've really enjoyed were the Don Newton stories and the all-ages Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam series. Power of Shazam had its moments but tried to introduce new concepts like sharing the power. So if both Billy and Mary called upon the power they had to split it so each was only half as powerful as if only Billy had called upon it. Ugh. It's magic folks, no need to try to get scientific about it.

Anyway, I understand a writer wanting to leave his mark on a character/title but how about you do that by telling good stories. No need to reinvent the wheel. Especially for a character that was once the best selling title in comics. I get it was the 40s and they have to appeal to modern readers but how they've handled Captain Marvel, I mean SHAZAM!, is bullsh*t. Especially if this is a cash grab by Johns.

PhantomStranger

Chasing Hollywood royalties has become the golden goose for comic book writers at DC because DC has a strong system of payments if your creations show up in other mediums. I more or less believe it's the only reason Bendis came over to write Superman, despite publicly slamming DC and their characters over the years. He introduces his own villain on literally the first page of writing Superman, and reworked all of Superman's origins to fit this new villain. I expect him to soon introduce his own love interest for Superman. Many are already expecting Bendis's run to be retconned the minute he switches projects.

The entire Marvel family at DC has been off-limits to anyone but Johns since the New 52 began. I get what he's trying, he's fusing elements of the Harry Potter mythos into Shazam for easier Hollywood adaptability.

asianxcore

Skin & Earth #1-6
Southern Cross #1-14

asianxcore

Paper Girls #21
Paper Girls #22

asianxcore

Mr. Flix

Wonder Twins #1 and #2. I'm stupidly excited that they finally gave these two their own title, even as a limited run.

Trevor

I’ve heard it’s good but remember nothing about Paper Girls. What’s it like, axc?

PhantomStranger

Detective Comics #1000

Won't be long now before DC renumbers the series...

asianxcore

An organic coming-of-age tale initially set in 1998, filtered through the lens of Science Fiction.

Unlike much of the 80s Nostalgia out right now, the characters in Paper Girls are multi-layered and fascinating to observe the evolution of. The book doesn't merely rely on 80s nostalgia.

The main component that drives the Series (I won't spoil it) makes for an absolutely fascinating companion to an already interesting coming-of-age tale, creating an immense amount of nooks & crannies to explore.

There was one particular scene early on in the series that got a me a bit teary eyed.

The Series is ending soon, so this might be a good time to check out a couple issues. I would at least recommend checking out the first Trade to see if you like it!

Trevor

Read half of it last night and will finish today if work is slow. First half had some decent interesting stories, but nothing earth-shaking.

Still, even if I end up not loving the rest, I always enjoy these anniversary issues for at a minimum nostalgia and collecting reasons.
Thanks! I must have read at least the first issue years ago, because something compelled me to buy most of it over the years, just couldn’t remember a thing.

But I’ll bump it up into the queue for this month’s Challenge.

Nick Danger

Trina's Women written by Trina Robbins, 1976. Mrs Danger was sorting through her collection and suggested that I'd like to read it. I've never read anything by Robbins, despite her getting mentioned in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. It's politically-conscious with good-girl art, and I laughed at the humor. The bag has a sticker from Sotheby's.

Mrs Danger also handed me a run of Shanda Panda that crosses about four different publishers. She doesn't know where they came from, and figured it must have been part of a lot. I read one, and it was Furry/Romance from the 1990s. I'm not interested in either genre. She's going to sell them.

Trevor

If you happen to have issue 14, I’ve been looking for that one. Not into furry either, it has a MST3K parody.

Nick Danger

It's here. PM me.

Bronkster

Well, after about a decade of not reading any comic books (kinda went cold turkey after 40+ years of collecting) I read the New 52 Action #1 (and 2 and 3). All I'll say is I was very, very underwhelmed in both art and writing. I picked them up a few weeks ago at a used bookstore for a buck each (not #1 - got that when it came out because it was "Action #1" - but didn't read it until now). Also grabbed a few other issues leading up #1000. I'll be reading them today - with no expectations.

Nick Danger

Dang, these comics are listed for actual money on Ebay. Mrs Danger thought they were 50-cent bargain bin books. Does someone have a real-world value for these titles?

Shanda the Panda 6-34, Shanda Giant Animal #2
Tales of the Fehnnik 1 (Antarctic Press), and Fehnnik 1 (Radio Comics)
Furrlough random issues between 25 and 110

movieguru

I believe this mini series preceeded the Star Comics imprint from Marvel. I think the Star comics line up started in late 1984 if not 1985.

asianxcore

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #1
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #3
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #4
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #5
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #6
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #7
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #8
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #9
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #10

asianxcore

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #12
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #13
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #14
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #15
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #16

fujishig

Seems to be some kind of pattern here... if only I could decipher it.

asianxcore

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #17
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #18
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #19
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #20
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #21
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #22
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #23



I'm on a week-long break from teaching, so I'm using that time to dig into my back catalog.

Normally, I don't have time to read this much over such a short period of time with my teaching and commute schedule.

asianxcore

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #24
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #25
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #26
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #27
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #28
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #29
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #30
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid Finale

This has been a really fun Series to read through in bulk, especially now that I am finished reading through its first Event, 'Shattered Grid'.

Still have (7) issues to finish plus a few of the Annuals before I can move onto the Prequel Series.

asianxcore

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #31
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #32
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #33
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #34
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #35
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #36
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #37