Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Been working my way through Strangers In Paradise again. I love having all the material in one place (I got the omnibus), but the size of this means I can only ever read it at home.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

What's the best format for a newb to read those?

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

As I said, the omnibus contains everything, but it's not portable in the slightest. I think there are mini collections, but there's a lot of them.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I'm not sure how to tell you this, but ever since around Civil War or so (I realize it probably started with Secret War and then House of M, but Civil War seemed like the first major all company crossover one), the Marvel Universe has been basically one crossover to another crossover to another crossover to another crossover. Because Bendis was at the helm for most if not all of these, the seeds are all in New Avengers.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I've been saying that after his initial run on Uncanny. He's full of himself and every other artist that mimick his style his horrible. I just don't get why he is so popular.

I recently read "Son of the Demon" for the first time. I've always owned the original hardcover but never opened the shrinkwrap. It's too late to do that now. I found a used but very good softbound copy for $1 at a used bookstore. I thought it was decent and it was suppose to be a story out of canon until recent years.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Yeah, I took a ten-year break from comics and have recently been getting back into them through trades. I've been slowly filling in the gaps and have noticed that crossovers have basically become the norm. Growing up, I remember it was usually a once-a-year type of event, but now there is a new one every month or so. While I understand it from a business point of view, it bums me out that comics have become impenetrable to new readers.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Finished:
http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net...3l/6225668.jpg http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net...5l/6746752.jpg
Not much to say, other than that I am totally loving these books. Smart and fun with excellent writing and terrific artwork.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I just finished the 8th Irredeemable book. I need to pick up the last two, and Incorruptible past the second book.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I guess Comixology's current sale on vol 1 might be a good chance for me to finally try Fraction's stuff.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I just read the third collection of the Azarello/Chiang Wonder Woman run. They are knocking it out of the park. Probably the only non-Vertigo DC book I would hold up as excellent (Animal Man, Swamp Thing, and All-Star Western come close, but I have reservations about all three).

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Volume 1 is excellent. If you haven't already, you might also want to check out the Warren Ellis book, Extremis.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Read The Theater from Zenescope today. It was a nice little set of horror/thriller tales. Nothing special, but an entertaining enough diversion from my diet of capes.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Knocked out the Invincible Ultimate Collection #8 last night. It has been sitting on my to read pile and I just hadn't gotten around to it. I'm sure there are some mixed opinions on it, but I actually really enjoyed the Robot and Monster Girl storyline running in the background. It honestly continues to be one of the books that really helps me any time I feel like I'm starting to fatigue on the mainstream with events and what not.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Finished:
http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net...l/15798391.jpg
:lol: What the hell was this worthless piece of shit? This felt like one of those Heroes Reborn reboots that Marvel put out in the mid-90s. It's like a Jim Lee sketchbook held together by the thinnest possible storyline that they could come up with. Each issue has four or five pointless double splash pages. You can almost hear the writer sigh with relief, like, "Phew, two pages down and I hardly had to write any dialogue or captions!" And each splash page is, like, Wonder Woman punching someone and saying "TAKE THAT!" Just awful, awful shit. Oh, and it's about an alien invasion that threatens Earth. They must have really strained themselves to come up with such a strikingly original concept.

The story is about the formation of the Justice League and how they first met. I'm assuming the creators of the book watched the Star Trek reboots, because at first all of the superheroes hate each other and are fighting for no reason at all. That shit is so edgy and kewl. But then guess what! They put aside their differences and become a team. You see, at first, all the characters are hitting Darkseid one at a time. But then Batman realizes, "Hey guys! If we hit Darkseid ALL AT THE SAME TIME, we'll stand a much better chance of defeating him." AND THEN IT TOTALLY WORKS!

None of the characters have any personality traits except for Green Lantern, whose main super power is to act like a giant dick all the time. And then halfway through the book, Batman takes off his mask and reveals his secret identity. Which is so totally Batman.

Oh, and Cyborg is a founding member of the Justice League now. Because diversity.

I don't have the book handy, but my favorite part is near the end, after the Justice League saves the day, a bunch of generic bystanders start cheering and saying stuff like, "YOU DID IT!" and "WE'RE SAVED!" And then one person says something like, "YOU ARE THE GREATEST HEROES EVER!" :lol:

This was my first foray into the New-52 and I am honestly in awe of how hilariously stupid the whole thing was.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

^ That makes me glad that I've held out on reading that particular book yet. Justice League Dark, Flash, and I Vampire were recent first trade reads of mine and decent enough.

But the Justice League has always been my favorite team, I own almost every issue since their Brave and Bold inception, so it saddens me that their beginnings in the new 52 were so poor. I'll get to the issues/trades soon I guess.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I've said this before, but:

Hmm... a major event where a character from the mainstream universe gets stuck in a post-apocalyptic alternate universe where familiar characters are twisted because of a slight change to history. A Kubert does the art.

Sales are plummeting, so relaunch major characters in an alternate universe where everything starts from scratch, put it in the hands of Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. Realize Liefeld just isn't working out and fire him early.

Artists are hot and writers are interchangeable anyway, let the artists write the books.

Need a boost in sales? Let's do holographic covers. Make them limited and collectible. $$$

It's like DC took pages out of the Marvel of the 90's playbook.

On a sidenote, according to this wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_Reborn
Sales were so good that Marvel asked Lee to extend Heroes Reborn indefinitely, as long as Lee drew one of the titles, and he refused.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Honestly, I thought the issue was an embarrassment to DC. The first arc on the New 52 Justice League was awful and horribly conceived, intended for people that hadn't seen a comic book in two decades or disenchanted Marvelites. The series does get better.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

^ It's good to know that it gets better, but it sounds like it almost had to.

Coincidentally, in my alternating TPB reading program of old DC then new 52, I had the first Justice League International volume with me today, and decided to read it after Greg's other JL review.

It was quite mediocre, but ended better than it began.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

That was a good run. One of the better Dark Reign tie-ins.


No surprises there since Bob Harras is DC's EIC

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Just finished this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg

Started out pretty strong, both in story and especially art, but about halfway through, Hitch leaves and the story just sorta' shits the bed, and everyone "magically forgets" all that happened, just like in so many other major crossovers.

Also;Yeah, pretty much that...

And now Marvel did the same - it's like a snake eating itself.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Browsing Amazon's trades I found the following blurb from our own davidh!
So I added this book to my DC reading quest and really enjoyed it.
http://i903.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9cc2a02e.jpg

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

That Zatanna book is fun, and a good cross-section of Silver Age DC.

I just finished a collection of the Dr. Strange stories from the 1980s revival of Strange Tales, when the good doctor shared the book with Cloak & Dagger. Pretty good. It's one long story running through the entire 19-issue (half-length) run that features Dr. Strange embracing dark magic in an effort to protect the world from all sorts of nasties. It was pretty good.

I'm also partway through three different collections:
1. Infinity Gauntlet Aftermath, which collects the first half-dozen issues of Warlock & the Infinity Watch as well as the half-dozen Silver Surfer issues that followed Infinity Gauntlet. Fun early 90s cosmic Marvel.
2. Prince Valiant vol. 6 -- I just love Hal Foster's art. This volume covers 1947 and 1948, and features Val's adventures in America.
3. Stuff of Legend vol. 2 -- Stuff of Legend is a great book about a bunch of toys trying to rescue their boy from the Boogeyman. Really good stuff that I would recommend to anybody who likes Fables (start with volume 1 first, though).

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Speaking of the Infinity Gauntlet, here's a great trilogy of hardcovers I just re-read recently (the hardcovers are out of print and go for a pretty penny), that need get collected together in an Omnibus.

This one pretty much sets up Thanos, along with some great Marvel cosmic stuff mostly concerning Warlock.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg

This one, as the title suggests, brings Thanos back and sets up his plan to rule the galaxy:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg

And this one brings the whole Marvel universe in on the final battle, which, unlike almost all Marvel "events", actually resonates and is a satisfying conclusion to the whole thing.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg

What's cool is how cohesive it all is as these books cover more than 25 years of Marvel history.
They kinda' undo a lot of this stuff, as each "Infinity" sequel was weaker than the last, but these on their own is one of the best cosmic stories out of Marvel, like ever.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I remember the first Infinity whatever being great, the first sequel as pretty good, and then the next one unreadable.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Starlin's Warlock run was awesome... I remember getting cheap backissues of it when I was a little kid and loving it. It was almost completely divorced from the regular Marvel Universe, and for some time I didn't realize it was even connected... I thought it was an alternate future or something.

I also loved Starlin and Lim's run on Silver Surfer, both before and after the Infinity Gauntlet, and even the first year or so of Warlock and his group.

Warlock also appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy post War of Kings (I think? one of the Annihilation sequels) though he's very different.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Great stuff, slop. There's a TPB called Avengers vs. Thanos that collects the same contents of that first Warlock Masterwork and also includes the Captain Marvel vs. Thanos storyline that introduced Thanos. Highly, highly recommended -- among the best things Marvel has ever published.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

What's great about Starlin is that he laid the cosmic foundations for both DC and Marvel. I was always hoping they would put him on the Legion.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

He did a great cover... for a reprint issue. The story was a Shooter-Swan classic, but it was still a reprint.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8i7G5AMgr7...Legion+238.jpg

I'm not as well-versed in Starlin's Warlock and Captain Marvel output as I'd like to be (though I did get the original of Captain Marvel graphic novel). I bought the original run of this series as well:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ar_issue_1.jpg

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I bought the Dreadstar omnibus on Comixology when they had a sale, but haven't gotten to it yet...

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

That is one awesome cover.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Starlin did a couple of issues of Legion in the late 70s -- 239 and 250-251 (he took his name off the latter, though -- it was originally done as a 64-page special and he didn't like the way they broke it up and cut it down to fit into regular issues).

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

It's the cover that made me a life-long Legion fan. It drew me to the spinner rack like a moth to the flame.

And the next issue, written and illustrated by Starlin, sealed the deal. A Legionnaire wanted for murder! Street-wise Ultra Boy! Bad-ass detective Chameleon Boy! The dogfight between Superboy, Mon-El, and Ultra Boy! I got on that bus and didn't get off until Zero Hour.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I just read Five Ghosts. Pretty darned good.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I forgot about 239--that was indeed a great issue.

I only remember the cover of 250-251 but remember it being pretty meh. Most of that Legion period was meh after EarthWar and before Levitz-Giffen came on.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__...Heroes_250.jpg

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I also really like that arc. I read it in the TPB then wasn't sure whether I'd want to reread it as part of the HC, but I enjoyed it the second time too. It offered something different from the main plotline and had some emotional heft to it as well.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Yeah, I'm not sure if Pacheco was trying to emulate early Marvel style or something, but his art definitely didn't seem the same. Peterson was still good, though. The tie in issues included at the end of this volume... well, let's just say I would have been pretty upset if I bought those for full price because I was collecting the individual series. They were kinda absorbed into the price of the hardcover so I can't complain too much.

Even with the supplemental stories, seems like there were a lot of gaps. It's kinda mentioned, but who was the mysterious figure that zapped Spider-man? And then how did he get captured after that?



Is this really how they're handling the Superior Spider man stuff? He seems like regular old Peter Parker in all the crossover titles, but then in his own title he cops an attitude and has an internal monologue? I had completely forgot about that "twist" until I got to the tie in issue of Superior.

What makes this worse than Flashpoint or AoA is that they have not one but two crappy futures, which made this seem more like a couple of arcs of the Exiles than a major crossover. Though you knew at the very beginning that this wasn't going to stick. Having read absolutely nothing about this crossover before, I was really surprised that that was the direction they went in for this.

The upside to this is that they didn't completely change characters that have a history, so at least they learned from Heroes Reborn and didn't get, say, McFarlane, Larsen and Silvestri to reboot their universe. Though they did bring back which was also a big 'meh.' I realize the whole thing with Gaiman, but still.

And those annoying AR codes... finally downloaded the app, and the way it works is kinda cool, but there's such a delay in loading from scene to scene that it's annoying and useless while reading a comic.

I also picked up and read the Nova hardcover by Loeb and Mcguiness... when left on their own to do outlandish stuff, I like them as a team.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I have a deep-seated hatred for Loeb. Just such a shitty writer. I wouldn't hate him so much if he wasn't so successful, landing high-profile work, but he's just terrible.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Just wrapped up Morning Glories Vol. 5 - Tests. It would be phenomenal to have some answers after two years.....sigh.

I saw that Amazon listed a Harbinger Deluxe HC encompassing the first couple of volumes from the Harbinger relaunch. Any opinions on that? I'd be going into it blind.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

Just finished the first new 52 Animal Man trade and loved it.

Currently reading Girls and it's great as well.

Re: What's the last TPB/Graphic Novel you read?
 

I just finished Epic Iron Man: The Enemy Within. It reprints the first half of Denny O'Neil's run from the early 80s. Great stuff chronicling Tony Stark's descent into full-fledged alcoholism and Rhodey taking over as Iron Man. I hope Marvel releases the next volume soon.