Sperg about comic books here

  • Want to keep track of this thread?
    Accounts can bookmark posts, watch threads for updates, and jump back to where you stopped reading.
    Create account
strumpets exeunt said:
Gonna start rereading Spectre right now, just because of this post. God damn, I love Ostrander and Mandrake.

View attachment 8267414
Click to expand...
The Spectre you say?
IMG_20251209_204615350_HDR~2.jpg
 
1765287366030688.jpg
I skimmed the newest comic by Brian K. Vaughan. It starts with some whore browsing porn at a movie theater, then getting killed by a schizo mass shooter with Mickey Mouse ears, and then some naked woman tells her she's now a ghost, at which point I stopped because comic writing is trashy musty pseudo-intellectual slop now. Art looks fine enough though.
 
Anon88 said:
I'm convinced people like her for how she looks and that's it. She's hardly even in any comics that are good. It's really annoying to me they brought her into the Dr. Strange in Asgard comic when Valkyrie who already was friends with him would've made more sense.
Click to expand...
She was a product of the time, and fits into the Image creations because that's all that she was meant to be. And then Neil sold her to Marvel so he could get them to give him back Miracleman/Marvelman and also as a fuck you to Todd for trying to screw him over.

Anon88 said:
I can't speak for his Spectre run, but I loved his Suicide Squad. Small group of B-list hero's and failed villians and he makes them all so likable. Captain Boomerang is probably the highlight of the series.
Click to expand...
That's also where Barbara Gordon became Oracle after The Killing Joke, wasn't it? Never heard much about the run but might give it a shot, I've always liked stories about villains trying to turn over a new leaf.

The greater a'tuin said:
View attachment 8269924
I skimmed the newest comic by Brian K. Vaughan. It starts with some whore browsing porn at a movie theater, then getting killed by a schizo mass shooter with Mickey Mouse ears, and then some naked woman tells her she's now a ghost, at which point I stopped because comic writing is trashy musty pseudo-intellectual slop now. Art looks fine enough though.
Click to expand...
Oh that's such a shame, I really liked Ex Machina and the first few volumes of Saga. Y: The Last Man I find kind of overrated but I get why people liked it.

Hopefully he gets better but from the sounds of things, it's a good thing I didn't go back to Saga after the five year hiatus.
 
I haven't read anything in a while but the stuff I have on hold are:
- The entirety of the '80s X-Men saga and everything related to it. I'm at the point where Magneto has become the head teacher for the New Mutants and was helping them get through the trauma of what happened during Secret Wars 2.
- Fantastic Four. The last issue I read was #61, which ended on a cliffhanger of Reed getting sucked into the Negative Zone.
- Daredevil. I was in the middle of Charles Soule's run but wasn't enjoying it much. I'll probably drop this and treat Mark Waid's run as my personal end for Daredevil. If I ever want more, I'll go back and finally fully read through Stan Lee's run and the San Francisco era.
 
Arthur Morgan said:
That's also where Barbara Gordon became Oracle after The Killing Joke, wasn't it?
Click to expand...
Yes she doesn’t show up right away, but she is in there.
Arthur Morgan said:
Never heard much about the run but might give it a shot, I've always liked stories about villains trying to turn over a new leaf.
Click to expand...
It’s pretty good. The villains are hardly trying to turn over a new leaf. It’s a forced situation and even then some of them just can’t help themselves and commit crimes during the missions.
 
Tor Lugosi said:
- Daredevil. I was in the middle of Charles Soule's run but wasn't enjoying it much. I'll probably drop this and treat Mark Waid's run as my personal end for Daredevil. If I ever want more, I'll go back and finally fully read through Stan Lee's run and the San Francisco era.
Click to expand...
I strongly recommend the Zdarsky and Checchetto runs. Everything after those two runs is a mistake, which is weird since it took decades for a shit writer to get assigned onto Daredevil.
 
Last edited:
Pedophobe said:
They say you should never meet your heroes but I would love to know if I would have hated Jim Shooter IRL. He seems like he was just too cool for this floating world.


View attachment 8274168
Click to expand...
RIP to the man who got Marvel back on track. I remember seeing blogs he wrote where he told his version of events and it seemed like he was more interested in getting books out on time with stories people would want to buy instead of letting the creatives do whatever they wanted, which is something they seemed to be really upset by. Maybe he was a dictator, but he did what he was supposed to do.
 
Shooter's blog absolutely suggested he was most concerned with maintaining the commercial viability of the Marvel characters. And look at how many highlights came out of that era--Simonson on Thor, Miller on Daredevil, Byrne on Fantastic Four, Claremont on X-Men, and, towards the end, David on Hulk. Think about how many of those runs are still considered definitive. Tyrant or not, Shooter was doing something right.
 
Shooter was charged with keeping perverted euros and scheming kikes on track and putting in the work.

A Herculean task and frankly, being hated by the likes of Byrne and Claremont is a good thing, perverted faggots not liking you is a fucking badge.
 
Pedophobe said:
They say you should never meet your heroes but I would love to know if I would have hated Jim Shooter IRL. He seems like he was just too cool for this floating world.
Click to expand...
I talked to him at Calgary Expo several years back and it was a nice conversation because one of my favorite Legionnaires, Karate Kid, was his creation.
 
The greater a'tuin said:
View attachment 8269924
I skimmed the newest comic by Brian K. Vaughan. It starts with some whore browsing porn at a movie theater, then getting killed by a schizo mass shooter with Mickey Mouse ears, and then some naked woman tells her she's now a ghost, at which point I stopped because comic writing is trashy musty pseudo-intellectual slop now. Art looks fine enough though.
Click to expand...
I remember reading a couple of issues of that, seemed ok but kinda just crude for the sake of it.

A better book with a similar concept is Karmen. A woman dies and is met by a reaper who takes her on a trip around town, reflecting on her life and what led to her death. Great art, too.
1604667394953.jpg
I've also been recommended (but not yet read) a book called Angela della Morte, with supposedly a similar concept (but more cyberpunky maybe?) as well. I don't know if it's good, but I trust the friend who recommended it (but then, he's Argentinian, the book is by an Argie author, could be his Argie bias)
58046614.jpg
----


I've been on a Batman kick as of late, prompted by getting a recommendation for Batman: Dark Patterns, that just finished a month ago or so.

71lwUjzUapL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg
Batman: Dark Patterns is a more or less timeless story, set around 3 years into Batman's career, which places it at a good spot where you get all the basic and classic elements of Batman, but don't need to bother with any of the later continuity clutter. Is it canon? Don't know if they've said it explicitly is, but it can fit seamlessly into continuity. It's about Batman investigating a series of unrelated crimes, unified by buildings burning down.
It uses almost all new villains and characters (two existing villains appear but while they're involved, they're not the main focus, and for the supporting cast there's just Gordon and Alfred), and by the end of the book, their stories are closed. Some could conceivably be reused in the future, but they get a complete, satisfying arc. The book itself deals with Batman's relationship with the city, and the city's relationship with Batman, in a way I found really inspiring.
What I really appreciate is that it's quite restrained. It's one of the sort of Batman stories I enjoy the most: For all of his resources and amazing feats, he's a man investigating a crime, and trying to stop it before more people get hurt. He's tested in unique ways by unique situations. It's gruesome when appropriate, but it doesn't go for over the top shock, making the strongest moments of horror more effective. The villains are people too, corrupt, tragic, devious, or sad, but people in the end.
It is really good, I really think it's going to be added to the list of books people recommend as the essentials, all-time greats, right there with Year One, Long Halloween, Killing Joke, etc.
Speaking of Year One, the art here is great, evocative of Mazzucchelli's, while still being very distinct. The artist is the same one from Absolute Wonder Woman, but while knowing it I can recognize it, it's so different it was hard to believe it when I first found out.
I'm unfamiliar with the writer, but I'll probably look into his previous work.
I recommend it completely.

81bvQHkjb2L._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham. This one is directly an elseworld story. And it's also one of those where the author just can't seem to get the shit out on time, so the last issue has been delayed for a long time and should come out in February next year.
So it's not finished yet, bear that in mind for this opinion, the end may be fantastic or shit the bed.
I've really liked it so far, it's a very different take on the character and the lore. Batman feels more callous and disturbed, both as him and as Bruce, and as the backstory begins to be unveiled, you see why. Like Dark Patterns, it uses all-new villains (with only a small hint at a reimagination of an existing one), and it also goes into the relationship with the City I mentioned.
But this one does go for shock. It's dramatic and grandiloquent, dealing with a brutal Batman investigating a crime that leads to a cult of religious fanatics and assassins that have ties with his own past.
There's a subplot about a young black female progressive activist leading a movement, which is a little intrusive, but doesn't ruin the story for me.
The art is great, heavy with detail and dynamism. Does that justify the delays? I don't know, but it is really nice to look at. I do get the feeling that Bruce is modeled after Battinson, tho.
They put out a Noir version, which is black and white with some elements in color, for emphasis and drama.
I recommend it, with the caveats mentioned before.

8154VL++ZHL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg
Absolute Batman. I'm sure you've heard a lot about it. It's Batman in this new universe where Darkseid is God, where Justice is aligned with Evil, and Hope is the opposing force.
It's exaggerated and loud and full of moments of big stupid fun.
Unlike the other two, this one is all about taking the existing characters and placing them in different spots. Batman, famously, is not rich here, just a working class guy (but still somehow has all the resources he needs), he's childhood friends with a bunch of characters that in main continuity are villains, Martha is alive, the tragedy that made Bruce into Batman is very different, Gordon, Alfred, and a bunch of other characters are in very different positions, etc.
As noted, it's brutal and over the top with everything. Which is fine, if you take it for what it is, an elseworld.
I found some elements to be very effective (while still stupidly over the top), like Bane.
This is just me, but I get the feeling that they straight up lifted some stuff from Daredevil Season 2, particularly the part about Bruce having a criminal past with Selina, just like Matt had with Elektra in that show. Plus the whole thing about the Waylon vs Bibbo boxing match feeling similar to Battlin' Jack Murdock vs Crusher Creel, even if it ends differently.
The art is good as a general thing, but I hate that Bruce looks like a brick shithouse but has a literal baby face.
They do have that annual by Daniel Warren Johnson that was famously about Batman fighting Neo Nazis, but may be surprised to hear that the ultimate message of the book is "hurting these people is not gonna fix anything". I love DWJ's art, despite everything else.
Do I recommend it? Yeah, sure. Just don't take it for more than it is.

Pedophobe said:
They say you should never meet your heroes but I would love to know if I would have hated Jim Shooter IRL. He seems like he was just too cool for this floating world.


View attachment 8274168
Click to expand...
I LOVE the memo he sent when he started the EIC job:
ays575m0xawd1.png

He was the kind of guy who knew artists needed to be pinned down and forced to do the work. They'll wail and moan the whole time, but by God they will get it done.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom