There's quite a few comic and manga affectionados here, so I figure a regular discussion thread for all things graphically novel should be put to use. Feel free to let us all know what's a book you regularly pick up and your thoughts about recent happenings. I'll just say now that I'm quite pro Marvel.
I'm torn between DC and Marvel. Marvel grasped my attention first so I feel "obligated" but DC has Batman! on the other foot... all 15 I"s volumes have been released by Viz. So if you want to read some relationship manga, it's a good one
Despite the grave Didio is digging for DC right now (and has been for a while) it's still my one true love although Spidey will always have a place in my heart as the one and only comic series I purchased religiously between the ages of 6-10. But may I just say that the first writer to have Green Arrow cheat on Black Canary should this wedding ever occur will be on my Christmas card list forever?
I try to stay even between the two but Marvel has been just plain better as a whole as of late. A year or two ago I would have said they're even but DC has taken a huge slump lately. One thing they have going for them though is the Vertigo and Wildstorm lines, which I also count as it's still from the same company. Just like anything from Marvel's Max or Icon line I still count as Marvel. I should be getting a new shipment of comics this week, and when done I'll put them away with a bunch of other stuff I've had sitting out so I'll post some thoughts/reviews on them once I get them. Oh, and Quistis, I'd be a fan to but I have this sinking feeling Ollie is going to be DOA sometime soon. Again. After all, it's been a month or so since they've needlessly killed someone.
They should have Canary cheat on Green Arrow just to mix things up. I'm pretty much the same as Funk. Since I was a kid I was always a Marvel over DC guy but lately I've tried to be impartial. The truth though is that Marvel are just handling things a lot better than DC right now. Even all the crossovers I'm enjoying (liked Civil War enough, liking World War Hulk and looking forward to Secret Invasion). Lately with DC it's like Countdown and Amazons Attack tie-ins are forced on you and they don't even make sense unless you're buying that miniseries, and vice-versa. That along with annoying fill-ins on the otherwise good Batman and Superman titles and disappearing storylines (Who is Wonder Woman, Last Son and Kryptonite) is making them look pretty bad. Anyway, DC solicits for December are up. I think the only new things I'm ordering from these are the Robin and Nightwing chapters of the Ra's Al Ghul crossover. From the Black Canary/Green Arrow solicit I take it that Ollie's only getting kidnapped? I kind of doubt that they'd kill him again.
I was going to post the Marvel and DC solits together tomarrow once Marvel's were up. Oh well. I'm totally with you Mech on all the tie in books. I know Marvel has books that tie into other things but you can still get a whole story from an issue. It seems like more and more DC books are just "for the full story, check out (insert series I have no interest in here)". I really liked 52 and was positive going into Countdown but dropped it after about 8 issues, if that. I don't feel like checking right now. It's no where near the quality of 52 and 50 cents more per issue. I haven't gotten World War Hulk, I think I'll just wait on the paperback for that. I'm very psyched for Secret Invasion though as I'm a big Bendis fan and just think there's a lot of potential in the story. Joss Whedon better get off his ass and finish his Runaways storyline so I can see how the Skrull invasion effects Xavin and Karolina. I even wonder if Karolina is either dead our still out in space and the Karonlina that's been back since she and Xavin got married is a skrull too.
I've always been pro Marvel but I've tried to give DC somewhat a decent try. 52 was good enough - something different, something big. I liked how they brought characters like The Question and Booster Gold to the front of a big storyline (especially the Q, he is/was awesome) but Countdown just blows and I can't bring myself to like anything else DC is putting out, except anything relating to Sinestro Corps. On the other hand, I can't say Marvel has been doing much of anything wrong lately. Civil War didn't play out as well as I hoped (it was a bit one sided, Iron Man was painted as a plain ass, Thor clone wtf) but writing and events on individual books is top notch, and there seems to be something happening everywhere which is effecting the whole MU, not just their localised areas. There's World War Hulk, Messiah Complex, the fallout of Captain America's death, Secret Invasion, the implementation of the Initiative... I think it's neat all of these events are shaping the MU, but not choking or dictating the individual books too much. If anything, it gives them juicy things to work with.
Funk, our greatest fears are true. Start mourning. And on the 7th day, Marvel said "Let there be more comic books with Wolverine in them! Let him lead a group of heroes who all like to use pointy weapons just like he". And so they solicited a new X-Force comic with two Wolverine's for the price of one, for his female teen clone X-23 was added the cast, along with Warpath and Wolfsbane. And there was much redundancy. I said in my last post that I hadn't seen Marvel do anything wrong lately - well trust them to make me eat my words so soon. What the fuck is this shit? And why did they have to rape the cast of New X-men for X-23 and especially X-Factor for Wolfsbane? LEAVE X-FACTOR ALONE. The stupidest thing is that they all play the same role in indivdual teams. The strong, vicious, oft bloodthirsty tank. 4 variations on the same archetype = dumbest idea ever. What's wrong with making proper use of Caliban for once? Oh wait, they already raped him in the 80s by turning him into a meathead. He'll probably switch sides yet again in Messiah Complex or something. For those keeping count, Wolverine is now in FIVE comics. New Avengers Astonishing X-men Wolverine Wolverine: Origins and now X-force FIVE FUCKING COMICS. Maybe in the upcoming storyline he merges with Nightcrawler, gets red eyes (because red eyes are cool! And so are claws! Are so are Wolverines!) and the ability to teleport into every damn storyline in the MU. And DC's Multiverse. Why not.
Wolverine is a huge money maker.. I don't know if it still applies... but it's the same with the Phoenix. I remember when I picked up an X-men comic that didn't have Wolverine anywhere on the cover (way way back). I was like OMG WE SHOULD FRAME IT!
Well, two things in responce to sketch. First of all, NOOOOOOOO!!!! on account of Rahne. 2nd, here's one of my favorite comic pages ever, what if Wolverine really was in every book.
Still waiting for the writer to be revealed on that one. It...it could be Alan Moore for all we know! Heck it's probably Jeph Loeb
I enjoyed Civil War. Even though the polarity between each side disappeared near the end, it was still an interesting take on current politics that present new view points and not another omg phoenix is back from the dead again story line. Straczynski has taken up the new Thor series and while I was never a big fan of the character, the writing is excellent and the title shows promise. Issue # 3 has a run in with Iron Man and Straczynski nails the encounter perfectly! Unfortunately Straczynski has left a lot to be desired with The Amazing Spiderman. His run up to and through the Civic War series was great but it almost feels like the recent issues are being created by someone else and they are simply tossing his name on it. The newest story line: World War Hulk, had a very exciting first issue but nothing that compelled me to continue reading. When I stopped by the comic shop last week and saw the "gamma corps", I knew my decision to leave the series alone was a good one. Lets see, what else? Anyone reading the Heralds line? Some of the title appear to be interesting but the only title I picked up was Silver Surfer: Requiem issue # 4 which really painted the Herald and his former master Galactus in a new light. The pastel colors where an excellent choice adding a subtle somberness to the passing of a legend. I'm a big X-fan so lets go there for a moment. Cable and Deadpool is one of the best titles out there right now -- period! Its filled with comedic gold and has me laughing my ass off. (Wolverine is in the latest issue but don't let that stop you from enjoying a good title, just wanted to note it for those keeping count!) I'm not sure if that new x-force title is a joke but the original series was pretty fucking awesome! I'm enjoying the Endangered Species story line but I find Beast's emotional reactions to be out of character although its great to see additional focus being placed on his journey. I find Dark Beast to be that much more interesting. On a side note: What's the deal with Xavier? I think I missed out on whatever recently happened with him but it sounds like he did something sinister.
The only real sinister thing I can think of with Xavier as of late is everything that got revealed in Deadly Genesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadly_Genesis
The Vulcan thing was one of the worst story lines ever... I hate it when marvel fucks with continuity.
I got Deadly Genesis and was overall disapointed with it. Though my understanding was that the story was kind of given to Brubaker, not his idea per say.
Agreed. A third Summers brother isn't a concept that's come out of nowhere though - it's been hinted at alot of times in the past, before the 00s, but the way they shoe horned Vulcan in as part of an X-men team that nobody remembers was totally lame. And Vulcan doesn't impress me as a character either.
