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1. • CommentAuthorgreg75
   • CommentTimeJul 20th 2011

    
   Well i finally read the Secret Wars II Omnibus so back to the library in America it goes.Actually quite a few of the stories i hadn't read.
   An FF crossover stands out.There's not many that bring a tear to my eye last one was Marvel's A Moment Of Silence but this story was about a little kid who idolised Human Torch and decided in a moment of madness to be one himself by throwing gasoline over himself.
   
   Johnny decides never to be the Torch again and then Beyonder shows up and shows Johhny how the kid collected every clipping in the media about him .What about the rest of you guys anything thats made you sniffle?
   
   And no i don't mean things like them cancelling STARMAN from the 90's.lol
2. • CommentAuthorLee
   • CommentTimeJul 20th 2011

    
   Wow! Thanks, greg75. I decided not to bother buying SW II as a) I own all the UK comics so have read 99% of the story anyway and, b) it was mostly dreadful. But I remember that FF story - it was John Byrne, wasn't it? It was good, although I seem to recall Jonny had terrible hair...
   
   Cap'n Si - you're mostly right in your comics reviews (and are totally right that Paris is punishingly expensive) except that recent X-books have been dead good - at least as good as Iron Man.
3. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
   • CommentTimeJul 21st 2011

    
   I'd like the X-books more if you actually had a choice in which book to follow. As it is, Marvel might as well just sell X-Men as a weekly anthology title, seeing as half the time the books are all part of some ongoing 'event' (Heh. Event. Reminds me of my favourite Mitchell & Webb sketch).
4. • CommentAuthorLee
   • CommentTimeJul 21st 2011

    
   Yeah, that's a fair point. But the teams are interesting now they're full of baddies. (Heh. Baddies. Reminds me of my favourite Mitchell & Webb sketch).
5. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
   • CommentTimeJul 29th 2011

    
   Invincible Iron Man # 506 ( Fraction / Larocca / D'Armata )
   
   I hate crossovers. After last issue's horrific climax, this issue picks up with...Tony Stark apparently drunk (doesn't convince, a rare mis-step from Fraction) and pleading with Odin for weapons to defeat the Serpent. What follows is a lot of mucking about with Dwarves. Dwarves that swear. This not being a mature readers title, the 'swearing' comes in the form of Runes (what with us being in Svartalfheim and all) . Tremendous. If you can't swear, then don't substitute it with this guff. It's awful. Breaks up the flow of the dialogue and is just rubbish. More interesting is the sub-plot with Pepper and H.A.M.ME.R, but mixing in the tradegdy of what's just occurred in Paris with comedy dwarves leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
   
   FF # 3 & 5 (Hickman / Epting /Kitson / Magyar / Mounts)
   
   I've been watching the old Marvel Action Hour Fantastic Four cartoon from the 1990s (crap theme tune, over muscley character models, healthy dollop of cheese, great fun - although its not a terribly emancipated role for poor old Sue Storm) and I thought I'd try out a couple of issues of the newly relaunched FF. The shift in tone with Johnny not being part of the team is extremely pronounced which suprised me. I rather like the new costumes, and Spdier-man makes a good substitue for Torch. The ongoing arc about Reed's potential for great devastation is nothing new (remember the Dark Raider..?), but it's approached in a frighteningly clinical way - as it should be for a man utterly devoted to sicence. Superb. I've obviously missed a lot though, I wasn't aware Reed and Sue had a daughter...
   
   Transformers # 22 (Roberts / Milne)
   
   For a long while now, Transformers has been rubbish. Regular series writer Mike Costa (no relation to the coffee chain), has mixed in bursts of very strong character studies with some frankly dreadful ongoing stories. James Roberts comes on board for one issue and instantlty makes up for the last twelve months of dross. A fantsastic character study of Megatron following his surrender to the Autobots. Its perhaps the first time we've actually got to know Megatron, and the issue skillfully weaves flashes of his past as an idealist political agitator to brutal tyrant, thanks to the restrictive straight jacketing of Cybertronian society and order imposed by the Autobot hierarchy. It also gives Megatron to truly shine for perhaps the first time ever, with the last 25 plus years of Transformers comics being oddly light on decent , sustained appearances for old Megs, whose normally quickly sidelined without us getting to understand what drove and motivated the character, and what made him feared. Here, you have all that. Plus, Optimus frustration at Megatron's political manouevring and the reactions of his fellow Autobots make this probably the best Transformers comic since, well, Last Stand Of The Wreckers, which Roberts also co-wrote. IDW need James Roberts. He is easily the best writer Transformers has ever had. Ever.
6. • CommentAuthorhes2010
   • CommentTimeAug 1st 2011 edited

    
   FF 4-5-6
   
   Loved it till the FF just disapear from there own comic and lots of stuff about black bolt. I Liked it but were the FF. ANd why does franklin sudenly apear to grow to teenager size is this the change in artist or super power i dont Know about.
7. • CommentAuthorgreg75
   • CommentTimeAug 2nd 2011

    
   Just finished reading the final Unknown Soldier trade,the good guys don't always win do they?
8. • CommentAuthorgreg75
   • CommentTimeAug 11th 2011

    
   greg75's dad 21/7/38-10/8/11
9. • CommentAuthorLamont Cranston
   • CommentTimeAug 11th 2011

    
   My most sincere commiserations to you and your family, Greg75. You stay strong now, y'hear. Stay strong, sir.
10. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeSep 2nd 2011

     
    After a hiatus from reading I have returned with a vengeance...
    
    Having gone to the library today to pick up 3 graphics I returned with...well a few more.
    
    DC COMICS YEAR BY YEAR A VISUAL CHRONICLE
    REALM OF KINGS
    DEADPOOL TEAM-UP
    AVENGERS VOL 2(BENDIS)
    STEVE ROGERS,SUPER SOLDIER
    ASTONISHING X-MEN-XENOGENESIS
    SHADOWLAND-DAREDEVIL
    DAREDEVIL REBORN
    CAPTAIN AMERICA-MAN OUT OF TIME
    DEATHLOK THE DEMOLISHER
    MARVEL PLATINUM-THOR
    X-MEN CURSE OF THE MUTANTS:MUTANTS V VAMPIRES
    DC COMICS-THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE.
11. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeSep 5th 2011

     
    Hello welcome to the greg75 forum lol.
    
    Well my fears were proved right on both counts.
    DC COMICS-THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER GUIDE was for little kids not big ones,so no stars there at all.
    
    DEATHLOK THE DEMOLISHER-Well a real letdown and no offence to the guys at OK or any other shops but this is why I don't buy Graphics very often,as a big DEATHLOK fan this was a pile of...it was nothing to do with the regular Deathlok,an alternate Deathlok where he doesn't talk to his computer and his computer doesn't say "there are no viable options at this time"
    
    STEVE ROGERS,SUPER SOLDIER was a lot better where good old MACHINESMITH is the cause of much criminal activity but beware this story doesn't finish with THE END it finishes with.....THE END?
    
    MARVEL PLATINUM-THOR was also a good 300 pg tome showing the story have how BETA RAY BILL gained his hammer and how THOR became bonded to Jake.My only gripe was that there was no story featuring Crusher Creel but hey apart from that it was a good read in fact it was...absorbing man!
12. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeSep 5th 2011

     
    Sure, comics that are months overdue are annoying. And sure, comics that rely on shocking violence and relentless swearing should not impress me at my ripe, old age. But I sure did enjoy Kick-Ass 2 #3 and am looking forward to the next issue.
    
    In the spring.
13. •  
      CommentAuthorOK Comics
    • CommentTimeSep 10th 2011

     
    ... of 2013.
14. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeSep 12th 2011

     
    So, DC...
    
    I'm only buying ten of the New 52 (see, I do have self control after all!), and here are my thoughts thus far...
    
    Swamp Thing #1: solid start, decent art, interesting set up, good use of Superman to smash home the message that this is in the New DCU. Looking forward to the next issue. Expected drop off of readers for the next issue: 65%.
    
    Batgirl #1: another solid start, with variable art (sometimes looked like the artist was overreaching his abilities) and a possibly brave decision to tackle the whole wheelchair thing head on-ish. Expected drop off of readers for the next issue: 70%.
    
    Detective Comics #1: yet another solid start, with occasionally rubbish art alongside carefully rendered splash pages - make effort on every page, please! - and a so-so story with gory shock value. Expected drop off of readers for the next issue: 80% (as I presume loads of people will buy the first issue and not read it as they'll put it aside for ten minutes and wait for it to be worth £1,000,000.00).
    
    Stormwatch #1: the best of the bunch, as it is basically The Authority and Martian Manhunter but randomly called Stormwatch. Nice character intros, good premise. Expected drop off of readers for the next issue: 65%.
15. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeSep 12th 2011

     
    Oh, also, as probably nobody else is compulsively buying every Fear Itself tie-in - you've missed out! Fear Itself: Spider-Man was actually really good. So ner!
16. •  
      CommentAuthorOK Comics
    • CommentTimeSep 13th 2011

     
    Everybody knows it's the second issues that will have most long term value...
    FYI. Even though we've sold about ten times what we used to sell of certain titles, it has been mainly our regular customers that are either trying DC for the first time in ages, or getting back into a title they dropped at some point.
    We have had a lot of new people set up orders for more than just issue 1.
    I hope they come back for issue 2. If they don't we'll go out of business!!!
    
    Yes Lee, you're right, Spider-Man Fear Itself is good. Better than the main series in my opinion.
    Are you getting Fear Itself Monkey King and Fear Itself vs Dracula?
17. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeSep 13th 2011

     
    morning guys, i'm off to london for a few days next week and was wondering if anyone knows anywhere similar to OK where i may rummage through back issues?
18. •  
      CommentAuthorOK Comics
    • CommentTimeSep 13th 2011

     
    Orbital have loads of back issues, but I was amazed by how expensive they were... shocked!
19. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeSep 13th 2011

     
    I'd second the 'better than the main series' on Feary Spidey.
    
    And I am, of course, buying everything with Fear Itself on the front...
    
    Ultimates #1 was a good read. I am newly interested in the Ultimate line after initially calling Fallout a good jumping-off point.
20. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2011

     
    Farewell to Prof.Martin Stein as of Brightest Day 22..
21. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeSep 23rd 2011

     
    I just read Fear Itself: The Monkey King. It may be the most pointless comic I have ever read.
22. •  
      CommentAuthorOK Comics
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2011

     
    As pointless as Fear Itself Dracula vs Fear Itself Hulk?
23. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2011

     
    Sure, way more pointless. Or a bit more. That said, at least there was only one issue of Monkey King...
24. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2011

     
    Reading update! (And where is everyone these days?)
    
    New Mutants #31 (Fear Itself tie-in) - I'm torn. I'm a great big fanboy when it comes to Marvel's mutants, and the New Mutants remind me of Secret Wars II which is an inexplicably fond memory. But, I don't really like it when they go Norse - it just leaves me cold. So, this is a decent read with decent art and stands alone as an arc within FI so people who don't want to buy it won't miss out, but I'd rather that they just hung out on Utopia and chatted to Nate Grey about how it feels to always have to wear your shirt open to show off your tattoo...
    
    Journey Into Mystery #628 (Fear Itself tie-in) - I expected this title to suck a bit when they ditched Thor and made tween Loki the star, but Kieron Gillen has been writing some of my favourite stories in recent times and this is no exception. Loki is an intriguing and entertaining lead and his slowly unfolding plans (alongside the is he/isn't he evil? question) make this a worthy read.
    
    Fear Itself: Hulk vs Dracula #2 - misleading title aside (66% of the story is done and Hulkie and Dracs have not actually met yet), this book is definitely very much marginally less pointless than Fear Itself: The Monkey King.
25. • CommentAuthorLamont Cranston
    • CommentTimeOct 8th 2011

     
    I read SNARKED #0 and #1 by Roger Langridge from BOOM! comics. It was great.
    
    It's a bit like if the LOEG was set in the world of Lewis Carrol creations but without the sexual violence and drugs, y'know, for kids! Although it's more All Ages than For Kids after all I liked the cameo by Pete'n'Dud but I doubt if there are any keen fans of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook aged under 10. C'mon, I know kids grow up quicker these days, but, really. Anyway it's got fantastic art, a funny script and an eventful plot. The main characters are the Walrus and The Carpenter who are played a bit like Laurel & Hardy crossed with Wimpy from Popeye and they get embroiled in antics involving a missing King with a strong possibility of Snarks ahead. And remember: All Ages doesn't mean For Kids it means For Everybody. SNARKED by Roger Langridge - have a go you'll more than likely be glad you did.
26. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011

     
    I read Ultimate Comics Ultimate New Ultimates (or whatever) #2 and Ultimate Spider-Man #2.
    
    Ultimates was good but still feels like it hasn't quite got started (almost as if it is being paced over six issues rather than 24 pages...).
    
    The new Spidey is, despite all my plans to dislike it, really enjoyable. Not as good as proper Marvel U Daredevil, but still good. Try it! Now, rather than in six months when the trade comes out - that way, if you don't like it you're only down £3, not £12!
27. • CommentAuthorsmiggy3000
    • CommentTimeOct 10th 2011

     
    I read the Dark Knight Strikes Again, and I wish he hadn't... It would have been better been called the Justice League Strike Again with the mixed focus between the other characters rather than just Batman like the first book...
28. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeOct 12th 2011 edited

     
    Hello! i am back form my adventures. Which involved kitten birth and doors and pipework learnings. and carpet. why are all carpets biege these days?
    
    Batgirl # 24 - Swansong issue of the most cheery bat title ever. I'm really sad to see this go. Such a lovely fun comic with some smart writing and dialogue and backed up by some sharp looking artwork. That said, this issue is a bit slight, with Stephanie's meet up with her dad lost to some outer space halucinagenic plant that gives us half a book full of indulgent (but amusing) alternate Bat Girl montages. "Its only over if you want it to be". Well DC did, so it is. I'm not hanging about for the relaunch and the return of Barbara Gordon, i doubt it will have the same whimsy as this and besides, we now have...
    
    Batwoman # 1 - Which is grim. Lovely art by J H Williams III (I hope he lives in a country retreat and wears tweed), although boderline titilating at some points. This is one of those annoying launch books that actually follows on from some stuff that happened in other books (whatever happened to those helpful asterisks and box outs..?) so I feel like I'm late to the party and not understanding who Flamebird (awful, awful name) is and why she's not allowed to wear her costume. Kate Kane seems likeable enough and I'm glad the character being gay isn't just there for sensationalism and is just portrayed as a normal thing so hooray for that. My only hope is that the genuinely creepy and spooky villain turns out to be something ghostly, rather than some moron in some unfeasably high tech secret bunker doing this for stuff and things.
    
    Ghost Rider # 2 & 3 - In which we get all of five panels of Alejandro before she's drowned out by Adam (of Adam & Eve out of the Bible fame, it would seem *facepalms*) and his bonkers plan for the Rider and Johnny Blaze and his endless supply of pithy one liners. Oh and the seeker turns out to be a wise cracking corpse, so thats just dandy too. So much laughter when you're showing humanity robbed of their souls and left as drooling vegetables. The great shame of all this is that whilst its readable and quite good fun, there's a sense of the focus being completely wrong and the continued presence of Blaze remains and embuggerance the book could do without. Seems he's just there for the idiots on Marvel's message board mooing that Blaze should be GR forever and ever and ever and ever. So I got what I wanted, a new Rider with a new host, but its spoilt by crossover bollocks and the lead weight of Blaze. Boo, Marvel, Boo.
    
    Invincible Iron Man # 507 & 508 - i'm more interested in Pepper's tussle with the Hammer girls in Paris than I am in Tony's lolling about in a dwarves workshop (doesn't he know you shouldn't operate heavy machinery whilst under the influence?). These few FI tie ins for Iron Man have been crap, frankly. Fraction doesn't write a convincing drunk, and the comedy swearing and generally unlikeable nature of the dwarves are making this 'tony makes magical weapons' arc a real chore to get through. And its a least two issues too long already. Still, spiky Iron Man suit next issue. Bet that'll be exciting.
    
    Lenore # 3 - I wonder what sort of contract Titan have with Roman Dirge? Three issues in four years must be a record, even by his standards. can't help wondering if titan haven't actually got their eye on a collected edition they can spit out and market to the same audience whom pick up the Nemi collections every autumn. Anyway, as ever with Dirge of late, this book races through a bunch of laugh out loud moments before locking onto a particular joke and then flogging it for all its worth until its as rank and decayed as Lenore herself.Stop doing it, man! If you can't fill 22 pages with one Lenore story, then do loads of little ones like what you used to!
29. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeOct 12th 2011 edited

     
    Punisher Max # 16 & 17 I wonder if Jason Aaron has any actual direction or plan for this iteration of the Punisher? It seems to move at a dream like pace, broken up with flashes of horrific violence before it just trundles off mumbling to itself. Indeed, i wonder if Frank is actually just shambling about monologing to himself like some mental tossed on the street as care in the community or something. Certainly this book isn't as racy as perhaps it should be. Maybe some of that's down to Dillon's art, and the endless wash of grey colouring this book seems to have. The prison arc just ends, really, and Frank ends up wandering the streets where he stabs some hoodies. I'm not entirely sure why i am reading this. In the hope something will happen, i think.
    
    Transformers # 23 - Backing up last issue's excellent Megatron showcase is this character study of Optimus Prime by the mighty James Roberts. Roberts writes proper old school comics, where every page is stuffed full of panels and things happening and characters talking to each other, whilst the plot continues to advance and expand. A really great read, and so nice to have a comic that you can sit and get properly engrossed in rather than usual five minute farts that are churned out these days. Alex Milne's art is again a revelation, lovely and clean and expressive. The guy has come a long way from his days as Pat Lee's understudy and that is a very good thing indeed.
    
    Transformers # 24 - 26 - And then its business as usual for IDW's Transformers. The battle on Cybertron in issues 24 & 26 is nicely written (Roberts co-writes with Costa), but the art is an indecipherable mess unfortunately. Its all very orangey and then very blue and dark. You can't really see what's going on, but given how wonky some of the characters look, perhaps thats deliberate on the part of artist Ramondelli "never mind it looks weird! its painted! oooh!" its a bit like fireworks, in that the colourful explosions distract you from thoughts of how silly they are and , like IDWs output, what a waste of money they are too. Costa's # 25 is the adventures of the Autobots on Earth, and is still as skull crushingly bad as when I last read this book with #10. Its just dull, and the endless conspiracies and secret government organisations are tiresome beyond belief. Utter rot.
30. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeOct 12th 2011

     
    Oh, i forgot about CLiNt # 10 ( I think, I dunno what issue number it is, the cover is so damn busy shouting words in your face, niceities like the numbering get somewhat lost in the melee). Jesus H Christ on a bike, just when I think this is settling into a decent action orientated anthology, along comes some terrible sh*t like Officer Downes (oh-ho!), which makes 2000AD's excerable Balls Brothers look like Watchmen by comparrison. Its awful and Joe Casey should hang his head in shame. Just whom is Millar trying to pitch this thing at anyway? Morons? Well I guess I'm one for buying this in the first place. Sigh. Turf concluded this issue (finally - split over the last three or so issues, the final battle has felt a bit overlong - bet it will read well collected though) and it was all rather sad, with heroic sacrifices and hard fought victory...and an amusing final panel. A really impressive comcis debut from Johnathan Ross. I would actually like to see more from him, whether its a follow up to Turf or something else, but he's got his chat show back now , so it may be a while. Kick Ass II isn't really doing it for me. The violence has been ramped up, but it just seems to be meanness for meanness sake. The strip has seems to have turned into a parody of itself and seems to have lost that spark that made it seem so fresh last year. Superior has just disappointed me. The whole Space Monkey being an agent of Satan thing is depressing, and now he's setting up an evil nemesis for Superior and dum de doo where will this lead...I just can't imagine. Which just leaves Who Is Jake Ellis? which continues to be decent, in the same way Spooks is decent, but it is all a bit preposterous. Enjoyable though. I don't really know what the future holds for the magazine will be. They've thrown it open to the readership to see what they can produce for the comic, which seems a bit desperate, but it can hardly be worse than insufferable toss like Rex Royd, whom returns next issue. Yipee...
31. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeOct 12th 2011

     
    ...i think i need to change my reading habits. i seem to be reading stuff thats making me very angry.
32. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeOct 12th 2011

     
    Your problem is that you don't read enough rubbish, Si - if you'd read Fear Itself: The Monkey King you'd get less angry at CLiNT...
33. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeOct 27th 2011

     
    Where is everyone?I just picked up these from the library.
    
    STAR TREK ARCHIVES VOL 3-BEST OF GARY SEVEN
    ALIAS VOL 2
    STAR TREK ARCHIVES VOL 1-BEST OF PETER DAVID
    
    I am just about to read Superman v Ali from the 70's re-released in Hardback having just finished reading essential Dazzler vol 2 also Captain Britain vol 3 which takes me back to Hulk Weekly when i was about 3.
    
    Ah yes the days when you could buy british-Thor and the X-MEN,SPIDER-MAN WEEKLY,MARVEL SUPER-HEROES,THE TITANS,CAPTAIN AMERICA WEEKLY,THE THING WEEKLY sigh nowadays its £2.00 or more for stuff.
    
    Will the story never be told how Wonder Man became Hollywood in GOTG?I suppose no.
    
    Has anyone read the new Bionic Man series?If so is it any good?
34. • CommentAuthorhes2010
    • CommentTimeOct 27th 2011

     
    I just piked up batman cult from libary can't wait to read it. Talk about late to the party.
35. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeOct 28th 2011

     
    not strictly comics, but i have been reading DK's DC & Marvel Chronicles ('A Year By Year History'). Two things have struck me. 1) Big Event Crossovers are silly and generally seem to make a nonsense of both companies characters particularly when judged from a historical standpoint - these 'earth shattering events' and 'not a hoax, not a dream!' style tales of death and drastic change are undone with such alarming frequency that it makes you wonder if there is actually any real interest by the publisher in anything other than achieving a short term sales boost. There's very little evidence that any of this stuff truly matters or is important, despite what is said at the time. 2) The indignities heaped upon Spiderman since the 1990s are very sad to see. This is Marvel's flagship character and the crossovers, reboots, creative dead ends (hello 'maximum carnage', john byrne's 'year one') seem to have actually harmed the character, making him seem little more than a Power Ranger style action figure released with new accessories that are quickly forgotten year in year out. Its actually quite heart breaking seeing the shift in Spiderman's fortunes. Sigh. Still, it no doubt all made Marvel a pile of cash, so that's alright then.
    
    DC come out better than Marvel through this continual cycle of continuity reboots and 'new directions' for its plethora of characters. But only just.
    
    Other things that are interesting; the Marvel Chronicle airbrushes Marvel UK out of the picture (perhpas not a big suprise) and spends an awful long time devoting pages to the Amalgam crossover event of the late 1990s.
36. • CommentAuthorsmiggy3000
    • CommentTimeOct 30th 2011

     
    I bought those books too, nightmare carrying them both home again though...
37. • CommentAuthorhes2010
    • CommentTimeOct 31st 2011 edited

     
    Bataman Cult 80's goodness batman broken, toteing a gun, Robin shooting some one, the batmobile kitted out like a tank and all with out a second thought. loved it
38. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeNov 7th 2011

     
    just finished reading Cap-Theater of War,best graphic read this year based loosely on the writer's friends during the war 10/10
39. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeNov 12th 2011

     
    is currently reading Showcase Presents Green Lantern vol 5 reprinting the classic GL/GA stories and is also reading his way through every issue of the shortlived VALOR title,although i still call him Mon-El.And his girlfriend is quite nice in the old Legion Comics,I took her out for a drink once and something frightened her I said don't worry it's just a shadow lass....
    
    Also another 4 issues added to my Green Arrow collection after another visit to Ok last week only need about 15 more to complete the set.
40. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeNov 14th 2011

     
    Transformers # 27 - 28 Another tale of two halves, with an issue of earth based mediocrity and bash-your-skull against the wall annoyance. Spike Witwicky killed Scrapper (a Decepticon) and Prowl has been tailing him. Brawl shows up, drops a building on Prowl before Spike reveals himself to Prowl looking all evil going "aha! i killed Scrapper! now what?" As cliffhangers go, its rubbish. Mike Costa's time can't come soon enough. Meanwhile in space, all the Decepticons go off line and end up merged into some monstrosity that goes "Destroy!". Its basically the sort of guff an excitable five year old would come up with, but with none of the charm. In short, massive pants.
    
    Batwoman # 2 - solid follow up to the first issue, more horrible watery child abductions and stuff. and gotham has werewolves and other goofy looking horrors that fight big gang wars. apparently. quite a strange book, part crime, part superhero, part horror and part just plain weird, the tone is all over the place and all sits together like some grotesque sickly stew. whether this is willfully done by JH Williams, I don't know but the off kilter feel of the book doesn't sit very well when you're dealing with horrific subject matter like child murder. be interesting to see where this goes.
    
    Invincible Iron Man # 5489785458 or whatever number is required to sell more comics this week. Tony gets his spiky armour (looks rubbish), teaches some dwarves a lesson in humanity and goes to fight with some magical weapons. Meanwhile, Pepper escapes being turned to stone when the Serpent calls off the Grey Gragoyle. Unlike the other 'crossover' issues of Invincible Iron Man, these Fear Itself tie ins have been utterly without merit. Slow moving, uninteresting and a general halt to the direction of the book these have easily been the weakest issues of a book that has been going great guns up until now, although the Stark Resilient stuff needs a bit more welly. Great scene of the Hammer girls using PR to undermine Pepper's efforts in Paris though, but not really worth the £3 for a page of genuinely interesting story.
    
    Ghost Rider # 4 - Another comic lumbered with one of the worst 'event' crossovers ever, the Fear Itself issues end with a wet fart as Alejandra gets to take control of her own comic and shuns Johnny Blaze's offers of assistance. And hurrah for that. Although sadly, I doubt this means the back of Blaze. Rob Williams is writing this with a very light touch which suprises me. In an interesting move, the thing possessing Alejandra is revealed to be Zarathos, the demon that originally possessed Blaze, which doesn't really square with the last GR comic, where Jason Aaron had the Riders pegged as Angelic entities. Curious...
41. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeNov 14th 2011

     
    Punisher Max # 18 - Kingpin and Electra kill a bunch of mob bosses and then have sex amongst the corpses.
    
    What to say? This book has been an excercise in desensitization. The unremitting violence - the graphic close ups of people being disembowled, having their eyes gouged out, shot, burnt, pummelled, stabbed, sliced, diced, punctured, broken and mushed up and the relentless spray of claret - just wears you down page after page of this stuff in place of any decent plot of characterisation. No ones happy, they're all going to die, but just how disgusting its going to be you'll just have to tune in next time to see. No doubt Kingpin'll have moved onto pooing the recently maimed skull of one his former employees. What a joyless task it is reading this book. None of the characters are particularly likeable and reading this is akin to watching someone stuff meat in a blender and then fling it in your face.
    
    Whilst Marvel have always been the tabloids to DC's broadsheets, its interesting to see that at Marvel, a mature readers imprint is little more than an excuse to print swearwords and blood letting with gay abondon like this some how makes the imprint 'grown up', rather than just telling some more thought provoking stories. Who needs that when you can watch some poor sap's lower intestine fly past your face, though..? Sigh.
42. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeNov 14th 2011

     
    And finally, not really a comic, but Rob Schrab's 'But I Can't Do Anything Else!' art book cheered me up no end. A slightly slender A4 hardback, the book is just full of random crazy drawings of weird looking robot things that Schrab has knocked out in between writing sketches for Sarah Silverman and writing screenplays for films. Good fun, but it would be nice to see him back in comics again...even if it was just for a little while.
43. • CommentAuthorPauls
    • CommentTimeNov 14th 2011

     
    Enjoying swamp thing, six guns and the lovecraft horror of dunwich.
    
    Picked up batman noel by lee bermejo and loved the artwork in that. As a nostalgic reader of dickens and annual watcher of it's a wonderful life, this may well become an annual chrimbo read!!!
    
    As a constant reader of Stephen king I am well into his latest book 11.22.63 and also haruki murakamis 19q4, I would love to see someone tackle his work as a graphic novel.
    
    Noticed on Stephen kings website that a comic of road rage is out next year in collabration with his son joe hill, count me in !!!!!
44. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeNov 14th 2011

     
    I also enjoyed Swamp Thing #3. Overall I'd say the New 52 has been quite good and I'm vaguely glad I've picked the books I have - some of the actual Batman books are all a bit meh, though.
    
    As a Constant Reader since forever of Stephen King I'm having to wait until I've given 11.22.63 to my mum for Christmas and then waited for her to read it before I can read it. Beh.
45. • CommentAuthorLamont Cranston
    • CommentTimeNov 17th 2011

     
    I enjoyed your Cluedo joke, Lee! But not as much as the fact that I am even now (well not right now, obviously) reading 11.22.63. Yes, I am. Oh, yes I am!
    
    Why are Stephen King and his son doing an adaptation of a Catatonia song?
    
    Did I mention I'm reading 11.22.63 by Stephen King. It's...
46. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeNov 23rd 2011

     
    I has been reading some more things! recently, i was in kirby lonsdale and being unable to bear looking around another outdoors shop with my girlfriend (how many fleeces can one person need?!), i popped into the works and found some of the less popular Pannini Marvel Pocketbooks for £2 a throw. So i got:
    
    Silver Surfer : Origins (reprinting SS vol.1 # 1 -5) by Stan Lee & John Buscema - a great set of tales. i liked how indolent Norrin Radd's society had become on his homeworld, living a life of idle pleasure because they'd been everywhere and done everything! The lack of a supporting cast for the guy when he gets trapped on Earth doesn't help the guy though - and the general hostility andfear of humanity is well protrayed. My, haven't things changed..? Oh, and when Thor turns up its awful. All that cod Shakespeare ...ugh!
    
    Fantastic Four : The Flames Of Battle (reprinting FF vol.1 #68 -73 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. The FF don't change do they? These stories could have come out of any FF book over the last fifty years. I guess its what they call 'timeless'. I get why Kirby is such a legend too, seeing some of his work properly for the first time (yes, you heard that right). Only the slightly 'simpering' female characters let things down.
    
    The Amazing Spider-Man : in The Grip Of The Goblin (reprinting ASM vol 1 #94 - 102 by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema,John Romita & Gil Kane. easy to see why Spiderman became such a hit - fully developed, well rounded characters, real problems with the superheroics almost a sideshow to the ongoing problems in Peter Parker's life. The drugs issues here are excellent, showing the effects drugs can have without being preachy or in your face about it. Spidey really is the heart and soul of Marvel, so its such a shame he's been through the mill at Marvel over the last twenty years. Bad marvel, Bad!
    
    The Invincible Iron Man : The Tradgedy & The Triumph (reprinting Tales Of Suspense # 91 - 99, Iron man & Sub Mariner # 1, Iron Man # 1 - 4 by Lee, Goodwin, Colan & Craig. Gad, early Iron Man is awful, isn't it? proper B-Movie nonsense with none of the charm of Lee's work for FF or ASM. Doesn't feel like anyone cares overmuch for Iron Man and his world, or at least has much of a handle on the character. Rubbish, sadly.
    
    X-Men : Rogue Storm (reprinting Uncanny X-Men # 144 - 150) Claremont/ Cockrum/ Anderson. Good, solid stuff. Clearly shifting down a gear from the Dark Phoenix Saga, these stories are a little inconsequential, with Storm going mental when captured by Doctor Doom scuppered by the presence of Arcade (bow tie. ginger.not much fun). Things pick up with the return of Magneto and the art is glorious throughout.
47. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeNov 26th 2011

     
    Just started reading Showcase Presents-The Unknown Soldier vol 1.Always liked the guy/s and was a bit disappointed that he wasn't revamped yet again with 52,but is there still a place today for the bloke?Moving on and yet another Showcase Presents The Trial Of The Flash,Flash along with Green Lantern have always been my favouite super hero characters but this was a slow,drawn out,sometimes tedious storyline with the only real action being when Big Sir gave him a pummelling.Bless.Those were the days when we had villains like Colonel Computron,but no a silly and frankly annoying end to the Barry Allen title.
    
    Also just bought the whole run of the Outsiders title for less than 15 quid and The Power Company for about a fiver.Not heard about this Power Company before anyone else read it?
    
    After visiting my relations in Bristol,I had a look in AREA 51,which is about 15 mins out of town on the bus but well worth the journey,and comes in second place to OK for back issues with six or seven large boxes of comics for 50p each and i also bought NIGHTWING-THE SEARCH FOR ORACLE and MARVEL 2099 for a fiver each.
    
    Finally I'd appreciate peoples thoughts on this-if someone sold you a collection of say Nightwing 1-50 but it was a mixture of comics and Graphic Novels but still had the same run wold people be less inclined to buy?is the need for it all to be comics greater than the matter that the storylines are complete and follow on?
    
    p.s.was OK at thought bubble?as lucky target have stated on fb that they were the only "proper"comic shop there?
48. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeNov 26th 2011

     
    I've just been reading a few New 52 #3s. (Actually, that's a lie - I read them in bed this morning, then went out to a rubbish football game and came home and had some coffee and went online and now I am here pretending that most of that didn't happen...)
    
    So, here's what I think of the ten New 52 books I am getting.
    
    Batgirl - it's ok. Decent art and writing and a reasonable set up with Babs' new status quo and the new baddie. I'll stick with it.
    Batman - the best of the Batman books. Took a bit of time to get going, but Snyder's writing and Capullo's art make this stand above Bruce's other titles.
    Batman & Robin - Robin makes this fun, but otherwise it's pretty average and I don't like Gleason's art.
    Batman The Dark Knight - it's alright. I'm not smitten with Finch's chapped-lip/Top Cow style, and the story is up and down. Actually, something annoying: if you're re-launching your whole universe, can you not get all the artists to draw the Batcave the same? The appearance of the Cave in this book is quite different from the one in Batman. It's just lazy. The Batmobile is always different too.
    Batwoman - obviously J H Williams III draws very pretty pages, but the story has been interesting too - quite dark. My main concern here is that I cannot see the book staying on schedule.
    Catwoman - this picked up its game in #3, going from slightly sleazy exploitative light noir (if that makes sense?) to some quite disturbing places, and has made Selina more than just some leather-clad curves. Sure, going dark and gritty is an easy ploy to make your character seem deeper, but I am surprised by this comic most issues, one way or thee other, and that is good.
    Detective Comics - I'm surprised by this too, but only as I thought DC would make more effort on a flagship book like this. The story and art are quite blah, and the overall impact of four books with Batman in is maybe just too much Bruce Wayne.
    Nightwing - this has been more fun, with Dick getting out of Gotham and standing alone as a character. It's trashy fun, but it is fun.
    Stormwatch - there is almost too much going on in this title, with a bunch of ex-Wildstorm characters dropping into the DC Universe in an interesting way. The book barrels along, but maybe just needs to pace its enthusiasm for itself. Good though, and I like the concept. So long as Apollo and Midnighter are an item again.
    Swamp Thing - of the ten New 52 that drew me in, this was the only book I bought for a creator (Snyder) rather than a character. It's building nicely and has my interest in the book and characters is growing, so that's good.
    
    To answer greg75 - I'd be more inclined to buy a complete run if it was all comics rather than mixed with trades if it was something I was curious about (as I did with the full original WildCATs run from OK), but if it was something I really wanted to own specifically for the stories I'd probably be happy with trades too.
49. • CommentAuthorhes2010
    • CommentTimeDec 3rd 2011

     
    elphantmen vol 1-3 fantastic art storie characters cant go wrong loved every page plus plenty of bonus material at back scetches etcworth the entrance fee
    
    don quixote vol 1 great art stunning and simple great depth and character almost perfectly judged throught out pray they do vol 2
    
    sherlock holmes the valley of fear self made hero can do no wrong great titles excellent house style just a great publisher art suits sherlock down t theground a excellent adaption
    
    Fantastic four #600 johnny storms back we all new it would happen and they did it with out undoing all that had gone befor looking forward to more
    
    ff #12 kids take center stage and i hope they stay there some on the internet have slammed the art but i liked it a bit of a departure from the standard but certainly not ugly i would like to see more to decide on the whole
50. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2012

     
    Things what I have mostly been reading:
    
    Transformers # 29 -31 - The end of Mike Costa. Can't say I'm sorry to see the back of a writer whom recently admitted he doesn't understand Transformers, doesn't get the concept and doesn't enjoy writing them. He was also rude about Transformers fans not being aware of what comics are about and that Transformers is not 'proper' comics (well neither is G.I. Joe which you also write Mr Costa) which is why we didn't 'get' his stories. No, we got them. It was just that they were rubbish. And have been for two years. So well done IDW on giving this man a job on Transformers. It clearly paid off. Incidentally, with the shrinking world of comics, the folk likely buying Transformers are already comics readers which is a silly argument to have.
    
    Transformers # 125 - In which James Roberts and John Barber team up to tell a short but excellent tale of the aftermath of the civil war on Cybertron with deserters and refugees returning home only to find the planet in ruins and the Autobot's accountable for the mess. A nice set up issue for the two ongoings that commence in January, with some pithy asides and put downs for some of the terrible guff IDW have landed this iteration of Transformers with. Lets hope its third time lucky with this next reboot and that it doesn't all turn to ash again. Nick Roche does arguably his best work here on the art too.
    
    Batwoman # 3 & 4 - Its only with issue four that this comic feels like its going places. The dreamy, off kilter focus persists, but there are now some sharp jolts to bring the book into focus. Not least of which is the brutal attack on Flamebird. J H Williams continues to draw very pretty pictures and there's a set up here for what I hope will be a great pay off.
    
    Iron Man # 509 - 511 - And its back to Earth with a bump for Tony Stark with the Mandarin popping up to make Tony's life a misery. Elsewhere, Pepper finds out that Stark Resilient's new head of security, Bethany Cabe isn't her favourite. And Salvador Larocca draws an impossibly cute Pepper with her scrunched up angry face. Aww. The book seems to be getting back on track following the dismal Fear Itself arc so hooray for that.
    
    Ghost Rider # 5 - 7 - As cancellation looms, has this book improved over those icky first four issues? Well, yes. Issues 5 & 6 are nice little standalone stories that flesh out Alejandra as she puts a stop to a child smuggling/ paedophile ring and takes out some creepy murderers in what looks to be the deep south. Issue 7 brings Blaze back into play (yipee...) and also a murderous Hawkeye who looks to have killed Alejandra (I can hear the fanboys cheering now) which sets Blaze up to become Ghost Rider again. Sigh. Is that really what Avengers do now? Kill people? Alejandra was working out a way to restore the souls of the people in Nicuragua that she jettisoned to hell thanks to Adam, but Hawkeye didn't seem to be in the listening mood. This issue also sees the retutn of Steel Vengeance and Steel Wind, not seen since the early issues of Spirts Of Vengeance in 1993. These two have always had potential as GR villains but they never seem to do much when they show up, so its nice to see them being used. Lee Garbett's pencils are again rendered a slightly sketchy mess by a smoky ink and colouring style. Boo.
51. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2012

     
    I also picked up a thing at the Supermarket that hip young folk with internets and tellies tell me is being advertised all over the place. Its the Marvel Graphic Novel collection. One of these part work things that starts with a really cheap first issue to suck you in before stinging you with a massive price hike for the remainder of its run. So, the first 'issue' is Spider-man : coming home by J Michael Triplewordscore & John Romita Jr. I gave up with Spiderman in 1993. His 30th anniversary year was followed by some dreadful toss, as if Mary Jane's 'anti-smoking' sub plot wasn't enough, the 1990s began the sad and painful decline of spiderman with Maximum Carnage, The Chameleon/ Goblin engineered return of Peter's parents and The Clone Saga - not to mention the indignities heaped on him this last decade with trash like 'The Other'. So this came as a nice suprise, with an interesting new start for the web spinner (although the recap of what had come before sounds dreadful - Mary Jane surviving an exploding plane and then being rescued by Peter only for her to walk out on him?) with a psuedo-mystical slant on his origin and a silly new villain (glad he's out of the way by the end of this arc). It was good fun.
    
    As for the concept of the excercise itself, I'm not so sure. Outwardly pitched at non comics readers, the series is as good idea to showcase the great and good (and er, world war hulk) to the wider populace but asking people to pay £10 a fortnight during an economic downturn for something that kids will potentially pester their parents for is a bit of an ask. The books themselves are great, really smart high quality hardbacks and against Marvel's usual RRP for such things represent a saving of 50%, but I feel they'd have been better offering paperback versions to keep costs down and/ or keeping it a monthly offering. Its difficult not to recommend cheaper paperback or pocketbook versions of this material to interested parties.
52. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2012

     
    I read Walking Dead volumes 8, 9 and 10. What a stunningly bleak misery fest those books are.
53. • CommentAuthorhes2010
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2012

     
    FF# 13 loved the art really stands out to me franklins power set tak ing centre stage there is so much possabilities + they do know uncle jhonnys back yet.
    
    Fantastic four Johnny comes back nice story nice return but why does he wait he appears to make no effort to return or get in contact with his femily?? Just let the morn thats what i'd do. Enough with the world threatening events they no longer have impact if we already care about the caracters wether they fight world destroying monsters or local hoods we care, dont lessen the impact by over use.
54. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeJan 6th 2012

     
    Transmetropolitan vol 10 (new printing - annoyingly with a green spine when all the others are black! now my shelf of Transmet looks silly!) - There's no faulting the material here. As mentioned by Mike infinitum in his and Lee's most excellent podcast, the satire has dated which does dim some of Ellis' ferocious wit but the closing arc and the run itself has lost none of its power. This new printing also lumps together all the short text pieces from the run in one go, which is quite hard going all in one sitting. These little vignettes worked well scattered throughout the individual issues - and as some of them were tied to particular stories/ arcs now lack context - less so shoved in the back of the final volume in a sort of 'will this do?' fashion.
    
    Dandy Annual 2010 - bought from a charity shop for pennies purely on the the strength of Jamie Smart's excellent reimagining of Desperate Dan. For the first time in...well...ever Dan feels fresh and relevant. Most importantly its proper laugh out loud funny. A lot of parents have written scathing reviews of Smart's simplistic, expressive style on Amazon, completely missing the point that these little drawings are cute and funny, just what you need in a humour strip. Adults you see, no sense of humour. The rest of the strips vary in quality. More traditional fare like Beryl The Peril holds up well despite being largely interchangeable with the scores of strips she's had over the years (and still not matching up to the Beano's Minnie The Minx), likewise former Hoot! residents Cuddles & Dimples remain enormous fun although the change in artists means they lack some of the energy and impact the strip once had. Cheeringly, the awesome Tom Patterson continues to work for DC Thomson and still draws some of the most bizarre looking creatures and fills the backgrounds with nonsense (Little Squelchy Things being my favourite). For crimes against comics though, I hearby consign Jakk And Tod to the dustbin of bad comics. These two force ten guff storms with their pointy hair and faux-modern parlance are one of DC Thomson's toe curling attempts to be all 'modern' and down with the kids. Works about as well as that time they tried to modernise Dennis The Menace by sticking him in a blue tracksuit and giving him a walkman. Ugh. Worse still, these two are utterly selfish show off dicks with no redeeming features whatsoever. Just awful, dreadful, embarrassing shite and whomever commisoned this toss should hang their heads in shame.
55. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeJan 7th 2012

     
    hello everyone hope you all had good xmas and new year.
    
    Captain Si-I too bought the first in the Marvel Graphic Novel Collection but purely because i'd never read this particular novel.Simple truth of the matter is you can if you look hard enough find a lot of hardbacks cheaper than a tenner and why is it they have out of sequence numbering?But the next two are X-MEN:DARK PHOENIX and THE ULTIMATES both of which i've read several times,and also the fact that you can have a whole set of however many is completely lost on me.Graphics whether they are hardback or softback are completely unsellable for even half the price you pay for them.And whilst Dandy is indeed good read it doesn't beat NUTTY with it's BANANAMAN strip.
    
    But enough!
    
    Having finally got the whole set of Justice League Task Force and read them all just what did happen to Triumph?
    Apologies for being so retro but am now reading the WILD DOG mini series and finally one further question...
    
    When is WIDENING GYRE BOOK 2 coming out?
56. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeJan 26th 2012

     
    Is currently reading Doomwar and thinking it's not that good anyone disagree?
57. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeJan 26th 2012

     
    Doomwar was a strange one - unheralded, slightly pointless mini that actually had impact across much of MU via the Vibranium thang. Odd. But not that good.
58. • CommentAuthorCaptain Si
    • CommentTimeJan 28th 2012

     
    I've just read The Best Of 2000AD. I've had this on my book shelf for a couple of years now, and finally read it. A difficult task, a Best Of, Rebellion thought better of trying to attempt such folly, so it falls to some licensee whom had held onto a mixed bag of dog eared copies from Two Thou's first five years photocopied them and spaffed out this. Released to coincide with 2007's 30th anniversary its a bit of a dog's dinner, with no complete stories and some choppy editing. The sport based strips - Harlem Heroes and the interchangeable Mean Team / Mean Arena - are violent nonsense with only the art going for them, proving that Image weren't the first to hit on that kind of nonsense. So its a shame they take up so much space in the tome.The early Dredd stuff is interesting, as like with some superhero comics, there's a reliance on Dredd "to save the day", which is just ... well, its bizarre. Best bits are Invasion, Halo Jones and D R & Quinch, which remain remarkably fresh. Of the rest, well its only the Future Shocks and Time Twisters that stand out. Early Nemesis, where Nemmy himself is never glimpsed and reads as some bizarre commentary on transport, is underwhelming and the paltry one episode of Slaine isn't much help. All in all : Glad I didn't pay for this.
59. • CommentAuthorNimbus Thitherward
    • CommentTimeFeb 2nd 2012

     
    As someone who hasn't bought a comic in over eighteen months could I recommend the Phoenix a somewhat excellent new British weekly, available only at your local OK...........and Waitrose???
60. • CommentAuthorLee
    • CommentTimeFeb 3rd 2012 edited

     
    [shameless plug] Hear what Mike thinks of Phoenix on the next podcast - on iTunes soon!
61. • CommentAuthorhes2010
    • CommentTimeFeb 6th 2012

     
    Will Eisener Sketch Book (my wife bought for our 13 wedding anniversery) just incredible insight smudges on the paper like the man drew each book induvidually him self. Its a selected recreation from eisners own rough workins from his best graphics. Paper is think and all is well bound together includes covers some times 2/3 draughts of the same picture breif notes on each chapter. Out of print now but you must track a copy down its worth the price.
62. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTimeFeb 6th 2012

     
    Has just finished reading unknown soldier vol 1 and is currently reading the age of heroes graphic.methinks some company maybe trying to make money out of reprinting the 80's Suicide Squad first storyline in colour when no doubt the Showcase Presents title will be reprinting the series before the year is out.what do the rest of you guys think about the showcase presents volumes?love em or hate em?
63. • CommentAuthorgreg75
    • CommentTime3 days ago

     
    After reading CHAOS WAR:AVENGERS just wondering if the dead team turn up elsewhere or do I just assume they eventually go back to their own grave situations?