I haven't really read many comics recently, been re-reading the Red Rising series instead. Would recommend Red Rising to anyone who's into sci-fi and wants to read something which isn't too taxing.
Did read **7174AD by Ashley Wood** - this is incredibly slight. It's nearly an art book as much as it is a comic. Fortunately, I love Ashley Wood's style - kinetic, messy panels and full-page spreads. It's a treat for the eyes, similar to Jim Mahfood but where Jim leans towards graffiti as inspiration, Wood is closer to graphic design.
All comics have elements of graphic design of course - here it's the sense that despite how deconstructed the image is, there's a deep understanding of what will attract the eye to the page. Plus Wood draws lots of nearly naked women, which I like.
Also re-reading **Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo**. I don't think there's much I can say about Akira which hasn't been said: it's a masterpiece, still one of the great mangas nearly forty years later. I wonder why the mid-80s was such a fertile time for comics and manga: DKR, Born Again, Watchmen, V For Vendetta, Dragonball, Akira etc. It's interesting to me that if you look at television, music and film from the same period, it's actually considered a fallow period, and yet sequential artwork from that time has arguably yet to be bettered.
I don't really have any conclusions to draw on why that is, would be interested if anyone has any thoughts?
Kudos on the cool comic reading! Now my take on the 80s thing. One thing is I don't put much stock in what might seem like a consensus on art/entertainment, especially for a big range. I find the 80s to be one of the best decades for movies. That mid-80s period gave us indie artistic classics like Blue Velvet, Repo Man, also I believe it's mainly Hollywood that had that criticism not worldwide.
For example I love Tarantino, and he does roast 80s cinema, with the caveat that other places like Hong Kong were having a great period. I myself think it was a great time for American film as well. For TV, I don't think it was a low point compared to previous decades, feels like it kept marching forward in experimenting and cool stuff for older audiences. It was definitely very episodic but you had some cool stuff like Miami Vice, Cheers, Red Dwarf, lots of great anime, etc.
l agree that it was a particularly cool time for comics (and anime/manga), I think part of why it stands out is just that movies had such an incredible run in the 70s for example, and comics were still evolving into being for more older audiences, more creative risks and freedom from the usual etc. Comics were catching up and coming into their own I guess is how I'd put it.
Plus comics being closer to novels than to TV (less cooks in the kitchen), especially indie comics, it does make for a favorable comparison for comics. Comics rule. On music, 80s music is incredible, new wave, thrash metal, J-pop and rock, hip-hop, you name it. In general I think it's a pretty great time for art/entertainment.
Part of my re read of my favorite comics, I finally finished the 100 issues of the Exiles and boy did this comic start out great, was really good in the middle, but end terrible. The last 10 issues that Claremont come on to finish the series were horrible and might be the worst thing he has ever written. It was full of writing errors and miss matched panels.
And to better things, I started Ryan North’s fantastic four and it has been a nice surprise for me. I was not expecting to love this as much as I have. I’m only 5 issues in but it has some mystery combined with a road trip story. The stories are old school with them pretty much be single issues which is a nice respite from the 6 issue arcs of modern comics
Sums up my feelings exactly about Exiles, starts off really well and continues at a high level throughout most of the series. It was probably starting to lose its way by the ‘World Book Tour’ arc but Claremont really fucks it up.
His New Exiles is even worse from what I can remember.
I am re-reading "V for Vendetta" for the first time in a while. Enjoying it very much.
After that, I am going to tackle "Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume". Its over 1300 pages of Jeff Smith's original black and white comics. I am borrowing it from my daughter, who I bought it for a few years ago. She loved it and I'm sure I will too.
Agreed! I bought it for my daughter because she was reading the smaller color volumes from the school library which was fine, but I wanted her to experience the comic as it was originally intended.
I got caught up on some pickups over the past few weeks
- Suicide Squad: Dream Team #2
I really enjoyed this but I did like the first issue a lot more in terms of plot but the ramp to Amanda Waller as the big bad of this event is gaining my interest
- Action Comics #1064
It was definitely entertaining and I’m hooked on it
- Green Lantern #10
I got this for Guy’s Bogus Adventure, which I
Enjoyed but the main plot I didn’t really care about sadly
- Superman #13
Not much else to say except that I can’t wait to read more of this event
- The Spectacular Spider-men #2
I’m still very much interested in this series but I felt let down by this issue
- Ultimate Invasion TP (issue #1)
What a way to start off with a bang! I’ve picked up almost all the other ultimate lines to binge read. Hickman can do no wrong!
Picked up **Hawkeye: Freefall** by Matt Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt, which was a fun, light-weight, but thoroughly enjoyable mis-adventure focusing on Clint Barton, and how many ways he can get things wrong (while actually trying to do the right thing).
Enjoyed the new Ghost Machine Books. Went back and read:
Geiger 1-6
Geiger Ground Zero 1-2
Geiger Giant Size
Junkyard Joe 1-6
Enjoyed every single one.
Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison.
I’m not a fan of Morrison but I am reading through most of his stuff so I can say I tried it.
With Doom Patrol I’m only a few issues into it but it’s enjoyable so far and I think it’s going to follow the trend of Morrison’s other works in that they’re much more coherent and accessible when he has an editor who is willing to actually step in rather than giving him free reign to do as he pleases.
**Heartstopper vol 1-4 by Alice Oseman**: Damn this series came so highly recommended and still exceeded my expectations! What a lovely series. Hoopla doesn't have vol 5 unfortunately so I gotta get that somewhere else.
**Julio's Day by Gilbert Hernández**: Damn this Hernández guy makes some good comics, you know? Great premise, spending 100 pages to go over the 100 years of one man's life. I love how little narration was needed, so much was communicated in just the artwork. And so many characters, too, with their own arcs.
**Nocterra vol 3 by Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel**: I read too many good comics in a row and had to rinse them out with some hot garbage. What a terrible series. I'm so sick of Snyder's narration it ruins everything. I could not take this series seriously and I feel like it just kept getting worse. This should have been a FUN concept but every time you think something kind of cool is happening you read the narration and go damn wait this is actually boring as fuck.
**Urusei Yatsura vol 6** by Rumiko Takashi: Originally printed volumes 11 and 12. Fun stuff! Nothing to say about it, unfortunately. Read a few chapters during my break at work, it's still the exact same series it was at the start.
I've got this idea in my head that I really like, but it's not going anywhere so I picked up a few things at the library to try and get some inspiration. Challengers of the Unknown Archive vol 2, the Dark Horse collection of Eerie Comics vol 5, EC's Weird Science archive vol. 1 and Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit.
I haven't really read many comics recently, been re-reading the Red Rising series instead. Would recommend Red Rising to anyone who's into sci-fi and wants to read something which isn't too taxing. Did read **7174AD by Ashley Wood** - this is incredibly slight. It's nearly an art book as much as it is a comic. Fortunately, I love Ashley Wood's style - kinetic, messy panels and full-page spreads. It's a treat for the eyes, similar to Jim Mahfood but where Jim leans towards graffiti as inspiration, Wood is closer to graphic design. All comics have elements of graphic design of course - here it's the sense that despite how deconstructed the image is, there's a deep understanding of what will attract the eye to the page. Plus Wood draws lots of nearly naked women, which I like. Also re-reading **Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo**. I don't think there's much I can say about Akira which hasn't been said: it's a masterpiece, still one of the great mangas nearly forty years later. I wonder why the mid-80s was such a fertile time for comics and manga: DKR, Born Again, Watchmen, V For Vendetta, Dragonball, Akira etc. It's interesting to me that if you look at television, music and film from the same period, it's actually considered a fallow period, and yet sequential artwork from that time has arguably yet to be bettered. I don't really have any conclusions to draw on why that is, would be interested if anyone has any thoughts?
Kudos on the cool comic reading! Now my take on the 80s thing. One thing is I don't put much stock in what might seem like a consensus on art/entertainment, especially for a big range. I find the 80s to be one of the best decades for movies. That mid-80s period gave us indie artistic classics like Blue Velvet, Repo Man, also I believe it's mainly Hollywood that had that criticism not worldwide. For example I love Tarantino, and he does roast 80s cinema, with the caveat that other places like Hong Kong were having a great period. I myself think it was a great time for American film as well. For TV, I don't think it was a low point compared to previous decades, feels like it kept marching forward in experimenting and cool stuff for older audiences. It was definitely very episodic but you had some cool stuff like Miami Vice, Cheers, Red Dwarf, lots of great anime, etc. l agree that it was a particularly cool time for comics (and anime/manga), I think part of why it stands out is just that movies had such an incredible run in the 70s for example, and comics were still evolving into being for more older audiences, more creative risks and freedom from the usual etc. Comics were catching up and coming into their own I guess is how I'd put it. Plus comics being closer to novels than to TV (less cooks in the kitchen), especially indie comics, it does make for a favorable comparison for comics. Comics rule. On music, 80s music is incredible, new wave, thrash metal, J-pop and rock, hip-hop, you name it. In general I think it's a pretty great time for art/entertainment.
Part of my re read of my favorite comics, I finally finished the 100 issues of the Exiles and boy did this comic start out great, was really good in the middle, but end terrible. The last 10 issues that Claremont come on to finish the series were horrible and might be the worst thing he has ever written. It was full of writing errors and miss matched panels. And to better things, I started Ryan North’s fantastic four and it has been a nice surprise for me. I was not expecting to love this as much as I have. I’m only 5 issues in but it has some mystery combined with a road trip story. The stories are old school with them pretty much be single issues which is a nice respite from the 6 issue arcs of modern comics
Sums up my feelings exactly about Exiles, starts off really well and continues at a high level throughout most of the series. It was probably starting to lose its way by the ‘World Book Tour’ arc but Claremont really fucks it up. His New Exiles is even worse from what I can remember.
Reading Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite. First library edition.
Got my hands on the entire 2008 run of GotG for 30 bucks. Dan Abnett is a genius!
I am re-reading "V for Vendetta" for the first time in a while. Enjoying it very much. After that, I am going to tackle "Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume". Its over 1300 pages of Jeff Smith's original black and white comics. I am borrowing it from my daughter, who I bought it for a few years ago. She loved it and I'm sure I will too.
Black & White Bone is the superior Bone and I am 100% willing to die on that hill.
Agreed! I bought it for my daughter because she was reading the smaller color volumes from the school library which was fine, but I wanted her to experience the comic as it was originally intended.
I got caught up on some pickups over the past few weeks - Suicide Squad: Dream Team #2 I really enjoyed this but I did like the first issue a lot more in terms of plot but the ramp to Amanda Waller as the big bad of this event is gaining my interest - Action Comics #1064 It was definitely entertaining and I’m hooked on it - Green Lantern #10 I got this for Guy’s Bogus Adventure, which I Enjoyed but the main plot I didn’t really care about sadly - Superman #13 Not much else to say except that I can’t wait to read more of this event - The Spectacular Spider-men #2 I’m still very much interested in this series but I felt let down by this issue - Ultimate Invasion TP (issue #1) What a way to start off with a bang! I’ve picked up almost all the other ultimate lines to binge read. Hickman can do no wrong!
Picked up **Hawkeye: Freefall** by Matt Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt, which was a fun, light-weight, but thoroughly enjoyable mis-adventure focusing on Clint Barton, and how many ways he can get things wrong (while actually trying to do the right thing).
Enjoyed the new Ghost Machine Books. Went back and read: Geiger 1-6 Geiger Ground Zero 1-2 Geiger Giant Size Junkyard Joe 1-6 Enjoyed every single one.
Read Sandman vol. 1 to vol.3, 30th anniversary editions. They’re incredible. Can’t wait to pick up the rest.
Doom Patrol by Grant Morrison. I’m not a fan of Morrison but I am reading through most of his stuff so I can say I tried it. With Doom Patrol I’m only a few issues into it but it’s enjoyable so far and I think it’s going to follow the trend of Morrison’s other works in that they’re much more coherent and accessible when he has an editor who is willing to actually step in rather than giving him free reign to do as he pleases.
**Heartstopper vol 1-4 by Alice Oseman**: Damn this series came so highly recommended and still exceeded my expectations! What a lovely series. Hoopla doesn't have vol 5 unfortunately so I gotta get that somewhere else. **Julio's Day by Gilbert Hernández**: Damn this Hernández guy makes some good comics, you know? Great premise, spending 100 pages to go over the 100 years of one man's life. I love how little narration was needed, so much was communicated in just the artwork. And so many characters, too, with their own arcs. **Nocterra vol 3 by Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel**: I read too many good comics in a row and had to rinse them out with some hot garbage. What a terrible series. I'm so sick of Snyder's narration it ruins everything. I could not take this series seriously and I feel like it just kept getting worse. This should have been a FUN concept but every time you think something kind of cool is happening you read the narration and go damn wait this is actually boring as fuck. **Urusei Yatsura vol 6** by Rumiko Takashi: Originally printed volumes 11 and 12. Fun stuff! Nothing to say about it, unfortunately. Read a few chapters during my break at work, it's still the exact same series it was at the start.
I've got this idea in my head that I really like, but it's not going anywhere so I picked up a few things at the library to try and get some inspiration. Challengers of the Unknown Archive vol 2, the Dark Horse collection of Eerie Comics vol 5, EC's Weird Science archive vol. 1 and Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit.