73 replies to this topic

[bondrules]

I read The Joker a couple of days ago. Pretty awesome.

[Mister E]

I just re-read THE LONG HOLLOWEEN, awesome as usual. This is the definitive BATMAN graphic novel. Just for fun I'll point out the Godfather homages:

1. Carmine Falcone in his study on the night of his nephew's wedding. Pays homage to Vito Corleone when he was in study on the day of his daughter's wedding.

2. Carla Vitti pratice shooting in a basement. Pays homage to Micheal Corleone practice shooting in a basement.

3. Luigi "Big Lou" Maroni telling his son Sal to "You can act like a man". Pays to homage to Vito Corleone telling Johnny Fontane the same thing.

4. "Big Lou" Maroni being shot and Sal grabbing his head in shock. Pays homage to Fredo Corleone's reaction when Vito Corleone was shot.

I believe there are a few more. Anyway, I am going to read DARK VICTORY next which is just as good.

[Eurospy]

I'm quite of a bit of a comic book geek myself.

Comic Book. And graphic novels as well. I've grown beyond tired, though, that people insist on calling graphic novels to comic books. Yes, there are graphic novels out there by definition, obviously.

But Watchmen (which had a huge impact on me, never had read nothing so "adult" when I was a kid) for example is a comic book series, later gathered as a trade paperback.

It seems that the term comic book is considered a bit shameful.

But I digress. I've read Serpent's Tooth and quite enjoyed it. Not my favorite perception of Bond (I'm more of a Dalton & Craig kind of guy), but they played well with the fact that in comic books there are no budgets contraints as in movies, and just ran with it, even going over the top.

I've read a lot of the Queen & Country story arcs and found them delightful (although I do think that Greg Rucka is fantastic with dialogue and characters,I think that he tends to fail a bit in the plot section).

I also enjoy the Franco-Belgian format. Loved all the Tintins, although Blake & Mortimer moved past them in my list of Franco-Belgian faves (still waiting for that Yellow Mark movie - good thing I'm sitting while I wait.

I used to enjoy Spider-Man. Until the Clone Saga came. And I got furious adn quit it. I've only went back for the Strazynski stories.

I'll read anything by the Babylon 5 creator and any Batman stories that come my way and enjoy most of Warren Ellis' work.

I dislike this whole Civil War thing going on at Marvel, though.

And I LOVE Planetary. Any fans of this one out there?

[Harmsway]

A few comics I've recently discovered which are worth checking out (to varying degrees, of course):

THE HUNTER by Darwyn Cooke. Based on the Parker novels by Donald Westlake (writing under the name "Robert Parker"), Cooke has produced a wonderful comic book riff on noir. It's more of a visual triumph than anything else--Cooke's art has a beautiful, cinematic quality--but THE HUNTER is just a starting point. I suspect that the next installment, THE OUTFIT, will kick things up a notch.

LUCIFER by Mike Carey. This series of eleven volumes is a spin-off of the better-known SANDMAN series by Neil Gaiman. But, for my money, LUCIFER is a more satisfying work, a rich, epic bit of fantasy with one very compelling protagonist: the Devil, who long ago gave up his role as ruler of Hell and is out on his own. Carey's Lucifer is just as intriguing, deadly, clever, and frightening as you could possibly ask him to be.

[Brian Flagg]

There's a Master of Kung Fu topic started over at the Spies, Spoofs, and Spin-Offs area. The emphasis is on the comic's spy element.

[Gabe Vieira]

I guess you could say I'm a mildly-hardcore comic book and graphic novel fan, as only certain material will interest me. Watchmen is an all-time favorite (just don't ask me about the movie), as is Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series, which I have throughly convinced myself as being one of the greatest pieces of human literature in the past half-century; and weirdly it was just announced today that a television series based on The Sandman is in the works... cause it worked so well the last two times they tried to make it. Here's to being as hopeful as a massive Gaiman fanboy can be.

Sharlto Copley would be a great Dream, and Olivia Wilde as Death. And David Bowie HAS to be Lucifer.

Anyways, I also really enjoy Batman graphic novels. The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Killing Joke, and especially A Serious House on a Serious Earth. I read nothing but Lewis Carol for a month afterwards. Also a huge fan of Masamune Shirow's The Ghost in the Shell manga and all it's... "spawn" would be the best word, I so-pose.

[Harmsway]

I guess you could say I'm a mildly-hardcore comic book and graphic novel fan, as only certain material will interest me. Watchmen is an all-time favorite (just don't ask me about the movie), as is Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series, which I have throughly convinced myself as being one of the greatest pieces of human literature in the past half-century; and weirdly it was just announced today that a television series based on The Sandman is in the works... cause it worked so well the last two times they tried to make it. Here's to being as hopeful as a massive Gaiman fanboy can be.

A SANDMAN television series is a horrible idea.

Have you read the spin-off series, LUCIFER? It's better than SANDMAN.

[OmarB]

I'm a huge comic fan, I learned to read from comics. I'm a die hard DC fan, my favorites in order are Superman, Batman, Green Lantern (Kyle), Flash (Barry). I also read some marvel though, Iron Man, Punisher, Captain America, Avengers, Ultimate Avengers. I'm more a fan of creators though, I'll follow an artist or writer from project to project. Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Loeb, Mike Turner, Alex Ross, Jim Lee, Brian Michael Bendis, John Cassady, Mark Millar, Adam Hughes, Bruce Timm, John Byrne, Darwyn Cooke, Dave Gibbons, Ed McGuinness, Gabriele Dell'Otto, Jay Anacleto, Lee Bermejo, Matt Wagner, Neil Gaiman, Neal Adams, Ty Templeton, Steve Rude, and my all time favorite artist Jack Kirby.

[Bryce (003)]

Check out the new Honey West from Moonstone.

No...REALLY.

Attached Files

•  Honey Cover.jpg   284.34KB   4 downloads

[Gabe Vieira]

I guess you could say I'm a mildly-hardcore comic book and graphic novel fan, as only certain material will interest me. Watchmen is an all-time favorite (just don't ask me about the movie), as is Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series, which I have throughly convinced myself as being one of the greatest pieces of human literature in the past half-century; and weirdly it was just announced today that a television series based on The Sandman is in the works... cause it worked so well the last two times they tried to make it. Here's to being as hopeful as a massive Gaiman fanboy can be.

A SANDMAN television series is a horrible idea.

Yeah, I know, but hey, a man can dream. HBO is where it needs to be, along with an American Gods mini-series.

Just realized what the first sentence I typed says.

[terminus]

I don't read some of the more, shall we say, indy, titles, I tend to keep to the mainstream Marvel/DC titles but am trying to streamline the titles I'm picking up on a monthly basis to under 10.

Atm, am picking up -

Marvel: Avengers, New Avengers, Secret Avengers, Avengers Academy, Thanos Imperative (as I was reading Guardians of the Galaxy) and Black Widow - as well as Uncanny X-Men (for the Generation Hope prologue).

DC: Batgirl, Red Robin, Batman & Robin and REBELS

I intend to pick up Batwoman when it debuts - as well as giving Generation Hope a chance.

[freemo]

Currently hanging out for Volume 2 of Grant Morrison's BATMAN AND ROBIN.

[OmarB]

You been reading The Return Of Bruce Wayne?

Another book I'm obsessed with now is Mark Millar's Nemesis. This thing is brutal. Imagine someone with all of Batman's skills and resources, but he's evil, that's Nemesis. The dude is killing cops left and right, he pulls off stuff you would not imagine. He's like a force of nature, everything is perfectly planned to the craziest degree, not even Bond could handle this guy.

[freemo]

You been reading The Return Of Bruce Wayne?

No, not yet. Single issues cost at least double the US cover price here, so I tend to wait for the trades. Obviously I know what's "going on", but I'm late actually reading them.

[terminus]

I've been grabbing Return of Bruce Wayne at the behest of the local comic store owner near mine. Dunno what to think - some of the stories with the parallels to present day Bat-villains have been fun, but I think it's something I could have probably done without.

[Messervy]

I don't know if you guys did, but to understand The Return of Bruce Wayne it is absolutely imperative to have read "Batman: RIP", Final Crisis and the current issues of Batman & Robin. Otherwise you'll just don't get anything. I read those, and honestly don't understand all Morrison wrote for Return...
I don't know what to think about it. At first, I thought it was a good idea to rebuild Batman by having him travel through time and at the same time (ah ah!) travel within himself. I mean, we've seen Gotham City destroyed (see Cataclysm), we've seen Bruce Wayne undermined (see Bruce Wayne: Murderer), etc., but we've never seen Batman down and left for dead as in RIP (and the subsequent Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?). But reading the last issues, I think it is going in an entirely other direction, namely that of an esoteric entity driving the Wayne family and compelling Bruce Wayne to eventually become Batman. I don't like to lose the idea of a stand-alone unique Bruce Wayne who's decided at some point to become Batman; I don't want it to be fate decided all along.
So, we'll see how it goes, but for now I'm quite sceptical.

[hcmv007]

DC Comics is going back to first issues for all its characters starting in September. This means you can buy Superman #1, Action Comics #1 & Batman #1 & not put down a ton of moolah. It's the big news in comics right now.

[freemo]

DC Comics is going back to first issues for all its characters starting in September. This means you can buy Superman #1, Action Comics #1 & Batman #1 & not put down a ton of moolah. It's the big news in comics right now.

I'm a tad bummed out by it actually. Was enjoying BATMAN INC (which I understand is going to hiatus for a while due to the relaunch), and even the post-Morrison BATMAN AND ROBIN arcs with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne as the dynamic duo passed the time agreeably (though the Judd Winnick one with Red Hood that just finished wasn't so hot. Still, I hate to see that team being broken up).

[Mr. Blofeld]

Decided to dip back into my hardcover copy of Watchmen; aside from some bum dialogue ("Tandoori to go" and "That's a name my mother assumed because she didn't want anyone to know she was Polish" being two key offenders), it's still a gloriously smart read.

[coco1997]

Currently reading this:



Immensely enjoyable read for any baseball fans out there.

[hcmv007]

Does anyone remember when comics cost less than a dollar?

Some notes on DC's big change:

Superman single? It could be the truth. Hal Jordan back as GL-no other colored lanterns like now-have they gone to the fuscia lanterns? Powered by heart! So stoked Bruce Wayne back as only Batman but word is Batman Incorporated could pick up next year. Got a criticism of new Superman costume-it sucks go back to original-or one in Superman Returns, or one used in Smallville finale. We are just under a month and a half away from the reboot!

Does anyone remember when comics cost less than a dollar?

Some notes on DC's big change:

Superman single? It could be the truth. Hal Jordan back as GL-no other colored lanterns like now-have they gone to the fuscia lanterns? Powered by heart! So stoked Bruce Wayne back as only Batman but word is Batman Incorporated could pick up next year. Got a criticism of new Superman costume-it sucks go back to original-or one in Superman Returns, or one used in Smallville finale. We are just under a month and a half away from the reboot!

[Jump James]

I get confussed about the comic thingys. Are they more books than comics? Say i wanted to get Batman Begins etc are they old or new comics?

[hcmv007]

DC is starting completely over on Sept. Every book goes to issue #1 & starts over. This is like 1986 when DC wiped out everything from the past the last time they rebooted but now all the numbers change.

[Captain Tightpants]

The only graphic novel I've ever read was WATCHMEN. I picked it up when the WATCHMEN film went into production. I was intrigued by Alan Moore's claims that it was unfilmable and that he wanted nothing to do with it. I was bitterly disappointed by it; I found it to be over-long, poorly-paced, self-indulgent and ultimately hacky (particularly the dialogue). Ironically, the film shared all the same traits. I haven't touched a graphic novel since, largely because the only ones I can find are by Alan Moore, and if my experiences with WATCHMEN taught me anything, it's that he's got an inflated opinion of himself.

[hcmv007]

I agree Captain Tightpants. Alan Moore along with Frank Miller have both gone wacko-IMO. But I hope you dont judge all Graphic Novels by a bad experience. There are some good ones out there so just looking!

[Jose]

All I've been reading for the past few weeks have been comic books, which is bad news for the rest of my reading list. Recently I finished Neil Gaiman's Sandman series and absolutely loved it. Will gladly re-read.

I reread V for Vendetta and Watchmen. I still like V for Vendetta better than Watchmen. That's just my opinion.

Been catching up/refreshing my memory on The Walking Dead. I'd absolutely love for another compendium to be released (so I could read it all in one fell sweep like I did with the first compendium); I know it ain't gonna happen any time soon but still it'd be fantastic.

Some other comics that I think are just awesome, for want of a better term, are: All-Star Superman and Superman Red Son. Especially the latter because the premise is so ballsy and is executed brilliantly.

Dark Knight Returns and Long Halloween. The one that I still hold in an extremely high regard is Identity Crisis.

So-so: Punisher Noir. Too bad they won't follow up on the ending. Sin City was meh, for me. I'll admit that I did find some of it gripping but overall it felt mediocre. I'll read it again.

bleh

[George88]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2021563/Marvel-Comics-reveal-new-Spider-Man-black-gay-future.html

Marvel Comics reveals the new Spider Man is black - and he could be gay in the future

The Daily Mail. Bless.

[coco1997]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2021563/Marvel-Comics-reveal-new-Spider-Man-black-gay-future.html

Marvel Comics reveals the new Spider Man is black - and he could be gay in the future

"I think it's absolutely scrumptious they are going to make him nice and chocolate, Latin in tongue, and longing for male companionship! It simply makes me tingle all over!"

- TightCheeks, San Francisco, USA,

[Dustin]

It's just their Ultimate imprint, a line of comics where everything is negotiable. For the traditional Spider Man nothing changes. And it's simply a way to broaden their customer base. They want to earn money, hardly surprising and surely nothing to hold against them, is it?

[Dustin]

I'm not sure there is an argument there at all. Neither a cost at which there's anything achieved. MARVEL isn't there to overcome anything, they are simply a comic publisher selling entertainment, not an agenda or dogma. It's just another range of comics where all bets are off, everything can happen and nothing is set in stone. You need not agree or buy, you're not the target audience in this case. If you buy it anyway and maybe even enjoy it, so much the better for MARVEL. But the concept isn't aimed at old geezers like us and nobody counts on that part of the market. You may see this as crass and cynical but the fact of the matter is the readers of this won't, they have no problem with it (or MARVEL wouldn't produce this in the first place).

It's the market and you can't ignore it, as some woman once said.