Comic books

[pete]

I've been working my way through the fantastic DC Kirby reprints.  I just got volume 4 of the New Gods (the last one!) and I am loving it.  The man was just all sorts of crazy genius.  I can't get enough.  Next up is the Demon, OMAC, and Kamandi.  I'm saving Kamandi for last mostly because of that insane map of the world.

I also got a book of Winsor McKay editorial cartoons on FCBD that's pretty sweet.  As much as I don't like editorial cartoons, that's balanced out by my insane love for McKay.  (I've been thinking about getting a Nemo tattoo for about a year).

[pete]

Also, did anyone think Northstar saying someone "seemed like a good enough sort" in the newest UXM was a Best Show reference?  anyone?  Anyone?

[Pidgeon]

Oh, Rob Liefeld, what are we going to do with you?  You fucking idiot.

Notice how eerily photo-reffed Eminem's face is, while the rest of the art just looks like regular comic art.

Kind of like that one Bugs Bunny cartoon where him and Elmer Fudd are waiters at a Hollywood restaurant, or something.

[Bryan]

I've been working my way through the fantastic DC Kirby reprints.  I just got volume 4 of the New Gods (the last one!) and I am loving it.  The man was just all sorts of crazy genius.  I can't get enough.  Next up is the Demon, OMAC, and Kamandi.  I'm saving Kamandi for last mostly because of that insane map of the world.

I've just gotten the first New Gods book, so far. I haven't quite been able to convince myself to shell out for the others, although Amazon has them for a pretty good price. It really is bizarre. But I've also been reading the Showcase Presents Legion reprints, and they're just as insane. Jim Shooter was 13 when he was hired for that series! That's what the comics industry needs now - more teenage writers.

[pete]

They are frustratingly expensive,  but they're also really really nicely presented (and recolored!).  I was resistant for a long time until I got a TPB of the first bit of the Jimmy Olsen run and was totally hooked.  All the extras in the back are pretty cool too, especially the original pencils. 

[kimota]

Do any of those New Gods collections contain The Hunger Dogs graphic novel?   I've been looking for that fucker for years and years.





Darkseid is.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Do any of those New Gods collections contain The Hunger Dogs graphic novel?   I've been looking for that fucker for years and years.

I hear it's awful, but yeah, I'm pretty curious about it too.

[kimota]

I hear it's awful, but yeah, I'm pretty curious about it too.

Yes.   I've read all the Kirby New Gods stuff but the Hunger Dogs and even though I also hear it is petty bad, I've been looking for it too long to just write if off.   

After reading this on wikipedia
"Published as DC Graphic Novel #4, The Hunger Dogs was intended by Kirby and DC to serve as the end to the entire Fourth World saga. However, the project was mired in controversy over Kirby's insistence that the series should end with the deaths of the New Gods, which clashed with DC's demands that the New Gods could not be killed off.

As a result, production of the graphic novel suffered many delays and revisions. Pages and storyline elements from the never published "On the Road to Armagetto" were revised and incorporated into the graphic novel, while DC ordered the entire plot restructured, resulting in many pages of the story being rearranged out of Kirby's intended reading order",

I can't wait to read this mess, if I ever find a copy. 

[pete]

Yep, Hunger Dogs is in the Volume 4!  I'm working my way towards it.  I'm past the point where everything but Miracle Man was cancelled.  It's kind of sad.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

It is a bummer.  I just read this set of cheap black & white editions of the Fourth World comics -- like the Essentials or Showcase series, but a sort of prototype version -- and those late issues of Mr. Miracle feel like a TV show that's constantly trying to reboot.  All kinds of weird nonsense angles, plus some ideas that would later come into his 70s stuff like OMAC, Kamandi, The Demon, Devil Dinosaur, The Eternals, Machine Man, 2001, or Captain America & The Falcon.  Actually that's my favorite Kirby era.

[pete]

I agree.  I like some of the end of the Mister Miracle stuff, probably partially because it's hard for me to not like Kirby, but it really feels like he's flailing around.  The wedding issue is surreal in the 30-second wrapup of everything at top speed.  Evanier talks about this a little in one of his (fascinating) essays at the end of one of the volumes. 

Speaking of Mister Miracle, I got his Kirby New Gods action figures on a whim at FCBD for $6.  Man, that thing kind of sucks.  It LOOKS like a Kirby drawing (in terms of lines and such), but it's in such a static pose and is completely unposable, which is so disappointing for something based on a dude with such crazy hyperenergetic art.  Oh well, I should have known better.    (Is action figures even the acceptable term?  I haven't bought one since TMNT when I was six.)

On an unrelated note, has anyone seen Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 in an LCS?  I know I can get it from Fantagraphics, and I'm tempted because my local STILL doesn't have it in stock.

[Bryan]

On an unrelated note, has anyone seen Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 in an LCS?  I know I can get it from Fantagraphics, and I'm tempted because my local STILL doesn't have it in stock.

I think that their stuff is available from Fanta directly for some weeks before it's released to shops. But in any case, haven't seen it at my LCS, and I never will, because the place is a dumb shithole. (grrrr.... I've complained about this repeatedly on this thread, so sorry for the repetition, but it really irks me that as someone who likes many different types of comics, I can never find anything of interest at the place.)

[dave from knoxville]

On an unrelated note, has anyone seen Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 in an LCS?  I know I can get it from Fantagraphics, and I'm tempted because my local STILL doesn't have it in stock.

I think that their stuff is available from Fanta directly for some weeks before it's released to shops. But in any case, haven't seen it at my LCS, and I never will, because the place is a dumb shithole. (grrrr.... I've complained about this repeatedly on this thread, so sorry for the repetition, but it really irks me that as someone who likes many different types of comics, I can never find anything of interest at the place.)

If the comics won't come to you, you must go to the comics.

[pete]

Just finished Black Hole by Charles Burns, and I was really surprised at how much I liked it.  It was like all the weird/surreal/creepy stuff I hate in Dan Clowes comics, but for some reason I couldn't get enough and blew through it in an afternoon.  Felt really unsettled the whole time.  Recommended (if you like weird creepy stuff).

Also finished the New Gods Volume 4.  The Armaghetto and Hunger Dogs stories weren't... BAD, but they sure weren't up to his normal par.  Some of the inking is pretty shitty and really saps a lot of the "crackle" from Kirby's art, which is suffering on its own (not that there's anything wrong with that, he was pushing 120 when he did the book).  There's still some really great stuff in there, but nothing compared to his Fourth World peaks in Volume 1 and 2.

Next up are the 2 Walt and Skeezix collections (1921-22 and 1925-26).  I've read about 1/4 of the first one, and it's pretty wonderful and heartwarming.

Yes.   I've read all the Kirby New Gods stuff but the Hunger Dogs and even though I also hear it is petty bad, I've been looking for it too long to just write if off.  

If you promise to send it back, I'll send you the Vol 4 hardcover so you can read it without laying out the $50.  PM me your address if you want.

Groteface Killah - OMAC and The Demon are next up on my list.  I love the Kirby 2001.  I think most of the appeal is thinking about Kubrick reading it and going "What the FUCK?  What the fuck is this??"

[Bryan]

Next up are the 2 Walt and Skeezix collections (1921-22 and 1925-26).  I've read about 1/4 of the first one, and it's pretty wonderful and heartwarming.

Yeah, the art is really amazing. And if you look at today's newspaper comics... well, they don't stack up too well against this century-old stuff.

But the jokes - for 6 months after Skeezix first turns up, all the jokes are based on the "you think we're talking about cars, but in the last panel you'll see we're talking about a baby" formula. After that, the writing improves significantly.

Also, pete, are you a gazillionaire? My god, you've got an expensive comic book hobby!