Comic books

[Cotton]

so I guess Marvel's 2012 event will be the Avengers vs. X-Men, written by Bendis, Fraction, Brubaker, Aaron & Hickman and drawn by John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel, and Adam Kubert.

sure? I don't enjoy JRJR's art as much as everyone else seems to, but this could be interesting. It's be curious to see how they split up the writing duties...

[Dan of Orange]

I'm not a rabid comic book guy but I collect a few titles, it's way too hard to keep up with everything coming out of the USA so I listen to Comic Book Vine podcast which occasionally gives me a tip on a new title. I've also been doing comic book submissions lately, I write and a freelance artist arts, I'm hoping I can get one picked up otherwise I guess I'll self publish eventually as I don't want my stories to die on my hard drive.

My tips:  'Miracleman' it's way out there compared too your regular superhero stuff but it's good. 'X-Men' when it's the good writer years like Matt Fraction.




   

[Big Plastic Head]

CRIMINAL: LAST OF THE INNOCENT comes out in trade paperback today. This was great arc. Intro by Patton Oswalt. (Link goes to a site for 45% off if you don't have a LCBS.)

[ChrisRawk]

The new Action Comics is indeed pretty awesome.

I can't decide how I feel about Superman in a t-shirt and cape, though.  It's either really silly or kind of awesome.  Maybe both. 

[Cotton]

I don't know if there are any horror comics fans here, but if you're not reading this tandem of Animal Man and Swamp Thing, you're totally missing out.

[wood and iron]

I don't know if there are any horror comics fans here, but if you're not reading this tandem of Animal Man and Swamp Thing, you're totally missing out.

A couple of people, including me, have mentioned them above. I agree, Animal Man is fantastic. When I found out about the upcoming cross over, I feel the need to get the back Swamp Thing issues.

[Cotton]

I was a little hesitant on both, since I've never read any Animal Man (though I'm aware I should've checked out the Grant Morrison run by now. I'm still working my way through his Doom Patrol), and I've only read the Alan Moore run and one Len Wein trade of Swamp Thing.

I think the new run of Animal Man started out stronger, but whoo boy Swamp Thing is about to get messy. I was concerned about the fill-in artists because Yannick Paquette is one of my favorite artists, but they've totally kept up the tone of the book without being a poor facsimile of his art. It doesn't hurt that Snyder has a scary brain...

[James W]

Animal Man's a hoot (though you often notice the shorter page count), but Swamp Thing ain't doin' it fer me. Paquette's an incredible artist, and those neck snappy folk in the first issue were some primo horror, but there's not a lot else there - it feels very slight. The heavy reliance on Alan Moore's run, while inevitable, just makes me feel like it'd be a better use of my time/money to read that (only read the first few collections).

[wood and iron]

Animal Man's a hoot (though you often notice the shorter page count), but Swamp Thing ain't doin' it fer me. Paquette's an incredible artist, and those neck snappy folk in the first issue were some primo horror, but there's not a lot else there - it feels very slight. The heavy reliance on Alan Moore's run, while inevitable, just makes me feel like it'd be a better use of my time/money to read that (only read the first few collections).

You know what? I always felt like the issues of Animal Man felt rushed but it never dawned on me that the actual page count was lower. Why would they do that?

[wood and iron]

CRIMINAL: LAST OF THE INNOCENT comes out in trade paperback today. This was great arc. Intro by Patton Oswalt. (Link goes to a site for 45% off if you don't have a LCBS.)

Just finished this. My favorite Criminal arc by far. Patton's intro was a little lacking though, I thought, to be honest.
I like how Brubaker is developing the backstory of the city more with appearances by Hyde and Teeg Lawless.

[BadGuyZero]

Making this a zombie thread after the brief comic book discussion during tonight's show [on-air and in the chat room].

Tom said that Ed Brubaker's Captain America and Matt Fraction's Iron Man are the best superhero books right now. I would add Mark Waid's Daredevil to the list. Brubaker also has a non-superhero title - Fatale - that is my fave current comic.

What inspires you to purchase a particular comic: a certain character; you like the writer; the art is quality stuff?

I've been a comic book fan pretty much my entire life. I've worked at comic book shops in Dallas and Seattle. Right now I'm really getting into comics again. The whole DC Universe relaunch piqued my attention and got me in a local comic shop. Once there I was dismayed by what's passing for comic art these days. I'm not terribly familiar with some of the writers so I started with titles featuring what are probably my three favorite superheroes: Captain America; Daredevil; and Detective Comics. I've been picking up Action Comics and Suicide Squad based on a friend's recommendation. I've been picking up a few other titles as well. It's all been very hit and miss.

I have an affinity for Alex Ross and Adam Hughes covers so I'll buy any book that has one. Ross has been doing covers for The Bionic Man which features a beloved character [Steve Austin] from my childhood. Kevin Smith [yes, THAT Kevin Smith] is the writer so I wasn't entirely motivated to actually read the damned thing. Eventually I did and I have to say...I went in with EXTREMELY low expectations and Kevin managed to somehow churn out something worse than I'd expected. Seriously, I can't recall ever reading a comic as poorly written as The Bionic Man. Absofuckinglutely amazing.

So what have you been reading? What's worth buying?

[dave from knoxville]

They priced me out of fandom when the books went from 10 to 12 cents.

[wood and iron]

Making this a zombie thread after the brief comic book discussion during tonight's show [on-air and in the chat room].

Tom said that Ed Brubaker's Captain America and Matt Fraction's Iron Man are the best superhero books right now. I would add Mark Waid's Daredevil to the list. Brubaker also has a non-superhero title - Fatale - that is my fave current comic.

What inspires you to purchase a particular comic: a certain character; you like the writer; the art is quality stuff?

I've been a comic book fan pretty much my entire life. I've worked at comic book shops in Dallas and Seattle. Right now I'm really getting into comics again. The whole DC Universe relaunch piqued my attention and got me in a local comic shop. Once there I was dismayed by what's passing for comic art these days. I'm not terribly familiar with some of the writers so I started with titles featuring what are probably my three favorite superheroes: Captain America; Daredevil; and Detective Comics. I've been picking up Action Comics and Suicide Squad based on a friend's recommendation. I've been picking up a few other titles as well. It's all been very hit and miss.

I have an affinity for Alex Ross and Adam Hughes covers so I'll buy any book that has one. Ross has been doing covers for The Bionic Man which features a beloved character [Steve Austin] from my childhood. Kevin Smith [yes, THAT Kevin Smith] is the writer so I wasn't entirely motivated to actually read the damned thing. Eventually I did and I have to say...I went in with EXTREMELY low expectations and Kevin managed to somehow churn out something worse than I'd expected. Seriously, I can't recall ever reading a comic as poorly written as The Bionic Man. Absofuckinglutely amazing.

So what have you been reading? What's worth buying?

I haven't picked it up because it got a ton of negative reviews but I heard Detective Comics was bad. On the other hand, Batman, by Scott Snyder, is absolutely amazing. This whole Court of the Owls story line is really fun. I'll admit that I'm disappointed that they're going to do a big crossover in all the Batman books for this story line. That's the kind of thing that keeps me being an on and off again comic book reader.

I've gotten behind on the trade paperbacks but Scalped is a really awesome crime comic. It's a noir-ish Western set on an Indian reservation. Like a lot of crime comics, sometimes it's attempts to seem gritty get overplayed. But on the whole, a great read.

I'm a dummy so I didn't preorder it but Saga is supposed to be really good. Brian K. Vaughan's return to comics. I've added it to my pull list so I'm hoping to catch up.

Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello is a great read. He's completely redefining the mythos around the character by incorporating all the Greek Gods but doing it in a really smart and fun way.

Swamp Thing/Animal Man are really great as well.

Here is my pull list: Batman, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Saga

Here are the titles I've dropped since getting back into weekly comics buying: Demon Knights, All Star Western

[King of Breakfast]

The Punisher's actually pretty good right now. Just the normal Punisher, not Punisher Max (that's drawn by Steve Dillon so don't bother unless you like every single character having exactly the same face, and only drawn from straight ahead or at 90 degrees)

[BadGuyZero]

I haven't picked it up because it got a ton of negative reviews but I heard Detective Comics was bad. On the other hand, Batman, by Scott Snyder, is absolutely amazing. This whole Court of the Owls story line is really fun. I'll admit that I'm disappointed that they're going to do a big crossover in all the Batman books for this story line. That's the kind of thing that keeps me being an on and off again comic book reader.

I've gotten behind on the trade paperbacks but Scalped is a really awesome crime comic. It's a noir-ish Western set on an Indian reservation. Like a lot of crime comics, sometimes it's attempts to seem gritty get overplayed. But on the whole, a great read.

I'm a dummy so I didn't preorder it but Saga is supposed to be really good. Brian K. Vaughan's return to comics. I've added it to my pull list so I'm hoping to catch up.

Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello is a great read. He's completely redefining the mythos around the character by incorporating all the Greek Gods but doing it in a really smart and fun way.

Swamp Thing/Animal Man are really great as well.

Here is my pull list: Batman, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Saga

Here are the titles I've dropped since getting back into weekly comics buying: Demon Knights, All Star Western

I'll give Batman a look. I went with Detective because I liked the art better. I'll take a look at the other titles you recommended as well. Thanks for the input.