I thought it might be fun to start some comic discussions here since I've been poring over tomes of Vertigo titles lately.

Which Vertigo titles? That imprint of DC has published many fine works over the last 15 years (give or take). My favorites, in no particular order, are Sandman (tops. absolutely tops), Shade: the Changing Man, Preacher, Hellblazer. I've picked up some limited series over the years, and read the first Fables graphic novel (so good).

Dark Horse is doing some really good work, too. I like the B.P.R.D. comics better than Hellboy, and of course DH was responsible for bringing Sin City and Frank Miller's Hard Boiled to print (HB was a total rush, and my first introduction to Geoff Darrow. I even picked up Underworld rpg books just for his artwork).

As for mainstream comics, I tend to follow the primary storyline series for Marvel and DC, though Final Crisis really isn't doiong much for me, and I think that Grant Morrison is a great writer. Secret Invasion has promise, but I always feel like I'm missing half the story. I only want to get the mini series, not every comic that is involved. I did that with Civil War, and as much as I loved that storyline (heck, my whole comic life I've been waiting for that story) there were some crossovers that were pointless to the story as a whole.

The Marvel Ultimate line still has me hooked, and I will read anything written by Mark Millar or Frank Miller. I am hoping that Matt Wagner does another Grendel story, like last year's Behold the Devil, or finally gets around to Mage Volume 3.

Has anyone read Lone Wolf and Cub? I Just found 32 issues at Goodwill for .49 cents each. Also do you know how many issues the full run is?

Well, lately it's been 100 Bullets, Transmetropilitan and I just started Kid Eternity today. I'm not so sure it will be good, so hopefully I'll move on to Shade: The Changing Man soon.

You really need to follow up on Fables. I've been following it since it started, and it's a completely great book. Also, the spin off, Jack of Fables is extremely fun.

I know what you mean about Final Crisis. Infinite Crisis was a really fun, cool event, but Final Crisis isn't doing it for me. I keep feeling like I'm missing so much that I barely know what's going on from one issue of the main series to the next. *shrug* I haven't gotten into Secret Invasion yet, but Civil War was truly one of the most important works in comicdom in some time. I'll never forget the way that Frank Castle, The Punisher, let Cap beat him without ever raising a hand. The level of reverence and respent for Stever Rogers by even someone like Castle makes the eventual end of the series all the more potent. Not to mention his relationship with Stark. Truly great all around.

Arg, I still need to get into the Ultimates. Every once in awhile I look through the graphic novel section for a copy of Ultimates v1, but there never is one, and I'm far too lazy to have it special ordered for me. I should fix that sometime.

MMMbye said:

Leafed trough a few issues over here and would really like to find the whole series.

According to Wikipedia the original manga was 28 volumes of over 300 pages each, First Comics published 45 issues in the USA covering about a third of the original series and Dark Horse published the full series in 28 volumes between 2000 and 2002...

So I finished The Losers today. Wound up starting it instead of Shade. Great action thriller with betrayels and schemes galore. I'm really sad that they completed the story in 30 some-odd issues. Really, those characters could have gone through quite a bit more. I wonder if it was selling poorly... Still, despite what happens (don't want to spoil too much at the moment...) Aisha rules!

Lone Wolf and Cub was a pretty good series. I picked it up back in the 80s (I think), and even checked out some of the movies. I loved how Frank Miller did the covers.

Ultimates is so good. We just restocked all the graphic novels again last week. If it hadn't been for Ultimates I'd never have learned about Mark Millar. Sadly, Ultimates 3 was terrible. Awful. Jeoph Loeb used to be a good writer, I don't know what happened. I haven't cared for anything he has written in the last year or two. Perhaps being involved in Heroes took too much time away from his writing to make it good. Similar thing happened with Frank Miller. His All Star Batman and Robin is amazing, and totally Frank, but sometimes we have to wait 6 months between issues because he was making The Spirit.

So, now the obligatory "I can't wait until the Watchmen movie!" comment.

~There's a Watchmen movie coming?

Kennon said:

There is. Zack Snyder, who did the film version of 300, directed it. He's pushing to be as faithful to the comic as possible, but he's excised the giant squid ending for a more...modern ending. Whether or not this kills the movie is up in the air.

Of course, the Alan Moore faithful are already up in arms about it, without having seen a single frame of it, but what can you expect, yeah? Personally, as long as it turns out to be good and logical, I'm not gonna complain. But since Snyder's directing it, expect a LOT of slow motion.

If I haven't suggested it to you yet, pick up Scalped, by Missouri's own Jason Aaron. It's from Vertigo and there's three collections already out. Fantastic book. My second favorite comic of the year (just behind Joe Hill's Locke and Key which if you're not reading, go get it).

Also from Vertigo -- Unknown Soldier. Awesome, awesome, AWESOME launch.

the ' ~ ' represents sacarsam.

like ~Kennon doesn't know anything about comics.

Haha, you'd think after our discussion Saturday night, Papercuts would know that I'm a comics nerd.

As far as the Watchmen movie goes, I've heard what Kevin Smith has to say about it, and I've gotta say that I trust him on this one. I forgive him for Jersey Girl.

On the comics front, a few weeks ago I was catching up on some older stuff. Giffen era Justice League anyone? Yes, I did wind up deciding that I like it. I've always been a Booster Gold fan for some strange reason. The comedy is really quite witty.

Also, I'm strangely excited about this indy comic called "Widower" that I've heard some rumors about.....

Wow, did I not only kill this thread, but the entire General Discussion?

Sorry. Honestly, the long lag times on the new forums make me check the OT and Spoiler sections a lot less often.

Giffen JLA! I got in on that on the ground floor. Loved it, and the artwork. I'm not a big DC fan, but during that era I was actually buying several DC comics -- John Byrne's Superman, Legends of the Dark Knight, Teen Titans. I'm more your Marvel Zombie, but to be honest except for the Ultiamtes line I hardly read the current superhero comics unless a writer or artist I like is involved. Heck, about the only thing I get on a semi-regular basis anymore is Hellblazer, BPRD and a few oddballs. I always pick up the big event series, but nothing has matched Civil War.

All-Star Superman by Morrison and Quitely has been an amazing run, and I highly recommend it. Morrison has this amazing take on characters (I loved what he did with the X-men 6 or so years back), and it actaully depresses me to think that he's responsible for most of the current DC Crisis storylines. Either that, or its just so disjointed from being in so many books that the "main" book isn't all that great. I think that was the same problem I had with Secret Invasion. It always seemed like I missed stuff between the issues.

Howard Chaykin's Squadron Supreme also doesn't have the bite that Stracynzky's Supreme Power had. If you can find the graphic novels, his recreation of SS (which itself was a rip-off of DC's Justice League) was phenominal, and I really wish that Marvel has contined with it in the Mature theme.

Couple of comic things today,

First, I finalyl read the first 100 Bullets graphic novel, First Shot, Last Call. Excellent stuff. Gritty crime noir, and dark, with no real heroes. I like it, and plan to get the rest of the series. From what I understand, the end of the series is approaching, so I'll most like get to read it all without having to wait for the monthly installments (just like when I finally read Preacher).

Also started to pick up the Mark Millar/Steve McNiven run "Old Man Logan" in the Wolverine series. Now, I absolutely loe Millar's work, and I love alternate and future reality stories, and OML fits this bill. It's been something like 40 years since the villains of the world banded together to destroy all the heroes, and the US is nearly an apocalyptic wasteland. And Logan hasn't popped his claws since that fateful day. I missed the first two issues, but have loved the other 4 that I have picked up.

Millar has also been doing Fantastic Four with Bryan Hitch for about the last year or so, and that is also worth picking up.

New Universal: Stormfront appears to have been cancelled. I guess I was the only one reading that series. but Chaykin's Squadrom Supreme appears to have grown from being a limited series to a regular run. He's not as good a writer as Strazynski was, but it's still decent. Just not great.

Oh man, good call on picking up 100 Bullets. Amazing stuff. You should check out The Losers as well. It's a similar read that you won't have to follow monthly as the entire run is already over. Also, in a completely different vein, check out Jason Baldwin's Widower if you ever get the chance.

Lately, I've been reading the various Project Superpowers spinoffs as well as going back and reading the 90s Starman series. Oh, and Fables and related books of course.

I was at a used book store and they had book 7 of The Losers, but I held back picking it up. I prefer to read the series from the start if I can. I'll have to get the other 100 Bullets stuff for sure.