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Random Comic Book Crap

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Mar 18, 2017#1

ThatNickGuy

I wanted to post something but it didn't fit the News or Reading mold, so here we go. Random Comic Book Crap. For when you just want to post or talk about something random. I don't know if this thread will get much love, but what the hell. Let's give it a whirl. First up:

Comics fan fiction time. DC has hired YOU to write a DC Multiverse series in the same vein as Marvel's Exiles (basically Sliders, but with superheroes). Who's on your team and what's the first reality they visit?
My team:

-Superboy from the two-part Elseworlds annuals that was post-apocalyptic, Superman had died and Superboy took his place.
-Az-Bat (Jean-Paul Valley Batman, one where he successfully defeated the Bat Family and became the only Batman)
-Barry Allen Flash, but the one from late in Mark Waid's run with the darker red suit and scar over his face.
-Aztek
-Prysm (kind of forgotten Teen Titan character)
-An Earth 3 (aka: the evil counterparts universe) version of Aquaman. It's Mera in the role.
-A version of Tommny Monoghan (Hitman) who actually DID join Morrison's JLA. Still a jerk, but working with Superman made him a better person.

First reality they visit: A virus transformed everyone in the world into Man-Bats.

Mar 18, 2017#2

Yoshimickster

OOH-like Multiversity, cool!

Mar 18, 2017#3

ThatNickGuy

Shit, right. I honestly forgot they basically HAVE a team like this now. Please keep in mind that I barely pay attention to Marvel or DC anymore.

Mar 18, 2017#4

Yoshimickster

ThatNickGuy said:
Shit, right. I honestly forgot they basically HAVE a team like this now. Please keep in mind that I barely pay attention to Marvel or DC anymore.

Check it out though, Morrion at his Morrisoniest!

Mar 18, 2017#5

ThatNickGuy

Yoshimickster said:
Check it out though, Morrion at his Morrisoniest!

I'd like to! I've heard good stuff about it and I like most of Morrison's work. I don't know how it slipped me mind. I was discussing Marvel's Exiles in another forum and was inspired to make this idea.

Mar 18, 2017#6

Yoshimickster

I got the deluxe edition, the book cover doubles as a map of the current DC multiverse and everything. ALSO-Captain Marvel is called Captain god-damned Marvel in this, AS COMMANDED BY THE SOURCE! Seriously, if we can have TWO Scarecrows in DC and Marvel, we can have two Captain Marvels.

Mar 18, 2017#7

ThatNickGuy

So I'm in the middle of watching this YouTube documentary. It basically details the comic book bubble of the 1990s, like the rise of Image and Marvel's bankruptcy. It's especially interesting for me in his coverage of Valiant Comics, which I've never read any of their work or know anything about the company. It's amazing how quickly that company turned into a giant dumpster fire.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP7v2GoLok37YBm3WBaqvrKd97uSMYDPT

Some of his comments or facts bug me a little. For example:
-Calling Savage Dragon "Hulk, but with a fin." Which is just untrue in about every way.
-Saying Guido from X-Factor didn't have a superhero name (he did: Strong Guy)

So I question the accuracy of some of his information, but so far, from what I understand of the business at the time, he's pretty spot on.

Mar 18, 2017#8

PatrThom

ThatNickGuy said:
-Saying Guido from X-Factor didn't have a superhero name (he did: Strong Guy)

Yeah, but not until they made him pick one.

--Patrick

Mar 19, 2017#9

Yoshimickster

Three guys I hope come back are Winky, Blinky, and Noddy, primarily the ones from the Silver Age where they had the combined IQ of 150, but only when they bonked their heads together. They could've at least shown up in Bat Mite or something.

EDIT: ALSO-has there ever been like, a Ten-Eyed Superman? I feel there was, like in a Grant Morrison story.

Mar 20, 2017#10

ThatNickGuy

https://thecasualgeekery.com/2017/03/20/10-things-id-do-if-i-ran-dc-or-marvel-comics-part-12/

All right, comic book nerds. Ready your torches and pitchforks, because I'm about to destroy everything you hold near and dear.

I just published an article at The Casual Geekery called 10 THINGS I'D DO IF I RAN DC OR MARVEL COMICS.

Mar 20, 2017#11

Dave

They need to make the first paragraph in italics, bold, or some other identifying script to let the reader know when editorializing ends and Nick begins.

Mar 20, 2017#12

ThatNickGuy

Dave said:
They need to make the first paragraph in italics, bold, or some other identifying script to let the reader know when editorializing ends and Nick begins.

Fortunately, I have editing capabilities, so...DONE!

Mar 20, 2017#13

Dave

NOW it reads better. And so far I agree with your points. The big events - excuse me - BIIIIIIIG EVEEEEEEENTS and their thousands of ancillary one-offs in established titles are the reason I stopped buying comics. It was like a part-time job trying to figure out what was missed. It was nothing more than a ham-fisted money-grab.

Mar 20, 2017#14

Dei

ThatNickGuy said:
Fortunately, I have editing capabilities, so...DONE!

I don't know if your can do anything about this, but in a couple of spots, the section titles do this on mobile.

Mar 20, 2017#15

Yoshimickster

Also agree to the one book thing, for fuck's sake Action comics and Superman are the same damn story! YES-by two different writers, but its clearly a flowing narrative that should be in one solo fucking book!

EDIT: QUESTION-was Extreme Justice terrible? I assume it had to be, given it was in the nineties, had extreme in the title, and tried to make the Wonder Twins look bad-ass.

Mar 20, 2017#16

ThatNickGuy

Dei said:
I don't know if your can do anything about this, but in a couple of spots, the section titles do this on mobile.

View attachment 23502

Weird, I checked it on my own phone and it's not showing up like that. Not sure what to do fix it. Sorry.[DOUBLEPOST=1490069641,1490069606][/DOUBLEPOST]

Yoshimickster said:
EDIT: QUESTION-was Extreme Justice terrible? I assume it had to be, given it was in the nineties, had extreme in the title, and tried to make the Wonder Twins look bad-ass.

I've honestly never read it, so I can't say.[DOUBLEPOST=1490069689][/DOUBLEPOST]

Dave said:
NOW it reads better. And so far I agree with your points. The big events - excuse me - BIIIIIIIG EVEEEEEEENTS and their thousands of ancillary one-offs in established titles are the reason I stopped buying comics. It was like a part-time job trying to figure out what was missed. It was nothing more than a ham-fisted money-grab.

Which is exactly why I stick almost exclusively to Image titles these days. I can go from Volume 1 to Volume 2 without needing to read anything else.

Mar 22, 2017#17

ThatNickGuy

I'm back with Part 2 of Wrecking Your Geek Shit, also known as 10 Things I'd Do If I Ran DC or Marvel Comics.

https://thecasualgeekery.com/2017/03/22/10-things-id-do-if-i-ran-dc-or-marvel-comics-part-2/

Mar 22, 2017#18

drawn_inward

ThatNickGuy said:
https://thecasualgeekery.com/2017/03/20/10-things-id-do-if-i-ran-dc-or-marvel-comics-part-12/

All right, comic book nerds. Ready your torches and pitchforks, because I'm about to destroy everything you hold near and dear.

I just published an article at The Casual Geekery called 10 THINGS I'D DO IF I RAN DC OR MARVEL COMICS.

Absolutely, lock-step agree with you Nick. No pitchfork here. Well done!

Mar 22, 2017#19

Dave

I, too, think these are great ideas. The industry is what has stopped me from buying comics, not the books. If I go in to a store and see a series at #300 I will not buy it! I figure that I've missed a lot of the interesting stuff and am now just into the spinning-wheels portion of the story.

Mar 22, 2017#20

drawn_inward

Dave said:
I, too, think these are great ideas. The industry is what has stopped me from buying comics, not the books. If I go in to a store and see a series at #300 I will not buy it! I figure that I've missed a lot of the interesting stuff and am now just into the spinning-wheels portion of the story.

And, how do I know which X-book or Spidey book to get since there are 4 or 5 variations.

Mar 22, 2017#21

ThatNickGuy

Yeah, this list is more to bring the casual audience back into the fold. The hardcore nerds will be there, either way, so it's them that probably need pitchforks.

Mar 22, 2017#22

Celt Z

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote, and I wouldn't mind seeing it come into fruition, but there is one thing that makes me pause:

I like the idea of keeping each character and/or team into one book, and I think the idea of comics having a set beginning and an end (like a Netflix show), and possibly rotating books, would be great, but wonder if a monthly cap (for example, the 25 book limit) would hinder creativity. My worry would be publishers have to meet a certain $ in order to stay in business, and they might be willing to take less risks that could put that number in jeopardy. It could mean we'd miss out on the Ms. Marvels or other risks because well-known characters are going to be a guaranteed sale. I think that part might need a little more tooling, but over-all, I like the ideas you presented.

Mar 22, 2017#23

Sara_2814

I love your ideas, Nick. I'd like to see more works published originally as graphic novels or as self-contained serials. And maybe that would open more characters up for new stories, like Wonder Woman: The True Amazon (which was awesome, btw!) and more Elseworlds. Even if they kept the well-known characters as monthlies, other characters could probably do well as short series or graphic novels, and maybe get enough of a fan base to get more stories or a monthly.

Mar 23, 2017#24

Bubble181

Dave said:
I, too, think these are great ideas. The industry is what has stopped me from buying comics, not the books. If I go in to a store and see a series at #300 I will not buy it! I figure that I've missed a lot of the interesting stuff and am now just into the spinning-wheels portion of the story.

On the other hand, a #1 also doesn't cause me ot buy, because they rarely mean actual new beginning., and some series "reset" so quickly - or are abandoned before ever coming into their own- thaat it isn't worth investing in.

Mar 23, 2017#25

ThatNickGuy

Bubble181 said:
On the other hand, a #1 also doesn't cause me ot buy, because they rarely mean actual new beginning., and some series "reset" so quickly - or are abandoned before ever coming into their own- thaat it isn't worth investing in.

Or worse, it's a #1 in name only because there's a lot of baggage behind it from either events, tie-ins, or the title's own previous series.

That's why I can't get into any of DC's Rebirth titles. The Superman titles continue on stories from the previous New 52 titles, like Luthor having superpowers, issues involving New 52 Superman, and oh yes, Lois & Clark suddenly have a son. And to understand where HE came from, you're required to read issues of Convergence and their Lois & Clark mini-series. All this "fresh start" is just a load of hyperbolic bullshit.

Mar 23, 2017#26

Frank

Hey Canajuns, Amazon.ca seems to be having a sale on a ton of Image trades. Like, I bought Skullkickers Vols 1 and 2 for like 5 bucks each. Chew Vol 1 for 6 bucks. I haven't really dug deep since it seems really random what is and isn't cheap but it's worth a looksie.[DOUBLEPOST=1490307485,1490306960][/DOUBLEPOST]Ok, I dug deeper, apparently it's only like Chew and Skullkickers.

So, I have no idea why those are so cheap right now, but I dig Skullkickers slapstick D&Desque barbarity in a nice almost Joe Mad-esque art style so I grabbed those and have heard nothing but good things about Chew.

Mar 24, 2017#27

ThatNickGuy

Hm. I'd love to get the Chew Smorgasboard editions (basically giant-sized like DC's Absolute Editions), but only Volume 2 appears to be part of this sale.

Maybe I'll wait it out and hope they release a Chew Compendium like Invincible & Walking Dead.

EDIT: Christ I'm weird with collected editions.

Mar 24, 2017#28

ThatNickGuy

Welp, I'm totally conversing with John "Chew" Layman on Twitter. He just said this:

He said it'll probably be about a year before they start coming out. I can be patient. But still, how awesome is it he responded?

Mar 26, 2017#29

PatrThom

ThatNickGuy said:
how awesome is it he responded?

That's pretty awesome. It's tempered a bit by the fact that we can't get the Big Blonde Baby to shut up on Twitter, but it's still awesome.

--Patrick

Apr 1, 2017#30

ThatNickGuy

Linkara posted a video today that is advertised as a Power Rangers film review, starts as a parody of Jim Fucking Sterling Son's work, but is actually a really good editorial on the failures of the DC's New 52 relaunch. I'd LOVE to see him do more editorials like this.

Apr 6, 2017#31

ThatNickGuy

My Chapters order arrived in the mail today: four volumes for new editions of The Death & Return of Superman. This is long overdue, in my opinion. But my god, they're so pretty! Finally, each issue is separate by their respective covers (a big pet peeve for me with collected editions). And there's SO MUCH new content; some I've never read before, like Supergirl & Team Luthor and the entirety of The Legacy of Superman issue (only partly collected in the previous Funeral for a Friend collection).

The Death of Superman got me into comics, so I'm happy there are finally some good, proper collections of this storyline.

The only problem with it? Put the books together from left to right and the spines make the awesome bleeding S logo. Not a big deal, right? Except I organize my books on my shelves from left to right. That way, if I want to take a small stack with me to bed, I can take the volumes of a series in order from top to bottom. But now, I'm thinking of rearranging my books just so these four volumes will fit with the rest.

...

I'm really weird with my comics.

Apr 6, 2017#32

drawn_inward

Which collection is this?

I have TPB, and a few of the original issues. I'd like to see some pics.

I too get pulled in by this story. I was reading the occasional Batman and Uncanny before this event, but just randomly chosen.

Apr 6, 2017#33

ThatNickGuy

drawn_inward said:
Which collection is this?

I have TPB, and a few of the original issues. I'd like to see some pics.

I too get pulled in by this story. I was reading the occasional Batman and Uncanny before this event, but just randomly chosen.

Here ya go:

Apr 6, 2017#34

Hailey Knight

I'd just let the Supes books be the odd man out, rather than screw up the rest.

I still hate what the marketing around this did to comics, but the story is iconic and those are some nice-looking trades.

Someday I'll have to get the big collections of the Spider-man Clone Saga, so I can have the books that got me out of comics. Then review each issue one by one. And then burn them.

Apr 6, 2017#35

ThatNickGuy

Zero Esc said:
I'd just let the Supes books be the odd man out, rather than screw up the rest.

I still hate what the marketing around this did to comics, but the story is iconic and those are some nice-looking trades.

Someday I'll have to get the big collections of the Spider-man Clone Saga, so I can have the books that got me out of comics. Then review each issue one by one. And then burn them.

The only thing stopping me from doing them all is my Sin City books, where if placed left to right, the spines form a naked Nancy (the stripper).

And yeah, I hate The Death of Superman's legacy, but it's what got me hooked on comics for good. Rather than just the single issue of his death, my parents got me the collected edition. It's probably why I've always preferred trades since then.

And the Clone Saga? Good lord, man, are you crazy? That's like a dozen or more books. I actually started buying them at first, but I couldn't stomach re-reading them. I lived through that story and I'm ashamed to say I stayed on longer with than most. Didn't make it all to the end, but got close.

Apr 8, 2017#36

ThatNickGuy

How to lose a high profile comic book artist job in one easy step.

What a moron.

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/04/08/marvel-releases-statement-on-controversial-x-men-gold-art/

Apr 8, 2017#37

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
How to lose a high profile comic book artist job in one easy step.

What a moron.

http://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/04/08/marvel-releases-statement-on-controversial-x-men-gold-art/

As if Marvel needed more bad press right now. At least they're taking immediate action, but what a fuck-up. And the more you read the article, the worse it gets. Like, this artist put layers of detail into losing his job. Unreal.

Apr 8, 2017#38

Covar

Hopefully they fire the guy and issue an actual apology soon.

Apr 9, 2017#39

DarkAudit

Covar said:
Hopefully they fire the guy and issue an actual apology soon.

I hear Nick Spencer is lobbying to get him on his books.

Apr 9, 2017#40

Frank

Really gross way to shit on Kitty Pryde.

Apr 9, 2017#41

Hailey Knight

DarkAudit said:
I hear Nick Spencer is lobbying to get him on his books.

I know you're being facetious, but I could see him pitching that to the editors. "People will be angry, more sales. Come on, guys, do it for the lulz!"

G. Willow Wilson has a response to this on her Tumblr that I can't seem to get a link copied on my phone for some reason, explaining how different Quranic verses are going to be interpreted and misinterpreted in non-Arabic places like Indonesia to suit the local ideals, and how the verse has historical context now lost so many centuries later.

And then pointed out that the guy meant it in the worst way and is a shit. Pretty much drawing up ways you could rationalize this in his defense and then slamming those down as not applying to this situation.

EDIT: Okay, got the link

Apr 9, 2017#42

Gruebeard

Frank said:
Really gross way to shit on Kitty Pryde.

. . . I just pictured someone drawing that.

Apr 14, 2017#43

Yoshimickster

Gruebeard said:
. . . I just pictured someone drawing that.

Welcome to the internet!

Onto business, Cat Grant has a REAL role in the Rebirth Supergirl comics right? Because out of fear of her being killed off in Supergirl after what Celt Z said in the TV thread, I INSTEAD learn she leaves Catco and gets replaced by....Snapper Carr? The fuck?! That is the opposite of a good replacement for her! And seriously-SNAPPER CARR?! Out of ALL the random ass DC characters that could've been shoe-horned into Supergirl, Snapper did not need to be one of them. Especially since it don't even look like he has anything to do with the original character like AT all. Unless he has a time-travelling robot friend I do not give a shit.

Apr 19, 2017#44

Yoshimickster

Answered that question myself, and am GLAD it was because of scheduling. Need me some Flockhart.

IDEA FOR A DC STORY-have Redtool(the official DC parody of Deadpool) be originally an ostracized hero from a version of Angor, where his mere presence infected the entire universe to the point where it seemed to revolve around him, causing him to seemingly appear in five different places at once despite that not making any damn sense, other hero's personalities being over-written by his persona DESPITE being their own person before, and to top it all off: Pointless fusion characters of him and some other character!

Apr 20, 2017#45

ThatNickGuy

Wasn't honestly sure where to post this. Thought maybe the Politics forum, but I...don't really like going there. Anyway, some sad news from a fellow Maritimer (from New Brunswick in this case).

Gisele Lagace, writer/artist/creator of Pixie Trix Comics (like one of my personal favourite webcomics, Menage a 3) was denied entry into the U.S. So she can't go to C2E2.

Welp, no C2E2 for me. Was refused entry at the border. They kept pressing about the comics I had and the sketches, and well, I had to be honest and said that I did get paid for commissions but before hand, but since they weren't complete, it was considered work in the us. Comics wise, I had maybe $700 in value if I had sold everything. Honestly, it's not a lot.

Was asked if I was the only one doing this as I looked surprised to be refused entry. I said no, many artists from around the world attend these to promote themselves. I don't think they cared.

My car was searched and is a mess. And to top it off, I was body searched and finger printed too (they do that when you get refused entry apparently.) It was an awful experience.

Things then went worse when they searched me throughout and found 2 white pills in my wallet. There was no identification on them and I wasn't sure what they were. Once I calmed down after being touched all over, I remembered they were generic acetaminophen from the dollar store that I carry around in case Marc gets a headache as it sometimes happen. I forgot they were even in there.

Anyway, I wasn't turned around for the 2 acetaminophen, as they found those after I was refused entry for the comics in my car and the unfinished sketches but they kept us longer there until they were convinced they weren't narcotics. I never took drugs in my life!

And to think we drove close to 2 days to get there. For nothing. (No, I didn't get anything from that body search. Maybe Zii would think it's a good deal.) Anyway... Driving back home.

Now that I've been refused entry in the US for this, it's on file. Don't expect to see me at a US con until I can figure out a way to get in and being absolutely certain this won't happen.

Apr 20, 2017#46

Sara_2814

ThatNickGuy said:
Wasn't honestly sure where to post this. Thought maybe the Politics forum, but I...don't really like going there. Anyway, some sad news from a fellow Maritimer (from New Brunswick in this case).

Gisele Lagace, writer/artist/creator of Pixie Trix Comics (like one of my personal favourite webcomics, Menage a 3) was denied entry into the U.S. So she can't go to C2E2.

Well, I'll sleep better tonight, knowing that we're being protected from the Canadian Comic Creator menace!

Apr 21, 2017#47

Celt Z

ThatNickGuy said:
Wasn't honestly sure where to post this. Thought maybe the Politics forum, but I...don't really like going there. Anyway, some sad news from a fellow Maritimer (from New Brunswick in this case).

Gisele Lagace, writer/artist/creator of Pixie Trix Comics (like one of my personal favourite webcomics, Menage a 3) was denied entry into the U.S. So she can't go to C2E2.

That's infuriating, and I feel so bad for Gisele.

Apr 21, 2017#48

PatrThom

So unless I'm reading this wrong, she was refused entry because the act of finishing up those sketches while on US soil would have been considered "Working in the US without a valid work visa" or something?

--Patrick

Apr 21, 2017#49

Covar

PatrThom said:
So unless I'm reading this wrong, she was refused entry because the act of finishing up those sketches while on US soil would have been considered "Working in the US without a valid work visa" or something?

--Patrick

Yep. Technically working a table at a convention would also qualify.

Apr 25, 2017#50

Yoshimickster

Is Geof Johns the most hit or miss superhero writer, or Jeph Loeb? BOTH-have a track record for an equal ammount of great...and sucky stories.

ALSO-while down the wikipedia rabbit hole again, I learned Jeph Loeb wrote Teen Wolf...I am not sure if that's weird or not.

Apr 26, 2017#51

Frank

Jeph Loeb's lows eclipse Johns' by like a power of 10.

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

Apr 26, 2017#52

Hailey Knight

One of the best things Loeb's ever done was get a token producer credit for the Netflix Marvel shows.

Apr 26, 2017#53

ThatNickGuy

Yoshimickster said:
Is Geof Johns the most hit or miss superhero writer, or Jeph Loeb? BOTH-have a track record for an equal ammount of great...and sucky stories.

ALSO-while down the wikipedia rabbit hole again, I learned Jeph Loeb wrote Teen Wolf...I am not sure if that's weird or not.

I thought they were BOTH better writers in their earlier days. Loeb's best work is unquestionably anything he did with Tim Sale. When he was a writer on one of the Superman titles, it started out strong, but gradually became a mess. Especially when he started using famous president speeches as narration throughout each issue.

Johns...I don't know. Personally, I think his strongest work was his earliest work. His runs on JSA and The Flash especially. I liked parts of his Green Lantern run, until it turned into the Adventures of the Rainbow Lanterns.

Apr 26, 2017#54

ThatNickGuy

Picked up Waid's Flash Volume 2 today. Haven't had the chance to read it yet, but as I flipped through it, I saw something that ticked me off:

The Return of Barry Allen story is split, with a Flash Annual (part of the Bloodlines event) in between. Why? Why would they do that? That annual isn't part of the story at all.

Apr 26, 2017#55

Yoshimickster

ThatNickGuy said:
Picked up Waid's Flash Volume 2 today. Haven't had the chance to read it yet, but as I flipped through it, I saw something that to me me off:

The Return of Barry Allen story is split, with the Flash Annual (part of the Bloodlines event) in between. Why? Why would they do that? That annual isn't part of the story at all.

Its Bloodlines related Nick, don't expect logic to come from it.

Apr 26, 2017#56

Hailey Knight

If a Cosmic Cube can rewrite reality, why is the Infinity Gauntlet a big deal?

Apr 26, 2017#57

ThatNickGuy

Yoshimickster said:
Its Bloodlines related Nick, don't expect logic to come from it.

I'm guilty in saying I enjoyed Bloodlines. Even if it's horribly dated. But it still doesn't make sense to split up one of the best Flash stories.

Apr 26, 2017#58

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
If a Cosmic Cube can rewrite reality, why is the Infinity Gauntlet a big deal?

Because rewriting reality is only one facet of the Gauntlet.

--Patrick

Apr 26, 2017#59

Tress

PatrThom said:
Because rewriting reality is only one facet of the Gauntlet.

--Patrick

To expand on this, the wearer of the gauntlet also gains omniscience, complete dominance of time itself, the ability to communicate with or dominate the souls of all beings (alive or dead), and unlimited power. And more.

A cosmic cube can only change reality based on the user's limited understanding of reality.

Apr 26, 2017#60

filmfanatic

ThatNickGuy said:
I'm guilty in saying I enjoyed Bloodlines. Even if it's horribly dated. But it still doesn't make sense to split up one of the best Flash stories.

I'll say one thing that is good from Bloodlines. It at least gave us Tommy Monaghan.

Apr 26, 2017#61

ThatNickGuy

filmfanatic said:
I'll say one thing that is good from Bloodlines. It at least gave us Tommy Monaghan.

And Loose Cannon! Don't forget Loose Cannon! The human mood ring!

...no, really. He changed colour depending on his mood.

Apr 27, 2017#62

Yoshimickster

Who is no a crippled high school student, who can walk after transforming...and yet he still complains about looking like a monster-OH AREN'T COMICS FUN?!

Apr 27, 2017#63

PatrThom

Yoshimickster said:
Who is no a crippled high school student, who can walk after transforming...and yet he still complains about looking like a monster-OH AREN'T COMICS FUN?!

There's always the other side of the coin.

...huh, didn't realize it got made into a cartoon.

--Patrick

Apr 27, 2017#64

fade

I was wondering why that hadn't been tapped for a movie yet. He's still putting out new books, too. My kids like My Teacher is an Alien.

Apr 27, 2017#65

PatrThom

fade said:
I was wondering why that hadn't been tapped for a movie yet. He's still putting out new books, too. My kids like My Teacher is an Alien.

I only found out last year that he'd written more than just the one book when I found a whole shelf devoted to him while picking out books with my son at the library.

--Patrick

May 6, 2017#66

ThatNickGuy

This guy is doing Free Comic Book Day right.

May 6, 2017#67

Hailey Knight

My store had a couple artists in, plus everything in store was 25 % off besides games. I came in to get free stuff plus Red Hood issues I'd missed, but ended up grabbing the rest of East of West as well.

May 6, 2017#68

Dei

3rd year in a row I'm too busy on FCBD to make it.

May 6, 2017#69

ThatNickGuy

I tried going after a yoga class this afternoon, but I made it to the comic shop 15 minutes before they closed. They'd already packed away everything. :/

May 11, 2017#70

Hailey Knight

Went into the comic store and the girl behind the counter handed me a coupon I was supposed to get on FCBD, but they forgot: a 50% off coupon on any graphic novel or trade in store.

It becomes valid on Saturday. I wonder what I should get. If I hadn't just completed Hickman's Avengers saga, that'd be the obvious answer. Not sure.

May 11, 2017#71

ThatNickGuy

Zero Esc said:
Went into the comic store and the girl behind the counter handed me a coupon I was supposed to get on FCBD, but they forgot: a 50% off coupon on any graphic novel or trade in store.

It becomes valid on Saturday. I wonder what I should get. If I hadn't just completed Hickman's Avengers saga, that'd be the obvious answer. Not sure.

The Fade Out omnibus, by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips.

You can thank me later.

May 11, 2017#72

Covar

You should get...

ThatNickGuy said:
The Fade Out omnibus, by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips.

...

Yeah just get that.

May 12, 2017#73

PatrThom

Or you know, just get Sandman. Again.

--Patrick

May 12, 2017#74

Ravenpoe

PatrThom said:
Or you know, just get Sandman. Again.

--Patrick

^This

You can't own it too many times

May 12, 2017#75

Yoshimickster

I've noticed this for a while in comics, but discounting love-interests it seems like the only friends modern superheroes have are either related to them, or they met through work. You never see a hero going to like a fantasy football club, talking to people who AREN'T involved in fighting crime. I mean how hard would it be to have Simon Baz join an auto-enthusiast club, or Raven going to a poetry slam and having RECURRING side-characters that talk to her about crap. Hell, even in Superman-

-turns out the ENTIRE town of Hamilton was spying on the Kents this whole time, dampening Jon's powers with evil space-milk.

Work, life-saving, work, life-saving, there have GOT to be other aspects to these people in their lives!

May 12, 2017#76

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
Or you know, just get Sandman. Again.

--Patrick

Wasn't aware they put out a single volume omnibus

Ravenpoe said:
^This

You can't own it too many times

Once is enough. Plus I don't like the re-colorings for the recent editions. I'll stick with my early '00s trades.

May 12, 2017#77

ThatNickGuy

I kinda wish they'd so some deluxe softcover editions of Sandman. Vertigo's been re-publishing their old series like that and they've all been top notch. Preacher, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Northlanders, DMZ, Ex Machina (technically, that was originally Wildstorm, but now it's under the Vertigo banner), Sandman Mystery Theatre. All quality re-collections.

I have the four-volume Absolute editions. They look gorgeous on the shelf, but cripes, they're unwieldy to re-read or flip through. I thought about going back to the 10 trades, but volume 3 pisses me off (it only collects 3 or 4 issues).

May 12, 2017#78

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
I kinda wish they'd so some deluxe softcover editions of Sandman. Vertigo's been re-publishing their old series like that and they've all been top notch. Preacher, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Northlanders, DMZ, Ex Machina (technically, that was originally Wildstorm, but now it's under the Vertigo banner), Sandman Mystery Theatre. All quality re-collections.

I have the four-volume Absolute editions. They look gorgeous on the shelf, but cripes, they're unwieldy to re-read or flip through. I thought about going back to the 10 trades, but volume 3 pisses me off (it only collects 3 or 4 issues).

Wife and I were looking at those last week and came to the same consensus as you. The deluxe hardcovers are great to show off, while you continue to read the same paperbacks until they're falling out of their bindings.

I think the biggest hardcover I own right now is Infinity. Maybe I'd have problems with it, but compared to the 52 omnibus, it's a breeze.

May 13, 2017#79

ThatNickGuy

This is a really great video. Though I'd add in "Don't bother with DC or Marvel. Read Image comics."

May 13, 2017#80

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
This is a really great video. Though I'd add in "Don't bother with DC or Marvel. Read Image comics."

Why did you never say that before ever? Now I've wasted all this time!

May 13, 2017#81

ThatNickGuy

Zero Esc said:
Why did you never say that before ever? Now I've wasted all this time!

Heh, I made a much longer comment in the video's comment section, but it's all the same stuff I've said on here multiple times: inaccessible, so-called #1 issues aren't good jumping on points anymore, company-wide crossovers ruining creative team runs, etc.

There are, of course, recent rare exceptions. Three that come to mind are Squirrel Girl, Vision, and Omega Men (going back to another comment I made on here about Tom King's 12-issue story designs).

May 14, 2017#82

ThatNickGuy

So, I have a question. I tried googling the subject, but came up with nothing. I'm also copy/pasting this from Reddit's /comics. Even if no one here knows the answer, this could be an interesting discussion topic.

Even before the Man of Steel film released and there were long discussions over Superman killing Zod, people have discussed whether classic superheroes like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman should kill criminals.

I should make this clear: I'm not saying they HAVEN'T. Superman killed in John Byrne's final issue of his respectively long run in Superman #22. Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord just before Infinite Crisis. Batman shot Darkseid in Final Crisis.

I've always wondered whether they SHOULD. From my point of view, I don't think they should. Especially Superman. I feel that Superman should always find a better solution. That's what makes him Superman: he always does the right thing. Oddly enough, I'm okay with some Marvel characters taking a life. Captain America fought in WW2, so I don't see why he shouldn't. It would pain him to do it at any time and he'd avoid it as much as humanly possible, though.

Anyway, what I'm most curious about is people's reactions to John Byrne's issue back in the day. I wasn't reading comics at the time (I started with The Death of Superman). Does anyone know how fans reacted at the time? I'm especially curious if anyone knows how other comic book creators - writers and artists - reacted to the story. In retrospect, it feels like Byrne did that as his final issue so he wouldn't have to deal with the ramifications. Like he was saying, "Welp, here you go, future writers. Superman canonically killed. Not my problem!" Given Byrne's ego, it wouldn't surprise me.

May 14, 2017#83

Ravenpoe

ThatNickGuy said:
So, I have a question. I tried googling the subject, but came up with nothing. I'm also copy/pasting this from Reddit's /comics. Even if no one here knows the answer, this could be an interesting discussion topic.

Even before the Man of Steel film released and there were long discussions over Superman killing Zod, people have discussed whether classic superheroes like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman should kill criminals.

I should make this clear: I'm not saying they HAVEN'T. Superman killed in John Byrne's final issue of his respectively long run in Superman #22. Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord just before Infinite Crisis. Batman shot Darkseid in Final Crisis.

I've always wondered whether they SHOULD. From my point of view, I don't think they should. Especially Superman. I feel that Superman should always find a better solution. That's what makes him Superman: he always does the right thing. Oddly enough, I'm okay with some Marvel characters taking a life. Captain America fought in WW2, so I don't see why he shouldn't. It would pain him to do it at any time and he'd avoid it as much as humanly possible, though.

Anyway, what I'm most curious about is people's reactions to John Byrne's issue back in the day. I wasn't reading comics at the time (I started with The Death of Superman). Does anyone know how fans reacted at the time? I'm especially curious if anyone knows how other comic book creators - writers and artists - reacted to the story. In retrospect, it feels like Byrne did that as his final issue so he wouldn't have to deal with the ramifications. Like he was saying, "Welp, here you go, future writers. Superman canonically killed. Not my problem!" Given Byrne's ego, it wouldn't surprise me.

I am firmly in the camp of shouldn't kill when it comes to the main DC characters, because of the kinds of characters they are. I'm alright with marvel characters killing, but Batman, Wonder Woman, and especially Superman are supposed to be modern day gods in fiction. Superman exemplifies this best, it's right there in the name. He is the super man, the best of us that we all aspire to. He can make mistakes, he can doubt himself, but in the end he always does what is right, no matter what. That's what makes him who he is.

Batman, similarly, is someone that aspires to be better than he is. He knows his own flaws, his anger, his fear, and how if he allowed himself to slip, he would become exactly what he hates. Killing isn't an option for him because it's the only thing keeping him from the edge.

May 14, 2017#84

Celt Z

ThatNickGuy said:
So, I have a question. I tried googling the subject, but came up with nothing. I'm also copy/pasting this from Reddit's /comics. Even if no one here knows the answer, this could be an interesting discussion topic.

Even before the Man of Steel film released and there were long discussions over Superman killing Zod, people have discussed whether classic superheroes like Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman should kill criminals.

I should make this clear: I'm not saying they HAVEN'T. Superman killed in John Byrne's final issue of his respectively long run in Superman #22. Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord just before Infinite Crisis. Batman shot Darkseid in Final Crisis.

I've always wondered whether they SHOULD. From my point of view, I don't think they should. Especially Superman. I feel that Superman should always find a better solution. That's what makes him Superman: he always does the right thing. Oddly enough, I'm okay with some Marvel characters taking a life. Captain America fought in WW2, so I don't see why he shouldn't. It would pain him to do it at any time and he'd avoid it as much as humanly possible, though.

Anyway, what I'm most curious about is people's reactions to John Byrne's issue back in the day. I wasn't reading comics at the time (I started with The Death of Superman). Does anyone know how fans reacted at the time? I'm especially curious if anyone knows how other comic book creators - writers and artists - reacted to the story. In retrospect, it feels like Byrne did that as his final issue so he wouldn't have to deal with the ramifications. Like he was saying, "Welp, here you go, future writers. Superman canonically killed. Not my problem!" Given Byrne's ego, it wouldn't surprise me.

I know I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I'm of the mind that it largely depends on the hero. I'm less upset about Wonder Woman killing on the rare occasion because it fits more with her character. Amazon wisdom tends to lean practical more than emotional, so I could see her finding reason in it once in a while.

But certain characters have the "no kill" built into their mythos, like Superman, Batman, and I think Spider-Man, so when they break that code, it feels less like a moral complication and more like lazy writing. You take away that part, and suddenly there's nothing that really makes them stand out from characters with similar powers/abilities that aren't opposed to killing.

Actually, the bending of Batman's "no gun/no kill" rule is particularly tone-deaf because Batman is usually characterized as one of the most self-confident, bull-headed and unyielding characters in comics. He almost never thinks his way is wrong. It's hard to believe he would, even for a second, break his own rules.

May 14, 2017#85

Ravenpoe

Celt Z said:
It's hard to believe he would, even for a second, break his own rules.

I do think it is possible to tell a compelling story where these characters break those rules. It's just that DC movies haven't managed to do that, but they've come close.

I actually liked man of steel as a film, just not as a superman movie. I think there is a compelling story to be told where superman is forced to kill Zod, and this becomes the exception that proves the rule. Having to kill one of the last of his own kind, and the emotional turmoil that comes from that, could have been powerful character building for this movieverse version of Supes, but lolnope it's never mentioned again.

Similarly, the Batman shown in Batman v Superman could have been compelling as a Batman forced over the edge. Imply in the story that he killed Joker after Joker killed Robin, and it's been a downward spiral from there. Make him the villain that Superman has to redeem. But nope, it's fist fight Martha battle

May 14, 2017#86

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
I know I've mentioned this in a previous post, but I'm of the mind that it largely depends on the hero. I'm less upset about Wonder Woman killing on the rare occasion because it fits more with her character. Amazon wisdom tends to lean practical more than emotional, so I could see her finding reason in it once in a while.

But certain characters have the "no kill" built into their mythos, like Superman, Batman, and I think Spider-Man, so when they break that code, it feels less like a moral complication and more like lazy writing. You take away that part, and suddenly there's nothing that really makes them stand out from characters with similar powers/abilities that aren't opposed to killing.

Actually, the bending of Batman's "no gun/no kill" rule is particularly tone-deaf because Batman is usually characterized as one of the most self-confident, bull-headed and unyielding characters in comics. He almost never thinks his way is wrong. It's hard to believe he would, even for a second, break his own rules.

I'm also fine with Wonder Woman killing on occasion. Her whole tiers of conflict thing from Gail Simone's run made a lot of sense for her character and showed how much thought she's put into this. I didn't think her killing Maxwell Lord was out of character.

Superman more than any other character comes off as lazy writing for him to start killing people. I get Ravenpoe and others' point about him and Zod, and probably in the hands of a better filmmaker with a better script, that could've been a good story. But it wasn't, so it wasn't.

Batman, though, is so strict to his own code that I really take issue with him killing. Even "whores and grimdark" Frank Miller managed to keep that element of Batman, and if he can do it despite all his psycho shit, there's no excuse for any other writer to fail in that regard. There's an episode of the animated series where a robotic replica is made of Bruce Wayne/Batman, so perfect that at first it believes itself to be Bruce and thinks someone has put him in a robot body. At the end of the episode, the real Batman tricks Robo-Batman into thinking it's killed him. This robot is mentally a perfect copy of Bruce, right? Well, it has a fucking emotional breakdown upon thinking it's taken a life and ends up accidentally destroying itself in its anguish. When Bruce reveals he's alive, he doesn't note this as being strange. Obviously he doesn't know how he'd react upon killing someone, but it seemed he got a glimpse of how it would affect him.

That's the thing people like Zach Snyder don't understand about Batman. He's not the stoic emotionless loner he pretends at being. Really, he's friggin stuffed with feelings and puts out that demeanor to try and keep them in check. That's why I love him so much. Not because he's the badass, but because that tough guy thing is a thicker mask than his cowl, and it would be just like him to be emotionally ravaged if he killed someone, from the same source of emotions that leads him to take in all the orphans he wants to help.

A recent issue touched on readers' concerns of why Batman was helping a new character in the comics, i.e. what was in it for him. And the issue went over what he could gain from this, and I was getting annoyed. But then it hit the end of the issue, and Bruce put all that shit to rest with what I knew was the reason all along. (Paraphrasing) "I helped her because she needed help. That's all it is. That's what it's always been."

[DOUBLEPOST=1494779766,1494779718][/DOUBLEPOST]

Ravenpoe said:
I actually liked man of steel as a film, just not as a superman movie.

This is how I am with Grant Morrison's Action Comics. I like it as a comic, but it doesn't feel like Superman for me.

May 14, 2017#87

ThatNickGuy

That's the thing about the Superman comics that I grew up on: even though I hadn't read the infamous Byrne issue, they referenced it constantly. It tore at him. He had a complete mental breakdown because of it, unknowingly creating a different persona that was more Batman-like (Gangbuster). When he realized his mental health could affect everyone on Earth, he left the planet. Killing those criminals haunted him.

I think I've said this before, but if it had been written and handled with more care, I would've been okay with him killing Zod. But it comes out of nowhere with no build up, so it just rang hollow.

Even killing Doomsday, he did it because he HAD to. There was literally no other way to stop that monster. He scarified his own life in order to put Doomsday down.

Actually, I tweeted former Superman artist/writer Jon Bogdanove (who was part of the creative team I grew up on). He responded with a long series of tweets on the matter. I'll write it out rather than posting all the tweets:

"My personal response to the issue is more than 144 characters, but I think John was establishing a more contemporary Superman. In the Silver Age, Superman had a "code against killing." John didn't obliterate that, but he did nuance it in a way that I understand and endorse.

In fact, I think all of us who worked on those books under Mike Carlin shared a similar view. Superman's Code comes from Superman's essentially paternal nature. When you are the strongest guy on the planet, it's like being the only grown-up in a room full of children. So, even with really evil humans, Superman feels a responsibility to restrain his powers and control his anger. He can NEVER indulge in Batman's sort of fury for vengeance-- because he's so much stronger than everyone.

But with Kryptonians like Zod or Doomsday, the rules are different. Those bad guys are Superman's equal or superior in strength. If it comes down to a choice between his reluctance to kill, and his responsibility to protect people-- which would YOU sacrifice?

Being a grown up, Superman weighs every consideration on a case basis and makes a judgement call, just as you or I would rather than adhering to an arbitrary "code". So even if a human foe is about to blow up the Earth, Superman will use his wits and speed, and best possible judgement to try to save the day without killing. But lethal force is a last resort for him, just as it would be for you.

But where ever there is no better alternative, Superman will always accept the adult responsibility of choosing the lesser evil. Which, in some cases--like saving the world from Zod or Doomsday-- means killing. No one with a heart wants to kill, if they can help it, but when the moral imperative is clear, and all other options are exhausted, Superman does what you would do if you had to protect your kids. Killing is on the menu."

To all that, I say...wow. He gave me a much more comprehensive answer than I ever expected. And I...think I might agree with it. It'll take me some time to really think about it, though.

May 14, 2017#88

Ravenpoe

ThatNickGuy said:
That's the thing about the Superman comics that I grew up on: even though I hadn't read the infamous Byrne issue, they referenced it constantly. It tore at him. He had a complete mental breakdown because of it, unknowingly creating a different persona that was more Batman-like (Gangbuster). When he realized his mental health could affect everyone on Earth, he left the planet. Killing those criminals haunted him.

I think I've said this before, but if it had been written and handled with more care, I would've been okay with him killing Zod. But it comes out of nowhere with no build up, so it just rang hollow.

Even killing Doomsday, he did it because he HAD to. There was literally no other way to stop that monster. He scarified his own life in order to put Doomsday down.

Actually, I tweeted former Superman artist/writer Jon Bogdanove (who was part of the creative team I grew up on). He responded with a long series of tweets on the matter. I'll write it out rather than posting all the tweets:

To all that, I say...wow. He gave me a much more comprehensive answer than I ever expected. And I...think I might agree with it. It'll take me some time to really think about it, though.

The part I always remember of the doomsday arc is how much time and effort superman put into trying to keep Doomsday away from populated areas. Even with a creature strong enough to seriously hurt him, he put his all into being the thing doomsday attacks rather than the innocents around him.

So, you know, not fighting Zod in the middle of the city as a first resort

May 14, 2017#89

DarkAudit

I don't read many comics anymore, but some things stick with me. And on today of all days, this is one of them...

Headcanon. Always.

May 14, 2017#90

ThatNickGuy

Ravenpoe said:
The part I always remember of the doomsday arc is how much time and effort superman put into trying to keep Doomsday away from populated areas. Even with a creature strong enough to seriously hurt him, he put his all into being the thing doomsday attacks rather than the innocents around him.

So, you know, not fighting Zod in the middle of the city as a first resort

So many things about that movie bothered me that shouldn't have been Superman OR Clark. The defense people kept using against my argument was "This is his first time being Superman! He's going to make mistakes."

Except it's not his first time being CLARK. And the Clark Kent I'm familiar with still cares about all life and especially innocent lives around him. I don't care how angry he is, CLARK would never fly through a gas station full of people (God, that scene bothered me almost as much as killing Zod). He wouldn't blatantly wreck a small town - his HOMEtown. He also wouldn't be so petty as to destroy a trucker's truck out of spite. Spite should NEVER be part of Clark or Superman.

Even without killing Zod, there are so many other things about that movie that bothered me. To be fair, they got SOME things right. It's not a 100% horrible movie. It's just the things they got wrong, they got horrendously wrong.[DOUBLEPOST=1494781293,1494780989][/DOUBLEPOST]

DarkAudit said:
I don't read many comics anymore, but some things stick with me. And on today of all days, this is one of them...

Headcanon. Always.

I love that so much. I've quoted it before, but my favourite quote is from the Justice League episode "Comfort and Joy."

Martian Manhunter: 'Nice and cozy.' How odd of you to say that. I've never seen this side of you, Clark.
Clark: That's why I like coming home for the holidays. I can just relax and be myself.

I've also said this a million times before: Chris Evans' Captain America? THAT'S how Superman should be written. He's such a genuinely good guy that it's almost inconceivable someone like him exists.
(Also, I'm sorry. I realize I repeat a lot of the same things about Superman. You guys are probably getting sick of it by now.)

May 14, 2017#91

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
I've also said this a million times before: Chris Evans' Captain America? THAT'S how Superman should be written. He's such a genuinely good guy that it's almost inconceivable someone like him exists.

And inspires those around him to be better, as we see Cap do in The Winter Solider. That's such a good fucking movie. I need to watch it again soon.

(Also, I'm sorry. I realize I repeat a lot of the same things about Superman. You guys are probably getting sick of it by now.)

Nah, it's fine. I'd rather hear your positivity, critique, and analysis of something you love than more "thou shalt not DC, thou shalt not Marvel"

May 14, 2017#92

ThatNickGuy

"Nah, it's fine. I'd rather hear your positivity, critique, and analysis of something you love than more "thou shalt not DC, thou shalt not Marvel" .

May 14, 2017#93

DarkAudit

ThatNickGuy said:
I've also said this a million times before: Chris Evans' Captain America? THAT'S how Superman should be written. He's such a genuinely good guy that it's almost inconceivable someone like him exists.
(Also, I'm sorry. I realize I repeat a lot of the same things about Superman. You guys are probably getting sick of it by now.)

I've said it here before. Superman done right would have him show up at a cookout of someone he'd helped with burgers and hotdogs, and flowers for the lady of the house.

And the MCU would be more likely to include just that scene for Cap.

May 14, 2017#94

@Li3n

DarkAudit said:
I don't read many comics anymore, but some things stick with me. And on today of all days, this is one of them...

Headcanon. Always.

Pretty sure this was canon for way longer then any other explanation.

May 14, 2017#95

figmentPez

ThatNickGuy said:
I've always wondered whether they SHOULD. From my point of view, I don't think they should. Especially Superman. I feel that Superman should always find a better solution. That's what makes him Superman: he always does the right thing. Oddly enough, I'm okay with some Marvel characters taking a life. Captain America fought in WW2, so I don't see why he shouldn't. It would pain him to do it at any time and he'd avoid it as much as humanly possible, though.

I think this is less than a case of "should the character ever kill" and more of a "should the writers be telling a story where the character kills". It's established, and agreed on by most fans, that there are circumstances that would cause Superman to kill, and sometimes those stories work, but for the most part it's much better to tell the story where Superman finds a way to not kill. It's better to tell a story where Batman doesn't have to resort to a gun.

I think comic book movies fall into a trap where they feel like they have to push their characters to the breaking point. Big stuff needs to happen on the big screen, and I think it's lazy writing to go straight to pushing a character to the limits of their morality, especially if that morality isn't well established onscreen.

I've used this analogy before, but here goes: Nancy Drew stories are about her solving mysteries. Is there a mystery that Nancy Drew can't solve? Well, obviously, she's only human, there are limits to her abilities. Writers could come up with a mystery that she couldn't solve. They could come up with a mystery where she gets it wrong and people suffer because of that. It could even be an interesting story. But it would be absolute shit as an origin story movie on the big screen. Even if the writing were excellent, even if they somehow managed to portray her as competent in a "show, don't tell" manner, it would still be a crappy Nancy Drew story (at least as far as a stand-alone movie, or the first of a series of movies). A good first Nancy Drew movie would have her solving the case, because that's what the character is about. It could be more nuanced than just getting it right and that's it, but the character is about solving mysteries, and if the mystery goes unsolved then what the hell is the point of making it a Nancy Drew movie?

You don't make an Aquaman movie where there are no underwater scenes.
You don't make a (first) Star Trek movie where they stay on Earth.
And you shouldn't make a Superman movie where he kills.

Yes, you could tell a really good Aquaman story set in the desert, but don't make that your movie. Yes, Star Trek 4 was basically set on Earth, but it would not have been a good choice for a first movie. So, while you can tell a good story where Superman kills, it shouldn't be your choice for the first movie in a series, and it shouldn't be done too often or too lightly.

May 14, 2017#96

Frank

ThatNickGuy said:
I kinda wish they'd so some deluxe softcover editions of Sandman. Vertigo's been re-publishing their old series like that and they've all been top notch. Preacher, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Northlanders, DMZ, Ex Machina (technically, that was originally Wildstorm, but now it's under the Vertigo banner), Sandman Mystery Theatre. All quality re-collections.

I have the four-volume Absolute editions. They look gorgeous on the shelf, but cripes, they're unwieldy to re-read or flip through. I thought about going back to the 10 trades, but volume 3 pisses me off (it only collects 3 or 4 issues).

Yeah, my main beef with those big ass hardcovers. There often isn't enough of a margin on the inside of the page and you end up not being able to even read like 1/4 of it.

May 14, 2017#97

PatrThom

As I see it, a Superman story should not have him killing anyone because killing would be too easy for him. Superman is a being who could simply end all life on planet Earth if he wanted to, that is why his story is about resolving his difficulties without killing anyone. Superman (especially Silver Age Superman) could easily have tossed every villain into the Sun and dusted himself off with a "Who's next?" But Superman wouldn't do that because he's not a cruel person, he's just a kid from Kansas with Kansas values who happens to possess powers far beyond those of mortal men.

Batman, however, I see Batman's reason for not killing as something else. Batman is always on that edge. Batman doesn't kill for the same reason a recovering alcoholic doesn't drink. Batman is well-connected, is a genius with access to a vast arsenal of weaponry and surveillance gear, and is a master tactician who is an expert in various forms of combat and war. If he resorts to resolving a dilemma via assassination even once, his chance of succumbing to the temptation to fall off that wagon again go waaaaaaay up, so the way he keeps his own potential tendencies in check is by making sure that he kills nobody. Ever. Bruce Wayne has pent-up emotion and passion for years, and if that dam bursts, it'd make Kenny Rogers' Coward of the County look like a raindrop against a windshield.

Zero Esc said:
There's an episode of the animated series where a robotic replica is made of Bruce Wayne/Batman, so perfect that at first it believes itself to be Bruce and thinks someone has put him in a robot body. At the end of the episode, the real Batman tricks Robo-Batman into thinking it's killed him. This robot is mentally a perfect copy of Bruce, right? Well, it has a fucking emotional breakdown upon thinking it's taken a life and ends up accidentally destroying itself in its anguish.

I remember that episode. I felt sorry for that robot in all of its mecha-angst.

As for Wonder Woman? Amazons are warriors. I'm totally ok with her killing someone who needs killing, the same way I would be ok with Wolverine, Sgt Rock, Jonah Hex, or Nick Fury killing someone. They're all in professions where people end up dead, preferably other people. It would not be unexpected for one of their foes to disappear, or even only partially disappear.

--Patrick

May 15, 2017#98

@Li3n

PatrThom said:
But Superman wouldn't do that because he's not a cruel person,

--Patrick

Well, not to his enemies, at least!

May 29, 2017#99

Hailey Knight

Shower thought: Any time I see @ThatNickGuy or anyone else recommend Superman comics, it's always something standalone or out of continuity. I never see someone recommend a particular run or set of issues, unless the recommendations are pertaining to the New 52 exclusively.

Unrelated: Last year, the omnibus for Grant Morrison's Animal Man run was super cheap on Amazon, like $35. Then it went out of print and now the best it can be found is around $100. I've been wanting to get my hands on the run in physical form somehow, but even though volumes 1 and 3 are plentiful and reasonably-priced, volume 2 seems stuck at around $35. That's a lot for a nine-issue trade; I'm guess part of the reason is because it has the first appearance of the character from some anthology comic; Astonishing Tales or something like that.

Went to other sites and did some math. I could buy the old issues from '89-'90 for a total of $10 used. Drawbacks are, I have no idea what condition 25+ year old comics are in and it'd kind of be annoying to read vs all in one cover. Probably not going to jump for that option just yet, but it's at least an option.

May 29, 2017#100

ThatNickGuy

Zero Esc said:
Shower thought: Any time I see @ThatNickGuy or anyone else recommend Superman comics, it's always something standalone or out of continuity. I never see someone recommend a particular run or set of issues, unless the recommendations are pertaining to the New 52 exclusively.

They're the ones that stand head and shoulders above the rest. They're also easier to recommend since they're standalone. But there's some in-continuity ones I like a lot. So, hmm, some off the top of my head:

I just read Denny O'Neil & Curt Sean's Kryptonite Nevermore and it's great, if a little dated, and with wonky physics (Silver Age!).

Then there's what got me into comics: The Death & Return of Superman epic. Having 're-read it recently (new editions!), I think it holds up for the most part.

Geoff Johns' run is good up until the New Krypton stuff, which starts strong but gets progressively messier.

I loved Kurt Busiek's run, which was overshadowed by Johns at the time.

Emperor Joker is fun as hell.

I kinda dug Exile, where Superman left Earth for fear of his mental instability after killing the three Kryptonian criminals.

I actually liked the first story arc for Morrison's New 52.

Although I don't agree with all of Byrne's decisions, I can't deny his Man of Steel mini-series is worth getting.

I really liked the One Year Later story by Johns & Busiek. I liked the exploration of how Clark handled being de-powered for a year.

There's a great 2-parted shortly after he returned to life. They turned Toyman into a child killer who kills Cat Grant's son. Superman deals with the anguish that he can't save everyone and it's probably the best Cat Grant story.

May 30, 2017#101

Hailey Knight

Not sure where to post this, but since I'll be abusing the shit out of it, I thought I'd share:

Barnes and Noble having a Buy 2, get 1 Free sale for DC and Vertigo trades/graphic novels

Really glad I didn't impulse-buy Friday the 13th this weekend.

May 31, 2017#102

fade

I couldn't get past the art in Emperor Joker. I just plain didn't like it. That, and I didn't really buy the remorseful Joker scene.

Jun 1, 2017#103

ThatNickGuy

Had a random thought this morning. Not really sure what the point is of showing the parallel, but I thought it was interesting that a recent controversy somewhat parallels another:

Kathy Griffin posted a picture of a beheaded Donald Trump. It's been rightfully criticized and I'll admit that's taking things too far.

Similarly, though, was the infamous cover for Crime Suspense Stories by EC Comics. It's the cover that created the strongest argument against comics. Its legacy was being one of the prime reasons for the creation of the Comics Code.

I just thought the parallels between the two controversies was interesting.

Jun 1, 2017#104

DarkAudit

ThatNickGuy said:
Had a random thought this morning. Not really sure what the point is of showing the parallel, but I thought it was interesting that a recent controversy somewhat parallels another:

Kathy Griffin posted a picture of a beheaded Donald Trump. It's been rightfully criticized and I'll admit that's taking things too far.

View attachment 24305

Similarly, though, was the infamous cover for Crime Suspense Stories by EC Comics. It's the cover that created the strongest argument against comics. Its legacy was being one of the prime reasons for the creation of the Comics Code.

View attachment 24306

I just thought the parallels between the two controversies was interesting.

At the risk of bouncing this into the politics forum, the right is in a total lather over the Kathy Griffin pic. Some are trying to flat out deny they didn't burn Obama in effigy on a daily basis for EIGHT FUCKING YEARS.

Jun 1, 2017#105

@Li3n

Jun 1, 2017#106

PatrThom

Says a lot, that pic.

--Patrick

Jun 1, 2017#107

Covar

Yeah, Batman's wearing gloves.

Jun 1, 2017#108

Celt Z

@Li3n said:

I was just reading an article about that issue:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-time-batman-and-superman-met-wonder-woman-was-1795691414

And now I have to pick it up.

Jun 1, 2017#109

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
I was just reading an article about that issue:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-time-batman-and-superman-met-wonder-woman-was-1795691414

And now I have to pick it up.

I'm so glad Rebirth is rewriting the continuity.

Forewarning: that's the best story in the annual, and also the first. The others are fine, but this was best. And yet again, I'm going to miss Greg Rucka.

Jun 1, 2017#110

PatrThom

Covar said:
Yeah, Batman's wearing gloves.

I did notice that!
I just didn't remark on it. Figured it was "comic license."

--Patrick

Jun 1, 2017#111

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
I was just reading an article about that issue:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-time-batman-and-superman-met-wonder-woman-was-1795691414

And now I have to pick it up.

Also, word around is that scene happens same time Wonder Woman was in Nevada in Year One:

Jun 2, 2017#112

@Li3n

Covar said:
Yeah, Batman's wearing gloves.

It never had a problem with clothes before:

Jun 2, 2017#113

MindDetective

I guess a ton of digital Marvel trades are 5 bucks or less on Amazon today.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_...p|1795753481[au|5727177402741770316[b|gizmodo

Jun 2, 2017#114

Hailey Knight

So no one misunderstands, Kindle editions.

Jun 2, 2017#115

Sara_2814

Zero Esc said:
So no one misunderstands, Kindle editions.

They also have a Comixology version, which is multi-platform.

Jun 4, 2017#116

Hailey Knight

I'm dreading June 14. My DC comics are spread nicely across the month like the perfect layer of jam on toast. Then there's June 14, a big hunk of congealed former fruit when every Marvel comic I read happens to come out on the same day.

Jun 4, 2017#117

DarkAudit

Zero Esc said:
I'm dreading June 14. My DC comics are spread nicely across the month like the perfect layer of jam on toast. Then there's June 14, a big hunk of congealed former fruit when every Marvel comic I read happens to come out on the same day.

If you already know they're going to be crap, why torture yourself? Spend the money instead on a few nice cups of tea over the week until the DC goodness arrives again.

Jun 4, 2017#118

Hailey Knight

DarkAudit said:
If you already know they're going to be crap, why torture yourself? Spend the money instead on a few nice cups of tea over the week until the DC goodness arrives again.

It's the money, not the quality.

And I know it'd be the same cost if they were spread across the month, but it feels like more when spending it all at once

. Maybe that's just me.

Jun 4, 2017#119

DarkAudit

Zero Esc said:
It's the money, not the quality.

And I know it'd be the same cost if they were spread across the month, but it feels like more when spending it all at once . Maybe that's just me.

Not just you. It's a lot easier to spend a big chunk of cash on something on payday than it is when it's early in the week before payday and that same chunk will leave you with nothin'.

Jun 4, 2017#120

Hailey Knight

DarkAudit said:
Not just you. It's a lot easier to spend a big chunk of cash on something on payday than it is when it's early in the week before payday and that same chunk will leave you with nothin'.

That's true; I didn't consider the payday element, but yeah, when cost is spread out it tends to hug different paydays. Fortunately I'll get paid two days later.

And atually, there is one I'm close to dropping. Spider-man: Renew Your Vows has the super-family dynamic I like and it's set away from the rest of the Marvel universe, so it gets to be its own thing, but more than half the time, it just isn't engaging. The best thing from this comic was a short back-up in one issue that was just Peter and Annie May doing non-superhero stuff. DC lets Tomasi do that more in Superman, but that title ships twice a month, so DC probably figures it can get away with "Clark, Lois, and Jon go to the carnival" or "go on a road trip" without losing readers, even though issues like those are the best ones. Which is funny, because the non-super personal life is the stuff Marvel used to be really good at. That's part of why I love Ms. Marvel so much.

Similarly, Aquaman is at its best when it's political, but they probably won't sell many issues unless they throw in superhero arcs here and there. I'd love that book more if it was just dealing with Atlantis politics vs the surface world politics.

As for Spider-man: Renew Your Vows: this is going to sound embarrassingly early 90s, but I don't want to drop it until it finishes the Venom two-parter.

Jun 6, 2017#121

figmentPez

For anyone who has Amazon Prime and hasn't been keeping up on all the benefits they've added, there are Marvel comics in Prime Reading. Titles currently available include:
- Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal
- Captain Marvel Vol 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More
- Hawkeye Vol 1: My Life as a Weapon
- Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol 1 (and a number of other Star Wars titles)

And... I'm realizing there's too many to list. Deadpool, Thor, Spider-Man, X-Men, Star-Lord, Avengers, etc.

You can read them in a Kindle app, or in the online reader in a web browser. I'm not sure if they're available in Comixology.

Jun 8, 2017#122

Yoshimickster

How long can ducks LIVE in the Disneyverse? Scrooge is Eighty in 1947, and has enough vitality to kick the asses of EIGHT Beagle boys! And holy shit, Donald's GRANDMA is still alive too, and despite being logically over a hundred she doesn't look that physically dissimilar to any of the younger ducks.

And THEN-there's the Triplet's birth, Donald had to be 3-10 in 1930, making him 27 at the oldest in 1947. This means Della had to have had the boys at 17 at the youngest, and IN BETWEEN that time she basically shirked them off on her Navyman brother while their boy's father is never seen nor even NAMED because of a firecracker accident...the house of Mc/Duck is a dark one.

Jun 8, 2017#123

Celt Z

Yoshimickster said:
How long can ducks LIVE in the Disneyverse? Scrooge is Eighty in 1947, and has enough vitality to kick the asses of EIGHT Beagle boys! And holy shit, Donald's GRANDMA is still alive too, and despite being logically over a hundred she doesn't look that physically dissimilar to any of the younger ducks.

And THEN-there's the Triplet's birth, Donald had to be 3-10 in 1930, making him 27 at the oldest in 1947. This means Della had to have had the boys at 17 at the youngest, and IN BETWEEN that time she basically shirked them off on her Navyman brother while their boy's father is never seen nor even NAMED because of a firecracker accident...the house of Mc/Duck is a dark one.

Yoshi, hun, they're ducks that talk and wear clothing. Logic went out the window from Day 1.
Best to pick an answer that you like and make it your own headcanon.

Jun 8, 2017#124

Yoshimickster

True, true. Still think the triplet's parental situation has an unintentionally dark origin though.

Jun 8, 2017#125

fade

Wow, I didn't even know they touched on why the nephews were always with Donald, nor did I know they had a named mother.

Jun 8, 2017#126

Yoshimickster

fade said:
Wow, I didn't even know they touched on why the nephews were always with Donald, nor did I know they had a named mother.

Yeah she does NOT appear much, even in the first triplet's cartoon she's only referred to by name, which was originally Dumbella but I headcanon that the stress of being a young mother made her forget her own name....really they probably just thought Della was snappier, but what do I know?

Jun 8, 2017#127

chris

Yoshimickster said:
How long can ducks LIVE in the Disneyverse? Scrooge is Eighty in 1947, and has enough vitality to kick the asses of EIGHT Beagle boys! And holy shit, Donald's GRANDMA is still alive too, and despite being logically over a hundred she doesn't look that physically dissimilar to any of the younger ducks.

And THEN-there's the Triplet's birth, Donald had to be 3-10 in 1930, making him 27 at the oldest in 1947. This means Della had to have had the boys at 17 at the youngest, and IN BETWEEN that time she basically shirked them off on her Navyman brother while their boy's father is never seen nor even NAMED because of a firecracker accident...the house of Mc/Duck is a dark one.

I guess you are reading the Don Rosa comics? I also start reading Disney comics again, but our European ones, mostly from Italy. So much stuff I missed.
Yeah, the whereabouts of Donald's twin sister Della is a mystery and i don't know how many articles and thesis in fanzines by donaldist society members exist that analyse and try to find a explanation. However in 2014 a official comic was published that explained that she is a test pilot on a space mission.

fade said:
Wow, I didn't even know they touched on why the nephews were always with Donald, nor did I know they had a named mother.

I'm not surprised. There are many official Disney characters in the comics Americans don't know.

Jun 8, 2017#128

Yoshimickster

HYES I am, SO awesome. Do they make trades of the Italian comics, or should I just go scanlation? And space mission, really? Huh...I was...honestly preferring something darker. EH-save that for their dad whose too lazy to even have a face.

And straight up, I only learned Fethry Duck existed just a while ago.

Jun 8, 2017#129

chris

I'm sure you can find trades in Italy (and anywhere else in Europe) but in the States? I personally buy the "Lustiges Taschenbuch" a trade paperback that's published here in Germany since 1967. I recommand the stuff made by Giorgio Cavazzano.

If you like it a bit more tragic, in the comic I mentioned Donald's sister talks with her sons with the help of a invention by Gyro Gearloose but she didn't recognize them. She travels so fast, only a short time passed for her while for everybody on earth it's 10 years later. The boys didn't had the heart to tell her and lied about their identities.

Fethry Duck is only the beginning there are many more. Brigitta McBridge and John D. Rockerduck are also two regulars.

Jun 8, 2017#130

Yoshimickster

chris said:
If you like it a bit more tragic, in the comic I mentioned Donald's sister talks with her sons with the help of a invention by Gyro Gearloose but she didn't recognize them. She travels so fast, only a short time passed for her while for everybody on earth it's 10 years later. The boys didn't had the heart to tell her and lied about their identities.

THERE-it is, knew they wouldn't just have her appear like that!

Jun 8, 2017#131

filmfanatic

chris said:
I'm sure you can find trades in Italy (and anywhere else in Europe) but in the States? I personally buy the "Lustiges Taschenbuch" a trade paperback that's published here in Germany since 1967. I recommand the stuff made by Giorgio Cavazzano.

If you like it a bit more tragic, in the comic I mentioned Donald's sister talks with her sons with the help of a invention by Gyro Gearloose but she didn't recognize them. She travels so fast, only a short time passed for her while for everybody on earth it's 10 years later. The boys didn't had the heart to tell her and lied about their identities.

Fethry Duck is only the beginning there are many more. Brigitta McBridge and John D. Rockerduck are also two regulars.

You know, I kind of hope John D. Rockerduck turns up in the new DuckTales cartoons. I confess I haven't read any of the comics with him, but I like the idea of an opponent to Scrooge that's this young duck born into wealth and with a "spend money to make money" attitude.

Jun 8, 2017#132

Yoshimickster

filmfanatic said:
You know, I kind of hope John D. Rockerduck turns up in the new DuckTales cartoons. I confess I haven't read any of the comics with him, but I like the idea of an opponent to Scrooge that's this young duck born into wealth and with a "spend money to make money" attitude.

Angones might adapt him into the new series, although he MIGHT change his name to John D.Rockerfeather...which...is admittedly a MUCH better name.

Jun 9, 2017#133

Yoshimickster

SO-you know how I just read the life and times of Scrooge McDuck? I bought the trade at a comic book convention for nine dollars. After learning it was expensive online...I learned its an out of date print...ninety dollars at the cheapest...helloooooooooooooooo nest egg!

Jun 14, 2017#134

Hailey Knight

Between the climate and the bus fuck-ups, I'm going through way too much trouble getting my pull today. Should've waited for tomorrow, I'm not even gonna read them today, but I know tomorrow morning I'll wish I had some for the ride to work.

It was supposed to rain today and instead, the surface of Mercury! Truly this is Trump's America.

Jun 14, 2017#135

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
It was supposed to rain today and instead, the surface of Mercury! Truly this is Trump's America.

The side facing the Sun, at least.

--Patrick

Jun 14, 2017#136

Hailey Knight

I was thwarted by traffic and gave up.

Then my wife got out of her appointment and got them without asking me. She's too good.

Jun 14, 2017#137

PatrThom

Well, it just rained.
And I had to run to the drugstore before they closed in 15min.
I got soaked and could barely see the entire time, even though I was in my car for the majority of the trip.

--Patrick

Jun 14, 2017#138

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
Well, it just rained.
And I had to run to the drugstore before they closed in 15min.
I got soaked and could barely see the entire time, even though I was in my car for the majority of the trip.

--Patrick

That was our rain! It was predicted for days and still promised thunderstorms this morning, and then nothing, not even a friggin cloud. You stole our water.

Jun 15, 2017#139

Covar

Don't worry, Batman's on the case!
!

Jun 15, 2017#140

fade

Probably had Oracle hack into the WayneTech wireless card in Weather Wizard's rod to disable it or turn it against him first.

Jun 23, 2017#141

Hailey Knight

Some of these upcoming Superman covers are getting weird (I know it's a variant, but still). And then there's the soldier one for #27. Where is Superman taking their road trip, Arlington Cemetery?

Guessing these were the covers for July 4th because the road trip issue was July 5th, but then the delay happened so this stuff gets to be out of place in the middle of July.

Jun 23, 2017#142

Covar

Those covers are great.

Jun 23, 2017#143

Celt Z

The first cover looks like it would have been on a Superman comic from the 40's/50's.

Jun 23, 2017#144

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
Where is Superman taking their road trip, Arlington Cemetery?

Well, if the pamphlet Clark is holding in his right hand in the second picture is any indication, I'd have to say 'Yes.'"

--Patrick

Jun 23, 2017#145

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
Well, if the pamphlet Clark is holding in his right hand in the second picture is any indication, I'd have to say 'Yes.'"

--Patrick

I'm an idiot.

Jun 28, 2017#146

Covar

I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

Jul 3, 2017#147

Yoshimickster

Who put Iris and Barry in charge of naming their kids? Their names are freaking Don and DAWN Allen! Were they just TRYING to get them to be bullied? "Hey Do/awn!" Both of them:Yes?

Jul 3, 2017#148

Hailey Knight

My LCBS won't let me order a variant cover; their policy is "call that morning and ask if we have one." No idea if that's normal, but it's all I got.

Jul 3, 2017#149

Covar

Zero Esc said:
My LCBS won't let me order a variant cover; their policy is "call that morning and ask if we have one." No idea if that's normal, but it's all I got.

What's the rarity?[DOUBLEPOST=1499132326,1499132046][/DOUBLEPOST]To expand. My store's general policy is first come first serve if it's not 50/50.

Jul 3, 2017#150

Hailey Knight

Covar said:
What's the rarity?[DOUBLEPOST=1499132326,1499132046][/DOUBLEPOST]To expand. My store's general policy is first come first serve if it's not 50/50.

The Superman #27 I posted above, so not much rarity, but I think they usually get 1 in 5 or 1 in 10 variant. Which is weird because I've picked up a variant off the rack because a regular cover has sold out before. I think the idea is first come, first serve, but they open at 11AM on Wednesday while I'm at work, so there's no way I'm getting over there when we have deadlines to meet. I'll just have to call at 11:10 or something and hope.

Jul 3, 2017#151

Covar

Just checked, it's 50/50 cover. If there's not one available for you when it comes out ask them to reorder it for you. There should be some overprint still available at Diamond Wednesday afternoon.

Jul 3, 2017#152

Hailey Knight

Covar said:
Just checked, it's 50/50 cover. If there's not one available for you when it comes out ask them to reorder it for you. There should be some overprint still available at Diamond Wednesday afternoon.

Thanks; still hoping it'll go smooth on the 19th, but I feel better having a backup plan.

I'm rarely ever particular about covers since I donate most of my floppy comics to children's hospitals, but occasionally there's one I want to keep, like Red Hood #7 Of Mice and Men homage.

Jul 4, 2017#153

@Li3n

PatrThom said:
Well, it just rained.
And I had to run to the drugstore before they closed in 15min.
I got soaked and could barely see the entire time, even though I was in my car for the majority of the trip.

--Patrick

You're supposed to put the roof up when it rains...

Jul 4, 2017#154

Yoshimickster

How did I not notice until like JUST now that Blanque is a Manchester Black replacement?

Jul 4, 2017#155

Hailey Knight

Yoshimickster said:
How did I not notice until like JUST now that Blanque is a Manchester Black replacement?

Jurgens lost a rock-paper-scissors with Tomasi over who got to use him for their second quarter story arc?

Jul 7, 2017#156

Zappit

Yoshimickster said:
Who put Iris and Barry in charge of naming their kids? Their names are freaking Don and DAWN Allen! Were they just TRYING to get them to be bullied? "Hey Do/awn!" Both of them:Yes?

It's faster to call them both if you only have to call one name. Sounds like Fastest Man Alive shenanigans to me.

Jul 7, 2017#157

Hailey Knight

Zappit said:
It's faster to call them both if you only have to call one name. Sounds like Fastest Man Alive shenanigans to me.

Yeah, but Eobard Thawne didn't name them.

Jul 12, 2017#158

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
Crap, I JUST deleted the comment to put it in the proper thread.

I deleted mine too.

MOVE ALONG, FOLKS, NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Jul 12, 2017#159

Bubble181

Zero Esc said:
I deleted mine too.

MOVE ALONG, FOLKS, NOTHING TO SEE HERE

These aren't the posts we were looking for?

Jul 15, 2017#160

Yoshimickster

Anyone else glad elseworld stories don't begin with "This is an imaginary story" any more? ALL STORIES ARE FUCKING IMAGINARY!

Jul 16, 2017#161

Ravenpoe

Yoshimickster said:
Anyone else glad elseworld stories don't begin with "This is an imaginary story" any more? ALL STORIES ARE FUCKING IMAGINARY!

What about true stories?

Jul 16, 2017#162

mikerc

Ravenpoe said:
What about true stories?

Do you picture what's happening in your head when you read true stories? That's using your imagination. IMAGINARY STORY!

Jul 16, 2017#163

@Li3n

mikerc said:
Do you picture what's happening in your head when you read true stories? That's using your imagination. IMAGINARY STORY!

Maybe you do... weirdo.

Jul 17, 2017#164

mikerc

@Li3n said:
Maybe you do... weirdo.

Wait *that's* the reason I'm a weirdo. Huh. I'll be honest I always knew I was a weirdo but wasn't sure why & on my list of possible reasons that was...well, let's just say it wasn't in the top 10.

Jul 17, 2017#165

Covar

Yoshimickster said:
Anyone else glad elseworld stories don't begin with "This is an imaginary story" any more? ALL STORIES ARE FUCKING IMAGINARY!

DC calling their stories imaginary has historical significance. They used it on copy throughout the silver age to denote non-canon stories, that wouldn't be bound by the need to return the status quo by the end, such as original Superman Red & Superman Blue, or the original Death of Superman. Alan Moore has the best use of line in his send off to the silver age.

Aug 2, 2017#166

Hailey Knight

Listening to these three takes the piss out of Civil War II and surrounding shenanigans was fun, so I'm sharing, but warning: the video is on the long side.

Aug 4, 2017#167

evilmike

Aug 4, 2017#168

Fun Size

I got retweeted by Ryan North and Squirrel Girl today. Good day.

Aug 6, 2017#169

ThatNickGuy

Ugh. Really getting sick of the "SJW is killing comics" movement latching onto YouTuber Diversity & Comics. They're treating his work like gospel. And of course, whenever I try arguing the fact that Marvel's events and reboots are what's driving away customers, they're all like, "NUH UH! It's 'cause of SJWs!"

Aug 6, 2017#170

DarkAudit

ThatNickGuy said:
Ugh. Really getting sick of the "SJW is killing comics" movement latching onto YouTuber Diversity & Comics. They're treating his work like gospel. And of course, whenever I try arguing the fact that Marvel's events and reboots are what's driving away customers, they're all like, "NUH UH! It's 'cause of SJWs!"

Just the phrase "Secret Wars" will turn me away. I'm still angry from when The Beyonder simply deleted the New Mutants in Secret Wars II. A pointless chapter in a pointless series.

Aug 6, 2017#171

Hailey Knight

DarkAudit said:
Just the phrase "Secret Wars" will turn me away. I'm still angry from when The Beyonder simply deleted the New Mutants in Secret Wars II. A pointless chapter in a pointless series.

I want to be like "that was 30+ years ago!" but it's not like I've let go of the Spider-man Clone Saga.

ThatNickGuy said:
Ugh. Really getting sick of the "SJW is killing comics" movement latching onto YouTuber Diversity & Comics. They're treating his work like gospel. And of course, whenever I try arguing the fact that Marvel's events and reboots are what's driving away customers, they're all like, "NUH UH! It's 'cause of SJWs!"

I made the mistake of clicking on a video from that fucking channel because I misunderstood what it was going to be about, and then Youtube wouldn't stop recommending that twit's videos until I purged my Youtube history. I don't remember how the video title fooled me, but I remember the next video up was about Squirrel Girl, the title being something like "How is this a comic?" Well, doucheshmuck, it's a story told sequentially through images and words.

But it also goes to the idea that comic = superhero story, which Squirrel Girl barely is, because it's a humor book. You know, because other genres of comic book used to be pretty popular before comic book became synonymous with superheroes, thus devaluing the medium in some ways. That said, because the Youtuber is a racist, sexist pile of shit and not actually interested in what's going on with comics, I'm sure he wouldn't question "How is this a comic?" over something like Zdarsky's Spectacular Spider-man even though it uses a lot of the same storytelling and humor techniques as Squirrel Girl.

Aug 6, 2017#172

ThatNickGuy

In other news, I picked up a new bookcase at Value Village. I'm starting to think I have too many comics.

Aug 6, 2017#173

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
I want to be like "that was 30+ years ago!" but it's not like I've let go of the Spider-man Clone Saga.

This.

ThatNickGuy said:
In other news, I picked up a new bookcase at Value Village. I'm starting to think I have too many comics.

Balderdash! Look at all that empty space!

--Patrick

Aug 6, 2017#174

ThatNickGuy

PatrThom said:
This.

Balderdash! Look at all that empty space!

--Patrick

I have two long boxes with my other books to fill those spaces. Plus: new bookcase means new space, for better or worse.

Aug 6, 2017#175

PatrThom

ThatNickGuy said:
new bookcase means new space, for better or worse.

Don't make me repost that cookies/milk pic again

--Patrick

Aug 6, 2017#176

DarkAudit

ThatNickGuy said:
Plus: new bookcase means new space, for better or worse.

I hear ya. After backing everything up and reinstalling Win10, I have all that nice drive space waiting to be filled.

Who am I kidding? It'll be full of JAVs by fall.

Aug 6, 2017#177

ThatNickGuy

DarkAudit said:
I hear ya. After backing everything up and reinstalling Win10, I have all that nice drive space waiting to be filled.

Who am I kidding? It'll be full of JAVs by fall.

It's adorable you think it'll take that long.

Aug 6, 2017#178

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
In other news, I picked up a new bookcase at Value Village. I'm starting to think I have too many comics.

Certainly makes me feel less bad for my amount of books.

Aug 6, 2017#179

ThatNickGuy

Zero Esc said:
Certainly makes me feel less bad for my amount of books.

To be fair, I believe I've been collecting much longer than yourself.

Aug 6, 2017#180

Covar

Pfft, is that all?

Aug 6, 2017#181

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
To be fair, I believe I've been collecting much longer than yourself.

Yes

. I've had The Sandman and a couple others for over 10 years, but aside from that, I'd say most of my collection is from the past 16 months.

Aug 7, 2017#182

Yoshimickster

Here's a weird thought, the Prankster and Toyman are the only surviving Superman villains in "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" And lets get real here, they'd have gotten out of jail at one point because supervillains, that means that the Metropolis underworld would likely be lead by an angry toymaker and the poor man's Joker! And then there's Braniac's space-ship, did they dismantle it or is it in a wearhouse somewhere? The same could be asked of all of Lex's gadgets he didn't use, including the warsuit which I'm assuming exists here as the time where Braniac became fully mechanical was close to when he accidentally destroyed Lexor with said warsuit. FUCK-I'd love a sequel that'd follow up on this, but my logical mistrust in sequels to standalone elseworlds makes me nervous of it.

Aug 19, 2017#183

Yoshimickster

I love how some old comic writers had NO idea telekinesis was a thing, in Detective Comics ol' Jonny Jones uses "Martian Molecular Hypnosis" on a baseball to slow it...the writer really wanted us to believe you could hypnotize a baseball...weird times.

OH-also in the same issue it was revealed that Batman was the first Robin, let THAT melt your brain!

DOUBLE ALSO-holy shit was J'onn Jones' dialogue a bit stale in the old days.

Aug 30, 2017#184

Yoshimickster

JESUS CHRIST-look at what they did to Weasel! Bad enough Blind Al was basically barred from continuity.

Aug 31, 2017#185

Zappit

Finished Secret Empire - so you don't have to! Read on for spoilers from this literary shitshow!

Hydra Cap confronts the heroes on the steps of the Capital wearing an Iron Man suit powered by most of a Cosmic Cube. (This won't be the dumbest thing you read here.) Cap immediately kicks their collective asses, pushing back a dramatic hero dogpile. Then, Bucky shows up and gives Cap the last piece of the Cube. Hydra Cap uses it to remake the world, turning it into a Hydra paradise. Falcon-Cap is apparently immune to all this, for some reason, and unveils the heroes' master plan for defeating Hydra.

Then Hydra Paradise disappears as Ant-Man and Kobik emerge from Hydra Cap's chest, because Ant-Man apparently needed to meet Kobik and guide her out. (Wait for it, the stupid is just ramping up!) Then, feeling really shitty about the whole "make Steve Rogers a facist" thing, she brings back...regular Captain America. So either Kobik replaced Rogers with Hydra Rogers, drawing him into a Cube prison, or really did rewrite him and then replaced him with a new one...or who fucking cares at this point, because I sure don't! Anyway, the two Caps have an epic street fight broadcast on every television in the world, ultimately exonerating original recipe Rogers. Good Cap wins, evil Cap gets arrested, and rah-rah, sis-boom-bah, America drops it Nazi makeover like a high school goth phase.

However, Kobik wouldn't bring back everyone her Hydra Cap killed or restore the places they destroyed. Black Widow gets about two panels for a funeral, and all the Inhumane Hydra rounded up get freed from the concentration camps. Las Vegas is still dead. Because America needed the reminder. Apparently that reminder is a cosmic child god can fuck up everything in the world and only undo a tiny little sliver if it and feel better. The End.

Aug 31, 2017#186

Yoshimickster

God damn am I glad I don't give them my money...well, the comics division at least, still love the movies.

Sep 9, 2017#187

ThatNickGuy

DC & Dark Horse have been re-collecting many of their old crossovers. Is it wrong that I want to buy all of them? I greatly enjoyed them growing up. I think Batman/Predator and Superman/Aliens are particularly good. The sequels to them aren't quite as good, but they're fun. Then you get some really oddball ones like Lobo/The Mask, Superman/Madman, and Joker/The Mask.

I already own the Dark Horse/Superman collection. And recently bought Batman/Predator (collecting all three crossovers). I kinda want to own them all.

Sep 9, 2017#188

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
DC & Dark Horse have been re-collecting many of their old crossovers. Is it wrong that I want to buy all of them? I greatly enjoyed them growing up. I think Batman/Predator and Superman/Aliens are particularly good. The sequels to them aren't quite as good, but they're fun. Then you get some really oddball ones like Lobo/The Mask, Superman/Madman, and Joker/The Mask.

I already own the Dark Horse/Superman collection. And recently bought Batman/Predator (collecting all three crossovers). I kinda want to own them all.

This is why I'm looking forward to the Wonder Woman/Conan the Barbarian crossover by Gail Simone they're starting later this month. People are being like "Why is this happening? It's so stupid." Yeah? That's kinda the point. It's gonna be stupid fun.

I had no idea there was a Batman/Predator crossover. I'd only heard of the Batman/Alien one. I'll have to check that out.

Sep 9, 2017#189

ThatNickGuy

Zero Esc said:
I had no idea there was a Batman/Predator crossover. I'd only heard of the Batman/Alien one. I'll have to check that out.

That surprises me a little. Batman/Predator is probably the best known and most well-regarded of all the crossovers. There was a Batman/Predator 2 & 3, but as I said, they're not quite as good. The recent collections they're doing has a book collecting all three of them in one.

When I think about it, it's kind of crazy how many crossovers DC & Dark Horse have had. These new collections include ones I've never even heard of. But here's a list of most of them, as far as I know:

-Batman/Tarzan
-Batman vs Predator 1, 2, & 3
-Batman vs Aliens 1 & 2
-Superman vs Aliens 1 & 2
-Superman vs Predator
-Superman vs. Terminator
-Superman/Tarzan
-Superman/Madman
-Superman & Batman vs Aliens & Predator
-JLA/Predator
-Batman/Starman/Hellboy
-Green Lantern/Aliens
-Lobo/The Mask
-Grifter/The Mask
-Joker/The Mask
-Ghost/Batgirl
-Young Justice/Spyboy
-WildC.A.T.S./Aliens

The last one impacted the industry more than I thought when I read this article on it. Spoilers, as it pertains to Warren Ellis' run on Stormwatch.

Sep 9, 2017#190

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
That surprises me a little. Batman/Predator is probably the best known and most well-regarded of all the crossovers. There was a Batman/Predator 2 & 3, but as I said, they're not quite as good. The recent collections they're doing has a book collecting all three of them in one.

When I think about it, it's kind of crazy how many crossovers DC & Dark Horse have had. These new collections include ones I've never even heard of. But here's a list of most of them, as far as I know:

-Batman/Tarzan
-Batman vs Predator 1, 2, & 3
-Batman vs Aliens 1 & 2
-Superman vs Aliens 1 & 2
-Superman vs Predator
-Superman vs. Terminator
-Superman/Tarzan
-Superman/Madman
-Superman & Batman vs Aliens & Predator
-JLA/Predator
-Batman/Starman/Hellboy
-Green Lantern/Aliens
-Lobo/The Mask
-Grifter/The Mask
-Joker/The Mask
-Ghost/Batgirl
-Young Justice/Spyboy
-WildC.A.T.S./Aliens

The last one impacted the industry more than I thought when I read this article on it. Spoilers, as it pertains to Warren Ellis' run on Stormwatch.

Some of those probably warrant a look on WTF value alone.

Sep 9, 2017#191

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
Some of those probably warrant a look on WTF value alone.

The Lobo/The Mask one really stands out for me.

--Patrick

Sep 9, 2017#192

ThatNickGuy

PatrThom said:
The Lobo/The Mask one really stands out for me.

--Patrick

That one was great! Two cartoonishly violent characters trying to kill each other in an R-rated Looney Toons fight? It's hilarious.

My favourite part is when...

The fighting reduces them both to disembodied heads and they beat each other with weapons they hold with their respective tongues.

EDIT:
And in case no one believes me on that:

Sep 10, 2017#193

Dave

His tongue...had a glove on it.

Sep 10, 2017#194

Hailey Knight

Marvel really wanted to squeeze readers over X-Factor, huh? At least the Peter David stuff. It doesn't seem like any run was ever collected properly. Visionaries has pieces of it floating all over, and out of order. The post-Civil War stuff got up to two complete collections before Brevoort said they couldn't justify the cost, so now the rest is scattered around 12 or 13 other volumes, some containing as few as three issues.

I wish there was a Kindle paper equivalent for LCD screens. I'd avoid so much trouble just reading stuff on Marvel Unlimited, but trying to read at length on a real screen hurts my eyes. Kindle only works because of whatever witchcraft Amazon did to create the paper-like screen, so it's no different on my eyes from reading a book made of dead tree.

Sep 11, 2017#195

Yoshimickster

I read the cliff-notes of the latter half of Superboy Volume 6 today...I know it goes without saying but there is a REASON Rebirth exists, and this is part of it. Just...just so confusing. Although it WOULD explain why we haven't seen Kon-El lately, as logically he shouldn't exist anymore...I wonder if/hope that'll be addressed!

Sep 11, 2017#196

figmentPez

ThatNickGuy said:
That surprises me a little. Batman/Predator is probably the best known and most well-regarded of all the crossovers. There was a Batman/Predator 2 & 3, but as I said, they're not quite as good. The recent collections they're doing has a book collecting all three of them in one.

It's surprising how well Batman vs Predator works, it's a damn good story. Especially given how terrible Superman vs Aliens is; absolutely horrible. It's a bad story, with a brick-stupid Superman, and it makes me angry just thinking about it.[DOUBLEPOST=1505107921,1505107498][/DOUBLEPOST]

Zero Esc said:
I wish there was a Kindle paper equivalent for LCD screens. I'd avoid so much trouble just reading stuff on Marvel Unlimited, but trying to read at length on a real screen hurts my eyes. Kindle only works because of whatever witchcraft Amazon did to create the paper-like screen, so it's no different on my eyes from reading a book made of dead tree.

I've been waiting for a full color eInk screen since I first heard of the technology. Current news stories say it might happen in 2018 but I've heard the technology is 2 years away before. At this point I'm wondering if it's going to have to be another technology that finally brings color to true eReaders.

Sep 11, 2017#197

ThatNickGuy

figmentPez said:
It's surprising how well Batman vs Predator works, it's a damn good story. Especially given how terrible Superman vs Aliens is; absolutely horrible. It's a bad story, with a brick-stupid Superman, and it makes me angry just thinking about it.[DOUBLEPOST=1505107921,1505107498][/DOUBLEPOST]

I respectfully disagree on Superman/Aliens. I like it a lot. It's my personal favourite of the bunch. But of course, there's a major Superman bias going on with me.

Plus, I read it at the time it was published when I was a teenager, so I guess bias and nostalgia masks issues like that. I re-read it recently and still don't see the issue. Unless you mean him not killing bugs. It's a bit extreme, even for Superman, I guess. I'm like, "They're bugs! It's like swatting flies on the farm!"

Sep 11, 2017#198

fade

Yoshimickster said:
JESUS CHRIST-look at what they did to Weasel! Bad enough Blind Al was basically barred from continuity.

To be fair, it looked like they were setting Weasel up to be a breakout as far back as the 90s. He is superhuman, even if he is a weenie. He's producing Reed Richards level tech in a basement.

Sep 11, 2017#199

Yoshimickster

Eh true. Still feel bad for the guy.

Sep 12, 2017#200

figmentPez

ThatNickGuy said:
I respectfully disagree on Superman/Aliens. I like it a lot. It's my personal favourite of the bunch. But of course, there's a major Superman bias going on with me. Plus, I read it at the time it was published when I was a teenager, so I guess bias and nostalgia masks issues like that. I re-read it recently and still don't see the issue. Unless you mean him not killing bugs. It's a bit extreme, even for Superman, I guess. I'm like, "They're bugs! It's like swatting flies on the farm!"

It's not just that he was refusing to kill, it's how much he held back in a situation where there were obvious violent aggressors slaughtering people who couldn't defend themselves. He went, alone, into a situation where he knew his powers would be limited, and he just kept acting like he was nigh-invulnerable. I know he usually is, but he's supposed to be smart character, and he has lost his powers before. He was just straight up stupid in how he handled things.

It felt like a wasted opportunity to show off not only that Superman can be smart, but to show how unrelenting the Xenomorphs are.

Sep 12, 2017#201

Yoshimickster

Anyone remember the name of this comic? Its about a spacepig captain who meets his adoptive father years after he thought he was dead, only half of his body is all metallic and what not. I read it in one of those "History of comic books" that were huge in the 90s and 2000s but that is LOST in the house among all the other books strewn about.

Sep 13, 2017#202

Hailey Knight

In a futile quest to find a She-Hulk one shot from eight years ago in my local's back issues, I found many late run issues of X-Factor, three trades worth, each issue for $1. Those OOP trades are going between 60 and 80 each, which is ridiculous, so this was a cool find.

And in case anyone wants any of DC Convergence, they've got two completely full longboxes of it. Anyone? No?

Sep 23, 2017#203

ThatNickGuy

Made a long rant elsewhere about the recent push back against the variety of new books being published in the last few years. Especially against a book like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.

I really don't understand why some people rage so much on one book.

1) There are literally hundreds (thousands?) of other books out there. There are plenty I don't like because of the writing, the art, etc. I don't care for any books written by Bendis or Hickman, but I don't rage about it or directly insult them on social media. I don't crap on people who enjoy them, either. I just don't bother with their books. Same for art. I'm not a fan of Rob Liefeld, Greg Land, or Jim Lee. If they're on a book I used to read, I just stop reading it and see if I'll like the next creative team. Hell, I read Daredevil from Kevin Smith's run right to Mark Waid's run because I liked every creative team (except the Shadowland stuff). Soule's run didn't interest me, so I didn't bother.

2) Squirrel Girl is inherently a silly character. It's frigging SQUIRREL GIRL. What do some of these people expect? A super serious, emotional drama? No. The comic and its style - both writing and art - suit the character.

3) "Oh, but now she's drawn with more meat on her bones." So what? Jokes have been made for decades on women's portrayal in comics. There are literal lists of Liefeldian examples of inhuman proportions. One character - ONE - is drawn differently who really, was never a sexualized character in the first place. Again, it's SQUIRREL GIRL. What's so wrong with her drawn that way?

4) The art isn't bad. It's just a different style. It's similar to the reductive, but exaggerated style in today's popular cartoons like Adventure Time, Rick & Morty, etc. I'll fully admit the Erica Henderson's faces sometimes look odd, but the comedic, exaggerated style suits the comedic, exaggerated style of the comic and the character.

Hell, the same argument applies to all the other currently changed Marvel comics. If you don't like the current direction or creative team? Wait awhile and I guarantee it'll change within a year or two. That's how comics have worked for decades. Just find other books by creative teams you DO enjoy. See if they have some creator-owned stuff at Image, IDW, Oni, or Dark Horse.

And mostly importantly, if someone actually enjoys a comic you don't? Let them! You won't enjoy every single comic out there. You're not the target audience for every book. and it's ridiculous to think you would be or that you're entitled to it.

Sep 23, 2017#204

Celt Z

Even though I find the faces come off as more sloppy than expressive 50% of the
time, I otherwise have been enjoying Squirrel Girl, both the writing and the art. Our library now carries the collections, so I've been catching up. It's a good, light-hearted read. (Although the margin notes on every page are usually funny, but get a little tedious. I'd probably laugh harder if they spaced them out a little more.)

Sep 23, 2017#205

mikerc

ThatNickGuy said:
You're not the target audience for every book. and it's ridiculous to think you would or that you're entitled to it.

I don't even understand why these people would even want to be the target audience of every book. I know I certainly don't have the time, disposable income or space to buy every issue of every series being published.

Sep 23, 2017#206

Tress

mikerc said:
I don't even understand why these people would even want to be the target audience of every book. I know I certainly don't have the time, disposable income or space to buy every issue of every series being published.

It's funny, because you don't have that problem in other forms of media. No one complains that there are TV shows aimed at certain audiences, or that not all movies are made for every audience.

Sep 23, 2017#207

Celt Z

Tress said:
It's funny, because you don't have that problem in other forms of media. No one complains that there are TV shows aimed at certain audiences, or that not all movies are made for every audience.

.../s?

Sep 28, 2017#208

Frank

George Perez rules.

Oct 6, 2017#209

fade

When Hugo Strange was legit, did no one think it was rather odd for their therapist be, like, really jacked?

Oct 6, 2017#210

Celt Z

fade said:
When Hugo Strange was legit, did no one think it was rather odd for their therapist be, like, really jacked?

Eh. If you're listening to other people's problems all day, you need to have a stress outlet for yourself.

Beyond that... just comic book logic, I guess.

Oct 6, 2017#211

Yoshimickster

Waller: You work out WAY too much, what's up with that?

Hugo: So I can fight Ba-HELP people, like this psychic super criminal that I...won't exploit.

Oct 20, 2017#212

ThatNickGuy

A Tumblr blog showing that JACK KIRBY DIDN'T LIKE DRAWING EARS.

http://jackkirbydislikesears.tumblr.com/

Seriously, I have a lot of his work and they're right! Massive amounts of hair. Helmets. Hats. Hoods. Almost every one of his iconic characters' ears were covered in some fashion or another.

HOW HAVE I NEVER NOTICED THIS BEFORE? This is beyond mind blowing. Though to be fair, it's not that he COULDN'T draw ears. I've flipped through his Fourth World stuff and there are still characters with their ears showing. So it's not like Rob Liefeld where he COULDN'T. He just didn't like to, apparently.

Nov 3, 2017#213

Hailey Knight

A lot of Peter David's X-Factor trades are OOP and/or way too expensive, especially when some of them only have three or four issues. Brevoort outright said they would only continue the Complete Collection if the first two trades sold enough, and that was years ago, so I guess Complete will need a little asterik next to it. So I've been building up on the floppies where I find them in back issues longboxes, filling in gaps via ebay, saving myself a lot more money this way and as of today ...

Managed to get #229 and now I have everything post-Secret Invasion. Not sure if someday I'll have them bound, but at least now I can read them without killing my eyes on Marvel Unlimited.

Nov 28, 2017#214

ThatNickGuy

So I was thinking tonight (which explains the smoke coming out my ears

). With all the controversies going on in the comics industry these days, like Eddie Berganza finally getting fired and the recent controversy with CB Cebulski, to say nothing of the industry as a whole not as strong as it used to be, I wonder...

Would a major, rebellious shake-up be possible today? I mean on the scale of Image Comics founding in the 90s, where you had six of the industry's top artists all jump ship and form their own company.

I'm not what exactly a shake-up on that scale would mean today. And I'm not sure I necessarily mean a bunch of top talent forming their own company. Today's market probably couldn't sustain a new company, no matter the talent. But something big that turns the whole industry on its ears, makes everyone stand up and go, "Holy shit," and reinventing how we look at the industry.

Nov 28, 2017#215

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
So I was thinking tonight (which explains the smoke coming out my ears ). With all the controversies going on in the comics industry these days, like Eddie Berganza finally getting fired and the recent controversy with CB Cebulski, to say nothing of the industry as a whole not as strong as it used to be, I wonder...

Would a major, rebellious shake-up be possible today? I mean on the scale of Image Comics founding in the 90s, where you had six of the industry's top artists all jump ship and form their own company.

I'm not what exactly a shake-up on that scale would mean today. And I'm not sure I necessarily mean a bunch of top talent forming their own company. Today's market probably couldn't sustain a new company, no matter the talent. But something big that turns the whole industry on its ears, makes everyone stand up and go, "Holy shit," and reinventing how we look at the industry.

Either of the big two going under, with Image, IDW, Dark Horse, etc vying to fill the void. I honestly don't see what could really shake things in comics right now as the industry goes.

DC thinks it has the next steps, i.e. sharing profits with creative teams and having a few titles where the artist guides the story while the writer just makes dialogue to work with it a la a TV show, but I don't think those are going to affect things as much as DC believes.

Nov 29, 2017#216

ThatNickGuy

So I'm watching Linkara's old reviews on Countdown to Final Crisis and...wow. I read the first few issues of the series before jumping off. And I saw it as a huge disaster, but WOW. I forgot how many frigging pointless tie-in mini-series happened and how little actually happens in the main series.

And Dan Didio thought this was "52 done right"!?

Nov 29, 2017#217

Yoshimickster

Its sad to know there is a REASON the New 52 existed, which was also ironically the reason Rebirth exists and now I'm waiting for DC to fuck up again and give us DC:We promise this is the last time we do this, WE SWEAR!

Nov 29, 2017#218

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
And Dan Didio thought this was "52 done right"!?

I love that, as Linkara points out either in that video or another, that there's a hidden message in Final Crisis that says "don't worry about Countdown" or something like that.

Yoshimickster said:
Its sad to know there is a REASON the New 52 existed, which was also ironically the reason Rebirth exists and now I'm waiting for DC to fuck up again and give us DC:We promise this is the last time we do this, WE SWEAR!

I think DC is letting Marvel carry that torch for a while. Marvel is starting their own Countdown in February, after all

Nov 29, 2017#219

Covar

Zero Esc said:
DC thinks it has the next steps, i.e. sharing profits with creative teams and having a few titles where the artist guides the story while the writer just makes dialogue to work with it a la a TV show, but I don't think those are going to affect things as much as DC believes.

Now that I'm on the retail side of things I love what DC is doing. The biggest advantage with what DC is doing is that they're thinking long term for their health and survival.

They're looking at the drain happening to their (and Marvel's) talent, going to Image where a creator can have a book sell as much as 20-30k less and give creators an equivalent payday. So increased Royalties, profit sharing, and ownership sharing, is the steps needed to keep writers like Lemire, from following the Brubaker, Hickman, and Fractions of the industry from going off and doing their own thing. It will also help them to potentially woo some of them back (I'll be shocked if we don't see a Hickman penned DC book announced in the next 2 years). Much preferred over finding whoever will work for cheap, and relying on 3 to 4 writers (Bendis, Waid, Slott & Aaron) for all your top titles and the books you care about actually selling.

Using the Marvel style won't sell a single comic in and of itself, but it will force writers to be more collaborative and not just turn in screenplays, and give the artists a chance to flex their storytelling muscles, which I think can only help comics in the long term.

Nov 29, 2017#220

Hailey Knight

I do think what DC is doing is smarter and better, but I don't think it on its own will be a revolution like what Nick was talking about.

But maybe happier creators with more personal investment and stronger teamwork between them will lead to that.

Dec 26, 2017#221

GasBandit

Anybody need a phone background/wallpaper?

Jan 17, 2018#222

ThatNickGuy

Got into an argument with someone online who claims WATCHMEN (the graphic novel, not the movie) is niche, has never been relevant, and isn't studied in universities or been written about in academia.

I threw huge truth bombs at him and yet he's just kept saying "Nope! you're wrong!" Of course, all he's spouting is opinion without backing it up with anything.

I provided multiple links, including academic journals from major universities, and a course provided by Cambridge frigging University. And mentioned that it's not on Time's 100 Greatest Novels, it's the ONLY graphic novel listed.

Can't wait to see what bullshit he responds with.

The whole thing started, by the way, in an article about a possible new Spawn movie. I half-joked that Spawn hasn't been relevant since the 90s (he really hasn't). This guy is trying to tell me that Spawn is just as popular and relevant today, moreso than Watchmen or Ninja Turtles.

Jan 17, 2018#223

Zappit

ThatNickGuy said:
Got into an argument with someone online who claims WATCHMEN (the graphic novel, not the movie) is niche, has never been relevant, and isn't studied in universities or been written about in academia.

I threw huge truth bombs at him and yet he's just kept saying "Nope! you're wrong!" Of course, all he's spouting is opinion without backing it up with anything.

I provided multiple links, including academic journals from major universities, and a course provided by Cambridge frigging University. And mentioned that it's not on Time's 100 Greatest Novels, it's the ONLY graphic novel listed.

Can't wait to see what bullshit he responds with.

The whole thing started, by the way, in an article about a possible new Spawn movie. I half-joked that Spawn hasn't been relevant since the 90s (he really hasn't). This guy is trying to tell me that Spawn is just as popular and relevant today, moreso than Watchmen or Ninja Turtles.

Ninja Turtles? Dude, that's a troll. Seriously, that dude's just trolling you.

Jan 17, 2018#224

ThatNickGuy

Zappit said:
Ninja Turtles? Dude, that's a troll. Seriously, that dude's just trolling you.

Yeah, that's pretty obvious. I'm honestly curious to see what he'll say to the facts I actually provided. Because of COURSE he'll have a smarmy response.

Funny enough, I completely Image is still publishing Spawn. Not including digital or collected edition sales, it barely cracks 10,000 sales a month. That's certainly a far cry from the 1.7 MILLION copies in its debut.

Jan 17, 2018#225

Yoshimickster

I mean we at least know SOMEONE is buying Spawn if they keep printing it (lord knows who they are though). Also Savage Dragon.

Jan 17, 2018#226

Zappit

True, but an Image creator selling over even over 3,000 copies a months is doing pretty well financially. Could be worse. I think McFarlane's focusing on his other ventures now because his book has been dropping off. It is less relevant.

Jan 17, 2018#227

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
Yeah, that's pretty obvious. I'm honestly curious to see what he'll say to the facts I actually provided. Because of COURSE he'll have a smarmy response.

Make a video about it!

Jan 18, 2018#228

Yoshimickster

Has anyone quoted "Ballad of a thin man" while talking to Martian Manhunter? I feel that should be a thing.

May 5, 2018#229

Yoshimickster

I've traced Slapstick's grimdark beginnings all the way to "Avengers: The Initiative", where after going through constant training being called a "New Warrior" as an insult, Slapstick straight up tries to MURDER HIM with a hammer...and gets away with it....Jesus. AND-of course, it was Dan Slott who wrote it. He...baffles me as a writer, just so much.

May 5, 2018#230

BErt

Image dump from a pretty cool event this evening, even if it was at Ohio State

Exhibit will be running from now until October. Panel was with 2 big collectors that contributed some of the displayed art

Cover of an old Spring Issue

Norman Rockwell at one time was going to draw Alfred E Newman for them...then he didnt.

Sergio!!!!

May 10, 2018#231

ThatNickGuy

I went on a rather long tirade about the comic book market today. Most of it you've probably seen me say multiple times already. But some insights that, after putting it all together, I think makes a lot of sense. Especially from the perspective of someone who's been collecting for nearly 30 years and seen personally how comics have changed.

May 11, 2018#232

ThatNickGuy

Welp, not only has that thread exploded (my notifications haven't stopped all day), but someone from a comics website contacted me about joining. It's non-paid, but they do get free digital comics for review purposes. And we're discussing the idea of hosting my videos on their site.

http://capelesscrusader.org/

May 11, 2018#233

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
Welp, not only has that thread exploded (my notifications haven't stopped all day), but someone from a comics website contacted me about joining. It's non-paid, but they do get free digital comics for review purposes. And we're discussing the idea of hosting my videos on their site.

http://capelesscrusader.org/

I envision you becoming a spearhead voice of reason against Comicsgate. This is really cool!

May 11, 2018#234

Hailey Knight

In other random comic crap, several comic shops have refused to order alt right asshole D&C's comic. One of their supporter's broke one store's window. Now they're ordering the comic, while D&C's supporters threaten other stores that there will be consequences for refusal.

This is what happens when you cave to these trogs. They get emboldened.

May 11, 2018#235

PatrThom

What? People are rioting over comics now?

—Patrick

May 11, 2018#236

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
What? People are rioting over comics now?

—Patrick

It is obviously THE most important thing these days.

May 11, 2018#237

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
It is obviously THE most important thing these days.

And here I thought that was your change of avatar.

—Patrick

May 11, 2018#238

Celt Z

Zero Esc said:
In other random comic crap, several comic shops have refused to order alt right asshole D&C's comic. One of their supporter's broke one store's window. Now they're ordering the comic, while D&C's supporters threaten other stores that there will be consequences for refusal.

This is what happens when you cave to these trogs. They get emboldened.

I have no idea who D&C is beyond your description, and frankly that paints a pretty clear picture, but if it's an independently printed comic, can't they just order it direct?

And yes, I know I'm looking for logic in a group that has none.

May 11, 2018#239

Hailey Knight

Celt Z said:
I have no idea who D&C is beyond your description, and frankly that paints a pretty clear picture, but if it's an independently printed comic, can't they just order it direct?

And yes, I know I'm looking for logic in a group that has none.

But if they order it direct, it won't show up in the store.

This isn't about comics; it's about media influence and indoctrination.

May 11, 2018#240

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
And here I thought that was your change of avatar.

—Patrick

I'm really tempted to buy the shirt.

May 11, 2018#241

PatrThom

Zero Esc said:
I'm really tempted to buy the shirt.

We know. You keep saying so. It’s a cute shirt. Kawaii, even.

—Patrick

May 11, 2018#242

ThatNickGuy

Celt Z said:
I have no idea who D&C is beyond your description, and frankly that paints a pretty clear picture, but if it's an independently printed comic, can't they just order it direct?

And yes, I know I'm looking for logic in a group that has none.

To sum up, they're GamerGate but for comics.

Their whole plarform is they want "good comics," without forced gender politics or some nonsense.

Their "criticism" entails personal attack campaigns. And you'll never believe who their targets are. (Hint: Not men.).

May 11, 2018#243

Celt Z

Zero Esc said:
But if they order it direct, it won't show up in the store.

This isn't about comics; it's about media influence and indoctrination.

I assumed as much. I see that these guys care less about find support in each other and more about using their platform to hurt as many other people as possible. I would not be upset if the warehouse printing the comic mysteriously caught fire... :whistling:

Better yet, struck by lightning. An "act of god" sends a clear message: knock that shit off.

May 14, 2018#244

Zappit

Gonna vent just a lil' bit.

With IDW rebooting Transformers soon, I've been trying to get trade paperbacks of the better series, and it's been a pain in the ass. More Than Meets the Eye (best TF series ever, by the way) Volume 2 is impossible to find at retail price. Best I can figure is it's the first appearance of the Decepticon Justice Division. If you haven't seen them, and you like TFs, look them up. They're Megatron's secret police that torture-murder deserters and traitors. Brutal stuff.

Also, fuck Amazon book resellers. Fuck them in the ass with a rusted metal spike. I don't know what's been up with them lately, but they're starting to try to get away with thousand dollar price tags on older paperbacks - a lot of them seem to be starting this. The resellers carrying this volume - save for a few - are charging obscene prices. I ordered this book from one - no show. I'll be getting my money back from that. I just ordered from another one with a better rating. Fingers fucking crossed.

May 15, 2018#245

ThatNickGuy

Just when I thought this ComicsGate nonsense couldn't get any worse.

May 15, 2018#246

Zappit

What stupid ass book are these man children bitching about stores not carrying?

May 15, 2018#247

Hailey Knight

Zappit said:
What stupid ass book are these man children bitching about stores not carrying?

Jawbreakers: Lost Souls, the crowdfunded book by that D&C alt-right asshole. Stores didn't want to carry it, so they were threatened. The publisher was made aware of that, so they dropped the book.

I'm not convinced this isn't a scam by D&C to pocket the funds while making more videos blaming the villainous conspiracy to keep him out of comics (hence, Comicsgate).

Him and his followers are confusing conspiracy with consequences for their actions.

May 15, 2018#248

Zappit

So, the guy's an asshole. He directs harassment campaigns towards people for...not being white males, or not writing about white males? Then he decides to make his own comic, and gets a publisher. He then harasses stores that won't carry his straight-outta-90's-Image-storytelling book. And now the publishers no longer want to work with him. What a fucking surprise.

Christ, what is it with the alt-right? Do they understand that actions have consequences? I mean, people bitch about millennial entitlement, but God damn, these guys epitomize entitlement. Their entire "movement" is a fucking temper tantrum.

May 15, 2018#249

Hailey Knight

Zappit said:
So, the guy's an asshole. He directs harassment campaigns towards people for...not being white males, or not writing about white males? Then he decides to make his own comic, and gets a publisher. He then harasses stores that won't carry his straight-outta-90's-Image-storytelling book. And now the publishers no longer want to work with him. What a fucking surprise.

Christ, what is it with the alt-right? Do they understand that actions have consequences? I mean, people bitch about millennial entitlement, but God damn, these guys epitomize entitlement. Their entire "movement" is a fucking temper tantrum.

That's about it! And thing is, they've gained ground, at least on Marvel. They've tucked aside some of the legacy characters, returned the founding Avengers to the forefront instead of their successors, and women employees such as editor Heather Antos have left the company. Yet they still bitch at Marvel for conspiring against them (while simultaneously starting a rumor that Marvel's editor in chief reprimanded Mark Waid for speaking with the Jawbreakers publisher--never happened), and even though Antos has left, they're still calling her new job to harass her.

May 23, 2018#250

Hailey Knight

Some preview art for Justice League Dark.

May 31, 2018#251

Yoshimickster

I can't believe I didn't realize that was Diana was gonna be part of the new Dark team this whole time, glad she's starting to be a two-team hero! IN OTHER NEWS!

Dark Knights Metals has a soundtrack and I love the world.

Jun 1, 2018#252

@Li3n

Zappit said:
Christ, what is it with the alt-right? Do they understand that actions have consequences?

Yes, they just think that's unfair when it happens to them... consequences should be for women and minorities, duh.

Jun 1, 2018#253

PatrThom

@Li3n said:
Yes, they just think that's unfair when it happens to them... consequences should be for women and minorities, duh.

“Leopards-eating-faces party,” and all that.

—Patrick

Jun 7, 2018#254

ThatNickGuy

Just gonna leave this here.

Jun 7, 2018#255

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
Just gonna leave this here.

Then stop.

Jun 7, 2018#256

PatrThom

I’ll bet this guy thinks that video games can’t be art, too.

—Patrick

Jun 7, 2018#257

Zappit

PatrThom said:
I’ll bet this guy thinks that video games can’t be art, too.

—Patrick

He probably does see videogames as an art form, but not if they were made by women.

Jun 7, 2018#258

Hailey Knight

Zappit said:
He probably does see videogames as an art form, but not if they were made by women.

And he hates Wolfenstein for allowing the player to participate in the persecution of a minor political party. :rolleyes:

Jun 8, 2018#259

Hailey Knight

I tried to do a video review for The Immortal Hulk #1 since I liked it so much and I'm seeing why people tend to either discuss floppies with others or just review trades. It's really hard to talk about a 20-page comic for more than a couple minutes, and that's if you give away everything that happens in it, like just run down the whole comic from start to finish. I could talk about some Hulk history to beef it out, but that's not really the point.

Maybe this isn't a good idea. I feel like when Julie and I are talking about comics we've read, I have so much to say, so this should be an easy fun side thing to do, but if I sit down to write something, my brain just goes "yeah, it was good. The end."

Blaaah, there's fiction I should be writing of my own.

Jun 8, 2018#260

PatrThom

You and @ThatNickGuy should swap stories.

—Patrick

Jun 8, 2018#261

GasBandit

Or just straight up do a podcast.

Jun 8, 2018#262

Hailey Knight

That gets into scheduling and this is more like "hey, a few minutes, maybe this would be neat" than something I can carve out time for. Which only emphasizes that if I'm not willing to dedicate real time to it, it's not going to be good.

There go my dreams of convincing people to pick up issue 1 of Kelly Thompson's Nancy Drew miniseries from Dynamite Entertainment, available at your local comic book shop this coming Wednesday, June 13th, with art by Jen St-Onge, for $3.99. :awesome:

Jun 8, 2018#263

ThatNickGuy

I would be 500% interested in doing a comics podcast with @Zero Esc!

(I'd also accept a Skype convo!)

Jun 21, 2018#264

Hailey Knight

Stjepan Sejic's series with DC hasn't been announced yet but he says if it's successful, his next pitch will be a Clark Kent/Lois Lane romance book (no, not like Sunstone) and posted some concept stuff and ...

This is the cutest shit and EXACTLY what I'd want to read for a Superman book. I wish I knew what the hell his other project was so I could start supporting it and improve chances of this being made.

Jun 21, 2018#265

Ravenpoe

Zero Esc said:
no, not like Sunstone

Well just dash my dreams.

Jun 21, 2018#266

Hailey Knight

Ravenpoe said:
Well just dash my dreams.

If he was going to do that with DC characters, you know it'd be Harley and Ivy.

Jun 21, 2018#267

Ravenpoe

Zero Esc said:
If he was going to do that with DC characters, you know it'd be Harley and Ivy.

That's my other dream

Jun 21, 2018#268

Hailey Knight

I'm curious how he's going to do all this without breaking his wrists. He has the secret project plus Justice League Odyssey, and then his indie work. Something may have to give.

I'm only picking up Justice League Odyssey for his art. If he's only on board for covers and the first arc, I'm out. Joshua Williamson just isn't a good enough writer to keep me for a book on his own.

Jul 25, 2018#269

ThatNickGuy

Anyone wanna lend the Diversity & Comics asshole a shovel? Wait, never mind. He's digging his own grave just fine on his own.

Jul 25, 2018#270

DarkAudit

ThatNickGuy said:
Anyone wanna lend the Diversity & Comics asshole a shovel? Wait, never mind. He's digging his own grave just fine on his own.

I won't lend him one, but I'll bill him for the replacement after I break this one on his face.

Jul 25, 2018#271

@Li3n

But guys... now the poot guy can't just pick up a comic and assume the main character will look like him.... and why, just because, for almost a century that was true for minorities and women? That's, like,. totally disproportionate...

Jul 25, 2018#272

Yoshimickster

If I were Jim I'd have pointed out that there are THREE black Supermen in the multiverse right now, would probably make his MIND explode!

Jul 26, 2018#273

Bubble181

I will say - not "in his defense" or anything, I don't know the guy and I don't like what I've seen so far - that I don't think the "right" way to have diversity is to try and push every character in that direction. I personally don't mind black Spiderman, white Black Panther, female Thor, latino Iron Man, or whatever (I know a few of those are real and I made up the rest but honestly, it's perfectly possible they're all real), if they're well-handled. In many cases, they won't be. In other cases, you're still left with a "variation" of the Original Type, which is fun and all, but not the same. While some characters and names are "easily" changed naturally (there's been how many Robins? There've probably been female and black and whatever ones, right?), others are more closely linked to one individual (If Superman was invented today he might be black, but Kal-El isn't passing down his cape to a new guy to come along, so a black version would have to be another Kryptonian, I guess?). Anyway, I digress - a good writer can probably justify changing whatever character to whatever minority or diversity group. But you're left with a "variation" character, which isn't the same as a charcter who's "originally" whatever group you want. Catwoman or Harley Quinn are proper female characters (and re-inventing their looks to be less D-cup-in-spandex is a good thing except for my inner bhamv). Some characters can evolve into their own thing - She-Hulk isn't just "Hulk but female". Sometimes it doesn't work, or doesn't make sense, and it's just corporations trying to keep up with Progress and it's awful, and it should still be possible and proper to critique those without being called a sexist racist jerk. Which doesn't mean you can't also have racist sexist jerks defending that position.

Jul 26, 2018#274

@Li3n

Bubble181 said:
Catwoman or Harley Quinn are proper female characters (and re-inventing their looks to be less D-cup-in-spandex is a good thing except for my inner bhamv).

This is Harley's original look:

Jul 26, 2018#275

figmentPez

Bubble181 said:
(If Superman was invented today he might be black, but Kal-El isn't passing down his cape to a new guy to come along, so a black version would have to be another Kryptonian, I guess?).

Also, Batman had his back broken and was replaced by Jean Paul Valley. Barry Allen died and was replaced by Wally West as the Flash. Hal Jordan was replaced by Kyle Rayner. Thor was replaced by Eric Masterson (who later became Thunderstrike) long before there was a female Thor. The name of Captain America has been held by 11 characters besides Steve Rogers in Marvel history. Fifteen characters besides the original members have been part of the Fantastic Four (and that's not counting the New Fantastic Four, or the Fantastic Five). At least three different male characters have taken over for Tony Stark as Iron Man.

The idea of a new person taking over a superhero identity is not new. It's been done over and over again in comics. Complaining that it's a new thing being done for the sake of diversity is just flat out wrong.

Jul 26, 2018#276

PatrThom

figmentPez said:
Complaining that it's a new thing being done for the sake of diversity is just flat out wrong.

...except when it is.
I mean, if you want to switch up the characters, go nuts. Give Caliban the Captain Universe power. Change Green Lantern’s vulnerability to be mechanically separated chicken instead of wood/yellow. Have Black Canary and Green Arrow come out as Bi (nobody would bat an eyelash!). But don’t pass the mantle or rebrand the character JUST because some exec says, “We need more appeal among 18-22yr olds who play Fortnight, so let’s give Frank Castle a pair of angel wings and a purple shotgun.”

No. Make it matter. Changing “The Invisible GIrl” into “The Invisible Woman” mattered, it wasn’t a crappy stunt aimed at bringing in more feminist readers.

—Patrick

Jul 26, 2018#277

figmentPez

PatrThom said:
...except when it is.

Just because it can be something done for diversity doesn't mean it's a new thing. Editorial mandates are not a new thing either. Nor is changing a comic to appeal to a new demographic. Robin was, arguably, added to Batman comics in order to appeal to a younger demographic; a lot of sidekick characters were.

EDIT: Also, we should not forget that Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai were added to Challenge of the Superfriends back in 1978 to make the cast more diverse. Trying to make comics more diverse is not a new thing. None of this is new!

Jul 26, 2018#278

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
...except when it is.
I mean, if you want to switch up the characters, go nuts. Give Caliban the Captain Universe power. Change Green Lantern’s vulnerability to be mechanically separated chicken instead of wood/yellow. Have Black Canary and Green Arrow come out as Bi (nobody would bat an eyelash!). But don’t pass the mantle or rebrand the character JUST because some exec says, “We need more appeal among 18-22yr olds who play Fortnight, so let’s give Frank Castle a pair of angel wings and a purple shotgun.”

No. Make it matter. Changing “The Invisible GIrl” into “The Invisible Woman” mattered, it wasn’t a crappy stunt aimed at bringing in more feminist readers.

—Patrick

Can you give a couple real examples of late where the comics went too far? Because like the guy in the Nazi hat in the video, you're giving a bunch of hyperbole but nothing that's actually happened.

Jul 26, 2018#279

Covar

Hailey Zero Mission said:
Can you give a couple real examples of late where the comics went too far? Because like the guy in the Nazi hat in the video, you're giving a bunch of hyperbole but nothing that's actually happened.

Having none of your movie characters available when their respective movies are coming out, and the potential ability to gain new readers is at its highest.

Jul 26, 2018#280

PatrThom

Hailey Zero Mission said:
Can you give a couple real examples of late where the comics went too far? Because like the guy in the Nazi hat in the video, you're giving a bunch of hyperbole but nothing that's actually happened.

I can’t because I’ve been out of comics for so long, so no specific examples of late (New 52, mebbe?), but when so many characters change so quickly, it starts to smell more and more like when that new boss comes in and just HAS to change everything. Not because it’ll be better, just so that it’ll be new. And fresh.

—Patrick

Jul 26, 2018#281

Hailey Knight

Covar said:
Having none of your movie characters available when their respective movies are coming out, and the potential ability to gain new readers is at its highest.

I meant specific characters.

PatrThom said:
I can’t because I’ve been out of comics for so long, so no specific examples of late (New 52, mebbe?), but when so many characters change so quickly, it starts to smell more and more like when that new boss comes in and just HAS to change everything. Not because it’ll be better, just so that it’ll be new. And fresh.

—Patrick

So you have no idea what you're talking about, but you're making these assertions anyway.

Jul 26, 2018#282

Covar

I mean I can think of a few strawman bits from different series, Jane Thor's fight with absorbing man. Some just terrible writing all about telling us why the new character is so amazing and perfect and better than the old fart who used to have the name instead of showing it, all of Marvel Generations Ironman for example.

But to be honest the quality of Marvel's comics (writing, art, editing, production) went down so much I had already stopped reading their books for my own sanity before Marvel replaced all of their marketable characters to chase a Tumblr crowd with no desire to actually support things they profess to love. So I probably can't pull out too many specific examples.

Jul 26, 2018#283

PatrThom

Hailey Zero Mission said:
So you have no idea what you're talking about, but you're making these assertions anyway.

This was the trend I noticed around the early 90’s,and it is one of the things that made me decide to stop following comics. I may be mistaken, but I have yet to hear anything from anyone here suggesting the comic industry suddenly got its act together and decided to stop doing so. If anything, the things discussed suggest to me they’ve doubled down on it. I do hear people talking about this story or that arc, but they seem to be the exception, not the rule.

As always, my mind is open, though of course my reading schedule is not.

—Patrick

Jul 26, 2018#284

@Li3n

The point was that changing all their characters isn't new, but, for some reason, thatr guy and his supporters only complain about it when they're replaced by minorities and/or women.

Oh, and he was a problem with Captain Marvel, even though the character she's "replacing" has been dead for , like, 3 decades, and has been replaced by female characters multiple times since... remember Monica Rambeau? NEXTWAVE!!!!

Jul 26, 2018#285

Celt Z

Jon Stewart is one that springs to mind. In the early 70's, they decided to make him the Lantern in the name of diversity. He remained The Green Lantern until the late 80's, then again, for the sake of diversity, he was chosen the Green Lantern in the animated Justice League. What I've noticed for a generation of comic fans, they think of Jon as THE Green Lantern, rather than Hal Jordan, who, granted, wasn't the 1st Green Lantern, either. Part of me wonders if this actually added to the Green Lantern movie's problems, with a bunch of kids raised on the JL cartoon wondering, "who the fuck is this?".

Comics have always replaced heroes, as others have pointed out. Sometimes, trying something like a new gender or race turns out to be really successful. I love the new Ms. Marvel more than I ever did when it was Carol Danvers, and to be honest, making Carol THE Captain Marvel (at Marvel) has breathed more life into the character than it did in at least the previous two decades when I started reading comics. In the 80's and 90's, Captain Marvel/Mar-Vell seemed like a "Who? Oh, that guy.". Frankly, I think even Mighty Thor's run was a far better read than the garbage that was Jean-Paul Valley, Ben Reilly, or the 4 Super knocks-offs. (Okay, not Superboy. He was pretty good.)

Jul 26, 2018#286

ThatNickGuy

It should also be noted that the D&C asshole mocks and insults books and creators even outside of DC & Marvel. The creators he's harassed in the past have books coming out at Image and other places and he's made plenty of comments on them, too.

So yeah, his beef is CLEARLY just with Marvel & DC, right? It has nothing to do with harassing women or trans creators. Nothing at all.

As for characters being replaced? Yeah, that's been happening for decades. Marvel decided to replace a bunch at once, which started this whole Comicsgate nonsense, but regardless if they're diverse or not, why get in such a big tiff? Anyone who's been reading comics for more than 5 years knows none of it will stick. And hey, guess what? It didn't! Odinson is Thor again. Tony Stark is back to life. Steve Rogers is back as Cap. Bruce Banner is back as Hulk.

It's almost like...THIS SHIT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES.

Jul 26, 2018#287

Celt Z

ThatNickGuy said:
As for characters being replaced? Yeah, that's been happening for decades.

Now that I'm thinking about it, catering to a larger, more diverse crowd by bringing in new faces with the same names started the Silver Age of comics, didn't it?

Jul 26, 2018#288

@Li3n

Celt Z said:
Part of me wonders if this actually added to the Green Lantern movie's problems, with a bunch of kids raised on the JL cartoon wondering, "who the fuck is this?".

Have you seen Green Lantern? Because, i can't, for the life of me, see how anyone could imagine someone not knowing who Hal was making the experience worse in any way... if anything it might have made the blow softer, since they weren't raping the character you liked...

Post automatically merged: Jul 26, 2018

Celt Z said:
Now that I'm thinking about it, catering to a larger, more diverse crowd by bringing in new faces with the same names started the Silver Age of comics, didn't it?

BARRY ALLEN IS JUST A NAME THIEF, JAY GARRICK IS THE REAL FLASH...

Jul 26, 2018#289

Celt Z

@Li3n said:
Have you seen Green Lantern? Because, i can't, for the life of me, see how anyone could imagine someone not knowing who Hal was making the experience worse in any way... if anything it might have made the blow softer, since they weren't raping the character you liked...

I saw parts while Mr. Z tried to watch it on a plane and that was....enough. But if I recall it didn't do well financially, either, and I could see a segment of people not being interested in, what they consider, not to be THE Lantern. That part has no baring on the lack of quality, I'm just talking about butts in seats. The last few Superman/Batman/JL have been dubious in quality (not to the same level of dreck as GL), but have still turned a profit. Then again, it's harder to find more popular names in superhero cinema for the last 40 years than "Superman" and "Batman".

Jul 26, 2018#290

PatrThom

ThatNickGuy said:
It's almost like...THIS SHIT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES.

AND YET THEY KEEP TRYING IT
“Maybe this time will be different.”tm

Celt Z said:
bringing in new faces with the same names started the Silver Age of comics, didn't it?

...not that it hasn’t worked, but it only works what, once every 15-20 years or so?

—Patrick

Jul 26, 2018#291

ThatNickGuy

PatrThom said:
AND YET THEY KEEP TRYING IT
“Maybe this time will be different.”tm

Well...yeah. That's comics. It's not that they keep trying it. It's that that's comics. Characters taking over the mantle (for awhile). Weird, new powers (for awhile). Dying (for awhile). Lost in space (for awhile). Stuck in another dimension or time period (for awhile). Totally new supporting cast (for awhile).

It's comics. This shit happens literally all the time. It's not "trying" it. It's literally a whole part of superhero comics and has been for decades, longer than before I was born.

To put it another way: it's a feature, not a bug.

Jul 26, 2018#292

Hailey Knight

Not just here, but elsewhere, a lot of the complaining is coming from former comic readers, people who've outgrown the medium or don't have time for it anymore, but don't like hearing that the thing they used to care more about is temporarily different. It comes off as Grouchy Old Man Syndrome.

To extend @lien's and Nick's point: when the mantle passes from white guy to white guy, no justification or conspiracy theory seems necessary, but if any other demographic is put in the role, better have a detailed essay on why that was absolutely necessary and couldn't have just been another white guy. But the truth underneath is that none of this is real, and it doesn't need justification behind someone behind it wanting to do it. Nor should it matter since the people complaining seem to read comics the least. The only reason I walked into a comic book store two years ago was because I saw a video online talking about Gwenpool and Ms. Marvel and what neat comics they were, and it sparked an interest that I'd thought was long ago relegated to Vertigo trades and that sort of thing. I've been going to the comic book store nearly every week since then.

Writers change. Old stories are retconned out. New things are retconned in. Mantles swap. Characters live, die, and live again. And if that's not cool, then I think stepping away from it is the healthy response. Much better than making a Youtube channel obsessing over it.

Yoshimickster said:
If I were Jim I'd have pointed out that there are THREE black Supermen in the multiverse right now, would probably make his MIND explode!

Maybe, if he actually cared about that. D&C cares about one thing: $. That's why his videos started branching into bitching about kids' cartoons. The more things he can be a dipshit about, the more clicks, the more money he makes.

Also, @PatrThom So you have the info, you have the Marvel situation backwards. Editorial didn't say "change these characters." The editors were so understaffed, overworked, and lacking inter-office communication that it went unobserved how many writers were making a character pass the torch at the same time when the post-Secret Wars initiative came about. They still need more editors, but it doesn't seem to be in the budget. It doesn't shock me when someone quits that company; it's been a structural mess for a while now.

Jul 27, 2018#293

Hailey Knight

Here's an example of what @Covar and I are saying about Marvel. Two points:

1. I'm crazy excited for this book. It's essentially a continuation of Kelly Thompson's Hawkeye. I feel bad that it's probably not going to last very long because Marvel, but she's my favorite comic writer today so I'm going to buy.
2. The first issue is August 22 despite what's below.

They messed up something in the Jessica Jones announcement too. Because they're a mess.

Jul 27, 2018#294

Bubble181

Speaking strictly for myself, of course, I think there's a difference. If a character passes on the cape, for in-story reasons, proper closure, whatever, I don't care if it's to a white guy or a black woman or what-have-you. If it feels like a change done for the purpose of "diversity" without being "earned" in the story, without proper build-up, that's poor writing and a shame.
Again, that's just my opinion, and I can't give examples of one or the other specifically. I'm not the one saying it only works once every twenty years, either.

Jul 27, 2018#295

Hailey Knight

Bubble181 said:
Speaking strictly for myself, of course, I think there's a difference. If a character passes on the cape, for in-story reasons, proper closure, whatever, I don't care if it's to a white guy or a black woman or what-have-you. If it feels like a change done for the purpose of "diversity" without being "earned" in the story, without proper build-up, that's poor writing and a shame.
Again, that's just my opinion, and I can't give examples of one or the other specifically. I'm not the one saying it only works once every twenty years, either.

If you can't give examples, then how do you know it's happened the way you're talking about? How can there be a discussion about it when what you're suggesting becomes a nebulous hypothetical?

You say you don't care if they're black, woman, so on, but when the diversity comes to mind, when the suspicion is only there because of it, that suggests you do care.

And again, ultimately, it doesn't matter. Earned has to do with plant/payoff of storytelling but sometimes that isn't writer to writer. It's a mistake of non-storytellers to complain about what's natural and what isn't when everything we do, whatever the motive, begins with an idea. It doesn't have to be a good motive. It can be a mixed motive.

I promise that no matter the demographic, a lot of new characters are created at least partly because if they catch on, their creators get royalties every time they're used in the future even after they leave the company. Bendis has zero to do with the Spider verse movie, except he created Miles Morales, so he's getting paid.

Jul 27, 2018#296

PatrThom

I think we're starting to stray into "No True Scotsman" territory.
There have been changes throughout comic history that feel like they are peremptory, jarring, or contrived. I do not like these kinds of changes, regardless of who they happen(ed) to, when they happen(ed), or whatever.
When John Stewart first became the Green Lantern, I was skeptical, but I felt like the writers were ultimately able to pull it off.
When they created a Black Captain Atom (Major Force) to go with the White Captain Atom (and later completed the rom-com trio with a female Captain Atom), or when they made Deathlok into a Black man, I also didn't feel like they were doing it "for diversity" because in each case it fit, story-wise. Maybe they were doing it "for diversity" and just disguised it really well, I don't know.

But if, for instance, some writer/editor suddenly decided to pass the mantle of Silver Samurai down to a Brazilian journalist whose small plane crashed while visiting Japan, well, I might have issue with that.

--Patrick

Jul 27, 2018#297

Terrik

PatrThom said:
I think we're starting to stray into "No True Scotsman" territory.

--Patrick

Well it's true, you are no Scotsman.

Jul 27, 2018#298

PatrThom

Terrik said:
Well it's true, you are no Scotsman.

I'm certainly not a true one.

--Patrick

Jul 27, 2018#299

Hailey Knight

PatrThom said:
I think we're starting to stray into "No True Scotsman" territory.

I'm not trying to do that, but I think anyone could understand why this:

"I have a problem with ___"
"Can you give some examples of ___ happening?_
"No, I just know I have a problem with it."

is frustrating. And because I am reading, I can think of examples where it was done poorly, which have nothing to do with the character demographic and all to do with what I'm typing below.

There have been changes throughout comic history that feel like they are peremptory, jarring, or contrived. I do not like these kinds of changes, regardless of who they happen(ed) to, when they happen(ed), or whatever.
When John Stewart first became the Green Lantern, I was skeptical, but I felt like the writers were ultimately able to pull it off.
When they created a Black Captain Atom (Major Force) to go with the White Captain Atom (and later completed the rom-com trio with a female Captain Atom), or when they made Deathlok into a Black man, I also didn't feel like they were doing it "for diversity" because in each case it fit, story-wise. Maybe they were doing it "for diversity" and just disguised it really well, I don't know.

But if, for instance, some writer/editor suddenly decided to pass the mantle of Silver Samurai down to a Brazilian journalist whose small plane crashed while visiting Japan, well, I might have issue with that.

--Patrick

And that would be an issue of time in relation to change. If a change happens over time, we get a story out of it. If a change is instant, it's jarring and only focuses on the post-change stories. This was the real failing with Marvel in ANAD post-Secret Wars. Everything skipped eight months so they wouldn't have to show things changing. That robbed the chances for stories and for people to be part of the journey of those changes.

Jul 27, 2018#300

figmentPez

PatrThom said:
But if, for instance, some writer/editor suddenly decided to pass the mantle of Silver Samurai down to a Brazilian journalist whose small plane crashed while visiting Japan, well, I might have issue with that.

That's not all that different from the origin of Iron Fist in the Netflix series. Just sayin'....

But you're right, sometimes editor and writers make bad decisions. Sometimes they write bad stories, or make stupid decisions when creating a character, or whatever. They do so for a thousand different reasons. Making a bad decision to try for a more diverse audience is not any different than going too grimdark because they want a "mature" audience, or adding in annoying comedic relief because they want a younger audience. Trying to appeal to a specific audience works sometimes. Just because it can fail doesn't make it always a bad thing. It hasn't killed comics in the past, and it's not killing comics now.

The truth is that a lot of comics suck. Some only a little, some a whole lot, but most to some degree. The same is true of fiction, non-fiction, magazines, cook books, and every form of print media. It's true of movies, games, websites, television, and every form of media, period. There's a lot of mediocre stuff out there, and a lot of outright crap, and only a little tiny bit is so amazing that it truly stands the test of time.

Trying to be diverse is not causing all comics to suck. It's not even causing all comics that try to be diverse to suck. It's not causing an increased ratio of bad comics. It's not killing the comic industry. It's not even a new thing for comics.

To try and distance this discussion from diversity... The Clone Saga in Spider-Man sucked. It was bad. The whole "Is Ben Riley the original or is Peter?" thing was poorly handled, and there were too many clones, and it went on too long, and it just wasn't well written. However, the problem was not clones. There are a lot of great SciFi stories about clones, and even more terrible stories about clones. "The Clone Wars" was terrible, but "The Clone Wars" was 100% amazing, and "The Clone Wars" was a really mixed-bag, with some truly awful episodes, but also some really great stuff, and I'm glad it's coming back. Thailog in Gargoyles was a pretty cool character. Styfe in X-Men comics, not so much. I personally like Guardian, and X-23, and Superboy; but all the Jean Grey clones got a little ridiculous, and Madelyne Prior was the worst of that. That's not to mention all the other crappy clones that don't even stick out in my memory because they were so bland they were forgettable.

Just as clones can be used well, or used horribly, the same goes for any plot element. "Diversity" is no different from "clones" in that regards.

And "but it's an editorial mandate and that means it's bad" doesn't hold water. Just scroll down the list of editorial meddling in comics, and notice that sometimes it's turned out really well. "Batman can't go around shooting people", and "Batman has to have a kid sidekick who doesn't have superpowers" both turned out pretty damn well. While it's true that most of the list is times editorial decisions went bad, keep in mind that the list only exists because those are noteworthy. The amount of times editorial decisions were just fine, and thus not worthy of being on a list, is going to far outweigh the times they made a huge impact on comics history in a good way, or when they went horribly wrong.

Jul 27, 2018#301

jwhouk

Sorry, not a Scotsman, just a Northerner.

Jul 27, 2018#302

Celt Z

figmentPez said:
But you're right, sometimes editor and writers make bad decisions. Sometimes they write bad stories, or make stupid decisions when creating a character, or whatever. They do so for a thousand different reasons.
While it's true that most of the list is times editorial decisions went bad, keep in mind that the list only exists because those are noteworthy. The amount of times editorial decisions were just fine, and thus not worthy of being on a list, is going to far outweigh the times they made a huge impact on comics history in a good way, or when they went horribly wrong.

I'm going to assume that list includes the "One More Day" fiasco, because it is some grade-A bullshit that "fans can't relate to a married Spider-Man" and it STILL has been trying to recover from that crap.

Jul 27, 2018#303

ThatNickGuy

Celt Z said:
I'm going to assume that list includes the "One More Day" fiasco, because it is some grade-A bullshit that "fans can't relate to a married Spider-Man" and it STILL has been trying to recover from that crap.

From what I've heard, that was almost ALL Joe Quesada calling that.

Jul 27, 2018#304

PatrThom

figmentPez said:
That's not all that different from the origin of Iron Fist in the Netflix series. Just sayin'....

...Believe it or not, I was actually going to say that in a footnote, but forgot to add it the rush to get ready for work, because I was also going to talk about "diversity" and how that origin was happening to a white male, turning it on its head etc.

--Patrick

Jul 27, 2018#305

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
From what I've heard, that was almost ALL Joe Quesada calling that.

Imagine being such a shitty editor that your badgering demands make the writer quit mid-story, leaving you to write the rest yourself.

Jul 27, 2018#306

@Li3n

figmentPez said:
That's not all that different from the origin of Iron Fist in the Netflix series..

You mean his original origin, that's still canon, as far as i recall?

Jul 27, 2018#307

figmentPez

@Li3n said:
You mean his original origin, that's still canon, as far as i recall?

Yes. I misread the Wikipedia entry when I was trying to figure out if his comic origin was the same as his Netflix origin. I thought it said Danny was older when he came to K'un-L'un, but I was apparently skimming too fast. I haven't read much of Iron Fist in comics.

Jul 27, 2018#308

PatrThom

Power Man and Iron Fist was one of the ones I followed whenever I could, but that was more because I felt the "ground level" superheroes often had the more interesting stories to tell.
I mean, it's great and all when Superman has to go toe-to-toe with Doomsday out in the middle of Main Street, but I would also completely eat up a story where some real estate developer tries underhanded tactics to force Ma and Pa Kent to sell their land, and Clark has to go back home and deal with it without the benefit of the "S."

--Patrick

Jul 27, 2018#309

Yoshimickster

PatrThom said:
Power Man and Iron Fist was one of the ones I followed whenever I could, but that was more because I felt the "ground level" superheroes often had the more interesting stories to tell.
I mean, it's great and all when Superman has to go toe-to-toe with Doomsday out in the middle of Main Street, but I would also completely eat up a story where some real estate developer tries underhanded tactics to force Ma and Pa Kent to sell their land, and Clark has to go back home and deal with it without the benefit of the "S."

--Patrick

Yeah that's something I feel has been lacking from a LOT of superhero stories lately, the CIVILIAN aspect of a superhero. Clark kinda has that when he's at the planet, but even then his dayjob is directly tied to his identity as Superman. Its why I loved Tomasi's run on Superman, as when he was in Hamilton it wasn't always Super stuff, sometimes he'd just go to a freaking carnival with his wife and son, or a creepy jingoistic Veteran's day vacation and it was nice(well MOSTLY nice in the second one, he DID leave a skeleton on a doorstep)!

Jul 28, 2018#310

Hailey Knight

I appreciated Bendis's The Defenders because it seemed to care about portraying the world of the street heroes as full of people. At one point the police get to do their jobs because of newspaper journalists doing their jobs, and this takes up half that issue, but it was really cool to see in a superhero comic.

Jul 28, 2018#311

@Li3n

PatrThom said:
some real estate developer tries underhanded tactics to force Ma and Pa Kent to sell their land, and Clark has to go back home and deal with it without the benefit of the "S."

--Patrick

The original, golden age Superman would jut break into the guys house, slap him around, find the incriminating papers and just drop him off at the nearest police station...

Jul 30, 2018#312

Yoshimickster

Has there ever been an Elseworld story where Batman was poor? Like, same origin, same motivation, but he DIDN'T have the Wayne family fortune.

Jul 30, 2018#313

PatrThom

Yoshimickster said:
Has there ever been an Elseworld story where Batman was poor? Like, same origin, same motivation, but he DIDN'T have the Wayne family fortune.

I don’t know, but can we please get John Plant to play the part?

—Patrick

Jul 30, 2018#314

filmfanatic

Yoshimickster said:
Has there ever been an Elseworld story where Batman was poor? Like, same origin, same motivation, but he DIDN'T have the Wayne family fortune.

Not that I can think of, but I think Darren Aronofsky was going to go in something similar to that direction when he was attached to Batman Begins. Instead of Alfred being a butler, he would have been a mechanic who took Bruce in.

Jul 30, 2018#315

Ravenpoe

Yoshimickster said:
Has there ever been an Elseworld story where Batman was poor? Like, same origin, same motivation, but he DIDN'T have the Wayne family fortune.

The one that immediately jumps to mind is the Batman from Superman: Red Son, whose parents were soviet dissidents that got gunned down.

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_(Earth-30)

Jul 31, 2018#316

Hailey Knight

I don't know how old this is, but I hadn't seen it until now.

Jul 31, 2018#317

Yoshimickster

I admit to liking some of his old Green Lantern art, but I am NOT sad to see that idiot go.

Aug 3, 2018#318

filmfanatic

Just a reminder that Gravity Falls: Lost Legends, a graphic novel written by show creator Alex Hirsch, is now out.

Aug 3, 2018#319

Yoshimickster

filmfanatic said:
Just a reminder that Gravity Falls: Lost Legends, a graphic novel written by show creator Alex Hirsch, is now out.

Getting mine tomorrow!

Aug 3, 2018#320

Hailey Knight

I'm having such a hard time tearing myself away from getting monthlies. There are a couple I'm still going to pick up, but I really need to move to trade waiting. It's just a hard habit to break.

Aug 3, 2018#321

ThatNickGuy

Hailey Zero Mission said:
I'm having such a hard time tearing myself away from getting monthlies. There are a couple I'm still going to pick up, but I really need to move to trade waiting. It's just a hard habit to break.

I say this with experience, but believe me, once you switch to being a trade waiter, you'll never go back to floppies.

Aug 4, 2018#322

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
I say this with experience, but believe me, once you switch to being a trade waiter, you'll never go back to floppies.

I think the really hard part is immediacy. Like, I know the next arc of Spectacular Spider-Man will be out in trade in 7 months ... or I could start reading it this Wednesday. Justice League is the really hard one because I know the trades are going to be far behind since it's double shipping each month. Tomasi finished with Superman months ago and it'll still be into next year before his run is finished being collected into paperback.

I just need to take this time to catch up on the many unread trades I've accumulated, and keep a schedule of when trades I want are coming to the comic shop.

Aug 4, 2018#323

ThatNickGuy

Hailey Zero Mission said:
I think the really hard part is immediacy. Like, I know the next arc of Spectacular Spider-Man will be out in trade in 7 months ... or I could start reading it this Wednesday. Justice League is the really hard one because I know the trades are going to be far behind since it's double shipping each month. Tomasi finished with Superman months ago and it'll still be into next year before his run is finished being collected into paperback.

I just need to take this time to catch up on the many unread trades I've accumulated, and keep a schedule of when trades I want are coming to the comic shop.

B-b-but...! Then you get awesome looking bookcases!

Aug 4, 2018#324

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
B-b-but...! Then you get awesome looking bookcases!

Maybe when we get a house

. Right now I'm trying to be careful how much I accumulate for the tiny bookspace we have.

I also need to figure out what to do with all these X-Factor floppies. There's stuff you can donate to the children's hospital, and then there's stuff you really, really can't.

Aug 4, 2018#325

Hailey Knight

Okay, I did it. I cancelled half my pull list. (I wish phone calls weren't so hard for me.) Gotta support the low end books that will be cancelled if they drop even one more subscriber *pour one out for A-Force* but the other stuff that's guaranteed to last, I can wait. And it's not like the comic shop will lose money. I'll just now have more money to buy other trades, test new Image and Boom series, etc.

Aug 4, 2018#326

ThatNickGuy

Hailey Zero Mission said:
Okay, I did it. I cancelled half my pull list. (I wish phone calls weren't so hard for me.) Gotta support the low end books that will be cancelled if they drop even one more subscriber *pour one out for A-Force* but the other stuff that's guaranteed to last, I can wait. And it's not like the comic shop will lose money. I'll just now have more money to buy other trades, test new Image and Boom series, etc.

I don't know what your local library is like, but I also recommend borrowing stuff out and trying books there, too, if you're unsure about slapping money down for them. I've discovered or tried SO many books thanks to my library. I plan on buying many of them when I can, like Transmetropolitan and The Sixth Gun.

Aug 4, 2018#327

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
I don't know what your local library is like, but I also recommend borrowing stuff out and trying books there, too, if you're unsure about slapping money down for them. I've discovered or tried SO many books thanks to my library. I plan on buying many of them when I can, like Transmetropolitan and The Sixth Gun.

I guess I meant new things

. I can test the waters of the untested.

Our library has a sizable length of shelf space reserved for graphic novels and almost nothing on them. We wandered over to check them out. There's a few Batman books from various eras, some scattered incomplete manga, a chunk of Spider-man and X-Men, some Hellboy, and maybe a volume here and there of a few other things. They have the entirety of Y: The Last Man, so I plan to borrow those a couple at a time and read them. That's about it though. There's a ton of open shelf space for more.

I donated some more miscellaneous stuff, and also Lemire's whole run of Animal Man.

Aug 16, 2018#328

Hailey Knight

A recent issue of (I think) Suicide Squad revealed in a throwaway line that Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy eloped to Vegas.

We had ALLLLLL that Bat/Cat nonsense and build-up just for it to be a fake out, but those two get married off-panel? Where's their wedding special?

Aug 16, 2018#329

mikerc

I'd imagine some pervy fan-artists are drawing the special right now. Give it a week or so & Gas will probably post a link to it in the NSFW subforum.

Aug 16, 2018#330

Hailey Knight

I asked for the wedding, not the honeymoon.

Aug 20, 2018#331

ThatNickGuy

Me: Ooh, November '18 solicitations for DC Comics are out.

Also Me: *Scroll, Scroll, Scroll* Don't care, don't care, don't care, just show me the trades so I can see what new collections from old 90s series are coming out.

https://www.newsarama.com/41452-dc-comics-november-2018-solicitations.html

Aug 20, 2018#332

Hailey Knight

Wow, it's that late in the month already. August flew by.

So October has James Tynion heading the Justice League Dark/Wonder Woman crossover, The Witching Hour, and then in November the Justice League/Aquaman crossover, Drowned Earth. I like DC's approach of zipping through them in a month instead of dragging them out. I'm still going to trade wait those stories, but it's neat.

G Willow Wilson on Wonder Woman, I might not be able to trade wait that.

Aug 20, 2018#333

Yoshimickster

I ain't the only one drooling at the concept of a Grant Morrison written Green Lantern series am I?

Aug 20, 2018#334

Hailey Knight

Yoshimickster said:
I ain't the only one drooling at the concept of a Grant Morrison written Green Lantern series am I?

I feel these days Morrison isn't sure if he wants to tell a story or imply one, and I don't feel like spending the money anymore to find out.

Aug 21, 2018#335

Hailey Knight

D&C has deleted his Twitter and probably shoving all the money he scammed from his followers into an offshore account.

Aug 21, 2018#336

ThatNickGuy

Hailey Zero Mission said:
D&C has deleted his Twitter and probably shoving all the money he scammed from his followers into an offshore account.

Gosh, what a shame. Whatever will the comics world do without him?

Hopefully grow the fuck up.

Aug 21, 2018#337

Hailey Knight

Marvel's November solicitations are a glut of event tie-ins. I think there are more tie-in minis for Spidergeddon and Infinity Wars than regular ongoings.

Aug 26, 2018#338

Hailey Knight

He called CG shit and they just rolled with it. :rofl:

Aug 26, 2018#339

ThatNickGuy

Me: Ugh. I've been buying way too many comics lately. I still have to read 4 volumes of Strangers in Paradise, 4 volumes of Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans, 3 Lumberjanes Deluxe Editions, and the stuff from DCAF. I REALLY need to read those before I buy...

Chapters/Indigo.ca: Buy Any One Graphic Novel, Get One 50% off!

Also me:

Aug 28, 2018#340

ThatNickGuy

*long pause*

Shit.

Aug 28, 2018#341

PatrThom

All this time you thought that Spider-Man made you gay but it turns out the gay was inside of you the whole time.

--Patrick

Aug 29, 2018#342

Ravenpoe

ThatNickGuy said:
*long pause*

Shit.

View attachment 27501

I also see spider-man, but this is great news for me, it'll make dating much easier.

Hey Nick, how you doin'?

Aug 29, 2018#343

GasBandit

Man, there are times I wish I was.

Aug 29, 2018#344

Ravenpoe

GasBandit said:
Man, there are times I wish I was.

If only more women were into bears.

Aug 29, 2018#345

GasBandit

Ravenpoe said:
If only more women were into bears.

Well, that's half of it.

The other half is, sometimes my... proclivities... are distracting.

Also I don't like certain kinds of people having basically sudo command access over me.

Aug 29, 2018#346

PatrThom

GasBandit said:
The other half is, sometimes my... proclivities... are distracting.

Also I don't like certain kinds of people having basically sudo command access over me.

This is why I'm glad I'm unusually specific.
Also that I can "appreciate" without necessarily becoming enthralled.

--Patrick

Aug 29, 2018#347

Bubble181

GasBandit said:
Also I don't like certain kinds of people having basically sudo command access over me.

If it wasn't young, freckled redhead girls with green eyes and a winning smile, it'd be a male variation

Aug 29, 2018#348

GasBandit

Bubble181 said:
If it wasn't young, freckled redhead girls with green eyes and a winning smile, it'd be a male variation

... the eyes don't even have to be green.

Aug 29, 2018#349

Dei

I doubt they have to be all that young either.

Aug 29, 2018#350

@Li3n

ThatNickGuy said:
*long pause*

Shit.

View attachment 27501

That's clearly butt-men discrimination...

Aug 29, 2018#351

GasBandit

Dei said:
I doubt they have to be all that young either.

Pauline was indeed many years my senior.

Sep 4, 2018#352

ThatNickGuy

Help! I've gone viral!

Sep 5, 2018#353

filmfanatic

...Have I mentioned how I love how ridiculous comics can get?

Sep 6, 2018#354

Hailey Knight

9d0bcf8a-1235-4b34-a853-0c8fbdc163fb~2.png

I love Neil Gaiman.

Sep 6, 2018#355

ThatNickGuy

It's amazing how many of these idiots try to "prosplain."

Sep 20, 2018#356

Yoshimickster

TOM KING IS GONNA SIGN STUFF AT MY FAVORITE COMIC SHOP NEXT WEEK! HELL YEAH!

Oct 7, 2018#357

Hailey Knight

Oct 20, 2018#358

ThatNickGuy

What's that? You need proof that Diversity & Comics is both a complete, reprehensible, transphobic asshole AND an idiot? Boom! Here you go.

Oct 20, 2018#359

@Li3n

What is he doing to that page?

Also Trek has always been the most SJW show out there...

Oct 20, 2018#360

Celt Z

@Li3n said:
What is he doing to that page?

Also Trek has always been the most SJW show out there...

Once again, a complaint that makes you go, "...have you ever seen/read/watched the thing you're arguing for/against?". Aside from Kirk's sexist leanings, the entire show and all is sequels were invented to be SJW. Not even subtly, it was its mission statement. HOW does someone not see that?!

Oct 31, 2018#361

Yoshimickster

Friend: Dude you should totally watch Titans, Dick doesn't kill people, the trailer was misleading.

Me: Oh well THAT's goo-

Friend: But Starfire has amnesia, is more angsty than Raven, kills lots of people while enjoying it,and had sex with a mafioso in the first episode.

Me: *Triggered war flashbacks feeling that's too similar to New52 Red Hood and the Outlaws* I...think I'll pass.

Nov 29, 2018#362

Yoshimickster

Not necessarily a rant, but it REALLY seems like Ben Percy is incapable of stopping himself from writing stories about people who combat the dark side of technology through augmented reality implants. Teen Titans, Nightwing, Green Arrow, even his own book aptly titled "The Dark Net". I don't want to say he's obsessed with the premise but homeboy DOES do it a lot.

Nov 29, 2018#363

Covar

Yoshimickster said:
Not necessarily a rant, but it REALLY seems like Ben Percy is incapable of stopping himself from writing stories about people who combat the dark side of technology through augmented reality implants. Teen Titans, Nightwing, Green Arrow, even his own book aptly titled "The Dark Net". I don't want to say he's obsessed with the premise but homeboy DOES do it a lot.

I thought his Nightwing was going to be the worst Dick Grayson story I would read all year...

...I wish I was right

Nov 29, 2018#364

Yoshimickster

Covar said:
I thought his Nightwing was going to be the worst Dick Grayson story I would read all year...

...I wish I was right

Yeah when a story that re-writes Dick Grayson personality into a technophobic Luddite ain't the worst it can get...that says something.

Dec 3, 2018#365

ThatNickGuy

Inspired by my newly acquired Oz omnibus, I wrote a thread looking at it from a feminist and trans perspective in mind.

Dec 4, 2018#366

GasBandit

Dec 4, 2018#367

PatrThom

...he says, wearing a T-shirt displaying a 50's era Batman logo.

--Patrick

Dec 9, 2018#368

Yoshimickster

Was it Jim Starlin, or Jim Steranko who said "DC is in the business of making stories, Marvel is in the business of making money"?

Dec 24, 2018#369

Hailey Knight

Spider-Man-less got me looking into getting some Spider-Gwen trades, but then as I looked over them, saw how the run kept being broken by crossovers and missing issues, I remembered why I kinda fell away from much of this.

I think the movie just had me really excited, but I don't need to put up with Marvel's nonsense to have a good time.

Dec 24, 2018#370

ThatNickGuy

Hailey Zero Mission said:
Spider-Man-less got me looking into getting some Spider-Gwen trades, but then as I looked over them, saw how the run kept being broken by crossovers and missing issues, I remembered why I kinda fell away from much of this.

I think the movie just had me really excited, but I don't need to put up with Marvel's nonsense to have a good time.

*Emperor Palpatine impression* Goooood. GOOOOOOD.

I feel like a proud father souring you over the years on DC/Marvel nonsense like that.

Though honestly, if they ever release a Spider-Gwen Complete Collection that has all the related crossovers included, it might be worth it.

Dec 24, 2018#371

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
*Emperor Palpatine impression* Goooood. GOOOOOOD.

I feel like a proud father souring you over the years on DC/Marvel nonsense like that.

Though honestly, if they ever release a Spider-Gwen Complete Collection that has all the related crossovers included, it might be worth it.

I would probably buy a Spider-Gwen omnibus. Edge of Spider-verse, Spider-women, the main series, the other Spider-man crossovers. If it was genuinely complete, that would be an amazing read.

I think it was less you souring me and more you were right all along

. DC and Marvel did the awfulness themselves. DC was genuinely getting better and then they took all that and used it to line Streaky's litter box. I'll probably still check out trades for stuff like Tom Taylor's Justice League Dark, and of course Squirrel Girl hardcovers, but the priority has died. I can't even be as excited for Kelly Thompson books because Marvel is stretching her thin as Bendis used to be, likely because they're going to soon cancel half those books anyway, but it means I can't depend on the quality I used to from her unless it's a non-Marvel series.

Dec 24, 2018#372

Hailey Knight

Hailey Zero Mission said:
Spider-Man-less

Autocorrect, what the fuck. Spider-verse. See? It's not that hard. Spider-verse, spider-verse, spider-verse.

Dec 24, 2018#373

ThatNickGuy

Hailey Zero Mission said:
you were right all along

Sorry, I don't know what you said after this.

Dec 28, 2018#374

Yoshimickster

QUESTION-does anyone know the name of this graphic novel, its where its like just 100 comic book covers and absolutely no traditional art in it at all, all the story you get is just from the covers. I can not for the LIFE of me remember what it was called.

Dec 28, 2018#375

PatrThom

No, but now I’m curious.

Closest I remember Is Thor #380, where as much of the comic as possible was all in splash pages. But that has dialogue, narration boxes, etc.

—Patrick

Dec 28, 2018#376

Yoshimickster

From what I remember it wasn't a mainstream comic, it was indie I think.

Dec 28, 2018#377

Celt Z

Yoshimickster said:
From what I remember it wasn't a mainstream comic, it was indie I think.

Remember anything else? Was it color? Black and white? Superheroes? Slice of life? Any main characters?

Dec 28, 2018#378

Yoshimickster

Celt Z said:
Remember anything else? Was it color? Black and white? Superheroes? Slice of life? Any main characters?

Color, superheroes, drama I think, and I don't know, I just remember reading the description forever ago and can't find it online.

Jan 18, 2019#379

Frank

So last night I watched The Death of Superman (it was ok but Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn as Clark Kent and Lois Lane? eeeeeeh) but it reminded me of the mediocre to ok Justice League movies DC made a few years ago and how much I really, really liked the Justice League theme that Christopher Drake used for a couple of the movies (namely Crisis on Two Earths and Doom). I liked the Crisis on Two Earths theme so much I use it as my phone ring tone.

It works so bloody well for DC heroes.

Feb 4, 2019#380

ThatNickGuy

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/02/03/mike-wieringo-cover-mike-s-miller-cully-hamner/

So, to summarize:

1) Scumbag Artist who used to work in the industry (and doesn't now because he's a scumbag) found an original piece of art by the late Mike Wieringo. Not so much piece but rough, unfinished breakdown for a cover. Still an original piece by Wieringo.

2) Scumbag Artist decides to draw over original piece to sell as his own work for his shitty crowd-funded comic.

3) Scumbag Artist takes it one further and plagiarizes Wieringo's signature on the piece (said signature was not on original piece).

4) Receives massive backlash from the comics community, including many comic book pros.

5) Scumbag Artist decides to burn the work entirely in a video entitled "The Final Solution," a reference to Hitler's genocidal plans for Jewish people. Oh, did I mention Scumbag Artist is anti-Semitic, homophobic, transphobic, etc? Oh yeah. Scumbag Artist is Scumbag.

Feb 14, 2019#381

filmfanatic

So, this is a new Avengers team coming to Marvel...

...And yes, that IS Conan the Barbarian among their ranks.

Feb 14, 2019#382

PatrThom

All I can say is...some people gonna die.

Is that Amanda Waller?

--Patrick

Feb 15, 2019#383

filmfanatic

PatrThom said:
All I can say is...some people gonna die.

Is that Amanda Waller?

--Patrick

Brother Voodoo, actually.

Feb 15, 2019#384

Yoshimickster

Let's just hope by the time that series comes out, Venom is back to being 100 percent, rather than the utterly retconned monstrosity Donny Cates has turned him into.

"I gots an idea, lets turn the Symbiote into a DOG!" How about NO.

Feb 15, 2019#385

PatrThom

filmfanatic said:
Brother Voodoo, actually.

I saw the sigil, but didn’t recognize it.

—Patrick

Feb 18, 2019#386

Hailey Knight

Matt Fraction is writing a Jimmy Olsen series.
Greg Rucka is writing a Lois Lane series.

Okay, resist. I gotta resist.

Feb 18, 2019#387

drifter

Hailey Zero Mission said:
Okay, resist. I gotta resist.

Nah

Feb 20, 2019#388

Yoshimickster

And now ladies and gentlemen I present another episode of "What the fuck is wrong with Erik Larson theater"(be warned, its gross and weird):

AND NO-you are not mistaken, that was clearly a...children's cartoon...where a child beats up another child and...does what I don't want to explain any further because Erik Larson.

Feb 21, 2019#389

Ravenpoe

Yoshimickster said:
And now ladies and gentlemen I present another episode of "What the fuck is wrong with Erik Larson theater"(be warned, its gross and weird):

AND NO-you are not mistaken, that was clearly a...children's cartoon...where a child beats up another child and...does what I don't want to explain any further because Erik Larson.

So, Savage Dragon is very much not aimed at children, so I would assume this parody isn't, either.

Feb 21, 2019#390

ThatNickGuy

This honestly isn't surprising. Savage Dragon has a LONG history of squicky, controversial moments almost from the beginning. Google "Heavy Flo," for example.

Feb 21, 2019#391

Yoshimickster

Ravenpoe said:
So, Savage Dragon is very much not aimed at children, so I would assume this parody isn't, either.

Fully aware, STILL a gross rape joke though.

Feb 26, 2019#392

Frank

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL

Since today has just been a glut of garbage in every facet, here's a little gem. Kurt Busiek revealed that he and Carlos Pacheo are actually making more Arrowsmith comics. I've given Kurt grief about it on Twitter in the past and he's always said it's coming along slowly and now, PROOF! I love Arrowsmith. It's easily one of my favourite, at the time, one-off graphic novels I've ever read. I'm stoked for more.

Feb 26, 2019#393

drifter

Got Beautiful Darkness on a whim and read it the other day. Not sure how I feel about it. Loved the artwork, but there's something about the story that left me a little wanting. Just felt a little hollow I guess? There are some wonderful bits but they didn't really leave an impact. I dunno, maybe I just went in expecting too much since I saw some very positive reviews. Well, it's a quick read, I'll probably go through it again. I'd say it's at least worth checking out once.

Feb 27, 2019#394

ThatNickGuy

Hey kids, remember when ComicsGaters were praising the success of one of their crowd funding campaigns?

Yeaaaaaah...this is what they got. They must be so proud.

Feb 27, 2019#395

Yoshimickster

Yeah that dude is just...not allowed to write about black people anymore, he is bad at it.

Feb 27, 2019#396

Hailey Knight

Yoshimickster said:
Yeah that dude is just...not allowed to write

Let me stop you right there.

Feb 28, 2019#397

chris

Writing aside the art is questional too. The first panel makes no sense at all. A neck can't bend that way.

Feb 28, 2019#398

ThatNickGuy

chris said:
Writing aside the art is questional too. The first panel makes no sense at all. A neck can't bend that way.

Zod begs to differ.

Apr 6, 2019#399

DarkAudit

Random Superman headcanon...

The Big Blue Boy Scout through and through. And is proud of it.
He's the guy who brings the food to your BBQ. And flowers for your mother.
He loves Dad jokes.
If going to visit family is a hardship, He'll find you a way.
He loves baseball. And since the Byrne Man of Steel (by my own count), a Royals fan. The landfills of Kansas are full of smashed radios to prove it.

Apr 6, 2019#400

chris

DarkAudit said:
Random Superman headcanon...

The Big Blue Boy Scout through and through. And is proud of it.
He's the guy who brings the food to your BBQ. And flowers for your mother.
He loves Dad jokes.
If going to visit family is a hardship, He'll find you a way.
He loves baseball. And since the Byrne Man of Steel (by my own count), a Royals fan. The landfills of Kansas are full of smashed radios to prove it.

Isn't that canon already?

Apr 6, 2019#401

DarkAudit

chris said:
Isn't that canon already?

Not according to Zack Snyder.

Apr 6, 2019#402

chris

So I'm a little out of the loop with the current DC and Marvel comics. With all the reboots, restarts and big events that changes everything again, are there any current comics that are worth reading for basically a new reader without knowing all that what happens in detail just with the basic knowledge of the heroes?

Apr 6, 2019#403

Hailey Knight

chris said:
So I'm a little out of the loop with the current DC and Marvel comics. With all the reboots, restarts and big events that changes everything again, are there any current comics that are worth reading for basically a new reader without knowing all that what happens in detail just with the basic knowledge of the heroes?

Several of them don't require foreknowledge, but will be cancelled soon so they can be rebooted again you can come in with zero foreknowledge.

I gave up.

Apr 6, 2019#404

ThatNickGuy

Oddly enough, I haven't seen much chatter for must-read books from Marvel or DC these days. Not on level of Vision or something. There are books people are enjoying, but I don't see like, "Holy shit, literally EVERYONE loves this book." Closest is probably Tom King's recently wrapped up Miracle Man mini-series.

Actually, come to think of it, I haven't seen much chatter from any comic, even outside of DC or Marvel. Maybe I'm not looking that hard, but I haven't seen any particularly outstanding book talked about lately. Not on a level like Saga or something.

Apr 6, 2019#405

Hailey Knight

ThatNickGuy said:
Oddly enough, I haven't seen much chatter for must-read books from Marvel or DC these days. Not on level of Vision or something. There are books people are enjoying, but I don't see like, "Holy shit, literally EVERYONE loves this book." Closest is probably Tom King's recently wrapped up Miracle Man mini-series.

Actually, come to think of it, I haven't seen much chatter from any comic, even outside of DC or Marvel. Maybe I'm not looking that hard, but I haven't seen any particularly outstanding book talked about lately. Not on a level like Saga or something.

Crowded is the most recent one I have seen getting buzz.

Apr 28, 2019#406

DarkAudit

For no reason other than it's one of my favorite images. Supermen of the Multiverse.

Apr 29, 2019#407

@Li3n

What evil ne'er-do-well made them all constipated at the same time?

Apr 29, 2019#408

Hailey Knight

@Li3n said:
What evil ne'er-do-well made them all constipated at the same time?

Probably Grant Morrison.

May 1, 2019#409

drawn_inward

They all look like John Travolta to me.

May 16, 2019#410

DarkAudit

Round on reddit this morning. Spider-verse by Murata, the artist for the One Punch Man manga.

Jun 15, 2019#411

Yoshimickster

Apparently a sequel to "Batman: White Knight" is coming out in July...yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaay?

Meanwhile I'm still waiting for a new "Green Lanterns" story after this "Justice League Odyssey" nonsense is over. Granted, JLO is an okay story but Green Lanterns had HEART dammit!

Aug 10, 2019#412

Yoshimickster

*CRICKETS* *CRICKETS*

AH-here I go, going across the wikis the weirdest Marvel Universe has to be the one where everybody's sex is the opposite, their alignment is the opposite, and their first and last names are essentially switched. I wouldn't mind if not for the good female Doc Ock's name being...Octavia Otto...even though I know Otto CAN be a last name, it still sounds weird.

Aug 11, 2019#413

ThatNickGuy

Yoshimickster said:
*CRICKETS* *CRICKETS*

AH-here I go, going across the wikis the weirdest Marvel Universe has to be the one where everybody's sex is the opposite, their alignment is the opposite, and their first and last names are essentially switched. I wouldn't mind if not for the good female Doc Ock's name being...Octavia Otto...even though I know Otto CAN be a last name, it still sounds weird.

Um...

Aug 11, 2019#414

Celt Z

Yoshimickster said:
*CRICKETS* *CRICKETS*

AH-here I go, going across the wikis the weirdest Marvel Universe has to be the one where everybody's sex is the opposite, their alignment is the opposite, and their first and last names are essentially switched. I wouldn't mind if not for the good female Doc Ock's name being...Octavia Otto...even though I know Otto CAN be a last name, it still sounds weird.

I'd be more confused by Rogera Steves or Starkie Tony.

Aug 11, 2019#415

PatrThom

Celt Z said:
I'd be more confused by Rogera Steves or Starkie Tony.

Reading on mobile, I thought you said “Stankie Tony.”

—Patrick

Aug 11, 2019#416

figmentPez

Parker's high school bully Thomdaughter Flash.

Aug 11, 2019#417

Yoshimickster

ThatNickGuy said:
Um...

Damn straight, Olivia Octavius > Octavia Otto, in terms of names. It just FLOWS better.

Aug 11, 2019#418

Tinwhistler

PatrThom said:
Reading on mobile, I thought you said “Stankie Tony.”

—Patrick

Aug 13, 2019#419

PatrThom

Thieves attempt to sell off stolen comic book collection... at the victim's own comic shop

In Saint Louis, thieves broke into Martin Casas's storage locker and snatched his comic book collection. Then they took the comics to a local comic shop to sell them. Thing is, Casas owns the shop.

--Patrick

Aug 16, 2019#420

jwhouk

Something from my neck of the woods: Mesa man selling comic collection - including rare X-Men issues - to pay for medical expenses

Aug 28, 2019#421

DarkAudit

In between Trump Prime going senile at G7, Brazilian Trump letting the Amazon burn, and British Trump doing Brexit WTFery, Twitter takes time out for this bit of pure gold.

The thread. read the whole thread.

Aug 29, 2019#422

@Li3n

Batman Inc. then?

Aug 29, 2019#423

PatrThom

@Li3n said:
Batman Inc. then?

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Wayne Industries.

--Patrick

Sep 7, 2019#424

mikerc

Mayor of Rio de Janeiro tried to get copies of Avengers: The Children's Crusade banned from sale at a book fair because it had a kiss between Wiccan and Hulkling. Courts have told him to fuck off citing freedom of expression, copies of the book have sold out & one of Brazil's biggest newspapers published this front page

Being an alt of @JCM I should know this already, but how do you say "burn" in Portugese? :rofl:

Sep 7, 2019#425

PatrThom

I think "Que febre!" ("What a fever!") might be appropriate.

--Patrick

Sep 19, 2019#426

Yoshimickster

Man oh MAN can I...not wait for Bendis's Superman runs to end. They ain't the worst things I've ever read, but compared to Tomasi and Jurgen's runs its no god damned contest. Probably gonna drop it after the "Reveal" story depending on how stupid it is.

Mar 24, 2020#427

GasBandit

So... heh... snrk... heh heh... get this.

Marvel's "New Warriors" comic is shaping up to look really... ha ha ha ha...

Look. They've got twin non-binary gender teen supers named SNOWFLAKE and SAFESPACE.

Marvel branded "tone-deaf" for non-binary superhero called 'Snowflake'

Snowflake, and their twin Safespace, are intended to "take those words and...wear them as badges of honor" -- but the backlash has been intense

www.metroweekly.com

And just in case you still harbored any doubts that this was the work of some out of touch anglo cishet dude either trying to white knight or cash in on being woke (Poe's Law makes it difficult to tell sometimes)...

... there's also a character who is a meme junkie and his power is googling.

Because memes are what the kids are into these days, right? That'll sell some dead tree comics!

Mar 24, 2020#428

figmentPez

GasBandit said:
So... heh... snrk... heh heh... get this.

Wednesday at 6:56 PM , nearly a week ago.

But, yeah, it really is something when Teenage Pastel Goth Morbius is the most reasonable character design.

Mar 24, 2020#429

PatrThom

Where's that political compass meme that just has "Fuck you, Marvel!" in all 5 spots (including Center)?

--Patrick

Mar 24, 2020#430

Frank

GasBandit said:
So... heh... snrk... heh heh... get this.

Marvel's "New Warriors" comic is shaping up to look really... ha ha ha ha...

Look. They've got twin non-binary gender teen supers named SNOWFLAKE and SAFESPACE.

Marvel branded "tone-deaf" for non-binary superhero called 'Snowflake'

Snowflake, and their twin Safespace, are intended to "take those words and...wear them as badges of honor" -- but the backlash has been intense

www.metroweekly.com

And just in case you still harbored any doubts that this was the work of some out of touch anglo cishet dude either trying to white knight or cash in on being woke (Poe's Law makes it difficult to tell sometimes)...

... there's also a character who is a meme junkie and his power is googling.

Because memes are what the kids are into these days, right? That'll sell some dead tree comics!

Is the editor in chief still that white dude that pretended to be Japanese to get work doing Japanese Marvel stories?

YUP!

C. B. Cebulski - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mar 24, 2020#431

Celt Z

Frank said:
Is the editor in chief still that white dude that pretended to be Japanese to get work doing Japanese Marvel stories?

YUP!

C. B. Cebulski - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I was just about to mention this, too. Marvel needs to check themselves. Fast.

Mar 29, 2020#432

@Li3n

Apr 2, 2020#433

Ravenpoe

Celt Z said:
I was just about to mention this, too. Marvel needs to check themselves. Fast.

I think they'd rather wreck themselves

May 18, 2020#434

evilmike

Jun 17, 2020#435

ThatNickGuy

So, for those that haven't heard in the comics news, artist Cameron Stewart and writer Warren Ellis were both recently outed as sexual predators. Stewart was outed for "grooming" underaged girls. Ellis has messaged incredibly inappropriate things to various young women and asked for "favors" to help them get into the business.

I believe the women coming forward. I will support them however I can. For me, I don't know any of these people personally or professionally. I'm just a reader on the sidelines. And as a reader on the sidelines, it makes me question the "art vs artist" argument again.

Looking at my shelf, I realize I don't own a great deal of work from Cameron Stewart or surprisingly Warren Ellis. For Stewart, just his part of Morrison's Seven Soldiers and his work on Ed Brubaker's Catwoman run, which I adored. For Ellis, from what I can tell I just have the Planetary omnibus and I've been buying the new deluxe softcover editions of Transmetropolitan. Kind of surprising. I thought I had more.

And like previous creators, I'm torn on whether to keep their work on my shelf. I quickly disposed of Doug Tenapple's YA books when I found out he was a bigot against the LGBTQ community. I got rid of both Brian Wood's Northlanders and DMZ, even though I loved those books until I learned about how he treated some women. I'm continuously torn on keeping Chuck Dixon's work on my shelf after discovering he's not only a very staunch Trump supporter, but supports Comicsgate. And yet his run on Nightwing is one of my all-time favourite runs and I'm nostalgic for Knightfall/KnightQuest/KnightFall.

But I absolutely adore Brubaker's Catwoman run. Largely for the writing, but Cameron Stewart played a major role in that run, along with other artists like the late great Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, and others. Same for 7 Soldiers, though Stewart did only 4 issues there.

And then Warren Ellis. Planetary is absolutely brilliant. I've considered re-buying The Authority. Transmetropolitan is cathartic and surprisingly just as relevant in its politics today, if not moreso. I ask myself "Do I keep buying the Transmet books that aren't out yet?"

Looking at this PURELY as a reader on the sidelines, it's difficult to feel comfortable having some of these works on my shelf, knowing what I know now about these creators. I know that some people can separate the art from the artist, but I find it very personally challenging.

Jun 17, 2020#436

Frank

Fuck, is it so fucking hard to not be a piece of shit?

Jun 17, 2020#437

GasBandit

Frank said:
Fuck, is it so fucking hard to not be a piece of shit?

Virtually all of human history indicates: Yes. At least, if you have even the slightest bit of power, wealth, or other method of shielding yourself from consequences.

Jun 17, 2020#438

ThatNickGuy

Frank said:
Fuck, is it so fucking hard to not be a piece of shit?

Apparently not when you're a creepy but highly influential man interacting with young, impressionable women who are terrified of being blacklisted if they say something.

Jun 30, 2020#439

DarkAudit

Jun 30, 2020#440

MindDetective

Portland?

Jul 1, 2020#441

ThatNickGuy

Humble Bundle has one HECK of an Image Comics bundle right now. Even better, I didn't realize they now offered CBZ files for their comics, which is a much better format for reading than PDF. Especially for the program ComicRack, which I can read on desktop or tablet.

Jul 1, 2020#442

Dave

Just bought it and am downloading them in the dreaded PDF. And downloading that many is a real pain in the ass. Their bulk downloader just doesn't work very well.

Jul 1, 2020#443

ThatNickGuy

Dave said:
Just bought it and am downloading them in the dreaded PDF. And downloading that many is a real pain in the ass. Their bulk downloader just doesn't work very well.

Agreed. I just tried it myself and it was spotty, to put it mildy.

Jul 1, 2020#444

MindDetective

ThatNickGuy said:
Humble Bundle has one HECK of an Image Comics bundle right now. Even better, I didn't realize they now offered CBZ files for their comics, which is a much better format for reading than PDF. Especially for the program ComicRack, which I can read on desktop or tablet.

I did one of these a couple years ago and got great value out of it. I don't see too much overlap with that bundle, so I'm in.

Aug 11, 2020#445

GasBandit

Welp, the axe is falling at DC.

DC Comics, DC Universe Hit By Major Layoffs

Monday's WarnerMedia layoffs have hit a significant number of high-level figures at comic book powerhouse DC.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Aug 11, 2020#446

Frank

It's not just DC, Warner Media in general is getting decimated. 800 layoffs across multiple different companies. They're fucked by AT&T's massive, massive debt.

Aug 11, 2020#447

DarkAudit

Fuck shareholders.

Aug 11, 2020#448

PatrThom

DarkAudit said:
Fuck shareholders.

But mainly the people who think pleasing shareholders should be the primary focus.
Goose that laid the golden eggs, and all that.

--Patrick

Aug 11, 2020#449

Yoshimickster

Man I knew DC was bound to implode but not THAT bad!

Also yeah, fuck the shareholders.

Aug 11, 2020#450

Gryfter

AT&T.... is there anything they can't fuck up?

Aug 18, 2020#451

Yoshimickster

Also on the subject of DC, if ANYTHING happens to Jarro a.k.a. Robin the Star Wonder I'd...well not set DC comics on fire, as its...CLEARLY all ready burning, but I'll at least write a nasty NOTE!

Aug 21, 2020#452

Celt Z

This new meme makes me smile:

Kinda like the way I'll always laugh at Twisted Toyfair's take on Daredevil or Iron Man's crippling alcoholism.

Sep 2, 2020#453

BErt

This looks very cool

Sep 6, 2020#454

klew

Comixology is offering around 255 digital issues of Black Panther for free, no idea how long it might last.

Read Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga and More

www.comixology.com

Sep 6, 2020#455

MindDetective

klew said:
Comixology is offering around 255 digital issues of Black Panther for free, no idea how long it might last.

Read Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga and More

www.comixology.com

This Reddit thread adds a few more:

Oct 5, 2020#456

Frank

I think it's incredible that a 94 year old can whip out something like this, with line work this clean and lacking in visible shakiness, at her age. You go Ramona Fradon.

Oct 16, 2020#457

Yoshimickster

Man going to the comic shop is so weird these days is so weird, there weren't enough new issues this week to fill the wall so they just put old TPBs in some of the spaces.

Oct 21, 2020#458

Celt Z

It's Wonder Woman Day!

Nov 21, 2020#459

DarkAudit

I need this drawn, NOW.

Nov 21, 2020#460

PatrThom

Worth it for the finish alone.

—Patrick

Dec 14, 2020#461

figmentPez

Batman fancomic:

Dec 14, 2020#462

PatrThom

Was expecting: "WHO ARE YOU TO DENY US THIS DAY?!"
"...I'm Batman!"

--Patrick

Dec 23, 2020#463

ThatNickGuy

It's finally over.

Jawbreakers' Richard Meyer Drops Lawsuit Against Mark Waid

Mark Waid and Richard Meyer jointly announced that Meyer has dropped his lawsuit against Waid over Antarctic Press dropping Meyer's Jawbreakers

www.cbr.com

Dec 30, 2020#464

figmentPez

Marvel.... no.

Dec 30, 2020#465

PatrThom

Sp1der~B0t?

--Patrick

Dec 30, 2020#466

Frank

Spider-Man wants to be mistaken as Taskmaster.

Dec 30, 2020#467

figmentPez

PatrThom said:
Sp1der~B0t?

Interwebs Warrior.

Dec 30, 2020#468

Celt Z

Well, it's not the first time they've questionably twiddled with his costume. Just ride it out and wait until they go back to the classic in a few months.

OR

"Jesus, 2020! We only have two day left! WHYYYYYYYY?!?"

Dec 30, 2020#469

PatrThom

Celt Z said:
Well, it's not the first time they've questionably twiddled with his costume.

I thought the Spider-Armor was actually kind of cool.
Cool enough that I actually own the ish, somewhere.

--Patrick

Dec 30, 2020#470

Yoshimickster

Honestly after the last five terrible Spider-man/Spider-man-adjacent-character's shitty costumes I am BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARELY phased.

When Knull stops looking like a bad knock off of the Joker, THAN I'll be interested!

Dec 31, 2020#471

Frank

I think Future Foundation Spider-Man looked amazing. It's only downside is they did that scheme with Eddie Brock already as Anti-Venom.

Dec 31, 2020#472

Gryfter

*sigh* Amazing Spider-man sales dipping I assume. Cause they do this, "let's give Spidey a new suit... for realisies this time." about every 3 or 4 years.

Jan 1, 2021#473

Tiger Tsang

figmentPez said:
Marvel.... no.

Well, that's not a bucket of shit. Oh, wait

Jan 7, 2021#474

mikerc

Read a synopsis of Future State: The Flash. *sighs* Why does DC hate Wally West?

Jan 7, 2021#475

Gryfter

Because there are certain writers at DC who insist that only the original character should be there. So as soon as Barry Allen was brought back to life, Wally became redundant because it couldn't possibly be necessary to have more than one Flash. See also Hal Jordan and the redundancy of Kyle Raynor.

Jan 7, 2021#476

Yoshimickster

Pretty much the reason why Tim Drake is Robin again and while Damian is...Damian. REALLY love how they're continuously hinting that he becomes evil again....reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally loving it.

On the subject most of the Future State books just seem like more of the same bleakery DC shoves in our face with every Elseworld event. I might get that Teen Titans book as it introduces Red X, but other than that I dunno.

Honestly I don't know why they don't just make two Flash books, just take away one or twelve of the books Superman and Batman each have and you could have more room for stories!

Jan 25, 2021#477

Dave

Not sure whether this belongs here or in the Politics threads, but I thought it amusing.

The man third in the line of presidential succession has been in five 'Batman' movies | CNN

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont and the longest-tenured member of the Senate, is a Batman aficionado who's turned his fandom into philanthropy. Now, he's President pro tempore of the Senate and third in line to be President.

www.cnn.com

Feb 9, 2021#478

figmentPez

Pinnochio was first published 57 years before Disney made Pinnochio, using the character who had just entered the public domain.

Spider-Man's first appearance was published 58 years ago.

Mar 22, 2021#479

DarkAudit

TIL Bruce Wayne and J'onn J'onzz are Sailor Moon fans...

Did Batman read Sailor Moon? | Sailor Moon News

Apr 2, 2021#480

Fun Size

As someone who really doesn't have time to read, this still seems like a really good opportunity. Anyone have any suggestions as to whether or not that's accurate?

Humble Comic Bundle: The Best Year of BOOM! Studios

BOOM! Studios are bringing their best 2020 comics right to you. Pay what you want for comics like Something Is Killing the Children Vol. 1 and support charity!

www.humblebundle.com

Apr 2, 2021#481

General Specific

DarkAudit said:
TIL Bruce Wayne and J'onn J'onzz are Sailor Moon fans...

Did Batman read Sailor Moon? | Sailor Moon News

I've always heard that Batman trained long and hard to be the best at everything. This must mean he's the best weeb as well.

Apr 2, 2021#482

Celt Z

He decided to fight crime DRESSED AS A BAT. Can we stop pretending he is the smooth opertator he claims to be and admit Bruce is a giant dork?

Apr 3, 2021#483

@Li3n

Gryfter said:
See also Hal Jordan and the redundancy of Kyle Rayner.

And that one is even worse, since it's the GL Corps, and it's best characters aren't even the earth ones.

Celt Z said:
He decided to fight crime DRESSED AS A BAT. Can we stop pretending he is the smooth opertator he claims to be and admit Bruce is a giant dork?

C'mon, that's totally just because criminals have a well known phobia of bats...

May 2, 2021#484

PatrThom

Celt Z said:
He decided to fight crime DRESSED AS A BAT. Can we stop pretending he is the smooth opertator he claims to be and admit Bruce is a giant dork?

I saw this and ~~thought~~ knew it belonged here.

--Patrick

Jun 14, 2021#485

figmentPez

Wasn't sure where else to put this, since it's as much about DC Comics as a whole as it is about the Harley Quinn animated series.

DC Comics has this backwards. Batman is no hero if he won't go down on his partner.

Jun 14, 2021#486

mikerc

Reminds me of this comment by Neil Gaiman.

Jun 14, 2021#487

Celt Z

figmentPez said:
Wasn't sure where else to put this, since it's as much about DC Comics as a whole as it is about the Harley Quinn animated series.

DC Comics has this backwards. Batman is no hero if he won't go down on his partner.

You KNOW Tony Stark will go down, even on a first date.

Make Mine Marvel.

Jun 14, 2021#488

PatrThom

Celt Z said:
You KNOW Tony Stark will go down, even on a first date.

Make Mine Marvel.

“Yeah, I’m going to need that shirt back.”

—Patrick

Jun 14, 2021#489

jwhouk

PatrThom said:
“Yeah, I’m going to need that shirt back.”

—Patrick

Oh my GOD I heard RDJ saying that in my HEAD.

Jun 14, 2021#490

PatrThom

jwhouk said:
Oh my GOD I heard RDJ saying that in my HEAD.

Hey YOU'RE the one giving him free RENT.

--Patrick

Jun 14, 2021#491

figmentPez

Jun 14, 2021#492

figmentPez

Jun 14, 2021#493

Dei

Jun 14, 2021#494

DarkAudit

Someone has already commissioned the Harley/Serena comic with “Heroes might not do that, but *I* do.”

Jun 15, 2021#495

figmentPez

DarkAudit said:
Someone has already commissioned the Harley/Serena comic with “Heroes might not do that, but *I* do.”