[Comics] What Comics are you Currently Reading Thread

Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

Wonder Twins (2019)

...hm. I'll give the next issue another chance, but this first issue was both simultaneously WEIRD, obvious, and underwhelming.

For one, I find it weird how Wonder Woman wasn't impressed with Zan's ability to turn into water, WHY?! Its a freaking SUPER POWER with a billion uses, that's a criticism made by NORMAL people not super people.

Two, the Wonder Twins barely do any super stuff in this issue, its mostly them talking about going to high school while the Justice League does all the real work.

Three, there's a scene where Superman thinks making an unstable Tachyon trap is a better option of taking out Mr.Mxyzptlk than tricking him into saying his name backwards, despite it being something he's been able to do a THOUSAND times!

BACK to Mxyzptlk, somehow they send him back by having a recording of him said backwards and...does that make sense? I'm not sure that makes sense.

AND FINALLY...thunderlust. Apparently the twin's species get mad horny when storms happen...because THAT was what the Wonder Twin's lore needed! I'm all for supernatural puberty metaphors, but that still felt too on the nose.
 
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Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

The Umbrella Academy Volume 1-The Apocalypse Suite

Decided to give it a read after watching the show and I feel the comic is generally better than season 1 of the show, while also still feeling the show did a few things better as well.

Now in terms of looks the comic beats it by a MILE, while the first issue's art was a bit shakey, by the end it really worked in a surrealist sense and I'm kinda mad the Netflix show never attempted to copy its style. I get it, there's limits to special effects, but the the look of the show just looks like every other super hero show out there albeit with better cinematography.

With characters(once again, comparing only volume 1 and season 1) its hit or miss on which are better.

Klaus in the show is a lot more relatable in terms of being an addict as well as a character, whereas in the comic he just...DOES stuff and barely has a few lines. That said he seems to be more respected in the comic, where as in the show they treat him like absolute shit, devaluing him both as a person and as a member of the team, to the point where I just wanted to scream at the television-"MAYBE IF ANY OF YOU WERE NICE TO HIM HE WOULDN'T ACT OUT AND SEEK SOLACE IN ADDICTION!"

Luther though has MUCH better dialogue, and him having an actual gorilla body makes me more sympathetic to him than the...ALMOST gorilla body he had in the show which honestly just made him look kinda hairy. His dickishness in the comics is also a lot more palletable than his dickishness in the show, an almost more grown-up dickishness if you will. ESPECIALLY-since comic Luther straight up acknowledges that Hargreeves was an awful person from the get-go rather than having him realize it through a plot-twist. He blames his lack of a life on his accident rather than some bland devotion to his father, which I find honestly more relatable.

Diego and Allison are pretty much the same, with the exception of changing Diego's power to super accuracy/low level telekinesis instead of Guybrush level breath-holding, which to the Netflix show's credit I'm okay with as its just not visually impressive in the least. I do gotta say though I felt the romance of Allison and Luther was just as bad as in the show, as they are brother and sister and NO I do not care if its only by adoption, its still weird.

THEN there's Vanya, who could've gotten a bit more exposure in terms of a character, but her becoming an apocalypse maker definitely makes more sense in the comic then in the show, where in the comic the crazy guy who wants her to activate her powers doesn't have some convoluted plan or reasoning for her activating her powers, in the comic-BAM-end of the world, CLEAN and simple! And while Vanya as a civilian could've used more exposure, Vanya as the villainous White Violin was WAY more interesting than the show's version as...well it was Dark Phoenix, no other way around saying it, it was just Dark Phoenix.

One thing the comic definitely has better than the show is that its not ten episodes of a super hero team breaking up and reforming again and again and AGAIN, whereas in the comic they're all "Okay, shit's going down, let's work together!" which makes the story-arc a lot more streamlined then the show. The dialogue in the comic is also a lot less cheesey I'd say, the show often putting dramatic music on scenes making it feel VERY soap opera-y where as the comic was a lot more cartoonish and quirky.

Ultimately though the ending of the story arc is better as the end of the world wasn't caused because Luther trapped his sister like a dumb ass in an echo chamber, doing the same horrible thing his father did to them and everybody just...went along with it. That and they actually DO stop this threat as a professional super hero team(albeit with casualties) whereas in the show they fuck up so badly they have to go back in time to solve it and URH-I all ready have "Legends of Tomorrow" in terms of a show about a team of loose-canons saving the world via timetravel, I didn't need another!

With that the comic is the clear winner, while the show is like JUST good in terms of a TV adaptation, that probably would've worked better if it was 6 episodes instead of 10.
 
Frank

Frank

I honestly like the show more than the comics. Giving the characters room to breath that just wasn't possible in the confines of six issues.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

So, I've been reading Hickman's Avengers. Made it through the first two volumes of both Avengers and New Avengers.

They were...okay. Very high concept, but the characterization is stiff and dry for everyone. Everyone seems so non-plussed to everything.

This is a common criticism I have with Hickman's work: ridiculously high concept ideas, but little heart behind them.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

Spider-man (2018) issue 1

WOW-its like EVERYTHING I hate about bad Spider-man stories rolled into one! Spidey's super-colleagues treating him like a dick, life taking a HUGE dump on him because of that pesky "Typical Parker Luck", LYING about why Peter and MJ broke up, and a tacked on message about learning from your mistakes!

My one friend tells me it gets better by issue four but...oh god that was bad, it was SO bad!
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

Black Hammer volume 1

A good start to a story that's essentially Fables but with allegories for superheroes in the normal world instead of fairy tale characters. Hell they're also trapped on a farm essentially, its totally superhero Fables!

While I like it for the most part, some stuff bugged me like...the faces. Why does almost NO character talk with their mouth open, nine times out of ten everyone's face is stuck in a weird puckered lip deal that looks like they just sucked a lemon!

Its also a bit cliche in other ways, such as Golden Gail isn't a boozehound Septagenarian trapped in a child's body which has been done to DEATH! UMBRELLA ACADEMY-same character, same freaking publisher, COME ON!

I may check out the second volume, but in all honesty? I'm kind of burnt out on super adult, super dark not-superhero superhero stories. What was once a sub-version of the medium has now become common place and while I can enjoy Black Hammer, I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep following it.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

*CRICKETS, CRICKETS*

Okay, me again.

Batman Curse of the White Knight 1

MAN-this...sure is a sequel to Batman White Knight all right. I mean, I'm kinda interested in the conspiracy, but also not. What made White Knight interesting was the unique dynamic of a semi-reformed Joker, and a morally corrupt Batman, NOW its just Batman solving a mystery BUT everyone says shit instead of @#$% because Black Label.
 
mikerc

mikerc

Just read Spider-Verse. Main villains The Inheritors are a family of universe hopping immortal life drinkers who feed specifically on "Spider-Totems" which is to say AU versions of Spider-Man. Their plan involves a ritual to prevent the creation of new Spider-Totems meaning no new Spider-Men within the Marvel Multi-Verse.

So their plan is basically to wipe out their food supply...?
 
Frank

Frank

I just mega-dosed myself with all The Immortal Hulk I could and holy shit is it the best "Super Hero" comic in years. It's cosmic horror/body horror Hulk stories that go to places I never would have imagined in a million years. It's the most critically acclaimed thing coming out of Marvel for a reason.



Hulk is very conscious through this.



Gamma powered characters really go through some shit in this series.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

For shits and giggles I've been reading the Archie Sonic comics, DEAR LORD-was this an inconsistent mess, I LOVE IT!

But yeah for real, it takes until Ian Flynn for the series to gain actual stability, and even THEN he has to stick with some of the dumb story themes the previous writers and SEGA have stuck with the comic.
 
Zappit

Zappit

Staff member
Being stuck inside has helped me address my reading pile.

Hellboy Omnibus Vols 1-4 - Finally got around to reading Hellboy, and I enjoyed it very much. I wasn’t so crazy about some of the later stories, though.

Blankets - Damn, this really is a good graphic novel. It’s intense and deeply depressing at times, but it also has very sweet moments. Really good book.

Box Office Poison - I’ve read this before, years ago, but I got a physical copy and I still love this book.
 
Frank

Frank

I wonder if reading them so close will change your opinion of the last two trades. They were so far apart and so little actually happened in them that it felt like the wheels were just spinning for years at a time.
 
Krisken

Krisken

Zappit said:
I picked up the omnibus, which had everything so far. I think I read it all in three sittings. It had me that hooked.
Click to expand...
I wish I knew there was an omnibus! I had picked up book 1 on a whim and was hooked. Would certainly be easier if I had the entire series so far than picking up the books individually.
 
drifter

drifter

On the plus side, if you're into physical media there's something kinda satisfying about having individual books all lined up.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
I just read all of Immortal Hulk from beginning to end. Truly the best thing out of Marvel recently. Very much in line with really old school (like original run) Hulk. It's got the horror elements mixed in with the sci-fi. I like giving Creel a redemption, too. He always struck me as a fairly smart guy, so it makes sense that he'd at least try the good guy thing. I know he has before, but this gray area Creel is a good fit for him. Titania came along for the ride, but given her background story, I'm sort of surprised she's not more willing to turn, too. Do yourself a favor, and check this out. I confess I read it through shadier channels, but I will buy the books when this quarantine clears and I can support my LCBS.
 
Zappit

Zappit

Staff member
I don’t condemn you for using the shady site. I don’t have any LCSs left in my area. Ever since I started using that site to preview books, I’ve ended up buying more physical copies of books than I have...pretty much ever.

Also, I just read the first volume of Gail Simone’s Domino, and it’s a pretty fun book. I’ve got the second volume on the reading pile for tonight.
 
Shawn

Shawn

Ghostbusters (IDW)
I wish that I had taken the time to read this series sooner. I'm sure many of you have. I just finished the first volume and I think it's great. It's nice that they consider the video game as part of the canon and move forward from there, even basing a lot of the plot of the first volume from lore in the game. It even references some elements from The Real Ghostbusters (e.g. One of the Brooklyn Bridge Trolls is hanging out in a panel). I will probably laugh out loud if the series makes any cracks at the Q5 tampering of the show.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

"Young Heroes in Love" & "Superboy and the Ravers"

Was in a nineties mood and decided to give both series a shot. Outside of Sparx's unpunished homophobia, "Superboy and the Ravers" was...HONESTLY really good, it had a wide cavalcade of characters with different abilities and looks with a cool ongoing plot. I just wished the Ravers woulda showed up in more than cameos after this, especially Aura who was foreshadowed to do some cool shit after the book. DOES have several nineties transgressions though, scantily clad women abound but that goes with the territory.

"Young Heroes in Love" though...sweet...JESUS-that book took a turn during the end. I'm not saying don't write a sexually charged superhero story, but write a GOOD sexually charged superhero story. Also they write one bi character as a sexual deviant and...*SIGH* god dammit nineteen nineties.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Radiant Black

So, I just finished reading Vol 1 of Radiant Black, by Kyle Higgins, Marcelo Costa, Becca Carey, etc, and...

Holy shit.

I don't say this often or lightly when I recommend comics, but go buy a copy of this book. Immediately. Don't ask questions. Just go get it. Thank me later.

_db72268175.jpg
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

This is bugging me because it sounds so familiar.
<cautiously peeks at Internet>
Oh hey, it’s a relatively recent release (Feb’21). We’ll see if I can track it down without being spoiled.

—Patrick
 
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