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Brubaker's Best Work?
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76 posts in this topic

Brubaker's good! Very solid and consistent. Haven't read everything he's done, but have read a good bit. My ranking:

 

1. FATALE

2. CRIMINAL

3. DD

4. GOTHAM CENTRAL

5. CAPTAIN AMERICA

6. SLEEPER

 

I like his collaborations with Sean Phillips the best (aside from SLEEPER). Still need to check out INCOGNITO.

 

The first 6 issues of Incognito are great, but if you don't like Sleeper I'm not sure... What don't you like about Sleeper?

 

It's not that I don't like SLEEPER, I'm just listing the Brubaker books I've read in terms of preference. But it's not higher on the list because I found it difficult to get into...I didn't read any previous Wildstorm stuff and it seemed like there was continuity I needed to know to fully appreciate the book.

 

Probably why FATALE and CRIMINAL rank highest for me-- you can jump in and not have to worry about anything that might have come before them.

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I like most things he writes, but criminal was AMAZING. It felt like what miller was trying to do with sin city but more realistic. The way he followed the different generations of crime family's, letting the story intertwine all the charecters was next level storytelling. I'd reccomend anyone interested in brubaker Get both volumes of the criminal hardcovers. They're about $27 with the amazon/ebay discount, sewn binding, beautiful construction, and include lots of extras, including a gallery of sean phillips noir movie pieces and essays. I watched several of the noir films he wrote essays about, and was very impressed. Even my girlfriend liked them, "the long goodbye" in particular.

His cap run was nostalgic, but not my favorite of his work. Daredevil was good, but I felt like it paled in comparison to bendis's run. Gotham central was great, definately gave a voice to the underbelly of gotham city.

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I haven't read any of his superhero stuff, but of the noir:

 

1) Criminal - read as an arc, appreciating the story over two generations of characters, this is the best standalone. The Lawless family is the most interesting I think (Tracy Lawless is the best character in the series IMHO).

 

2) Fatale - I disagree with whoever wrote above that you can just jump into it without worrying about continuity. I also found that when I was reading it monthly it was hard to get into. But in trade-sized bites this is a great, atmospheric series.

 

3) Incognito - much more superhero-y, although still quite dark. I like the dialogue more than the plot in this series.

 

4) Scene of the Crime - just bought the HC and looking forward to reading it.

 

5) Sleeper - omnibus has been sitting on my shelf for a little while - looking forward to reading this too!

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2) Fatale - I disagree with whoever wrote above that you can just jump into it without worrying about continuity. I also found that when I was reading it monthly it was hard to get into. But in trade-sized bites this is a great, atmospheric series.

 

To clarify, I meant you could *start* the series from the beginning without worrying about continuity (unlike, in my experience, SLEEPER). As it is, FATALE is a series of arcs as well as standalone issues. If you start in the middle of an arc, yes, it will be confusing. But otherwise, there are natural starting points along the way. The title character, Jo, is the common thread throughout...but so far she's more of a device than a character (all that matters is that she's a femme fatale). No prior knowledge is necessary to enjoy the series.

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2) Fatale - I disagree with whoever wrote above that you can just jump into it without worrying about continuity. I also found that when I was reading it monthly it was hard to get into. But in trade-sized bites this is a great, atmospheric series.

 

To clarify, I meant you could *start* the series from the beginning without worrying about continuity (unlike, in my experience, SLEEPER). As it is, FATALE is a series of arcs as well as standalone issues. If you start in the middle of an arc, yes, it will be confusing. But otherwise, there are natural starting points along the way. The title character, Jo, is the common thread throughout...but so far she's more of a device than a character (all that matters is that she's a femme fatale). No prior knowledge is necessary to enjoy the series.

 

Agreed (thumbs u

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For me, Gotham Central isn't. Brubaker book. It's a Brubaker and Rucka book. Still, I totally love it. My list:

 

1) Criminal

2) Sleeper

3) Fatale

4) Catwoman

5) lowlife

6) incognito

7) captain america

8) Scene of the crime

9) pajama chronicles (maybe the worst comic ever... Ed's first published work, which he both wrote and drew)

 

I haven't read his daredevil run an I am not counting Gotham central, which I would rank at 3 or 4 on the list above... or maybe #2, or iron fist, which I'd rank at 8 or 9, even though I thought it was awesome. All but number 9 on my list are amazing and I would re-read with no hesitation.

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So basically, read everything he's written, haha.

His Uncanny X Men run was just OK. It wasn't bad but just wasn't at all memorable and the pacing of the storyline seemed a bit off if I remember correctly.

 

He also did X Men - Deadly Genesis which I did think was good.

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So basically, read everything he's written, haha.

His Uncanny X Men run was just OK. It wasn't bad but just wasn't at all memorable and the pacing of the storyline seemed a bit off if I remember correctly.

 

He also did X Men - Deadly Genesis which I did think was good.

 

I agree he tried to hit a home run with his Space epic in X-men. I think it just shows how good Byrne and Claremont where. War of Kings did spin out of X-men as well so I think down the road his X-men run will be looked at more favorably.

 

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For me, Gotham Central isn't. Brubaker book. It's a Brubaker and Rucka book. Still, I totally love it. My list:

 

1) Criminal

2) Sleeper

3) Fatale

4) Catwoman

5) lowlife

6) incognito

7) captain america

8) Scene of the crime

9) pajama chronicles (maybe the worst comic ever... Ed's first published work, which he both wrote and drew)

 

I haven't read his daredevil run an I am not counting Gotham central, which I would rank at 3 or 4 on the list above... or maybe #2, or iron fist, which I'd rank at 8 or 9, even though I thought it was awesome. All but number 9 on my list are amazing and I would re-read with no hesitation.

 

WTH is this?

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X men: deadly genesis was good, but not amazing. It introduced kid vulcan and set the stage for his rise and fall of the shiar empire run on uncanny. However, I really enjoyed messiah complex. Just bought it in hardcover, re-reading it now. Great action, fantastic cable moments, and chris bachalo's art has a sort of magna style that fits the story very well. I'd say its brubakers best x men work to date.

Edited by Meta4
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For me, Gotham Central isn't. Brubaker book. It's a Brubaker and Rucka book. Still, I totally love it. My list:

 

1) Criminal

2) Sleeper

3) Fatale

4) Catwoman

5) lowlife

6) incognito

7) captain america

8) Scene of the crime

9) pajama chronicles (maybe the worst comic ever... Ed's first published work, which he both wrote and drew)

 

I haven't read his daredevil run an I am not counting Gotham central, which I would rank at 3 or 4 on the list above... or maybe #2, or iron fist, which I'd rank at 8 or 9, even though I thought it was awesome. All but number 9 on my list are amazing and I would re-read with no hesitation.

 

WTH is this?

 

Dammit, Mike, get with the program (btw- I'll be in PA on Thursday, so maybe I will finally pay you for those books....). Maybe it's Low Life. It's one of Ed's early indy books. Let me guess, you want to read it? Fine... I'll track down my copies and lend them to you....

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