1000 books in 2021 6 6

[ttfitz]

Previous count 148

Continuing on with the Batman '66 titles....

Batman '66 Meets the Legion of Super-Heroes One Shot

More good work on these books from the Allreds, appropriate amount of TV Batman wackiness. Thumbs up.

Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 1-6

Fits my feelings on the majority of the main Batman '66 title - good Batman story, just not Batman '66. Or Wonder Woman '77, for that matter - Wonder Woman does not fly! There was one thing they did that I thought was rather clever - it was essentially 3 linked stories; the first two issues featured the WWII version of WW77 and a young Bruce Wayne, next two issues were set in 1966 for the Batman segment, and the final two in 1977 with Wonder Woman and a retired Batman

Archie Meets Batman '66 1-6

I believe this completes the Batman '66 titles, and not a moment too soon. I would put this one at the bottom of the list of them all, it really didn't do it for me at any level. Batman stuff wasn't very Batman '66 wacky, Archie stuff wasn't Archie funny, just fell flat all over. Not even a good Batman story, as in the others. Also didn't care for the artwork - Dan Parent's Archie stuff was excellent Archie-ish, but it just made the Batman side of things look a little off. Some fun covers, though.

Something is Killing the Children 15

Conclusion to the Archer's Peak storyline. Overall a decent title. Looking forward to the upcoming "Secret origin" of Erica Slaughter.

So that's it for now, kiddies. Look for us again, same Bat time... wait, series is over. Oh well.

Running total hits... 162

[Savoyard23]

Flash 261-265.  This was an epic classic arc when I was little, now not quite so much, but a pleasant Cary Bates palate cleanser.

Avengers 151-153, Annual 6.  Continuing on from the Squadron Supreme stories.  I'll probably keep rolling with this for awhile.

Super Friends 1, 3-5, 7, 11, 16-17, 19-22, 27, 29-30.  Talk about a palate cleanser.

Warlock 1-8, and then continuing the story into Hulk 176-178.

In the letter column for Warlock 8, the editor (Roy Thomas, I think) laments the book's cancellation and says, "we don't know what we did wrong".  Maybe I can help.  The stories and art were a little on the dull side with no real memorable villains, and the supporting cast are all pretty vanilla.  There were some good ideas, but the books read....OK.  "OK" is tough when you're trying to sell something brand new.  I hate to call for a Spider-Man crossover, but I think the creative team's decision to stay out of the mainstream MU might have been ill-advised.

181

[kccoig14]

So in the past two and a half weeks I've managed to read another 120 issues of comics. I'm still making my way through Hellboy and B.P.R.D. again (I don't think ill ever get tired of reading those books.) and have also been reading my weekly pulls which you can see below. Not much GA or SA has been read these past few weeks, been to busy reading newer stuff but what i did read was enjoyable, I picked out a few DC sci-fi books to read and while at times they can be pretty cheesy, I really liked them. I don't think I've really read that much DC sci-fi from that era. I think I'm gonna start diving more into them. I really enjoyed the couple Adam Strange stories that I read. I've got pictures again with this update and will have any remarks I have on the book below them.

2/28/21 - 3/18/21

-Infinity Countdown: #4-5, Black Widow #1, Darkhawk #1-4, Champions #1-2 (9)
-Marvel Graphic Novel #38: Silver Surfer: Judgement Day
-King in Black: Captain America #1, Gwenom vs. Carnage #3, Namor #4, Thunderbolts #3, Wiccan & Hulkling #1, Handbook, Amazing Spider-Man, S.W.O.R.D. #4 (8)
-Demon Days: X-Men #1
-Infinity Wars: #1-4, Prime (5)
-Non-Stop Spider-Man #1
-Wolverine: Black, White and Blood #4
-Marvels #6

-Hellblazer: City of Demons #1-3 (3)
-Swamp Thing #1
-Man-Bat #2
-Batman #106
-Infinite Frontier #0
-Mystery in Space (1957) #38, (1964) #91, (2)
-Strange Adventures (1959) #109

-The Goon #13
-Redemption #2
-Proctor Valley Road #1
-Brzrkr #1
-Vengeance of Vampirella #15
-Airboy Comics (1951) Vol.8 #10
-Karmen #1
-Ultra Mega #1
-Space War (1964) #26

-The Goon: Bunch of Old vol. 1 (17)
-Anomaly
- Scene of the Crime (5)
-Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury (6)
-Hellboy in Hell: Library Edition (10)
-B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth Omnibus Vol. 1 (New World, Gods and Monsters, Russia, An Unmarked Grave, The Devils) (16)
-B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth Omnibus Vol. 2 (The Devil's Engine, The Long Death, The Pickens County Horror, The Transformation of J.H. O'Donnell, The Abyss of Time, The Return of the Master) (17)
-History of the DC Universe: Hardcover Collectors Edition (2)

TOTAL:120
2021 TOTAL: 586

I was really excited that they finally reprinted Scene of the Crime. I read the first 2 issues I found in some back issue bins awhile ago but never got to read the rest until now.

Good ol' Goon fun. I love this series! I haven't read the whole series in its entirety so I'm starting here.

This book I found on a discount shelf at my LCS and for $10 I thought it was worth the gamble. This thing is so cool. The creators made an augmented reality app to go along with the book so while you're reading it you can open the app, point it to a page and a character/ ship/ creature will come to life off the page that you can (somewhat) interact with. Each page has a bio on the character or creature or whatever else it is you're currently looking at. The story is pretty good, dialogue is lacking at times but the overall experience of this book is really cool and very immersive. The retail price tag is kind of pricey at $75 but if you can find it cheaper (which you can on amazon) I would recommend picking it up. The book is huge too (10x15 inches) so there's some really cool spreads that you can spend a good amount of time looking at.

Edited March 19, 2021 by kccoig14
photos/formatting

[ttfitz]

4 hours ago, kccoig14 said:

I was really excited that they finally reprinted Scene of the Crime. I read the first 2 issues I found in some back issue bins awhile ago but never got to read the rest until now.

I've been a fan of Brubaker since his Sleeper days, and I've got a bunch of his stuff around here waiting for me to read, bought solely because his name was on them. I'm glad you pointed this one out, I missed seeing the reprint (and might not have realized at the time that I didn't have it in my "to be read" file if I had), and I just sent an email to my LCS to see about getting a copy, so thanks.

[Raze]

98-108 

Swamp thing 14-24 ( 1st series )

I ended up buying the Omnibus since I liked everything I read.

I still like the issues after Wein and I thought Nestor Redondos art was great! 
 

I didnt get how/why they ended the first series but I guess Ill find out when I start the 2nd series...

[ttfitz]

This week's update, starting count 162
 

Dan the Unharmable 1-12

I'm a fan of Stray Bullets, and so Lapham is on my "favorite writers" list. Cam across this during The Great Comic Sort™ and thought I'd pull it out for a read. Since it is a David Lapham book, it is of course full of memorable - and quirky - characters, sometimes out there situations, and plenty of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. So I would recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of that; HOWEVER, if you are a fan of stories that come to a satisfactory conclusion, you might want to skip this one. It appears it was cancelled, and he did try to tie things up, but I found it very lacking in the resolution of the story. So just be warned.

Doomsday.1 #1-4

Another favorite author, John Byrne, brings us the tale of what happens after the end of the world. Not my favorite Byrne work, by any means, but halfway decent. Wish there was more of it, I was just starting to get interested in the characters.

Johnny Dynamite: Underworld 1-4

Dipping back into the Max Allan Collins pile. Johnny Dynamite is in the mold of your classic noir private eye - hard drinkin', quick fisted, shoot first and maybe ask questions later - but (at least in this story) with a bit of supernatural goodness thrown in. Not a whole lot of detecting going on, but plenty of action and intrigue to keep the books moving. 

So, if I've done the math right, that gets me to .... 182

[srezvan]

152 comics now done for the year. More than 1/2 of my total for last year.

I knocked out Shi no Kage #1. I met the artist some years ago and I was his first every sketch cover client at a little show in PA. We've kept in touch and this is his first complete published comic (he generally did covers). I couldn't find #2 at my LCS, so I'll get it online. Samurai story. Death, magic, revenge, you get the idea. I liked it.

 

From March 9 to March 21 I read the Y the Last Man omnibus. This was the first omnibus I ever tried to read cover to cover. It was heavy, but it did increase the pace of my reading. It was a really good story. Some spoiler-ish stuff below.

Spoiler

Fantastic story. Great development of Y over the series. Gut-wrenching when 355 got shot. Strange with Hero and Beth 1 got together. Very satisfying ending.

My only complaint was about the spreading of the virus. I googled spoilers when I was done, and one of the first results was an old Y the Last Man thread on this forum. I don't buy the magic/amulet story. I also don't buy the natural evolution / males are irrelevant idea. I think something spread, which would explain the astronauts surviving. But how did the rats start to breed? They don't have crazy cloning science. That's the one thing I'm still thinking about.

 

[DavidTheDavid]

Here is some of what I've read this year. You can skip Six From Sirius, but I recommend the rest.

 

[ttfitz]

On 3/22/2021 at 9:38 PM, srezvan said:

From March 9 to March 21 I read the Y the Last Man omnibus. This was the first omnibus I ever tried to read cover to cover. It was heavy, but it did increase the pace of my reading. It was a really good story. Some spoiler-ish stuff below.

 

Yeah, some of those things are a real load. My son got me The Walking Dead Compendium One for Christmas one year, and that was rough to read. But man, it just doesn't stack up to that one! Less than 5 lbs, I just weighed it. Can't imagine trying to read one almost twice the size.

[DavidTheDavid]

And this one.

[ttfitz]

Previous count, 182

The High Ways 1-4

Another Byrne mini-series, and a similar review to the previous one. Not the best Byrne work, by far, but still a decent read. A bit of space opera, with a twist or two along the way. Could have been longer, I think there was a lot that could have been gone into more if there was more space for it.

(Matt Fraction's) Hawkeye 1-22; Annual 1

This looks bad. So, bro, I started reading this, bro, because a couple bros here suggested that a bro might like it. Seriously? Seriously? Yeah, bro, this book about a bro with a bow and arrow, and a ladybro with a bow and arrow, not to mention the dog bro, I kinda liked it, bro. That Fraction bro did a pretty good job, bro. So, seriously? Check it out, bro.

Okay, enough of that. Yeah, it was pretty good. At times it felt repetitive, but in a good way. Very much enjoyed the pizza dog viewpoint issue, was frustrated (and thus it worked) by the deaf viewpoint issue, and even liked the Kate Bishop issues even though I wasn't at all familiar with her as Hawkeye. It wasn't all perfect - I get that Kate is a teenage girl who might not know a lot of cultural stuff from years ago, but for someone who had in the same issue referenced Nurse Rachet, Mike Brady, the Bates Motel, makes a Joltin' Joe Frazier pun, not to mention "Tate/LaBianca security", it was jarring when she responds to the Sam Spade-ish character mentioning "The Maltese Falcon" by saying "I don't know who that is." C'mon, man!

But overall it was pretty futzing good.

I think that gets us to ... 209.

[Scrooge]

March Count:

Comics: 153

All-new Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) # 146 - 150

Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) # 1 - 12

Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) # 1 - 9

Bitter Root # 9 - 10

Black Magick # 15 - 18

Conan # 15 - 18

King-Size Conan # 1

Ever by Terry Moore - One-shot

Giant Days # 53 - 55

Infamous Iron-Man # 1 - 12

Invicible Iron-Man (2015) # 13 - 14

Invicible Iron-Man (2016) # 1 - 11; 593 - 600

Iron-Man (2020) # 1 - 4

Killadelphia # 7 - 12

Magnificent Ms. Marvel # 17

Miles Morales # 21

Monstress # 29 - 32

Moonshine # 20 - 22

Royals (2017) # 1 - 6

Sandman Mystery Theatre # 6 - 28 & Annual # 1

Sera and the Royal Stars # 8 - 9

Serial # 1 - 2

Sonata # 11 - 12

The Devil's Red Bride # 1 - 5

The Goddamned - Virgin Brides # 2 - 4

The Last Witch # 1

The Plot # 7 - 8

Tony Stark - Iron Man (2018) # 1 - 2

Two Moons # 1

Uncanny Inhumans # 13 - 20

European Albums: 10 @ 2 each = 20

Tango - 3 - 4

Identités Troubles - 1 - 3

Thomas Silane 1 - 5

Manga: 19 @ 5 each = 95

Akame ga Kill Zero - 1 - 6

BL Metamorphosis - 3

Blood on the tracks - 3

Fairy Tail - 100 Years Quest - 5

No Guns' Life - 6 - 7

Pluto - 1 - 2

Quintessential Quintuplets - 11

Sayonara Football - 1 - 2

The Girl from the Other Side - 9

To your eternity  - 13

Yona of the Dawn - 27

That's a total of 268 for March.

January - 219

February - 243

March - 268

------------------

Total - 730

Best Read: Sandman Mystery Theatre. Easily one of my favorite series ever. I have not re-read it since 2017 I think so it's a pleasure to visit with Wesley, Dian, Lt. Burke, etc. The work by Guy Davis is sucking me into the pages. The amount of cultural references is fun, especially as every time I re-read the series I have become more and more familiar with 1930's celebrities and radio shows so the references now pop up naturally. Still, it's the relationship between Wes and Dian that remains the heart of the series and I am so glad to see them work at their love and life.

Best second act: The Girl from the Other Side by Nagabe. From volume 1 on, we only get a vague sense of what the "plague" is that separates humans from the monsters. In this volume, we delve into the history behind the divide and therefore understand better the place of the Girl. The story moves swiftly and things finally move and the ending is a great cliff-hanger. Plus, good news, I believe there are only 2 more volumes before the story ends so this won't get dragged out longer than necessary.

Series I didn't know I needed: Tango. I started reading it last month and continued in March. In each volume Tango and his partner have adventures (of their own volition or forced upon them) through South America. It's a rare territory explored by series I read so it's a welcome change of vista. The other reason I enjoy this series is that it is drawn by Philippe Xavier. At first, the name sounded familiar but not enough to make the connections until I looked up his career. Though French, he goes to study in Argentina and works in Chile before moving to the U.S. for 12 years and finally repatriating to France. That's when I made the connection! I remember his work on an obscure series in the 90's: Legendlore which I remember fondly. That made me follow his work in the early 2000's on Croisade but then I forgot about it. Looking at his work on Tango, I recognize his super thin ink line, I can see how much his art has evolved and yet is close to its roots and his life in South America makes him the perfect to depict realistically Tango's adventures. 

Series that I am dropping: I dropped a couple from Marvel as I am catching up on the last few years. I neither finished Royals nor Tony Stark: Iron Man. Royals was part of period when the Inhumans seemed to matter at Marvel. The only thing that happened is that they were put in an impossible situation where they would remain relevant in the Marvel universe. By putting the spotlight on them and releasing the cloud and creating the nuHumans, the terragen was exhausted, their old location destroyed, their standing in the world in tatters from both humans and super-hero community so when they were sent to space to find their roots in Royals, I had enough by then. Though a minor set of characters, I believe Marvel has buried them to the point of no return. They did not deserve that as their story arc led to nowhere; pretty sad. The Tony Stark: Iron Man series where Tony is just an A.I. etc. ** Blurggh ** Could not get back an issue or two. The new series where Tony relocates to New York is a little bit more promising as I enjoy Hellcat but the jury's still out. I love the work of Alex Maleev on the series with Dr. Doom as Iron-Man.

Series that needed a fresh start: To Your Eternity was getting long in the tooth for me so to my surprise, with # 13, the series is rebooted of sorts with all the characters being revived 1,000's of year later. It brings more levity and the stories appear to be more personal (unlike the major conflict with the nokkers in the earlier arc). This gives this book a longer leash.

Reading backwards into series: Characters in Hinowa ga crush appeared previously in Akame ga Kill and Akame ga Kill Zero (spin-off of the other) so I am going back and reading them in story chronological order following first Akame in service to the empire in Zero before she starts opposing the empire in the main series.

Quick takes: Conan from Marvel by Zub: meh; Virgin Brides: luscious art.

Edited March 31, 2021 by Scrooge

[Savoyard23]

Let's keep it simple this time.  Avengers 154-180, plus the crossover into Super Villain Team Up 9.

Truly the Korvac Saga is Jim Shooter's masterpiece, and an all-time Avengers run.  He weaves in many characters and subplots and it's always a plus to have George Perez on your team.  My one complaint is Shooter's characterization of Captain America as an angry, hot-headed drill sergeant.  

I tend to forget that not until late in the story is even the reader aware that 'Michael' is Korvac.  I don't think it comes up in Starhawk's fight with him in 168, and up until the reveal in 175, there's not even really a clue.

I also forget that is isn't entirely a Shooter / Perez production, since Perez was just doing the covers after 171, I think, and Shooter farmed out a lot of the writing as he was promoted in the middle of the arc.

209

[ttfitz]

4 hours ago, Savoyard23 said:

Truly the Korvac Saga is Jim Shooter's masterpiece, and an all-time Avengers run.  He weaves in many characters and subplots and it's always a plus to have George Perez on your team.  My one complaint is Shooter's characterization of Captain America as an angry, hot-headed drill sergeant.  

It's a pretty good story, for sure, read that last year. Don't really remember that about Cap, but possibly because that's not a bad description of how he acted at times in those early Cap/Hawkeye/Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch issues of Avengers.

[Savoyard23]

7 hours ago, ttfitz said:

It's a pretty good story, for sure, read that last year. Don't really remember that about Cap, but possibly because that's not a bad description of how he acted at times in those early Cap/Hawkeye/Quicksilver/Scarlet Witch issues of Avengers.

I have a great fondness for that early era, but it's been a few years since I've read those issues.  I don't remember Cap being quite so...explosive, but maybe I'll add them to this project and remind myself.  Then again, the way Hawkeye and sometimes Quicksilver behaved back then, they'd have gotten on my last nerve too.

[chromium]

After enjoying the Wandavision series I went back and read all the events that surrounded the whole "no more mutants saga". Even though I had originally read them when they were first published it was a joy to be able to read all of them again, without having to waits months in between ...And there was sooo much I had forgotten...wow

Anyway this left little time for newer issues, but in the end I managed to read 187 comics last month.

 

March 2021 

187 comics read.

 

• New X-men 142-154
• Thor #80-85
• Iron Man #84-85
• Spectacular Spider-Man #15-20
• Captain America & The Falcon #5-7
• Captain America #29-32
• Avengers #500-503
• Iron Man #86-89
• Avengers Finale #1
• Fantastic Four #517-519
• Excalibur #11-14
• House of M #1-8
• Fantastic Four: House of M #1-3
• Spider-Man: House of M #1-5
• Iron Man: House of M #1-3
• Incredible Hulk: House of M #83-86
• Uncanny X-Men #462-465
• Mutopia X #1-4
• Cable & Deadpool #17
• The Pulse #10
• Uncannly X-Men #463-465
• New Thunderbolts #11
• Black Panther #7
• New X-Men #16-19
• Exiles #69-71
• Captain America #10
• Wolverine #33-35
• Giant Size Ms. Marvel #1
• Son Of M 1-6
• New Excalibur #1-2-3
• X-Factor #1-2-3-4
• Decimation: House of M - The Day After #1
• Generation M #1 - Generation M 1-2-3-4
• X-Men #177-179
• New X-Men #20-23
• Wolverine #36 - 40
• The Uncanny X-Men #466-468
• Mutopia X #5
• X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6
• Son of M #1 - One Day In The Life Of Pietro Maximoff... Sapiens
• X-Men: The 198 #1-5
• Sentinel Squad O*N*E  - Tin Can Heroes, 1-5
• New Avengers #16 -20
• X-Men Unlimited #13 - Blind Love A Wonderful Life
• 40 seconds #4
• Abbott 1973 1-2
• An unkindness of Ravens 5
• Barbalien Red Planet 1-4
• Beastlands 2
• Black Angel 1 (59 pages = 2 comics)
• Black Cat 2-3
• Black Hammer Visions 1
• Black Widow 5
• Blade Runner 2029 #2
• Byte Sized 2
• Casual Fling 1
• Champions 4
• Colonel weird Cosmagog 4
• Conan The Barberian 16
• Creatures the City that never sleeps (73 pages = 3 comics)
• Crime Syndicate 1
• Crimson Flower 1
• Daredevil 26-27

Total : 416 comics read in 2021

[Raze]

109-114

Undiscovered Country 7-12

I like the series so far. Pretty interesting and cant wait to see where they take it.

[srezvan]

The good news: I've read 165 comics so far this year.

The bad news: I read the New Gods TPB. I've never been a fan of DC, and I think the only stories I've read are some of the more famous stories (Killing Joke, Kingdome Come, etc.). I think this series was recommended on the boards. I didn't like it at all. I still have high hopes for Darkseid in other TPBs I have, but this story was a stinker. Bad dialogue (I don't think Kirby used a period in the entire 11 issue series, just !s) and the story was all over the place. I was hopeful that the last two stories would be better (Kirby had a 10 year gap to write them), but no. Ugh, just such a mess. 

 

I think this splash page sums it up.

 

 

 

Up next, I'm reading Invincible. Maybe not all 25 TPBs in a row, but I'll get started.

[Scrooge]

On 3/31/2021 at 6:13 PM, Scrooge said:

Giant Days # 53 - 55

I'll go ahead and quote myself but I couldn't let this oversight standing.

Series that ended: Giant Days ended. The story ran its course: the girls graduated from college. This had been among my favorite reads these past few years. You would find me first in line every time a new TPB was available at the library. The characters were shaped early on in the series. They evolved through their experiences in college but never were denatured and we were able to laugh with and at them through their ups and downs. Each ended up being lovable with my fave being, of course, Esther. She provided many laughs. I will miss the girls, McGraw and the rest of the gang.

[Scrooge]

10 hours ago, Raze said:

Undiscovered Country 7-12

I like the series so far. Pretty interesting and cant wait to see where they take it.

I dropped out at # 8. As a matter of fact, I just filed # 8 without reading it (curse you pre-ordering). I'm game to hear what you enjoyed about the series though. It did not click with me. I liked the intrigue and the (forced?) variety of the team of characters sent to the U.S. but once we landed there, all the characters seemed wacky, rough and ham-fisted. Way too over the top for me.