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1000 books in 2021
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385 posts in this topic

34 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

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.

I love Scott Snyder! So lets get that out of the way. Charles Soule is a good writer as well. 

As to the "forced" team, I can see where you're coming from but in the "letters" pages they do mention that a lot of this story seems close to home with how they are writing it (Sky is a death sentence disease (Covid), boarders (they lock out/in whoever is there/not there when the USA closes its boarders in the book), government (a little is mentioned in this second arc 7-12), crazy president (Trump/Biden in my opinion) and how the USA is "divided" (which its clear that the USA is currently). Im not a fan of politics in my media being pushed from 1 side or the other, but I dont feel like that in this book. 

The intrigue, for me is why the USA closed its boarders (again close to home with the current situation at our boarder now) its still not clear. I think that the 13 different areas of the USA ( the first 13 colonies) was interesting as well. If you read the first 6 they talk about how time moves differently in the USA which they confirm in issue 8/9 which I think adds a little more to the story.

When you first read the book (1-6) and see the first area of the USA with its crazy creature mutations, desolate wasteland, the team dynamics and general "intrigue" it pulled me in. I wanted to know more about this world and about the main bad guy Mr Destiny.

Contrast that with issues 7-12 (second arc) you get a completely different area of the USA (located in the pacific northwest) where its all "unity". The landscape is clean and beautiful and full of technology. How did they come about this technology, what if any was their sacrifice (this part hits home a few areas in our world today)?

The art is great as well and the story pacing is good.

Id like to hear your thoughts on the second arc if you have them considering your "curse you pre-ordering". lol

It definitely moves the story forward.

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10 hours ago, Raze said:

Id like to hear your thoughts on the second arc if you have them considering your "curse you pre-ordering". lol

Well, I was able to cut it off at # 8 since by issue ~ # 5, I had made up my mind to bail out. I hear what you are saying. I was too distracted by the chaos of the story in the desotate wasteland, the runaway train and the stark art since these were desert landscape and too many quick resolutions and jumps. Sadly, I have too many books in my pile to continue with this one but I did enjoy reading your PoV on the series.

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On 4/4/2021 at 8:13 PM, srezvan said:

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. 

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I think this splash page sums it up.

 

 

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

Read all 25 tpb of invincible! You will blow right through them! Its my 2nd Favorite series and its awesome!!!

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115-124

Batman Deathblow After the Fire 1-3

I like Azzarello and Bermejo as a team and this was their first teamup. Overall I enjoyed the book, my only complaint was when they did the past events there wasnt much of a difference between past and present.

Batman White Knight presents Harley Quinn 1-6

If you are not reading the Murphyverse Batman you should be. I like how he is re-writing the characters in the entire mythology of Batman. Harley Quinn is written by his wife Katana Collins which I thought did a good job.
 

Harley Quinn kind of acts as a detective and replaces batman in the story because spoiler alert Batman is in jail. This was a good series as well thats adds to that universe.

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3 minutes ago, Raze said:

Chew! Then Invincible! Fables is probably in 3-4 spot.

I read Chew and it was great. John Layman was always a fun visit at cons, too. I think this thread informed me of Chu, and I just bought the first TPB. I'll read it soon.

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Just now, srezvan said:

I read Chew and it was great. John Layman was always a fun visit at cons, too. I think this thread informed me of Chu, and I just bought the first TPB. I'll read it soon.

I recommended it after I read it!!! It follows Tonys Sister. There is no Rob Guillory on art but Dan Boultwood does a great job in Robs style!

Ive never met John Layman at a con and I hope the meet him, Ive met Rob Guillory and he was awesome!

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Previous count - 209

Things were kinda slow this week - trying to get thru a regular book so I could start a different one with my daughter.

Barbalien: Red Planet 1-5

Decent story, but not as good as the main Black Hammer title.

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes 1-6

A clever melding of the two universes, but overall left me kinda "meh." A few things didn't sit right with me, it almost felt like the writer didn't know either one of the groups very well - but then again, the way the two were put together felt like someone with a very intimate understanding of them. So I don't really know what to make of it.

So, not much in the way of additions, leaves me at 220 year to date.

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1 hour ago, F For Fake said:

And these library editions are GORGEOUS. Huge, oversized trim, perfect binding that opens up beautifully, just like a feast for your senses if you're a book lover. My only quibble is with the cloth covers, as they attract lint and hair like you wouldn't believe. But still, wow, what a perfect presentation of a perfect story.

I'm not really into collecting such things, but MAN, you are right, those are some beautiful looking books.

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13 hours ago, F For Fake said:

Anyway, yeah, it hasn't improved.

Agreed. They are rough. Don't show these to your non-comic collecting friends. They won't understand why anyone would want to collect the original issues of the title. They matter, they certainly establish the mythos that is still being built on but as stand-alone works, they did not age well. Thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts. You are making me want to read more Hellboy but I don't think my local library has any good way for me to get started :sorry:

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15 hours ago, F For Fake said:

I've neglected updating my tally, but I have been reading!

I've finished the first three volumes of the X-Men Children of the Atom box set, which comprises the complete SA X-Men run right up to the point where Neal Adams starts, or nearly there, at least. I count about 65 issues in all, I think, as it includes appearances of the characters in other titles as well. To me, aside from the super snazzy presentation of the box, that was the real draw: all of the appearances of the X-Men, chronologically presented, in one nice edition.

SO, as for the material, I'm on the record as not being a fan of the SA X-Men stuff, and this didn't change my opinion. My last read through of the X-Men was about 10 years or so ago, and I read everything from the beginning up through whatever was current at that time...Siege? AvsX? I can't remember now.

Anyway, yeah, it hasn't improved. I think that the X-Men was definitely the least of the Jack and Stan titles, and when they leave the book, whoo boy, it gets even rougher. To be fair, while it's "the least" of Jack and Stan's SA Marvel work, there's still a lot to love. You get the X-Men, Magneto, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, The Blob, The Sentinels, and lots of stuff that stood the test of time. But the rest? Truly z-grade stuff here. I know Roy Thomas has his fans, but I don't think they came from reading this stuff. Lucifer; the Locust; a team up between the suck brigade of Unicorn/Porcupine/The Eel/some other people I've already forgotten; Red Raven; El Tigre; The Warlock...holy hell, this is some really dire stuff. Did I mention the issue where it turns out that the Frankenstein monster was real AND he is a robot AND he was left here by aliens??? Holy smokes.

You can really feel everyone involved floundering to find a direction for the title. What IS this book supposed to be about? Professor X can't walk. Then he gets a transistorized exoskeleton that helps him walk, but then we're done with that a couple of issues later. Oh, and now he's dead. Or is he? No. But also yes. Now the X-Men are being split up into separate teams that answer to government agent. Oy vey. These are not good comics, and they were a chore to plow through.

BUT, help is on the way! I made it through these, and Neal Adams shows up in the next volume, and the volume after that is the one I'm REALLY excited about, as it has all of the various X-character appearances that took place between the cancelation of X-Men and the revamp with 94/GSX. The good times are about to roll!

I also read the 6th volume of the Dawn of X trades. I think I'm six or seven volumes behind on this but that's fine. I'm not in any hurray. Generally enjoying the overall thrust of the series, primarily the main X-Men book, a little bit of Marauders, and a bit of Excalibur. Not so much into the rest, but they help tell a larger story. That's six issues there.

My other big project was re-reading the complete Hellboy Library. I read all of these when they were originally released as comics, never missed a single one. But in all of this time, I've never sat down to reread the entire saga in one go. Man, am I glad i did. NOW THESE ARE COMICS! An absolute master, at the very peak of his prime, drawing exactly what he was born to draw. How great are these books?  To be sure, I'm more into the shorter mythology and folklore stories moreso than the overarching Hellboy tale, and yeah, it's a bit of a bummer when Mike leaves art chores behind (though Duncan Fegredo is terrific.) But still, wow, what an easy, breezy, delightful read.

And these library editions are GORGEOUS. Huge, oversized trim, perfect binding that opens up beautifully, just like a feast for your senses if you're a book lover. My only quibble is with the cloth covers, as they attract lint and hair like you wouldn't believe. But still, wow, what a perfect presentation of a perfect story. I apparently still need to pick up the library edition of Hellboy in Hell, and will be getting on that shortly.

A lot of these are shorts from various anthologies like the Dark Horse horror hc's and DHP, so it's hard to get a total "issue" count, but i clocked it at about 70 altogether??

So, with my previous total of 80, with these 141, that puts me at 221.

Oh, and when I opened these up, I'd forgotten that I'd had Mike sign the first one, many years ago. What a nice surprise!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm having the same problem!

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1 hour ago, Scrooge said:

Agreed. They are rough. Don't show these to your non-comic collecting friends. They won't understand why anyone would want to collect the original issues of the title. They matter, they certainly establish the mythos that is still being built on but as stand-alone works, they did not age well. Thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts. You are making me want to read more Hellboy but I don't think my local library has any good way for me to get started :sorry:

You know, I was probably a little hard on them. There are a few issues that go down a little easier. The three part Mutant Master storyline is fair, and I kind of enjoyed the Avengers crossover. I think my biggest complaint is that you can really, palpably feel that no one really knows what the book is supposed to be, or where they want it to go. Very frustrating and not easy to read at all. Oh well.

As for Hellboy, can the library order the books for you? In addition to these library editions, there are also less expensive paperback "omnibus" editions, I wonder if a library might be more likely to carry those. Also, not sure about your feelings on digital, but Comixology may be the most efficient/cheapest way to read them. But again, some folks don't like reading digitally, and I understand that.

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49 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

As for Hellboy, can the library order the books for you? In addition to these library editions, there are also less expensive paperback "omnibus" editions, I wonder if a library might be more likely to carry those. Also, not sure about your feelings on digital, but Comixology may be the most efficient/cheapest way to read them. But again, some folks don't like reading digitally, and I understand that.

My library is really good and the state's lending system across counties works really well (though a little more slowly under COVID) but my county is a little weak on ordering some companies' output, one of which is Dark Horse. I guess what they publish does not get checked out as much as is needed to continue to build the county's collection with their output. Anything put out by First Second on the other hand is ordered and other more YA / Indie publishers. It makes for a more diverse collection and I take advantage of that (though with not being able to go inside the library and browse shelves, I am missing on quite a few new releases) but leaves some series out to dry. Manga is heavily being bought so that's a great benefit. Alas Hellboy has not consistently been purchased and the library's collection is not complete. I'll have to get on to having them shipped from other counties. Worth the effort.

I read digitally a lot: Marvel U and Iznéo but not ComiXology. It's a case that it would be too much and not enough time. Maybe over the summer.

Thanks for the tips!

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13 hours ago, Scrooge said:

You are making me want to read more Hellboy but I don't think my local library has any good way for me to get started :sorry:

I see from a later message that you read digitally a lot - you might want to check and see if your local library subscribes to Hoopla. They have all 4 Hellboy Omnibus volumes available.

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6 hours ago, ttfitz said:

I see from a later message that you read digitally a lot - you might want to check and see if your local library subscribes to Hoopla. They have all 4 Hellboy Omnibus volumes available.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check that out. I never think of doing that. I use the library mostly for their physical collection, not their digital one. (thumbsu

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