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1000 books in 2021
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385 posts in this topic

2 hours ago, Savoyard23 said:

Have you read the Marvel Presents run?  The first 2/3 or it is by Steve Gerber (who created Starhawk) and it's delightfully weird.

Oh, yes, although it's been years - maybe even when it first came out. Now that you have mentioned it, I might need to pull those out for a read again.

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124 to 130

Mister Miracle 19 to 25 (7 issues, first series)

Good Bronze Age stories by Steve Englehart and Steve Gerber, and excellent artwork from Marshall Rogers and Michael Golden.

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Previous total - 254

Milestone Forever #1-2

Written by the late great Dwayne McDuffie, a must read for the fan of the Milestone Dakotaverse. I hadn't read the Milestone books since the original run, and I really enjoyed one last look at some of those characters. Best I can tell this was the last comic work of McDuffie, which feels rather appropriate - although I'd rather he was still around to tell us some great stories.

Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock? #1-4

Written by heavy metal superstar Rob Zombie, this is a fun, outrageous, and completely adult story about one of those afternoon horror movie hosts and his up and down life. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, along with a good bit of humor. Highly recommended, except....

This part of the review is subtitled Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock #5-8? The last half of the series was apparently solicited but never produced, and the story pretty much stops right in the middle. Which makes sense, I guess, since that's where it was. So while it was fun, it was extreeeeeeemely annoying to get to the end of #4 and see "next issue" and discover there was no next issue. So, decide how you feel about that before you give it a try.

So, the count now stands at... 260. Although it should be 264.

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It been a while...

125-162

The Question 1-4 I though this was ok, But it was the first The Question story Ive read.

Batman City of Crime (Detective Comics 801-808 811-814) Hunt this down and read it! Its great!

Batman Joker Switch one shot Interesting...I was in a bad mood when I read it so maybe thats why I dont have an opinion.

Fear Case 1-4 A Fun Read...  A no-nonsense Secret Service agent and his new-age partner investigate a mysterious box known as the ''Fear Case,'' which has appeared throughout history at sites of disaster and tragedy. Whoever comes into possession of this case must pass it on within three days or face deadly consequences. The agents must track down this Fear Case while staying one step ahead of a psychotic cult and the otherworldly forces behind the Case's existence. 

Thor 9-14 I am on the fence about continuing with this series.

Department of Truth 1-5 My new favorite series!!!

Haunt of Fear 21

Marvel Tales 94

MAD 5 & 18

Frontline Combat 13

Two-Fisted Tales 28

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On 5/4/2021 at 6:15 PM, ttfitz said:

This part of the review is subtitled Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock #5-8? The last half of the series was apparently solicited but never produced, and the story pretty much stops right in the middle. Which makes sense, I guess, since that's where it was. So while it was fun, it was extreeeeeeemely annoying to get to the end of #4 and see "next issue" and discover there was no next issue. So, decide how you feel about that before you give it a try.

It still galls me that I collected the entire Star Hunters series out of the back issue bins, not realizing that it got cancelled in the middle of the story and DC never picked it up anywhere.

Not to pick on DC, but Marvel would have found somewhere, somehow to wrap up the story.  Hulk.  Marvel-Two-in-One.  Somewhere.  (Probably not Daredevil.)

It was great space opera otherwise.  My younger self didn't understand why it got cancelled in the first place.

 

I have read Captain America 145-159, and Detective 411, Batman 229, and Batman 232.

Let me say that Batman 232 is a key that delivers.  Reading that book feels like watching an epic feature film.  A lot of that is Neal Adams's detailed and beautiful illustrations of the environment.  Next time it wants to reboot Batman, Warner Bros could do a lot worse than just filming that book shot by shot and line by line.

The palms just get sweatier each time I read it as its value grows, but mine is only maybe a VG-, bought for $8.25 in the 2000s (thank goodness!).  But it's a favorite single-issue story regardless of the first appearance.

292

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On 5/9/2021 at 1:51 PM, Savoyard23 said:

It still galls me that I collected the entire Star Hunters series out of the back issue bins, not realizing that it got cancelled in the middle of the story and DC never picked it up anywhere.

Yep, very annoying, although I give a little leeway to an ongoing title that gets canceled as opposed to a limited series that doesn't get finished. Neither should leave you hanging, but at least the ongoing has the excuse of "didn't know we'd get cancelled." Limited series just shouldn't get cancelled.

Which brings us to an update - previous count, 260.

The Haunting #1-4; The Haunting: Gray Matters #1

Peter David is always worth reading and this was no exception; however, it also kinda left things in the middle. At least this time we weren't promised any more than we got.

Star Trek: Year 5 #13-14; Valentines Day Special

My daughter and I have been reading this one together, although it's been a while since we last read any. So far as done a pretty good job of capturing the feel of the television series. "I'm a doctor, not a safecracker"

Next up, Kevin Smith's run on Green Hornet....

So looks like the count is 268.

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243 comics so far this year. I had to take a break to read the new Thrawn book, but I'm back at the Invincible run. I'm about half way through the series. I'm still enjoying it, but a few things I don't like, the biggest in the spoiler below. I may start alternating between Invincible and something else, just to get some diversity in the reading mix. Next up is City on the Edge of Forever after I finish the current TPB.

Spoiler

The red-head dies and comes back to life like the Phoenix. Ugh.

 

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254 comics read so far this year. City on the Edge of Forever. I think I added this to my read list after Harlan Ellison died and there was a discussion on this forum about their favorite Ellison story. I can't say that I'm a big fan of most things Star Trek, but this story was interesting and the artwork was fantastic. Some very good dialog between Kirk and Spock. I've never seen the Star Trek episode this was originally made for, and I'm not sure if I will.

My journey through Invincible continues, with the occasional break for other material.

 

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19 hours ago, srezvan said:

254 comics read so far this year. City on the Edge of Forever. I think I added this to my read list after Harlan Ellison died and there was a discussion on this forum about their favorite Ellison story. I can't say that I'm a big fan of most things Star Trek, but this story was interesting and the artwork was fantastic. Some very good dialog between Kirk and Spock. I've never seen the Star Trek episode this was originally made for, and I'm not sure if I will.

This was one of Ellison's (many) annoyances, that they had made changes for the episode from his original story. I find both very good, and understand why they made the changes they did (I also think it was more likely to have aired like he wrote it if it had been during the Next Generation show).

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Previous count - 268

Star Trek: Year 5 #15-19

Still enjoying this title with my daughter, and while they have taken things in a different way than I think the show intended, I've found the Gary Seven storyline quite interesting.

Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #1-12

I didn't care for how a few of the characters were treated, but overall this was pretty good.

New total - 285

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Took a trip to the lake with the wife for the holiday weekend. Rained most of the time, so I was able to get caught up on some comic reading! I took a detour into reading some novels over the last couple of months, so I am way behind on the four color crack.

Dawn of x volumes 7-12 = 36 issues 

I’m way behind on this, but am still really enjoying it. The quality fluctuates from title to title. I’d say the Hickman penned books are easily the best, but I’m also enjoying Marauders, X-Force and Excalibur. Overall I’m still invested in this line wide vision and am interested in where it’s going.

 

Bat who laughs hc = 8 issues
 
Thought I’d see what the fuss is about. I don’t get it. I’m so sick of multiverses and character mashups and grim dark stuff. Not for me. And whoever designed the grey/black word bubbles with red lettering should be sent back to design school. Gave me a headache trying to read this junk.
 
Three jokers hc = 3 issues
 
Overall, I’m pretty tired of the Joker, and wouldn’t mind not seeing anymore Joker stories for at least ten years. This story was…fine. The star here was Fabok doing his best Bolland Killing Joke 9 panel grid impersonation. Doesn’t quite match the master, but it’s a solid bit of mimicry. You could do worse.
 
City of bane v 1&2 = 12 issues
 
King’s Batman run really never gelled for me. The conclusion was more of the same. Maybe I’m just old, but I felt like I needed a flowchart to keep track of the story’s various time jumps.
 
Dark designs hc = 11 issues
Joker War = 13 issues
 
Tynion’s new direction feels like more of the same. I was into the Dark Designs story, but the Joker War stuff, with Punchline and Clownhunter and etc ugh. It’s just too dumb, and too much. Still, it’s colorful and a breezy read, so I guess that’s an improvement over the King stuff. Looking forward to not seeing the Joker for a while, fingers crossed! 
 
83 total issues for the weekend.
 
+221 previously read 
 
304 total for 2021. Way behind the eightball, but working on it!

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Edited by F For Fake
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163-216

Outcast 1-48 

I really liked this series from day 1 and it ended pretty good.

I breathed a Body 1-5

I thought Id get this indie title a chance because I thought it had a interesting premise. But I thought it was confusing and overwritten.

Weird Science Fantasy 29

I finally got a copy of this and it was a great read!

Sorry no pics to lazy!

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May Count:

Comics: 18

Beasts of Burden - Occupied Territory # 1 - 2

Bitter Root # 11 - 12

Fire Power # 11

Jules Verne's Lighthouse # 1

Mann's World # 4

Moonshine # 23 - 24

Nottingham # 2

Serial # 3

Seven to Eternity # 14 - 16

The Good Asian # 1

The Old Guard - Tales through time # 1

Two Moons # 2 - 3

European Albums: 11 @ 2 each = 22

Amazonie - 5

Blake & Mortimer - L'onde Septimus

Jack Wolfgang - 1

Jerome K Jerome Bloche - 26

Le Projet Bleiberg - 1 - 3

Ricochet - 4

Shi - 1 

Simak - 1 - 2

Manga: 21 @ 5 each = 105

Aposimz - 6

Beastars - 9 - 11

Bride's Story - 12

Demon Slayer - 20

Dr. Stone - 14 - 15

Haikyu!! - 41

Heaven's Design Team - 2

Hell's Paradise - 5 - 7

How heavy are the dumbbells you lift - 4

Magus of the Library - 4

Ooku - 10 - 13

Peter Grill & the philosopher's time - 3

Yona of the dawn - 28

Collections: 32

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - 1 @ 6

Rascal doesn't dream of bunny girl senpai @ 10

The Flower of the Witch @ 4

Timo the Adventurer @ 4

What the Font?! @ 8

That's a total of 177 for May.

January - 219

February - 243

March - 268

April - 114

May - 177

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Total - 1,021

Best Read: Ooku - The inner chambers. It has been one of my favorite reads over the past 2 years when I first discovered it. Ooku is an alternative history of Japan based on the idea that the Red Face Pox which only kills males creates a gender imbalance in the country leading women to become shoguns. From this premise the story takes us through many generations of power structures and struggles. By the end of volume 13 I just read, we see probably 14 shoguns. While the first two volumes focus on gender role in a society with the imbalance, by volume 3, the series becomes more interested in political intrigue and eventually the cure of the pox and the efforts and set backs solving the issue.

Book I did not know I needed: What the Font?! It's a manga about Western fonts. It's done in 4-panel format, i.e., you get four stacked panels a page delivering an idea / point with accompanying textual notes since the onjective is to personnify fonts and give their historical backgrounds. The book is organized in reverse historical order starting with the sans-serif moving back to the new Roman type and so on. I did not know at first if I'd finish it but once you jump into it, the writing is actually good enough to want you to continue reading further since by starting at the end, there is a logical look back on previous fonts. Perfect for those of us who enjoyed Helvetica, the documentary.

Trope I am tired of: Nazi scientists. It's time we moved on from that tired cliché. In no fewer than 2 Euro series were cracy Nazi scientists at the heart of the thriller / mystery and it does not pack a punch much more. If the series is in current time, the explanation makes little sense. If the series is set in the past, there are still so many holes to explain that it distracts from the plot. No more!

Fastest read of the month: Fire Power! One gigantic fight scene with barely any dialog meh

Quick takes: Heaven's Design Team # 2 was as much fun as # 1; I watch wildlife documentary with the kids but the series bring out the weirdness out there into the stories. Nature is wacky! ... Seven to Eternity has one issue left. Thank you. The art is gorgeous, the story ... meh! ... Bride's Story # 12 was okay. The characters are tracing back their steps and revisit friends which is okay but feels a little tired. The art is still spot on ... How heavy are the dumbbells you lift ... for the first time I am reading the manga after I have seen the anime adaptation, kind of a letdown knowing what will happen (in case, you wonder, the book is about high-school girls going to the gym and learning how to work out. That's it!) ... With Yona of the dawn # 28, I am no longer ahead of the girls in my family, they've really taken to it and are reading new volumes with me when they come out. It's nice to be able to share with them and for them to be into the series ... Adding Ben Dewey on Beasts of Burden was a stroke of genius. So glad he's using his talents on that series.

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41 minutes ago, Scrooge said:

Serial # 3

So how's this been? I pretty much love everything Terry Moore does, but I haven't gotten around to this one yet.

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8 hours ago, ttfitz said:

So how's this been? I pretty much love everything Terry Moore does, but I haven't gotten around to this one yet.

I've been buying Moore's work since the mid-'90's and I'll support him with every new series. Issue # 1 was fine, # 2 just okay, # 3 perked my interest a little more. However, was I not a career long fan of Moore, I don't know that I'd still be reading it. I don't think at this point that he's attracting new readers nor trying to.

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Captain America 160-177

Action 480-483

Batman 235, 236, 240-253, 255

Detective 432-433

333 if my math is right.  Or, where I should have been end of April.  I'm only a month behind, but I usually take off the week after Christmas and I can read a lot of comics in an emergency!

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Previous total - 285

The Shadow (2012) #1-6

Garth Ennis takes a run at The Shadow, and puts together a pretty good tale, set in the late 1930s (early 40s?), pre-Pearl Harbor in any case.

Black Hammer Visions #1-2

Other writers taking a turn in the Black Hammer universe. Patton Oswald it a Golden Gail tale in the first, Geoff Johns tackles Madame Dragonfly in the second. Wouldn't suggest it for a non-fan of the books, but a couple decent stories for those who are.

Norse Mythology #1-6

Neil Gaiman & P. Craig Russell give us a number of tales from the old days, when men were men, and women were sometimes gods dressed as women. Anyway, I enjoyed this look at some old and only slightly familiar stories.

Let's see, that makes it 299 for the year.

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I got some reading done while on the road. 309 comics read so far this year.

Marvels TPB. Another classic that I just never read when it came out. Great artwork, but you'd expect nothing else from Alex Ross. Decent story, but a bit of an abrupt ending, I think. Has anyone read Marvels Epilogue? I don't have it but I'll pick it up if it adds to the story.

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My full read of Invincible is coming along nicely. I've now completed 19 of the 25 TPBs from the main run. Overall, still an enjoyable story. I think Kirkman does a lot of the things with this story that he's critical of in other works from the big 2 - resurrection of characters and redundant plots. Maybe they feel redundant to me because I'm reading them straight through instead of over 10 years or so. Also, generally, I'm not a fan of time travel and parallel universes as plot devices. There are many parallel universes and alternate dimensions in this series.

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Phantom: Danger in the Forbidden City TPB. I'm a big Phantom fan. Over the years I've read some of the comics, novels, and other stuff (e.g., Defenders of the Earth). The story was ok. Not great, and a little obvious. I know the Phantom comic strips have been ending in some places around the world after ~80 years. I think the difficulty with the Phantom is that his character, in my opinion, doesn't work well in modern times. This story was set in the 1940s/1950s, which is fine, but I don't know how interested the general audience is in stories from this time period, or earlier. I don't see anything new from Hermes press coming out, but maybe I missed it. I have Kennedy's Mission, which I'll get around to eventually.

 

Thicker Than Blood TPB. I got this from Kickstarter a few years ago. Anyone else go through phases of buying a bunch of stuff from Kickstarter, then nothing for a while? I've never been burned, but I've now had a few projects take years (yes, years) longer than expected, and it's a big turn off. I like Ploog's art. This was a quick read and a good story. Not a terribly original idea, but a fun read.

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