What comics are you all reading? What do you think?

Rob B said:
On the non capes & tights side, I'm enjoying Mike Carey's new series Unwritten as well as Locke & Key and Fables>
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I just bought the first trade of Unwritten the other day, and haven't read it yet. SOON though. I'm interested to hear your thoughts Rob.
 
@ Rob - I'm on the fence, it feels more like a 'we've finally decided to explain what the Sentry is' story so let's make it big. So far I've seen no over-riding need to include Asgard or interrupt Strac's run on Thor for this, an intervention that seems to have lead to him leaving his run early. On the flipside at least Marvel seem to be learning, this 'event' is short and not a title-consuming black hole like Civil War or Secret Invasion OR Blackest Night, which has to me over-whelmed the DCU to the detriment of many titles and lead to confusion about where certain titles now exist chronologically.

What really chafes is that BN seems to have fallen into the Johns trap of 'what if this enemy from ages past suddenly appears'. Such that almost every DC title I do read (very limited now I confess) is just mining old characters and storylines for a bit of play, one of the things that Alan Moore was I believe legitimately critical of in his rather rude put down of Johns 'event'.

Unwritten has been a real sleeper for me, I almost ditched after what seemed like an uninspired, horrendous copycat first issue but now it's one of the few titles I'd happily leave in my pull box for a year or two. Fables lost a lot of momentum for me with that Great Crossover rubbish that seemed to be the creators banging one off a bad idea, ultimately it went nowhere and chewed up almost a quarter of a year doing so. Hopefully it's firmly back on the rails with the latest arc. I'll be honest I've stopped following Locke & Key because nothing seemed to be happening. I haven't replaced it with anything new either because there isn't much in the way of new IP's coming out from what I can see, I tried to find FVZA #1 with no success and found, and was disappointed by given Stephen King's attachment, American Vampire #1 but beyond that I've been cutting back titles including the hugely disappointing Spider-Woman which, after all the build-up, Bendis managed to make last seven slightly timid issues. Wish they'd hand some more of their titles to Brubaker, with his run on DD ended and The Marvels Project also almost done he's not writing enough for me. Also one for greater minds, why are there so many crap Halo titles suddenly on the listings? They're written by good, seasoned pro's who should be doing better stuff. Anyway that's my monthly whinge out the way, back to your regular programming :)
 
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I've been reading some comic singles...

Picked up the first issue of Captain Swing by Warren Ellis. I liked it and will be on board for the remainder of the 4 issues series. The steampunk setting was cool, but I'm a sucker for most things steampunk. The art was really great, and Warren's dialog made the story flow.

Also read the first issue of American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Stephen King. I thought it was good but not great. Maybe my expectations were too high. The first issue was a bit of a tease, lots of set up, but little amounts of vampire action...thinking this one might grow on me.
 
Well, I managed to wrangle Deadpool Vol #2: Dark Reign from my mum today.
Barely started it, but already got a good chuckle or two.
 
I read and loved Chew: Taster's Choice by John Layman and Rob Guillory. My review:

Chew: Taster's Choice is a graphic novel written by John Layman and drawn by Rob Guillory. It stars Tony Chu, a detective with a strange talent. Tony is "Cibopathic", meaning he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. If he eats an apple, he gets a feeling in his head about what tree it came from, what pesticides were used, and when it was harvested. If he eats say a cow, or a chicken, well, you can imagine what the psychic impressions he might get from that. The only thing he can eat that doesn't cause this reaction is beets. (I'm sure Schrute Farms is happy to hear this news.) Tony's power, or special skill, or curse, or whatever you want to call it, helps make him a hell of a detective...as long as he doesn't mind taking a bite out of a murder victim to help solve a mystery.

Thanks to his special skill set, Tony has been recruited by the FDA, yes that FDA, which is a powerful law enforcement agency now thanks to a recent avian flu epidemic that has killed millions world-wide and has led to world-wide chicken prohibition. Said prohibition has led to massive amounts of black market chicken dealers, and is the new cash cow or cash chicken in this case, for crime-lords. While at work for the FDA, Tony teams up with the gigantic, monocled Agent Savoy, who shares Tony's special ability, to investigate some bizarre cases.

As you can see from the plot synopsis, Chew is a graphic novel that comes with a big sense of humor. I really enjoyed the blend of compelling crime-fiction with the over the top style of humor. There were multiple moments where this book made me laugh out loud. Whether it be Tony catching a face-full of vomit while he falls in love, or Agent Savoy coating himself, Tony and a female coroner in the fan-blown ashes of a dead senator, this book has a dark, somewhat taboo sense of humor that is rarely found.

Sure, Chew also has its share of "eww" moments, moments that in other settings would just be disgusting, but in most cases, this only served to add to the humorous feel of the book, and the artist, Guillory generally depicts these scenes with a cartoonish feel that never left me feeling ill, and only made me chuckle.


Guillory's art is one of the major aspects that makes Chew stand out from the comic crowd. His art has a cartoon-like feel to it that reminded me a bit of the Ren and Stimpy cartoon from back in the day. Oftentimes, his art alone was enough to make me giggle and give me that feeling of joy I got from watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid. Chew however, is not anything like your standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. It simply evoked that giddy feeling of visual humor.

The thing I liked most about reading Chew: Taster's Choice is that it was a lot of fun to read. The writing is great, and I felt myself immediately drawn into Tony's world. It is rare that I finish a book or a Graphic Novel and have the desire to read the next installment, or the next in the series right now, but Chew gave me this feeling. Too bad the second Graphic Novel doesn't hit shelves until late July.

Though it is still somewhat early in the year, Chew: Taster's Choice has made a firm case to be named in my Top 5 rankings at the end of 2010. I loved it.
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Dwagginz said:
Well, I managed to wrangle Deadpool Vol #2: Dark Reign from my mum today.
Barely started it, but already got a good chuckle or two.
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Finished it earlier.
Absolute corker of a series, although the graphic novels feel a bit thin. I don't think these are the best Deadpool comics I've read, but they're very good.
 
I read the first The Unwritten trade...ugh, did not like it. I never got hooked by the plot, could not stand the Charlie Sheen lookin' fool as the main character, and was totally underwhelmed by the art. Three big strikes for me. I highly doubt I'll be coming back to this series again.

Can I just say that I feel like I might be missing something? The comic is up for multiple Eisner Awards, has tons of critical acclaim, and I've heard all these good things about it, but I don't see any of it at all. For me it just failed on multiple levels. Weird, I just did not like this one.

Anyway, no use dwelling on it. On to other things.
 
That's odd, I thought with your enjoyment of Warren Ellis this would be similar. It definitely takes a while to get into, how many issues does the first trade cover?
 
kater said:
That's odd, I thought with your enjoyment of Warren Ellis this would be similar. It definitely takes a while to get into, how many issues does the first trade cover?
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Five issues. Yeah, just wasn't feeling this one. That's ok though as I have lots of other stuff awaiting my attention.
 
Yeah lots out there right now, I get the feeling it was #7 or 8 before Unwritten started working for me, I hung on because I was told by people in the know that it was going to get very enjoyable.
 
I was wondering if anyone had read a couple of comics I saw at the shop today...The first being the new Mark Millar comic Nemesis, and the second being N. a Stephen King title written by Marc Guggenheim.

Any thoughts?
 
Nemesis is the flip of Kick Ass, where the bad guy is an all powerful Batman like character who targets cities with strong police chiefs as a kind of messed up contest. It's over the top madness with some cool set pieces, if you like your action comics with adult content it should be for you. Haven't seen/read N.
 
Yes!
I've got my transport (i.e. the old man) booked for May 1st - Free Comic Book Day! :D Can't wait, especially as it's one of the few times I get to acquire "actual" comics instead of TPB or Reprint collections.
 
@ Kater- Thanks for the info. I might check out Nemesis and see what I think. Might have to do some deeper digging for N.

@ Dwagginz- I'm about to come off as a fool, but what is this "Free Comic Book Day" thing I've been hearing about? What is it all about?
 
Corporal Blues said:
@ Dwagginz- I'm about to come off as a fool, but what is this "Free Comic Book Day" thing I've been hearing about? What is it all about?
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Basically, it's a big annual event/initiative with a few aims (can't remember if these are mentioned or just things I'm assuming, ah well).
1. To promote literacy amongst children/teens.
2. To help support comic stores.
3. To celebrate a love of comics.
4. Publishers use it to promote series.

What happens is a load of publishers put out a few of their franchises in a free edition. Each FCBD comic is a one off/teaser comic or a small book of art. So, for example, over the years I've gotten an art preview for Stephen King's Dark Tower and Marvel's House of M, as well as a GI Joe/Transformers comic.
Your local store might also put on smaller events; The one I visit (OK Comics in Leeds, England for the most part) often has buns and other things out.

Official Website is here, and it's well worth ringing your regular store to see if they're participating. At the very worst it's just some free comics.

I'm just hoping my dad doesn't ruin it for me this year; I've still not forgiven him for what happened last year.
 
On which note you cannot leave us hanging ;)

FCBD also sometimes has reprinted #1 of popular series to entice people to give them ago, I think it was only a few weeks ago Marvel put out four reprinted #1's at a knockdown price with the same goal in mind. I almost picked up Punisher MAX #1 by accident when I saw it in the store, thinking it was a new one-shot.
 
kater said:
On which note you cannot leave us hanging ;)
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Fiiine :P
He went out the night before, got completely sloshed and then woke up late. He came to pick me up late and decided to throw up on the way, so we had to go back to his house (~20-30 mins in the wrong direction). He then had a nap for 2-3 hours, and by the time we got to Leeds all the good comics had gone.
He took me to see Wolverine: Origins and bought me Tolkien's Silmarillion to make up for it, but I've still not forgiven him. Not one bit.
 
Dwagginz said:
Fiiine :P
He went out the night before, got completely sloshed and then woke up late. He came to pick me up late and decided to throw up on the way, so we had to go back to his house (~20-30 mins in the wrong direction). He then had a nap for 2-3 hours, and by the time we got to Leeds all the good comics had gone.
He took me to see Wolverine: Origins and bought me Tolkien's Silmarillion to make up for it, but I've still not forgiven him. Not one bit.
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Wow, Free Comic Book Day sounds awesome! ;)
 
Fear Agent trades, I love the pulpy feel and the boozy space jock central character/story is the kind of comics I love reading. Lost it's way later in the series with time travel madness but hopefully it will fit better as a continuous piece.
 
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