The Ongoing New Comics Thread

Topic

(No stickers, please.)

Here’s where we can discuss the new books that come out each Wednesday.

Replies

Oh nice, thanks

Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer.
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Vertigo is dead so welcome to something completely different, Black Label Sandman Universe, nothing like Vertigo at all.
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Wonderfully this book is exactly like classic Hellblazer. Proper swearing is back, John is John. This is setting up a new series starting next month and I’ll be in for it.

garjones wrote:

Proper swearing is back

This is my new favourite new comic review

Actually I should go further, they’ve upped the swearing level. I remember when Vertigo started they set the subscription level at 17 years old, like an R rated movie but wouldn’t allow the F-word to be printed for a couple of years after the ‘mature ratings’ tags appeared.
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This one triumphantly includes ‘cuntflaps’.

garjones wrote:

Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer.

Vertigo is dead so welcome to something completely different, Black Label Sandman Universe, nothing like Vertigo at all.

Wonderfully this book is exactly like classic Hellblazer. Proper swearing is back, John is John. This is setting up a new series starting next month and I’ll be in for it.

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I assume they’re starting up the old Vertigo “Universe” under the “Sandman Universe” “Black Label” banner.
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Wonder if Swamp Thing and Animal Man will eventually make their way over there.

They could well do. I suspect Swamp Thing more likely than Animal Man who always straddled the DCU and Vertigo a lot more.

Without too many spoilers there’s a mechanism in that Hellblazer special that says they are starting again (especially as the original series ended on a rather finite note with an aged JC).

Chris-S wrote:

He’s working on a Punisher/Fury mini for 2020, it might be called ‘Get Fury’.

Good stuff! I didn’t realise we were getting this as well as Soviet!

It’s Wednesday again, so what are you picking up?

I can exclusively reveal that I just bought these from the comic shop.

Won’t get in to the shop until Saturday morning, but I should have Blackstars waiting for me when I do (I had forgotten it was this week).
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Also, there’s a slight chance I’ll be picking up that new DC team book, whatever it’s called, I haven’t been paying too much attention to be honest

SPACE BANDITS #5 (final issue of this MillarWorld mini)
COFFIN BOUND #4 (final issue of the first arc)
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #1 (first issue of new Snyder/Soule series)
RUBY FALLS #2 (the Ann Nocenti mini from Dark Horse)

Looks like a big week for me.
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Batman: Universe #5
Justice League #35
Legion of Super-Heroes #1
Space Bandits #5
Superman: Up in the Sky #5
Undiscovered Country #1
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I put X-Force #1 in my Wish List too as it seems like others have enjoyed it.

So Batman was interesting. After so much build up, the confrontation with Bane was a bit underwhelming.
The quasi twist at the end has promise, and I think points to what this has really been all about. Contrasting the two batmen and the different paths they have taken to dealing with their loss and their mission.
I think as a whole this run has been amazing and in trade will read well, but as a monthly it has been painfully decompressed.

RossS wrote:

I think as a whole this run has been amazing and in trade will read well, but as a monthly it has been painfully decompressed.

It may do but DC are clearly aiming to get as much cash as possible out of it. Volumes 9-13 all in hardback then paperback, OHC? No sign of as yet, even though there’s only really two of them they can do at this point. Well…. It is DC… Say three.

I know very few folks read it but I’ve a couple thoughts on the recent run of 2000ad.

Having John Wagner on Dredd is always a treat but his current story Guatemala is proper masterful stuff. Masterclass of the slow burn (without being decomposed to the point of tedium – I’m looking at you Batman) over the past handful of issues. It’s like watching a pile of embers smouldering and spark, getting ready to burst into flames. Colin MacNeill is doing a brilliant job too. The splash page (which doesn’t feel self indulgent at all, even when trying to yell a story in six/seven page instalments) of Mechanismo robot paratroopers in this week’s issue being the most recent highlight in a run of highlights. Whoever is colouring too is going a belter of a job – the sky in the above splash page is just . The story isn’t finish but I know for sure I’m double dipping and buying this in collected format.

Defoe. Zombies. 17th century moon mission. Shoukd be good stuff but in finding the new artist pretty challenging. The artist is obviously very skilled but… Very busy pages, lots of digital effects, weird shaped panels and white fonts on white art just make this a total pain in the arse to actually read the story.

Hope. I’m enjoying this but does Jimmy Broxton use photo references for figures and faces as the main bad guy looks so much like someone famous it hurts. Only problem is I can quite place them.

Deadworld is nuts but looks cool.

Brink continues to trundle along and and be a dependable mid Prog read.

I agree pretty much with your summation Bruce. Wagner is just masterful nowadays, I can’t think of any other comics writer that gets past retirement age while still getting better.
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The art on Defoe is really hard to follow, which is a pity after Gallagher and Macneil who are very good storytellers. It’ll be down to Mills though, from all I’ve ever heard of him he tells the editors who draws his comics and usually his choices are great but sometimes go off piste for me.
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I think the bad guy in Hope looks like Walt Disney.

Bruce wrote:

The story isn’t finish but I know for sure I’m double dipping and buying this in collected format.

You should mention when it does come out. That story sounds interesting.

garjones wrote:

I think the bad guy in Hope looks like Walt Disney.

Jim would love this.

Beyond the Dawn of X books, this week’s haul:
– Batman 82 : Make it stop. Please.
– Legion of Superheroes 01: Honestly,I don’t think I am going to keep reading this one. Just can’t get hooked into it.
– Dragonfly & Dragonflyman 01: A prequel to The Wrong Earth, it is enjoyable as that story, and the contrast between the two worlds are nice.
– Absolute Carnage: Weapon Plus 01: Picking up from the Captain America & Wolverine Weapon Plus one shot, this is basically Weapon H & some Venoms vs Carnage. The one-shot uses the Carnage event to detail more of the mythology behind Weapon Plus, and keeps hinting as the previous one shot did at Weapon XXX. Curious about the next one-shot, featuring a soldier version of Man Thing.

Eduardo wrote:

Beyond the Dawn of X books, this week’s haul:
– Legion of Superheroes 01: Honestly,I don’t think I am going to keep reading this one. Just can’t get hooked into it.

I quite liked it. I thought it retained a nice tone of silver age fun along with a bit of teen soap opera. Sook’s artwork is amazing, although I know he’ll never do more than 3-4 issues.

The reason I only ‘quite’ liked it is it was very slight. Not much happens, the Ultimate Spider-Man style decompression plus Bendis seemed to have taken a lead from Warren Ellis in ending an issue mid-sentence.

I know you say this

garjones wrote:

Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer.
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Vertigo is dead so welcome to something completely different, Black Label Sandman Universe, nothing like Vertigo at all.

But then you say this …

garjones wrote:

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Wonderfully this book is exactly like classic Hellblazer. Proper swearing is back, John is John. This is setting up a new series starting next month and I’ll be in for it.

So… basically Vertigo is back, right? (please say yes)

There was a hefty dollop of sarcasm in there. The Vertigo branding has disappeared, the content not so much.

Good to know

Catching up on the last couple of weeks of comics…

Harleen #2 and…

Joker: Killer Smile #1

It’s kind of strange that DC would release both of these Black Label comics on the very same day, as both revolve around a very similar concept: a criminal psychologist trying to get under the skin (and inside the head) of the Joker, but failing to realise that the exact opposite is happening.

It’s not the most original concept as it is, but Harleen handles it better than Killer Smile. In Stjepan Šejić’s book, there’s enough space to really get into Harley’s mindset and to see how she becomes vulnerable to falling for the Joker, with the added irony that the very thing she is looking for as part of her project – a deranged villain before they become a deranged villain – is staring her right in the mirror.

Harleen also takes the Joker seriously as a character, going beyond the blank unknowable facade and actually giving him depth and hints at an inner life that suggest there might be a real, complex character under there (although I’m anticipating some reversals on that front in issue #3).

It also doesn’t hurt that Šejić’s art is so good, with his experiences in the erotica of Sunstone helping him to subtly suggest sexual tension and frustration here without ever being explicit about it. He also makes the most of the larger square pages, often packing a lot of story in with a lot of panels per page.

In comparison, Killer Smile feels a lot more run-of-the-mill. Lemire is a good writer so the tension and scares still work well, but it all feels a bit more rote and familiar: the Joker as a Hannibal Lecter-esque imprisoned villain who is nonetheless pulling all the strings; the Watchmen-like psychologist who gets drawn into his patient’s deranged mindset; and the gradual seeping of horror into his domestic life.

The art also doesn’t feel like it really takes advantage of the larger page size – it feels more like regular comic art slightly blown up – and the fact that this is more of a regular-length comic compared to Harleen makes the book itself feel thin and flimsy, especially given the much higher page count of Harleen.

It might seem unfair to directly compare the books like this, as they’re both aiming for quite different things. But I got a lot more out of Harleen, which feels like something new and different and complex; while Killer Smile feels like it’s giving you what you expect, albeit done well.

New Mutants #1

I mentioned this in the dedicated X-Men thread, but this wasn’t really for me. It felt like a bit of a mess, often quite disjointed and without any real hook into the characters or the story, which was all over the place.

I’m assuming this is largely trading on the nostalgic appeal, with the old cast of a well-loved title and an artist who seems to be consciously apeing Bill Sienkiewicz. I can understand it doing well with long-term X-fans but it isn’t for me.

After reading the two Hickman #1 issues I think I’m at the point where I’m probably going to drop his X-Men stuff for now, with a view to maybe coming back to it later if I hear good things.

HoX/PoX was largely brilliant and got me very excited about his run, but these two debut issues of the new titles have been a big step down from that – and I assume Hickman is now not going to be in any hurry to push forward with some of HoXPoX’s big ideas, let alone pay them off any time soon. Which was a big part of the draw for me.

A shame as HoXPoX made me think this could end up being another great run on the same level as Morrison’s.

Green Lantern: Blackstars #1

This was a good start to this mini, and feels like it picks up from the regular Morrison/Sharp book without missing a beat. Xermanico’s art is a decent fit with what Sharp was doing on the main book and Morrison continues to throw up countless weird and clever concepts for the book to have fun with.

I will admit to getting slightly lost in places – with loads of callbacks to the main GL book, Morrison’s past DC work, and also lots of past continuity (including a very famous Alan Moore story) all taking a little bit of initial effort to place. And this issue’s non-chronological structure doesn’t help to pull everything together on a first read.

And I probably shouldn’t have had that second glass of wine before attempting it.

But overall this is a good start that doesn’t really feel like a start at all – more a continuation of the Morrison/Sharp run, just without Sharp – and like that run I can already tell that it’s going to read even better in trade once we can get a better feel for how everything fits together.

Bruce wrote:

I know very few folks read it but I’ve a couple thoughts on the recent run of 2000ad.

Having John Wagner on Dredd is always a treat but his current story Guatemala is proper masterful stuff. Masterclass of the slow burn (without being decomposed to the point of tedium – I’m looking at you Batman) over the past handful of issues. It’s like watching a pile of embers smouldering and spark, getting ready to burst into flames. Colin MacNeill is doing a brilliant job too. The splash page (which doesn’t feel self indulgent at all, even when trying to yell a story in six/seven page instalments) of Mechanismo robot paratroopers in this week’s issue being the most recent highlight in a run of highlights. Whoever is colouring too is going a belter of a job – the sky in the above splash page is just . The story isn’t finish but I know for sure I’m double dipping and buying this in collected format.

Defoe. Zombies. 17th century moon mission. Shoukd be good stuff but in finding the new artist pretty challenging. The artist is obviously very skilled but… Very busy pages, lots of digital effects, weird shaped panels and white fonts on white art just make this a total pain in the arse to actually read the story.

Hope. I’m enjoying this but does Jimmy Broxton use photo references for figures and faces as the main bad guy looks so much like someone famous it hurts. Only problem is I can quite place them.

Deadworld is nuts but looks cool.

Brink continues to trundle along and and be a dependable mid Prog read.

I’ve been blown away by the quality of the current bunch of stories. Really enjoying all of them, although Fall of Deadworld is hard to follow at times.

I really like the art on Defoe. I do agree that it’s not always clear what is happening initially, but I also feel because the art is so good that I’m spending a lot of time on the strip really soaking in the atmosphere of it, and because it’s only 6 pages at a time I’m not resenting the effort.

Guatemala is a masterpiece though. I’m dreading ending because it’s so good I’m going to miss reading it each week. I’ve been reading my progs as soon as I get them through the door, because I’m so desperate to see what happens next. I’m going to say this is the best comic strip I’ve read this year, it’s so compelling and has a bit of everything in it, including the trademark Wagner humour. The guy is a legend.

GARGANTUAN #4 (OF 5) (MR) > yay for big monsters!
RIDE BURNING DESIRE #5 (OF 5) > yay for 12Gauge!!
HARLEEN #2 (OF 3) > yay for Stjepan… only reason I buy DC :)
FIVE YEARS #5 > come on, Terry Moore!!
BONE CODA 25TH ANNIVERSARY TP > new story? HELL YESSSS
DISSENSION WAR ETERNAL #5 > I think I missed this one
HARLEY QUINNS GANG OF HARLEYS TP > yay for Mauricet teaming up with Jimmy/Amanda!
WHITE WIDOW #3 TYNDAL FOIL > I love foil covers and love Tyndal :)

Green Lantern: Blackstars was quite good. Liam Sharp is missed but Xermanico is decent, the coloring maybe doesn’t match his art as well as it could though.

But it’s a nice little alternate universe/evil dimension tale with an unsettling take on what’s essentially an intergalactic death cult masquerading as a police force.

@davewallace I don’t think Blackstars is non-chronological. The reverse-numbered days (4-0) are a countdown to where Hal ends up on the last page.

Ah, that helps. I was confused by the captions for the days while I was reading it because it didn’t feel like it was happening out of order, so that might be why!

garjones wrote:

Wonderfully this book is exactly like classic Hellblazer. Proper swearing is back, John is John. This is setting up a new series starting next month and I’ll be in for it.

I see that this one is also by Spurrier. Yeah, okay, I’m in, too. When the trade comes out :)

Anonymous wrote:

So… basically Vertigo is back, right? (please say yes)

With the difference that they’re apparently only doing books connected to this universe – established characters that belong in world of the Sandman like Constantine, Swamp Thing, the Stranger, the characters from the Dreaming, Lucifer and so on. I don’t think they’re going for any original stories like Vertigo did with The Invisibles or Y – The Last Man?

Christian wrote:

I don’t think they’re going for any original stories like Vertigo did with The Invisibles or Y – The Last Man?

It definitely looks like they’ll become rarer, although they did release The Last God under Black Label which is an original concept and so are the Joe Hill books.

Do you want my Legion of Super-heroes review? Are you sure? Are you really, really sure?
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Ok then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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Legion of Super-Heroes #1
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By Bendis, Sook, Von Grawbadger & Bellaire
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I expected to dislike this comic because of unpalatable and pointless changes to characters I’ve loved for decades. But I was going to try and be open minded, and judge it as objectively as I could. After all, this is written and drawn by two highly respected names in the comic business. Regardless of whether I like their ‘take’ on the Legion or not, this should still be a good comic purely judged on its own merits. Right?
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On the plus side, this comic took me a long time to read. Which is great, because I’m always moaning that modern comics are too light on content and over in 10 minutes. But with this, I had to pore over every panel, reading some pages three times. Basically because I was trying to figure out what the sprock was going on in this incomprehensible excuse for a story.
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Objectively, this is one of the most inept issues of a comic I’ve ever read. It seems to be written by someone not only can’t write a coherent conversation in dialogue, but struggles to even finish a conversation before his ADHD moves him on to a different incoherent conversation. Maybe he’s trying to be clever, maybe he’s deliberately going for a Clockwork Orange vibe where future humanity no longer speaks the same as 20th-century people do, but rather than coming across as clever it’s just sprocking annoying.
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In the art department, Ryan Sook can definitely draw a bit (I still think his cover to Legion: Millennium #1 is one of the most beautiful compositions I have ever seen, worthy of framing) and manages to pull off some impressive set-pieces here. But for most of the issue, he’s clearly struggling to make a script of panel-after-panel of talking heads appear interesting. And in his action scenes, he’s sometimes very confusing: in the first three pages, a character loses a cape in mid-fight, making me wonder if it’s a different character (because there’s no hints from costume colours or emblems, or even a clear look at his face at this point, everything is very artistically obscured by thick solid blacks because, uh, artistic reasons I guess), making a set of confusing dialogue even more confusing. A page later, the thing this character is holding is mysteriously blasted into two identical duplicates, until you realise it’s a ham-fisted way of showing it moving across the panel (see, e.g. Carmine Infantino for a better way to show motion in a panel).
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But the art niggles are things I would probably overlook, if the story were engrossing. Sadly, the story is largely characters I haven’t been given any reason to care about doing things that are largely left unexplained and appear generally pointless.
Let’s look at the plot (what little there is of it).
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We start with a really poorly coloured (see earlier comments) running fight through the sewers of Planet Gotham (ok, that’s a nice idea). Somebody who is eventually revealed to be Jo Nah (Ultra Boy) is pursuing some criminals. (We assume they’re criminals, because they are called Horraz, which sounds suitably evil, and because one of them shoots first, but if your aircraft were being chased by a flying man for unspecified reasons you might be justified in shooting him ,we really don’t know. But Jo Nah does say to the watching crowd, ‘Uh, um, “hero.” Age of heroes stuff…uh everyone step back!’ which seems to imply he’s the hero, even if he can’t string a proper sentence together).
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He retrieves a big cylinder from the bad (we assume) guys, but doesn’t keep it long before Mordru the demon gangster (who is either not human, or Sook doesn’t know how to draw human arms in proportion) and blasts Jo Nah a couple of times while having a suitable villainous rant (so he’s clearly a villain, I’m glad at least something in this comic is made obvious).
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Then Mordru the demon gangster goes ‘Huurrraagghh who DARES touch–?!’ for no apparent reason, because either Sook forgot to draw somebody touching him or the awful mush of colours has obscured it. There is something in the panel that looks a bit like Ace Garp’s scarf, but it’s never seen or referenced again so that’s probably not what’s actually touching him. Frankly I’m baffled.
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Then three members of the Legion of Super-Heroes show up, and announce their names in BIG COLOURFUL DISPLAY LETTERING, which is grating the first time it happens and downright annoying by the end. Maybe it’s some kind of trademark protection?
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Mordru the demon gangster obviously doesn’t like Karate Kid because he tells him, ‘You are the face of madness!’ but I’m not even sure what that means so let’s move on … oh, hold on, in the next panel Mordru the demon gangster tells us ‘I am the face of DEATH’, so obviously there’s some clever poetic parallel with Val being the face of madness. Ok, Mordru the demon gangster, very clever. (I still don’t get it.)
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In the next panel, a Legionnaire (it’s not clear which one) says ‘We got this!’ but I’m not going to hold it against Bendis for using one of my pet peeves in clichéd dialogue. Except, in the very next panel another Legionnaire (possibly Star Boy but who can tell for sure with art this confusing?) says ‘I got this’, which just seems aiming to be deliberately annoying at this point. Though I’m going to give Bendis the benefit of the doubt and assume that his ADHD stopped him realising it had already been said one panel earlier.
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Jo Nah comes back and saves the day, three panels after telling the other Legionnaires he was leaving (ADHD, remember?), and it’s a good thing he does because otherwise he’d have missed all the droll banter that takes place after Mordru the demon gangster is–wait a minute, what happened to Mordru the demon gangster? Jo Nah punched him once and he vanished, but it’s not clear whether he exploded, teleported, or just ran off to avoid the droll banter. I’m thoroughly confused. Luckily there’s some plot exposition coming up to enlighten me … nope, still confused. But at least I now know that the thing they are all chasing is the trident that once belonged to AQUAMAN (big colourful display lettering (TM)), missing for a thousand years.
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We move to a scene of SATURN GIRL delivering some plot exposition to Jon Kent, aka Superboy, who clearly doesn’t deserve fancy display lettering because he’s just some hick from the 20th century. I read the last two issues of Superman that set this up so I didn’t need the explanation, but you know what they say about every comic being somebody’s first. (I think they say, ‘And I hope it’s not written by Bendis.’)
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There then follows several pages of dialogue written by somebody with ADHD, who can’t or won’t finish a sentence or an idea before starting another one. It is painful to read; it doesn’t add realism, it doesn’t give any sense of character, it makes following the story harder, and it’s not nearly as clever as it may have sounded in Bendis’s head. It’s just annoying.
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Some actual Bendis dialogue:
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‘Where is Gotham? No Gotham? I don’t see–’
‘Most of what we know of Gotham City history is classified by the United Planets, but because you’re a Legionnaire–’
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… that’s it. The conversation ends there. Another conversation starts in the next panel and ADHD Superboy never stops long enough to say, ‘Finish your bloody sentence, man!’
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In the next panel, Superboy says:
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‘The oceans are gone!’
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And some random Legionnaire (the art makes it impossible to know who) answers:
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‘I think I see Shadow Lass: oh yeah, from the old images–’
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What the sprock? Is this Legionnaire on drugs? That dialogue makes no sense at all. I’m fairly sure by now that the letterer has a corrupted copy of the script because no matter how generous I try to be with Bendis’s scripting ‘quirks’, I am now reading pure goobledy gook.
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One interesting thing: you remember the call-out captions that used to be the Waid/Kitson Legion reboot? Where the first appearance of each character had a box next to it telling the reader who it was and what their powers were? Bendis makes those captions part of the story, so every person in the future has a little floating hologram behind them that tells strangers who they are. It’s a neat SF concept, but has serious problems as a storytelling device. First, you can’t read it from behind (and Ryan Sook draws people from the back an awful lot of the time, which you wouldn’t notice if not for the sprocking captions.). Second, half the time they are obscured by other things in the art. Third, Sook gets sick of them very quickly and stops adding them in, especially in the big crowd scenes, so for the reader they’re not very useful at all.
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Weird SF idea #2: the city of Metropolis if apparently Legion headquarters. I mean, all of Metropolis. They have an entire city for a headquarters. We’ve seen two or three dozen Legionnaires. Headquarters must be awfully lonely and echoey, with thirty people spread over an entire city. Or maybe there are seven million Legionnaires and we haven’t seen the rest of them yet. Or maybe they just have really big meeting rooms. I don’t know. Maybe there’s a really neat explanation, but this is Bendis so he’s not going to give you any explanations, he’s already moved on to the next half-nassed idea.
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There’s a mildly amusing running gag that the Legionnaires have prepared an induction presentation for Superboy which he never gets to read (because he has ADHD), and I’m starting to think that’s maybe what the first issue of the comic should have been, instead of this random vomit of half sentences.
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Thank sprock they suddenly have to respond to a red alert at Legion headquarters (which is all of Metropolis, remember, so I hope they go to the right part) and we are spared any more of this talking heads nass. The alarm is caused by Jo Nah, who says to the arriving Legionnaires:
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‘Sorry! My fault! I live here! (I’m Ultra Boy)’
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Those are his exact words. He’s probably on drugs too, because that’s the most bizarre way to greet your team-mates I’ve ever heard. Well, let’s be generous and assume that there are so many Legionnaires in Metropolis that the 30 who have just arrived to confront him have never actually met him before. Like, maybe he lives in Midvale and the group that have been babbling at Superboy for 10 pages all hail from Metrodale. Though, if Sook had remembered to draw the hologram name box next to him he wouldn’t have needed to introduce himself to them, so I don’t know, it’s just all so stupid I’m losing the will to go on.
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There are more panels of talking heads conversing in half sentences while Ultra Boy explains that he has Aquaman’s trident. Even Triplicate Girl (I’m guessing it’s Triplicate Girl, Sook didn’t bother drawing her hologram nametag anywhere and she hasn’t shouted her name out in big display lettering, so it’s hard to be certain) can’t keep up, and there’s three of her, so what hope have I got?
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Then the Horraz turn up again and there’s going to be a big fight next issue. Hurrah! Let’s hope it’s a silent one because I really can’t take any more of this dialogue.
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Oh sprock, there’s a final page epilogue. Set on the United Planets homeworld. Two unknown and unnamed figures are discussing the Legion and Superboy. Ooooo, intrigue. Is this a ‘B’ plot?
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The last piece of dialogue in the whole comic is one of these mysterious UP figures saying:
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‘It’s a complete affront to everything we’ve been–’
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And that’s it, the last sentence in the comic stops dead, it’s not even a cliffhanger because there’s no suspense and tension because we don’t have a clue what’s going on or even who is speaking. And the next panel is a close up of a random alien making a random faced that conveys no information at all. I am just baffled.
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I have never in my life read a comic that has been so ineptly written as this one.

Ha ha, in my review David:

Bendis seemed to have taken a lead from Warren Ellis in ending an issue mid-sentence.

DavidM wrote:

Do you want my Legion of Super-heroes review? Are you sure? Are you really, really sure?

Is there a TL;DR version of this?

RonnieM wrote:

Is there a TL;DR version of this?

Bendis sucks

DavidM wrote:

Bendis sucks

Illuminating.

RonnieM wrote:

Bruce wrote:

The story isn’t finish but I know for sure I’m double dipping and buying this in collected format.

You should mention when it does come out. That story sounds interesting.

I’m hoping this will be collected with the other Mechanismo robot judges stories from the past few years (Harvey featuring John Mccrae on art and Machine Law with Colin MacNeil). It’d make a great double head with the original Mechanismo stories which have already collected.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1AyNEto1jL.jpg

It does seem to be Wagner’s obsession in recent years. The man/machine interface. It’s always been there but seems to be the focus of his particular stories.

What I love though is how nuanced he makes it all. While Dredd is seeing the worst possible incarnation in Guatemala where humans are basically viewed as animals he’s warming to the Mega City 1 mechanismos.

DavidM wrote:

Bendis sucks

I liked the comic a lot more than David but I also think he makes some good points and it does generally fail as a first issue. Parts are confusing, not a great deal happens, characters are not introduced at all well for a new reader.

Ryan Sook’s artwork is gorgeous though and I quite liked the ‘teen’ take on it, I’m around 25 years younger than David and very down with da yoof so I’m sticking with it for now.

Bruce wrote:

I’m hoping this will be collected with the other Mechanismo robot judges stories from the past few years (Harvey featuring John Mccrae on art and Machine Law with Colin MacNeil). It’d make a great double head with the original Mechanismo stories which have already collected.

Mechanismo: Machine Law trade is set for March 2020.

What are you picking up?

For me, it’s lots of ‘number twos’ – The Batman’s Grave #2, Money Shot #2 and X-Men #2 (Hickman’s last chance).

Heh heh

‘Number two’

Our Encounters With Evil Adventures Of Professor JT Meinhardt And His Assistant Mr Knox HC
Gideon Falls #18
Sea Of Stars #5
Trees Three Fates #3
Folklords #1 (Variant Duncan Fegredo Cover)

Anonymous wrote:

Heh heh

‘Number two’

I love that after all these years you guys think I’m still making these jokes by accident.

That was no accidental number two.

Looks like I have a few books this week:

Event Leviathan #5
Superman #17
X-Men #2

Dave wrote:

That was no accidental number two.

Also called a “shart”.

Lucifer #13

Lucifer goes to war against Heaven (again).

And wins.

This was superb. Cleverly brings together threads the comics’ own history in an epic high-concept operatic story that also manages to be quite emotionally moving.
.
This is the end of a long-running storyline, but I’m sure you could pick it up on its own and still appreciate it. So go and do it. You won’t regret it.

Dave wrote:

Tim wrote:

Heh heh

‘Number two’

I love that after all these years you guys think I’m still making these jokes by accident.

That was no accidental number two.

To be fair, after all these years my mental image of you is still a naked blue glowing guy.

Sidenote: My mental image of Ronnie is obviously Supergirl.

Anonymous wrote:

To be fair, after all these years my mental image of you is still a naked blue glowing guy.

Any of the board members who have met me can confirm this is accurate.

Dave wrote:

Tim wrote:

To be fair, after all these years my mental image of you is still a naked blue glowing guy.

Any of the board members who have met me can confirm this is accurate.

A recent picture of Dave:

It’s just like in my dreams!!!

Todd wrote:

A recent picture of Dave:

Please, don’t insult Dave. Obviously, this is him:

Unexpectedly, Simon Spurrier is rapidly becoming a favourite.

His Hellblazer special from a couple of weeks ago was very good, albeit mostly an exercise in tidying up and resetting John Constantine’s status quo. I really look forward to the new series.

Spurrier’s work on The Dreaming though is astonishing. #15 is the first part of his climatic arc, wrapping up the storyline stretching back to #1. It’s chilling, apocalyptic and thoroughly engrossing.

Bilquis Evely’s artwork is on a whole other level too. Top stuff.

Vikram wrote:

His Hellblazer special from a couple of weeks ago was very good, albeit mostly an exercise in tidying up and resetting John Constantine’s status quo. I really look forward to the new series.

I only just read this this morning and like you I very much enjoyed it and am onboard for the ongoing.

Funnily enough there’s a subtle crossover element between the latest issue of The Dreaming and the Hellblazer special. Nothing significant, but it made me smile.

I haven’t got a funny Wednesday picture this week so I’ll leave it to someone else.

Anyway, what are you picking up today? It’s a pretty quiet week for me, just Money Shot #2 I think.

Oh, and I got a new Garvey book yesterday.

Prey For Us #2

Another solid issue of this book. Chapter 2 builds on the atmospheric horror of the first issue and takes it to new places, wisely not dragging out the survival-horror of the first issue for too long.

Instead, it takes a harder turn into sci-fi territory, introducing some new concepts that weren’t apparent from the first issue in a rug-pull that’s genuinely disorienting and shocking, even though we’ve only spent a limited amount of time with the character involved.

(Is that vague enough to avoid spoilers?)

Anyway, the art complements the story very well and the whole package evokes classic horror/sci-fi like Aliens in a pleasing way. This issue shows that Prey For Us isn’t telling exactly the story it appeared to be telling at first, and while I was enjoying that story I’m looking forward to seeing how this one progresses.

I also neglected to mention this issue from a few weeks ago.

Camp Bleh! is maybe the first of Matt’s books that I’d put in the category of ‘not for me’ – but I don’t mean that in a negative way.

Because this comic is specifically designed to appeal to a younger audience, from the cute and cartoonish character designs to the accessible (and clean!) humour.

Based around campfire horror tales, it’s a smart book that makes use of a clever concept in which various stories cut across each other, with the visualisations of those stories constantly changing to keep up. I won’t spoil exactly how that works but there’s a nice fourth-wall-breaking quality to it all that’s clear enough for a younger reader to appreciate.

The main reason I was waiting to write about this comic was that I wanted to read it with my own kids to see what they thought of it. I haven’t had a chance yet, but once I get around to it I’ll post some thoughts from people closer to the target audience!

This is a fun change of pace for the Garvey comics and one that shows that Matt is adept at writing for younger readers as well as adult audiences. Nice work.

Oh yes, forgot the Kill Or Be Killed OHC was out this week. Definitely grabbing that.

Really liking this new Hellblazer, it’s voice is a little off but I’m definitely going to keep checking it out.

Expensive week for me:
KILL OR BE KILLED DELUXE HC (from last week)
WITCHFINDER OMNIBUS VOL 1 HC
Witchfinder: Reign of Darkness #1
Criminal #3
East of West #44
Killadelphia #1
Lazarus Risen #3

Vikram wrote:

Unexpectedly, Simon Spurrier is rapidly becoming a favourite.

I think Spurrier is quite a good writer.  His Legion really impressed me. His X-Force was less good but he has some interesting ideas.

Speaking of which, a few more books starring our favourite trench coat wearing, cigarette smoking, bastard.

Lucifer #14 starts a new storyline, set a year or more after the finale of the last. It sets up a potential battle of wits with John Constantine, that promises to be quite a lot of fun. I’ve wanted to see these two cross paths for a long time.

Dan Watters gets back to writing the sort of book I loved in the first arc – a book about other people’s messed up lives, and the impact that the devil has on them; rather than about Lucifer directly. This is a fine return to form after a middling and overly long second arc. Fernando Blanco’s artwork is not as polished as the Fiumara’s, but it serves the story well.

The Books of Magic #14 – I don’t read this book normally, as I dislike the rebooted continuity and the whole thing feels very fan fictiony. This issue, however, was co-written by Si Spurrier and features a showdown between Tim Hunter and the returned J.C. It’s alright, but a bit of an inconsequential non- event. Don’t bother with it unless you’re reading the book regularly.

Hellblazer #1 was fantastic though. The art by Aaron Campbell is very evocative of Leo Manco’s work from the original Vertigo series. And Spurrier’s story fits right in with the tone of Ennis’ or Carey’s runs on the book back in the day.

I’m really enjoying the way they are making a thing of J.C. being a man out of time, bumping up against the cultural norms of 2019. It reflects a lot of the discomfort I feel with the world today.

It’s awesome having this book back, and in a funny way it reminds me a lot about Bendis’ Superman. That book is all about the power of hope in the darkness. This Hellblazer is full of righteous anger, piss and vinegar facing the same darkness. Both speak volumes to me, and the dichotomy between those two is a lot of fun to explore.

Glad you liked Hellblazer, I need to pick that one up as I really enjoyed the special from last month. It felt like the real John was back for the first time since the original series ended.

Criminal was really good again this week (yeah, I know I’m like a broken record with this book.)

The latest storyline has been one of the book’s longest stories yet, but told in a slightly fractured way with most chapters told largely from a single point of view. That changes here, and we start to see various characters interacting and crossing paths in surprising yet logical ways as the story comes to a head.

I can’t wait to see where the story goes next – issue #11 is going to be a great Christmas present. The talk of a big heist next issue has me particularly excited – Criminal often doesn’t go in for those kinds of big setpieces, but when it does them it does them well.

The Batman’s Grave #2

This was ok, but not as good as the first issue. The opening is taken up with a quite long hand-to-hand fight sequence that’s a rare example of an Ellis ‘silent’ action sequence not working, and it isn’t well-served by Hitch’s art either as he falls into the awkward stiff poses that can occasionally make his physical fight scenes look a bit odd.

Luckily, elsewhere in the issue the artwork is pretty spectacular, including a great rooftop/bat-signal scene (which features some really nice characterisation of Batman and Jim Gordon interacting as equals) and some amazing detail in the urban scenes.

Ellis is entertaining too (hungover Alfred is as much fun here as drunk Alfred was last issue). Although there’s a bittiness to this issue, perhaps as it has so much heavy lifting to do in terms of setting up story threads.

Some parts don’t quite land as they should (I’m still unclear as to whether the Flamingo we see here is the same one from Morrison’s run – the dialogue suggests so, but he looks completely different), and Ellis does his usual thing of ending the issue mid-conversation when the page count is up, leaving the final panel as a real damp squib and creating a real sense of

Dave wrote:

The Batman’s Grave

Yes, he usually is.

DavidM wrote:

Dave wrote:

The Batman’s Grave

Yes, he usually is.

Ha! I’ve been making this joke in my head every time I see that title.

Far Sector #1

I didn’t plan to get this. My LCS guy snuck it in to my stack, probably because I’m getting Green Lantern.

I’m glad he did because it’s… not bad. The premise is a rookie GL assigned to a space sector so far out it hasn’t even got a number, to a city that has just had its first murder in generations.

The world building here is impressive. N.K. Jemsin is apparently a proper SF author (though I haven’t read any of her work), and it shows. The alien society is freakishly different, and the bulk of the issue is the GL dealing with that. The problems are: first, that there’s too much world building, resulting in huge dollops of plot exposition and not much else. Second, that despite this, there still isn’t enough — 20 pages of comic are barely going to scratch the surface of a work like this, so at the moment there are too many unexplained things. Third, that there are so many concepts being introduced I know I’m going to forget all the weird names, and which alien race does what, and so on, by next month.

I think it shows that Jesmin might be a good author, but doesn’t necessarily understand how to write for comics. I feel that this would have worked better as a novel, where there’s more space to explain things and you can pace the explanations better without swamping the plot.

But still, the ideas are interesting enough that I’ll stick with it for another issue or two and see how it develops.

It was Wednesday, like, two days ago! What’s going on?

Green Lantern: Blackstars #2 was really good fun this week. A great alternate-reality romp that also ties in brilliantly with loads of past Morrison DC works while also royally ripping the piss out of the DCU comics of the last few years. Much better than issue #1.

X-Men #3 was also pretty good, and much better than the first two issues. I liked the goofiness of the concept and the silliness of some of the dialogue here. It was a bit anticlimactic, but I’m assuming there’s more story to be told here.

Loved House of X and Powers of X, but struggling to work up any enthusiasm for X-Men. Maybe it’s the art. I don’t know. Will give it another issue or two to turn it around, but edging closer to dropping it.

 

That’s been the consensus from some.

Its reinvigorated my interest in the franchise but I do find myself wondering if it will read better in trade when it’s clearer how the pieces fit the overall narrative.

I do get it. HOX/POX made some big statements with a lot going on in a few short issues.

Rather than continue directly with everything posed there it has been used more as setup for a new status quo for the ongoing books probably for the next few years. It’s being continued gradually across them all as subplot rather than in the main title directly. I think that approach pleases the more dedicated X-Men fans more who have seen the line invigorated.

Everything raised in HOX/POX I believe will be answered over the next couple of years but as part of that larger X-Men story.

 

Yep, agreed. I think I might move to waiting for the run to be finished before I go back to it.

A few books coming out today that I’m interested in, but I think this is top of the list.

DavidM wrote:

Far Sector #1

I didn’t plan to get this. My LCS guy snuck it in to my stack, probably because I’m getting Green Lantern.

I’m glad he did because it’s… not bad. The premise is a rookie GL assigned to a space sector so far out it hasn’t even got a number, to a city that has just had its first murder in generations.

The world building here is impressive. N.K. Jemsin is apparently a proper SF author (though I haven’t read any of her work), and it shows. The alien society is freakishly different, and the bulk of the issue is the GL dealing with that. The problems are: first, that there’s too much world building, resulting in huge dollops of plot exposition and not much else. Second, that despite this, there still isn’t enough — 20 pages of comic are barely going to scratch the surface of a work like this, so at the moment there are too many unexplained things. Third, that there are so many concepts being introduced I know I’m going to forget all the weird names, and which alien race does what, and so on, by next month.

I think it shows that Jesmin might be a good author, but doesn’t necessarily understand how to write for comics. I feel that this would have worked better as a novel, where there’s more space to explain things and you can pace the explanations better without swamping the plot.

But still, the ideas are interesting enough that I’ll stick with it for another issue or two and see how it develops.

So, I read it this morning and nipped on to see if anyone else had.

Pretty much in agreement with your take on this.

I really love the concept, it’s totally my bag. The book obviously looks nice. But it’s not well written as a comic. It’s stutters a lot. So much exposition in monologues. Nothing really happens plot wise, it’s mostly world building, which I enjoy, but only when it’s done right. I think she should have a look at some of Dan Abnett’s writing and the techniques he uses to deliver the world building but at the same time finding a way to immerse the reader, have some plot, and maybe some characterisation – if which there is zero here.

 

incidentally I’m tempted to check out some of the writer’s prose work, because there’s good sci fi ideas here. But it’s not a well written comic, it’s hard work to read, and I don’t have the time or energy to stick with it while the writer works out how to write for sequential art.

 

this is the main problem with Gerard Way running this Young Animal imprint, he’s not a very good writer either and as curator it doesn’t look like he’s able to support those he’s brought in to write the books because they’ve all been a failure for me.

I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Gerard Way, so I can’t comment on how good a writer he is. If he’s just “curating”, it should be his taste in comics that makes the line sink or swim, not his ability to write. But you make an interesting point about his ability to support the writers he chooses. Has all of the imprint been by new, untested writers? If so, I would say it’s essential that they are paired with editors who really know what they are doing and can offer appropriate advice. And my feeling in the case of the Far Sector writer is that she definitely hasn’t had that type of support.

An all-Image week for me, all great books:
GIDEON FALLS #19
TREES: THREE FATES #4
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #2

incidentally I’m tempted to check out some of the writer’s prose work, because there’s good sci fi ideas here. But it’s not a well written comic, it’s hard work to read, and I don’t have the time or energy to stick with it while the writer works out how to write for sequential art.

 

She’s the first writer to win the Hugo for best novel three years in a row, so while I’ve not read her stuff, she does have pedigree.

I’ve only read her first novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which is fantasy, and it’s great. One of my favorite stories in that genre.

It is an ongoing problem with prose writers moving to comics, it’s not that they are bad writers at all, as Lorcan points out we have one here that comes in with several awards, it’s the ability to write comics.

The usual problem is what Chris mentions – too much exposition, too much text in general. It may be worth sticking with though because I know quite a few have adjusted and cut that out a few issues in. Really editors should spend more time and be more confident to guide someone who has come in with some fanfare and pedigree but that rarely seems to happen and they let them learn by their own mistakes most of the time.

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Chris-S

Yeah, Dan Abnett was a comics writer long before writing prose, which would explain in part why he’s able to switch more easily between the two formats.

garjones wrote:

It is an ongoing problem with prose writers moving to comics, it’s not that they are bad writers at all, as Lorcan points out we have one here that comes in with several awards, it’s the ability to write comics. The usual problem is what Chris mentions – too much exposition, too much text in general. It may be worth sticking with though because I know quite a few have adjusted and cut that out a few issues in. Really editors should spend more time and be more confident to guide someone who has come in with some fanfare and pedigree but that rarely seems to happen and they let them learn by their own mistakes most of the time.

It’s actually the opposite problem comics used to have with all the writers actually wanting to be prose sci-fi writers.

Greg Rucka comes to mind as a writer who transitions easily and successfully between prose novels and comic-book writing.

There’s actually a pretty long list. Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman of course, Peter David, Mike Carey, Paul Cornell are frequent novel writers. Tom King and Scott Snyder wrote prose first, Charles Soule is now writing novels. Joe Hill came the other way and does both well.

Dan Abnett of course gets the quantity award for writing 50 comics and 5 novels a year.

lorcan_nagle wrote:

incidentally I’m tempted to check out some of the writer’s prose work, because there’s good sci fi ideas here. But it’s not a well written comic, it’s hard work to read, and I don’t have the time or energy to stick with it while the writer works out how to write for sequential art.

 

She’s the first writer to win the Hugo for best novel three years in a row, so while I’ve not read her stuff, she does have pedigree.

Yeah I saw that at the back of the issue and I can see why, so I am tempted to take a look at one of those novels once my reading list calms down a bit.

I think a decent editor would have stepped in here and helped streamline the script a bit better for comics.

I didn’t dislike it, if I didn’t have so much to read just now I would read on and I’ll be keeping an eye on reviews and comments regarding the book as she might get into a decent flow once she has a few issues under her belt.

Well, this was an interesting book.

I was looking forward to it as much for Grampa’s art as Miller’s writing – and I say that as a big Frank Miller fan. But having enjoyed Grampa’s Mesmo Delivery and his various pin-up and cover work, I had high hopes for this.

And the art is indeed pretty good – if not quite as inventive in terms of weird perspectives and odd exaggerations as Mesmo Delivery was. Instead, it ends up closer to something like Chris Burnham or Frank Quitely – which is still pretty good company to be in. And there are occasional moments of invention early on like this that really stand out.

But unfortunately the art is let down somewhat by the story, which is a bit unfocused and scattershot and ultimately a bit of a mess.

Miller writes some decent moment-to-moment scenes – his skills in that area haven’t abandoned him yet – but overall this feels very confused and incoherent.

Simultaneously trying to deal with ideas around democracy and the rise of populism (including the heavy use of a Trump-in-all-but-name politician) as well as the perils of social media, Miller mixes this all in with high superhero melodrama involving Darkseid and the return of the/a Joker, and the children of Superman & Wonder Woman, and of course Carrie Kelley (who finally graduates to full-on-lead of a Dark Knight comic here, with Bruce Wayne barely a presence in the story, let alone an active participant.)

There were several moments I enjoyed and several ideas with merit, but somehow it all fails to come together as it should. A shame as it felt like there was more potential here. But nevertheless, it’s worth checking out if only for the art.

Two issues in, I’m really enjoying The Far Sector. Fun noir-ish SF, good ideas, lovely art, and a decent mystery. I’m on board for the whole series.

The one slightly annoying thing is that the lead character’s captions are in transparent boxes that can be hard to read.

The Batman’s Grave #3

I have quite mixed feelings about this third issue. On the one hand, it’s an issue that takes quite a long time to show Batman working on a mystery that we aren’t really encouraged to care about that much, and which severely eats into its 22-page length with ten consecutive ‘silent’ pages that show Batman investigating a crime scene and getting into a fight with a mysterious villain as he attempts to collect some evidence.

But despite being a bit lumpy, pacing-wise, there are some moments that really shine too. Ellis writes some great interactions between Bruce and Alfred, giving their relationship an intimacy and informality – and, in particular, levity – that’s often missing but fits the pair perfectly.

It’s no exaggeration to say that I could read a dedicated Ellis-written Alfred title if it had regular scenes like this.

I also really like the device of giving Batman such an empathetic approach to the crimes he investigates, putting himself in the victim’s place in a way that not only allows for some slightly weird trippy fantasy sequences (akin to Will Graham’s crime scene re-enactments in Hannibal) but also works perfectly for the character in terms of how it illustrates his personality – because who is Batman if not someone who sees himself as the archetypal victim of crime?

While it’s an odd, choppy book in terms of structure, these positive factors outweigh the negative, especially when the general high standard of art from Hitch and Nowlan is taken into account.

Ellis is playing a long game in terms of plot here, and it still isn’t clear how a lot of his ideas tie together, but there’s enough in the way of interesting nuggets sprinkled throughout (including a subplot about how evil Alexa devices can be) that it’s still interesting and fun regardless.

(One weird mistake I forgot to mention is a scene where Batman is trying to identify various chemical compounds shown on his computer screen, but which has the molecule names written on the screen next to the diagrams from the start of the scene. As it takes him several panels to begin to recognise and name them, it inadvertently makes it look like Batman can’t read.)

Is it wrong that I read this in Kevin Conroy and Efrem Zimbalist Jr’s voices?

Gosh Comics have revealed that Millar’s secret project is

 

 

An American Jesus sequel.

I think that’s what was assumed, isn’t it.

Yup. Wasn’t it announced back in 2016?

There’s so much good stuff coming out tomorrow I’ve had to take a day off work to enjoy it all! Bring it on!

I’d picked up the previous issues of Doomsday Clock in a Comixology sale so I grabbed the final issue today to see how it all turned out.

I think I’ve revised my opinion of the series upwards slightly, from a mess to a brave but misguided failure. There are one or two moments here that are nice and I can see what it’s trying to do, but the whole thing is very heavy-handed and the meshing of the worlds of Watchmen and the DCU just never quite works.

The messages are all pretty trite and I think I could do without ever seeing another DC comic that revolves around exactly how and why DC continuity has been altered this time around.

Lovely art though – after this I hope Gary Frank gets a chance to do something really spectacular, because he’s been better than ever here.

As you know I’ve enjoyed Doomsday Clock greatly since it began. But, I think Dave sums it up pretty well above. It’s a very nice book, with some of the most assured writing Johns has ever produced, coupled with gorgeous artwork from Frank throughout. The symbolism talks to the DC fanboy in me, and there are some crowd pleasing parts here that should prove interesting as we go into 2020. I don’t want to be accused of spoilers, but I cannot wait to see the implications of one scene in particular play out.

However, it’s a pretty inward looking book that doesn’t do much to reach out to non- fanboys. It’s not bombastic enough for mainstream appeal. And, it doesn’t really provide much closure to DC Rebirth, leaving a number of plot threads still unexplained.

Approach with caution. It’s great, but not likely to live up to your expectations.

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Chris-S

Also, I’m thinking that there’s definitely going to be some sort of After Watchmen thing now.

Vikram wrote:

Also, I’m thinking that there’s definitely going to be some sort of After Watchmen thing now.

Isn’t that the HBO series? ;)