The Ongoing New Comics Thread

Topic

(No stickers, please.)

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

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Anonymous wrote:

Philosophical question. Does one log in or log on? Log out or log off?

Ooooh. So, that’s the true significance of the log lady. She’ll hold the answer.

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Sean Robinson, Rocket

all joking aside, what do you call being connected to things like alexa, nest, smart tvs or other objects that are voice activated?  i thought that someone had come up with a term for it but I can’t remember it.

The Internet of things?

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Rocket

Anonymous wrote:

Philosophical question. Does one log in or log on? Log out or log off?

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lorcan_nagle, Rocket

Rocket wrote:

all joking aside, what do you call being connected to things like alexa, nest, smart tvs or other objects that are voice activated?  i thought that someone had come up with a term for it but I can’t remember it.

HAL. Skynet. Marvin.

Pick one.

Then play ‘thermonuclear war’.

Anonymous wrote:

Philosophical question. Does one log in or log on? Log out or log off?

This isn’t a universal rule by any means, but commonly: “log on” means connect to a system, “log in” means provide credentials to enter the system.

e.g. you “log on” to google.com but you “log in” to post on thecarrier.net.

But I’d say it’s more important to be consistent than to follow an arbitrary rule like that.

I thought to post here you “carry on.”

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Rocket, DavidM

Rocket wrote:

all joking aside, what do you call being connected to things like alexa, nest, smart tvs or other objects that are voice activated?  i thought that someone had come up with a term for it but I can’t remember it.

A smarty-pants

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DavidM

Rocket wrote:

all joking aside, what do you call being connected to things like alexa, nest, smart tvs or other objects that are voice activated?  i thought that someone had come up with a term for it but I can’t remember it.

A eugooglizer.

lorcan_nagle wrote:

The Internet of things?

It’s ‘internet of things’ if referring to everything that could be connected like your fridge and toaster and whatever shit.

If it’s simply the object you speak into and ask to play Radio 2 (that’s all anyone I know who actually uses them does) they are known generically as ‘smart speakers’.

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Rocket

Tynion taking over the Batman title from Tom King was good as King’s run of ideas for the character had run their course.
The thing is storywise, Gotham went from being dominated by Bane to being taken over by the Joker with no rest in between. Poor Gothamites! The editors should have had a few stories (fillers) in between to give the characters and readers a break or do a time jump between stories.

Anyway, there is going to be (drum roll) a Punchline solo story soon. DC is trying to forcefeed the character to the readers. The heavy promotion might backfire, like Prometheus from Morrison’s JLA run.

Al-x wrote:

ynion taking over the Batman title from Tom King was good as King’s run of ideas for the character had run their course.

Looking at the sales charts though Tynion has done nothing at all to stop the decline.

Tynion’s run really took off, sales wise at least, with Batman #92 – the “official” debut of Punchline. There have been multiple sell outs of recent issues and new printings. #92 shipped in June. By that point, DC titles were no longer Diamond exclusive. I haven’t seen any numbers but I wonder how accurate any sales chart data is right now given the craziness of the whole industry. Do you have a link to any recent data, Gar? Be interested to see them if you do.

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Todd

I find the best source is ICV2 Top 500. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/1850

They though haven’t been able to compile any chart since March, so basically before the lockdown hit significantly. I don’t know what they’ll do going forward because it was based on Diamond rankings, with Batman being the book at 100. DC books and Batman will now disappear from the Diamond rankings.

They have done some on ComicHub data which suggests Batman #92 + 93 doing very well but since it only covers 85 out of 3000 US stores it’s a general indication rather than actual numbers.

 

https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/46276/top-20-comics-q2-2020

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Todd, Vikram

[Rocket]

I just read X Force 11 and Marauders 11. Both were well written for comic books. There is no Morrison/Moore level mastery but Percy and Duggan wrote imaginative stories.

In Marauders Duggan finally solves the Kate Pryde problem and reunites Kate and Lockheed. There is intrigue there but if I suggest picking up the book to learn. Both Emma and Storm are written wellfor the parts they part in the book.

In X Force Percy comes up with a devious way for the Russian Super Soldiers to harrass the mutants. the mutant given the most attention is Colossus. X Force keeps pressuring him to take a lead role in the fight against Russia because of his heritage and he is resistant to it. Beast is still f’ing up but the book shifts away from him to Colossus and others which is good because I am not a fan of his current storyline.

They are both solid superhero books. Action, ingenuity, and drama all entertain me. they have X of swords spots on the cover but but I don’t see much inside dealing with it except for the ads so no external forces are exerted on the books. While the rest of the X Universe seem to be floundering or moving glacially, These 2 books keep putting out quality entertainment.

Upon sitting down to write this review I realize Kitty and Pete are the main characters in these 2 books and think back to when they were a young couple just starting out and think how fair they have come since. Their current mindsets are complete opposites from each other imo.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Rocket.

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Vikram, lorcan_nagle

The Three Jokers is out, or at least the first issue is. It started out slow, and I felt initial disappointment with how the story was presented. Batmans scars, ace chemicals, blibbidy blah. But it got better as it went on. Exchanges between (one of) The Joker and Jason was particularly good.

Art was amazing.

Just stopped by my LCS to pick up this week’s books. What a great selection!

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njerry

Totally looking forward to Three Jokers. Sounds like peak- Geoff Johns in all the best and worst ways possible. But, I’ve got a lot of time for him after Doomsday Clock, and I adore Fabok’s work.

Yeah, the artwork on Three Jokers is excellent.

The story overall is ok – it hits some (deliberately) familiar notes but definitely has potential, even if a lot of this first issue is setup.

The panel-to-panel storytelling is very good – it’s one of those comics that really feels like it moves.

Interested to see where it goes.

(Also, I’m not really up on current DC continuity so not sure how much of the information about these three Jokers was new to this book – so don’t want to discuss details in this thread in case of spoilers – but the idea of multiple Jokers was handled  a bit differently to how I expected.)

[Eduardo]

About the first Three Jokers issue, felt kind of similar to Doomsday Clock #1. Really nice art, but it feels like a cover band trying too hard to emulate something, in this case, the tone of The Killing Joke, but with geoffisms along the way, which make it feel weird…

About past continuity, except for “there are 3” at the end of the Darkseid War, and another one in Rebirth, there is none, all is new to this.

Assorted thoughts:

– Flash 760: While I am not a fan of Williamson’s writing style, having Max Mercury, Jay Garrick, Impulse and Jesse Quick back is nice.

The three Dawn books were nice today, X-Men 11 (That was brutal, go Magneto), Hellions 3 & X-Factor 2 both show potential.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Eduardo.

Eduardo wrote:

it feels like a cover band trying too hard to emulate something, in this case, the tone of The Killing Joke, but with geoffisms along the way, which make it feel weird…

It’s definitely riffing on that 80s Alan Moore style with the very pronounced panel-to-panel progressions and the overlapping dialogue from one scene to the next that carries a double meaning. But I found it more bearable here than Doomsday Clock, partly because I think it’s a more successful pastiche.

Question: The Deaths Of Vic Sage #4 was a fitting end to the series, and contains a lovely Denny O’Neil tribute at the back too. Still not 100% clear on how the story all hangs together (need a second read I think) but on a visceral level this book packed a real punch.

Meanwhile, That Texas Blood #3 continues that book’s solid run so far. I like that it’s such a quiet, calm book in some ways but every scene is really loaded with tension and heavy with meaning. Some great art techniques too, including one double-page ‘silent’ sequence in this issue. Good stuff.

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Will_C

I liked Three Jokers #1 well enough, but I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. I think I’ll just have to wait and see over the next couple of issues. I still don’t really like Johns’ take on Batman, but Fabok’s artwork was wonderful. The confusing is it or is it not “in continuity” question permeated the book as I read it. It’s hard to reconcile with concurrent events in the Batman book for example. I fully realise that The Killing Joke had a similarly vague place in continuity too upon release, so this unease could also be intentional, and only time will tell.

I enjoyed Maestro #1 a lot. The opening chapter in the origin story of the future Hulk, by Peter David, Dale Keown and German Peralta. Sadly it is the latter who does the bulk of the artwork, but that’s no slight on his ability; he conveys the mood of the post- apocalyptic story well. It’s just Keown is on a whole other level and a firm favourite, especially on the Hulk. Still, this was a solid first part and I look forward to reading the rest of the mini.

Ben Percy’s run on Wolverine is shaping up to be something special. He has a firm grasp on the character, that evokes the likes of Aaron and Rucka’s time of the book. Combined with superb artwork from Adam Kubert on #3 and Viktor Bogdanovic on #4, you have a book that reads well and looks gorgeous. I hope X of Swords doesn’t completely derail this.

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Ben, Will_C

Vikram wrote:

The confusing is it or is it not “in continuity” question permeated the book as I read it. It’s hard to reconcile with concurrent events in the Batman book for example. I fully realise that The Killing Joke had a similarly vague place in continuity too upon release, so this unease could also be intentional, and only time will tell.

I think they’ve said it’s not intended to be in continuity but obviously draws on stuff like Killing Joke and Death In The Family as backstory.

It’s a bit more awkward than that though, when the three Jokers was introduced in continuity as part of Johns’ own DC Rebirth special and Justice League run.

I’ll wait and reserve judgement until the book has finished. Much like Doomsday Clock before it, sands may have shifted under Johns’ feet rendering it continuity adjacent. But, I do hope it provides a satisfactory answer within the confines of its own page count.

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Ben

Yeah, probably best to sidestep the continuity aspects and just not think about it much.

Ben wrote:

Yeah, probably best to sidestep the continuity aspects and just not think about it much.

That’s always the best approach for Batman, DC and comics in general.

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DavidM, garjones, Todd, Sean Robinson

Anonymous wrote:

Ben wrote:

Yeah, probably best to sidestep the continuity aspects and just not think about it much.

That’s always the best approach for Batman, DC and comics in general.

I think Joe Casey once talked about not focusing on continuity but rather consistency. Characterization that is consistent with historical portrayal but putting the character in new and different situations.

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DavidM, Rocket, Vikram

I read Adventureman #3. Then I went back and read#1 and #2. Fraction and the Dodsons are creating Doc Savage for 2020s. After reading all the afterwords this world is becoming fascinating. It is classic pulp adventure brought to life with the gorgeous art of the Dodsons. There are some mysteries to work out but they aren’t Christopher Nolan style mind teasers. It is just good old fashioned adventure. I think it fits for the current climate. I believe that we need something simple and easy to enjoy because there is enough drama and strife existing in the real world.

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Vikram, Todd

Just a couple of new comics for me this week.

Strange Adventures #5 was one of those issues where stuff happened but it just didn’t really land for me. I’m still not convinced there’s enough story here for 12 issues, but the writing and art is pretty good in and of itself, so I’ll stick with it in the hope that it all pays off.

And We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #1 was a bit of a disappointment for such a trumpteted new launch, especially after hearing so many good things about Al Ewing. There are some interesting concepts here but very little actual story, and the art – while fine for what it is – isn’t to my tastes, as I tend to prefer comics art with a more defined line over this voguish animation-cel-esque style.

(That makes me sound like an old man but I don’t care.)

I might have liked WOFTWTD more if Dan Mora drew it. This cover is pretty cool.

Flash 761 – As I said before, not much of a fan of Williamson writing, but seeing some old characters like John Fox, XS and even WALTER WEST makes me smile a little. This issue also goes into retcon mode, making Zoom responsable for a lot of things, including some of the stupidity of Heroes in Crisis concerning Wally.

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Rocket, Vikram

Eduardo wrote:

making Zoom responsable for a lot of things, including some of the stupidity of Heroes in Crisis concerning Wally.

Nice try to shift the blame, DC.

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garjones

Today is the second Wednesday of September, and the second week in a row of no new comics for me. 

A surprise new release from Comixology, Edgeworld, written by… Chuck Austen!

https://www.comixology.com/Edgeworld-comiXology-Originals-1-of-5-Sand-Part-1/digital-comic/888304

Local people are disappearing and it’s up to Killian Jess, Magistrate of Rush, and his odd group of friends to find out what’s going on. But they’ve got freak sandstorms, a hostile military government and the aftermath of a planet-wide war to wade through in order to reach the answers they seek.

Edgeworld marks the surprise return to comics of Dreamworks television producer Chuck Austen, the controversial X-Men and Superman writer, partnering with his good friend, long-time Marvel/DC artist Patrick Olliffe.

In animation, Chuck has produced such impressive shows as Dawn of the Croods, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Rocky and Bullwinkle for Dreamworks, and there isn’t a character Patrick hasn’t drawn for Marvel and DC, though he is most well-known for his work on Spider-Girl and Hawkman. Their shared creative vision brings to life a rich and complex world of characters and stories that marks Edgeworld out as a series not to be missed.

Chuck and Patrick are joined on this expectation-busting journey by outstanding colorist Lee Loughridge, talented designer/letterer Jodi Wynne, with edits from Bis Stringer Horne.

Anyone going to read it?

No.

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Will_C, garjones

Not for me.

Although I still have admiration for Austen’s work because it led to the Paul O’Brien hilarious review of his completely illogical Draco storyline. That I did enjoy.

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lorcan_nagle, Dave

Part of me would rather he finished WorldWatch.

I really enjoyed Austen’s weekly black and white US War Machine miniseries.

Todd wrote:

I really enjoyed Austen’s weekly black and white US War Machine miniseries.

You think you enjoyed it, Todd, but you really didn’t. Trust me.

I swear to Christ, never has one Marvel Edge book ruined so many minds.

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garjones

Jake wrote:

I swear to Christ, never has one Marvel Edge book ruined so many minds.

Marvel MAX, not Edge.

Speaking of ruined minds…

I picked up Detective Comics #1027 this week as it was otherwise a fairly slow week for new comics for me. Anyone else grab it?

There’s a decent roster of creators involved and it’s pretty good value at $9.99 for 144 pages, although like all these anthology issues it’s hit and miss.

Rucka and Risso’s story is probably the best one, a timely story about good and bad cops in Gotham that treads a fine line between them, balances everything well and does a lot in a relatively brief page count. And the Kelly Sue Deconnick/JRjr story is a nice little vignette that has some cool Bruce Wayne moments as well as Batman.

The Morrison/Burnham story is kind of a joke strip that doesn’t realy develop beyond its one gag, but is nicely done. Tom King’s story is nice and features some cracking Walt Simonson art. And the Snyder/Reis story feels like it packs an entire crossover event into a short story, which is pretty cool.

But the last two stories are lead-ins to other larger stories in the batbooks (which always feels like a bit of a cheat in anniversary anthologies like this) despite some nice Dan Mora art in the last one. And the Bendis/Marquez story was pretty awful – clunky and overwritten: I stopped following Bendis’ DC work pretty early on and this makes me feel like I’m not missing anything.

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Will_C, Todd

[Tobias Radesäter]

I assume many people have already said this, but if Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, then Detective Comics #1027 is the 1001st issue since the first appearance, not the 1000th.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 2 months ago by Tobias Radesäter.

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DavidM

Oh, I think he’s appeared in a few more than that.

More Batman!

It’s a shame this series has saved some of its best material for so late in the game, as I can imagine a lot of people might have lost interest after the slow and meandering start. But The Batman’s Grave #10 features some great scenes as well as a decent late twist that pushes things forward in an interesting way.

There are a couple of standout scenes here – one a humanising moment involving Bruce Wayne, the other a hugely satisfying scene revolving around Alfred – and Hitch’s art brings them to life perfectly. Even a fairly perfunctory action sequence halfway through is nicely choreographed and everything feels like it connects.

I still don’t know if this series is going to turn out to be a satisfying complete story overall – with only two issues to go, I’m bracing for a The Wild Storm-esque anticlimax – but this issue was good.

The way Conner said “BOOM!”, the way it was lettered paired with JR’s art, gave me immense satisfaction in this weeks Action Comics, which otherwise was pretty meh.

 

But that specific lettering was CLASS. I haven’t been this happy about lettering since 1602.

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DavidM, Dave

Anonymous wrote:

But that specific lettering was CLASS. I haven’t been this happy about lettering since 1602.

That’s a long time

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Dave, Todd, Uncle Retrospective, Rocket

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But that specific lettering was CLASS. I haven’t been this happy about lettering since 1602.

That’s a long time

Don’t get smart with me! I’ll… blow you! Up!

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lorcan_nagle

Dark Knights: Death Metal Speed Metal

Some people are going to looove this issue. I did. A bit by numbers, but still the best issue of the Death Metal series for me.

WALLY!!!!

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Jake, Vikram

yea, nice save but still think the whole mess is such bull hockey.

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Vikram

Anonymous wrote:

Dark Knights: Death Metal Speed Metal

Some people are going to looove this issue. I did. A bit by numbers, but still the best issue of the Death Metal series for me.

WALLY!!!!

By “some people” you mean me, right?

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DavidM

Among others.

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Vikram

But mostly me, right 😁

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In all seriousness, I did really enjoy Speed Metal. I’m not a huge fan of Josh Williamson’s writing, but he did a nice job pulling together all of the disparate threads of Wally’s story since Rebirth, and putting a little bow on top. It did get a little meta with some of the commentary – I do wonder if any of this changed post- DiDio? Barrows’ artwork is always good to see.

I’m hopeful that this marks a turning point away from the constant shitting on him that has got really old lately. I’d definitely be up for a Wally focused series next year, if there is one.

You’re thinking too small.

I want Barry dead.

Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead-dead.

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Rocket, Todd, Vikram

Anonymous wrote:

You’re thinking too small.

I want Barry dead.

Dead dead dead dead dead dead dead-dead.

Been there, done that, got ring with a red gimp suit inside.

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Hmmm…

You’re right. He will just be brought back.

Okay, I’ve changed my mind.

 

I want Geoff Johns dead.

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Steve Sensible, Todd

I tried to read Speed Metal because people were talking about it and I really, really hated it.

It’s not the books fault mostly but the huge info dump caught me up to the fact that the DC Universe is now really, really…. stupid?

The Batman who laughs? Manhattan as a big bad who turns the Flash into an avatar?

This is all very shit.

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Will_C

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

This is all very shit.

Yes it is.

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Will_C, Uncle Retrospective

Yeah. I get that. There has been a lot of stupid shit in the DCU, and some concepts that have taken on prominence that really shouldn’t have (Punchline, anyone?). Coming into this stuff cold must be a lot like one WTF moment after another.

You either buy into all of it, and just go with it, or you don’t. I can’t defend this stuff 😁

I will say part of what makes Speed Metal so noteworthy is it just goes to show you how much of this has all been centred around Wally West for some reason. The info dump even glossed over some of the more extreme stuff.

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Will_C, Sean Robinson, Uncle Retrospective

The whole Metal thing with DC was funny the first time they did it, but the pun is getting incredibly laboured now, and I can’t wait to see how much further they milk it: Industrial Metal, featuring the Metal Men, Steel, and Rocket Red! Progressive Metal, starring a bunch of Grant Morrison characters! Alternative Metal, with the Endless! Doom Metal, featuring Doomsday!

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Sean Robinson, Todd, Uncle Retrospective, Dave, DavidM

Just Black Magick #14 for me this week. As much as I’m still enjoying the book, each issue is always over way too quickly. It’ll definitely read better in a collected edition.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Progressive Metal, starring a bunch of Grant Morrison!

FTFY

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, DavidM

lorcan_nagle wrote:

The whole Metal thing with DC was funny the first time they did it, but the pun is getting incredibly laboured now, and I can’t wait to see how much further they milk it: Industrial Metal, featuring the Metal Men, Steel, and Rocket Red! Progressive Metal, starring a bunch of Grant Morrison characters! Alternative Metal, with the Endless! Doom Metal, featuring Doomsday!

Metal Hammer, the Thor crossover.

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lorcan_nagle

Steve Sensible wrote:

Just Black Magick #14 for me this week. As much as I’m still enjoying the book, each issue is always over way too quickly. It’ll definitely read better in a collected edition.

Yeah, I think Black Magick is a very well crafted book but each issue can feel like seeing ten minutes of a TV show at a time.

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Steve Sensible, Uncle Retrospective

Anonymous wrote:

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Progressive Metal, starring a bunch of Grant Morrison!

FTFY

Grant Morrison is a Grant Morrison-created character in the DCU, of course…

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Dave

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Progressive Metal, starring a bunch of Grant Morrison!

FTFY

Grant Morrison is a Grant Morrison-created character in the DCU, of course…

Actually I’m pretty sure it was Alan Moore.

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lorcan_nagle

I took a Suicide Squad team in the late lamented MW Superhero Fantasy League specifically so I could play Grant Morrison.

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Todd, lorcan_nagle

I want another SFL.

Anonymous wrote:

I want another SFL.

look in Creative.

I got some new comics delivered yesterday and caught up on some post-lockdown comics, namely The Green Lantern Season Two #3-7. I reread #1-2 as well since so much time had passed.

The second season is less successful than the first but still filled with brilliant flashes, and Liam Sharp’s artwork just gets better and better. He switches styles effortlessly depending on what the script calls for, with Jack Kirby/Darwyn Cooke-esque cartooniness on one end and painted, hyper-detailed Eurocomics-style art on the other (think Juan Gimenez, Philippe Druillet, Ladronn).

#2 is still pretty bad, although the first time I read it I missed a line of dialogue that explained the characters were speaking so strangely because the haunted “city of tomorrow” theme park was affecting them. Still, I don’t think the idea was executed very well nor did it add much to the story. Haunted futuristic theme park is still a more interesting idea to me than the story of prehistoric bird people that the story quickly became.

#3 is fantastic, largely down to Sharp’s lush painted art, but the story of a dimension of sentient clouds is cool, too.

#4, a GL/Flash team up, made very little sense, and relies too much on knowledge of an old Silver Age comic where Barry and Wally fought golden giants from another planet. When Morrison referenced obscure Silver Age books in his Batman run, he always did it in a way where I didn’t feel that I had to have actually read the story, but here I felt I had to, as the way they beat the giants hinges on another old story involving a character named Olivia Reynolds who has some deus ex machina superpower called “ultra-mind.” But the story allows for lots of inventiveness on Sharp’s part as he gets to design a horde of demonic toys belonging to one of the giant children, who seems to be their leader.

#5 sees Hal fighting the obscure Hyper-Family from the planet Trombus (stinker of a name but Morrison can’t be blamed for it), who are responsible for the murder of a Green Lantern. This issue is largely drawn in Jack Kirby’s style, with a hint of Darwyn Cooke, and is pretty good.

#6, my favorite of the bunch aside from #1, depicts an Anti-Matter universe attack on the orbital alien hospital where Hal is recuperating after his battle with the Hyper-Family. It’s kinda like Hard Boiled meets The Void in space.

#7 is another good one, taking place in the spirit world where the Guardians of the Universe have been trying to hold back the looming “Ultra War” which will presumably conclude the series. Hal gets to don his Spectre garb one more time for this one.

So, #2 and 4 are pretty disappointing, but otherwise season two of TGL has been pretty fun so far. I’m looking forward to the concluding five issues.

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Dave, DavidM

Second issue of The Three Jokers was the best Geoff Johns I’ve read in at least a handful of years. The art was 100% solid, but not fantastic. The marriage between script and art is not as seamless as it is in TKJ but the script is goood. Best bit: Jasons “AM I ALL RIGHT?”.

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DavidM

Quite a haul of new books today!

(Although I didn’t go in last week.)

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Vikram

This is one of the best first issues I’ve read in a long time. Perfect, atmospheric art (pitched somewhere between Ben Templesmith and Bill Sienkiewicz) and a story that only gets better and better as its central concept unspools.

There’s some great commentary here on what the idea of truth means today, and it has a last page that’s just the icing on the cake. Well worth checking out.

Tynion hasn’t been on my radar in a big way until now, despite several recommendations, but this was great stuff.

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Uncle Retrospective, njerry, Vikram, Ben

That was the review I was waiting for Dave. The comic has intrigued me but I have liked and not loved Tynion stuff before, the good review will have me trying it out.

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Dave

Great. Let me know what you think.

Im in too. Great review.

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Dave

For anyone on the trade route:

That Texas Blood – due Jan 2021

Department of Truth – due Mar 2021.

 

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Dave

Oh yes, That Texas Blood was great again this month. I love the slow pace and the depth of characterisation it allows, and Jacob Phillips has fun with some slightly more experimental layouts this issue too.

Plus the reveal of the inspiration for the cover had me smiling.

Tynion’s Something Is Killing The Children is a horror comic worth checking out too, guys. It’s a little like a meaner and nastier version of Stranger Things. It’s always pretty high up my to read list when a new issue drops.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave, Will_C

Vikram wrote:

Tynion’s Something Is Killing The Children is a horror comic worth checking out too, guys. It’s a little like a meaner and nastier version of Stranger Things. It’s always pretty high up my to read list when a new issue drops.

Cheers. I’m thinking I’ll pick up the first trade of this.

For what it’s worth I’ll echo David’s feelings on <b>Department of Truth #1</b>. It’s a very strong issue. Immediately setting up the series’ premise, whilst only scratching the surface of its own mythology. This was a remarkably polished and self assured debut, from a creative team that is on top form here. Good stuff.

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Ben, Uncle Retrospective, Dave, garjones

Vikram wrote:

Immediately setting up the series’ premise, whilst only scratching the surface of its own mythology

This is a great way of putting it – you get enough information for this to feel like more than just a tease (some other #1s would have ended with one of the revelations that come about halfway through this issue, only barely setting up the premise) but at the same time there’s clearly huge scope for the concept to expand further and cover all sorts of other territory.

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Vikram

I’ve really only brushed with Tynion’s work. Thought Memetic was really good.

What kind of genre is Department of Truth? The title and the cover certainly appear to me, so while I’ll tradewait, I’ll keep it in mind.

It’s a book about conspiracy theories, and the subjectivity of truth.

It’s a little like The X-Files, with what appears to be a federal dept looking to protect the truth, or maybe more specifically their version of the truth.

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Dave

Yep, very much in the X-Files mould but with a modern twist. What X-Files did for the preoccupations of the 90s (aliens, UFOs, supernatural etc.) this book is doing for fake news, conspiracy theories and the like. And in a very smart way.

Straczynski’s The Resistance #6 is the final issue of the first volume (or season, as Axel Alonso calls it in his editorial), and ends on an intriguing cliffhanger for what happens next. But, I think this is where I cash out.

The series overall was a bit of a mess. I love JMS’ work. I’m a huge fan. But, something about this book just didn’t work for me.

It’s a book with a killer hook but it does very little with it. Instead, we get a story about random people developing super powers and shadowy governments trying to control them.

I grew to love the cast in the  thematically similar Sense8. But, there’s none of that character development here. The cast are all ciphers, with zero chemistry. Blank slates servicing the whims of the plot.

The plot itself relies too heavily on familiar tropes of “superheroes in the real world”. There’s little here new that you haven’t already see in Heroes, or other comics, TV shows and movies dealing with similar subject matter.

The one issue that broke the mould was the issue dealing with the superhero placement agency (#3). That was the highlight of the series, albeit the sort of thing that Alan Moore would have written as a Future Shock in far fewer pages back in the day.

Deodato’s artwork was also quite disappointing throughout. Dark, murky, and heavily photo referenced. Ed Harris and Harry Keitel having starring roles.

Anyway, long story short, it’s not that the series is bad. It’s just incredibly dull and familiar. There’s no reason to care, so I don’t. Disappointing.

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Dave, Todd

Totally agree. I haven’t read #6 yet but I’m in no hurry – I only bought it so I could sell them as a complete set.

I think it really suffered from having to be the backbone for an entire universe and ended up feeling like a sourcebook without a story of its own to tell.

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Vikram

Department of truth was great. Everyone should read it.

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Dave

Vikram wrote:

It’s a book about conspiracy theories, and the subjectivity of truth.

It’s a little like The X-Files, with what appears to be a federal dept looking to protect the truth, or maybe more specifically their version of the truth.

Sounds right up my alley. Sold.

(When the trade is out, that is.)

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Dave, Vikram

Christian wrote:

Sounds right up my alley. Sold.

Vikram wrote:

Deodato’s artwork was also quite disappointing throughout. Dark, murky, and heavily photo referenced. Ed Harris and Harry Keitel having starring roles.

After finally reading Resistance #6 I also spotted Joseph Gordon Levitt a couple of pages in.

It reminds me of when he had Tommy Lee Jones as Norman Osborn in ASM. It just took you out of the story every time he appeared.

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Vikram

Anonymous wrote:

Christian wrote:

Sounds right up my alley. Sold.

For some reason I never saw Tropic Thunder, so for a few seconds there I thought that was a real movie and was very confused.

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So Three Jokers 2 exists. That’s basically it. It felt really off in terms of Batman’s character, and not that much happened.

They’re not new, but the Cinema Purgatorio bargain box arrived in my LCS for me this week.  I’ve read about 6 issues so far and it’s pretty good stuff. Probably enjoying Code Pru and The Vast the most so far.

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Dave

Code Pru is great fun. If you like it, it’s worth checking out the original couple of issues that Avatar published that set the whole thing up.

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lorcan_nagle

The art in Batman 100 is mindnumbingly good.

Anonymous wrote:

The art in Batman 100 is mindnumbingly good.

Who’s the artist?

Dave wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The art in Batman 100 is mindnumbingly good.

Who’s the artist?

Jorge Jimenez