I've been on such the Marvel trip lately. Like, I can't get enough of it. I used to be a DC fanboy through and through, but Marvel has now overtaken my DC pulls (32 DC/36 Marvel books).

Uncanny Avengers is far and away my favorite book on the market. The wait between issues is full pain. I fucking LOVE this book! It's pulling themes and style from Marvel circa the late 80's/early 90's, and I can't get enough.

X-men Legacy is another pure winner for me. This time last year, if you'd said that a book about Legion would be amazing....I'd have laughed it off. Brilliant stuff, this.

But really, there are just far too many great books coming out of the House of Ideas these days. Thunderbolts is the weakest of all of my pulls, but even that is great with the new team.

So, you kids: what's got your fancy lately?

Rob's Blog.

I don't like the illustrator on Rob's blog these days. Chicken scratch, that shit. And I'm sure as fuck not paying the 3.99$ cover to read about homosexual adventures when I can get Young Avengers for only 2.99$...with better art.

Nicely played.

P.S. Bring back karla.

But what are you reading JLA?

I gave up on comics years ago.

All of the EPIC MEGA CROSSOVER SOMEBUDDAH DIES IN THIS ISSUE BUT THEY WILL BE BACK IN SIX MONTHS GREATEST EVENT EVAR stunts pushed me away.

Fair enough. I come and I go with comics. I'm on a bit of a high right now, loving a large swath of what both DC and Marvel are putting out.

There are some great indie titles going on atm. I'm loving Clive Barker's Next Testament and Superbia at BOOM and Revival at Image. Morning Glories is improving again too, after a bit of a lull where he was just heaping on the confusing bullshit.

The new run of LEGION by Giffen has some pretty wild and bizarre stuff, such as crash-landing on a planet of primitive aliens, and Sun Boy is beheaded in the crash. Then the aliens cook and eat his body!

Reading stuff from the adult section, I guess.


In all seriousness, I went through a period where I was reading the adult material from Last Gasp, Rip Off Press and the like. Particularly the Corben and Jaxon material, that was almost impossible to complete a run of, prior to ebay.
Although these are not new material.
Stuff like DEN, FANTAGOR, SLOW DEATH, COMANCHE MOON, LOS TEJANOS, GRIM WIT, SKULL COMICS (the last two with an EC pre-code horror feel, with a lot of H.P. Lovecraft adaptations)

Along with a lot of back issues of Warren's CREEPY and EERIE.
about a year ago, I hyped a Dark Horse hardcover that collected all Wrightson's work on the Warren titles, including about 35 pages of introductory splash pages, many of which are masterworks suitable for framing.
Dark Horse more recently published a hardcover collecting most of Corben's work for Warren. I already have the Heavy Metal hardcover of that material, so I haven't rushed to pick it up, but the reviews I've seen have been good. And the material itself is good beyond question.

snyder batman!
batman inc!

and digital only stuffs, like lil gotham and adventures of superman

all via comixology

How is Comixology? Is it cheaper than buying print comics? Is it easy to work with?

I got all the Adventures of Superman digital comics recently and they're great! It probably helps that he's wearing the real costume and not that ugly fucking armor. Then I checked out the latest Justice League and armor Superman lasers off Doctor Light's head, so fuck that.

I'm not going to fuck Doctor Light's head.

again.

I'll do it.

-Sue Dibney

too soon, Lothar.

God damn it, Lothar.

Trinity War has actually been surprisingly good so far. Throne of Atlantis was bullshit, so I wasn't expecting much here. I'm impressed so far.

I kinda like how they played it so that it has ended up not being the three teams, but the 'DC Trinity' in fact.

And, yeah, Adventures of Superman is good reading. The one by Lemire, with the two kids playing 'Superman' has been my favorite so far. :D

The Batman stuff bores me to tears. Even Incorporated - which I was loving up through the Gorgon one shot - leaves me cold.

I still read it all (although, I dropped Dark Knight around issue 16 or so), as Batman can't seem to stop crossing over with books I am enjoying. Death of the Family was pure rot though.

i'm a big fan. i originally got involved just for space issues; lotsa books fit on your wee tiny lil phone, rather than in dusty boxes that are now filled with ... i dunno, other things. or murder evidence. or whatever.

i've rebought so much stuff on comixology, just so i could sell (or sadly throw away) the physical copy. in terms of older comics, its much cheaper -- no collectible or rarity value in a digital form, so a hard-to-find batman book from 30 years ago is selling at cover price. for new comics, its the same price as it is in stores.

but there's also digital exclusives, like the lil gotham and adventures of superman book that (i dont think) exist in a printed form, at all.



that book, as well as the lil gotham book, are as close as possible to the animated style books of the 90s, like BTAS and gotham adventures. very simple, very nice, typically one-and-done arcs that just tell good stories; continuity be damned.



the bulk of the batman books in the new 52 have really been poo. detective, dark knight, etc. batman inc is enjoyable, as is batman and robin -- but largely because i like morrison and really grew to love damian. post damian, batman and robin, not so much. and i'm glad morrison is taking some time off now, cuz batman inc (and every other morrison adventure) just starts confusing the crap outta me after too long.

snyder batman, however, i've really enjoyed. death of the family, especially the court of owls... he and capullo are doing some great stuff. definitely my favorite regular-run in years, at like 25 issues in (and i think they mighta signed on through 50, which is great, cuz i love when teams stick together).

what didn't you like about it?

Why?

Inverse question for Klinton: why did you not like it?

I haven't read it at all, but I'm hearing interesting things about what Snyder is doing, so I'm curious?

Oh yeah. Aside from a few fringe TPBs here and there, I haven't read much of anything. The disease of mediocrity has just taken hold of everything, and it's all too painful to try and get into.

When the urge to 'go geek' really overtakes me, I've tended to resort to....*sigh* writing fanfiction.

well, the reasons i like snyder and capullo's batman run are possibly the reasons you won't. i believe the only bat-stuff we have in common is the occasional portrayal where batman is a lil nutty (and where he's ok with that) and that's not here.

snyder's batman is similar to morrison's in that he's a badass. he's a brick. he'll dive head first into anything, save a kid while he's on fire, punch a face with a face, etc. even past the point where he's way over matched, he'll keep on keeping on. after bane broke his back, snyder's batman would slap bane in the shins.

there's a great mix of detective work. some scifi-level gear. some fun ultra-spy-bond kinda scenes. some "he can't do that ... wait, he's batman!" type moments.

there's also an amazing portrayal of everyone else. from alfred to gordon to the entire batfamily. noting bruce as a separate persona, snyder's bruce wayne is just as much a badass as his batman. with the extended robin group, i grew to quite like the incredible complexity of a world that has dick grayson, tim, jason, and damian in a single room. they're all so different and all so important to bruce in their own regard, and though its very much a solo batman book, snyder got to each in different ways. and, my other favorite attribute whenever there's an element of "family" to the bat world, they're all so clearly second rank - there's only one batman.

that's the summation of character and such. storywise, there have been a few main arcs so far: death of the family, court of owls, the start of year zero and a bit more. "death" is the joker story (the tie-ins are great compliments, but unnecessary) which was not just a great tale, but one of those extra great stories that left a lil bit of uneasiness post-mortum, killing joke style. court of owls might have been my favorite arc in a decade or more of comics. its this amazing tie-in to bruce and gotham and such a cool villain, with all this amazing built-in history that could be expanded upon for years.

i don't want to discuss either arc in too much detail cuz there honestly is a great deal of "oh shit!" moments to each. both of those two big arcs are like "stand-alone book" good, where its a bit surprising they're part of a regular series. i strongly recommend giving them a shot, especially if you can find a cheaper TPB or something.

Who skinned the Joker?

That has, annoyingly, not been revealed. My understanding, at this point, is that it was self induced.

But the Snyder Batman stuff isn't doing it for me at all. I'm not even sure why, to be honest. I was loving Court of Owls, until the 'big reveal'.

I think my biggest issue with it is that it feels like he's employing really lazy 'detective story' themes...where he's writing glaring clues, to the point where you're able to sort it as soon as he drops it. It feels formulaic now.

That said, the Zero Year story so far has been fun. I'm liking it so far.

My primary enjoyment from Bat books is coming from Red Hood and Batgirl right now though. Simone is laying on the morality plays thick, and I'm loving it! Jason, and his new 'Dark Crystal' origins have been a full treat to read since day one. I kinda hope he stays where he is right now. The current arc is brilliant!

the dollmaker removed joker's face, in detective comics #1. the reasoning or logic hasn't really been detailed yet. but the skinned-face-attached-to-real-face artwork capullo put out during the death in the family run was friggin awesome. joker looked a whole new level of awesome.

that's creepy.

What makes you say that?

my keyboard!

What issue was this in? Clearly, I missed something.

you even missed... where i posted the issue!

its in the last few pages of new 52 detective comics #1. the logic and reasoning of said decision isn't entirely made clear (nor has it been) but that's where he was de-faced.

They ever bother to explain how someone can live with his face removed and why the skin hasn't rotted while it's hanging there?

And don't say "it's comics." They ought to have at least some explanation, even if it were that it was a side effect of the chemicals he fell into as the Red Hood/Jack Napier. Of course, either way they've now basically given Mr. J a superpower.

the skin has been rotting. through out the "death" story arc (which is about 6 issues i think?) it gets grosser and grosser. again, capullo does some great shit here in the design. really makes the joker look creepy.

Haahah. Okay. I'd read the issue, but I didn't recall it identifying the, um, aestheticien....thus I didn't make the connection in your comment.

I liked the human canvas in the last issue there. It was a nice touch.

The story itself was a wash though. It was all build up, with no pay off. The worst thing that happened was Jason getting burned, but even he was back to being pretty in a couple issues.

...and everything was completely overshadowed by Damien's departure in Incorporated a month later. We're still feeling the rammifications from that.

But why is that awesome?

spoilers much!

the coolness of the arc is in the title of the arc, and how the joker really lead the show the whole way there.



yar, that was sad. and it actually would have fit nicely were it to happen here, but that was morrison's baby (sorta literally) so he gets the power. hopefully, morrison (or someone) will bring him back soon enough, as has possibly already been teased.

because it looks neato. and freakish. and gross. and scary. it's an artistic twist that i like.

the joker can sometimes get a little too silly in appearance, depending upon the artist. like... why is his nose always so big, for example. did the joker toxin also create an extra pointy chin? i get that he's a clown ... or... a playing card mascot, or whatever. but i like seeing varied takes on the visuals that tend toward the creepy or scary or crazy or whatever, and this is one of them.

i think ledger's look in dark knight (the slice up mouth with the grotesque rotting paint) was also neato. it was extra odd, extra gross, and extra scary -- much more so than the typical dab o'white paint (even just to cover up ceasar's mustache)

joker's severed face in the batman arc is disgusting. it's continually rotting to further degrees, even attracting flies. it's terrifying, in an 80s horror film villain sorta way, that there's a baddy chasing you with this type of disfigurement that he either doesn't himself notice or he's fine with it. then, add in the "funny" appeal, where the joker is basically tying this to his face with rubber bands, and even occasionally misaligning his real face with the severed skin (an eye through a nostril, for example).

overall, its just a visually nice and new (all be it temporary) spin of "FUCK he's crazy"



lookit this creepy mother fucker!

yeah! that vest is grotesque!

So all villains should be that way in your mind?



This doesn't strike me as being necessary to make the point that he's insane and obsessive.

Some villains are visually grotesque and disgusting whereas some aren't. It seems proper for some, but not for others, and I really can't get behind the idea that the Joker is made more awesome by virtue of being visually scary and/or nauseating.

Would I be against a storyline that has him getting his face disfigured? Nah. But I wouldn't try to turn that into a character defining trait. Joker's not Two-Face, Scarface, Clayface, or any other face. He's just Joker.


Yeah, I wouldn't like this Snyder character's stuff it looks like.

He's Joker-Face!

I just finished the new issue of 'Indestructible Hulk'; and it was amazing.

I'm no Hulk fan, by any stretch. I think this is the longest stretch of any Hulk series I've bothered to buy. Waid has just been knocking it out with every issue though.

This new arc sees Hulk (not Banner, but Hulk) setting out to repair the ruptures in the time stream caused in the Age of Ultron event. Hillarity ensues, and we're left with a cliff hanger for next issue: Hulk vs Devil Dinosaur! :D

I love it!

OMG! Lemire's 'Trillium' for Vertigo! Read it. Seriously, you will love yourself for picking this up.

no.



it isn't.

New Xmen

It's good. I don't usually like Xmen books.

Joey only likes men.

He thinks X men are too tame, he prefers XXX ones.

Waid's Hulk, Daredevil, Hawkeye and Journey into Mystery are in my "to check at some point in my life" list. I'll add Trillium.

I also read and liked the first 15 or so issues of Snyder's Batman, Batman & Robin and Batgirl (up to the Court of Owls thing). Then I got left back and probably won't pick them up again until I have a ten hour car ride or something.

The current run on JiM is really good. I have no love for Thor or anything Asgardian (ass-gaurdians, though, I love a great deal), but Lady Sif's little stories have been brilliant to read.

It's kinda sad that this one got lost in the shuffle with all of the shiny 'Marvel NOW' launches.

its almost better in a lot of ways -- like bulk watching all these shows on netflix that you only heard others say were good. waiting a week for a show, or a month for a book, versus power binging through a story arc in a sitting or two... as long as you can avoid the spoilers (ROBIN IS ACTUALLY BATMAN'S SON) then it's all good.

I just finished reading up to issue 17 of Injustice: Gods Among Us. The plot is just a rethread of Kingdom Come and Twilight of the Gods, but still has enough difference to merit a read-through.

One thing it has going for it is that it's a lot less melodramatic and philosophical than Kingdom Come. It doesn't take itself too seriously. It also features Aquaman proving how dangerous he and his Atlantean army can be. At least, for a while. Superman, Shazam, Wonder woman and Hal quickly shut him up by lifting Atlantis and dropping it in the middle of a desert.

It's also the first depiction of Harlequin that I liked. She always struck me as a fanservice character that has become the equivalent of a geek hashtag, but Injustice actually gave her some cool scenes including going all suicidal and trying to fight an angry/murder-death-killing Superman when she found out that the Joker was dead.

The Royal Atlantean Army: fighting on seahorses and wielding tridents since 800BC. One supertrawler with driftnets and every last regiment is fruit de mer.

Question about Suicide Squad: is Basilisk a re-hashed Kobra?

From the image you posted, Rob, the art is somewhat reminiscent of the Kelley Jones run of BATMAN back in 1995 to 1998 or so, which is my favorite run of the last 25 years. The new series as you describe it has some really wild story twists.

I'll check it out.

My favorite (and probably everyone's) is the BATMAN 251 story by Dennis O'Neil/Neal Adams, where the Joker is a homicidal serial killer, and portrayed that way in a realistic and straightforward way.

I especially like the page where Batman comes into a room where the Joker has just killed a guy, and in the darkness you can just make out Joker's face standing behind him, before Batman realizes Joker's still there, a moment too late, and gets clubbed unconscious. That's the single creepiest version of the Joker I've seen.

I just read the 8-issue Didio-Giffen OMAC series in a trade.



There were a few fun moments, and Giffen's art is very consistent with the definitive Kirby material. But Didio in the writing department dropped the ball.

I liked the Spawn of Frankenstein's part in the story, and on one level it was a fun parade of monsters. But it was just a steady stream of walk-on characters, with no development or depth.
Most annoying for me was Tuftan in the last story, where by all appearances we are teased to think Tuftan and Ceasar are the characters from KAMANDI, seen here in an earlier adventure, but are just similar characters who happen to have the same names. And it ultimately goes nowhere.

The Brother Eye narration mixing "Eye/I" is really annoying too. Giffen did his part to make it a good series, too bad Didio couldn't hold up his end of the deal.

Mostly a Lois Lane story. Don't waste your 4.99 on this.

I would have bought a Lois Lane story if it said ANAL instead of ANNUAL.

That would be an effective use of Lois Lane.

And I do mean USE !

IN THE ASS.

But it was a good Lois Lane story! And, a random chapter of the amazing 'World of Krypton' origin story to boot (oddly, jumping from Action to Superman for this one chapter)!

I'm consistently entertained by Superman in the past couple of years. Lobdel is an akward fit to the mythos, but it's better than the complete shit we were getting prior to Flashpoint.

Lobdel is a good writer. I just didn't care for this issue.

Hmm. Does it require playing the game to enjoy? I have no interest in the MK mechanics, anad have avoided the game. I'm loving the little figures DC is putting out though, in thier game inspired uniforms.

If it's decent, and independent of the game, I'll give it a look. :D

Also: you all need to read Straczynski's 'Sidekick' for Image! Fucking amazing first issue on this one.

And, are any of you reading 'Sex'? I finally gave up after ths last issue. It started out as a promising Batman 'what if' story, and has declined into full retarted inside of five issues. I'm done.

It doesn't require playing the game. I think it's the other way around actually - the comic helps flesh out the game a bit, but the game doesn't do anything for the comic. You can completely skip the game.

Nice. I'll check it out then. The summary you gave sounds full interesting.

Is the print edition really far behind? I full hate reading digital, so I'll be snapping up the print copies.

I have been reading Injustice: Gods Among Us on Comixology fro 99 cents an issue. So far it's a lot of big pictures with bad artwork. About one event per issue. It's kinda crap.

The print version is collected as a trade, there's two volumes out right now so it flows better, but yes, it's way behind.