Comments on: What I bought – 30 July 2008

By: Bishop

Bishop — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:37:39 +0000

For myself, Iâ€™ve been easing off of buying DC and Marvel mini-series, because I know I can usually find them in the dollar bins of the local comics shops within 6 months of them concluding. I’ve recently been able to pick up Daughters of the Dragon and Nextwave at $1 per issue, because there is usually little interest in them and the stores want to move them to recoup some of their investment. They are usually fun reads, barely tied to continuity and much cheaper than even the trade would be.

By: J to the AAP

J to the AAP — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:45:49 +0000

â€™ve been easing off of buying DC and Marvel mini-series, because I know theyâ€™re going to be collected and they increasingly have no relevance to anything else thatâ€™s happening in the larger scope of things

Being able to read it as a stand-alone story seems more like a pro than a con to me, as long as it’s any good. I’ll give the inevitable trade a look when it comes out!

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:45:22 +0000

There are no faces on the Gulacy cover… it could be a clue.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:16:11 +0000

Yeah, David, but The Boys is more “We need to destroy superheroes because I, Garth Ennis, hate them so much!” It’s in the same ballpark at this comic, but this seems a bit softer. And with less sodomy.

By: David M

David M — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:39:39 +0000

RE: True Believers

The idea of a group keeping superheroes honest is great, as why wouldnâ€™t they do stupid things occasionally and then try to cover it up?

Isn’t this basically the entire concept behind Ennis and Robertson’s “The Boys”?

By: Pedro BouÃ§a

Pedro BouÃ§a — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:13:51 +0000

And just to prove how much of a snotty foreigner I am, I just began to include the Tintin books on your top 50 countdown! That’ll teach ya, you stoopid gringos!

By the way, Fred Van Lente kicks ass. But you already knew that, didn’t you?

Comic Book Comics is great, pity my copy is goint to take some three weeks to arrive here in distant Portugal…

Best,
Hunter (Pedro BouÃ§a)

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:40:30 +0000

Noble Causes is a bit more soap opera, Joe, but it’s just as good, I think. The only way it suffers a bit is in the art, which in the early issues is often good but occasionally not so much. Dynamo 5 has had the same artist throughout (granted, Noble Causes has a more spotty publishing history, because it came first), and it helps the “feel” of the comic. Noble Causes is very good, though.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:36:32 +0000

I’m working through the first trade of Dynamo 5 right now, mainly because of the reviews for it here whenever a new issue comes out. It’s the first time I’ve read any of Jay Faerber’s books and I have to say that I’m having a blast reading it. I don’t read many superhero books anymore but Dynamo 5 is exactly what I’m looking for in the ones I do read.

Is Noble Causes just as good? I think I’m going to be ordering some of those trades too if so.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:15:05 +0000

I should point out that I’m not really trying to fool anyone with the lyrics. They’re just ones I happen to think of when I’m posting – hence the “totally random” part!

I get what you’re saying about the end of Northlanders, Filrouge, but what I liked about it was that Wood stayed consistent to the way he set up Sven’s character. I know it’s a Viking epic and I wondered if he would go one way, but the somewhat understated ending works, I think, because Wood has made sure it doesn’t come out of left field. It’s not something that shocks us (which is why it wouldn’t really spoil the ending if I gave it away, which I won’t), and when we consider it, I think it’s much more satisfying than if it were just about Sven’s revenge against Gorm. That’s a crucial part of the story, but not the main part.

By: Philip Ayres

Philip Ayres — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:06:24 +0000

You wanna pick up the David Gilmour – Remember That Night DVD for a really stunning version of Echoes (from Meddle). As a bonus you also get a stripped bare near acoustic version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond

By: Filrouge

Filrouge — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:31:52 +0000

Well to be honest Mr. Burgas, I don’t really know about that, as my father was a Pink Floyd fan. Ummagumma and Meddle were his favourite albums, and he used to listen to them a lot (I think I must have heard them like thousand of times before I turned eight) so I might have had an edge for this one.
The funny thing is the last time I heard this song was in a coffee shop in Amsterdam called Ummagumma. It made me remember my dad (who passed away), so when I got back home, I called my mom, we started talking, and as a thing led to another, I learned that my dad was arrested for possession of Marijuana when he was 17 (and then let go because he was a minor) and that he made my grandmother grow some weed for him.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:45:00 +0000

I don’t know, Filrouge. That’s a pretty obscure Pink Floyd song, isn’t it?

By: TimCallahan

TimCallahan — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:41:59 +0000

It’s great to see Cary Bates return with such a good comic. I was really surprised by how much I liked True Believers.

By: Filrouge

Filrouge — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:31:50 +0000

I was kind of disappointed by the end of Northlanders. I liked the book and the characters, but I was waiting for a climax that did not come. I know the plot points get resolved, and I get what Wood is trying to do here, but I get that feeling, you know, that feeling you got when you’re having sex and you think that you’re going to come but it just doesn’t happen yet, and when you do come it feels kind of muffled. I did have a very good time, nut was expecting more out of it.

And I do wear hats, I have a couple of them actually, so you can always find me in a crowd.

Does San Tropez is english for Saint Tropez, or isn’t it related at all? Wasn’t Pink Floyd a little easy?

By: Mecha-Shiva

Mecha-Shiva — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:04:46 +0000

Ah, cool, thanks Bill.

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:15:59 +0000

I like Gulacy’s art, too, but his faces look kind of distorted, he can draw figures stiffly, and sometimes his art looks out of date in a way I can’t quite describe. Kind of like George Perez, a favorite of mine. I can’t understand the hate, but I get the mild disliking.

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:35:48 +0000

Northlanders is an ongoing comprised of standalone arcs drawn by different artists. They’re all by Brian Wood, though, and they tend to have vikings. It is still going.

By: Mecha-Shiva

Mecha-Shiva — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:33:01 +0000

I was similarly troubled by the nipple-less alien in the Core, but I don’t think pilot season books are striving for subtlety, just to be memorable.

And is Northlanders continuing, cancelled, or was it just intended to only go 8? Your comment about not seeing Gianfelice’s art again (plus the ending being very… end-like) makes me think it’s over one way or another.

By: Sluggo

Sluggo — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:27:05 +0000

I guess I’m weird, because my first thought was that Selina just experienced some rather satisfying flatulence. Not sure if that makes me more or less mature.

By: Bill Reed

Bill Reed — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:02:14 +0000

Hey, Billy Joel is awesome. I’ve ordered the Northlanders trade. So there’s that. And hey, I buy Blue Beetle. Admittedly, I am no one.

I can’t pull off hats.