Comic Book Resources

still slowly working my way thru the second run of Layton and Michelinie on Iron Man. just read the issue where Spy Masters gets... well, um, no spoilers but he gets something. i think that's #219... anyway, i still have to read last Wednesday's books too!!! also, starting to read the Infinity series and i'm starting with Thanos Quest.

Y: The Last Man volume 8.

Scott Pilgrim Vs the World

Both of these I am reading for the first time. Obviously I'm not that good at finding good things when they are new.

Slow day at work, so I'm reading Ivan Brunetti's first volume of An Anthology of Graphic Fiction; very happy with my recent purchase of Vol. 2 (could not resist having that Clowes cover on my mantle), and rushed out and got this immediately after finishing Vol. 1.

I was particularly impressed by Kim Deitch's "Young Ledicker"...anyone want to offer up any great Deitch collection suggestions?

I can easily resist the allure, yes.

Meanwhile, I've read the last two months of comics purchases for the first time (I'll post on those later), and I'm reading the latest issues of Paste and Popular Science, as well as Vonnegut's Galapagos.

Just finished the two Ellis and Deodato, Jr. "Thunderbolts" trades. I'd been meaning to pick them up anyway, but I figured I'd take the plunge now so I'd have a comparison point for Bendis' "Dark Avengers." They were really fun reads, especially Caged Angels, and it reminded me that nobody writes irredeemable, sadistic bastards like Warren Ellis.

I'm also working through a (non-comic-book) collection of non-fiction works. Many of them are pretty good pieces, though some are a bit dated (for example, an otherwise excellent look back at World War II makes some modern-day observations that are obviously pre-9/11). There are at least a couple of authors included that I already loved (David Foster Wallace, Michael Lewis, and Chuck Klosterman), and some that I will probably check out more from after I'm done (Bill Buford springs to mind). Not bad for a bargain bin pick-up.

Finally, I'm gearing up to dig into Volume 1 of the Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus. I'm totally psyched to read this stuff, especially after reading the GoAC's foreword. I've never read much Kirby, and certainly none of the Fourth World stuff, so I'm prepared to either be blown away or severely disappointed (my usual set of reactions to much-hyped older comics).

the two annihilation sagas were by far the best of the post-House of M crossovers that both DC and Marvel have done. both were exciting, fun, expansive and, because it wasn't A-list characters, you really were worried that your favorite guy might not make it through (and many didn't!)

its this good will that has caused me to pick up anything War of Kings related, and so far I have not been let down, Marvel's cosmis stuff is the best mainstream superhero comics around right now

I love Ryps' artwork, and can't understand why he hasn't been signed by DC or Marvel for anything yet...

This week I read Captain Britain and MI13 #10, Andy Diggle's first Thunderbolts issue, R.E.B.E.L.S #1 and Batman Black & White, volume 3.

In iComics, I read Proof #4, Bone #3, and Zombies vs Robots #0... Still waiting for Atomic Robo #4, Flash Gordon #3 and Proof #5...

Aside from that I discovered a great little app for my iPhone called Stanza, that allows you to download Public Domain literature! I'm reading King Solomon's Mines and loving it! Highly recommended!

Black Summer was kind off frustrating for me, as I loved the initial issues, but very quickly came to realize it wasn't going to live up to its potential. I also thought the ending was incredibly predictable and blatantly telegraphed from the second Tom finally put his uniform on. Ryp's art in this was pretty good though. Definitely less cluttered than it occasionally got in Wolfskin.

Anyway, I was reading Spider by Patrick McGrath, but I put that aside so I could focus on getting through The Terror by Dan Simmons before it's due at the library. This is my first experience with Simmons outside of the Hyperion Cantos, so I'm kind of stunned at how effortlessly he's seemingly able to transition from sci-fi epics to this kind of heavily researched historical stuff, and I'm really excited about reading Drood now.

On the comics side, I just finished Kirby: King of Comics and the latest volume of Berserk. Next up will probably be trying to finish the Lee/Kirby FF run.

ejulp: The only Deitch I've read is "Alias the Cat," which is quite good. If you haven't already, check it out!

Just finished Valediction by Robert Parker, The Bookwoman's Last Fling by John Dunning, and Death of Captain America volume three by Brubaker -- I enjoyed the first two so much I sprung for the final installment when it came out last week.

Currently alternating between Pearls From Peoria by the late Philip Jose Farmer (which includes his screen treatment for the sequel to George Pal's Doc Savage movie, among other awesome pieces, but the Doc Savage thing is why I bought it), Showcase Presents Aquaman volume three, and finishing up The Evil In Pemberley House by Eckert and Farmer.

On deck is still either the new Mike Hammer from Collins and Spillane, or maybe The Moneypenny Diaries by Kate Westbrook, or possibly Kim Newman's Secret Files of the Diogenes Club. Leaning toward the Newman but we shall see.

Juan Jose Ryp is stellar.

And, I'm currently making my way through Doom Patrol, vol. 4: Musclebound. It is chock full of Flex Mentallo goodness!

Tomb of Dracula, I just finished the issue where Dracula decides seduces a hord of children to attack the new group of slayers. I love how different the art in the book it to todays comics, the perspective of the narrator completly changes with all of the different and unusual angles.

I also broke down and purchased X-infernous a series that I was going to pass on because of the price point but because they were doing a Watchman giveaway at some other comic store I wond up with the first three issues. It's a surprisingly fun little story, its much more vibrant then I orginally thought it was going to be I also enjoy how Limbo feels like an actual world rather then its previous artist renderings which had it as a hell like world.

Working my way through Beanworld, which interrupted my reading of Moon Knight vol.2.
Also got Steve Seagle's Kafka and Camelot 3000 on the shelf for when I'm done.

Book wise I've just started Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio, but haven't had the time to make any real progress in reading it.

I'm finally working my way through the entire run of Suicide Squad for the first time. Just finished with the Janus Covenant crossover. I thought the series was good, but not great, the first 12 issues or so, but now I'm absolutely hooked.

For books, I'm reading The Investigations of Avram Davidson, which is my first exposure to him. Pretty good so far. And the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, which is a very detailed, yet very readable, biography of Teddy up to his election as President.

The Annihilation Sagas are this decade's Infinity Sagas.
War Of Kings, although I had no interest in either the Inhumans or Vulcan. But now I'm hooked on that event just as much, which makes sense since I had no interest in Nova or Quasar before the first Annihilation.
But, uh, Wraith is so lame, I'd swear they were trying to make a character as archetypical as possible.

Beanworld! And Batgirl: Year One.

And Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand which is freaking great. Last couple times I tried to read Delany's stuff it didn't connect, but this is all kinds of good.

I can't remember the name of the Cat (I think Waldo) in Deitch's work- I got it from the library, and read it last year- but the comics are excellent. Really, in a class with Clowes, Burns, & Ware.

On a different note, I'm making my way through Essential Captain America vol. 4, which contains most of the Englehart issues. It's good stuff.

I finished Fool last week. It wasn't as good as most of Moore's other books. The story lost its sense of fun about 2/3 of the way through.

I read the latest issues of Nova, Mighty Avengers, and X-Force today. Also got the "Wolverine Origins: Deadpool" trade and the "Schultz and Peanuts" biography at Chapters this afternoon. The Wolverine trade was a surprise find since it was the only copy and the only "Wolverine Origins" trade in the store (and I figured since I'm really enjoying the current Deadpool series I should read this since it's practically a lead-in). Even better was the Schultz book, which was 30% off. Looking forward to getting into both of them.

Have a good day.
John Cage

"I was particularly impressed by Kim Deitch’s “Young Ledicker”…anyone want to offer up any great Deitch collection suggestions?"

Boulevard of Broken Dreams from Pantheon focuses on Waldo the Cat and his animators. It's very good.

I'm continuing my reading of all Vonnegut's works. I just started God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I thought Cat's Cradle was a little bit disappointing.
I'm also reading David Crystal's By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English. It meanders as much as the title suggests and then some.

In comics, I just read through:
Death: the High Cost of Living--it was nice to get more Sandman, but this was squarely middle of the pack compared to the rest of the series
Too Cool to be Forgotten--Alex Robinson does character really well, but it seems like this book is too slight to examine anyone besides the protagonist. Very good, but I wish there was more!
Ghost World--No wonder this gets so much love! It's a very complex, understated work.
We Are on our Own--WWII memoir by woman forced as a little girl to leave her home in Hungary. Good.
Little Lulu--Dark Horse has put out a whole bunch of these in thick digests. They really are fun books, but are about as minimally rendered comics as I've ever seen. Yes, I totally got it because Alan Moore sang the song on The Simpsons!
Amelia Rules! vol. 2--What an enchanting series by Jimmy Gownley! Kids that are funny, exciting, endearing, and occasionally snot-nosed punks! Gownley aims to bring a comic strip sensibility to comic books and succeeds admirably. These comics would make great presents for all sorts of readers, kids or not!

On the docket:
The Fixer by Joe Sacco--set in Sarajevo during the war, I found out this existed when I saw it on the library shelf.
Blackjack vol. 1 by Osamu Tezuka--Buddha was excellent, so I'll start in on this series.
Signal to Noise--Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean--OK, I'll try it!
Chance in Hell by Gilbert Hernandez--I've only read Sloth and a few pages of Love and Rockets. Time to get in on Los Bros.
American Splendor: Unsung Hero--this appears to be biographical stories of soldiers. Pekar's method of storytelling gives off an intimate, purposeful feeling when doing autobiography, but when cover other subjects feels like a bit of an info-dump. We shall see!
Pistolwhip: The Yellow Menace by Matt Kindt--the first Pistolwhip volume had wonderful art and Kindt's distinctive rhythm. I'm always surprised by how much straightforward action is in his stories.

Oh yeah, Spawn: Blood Feud does indeed suck. It's the first time I've been disappointed by Alan Moore.

Because I am complete shill for this author.....

In addition to my books above, as far as novels go, I am reading "Boomsday" by Christopher Buckley

Wonderful author, most would know him as the writer of "Thank You For Smoking"

Terra Obscura Vol 2, and a horror anthology I haven't read since my tween years (before they were called tweens, even). It looked good at 3 am.

Black Summer is one of my favourite series of last year. It's indicative of my personal tastes that I actually liked it more than All Star Superman. Basically, I really, really like comics with political subtext so clear the sub prefix doesn't apply, along with lots and lots of explosions.

Anyway, you asked a question; so here's what I'm reading this week:

Sleepwalk And Other Stories by Adrien Tomine, my first experience of his work. It's better than I expected, but still getting on my nerves quite a bit. We've all (or at least most of us have) been through failed relationships, or been in that situation where someone else doesn't return our feelings for them. It's horrible, and depressing. Guess what? Reading about it is horrible and depressing too!

The stories that deal with other subjects are definitely better, and a couple of them are outright brilliant. So I'll persevere with it.

A Life, In Pictures by Will Eisner- I can't recommend this enough. It's absofuckinglutely awesome.

Oh, and a tie in novel to the Bones TV series by Max Allan Collins. Entertaining enough.

I first found out that Cesare Borgia existed when reading The Prince, so based on that I just assumed that he was the kind of Italian hero that Machiavelli paints him as. So when I found out that he was one of histories greatest villains I was pretty surprised, until I realised that he was Machiavelli's hero and that it should stand to reason that he would be, at best, Machiavellian.

As for what I'm reading, um, The Nicomachean Ethics I guess. Yeah, Uni's back.

Just read:

Will Eisner's Invisible People - Probably the best thing in the New York hardcover, IMO.
Seaguy - Quickly became one of my favourite Morrison comics ever.
Superspy - Fucking brilliant.
Waid's FF - Started strong, fell apart a bit towards the end, but that last issue was great.
JLA Deluxe Vol. 1 - I missed out on the Asmodel story when I was a kid, so it was a revelation.
The Umbrella Academy - It's unfair how good this was, really. It out-Morrison'd Morrison, while remaining totally 'comprehensible' at all times. I shouldn't have put off reading it based on my dislike of a band.

Reading:
Busiek's Avengers Assemble Vol. 1 - An interesting companion to Morrison's JLA, if only to demonstrate the Pixar/Dreamworks effect in play.
Millar's Superman Adventures - Once you get past the first few issues of the first digest, it's some of Millar's best. Wished the digests included his last two issues, though.
Gotham Central - Hit a snag while I wait for Vol 4 on backlist, but yeah, this is solid detective comics.
Kirby's Fourth World - Up to the third omnibus; this is some crazy shit. Neal K, prepare to be blown away AND disappointed, sometimes in the same issue.

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Ted: Borgia was a bit of a scumbag, but in the context of late 15th/early 16th-century Italy, he was simply doing what everyone else did. Machiavelli admired him because he did it better than everyone else. His father, who quite literally bought the Papacy, might even have been more of a scumbag that Cesare was. Fun family, the Borgias!

@David Wynne

!!!

YES I totally agree, Tomine's work is hard, though rewarding, to get through; you feel for (or relate to) the characters so much that the experience is draining. If you liked that collection you definitely should get "Summer Blonde," I enjoyed that collection even more...if by that point you become an official fan, buy "Scrapbook: Uncollected Work," filled with tons of great mini comic, album covers, and sketches he's created over the years; if you're an aspiring artist yourself, I recommend his "32: Stories," Optic Nerve zines he did in high school and early college, fascinating look at a developing artist.

@Rohan Williams

Seaguy may be my favorite Morrison comic...reads exactly like an old, open, beautiful poem from antiquity...I think I've reread that series more than any other of his. "What qualifies a butterfly to be a hero anyway?"..." I flew from the earth to the moon on one big breath."

--Thanks for the Deitch suggestions everyone.

I am reading Herbie Archives vol. 2 (library didn't have vol. 1. BOOOOO!) and it is much more awesome than I anticipated! Very fun and the best thing I've gotten out of the library in a while. I am also reading The Complete Black and White ZOT (or whatever it's called) and while I enjoy it, I'm somehow not connecting with it for whatever reason.

Next up is Berlin vol. 2 (library didn't have vol. 1. BOOOOO!).

When Black Summer came to a close I felt a little disappointed. Not because it was over but more because the last two issues didn't really hold up to the brilliance of the first few. Ryp's art was sweet throughout though, don't know why anyone would complain.

I really enjoyed the first Annhilation series and while the second was good, I felt the villains weren't as threatening as the Annhilation Wave. The Star Lord mini was some of the best comics in a very long time. I have to agree with the statement that Marvel handles these cross overs better, not saying there hasn't been ANY continuity errors, but it just feels more cohesive. So I'm there for War of the Kings and all the tie-ins. Here's hoping Darkhawk comes out as strongly as Nova and Star Lord have.

Just finished the first Terra Obscura volume last night (which helped me realise I've been getting Project Superpowers just for the sake of getting it) and am moving along to the first Young Liars trade tonight.

I'm currently trawling my way through Showcase Presents:Green Lantern Volume 3, and the Mammoth Book of Best Crime comics. One of these is much easier and more fun to read than the other, but I'll leave it to you to work out which it is!

Greg: You're right, I'd forgotten my Welles

"In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switerzland they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock." (The pedant in me forces me to point out that the cuckoo clock is a German invention)

I guess when you have the illegitimate son of a pope ruling half the Papal States as a tyrant, suddenly the Reformation is so much more understandable.

Still reading the Complete Bone, and read the Wanted trade last night. What can I say, I'm partial to a bit of junk food every now and again.

Have dug out all of Fraction's Invincible Iron Man issues too but it'll probably be next week before I get to them.

Showcase Presents: The Phantom Stranger Volume 2 (why are Black Orchid's back-ups not printed despite them giving us Dr Thirteen and Spawn of Frankenstein?)

Savage Sword of Conan Volume 4

Essential Iron Fist and Power Man Volume 1

Ironically, I just started reading the hardcover of Annihilation: Conquest again. It's really nice in oversized format.

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