Comments on: What I bought – 11 November 2009

By: Oeming

Oeming — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:25:20 +0000

Thanks for the review Greg- hope you also check out Powers next week!
M!

By: Drew

Drew — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:25:10 +0000

Greg: Hey, thanks for your great review of S.W.O.R.D. #1—I’m glad I’m not the only one who loved the issue and hoping the series lasts a long time!

Kieron: Hey, it’s always great to get comments like yours from a creator! Keep up the great work.

By: Kieron Gillen’s Workblog » S.W.O.R.D. 1 Out For Nearly A Week

Kieron Gillen’s Workblog » S.W.O.R.D. 1 Out For Nearly A Week — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:11:25 +0000

[...] O’Brien, House To Astonish: “The dialogue is great.” Greg Comics Should Be Good: “I certainly hope that it smashes sales records and Gillen gets to write it for the next decad… The Pull List: Pull Of The Week. Dave Ferraro:“I’m definitely onboard after this strong [...]

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:33:29 +0000

>>It features Jamie McKelvie on art (he drew the back-up story in SWORD)

Damn. I wish you hadn’t mentioned that, because it means I’ll have to think seriously about buying a comic I otherwise would have absolutely no interest in. (Kieron is an excellent writer, but I can’t make myself give the slightest damn about the Marvel Universe, except I guess where the Agents of Atlas & Incredible Hercules are involved, & they’re not particularly mainsteam.)

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:57:05 +0000

Mary: If you like Gillen, you should DEFINITELY check out Phonogram. It’s his Image series, and it’s great (don’t listen to Bill Reed, who doesn’t like it – that dude’s crazy). The current mini-series is basically self-contained stories, so you can get one and not have to worry about knowing what happened previously (although it all takes place on one night with the same characters). The next issue comes out this week, according to Gillen, so it might be something to check out! Plus, it features Jamie McKelvie on art (he drew the back-up story in SWORD), and he’s great too.

By: Mary Warner

Mary Warner — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:40:28 +0000

Wow. I’ve never had an actual author respond to my comments directly. (Except for two occasions with Peter David on his blog, but that feels different because it’s his blog and presumably he reads all the comments. But on here, there was no indication that you’d even be reading what I said. [And so soon after I wrote it, too. Wow.])
I still don’t know if I’ll be buying the next few issues. It depends on my finances. But I’ll certainly buy another one sooner or later.

By: Kieron Gillen

Kieron Gillen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:15:48 +0000

Mary: It’s an ongoing, but we’re using a pretty firm arc based format. In other words, you can totally treat the first 5 issues like a mini-series and then see how you feel about it.

(And thanks)

By: Mary Warner

Mary Warner — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:45:37 +0000

I bought SWORD today, because you told me to. I hope you can deal with that sort of responsibility.
Is this an ongoing series? For some reason, I had the impression it would be a limited series (I’m not sure why. Maybe the core premise just didn’t sound like one that could keep sales going for long.), but it sure looks like an ongoing. That makes a difference for me because if I buy an issue of a mini-series, and it’s even half-way decent, I’ll usually go ahead and try to buy all of them, but for an ongoing series the quality must be much better for me to continue buying it regularly.
Anyway, I guess I should say that I don’t really like this type of story. Not in a modern Marvel Universe setting. I don’t like enormous secret organisations with unlimited resources and vast amounts of super-futuristic technology that isn’t available in the real world. (And yes, I AM a fan of super-hero comics. But it has to be done right. Each technology-based hero or villain gets one or two impossible inventions and that’s it. Maybe three or four for Reed, Doom, and Iron Man. But when everybody who comes along has access to all the inventions, it just gets boring.) So if I’d learned about this book from other sources, I don’t think I would’ve ever bought it.
However…..
This Kieron guy whom I never heard of until now really can write. The plot is still weak, or maybe it’s just getting started, but the scripting is Fantastic!!!! This guy can really do great dialogue, with humour, and cool phrasing, and characters who talk the way they’re supposed to (at least the two I know– Hank McCoy and Gyrich), and all the exposition is found in normal conversation in a way that people who already know this stuff really would discuss it. Wow! You are completely right about this writer. He may very well rank next to Peter David on scripting ability.
But I still have to complain about Lockheed talking. I have nothing against Lockheed speaking in his native tongue, but I don’t think he should be translated. His mind should be too alien for his words to be translated. I think it would’ve been better if Abigail Brand had simply spoken to him in English (which we know he understands), just as the Robot did, and then we could’ve just got the gist of his words from the way they responded.

By: Ed Buskirk

Ed Buskirk — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:35:03 +0000

I don’t think you’re succeeding in spreading the Starstruck gospel, Greg, as not one comment so much as mentions it. GO BUY STARSTRUCK! It’s one of the best series ever done.

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:22:09 +0000

Well, yeah, that goes without saying. But the first three might be hard to find!

By: Pedro Bouça

Pedro Bouça — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:42:57 +0000

“If you haven’t been buying Comic Book Comics, there’s no reason to find the first three issues, because each issue is pretty much self-contained.”

Ah, but there IS a reason to buy those issues (and the fourth one): Because the series is great!

Best,
Hunter (Pedro Bouça)

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:06:45 +0000

Bright-Raven: I was joking, for the most part. I just figure if I can’t get people to read SWORD, maybe someone else can!

By: Bright-Raven

Bright-Raven — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:24:52 +0000

I should say it undermines the credibility of his blog to my mind’s eye, not in general context.

By: Bright-Raven

Bright-Raven — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:23:15 +0000

Burgas:

I don’t know which is sillier. The notion that you think Chris Sims is “hip”, or that you’re using him as a means to prop up your own opinions regarding a book. This is your blog, man. Sheesh.

And I say that in part because Chris happens to be one of the managers at my LCS. “Hip” is not exactly an adjective that comes to mind when I think of him. Oh, he’s not a complete nebbish or anything like that, don’t get me wrong. I just see him regularly and see how he shills certain books, and it sort of undermines the credibility of his blog, I guess.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:02:12 +0000

Damn you J. Scott Campbell. Only Alan Moore is allowed to sexualize children books characters!

Though I have to admit he’s a talented fellow. He has a knack for movement, body language and facial expressions. I wish he would use it more for stories and whack off fodder for dudes with cartoon fetishes. And Megan Fox.

By: Tekende

Tekende — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:57:41 +0000

I really, really wish Tan hadn’t been drawing B&R #6, because story-wise it’s probably my favorite issue so far.

I’ve never really seen much of Cameron Stewart’s work before, but I’m looking forward to it just because it won’t be Philip Tan.
Ding dong, Philip’s gone, Philip’s gone, Philip’s gone, ding dong, Philip Tan is gone…

By: Neal K

Neal K — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:09:17 +0000

Violent Femmes!!! Yes!! Excellent to see one of my faves in that lyrics box every once in a while.

Haven’t had a chance to turn to my weekly comics buys yet, but am very much looking forward to checking out S.W.O.R.D., despite the weird art style on Beast.

As for Batman and Robin, this latest three-issue arc is probably my least-favorite Morrison-penned story ever. Unless there is something surprisingly redemptive in issue # 6 (and judging by your review, there’s not), I’ll have to chalk this one up to a rare mis-step by the GOAC and wait for some Cameron Stewart drawn goodness in a couple of months.

By: Rebis

Rebis — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:11:32 +0000

I agree, you’re going easy on Tan. He’s not a great artist to begin with, but his output has been getting muddier, uglier and more difficult to follow as this arc progressed. He fared better on the recent “Agent Orange” four-parter in “Green Lantern” — although, A) he needed help to finish, apparently, because there’s a quirky mix of artists on that storyline; and B) Larfleeze is a bizarre enough new character that Tan’s very different style kind of worked, but it was still a huge step down from Ivan Reis or, especially, Doug Mahnke, who’s batting “a thousand” with “GL.”

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:14:05 +0000

s1rude: According to Gillen, some issue of Phonogram got out even though Diamond requested that they be pulped because of an error with, I believe, a bar code (check out Gillen’s blog for the story). Some shops ignored Diamond and sold the copies anyway, and the rest will be out next week.

Mary: I forgot to rant about Marvel’s price policy for #1 issues. Vertigo gives us $1 books to entice people, while Marvel jacks up the price on #1s and then lowers the price, which seems idiotic. Anyway, according to Abigail Brand in the book, they know Kitty is alive because the bullet phased through something while they were tracking it. And Lockheed speaks in a strange language that Gillen translates on the page.

Chris: Yes, it really is.

FGJ: Yeah, I’m probably being too easy on Tan, but as I often say, as long as I understand the art, I’m fine with it. I didn’t have a problem with the confrontation on the roof, because I assumed it was on a high building, and I also didn’t mind the backhoe suddenly showing up. I certainly understand the complaints, but I’m not as bent out of shape about it. I am looking forward to Stewart, though!

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:58:20 +0000

>>even though I wish the United States government wasn’t quite so sinister.

Same here, though at least it’s not nearly as blatant now that the illegal thug regime is no longer occupying the White House.

… Oh.

You’re talking about a comic book.

Never mind.