Question by a DC fan

[WalkingDeadMike]

While I love what Waid is doing, I personally prefer DD to be a bit darker/grittier.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Maybe one of the biggest annoyances I had with Waid was his getting rid of DD's supporting cast. Over the years he'd developed a very interesting cast and all Waid kept was the obligated Foggy Nelson. He ditched Black Tarantula, Dakota North, White Tiger, Master Izo, and the chick in the wheel chair whose name I forget. Is Ben Urich even in it anymore? I don't recall.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Ben hasn't appeared, as far as I recall. I guess it doesn't bother me because I don't really care about any of those characters, Ben included. It also kind of makes sense that he'd break ties with anything related to his past few dark years if he's trying to not get swallowed up by that darkness again, though.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

I loved Miller's run.

I don't know why you skipped the Bendis run though. As much as I hate the way he's been writing the past few years, his DD run was great.

When I think of the quintessential DD runs Miller and Bendis are who I think of.

I didn't. I already have the Bendis run since a few weeks, as I mentioned before. Its what made me such a DD fan in the first place. t:

 

[The Morningstar]

If you like some comedy and satire in your comics i'd also recommend Joe Kelly's Deadpool. Think they are collected in trades.

Oh and check out Annihilation.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

I really disliked what I've read from Deadpool, so far, I have to say.
To be honest, I only read the Secret Invasion tie in and that was not my cuppa.

But... I like Joe Kelly, so I might just check 'em out. Thanks.

 

[The Morningstar]

Yea, modern day Deadpool is kinda insufferable. Joe Kelly's run was amazing though. Probably one of the best comics Marvel published during the 90s. Great story telling and characterisation, cool Ed McGuinness art and some biting satire.

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

I didn't. I already have the Bendis run since a few weeks, as I mentioned before. Its what made me such a DD fan in the first place. t:

Ah, I must've missed that.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

Oh, sounds cool. By your avatar I think you should've good taste in satire comics, so I will definitely check it out. t:

 

[The Morningstar]

haha Transmet is awesome indeed

 

[shallbecomeabat]

Yeah, again about Millars / Jansons DD run... How does it read today? I am a bit cautious when it comes to older comics, since most of the time the writing hasn't aged well (Kirbys stuff comes to mind, which is still cool, but also a bit weird today).

Does his run with Janson reads more or less like Born Again and Man Without Fear, or isn't it that good?

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

If you liked the Man Without Fear mini, you should enjoy his run.

 

[runawayboulder]

I never found it really difficult to read older comics. I've always kinda ignored any older technologies or fashions featured in it.

I remember reading a real old issue of ASM where Pete and MJ were walking out of a movie theater after just seeing the original Star Wars. I thought it was kinda cool seeing how the writer had integrated pop culture of the time to his work. Even if it's something I don't recognize, it interests me on why it was in the background and I'll usually get to the point where I'm looking it up on the internet.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

I know what you mean, but I always feel that the stories were not as sophisticated before the 80s, or today, so I always try to get more opinions on older books. Sure, there are exceptions, but all in all, I'm not that much of a fan of the stuff that came before the early 80s.

Another question: I want to order a lot of stuff this month and there is only enough money left for one of the Captain America Omnibuses... which one should I get first?
I mean, sure, the first one, but I already did read the first two Omnibuses at a friends house a few years back and haven't read Lives at all, so... can I enjoy CA Lives without reading the other two again, or should I start fresh from the beginning?
I mean, I remember most of the first Omnibus, which was issues 1 - 25 if I recall correctly, but don't know that much about the second one anymore.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

Really loved CA lives. Now I ordered a huge amount of other Marvel stuff.
I got the whole 7 HC's of New Avengers for less than 70 bucks and I'm looking forward to it. How was that run? I know that Bendis isn't well liked, but I really dug his writing at DD, so, at that price, I just had to check that out.

Next up on my list is the follow up Captain America stuff, after the lives omnibus. Whats worth buying? Do I want to read the Steve Rogers Super Soldier stuff too? How is the relaunch with Steve back as Cap?

Apart from that I am thinking about Fear Itself (since I like the big crossovers) and the relaunched Avengers by Bendis, with Romita. How were those?

 

[CConn]

New Avengers is hit or miss. There's some really good arcs, then there's some mediocre ones in between. IMO, at least.

The new Cap run is pretty forgettable. Steve Rogers: Super Soldier isn't bad, but is hardly necessary. I'd just buy the trades up until The Trial of Captain America and call it a day.

Stay away from Fear Itself and Avengers. They're both pretty awful.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd try picking up Remender's Uncanny X-Force next. It has the dark tone that you're into, and has some great art to boot as well.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

Thanks CConn! Really appreciate your recommendations, as always.

That Avengers suck is a big disappointment... I was so looking forward to seeing Thor, Cap and Iron Man together again.

X Force is good, huh? The covers always looked like those ultra violent 90s comics. Can I read that without reading anything else X-men wise?
Speaking of the X-Men... Whats there to recommend? I loved Morrisons run, but haven't read anything else.

Is Aarons Wolverine good? I just found out theres an omnibus that collects that.

 

[BigSams50]

I am only on issue 14, but so far Astonishing X-Men is pretty good

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Thanks CConn! Really appreciate your recommendations, as always.

That Avengers suck is a big disappointment... I was so looking forward to seeing Thor, Cap and Iron Man together again.

X Force is good, huh? The covers always looked like those ultra violent 90s comics. Can I read that without reading anything else X-men wise?
Speaking of the X-Men... Whats there to recommend? I loved Morrisons run, but haven't read anything else.

Is Aarons Wolverine good? I just found out theres an omnibus that collects that.

Avengers Prime was surprisingly good, if you want a story that focuses on Cap, Thor, and Iron Man. Alan Davis drew it, so it's very pretty too.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

Oh, thanks for the recommendation. Looks cool.

 

[Jolly Jotunn]

Hey guys,

just finished reading the Thor Omnibus by JMS! LOVED IT! It ends very abruptly though. Could you guys give me the reading order for the trades or hardcovers I have to get to pick up where I left off?

Next up for me is the complete Invincible Iron Man run by Fraction, which I already had read a bit of, but now I ordered both Omnibuses.

Can somebody fill me in on other stuff from Marvel that plays to the same tune Thor does? Somebody said something about Journey Into Mystery with Loki?

On this point, I couldn't recommend Greg Pak's Incredible Hercules enough. Great characterizations, tons of fun mythological action, fantastic humor. Just a great ride all around.

The Original Lee/Kirby run on Thor is tons of fun too, if you can get past the 60s' comic book writing style.

 

[Shazam]

The way I see it:

Spider-Man: Start from the beginning with Lee and Ditko. It loses a little bit of it's charm and style when Ditko is replaced by Romita Sr., but the story's still good, so stick with it after that.

Fantastic Four: The first 100 issues with Lee and Kirby are golden. After that I'd skip ahead to John Byrne's run.

The Hulk: Honestly, my personal preference is Peter David's run. It covers all the good Hulk stuff. Savage Hulk all fugitive style, Joe Fixit, and Professor Hulk who should have never gone away IMO.

X-Men: Start with Chris Claremont's run starting with X-Men # 94. That's when X-Men became relevant.

Thor: Start with Walt Simonson's run, he really defined what modern Thor is.

Daredevil: Start with Frank Miller, he did pretty much the same thing.

I'm with you until you get to Thor. Simonson was good.....But no one matched Lee and Kirby/Colletta's run on that book!!

Walt gets second on that.

 

[shallbecomeabat]

About Captain America again... I have to admit that I am not that much into Bucky Cap, so do I have to read the "two americas", and "no escape" books, to get whats happening in trial of captain america and prisoner of war? I obviously want to read those last two, since its where Steve becomes Cap again, right?

Any other Steve Rogers Cap stories that you can recommend (already got most of the Brubaker stuff)?

 

[JewishHobbit]

When it comes to X-Men... it's difficult to find just a good set run to read.

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassiday is likely the best I can recommend. It's a very good read with a beginning, middle, and end. The title continued after that but it's not been that great. Whedon's run is also very stand alone and able to be read by itself. It also picks up right after Morrison's New X-Men so you'll be familiar with what's been going on prior to that series.

If you like X-Men you could probably just continue reading X-Men post-Morrison's run in trade, though there's a lot and it's hit or miss depending on the book (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men) and arc. I personally liked that era but a lot felt it was underwhelming.



If you'd rather jump ahead then you could probably start with Messiah Complex (which deals with the aftermath of the House of M event, if you know anything about that... if not then I suggest reading House of M first). The X-Men books all get better around that time period and while X-Force is stabby stabby death, the story was very good and leads to important stuff down the road (note: this is different from Uncanny X-Force, which is just awesome in every way). I can probably get a good reading list of trades from Messiah Complex through now so you can read in order but it's pretty excessive.

 

[JewishHobbit]

OH!!!!

If you're reading New Avengers you'll know about the Sentry. Bendis picks up that character but I HIGHLY recommend reading the original Sentry trade by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee prior to reading New Avengers. It's probably one of my all time favorite stories and, while I'm one of those who likes Bendis' Avengers, he doesn't come anywhere NEAR the greatness of that graphic novel. Also, Bendis' Avengers ruins some of the best moments in the Sentry trade.

So yeah, read that big time!



Also, Earth X. It's sequels, Universe X and Paradise X, were hit or miss but Earth X is also one of my favorite stories.