The General Comic Discussion Thread - Part 2

[Mani-Man]

Night Terrors, Drowned Earth, Future State.

When was the last time that we got a huge crossover that anyone actually liked? I dread them.

Drowned earth? I dont even remember that.
We had also this endless winter or what that was i think.
And dont forget Lazarus Planet.

I found The Joker War nice...even thought it didnt really lead to anything.
I think the last big event i liked was Rebirth.

I already dont look forward to Batman/Catwoman The Gotham War.
A Cool name for something i think will be less than it is.
A all out Gotham War would be cool, but i very much doubt we will get anything close to that.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Bit of a hybrid collection of reviews, as the last few weeks have been small. This week saw one book pulled - that's it!

Danger Street #7. I didn't even realize this book skipped a month, but here we are. This was the only book I bought this week. As I've mentioned before, King is handling a lot of disparate pieces of a pretty complex plot that showed no sign of working. But damnit, it IS working and it is brilliant. More than Human Target or Gotham City: Year One or any of the more "conventional" books King has done, this might be King's sweet spot. While nowhere near the emotional rollercoaster of Mister Miracle or philosophically ponderous as Omega Men, Danger Street has been free of all inhibitions. By not using any major characters, King's writing flows much more freely and the stakes get ever higher each issue.

As I've pointed out in previous reviews, King once again demonstrates that he should definitely be allowed to handle the Fourth World concepts going forward. And as I've also pointed out in previous reviews, this is one of the best Manhunter stories ever. He gets all the best splash pages in this book. All of his story beats are just masterful.

Batman: Brave & The Bold #2: I forgot to review this when it came out. I've been buying this for the King/Gerads story primarily, but I'll be damned if I'm not here for the Superman story by Christopher Cantwell and Javier Rodriguez (and more on that in a bit).

The King/Gerads story is an interesting experiment. The story is, while pretty familiar considering that this is now the fourth time this story has been told to some degree, rather nebulous in its telling. I always felt that King had a much better handle on the Joker's voice than most writers. There's no melodramatic flair or exuberance. Joker's voice so low-key, atleast in my mind, and reads at a conversational speaking tone, quiet and calm, which makes him infinitely more terrifying. But the best part of this story, two chapters in, is the fact that King never has Joker speak on panel. All of the Joker's dialogue appears as inter-titles, like a silent movie. It's almost as if allowing the character to "speak" by way to speech bubbles would be to leak some sort of evil into the world and inter-titles prevent that. It's honestly a brilliant touch.

The Superman story though, The Order of the Black Lamp....I'm in. I thought chapter one was intriguing enough. But chapter 2? HOP HARRIGAN?! I love it when writers dig up obscure characters from DC's storied past. The whole story has an air of 1930's/1940's pulp adventure to it, more authentically told than most. I don't know...I'm just a sucker for these kinda stories and Cantwell and Rodriguez are doing an awesome job. I'd love to see more of this team as well. Maybe bring back DC Comics Presents as part of the Superman line?

The only drawback to the series so far is the covers. Not really a fan of Simone DeMeo and I find his covers pretty uninspired and boring. For a book not just about Batman, his covers do a pretty terrible job conveying the contents of the book.

Doctor Strange #5: This book is so good! It's very much like The Thin Man series of films only with Doctor Strange and Clea in the roles of Nick and Nora Charles...if they were sorcerers. Pasqual Ferry's art is excellent. I've been a fan of his since his work on Thor with Matt Fraction many years ago. He serves up a wonderful combination of the cosmic and psychedelic. Jed MacKay has a solid grasp, and a great style of writing. Must investigate him further.

Hey Kids Comics #4: yet another installment of Howard Chaykin's irreverent history of the comic book industry. There needs to be a huge companion book that explains every single thing in this series. I'm having so much fun trying to figure out who's who. Chaykin always delivers. If you're looking for something witty, a little snotty, not without a bit of patronization, and all about comics, look no further.

 

[Mani-Man]

We got another rather small comics week thanks to Knight Terrors.

Knight Terrors #1

To be honest, that wasnt too bad.
Insomnia has a cool design and hey, we get Deadman more focused in this...so thats cool.
But most of these Events had good ideas and ended up rather lame.
This issue worked for me however, had a good pacing and movement.
So lets see where this goes.
But i cant be bothered to read all of the crossover issues, for that the event hasnt really started strong enough.
Also and i said this before, the fact that it interrupts several arcs is annoying me.
Like Green Lantern...i hate that.

Worlds Finest: Teen Titans #1

That one was fun.
But DC...what are you hinting here at with Aqualad and Wonder Girl? We are not going that direction you hear me? That is not what we do here.
Other than that, for a start a really good issue.
I like the old school vibe we get here.
Worlds Finest so far delivers on this vibe quite a lot, and this first issue here isnt any different.
I like that a lot.

The rest was pretty much all Knight Terror books, but like i said...nothing so far hyped me enough to buy them all.
Dont care if i miss something or so, i will not buy books just so i can keep up with a possibly just medicore event.
Thats not how this works.
Give me good stories and i buy comics, i dont buy them just so i get the full picture of a Story arc i wasnt interested in a ton.

 

[Slick]

I’m in.

 

[NDX]

So I shouldn't be holding my breath for a Godzilla by Marvel omnibus anytime soon.

I was hoping with them finally being able to release ROM and Micronauts along with printing collections of Conan, Kull and Planet of the Apes, this would eventually find the light of day.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I’m in.

That seems... desperate!

I'll pass.

 

[Mani-Man]

Saw the Godzilla vs Kong vs Justice league thing...its so random as if its fanfiction.
I dont know what i should think about this, it feels so weird to consider.
We will see, but im not really a huge fan of it to be honest.

So far no comic related big news from what i seen, which is a bit sad.
Ram V signing a Exclusive DC Contract is super cool, but other than that i havent seen any comic related news.

So lets go to comics week...

Again its dominated by Knight Terrors and i couldnt really care less.
Wonder Woman and Superman this week and its more of the same.
Even the short little teaser about the Aquafamily cant help it.
The arc just isnt super interesting so far.
The potential was there, the idea isnt the worst...but the scenarios lack emotional punch.
Again i blame the oversaturation of Crossover events on this.
It kind of makes you numb for them because these Events feel rather cheap and it makes it hard to get invested.

Batman/Superman: Worlds Finest #17

Thank god this is not affected by the Knight Terrors arc.
This series really will become an all time classic, i can already feel it.
Such a good book and every issue is so very strong in terms of its writing and art.
Absolutely fantastic issue to end this arc.
So bright and vibrant, the writing on spot...i can only repeat how glad i am that this one could live up to the hype.

Hawkgirl #1

A good start to this.
I cant say if they messed up stuff here or so because its been a while since i read a Hawkgirl focused story, its been too long.
I thought things were off to a good start.
The Art is neat, characters are likeable written...nothing to complain from me.
But people who are more up to date with Kendra can maybe give a better opinion on it.
It caught my interest and made me want to keep reading this book...so it was a success i think.

Yeah not too much going on because of Knight Terrors.
We will see how that story goes.
Comes down to the covers of the issues, but i mainly will keep reading the main line of this.
If it can change my opinion, maybe i get the whole Knight Terror arc later or so...i dont know yet.
I just know that most of these issues so far about Knight Terror are just not delivering on the horror or anything else the Arc promised.

 

[Babillygunn]

That seems... desperate!

I'll pass.

I think that this could be fun! Obviously it’s not in continuity given that there is no JL right now. I will definitely pick this one up.

 

[Primal Slayer]

For some reason DC is reviving Amazons Attack in a new form.....as if we want to remember anything about the OG. And instead of using one of many WW members we get Mary marvel on the "Amazon Team"?

 

[flickchick85]

I believe they discontinued the collected volumes of Kyle Rayner’s OG run, so it looks like this is what we’re getting instead:



But as I don’t own any physical copies of that run, I guess I’ll take it!

 

[CrimsonMist]

Incredibly small week for me. One DC book. Managed to snag up a couple of SpongeBob back-issues though so that was cool.

Anyways...

Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1

Using a chapter of Birthright as the emotional core of this new story, Waid and Hitch craft what will likely be another classic, and for me, Evergreen, Superman tale. The opening is pure bliss: Superman saving EVERYONE as Waid and Hitch, working in perfect harmony, evoke the cinematic joy and heroism of the Donner films. What follows, despite being a sequel of a kind to Birthright, suggests a more timeless Superman story: battles with Lex Luthor in his classic battle suit, the bottle City of Kandor and battles with Brainiac...all the silver and bronze age goodness that makes Superman's mythology worth mining.

I'm here for the whole ride. September can't come soon enough.

While I've yet to dive into the Williamson-penned main title, I'm so happy that the Superman family has been getting more attention with lots of one-shots and mini-series. Hell, between The Silver Age and The Last Days...Superman has two of the best books of the last decade to his name.

 

[flickchick85]

Incredibly small week for me. One DC book. Managed to snag up a couple of SpongeBob back-issues though so that was cool.

Anyways...

Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1

Using a chapter of Birthright as the emotional core of this new story, Waid and Hitch craft what will likely be another classic, and for me, Evergreen, Superman tale. The opening is pure bliss: Superman saving EVERYONE as Waid and Hitch, working in perfect harmony, evoke the cinematic joy and heroism of the Donner films. What follows, despite being a sequel of a kind to Birthright, suggests a more timeless Superman story: battles with Lex Luthor in his classic battle suit, the bottle City of Kandor and battles with Brainiac...all the silver and bronze age goodness that makes Superman's mythology worth mining.

I'm here for the whole ride. September can't come soon enough.

While I've yet to dive into the Williamson-penned main title, I'm so happy that the Superman family has been getting more attention with lots of one-shots and mini-series. Hell, between The Silver Age and The Last Days...Superman has two of the best books of the last decade to his name.

I cannot wait to read this!!!

 

[Mani-Man]

Last week of July for Comics week…more Knight terrors.

Knight Terrors #2

Second issue works…the main one of this Arc is just feeling better than all these tie ins.
Like you can tell the rest is just for the gimmick, but this one is where the story moves.

And in that, the arc works well and has a lot of potential.
A different timing would have probably helped the story.

But like I said before, things run good on so many comics that putting the breaks on them to do this arc, hurts the event more than anything.
Like you get a hot running Detective Comics arc, you stop that for a okay Detective Comics tie in that visually is neat, but could have easily worked as backup.

And that is the story of many of these.
Action Comics, Shazam, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman etc.
Which does Knight Terrors rather dirty because the potential is there.

I could see Knight Terrors be popular because of the Covers, there are a lot of strong covers going around with these.

Like the Detective Comics Cover…really really cool look.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #3

That one is a bit of a weird one.
Because I didn’t catch the news that Kings Joker part here wouldn’t be in this issue.
So its weird seeing it promoted as this continuation but it not having that at all.

Liked the first story, but the rest was okay at best.
Not much to say to this really…it sells itself by showing the first fight against Joker.
We certainly had better Anthology books.
Sucks because I had high expectations to a series called Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1


If @CrimsonMist s word isn’t enough, take mine too…this one is absolutely incredible.
The flow of this, the characterization, the relationship between clark and lex, the writing, the art…it all works so well and creates something special.
It blew me away and im looking forward to how this continues.

Im a sucker for these kind of stories.
Stories that tackle the Moral of the Superhero.
We certainly need these kind of stories these days.
I cant tell you how many times i saw people say that Superheroes should at least kill their main villain.
We need more stories that show us that this is not right, that even the worst person deserves to be saved.
If they are worth it or not, is not the heroes decision to make.

On that i would love to see a story that tackles the whole "batman should kill the joker" mindset and how that would spiral out of control.
Too many are too comfortable with making Batman into the Punisher.

At the moment im super glad how things run with Superman and his Family.
So much incredible good stuff running in the comics alone.
But then you got A TV show that is beloved, the new cartoon is praised, the live action movie so far shapes up to be good…Superman fans eat so good currently and im happy for them…and also for me who likes good Superman stuff too.

Alone Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor makes it worth it to go to your comic book store.

That one is really really good.
Other than that, not much else.
Knight Terrors still isn’t throwing heavy punches that make it a must read.
And so the month is probably the least expensive if you aren’t into that Story.

 

[Karelia]

I enjoyed Knight Terrors #1 and I'll pick up the second issue whenever I can make my way back to the comic shop.

 

[Babillygunn]

Mark Waid is a treasure. God bless that man!

 

[Babillygunn]

During Rebirth, I used to say that probably the most surprising statement that I never thought I’d hear myself say was that Red Hood and the Outlaws was the best comic published during Rebirth. That was my biggest surprise. …until now.
My new “thing I never thought I’d say” is that The Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent is a great comic. I’m ready for a conclusion to the story, and I wish that we’d have had Ultraman in it a little longer, but I think that this is Tom Taylor enjoying his revisit to the Injustice universe. And even though I find that universe flawed conceptually, I’ve always enjoyed his writing of it.

 

[Mani-Man]

August begins with more Knight Terrors and the Finale of the Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent story.

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #6

As the story was progressing, I expected a weak ending, but this goes beyond that.
A story that despite its Concept, barely tackles the idea of Father and Son…ending with Jon hugging his “father” and sounding just like a copy of Superman instead of a Jon Kent.
There is nothing there, absolutely nothing that makes this a must read story at all.
Worse, it feels like an absolute Filler of a story.

Nothing about this story has any depth or Purpose.
I don’t even know the timeline of this, before Injustice 2 but that’s about it.

The most annoying thing is that they had a good story there and before.
The Whole Ultraman killing Supermen from different universes was a cool idea.
And even this one here, Jon seeing a version of his father that is so different…cool concepts.
But they abandon these for super empty stuff.


It is yet again a story that makes Teenage Jon an absolutely uninteresting character to me.
There is nothing there, he is a lame copy of Clark and that’s it.
A handful of times they showed potential of the character, but then just turned this into him being more like Clark than Jon.
One of the biggest mistakes ever and something Bendis should be forever remembered for.
Damn him and DC not willing to fix and bring back Kid Jon.


Knight Terrors I read Batman and Joker…and yeah its more of the usual.
Batman yet again is a comic that uses his family as something positive, but doesn’t show it…the usual.
Not much else to say there…Its shockingly uncreative in how it goes.
Like I expected it to kind of include Bruce embracing his younger self and stuff…there really is nothing surprising there on how this goes.

Joker is weird and I don’t know if I like the idea of the Joker kind of seeing being “normal” as the worst thing.
I feel like the Joker is a character above such ideas…but then, how do you build a nightmare for such a character?
I liked this issue because of the idea of Joker dressing up as batman…that is always a wild idea visual and in terms of writing.
Joker in a makeshift batsuit etc, dishing out his own kind of “justice”…it’s a wild idea.

Other than that, nothing else this week.
If they ever sell a book with just all the Covers, all the Variant Covers etc of Knight Terrors…I would absolutely buy that I gotta say.
The Covers are super good and really strong.
For the story itself, I doubt I would pay the money.
Another handful of Books that didn’t blew me away and the others I don’t have any interest in…not a good look for such an event.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Hefty week, this week:

Conan The Barbarian #1: The first issue of Titan's ongoing Conan series starts here, and it's a winner. Jim Zub and Robert De La Torre are the creative team and they're quite the duo. De La Torre's art is reminiscent of John Buscema by way of Alex Raymond: wonderfully expressive and ornate it the savagery it presents. Zub has the tone down pat. Honestly, it feels like an extension of the Dark Horse run of the character. The Marvel 2.0 take felt a touch watered down, for obvious reasons, and so it never felt like it could reach the potential it initially offered. Not the case here. It's violent. There's nudity, although brief. But more importantly, it's well written. It's a bonafide success, having apparently sold over 80,000 copies which is huge! Titan and Conan License holders seem so sure of the success that they've announced that they'll be bringing back Savage Sword of Conan in the form of it's original magazine sized black & white book. Sign me up!

JSA #5. ::insert Tim Robinson from I Think You Should Leave:: WTF?! What a hackneyed conclusion to a needlessly prolonged story arc. The stakes Johns raised in the early issues seemed huge, and delays notwithstanding, seemed to indicate that this was going to be a pretty grand story. Not so, going by the conclusion of this issue. It wrapped up pretty tidy, the stakes relegated to a shoulder shrug, and nothing of any real consequence happened. I'd probably still think this was a bad issue if the book came out on a reasonable schedule instead of being delayed into oblivion, but the delays have only highlighted that this was most definitely not worth the wait. Perhaps there's still more to the story Johns is weaving, but having never been much of a fan of his in the first place, I'm not necessarily sure I want to find out. How unfortunate that Geoff Johns is holding these characters, and others, hostage (Tom King mentioned a while ago that he wanted to do a Sgt Rock story but DC wouldn't let him because someone else had a hold on it, and rumors were it wasn't anything to do with the Bruce Campbell penned book from last year...). JSA comes out so infrequently that I'm not sure if dropping the book is worth it, but it's poor quality storytelling doesn't seem to justify buying it whenever it feels like coming out. Atleast the Jay Garrick, Alan Scott and Wesley Dodds mini-series look interesting.

Incredible Hulk #2 and Doctor Strange #6. I'm kind of torn on Marvel at the moment. I work in the film industry. I'm not a fan of Disney. I'm even less a fan of Bob Iger, especially in light of his comments about the SAG and WGA strikes. I know the comic sales probably don't weigh much in the eyes of the Mouse, but I can't help but feel like buying Marvel gives Disney more money. And even then, these two particular books weren't even that up to par. Hulk's first issue was very good. Doctor Strange has been an otherwise solid affair as well. And next month I believe, Al Ewing's Immortal Thor begins. Not to mention, I'm still waiting for Miracleman: The Silver Age to conclude, which is also releasing whenever it wants. Miracleman might be my exception, but it's still TBD.

Love Everlasting #10. What a gut punch of a conclusion. The first arc of this Tom King penned series didn't do much to keep my attention. But this arc goes in a slightly different direction and is probably one of the best things King has written in some time. The conclusion of this issue, the finale of Arc 2, indicates that the series should be kicking into high gear proper, but issue 11 has yet to be solicited. Time will tell.

Hey Kids Comics #5. Chaykin's history of the comic book industry reaches the 1980s as DC kicks the medium into overdrive. The stand-ins for real people are more obvious to me here, as it's an era I find myself pretty invested in as a reader, so that was a lot of fun. This whole saga has been incredibly fascinating. While it definitely shows how the sausages get made, and Chaykin's irreverence is at an all time-high, and therefore could be a turn-off for more optimistic comic book fans, it's definitely one of the best books on the stands. I adore it.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Im a sucker for these kind of stories. Stories that tackle the Moral of the Superhero. We certainly need these kind of stories these days. I cant tell you how many times i saw people say that Superheroes should at least kill their main villain. We need more stories that show us that this is not right, that even the worst person deserves to be saved. If they are worth it or not, is not the heroes decision to make.

On that i would love to see a story that tackles the whole "batman should kill the joker" mindset and how that would spiral out of control.
Too many are too comfortable with making Batman into the Punisher.

You ever read Joker: Devil's Advocate? It's by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan. A stamp series of Famous Comedians is released to the public with joker venom on the adhesive side, killing anyone who licks them. Joker's found guilty and put on death row, but Batman isn't so sure...to the frustration of everyone. Probably one of the best books that examines the Joker/Batman relationship, better than the Killing Joke probably. Definitely worth checking out.

That said, I'd wager that in order for the "Batman Should Kill The Joker" idea to be put to bed, writers need to stop upping the ante of Joker's violence. His violence is such that Batman causes more harm keeping him alive than not, and Batman's "No Kill" rule becomes a narrative handicap, much like Flash's time travel rules post-Flashpoint. And while I suppose a writer could have a random person, or a cop, shoot Joker in the face, the narrative possibilities aren't nearly as strong as if Batman did the deed himself. I have a whole outline in a notebook detailing the story I have in my head about it. Batman kills The Joker. Everyone just kinda shrugs their shoulders. Even the slimiest of prosecutors dare not take a case against Batman. As such, Bruce gets the single greatest night's sleep he's ever had since before his parents were murdered..until he realizes no one ever stays dead. I'm pretty proud of where I take it. It's a subject worth exploring, and can definitely be done in the main continuity.

 

[Mani-Man]

A incredible short Comics week with just one comic for me this time.

Knight Terror #3

Of all the Knight terror stuff, the main issue flows the best and works the best.
Im just not too interested in the Story to begin with.
Its cool that Deadman is the center of the story, cool to see a big main story have him as the Protagonist.
So that’s a positive.

Also the covers, cant praise them enough…the Green Lantern one this week is incredible.
Other than that, the same problems and stuff that runs since Knight Terror began.

And so there is nothing else really.
The good thing about this Knight Terror stuff is that it gives me time to pick up some older comics because I don’t have many weekly comics to go through…which also is the downside because I love my weekly comics and especially since we have so many great runs going on.

 

[Mani-Man]

Another week full of Knight Terrors...but also two "normal" comics...thank god.

Batman/Superman: Worlds Finest #18

Another good issue on this, although i kind of expected batman and Supermans first meeting in this to be more Chaotic or so.
I also didnt like the Batman design in this...but that is all minor stuff.
Still incredible good writing and a fantastic vibe.
You have a top notch writing, more often than not fantastic art and the vibe that imo is elevating this whole series even more.
A Series that just feels very much like the comics many of us read as kids.
And that is pretty cool.
Dan Moras Cover is absolutely incredible, that mans Art is on its own level.
The amount of Talent we have these days in comics...absolutely insane.

You get so much unique and high quality comic book art these days, its unbelievable.

Hawkgirl #2

Keeps the momentum going and feels neat.
Nothing else to say there, i enjoy it quite a lot.
The Parts all move quite well together, creating a nice read.

Then you get a bunch of Knight Terror issues of course, for which i honestly dont care.
Like i dont want the WW Knight Terrors, i want to see what Tom King does with WW.
I dont want KT Superman or Nightwing, i want their stories to continue.
I just dont care enough for the Arc.

I know i repeat myself on this, but thats all i can say about Knight Terrors sadly.
Good potential but came at the wrong time for me.
The Cover continue to be the strongest part of these.

 

[Babillygunn]

It is kind of funny and telling when you consider how dead the comics forums are during Knight Terrors.

Bad idea by DC. But at least it gave me the time that I have needed to dive into Zdarsky’s Daredevil.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Anybody here read Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths? If so, how was it?

 

[Babillygunn]

Anybody here read Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths? If so, how was it?

I didn’t think it was anywhere near as bad as most people did. But as a large crisis event, it was quite underwhelming. The Nightwing stuff was certainly the best parts, but the way they handled Deathstroke and the story as a whole was pretty weak.

 

[Karelia]

Just read Larfleeze Christmas Special One Shot... Freaking loved it!

I also picked up:

The Flash Knight Terrors #1
The Joker Knight Terrors #1
Nightwing Knight Terrors #2
Green Lantern #1 (Jeremy Adams)

I've enjoyed the Knight Terrors comics okay enough.