Anyone Here Read Comics?

[MikeVic]

I used to read them a bit when I was in grades 6-8, but I mostly just bought them and looked at the pictures, while really watching the X-Men and Spiderman cartoons out around that time. I thought I'd give it a shot again a few weeks ago, and I have been enjoying myself. I was just wondering if anyone here still reads them, or if I will be shunned for admitting to reading them myself... :)

For anyone interested, I am currently buying:

Avengers, Ultimate Spiderman, Amazing Spiderman, 100 Bullets, Justice League of America, and Powerless. I have about 15 comics since I started buying them a few weeks ago...

[Raiders Army]

Yeah, I read them. My subscription from Mile High Comics is starting up this month. I moved in April from El Paso, and bought them from a comic book store, but there aren't any decent ones here.

I will continue to get:

Punisher
G.I. Joe
Ultimate Fantastic Four
Incredible Hulk
Iron Man
Thor

I started up Amazing Spiderman and Spectacular Spiderman this month. I will also be getting X-Men The End. (The End titles are supposed to be really good). I recommend this website:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/

There is a message board that is pretty good and contains a lot of good news.

[hukarez]

I've been collecting on and off for sometime. Though, there are just occasions where I get lazy and don't pick up anything new for awhile. In any case, Comic Con was here just last month, and I dished out $1000 on books to catch up on 5 years worth of stuff.

I'm collecting trade paperbacks only these days - mostly after anything Mark Millar/Warren Ellis.

[Calis]

I was of the odd variety that I never read comics as a kid, but got hooked during tech school when I was down in Mississippi. Nice little comic shop right off base, so I ended up there a bunch.

I stopped shortly after due to the amount of cash I was putting into it. ;)

I really enjoyed Hellblazer, and the Preacher series, and I think the Sin City books are excellent.

Ultimate Spiderman also seemed to be pretty good, but I didn't try any of the other Ultimate lines.

[Raiders Army]

I sold my Ultimate Spiderman collection in January last year (issues #1/2 to 31, including red cover of #1, Kay-Be Toys version #1, reprint #1, both versions of #2) for $400 on ebay. I put buy it now for $400 and it went within 24 hours. I should've put the buy it now for $600. :(

[hukarez]

One seriously underrated title that I'm afraid might be cancelled soon, if not already is "Captain Marvel". Also, I loved WildStorm's "The Monarchy" series, though I'm told sales of that didn't go so well either.

I lucked out and managed to get the Cla$$war issues - something I've been waiting 2 years for. Rob Williams' is going places, I'm sure of it. I am very much considering picking up on the Ultimate Fantastic Four line, as I've heard Warren Ellis is doing the series. Kind of amazing, considering how many writers seemed to have sworn Marvel off for awhile.

In any case - check out 'Supreme Power'...or better yet, the old "Squadron Supreme" book. Always a must have in anyone's collection! :D

[Thomkal]

I've been collecting since my college days long long ago. I'm mostly a DC Comics fan, though I do read a few of Marvel's. Not much in the way of indy comics and definitely no anime. :)

My favorite period of comics was right before Crisis on Infinite Earths for those who read comics around then. I hated what it did to DC history (sue me my degree is in history teaching) :) My all-time favorites are All-Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc, by Roy Thomas, Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman, and my number one favorite, Legion of Super Heroes by Paul Levitz.

My favorites today are probably Astro City by Kurt Busiek, JSA by Geoff Johns, and Amazing Spider Man by the Babylon 5 guy (never can spell his name).

[Dutch]

I haven't read Comics in ages, but DC comics always sucked! I was very loyal to X-Men, Amazing Spider Man, the Avengers, and Iron Man. Probably others, but I'm too faded right now to remember.

[hoosierdude]

I have two sons in the business, and one looks to be breaking out pretty soon. Keep up with the business as they are heavily into it. Kids read them at home like a book, and in fact I read them to them when other books got boring.

[hukarez]

Amazing Spider Man by the Babylon 5 guy (never can spell his name).
J. Michael Straczynski? :D

He's presently doing Supreme Power for Marvel's MAX line. I liked his Midnight Nation TPB, and his 'Rising Stars' volumes. Speaking of which, supposedly, there's scripting or some thing going on for a Rising Stars movie down the line.

[Marc Vaughan]

Yeah I'm into comics - although I don't read as much as I used to.

(ignoring dilbert & PvP style comics)

I tend to read 2000AD and various spin-offs mainly (Crisis being the best of the 'spin-offs') ... 2000AD's been dumbed down a lot in recent years unfortunately but still occassionally has good strips (especially the 'future shocks' which read like short sci-fi shockers).

[Honolulu_Blue]

I used to collect comics back in the day, between 8th grade (13 yrs. old) and my freshman year of college (19 yrs. old). Once I got into college I realized I was spending way too much a week on comics and had started doing the one thing I promised I'd never do: buying to collect and not read. As the number of comics I bought and never read rose and rose I finally quit. I was big into X-Men and Wolverine. It was right around the time they relaunched X-Men, splitting the team into two books: X-Men and the original "Uncanny X-Men." I think I bought the first fifteen or so "X-Men" books and then stopped.

I was also a big fan of "Suicied Squad." Really cool concept from D.C. The idea was that in exchange for "time off" super villians were sent out on extremely dangersou missions for the government. Sort of like a superhero "Dirty Dozen." It used all sorts of crap supervillians from the D.C. universe and actually gave them personality. High turnover rate, some good action. Deadshot rules.

Just this last year I started getting into it again. I don't buy individual books, but the graphic novels.

Those I'd highly recommend are:

Watchmen (this is old, old, old school, but still the best of the bunch. Alan Moore is awesome)

From Hell (Moore)

V for Vendetta (early Moore)

Top Ten books #1 and #2 (more recent Moore. An excellent concept, basically a superheroes "Hill Street Blues" in a city where everyone is either a superhero, alien, or robot. Very good.)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1 and #2 (Moore again. The first book started this new comic book Reniassance of mine. Ignore the film.)

Sin City (excellent books, Frank Miller)

Give Me Liberty (Frank Miller, Martha Washington books. Bizarre read, but great.)

Rising Stars (Straczynski)

Supreme Power (Straczynski again. I don't have this yet, but the old Squadron Supreme was one of my favorite mini-series of all times.)

Books that didn't live up to the hype:

Kingdom Come (some sort of alternate DC Universe future. Cool art, but it just didn't do it for me.)

Origin (this is the "official" Wolverine origin story. It sucked. The writing was god awful. I was deeply disappointed in this.)

[QuikSand]

Inspired by seeing Spider-Man 2, Mrs. Q recelty asked me to dig up a few comics from my (modest) old collection. So, we have a stack of a few that I enjoyed sitting around now, which is kinda weird -- haven't really looked at them in some 15 years or so.

But I recently re-read Watchmen, which is really excellent. I also re-read V for Vendetta, which is also very good. I do like Alan Moore, though he creeps me out a bit.

[Honolulu_Blue]

But I recently re-read Watchmen, which is really excellent. I also re-read V for Vendetta, which is also very good. I do like Alan Moore, though he creeps me out a bit.

Agreed. He creeps me out a bit too, but I think he's the best in the biz. The second part of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen does get a little creepy. It's very dark. Not a very happy ending for some of the, uh, Gentlemen.

[CentralMassHokie]

The only book I'm currently reading is the Joss Whedon-written "Astonishing X-Men."

It's very good.

[hukarez]

But I recently re-read Watchmen, which is really excellent. I also re-read V for Vendetta, which is also very good. I do like Alan Moore, though he creeps me out a bit.
He's retiring from writing this year, from what I've heard. Which is pretty sad, since I've enjoyed all of his works, especially "Top Ten". Never really checked out his "Tom Strong" stuff, but I'm going to miss his works.

[hukarez]

Just this last year I started getting into it again. I don't buy individual books, but the graphic novels.

Those I'd highly recommend are:

Watchmen (this is old, old, old school, but still the best of the bunch. Alan Moore is awesome)

From Hell (Moore)

V for Vendetta (early Moore)

Top Ten books #1 and #2 (more recent Moore. An excellent concept, basically a superheroes "Hill Street Blues" in a city where everyone is either a superhero, alien, or robot. Very good.)

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #1 and #2 (Moore again. The first book started this new comic book Reniassance of mine. Ignore the film.)

Sin City (excellent books, Frank Miller)

Give Me Liberty (Frank Miller, Martha Washington books. Bizarre read, but great.)

Rising Stars (Straczynski)

Supreme Power (Straczynski again. I don't have this yet, but the old Squadron Supreme was one of my favorite mini-series of all times.)
You forgot to mention "Golden Age", another old school book that's a good read. ;)

Not quite sure how many other DC fans are out there, but I managed to get myself a copy of "Hawkworld" at the Comic Con last month. I think I'm pretty much complete on the TPBs that I've always wanted...just a matter of getting some versions in hardcover.

If and whenever they do release the Preacher volumes in hardcover, I'll be quite happy.

[Raiders Army]

I bought the Watchmen TPB, and I didn't really see what all the fuss was about. Then again, I read it within the past two years, and for its time (I guess) it was pretty "cutting-edge."

I have the whole Preacher series. Anything by Garth Ennis is freaking great. That's why I'm getting Punisher. I would highly recommend anything by Garth Ennis.

[MikeVic]

Raiders Army, do you go to the forum on that site you listed?

[oykib]

Anyone who likes comics should pick up Thieves and Kings. It's the greatest comic produced in North America.

[kurtism]

As an FYI, I just saw that Darren Aronofsky is slated to direct a Watchmen movie, and that Jude Law (a huge comics fan) is gunning hard for the Ozymandias role...

As for comics, I am in my 3rd stretch of collecting, with two layoffs in between. Currently getting monthlies of Astonishing X-Men (anything Joss is cool with me), the cool Identity Crisis by Brad Metzler, Powers (really cool superhero/crime comic by Bendis) and the new Books of Magick. I have also been buying the trades by the ton.

[QuikSand]

As an FYI, I just saw that Darren Aronofsky is slated to direct a Watchmen movie, and that Jude Law (a huge comics fan) is gunning hard for the Ozymandias role...


15 years ago or so, I was walking around campus with a copy of the script for this movie, which was supposedly just around the corner. Heh.

Good to hear some big names attached... I'd love to see them bring it to fruition.

[QuikSand]

I bought the Watchmen TPB, and I didn't really see what all the fuss was about. Then again, I read it within the past two years, and for its time (I guess) it was pretty "cutting-edge."

Hard to say... I think the perspective of the diehard comic fan is second to the perspective of the more broadly literate audience. Watchmen was groundbreaking in that it was widely received as a legitimate piece of literature, that happened to be in the comic/graphic novel format.

I bought a copy of the TPB myself when the book was used in a literature course at my school ("Determinism in American Literature," a 400-level class, by the way) and eventually sold my copies of the original comics when there was a market for them (I have no idea if there is now).

I recently (as mentioned above) re-read it... and definitely think it holds up just fine. It has a lot of fascinating elements, I think -- the use of motifs and fugue is pretty sophisticated, and I think Moore makes very good use of some of the visual tools that he has in this medium that he wouldn't in a novel. I've pushed it to the top of Mrs. Q's queue (heh), and I'll be interested to see what she thinks, as a non-comics fan, but an avid reader.

[Buddy Grant]

I like the Call Barks ducks, war comics like Haunted Tank, various underground comics from the 1960's to present, and various "funny" comics like Pinky & the Brain. The Simpsons comics line from Bongo is the only one where I have purshased most of the titles.

[Peregrine]

I did for a while when I was in grad school, mostly Hellblazer, Books of Magic etc, but I haven't in several years, though I have enjoyed a couple that my friends have had (Rising Stars, etc.) Too expensive a hobby for me.

[Raiders Army]

Raiders Army, do you go to the forum on that site you listed?

Yeah. It's not too bad, and there are pretty much spoilers for every comic out there (if you don't want to buy em!).

I forgot, I'm getting the TPBs of Y the Last Man, a Vertigo comic by D.C. It's really good. A brief synopsis is that every man on Earth dies, except for Yorick Brown. What follows is pretty funny, strange, and somewhat frightening. Yorick wants to go to Australia to see his girlfriend/fiancee (he proposed to her the moment that all the men died and the phone connection went). He's also an escape artist, which helps him in a lot of situations. There's more to it, but I'll let you read the comics. :)

Also, on another note, the Vertigo line by D.C. and Max line by Marvel aren't for kids. They have nudity, swearing, etc. I like 'em! Every publisher is putting out TPBs of their more popular comic books, so if you aren't into episodic adventures and want a more complete read in one sitting, go for the TPBs. They're available at Barnes & Nobles, among other places.

I'm trying to remember a comic I wanted to pick up, but I can't remember the title. It was about vampires in Alaska, and it's night forever so they can feed without having to sleep. Does anyone know the title?

[Raiders Army]

Hard to say... I think the perspective of the diehard comic fan is second to the perspective of the more broadly literate audience. Watchmen was groundbreaking in that it was widely received as a legitimate piece of literature, that happened to be in the comic/graphic novel format.

I bought a copy of the TPB myself when the book was used in a literature course at my school ("Determinism in American Literature," a 400-level class, by the way) and eventually sold my copies of the original comics when there was a market for them (I have no idea if there is now).

I recently (as mentioned above) re-read it... and definitely think it holds up just fine. It has a lot of fascinating elements, I think -- the use of motifs and fugue is pretty sophisticated, and I think Moore makes very good use of some of the visual tools that he has in this medium that he wouldn't in a novel. I've pushed it to the top of Mrs. Q's queue (heh), and I'll be interested to see what she thinks, as a non-comics fan, but an avid reader.

I don't know. I tried to get my wife (Mrs. RA) to read it, but she couldn't. She really like Y the Last Man, though.

In comparison, I think Preacher kicks the crap out of Watchmen. As far as symbolism, etc. go, it's on par (Jesse Custer...JC...Jesus Christ), and it is a more wild ride. While at the time Watchmen came out, the idea of a "superhero" killing villians was still relatively new (albeit the Punisher was around...and don't give me that crap about Wolverine being a killer...he wanted to, but the X-Men wouldn't let him), in comparison to the comics of today, it's actually pretty mild.

[Coder]

I'd like to emphasize what a few others have said already... Alan Moore is king! I stumbled upon Watchmen just 6 or so months ago and absolutely loved it. Brilliant story and you could really see the script shining through the drawings... I read V for Vendetta something like 10-15 years ago in a monthly book but never really got it.. I'm seriously considering buying it now.

[Thomkal]

I'm trying to remember a comic I wanted to pick up, but I can't remember the title. It was about vampires in Alaska, and it's night forever so they can feed without having to sleep. Does anyone know the title?
That's 30 Days of Night by Steve Niles. I'm not a vampire fan, so I haven't read anything but the preview they ran in Wizard magazine a while back. Didn't do anything to increase my interest in it. :)

Identity Crisis Kurt? Don't get me started. :)

Never heard of Thieves and Kings surprisingly Oykib, what's it about?

Dan

[Raiders Army]

Thanks! I saw the same preview, and I couldn't remember the title!

[Honolulu_Blue]

I don't know. I tried to get my wife (Mrs. RA) to read it, but she couldn't. She really like Y the Last Man, though.

In comparison, I think Preacher kicks the crap out of Watchmen. As far as symbolism, etc. go, it's on par (Jesse Custer...JC...Jesus Christ), and it is a more wild ride. While at the time Watchmen came out, the idea of a "superhero" killing villians was still relatively new (albeit the Punisher was around...and don't give me that crap about Wolverine being a killer...he wanted to, but the X-Men wouldn't let him), in comparison to the comics of today, it's actually pretty mild.

I will have to give Preacher a go. A friend of mine swears by it too. I am always on the look out for some new stuff.

That said, the glory of Watchmen is more than just symbolism. It's the way the book is put together, the panels, the art, the writing, all of it. It's really a work of art. I mean, just off the top of my head, I can think of some classics, e.g., the death of the original owl (the frames side by side of him in his glory years kicking the crap out of thugs and him getting beaten to death with his own trophy) and the first rorshach test:

Panel 1: Picture of rorschach ink blot "Tell me what do you see here?"
Panel 2: Picture of a dog's head split open, brains oozing out.
Panel 3: Picture of Rorschach's emotionless face: "A pretty butterfly."

Just classic! There is just such a perfect cinematic feel to it all. Add that in with the writing and, I dunno, just haven't read it's equal.

Rorschach. There is none higher.

Preacher sounds cool.

[MikeVic]

I was going to buy the TPBs of 100 Bullets.. but I thought they'd be cheaper. That's why I thought people buy them instead of monthly comics, since you save some money. But it doesn't seem that way.

I've heard good things about Y The Last Man, but I'm already buying enough comics as it is, and I still wanna buy the 100 Bullets TPBs.. so no Y for me. :P

[kurtism]

Re the TPBs: If you shop around, you can usually get discounts on either Amazon.com or Overstock.com. Also, impulsecreations.net has a decent selection of TPBs at 30% off cover...

[Jesse_Ewiak]

marimport.com mailordercomics.com khepri.com etc. etc. are all your friends...

[MikeVic]

Well, it would take 5-7 weeks to get volume 2 from amazon.ca... that's a bit long. :(