The All New Comics Thread 2017+ Edition

[Artie Fufkin]

I've just bought (via ComiXology in the sales) the first half of From Hell : Master Edition, and Morrison / Quitely's All-Star Superman.
I am just starting the 3rd and final volume of The Boys Digital Omnibus. I've really enjoyed this, mostly. It's no Preacher, but it's been fun. The Wee Hughie spin-off was a nice palate cleanser.

[madhair60]

All-Star Superman is so good it makes me throb dickerly.

[Artie Fufkin]

^Yes, I've been wanting to read this for ages. Took the plunge as it was down to £2.99 in the sale^

[Mister Six]

Just checking - you already read Herogasm and know that there'll be a Butcher spin-off to fit in before you read the end, right, Artie?

[Artie Fufkin]

Just checking - you already read Herogasm and know that there'll be a Butcher spin-off to fit in before you read the end, right, Artie?

Yes! Thanks to YOU, kind sir, I am already aware of this.

[Mister Six]

Hooray! Let us know what you think of the ending.

[Artie Fufkin]

Wilco. Though I'm reading an actual book, currently. So won't be for a week or 2.

[Custard]

Few horror sales on Comixology at the moment, for Halloween

I highly recommend Crawl To Me, by Alan Robert. I took a punt on it as I liked the look of the description and it was only 3 squid.

It's brilliant. A horrible, gory waking nightmare with a cracking ending. Don't read any spoilers!

[Artie Fufkin]

^done^
Will read over the Halloween period. Possibly in a graveyard, whilst being chased by an axe-wielding maniac. With a rabid stoat.

[Custard]

Hope you like it!

[samadriel]

Recently devoured All Star Superman on Comixology, which I initially shied away from because of some of the dialogue early on (that "sauce on the steak of life" line is a real stinker, and it's on, what, page 1? 2?).  It was marvelous, and it turned me around on Grant Morrison, who I previously didn't really like much, but he really gets Superman.  Occasionally I'd come up for air and feel great regret that Snyder and Goyer shat on the character in the recent movies; if only someone with Morrison's grasp of Superman had written them.  I hope the recent Shazam! film opens the door for a more pleasant Superman film, I feel there's a lot of potential there.  Favourite chapter was possibly the Bizarro chapter -- I always have a soft spot for Bizarro, and I loved the Bizarro JLA, particularly Bizarro Batman being missing because he was shot by his parents.

[Artie Fufkin]

Hope you like it!

I did! Very much! Hadn't realised it was the guy from Life Of Agony. Some of his artwork in there is stunning. Reminded me a bit of Ben Templesmith. Yes, great ending.

[Artie Fufkin]

There's a nice little Warren Ellis podcast on the BBC Sounds app at the moment. Under their 'Paperback Writer' series. He sounds nothing like I expected.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Dcesased 4 - 6 - DC's version of Marvel Zombies comes to an end with humanity fucking off to a different planet and leaving Earth filled with the infected, presumably so they can carry on cashing in on the idea. There were some vaguely fun moments as beloved heroes went evil and murderous, but most of the time it was bland shite and I'm not sure why I bothered to read it all.

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Death of Superman - Yet more Elseworlds style grim dark DC nonsense, I gave this a shot as it's by Jeff Loveness who wrote for the Miracle Workers tv series and is involved in the next series of Rick and Morty, but like Dceased I wish I hadn't bothered. The idea is that after Superman was killed by Doomsday back in the 80's Lois Lane obtains his powers, and in a grief filled rage decides to help humanity by ending all wars, killing all the villains and doing lots of shit supposedly to make the world a better place. She doesn't, it's all a bit rubbish, and a tale which really didn't need to be told at all.

The Immortal Hulk 25 - Fucking stunning. The most ambitious instalment yet, and a deranged, insane read that I loved, this has easily been my favourite series of 2019.

[kidsick5000]

Dcesased 4 - 6 - DC's version of Marvel Zombies comes to an end with humanity fucking off to a different planet and leaving Earth filled with the infected, presumably so they can carry on cashing in on the idea. There were some vaguely fun moments as beloved heroes went evil and murderous, but most of the time it was bland shite and I'm not sure why I bothered to read it all.

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Death of Superman - Yet more Elseworlds style grim dark DC nonsense, I gave this a shot as it's by Jeff Loveness who wrote for the Miracle Workers tv series and is involved in the next series of Rick and Morty, but like Dceased I wish I hadn't bothered. The idea is that after Superman was killed by Doomsday back in the 80's Lois Lane obtains his powers, and in a grief filled rage decides to help humanity by ending all wars, killing all the villains and doing lots of shit supposedly to make the world a better place. She doesn't, it's all a bit rubbish, and a tale which really didn't need to be told at all.

I really wasted money on these. For the amount of conclusion it gives, DCeased may as well have had a first page saying "The adventure continues in DCeased 2" followed by blank pages. And the less said about that daft Lois thing the better.
What is it about DC and its grimdark fetish?


The Immortal Hulk 25 - Fucking stunning. The most ambitious instalment yet, and a deranged, insane read that I loved, this has easily been my favourite series of 2019.
[/quote]

I will venture over to this on that recommendation.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I really wasted money on these. For the amount of conclusion it gives, DCeased may as well have had a first page saying "The adventure continues in DCeased 2" followed by blank pages. And the less said about that daft Lois thing the better.
What is it about DC and its grimdark fetish?

I have to confess to not paying for either, and would have been really fucked off if I had. And yeah, the grim dark side of things is horribly tedious, and I wish they'd quit it too.

I will venture over to this on that recommendation.

For it to make any sense you need to read Ewing's run on the series since issue 1, but it is worth it as it's a lot of fun.

[Mister Six]

Ploughed through The Invisibles book two, which was a treat as I only vaguely remembered much of it. This is the point that Phil Jiminez jumps on board, Morrison shakes off the early uneasiness and the series embraces its pop-punk spy drama side, ramping up the explosions and craziness and dialling down the long scenes of expeditionary chin-stroking. Great, frequently rather affecting stuff that I'm appreciating even more thanks to that King Mobcast podcast, which breaks down exactly how Morrison cribbed from took inspiration from other authors. I'd forgotten how epic the rescue of King Mob is, and how much fun Morrison obviously had with the Division X bits. Steve Yeowell's art for the climax of the story is shocking, though - odd, since his work in the first four issues was perfect.

Still, though, you get shit like this from Jiminez:



Click on it for the full-size version. Gorgeous.

Also read Shade, The Changing Girl vol. 2: Little Runaway. Alas, after a promising first volume, this one pisses it all away. The scripts have this weird staginess in which nobody has proper conversations, and instead people all speak in short, declarative sentences, typically stating outright the themes and observations that a better writer would work organically into the story. Look at the barflies' comments here, for example:



Who are they talking to? Why? Everyone speaks like this, and it renders all of the drama so inert. None of these people seem real, none of their interactions are convincing, so why care?

That spare, flat art style isn't particularly engaging either. There's the occasional formally interesting page, such as a two-page spread designed to look like a board game, but they always feel rather half-baked, like nobody could be bothered putting in the effort to really make them sing:



But I dunno, maybe I'm just an old fart. I did like it when Shade proper turned up and it started looking kind of like a pastiche of Brendan McCarthy's old covers for the Milligan series, but there wasn't enough of that, and it was wasted on a story that didn't have the heft to justify it, sadly.

[madhair60]

I read the new Locke & Key one-shot. Incredibly frivolous, extremely brief read. But there's a little epilogue story in there which put a big, BIG smile on my face.

Christ I loved Locke & Key.

[Artie Fufkin]

I read the new Locke & Key one-shot. Incredibly frivolous, extremely brief read. But there's a little epilogue story in there which put a big, BIG smile on my face.

Christ I loved Locke & Key.

Me too! Will be getting this over the weekend.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Ploughed through The Invisibles book two, which was a treat as I only vaguely remembered much of it. This is the point that Phil Jiminez jumps on board, Morrison shakes off the early uneasiness and the series embraces its pop-punk spy drama side, ramping up the explosions and craziness and dialling down the long scenes of expeditionary chin-stroking. Great, frequently rather affecting stuff that I'm appreciating even more thanks to that King Mobcast podcast, which breaks down exactly how Morrison cribbed from took inspiration from other authors. I'd forgotten how epic the rescue of King Mob is, and how much fun Morrison obviously had with the Division X bits. Steve Yeowell's art for the climax of the story is shocking, though - odd, since his work in the first four issues was perfect.

Still, though, you get shit like this from Jiminez:



Click on it for the full-size version. Gorgeous.

Also read Shade, The Changing Girl vol. 2: Little Runaway. Alas, after a promising first volume, this one pisses it all away. The scripts have this weird staginess in which nobody has proper conversations, and instead people all speak in short, declarative sentences, typically stating outright the themes and observations that a better writer would work organically into the story. Look at the barflies' comments here, for example:



Who are they talking to? Why? Everyone speaks like this, and it renders all of the drama so inert. None of these people seem real, none of their interactions are convincing, so why care?

That spare, flat art style isn't particularly engaging either. There's the occasional formally interesting page, such as a two-page spread designed to look like a board game, but they always feel rather half-baked, like nobody could be bothered putting in the effort to really make them sing:



But I dunno, maybe I'm just an old fart. I did like it when Shade proper turned up and it started looking kind of like a pastiche of Brendan McCarthy's old covers for the Milligan series, but there wasn't enough of that, and it was wasted on a story that didn't have the heft to justify it, sadly.

That's a great post there, I gave up on Shade The Changing Girl after a few issues as I was struggling with it, and didn't like the new Shade - when does the old one turn up, out of interest, as I'll probably read those issues such is my fondness for him.

[kidsick5000]

Do you think the Shade art is aiming for that Chris Ware graphic stillness?

[Mister Six]

I don't think so. Her lines are sketchy (though it's less obvious in these pages) and lack Ware's meticulous precision.

That's a great post there, I gave up on Shade The Changing Girl after a few issues as I was struggling with it, and didn't like the new Shade - when does the old one turn up, out of interest, as I'll probably read those issues such is my fondness for him.

Cheers. Old Shade is glimpsed in an earlier issue with one of those Madness circles covering his face, but doesn't appear as a character proper until issue 12, which is also the last issue of The Changing Girl (it was relaunched as Shade The Changing Woman). It's only for about six pages, though, and isn't particularly interesting. He's portrayed as a fairly detatched and mysterious figure - none of the humanity and vulnerability Milligan imbued him with. I'll fire you a PM with a link to the page in question.

[ads82]

Currently reading Love and Rockets, the first volume in the Fantagraphics set. It's a good read so far, I'm enjoying the strange, sci-fi B Movie type plots and fun and sweet character of Maggie. The depiction of the women in this comic is way ahead of its time, I wouldn't of guessed it was written by male unless I already knew.

I've also read that the series vastly improves as it continues, so I'm looking forward to going through set and getting immersed in the world.

[garbed_attic]

Currently reading Love and Rockets, the first volume in the Fantagraphics set. It's a good read so far, I'm enjoying the strange, sci-fi B Movie type plots and fun and sweet character of Maggie. The depiction of the women in this comic is way ahead of its time, I wouldn't of guessed it was written by male unless I already knew.

My feeling too... but then I bought it for my then oldest friend, who's a woman, and she thought it was really sexist and male gazey to the point of being angry/disappointed in me. I think, in part, it contributed to her "friend breaking up" with me last year! So now I don't know what to believe!

You have such good stuff ahead of you. Those characters are my friends now.

[chveik]

My feeling too... but then I bought it for my then oldest friend, who's a woman, and she thought it was really sexist and male gazey to the point of being angry/disappointed in me. I think, in part, it contributed to her "friend breaking up" with me last year! So now I don't know what to believe!

You have such good stuff ahead of you. Those characters are my friends now.

you should've gone with The Essential Dykes to Watch For, it's in the same ballpark but I suppose it's more difficult to find any sexism in it (a bit much on the soap-opera side in the end, but I enjoyed it)

[garbed_attic]

you should've gone with The Essential Dykes to Watch For, it's in the same ballpark but I suppose it's more difficult to find any sexism in it (a bit much on the soap-opera side in the end, but I enjoyed it)

ah I think she already had read and liked that... tbf I do get what she meant about the early Love and Rockets... it can get a little cheesecakey at times. But Los Bros genuinely care about their characters and their psychology. I think they're problematic feminists like Almodovar (and Borowczyk)!

[Mister Six]

Doesn't help that Gilbert has a thing for drawing women with ZZZ cups.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I don't think so. Her lines are sketchy (though it's less obvious in these pages) and lack Ware's meticulous precision.

Cheers. Old Shade is glimpsed in an earlier issue with one of those Madness circles covering his face, but doesn't appear as a character proper until issue 12, which is also the last issue of The Changing Girl (it was relaunched as Shade The Changing Woman). It's only for about six pages, though, and isn't particularly interesting. He's portrayed as a fairly detatched and mysterious figure - none of the humanity and vulnerability Milligan imbued him with. I'll fire you a PM with a link to the page in question.

Thanks again for all the info re: this, it was interesting to see Rac again though like you say it's a quite different version to Milligan's. Still, it's nice to see him still out there, and hopefully he'll get his own comic again one day.

Immortal Hulk 26 - One long rant about how humanity is shit and deserves to die. Can't argue with that. It's such an odd book, and completely different from the previous issue, but one I'm extremely fond of, especially as it's a mainstream title doing such unusual things.

[Custard]

I keep waiting for Love and Rockets to be in a Comixology sale, but it never is. Sadly

Deffo on my To Bloody Read ASAP list!

[Custard]

Having said that, I bought physical copies of both Ghost World and A History Of Violence the other day, and devoured both very quickly. I just can't justify the amount of space these books take up in our tiny flat. Mrs Custard will boot my head in