The All New General Comics Chat

[Mister Six]

The old one was suffering from that annoying "no posts" bug, so I thought I'd start up a lovely fresh thread for you to discuss the funny books on.

So come on! Is Seven Soldiers the biggest disappoinment of 2005? Or does that award belong to Marvel's House of M crossover? Did Black Hole put you off your lunch, or did it make you fall in love with indie comics? Does Vertigo's comic about cockroach exterminators really sound that interesting, even if it IS drawn by Terry Moore? And why aren't you buying Gotham Central yet?

[tony peanuts]

Shouldn't this be "The All Star General Comics Chat featuring Mister Six the Boy Wonder"?

[Mister Six]

That's MAN wonder to you, buddy. :(

[Ronster]

Hmmm biggest disappointment of 2005.....thats a tough call.  Let me have a think about it.

The one thing that sprang to mind first off doesn't really count as I pretty much always knew it was going to suck big cocks, namely The Return of Donna Troy.  I ended up buying it all for completeness sake but it was so bad.

Another along the same lines (but I did kind of hope it wouldn't be as bad as it was) was Day of Vengance - that was truly awful.

I was very disappointed with Rann-Thanagar War especially after how good I thought Adam Strange had been building up to it.   They took some excellent work there and truly pissed it up the wall.

A lot of the HOuse of M stuff was dire pap but always knew it was going to be (although ther reveal of who was 'behind' it all was quite nicely done)[/list]

[Mister Six]

Hum, I dropped Adam Strange after issue 4, I think. I just got sick of the meandering, plotless repetition of it all. Every issue seemed to be "Adam gets dragged to a strange place and hits some people, then get taken somewhere else". If I'd made it all the way to the end only to be told to buy the big Rann-Thanagar/Infinite Crisis crossover crap, I would have killed someone.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I had a look at The Dark Knight Strikes again earlier today. People weren't kidding when they said the artwork was bad, it's bloody nausiating. I suppose that would stand as my biggest comics disappointment of the year followed by the copy of Secret Wars I bought which, while not bad per-se, is way too simplistic and clichéd in this day and age. I was also annoyed to find out that the Hellboy/Batman/Starman crossover book I bought from Amazon was in Spanish.

On a lighter note, I just ordered the latest BPRD book so I'll be looking forward to getting that. Has anyone heard anyhing about it? I'm assuming it follows on from Plague of Frogs, which ended quite abruptly with a lot of unanswered questions.

[mikeyg27]

Shouldn't this be "The All Star General Comics Chat featuring Mister Six the Boy Wonder"?

Does anyone think that the comic which inspired this title here is a teensy bit disappointing? I never thought I'd say this, but perhaps Frank Miller should take a break from Bats.  And whilst he's at it, he should do something with Geof Darrow again.

[Paul Dee]

Does anyone think that the comic which inspired this title here is a teensy bit disappointing? I never thought I'd say this, but perhaps Frank Miller should take a break from Bats.

I wholeheartedly agree. It's piss-poor. A flying Batmobile for fuck's sake! Joel Schumacher would be proud.

And why aren't you buying Gotham Central yet?

Ooh, what is this?

[Deadman97]

A new thread starts just as I finally get hold of "My Faith in Frankie". Typical.

[Mister Six]

And why aren't you buying Gotham Central yet?

Ooh, what is this?

Basically, it's Homicide: Life on the Street, if the detectives from that show ever had to put up with the Joker breaking out and killing people, or the Batman getting in their way every week. It's up to about issue 37 now, but it's still pretty easy to jump in - the next issue, out in a couple of weeks (check the DC site), is a one-off story which follows one of the detectives as the DC universe goes through yet another apocalypse.

All you need to know about the backstory is that there's a crooked cop in forensics called Jimmy Corrigan, who is stealing evidence and selling it on to collectors. He'll play a big part in the issue after next.

It mixes solid crime stories with occasional guest appearances from supervillains and heroes, and does a good job of making Batman look like the psychotic vigilante bastard that he is. Also, when they do join up with crossovers (as they did with Wargames a while back and Infinite Crisis this month), they make sure that they're on the very edges of the story and that you don't have to read any other DCU books to appreciate them.

It's superb, and that's me speaking as someone who really doesn't give two shits about most mainstream superhero books and has never read a "proper" Batman comic.

There are a couple of TPBs of the earlier issues out, too:

1- In the Line of Duty
2- Half a Life

And the next one should collect the Soft Targets storyline which, Batfans tell me, is the best Joker story to be published in the last ten-to-fifteen years.

[Four Eyes]

My biggest dissapointment would probably be Green Lantern:Rebirth Issue 1, which I only just got round to reading. What a piece of sentimental, meandering, boring crap.

I really like the way Infinite Crisis is heading, and I enjoyed House of M.

And yes, Buy Gotham Central. Now.

[Harfyyn Teuport]

Well speaking of Homicide/Hill Street Blues style comics, in a slightly similar vein, Alan Moore's 'Top Ten' is better than Christ and should be read by everyone with functioning eyes. The followup, 'Top Ten: The Forty-Niners' was released a couple of months ago and it's super, super ace as well.

The Forty Niners is currently the best comic I've read all year, although I have been somewhat out of practice due to skintness.

[Xander]

My biggest dissapointment would probably be Green Lantern:Rebirth Issue 1, which I only just got round to reading. What a piece of sentimental, meandering, boring crap.

Have you got round to reading the rest yet? I really enjoyed that series as a whole, and as a way to bring Hal back it is executed very well. Johns seems to be able to set anything straight and does so very well. For example, I feel he handled Hawkman well, has done so with Green Lantern: Rebirth and currently Power Girl's origin in JSA. I just want him to get his hands on Green Arrow - one of the few characters he hasn't treated. I loved Ollie in Rebirth, and the Hard Travelling Heroes storyline that looks to be upcoming in GL is promising. I haven't read it yet, and I can safely say that's the way to do a GL/GA crossover. ARE YOU READING, WINICK?!

[Ronster]

As I was reading down the thread I was thinking what the biggest treat fro the year had been and The Forty Niners came to mind for me as well.

Brilliant if you have read the rest of Top Ten as provides some wonderful background to what has been hinted at before but by no means essential.

Similarly the recent Astro City has been great as well.....but I adore Astro City - it never seems to disappoint :)

[Mister Six]

Has anyone read Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct? It's a huge diappointment for me.  It lacks the charm, verve and imagination of Moore's original. Not that anyone was ever going to come close, but by god they didn't have to fall this far short. The new cases just aren't interesting, the new characters are all fairly dull and pretty much every character arc is enormously predictable. Bah.

[Smackhead Kangaroo]

Does anyone know anything about Zenith from 2000AD? My older brother used to read it, and his taste seems to have turned out to be rather good.

[Ronster]

I've been picking up Top Ten:Beyond the Farthest Precinct and appreciate where you're coming from Mister Six.

It does seem a lacklustre attempt to recreate the original series with, like you said, no meat on the bones.  New characters seems to be different and unusal but for no real reason and with no solid background.

What did you think of the Smax mini series?  Again not brilliant but at least it was trying to be something different.

As to Zentih Smackhead Kangaroo - it rocked!

The first book is excellent and although the second book lost its way a bit (the Branson character was a little laboured for my liking) the additional information found out about his parents was worth it.  The final books became quite dark really but highly enjoyable.  UNfortunately I was reading them in 2000AD at the time and our newsaper shop were less than reliable in delivering them!  

Really hard to find decent copies of them these days....let me know if I'm totally wrong and someone knows where I can get a set of them (must admit to being annoyed with the reprinting of pap like Skizz when Zentih is overlooked yet again)[/b]

[Santa's Boyfriend]

As far as I know Zenith will never be re-released.  Old Titan reprints go for about £30 each on ebay (and there are 5 books reprinted).  2000AD had planned to release new copies of Zenith, and even went as far as printing a whole batch of the first book, but it hit some kind of legal problem and now can't be released.  I'm not sure exactly what the problem is, but I suspect that it's Grant Morrison himself not wanting it released - either that, or some other company part-owns the rights and doesn't want it released.  Either way, we're unlikely to see it reprinted anytime soon.  Which is a shame, because it really was good.

[Ronster]

That all seems to ring a very big and annoying bell Santa's Boyfriend.  I do seem to remember hearing that it was never going to be released due to legal issues.

Grrrr damn their eyes....who ever they may be :)

[Ronster]

I was wondering as well what other people's thoughts were as to the Teen Titans and Justice League Unlimited cartoons were.

I've seen more of the TT than the JLU but find both very enjoyable for different reasons.  TT seems to be aimed at a much younger audience but is no less entertaining.

I'm less convinced by the new Batman series but overall DC seems to have the animation thing going pretty well (whereas Marvel do well in the movies but their animation sucks hairy dogs cocks (X Men Evolution anyone?))

[kidsick5000]

As far as I know Zenith will never be re-released.  Old Titan reprints go for about £30 each on ebay (and there are 5 books reprinted).  2000AD had planned to release new copies of Zenith, and even went as far as printing a whole batch of the first book, but it hit some kind of legal problem and now can't be released.  I'm not sure exactly what the problem is, but I suspect that it's Grant Morrison himself not wanting it released - either that, or some other company part-owns the rights and doesn't want it released.  Either way, we're unlikely to see it reprinted anytime soon.  Which is a shame, because it really was good.

Its probably to do with the best two chapters about the multiple earths and all the old brit super characters they dug up.
 Someone has realised theres money to be made from them since the last printing.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The new JLU cartoon is very good from what I've seen. It's got some excellent animation and character development. There seems to be an over-arcing plot about the league's conflict with a shadowy government organisation and a fight between Batman and Superman seems to be on the cards at some point.

[Harfyyn Teuport]

Has anyone read Top Ten: Beyond the Farthest Precinct? It's a huge diappointment for me.  It lacks the charm, verve and imagination of Moore's original. Not that anyone was ever going to come close, but by god they didn't have to fall this far short. The new cases just aren't interesting, the new characters are all fairly dull and pretty much every character arc is enormously predictable. Bah.

I haven't even gone near it. Apparently Moore's intention was always to create his own stable and then lease his characters off in a Stan Lee stylee, but I would actually prefer if it was just a 'few-books-a-year labour of love type thing, as long as the few books we got were Moore rather than other writers aping his style/destroying his characterisations.

I liked Smax. Cannon's art style isn't Ha's, but it is a grower and the writing, I thought of as a nice little writer's holiday for Moore.

Is Albion any good? Don't have the first clue what it's even about. Have had no money to buy anything for ages so I'll have to pick up a TPB if and when it appears.

[MojoJojo]

As far as I know Zenith will never be re-released.  Old Titan reprints go for about £30 each on ebay (and there are 5 books reprinted).  2000AD had planned to release new copies of Zenith, and even went as far as printing a whole batch of the first book, but it hit some kind of legal problem and now can't be released.  I'm not sure exactly what the problem is, but I suspect that it's Grant Morrison himself not wanting it released - either that, or some other company part-owns the rights and doesn't want it released.  Either way, we're unlikely to see it reprinted anytime soon.  Which is a shame, because it really was good.

Its probably to do with the best two chapters about the multiple earths and all the old brit super characters they dug up.
 Someone has realised theres money to be made from them since the last printing.

It's a bit murkier than that, I think. The first and third volumes are considerably cheaper on eBay, I think because they had a second printing. I remember in the intro bit to the first volume, it's admited that some of it was nicked. A lot of the chaos religion style stuff, I think - the prayer at the end of book 1 was a bit mentioned specifically. They had to apologise to avoid getting their pants sued off ... so I suspect that might have something to do with the 2nd book being in limbo, anyway.

Are some of the characters from the 4th/5th books in older stuff then? Didn't know that. I didn't like the 4th and 5th books... just seemed to be a bit tedious without much real progress.

I would recommend the first book though, if anyone sees it going cheap on eBay.

[Xander]

The new JLU cartoon is very good from what I've seen. It's got some excellent animation and character development. There seems to be an over-arcing plot about the league's conflict with a shadowy government organisation and a fight between Batman and Superman seems to be on the cards at some point.

I absolutely adore it. The level of continuity is superb, taking elements from Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS and Batman Beyond. The way it all ties together at the end is superb.

As for Batman/Superman - if you haven't seen it already, SPOILERS There isn't a Batman/Superman fight, but there is a whole episode dedicated to the tensions of Superman/Captain Marvel. As Batman says "The league likes him. He's...sunny..."

[Smackhead Kangaroo]

teen titans is amusing for about 6 episodes, then people desirin some substance will switch off due to the episodic nature of the series

JLU is very likeable indeed, It has quite a few references to the other cartoon series too Superman in particular.
It's a pity it took quite a few episodes to get started, and then it's as if they realised that having a plot was good, and it all starts to go a bit over the top, (in the best possible way).

And Batman is always comes off as the best YAY. though the JLU incarnation of the Question is very good. I think he's voiced by that guy who used to handle the Dominion in Deep Space Nine Could be wrong.


SPOILER



The only problem I have with it is at the end it decides it's a soft touch after all and the Flash survives. I would have liked the whole thing a lot better if he'd have stayed dead. After all they can always resurrect him at any point because of the nature of his 'speedforce' death. And in the next series- yes there's one slated, they could have had a bit of tension with a new Flash trying to fill his yellow boots. Not that Flash was any good until THE LAST TWO EPISODES.

Anyway I like it enough to get a boxset if and when it comes out. Only JLU though JL is only episodic and I'd only wnat the episode where they travel to the alternate world of old comic book characters.

[kidsick5000]

Are some of the characters from the 4th/5th books in older stuff then?

Robot Archie, Steel Claw, and all loads of the others are revamps from the old Tiger, Action and other IPC comics from back in the day

[Boss Mew]

I'd sell my unborn (and unlikely to exist) firstborn male child to read Zenith again

I did rather a good painting of Zenith in my youth. Still knocking about somewhere

[Ronster]

I've been picking up Albion and am not entirely convinced.

I'm not sure though whether it is one of those books that will benefit from sitting down with it all when it is over and reading in one sitting.  

So far I have had some enjoyment in the novelty of spotting old IPC characters but beyond that it seems a bit piecemeal and messy.

But as I said I am going to re read it when it is over and give it another shot.  Anyone else been reading it - I'd be interested to hear someone elses opinions on it.

[Smackhead Kangaroo]

So my best bet for Zenith is to wade through the old tattered and worn, and occasionally sticky progs of 2000AD? they're out in the garage being eaten by buggies.