JD's Comic Book Thread

[Jinn]

From what I've heard the first couple of months were actually pretty decent, so maybe you could start reading the good stuff and stop then?

 

[JD]

I finished up the first batch of New 52 Batman issues. I can see why people were raving about these so much, they were great.
The story was good, and easy to follow for someone who's only read a handful of Batman comics before this.
Greg Capullo's art was really good, and there some specific panels that really stood out for me. There was one scene where Batman and Nightwing are having a conversation and we are looking at them through the eyeholes of Batman's mask. I thought that was pretty cool, and the stuff like that managed to keep the scenes that were pretty much just two character standing around talking from getting boring.
Reading #5 with the pages changing directions constant was weird on my tablet, I can't imagine what it must have been like for the paper version.
The Court of Owls are seriously creepy.
So where did Batman first run into Harper Row? I'm familiar with the character from looking around on the DC Wiki, but unless I forgot about a brief appearance, I don't think I got their first encounter in this storyline. I'm assuming it was in either The Dark Knight or Detective Comics?
I was surprised how big of a role Nightwing played in these. The Court's connections to him and Bruce Wayne's family were interesting.

 

[TheSeeker]

I really enjoyed the Court of Owls story as well. As far as Harper Row goes, the intertubes says her first appearance was in issue #1 of the New 52 relaunch of Batman.

 

[JD]

I just skimmed through it, twice, and I didn't see her anywhere.
EDIT:
Ah, I just checked Wikipedia, and it says that she made a silent cameo in #1, which I apparently missed 3 times, that #7 was her first significant appearance, and their first encounter is covered in #12. So I'm just glad to know I didn't miss anything important.

 

[TheSeeker]

I like her character. Solid edition to the bat-family.

 

[JD]

Is she part of the team in Detective Comics? I don't remember seeing Bluebird mentioned online anywhere recently.

 

[Jinn]

Is she part of the team in Detective Comics?

I don't think so, but I'm not entirely up to date on Detective Comics.

 

[JD]

I finished reading the digital version of the second collection of Lumberjanes, Friendship to the Max last night. I seriously love this series, it is just so much fun. Any book that can combine a valociraptor attack, a coonskin cap that is actually a live raccoon named Bubbles, and Greek Gods all in one story is pretty much right up my alley. It's got a great cast, it's really fun and funny, and it's got a nice message about friendship (to the max).

 

[Kai "the spy"]

I've been reading Detective Comics as trades, but I'll switch to the floppies coming September, seeing how the book is getting pretty close to #1000 (and I actually like the book). I've not been reading the main Batman book since the first trade, as I'm not that fond of the Blockbuster style they're going for. I actually prefer the smaller detective stories for solo Batman.

So, finished reading "Infinity Gauntlet". It was an alright read, but left me relatively cold, what with the massive reset button at the end.

As for other Marvel stories I'm planning on getting in the near future, there're "Dark Phoenix" and "Days of Future Past".

Also, I've seen there's a new series of Spider-Girl collections starting in a month. Read the first two issues back in the day, and remember liking it (also, I had a bit of a crush on Mayday Parker). Tempted to get in on those.

Any other suggestions for good Marvel stories? Already read the Frank Miller Daredevil and Civil War, among a few others. I'd also like to read more about Storm.

I also just pre-ordered the Conan omnibus that Marvel will release in January. Largest comics acquisition I've done so far at $125.00 (roughly €106.00 for me).

 

[Mike Farley]

What is Marvel doing publishing Conan? I thought the rights were still at Dark Horse.

 

[JD]

They announced back in January that Marvel had gotten the rights back.
It would be a bit amusing if Marvel reprinted Dark Horse's comics, after Dark Horse reprinted theirs while they had the license.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

They announced back in January that Marvel had gotten the rights back.
It would be a bit amusing if Marvel reprinted Dark Horse's comics, after Dark Horse reprinted theirs while they had the license.

That's how it goes with licensed comics. Marvel is reprinting the DH Star Wars comics, too, as DH reprinted the classic Marvel run, and IDW reprinted Trek comics originally published by DC.

They'll take their time before getting to the DH Conan stuff, though. DH is putting the omnibusses of their stuff out while they still can, so there won't be a high demand for Marvel to do so again that soon. Plus, Marvel has a lot of their own classic Conan comics to reprint, especially since DH botched the "Conan the Barbarian" with the digital re-coloring, and the "Savage Sword" books with the wrong format.

 

[Mike Farley]

Come on Marvel. Get the rights for Micronauts and Rom back!

 

[Captain Craig]

Is it worth reading Spider-Man's original Clone Saga? It seems like most people don't really like it, but it's constantly being referred to in the comics, and getting sequels and follow-ups.

Is it worth reading? I say yes with the caveat that I admit it got bogged down in the middle.
However, in the years since I've read interviews about the Clone Saga that explain why I felt it was bogged down in the middle. It was never originally intended to last some 2 years with various tangents that it had. There was a turnover at the EIC spot, Bankruptcy was an issue and these things impacted the story.

Apparently at the time there was an intention to keep Ben as "THE" Peter Parker, "THE" Spider-man with no end point. The Peter Parker everyone had read was going to quietly go away and be a Dad with Mary Jane. With Bankruptcy looming the marquee character of the company in such a state was not viable. That ushered in a new EIC who then had to set up the conclusion but that titanic sized decision couldn't be done on a dime. So what was to be a one year story, became two.

In some ways it was ahead of its time knowing that today Marvel has replaced Odinson with Jane as "THE" Thor for years. Steve would be replaced as Captain America by Brubaker with Winter Soldier and then Sam/Falcon for a number of years. I could go on. The story was ahead of it's time as far as creating new legacy characters. Ben was 'dusted' as a way to shut down any speculation that the Peter we all new was the real Peter. However, Ben had developed his own strong following which is a part and parcel as to why you see the Clone Saga revisited. Why Kaine became Scarlet Spider, why Ben 2.0 is here in a current series teamed with Kaine. We still don't have the Ben that I feel fans want but he's back and Marvel seems to understand now they can have Peter, Miguel, Miles, Ben and Kaine without fear of losing what makes Peter special.

 

[JD]

Would it be better to star reading Green Lantern with Rebirth or the New 52 series?

 

[Kai "the spy"]

With Rebirth, do you mean "Green Lantern: Rebirth" or "DC Universe: Rebirth"? Basically, GL Rebirth was the start of Geoff Johns re-direction of the Green Lantern series, bringing back the Corps, the Guardians, etc..

In the New 52, they basically continued from pre-Flashpoint, because GL was the most popular book aside from Batman (who also didn't receive the hard reboot all the other DC books got with the New 52), and I think it started with Sinestro replacing Hal Jordan in the GL Corps. Didn't follow it after the first issue.

With DC Rebirth, it's a good jumping on point. It's not a clean slate, but this is where I came back in, and I can vouch for the series after that. "Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps", that is, I haven't followed "Green Lanterns" (aside from the first TPB).

 

[Jinn]

I loved the Rebirth Green Lanterns ongoing, but Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps was also pretty great. Didn't read any previous GL stuff, though.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Come on Marvel. Get the rights for Micronauts and Rom back!

They can't. They are owned by Hasbro who still harbors some hope of making their own multimedia universe with their various properties including Transformers and GI Joe despite these attempts so far being all misfires.

 

[JD]

With Rebirth, do you mean "Green Lantern: Rebirth" or "DC Universe: Rebirth"? Basically, GL Rebirth was the start of Geoff Johns re-direction of the Green Lantern series, bringing back the Corps, the Guardians, etc..

In the New 52, they basically continued from pre-Flashpoint, because GL was the most popular book aside from Batman (who also didn't receive the hard reboot all the other DC books got with the New 52), and I think it started with Sinestro replacing Hal Jordan in the GL Corps. Didn't follow it after the first issue.

With DC Rebirth, it's a good jumping on point. It's not a clean slate, but this is where I came back in, and I can vouch for the series after that. "Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps", that is, I haven't followed "Green Lanterns" (aside from the first TPB).

Sorry, I forgot there were two different GL related books called Rebirth, I mean the first GL: Rebirth that brought Hal Jordon back.
At this point I might just wait until I get to the other DC: Rebirth books and just jump in then.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

As I've already stated in the Last Purchases thread, I was at ComicCon Germany this weekend and spent almost €400,- on comic books. By now, I've done a complete list, thought I'd share it:

- Showcase Presents: Justice League of America, Vol. 4
- Superman: True Brit
- Justice
- Crisis on Infinite Earths
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #3: Justice Society
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #18: The New Teen Titans
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #21: Justice Society of America
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #23: Green Arrow
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #26: The Brave and the Bold
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #30: Detective Comics
- DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #35: Year's Best Comics Stories
- Star Trek TOS Omnibus (IDW)
- Kevin Smith's Green Hornet, Vol. 1
- Xenozoic by Mark Schultz
- Squeak the Mouse 2
- Walt Kelly's Santa Claus Adventures
- Danger Girl: The Dangerous Collection, Vol. 2
- Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew! #2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 14
- Showcase '93 #9
- Showcase '95 #4, 5, 7, 8
- Showcase '96 #1
- Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #6
- The Outsiders #1
- America vs the Justice Society #4
- L.E.G.I.O.N. #18, 34, 35, 45
- L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #5
- R.E.B.E.L.S. #0
- Lobo #17, 18, 19
- Lobo Chained
- Lobo: I quit!
- Lobo & Demon: Helloween
- Hitman vs Lobo: That Stupid Bastich!
- The Flash (Vol. 2) #17, 20, 21, 22, 79, 80, 81
- The Flash Annual #5
- Superman Adventures #41
- Superman (Vol. 2) #90
- Action Comics #715
- Superman: The Man of Steel #52
- New Titans Annual #10
- Martian Manhunter Annual #1
- Jack Kirby's Fourth World #1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- Deathstroke #4
- Icon #1, 2, 3
- Batman #455, 463, 550
- Detective Comics #687, 688
- Conan the Barbarian (Marvel) #140, 153, 154, 172
- Avengers (Vol. 1) #337, 338
- Uncanny Origins #9, featuring Storm
- Power Man & Iron FIst (Vol. 1) #70
- Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #45, 46, 47
- The Twilight Zone (Now Comics) #1, 2, 3
- The Twilight Zone Annual (Now Comics) #1
- Tex Avery's Wolf & Red #1, 2, 3
- XXXenophile #1, 3

That should keep me busy for a few days.