The Best of the Superhero Comic

[CaptainCanada]

As a companion piece to the cheery "Death of the Superhero Comic" thread, what current comics, superhero or otherwise, are you most enjoying at the moment?

In terms of ongoing stuff, the crown jewels of Marvel at the moment are, in my opinion, The Incredible Hercules and Captain America.

The former is an oddball launch, what they did with the leftover Incredible Hulk after Loeb's abysmal new Hulk series was launched; but, from the start, it's been really amazing. Incorporating classic myth and modern Marvel continuity into some of the most imaginative, dramatic, and humourous stories recently published (taking the recent Secret Invasion concept, for example, and spinning it into an Odyssey-esque story with Herc and a crew of obscure Marvel myth heroes on a quest to find and kill the Skrull gods).

Captain America, of course, has been in the news more. Brubaker's seminal run continues, following the end of the 18-part "Death of Captain America". The website CBR did a big "Top 100 Runs" poll of its readers a while ago, and this was the highest-scoring run to be currently in progress (#17).

I recently read the first trade for one of Vertigo's newer launches, House of Mystery (by the creative team of Jack of Fables), and it's quite good, though the anthology portion seems kind of tacked-on in this revamp (in the original House the anthology was the only point, and in The Sandman, which this obviously draws a lot from, Gaiman was conducting a lengthy examination of dreams and the creative function, but here they don't have any real connection to the main mystery plot, at least so far).

 

[miraclefan]

NOTHING FROM THE BIG TWO! But I am reading a LOT of indeis, I recomend, The Boys, Project superpowers & related spin-off's, The walking dead, The only thing from the big two ( DC) I am currantly reading is there graphic novels, The newly released Alan Moore SWAMP THING and Neil Gaimans Absolute Sandman.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Currently, for superheroes, I'd say The Immortal Iron Fist, Astonishing X-Men, Secret Warriors, Kick-Ass/Wolverine/Fantastic Four, Thor, Invincible, The Astounding-Wolf Man and Deadpool.

Non-superhero, I'd say Bad Dog, RASL, Mice Templar, Ex Machina, The Walking Dead, The Damned, Fables and Jack of Fables.

 

[Admiral2]

Spider-Man, Batman, JLA, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman

 

[CaptainCanada]

Not a big fan of the current JLA run; McDuffie's talented (just look at JLU), but DC hamstrung him by turning the book into a series of ads for other books.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Spider-Man, Batman, JLA, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman

The only one of those book's that readable right now is Iron Man, sadly.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spider-Man, Batman, JLA, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman

The only one of those book's that readable right now is Iron Man, sadly.

Gail Simone's Wonder Woman's pretty good, though it's still dealing with the fallout of all the awful Silver Age crap Johns and Heinberg pushed on the character.

 

[The Great Meech]

Daredevil is good (I read it in trade, so I don't know about the current storyline).

 

[Mr Light]

The Sinestro Corps War was excellent and got me back into buying comics. I enjoyed the main Civil War and Secret Invasion series. I'm just now getting into the second hardback collection of Invincible, and while it's nothing but one huge analogue of Marvel/DC characters, it's very enjoyable.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Daredevil is good (I read it in trade, so I don't know about the current storyline).

The most recent story arc I thought was Brubaker's best since "The Devil in Cell-Block D".

 

[Nick Ryder]

I was digging the slightly Pre-and slightly Post Civil War She Hulk and Ms. Marvel runs. They were just fun. I like that in a superhero comic. Fun. Action. And a few cute chicas

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Daredevil is good (I read it in trade, so I don't know about the current storyline).

Brubaker is hit and miss for me, and, sadly, his DD is a big miss. Although I did love his use of the Punisher in the initial arc to no end.

The Sinestro Corps War was excellent and got me back into buying comics. I enjoyed the main Civil War and Secret Invasion series. I'm just now getting into the second hardback collection of Invincible, and while it's nothing but one huge analogue of Marvel/DC characters, it's very enjoyable.

I agree with all of this except for The Sinestro Corps War bit. I find Johns to be ludicrously overrated. Civil War and Secret Invasion were great fun, and Invincible is fantastic. I just read the fifth TPB the other day. Great stuff.

Spider-Man, Batman, JLA, Superman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman

The only one of those book's that readable right now is Iron Man, sadly.

Gail Simone's Wonder Woman's pretty good, though it's still dealing with the fallout of all the awful Silver Age crap Johns and Heinberg pushed on the character.

God, isn't Johns dreadful? Blech.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Good idea.

I love Booster Gold!

For one thing its a self contained title. I don't have to read other DC books to enjoy it. Also its just fun! Due to the time travel nature of the series each issue tells a story, even if part of a large arc.

Oh and while I like some of Geoff Johns stuff, he is overrated. I am enjoying Booster even more now since Johns has left. His creator Dan Jurgens is not only drawing the series but writing it now as well. The stories are much more streamlined and old school (A GOOD THING!) Johns is too fixated on setting up mysteries that take forever to resolve.

 

[Nick Ryder]

Dan Jurgens is THE MAN! I have to admit, I've loved his stuff since Panic in the Sky, I practically had him sainted after Death of Superman. Dan Jurgens should take over DC doncha know! He KNOWS how to do a FUN, well drawn, dynamic super hero comic.

 

[shanejayell]

Secret Six!

How often do you get a series staring a group of barely functional supervillains, many of whom barely like each other? And it's a RIOT!

 

[Ceridwen]

Gail Simone's Wonder Woman's pretty good, though it's still dealing with the fallout of all the awful Silver Age crap Johns and Heinberg pushed on the character.

While I too can't stand the Agent Diana Prince stuff, I'd like to point out that Johns hasn't been anywhere near Wonder Woman. DC editorial has largely been the driving force behind that particular resurgence of the Silver Age, and, yes, Heinberg penned it, but Johns, to my knowledge, had nothing to do with it.

 

[Icemizer]

Captain America has been consistently terrific for quite a while now.
Daredevil is still a good read and I am looking forward to the Kingpins return.
Iron Fist has been teetering on the edge lately but started very strong.
Thor is ok but seems to be treading water.

Green Lantern has been great.
JSA was very solid but now its wait and see.
The Bat titles have been as confusing as I have ever seen them(30+ years of collecting)
Wonder Woman seems to have Simon struggling to find her voice
Booster Gold is at the top of my read list every month. Very entertaining.
The current Superman arc has been solid but not spectacular in anyway.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Gail Simone's Wonder Woman's pretty good, though it's still dealing with the fallout of all the awful Silver Age crap Johns and Heinberg pushed on the character.

While I too can't stand the Agent Diana Prince stuff, I'd like to point out that Johns hasn't been anywhere near Wonder Woman. DC editorial has largely been the driving force behind that particular resurgence of the Silver Age, and, yes, Heinberg penned it, but Johns, to my knowledge, had nothing to do with it.

Johns was the prime mover behind Infinite Crisis, which was a treatise on how the George Perez Wonder Woman is an inhuman monster because she doesn't have a false identity, and the story ends with her assuming one. He even has Hal Jordan monologue to the audience about how he finally likes Diana now that she has a secret ID in a post-IC issue of Green Lantern.

 

[Thrall]

Green Lantern is good. Johns is the only writer who could make Hal Jordan interesting to me.

The Boys is hilarious. If you hate anything that is popular in the industry now, like I do, this book is for you.

Just about everything else is rubbish.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Nice to see some fellow Booster Gold fans!

One thing I will give full credit to Geoff Johns for is embracing Booster as a Time Traveler. When Jurgens first created him it was only the means of bringing him to the 20th Century. Though this direction perfectly fits Jurgens' own sensibilities. Having created Waverider and the Linear Men. I first became a fan of Booster through his guest appearances when Jurgens was writing Superman.

Johns clearly was inspited by my favorite tv series Quantum Leap. When the title was launched I made some comparisons between this take on Booster and the show on his forum. Johns jokingly accused me of listening in on their story sessions! Because I was so insync with his ideas. The number of times Booster said "Oh, Boy!" seemed to increase after I said that.... (I often wonder if I am responsible for that! LOL!)

One of the strengths of the title is having a new time period for each issue. With Booster arriving in a time and place with something that needs to be fixed and leaving at the end of the issue. So each month story feels complete even if part of a larger storyline. How rare is that these days???!!! A story structure very much owed to Quantum Leap.