Comic Books

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dwchang
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Re: Comic Books

Post by dwchang » Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:08 pm

Brad wrote:Just last night I finished reading the huge DC Universe changer Crisis on Infinite Earths. I'm sure anybody who's into DC books knows what this is. I also read a companion piece that came out right after it called History of the DC Universe. It definitely helped to give a lot of relevance to what I had just read. For as messy as the whole thing was, I've gotta say, I'm very glad I read it. I know people say to stay away from the big "event" titles but hey, sue me. I like em (don't actually sue me).
Damn, someone sure got ambitious. As you probably figured out, Crisis basically sets up the "modern" DCU.
Brad wrote:It was pretty appropriate timing since I had also just read volume 1 of the Sinestro Corps War in the Green Lantern series, and it features the Anti-Monitor and a lot of other stuff that makes more sense after reading CoIE. Now I'm planning on going through and catching up on Infinite Crisis, and much to Daniel's dismay, I'll probably check out Final Crisis as well.
I read the Sinestro Corps War when it came out in monthlies, but I read somewhere that the ordering in one of the two trades MIGHT be incorrect so be wary of spoilers. I *think* the second volume comes with the extra one-shots (i.e. you only need to buy the two trades which is convenient), but I don't remember if the one shots make more sense after or before the actual core titles. Again, be careful.

Good news is, if you like GL so far, you are probably going to like all the GL trades going forward for at least another 2 or 3 years worth of material since that's about where I'm at (i.e. after the War of Light and Blackest Night). Hopefully you can see why it's one of the only titles I've been following consistently for the last 5 or 6 years. After giving it some thought, I think it's the only title that I was reading back in 2004 or 2005 that I still read.

As for Infinite/Final Crisis, I wouldn't say I'm dismayed by the former. Infinite Crisis was alright (read: Geoff Johns) and should make sense to you after reading Crisis of the Infinite Earths recently, but Final Crisis is....bleh. I've been reading the DCU longer than you and even I was confused and *extremely* disappointed. You will definitely need to read some background material on 52 and Countdown (104 issues!). Don't actually read the entire series (even I did not), but find some summary on them or just ask me since both basically have only two major plot reveals.

Lastly, not to spoil anything in Infinite Crisis, but chronology wise I think it comes before Sinestro Corps War. I could be wrong, but I think that's where the Anti Monitor makes his reappearance. Again, after reading Crisis, Infinite Crisis should be relatively easy to get into although technically speaking the big event prior to Infinite Crisis was Identity Crisis (which is also good).

So in short, Crisis of the Infinite Earths -> Identity Crisis -> Infinite Crisis -> 52 -> Countdown -> Final Crisis. Sprinkled with other "big events" that are self-contained in a particular series (i.e. Green Lantern: Rebirth, etc.).
-Daniel
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Re: Comic Books

Post by godix » Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:45 am

Brad wrote:I'm sure anybody who's into DC books knows what this is. I also read a companion piece that came out right after it called History of the DC Universe.
Inculding all the tie-ins? I'm pretty sure it was a crisis tie-in issues that had a GL fighting someone with an invisible yellow forcefield. Which was pointed out in that really dramatic way comicbooks have. "Oh no! My ring can not affect him because of his INVISIBLE YELLOW FORCEFIELD!" Invisibility has colors. I laughed. A lot.
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Re: Comic Books

Post by Knowname » Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:36 am

that's so dumb, that is really dumb.
If you do not think so... you will DIE

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Brad
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Re: Comic Books

Post by Brad » Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:23 am

dwchang wrote:Lastly, not to spoil anything in Infinite Crisis, but chronology wise I think it comes before Sinestro Corps War. I could be wrong, but I think that's where the Anti Monitor makes his reappearance. Again, after reading Crisis, Infinite Crisis should be relatively easy to get into although technically speaking the big event prior to Infinite Crisis was Identity Crisis (which is also good).

So in short, Crisis of the Infinite Earths -> Identity Crisis -> Infinite Crisis -> 52 -> Countdown -> Final Crisis. Sprinkled with other "big events" that are self-contained in a particular series (i.e. Green Lantern: Rebirth, etc.).
Infinite Crisis does indeed happen before Sinestro Corps. In "Wanted: Hal Jordan" (..I think) there's actually a one-page chapter break where it states that in between these 2 issues, the events of Infinite Crisis occurred, and the story picks up one year later.
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Re: Comic Books

Post by dwchang » Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:41 am

Brad wrote:Infinite Crisis does indeed happen before Sinestro Corps. In "Wanted: Hal Jordan" (..I think) there's actually a one-page chapter break where it states that in between these 2 issues, the events of Infinite Crisis occurred, and the story picks up one year later.
Yeah I think that's because 52 was the "missing year" in the DCU since it came out once a week for an entire year. Fortunately, it shouldn't detract from enjoying Sinestro Corps War (or the rest of GL). One thing I really enjoyed about Geoff Johns run is *for the most part* you could read GL by itself without having to read the other DCU titles if you didn't want to.
-Daniel
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Re: Comic Books

Post by godix » Fri Jan 14, 2011 11:48 am

I dunno if Green Hornet is anyones idea of a great comic, or Kevin Smith is their idea of a great comic author. But figured I'd toss a link to a contest to win a copy of Kevin Smith's Green Hornet comic with a couple original sketches.
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Re: Comic Books

Post by Brad » Sat Jan 15, 2011 10:34 pm

So we dropped by Challengers today and I picked up the first volume + 7th issue (most recent) of The Sixth Gun. It's a new-ish title on Oni Press by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. I just finished it up and I am very impressed. It's a really fun and interesting western horror/fantasy series. The first volume is a nice all-encompassing arc, that leaves it open enough to continue the story. If I had to make any criticisms is that by the tail end of it, it does feel like "Oh shit we've gotta wrap this up by vol. 6 so we can make it a normal size TPB." since things sort of feel rushed, but on the whole, I really enjoyed it. It'll be one I continue to pick up each month for sure.
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Re: Comic Books

Post by NS » Sat Jan 15, 2011 11:33 pm

Went to barnes and noble today, read Wolverine:Old man Logan. it's a short arc, worth the read though. The art is very nice as well.

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Re: Comic Books

Post by Brad » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:22 am

Update time :o

So last night I read through Blacksad. It's a super-slick graphic novel told in a very 40's-50's noir fashion. For all intents and purposes it's a gritty detective story, though the characters are all animals. Though it does a very good job of not using this as a gimmick, but more to create a unique atmosphere where people's personas are visually represented by their animal counterparts (ala Animal Farm). So it's more like humans that look like animals rather than animals that act like humans. All in all, I really loved it and I highly recommend it (thanks to Andre for lending it to me).

I picked up Sky Doll as per Sn0wcrash's recommendation. I think his little snippet to describe it was fairly spot on. Really cool art, pretty short on story. The book is pretty much a collection of short stories set in this universe inhabited by sexualized robot dolls. It's really quirky and fun, but the stories just don't really mean that much. However, the art style is really lovely most of the time, so you could look at it as simply an art book and get your money's worth.

I finally got back to reading the Grant Morrison Batbooks I had picked up a while ago. I had read Batman & Son soon after I got them but then for whatever reason moved onto other things. Tonight I read The Black Glove and R.I.P. Well... I can definitely see why many people have mixed feelings on Morrison. Not only does he have a love affair with referencing/bringing back Silver Age characters, he does seem to be one of those "smartest guy in the room" sort of dudes. And with me not having a long history of reading Batman (or the many tie-in books that do directly relate to the main storyline), I was definitely lost for quite a bit of it. However, all that being said, Morrison must be onto something because I do want more. I want to see where this is all going. I also realize that I definitely have to read Final Crisis, if only to see where the Batman storyline goes. Primarily I want to get into Batman & Robin. Everything I've been reading online has been praising it as one of the best cape/cowl stories in the past decade, and I'd like to be able to follow along and not be lost. Maybe that's beyond hope for me if I don't seriously spend months going back through countless back issues, but nevertheless, I'm gonna give it a shot. If I end up disappointed, so be it.

Aside from the main Batbooks, my agenda for the coming week in terms of reading some more of books Andre has picked up, including:
Batwoman: Elegy
Irredeemable: Vol 1+
Incorruptible: Vol. 1+

I'm still putting off starting into Y the Last Man until I decide whether or not to wait for vol. 5 of the hardcovers, or if I'll just bite the bullet, get vol. 9 and 10 of the TPBs and eat the cost later when the hardcover comes out.
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Re: Comic Books

Post by Snowcrash » Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:10 am

Brad wrote:Update time :o

So last night I read through Blacksad. It's a super-slick graphic novel told in a very 40's-50's noir fashion. For all intents and purposes it's a gritty detective story, though the characters are all animals. Though it does a very good job of not using this as a gimmick, but more to create a unique atmosphere where people's personas are visually represented by their animal counterparts (ala Animal Farm). So it's more like humans that look like animals rather than animals that act like humans. All in all, I really loved it and I highly recommend it (thanks to Andre for lending it to me).
Forget to talk about this one, this graphic novel is pretty popular around the world actually. The authors are spanish but the editor is french (Dargaud).
The draws are awesome but it's not my kind of story (despite I read each issue ^^).[/quote]
Brad wrote:I picked up Sky Doll as per Sn0wcrash's recommendation. I think his little snippet to describe it was fairly spot on. Really cool art, pretty short on story. The book is pretty much a collection of short stories set in this universe inhabited by sexualized robot dolls. It's really quirky and fun, but the stories just don't really mean that much. However, the art style is really lovely most of the time, so you could look at it as simply an art book and get your money's worth.
+1
It's worth a look more about the art tha the story.

But I am really waiting the moment when you will read Universal War One :awesome:
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