Royals: Masters of War a sixth issue mini-series from Vertigo written by current Judge Dredd scribe Rob Williams with art by Simon Coleby. It's an alternate reality/history story with the premise that Royal Blood carries with it super human powers. The story starts out with Prince Henry breaking the non-interference treaty and getting involved in WWII. It's 3 issues in and a pretty interesting read. If I had one complaint it's that it seems like I'm not yet halfway though the story.
[Comics] What Comics are you Currently Reading Thread
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I liked the movie version of Wanted. Yes it was dumb but it was enjoyable dumb and that's all it was trying to be.
The comic series though? The main character is about as likeable as Joffrey the difference being we were supposed to hate Joffrey & he eventually got what was coming to him. The only reason I got through the Wanted comic was because i wanted to see the main character eventually get what he deserved too. Instead it ends with him sneering at the reader for not being as "awesome" as he is. Fuck you Mark Millar he's not awesome he's a Mary-Sue with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Rat Queens I picked up Rat Queens during Emerald City ComiCon and thinking about a Hannah cosplay. :3 I adore the characters and all of their sass. Unfortunately I failed to realize how new it was at the time, so I'll just have to patiently await the next volume... le sigh.
Spider-Man: Blue
I picked this up when I swung by a local comic shop during Free Comic Book Day. I thought it was really good and a nice look at the whole dyanic for Peter Parker of Gwen Stacy and Mary-Jane Watson.
By the way, in terms of comics, I'm planning on jumping ship from DC and put more of a focus on reading Marvel. What stories would people recommend, whether current titles or old graphic novels and trades?
I picked this up when I swung by a local comic shop during Free Comic Book Day. I thought it was really good and a nice look at the whole dyanic for Peter Parker of Gwen Stacy and Mary-Jane Watson.
By the way, in terms of comics, I'm planning on jumping ship from DC and put more of a focus on reading Marvel. What stories would people recommend, whether current titles or old graphic novels and trades?
Where do I start...
Spider-Man:
Torment, Kraven's Last Hunt, Maximum Carnage, Spider-Man No More, The Alien Costume Saga, Death of the Stacys
X-Men:
The Dark Phoenix Saga (personally probably my favorite comic book storyline of all time), Days of Future Past, God Loves Man Kills, Xtinction Agenda
General Marvel/Cosmic:
Operation Galactic Storm, The Infinity Gauntlet, Annihilation, Secret Wars
I could go on...
I haven't been keeping up with current stuff outside of some X-titles.
Spider-Man:
Torment, Kraven's Last Hunt, Maximum Carnage, Spider-Man No More, The Alien Costume Saga, Death of the Stacys
X-Men:
The Dark Phoenix Saga (personally probably my favorite comic book storyline of all time), Days of Future Past, God Loves Man Kills, Xtinction Agenda
General Marvel/Cosmic:
Operation Galactic Storm, The Infinity Gauntlet, Annihilation, Secret Wars
I could go on...
I haven't been keeping up with current stuff outside of some X-titles.
Classic Moon Knight is good.
Deadpool is almost always good.
Chris Claremon'ts Wolverine run is a damn CLASSIC with art by Frank Miller PRE-crazy.
Everything else I agree with BowieLee.
Also, do not read Marvel Knight's Spider-man. It was stupid and because of that comic we had to pretend that Scorpion was Venom for a while. He's not, he's Scorpion.
Deadpool is almost always good.
Chris Claremon'ts Wolverine run is a damn CLASSIC with art by Frank Miller PRE-crazy.
Everything else I agree with BowieLee.
Also, do not read Marvel Knight's Spider-man. It was stupid and because of that comic we had to pretend that Scorpion was Venom for a while. He's not, he's Scorpion.
I also have a soft spot for the weird Marvel titles that you can't even really get anymore because they were never popular enough to merit collections.
Slapstick
Sleepwalker (so crazy, one of the villains is called 8-Ball and he has an 8-ball for a head and uses a rocket powered pool cue to commit crimes)
The original Guardians of the Galaxy (which takes place in an alternate marvel future)
Man Thing
Slapstick
Sleepwalker (so crazy, one of the villains is called 8-Ball and he has an 8-ball for a head and uses a rocket powered pool cue to commit crimes)
The original Guardians of the Galaxy (which takes place in an alternate marvel future)
Man Thing
If you're going to read Deadpool, start with Posehn's run. It's ridiculously good and really makes Wade into more of a character and less of a punchline.
I haven't read his run, but I've heard the exact opposite.
Then they lied to you.
-Mark Waid's current run on Daredevil. They recently restarted it with #1, but I would recommend going back to the previous version first because it's great.
-Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men
-The current run of Hawkeye
-Greg Rucka's run on Wolverine
-Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction's run on Immortal Iron Fist
-Planet Hulk (and arguably World War Hulk, though opinions on that are much more split)
-Mark Waid's run on Fantastic Four with artist Mike Wieringo
-Ed Brubaker's entire run on Captain America
-Ultimate Spider-Man (either the original run or the new run with new Spider-Man, Miles Morales. Both are great.)
-Ultimates 1 & 2. Opinions on this vary, but I like it for being a big, dumb summer blockbuster. Many of the characters are jerks but they're surprisingly compelling jerks. While I much prefer the Steve Rogers of the movies, I kinda dig this version because he's much more of a military hard ass.
-Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men
-The current run of Hawkeye
-Greg Rucka's run on Wolverine
-Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction's run on Immortal Iron Fist
-Planet Hulk (and arguably World War Hulk, though opinions on that are much more split)
-Mark Waid's run on Fantastic Four with artist Mike Wieringo
-Ed Brubaker's entire run on Captain America
-Ultimate Spider-Man (either the original run or the new run with new Spider-Man, Miles Morales. Both are great.)
-Ultimates 1 & 2. Opinions on this vary, but I like it for being a big, dumb summer blockbuster. Many of the characters are jerks but they're surprisingly compelling jerks. While I much prefer the Steve Rogers of the movies, I kinda dig this version because he's much more of a military hard ass.
Yeah avoid Ultimates 3 and anything with the Ultimatum title. It was all building to this big stupid event and it was pretty terrible.
I would also say to give Dan Slott's run on Amazing Spider-Man a try. There's a few pretty good arcs in there before Superior that are worth checking out.
Cable & Deadpool is pretty fun, if you can find it.
I would also say to give Dan Slott's run on Amazing Spider-Man a try. There's a few pretty good arcs in there before Superior that are worth checking out.
Cable & Deadpool is pretty fun, if you can find it.
Marvel did a series of their ultimate collections for this, actually (stuffing 20-some issues into each volume). As far as I know, they're still in print and available.
Oh neat. I knew there were trades of it at one point, I've got two of them I think, but I wasn't sure how easy they'd be to find as the story was awhile ago and wasn't one of their major arcs (tied-in to Cable's island nation thing, but that's it).
Hellboy Weird Tales Volume 1: Always love a good anthology book. Fun fact, I actually got Hell boy Weird Tales volume 2 thinking it was the second volume in the series. Though with the weird continuity of the TPBs I didn't question it until years later.
Thank you for all of the recommendations, everyone. They've been serving as a good point of reference for someone going from DC to Marvel.
I've kicked things off with Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. That was a great read with a very good take on Wolverine though this sort of "failed samurai" mentality. On the whole, definitely recommend.
I've kicked things off with Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. That was a great read with a very good take on Wolverine though this sort of "failed samurai" mentality. On the whole, definitely recommend.
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Thought of a few more recommendations:
-Dan Slott's run on She Hulk. I've only read bits and pieces of it, but I liked what I read and it received a LOT of positive reviews.
-Runaways. Specifically, Brian K. Vaughan's run, which is the first 7 volumes. Joss Whedon wrote for the title for one volume after that. And while it was good, it just didn't have the same magic that Vaughan had.
-Gravity - A mini-series written by Sean McKeever. I'm almost certain this has been long out of print, but you might be able to find it digitally, either on Comixology or if you "legally obtain" it.
-Mary Jane, followed by Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man - On the surface, it feels like a made-for-teen-girls comic. But it's incredibly well written and an interesting take on the Spider-Man mythos.
-X-Men: Age of Apocalypse - This was actually my introduction into the X-Men universe (aside from occasionally catching the 90s cartoon), as I'd just gotten into comics a few years before this. Marvel re-published the whole event into five volumes a few years ago (Vol. 1-4, plus a later-published Prelude volume). Some of it hit and miss, but I'd comfortably say it's about 90% hit. Some of it's dated now and feels a little too 90s at times, but it's still an engaging read overall.
-Dan Slott's run on She Hulk. I've only read bits and pieces of it, but I liked what I read and it received a LOT of positive reviews.
-Runaways. Specifically, Brian K. Vaughan's run, which is the first 7 volumes. Joss Whedon wrote for the title for one volume after that. And while it was good, it just didn't have the same magic that Vaughan had.
-Gravity - A mini-series written by Sean McKeever. I'm almost certain this has been long out of print, but you might be able to find it digitally, either on Comixology or if you "legally obtain" it.
-Mary Jane, followed by Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man - On the surface, it feels like a made-for-teen-girls comic. But it's incredibly well written and an interesting take on the Spider-Man mythos.
-X-Men: Age of Apocalypse - This was actually my introduction into the X-Men universe (aside from occasionally catching the 90s cartoon), as I'd just gotten into comics a few years before this. Marvel re-published the whole event into five volumes a few years ago (Vol. 1-4, plus a later-published Prelude volume). Some of it hit and miss, but I'd comfortably say it's about 90% hit. Some of it's dated now and feels a little too 90s at times, but it's still an engaging read overall.
It's good, but suffers from the greater Marvel Universe. After the first year Disassembled happens, and Jennifer Walters is not treated kindly by it or the next several events that follows.
So, apparently Dan Slott's decided that the spider that gave Peter his powers lived just long enough to bite someone else in the room. ASM #2 is going to introduce Silk, a woman who got powers from the same spider as Peter.
Oh and Cap tells Pete who the new Venom is, according to preview pages. Should be fun!
Oh and Cap tells Pete who the new Venom is, according to preview pages. Should be fun!
Another new Venom? Sweet strawberry Jesus its feels like "The Mask" at this point. Unless this new Venom is actually Eddie Brock thus bringing order back into the universe, than by all means.
Nope, still Flash Thompson. But Pete wasn't around long enough to find out.
Yeah, and he is not happy.
Well no, of course not he's not Happy. Happy Hogan works for Iron Man.
[DOUBLEPOST=1400252572,1400252365][/DOUBLEPOST]http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=2077
Unsurprisingly, David Willis nails it again.
I will say that I don't understand the obsession with free comic book day comics not all being kid friendly, unless this was being specifically marketed as something kids would want. It being superheroes does not make it de facto marketed to kids. Then again, I am there to keep an eye on what my kids are doing and know what I am getting into. Some parents just shrug.
I think it's that some don't want superheroes - certainly not ALL superheroes - to be ultra-violent like it seems to be these days. At least at DC. They read more like early Image than any DC comic I ever enjoyed. And Dan Didio himself has said that they are catering specifically to their older, male audience. They don't care about garnering a strong female or younger audience. THAT'S the problem. They're not trying to pull in new readers with a more diverse line of comics.
The big problem is DC put out two books for Free comic book day, one features Futuristic Batman on the cover, the other is a reprint of Tiny Titans that they gave out last year. My roommate runs a comic shop and worked free comic book day. It was ridiculous how often he had to tell kids that they couldn't have "the one with batman."
I could rage for hours about the lack of all ages and family friendly comics (starting with "There's no reason a parent should have to not let their kid read Action Comics..") and the demographic gaps in the industry, but I will refrain.
figmentPez
Staff member
It had Batman Beyond on the cover, you know, a character created for Saturday morning cartoons, and in some comic book shops was bundled with a Teen Titans Go! comic. So, yeah, there's some valid concerns that this was being mis-marketed.
Furthermore, more than just it's lack of being kid-friendly, it's not new-reader friendly. The alleged purpose of free comic book day is to draw in new readers, and this grimdark slaughtering of iconic heroes isn't likely to draw in new demographics to comics.
Eh, I don't know. While Marvel certainly as grim-dark as DC, they're not exactly knocking every title out of the park, either. While there has been some really good stuff in the last few years (Daredevil, Hawkeye, recently She-Hulk), their main books are a confusing mess. The Avengers titles are crowded and don't look like a lot of fun. The X-Men books are the usual overbooked, convoluted mess. Though Superior Spider-Man has been arguably pretty good.
There's nothing really BAD about most of Marvel's books. But many of them aren't really even noteworthy. Then again, neither are most of DC's books, aside from keeping this "edgy" 90s aesthetic to most of them.
Added emphasis is mine.
This is the main problem with ALL comics today. They're not reader friendly. Back in the 80's and earlier they had footnote references to previous issues, they would mention something in the comic, and add a note in that panel to "see X-Men #136" and go on with the story. Now, it's don't reference at all, or have a block of text near the front of the book to "catch up."
Too many, and I really do feel this, editors think that "kid-friendly" has to be silly and juvenile. Look at the transformation of Teen Titans cartoon to Teen Titans Go! to give you all of that story. Kids want good stories, just like adults do, and most of the time they will be the same story, and don't need additions of "extreme" elements to make the "story." (really, do we need completely blood soaked panels to show a good fight?) Too many are taking the easy route of appealing to the loud fanboi element for more violence and "adult" content instead of demanding interesting stories.
Yup. It bears a lot of similarities to the video game market. The big dogs are losing touch with what the audience wants while the smaller folk are raking in the cash, fans, and accolades.