The print comics thread

[DarkDrgon]

Since we don't have one, how about a thread for all of our favorite print comics? Just picked up a few new ones today, and my response... "eh"

First, DareDevil: reborn 2. In case no one's noticed, DD is my favorite marvel hero.... which is why i'm mad that there seems to be only one story they put him through. Someone finds his identity/messes with civilian life, Matt breaks down, takes some time off, Matt returns the triumphant hero. Its... old. Reborn has some pretty good art, yeah... but the story is grating on me. Just feels like a forced response to Shadowland.

The other, WHAT IF: Venom possesed Deadpool.

another one I didn't like too much. It... bored me. It was a basic deadpool comic. by no means bad, but... the "what if" premise could have been removed and it'd have worked as a Deadpool oneshot.

there are my rants, how does everyone else feel about Comics?

[Magus]

I have been getting into print comics lately. I have no idea what is good so I've been shopping around. I would like to get into Batman but I'm not even sure if Batman is still Batman or what is going on there. Dick Grayson is Batman but only when Batman is out of town? I dunno. Also Deadpool, who people are complaining is kind of being glutted because there are so many Deadpool comic books--but it doesn't really match what's being done with Batman and some other characters. Plus Merc With A Mouth ended instead of being kept as one of the on-going series...though it was replaced with Deadpool Corps. which is kind of just a continuation of the idea (Instead of just Deadpool and Zombie Deadpool's Head, it's now Deadpool, Zombie Deadpool's Head, Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, and Dogpool. It's basically either the best or worst idea ever.)

Anyway, I've gotten issues of the following:

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 -- This is a new series, I think it's attempting to have a comic with Bruce Wayne as Batman instead of Dick Grayson or Azrael as Batman. It's also supposed to be "darker" than the regular comic but from what I'm seeing it's exactly the same but with a different ongoing plot at the moment. Also it costs 3.99 instead of 2.99 but only had like 24 pages of comics panels instead of what you would expect for 3.99, the full 32 pages they have been having for years. I'm presuming the higher price point is due to the author or artist or something. Anyway, plotwise, it's okay. Bruce Wayne is Batman. It's supposed to deal with the more esoteric/supernatural aspects of Gotham, so I'm assuming Dawn Golden (the chick Bruce is trying to find) has been kidnapped to be sacrificed to Satan or what have you.

Batman Beyond #1 -- This is a new series based on the Batman Beyond universe from the cartoons. It was actually first made into a recent comic book miniseries called Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond, which I haven't read yet but which I is on pre-order. Anyway, issue 1 was pretty good, seemed to be a pretty direct sequel to the carton series and kind of raised my expectations that this will be a decent series. Terry's first enemy is a new Matter Master, and the Batman Beyond-era Justice League shows up to help him take him down (Members including Warhawk, the Green Lantern that's a little boy, I forget his name...uhh...Aquagirl...well anyway they were in the cartoons. Warhawk is Green Lantern and Hawkgirl's kid, otherwise I have no idea where the other ones are from. Except Superman, I mean). The only problem with this is the art style which is a little unrealistic without being as cleanly drawn as the cartoon. I think they should have either gone for unrealistic proportions and a cartoony facade or done something realistic, not this weird halfway measure. On the other hand, it's certainly functional and doesn't really make me not enjoy it.

Gotham City Sirens #17, 18, 19 -- I bought issues of this because the comic book store guy put them on sale to try and get people to buy them. The only thing really going for this series is that it's a team-up all the major Batman femme fatales--Zatanna, Talia Al'Ghul, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn. But the plot has not a lot going for it--someone kidnaps Catwoman to find out Batman's identity from raping her mind, the girls rescue her, but then Talia convinces Zatanna to wipe her mind to protect Batman, but then the others disagree with this course of action, there's some fighting--it's not very interesting at the moment. #18 was a pretty good issue but I'm not sure I'll be sticking with this series, as the gimmick kind of wears off pretty quickly.

Turok: Son of Stone #1 -- This is the new Turok series that started last October. The next issue is coming out in March. This is basically a "reboot" of Turok--no knowledge of the '90s Valiant series is required, it seems. This time around Turok is in the 1400s (referenced by the fact that it's several decades before Columbus has come to America, and also that Turok has apparently met Lief Erikson to get his steel knife and arrow heads). He's traveling in the Southwest and saves a young village boy from some renegade Aztecs who invaded the village and were going to sacrifice them. The boy is, as you would guess if you are a Turok fan, Andar. Turok fights off some of the Aztecs and they escape, so they are of course pursued by the Aztec warriors and their exiled emperor, Maxtla. Maxtla and the Aztecs make a pretty good starting villain to get Turok into the Lost Land--which is of course where they all end up when they fall into a portal in a cave. This new series is basically a mash-up of the old 1950s series and the Valiant series--it's set in the distant past like the '50s series but is violent and adult like the '90s series. I'm not sure if what we came to love in the Valiant series will come to fruition, i.e. Bionosaurs, machine guns, and magic clashing in the Lost Land. I'm sure that's going to show up--the first issue ends with who I am assuming is Mothergod appearing to Turok in the Lost Land, who in the original series brought technology and warriors from all eras of Earth's history to be in her army. So this may end up being a lot like the original Valiant series.

Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth TPB -- This collects the entire run of Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, 1-13, which I found really enjoyable. I only got around three to four of this series, so getting the whole thing should be a laugh and a half. As I said, this series which contained the shenanigans of Deadpool running into Zombie Deadpool's Head was spun off into the new Deadpool Corps.

I've also ordered the first couple of issues of Batman Inc but I haven't gotten them off comic book store guy yet so we'll see if this series is good.

[Chocobo]

The only American comic I've read is Watchmen and the first volume of Scott Pilgrim. I kind of want to finish Scott Pilgrim but so many plot points have been ruined for me so I'm not sure if it'd still be interesting.

[DarkDrgon]

I think Scott Pilgrim is good enough to pick up for the art alone.

Wednesday I picked up the first issue of Abyss vol. 2. I enjoyed it.

Also got the newest Black Panther: The man without fear.

Fuck you. you are no Daredevil (so i'm a bit of a fanboy.... deal)

Magus: I never got into Batman (GASP! I know) just never really appealed to me. Except the cartoon, that was nuts

[Azisien]

Currently, very slowly, reading Burma by Guy Delisle. Simple, enjoyable.

Trying to get my hands on Neonomicon by Alan Moore, but local comic shop hasn't stocked it.

[Magus]

Yeah, I thought Daredevil was the man without fear, but now the Black Panther is being called the man without fear...it's pretty confusing. Marvel is fond of team-ups though so they could just go with a The Men Without Fear limited series starring both to make money.

I will review some more comics I got:

Batman Beyond #2 -- This comic is simply delightful. In this particular issue Terry takes on the new Justice League in a rollicking battle. I absolutely love this new series and highly recommend it to anyone who was a fan of the cartoon show for this issue alone. I think this is going to be one of my favorite series going forward. I was a little skiddish with the first comic which was setting the stage, but now that I've read this one I feel no qualms about continuing to read this series.

Gotham City Sirens #19 -- Argh, I hate this series. The plot is terrible and the artwork has actually gotten worse since the last issue. Pretty sure I'm going to drop this.

Batman Incorporated #1 and #2 -- This series is absolutely great as well. This two-part beginning series sees Batman taking on Japanese supervillain Lord Death Man with the aid of Japanese super-hero Mr. Unknown. This series seemed to hit the exact right note of being over-the-top without feeling ridiculous, some kind of perfect stirring together of elements that felt very entertaining and fun. I don't want to ruin it but let's just say it involves a giant squid and a sports-car machine-gun rampage. It sounds ridiculous but it worked so perfectly. I can't wait to continue reading this series.

[DarkDrgon]

Matt Murdock is away because of last years big marvel event, so Black Panther is taking up slack while the actual DD comic goes through its usual cycle (Matts life good, gets interesting, blown to pieces, angst, repeat)