When I asked the guy at the comic store what was good, one of the first things he recommended was All Star Western. That surprised me, because that was probably at the bottom of my list of ideas. Batman, Spider-Man, Justice League, that kind of thing, were what I was looking for.
His advice was excellent. It was a remarkable change from what I'd expected in comics and in the thirty minutes it took me to read it changed what I was looking for in comics.
I had no idea this was going to be a buddy book. It should be. The dichotomy between Arkham and Jonah is played off perfectly. It's taken a bit of a dip in New Orleans as Cinnamon and Nighthawk add absolutely completely nothing, but Hex and their plan to bring down the August 7 is pretty cool.
There is one thing that is keeping this from being an A. It's a $4 book that has awful backups instead of $4 worth of Jonah Hex and Arkham. The backups have been terrible (although the Barbary Ghost was ok, I'd give it a D+), but the others have been low quality and dumb. I'd rather pay $3 and not be stuck with 8 pages of crap at the end. It's too bad. Issue 1, I couldn't believe how much story there was - it was the best first issue DC printed. The rest have seemed short (although the story moves along much faster here than in other books, Gray and Palmiotti have succeeded there. I wish they had the full set of pages to give me more All Star Western.
All Star Western 1-9 - Grade: Hex/Arkham = A, Backups = D-, Final Grade: B+.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Batman Annual #1 (and 1-9)
Batman has been one of the top 5 books of the New 52 without question in my mind. It and Batman and Robin I have found to be light years ahead of the other Bat-books. The Night of the Owls needs to end and probably didn't need 85 crossovers (of which I read all, and actually liked most of them and was glad to get exposed to the new Bat-Universe), but I'm about done with it as it no longer seems like much of a threat as all the Talons pretty much got their butts kicked.
Batman 1-9: Grade = A.
Batman Annual: I never know what to expect with annuals. In the past I've usually been disappointed by them, expecting more and better and frequently getting five times the fluff for twice the price. Not this one. Straight up a Mr. Freeze book, this book is awesome from start to finish. The back story of Freeze is creepy and sad, his current motivations are even creepier, and he is extraordinarily powerful, weird, and a bit scary. He's turned into a fantastic villain, which makes me happy, since my only memories of him are from the old TV show and whichever Bat-movie he was in.
This is only the second time I've read him. The first was in Red Hood, and it was good, but this was over the top awesome. I guess I don't like that at the end he's going to be back in Arkham and not on the loose, because I think he could be a fun villain to have around (unlike the Penguin, who has sucked in the other Bat-book he's in). I'm setting the bar here for the grade for this because I hate doing this right off the bat, but this book is that outstanding.
Batman Annual 1: Grade = A+
Batman 1-9: Grade = A.
Batman Annual: I never know what to expect with annuals. In the past I've usually been disappointed by them, expecting more and better and frequently getting five times the fluff for twice the price. Not this one. Straight up a Mr. Freeze book, this book is awesome from start to finish. The back story of Freeze is creepy and sad, his current motivations are even creepier, and he is extraordinarily powerful, weird, and a bit scary. He's turned into a fantastic villain, which makes me happy, since my only memories of him are from the old TV show and whichever Bat-movie he was in.
This is only the second time I've read him. The first was in Red Hood, and it was good, but this was over the top awesome. I guess I don't like that at the end he's going to be back in Arkham and not on the loose, because I think he could be a fun villain to have around (unlike the Penguin, who has sucked in the other Bat-book he's in). I'm setting the bar here for the grade for this because I hate doing this right off the bat, but this book is that outstanding.
Batman Annual 1: Grade = A+
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Image/Darkhorse/Other titles
The best part about my newly re-found comic enthusiasm is all of the smaller titles that I'm enjoying. I'm trying a ton of titles, dropping many after one or two issues (money is a factor), but always looking for new writers, or old writers getting to write something away from the mainstream.
Brilliant - Slow moving, apparently there's only going to be a few issues of this, so whatever is going to happen better happen pretty quickly.
Dungeons and Dragons - A fantastic first 15 issues. Just fantastic. And then. . . it stopped, and was a weird Infestation tie-in, and now an Ed Greenwood vehicle, and I'm not going to pay for Ed Greenwood's writing. I'm just not.
Fatale - Awesome. I have no idea what's going to happen, but I'm liking every page of every issue.
Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist - I liked the first two issues more than the last two. I hope it regains its stride.
Merciless - Only one issue so far in the story of young Ming, and it was excellent.
Invincible - One of my happiest finds. The hard part is going to be affording the money to go back and get all the old trades leading up to the current issues.
Kirby: Captain Victory - I've liked this so far. I had no idea what to expect.
Kirby: Dragonsbane - I really did not care for the first couple issues and will probably drop this title.
Kirby: Genesis - I missed the first few and only got on board issue 5. I like it, but it's too broad in scope and creating a very irregularly paced story.
Kirby: Silver Star - My favorite Kirby title. The art has a watercolor painting feel to it. A strange story about a person that is too powerful for his own good it seems.
Lord of the Jungle - Love the Francavilla covers, hated the annual, losing interest in the story. I might keep buying if I can get the Francavilla covers, but that's it.
Manhattan Projects - Absurd, surreal, weird, and fantastic. The art takes some getting used to and puts it in a different direction than if it were more realistically drawn.
Saga - Finally got the first issue (4th printing. Better than Fatale, where I couldn't get it until the 5th). Awesome story. I have issues 2 and 3 already bagged, now I finally get to read them.
Saucer Country - I can't tell if this is supposed to be social commentary or not. I hope not - I don't like to be fooled and the story is too good to have some deeper meaning.
Secret - I'm getting my secrets confused.
Secret History of D.B. Cooper - Weird and fun. I can't wait for the next issue.
Secret Service - I get this confused with Secret and am going to have to reread both of them.
Smoke and Mirrors - Issue three I think took a step backwards (a bit too much flashback), but a cool book.
Super Crooks - I find it formulaic, but so well done (and surprisingly violent) that I've liked it anyway.
Thief of Thieves - I can't wait to re-read this. I really have enjoyed it so far.
I may be missing a couple things, but this is a pretty good list. A couple of the retro titles are in danger, but holy crap are there some cool stories in these.
Brilliant - Slow moving, apparently there's only going to be a few issues of this, so whatever is going to happen better happen pretty quickly.
Dungeons and Dragons - A fantastic first 15 issues. Just fantastic. And then. . . it stopped, and was a weird Infestation tie-in, and now an Ed Greenwood vehicle, and I'm not going to pay for Ed Greenwood's writing. I'm just not.
Fatale - Awesome. I have no idea what's going to happen, but I'm liking every page of every issue.
Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist - I liked the first two issues more than the last two. I hope it regains its stride.
Merciless - Only one issue so far in the story of young Ming, and it was excellent.
Invincible - One of my happiest finds. The hard part is going to be affording the money to go back and get all the old trades leading up to the current issues.
Kirby: Captain Victory - I've liked this so far. I had no idea what to expect.
Kirby: Dragonsbane - I really did not care for the first couple issues and will probably drop this title.
Kirby: Genesis - I missed the first few and only got on board issue 5. I like it, but it's too broad in scope and creating a very irregularly paced story.
Kirby: Silver Star - My favorite Kirby title. The art has a watercolor painting feel to it. A strange story about a person that is too powerful for his own good it seems.
Lord of the Jungle - Love the Francavilla covers, hated the annual, losing interest in the story. I might keep buying if I can get the Francavilla covers, but that's it.
Manhattan Projects - Absurd, surreal, weird, and fantastic. The art takes some getting used to and puts it in a different direction than if it were more realistically drawn.
Saga - Finally got the first issue (4th printing. Better than Fatale, where I couldn't get it until the 5th). Awesome story. I have issues 2 and 3 already bagged, now I finally get to read them.
Saucer Country - I can't tell if this is supposed to be social commentary or not. I hope not - I don't like to be fooled and the story is too good to have some deeper meaning.
Secret - I'm getting my secrets confused.
Secret History of D.B. Cooper - Weird and fun. I can't wait for the next issue.
Secret Service - I get this confused with Secret and am going to have to reread both of them.
Smoke and Mirrors - Issue three I think took a step backwards (a bit too much flashback), but a cool book.
Super Crooks - I find it formulaic, but so well done (and surprisingly violent) that I've liked it anyway.
Thief of Thieves - I can't wait to re-read this. I really have enjoyed it so far.
I may be missing a couple things, but this is a pretty good list. A couple of the retro titles are in danger, but holy crap are there some cool stories in these.
Marvel Titles I'm collecting
When I collected comics as a kid, I was a Marvel first kind of guy. When I started again, I looked at the comic shop and saw Spidey battling the Vulture and I thought, this is the same story as 25 years ago. No thanks, I'll just go DC.
Then I saw Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Morales and I was sold. However, I am not collecting a wide range of Marvel titles. I get X-manned out pretty easily, and none of the Avengers books are that interesting to me. I've never been a Fantastic Four reader, and while I've looked at both FF and Fantastic Four, neither has appealed to me very much. The Defenders was going to be my group book, but damn did I hate it. This is what I'm buying:
Avengers Academy - It's a bit goofy and really sidetracked with AvX, but I'm enjoying it for the time being.
Daredevil - So good it hurts. Can't wait each month for this title.
Hulk - A year ago I had no idea there was a red hulk. I like it.
Incredible Hulk - Just starting this.
Amazing Spider-Man - Still my favorite comic book ever. It's great every time.
Avenging Spider-Man - Can be fantastic (with the Red Hulk) or terrible (Hawkeye). It's still fun no matter what.
Ultimate Spider-Man - Almost enough to sell me on the Ultimate Universe. If I weren't fully committed financially to what I'm getting, I'd switch over.
Uncanny X-Men - Another title derailed by AvX (which has mostly sucked), but has been pretty cool so far.
Wolverine and the X-Men - It took me 4 issues to accept the art, another two to get the tone, and now it's a highlight.
That's a pretty light list for being a Marvel fanboy. I'm sure nobody reads this, but what other titles out there are great?
Titles I've put down - Uncanny X-Force (the art is consistently not to my liking), Defenders (love the characters, hated the stories), Winter Soldier (completely un-fun), Secret Avengers (bland and made me bored by characters I thought I liked, except Hawkeye, who I have always hated), and FF and Fantastic Four (I feel like I'm intruding halfway through a 17 hour play and will have to work too hard to get caught up).
I'm reading Avengers Vs. X-Men, but last week I didn't buy all the tie-ins and I might be in that boat from here on out. I feel like I'm reading the same kinda boring story over and over again - although it could really be picking up.
Then I saw Ultimate Spider-Man with Miles Morales and I was sold. However, I am not collecting a wide range of Marvel titles. I get X-manned out pretty easily, and none of the Avengers books are that interesting to me. I've never been a Fantastic Four reader, and while I've looked at both FF and Fantastic Four, neither has appealed to me very much. The Defenders was going to be my group book, but damn did I hate it. This is what I'm buying:
Avengers Academy - It's a bit goofy and really sidetracked with AvX, but I'm enjoying it for the time being.
Daredevil - So good it hurts. Can't wait each month for this title.
Hulk - A year ago I had no idea there was a red hulk. I like it.
Incredible Hulk - Just starting this.
Amazing Spider-Man - Still my favorite comic book ever. It's great every time.
Avenging Spider-Man - Can be fantastic (with the Red Hulk) or terrible (Hawkeye). It's still fun no matter what.
Ultimate Spider-Man - Almost enough to sell me on the Ultimate Universe. If I weren't fully committed financially to what I'm getting, I'd switch over.
Uncanny X-Men - Another title derailed by AvX (which has mostly sucked), but has been pretty cool so far.
Wolverine and the X-Men - It took me 4 issues to accept the art, another two to get the tone, and now it's a highlight.
That's a pretty light list for being a Marvel fanboy. I'm sure nobody reads this, but what other titles out there are great?
Titles I've put down - Uncanny X-Force (the art is consistently not to my liking), Defenders (love the characters, hated the stories), Winter Soldier (completely un-fun), Secret Avengers (bland and made me bored by characters I thought I liked, except Hawkeye, who I have always hated), and FF and Fantastic Four (I feel like I'm intruding halfway through a 17 hour play and will have to work too hard to get caught up).
I'm reading Avengers Vs. X-Men, but last week I didn't buy all the tie-ins and I might be in that boat from here on out. I feel like I'm reading the same kinda boring story over and over again - although it could really be picking up.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Comics and a change in direction
I could start a new blog, but I think I'll just keep this one and have it be my review blog of the things I read. My D&D game fell apart (some of it my fault, some of it others), and now I'm a homebody that has time for WoW and reading.
I've also restarted reading comics with DC coming out with the new 52. I was never a DC reader other than by accident, so I was excited to dive into something new. I took a shotgun approach and bought some of everything. I still am collecting way too many books (how did it get this big this fast?), but I'm enjoying most of them and am going to start whittling away at them as we get to issue 10.
These are the DC comics I've been collecting with a brief comment:
All Star Western - I'm still not sold on the art, but it fits the mood very well, even if it sometimes seems someone unfinished.
Animal Man - Another that I wasn't sure about, but I'm enjoying the Swamp Thing crossover storyline. A couple fantastic issues so far.
Aquaman - I enjoy the new take, but these next three months will determine whether or not I keep it.
Batman - A great title and what Batman should be.
The Dark Knight - Not a great title and I'd have to re-read it to even describe it.
Detective - Pretty disappointing so far.
Batman and Robin - I knew nothing of the new Robin. I'm starting to warm up to him. Very good so far.
Batwoman - The art the first six issues was unlike anything I'd seen in a comic. It's in a lull right now and sadly has taken a huge turn for the worse.
Blue Beetle - I knew nothing of this character. He's been entertaining so far.
Captain Atom - I'm completely 100% loving this book. Worried about its future.
Demon Knights - It took me a couple reads to get into it, but I'm finding this pretty interesting.
The Flash - Innovative blend of art and storytelling keeps it worth buying, but the stories are nothing special.
Grifter - I'm trying to keep the faith but I didn't buy issue 9 and there have been a couple real stinkers of issues put out there.
Justice League - Fantastic huge explosion of a comic that is stunningly boring. I've dropped it.
Justice League Dark - I liked the first story, hated the vampire tie ins, but have heard issue 9 is great. We'll see. Hanging in by a thread.
Justice League International - Went from lighthearted to "holy shit what just happened" in a heartbeat. I'm really enjoying it.
Resurrection Man - This feels like a fantastic '80s action adventure movie. I hated some of the early covers, but digging the run.
Stormwatch - Maybe my favorite title. The Midnighter/Jenny storyline while rescuing Apollo was one of the most fantastic scenes I've read.
Action Comics - I'm just not a Superman guy. I'm buying it because I like the stories, but I don't like Superman stories as a rule.
Swamp Thing - I think this is weaker than Animal Man, but good enough to keep getting.
Wonder Woman - So different than what I expected. I think it's picking up, too.
------
Thunder Agents (1-6) - I liked the book, but I had a hard time remembering what happened from month to month. With no history, I found it very confusing. I have to re-read it.
The Ray (1-4) - A pretty stupid master villain, but I liked the character and hope he shows up in a group book somewhere.
Mr. Terrific (1-8) - Got canceled for good reason. Poor stories and I hated the art. I kept wanting to like it, but only bought the last three issues so I'd have the whole run.
The Shade (1-8 so far, 12 total) - Insanely awesome. This is a must read.
--------
The second wave
Dial H - China Mievelle is undoubtedly brilliant. First issue of Dial H? Intriguing and weird. Very Mieville.
Earth 2 - I'm only buying one issue of this.
Batman Inc - I'm told I'm going to love this. If I start buying it, probably going to dump The Dark Knight and Detective which have both been letdowns.
I've also restarted reading comics with DC coming out with the new 52. I was never a DC reader other than by accident, so I was excited to dive into something new. I took a shotgun approach and bought some of everything. I still am collecting way too many books (how did it get this big this fast?), but I'm enjoying most of them and am going to start whittling away at them as we get to issue 10.
These are the DC comics I've been collecting with a brief comment:
All Star Western - I'm still not sold on the art, but it fits the mood very well, even if it sometimes seems someone unfinished.
Animal Man - Another that I wasn't sure about, but I'm enjoying the Swamp Thing crossover storyline. A couple fantastic issues so far.
Aquaman - I enjoy the new take, but these next three months will determine whether or not I keep it.
Batman - A great title and what Batman should be.
The Dark Knight - Not a great title and I'd have to re-read it to even describe it.
Detective - Pretty disappointing so far.
Batman and Robin - I knew nothing of the new Robin. I'm starting to warm up to him. Very good so far.
Batwoman - The art the first six issues was unlike anything I'd seen in a comic. It's in a lull right now and sadly has taken a huge turn for the worse.
Blue Beetle - I knew nothing of this character. He's been entertaining so far.
Captain Atom - I'm completely 100% loving this book. Worried about its future.
Demon Knights - It took me a couple reads to get into it, but I'm finding this pretty interesting.
The Flash - Innovative blend of art and storytelling keeps it worth buying, but the stories are nothing special.
Grifter - I'm trying to keep the faith but I didn't buy issue 9 and there have been a couple real stinkers of issues put out there.
Justice League - Fantastic huge explosion of a comic that is stunningly boring. I've dropped it.
Justice League Dark - I liked the first story, hated the vampire tie ins, but have heard issue 9 is great. We'll see. Hanging in by a thread.
Justice League International - Went from lighthearted to "holy shit what just happened" in a heartbeat. I'm really enjoying it.
Resurrection Man - This feels like a fantastic '80s action adventure movie. I hated some of the early covers, but digging the run.
Stormwatch - Maybe my favorite title. The Midnighter/Jenny storyline while rescuing Apollo was one of the most fantastic scenes I've read.
Action Comics - I'm just not a Superman guy. I'm buying it because I like the stories, but I don't like Superman stories as a rule.
Swamp Thing - I think this is weaker than Animal Man, but good enough to keep getting.
Wonder Woman - So different than what I expected. I think it's picking up, too.
------
Thunder Agents (1-6) - I liked the book, but I had a hard time remembering what happened from month to month. With no history, I found it very confusing. I have to re-read it.
The Ray (1-4) - A pretty stupid master villain, but I liked the character and hope he shows up in a group book somewhere.
Mr. Terrific (1-8) - Got canceled for good reason. Poor stories and I hated the art. I kept wanting to like it, but only bought the last three issues so I'd have the whole run.
The Shade (1-8 so far, 12 total) - Insanely awesome. This is a must read.
--------
The second wave
Dial H - China Mievelle is undoubtedly brilliant. First issue of Dial H? Intriguing and weird. Very Mieville.
Earth 2 - I'm only buying one issue of this.
Batman Inc - I'm told I'm going to love this. If I start buying it, probably going to dump The Dark Knight and Detective which have both been letdowns.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
He's dead, but nice.
This is going to be pretty brief.
We'd explored everything we could find on the east side, so we went to the west side of the caverns. Over there:
We found zombies and defeated them easily, found magic traps that we should have avoided, found the dead guy that was in charge of the castle and he wanted us to help and didn't want to kill us, so that was nice. He gave Listillin a magic sword, which was also nice. I guess he's still sitting down there, a nice undead zombie, sad he killed his wife and kids and everyone way back when.
We found stairs going down and accidentally found some hobgoblins. They were in a big room with a pit and a big pet jumping spider. Listillin did NOT fall in the pit (which was new) and the spider was a pain as it hopped all over and kept avoiding me. Hobgoblins work together pretty well as a team and are tough to hit when they're clumped together blocking for each other, and this was no different, and the pit made it difficult to get position, but in the end we killed them and the spider was more irritating than deadly, and we once again prevailed.
I don't recall if there was any treasure.
We paused there and were ready to search the room.
We'd explored everything we could find on the east side, so we went to the west side of the caverns. Over there:
We found zombies and defeated them easily, found magic traps that we should have avoided, found the dead guy that was in charge of the castle and he wanted us to help and didn't want to kill us, so that was nice. He gave Listillin a magic sword, which was also nice. I guess he's still sitting down there, a nice undead zombie, sad he killed his wife and kids and everyone way back when.
We found stairs going down and accidentally found some hobgoblins. They were in a big room with a pit and a big pet jumping spider. Listillin did NOT fall in the pit (which was new) and the spider was a pain as it hopped all over and kept avoiding me. Hobgoblins work together pretty well as a team and are tough to hit when they're clumped together blocking for each other, and this was no different, and the pit made it difficult to get position, but in the end we killed them and the spider was more irritating than deadly, and we once again prevailed.
I don't recall if there was any treasure.
We paused there and were ready to search the room.
Oh no, it's an ooze!
Into the darkness, we found a series of caverns filled with aggressive rats. We got a bit split up and overconfident in taking these out and were attacked by a large oozy blob (what we later found out was called an ochre jelly). It hit me pretty hard and it got a bit dicey when we thought we killed it, but just split it in two, but even though it was gooey, our weapons still seemed to do damage to it and we killed it with all the rats.
Then came trouble.
Findel and I were searching the room for treasure and anything else we could find while Izzy and Listillin found a set of double doors that said, "Keep out!" on them. They were insistent on opening the door. We'd found a secret door and were inspecting it when we heard, "It's attacking us!"
Findel and I ran over to find the ranger and Listillin in deadly combat with a toxic blue ooze thing. The rogue and Idria were trying to help, but it was beating on Listillin pretty hard. We ran over, Findel firing arrows and healing while I bulled my way to the front and challenged the ooze to attack me. That mostly worked, but it kept exploding in big puffs of poisonous gas and spraying all of us.
It was very unpleasant and we all got hit pretty hard by it, but in the end we were able to defeat it as well. The room it was in was filled with water and we recovered a couple of scrolls and I got a magic shield to go along with my magic armor.
At this point we decided to use this room as a home base and rest. There was only one entrance, the inhabitant seemed pretty dangerous (although it was now dead), and we figured it was easily defensible. We spent the "night" without incident.
Then came trouble.
Findel and I were searching the room for treasure and anything else we could find while Izzy and Listillin found a set of double doors that said, "Keep out!" on them. They were insistent on opening the door. We'd found a secret door and were inspecting it when we heard, "It's attacking us!"
Findel and I ran over to find the ranger and Listillin in deadly combat with a toxic blue ooze thing. The rogue and Idria were trying to help, but it was beating on Listillin pretty hard. We ran over, Findel firing arrows and healing while I bulled my way to the front and challenged the ooze to attack me. That mostly worked, but it kept exploding in big puffs of poisonous gas and spraying all of us.
It was very unpleasant and we all got hit pretty hard by it, but in the end we were able to defeat it as well. The room it was in was filled with water and we recovered a couple of scrolls and I got a magic shield to go along with my magic armor.
At this point we decided to use this room as a home base and rest. There was only one entrance, the inhabitant seemed pretty dangerous (although it was now dead), and we figured it was easily defensible. We spent the "night" without incident.
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