Monday, December 17, 2007
Just heard something funny...
Loki turns Thor into a frog. The frog picks up the hammer and becomes Frog Thor, who teams up with Spider Man to take down Loki. This sounds silly and funny and great.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Last Two
I finished Scarlet Traces and Channel Zero last night.
I liked this Scarlet Traces more then the first, maybe because it ended on a happier note. I did like the forboading tone of the first one more while the second seemed more linear and look, another crazy coincident. The villians and heroes were less dramatic and more accommodating. As I write this I wonder why I liked the second more. Maybe I should read the first again. Maybe this story was just more accessible and had less random artistic dialog moments even though the actual story was worse.
Channel Zero is good, pessimistic, difficult to read, busy, and different. I could explain each of these adjectives and talk about the book, but it would be better to just read it and come up with your own sentence or list of adjectives to describe it. I'll probably read this again at some point and get something more from it.
The one thing I didn't like was communism played such a strong role as the alternative which annoyed me. I always fell like capitalism verse communism is too confining for any dialog or solutions to be discussed. My favorite moment was the guns on one side and video cameras on the other.
Until I have money to get more comics I'm reading Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. This is my second time through and I loved every second the first time through. I enjoyed it adding stories and fleshing out the characters combined with the different art. I do wonder how accessible it is to a non-Fables reader or if it would be a good way to introduce someone to the books since I don't think the Fables story gets really good until about the forth TPB.
I liked this Scarlet Traces more then the first, maybe because it ended on a happier note. I did like the forboading tone of the first one more while the second seemed more linear and look, another crazy coincident. The villians and heroes were less dramatic and more accommodating. As I write this I wonder why I liked the second more. Maybe I should read the first again. Maybe this story was just more accessible and had less random artistic dialog moments even though the actual story was worse.
Channel Zero is good, pessimistic, difficult to read, busy, and different. I could explain each of these adjectives and talk about the book, but it would be better to just read it and come up with your own sentence or list of adjectives to describe it. I'll probably read this again at some point and get something more from it.
The one thing I didn't like was communism played such a strong role as the alternative which annoyed me. I always fell like capitalism verse communism is too confining for any dialog or solutions to be discussed. My favorite moment was the guns on one side and video cameras on the other.
Until I have money to get more comics I'm reading Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. This is my second time through and I loved every second the first time through. I enjoyed it adding stories and fleshing out the characters combined with the different art. I do wonder how accessible it is to a non-Fables reader or if it would be a good way to introduce someone to the books since I don't think the Fables story gets really good until about the forth TPB.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Ultimates 3 Issue 1
Fresh Ink and iFanboy both pretty much panned this issue. I picked it up, looked at a couple pages, went blah and walked away. The art was too dark, it started off talking about porn of Iron Man and Black Widow then Venom jumps in and attacks, blah. Totally random and weird and dark. Apparently it also has incest.
This is just weird and random.
But my real issue is, didn't Spider-Man in the Ultimates universe kill or destroy Venom? I'm not current on Ultimate Spider-Man and this story will probably explain why Venom exists and attacks, but my two cents is lame. Create a new villain rather then use a dead Sider-Man Venom.
Marvel should kill the title now and try again.
This is just weird and random.
But my real issue is, didn't Spider-Man in the Ultimates universe kill or destroy Venom? I'm not current on Ultimate Spider-Man and this story will probably explain why Venom exists and attacks, but my two cents is lame. Create a new villain rather then use a dead Sider-Man Venom.
Marvel should kill the title now and try again.
A Number of Them
I've been working on Volume 4 of 52 for a couple days. Yesterday I bought 4 more things to read.
Buffy Issue #9 - I know I didn't like the last issue, but I figured it would be a short read so stopped reading 52 and read this. The conclusion of this story was actually pretty good. I'm a little confused on why Giles has no interest in involving Buffy and why they aren't talking, but whatever. The whole Faith trying to connect with the psycho misled slayer was pretty cool. I'm a little disappointed that the plot is another lets get rid of all the slayers. If I think about the show the season plots were mostly hell on earth and now they are end all the slayers. Oh well.
The Exterminator Vol. 2 :Insurgency - This was the book I wanted to read. I little disappointed. The transition from volume 1 to 2 was rough. I'm sick of all the evil lesbian executive stuff going on at Ocran. Maybe its so we won't care that we know there is a character working there, but the readers know nothing about the company or its mission other then its sinister; and there are lesbians. Quick summary, this most mostly fast moving sequence of events. AJ seems to be back from the dead, but isn't AJ rather someone else. There is a new love interest and the possible love interest saved in the first volume becomes the company book keeper. The coach roaches are organized and waging warfare against the city. The Bug-Bee-Gone crew seem to be the only exterminators for all of LA. And the police lieutenant keeps getting mysterious injuries. The pacing just didn't match the first book and it seems like the interesting dialog is disappearing. Lastly I was really taken out of the story when it took a couple hours to get from LA to Berkeley and the welcome to Berkeley sign showed this nice hill instead of dense suburban bay city.
After that I went back and finished 52 since I was mostly done with 52 Volume 4. Reading the conclusion was interesting. Time went forward backwards and all around. Most of the story lines were wrapped up. Still confused on why a few things happened, like why Dingby was after the person who was controlling the person impersonating Dr. Fate. It seems like we know why Wonder Woman and Batman are okay, but no clue why or when Superman got his powers back. Also why did Wonder Woman need a new identity? Bascially Booster Gold saves the day and there is lots of time traveling. Black Adam take on the entire world because he's killing millions of innocents because Intergang went after him and there is a new Question. Intergang mostly seems to be getting out of this scott free. Stupid. I'm not sure how people stayed intereested in this as a weekly comic, it was confusing enough reading in four volumes over a few months.
I'm currently reading Scarlet Traces: The Great Game. The art seems slightly better then the first book, but I havne't directly compared them. This story seems more interesting so far, but maybe it's that I know the world better so I got into it faster. We'll see.
And the last thing to read is Channel Zero which is Brian Wood's first work. James from Isotope had interesting things to say about it since it was the first work, mostly that its obvious that his background is illustration and he hasn't quite figured out comic book story telling, but he still thought it was fantastic.
I'm still working on America's Best Comics.
Buffy Issue #9 - I know I didn't like the last issue, but I figured it would be a short read so stopped reading 52 and read this. The conclusion of this story was actually pretty good. I'm a little confused on why Giles has no interest in involving Buffy and why they aren't talking, but whatever. The whole Faith trying to connect with the psycho misled slayer was pretty cool. I'm a little disappointed that the plot is another lets get rid of all the slayers. If I think about the show the season plots were mostly hell on earth and now they are end all the slayers. Oh well.
The Exterminator Vol. 2 :Insurgency - This was the book I wanted to read. I little disappointed. The transition from volume 1 to 2 was rough. I'm sick of all the evil lesbian executive stuff going on at Ocran. Maybe its so we won't care that we know there is a character working there, but the readers know nothing about the company or its mission other then its sinister; and there are lesbians. Quick summary, this most mostly fast moving sequence of events. AJ seems to be back from the dead, but isn't AJ rather someone else. There is a new love interest and the possible love interest saved in the first volume becomes the company book keeper. The coach roaches are organized and waging warfare against the city. The Bug-Bee-Gone crew seem to be the only exterminators for all of LA. And the police lieutenant keeps getting mysterious injuries. The pacing just didn't match the first book and it seems like the interesting dialog is disappearing. Lastly I was really taken out of the story when it took a couple hours to get from LA to Berkeley and the welcome to Berkeley sign showed this nice hill instead of dense suburban bay city.
After that I went back and finished 52 since I was mostly done with 52 Volume 4. Reading the conclusion was interesting. Time went forward backwards and all around. Most of the story lines were wrapped up. Still confused on why a few things happened, like why Dingby was after the person who was controlling the person impersonating Dr. Fate. It seems like we know why Wonder Woman and Batman are okay, but no clue why or when Superman got his powers back. Also why did Wonder Woman need a new identity? Bascially Booster Gold saves the day and there is lots of time traveling. Black Adam take on the entire world because he's killing millions of innocents because Intergang went after him and there is a new Question. Intergang mostly seems to be getting out of this scott free. Stupid. I'm not sure how people stayed intereested in this as a weekly comic, it was confusing enough reading in four volumes over a few months.
I'm currently reading Scarlet Traces: The Great Game. The art seems slightly better then the first book, but I havne't directly compared them. This story seems more interesting so far, but maybe it's that I know the world better so I got into it faster. We'll see.
And the last thing to read is Channel Zero which is Brian Wood's first work. James from Isotope had interesting things to say about it since it was the first work, mostly that its obvious that his background is illustration and he hasn't quite figured out comic book story telling, but he still thought it was fantastic.
I'm still working on America's Best Comics.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Best American Comics 2007
I've been reading The Best American Comics 2007 which I purchased . It will take me a while to finish since there is so much. The artwork all over the cover is nice. The comics so far mostly fall in the range of stuff I don't read which is why I read the book. Most of it is good.
It's interesting to see the except of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel at a larger size because watercoloring over lines became very obvious on some pages. I also need to reread it. It's so pleasant to read and look at.
The Jeffrey Brown stuff is also good, I need to read more.
The parents visiting their child in New York was fun for the commentary about families and economics. It was by R. and Aline Crumb.
I just read something where it started with a wall, then went into randomness then relationships. That comic was too all over the place for me. It was by Ron Rege.
The Ivan Brunetti stuff is simple artwork and quite fun.
It's interesting to see the except of Fun Home by Alison Bechdel at a larger size because watercoloring over lines became very obvious on some pages. I also need to reread it. It's so pleasant to read and look at.
The Jeffrey Brown stuff is also good, I need to read more.
The parents visiting their child in New York was fun for the commentary about families and economics. It was by R. and Aline Crumb.
I just read something where it started with a wall, then went into randomness then relationships. That comic was too all over the place for me. It was by Ron Rege.
The Ivan Brunetti stuff is simple artwork and quite fun.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
More Comics
I was in Santa Cruz so I stopped by Joe's or Atlantis to see what I was missing. I picked up Angel: After the Fall #1 and The Goon Chinatown. I really liked The Goon comic. We find out what happened in Chinatown, the dame that messed him up, all told while facing a new villian, and finished with superb artwork. I found myself looking at one of the pages enjoying the pencils, ink, computer coloring, and watercoloring all complementing each other on one page. Angel was disappointing. I always felt let down by the ending of the TV show the silly line about wanting to fight the dragon.
It's been some months since I finished the Angle TV show on DVD so I couldn't quiet place who everyone was, like I couldn't recall who Gwen and Nina were on my first read. Yes I've read it twice. We haven't seen what everyone else is up to, but it seems like the gang has completely fallen apart. I think its a wait and see in this comic. I mostly read it twice because it seemed like I missed something and I couldn't decide if I like it or not. I'm sticking with disappointing.
I think I feel that way about Buffy season 8 too. These are characters and stories that we're used to in 44 minute format. Comics are typically 22 pages. Not enough space to tell a story so the pacing and timing is off as they break these longer stories into smaller chunks. I know you collect issues in TPB to get the complete story, but its still not the same type of story in the end.
One more note on Angel. On first read I thought it was Wesley having the end internal thought or monologue. This suggests the first story or the overall arc will be about him, but then I thought it might be Gunn during the second read. This is because of the way it ends on Gunn showing how he has changed. Going back to the start of the monologue I'm pretty sure it belongs to Wesley and ending on Gunn was revealing a twist and making the point of how things have changed. As if moving LA to a hell dimension and having everyone running around on there own wasn't enough. But this goes back to my point above. The comic was rushing around setting the tone of this new place trying to visit all the characters which it still missed some and it revealed something that in TV format would have been a secret for longer.
It's been some months since I finished the Angle TV show on DVD so I couldn't quiet place who everyone was, like I couldn't recall who Gwen and Nina were on my first read. Yes I've read it twice. We haven't seen what everyone else is up to, but it seems like the gang has completely fallen apart. I think its a wait and see in this comic. I mostly read it twice because it seemed like I missed something and I couldn't decide if I like it or not. I'm sticking with disappointing.
I think I feel that way about Buffy season 8 too. These are characters and stories that we're used to in 44 minute format. Comics are typically 22 pages. Not enough space to tell a story so the pacing and timing is off as they break these longer stories into smaller chunks. I know you collect issues in TPB to get the complete story, but its still not the same type of story in the end.
One more note on Angel. On first read I thought it was Wesley having the end internal thought or monologue. This suggests the first story or the overall arc will be about him, but then I thought it might be Gunn during the second read. This is because of the way it ends on Gunn showing how he has changed. Going back to the start of the monologue I'm pretty sure it belongs to Wesley and ending on Gunn was revealing a twist and making the point of how things have changed. As if moving LA to a hell dimension and having everyone running around on there own wasn't enough. But this goes back to my point above. The comic was rushing around setting the tone of this new place trying to visit all the characters which it still missed some and it revealed something that in TV format would have been a secret for longer.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
More Comics This Week
The Exterminators Vol 1 TPB
I like Tony Moore's art. The story is stilling setting the scene. We have super cockroaches, a corporation doing unknown experiments, cockroaches, a parolee hero/narrator, lots of references to the line between nature and man, and allusions to some greater scheme. It is good enough to keep reading, but I haven't decided if its good enough to recommend to others.
I Am Legend
I've seen the ads for the Will Smith movie coming out and it seems like an alien bump in the night horror thing or some other device like that. I'm in the store I see this book, it claims it is related to the movie, it's thick, Steve Niles of 30 Days of Night is involved and it is about vampires. So confused. I pick it up. I find out it is an adaptation of a novel by Richard Matherson. Wikipedia says this is the third movie adaptation of it.
I haven't finished it yet. So far I like it. I'm getting into the story and don't want to put it down to eat dinner and watch Smallville season 6 on DVD. I've thumbed ahead and it seems to have a lot of places to still go. It's mostly in the guys head because there is no one to talk to. That part is a little rough becuase it feels to literal of a novel and not a graphic novel.
I see some parallels to the scenes in the trailer. I noticed the movie relocated the story from the LA region to NY. I have yet to see jets or people feeling anything yet so I'm expected a flashback or movie liberty.
I like Tony Moore's art. The story is stilling setting the scene. We have super cockroaches, a corporation doing unknown experiments, cockroaches, a parolee hero/narrator, lots of references to the line between nature and man, and allusions to some greater scheme. It is good enough to keep reading, but I haven't decided if its good enough to recommend to others.
I Am Legend
I've seen the ads for the Will Smith movie coming out and it seems like an alien bump in the night horror thing or some other device like that. I'm in the store I see this book, it claims it is related to the movie, it's thick, Steve Niles of 30 Days of Night is involved and it is about vampires. So confused. I pick it up. I find out it is an adaptation of a novel by Richard Matherson. Wikipedia says this is the third movie adaptation of it.
I haven't finished it yet. So far I like it. I'm getting into the story and don't want to put it down to eat dinner and watch Smallville season 6 on DVD. I've thumbed ahead and it seems to have a lot of places to still go. It's mostly in the guys head because there is no one to talk to. That part is a little rough becuase it feels to literal of a novel and not a graphic novel.
I see some parallels to the scenes in the trailer. I noticed the movie relocated the story from the LA region to NY. I have yet to see jets or people feeling anything yet so I'm expected a flashback or movie liberty.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
This Weeks Purchases
Went to Isotope yesterday to pick up my comics. It has been a couple weeks since my last visit there. Ron from iFanboy was there. And James had a Twitter about someone new working there... it was Matt Silady creator of Homeless Channel. When I purchased my comics Matt remembered me from a couple months back when James gave me a copy of Homeless Channel and Matt was in the store so he signed it. It was a great trip
--- Purchases ---
Ex Machina Vol 6 TPB
Mostly just a story alluding to where the powers come from and dark twists and forboading to come. The political side falls short. Overall so so.
Scott Pilgrim Vol 4 TPB
More fun with Scott Pilgrim. There is some silliness like all the lesbianism, but the storry is over the top and I like it that way. Typical Scott Pilgrim which means pretty good.
Mouse Gaurd Winter 1152 #2
The art is amazing and the story is still building. Most of the story is the mice traveling. My issue is that these are good, but David Petersen just hasn't become a master comic craftsmen yet.
Buffy Season 8 #8
More about the Faith story. Things seem to jump around and the story didn't advance as much as it could have. I'm not sure why Buffy is still mad at Faith, seemed like the two heroes meet and fight comic cliche. Eh.
Lower Regions
Wordless dungeon crawl with monsters doing all kinds of morphing. So so.
--- Purchases ---
Ex Machina Vol 6 TPB
Mostly just a story alluding to where the powers come from and dark twists and forboading to come. The political side falls short. Overall so so.
Scott Pilgrim Vol 4 TPB
More fun with Scott Pilgrim. There is some silliness like all the lesbianism, but the storry is over the top and I like it that way. Typical Scott Pilgrim which means pretty good.
Mouse Gaurd Winter 1152 #2
The art is amazing and the story is still building. Most of the story is the mice traveling. My issue is that these are good, but David Petersen just hasn't become a master comic craftsmen yet.
Buffy Season 8 #8
More about the Faith story. Things seem to jump around and the story didn't advance as much as it could have. I'm not sure why Buffy is still mad at Faith, seemed like the two heroes meet and fight comic cliche. Eh.
Lower Regions
Wordless dungeon crawl with monsters doing all kinds of morphing. So so.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Top Shelf Season Sampler Sale
I've heard that Top Shelf has these sales where they clear out inventory and give good discounts. Now they are having one. So many books so little money.
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