What Are You Reading? (March 2005 Style!)

ltd series
Deadshot
Green Lantern: Rebirth
JL Elite
The Question

coming soon to a file in my space sector
Green Lantern
Day of Vengeance
OMAC
Rann/Thanagar War
Villains United
New She-Hulk
Top Ten: 49ers (maybe)

stuff I'm half-assedly following in trades
Powers
Q & C
Y: The Last Man
Assorted Batman Stuff

This might actually be a good way for me to pare down my pull list! (My mini-series list will be the death of me, though.)

all Grant Morrison
Oceans (possibly my favorite Ellis series besides Planetary)
Walking Dead
Human Target
Lucifer
Y
Fables
Runaways
Wolverine
Planetary
Ex Machina
Astonishing X-Men
JLA: Classified

plus Maddie gets almost all the X-Men stuff

Trades:

Powers
Daredevil
Q&C
Gotham Central (though this is an abstract concern, since they still haven't come out with a second trade yet, right?!)
Sleeper
She-Hulk

Wants:

I've really been enjoying Lucifer lately (I went back and read the one that started out with the stone etching narration, and it's actually one of my favorite issues!), so I'd like to catch up on the first couple trades.

I've also been meaning to keep going with GM's Animal Man and Doom Patrol trades. I got a free galley of the first Bone trade (reprinted by whoever is pushing it in the bookstore market) too, I should really read that.

Human Target
Astonishing X-Men
X-Men
Fantastic Four (though I will probably stop after Waid leaves next month and switch over to Waid/Weiringo Spider-Man)
Legion Of Super-Heroes
I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League
The Ultimates
Daredevil (I only started this recently in trades, so I'll buy the most recent trade (The Golden Age) and buy The Decalogue storyline as new issues)
Vimararama

plus new product from Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, Adrian Tomine, Seth, Jessica Abel, and a few others whenever it is available.

I might give Seven Soldiers a shot, but maybe not. I'll definitely get All-Star Superman when that comes out.

The two comics that I get most excited about lately are Legion Of Super Heroes and Astonishing X-Men. I have a weird habit of buying Human Target and not reading it for a month or longer, but I always enjoy that series.

What I can remember of my pull list:

The manga-sized ElfQuest reprints
Seven Soldiers
Powers
Outsiders
Astonishing X-Men
New Avengers
Young Avengers
Ultimate Spider-Man
Legion of Superheroes
Cap & Falcon
Black Panther
Swamp Thing
Fables
Lucifer
Y
She-Hulk (and I'll probably get Slott Machine's Great Lakes Avengers)
Green Lantern: Rebirth

Stuff I pick up intermittently:

Hulk
District X
Wonder Woman
Green Arrow
Teen Titans

What I've read most recently that isn't in the above: I caught up on Emma Frost, which has its virtues and its flaws.

What I'm reading next: Legion of Superheroes, the post-Zero Hour t0rr3nt I downloaded based on liking the current series so much.

Vinamarama
Seven Soldiers (lengthy discussion in the pub tonight about doing a SEVEN SOLDIERS OF POP feature for the site)
Anything my brother writes
Runaways

What I read:

(* = what I would buy were I an honest and unmarried man)

Astonishing X*
Adam Strange*
GL: Rebirth
DC Countdown and assorted aftermath nonsense(some *)
FF
Ultimate FF
Ultimate X-Men
Ultimates
Ultimate Nightmare/Secret/Ro-Jaws etc
X-Men
Legion
Teen Titans
JLA
Captain America
New Avengers* (yes I think this is good)
She-Hulk* (may well go to 'actual buy' for the relaunch, a la Runaways)

What I'm meaning to read:

Y The Last Man
Ex Machina

Key deciding factors for actually buying a comic: "Is Grant Morrison writing it?" "Will my wife enjoy it?"

(And yeah, Starfox, the Wasp, and Hercules define "my Avengers" more than, say, Thor or Hawkeye.)

Young Avengers I'm giving an extended benefit of the doubt, because that slowness makes it hard to tell what the story's going to be about, much less what the comic will be like once its opening arc is through. I've just resigned myself to that kind of thing, I guess we all have.

Anything by Grant
Anything by Warren
Fallen Angel
Firestorm
Fables
Hellblazer (and spinoffs)
Lucifer
JLA: Classified
Swamp Thing
Shanna The She Devil
The whole dang Ultimate line
BPRD/Hellboy
Flash
The Losers
Wonder Woman
Burglar Bill
Jack Staff
Fantastic 4 (although once Mark Waid leaves this might drop out)
MK: 4
Powers
Savage Dragon
Liberty Meadows
PvP
Following Cerebus
Daredevil
Hulk
She-Hulk (and relaunch)
Punisher
303
Dicks
Authority
Books Of Magic (although I think I missed the last one and this might get dropped)
Catwoman
Ex Machina
Human Target (but not for much longer)
All the ABC titles, whenever they bother to come out (and whatever the uncertain future of the non-Promethea titles is)
Whatever X-Men title it is Pete Milligan is writing
I've been half looking out for Wolverine since MM started writing it
Aquaman
Green Arrow
MK: Spiderman
Adam Strange
Question
I was buying the Black Widow mini that's just finished
Dan Clowes and Pete Bagge, when they ever get allowed to release stuff
Legion Of Super Heroes
Plastic Man
Y
I tend to pick up the Goon when I see it
I'll no doubt get sucked into all the DC: Countdown crap

Flash
Green Lantern: Retcon (dunno yet if I'll get the new series)
Birds of Prey
JSA (though it had better get it's shit together soon)
LSH

What I follow in trades

She Hulk
Runaways

What I read

Outsiders
Teen Titans
Random X Books

I might consider reading the new Thing series by Dan Slott even though Ben is my least favorite member of the FF. I met Dan recently, and he made it sound like a lot of fun.

The series that Paul Jenkins worked on is getting canned as of #25 (& ending w/ a issue featuring PJ re-teamed with Mark Buckingham - nice!), so I imagine the NEW series will rise from its ashes and (I hope) have NOTHING TO DO w/ the Green Goblin.

Whatever Spidey title it is -- wait, isn't the Jenkins one Peter Parker? that has to be higher than #25 -- I'll pick that up since Waid's track record is so good right now (as long as it didn't come about because JMS was telling him about the Spider Force).

I'll definitely check out the Thing series, I'd forgotten about that -- I'll buy anything of Slott's for the time being, in the hopes he becomes a Hot Marvel Writer and She-Hulk is contracted for fifty more issues or something.

Ruse! The Waid / Guice issues were fantastic - the ones w/ Paul Ryan art, not so much, and when Waid left, I gave the new guy a chance, & he hurt me bad.

Yeah, I stopped Ruse when Waid's last arc began, because I wasn't sure if he'd finish it, and because by then there were so many not-quite-horror stories (they mostly seemed to be "they just creeped me out," when people were starting to bail on them) about CrossGen that I wasn't sure I wanted to give them money anymore. But it was probably the best example of their "comics outside the superhero genre can have the same appeal as superhero comics" ethos, so it's a shame that didn't work out.

Non-monthly type stuff I'm awaiting, too:

Essential Defenders
Essential Tomb of Dracula volumes 1 and 3 (waiting for store to restock) and upcoming volume 4 (although that's the one reprinting the later magazine stories and whatnot, I think)

And I forgot to put Ellis's Ultimate Whosis on my list -- I was lukewarm at best on Ultimate Nightmare (especially since it seemed so similar, in the first issues, to Secret War with less pretty art), but y'know.

&, actually, the last 2 issues of Ultimate Nightmare redeem the series to some extent, even if (like I said & will keep on saying) this would've worked a lot better as the first third of a maxi-series, dambit. Also, the X-Men / Avengers FITE! trope's just a bit played out.

For me, the greatness of Spidey happens when the angst (either quotidian - paying the rent, dissing his girl - or soul-crushing - the uncle thing, the Gwen Stacy thing) is meted and balanced by the humor. Lee & Ditko did this gracefully, switching flawlessly between scenes where Spidey joyously bopping Sandman on the noggin and Peter in the hospital room waiting for Aunt May to come out of her coma-of-the-week. Spider-Man 2 did that really well, too, which is probably why I liked it a LOT more than the first - sure, angst angst angst, but then there's the intro w/ the pizza delivery thing, and also that fantastic "Raindrops" sequence that is so OTM.

This is also the reason why Millar's Spidey (& JMS' recent work) chafes me so - it is ALL unforgiving & numbing angst angst angst, like Spider-Man is Batman or Daredevil or the Punisher, & the few times humor drops in (only in JMS' work, from what I can tell), it comes off as super-forced. Were it not for Bendis' work on Ultimate Spidey, there'd be no escape from the Importance and Responsibility and Mother-Loving Need For Catharsis that has typified Spidey in the last 6-9 months.

That two-part Spidey story in FF was a nice goofy change of pace, if only because the FF, prior to that (w/ the Doom shenanigans), was all angst angst angst, & needed a laugh or 20 to break up the tedium. But I don't think the Waid / Wieringo run's going to forget the angst, though - leaving the angst out of Spider-Man is like leaving the chicken out of a chicken sandwich. I'm just hoping they don't forget to add a little special sauce to the meal, y'know?

You took the words right out of my mouth. Judging by some past runs on Spidey, I think the balance is hard to maintain over a long period of time -- if it has to veer in one direction or the other, I'd rather veer towards humor, if only because it's less likely to involve MJ stalkers and aunts coming back from the dead and so on (then again: Spidey-Mobile).

I think Waid can do that balance, though -- his run on Flash had its share of both sides of the coin.

David, did you read Waid's FF as single issues? I came in fairly late in the game - I bought the first hardcover volume on a whim and fell in love with it. The pacing was just right in that format, though I can see how it would be kinda off if you had to wait every month. That first hardcover reads smoothly, like it was meant to be read in one go on a flight or something.

The Fantastic Four
Uncanny X-Men
X-Men
James Kochalka's American Elf collection
Oh, I have the Avengers Disassembled trade too, looks a bit crappy, what was I thinking?
I have the latest issue of Eightball, it's much too big!

All TPB's. I haven't gone back to individual issues yet.

I'm not sure that the goodness of a predominantly goofy Spidey can come across in a 2+ hour movie - a Spider-Man movie is meant to be dramatic, as what most folks know about Spidey (and I'm speculating here, of course) is the drama and the "great power = great responsibility" jazz. I know fanboys & girls would love to see Spidey tee off against the Sinister Six and throw out hott one-liners all the live-long day, but that's probably not going to sell to the folks that are contributing the lionshare of Spidey's box-office receipts (though it might work now, since the franchise is well established as a money making juggernaut).

Also, there's the logistics of making Spidey fun-fun in the movies. Spidey's fun is had quipping w/ the super-villains while bopping them on the head, or jawing with Tom Thug while he's hanging upside down from a light pole. The latter is easy to do - the former, not so much. It's easy to draw a panel in a book w/ Spidey avoiding a pumpkin bomb while simultaneously offering a few bon mots in a dialogue balloon - it's another thing to SHOW Spidey on-screen avoiding a pumpkin bomb while having the bon mots SAID audibly over the chaos of stuff blowing up & people screaming & villian machinery clunking along unless A) the director lets the dialogue go unheard or B) the director has the fight pause so the audience can hear the one-liner & risks upsetting the flow & rhythm of the fight scene.

Of course, there's also the fact that most of Spidey's confrontations w/ the bad guys in the movies to this point have involved folks he cares about in precarious situations, which will probably minimize the tendency for him to talk wise.

&, yeah, I'm reading FF month-to-month - I'll have to sit down w/ the books & see how they read as a whole.

"DC Showcase: Superman, Vol.1"
"DC Showcase: House Of Mystery"
"Final Night" (due to Tom's recommendation)
"Seven Soldiers" TPB
"DC Universe: The Stories Of Alan Moore" (can't wait to re-read his Superman stories!)

It felt so very very good. I was tempted by the new "Solo" and LOSH TPB as well, but...next time.

(seriously, what's missing? My most vivid memory of the story's begining is the stuff with Bizarro, which is in there.)

(But: apart from making the garish colourisation and poor line repro of the previous US version worse by using glossy paper, they a) left out a page, b) got the reprint details wrong by about 15 years in the indicia and c) claimed that the copyright belonged to them, not to Moore & Davis.)

"Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada today issued a public apology from himself and everyone at Marvel Comics to writer Alan Moore and artist Alan Davis over the recent release of the Captain Britain trade paperback.

The trade paperback was released without crediting Moore as the copyright holder of the collected stories, which led Moore to announce that, as a result of the error, he disowned the title."

Astonishing X-Men
X-Men
Uncanny X-Men
X-Men: Deadly Genesis
Ultimate X-Men
X-Factor
X-Statix: Dead Girl
Daredevil
The Ultimates 2
Ultimate Hulk Vs. Wolverine*
New Avengers*
She-Hulk*
Nextwave*
Captain America* (Ed Brubaker trades only)
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man*
Runaways (TRADES ONLY)
Y: The Last Man (TRADES ONLY)
Ex Machina (TRADES ONLY)
Supergirl & The Legion of Super-Heroes
All Star Superman
All Star Batman & Robin
Infinite Crisis (my shame)
Detective Comics*
Batman*
Supermarket*

plus random trades that I get for free

Seven Soldiers
Rocketo
Dead Girl
Solo
Infiinte Crisis (though I wonder why sometimes)
Amazing Joy Buzzards
The All Star titles (though each has different joys)
Brubaker's Cap (though I just gave up on that)
Batman Year 100 (rawk)
Bluesman (occasional OGNs, though coming out more regularly now)
TCJ Interviews: The Writers (essential stuff for those of you who dig the 70s and 80s output of the big two, a great look behind the curtain)

DROPPED:
Teen Titans
JLA: Classified (I'm seeing through Simone's run, but GOT NO INTEREST IN VIBE THANKS)
I think everything else I was buying, Flash, JLA, Gotham Central, etc, has been cancelled.

Captain America
New Avengers
Astonishing X-Men
whichever X-Men Milligan is writing
Dead Girl mini
X-Factor
Nextwave
She-Hulk
The Thing
Fantastic Four

Nothing's come in yet, though, so I've been picking up a trade or two a week. Currently halfway through the third Invisibles book, and started up the first of those O'Neill/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow trades last night. Figured I'd give the latter a shot after hearing for the last 20 years how damn important and innovative they were. Denny's got quite the heavy-hand, there, now, don't he?

Oh yeah, also finally almost complete with the Essential Dr. Strange Vol. 1. Ditko's last ark is/was relentless awesomeness, for sure.

Also read the first twenty or so issues of the Wally West Flash over the weekend. The wife was in Jamaica, I had nothing to do. I had totally forgotten about Jackson Guice. His work on the '80's Dr. Strange was a favorite of mine as a kid. His art is less impressive when it's 19 years old and digitized.

All-Star Superman
Seven Soldiers
Daredevil
Ultimates 2
GM's Batman
Solo Sergio
52
Infinite Crisis ('cause it's too long to read in the store)

I'm feebly hoping to catch up on, through the public library:
Y The Last Man
Fables
Ex Machina
She-Hulk
Age of Bronze
LOSH
Runaways
Captain America
X-Factor
New Avengers

I'm dropping:
Astonishing (it's kinda dull and I don't like the art)

also, i think i may start reading The Thing & She Hulk.

I used to read Gotham Central, and I may start reading Superman and Detective Comics again.. i tend to read DC's core titles variably, depending on the writer. I have been outta the loop, though, as far as continuity though, due to my extreme apathy to infinite christmas. If anyone has recommendations as far as DC super hero solo books let me know! (I was reading, come to think of it, Green Lantern Corp Recharge, but gave up cuz I think I missed an issue and didn't wanna bother anymore.)

Ex
Y
runawayZ
X-Statix: Dead Girl
She Hulk
Q&C trades

Oddly enough (or, um, not), I'm learning that having a Arbuckle-sized pantload of comix in my living quarters isn't conducive to certain things. Like walking around.

and "Matt Groening".

Theoretically:
The Red Star (did volume 2 ever get past #5?)
The Bakers (did this ever get past #1?)

Temporarily:
Seven Soldiers
Polly & The Pirates
Deadgirl

And 52 & Batman, in due course.

My pull list, what I can remember:

Seven Soldiers
Y
Fables
Matt Wagner Batman
Polly & the Pirates/Courtney Crumrin
She-Hulk
The Thing
Astonishing X-Men
X-Statix
All-Star Superman
Lucifer
Ex Machina, kinda
Runaways

Theoretically (i.e. reading in trades or shit that never comes out)

Hellboy
Age of Bronze
Daredevil
Gotham Central
Queen & Country
Optic Nerve

And yes, SEVEN SOLDIERS is required GM reading. Get the floppies if you can. The trades are all fuxxored in terms of what they collect and in what order they do it in.

AzuManga Daioh 1-4
Shadowstar 1-7
Scarybook 1
Lady Snow Blood 2
Initial D 22
Buddha 7
Various Astro Boys
Samurai Executioner 7
Kikijurou Cafe 1
Antique Bakery 3
Iron Wok Jan 14

Waiting for New Cannon God Exaxxion, the last Buddha, new Hino Horrors, and the next wave of Pontent Mon translations...