I Love Comics Reading Thread

I was wondering if anyone thought it might be a cool idea to have a thread based on everyone reading or re-reading something classic at the same time?

For example, I have not read much of Jack Kirby & Stan Lee's run of the Fantastic Four and never all in a row. I got the first Marvel Essential of the Fantastic Four and I was thinking it might be cool to have a thread and have people be reading some kind of reprint all at the same time and kind of annotating things maybe how continuity was changed in later stories or interesting things about the comics as you work through it all.

Just a thought, doesn't necessarily have to be something old, but it was just an idea.

I love this idea.

Specifically, love the idea of a book-clubbish discussion of Lee-Kirby FF, but other readings would be cool too. What's with the ILC silence here?

Some of us may be reminded of the initial wave of enthusiasm for the ILG Player's Club and then its eventual descent into awkward silence.

Sounds good to me, though the first dozen issues of FF are pretty uneven. Hit their stride somewhere in the 20s and run full bore for the next 60 or so. Might be the best five-year run ever.

I like the idea of us having our own special reading group, though I fear that I will end up not actually reading stuff that everyone else is looking at. Right now I have a post-Xmo book mountain, and do not really fancy adding to it just yet.

I'll just go ahead and thank this board for the separate specific thread and some sort of 'whatcha readin' that's good' thread that had many mentions about 'Bottomless Bellybutton' - absolutely loved it - great snowy day reads. I used to work part time at a comic book store in college back in late 80s early 90s and I'm kinda daunted by choices out there from both indies and majors - so reading good suggestion threads on the ILC board actually opened my wallet to some value - thanks again.

I'm not opposed to the idea, but I can't afford to buy lots of omnibuses. So anything I read would have to be ahemDownloadableAhem.

Can be arranged, at least in regards FF

I might start rereading Cerebus sometime in the next few months. Anyone want to risk their sanity by joining me?

jeez, i just did that recently and it didn't hold up well.
I'll do whatever tho' let me know when we start.
As I'm doing them anyway, I'd love to do a few years of newspaper reprints... say Popeye, Terry and the Pirates, Krazy Kat, Peanuts, Steve Canyon, Orphan Annie, Walt and Skeezix or the like.

FF would be good, some Clarement X-Men arc might be fun(ny) too

Some of us may be reminded of the initial wave of enthusiasm for the ILG Player's Club and then its eventual descent into awkward silence.

― "80s Baby" (Z S), Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:07 PM (49 minutes ago)

This thing (for comics) isn't a bad idea, but it's even harder to get everyone on board, due to cost/access to the books/willingness to read comics on computer screens... maybe it would work if you planned around newly released reprints. The omnibuses are great fun to read, but again, hard to coordinate...

Chap: Actually from what I've read (The first two or three books) early Cerebus was really good and interesting! But I'm guessing the cost/time return on investment drops off kind of sharply?

I really don't mind reading comics on my computer, and I think you guys should give it a chance if you're unable to buy the books. My problem with the Gamer's Club was that most games don't run on a Mac. So there was a system issue. But comic book can be read on any computer. So outside the distaste for reading comics on a computer (fair, but I think get-around-able), there's no excuse for people not to participate.

I'm still down to try Grim Fandango on ILGPC if we can find a way that everyone gets a copy...?

Actually from what I've read (The first two or three books) early Cerebus was really good and interesting!

Yeah I have great memories of the first chunk of Cerebus, and Jaka's Story is one of my favourite graphic novels, I've read it a number of times. I'm interested to see whether the latter books have hidden gems to offer amongst the lunacy, as I suspect they do. If I get round to having another go I'll skip the boring texty bits.

Leigh Walton and Laura Hudson have just started a week-by-week, issue-by-issue reading of Cerebus: http://cereblog.org/ . (As far as I'm concerned Cerebus doesn't really start getting good until about #14...)

I would happily participate in (but not ringlead) an issue-by-issue thread of FF, and maybe Cerebus too.

Mordy and others, don't neglect your local public library as a resource!

I'd really enjoy doing a series that's had crazy artistic ups and downs, cancellations and such... say, Thor or Flash or Green Lantern.

A forced reading of Cerebus might be enough to get me over the wall I hit somewhere in the low 200's (whenever it is they're stuck on the riverboat with F. Stop Fitzgerald). But, yeah, I'd happily read and discuss any series proposed, really. I'm always looking for greater direction in my reading...

i am happy to take part in a celebration of the genius of jack kirby

seeing as an Essential FF volume costs about the same as four modern comic bks, i don't see how or why this project is beyond the scope/wallet of anyone

If someone who has admin rights wants to just subtitle the thread- Essential Fantastic Four this thread we can get going. I actually just polished off FF# 1-3 and FF#4 a few minutes ago. Good stuff, all of these issues I really know more by reference in other FF and Marvel tales.

We can either re-edit the title on this thread or if you want me to start a new one, let me know.

(As far as I'm concerned Cerebus doesn't really start getting good until about #14...)

I remember Cerebus hit its stride round about the time he arrived in Palnu and became Julius' Kitchen Staff Supervisor.

I'd certainly be up for FF, and I suppose I should probably (hmmph) buy them, what with them being history-making and all. No Essentials, though -- Kirby would be pointless in b&w, surely?

I'd happily nominate the Ditko-Lee Spider-Man run, also, which might be quite fun to talk about. And I still haven't read the Gilbert L&R books I bought last year, if anyone's interested. (Although maybe later.)

Yes on Cerebus in Palnu, although I don't think I could cope with reading Cerebus again. Maybe HS or C&S, though.

Curiously enough, Cerebus arrives in Palnu and becomes Julius' Kitchen Staff Supervisor in #14.

Earlnash, go 'head and start a new thread, since this one seems to be more about discussing possible specific threads! (Note: not only am I not an admin, I am in no way qualified to suggest this other than, you know, thinking so.) I'd love to know what you think of FF #1...

Yeah, I'd say start a new thread. I was thinking about starting an FF thread today, but earl should do the honors since this was his idea.

I imagine these threads sort of following the form of "In C" -- everybody has the same sheet music, but moves from fragment to fragment at their own pace.

hey speaking of which

I was actually thinking about Barry Smith's run on Conan, it is kind of weird to think those comics kind of spawned not only Cerebus but also Groo the Wanderer, both of which ran for years. The early swords of Cerebus are the way to read those early issues as they still had some of the essay stuff that Sim wrote in them. Pretty much the guy started doing a funny book laughing on Conan did some acid and had this vision of making a huge comic novel.

Yeah, I guess his nervous breakdown opened up his third eye.

I'm doing From Hell right now, it's going to be a long read for me (I only read at night sometimes), so feel to start in 1 week if you want.

I'd go for New Gods or Seven Soldiers, or Moore era Swamp Thing its a great idea.

but with each thread there should be resources and the thread should roll until it gets unmanageable.

and much smaller torrents, please. Some people are against them & I think ilxor frowns on them, but someone making a issue 1-10 torrent is going to anger people much less than a 1.5 gig torrent.
plus only include comics that people can buy easily (amazon etc), for people that like to read in bed/on the bus etc.

re: Cerebus hitting its stride...if I'm not mistaken isn't ish 14 also the point where Cerebus went monthly? (which is also the point where the 300-issue goal first asserted itself...if I'm not mistaken Sim started out somewhat oddly with the time frame--26 years--..I believe the original goal was like 162 issues or something) this was prolley two or three months after the big acid trip/nervous breakdown/epic vision...I read somwhere that Lord Julius was first conceived by Sim as a way to represent Illusionist ideology externally, by making an Illusionist the head of a city-state...

I recently bought the first phone book on Amazon and am currently awaiting its arrival...I'm a bit nervous doing so, just bcz of the physical logistics of it all, esp. in this demonic weather...Cerebus TPBs tend not to be made of the sturdiest of stuff...if by "it didn't hold up well" forksclovetofu meant that the phone books tended to fall apart upon rereading then (s)he was very OTM....

I think we're all saying the same thing about Cerebus: the first phone book is necessary to understand the second, but the quality jump is enormous.

(also really, really, don't read it all)

really?

(all what? all the first book or all the series? cuz i was gonna stop at melmoth but after reading a blurb from amazon i might end up picking up mothers and daughters, but that's it, i swear...)

(alright, maybe guys...)

(yeah but def i think all of cerebus would be a bad idea for a reading thread also if this is what you are talking about andrew???)

I don't think the first book's necessary to understand the second, although it certainly has stuff that pays off in the second.

oh well, my theory is that one of the best things abt reading cerebus is to see Dave Sim transform from fanboy wannabe in the 70s Ontario comix underground scene to one of the movers & shakers in the 80s to incredibly crazed human being one of the masters of the form...'s like an inspirational movie that lasts for two months :D...I figure up to mothers & daughters would cover it, but Cerebus is def. required reading as far as this goes...

He, btw; quality of the story as a whole falling apart rather than the books, tho they get kinda ragged too.
I was a issue-by-issue buying Cerebus fan throughout high school and college, it's just that I reached a burnout point when there was more deranged text than quality illustration... which is easier to overlook once it's in phone book form. Bear in mind that I quit around 225, so I really do need to finish this sucker off.
And another vote for "read book one for canon purposes". Best points in the series for me (and likely for most cerebus fans) were church and state and high society.

Yeah, sorry, I meant the whole of Cerebus, as someone was suggesting above.

churcxh and state and high society are the only ones I've read...surely those held up decently, right?

Yeah, those two are great. It's more that the series as a whole starts to sag as soon as Cerebus hits the bar.

The sequence near the end where he re-reads Genesis in light of Dave Sim's new all-misogynist religious view, with a Woody Allen as the guy he bounces his thoughts off, pushes back considerably the boundaries of unreadability.

It's a pity, because the first two thirds of Latter Days is as close to a return to form as the series would get.

I'd recommend anyone read the first book just because, after a shaky start, it's good.

I started reading Cerebus for the first time sometime around the middle of last year.. Started at 25 and got to the end of Jaka's Story (140?), quit mainly because of lack of time but found it incredible. There's a secuence at the end of Church & State, at the end of Astoria's trial, with Cerebus running toward a window and jumping through it that's fantastic in its decompression of time used to heighten tension. Anyway, I guess it must have been maddening reading it in monthly chunks.

I plan on finishing it, and on skipping the texts parts :)

(Pd: Douglas, it was your article on Reading Comics which gave me the impulse to start reading it once and for all, so thanks!)

I am getting close to finishing my latest re-read of Cerebus (just opened Form & Void last night) otherwise I would be up for this too. I guess I could still do out-of-sync commenting.

I would still argue it's all worth reading, although large chunks of the text bits definitely don't need more than once.

I'd agree with you, except some of the text bits don't even need to be read once (Torah insanity).

I think they do though, just for the insanity of it.

Anyway, I guess it must have been maddening reading it in monthly chunks.

I did it from #31 to about #280 -- it did get that way during heavy climactic sections at the ends of storylines.

http://www.tcj.com/bangbangbang/

i actually think doonesbury has had a kinda mini renaissance in last few years and that mike giving strip over to alex was de facto where things were headed (re military arcs, red rascal, PTSD storyline), so this is a little harsh. i will admit that maybe it's only a renaissance compared to last decade or two + waffles bill clinton was def low point (cowboy hat bush was terrible too)

Yeah, I'd say the Iraq stuff (particularly since the BD story in 2004) has been a shot in the arm, though I could probably do with a lot less of the Red Rascal.

Though as a lot of people had been guessing "Mike giving the strip to Alex" is this year's Mike's Summer Daydream, so lol @ Tim O'Neil

But yeah the focus of the story wavers wildly anyway, Mark's had like 5% of the stories over the last decade?

TBH if Tim has read any Doonesbury in the last ten years, he hasn't updated this article to reflect it.

Also I never knew that the Asterisk Bush after the cowboy hat was to indicate "see footnote (IE in or out on a technicality)"

I guess the obvious thing to say about Doonesbury is that there's politics but few politicians, partly because there's next to no Obama (not sure how much of this is because he's not exactly eager to think of a way to represent him) and no Davey - the highest profile characters is probably Roland Hedley? So it's become more soap operaish - not that it ever wasn't, but more.

Hi, ILC, I am sorry to interrupt but is there a thread dedicated to horror comics or a place where you ILCers discuss horror comics that is not clearly labeled? Thank you.

start one! any era or authors you're thinking of?

I'll start one!

No authors, but contemporary more so than classic Tales from the Crypt stuff.

^ oh oops re Ingels

It's okay! I'm open to anything honestly.

i saw this thru ILG, and i imagine anyone who would dig it probably already is on ILG, but just in case not, it arguably belongs on ILC too so....

http://www.mspaintadventures.com