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[bernardobri]

Would someone please recommend some of your favorite self-contained comics?
Examples: Ultimate Marvel series, Scott Pilgrim, Chew, Saga, Fatale, and many big franchise spin-offs.

When I try to get back into something like X-Men, I have to go back and read something to understand the current events. But, to understand the previous one, I also have to read a certain story arc in another one. This is just a bit too overwhelming for me to buy or borrow to read.

I suppose I'm mostly looking for self-contained series from big franchises, but any recommendations for smaller series I may not know are also greatly appreciated. Maybe I should just start reading Image exclusively. I think I would be happy.

"Invincible" by Kirkman/Walker/Ottley. It's a love letter to the superhero genre without all the bad habits of the genre itself (like, characters develop through the series and some of them even grow up, art is consistent, the status quo changes constantly, and so on.)

 

[ThyMusicMan]

Gonna sound stupid,, but I was a little confused with Zero. Last page was sweet but I feel like I might be missing something haha. Help anyone?
I should probably just re-read the issue or 2 before .

Umbral was always a little confusing at times,,, I read both of these books in one sitting and felt slightly retarded after words thinking to myself ahahahahah

 

[Tizoc]

Quick rundown of my reads f the week:

Chew 39
Great issue, much better than the last, looks like we're gonna start getting a few answers now...I hope.

Wonder Woman 27
This arc has been going slow, how much more of this run is left again?

Transformers Robots in Disguise 25
Great issue IMO, a shame the art is so weak in various scenes.

Spoiler

Poor Starscream, I really hope he can pull out of this and maybe SOMEHOW come out on top,

other than that, DAT LAST PAGE!

 

[tim1138]

Gonna sound stupid,, but I was a little confused with Zero. Last page was sweet but I feel like I might be missing something haha. Help anyone?
I should probably just re-read the issue or 2 before .

The last page was the result of whatever decision Zero made after seeing the inside of the warehouse/bunker in the previous pages.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

Im interested in buying the two Matt Fraction Iron Man Omnibus, are they worth buying?

Does anybody know if those two include the Unfixable Storyline, which contains this one Iron Man Story with Doctor Octopus?

 

[Sir Garbageman]

"Invincible" by Kirkman/Walker/Ottley. It's a love letter to the superhero genre without all the bad habits of the genre itself (like, characters develop through the series and some of them even grow up, art is consistent, the status quo changes constantly, and so on.)

My vote as well. It has its ups and downs but I love Invincible.

EDIT: I would also check out Ultimate Spider-Man. There is the occasional encounter with other characters in the Ultimate universe but iirc up until Ultimatum it is self-contained the whole way through.

 

[TetraxShards]

Unless everyone really just means "only push my secret fan favorite character that no one but me cares about and not those other secret fan favorites no one cares about." Which is probably it.

HE'S ON TO US! RUN FOR IT!

 

[Filthy Slug]

Gonna sound stupid,, but I was a little confused with Zero. Last page was sweet but I feel like I might be missing something haha. Help anyone?
I should probably just re-read the issue or 2 before .

Umbral was always a little confusing at times,,, I read both of these books in one sitting and felt slightly retarded after words thinking to myself ahahahahah

The last page was the result of whatever decision Zero made after seeing the inside of the warehouse/bunker in the previous pages.

Also, the last page ties into the introduction in Zero 1, with the kid holding the gun to Zero, in the future, on a cliffside.

 

[Mafro]

Would someone please recommend some of your favorite self-contained comics?
Examples: Ultimate Marvel series, Scott Pilgrim, Chew, Saga, Fatale, and many big franchise spin-offs.

When I try to get back into something like X-Men, I have to go back and read something to understand the current events. But, to understand the previous one, I also have to read a certain story arc in another one. This is just a bit too overwhelming for me to buy or borrow to read.

I suppose I'm mostly looking for self-contained series from big franchises, but any recommendations for smaller series I may not know are also greatly appreciated. Maybe I should just start reading Image exclusively. I think I would be happy.

Rick Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force is totally self-contained. One of the best Marvel runs of the past few years and there's an omnibus of it out in March collecting all 30-odd issues.

Like the previous poster said, I'd also highly recommend Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

 

[Aizo]

Batman Zero year 21 - 28 is my pick.

#1's are your friends. If a writer does his job right, you don't have to read anything previous to understand what's going on at the start of a series. There are also other options like the Marvel Knights (2013) line. These are self-contained stories from newcomers that are only about 5 issues. They been really good so far, Spider-Man and X-Men in particular have incredible art.

I'd recommend the best mini series of 2013, Six Gun Gorilla. It's 6 issues, self-contained and glorious.

Also since you seem to enjoy humour in your comics, I'd suggest you check out Rat Queens. It's Image/Shadowline, 4 issues in, hilarious and fun.

I take it you've already done Joss Wheldon's run on X-men?

It's four trades, and basically self contained. And good.

Also, Mind MGMT's first trade is a complete arc, and that's great. All Star Superman is two trades and set in it's own continuity, so it requires no continuity knowledge. The first book of Runaways?

"Invincible" by Kirkman/Walker/Ottley. It's a love letter to the superhero genre without all the bad habits of the genre itself (like, characters develop through the series and some of them even grow up, art is consistent, the status quo changes constantly, and so on.)

Rick Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force is totally self-contained. One of the best Marvel runs of the past few years and there's an omnibus of it out in March collecting all 30-odd issues.

Like the previous poster said, I'd also highly recommend Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men.

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! I've read Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny X-Force, Invincible, All Star Superman, Runaways, and I liked them all!

I'll look into the rest. I actually remember seeing Six Gun Gorilla before. It looked like a lot of fun. I'm glad to hear that it's good!

 

[Duane Cunningham]

After biting on the Marvel Unlimited promo last week, I've been ravenously devouring a bunch of stuff. I really haven't read much since late 90's or 2000, so I just knocked out Grant Morrison's whole New X-Men run. Man, that was SO good. Next up, I'm going to read the other X-Men and Uncanny issues leading up to House of M, then make a quick detour into Avengers Disassembled, then it's tike to dive into House of M in its entirety.

I've been looking at Wiki entries etc just enough to get a rough road map, but trying not to spoil myself too much (although I do know the basic premise of most of the big events that have happened over the years).

 

[crimsonspider89]

I was having a look around at what else Alessandro Vitti has worked on, really enjoyed his work in the Secret Warriors omnibus. I spotted that he did some Avengers Arena issues...what are peoples' thoughts on that book?

Not good. Naysayer here. But the book has WAY TOO MANY flaws for me to recommend it to anyone.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Guys Unwritten Apocalypse was pretty fucking amazing. Mike Carey's writing is on another level.

 

[TetraxShards]

I was having a look around at what else Alessandro Vitti has worked on, really enjoyed his work in the Secret Warriors omnibus. I spotted that he did some Avengers Arena issues...what are peoples' thoughts on that book?

It's superb, one of 2013's secret best series. The surprise of Marvel NOW for me.

Avengers Arena turned out to secretly be the best book of 2013. It's LOST with only the good parts, plus super powers.

YES!

 

[doniewhalberg]

Thanks for the thoughts on Avengers Arena guys, interesting. Lost is one of my favourite things ever so those particular comparisons stand out to me. Do we just mean because crazy plot stuff or do we mean in regard to lost's incredible character building? And Crimson, what didn't you like about it? I have no real idea what Hopeless is like as a writer, I've yet to read anything by him.

 

[TetraxShards]

Thanks for the thoughts on Avengers Arena guys, interesting. Lost is one of my favourite things ever so those particular comparisons stand out to me. Do we just mean because crazy plot stuff or do we mean in regard to lost's incredible character building? And Crimson, what didn't you like about it? I have no real idea what Hopeless is like as a writer, I've yet to read anything by him.

Character building. Lots of the cast get a whole issue to themselves. The "game" of Murder World takes a back seat to the drama between the kids. Makes the action really pop when it does take off IMO.

I also really liked Cable and X-Force by Hopeless. That one's harder to describe, it's almost like an 80s sci-fi action movie with the character interaction of something like Supernatural. Larocca art though, it's tough at times.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Thanks for the thoughts on Avengers Arena guys, interesting. Lost is one of my favourite things ever so those particular comparisons stand out to me. Do we just mean because crazy plot stuff or do we mean in regard to lost's incredible character building? And Crimson, what didn't you like about it? I have no real idea what Hopeless is like as a writer, I've yet to read anything by him.

It's all in the handling of character. There's some surface similarities plot-wise: disparate characters stranded in crazy mystery space, but Hopeless literally frames it like the first season, each issue (after the pilot, natch) focuses on an individual character and their backstory as the overarching plot goes forward.

Also, most of it is drawn by Kev Walker, a phenomenally underrated and magnificent artist.

Cannot recommend it highly enough.

 

[crimsonspider89]

Thanks for the thoughts on Avengers Arena guys, interesting. Lost is one of my favourite things ever so those particular comparisons stand out to me. Do we just mean because crazy plot stuff or do we mean in regard to lost's incredible character building? And Crimson, what didn't you like about it? I have no real idea what Hopeless is like as a writer, I've yet to read anything by him.

It has neither. Besides his favorites.

Issues I had with the book

-off panel progression
-mischaracterization to make his own characters look better
-plot holes from the get go
-no creativity involved
-ignoring powers obtained and shown in the past
-falls into neither plot drive or character driven.

The Lost comparison makes no sense outisde of the suspense which is easiest to predict.

It doesn't build a great world and give EVERY character progression.

It runs on suspense which if you think about it, you can predict everything.

Also massively misunderstands the genre in question. Doesn't address grey morals, doesn't delve into the psyche and isn't a social commentary.

Also takes the uniqueness away from Arcade. No funky tricks or anything like in the past.

 

[Eldren]

Im interested in buying the two Matt Fraction Iron Man Omnibus, are they worth buying?

Does anybody know if those two include the Unfixable Storyline, which contains this one Iron Man Story with Doctor Octopus?

I liked them, and they're not too expensive from what I remember. Larocca's art was a bit iffy at times but I like the way Fraction writes Stark. The business side of things is an interesting take, I felt.

They don't include Unfixable though. Omnibus 1 has The Five Nightmares and World's Most Wanted, and Omnibus 2 has Stark Disassembled and Stark Resilient.

Fraction has been asked on tumblr a few times about the potential for more omnibuses (omnibi?) but he doesn't know because it's not his department. I hope we do see more though, the rest of the series would fit nicely in two more omnibus editions. And they would look better on my shelf, as opposed to collecting the rest in regular trades.

-----

Man, all this Batman praise is getting me excited. Can't wait to read Zero Year in, like, July or something. I'm saving Death Of The Family for a few months more so the wait doesn't become too difficult. It sounds awesome though. Is there an appreciable difference in the art now that Danny Miki is inking instead of Jonathan Glapion? I don't think I have enough comics experience to be able notice.

Edit: I'm waiting on the 3rd Avengers Arena trade and then I'm going to binge on the whole series in one go. I had a look through the first trade and the art is gorgeous, really great stuff. Can't wait to dive in.

 

[Messi]

I read this months Rat Queens today, that went by way too quickly. Very good book. Betty is the best.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

It has neither. Besides his favorites.

Issues I had with the book

-off panel progression
-mischaracterization to make his own characters look better
-plot holes from the get go
-no creativity involved
-ignoring powers obtained and shown in the past
-falls into neither plot drive or character driven.

The Lost comparison makes no sense outisde of the suspense which is easiest to predict.

It doesn't build a great world and give EVERY character progression.

It runs on suspense which if you think about it, you can predict everything.

Also massively misunderstands the genre in question. Doesn't address grey morals, doesn't delve into the psyche and isn't a social commentary.

Also takes the uniqueness away from Arcade. No funky tricks or anything like in the past.

The Lost comparison makes perfect sense since he not only lifted the episode structure verbatim, I'm pretty sure an issue ends with someone actually saying, out loud, "Where are we?"

I also disagree with every single point in this post.

Which genre is misunderstood? Adventure? People got salty about the Battle Royale stuff (but is that even a fucking genre??? WHAT?? [Thanks Leslie and Ben]) but that's the bare surface of it.

Mischaracterization? Of who? Chase and Niko were spot on and if any of the Initiative kids weren't, I wouldn't know because, like everyone else on Earth, I never read their comic. Did their motivations work in the context of this book? 1,000,000%. Is that all that matters? 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000%.

See also "Ignoring Powers" and file under "Who cares, no one read that book and that's why these characters never showed up anywhere else, sorry this is the realities of the comic book marketplace, sorry."

"No creativity"??? I mean, WHAT??? (Thanks, again, Ben and Leslie) How do you even respond to that? A comic book that did not exist before it was published now exists because of CREATIVE ACTS.

I can't even with this

 

[Filthy Slug]

Man, all this Batman praise is getting me excited. Can't wait to read Zero Year in, like, July or something. I'm saving Death Of The Family for a few months more so the wait doesn't become too difficult. It sounds awesome though. Is there an appreciable difference in the art now that Danny Miki is inking instead of Jonathan Glapion? I don't think I have enough comics experience to be able notice.

I was ready to drop Batman during Death of the Family due to Snyder-fatigue but fuck am I happy that I stuck around for Zero Year. Easily his best work on the current run of Batman, and I think handling the origin of Batman is what he needed to kick his own ass and get his stories back on track. Capullo, as always, kills it as well. He's the most consistent great artist busting his ass out there, I'd say.

 

[Messi]

I was ready to drop Batman during Death of the Family due to Snyder-fatigue but fuck am I happy that I stuck around for Zero Year. Easily his best work on the current run of Batman, and I think handling the origin of Batman is what he needed to kick his own ass and get his stories back on track. Capullo, as always, kills it as well. He's the most consistent great artist busting his ass out there, I'd say.

I really loved Death of the family, what kind of issues did you have with it? Then aain maybe I was just happy to see Joker back.

 

[doniewhalberg]

I really loved Death of the family, what kind of issues did you have with it? Then aain maybe I was just happy to see Joker back.

Haha yea, I read what Slug said there and thought "wow, if that's what he thought of DoTF, I can't even wait to see how much I'm going to be blown away by Zero Year". DoTF, and Snyder's whole run so far really, is the best batman I've ever read. I've liked a lot of Batman interpretations over the years, particularly the Rucka/Bru years, I liked some of Morrison, some not so much. Snyder though for me, is my definitive Batman. I imagine I'll stop buying when he comes off and there'll be a good chance that will be me done with it. DoTF was obliterating to me so Zero Year, I don't know, I might not survive it haha.

EDIT: Haha, as it happens, one of my favourite things about his run has been the style of endings he's went for. I like how he answers the main questions posed but then he leaves questions. Some so you can interprete what was *really* the case yourself, some so you can wonder if it'll come back as a plot point I have really enjoyed getting to the end of the court stuff and DoTF and being like "oh man, was he really...did joker really not tell..." and so on haha.

 

[Filthy Slug]

I really loved Death of the family, what kind of issues did you have with it? Then aain maybe I was just happy to see Joker back.

My issues solely reside in Snyder's New 52 mandate to turn everything into a BIG EVENT. The problem is, he came up with these really great scenarios and events that would spiral out of control due to his own inability to stick the landing, as happens so often with BIG EVENTS. The climax of Owls fucking blew and it doesn't retroactively ruin the issues prior to that dumbass Lincoln March reveal/plane fight, but it did make me weary of his ability to keep a single story strung across 7/8/9 issues. It just bored me towards the end and I wanted it to go away.

For Death of the Family, I was just burned out, and despite fucking loving the Joker's return and everything building up, I just lost interest in the event. I'm missing an issue or two from that storyline because I just didn't care.

Oh, also, I don't think Snyder knew how to write Damian and sure as hell did not write Bruce's grief post-death well, but that's not related to the big events.

With that said, Zero Year is so damn good, compelling, and it doesn't feel like a slog. It has earned it's stay across 12 or whatever issues so far, even with $5.99 issues.

Haha yea, I read what Slug said there and thought "wow, if that's what he thought of DoTF, I can't even wait to see how much I'm going to be blown away by Zero Year". DoTF, and Snyder's whole run so far really, is the best batman I've ever read. I've liked a lot of Batman interpretations over the years, particularly the Rucka/Bru years, I liked some of Morrison, some not so much. Snyder though for me, is my definitive Batman. I imagine I'll stop buying when he comes off and there'll be a good chance that will be me done with it. DoTF was obliterating to me so Zero Year, I don't know, I might not survive it haha.

Your face is gonna melt from Zero Year. Especially #27.

 

[doniewhalberg]

Your face is gonna melt from Zero Year. Especially #27.

Hnnng.

 

[GrandHarrier]

Batwoman #27: Manapaul really likes to show up and just steal the show doesn't he? Smart use of a second artist.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Batwoman #27: Manapaul really likes to show up and just steal the show doesn't he? Smart use of a second artist.

So psyched for him to take over 'tec. Can't even dream what it's gonna be like.

 

[Filthy Slug]

Hnnng.

You just made me think of Kindt's Frankenstein . That was his favorite utterance.

 

[Caspel]

The Lost comparison makes perfect sense since he not only lifted the episode structure verbatim, I'm pretty sure an issue ends with someone actually saying, out loud, "Where are we?"

I also disagree with every single point in this post.

Which genre is misunderstood? Adventure? People got salty about the Battle Royale stuff (but is that even a fucking genre??? WHAT?? [Thanks Leslie and Ben]) but that's the bare surface of it.

Mischaracterization? Of who? Chase and Niko were spot on and if any of the Initiative kids weren't, I wouldn't know because, like everyone else on Earth, I never read their comic. Did their motivations work in the context of this book? 1,000,000%. Is that all that matters? 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000%.

See also "Ignoring Powers" and file under "Who cares, no one read that book and that's why these characters never showed up anywhere else, sorry this is the realities of the comic book marketplace, sorry."

"No creativity"??? I mean, WHAT??? (Thanks, again, Ben and Leslie) How do you even respond to that? A comic book that did not exist before it was published now exists because of CREATIVE ACTS.

I can't even with this

I concur. It was a fun read. Would do it all over again.

 

[CapNBritain]

The Lost comparison makes perfect sense since he not only lifted the episode structure verbatim, I'm pretty sure an issue ends with someone actually saying, out loud, "Where are we?"

I also disagree with every single point in this post.

Which genre is misunderstood? Adventure? People got salty about the Battle Royale stuff (but is that even a fucking genre??? WHAT?? [Thanks Leslie and Ben]) but that's the bare surface of it.

Mischaracterization? Of who? Chase and Niko were spot on and if any of the Initiative kids weren't, I wouldn't know because, like everyone else on Earth, I never read their comic. Did their motivations work in the context of this book? 1,000,000%. Is that all that matters? 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000%.

See also "Ignoring Powers" and file under "Who cares, no one read that book and that's why these characters never showed up anywhere else, sorry this is the realities of the comic book marketplace, sorry."

"No creativity"??? I mean, WHAT??? (Thanks, again, Ben and Leslie) How do you even respond to that? A comic book that did not exist before it was published now exists because of CREATIVE ACTS.

I can't even with this

I endorse this post with the strength of a thousand Albions.

Avengers arena was full of the type of characterization and conflict that made the first few seasons of Lost enjoyable. The big 2 needs more of the this type of book vs the follow the plot point (characterization/interaction be damned) writing that is dominating their events.

 

[Rhaknar]

I stopped reading comics about 10ish years ago, seriously considering buying an ipad and getting a Marvel Unlimited sub, an ipad screen is about the size of a comic book I guess, so I assume it looks good.

 

[slightconfuse]

Hopeless took one of the worst primaries in avenged arena and made it one of Mabel's best books. Guy is a comics superstar

I am so hype for undercover, more cammi a good thing

Tetrax and birdie know what's up

 

[Zeus Molecules]

I endorse this post with the strength of a thousand Albions.

Avengers arena was full of the type of characterization and conflict that made the first few seasons of Lost enjoyable. The big 2 needs more of the this type of book vs the follow the plot point (characterization/interaction be damned) writing that is dominating their events.

Here's my thing

Spoiler

arcade lived

. After all that, I mean its still early but I'm still pissed about that

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Hopeless took one of the worst primaries in avenged arena and made it one of Mabel's best books. Guy is a comics superstar

I am so hype for undercover, more cammi a good thing

Tetrax and birdie know what's up

Also, I had forgotten somehow, "Deathlocket" is hands down the greatest creation in Marvel history, just the name alone.

 

[GrandHarrier]

Welp. Just won an ebay auction for most of the 3rd volume of Legion of Super Heroes (one of the main chunks I was missing) for $2.84. Most lots of this nature sell for around $70-80. Going to chalk this one up to dumb luck.

 

[crimsonspider89]

The Lost comparison makes perfect sense since he not only lifted the episode structure verbatim, I'm pretty sure an issue ends with someone actually saying, out loud, "Where are we?"

I also disagree with every single point in this post.

Which genre is misunderstood? Adventure? People got salty about the Battle Royale stuff (but is that even a fucking genre??? WHAT?? [Thanks Leslie and Ben]) but that's the bare surface of it.

Mischaracterization? Of who? Chase and Niko were spot on and if any of the Initiative kids weren't, I wouldn't know because, like everyone else on Earth, I never read their comic. Did their motivations work in the context of this book? 1,000,000%. Is that all that matters? 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000%.

See also "Ignoring Powers" and file under "Who cares, no one read that book and that's why these characters never showed up anywhere else, sorry this is the realities of the comic book marketplace, sorry."

"No creativity"??? I mean, WHAT??? (Thanks, again, Ben and Leslie) How do you even respond to that? A comic book that did not exist before it was published now exists because of CREATIVE ACTS.

I can't even with this

ALright, it lacks the huge plot that was developed in Lost that made sense.

It lacks the character development of ALL characters that was present. Which Lost did.

No the death match genre is misunderstood. You know what the book was founded on.

It didn't delve into any of the areas that the genre is known for and responsible.

His NIco was trash. I hated his Nico. She lost her charm for me.

Also was talking about Nico. And Chase. And Darkhawk with the powers as well as Hazmat.

To name them: Darkhawk's world blowing up power, chase's fistigons, Nico's Wb staff.

And you do realzie that Academy that "NO ONE" read outsold Arena right?

Self contained stories are fine if not using past reference and past characters.

This is a serial. Not isolated.

And no it isn't 100000000% all that matters. It is how would there character from past would of realistically happen? You know, where character comes in.

And did he do anything creative in the book? NO.

Doing a knock off book due to HG success isn't creative.

 

[CapNBritain]

Here's my thing

Spoiler

arcade lived

. After all that, I mean its still early but I'm still pissed about that

I do think it was wrapped up a little too quickly. They could have done a lot more with the ending, although in regards to your specific gripe, I don't think they needed to do what you wanted them to do.

ALright, it lacks the huge plot that was developed in Lost that made sense.

It lacks the character development of ALL characters that was present. Which Lost did.

No the death match genre is misunderstood. You know what the book was founded on.

It didn't delve into any of the areas that the genre is known for and responsible.

His NIco was trash. I hated his Nico. She lost her charm for me.

Also was talking about Nico. And Chase. And Darkhawk with the powers as well as Hazmat.

To name them: Darkhawk's world blowing up power, chase's fistigons, Nico's Wb staff.

And you do realzie that Academy that "NO ONE" read outsold Arena right?

Self contained stories are fine if not using past reference and past characters.

This is a serial. Not isolated.

And no it isn't 100000000% all that matters. It is how would there character from past would of realistically happen? You know, where character comes in.

And did he do anything creative in the book? NO.

Doing a knock off book due to HG success isn't creative.

The series was all about character development. You say it didn't fully develop ALL of the characters, neither did Lost. How many people were stranded, like a dozen good looking people with awesome flashbacks, plus another 20+ random redshirts? Are you mad that each one of them didn't get developed?

And how can you accuse the series of both "not delving into the area the genre is known for" and for being a ripoff/uncreative copy? It took what it wanted and told a character driven story.

Now, I do wish it had some more time to breathe, especially at the end, and yeah, there were things I kind of expected/wanted that didn't get fulfilled, but you can't fault what was on the page.

I've read Avengers Academy and Runaways and I thought the characterizations were fine. Darkhawk was definitely taken down pretty quickly for someone of his power level (especially after his WoK upgrade), but that was the point. It was handled really well in clearing a major player off the board. And yes, I do think every character acted the way they would have in the past. With the minor exception of Cammi, because I dunno if she would have been so quick to help, but hey, it's been a few years since her appearance and she does "grow" out of her old characterization.

I think we're just on opposite sides of this man. Can we agree that Kev Walker rocked the art?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

ALright, it lacks the huge plot that was developed in Lost that made sense.

It lacks the character development of ALL characters that was present. Which Lost did.

No the death match genre is misunderstood. You know what the book was founded on.

It didn't delve into any of the areas that the genre is known for and responsible.

His NIco was trash. I hated his Nico. She lost her charm for me.

Also was talking about Nico. And Chase. And Darkhawk with the powers as well as Hazmat.

To name them: Darkhawk's world blowing up power, chase's fistigons, Nico's Wb staff.

And you do realzie that Academy that "NO ONE" read outsold Arena right?

Self contained stories are fine if not using past reference and past characters.

This is a serial. Not isolated.

And no it isn't 100000000% all that matters. It is how would there character from past would of realistically happen? You know, where character comes in.

And did he do anything creative in the book? NO.

Doing a knock off book due to HG success isn't creative.

Sorry, dude, I'm not delving any further into Argument Village when you won't even acknowledge the basic creative energy it takes to even sit down to write a comic.

Agree to disagree.

 

[crimsonspider89]

You can be a ripoff without understanding the underlying message.

Ripoff means to copy emulate.

Alright lets compare Arena Reptil to Academy Reptil:

Academy Reptil: Boyscout, dinosaur geek, superhero geek
Arena Reptil: No personality. Hell his lines were direct contradcition of him being a superhero geek and his dinosaur transformations were Jurassic Parkish which a dinosaur geek wouldn't do.

Now lets look at X-23

Pre Arena: Deadly weapon who regrets killing. Thinks strategically of best approach.
Arena: Charges in head first against a sent. Come on. Anti X-23

Hazmat

Pre Arena: princess archetype whose life was ruined so became harsh and cynical.
Arena: Turned into a harsh bitter person before the change. Became an unlikeable person. Which in Academy was one of the favorites.

The art of writing a comic is creative, but stating nothing creative was done in the book and the idea for the book wasn't creative.

And yes Kev Walker's art is fantastic.

 

[tim1138]

Welp. Just won an ebay auction for most of the 3rd volume of Legion of Super Heroes (one of the main chunks I was missing) for $2.84. Most lots of this nature sell for around $70-80. Going to chalk this one up to dumb luck.

How many issues are you getting for your $3?

 

[tm24]

Avengers Arena was so good that someone actually went back and found our quotes about how much that book was going to suck and then we all laughed at how wrong we were

 

[Vibranium]

Man, Black Widow #2 was amazing this week, Edmonson starting to ramp it up and Noto continues to kick ass, with a zipped up Natasha that is very beautiful without any ridiculous proportions (Marvel needs to crack down on artists who do that). I love Isiah already, it's interesting to have a "suit" character who gets his hands dirty.

I wasn't really feeling Invaders unfortunately, I like OG Torch though. I'm gonna give it 3 more issues though, since the team is just assembling to find Namor. "Guru eFX" (what the hell?) doesn't help, Pugh's art was looking very weird in some spots.

And the debut of Dr. Mindbubble in Cap is going to be great, I can't wait to see how crazy he is.

 

[Eldren]

I was ready to drop Batman during Death of the Family due to Snyder-fatigue but fuck am I happy that I stuck around for Zero Year. Easily his best work on the current run of Batman, and I think handling the origin of Batman is what he needed to kick his own ass and get his stories back on track. Capullo, as always, kills it as well. He's the most consistent great artist busting his ass out there, I'd say.

This is getting me super excited to read more. Do you think Death Of The Family might read better in trade, as opposed to reading it month on month? I really really liked the Owls stuff so to hear he's writing better stories is awesome. I love Capullo's work, and consistent is definitely how I would describe him. They're a great team.

 

[tim1138]

Oh man, Doug Mahnke drew the Batman and Robin annual and the preview pages have Dick telling Damian a story while on patrol. Guess I'm buying that.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Man, Black Widow #2 was amazing this week, Edmonson starting to ramp it up and Noto continues to kick ass, with a zipped up Natasha that is very beautiful without any ridiculous proportions (Marvel needs to crack down on artists who do that). I love Isiah already, it's interesting to have a "suit" character who gets his hands dirty.

I wasn't really feeling Invaders unfortunately, I like OG Torch though. I'm gonna give it 3 more issues though, since the team is just assembling to find Namor. "Guru eFX" (what the hell?) doesn't help, Pugh's art was looking very weird in some spots.

And the debut of Dr. Mindbubble in Cap is going to be great, I can't wait to see how crazy he is.

Yeah Invaders was a hard miss.

X-Factor teetering on the edge.

 

[TetraxShards]

Busiek/Perez Avengers comixology sale.

BUYBUYBUYBUYBUYBUY!

 

[Filthy Slug]

This is getting me super excited to read more. Do you think Death Of The Family might read better in trade, as opposed to reading it month on month? I really really liked the Owls stuff so to hear he's writing better stories is awesome. I love Capullo's work, and consistent is definitely how I would describe him. They're a great team.

That's a good question: Snyder is one of the few people who I've never picked up in trades because I've been around for his entire comics career so far. The thing is, there weren't any delays on his Batman books and Capullo has done 90% of the incredible art, and 100% of the important story-related art. So for me, I just got burnt out on him and his inability to keep my attention with overblown events where the 3rd act usually faltered. Also, his Swamp Thing run is abominable, and Rotworld is the most hilarious encapsulation of everything that was wrong with Snyder back then.

I'm back in with Zero Year, though, and I think he deserves every ounce of credit he's getting for this specific storyline. Capullo, of course, is the star of the show, because he never once stumbled on art duties, and is so fucking good it's absurd.

Oh man, Doug Mahnke drew the Batman and Robin annual and the preview pages have Dick telling Damian a story while on patrol. Guess I'm buying that.

This is gonna be good. Tomasi is great with relationships and is always ready to punch readers' in the heartpiece. And Mahnke is awesome.

 

[slightconfuse]

Busiek/Perez Avengers comixology sale.

BUYBUYBUYBUYBUYBUY!

Need some of that Kang dynasty

 

[GrandHarrier]

How many issues are you getting for your $3?

Around 55 or so.