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[BKatastrophe]

do you guys think American comics are too focused on superheroes

i heard this argument once...


European comics and Manga seem to be much more diverse in genres..while American comics seem to focus on superheroes


is this a good thing or bad thing? is this much of a problem?

It's perfectly fine, I think. There's plenty of other comics out there that aren't superheroes, but considering superheroes are what made comics really big in the first place, it makes sense that those would be the biggest genre out there.

 

[Serpentine]

wow, very few comics for me tomorrow - WicDiv 10 and Dead Drop 1, because hey i didn't know Ales Kot was writing a thing for Valiant, aka the TNA of comics

 

[PsychBat!]

The best was that one Harley/Power Girl variant that I have. My shop charged $9, I think Midtown was selling that shit for $30. When I call them the GameStop of Comics it's not a term of endearment.

Hey Zombine, can I get a bigger version of your avatar?

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Reading Rage of Ultron the night before I went to see Age of Ultron sure was a bad idea.

Hah I did the same thing. Man I didn't like the ending of either

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

God damn
Ivar #4 was a mini masterpiece
Valiant valianting

 

[Afrodium]

I'm mostly all digital, so I pretty much only go to my LCS for the occasional trade. At least, I intend to buy trades and then I realize I can get twice as many books for the same price on IST/Amazon and leave empty handed. I did buy the volume 1 HC of Y The Last Man on FCBD though, so there's that.

 

[BKatastrophe]

God damn
Ivar #4 was a mini masterpiece
Valiant valianting

Ivar is a pretty good book. Time travel shenanigans are best shenanigans.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

God damn
Ivar #4 was a mini masterpiece
Valiant valianting

Why did they take archer and Armstrong away from me

 

[Poodlestrike]

We were discussing Valeria's age yesterday and whoever said she was 4 was quite closer than me saying she was 8. I'm reading the F4 annual for the current volume (from october) and Sue says she's 3 so there you go.

Oy vey. Comic book intelligence strikes again!

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Why did they take archer and Armstrong away from me

Sounds like someone who's not reading Ivar. its kind of even better

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Sounds like someone who's not reading Ivar. its kind of even better

Better than my herc and cho replacement!? Hmm I find that hard to believe

And look at this sexy beast. I'm so rebuying this wonderful series again. Kabuki getting the Dark Horse library edition treatment is the best.
https://www.facebook.com/21231086294/photos/a.155268256294.118639.21231086294/10152739843916295/?type=1&theater

Some of the synopsis of the first volume. I'll leave out the last paragraph as its got a bit of a mild spoiler

Japan. A power struggle of corporate tribes that blur the lines between business, organized crime, and politics. The face and voice of KABUKI on NOH TV mixes news, national identity, and a reality type show of entertainment from first person POV of NOH operatives policing the delicate interdependance of crime and corporate moves. The live feed from their eye lens cameras played as reruns showing the players that fall on the wrong side of the balance meeting thier retirement.
There are television animation cartoons of these NOH personas… the line between reality and myth of them is blurred. Most people believe them to be a manufactured televison propoganda and cartoon characters that children buy toys of… but in the criminal world we see that they are quite real.

In the midst of a fuedal war spanning criminal underground societies and corporate media moguls, the operatives of the CIRCLE OF THE NOH are used to keep the balance.

If you've ever enjoyed David Mack's work on Alias covers, Daredevil, Etc you need to get this. It's his masterpiece. It's amazing to see his art and writing fusion style grow and evolve with each volume. It's the Girly Hijinks meets high class art.

 

[my name is ed]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to get back into reading Marvel/DC comics. I think the last thing I read for Marvel was Siege, and for DC, it was a bit after Final Crisis.

I kind of want to catch up reading the good stuff. I don't mind reading a lot if the stories are good and I was going to try and catch-up on the bigger stuff. Are there any must-reads or recommendations that I should definitely go for? Or maybe things I should skip?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

Skip any marvel events except for Infinity and Spider Island.
I recommend you read Uncanny X-Force which feeds into Uncanny Avengers by Remender
Moon Knight by Ellis and Shalvey
Superior Foes of Spider-Man
pretty much everything Jonathan Hickman has ever written for marvel in the order it was written. This includes Secret Warriors, Shield, Ultimates, Fantastic Four/Future Foundation and his current Avengers run that includes the Infinity event and leads into the upcoming Secret War event.

I recommend buying a Marvel Unlimited account so you dont go broke.

As for DC, Snyder's Batman run is hugely popular

do you guys think American comics are too focused on superheroes

is this a good thing or bad thing? is this much of a problem?

Too focused on superheroes? Definitely. Theres nothing wrong with superhero comics themselves, but they do always tend towards one type of story. Superhero comics tend to revolve around a masculine form of justice and the innate structure of most comics reflects this. So the issue would be that we mostly only get one form of story in mainstream comics.

Another common criticism is that mainstream superhero comics are pretty much just in an 'Act II' Some believe this stops real character progression. I'd argue against it, but there is certainly a bit of an expected status quo.

Things are better now since its just as viable to go independent at Image for big creators so were getting more of the best creators doing what they want. Although to get there, creators still have to make their bones at Marvel/DC before getting comfortable doing independent work.

 

[Rhaknar]

Space Bucky has beautiful art

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Space Bucky has beautiful art

It's a phenomenally underrated book, especially if you listen to good music and get all the references.

 

[Primethius]

Skip any marvel events except for Infinity and Spider Island.
I recommend you read Uncanny X-Force which feeds into Uncanny Avengers by Remender
Moon Knight by Ellis and Shalvey
Superior Foes of Spider-Man
pretty much everything Jonathan Hickman has ever written for marvel in the order it was written. This includes Secret Warriors, Shield, Ultimates, Fantastic Four/Future Foundation and his current Avengers run that includes the Infinity event and leads into the upcoming Secret War event.

I recommend buying a Marvel Unlimited account so you dont go broke.

As for DC, Snyder's Batman run is hugely popular

Thanks, I was just about to get Marvel Unlimited. 6 months behind print is no biggie. Can't wait to jump back in.

 

[Tyrant Rave]

Thanks, I was just about to get Marvel Unlimited. 6 months behind print is no biggie. Can't wait to jump back in.

Daredevil by Mark Waid is a great read too!

 

[frye]

It's perfectly fine, I think. There's plenty of other comics out there that aren't superheroes, but considering superheroes are what made comics really big in the first place, it makes sense that those would be the biggest genre out there.

Setting aside the historic and continued popularity of the newspaper strip format, superheroes being the dominant genre in comic books is kind of just a historical accident.

anywaays, the idea that superheroes dominate the medium in North America is only true when you look at the direct market. webcomics/mini comics/bookstore stuff etc. are much more varied

 

[SpiderJerusalem]

Better than my herc and cho replacement!? Hmm I find that hard to believe

And look at this sexy beast. I'm so rebuying this wonderful series again. Kabuki getting the Dark Horse library edition treatment is the best.
https://www.facebook.com/21231086294/photos/a.155268256294.118639.21231086294/10152739843916295/?type=1&theater

Some of the synopsis of the first volume. I'll leave out the last paragraph as its got a bit of a mild spoiler


If you've ever enjoyed David Mack's work on Alias covers, Daredevil, Etc you need to get this. It's his masterpiece. It's amazing to see his art and writing fusion style grow and evolve with each volume. It's the Girly Hijinks meets high class art.

Forty bucks?!

Mine!
I hope they do Scarab also

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Forty bucks?!

Mine!

Yea it's the first two volumes. So 400 pages. And so on IST it'll be like $25. A steal. I wanted to post images of Kabuki to show but I'm not good at it. And the ones I found I feared could be spoilers? I dunno. Where's JC when you need him. I'm not great at selling books to people. But this is one everyone should own.

Here's a couple samples of Kabuki the series.

Ok...I'll stop adding pictures

 

[Coriolanus]

Too focused on superheroes? Definitely. Theres nothing wrong with superhero comics themselves, but they do always tend towards one type of story. Superhero comics tend to revolve around a masculine form of justice and the innate structure of most comics reflects this. So the issue would be that we mostly only get one form of story in mainstream comics.

To be fair, aside from what is commonly considered "european comics", asia didnt escape from this either. Most shounen stories are essentially superhero comics, and it is by far the most popular segment. Whole lotta seinen follows the same path.

Now i'm wondering what would be the most common examples of european comics. 2000ad? Corto Maltese? Tintin? Asterix?

Anyone bitching about "too many superhero comics" nowadays most likely has their head buried in the sand, however. Industry has seldomly seen so much variety. It's the equivalent of saying "all modern music is crap".

 

[Rhaknar]

Space Bucky is great. Crazy space adventures with Daisy "Quake" Johnson and amazing art? I'm very down with that.

Speaking of Bucky, after reading these I discovered a Winter Soldier book from 2012 by Brubaker, thoughts?

I loved that recent Bitter March mini for reference

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Space Bucky is great. Crazy space adventures with Daisy "Quake" Johnson and amazing art? I'm very down with that.

Speaking of Bucky, after reading these I discovered a Winter Soldier book from 2012 by Brubaker, thoughts?

I loved that recent Bitter March mini for reference

Any brubaker in the cap universe is a must read, but don't read winter soldier first. Start from the beginning of his run on cap, Out of Time

 

[Vampire On Titus]

do you guys think American comics are too focused on superheroes

i heard this argument once...


European comics and Manga seem to be much more diverse in genres..while American comics seem to focus on superheroes


is this a good thing or bad thing? is this much of a problem?

If anyone is using this as an "argument" against american comics I'd argue that they arent just not looking hard enough but not looking at all.

I read so many comics from graphic novels, serials, comic strips and web comics and only two of my regular pulls are super hero stories (mrs marvel & spider-man). I dont think the industry/scene is too focused on super heroes. Maybe the fans are, since the top sellers are mostly super hero stories.

But if thats what they like im not gonna say anybody is "too" into it regardless because who even cares? As long as theres an abundance of stuff to read that im interested in then its all good.

So im gonna go with not much of a problem. At least from a readers perspective.

 

[GAMEPROFF]

Sounds boring

Does it have cool fights and a moving funeral scene?

Not even that :/

 

[Bloodember]

So, I'm pretty sure AT&T is blocking Marvel unlimited and Marvel.com. neither will work over cellular, but will work on WiFi. So I installed a VPN on my phone and huh, they both work, shut the VPN off, doesn't work. Going to call them in the morning when I get home and see what's going on.

 

[Rhaknar]

So, I'm pretty sure AT&T is blocking Marvel unlimited and Marvel.com. neither will work over cellular, but will work on WiFi. So I installed a VPN in my phone and huh, they both work, shut the VPN off, doesn't work. Going to call them in the morning when I get home and see what's going on.

Didn't you post about MU problems at the same time yesterday (2 nights ago? Time is a blur to me). My point is, it seems they must do maintenence or something at this hour because I also can't use it for shit every night around this time.

Unless you can't use it at any hour, I'm just going by the times I've seen you post that (which is when I'm at work and it happens, always around the same time)

Edit: then again if it works with a VPN I dunno /shrug

 

[Parallax]

We were discussing Valeria's age yesterday and whoever said she was 4 was quite closer than me saying she was 8. I'm reading the F4 annual for the current volume (from october) and Sue says she's 3 so there you go.

that was me. brevoort said she was still four but noone has drawn her like a four year old.

 

[Rhaknar]

that was me. brevoort said she was still four but noone has drawn her like a four year old.

Aren't all those FF kids about that age, except Alex?

How do you draw a 4 year old exactly?

 

[Sandfox]

that was me. brevoort said she was still four but noone has drawn her like a four year old.

Aren't all those FF kids about that age, except Alex?

How do you draw a 4 year old exactly?

From what I've read its just hard for artists to make Valeria look her age.

 

[Bloodember]

Didn't you post about MU problems at the same time yesterday (2 nights ago? Time is a blur to me). My point is, it seems they must do maintenence or something at this hour because I also can't use it for shit every night around this time.

Unless you can't use it at any hour, I'm just going by the times I've seen you post that (which is when I'm at work and it happens, always around the same time)

Edit: then again if it works with a VPN I dunno /shrug

Yup, last night I posted, I actually haven't been able to connect at all on my phone since around 7 or 8 last night. Forgot to check at home, but it does work with a VPN or on WiFi, so who knows.

 

[BKatastrophe]

Setting aside the historic and continued popularity of the newspaper strip format, superheroes being the dominant genre in comic books is kind of just a historical accident.

anywaays, the idea that superheroes dominate the medium in North America is only true when you look at the direct market. webcomics/mini comics/bookstore stuff etc. are much more varied

I'm more saying comics in the pop sense. Like, I understand the strip format is still popular. Everyone loves to read the funnies once in awhile (and even some of the serious ones, like Prince Valiant, I think it's called), and superhero comics got their start there. But when people think about comics, they immediately think comic books and superheroes. In that sense, superhero comics were a big part in their popularity.

But yes, comics are far more varied than just superhero comics or the funnies.

Not even that :/

The event itself sounds rather lame. Anyone read Wolverines? That at least seems interesting.

 

[Rhaknar]

Yup, last night I posted, I actually haven't been able to connect at all on my phone since around 7 or 8 last night. Forgot to check at home, but it does work with a VPN or on WiFi, so who knows.

To be clear, it wouldn't shock me if it was on MUs end, that thing is a piece of shit. It's a shame because the service is amazing

But I have noticed I run into problems every night around 4-5am, I just assumed it was server maintenance or something

 

[GAMEPROFF]

I hope I dont annoy no one of you, but holy shit - Hickmanns Fantastic Four stuff is so great.
Really need to dive into his Ultimates after this. To bad it will take at least a year from now until I can read through Avengers.

 

[Parallax]

Aren't all those FF kids about that age, except Alex?

How do you draw a 4 year old exactly?

not like a pre teen obviously

 

[Rhaknar]

I hope I dont annoy no one of you, but holy shit - Hickmanns Fantastic Four stuff is so great.
Really need to dive into his Ultimates after this. To bad it will take at least a year from now until I can read through Avengers.

Why would you annoy us when 95% of us are Hickman fanboys

 

[PsychBat!]

Hickman is truth

 

[GAMEPROFF]

All Hope lies in Hickman.

 

[B-Dubs]

Hickman is love, Hickman is life.

 

[Error]

any convergence side series worth picking? so far i've seen nothing that interest me, only Convergence: The Question looks like something I might pick up (Renee Montoya!).

 

[Serpentine]

fuck hickman

so when does John Byrne start drawing Uncanny X-Men, or when does Dave Cockrum leave, or when is Banshee written out of this book, because I can't stand Cockrum's Banshee for much longer. just a horrible looking dude

any convergence side series worth picking? so far i've seen nothing that interest me, only Convergence: The Question looks like something I might pick up (Renee Montoya!).

Shazam, idk about anything else

 

[frye]

^^ like super-soon, Cockrun isn't on the book long unfortunately

I'm more saying comics in the pop sense. Like, I understand the strip format is still popular. Everyone loves to read the funnies once in awhile (and even some of the serious ones, like Prince Valiant, I think it's called), and superhero comics got their start there. But when people think about comics, they immediately think comic books and superheroes. In that sense, superhero comics were a big part in their popularity.

When I say historical accident what I'm saying is more like -- the "modern" superhero as we know it comes from DC's, and later Marvel's, Silver Age in the mid-to-late 50s and early 60s respectively. But in the years between Superman's introduction and Barry Allen's: the Flash and Green Lantern titles were canceled, Captain Marvel was out of the picture due to legal issues, and lots of other genres (western, crime, war, sci-fi) flourished. They were popular, yes, but they weren't everything. The Silver Age was a *revitalization* of a genre that people thought was over and we can easily imagine a world (without Wertham or the Comics Code or Jack Kirby) where superheroes are not as big as they are now.

basically: the synonymousness between superheroes and american comics was not inevitable

 

[Rhaknar]

This is a Fraction / Allred joint?

 

[BKatastrophe]

any convergence side series worth picking? so far i've seen nothing that interest me, only Convergence: The Question looks like something I might pick up (Renee Montoya!).

Nightwing and Oracle is the only other particularly good one I picked up, along with Harley Quinn and The Question (which you're already interested in). Speed Force, Suicide Squad, Swamp Thing, and Blue Beetle are all just okay.

So far, anyway. They all have one more issue to drop, since they're all two issue runs.

 

[PsychBat!]

fuck hickman

If only we could

 

[BossDarkseid]

If only we could

>_>

lol

THat said, today's the day.

Secret Wars is upon us...

 

[GAMEPROFF]

Everything ends.

Curious to see when my Issue arrives -,-

 

[Rhaknar]

I thought Secret Wars already started?

 

[PsychBat!]

I thought Secret Wars already started?

It starts May 6.

 

[Rhaknar]

It starts May 6.

Can't wait for spoilers tonight then

Its just Secret Wars #1 or some of the other crazy books are out too?

 

[PsychBat!]

Can't wait for spoilers tonight then

Its just Secret Wars #1 or some of the other crazy books are out too?

Don't worry, once the Secret Wars thread is up, the tie-in book's release dates will be on there.
But so far, just Secret Wars tomorrow.