It's weird, mostly all the writers do good books from Sci Fi, Capes, Spy, Detective, Slice of Life but yet alsmot all are trapped with one Capes book and they can't do much in.
I think it varies a lot actually. Scott Snyder could probably do practically whatever he wants with Batman right now (short of killing him), DC's most popular character, and he isn't even writing the main book. Priest doing his thing on Deathstroke.
I get the sense there are a lot more boundaries at Marvel right now.
Starlord was crappy partly because he was saddled with editorial movie synergy and couldn't rock the status quo at all because it was at the mercy of what Bendis was doing. Remember Kitty Pryde doing the stupid "Ooga Chaka?"
He had a string of shit-bombs at Marvel starting with him dropping the ball on Hickman's Ultimates run at the end. Though Avengers A.I. convinced me that he is potentially a great writer. His take on Hank Pym was actually brilliant and I was surprised no one went there before.
But GLs has been surprisingly good. Baz and Jessica make an entertaining buddy cop duo and he's expanding the mythos a little more.
The biggest issues with Star-Lord was his doing. He was the one who told Bendis to hook Star-Lord up with Kitty and every cosmic book he wrote since was focusing on his precious StarKat.
I think it varies a lot actually. Scott Snyder could probably do practically whatever he wants with Batman right now (short of killing him), DC's most popular character, and he isn't even writing the main book. Priest doing his thing on Deathstroke.
I get the sense there are a lot more boundaries at Marvel right now.
David Walker actually left Cyborg because DC wouldn't let him do what he wanted with the book while Marvel lets him write stuff like Nighthawk. That was pre-Rebirth though so who knows what things are like now.
I think it varies a lot actually. Scott Snyder could probably do practically whatever he wants with Batman right now (short of killing him), DC's most popular character, and he isn't even writing the main book. Priest doing his thing on Deathstroke.
I get the sense there are a lot more boundaries at Marvel right now.
Yeah, Marvel right now feels like 2010-2011 DC right before Flashpoint. I get that they're trying new stuff and new legacies but it all feels so rigid in its execution for most of it.
Yeah, Marvel right now feels like 2010-2011 DC right before Flashpoint. I get that they're trying new stuff and new legacies but it all feels so rigid in its execution for most of it.
, he takes Sam's helmet, calls Scott a psychopath and Hitler (this is where I just saw red) and then wants to fight him while exclaiming that Scott ain't nothing but a puny punk not unlike how a high school bully talks.
The other stuff
where he interrupts Sam's potential kiss with Viv and kisses Viv later at the end is dick-ish
Yeah, there's a fine line between being just a dick (Champions Cho) and being a glorious bastard (Totally Awesome Cho). Pak writes him perfectly.
That confrontation Cho had with Captain Marvel back in #9 was just great. The payoff at the end made it one of my favorite non-Vision comics Marvel has put out this year.
Yeah, Marvel right now feels like 2010-2011 DC right before Flashpoint. I get that they're trying new stuff and new legacies but it all feels so rigid in its execution for most of it.
My thing with that book is that I like it all fine, but I'm sure I would absolutely love it if it had a completely different creative team. I know people like Ramos, but he's not my cup of tea, and while Waid does fine writing teens in Archie, I feel like this book would be 80% better if someone that was younger than 35 was on writing duties.
My thing with that book is that I like it all fine, but I'm sure I would absolutely love it if it had a completely different creative team. I know people like Ramos, but he's not my cup of tea, and while Waid does fine writing teens in Archie, I feel like this book would be 80% better if someone that was younger than 35 was on writing duties.
I'd love for Pak or Spencer to take the book over. Spencer's too busy with Cap and Pak doesn't want to write Marvel anymore unless it's Hulk.
If all else fails, give it to Loveness if he proves himself on Nova. That would be great stepping stone for him on his way to take over Spider-Man from Slott.
They missed their opportunity to do some needed retcons with Secret Wars. Maybe do some minor retcons in whatever event they let Ewing write to bring back the Fantastic Four.
Doctor Strange was pretty fucking cool. Might be one of my favorite MCU films just for its visuals and Benedict Cumberbatch. I'm more excited too see more of him than almost any other character in future Marvel films and standalone sequels (Spider-Man and Guardians being the only ones above him). I thought the final showdown (as well as most of the action scenes) was pretty brilliant in the most absurd way, which is completely in line with what Doctor Strange represents.
I'd love for Pak or Spencer to take the book over. Spencer's too busy with Cap and Pak doesn't want to write Marvel anymore unless it's Hulk.
If all else fails, give it to Loveness if he proves himself on Nova. That would be great stepping stone for him on his way to take over Spider-Man from Slott.
I would absolutely love for Loveness to be on the book. He's great.
I also made the mistake of getting into an argument with someone on /r/comicbooks about Thor. He seems really mad that Thor is upset due to a "forced plot point". You know, as opposed to all of those cage-free, naturally occurring plot points that you see in other books.
He's mad that they broke Thor, and seems to have no understanding that breaking Thor to build him back up is the whole point of Aaron's run.
Then I tired to compare it to when Bane broke Batman. The story there was never going to be, JPV is Batman forever now! It's how's Batman going to come back from this, and be more Batman-y than ever before.
I think it varies a lot actually. Scott Snyder could probably do practically whatever he wants with Batman right now (short of killing him), DC's most popular character, and he isn't even writing the main book. Priest doing his thing on Deathstroke.
I get the sense there are a lot more boundaries at Marvel right now.
I don't know, the fact Cap is HYDRA, Tony is MIA, Hulk is gone, we got two Thors tells me some boundaries are gone.
My big issue is that Marvoo still hasn't learned about the events yet. The fact CW2 hasn't been catching fire and getting waxed by Rebirth tells me shit has to change somewhat.
If all else fails, give it to Loveness if he proves himself on Nova. That would be great stepping stone for him on his way to take over Spider-Man from Slott.
While everyone and their grandmothers are tired of Slott at this point, I'm on the camp that Slott actually understands Spidey/Peter on a fundamental level and never ever misses a beat. I wouldn't mind if Slott would stay on Spidey a while longer.
They missed their opportunity to do some needed retcons with Secret Wars. Maybe do some minor retcons in whatever event they let Ewing write to bring back the Fantastic Four.
I don't know, the fact Cap is HYDRA, Tony is MIA, Hulk is gone, we got two Thors tells me some boundaries are gone.
My big issue is that Marvoo still hasn't learned about the events yet. The fact CW2 hasn't been catching fire and getting waxed by Rebirth tells me shit has to change somewhat.
CW2 actually seems to be doing decent so the only lesson they probably see is to maybe not tie as many books into future events and using rotating artists, which is happening with MU.
I'm expecting to see more stuff like Resurrxion in 2017.
I also made the mistake of getting into an argument with someone on /r/comicbooks about Thor. He seems really mad that Thor is upset due to a "forced plot point". You know, as opposed to all of those cage-free, naturally occurring plot points that you see in other books.
He's mad that they broke Thor, and seems to have no understanding that breaking Thor to build him back up is the whole point of Aaron's run.
My only big knock on Aaron's run right now is that both Jane and Odinson have felt like supporting characters to Agger and Malekith for a good portion of the run. That and the transition from Original Sin to Jane-Thor was a little too abrupt. Really enjoying it though.
CW2 actually seems to be doing decent so the only lesson they probably see is to maybe not tie as many books into future events and using rotating artists, which is happening with MU.
I'm expecting to see more stuff like Resurrxion in 2017.
While everyone and their grandmothers are tired of Slott at this point, I'm on the camp that Slott actually understands Spidey/Peter on a fundamental level and never ever misses a beat. I wouldn't mind if Slott would stay on Spidey a while longer.
I agree that Slott understands Spidey well. My problem is that he never fleshes out story ideas to a shred of their potential and just moves onto the next "nothing will ever be the same again!" status quo shift. It's great that things are happening but it feels like empty calories.
I mean, to hit my issue more specifically, Eternal Warrior (1-4 at least) has Gillad
being all "I'm sick of this job and I quit a loooong time ago", and then a series of events leading to him killing the Earth goddess
but then Archer & Armstrong
has the Earth goddess just fine, and Gillad is still doing the totally loyal warrior thing to the degree that he's all "I will hunt you to the ends of the earth for killing a Geomancer!"
It's just weird and I can't see any way to reconcile those, despite the fact that they seem to otherwise be in continuity with one another, I think.
Also, I almost forgot! The little bonus comic in the back of issue 2 of Sonic Mega Drive was pretty directly poking fun at the whole Penders lawsuit mess/incredible stupidity, which amused me greatly.
Don't those take place at different points in time? So there's gaps there which can explain it ( as in we haven't got that story yet maybe). I can't remember if it is addressed in one series or another. It doesn't strike me as the kind of thing Valiant would drop the ball on. I just remember not having a problem with it. Maybe Launchpad can enligthen us.
I reread the first volume of Invisible Republic before diving into the second, and I feel like this book would have fit nicely among the 2000s era Vertigo lineup with its gritty, ground level view of sociopolitical conflicts. I love the worldbuilding, and how it's not rushing to fit every political faction or character into the narrative, but introducing them as they become relevant to the journalist. It's a nice balancing act.
Wat. Why would you ever be reading comics while watching TV, or watching TV while reading comics? Subtitles ain't the problem here!
Hahah, I know, I know. I only do it if the book isn't too deep (don't take that as anything against TMNT though) and/or I just don't don't have much free time in the day. The lady of the manor wants me to sit with her in the evening, I want to read comics, dark sacrifices and blood stained rituals result.
Also, I really like Invisible Republic too (NOT a book I would read if the tv was on in the room, this is now my new rating system). I thought volume 1 was perfectly paced and well thought out, pretty excited to see where it goes. I think using the journal/memoirs to jump back just does a really great job of filling the world out naturally, and in a way that you care. Vol 2 is on the xmas list!
It's weird, mostly all the writers do good books from Sci Fi, Capes, Spy, Detective, Slice of Life but yet alsmot all are trapped with one Capes book and they can't do much in.
Was thinking about this the other day wheeeen someone (sorry I can't remember who) had asked to the effect of "I really liked this marvel book because it actually showed the character's personal life and doing normal things. What other books do this?" Now sure, there's going to be exceptional due to certain premise but in general, this shouldn't be some exceptional selling point for a book. This is basically good character writing. Should ALL cape books have this type of depth to them to make you give a shit? Just interesting someone had noted this as a particularly special thing about the marvel book they had read, and yea, maybe Marvel need to loosen up and let their writers breath and do what they do best. I know some books do have this stuff and it's not a totally explanation of why it's hard to give a shit about some books, but it made me think anyway.
---------
CBR are doing a 5 day preview thing with Steve Orlando on his new book Namesake. It's basically the first issue's preview with with a director commentary. Kind of weird, feels a bit like the guns of Halo making it a week long thing that you need to keep coming back for, but still cool the book is getting a spotlight.
So okay, I will say straight up: I have not read Champions, Waid is probably out of touch, I can't really discuss the finer points here, so this response really just is my gut check/general thought on the bit I bolded in particular, but imo if the writer isn't nailing their voices, I wouldn't assume getting someone younger would solve that problem. The whole point of being a writer is inhabiting other people's shoes, I don't think you need to be a specific age to have that skill. I do think you either have some voices or you don't, and some people just write young people poorly. I'd have a hard time saying specifically that a younger writer would be an immediately better option though. I mean Joe Hill is 44 right? L&K started coming out in 2008 I believe. Dude was already in his mid 30s, and finished in his 40s. The book has a lot going on in it, but it's effectively a coming of age story for the Locke children, who rather from Teenagers, to younger, and it's fantastic.
So anyway, I totally get that a writer can become out of touch, but just a thought about the idea that the book would be inherently better from a younger writer. Age might inform the tools the writer has at his/her disposal both ways, and I think you could be just as likely to find an under 35 who also fails the task, as an over 35 who would succeed (and vice versa etc etc). Not really disagreeing with you at all then, but more just a jump off point for a further thought
What I get from this issue is that Batman is really really pissed and determined. This was really effective at portraying that.
Once again King uses repetition to sell an emotion. He's really good at that.
Champions 2
First question: Why was Cho hulked out the entire time?
Ok, so I liked just about everything with this issue except the end. It's not even the idea of it happening it's just the way it comes about and the way it is portrayed. It's so damn news grabbing or whatever it's called in this instance. It comes off as so dumb and low brow.
Superman
This was soooo damn good. So damn good.
Shade the Changing Girl
I loved the flow of this book. Stuff like Shade touching the one girl and it rushing to a memory with the water and then when it comes back River's book having the madness colored water coming off his book.
I really can't get enough of the YA books.
Midnighter and Apollo
I feel like Midnighter is the one book that Orlando does that I never feel iffy on it. I just love it. It can be cheesy and sound kind of dumb but with Midnighter it just works. Him saying stuff like people are getting their wish because he's finally going to hell goes from being cheesy to being awesome with Midnighter. I hope Midnighter gets to stick around, I really like this book.
I mean, to hit my issue more specifically, Eternal Warrior (1-4 at least) has Gillad
being all "I'm sick of this job and I quit a loooong time ago", and then a series of events leading to him killing the Earth goddess
but then Archer & Armstrong
has the Earth goddess just fine, and Gillad is still doing the totally loyal warrior thing to the degree that he's all "I will hunt you to the ends of the earth for killing a Geomancer!"
It's just weird and I can't see any way to reconcile those, despite the fact that they seem to otherwise be in continuity with one another, I think.
Also, I almost forgot! The little bonus comic in the back of issue 2 of Sonic Mega Drive was pretty directly poking fun at the whole Penders lawsuit mess/incredible stupidity, which amused me greatly.
Don't those take place at different points in time? So there's gaps there which can explain it ( as in we haven't got that story yet maybe). I can't remember if it is addressed in one series or another. It doesn't strike me as the kind of thing Valiant would drop the ball on. I just remember not having a problem with it. Maybe Launchpad can enligthen us.
So, the first thing to take into account is that Valiant doesn't always fit perfectly together in continuity. In letting writers do what they want with characters, they don't tie them down so strongly to a continuity. It's still rare, and it really was only prevalent in earlier stuff, but it requires some mental gymnastics to piece together at times.
And Eternal Warrior is the prime example of that. It seems to be out of continuity completely, but it actually takes place a fair amount of time before the timeline when the Valiant relaunch started. The key piece of information is that Buck McHenry is still alive in Eternal Warrior, if I recall correctly. Buck, a Geomancer himself, was a great uncle or something to the current Geomancer at the point where Gilad appears in A&A. They do a piss poor job of explaining that, but I mostly blame Greg Pak - also because I don't think the series he wrote is very good. Also, there can only be one Geomancer at a time by normal rules.
Also, Gilad has always had a love-hate relationship with the Earth. He goes through phases of not wanting anything to do with his jon to wanting to do save it.
I didn't get so much that he was a dick but that he was trying to show off and be cool. Which kind of fits the character. Kamala being dismissive of Nova and his 'little hat' was more off than anything.
glad this is a mini series because I can't see myself reading a full series of this. Outside of the art it was pretty boring. Guess this would tie in better if you were reading the spidey books.
2/5
glad this is a mini series because I can't see myself reading a full series of this. Outside of the art it was pretty boring. Guess this would tie in better if you were reading the spidey books.
2/5
I didn't get so much that he was a dick but that he was trying to show off and be cool. Which kind of fits the character. Kamala being dismissive of Nova and his 'little hat' was more off than anything.
Motor Girl #1 was just lovely. Terry Moore is a national treasure. He is an amazing cartoonist and storyteller. Nobody cartoons like him anymore. It's like peanuts but with more story. I love the building blocks we have here and the back story is quite sad and not what I expected. Best book I'll read this week that's for sure.
Avengers #1:Fucking YES! All in. Those last few pages were so good. Such promise. Del Mundo is so so good. The book looks so unique and that final page leads me to believe they are going to play heavily into his strengths.
Spidey getting owned by Falcon was funny too. Love Kang as a villian and going back in time and stealing the babies is just fucked up. Oh and Nadias panel of her as a kid
Deadly Class is simply the greatest ongoing series in comic book history.
Now that's established as Saya's story, it's clear that "Book 1" was just a prologue, an exhaustive illustration of exactly what, in detail, she had to sacrifice.
Nothing like this has ever been attempted in any medium.
This is the best book DC is putting hands down. I'm glad we aw Damien take it right to the gut. I really like Goliath and Nobody hopefully they show up elsewhere.
This is the best book DC is putting hands down. I'm glad we aw Damien take it right to the gut. I really like Goliath and Nobody hopefully they show up elsewhere.
It had its good issues, but I thought it was mostly meh. The Nobody/Goliath/Damien relationship was the best thing in it but I feel like looking back it was only about a third of the run. It also kind of went on too long and had a perfect ending but then decided to go another couple pointless issues which sucked pretty bad.
Alright, finally got around to reading all my shit to prepare me to buy my next batch of stuff. Get prepared for a lot of Ellis dick-sucking because that dude's balls deep right now.
Impressions!
Trees Vol. 1
This was really good, but I can't imagine that reading it issue to issue was all that satisfying due to the pacing and 30 different storylines. Even though a lot happened this seemed like mostly set up with introducing all the disparate elements and not revealing how they'll join up or be related yet which means that the strength of the book is carried by how strong each individual storyline is. And most of them are really strong. Obviously the arctic mission was one of the most interesting parts due to being directly related to the Trees as well as
having the biggest progression with the poppies and Marsh's research into them until they send the signal and crash the helicopter
. The smaller stories like the ones with Eligia and Luca and her
taking over the crime scene with his help before killing him
and Chu and Zhen in the artist's collective in China
and his/her exploration of belonging and sexuality before China wipes it off the map
are the stronger scenes of the volume because they deal directly with how society has had to deal with living in the shadow of these uncaring world-changers. Ellis' dialogue as always is really strong as is his creative imagination in the basic premise of most of his books. The weaker elements are the two other stories involving a man running for mayor of New York and the president of Somalia wanting to utilize the Tree near him as a strategic advantage. While both also directly show the Tress affect on the people of Earth these are much more...comic-booky? plots. Revenge and power. Normal stuff. Not to say they're badly written parts or anything but comparatively to the mystery of what the Trees are doing and the more low-level, personal stories going on are significantly more interesting. All in all it was a good start that certainly ended with a bang
and on an amusing note, killed off two characters that I thought were going to be part of the main characters of the book, Marsh and Chu. Really cool though that one of the main characters of the book will hopefully be a transgender person
.
Trees Vol. 2
Good but a bit of a let down from the first volume. Mainly because they BARELY touch on two of the better plots of the first Volume
Eligia's crime world and Zhen's journey in the aftermath of Chu's and the entire city's death
and instead focus almost entirely on the other 3 plot lines, two of which aren't as strong. The New York situation is generally interesting but it gets muddled really quick with the Mayor being a bit wishy-washy and sort of losing his way. The idea of a revenge against
the police for being on the waterline when the Tree touched down and shooting people that tried to save themselves
is interesting as that seems to be his entire purpose in being mayor, but he quickly loses sight of that. And though an interesting study about compromise or the nature of power making people give up their reasons for doing something in the first place but...it wasn't a very interesting read. =/ Same with the Somalian president plot. Larger scale politics in this world is interesting but not as much as the other stuff. Luckily the main researcher plot point carried much of this and we had a great new lead in Dr. Creasy who survived the Blindhail event and has to deal with the fallout from it and the new threat that the govt wants to keep under wraps, for...pretty legitimate reasons as her new research bunkmates show. As a predictable result we see
poppies
in her new station as well as in NY leading to what could be a real shitstorm of new chapters. Unfortunately the only bit of Eligia and Zhen we get is barely 4ish pages of where they are now which is really too bad as I was way more interested in them than New York or Somalia. So a good read but not as fun a volume of the first. The slow pacing of the volumes didn't work in it's favor here. Also, in both volumes I noticed really odd...choices regarding pace/layout that may be a result of the individual issues because they didn't have very clear delineations in the volume where the issues ended but sometimes the comic would follow a plotline, switch to a new one in the middle of something happening for a page or two, then go back to the old one as if that intersection didn't happen and it was really jarring. It was less playing with time and more like...the order of pages was messed up because it wouldn't leave off or get interrupted in an organic way, just...boom, like someone C&P'd by accident. Not a huge drawback but still very noticeable.
Moon Knight by Warren Ellis Vol. 1
Still the best thing Marvel's done for years. Unrivaled to me. The way Moon Knight's costume is drawn, the individual world and myth-building stories per issue, the unique paneling and atmosphere from each story, the unconventional pacing and approach to storytelling. Everything about this is 10/10. God this is so good.
Black Road Vol. 1
This was pretty good. I actually enjoy the main character Magnus because he isn't Christian or pagan so he doesn't fit in much of anywhere. His backstory is rather generic but they don't focus on it a ton so it's not distracting and the underlying plot works at play were pretty interesting since it hinged on internal church conflicts that he just got caught up in. And he could've just let things go, but as the backstory with his wife proved, he isn't very good at that. So it was entirely in his character to take on the girl who...was a bit too expositiony. A lot of "telling not showing" with her and though I liked her character
and her betrayal!
a lot of things she said Wood could've shown us and when he did show us he skipped like...long stretches of important time. And many of the events happened in the midst of it and we never really see them make it to that point
such as at the end on the ice when he's betrayed, they pull that REALLY awful shit I hate where it'll cut away from what happened and you see the after-effects and then they immediately flash back to what just happened and it's like, just fucking show it in one continuous action instead of killing the pacing and interspersing this flashback unnecessarily
. To contrast that, I really love the introduction of
Kitta
at the end first as a
red herring "oh shit, this dangerous lady is after us"
and then as a
saving "you dumbass, I was trying to help you"
. Though we did not get a lot of her characterization we got enough of a tease to make her a very interesting and wellbuilt character and I especially loved how she's built with Magnus being straight up worried
that she's following them
. Really helps you build her up. Also, yay to a
black woman character in a Viking historical fiction narrative
! That was nice. So yeah, this was decent, not amazing. Has some good hooks in it.
Wicked and the Divine Vol. 4
Lotta good and a lot I didn't care for which might be the first time I said this about this series. Things I liked: Woden and his characterization in this
about Ananke controlling him because he's a coward, him taking a dive because he's smart enough to know that he needs plausible deniability no matter who wins (and his hilarious internal monologue while he gives a supervillain speech to point out how to beat him)
, the slow collusion of allies, Ananke's hints about
something incredibly bad being stopped by killing the Gods she did
as well as just Ananke's sorta self-important view of what she does for everyone, more personality from some of the Gods, the fight itself. There was a lot to like. Unfortunately, I also really didn't like
the Persephone dying cop out with Inana not getting killed by Baphomet and both of them heading over to Persephone's house only for Inana to get in the way of Ananke's death snap and then Baphomet spirits Persephone away
or
Baphomet and Persephone fucking which was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the plot other than an amusing line from Ananke
. Along those lines, a lot of the storyline for
Persephone
just...felt rushed or emotionally lame. At the end when
she walks away from killing Ananke after rationalizing it about her parents and Lucifer and Inana and all the people that we've seen her be attached to that Ananke has killed but then says "Oh yeah but my sister was in the house *snap"
I actually had to go "Oh yeah, she has a
sister
" because they were such a non-entity in the plot that I forgot and it's REALLY bad that that's her reason
or the snapping point for killing Ananke
because the reader has like...no investment in that person. For such an important and strong moment it had such a weak emotional thing behind it. There were some other minor sticking points for me, but the volume was still good and more importantly the results of this whole shebang set up for some REALLY interesting stuff down the road.
What are the gods going to do now? They'll live past 2 year so what happens? What is this hidden darkness Ananke was trying to stop?
Really really excited to see where it goes.
Oh shit, I forgot I read Wolf Vol. 2 as well. Dammit...uh...I'll write about that later.
Still need to read Low Vol. 3 and East of West Vol. 6. We'll see how that goes.
Alright, finally got around to reading all my shit to prepare me to buy my next batch of stuff. Get prepared for a lot of Ellis dick-sucking because that dude's balls deep right now.
Great write-up there, echoes a lot of things I felt as I read it. It was definitely the stuff in the art collective I found most compelling, it really managed to dig into the general premise - how would the trees simply sitting there affect society - in a very successful manner. Really looking forward to reading volume 2, I skipped over your thoughts on that so to avoid spoilers, but it's a shame it was a bit of a letdown for you. Does it end with plot threads in the air/will there be more then? I literally never hear anything about the book except when it's releasing so I have no idea haha
Oh hell yeah, Vol. 2's last 5 or 6 pages are basically "LOOKIT ALL THIS SHIT THAT'S GONNA GO DOWN"
I only think Vol. 2 is a let down because personally it didn't have that much to do with the parts of 1 I enjoyed and instead followed a plot thread I wasn't as interested in. It was still good, but if it was about the 2 missing plot threads I woulda liked it more.
