Wellington
BAAAALLLINNN'
*KLKK* *WHRRR*
I took the advice of those in my last comix topic and checked out Spider-Man: Blue, and The Long Halloween.
Read through Blue first so I could get it in before going to see Spidey 2. As I had mentioned in another topic, I really liked it. It's a side of Peter I did not get much of a chance to see since it was so early in his continuation, and then, no one really revisited that time period effectively. The 'Blue Boxes' were amazing. I wanted to skip the rest of the text and get to more of them. Nothing I have read and/or seen from that point in his continuation really showed how vulnerable he still was even after a couple of months as Spider-Man. Ultimate Spider-Man comes close, but he's a bit too close with MJ in that one. But anyway, fascinating look at Peter Parker. Seeing at the end how long it had been and that he still felt that way was kinda cool... however... the rest of the comic was just so fucking pithy it took away from the whole thing. Two Vultures, Kraven, Rhyno... c'mon... It could have been cool but the fights were so fucking short and pointless it felt like a bad issue of the Sinister Six. I've read it twice, and I liked it a lot better the second time as I focused more on Peter than Spider-Man. Really just an awesome story, I'd bet everyone can relate to the lost love thing (not necessarily to death, obviously), Peter just tells the story so well. It was hard watching the movie almost immediately after finishing. I'd recommend it, but not to those looking for a knockdown dragout action packed book.
Went on to read Batman: The Long Halloween after that. Fuck, what a fantastic book. It's up there with Dark Knight Returns, and Year One for me. The murder mystery hooked me from the word go, and Batman's own internal struggle really just kept me slumped in my chair reading... and reading... and reading... what a long book. ;p Initially it was a bit touch and go. Little action, little conspiring, meeting some characters and getting more familiar with ones from Year One, after the first murder by 'Holiday' it was on from then.... It was great to see Batman as the detective. Lot's of fun, lots of action in each chapter. The best chapters though were the Mother's Day and Father's Day chapters... Never did I feel for Bruce as much as I did when he was being chased by Gordon when he believed that he was running away from the man that killed his parents (thanks to Scarecrow). The end of the Mother's Day chapter... the look on Bruce's face.
Fucking powerful. Only topped by the very next chapter, possibly the strongest chapter I've ever read, not bad for a comic book. Bruce's "... I remember my father..." has been echoing in my head for several days now. Just so powerful. That page of panels was as close to perfection as humanly possible. Damn near brought a tear to my eye. Though the end of the book is kind of weird (the VERY end), it's a fucking MUST read for anyone interested in Batman, and anyone interested in comics at all. Jeph Loeb really did a great job trying to write like Frank Miller, but mixing in his own style.
Lastly I just finished Dark Victory today. While it is a pretty good read, I just don't think it ever climbed out of the shadow of The Long Halloween. It is meant to be a follow up, but the use of such similar plotlines kind of kills it for me. It was a great book, but it wasn't as much of an examination of Bruce Wayne/Batman's psyche as I've grown to like, but it's another good detective story and it does hit on some bat-issues. His isolationist philosophy is looked at pretty hard in this one. His feelings of betrayal after Harvey's transformation, and his desire to keep Gordon safe by keeping him at a distance are interesting, as is, of course, his adoption of Dick Greyson. It's cool 'cuz Bruce finally shared his humanity with someone other than Alfred. Poor Selina. ;p I'd recommend it, but only if you REALLY liked TLH, which I did.
Man these guys are fantastic. I'm interested in picking up Hulk: Grey as a result. I already have Superman For All Seasons, and I think I will dive into that next. I've also got Dark Knight Strikes Again, but I'll put off reading that as its art is a bit offensive to my eyes. :| Have the Loebster and Salisian worked on anything else worth checking out? (Other than Daredevil: Yellow)
I took the advice of those in my last comix topic and checked out Spider-Man: Blue, and The Long Halloween.
Read through Blue first so I could get it in before going to see Spidey 2. As I had mentioned in another topic, I really liked it. It's a side of Peter I did not get much of a chance to see since it was so early in his continuation, and then, no one really revisited that time period effectively. The 'Blue Boxes' were amazing. I wanted to skip the rest of the text and get to more of them. Nothing I have read and/or seen from that point in his continuation really showed how vulnerable he still was even after a couple of months as Spider-Man. Ultimate Spider-Man comes close, but he's a bit too close with MJ in that one. But anyway, fascinating look at Peter Parker. Seeing at the end how long it had been and that he still felt that way was kinda cool... however... the rest of the comic was just so fucking pithy it took away from the whole thing. Two Vultures, Kraven, Rhyno... c'mon... It could have been cool but the fights were so fucking short and pointless it felt like a bad issue of the Sinister Six. I've read it twice, and I liked it a lot better the second time as I focused more on Peter than Spider-Man. Really just an awesome story, I'd bet everyone can relate to the lost love thing (not necessarily to death, obviously), Peter just tells the story so well. It was hard watching the movie almost immediately after finishing. I'd recommend it, but not to those looking for a knockdown dragout action packed book.
Went on to read Batman: The Long Halloween after that. Fuck, what a fantastic book. It's up there with Dark Knight Returns, and Year One for me. The murder mystery hooked me from the word go, and Batman's own internal struggle really just kept me slumped in my chair reading... and reading... and reading... what a long book. ;p Initially it was a bit touch and go. Little action, little conspiring, meeting some characters and getting more familiar with ones from Year One, after the first murder by 'Holiday' it was on from then.... It was great to see Batman as the detective. Lot's of fun, lots of action in each chapter. The best chapters though were the Mother's Day and Father's Day chapters... Never did I feel for Bruce as much as I did when he was being chased by Gordon when he believed that he was running away from the man that killed his parents (thanks to Scarecrow). The end of the Mother's Day chapter... the look on Bruce's face.
Fucking powerful. Only topped by the very next chapter, possibly the strongest chapter I've ever read, not bad for a comic book. Bruce's "... I remember my father..." has been echoing in my head for several days now. Just so powerful. That page of panels was as close to perfection as humanly possible. Damn near brought a tear to my eye. Though the end of the book is kind of weird (the VERY end), it's a fucking MUST read for anyone interested in Batman, and anyone interested in comics at all. Jeph Loeb really did a great job trying to write like Frank Miller, but mixing in his own style.Lastly I just finished Dark Victory today. While it is a pretty good read, I just don't think it ever climbed out of the shadow of The Long Halloween. It is meant to be a follow up, but the use of such similar plotlines kind of kills it for me. It was a great book, but it wasn't as much of an examination of Bruce Wayne/Batman's psyche as I've grown to like, but it's another good detective story and it does hit on some bat-issues. His isolationist philosophy is looked at pretty hard in this one. His feelings of betrayal after Harvey's transformation, and his desire to keep Gordon safe by keeping him at a distance are interesting, as is, of course, his adoption of Dick Greyson. It's cool 'cuz Bruce finally shared his humanity with someone other than Alfred. Poor Selina. ;p I'd recommend it, but only if you REALLY liked TLH, which I did.
Man these guys are fantastic. I'm interested in picking up Hulk: Grey as a result. I already have Superman For All Seasons, and I think I will dive into that next. I've also got Dark Knight Strikes Again, but I'll put off reading that as its art is a bit offensive to my eyes. :| Have the Loebster and Salisian worked on anything else worth checking out? (Other than Daredevil: Yellow)
