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UK/R.O.I GAF - Thread of geopolitical confusion
- Thread starter Meadows
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Well perhaps you shouldn't have suggested he looked like that bloke on one of the episodes of the Hotel Inspector.
Yeah, some of the best UK TV that has a self-depricating message about things in this country simply wouldn't be possible in the US
Father Ted and Vicar of Dibley, as you say - religion
Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister - politics
Drop the Dead Donkey - the media
There's loads more, but I'm supposed to be working right now
You mean the garage?
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Nope. The crossovers are nothing but a cash in and are entirely irrellevant to the story. Basically, as long as it's by Scott Snyder, read it
anything else, forget it (unless it's Grant Morrison but that's a separate story).Each of the Batbooks is ostensibly its own pocket universe and the stories are usually self contained (with perhaps minor references in other books). Occasionally like with the Owls, DC decide they can bleed more money out of their fans by crossing over, but it's entirely superfluous to the story that Snyder is telling. Unless of course you are interested in a bunch of done-in-one fight books. Which I ain't.
Speaking of Morrison:
I feel for you bro. DC completely and utterly fucked its fans over with their handling of Grant Morrison's Batman run. What you have there with the three Batman and Robin trades is the middle of a very long story. Essentially, you've just read The Two Towers and got confused when they mentioned Sauron.
I'll try and keep this as light as possible but here's the story:
The run starts in 'Batman' with a story called Batman and Son that introduces Damian. The next arc is called The Black Glove - I believe DC have just collected both of these arcs into a single deluxe hardcover. It turns out that there is a nefarious bad guy controlling everything from behind the scenes (he's the baddie you meet at the end of B&R). Batman RIP is where Bruce fights this mystery man. Bruce 'dies' shortly later.
Then come the three B&R trades with Dick and Damian and they're awesome. In one of the trades (maybe the thrid, I dunno since I read them in singles) they're talking about a mystery in Wayne Manor, right? Well that all ties into The Return of Bruce Wayne that ran concurrently with B&R. If you read them both at the same time, there is this wonderfully twisted narrative about Bruce jumping through time, seeding the Batman mythos into the fabric of Gotham. And then he returns and you get that AWESOME last issue of B&R where they fight Doctor Hurt.
Next up you need to read the trade called Time and the Batman. This has a couple of one-off stories but also contains a one-shot called Batman: The Return. This picks up the pieces of the Batfamily and sets up the new status quo of Batman incorporated that B&R ends with (IIRC).
The story continues in a roundabout way in Batman Incorporated, picking up threads from B&R, capping off the entire run.
As you can see, DC have royally fucked you by not making it clear that you were jumping on partway through a big run. IMO, without the buildup, Doctor Hurt is a totally empty enemy who means nothing. But with it, he's spine tinglingly awesome and the mystery of who or what he is was both well set up and well executed. But really you need to read all of it in the right order, a feat that DC have made next to impossible.
...erm, sorry UKGAF for hijacking the thread. Me am a big Batnerd.
Oh god, I wish. I know what's behind those doors.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
From what I've seen it's more that Stewart will say one vaguely controversial joke and the entire audience will erupt and hoot and holla and roll over themselves in the aisle and get up and shake their friend and then set someone on fire and then go rob a bank and it's like... Jesus guys, the joke wasn't even that funny...
Nope. The crossovers are nothing but a cash in and are entirely irrellevant to the story. Basically, as long as it's by Scott Snyder, read it
Each of the Batbooks is ostensibly its own pocket universe and the stories are usually self contained (with perhaps minor references in other books). Occasionally like with the Owls, DC decide they can bleed more money out of their fans by crossing over, but it's entirely superfluous to the story that Snyder is telling. Unless of course you are interested in a bunch of done-in-one fight books. Which I ain't.
Speaking of Morrison:
I feel for you bro. DC completely and utterly fucked its fans over with their handling of Grant Morrison's Batman run. What you have there with the three Batman and Robin trades is the middle of a very long story. Essentially, you've just read The Two Towers and got confused when they mentioned Sauron.
I'll try and keep this as light as possible but here's the story:
The run starts in 'Batman' with a story called Batman and Son that introduces Damian. The next arc is called The Black Glove - I believe DC have just collected both of these arcs into a single deluxe hardcover. It turns out that there is a nefarious bad guy controlling everything from behind the scenes (he's the baddie you meet at the end of B&R). Batman RIP is where Bruce fights this mystery man. Bruce 'dies' shortly later.
Then come the three B&R trades with Dick and Damian and they're awesome. In one of the trades (maybe the thrid, I dunno since I read them in singles) they're talking about a mystery in Wayne Manor, right? Well that all ties into The Return of Bruce Wayne that ran concurrently with B&R. If you read them both at the same time, there is this wonderfully twisted narrative about Bruce jumping through time, seeding the Batman mythos into the fabric of Gotham. And then he returns and you get that AWESOME last issue of B&R where they fight Doctor Hurt.
Next up you need to read the trade called Time and the Batman. This has a couple of one-off stories but also contains a one-shot called Batman: The Return. This picks up the pieces of the Batfamily and sets up the new status quo of Batman incorporated that B&R ends with (IIRC).
The story continues in a roundabout way in Batman Incorporated, picking up threads from B&R, capping off the entire run.
As you can see, DC have royally fucked you by not making it clear that you were jumping on partway through a big run. IMO, without the buildup, Doctor Hurt is a totally empty enemy who means nothing. But with it, he's spine tinglingly awesome and the mystery of who or what he is was both well set up and well executed. But really you need to read all of it in the right order, a feat that DC have made next to impossible.
...erm, sorry UKGAF for hijacking the thread. Me am a big Batnerd.
Ugh, this is EXACTLY what I was afraid of when venturing into DC comics.
I'll try to find a decent reading order list or something, I guess
My plan was basically to just try out everything in the New 52, read them all together by week released and just drop anything that I really hate - Have only read week 0 - Justice League and week 1 - Action Comics, Animal Man (SHIT, DROPPED), Batgirl and Batwing so far... I've never liked DC outside of Batman, in the past, so I'm sure I'll be dropping plenty, but I'll keep at it with this plan and see how I go, I think.
edit: am also planning on reading the old Batman and Detective Comics runs from the 30s/40s -other than one shots, any other series' that I should consider?
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Honestly I can't think of a more complicated run than Morrisons batman, and that's only the trades. I read it when it was coming out and it was very easy to follow. But that said, it's also one of my favourite runs ever and is well worth the hassle.
As for your comments about the nu52, I'm concerned you're making the classic enthusiastic newbie mistake of jumping in feet first regardless of quality. I would certainly encourage reading as many #1s as take your fancy but really, 90% of the comics by ANY publisher are shitty junk. Instead, I would advise picking one, two, maybe three trade paperbacks a month that prick your interest. Ask fans what's good, read some reviews, make an informed decision.
Personally in the nu52 the only titles I would recommend would be Batman, Action Comics and maybe Animal Man, although it lost steam too quickly. Everything else is a gamble based on taste - Batwoman was incredibly good looking but a bit confusing if you never read Elegy. I found Catwoman really really impressive but I've seen a lot of haters. Swamp thing was ok but is very tied to Animal man... I thought Batwing was trite and embarrassing, Batgirl was classic C-grade and so on.
Tbh there's some better stuff over at Marvel lately with Uncanny X Force or Wolverine and the X Men or Hickman's Fantastic Four. You're much better served ignoring 'publisher' and focussing on 'Story' and to a greater extent, creators.
If you worry too much it can be very confusing which is why I advise reading collections, one at a time. Focus on enjoying the story - forget all about shared universes and tie ins, that's advanced level comics for nerds do far down the rabbit hole that they don't even care about quality so much any more. Or, noobs who are easier to sucker
Anyway man, if you have more questions feel free to swing by the comics thread or pm me.
Edit: re ancient comics. Go on comixology. Buy a single issue of an old comic. If you can read and enjoy the whole thing then you have my respect. I can't read anything pre 1980 for anything other than educational value. They don't hold up at all apart from as historic context.
all comics books are terrible and all super heroes are terribly written and its a business and i laugh when you guys keep buying ocmic books when someone dies and comes back to life a year later like this ha ha ha ha he reads comics i know purely by that fact he has poor taste in everything ha ha ha hha
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Shut it, duck. You're not even a person, you're not allowed to have opinions!
And yet there he is, utterly correct.
Hot Coldman
Banned
That's a bit of a sweeping generalisation, innit
Musha_Soturi
Member
Comics are awesome. Anyone who says otherwise is just wrong. Or a duck.
Innit. Haters can go duck themselves.
I think you're right, Jed. I'm on a Batman kick at the minute and am probably at risk of burning myself out rather quickly. I just have an annoying collecting compulsion and don't want to miss any awesome story arcs. Will read up on what to get and be more selective.
Is there some sort of comic-based book club on GAF?
Could be fun to set a comic every couple of weeks and have a unified discussion.
Sorry for the derail, chums. Back to UK-themed matters - Who wants to meet up at Eurogamer? I'll be there everyday, so PM me and we can do the ole' phone number swap.
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
LOVE your comic club idea man! Float the idea in the comics thread, see if any of the nerds bite. There are loads of classic runs I wouldn't mind doing again, could be a really cool time.
blahblah...blah
Member
Some graphic novels are fantasitc, just usually not the superhero ones (with exceptions).
We3 for example is fucking heartbreaking
Wait a goddamn second, that's Jedeye's sans-Hunt avatar!
What? YOU MUST TELL ME
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
lmao. Read We3, for the love of all that is good and right. It will make you cry salty salty tears. I bought it twice
korey isn't perm'd, but he is juniored. There's something.
Also, FUCK
Came home to find my golden Zelda Wiimote oddly coloured and smelling funny. Opened it up and I see the batteries had expired and were leaking battery dust everywhere. Filed away all the build up, cleaned with a damp cloth and have left the poor thing in a tub of rice to dry out. Best case scenario is a golden Wiimote with off-colour where I filed away the buildup
Maybe I can dulux colour match the paint.
Also, FUCK
Came home to find my golden Zelda Wiimote oddly coloured and smelling funny. Opened it up and I see the batteries had expired and were leaking battery dust everywhere. Filed away all the build up, cleaned with a damp cloth and have left the poor thing in a tub of rice to dry out. Best case scenario is a golden Wiimote with off-colour where I filed away the buildup
Maybe I can dulux colour match the paint.
blahblah...blah
Member
korey isn't perm'd, but he is juniored. There's something.
Also, FUCK
Came home to find my golden Zelda Wiimote oddly coloured and smelling funny. Opened it up and I see the batteries had expired and were leaking battery dust everywhere. Filed away all the build up, cleaned with a damp cloth and have left the poor thing in a tub of rice to dry out. Best case scenario is a golden Wiimote with off-colour where I filed away the buildup
Maybe I can dulux colour match the paint.
I need to wash my mind out with soap
Jedeye Sniv
Banned
Elaborate. Are you being internet-witty, or did you hang out with Frank Quitely?
Morrison/Quitely are my favourite team in the history of anything.
I wouldn't say hung out with him, I met him once or twice. This was in like 2004/2005 mind, just after we3 had come out, I remember him passing out copies for us to read. To be honest I didn't know who he was till a few years later.
JonathanEx
Member
Graduated today.
On the good side, quoted Pokemon and slid a mini-Rickroll in to the ceremony in front of 1,500 people in my speech.
On the down side, no longer can get free student McFlurries.
A mixed day, then.
On the good side, quoted Pokemon and slid a mini-Rickroll in to the ceremony in front of 1,500 people in my speech.
On the down side, no longer can get free student McFlurries.
A mixed day, then.
Little Old Man
Member
I need to wash my mind out with soap
I thought the same tbh!
Watching the run up to Obama's Democrat convention speech for some reason. Both parties there do have one thing in common- endless speeches of rhetoric and mass wanking over ideals and some impossible to achieve perfect America. Cringe worthy sob stories which would give X-factor contestants a run for their money.
Actual policies? Hell naw, you don't need to hear them! At least we get some specific details over here between the buzz words and phrases, even if many aren't carried through to realisation.
The Republicans have fear mongering perfected too- you would honestly think Obama will unfold a Hammer and Sickle flag if he wins in November, no one will have healthcare, terrorists will take over everything, and rich people thrown out of their homes ala TDKR.
I WAS NEVER TOLD ABOUT THESE
use student card to get free cheeseburger/mcflurry. I'm not a student anymore either but my card says valid till 2012 so still using it lol.
FUCK
I could have been chowing on McFlurries all this time?!
Do you have to buy something else?
Musha_Soturi
Member
Some graphic novels are fantasitc, just usually not the superhero ones (with exceptions).
We3 for example is fucking heartbreaking
Huh, always wondered where your avatar was from Jedeye. I will also be checking this out. Cheers for the recommendation both.
Graduated today.
On the good side, quoted Pokemon and slid a mini-Rickroll in to the ceremony in front of 1,500 people in my speech.
On the down side, no longer can get free student McFlurries.
A mixed day, then.
Congrats and congrats, mcflurries are bad m'kay?
Please explain the rickroll.
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Congratulations!
Five years ago to this very day I received my final exam scores (I had to resit two of them - passed with a 2:2.) On one hand it's quite nice to reflect on what I've done in that time, but at the same time I get quite depressed at not doing as much or taking advantage of my time. :/
Read with tissues.
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