There are a lot of folks here who are comic fans. I'm not 100% sure who reads the comics or are just fans of the films, but for the most part there seems to be some pretty knowledgeable people here when it comes to the funny books. Figured this thread would work nicely for the overall discussion.
Post what you're reading too!
What I'm Reading:
PREACHER Book Three
Select Reviews: Once in a while I'll actually post a review to the "What I'm Reading" book. Here they are in "nsfw" tags due to length but, I assure you, they're safe for work
We Stand On Guard - 6.5/10:
Plowed through this in like an hour or less. Pretty good read and the art is magnificent, but it wasn't Brian K. Vaughan's best work by any means. He seems to work better in the serialized story genre, which this technically was, but it was a planned 6-issue miniseries, so it read more like a film in comic form. His character work is still on key, but in the limited story-space, some of them kind of fizzle out as opposed to have a satisfying end to their arc. And then there are some characters who don't fizzle out, but whose fates still leave a lot to be desired. Our main character is among that list.
Regardless, the overall story was strong enough and the concept of portraying the US' foreign policy as terrorism in a hypothetical 100-year time-jump was as interesting as it was bold - if a little awkward to read, being an American and all. Though it's easy enough to admit that this sort of wartime scenario wouldn't be difficult to imagine breaking out the exact way it does in this story, if the real-life situations mirrored the fantasy of this book. Which is a scary thought - as I'm assuming was the point: if we start warring as opposed to discussing over everything (water being the culprit here), where does it end?
So it was an interesting concept with extraordinary art, nearly perfect characterizations and some very memorable scenes, but the end was a bit of a disappointment and not many character arcs ended in any interesting way. I feel like this would have benefited if it were an on-going that ended after 2 or 3 years. It could have at least used 2 or 3 more issues to give proper time to all the characters. It was a cool concept, but a rare flub from Vaughan when it comes to a proper ending. image
Paper Girls: Volume 1 - 8.5/10:
I had already read the first 2 issues of Paper Girls before snagging the TPB, so the rest of the book was a breeze. This is another super strong story by Brian K Vaughan (LOST, Y The Last Man, Saga, Ex Machina, etc). It's very reminiscent of the nostalgic 80's "coming of age" movies - just with a sci-fi twist to keep it from straying too close. It's like a mix of Stand By Me, Gunther & The Paper Brigade, E.T. and, for a more modern comparison, the J.J. Abrams film Super 8. 4 bike-riding girls who deliver newspapers wake up early the morning after Halloween to find the town is in a real odd state. It's a plot that eventually delves into time travel, high-concept time wars and monster-ridden landscapes - but it does so in a way that is immediately reminiscent of the straight-forward coming of age stories we loved as kids. There are lots of pop-culture references - including one big one that actually acts as a really smart plot device to tease why things are going so crazy. This volume leaves you with the possible understanding of what drove certain characters to do what they did, while also not really over-indulging us with reveal after reveal.
I'd say definitely give it a shot if you're interested in that sort of thing. I can't wait until the next batch of issues is released.
Absolute Batman Incorporated by Grant Morrison - 8.5/10:
Firstly, this hardcover is gorgeous. It comes in a thick slipcover and the book itself is great quality. The art looks great on the bigger pages, and this book really is super big. I'm about two thirds done at this point and I've already read the 8 issues from the New 52, but the whole epic has just been a great read through. The ending is one I can look forward to as I read like when watching a favorite movie. This was Morrison's brain child and it ran alongside his now legendary 7-year run on Batman. While some of that run lacked the quality of a top notch Morrison story, Batman Incorporated does not. While the idea of a franchised international bat-team, especially one run by Bruce Wayne, is kind of a contrived premise, Morrison is able to work little bits of Batman's past and spin the folks he'd met over the years (even the obscure ones) into the tale to make it something really worth checking out.
I dug the first half of the book just fine - but it was mostly all exposition issues for what was to come. I know Morrison spread this series out to run alongside the rest of his run, but the early chapters really seem to drag a bit. Probably wouldn't have been my favorite Bat-title if I were subscribed. While at the same time, those issues re-establish the bits of Batman's mythos that you'll need to know for this story via mostly self-contained issues featuring small-time villains and small-time allies alike. Once you get past the set-up, the book really gets incredibly good. It pays off the slower earlier issues in the best ways, connecting the dots between each early chapter. The "New 52" era issues are the best however, as this story's ending is one of the better pulled-off endings I've seen in recent years, It's very satisfying despite a tragedy or two along the way. image
Inhumans by Paul Jenkins & Jae Lee - 9/10:
This is one of my all-time favorite superhero stories ever written. It's a very cinematic self-contained story that ran for, I believe, 12 issues. It's some of the best character work a Marvel team-up book has ever had. Strong lead characters, a very memorable villain and a fascinating plot makes this one worth picking up again every once in a while. Think this will be my 3rd or 4th read-through of it, but it's always a great time. This is also the book that my avatar is inspired by. It's the "Relax" narration panel from this book - advice Black Bolt (the Inhumans' king) would give his people if he could speak without risking his voice killing everyone around him. It's advice I constantly try to remember. image
The Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 1 - 7/10 The Walking Dead Compendium Vol. 2 - 8.5/10
So I put a halt to my Walking Dead comic marathon that I started in time for the new season in October. I plowed through the first 2 Compendiums but with the holidays, so many new books that I was eager to read fell into my lap. So while I do intend on starting the Volume 3 back up in February to coincide with the return of Season 7 of the TV show, I figured I'd move this out of the "What I'm Reading Now" section. My review: It's real good. About 2/3 of Volume 1 are very hard to read at times due to the characters talking far too much, over-explaining situations and sometimes long-monologuing (not a word) about the same events in 2 or 3 different scenes. However about halfway through the Prison arc, when the Governor becomes a pivotal character, the series really hit its stride. Volume 2 is non-stop great, featuring many of the most memorable moments from the comics. I am indeed looking forward to Compendium Vol. 3 when the mood strikes, because that's where the series hits "legendary" status in my eyes. image
Kingdom Come - 7/10
This was a real fun story with a neat concept that kind of got muddled with the art. While the artist has done great work on very similar stories, this one featured a few panels that were hard to follow. I'm not sure if it was lazy art or the script wasn't the easiest to follow, but some things got lost in translation throughout. Regardless it was very cool to see older, grizzled versions of the golden age superheroes pulled out of retirement to deal with the "new generation" of heroes who were fine with casualties and chaos anytime they fought. This story also pulled off yet another new take on the Superman/Batman relationship that pays off real dramatically toward the end. All in all, a great Secret Santa gift and a fun story worth the read. image
Paper Girls: Volume 2 - 8/10
This was a great follow up to Volume 1 even if the 80's setting was sorely missed. Our characters find themselves in modern day and on a journey to find their friend after being chased by some humans from the far future with a technology-rooted culture. This series keeps things intriguing by having the main character Erin interact with her 2016-self and the dynamic there is a highlight of the book. There is some very witty banter between the Erins. Some twists (both tragic and very interesting) are thrown along the way - but this is a series that should be read as spoiler-free as possible. It has as satisfying of a cliffhanger as Volume 1, so I'm very much looking forward to Volume 3. image
Redwall: The Graphic Novel - 7.5/10
While I've only ever read a couple of the Redwall novels, I've always been fascinated by the series and its lore. I'd never read the first novel so the fact that it was in graphic novel form really enticed me. I was a little disappointed in the lack of color, as the novels always painted the settings with lush colors, but I was able to look past it for the memorable characters and villains.. Kluny the Scourge is classic. However some of the art, especially when it came to the Abbey Mice, was too similar. It was a little difficult to tell the main characters apart. This gets a bump up in points because while the first half of the book plays as a fantasy-by-numbers book starring animal characters, it eventually becomes a story about a legendary knight being reborn in an abbey monk. It was a cool little plot twist that, while telegraphed, I really didn't see coming. It makes me want to read the Martin the Warrior novel soon. image
Thor by Jason Aaron & Russell Dauterman - 9/10
Really great stuff from this creative team. Having not kept up with the Thor comics the past few years (much longer actually), I got this for Christmas. I have to say, I was blown away by what I read. A great mystery (that isn't a mystery anymore but for me it was) of who IS the new Thor, and Odinson (the OG male Thor) gets a real nice new complexity to his character as the "Unworthy Thor." It seems despite the MCU, Thor's comic line has been able to avoid the mainstream issues that other Marvel comics have lately. This book made me rush to snag the next couple books from the duo: Battleworld: Thors & The Mighty Thor Vol.1 and it also reminded me to check out Journey Into Mystery by Kieron Gillen Vol. 1. image
Batman: The Court of Owls - 8/10 Batman: The City of Owls - 7/10 Batman: Death of the Family - 6/10
The Court of Owls - Court is a classic Batman story. It features new lore for the city of Gotham (something Snyder is great at), a new group of villains that were as intriguing as they were creepy, and a new threat that really made Batman seem like he was in an uphill battle. Hell, it even featured a climactic issue taking place in a giant death maze. Batman grew as a character, thinking he knew about Gotham better than anyone only to find out he can still learn new secrets. It also ended with a great cliffhanger if you were reading solely via trade paperback. It's too bad Snyder had a little trouble sticking the dismount. The City of Owls - This story starts up with the fun and memorable "Night of Owls" issue that features the Court's army of Talons (undead assassins) laying siege on Gotham and, most notably, Wayne Manor. It was a fun start to what would end up being an overly-telegraphed ending to what was set up in "Court of Owls." It also featured a reveal that left a bit to be desired - as it left a lot of ambiguity on the table. Which would have been a little more acceptable if the character involved played a larger role in Snyder's Batman, but having not appeared since, it kind of puts a damper on what could have been a little more menacing of an ending. Death of the Family - This is the story that got me back into collecting - and reading it without all the hype, it's really not that special. Nowhere near a top Joker story by any means. It featured a slasher-film version of Joker, not just in appearance (with his strapped on face-skin that had been removed a few months earlier) but also in character mechanics. Joker killed people a little too easily during the first issues, including snapping a bunch of cops necks in the dark somehow and drowning a bunch of rich kids. Which was the point, admittedly - to have an even more unhinged Joker. But as the story progressed it fell into cliche territory, with a bunch of well-tread Batman tropes: Joker trying to convince Batman he's weak due to the Bat-family, Batman and Nightwing arguing, Joker hosting a villain-fest for Batman (my #1 least favorite plot device in a Batman story is when the writer piles a bunch of high-profile villains into one issue), and Joker feeling some sort of misplaced "love" for Batman. And then there's the whole question of if the Joker knows who they all are or not. These are all themes I can get behind, but they've been presented far more accurately in better Joker stories - and not all crammed into 5 or 6 issues. There are some good moments in this story, with the highlight being the climactic Batcave chase that capped off the last issue, but that just wasn't enough to save the whole convoluted, almost try-hard story from being anything more than mediocre. This was a disappointment because Snyder had written one of the most memorable Joker scenes in modern Batman stories (in my opinion) just a few years earlier during his "Black Mirror" story. It was short and sweet and just perfect. His Joker in this story spoke in too many monologues about the same thing and just wasn't too funny. Capullo's art fudging ruled throughout all these books though.
However, Snyder took a much better whack at a Joker story with "Endgame," which is one of my favorite modern Joker stories, but that's not for another few volumes. Thankfully Snyder picked up his slack for the New 52 Batman origin which he told in epic fashion over the next 2 volumes. His run remained fun from that point on, and these books were still fun to read, but aside from "Court," the other ones are just average.
From Hell by Alan Moore - 7.5/10
After finally getting around to reading this book after getting it for Christmas 2 years ago, I can say it was worth the wait. Or has been. This book is a (fictionalized) investigation of the Jack the Ripper murders of the 1800's that suggests the string of homicides was an elaborate conspiracy pulled off by the Royal Family in order to keep the news of the Prince having an illegitimate child with a shopkeeper. This is based off a real theory but it has been debunked many times, even Moore himself. However, it's an interesting tale of what could have been all the same, while still managing to give an extremely accurate portrayal of the heinous acts and the aftermath they had on London at the time. The story of Sir William Gull is certainly intriguing to say the least. image
Uzumaki: Volume 1 - 7/10
Admittedly, I'm not the biggest manga reader - but I'm always willing to give interesting premises a shot. Dorohedoro Volume 1 is on deck, but I've been feeling a bit of a horror vibe lately and have been wanting to read this. Snagging it in a $15 lot with Revival Vol 1, Outcast Vol 1 and Wytches by Scott Snyder was just a bonus. Anyhow, this was a sort of starkly fun tale about a girl who lives in a town that's cursed by spirals. The shape. This is only Volume 1, so I'm not sure what the origin of these spirals are yet (if it's ever even revealed). This left me a little in the dark, but I decided to just go with it.
There were a few genuinely creepy moments in this one, but quite a few goofy moments that just didn't work for me. One example of something creepy was when two star-crossed lovers had somehow discovered a way to spiral into each other and opted for a life as intertwined spirals over their families keeping them apart. The imagery here, and at an earlier part of the book including a spiral-corpse, really hit home. One example of too goofy, however, was the two-girl showdown decided by who could get more attention based on the whacky spirals in their hair.
Unfortunately that second example was the story that ended Volume 1 so it kind of left off on an air fart, but the rest of the book has at least persuaded me to eventually check out Volume 2. image
Revival: Volume 1 - 7.5/10
I went into Revival completely in the dark and was pleasantly surprised. It was a quick read (a little too quick to be honest) but there were some really memorable characters. Many creepy moments too, and these first 5 issues really open up a few mysteries that I imagine the series tackles further down the road. Like Uzumaki, this first volume has gotten me interested in checking out volume 2.
There are some real questions presented about characters in this story that make me sort of anxious to read more, but these didn't really come until the last 2 issues. The first 3 were the standard "dead are coming back and the town doesn't know how to deal with it" situations with underlying tones of what was to come. My favorite aspect of the comic was the dynamic between a psychopath who claims to have met the devil and devotes his life to exercising demons by any fudgeed up means necessary, and a "revived" main character named Em who he claims is the devil incarnate. It's interesting because she definitely does some semi-dastardly things, and her actions within this first volume could easily fit the "devil in disguise" routine. The "demon" had a neat, simple and disturbing design too so I'm interested what more the series does with these entities moving forward. image
Wytches by Scott Snyder - 8/10
Real creepy, atmospheric tale about a girl who was "pledged" to the ancient Wytches that haunt a New Hampshire town. Great use of foreshadowing in this one, and the characters really worked. There is some clunky dialogue and silly character moments but otherwise, they all stand up.
I love the study of witches in general that this book features. Lots of lore - the "wytches" are portrayed as genetically "evolved" beings whose magic can grant anyone who pledges somebody to them their wildest dreams. They mark the portal to their world with ginger - thus the old "witches live in a gingerbread house" schtick. It's real fun the way Snyder presents the creatures as grounded in some sort of reality that is able to explain away a bunch of real-life myths about witches. image
Saga: Deluxe Edition Volume 1 - 10/10 Saga: Deluxe Edition Volume 2 - 10/10 Saga Volume 7: The War for Phang - 7.5/10
Image just dropped the Deluxe Edition Volume 2, so I re-read Deluxe Edition Volume 1 in anticipation. Plowed through both within a day or two, and then read where the story left off with the trade-paperback for Saga Volume 7, dubbed "The War for Phang". My "Phang" write-up contains spoilers, so beware.
The first book is an exercise in world-building, character development and story-telling. There's so much to this story that it's hard to want to type about it, but it's a fantasy epic that spans different planets over the course of one child, Hazel's life. She narrates it as we, the reader, get to watch her parents (two former soldiers of warring homeworlds) sacrifice everything to keep her hidden. Being a "hybrid" of two races, she is a highly sought-after person when news breaks of her existence.
The second book is more of the same - but better, if possible. Lots of incredible visuals, the characters are taken in directions that are genuinely surprising and the story progresses at exactly the right pace. Brian K Vaughn has a way of creating very personal moments on an epic sci-fi backdrop. This book just furthers the fun of the story, even if some major gore and violence occurs along the way. It's always done in a surprising and honestly interesting way.
Volume 7: The War for Phang was a noticeable step down in my opinion, but still a strong entry into the series compared to most comics. My issue with this portion of the story was its overly-bleak atmosphere. Saga can absolutely get bleak and tragic at times, but most of the time there is another character's plot to add some levity or color. In "The War for Phang", just about all the characters are brought to the lowest we've ever seen them. Some of the tragic nature seems a little forced, to be honest. One moment when a drugged out Prince Robot insinuates that he is either going to rape Alana (Hazel's mother) or kill himself was a little out-of-nowhere considering their relationship up to that point. Then the big twist in the last issue was fittingly tragic, but just seemed like another tack in this overly-bleak tale. There was also a 2-headed villain introduced in this batch of issues that, for the first time since Saga started, left me underwhelmed with the design of a character. And what makes that character worse, is that they (two heads) leave devastating effects in their wake for our main characters - but, having been killed at the end, ultimately won't play a huge part going forward. It felt a little too quick - to bring our characters so far low only to have the threat eliminated quickly, like they just needed an excuse to torture the characters.
I'm hoping all this leads to some real good character development in the issues to come ("Phang" was about 50/50 in that department) or else this volume will always sort of stick out as needlessly bleak portion of the story. image
> Read 12 or 13 issues of Invincible.... For obvious reasons like being able to flesh
> characters out better, I'd say the show is better. Not to say the comic is bad,
> though.
I like them equally. One was great for the comic book medium, one is great for the animated show medium. The show needed to add a bit more to make moving animation more interesting so it's more visually impressive but I'd rank them side-by-side, just two different formats.
>> Read 12 or 13 issues of Invincible.... For obvious reasons like being able to
> flesh
>> characters out better, I'd say the show is better. Not to say the comic is bad,
>> though.
>
> I like them equally. One was great for the comic book medium, one is great for the
> animated show medium. The show needed to add a bit more to make moving animation
> more interesting so it's more visually impressive but I'd rank them side-by-side,
> just two different formats.
Yeah, I'm up to 19 now and they even take stuff this late - the Mars issue wasn't in the first 12 issues. Just really a scenario of both are equally good, which is rare for comic to show adaptations. Extended fight scenes for the show obviously make it better in that sense.
This isn't my listing, but if anyone is looking for a cheap pickup these are a nice origin story for Magneto. I was honestly just surprised they were so inexpensive.
@kommie Happy Sweet Tooth Day. Whole season dropped to Netflix today. Based on 24 critic reviews, it’s 100% on Rotten Tomatoes so far (and %100 audience based on 15 reviews).
So, I liked episode 1. I will wait to see the rest with the woman, she wanted to watch it as well. If she doesn't like it I'll just watch the rest solo. Some stuff I've seen on Reddit says it still has the overall mature themes so it isn't totally "Disney-fied ". And I guess later episodes do have blood and gore, hence the TV-14 rating.
I’m up to episode 4 and I wouldn’t say it’s Disney-fied at all, Netflix doesn’t really seem to shy away from mature themes generally. I think the violence matches the tone of the show fine - there hasn’t been any gratuitous scenes, but there’s plenty of physical violence.
I will say that it seems like a much grittier, grounded version of Harry Potter’s genre for lack of better description - keeping in mind that HP got pretty damn dark as it went on. What I mean is it seems like kids/pre-teens would enjoy it for its very fantastical vibe and big sprawling wide shots, despite the fact that the plot, themes and characters are definitely rooted in darker, more realistic subject matter (even with the antlers and all).
I've read maybe the first 4 or 5 issues of the comic so far so I’m no expert on it, but it didn’t really seem overly gritty or anything. I mean there were violent moments but nothing to an “edgy” extent. Does it get a lot more brutal in later issues?
Loving the trajectory this.... (Slight TV show spoilers I suppose, but I haven’t read the comics so I have no idea if my theory is correct.)
...doctor and his wife are on. Seeing some very strong villain implications in them. Sympathetic for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they, or at least the wife, will “break bad” soon enough and start acting morally bankrupt in order to find a cure. What they say about desperate times and all that.
And an actual spoiler regarding the events in Episode 4, unrelated to the above:
I’m not sure why the “animal army” sided with Tiger over Bear after the thing they claim to protect, a hybrid, literally spoke TO AN ANIMAL in front of them. You’d think they’d reject the overly-aggressive Tiger and just decide to follow Gus in a situation like that, especially since they all seemed more like normal animal-loving gamers than bloodthirsty cult followers, but whatev.
I guess on some level it does say something about radical upbringings and brainwash at an early age. Bear bred those kids to kill people who did wrong in their past, regardless of who they had become, and it backfired on her big time.
I dunno if you wanna read this since you’re not caught up on the show but...
I just got to Abbott finding Singh and his wife for the first time. Now I see Singh’s desperation will likely end up just being in service to Abbott’s douchebaggery, but I was really hoping he would have just developed into a villain naturally because the whole set up totally would have allowed for that.
PS don’t tell me if I'm wrong or right haha, I’ll find out soon enough. Gonna have the house to myself tonight, probably gonna finish the entire season in one go.
I don't do the whole comic book scene anymore, but a former colleague of mine started up his own business and is doing quite well if anyone is interested.
Also, there is no Essex County in Colorado. Kind of a weird thing, I wonder if Netflix will be making the Essex County show or movie. Not sure what's going on with that one. The street Singh lived on was Gideon Pl, another reference to a Lemire book.
So, I think it was @Kommie who mentioned that the live action Paper Girls TV show likely wouldn't involve the smoking element from the comics, obviously due to 1) the general public perception toward the act of smoking and 2) the fact that it's a kid who smokes throughout pretty much the entire series. But I'm watching The Haunting of Bly Manor and there are several scenes depicting a kid smoking and fidgeting with his lighter a bunch... so I don't think it's really that "taboo" to do include in fiction as long as it's not on mainstream network TV or blatant advertising toward kids.
So we may get Mac smoking a bunch after all, is my point.
> So, I think it was @Kommie who mentioned that the live action Paper Girls TV show
> likely wouldn't involve the smoking element from the comics, obviously due to 1)
> the general public perception toward the act of smoking and 2) the fact that it's
> a kid who smokes throughout pretty much the entire series. But I'm watching The Haunting
> of Bly Manor and there are several scenes depicting a kid smoking and fidgeting with
> his lighter a bunch... so I don't think it's really that "taboo" to do include in
> fiction as long as it's not on mainstream network TV or blatant advertising toward
> kids.
>
> So we may get Mac smoking a bunch after all, is my point.
Also, it's gonna be on Amazon who seem to have the better record for adaptations, so hopefully. It also depends on if they decide to modernize it or keep it 80's at the beginning.
Can anybody recommend me a good Western graphic novel (or starting place for a series)? They seem few and far between, and I wasn’t sure if there were any worth checking out.
> Can anybody recommend me a good Western graphic novel (or starting place for a series)?
> They seem few and far between, and I wasn’t sure if there were any worth checking
> out.
>
>
Preacher can be considered a western and it friggin rules. It's just a high concept western, not necessarily a "gunslinger defends town" sort of thing.
Saga also has western elements but in the same way something like Star Wars does. It's a fantasy sci fi story, but lots of western influences can be found there.
And Criminal is technically a "crime" comic, but there are also several western stories dressed up as city crime in there.
Typing these recommendations out makes me realize how desperately the comic world needs a nice epic western in the traditional style, straight up Wild West vibes. There are a ton of OLD western comics that are the equivalent of your dad's favorite western novels presented in a 1960s-style comic book, but those aren't necessarily the most satisfying long-term stories.
Created by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Nick Dragotta, the book is a science fiction Western set in a dystopian version of the United States whose fate rests with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
I’d also recommend googling “samurai graphic novel” or something of the sort and checking those out. Essentially samurais and westerns are one and the same story wise. Some good stuff out there, Musashi etc.
Yah I was gonna suggest that too. Tons of manga are about samurai, which is obvious. I bought the first volume of Vagabond recently, apparently it’s one of the most popular samurai manga. I guess it tells a fictionalized account of a real samurai’s adventures.
I also hear good things about Frank Miller’s story “Ronin” but haven’t checked it out yet. I imagine it’s got similar western elements.
> Yah I was gonna suggest that too. Tons of manga are about samurai, which is obvious.
> I bought the first volume of Vagabond recently, apparently it’s one of the most popular
> samurai manga. I guess it tells a fictionalized account of a real samurai’s adventures.
>
> I also hear good things about Frank Miller’s story “Ronin” but haven’t checked it
> out yet. I imagine it’s got similar western elements.
It's based after Miyamoto Musashi. Very much a Japanese thing. I got volume 1 recently and read it. Not sure if I'll continue it as the man character just seems like a complete egomaniac jerk, more or less.
I also ordered Berserk Deluxe Volume 2 back in May when it was all $30 due to the author's death. It still hasn't shipped. It's been so long Amazon sent me a -email to confirm I still want it.
>> Yah I was gonna suggest that too. Tons of manga are about samurai, which is obvious.
>> I bought the first volume of Vagabond recently, apparently it’s one of the most
> popular
>> samurai manga. I guess it tells a fictionalized account of a real samurai’s
> adventures.
>>
>> I also hear good things about Frank Miller’s story “Ronin” but haven’t checked
> it
>> out yet. I imagine it’s got similar western elements.
>
> It's based after Miyamoto Musashi. Very much a Japanese thing. I got volume 1 recently
> and read it. Not sure if I'll continue it as the man character just seems like a
> complete egomaniac jerk, more or less.
>
> I also ordered Berserk Deluxe Volume 2 back in May when it was all $30 due to the
> author's death. It still hasn't shipped. It's been so long Amazon sent me a -email
> to confirm I still want it.
I grabbed all of those Berserk deluxe editions as soon as they released, demand spiked but I think they’re still in print. I did see wario post that a few of them were back and sub 30$ this week. Also seeing vol 8-10 up for preorder already.
> It's based after Miyamoto Musashi. Very much a Japanese thing. I got volume 1 recently
> and read it. Not sure if I'll continue it as the man character just seems like a
> complete egomaniac jerk, more or less.
>
Tbh and this isn't a huge criticism of manga, but I feel like that trait fits with many anime/manga protagonists. I feel like the ones who aren't innately angsty come off SUPER confident. I haven't read Vagabond enough to know, only read the first few pages and so far he doesn't come off that way. I mean he's stumbling through the aftermath of a battle so that makes sense, I'll have to see what I think later.
Anyhow, watching Batman: The Long Halloween Part 1 right now and gosh darn is it something else. Miiiiles above modern DC animation imo. A lot of them tell great stories but the faux-anime style that they exclusively used for a few years sorta lost me. Long Halloween has what LOOKS like hand drawn backgrounds, reminiscent of the 90s Batman: The Animated Series which is one of my favorite shows ever. Not sure if this is just really well-done digital work to make it look hand drawn in that old school style, but they nail it regardless. It creates a great sense of atmosphere.
The character models are really good too, reminding me of early-mid 2000s cartoons with really thick line work used around the outline of the characters' body frame and with a lot more personality in the faces that I feel most modern DC animation lacks to a degree.
Pleasantly surprised with this so far... only about 20-25 minutes in but it feels so much more epic than their recent output that I've watched. Knowing the actual story, I can't imagine them messing this up, Killing Joke-style.
When they first started doing the DCAU movies, they claimed they were going to do them in the style of the artists they were adapting. Somewhere along the way, they got away from that and just had that same half-anime look in most of the movies. I'm glad to hear they are getting back to emulating the artists whose work they are adapting. I just picked up the previous 2 movies, but Long Halloween is definitely on my wish list too. Maybe I'll wait for the combo 1-2 in the same package this time, something I wish I had done with Dark Knight and Death of Superman.
Also, Jansen Ackles is a really great Batman. Not a Supernatural fan, never watched it, so I don't know what he's like otherwise but I think this is my favorite animated Batman since Conroy.
Just finished TLH. Man, that was great. It's been so long since I've read the graphic novel and this movie is making me realize I'm forgetting so much. Cannot wait for Part 2 in August, though it'll be tough not to re-read the graphic novel. I'm real tempted to, but almost want to save it until after I see the second half of the movie. Definitely check it out asap fellas, it's worth it. So atmospheric... there are some legit Kurosawa-style shots in there. Very impressed, and easily my favorite Batman animation since probably Under the Red Hood. That one and both Dark Knight Returns adaptations were great.
I'm starting to feel like the direct adaptations are what to look out for when it comes to Batman animated movies, the original ones where they mix-and-match elements of print stories are kind of hit-or-miss. The "Son of Batman" movies (I think trilogy) really effed up... they blew their load on Scott Snyder's Court of Owls origin story within an adaptation of a Grant Morrison story and it just didn't work. They just seem to give more love and attention to the direct adaptations.
That is, except for The Killing Joke. That movie was destroyed by the awful first half hour of forced original material. But we can't lay the blame completely on the original stuff... that story just isn't as good as most folks pretend it is. At least in my opinion. One of the worst "legacy" Batman stories I've ever read and I can't be convinced otherwise gosh darnit.
@theJaw Good thoughts, thanks for sharing. I feel like the discussion around these are pretty rare so it’s nice to hear some other opinions.
I still haven’t checked out the Son of Batman trilogy or Killing Joke, just because they seem pretty skippable. I will say that personally, I was not a fan of the Dark Knight Returns movies, though I love the graphic novel. I think what threw me off was that the whole “inner monologue” approach doesn’t really work in a movie format, and that’s what help gives TDKR it’s clear voice through the aging Batman. I also wasn’t a big fan of the Batman voice for that one, though he wasn’t too bad.
Cranston was great in Year One for sure, that one was probably in the upper tier of animated Batman for me. So was Under the Red Hood. And I really enjoyed Hush too.
Ultimately, I think Mask of the Phantasm may be my favorite. The Animated Series style and look are just so great to watch, and the story development is really good. Plus the voices are spot on (since it uses the Animated Series cast).
Did you watch Assault on Arkham? That one sucks, IMO. That may be the one I absolutely hate out of all the ones I’ve seen.
HBO Max is awesome for having all these. I wouldn’t really have an interest in paying for them, and they’re pretty easy viewing most of the time, since like you said, the output is pretty much all the same. That said, Long Halloween is definitely gonna get a lot more of my attention.
>> It's based after Miyamoto Musashi. Very much a Japanese thing. I got volume
> 1 recently
>> and read it. Not sure if I'll continue it as the man character just seems like
> a
>> complete egomaniac jerk, more or less.
>>
>
>
> Tbh and this isn't a huge criticism of manga, but I feel like that trait fits with
> many anime/manga protagonists. I feel like the ones who aren't innately angsty come
> off SUPER confident. I haven't read Vagabond enough to know, only read the first
> few pages and so far he doesn't come off that way. I mean he's stumbling through
> the aftermath of a battle so that makes sense, I'll have to see what I think later.
>
>
I don't dabble too much into Anime or Manga. Haven't watched Anime in forever and my Manga reading is Blade of the Immortal, Berserk, Lone Wolf and Cub (haven't read this in years, Dark Horse needs to reprint it) and Junji Ito stuff. The artwork has to be really good for me to read Manga. Vinland Saga is another well lauded one but it has that very Shonen Manga artwork style which is off-putting.
"In fact, the latest Nielsen streaming ratings for June have crowned Sweet Tooth as the most popular show of the month, drawing in 1.4 billion minutes worth of streams, almost double the 731 million brought in by Loki."
> "In fact, the latest Nielsen streaming ratings for June have crowned Sweet Tooth
> as the most popular show of the month, drawing in 1.4 billion minutes worth of streams,
> almost double the 731 million brought in by Loki."
>
> Pretty good chance Sweet Tooth gets a season 2.
You'd certainly think so, and I expect it, but Netflix does have a dodgy history with cancelling shows for what seems like no reason. Santa Clarita Diet was a really popular one on the net, with just as much "word of mouth" as any other show they've put out, but they still axed that. Same goes for Sabrina, I'm Not Okay with This, The Society, etc etc
Heck, they already ordered, announced and shot an episode of GLOW's would-be final season before cancelling that out of nowhere. Covid can be blamed to some extent but they could have just held off on production like literally every other show. If actual wrestling could find a way to stay running during the ENTIRE pandemic (to varying degrees of success), then it shouldn't have been too hard to pick production on GLOW back up when it was safer. If they had the confidence to get ALL the way to production of episodes, there's really no explaining why they decided it should be cancelled when so many other shows dealt with the same issues but remain on the air.
Anyhow, sorry for the rant, but I'm hoping Netflix doesn't pull a classic disappointment with Sweet Tooth. That'd be a bummer, especially given how Season 1 ended.
Don't they tend to cancel shows already seasons in moreso vs first season? I honestly don't really watch many Netflix shows. The only complete series I've watched from them is Dark. Gave up on Orange and The Witcher. I do want to watch Ozark though.
Read some new stuff: - Department of Truth Vol 1 (covers #1-5). So great. Can’t wait for the next ones. - Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol 1 - never read any Swamp Thing, but this was pretty good. Not sure if I’ll read the rest yet. - Batman: Last Knight on Earth. Decent, but not great. Gets pretty cliche by the end. Still an interesting concept.
> - Batman: Last Knight on Earth. Decent, but not great. Gets pretty cliche by the
> end. Still an interesting concept.
I got this last year and started it but it was so weird and I was more in the mood for a straight-forward Batman story at the time. Still plan on going back to it, even though I think my buddy half-spoiled the swerve of what the whole story winds up being, so I’m in a lot less of a rush.
In other news, got an Amazon gift card today and snagged Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus Vol. 2. 700+ page hardcover. It’s the middle portion of Morrison’s legendary run on the series, and features the entire run of his Batman & Robin series + the “Return of Bruce Wayne” arc (after having “killed off” Bruce earlier in his run).
I’ve read most of his Batman & Robin run and loved the dynamic of a more lighthearted Batman (Dick Grayson) and a much more brooding Robin (Damian Wayne), so I’m pumped to jump back in.
Gonna read that then move directly into a reread of my giant “Absolute Batman Incorporated” hardcover, which I believe is the finale arc for Morrison’s Batman (and features a great finale issue that beautifully pays off the Dick/Damian dynamic).
> In other news, got an Amazon gift card today and snagged Batman by Grant Morrison
> Omnibus Vol. 2. 700+ page hardcover. It’s the middle portion of Morrison’s legendary
> run on the series, and features the entire run of his Batman & Robin series + the
> “Return of Bruce Wayne” arc (after having “killed off” Bruce earlier in his run).
>
>
> I’ve read most of his Batman & Robin run and loved the dynamic of a more lighthearted
> Batman (Dick Grayson) and a much more brooding Robin (Damian Wayne), so I’m pumped
> to jump back in.
>
> Gonna read that then move directly into a reread of my giant “Absolute Batman Incorporated”
> hardcover, which I believe is the finale arc for Morrison’s Batman (and features
> a great finale issue that beautifully pays off the Dick/Damian dynamic).
You've just completely ruined my opinion of your opinions, which I usually agree with. Morrison in general, and his Batman in particular, is such pretentious crape for the most part.
