So, with the exception of some of the Batman, Inc. books, DC has really gone to shit for me lately

finally got around to reading the first American Vampire trade. It makes me wish that everything else with vampires in it wasn't complete trash.

also, got the hardcover of Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites, which I think is one of my favorite books (comic or otherwise) ever.

I spent the holiday vacation organizing and sorting out 8+ longboxes of comics I had stashed in the attic for 15 years. During a comic store run for more mylar, I picked up my first new books in a long time... WTF is with the crazy numbering of things nowdays? Are comics just miniseries now? I need some sort of intro to how this shit works. It's like my guild membership expired or something.

It doesn't help that the only comic place in town is a tiny hole-in-the-wall, with only two small racks of new books, maybe 10 boxes of backissues, and no real organization to anything. Dudes who work there are nice, though, so maybe once I'm over the cultureshock I'll know what questions to ask.

Picked up 6 recent FF books, 4 Amazing Spiderman, and a couple Capt. America. I was looking for some Avengers books, but what I found only confused me more. I guess I'm easing myself back in slowly.

it's all kinda screwy right now. They've relaunched just about every single book (at least once), including Cap, Thor, Avengers, etc... but then they'll use the old numbering system when it can be counted as a milestone (most recently with Cap 600 or whatever it was).

There's also what feels like a lot more miniseries coming out right now with characters not strong enough for their own book (Mockingbird, for one). Some books (i.e. Hellboy) are only published in minis now. Seeing how it's kind of a pain in the ass, I usually just download 'em and then buy the trade when it comes out.

At the moment, there are 3 ongoing avengers books (New, Secret, Avengers) and like 3-4 minis. It all happened like 5 years ago when Brian Bendis wrote Avengers Disassembled (which was a really good story) and destroyed the mansion/killed Hawkeye/broke up the team. Then he had Cap start the New Avengers with Luke Cage. During the whole Civil War event (also good, but I'm not gonna get into that right now), Iron Man started the Mighty Avengers, which was Bendis' attempt to bring back thought balloons and lasted a few years. Then there was just New Avengers. In the past year, though, they started a new just Avengers title with Bendis and John Romita, Jr. When Cap came back from the dead they had him start the Secret Avengers (which is okay so far) written by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato. The New Avengers title is still there, (although it's weird, a lot of the regular title and this have the same -but not all the same- characters) and seems to be mostly about magic or something now.

if you ask me, the only great Avengers book going right now is Avengers Prime, a mini also written by Bendis (yeah, he's writing 3 different avengers books right now, along with 3 creator-owned titles and an upcoming Moon Knight series). It's only got Steve Rogers (oh yeah, Bucky is alive and is now Captain America. Steve just wears a turtleneck or some shit), Iron Man and Thor, and Alan Davis' art, which is fucking amazing.

wow. I just vomited up a bunch of nerdspeak and probably got stuff wrong/made it more confusing.

i just picked up a few comics the other day. batman incorporated 1 & 2, superior 2 & 3, a couple of issues of new avengers, boys 48 & 49, nemesis 1, 2 & 3 and halcyon 1 & 2. oh and the trade of pigeons from hell.

anyone know what x-men books are any good now? i stopped reading them probably a year ago.

I have no idea. I've heard that the Uncanny X-Force book is pretty good, although I haven't read it. Jason Aaron's Wolverine book is really god (as was the last one), but I'm completely out of the loop with what's happening in those books. I think they still live on Alcatraz?

I've seen a lot of praise for Uncanny X-Force, and most people seem to generally like Aaron's Wolverine even if they haven't liked the first arc of the relaunch. I've seen mostly negative opinions of all the main X-titles, though. Apparently they've been fighting vampires or something?

For Mutty:

It's kind of confusing, but the "Heroic Age" should be a good jumping on point. I actually like all three Avengers titles so far, but unlike Cotton, I haven't really been that crazy about the Prime mini. The other Avengers mini (or maxi) I've been reading is Children's Crusade which has beautiful art, but the story is so-so thus far. The Steve Rogers Super Soldier mini that wrapped up a few months ago was really good, and I would recommend that (if it's not one of the ones you already picked up).

Even if you started with the first issue of each of the three current main Avengers titles, I can see how you'd still be pretty confused if you didn't read Siege, Civil War, or any of the other big events from the past 6 or 7 years. They're pretty hit or miss, to be honest, but overall I've liked what Bendis & Co. have done with the central characters of the Marvel Universe. It's been fun.

Pick up anything by Jonathan Hickman, including his whole Fantastic Four run, Secret Warriors, and S.H.I.E.L.D. He's doing an Ultimate Thor series which is totally self-contained and supposedly really good, but I haven't started reading it yet.

Thanks for the info guys!

The Captain Americas I got say Heroic Age on them (609, 610) and even though they're the end of a story cycle, I'm getting a hang on the Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes thing. Oh yea - the best new feature in comics? The "story so far" page at the front of each issue. That, and the quantum leap in artwork.

The FFs I got were 562,569, by Millar & Hitch and then 570, 572-575 by Hickman. I've only read the Millar & Hitch and the first Hickman, but can already tell I'm going to enjoy Hickman. I'm waiting on an order from Mile High Comics for 571, among other things... I can definitely see myself doing serious damage on that site. I've also got Avengers Prime 1-4 coming.

So here's another stupid question for you - what is the deal with the "Ultimate" titles? Is it like an alternate marvel universe?

So which member of the Fantastic Four will die? Does anyone care?

I'm curious now... but nobody really DIES in comic books

my shot in the dark guess - Franklin

I waited too long to order the Incal Classic Collection and now it's sold out/out of print again. Took two weeks for 750 copies to disappear. Has anyone ever read that? Moebius on inks is enough for me.

maybe i'll check out uncanny x-force. i like the team lineup (Wolverine, Psylocke, Deadpool, Archangel and Fantomex). i thought it was ok when they relaunched it with kyle and yost but seemed too nu-metal-ish if that makes any sense.

i don't know if i'm into the whole wolverine goes to hell storyline. i'll probably borrow my roommates issues before i go buy any of them.

there was a miniseries i think ellis was writing.

maybe i'll get back into x-factor as well.

Yeah, that's basically it. Marvel started the Ultimate to draw in fans of the movies who wanted to check out the comics but might have been intimidated by the forty + years of continuity and issue #s in the 500 and 600s. Of course now the Ultimate Universe is about as convoluted as the main Marvel U, and I guess their answer to that has just been to relaunch specific Marvel Universe titles - like the Avengers ones - presumably in anticipation of new fans coming in from the new movies.

I haven't read many of the Ultimate titles, but it seems like a lot of them didn't really take the fullest advantage of having a fresh start and a chance to somewhat refine and re-imagine the characters. The best one I did read was Millar's Ultimates (drawn by Hitch just like his run on FF, but Hitch did a better job on these books, IMO) which, initially, did an awesome job with handling all of the main Avengers characters - Iron Man, Hulk, Captain American, Hank Pym, and Thor. I guess that's where the Ultimate version of Nick Fury was introduced, which is where the Samuel Jackson version in the movies is derived.




Sometimes I wish I hadn't given up on it, but I know it will always be dragged down by having to tie in with the other X-titles. I'm sure the whole series could have been 100x better if it hadn't had to tie in to Second Coming and everything else. It started out so great. I really wish it could just have been a totally self-contained title. I really see no reason why it couldn't have been. Just greedy, typical X-franchise crap.

X-Factor is still pretty good, although Peter David (who is one of those writers I follow in a pretty passive sense) has gotten pretty weird with the book as of late (right now they're in Vegas battling frost giants and having gay sex or something), and bringing in characters that I've never really liked (i.e. Longshot), but it's still a pretty interesting character. Madrox has been one of my favorite characters in mainstream comics for years, and it still holds up. Unfortunately, the book has been dealt a shit hand with all of the events of the past couple of years and a revolving door of artists. Still, I enjoy it.

I read the first few trades of ultimate Spider-Man, which was good (definitely better than reading the first few trades of the original), but I gave up on it after awhile because I found myself not giving a shit about it. By the time I read the Ultimates (the Ultimate version of the Avengers) about 5 years ago I gave up on that whole universe.

The Wolverine Goes to Hell storyline wasn't the best I've read, but Jason Aaron has been the only person to make that character even halfway enjoyable for me in the last decade, so I'm on board.

re: which FF member will die? I don't know. I can't remember the complete state of the book, but if I remember correctly:
1: Reed is hanging out with Galactus trying to solve some parallel universe problem
2. Sue is embroiled in an undersea civil war.
3. Ben is stuck in his human form (?)
4. Johnny is babysitting the kids
5a. The kids... I don't know being smart or something.

based on that evidence... Ben. It makes sense to put him on an Avengers team and then kill him right away.

I've got a weird feeling it'll be Johnny because Ben seems too obvious. Anyway, I don't really care. I love how big Hickman's been trying to make the book, but I kind of hate that he's taken it to "killing off" one of the characters. It always feels like a cheap way to raise a book's profile when a major character gets offed because you know it ultimately won't stick. Of course I'll stick around to see where Hickman goes with it, but I just hope it isn't Sue. I feel like that's been done in one way or another.

Did anybody see the movie Red, based on the Warren Ellis/Cully Hamner book? Doesn't seem like anything too special, but there were a lot of big names in it. I'd probably watch it if it came up on Netflix streaming.

Both sides equally douchey here. Sure, no one has ever come close to the genius of Moore... but that doesn't mean there's not a top tier of talent today.

I wouldn't call Aaron's response "douchey"... but definitely a little childish and overly sensitive. I sympathize with him a little bit, though.

Yeah I'd like to get back into the X-men. I stopped reading somewhere around the 80s run/#300-ish. I've read a few things from the 90s, and I've read the tie-ins from House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion, and maybe some Dark Reign. I'd like to get back into it. I have some friends that have recommended the new X-force.

Currently catching up on a crap-load of Deadpool. Will probably read his series up til I get bored with it, and maybe the Cable & Deadpool series if I feel like going the extra mile.

I just made the leap and subscribed to a couple of series directly from Marvel... Has anyone else done this before? The cost is much cheaper than from the comic store, but I do feel a little guilty.

for the books or the downloads?

Plenty of people come close. Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis spring to mind first. Not everything they've written is great, but then the same is true with Moore, including that dumb magic book he's currently putting out. I could argue that Morrison has done more for graphic storytelling than Moore ever could, and that the creator-owned books being put out today are miles ahead of where they've been in decades, if not ever. Scalped, The Walking Dead, Invincible, Chew, American Vampire, Sweet Tooth, Powers, Criminal, Hellboy, Daytripper, Joe the Barbarian, Queen & Country, ... I could fill pages with titles going right now that are entirely created by the team that is still writing them.

Moore is probably my favorite comic writer of all time, but he's been having this little hissyfit for over a decade. If he wants to sit in his cottage and smoke weed and worship a snake god all day hooray for him, but he's get over himself and how the comics industry has worked for the past 50 years. He's had it better than most, if not all, comic creators.

Sure, a Watchmen se/prequel is a bad idea, but I can't imagine anyone on the "top-tier" volunteering for this gig. It'd probably be some contracted writer that churns it out if anyone.

Books. It is something like 40% off coverprice. The digital books are interesting, but I would never pay money for them... at least not what they are asking.

I don't really interpret Moore's comments as being an indictment of the current crop of creators, but more trying to point out the flaw in the logic of DC. They are saying that he should agree to it because the writer's are good and they will do Watchmen justice. His point is if they are good writers, DC should let them create their own new shit instead of keeping on trying to make a quick buck on old successes. Jason Aaron seems like kind of a dick. I love Scalped, but most of his Marvel work has sucked. I'm not sure he should get into a pissing match with Alan Moore about the quality of his writing. Also, everyone already knows Alan Moore is a misanthropic, crazy old bastard. It's ridiculous to take anything he says personally.

What other Alan Moore stuff should I read? I've only read the Watchmen.

I wish Aaron would get back to writing Punisher.