The State of Comic Books.

[Tabris]

If you like Straczynski, check out Midnight Nation, very good.

[Angerz]

Also, if you liked the first book in his surfer mini series, the second book came out yesterday.

[Vorph]

Originally Posted by Tabris

If you like Straczynski, check out Midnight Nation, very good.

Rising Stars and Supreme Power (MAX version, Squadron Supreme is pretty weak) are excellent too.


The Boys #8 came out this week too. Still waiting for something to happen in the revived series... this one didn't even have much in the way of humor.

[hamrlik]

Where would be a good place to start in the Hellblazer universe?

And anyone read any of the alien vs predator graphic novels? good/bad or whatever?

[Vorph]

Hellblazer #1, or Saga of the Swamp Thing #20 (JC doesn't officially appear until #37, but #20 is the start of Alan Moore's run) if you want the very beginning of Constantine. He doesn't have much in the way of depth until his own comic though, but SotST was an excellent comic, especially during Alan Moore's time writing it.

[chaos]

First time I saw John Constantine was in the Sandman, #5? not sure which one it was. I got into Hellblazer somewhere around when Vertigo started, if you jump right into the middle you won't miss a whole lot. His character is pretty simple, he's an asshole, made a deal with the devil, he does magic (kind of) and is a furious badass in the magical world.

Don't miss the issue where he gets walked through hell, JFk and Uncle Sam are funny, kind of frightening I guess but I laughed.

[Vorph]

You could start in the middle I suppose, but you'd have to be crazy to want to skip the issues by Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman (sadly just one issue, #27), and Warren Ellis.

[hamrlik]

Went to store again:
Picked up the trade paperback of The Boys (comics 1-6). Was gonna buy the individual comics but they didnt have #6.
Also picked up the second Silver Surfer and the Second Storm Shadow.

With The Boys, I wasnt sure what i was expecting. Read the post about the super baby crawling out of the woman and thought he was joking. Then the guy at the store talked about how DC dropped the series because of a gerbil, then thought maybe he wasnt joking.

Initial reaction: WTF?!
then: LOL
then read it again.

Will pick up 7 and 8 tomorrow or wednesday...Im hooked.

Storm Shadow #2 was meh. Will give a couple more issues a try, but i wouldnt recommend it.

I like the "super heroes" arent the model citizens take of things in these comics. Any recommendations of stories like these?

(im gonna have tons of comics to read soon lol)

[Arbitrary]

I love when The Female uses Popclaw's claw to remove the duct tape. Very sweet and innocent sentiment after a pretty horrible amount of violence.

[Grimmlokk]

Originally Posted by hamrlik

I like the "super heroes" arent the model citizens take of things in these comics. Any recommendations of stories like these?

Obvious, but have you read The Watchmen yet? It's a must own if not.

Kingdom Come from DC in the mid 90's might fit the bill as well. Basically the Justice League reuinites to try and right wrongs done by super "heroes" in the future. I'm a total sucker for Alex Ross' artwork and it doesn't get any better than this series. Only 5-6 issues as I recall, but big issues(40+ pages of actual story). As long as you are not adverse to the DC universe I suggest this for all comic fans. Just make sure to ignore the shitty follow up cash in "The Kingdom".

Irredeemable Ant Man: Current Ant Man series, written by Robert Kirkman. Not only is the hero often wrong, but he's a pretty blatant dick from the drop. It's a definite change from the norm.

That's all that currently comes to mind where heroes being wrong/fallible is a pretty central storyline. The whole Civil War arc features half the Marvel U being wrong depending on your PoV, but that's not really the same. If yer a big marvel fan maybe go for the compilation stuff, otherwise I'd not feel a lot of guilt grabbing one of the monster CW torrents.

Invincible might interest you. Not really similar to The Boys in tone at all, but the hero is a rookie and can fuck up. And it doesn't paint heroes as infallible at all(one of them pretty early on murders the entire "JLA" of their series). Maybe I'm just stretching to try and get someone else reasing Invincible=P It's probably my favorite super hero book out right now. It's coming of age as a hero schlock just done right. And without having to fit into a majorly established ethos(DC/Marvel) so the creators can get as silly as they want.


edit: OH HOLY FUCK! Soon as I finished posting I realized I had completely left out Powers.

Go buy Powers. You'll like Powers. It's by Bendis, so great writing if you like his dialogue. It's about 2 cops who are part of the capes division in their city. Basically they deal with all crimes involving super powered people. It is absolutely 100% what you are looking for. The heroes are just normal people, exept with powers for the most part. Whether they are some petty half assed hero or the most powerful beings on the planet they are equally likely to fuck up. Same writer/artist team from start to latest issue(~50 in 2 volumes so far), so it's totally consistant. It's a series that I got into pretty late and felt like I had really been missing out because of it. Also Warren Ellis features prominently in an issue. Not as a writer, as a character. It's fun stuff. One of the *VERY* few like that. Go get it now. Ignore my previous selections if you have to, just get started on it. It's what you want.

Then get Watchmen if you haven't already=P

Just to show how fucked up the Powers can get in Powers.

[Vorph]

Originally Posted by hamrlik

I like the "super heroes" arent the model citizens take of things in these comics. Any recommendations of stories like these?

J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars and Supreme Power (the MAX series, skip the non-MAX follow up series, Squadron Supreme, unless you're really desperate for something to read).

I'd also recommend Warren Ellis' Planetary, The Authority, and Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. (then read everything else by him, starting with Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency, Desolation Jones, and Fell, because Ellis is a goddamned genius).

Maybe Grant Morrison's Flex Mentallo / The Invisibles / The Filth trilogy, though that's kind of stretching the idea of 'super heroes'. The main characters definitely aren't model citizens though. And if you don't like Flex Mentallo, don't let that stop you from checking out The Invisibles, it gets much better. Morrison's run on Animal Man (#1-26) was really good too.

And it should go without saying, but Garth Ennis' Punisher series on Marvel MAX is by far the best take on that character, and imo the best comic currently being published.

Other random titles off the top of my head: Black Widow (Homecoming and The Things They Say About Her by Richard K. Morgan), Runaways (and The Loners spin-off that just started), Bomb Queen (another comic that should really appeal to fans of The Boys), Ultra, Painkiller Jane, The Darkness, and ... well that's probably more than enough.

[hamrlik]

Thanks for the suggestions. Already read The Watchmen and loved it.

After researching some, it looks like im going to get The Authority, followed by Powers.

Then, I will definately look into Kingdom Come. After looking up Alex Ross all i can say is WOW. That guy can paint some super heroes. Found a wallpaper with what looks like his work and it is now my new desktop. (posting this at work, will attach the photo when i get home.)

After those I will get Supreme Power then Global Frequency.

Then the others as I get time (and money lol) while also keeping track of The Boys and 2 more of Stephen King series, and the Silver Surfer (straczynski).

So many comics, so little time lol

[Tabris]

If you like Alex Ross's work in Kingdom Come, check out Marvels as well. Even though he only did the covers, Earth X is pretty good as well.

[Grimmlokk]

Originally Posted by hamrlik

Then the others as I get time (and money lol)

If you have a decent used book store near your house that's not a bad place to look for some of the Trade Paperbacks. I picked up the first Powers one for like 5-7$ at one here.

Limited selection and you're not really supporting the artists directly, but if you like the work at least that way you own it instead of just having it from a torrent=)

And I'll definately second the Marvels selection. It's basically an outsider(photographer/journalist) view of the rise of superpowered people in the Marvel U. From the FF through to mutants showing up and being hated etc. Pretty interesting stuff. Also the series "Justice" is more Ross stuff. Should be finishing up any time now. 13 issues I think. Gorgeous as always. Kinda typical "DC villains team up, JLA must stop em" story, but well done and interesting if you like the DCU.

[Vorph]

On the topic of J. Michael Straczynski... issue #1 of his new Thor series just came out. It was pretty much just a teaser of things to come, but it's got potential just because JMS is writing it. I do wish it was on MAX like the Garth Ennis miniseries from a few years back though, partly for the violence, language, nudity, and other adult content that comes with being on MAX, but mainly because I'd like a Thor series that exists outside of normal Marvel continuity. As long as they keep the crossovers into mainstream Marvel faggotry to a bare minimum, it could still be good as a T+ rating.

In other MAX news, the Barracuda spin-off miniseries and the most recent Punisher arc wrapped up yesterday. Definitely pick up both if you're a fan of Ennis.