What comics are you reading now?

[nonplayer]

Dropped bloodshot RS today.
Down to xo, the walking dead, and Turok
This is the first time since getting back into comics 2012 that non Valiant titles are more than Valiant titles.

[QUARTZ]

Re-reading through all of my Hellboy comics.

Current subs:

Spawn
Walking Dead
Conan
Savage Sword
Vader - Dark Visions
Hellboy 1958
Crimson Lotus
X-O Manowar

[grendeljd]

Re-reading through all of my Hellboy comics.

Current subs:

Spawn
Walking Dead
Conan
Savage Sword
Vader - Dark Visions
Hellboy 1958
Crimson Lotus
X-O Manowar

I follow Todd on Instagram & saw his recent videos about the upcoming Spawn 298 with his hand drawn tribute to the cover of Amazing Spiderman 298. Very cool. Crazy to think that he's been around so long now, and his book has gone on so long that he's caught up to the same numbering as Spidey back then. In all honesty, I haven't read an issue of Spawn since #7 or so. I know he didn't draw it all, but was he the writer over the entire run? Its soon to eclipse Cerebus as the longest running indie comic!

[QUARTZ]

Some people are speculating that he will end it with #301 just to put it to Dave, but I really don't think so, I think Todd has higher aims than that. He wants Spawn to be as recognizable as Batman or Spiderman in households. You can never say the man isn't ambitious as hell and hard working to boot. Maybe not the best writer though haha, but I am loving Jason Shawn Alexander's art.

Yeah hard to imagine it's been going for this long; I've been around since issue #9.

[Shadowman99]

I've currently found a manga that I've become interested in called Kengan Ashura which centres around an underground deathmatch fighting ring used as a means to settle business disputes. Pretty tedious first 5 issues that introduce disparate cast members, but picks up in the following issue. Not ground-breaking stuff two volumes in, but I'm enjoying it.

[maraxusofkeld]

I've been reading the Judge Dredd Complete case files reprinting the 2000 ad stories, so far I am really enjoying them.

[Shadowman99]

I've currently found a manga that I've become interested in called Kengan Ashura which centres around an underground deathmatch fighting ring used as a means to settle business disputes. Pretty tedious first 5 issues that introduce disparate cast members, but picks up in the following issue. Not ground-breaking stuff two volumes in, but I'm enjoying it.

Update: now on issue 30-odd, and am really enjoying the series. The first five issues seemed a bit of a waste as the story ends up focusing on one handful of main characters, and the characters introduced in these first issues haven't really played any significant role in the series so far meaning that any initial investment/interest in those characters has long since been lost, but the new group of 'main' characters have been great fun to follow.

The hand-to-hand combat action has been great, and some of the art for the fight scenes is truly brutal

[400yrs]

American Carnage from Vertigo.

[400yrs]

American Carnage from Vertigo.

I'm up to #4 on this. Issue 5 is out. If this makes it to hardcover, I'm getting it! I've re-read the first issue 3 times already.

If you like Scalped, read this!

[grendeljd]

Little Bird is a freaking amazing min-series from Image.

An oddly futuristic, semi-post-apocalyptic setting in America & Canada. Only two issues in, but I am loving this title. The artwork by Ian Bertram is breathtakingly alternative in style, in a very story-book illustrative way. Highly recommended.

[grendeljd]

I've kind of taken a break from the TMNT stuff in favour of a hard left turn into vintage, classic Iron Man. I've never read a single issue of Tale Of Suspense until recently - Starbrand got me inspired to get into softcover Marvel Masterworks, and I picked up vol. 1-3 of Iron Man, which covers Tales Of Suspense #39-83. It's been a ton of fun to read & see the slow evolution of his look as well as the storytelling style. I even got inspired to hunt down copies of some early issues of Iron Man that I had sold off about 10 years ago. I now just need a copy of #1 & #55 (which I'll probably never get).

Since posting this last summer, I ended up getting all the ToS issues individually from #84-99, as well as a copy of Iron Man #1! I bought a digital copy of IM #55 & the Iron Man/ Submariner 1-shot that came out between ToS #99 & IM #1. And then I began reading through every issue, from ToS #39 on up - I'm currently at Iron Man #131 in my epic re-read. It has been a couple of decades since I last read any of the early Iron Man comics, and as I posted above, I had never read a single ToS before last summer.

I absolutely love the Don Heck, Gene Colan & George Tuska artistic eras. I have such a greater appreciation now for how those guys drew back then. Really impressive stuff, theres a lot to be said for how dynamic they were, in addition to having a heavy 30's/40's era commercial Illustrator influence in their work [which i love, and emulate to some extent myself]. Some inkers were not entirely flattering for Tuska's work at times, but he was solid.

I will say that the stories became a bit of a slog to read between ~40 up to ~110. Some great stories in there for sure, but for the most part they became very repetitive, relying on the same basic set of Iron Man "rules" & tropes. Some truly muddled plotlines at times too. Tough to read through them all in a row, but I made it out alive, haha!

Mantlo's stories overall from around 85-114 were better on the whole, but the book has an absolutely definitive tonal shift at 115/116 when David Michelinie, Romita Jr. & Bob Layton become the creative team. Its like the [then] modern era that defined the 80's & beyond emerged wholly formed in the title in '78 with these guys first issue. Excellent stuff and still very enjoyable to re-read, none of it feels like its clinging to the artistic or storytelling trope style that defined Marvel from its inception on into the rougher early 70's. And its no wonder that people still consider Bob Layton to be a definitive Iron Man artist, his inks on Romita & his own pencilled style stand up & are still fantastic, IMO.

I'm looking forward to the next stretch of 100 issues or so, these were the comics I was reading as a kid that made me a huge fan of Iron Man [my first issue bought was #212, but I quickly got into buying backissues that I could afford at that time, which stretched back into the early 100's].

[Shadowman99]

Little Bird is a freaking amazing min-series from Image.

An oddly futuristic, semi-post-apocalyptic setting in America & Canada. Only two issues in, but I am loving this title. The artwork by Ian Bertram is breathtakingly alternative in style, in a very story-book illustrative way. Highly recommended.

There's nothing that causes a 100% 'loss of interest' in me like the words "post-apocalyptic".

Done. To. Death. So, so tired of this setting now.

Just saying. Other folk enjoy it, power to them.

[Jarhara]

I have the same problem with "zombie-survival"
I've seen just too many games and stories base around it and I just don't find it interesting anymore....

What Comics am I reading?
I just warped up with the entire Armor Hunters even, a few days ago and I have Bloodshot Reborn on it's way in the mail ^^

[Shadowman99]

I just wrapped up with the entire Armor Hunters even, a few days ago and I have Bloodshot Reborn on it's way in the mail ^^

Niiiiiiice

I'm reading everything published by Junji Ito at the moment. Great stuff. Bit of Ghost Rider on the side.

[Shadowman99]

[Double post due to system glitch]

[lorddunlow]

I started reading a little more comics since Twitter suspended my second account (I guess they figured out it was an account of someone who had been suspended - stupid Comic Gaters ).

I had been reading the old Claremont X-Men run on Marvel Unlimited and I'm up to Days of Future Past, so I took a break before diving into that (I'm very excited as I've never read it.)

After being a little disappointed in Endgame, I bought and rewatched Into the Spider-Verse and that got me reading Spider-Man again. I decided to read the Dan Slott stuff starting with the ASM renumber from 2014 (I had actually started this run when it released and had it on my pull, but my comic book reading took a nosedive around this time and almost stopped completely around mid 2015. (Life got in the way.) I got to the issue that was part of the Original Sin crossover and decided I might read that event. Then I remembered I never finished my Hickman run of books and since I have access through Marvel Unlimited, I went all the way back to Secret Warriors in 2009 to start from the beginning. Started this weekend. Just reading casually, so it will probably take a while. I only got halfway through his FF run before and I'll be re-reading the Avengers and Infinity stuff, but I never read his Secret Wars, so I look forward to that.

I'm gonna try to catch up with Valiant too, but none of the recent stuff looks that great. If there is anything right now that you guys think is can't miss Valiant?

[grendeljd]

Little Bird is a freaking amazing min-series from Image.

An oddly futuristic, semi-post-apocalyptic setting in America & Canada. Only two issues in, but I am loving this title. The artwork by Ian Bertram is breathtakingly alternative in style, in a very story-book illustrative way. Highly recommended.

There's nothing that causes a 100% 'loss of interest' in me like the words "post-apocalyptic".

Done. To. Death. So, so tired of this setting now.

Just saying. Other folk enjoy it, power to them.

I have the same problem with "zombie-survival"
I've seen just too many games and stories base around it and I just don't find it interesting anymore...

I don’t blame you folks at all for feeling that way - trendy ideas in pop culture have a way of becoming oversaturated and ruining a particular idea after a while. I’m pretty burned out on generic zombie-apocalypse settings in general, although I do still read TWD, and will always love classic zombie movies of the past.

I was probably innacurate when I called it post-apocalyptic (although I did say only *semi*-post-apocalyptic ). Dystopian sci-fi is probably a little closer to what this is. It’s very unique, it doesn’t feel like something derivative of a trend - the artwork alone helps it find its own voice. It’s a fusion of indie underground comix art and anime/manga, yet feels fresh and unique. Very cool, in my opinion.

[tarheelmarine]

Picked up Semper Fi #1-7 on FCBD and was pleasantly surprised to see #2 pencilled by Andy Kubert! Enjoying this series. Back issues continue to impress!

Reading new Conan by Marvel and enjoying it!

I am enjoying the Spiderman through the ages series.

[Shadowman99]

Little Bird is a freaking amazing min-series from Image.

An oddly futuristic, semi-post-apocalyptic setting in America & Canada. Only two issues in, but I am loving this title. The artwork by Ian Bertram is breathtakingly alternative in style, in a very story-book illustrative way. Highly recommended.

There's nothing that causes a 100% 'loss of interest' in me like the words "post-apocalyptic".

Done. To. Death. So, so tired of this setting now.

Just saying. Other folk enjoy it, power to them.

I have the same problem with "zombie-survival"
I've seen just too many games and stories base around it and I just don't find it interesting anymore...

I don’t blame you folks at all for feeling that way - trendy ideas in pop culture have a way of becoming oversaturated and ruining a particular idea after a while. I’m pretty burned out on generic zombie-apocalypse settings in general, although I do still read TWD, and will always love classic zombie movies of the past.

I was probably innacurate when I called it post-apocalyptic (although I did say only *semi*-post-apocalyptic ). Dystopian sci-fi is probably a little closer to what this is. It’s very unique, it doesn’t feel like something derivative of a trend - the artwork alone helps it find its own voice. It’s a fusion of indie underground comix art and anime/manga, yet feels fresh and unique. Very cool, in my opinion.

Sounds good, unique art style always helps a comic set itself apart from others

Speaking of 'classic zombie movies of the past' - Night of the Living Dead; THE classic, no doubt

[ShadowTuga]

Finished Naruto tonight, after not touching a chapter since 2011. I had like 3 years to read until the end.

What can you say about a series that you started reading in your late 20s and finished in your early 40s. Gosh, there is a lot of attachment to these characters, but does the story holds up until the end?
My honest opinion on the final 5 years or so. I liked how it wrapped up ( haven't read the follow up mini series), even if the plot overstayed its welcome just a weee bit. The 4th world war arc is huge, about freaking 2 years of weekly chapters, but its a great Epic moment that it would work wonders if it ended with the defeat of Obito. Having it followed by Madara and then the mother of all ninja (for an obvious pun) kinda dragged the thing. I could have a different opinion if I only watched the anime, but the manga fights are... well, sometimes they are a bit hard to follow wtf is going on. Specially the last 1/4 of the story with all its high level fantasy tone which made me long for simpler jutsu and tiny world setting, as it was in the beginning. It goes full on EPIC, for an obvious word, again.

That out of the way. My final thoughts on this manga.

Naruto is a super enjoying read, even if it is a time - and money - sinker (72 volumes). I don't know if its for everyone, but if you read the first stories you will discover if its for you or not.
Some of the more emotional stuff (this is a story about friendship and family, after all) is superbly presented, the characters grow in a very satisfying way, leaving you rooting for all of them- some will become your favourites, and you can't wait for them to appear. You will laugh out loud oh so many times and there will be a moment or twenty where you'll try to contain eyewater from flowing due to feels.
Its incredible how Masashi Kishimoto handled so, so many "secondary" characters and you get to the end feeling you know them all, their failures and triumphs as important as the Alpha stuff. Some of these gents and ladies are simply put, unforgettable.

A story that involves pre-teen kids as living Ninja weapons or something, should not be this amazing. Its a shonen story, with all its cliches, but damn, thiis is how you do it.
9/10. One point minus because of the above mentioned length of the final arc(s).

[Shadowman99]

Finished Naruto tonight, after not touching a chapter since 2011. I had like 3 years to read until the end.

What can you say about a series that you started reading in your late 20s and finished in your early 40s. Gosh, there is a lot of attachment to these characters, but does the story holds up until the end?
My honest opinion on the final 5 years or so. I liked how it wrapped up ( haven't read the follow up mini series), even if the plot overstayed its welcome just a weee bit. The 4th world war arc is huge, about freaking 2 years of weekly chapters, but its a great Epic moment that it would work wonders if it ended with the defeat of Obito. Having it followed by Madara and then the mother of all ninja (for an obvious pun) kinda dragged the thing. I could have a different opinion if I only watched the anime, but the manga fights are... well, sometimes they are a bit hard to follow wtf is going on. Specially the last 1/4 of the story with all its high level fantasy tone which made me long for simpler jutsu and tiny world setting, as it was in the beginning. It goes full on EPIC, for an obvious word, again.

That out of the way. My final thoughts on this manga.

Naruto is a super enjoying read, even if it is a time - and money - sinker (72 volumes). I don't know if its for everyone, but if you read the first stories you will discover if its for you or not.
Some of the more emotional stuff (this is a story about friendship and family, after all) is superbly presented, the characters grow in a very satisfying way, leaving you rooting for all of them- some will become your favourites, and you can't wait for them to appear. You will laugh out loud oh so many times and there will be a moment or twenty where you'll try to contain eyewater from flowing due to feels.
Its incredible how Masashi Kishimoto handled so, so many "secondary" characters and you get to the end feeling you know them all, their failures and triumphs as important as the Alpha stuff. Some of these gents and ladies are simply put, unforgettable.

A story that involves pre-teen kids as living Ninja weapons or something, should not be this amazing. Its a shonen story, with all its cliches, but damn, thiis is how you do it.
9/10. One point minus because of the above mentioned length of the final arc(s).

I'll buy myself the final 20 or so volumes one day and finish reading it. Looking forward to that.

One Punch Man. Everyone seems to love it. My brother, a non-manga/anime indulgent (usually) thinks it's cool. Watched the first episode of the anime and didn't feel that it'd have anything much else of substance to offer so never bothered with the second episode. However, thought I'd give the manga a go as I almost always prefer comics to anime anyway, and having now read the first 6 chapters of One Punch Man I'm still not sure what everyone's going crazy about. There are some funny parts and the backgrounds are gorgeous, but I'm not sure what's so mind-blowing about it.


Will try the next chapter and see how it goes.

[ShadowTuga]

Finished Naruto tonight, after not touching a chapter since 2011. I had like 3 years to read until the end.

What can you say about a series that you started reading in your late 20s and finished in your early 40s. Gosh, there is a lot of attachment to these characters, but does the story holds up until the end?
My honest opinion on the final 5 years or so. I liked how it wrapped up ( haven't read the follow up mini series), even if the plot overstayed its welcome just a weee bit. The 4th world war arc is huge, about freaking 2 years of weekly chapters, but its a great Epic moment that it would work wonders if it ended with the defeat of Obito. Having it followed by Madara and then the mother of all ninja (for an obvious pun) kinda dragged the thing. I could have a different opinion if I only watched the anime, but the manga fights are... well, sometimes they are a bit hard to follow wtf is going on. Specially the last 1/4 of the story with all its high level fantasy tone which made me long for simpler jutsu and tiny world setting, as it was in the beginning. It goes full on EPIC, for an obvious word, again.

That out of the way. My final thoughts on this manga.

Naruto is a super enjoying read, even if it is a time - and money - sinker (72 volumes). I don't know if its for everyone, but if you read the first stories you will discover if its for you or not.
Some of the more emotional stuff (this is a story about friendship and family, after all) is superbly presented, the characters grow in a very satisfying way, leaving you rooting for all of them- some will become your favourites, and you can't wait for them to appear. You will laugh out loud oh so many times and there will be a moment or twenty where you'll try to contain eyewater from flowing due to feels.
Its incredible how Masashi Kishimoto handled so, so many "secondary" characters and you get to the end feeling you know them all, their failures and triumphs as important as the Alpha stuff. Some of these gents and ladies are simply put, unforgettable.

A story that involves pre-teen kids as living Ninja weapons or something, should not be this amazing. Its a shonen story, with all its cliches, but damn, thiis is how you do it.
9/10. One point minus because of the above mentioned length of the final arc(s).

I'll buy myself the final 20 or so volumes one day and finish reading it. Looking forward to that.

One Punch Man. Everyone seems to love it. My brother, a non-manga/anime indulgent (usually) thinks it's cool. Watched the first episode of the anime and didn't feel that it'd have anything much else of substance to offer so never bothered with the second episode. However, thought I'd give the manga a go as I almost always prefer comics to anime anyway, and having now read the first 6 chapters of One Punch Man I'm still not sure what everyone's going crazy about. There are some funny parts and the backgrounds are gorgeous, but I'm not sure what's so mind-blowing about it.


Will try the next chapter and see how it goes.

20 volumes to go its basically the finish line, but you have some awesome stuff to read in the future. Man, I think the bit where I really got emotional (and instant top 3 moments of Naruto ever) with this manga was in volume 60 or so. Nothing I was expecting, and that is to say a lot- Naruto always surprised me tons when it came to character development and plot threads. For a blatant example, I was reading the final chapter's first page and could not say how it would all really end, only thing I was aware was that there is a sequel series.
But to be perfectly honest, my top arc in this saga is one you already read, by now, that is, Jiraya's solo story and the Pein stuff. Reading that as it came out weekly and discussing it online was real fun. Around this time is when one finds out about the true leadership of Akatsuki and that. Uchiha. Battle. I think its the best era from Naruto, the mistery and excitement were turned at 11.

One Punch Man does look good, and it has its fanbase, but I currently lack the patience to go through 30 chapters of something just to see if I like it enough to continue reading.

[Shadowman99]

Finished Naruto tonight, after not touching a chapter since 2011. I had like 3 years to read until the end.

What can you say about a series that you started reading in your late 20s and finished in your early 40s. Gosh, there is a lot of attachment to these characters, but does the story holds up until the end?
My honest opinion on the final 5 years or so. I liked how it wrapped up ( haven't read the follow up mini series), even if the plot overstayed its welcome just a weee bit. The 4th world war arc is huge, about freaking 2 years of weekly chapters, but its a great Epic moment that it would work wonders if it ended with the defeat of Obito. Having it followed by Madara and then the mother of all ninja (for an obvious pun) kinda dragged the thing. I could have a different opinion if I only watched the anime, but the manga fights are... well, sometimes they are a bit hard to follow wtf is going on. Specially the last 1/4 of the story with all its high level fantasy tone which made me long for simpler jutsu and tiny world setting, as it was in the beginning. It goes full on EPIC, for an obvious word, again.

That out of the way. My final thoughts on this manga.

Naruto is a super enjoying read, even if it is a time - and money - sinker (72 volumes). I don't know if its for everyone, but if you read the first stories you will discover if its for you or not.
Some of the more emotional stuff (this is a story about friendship and family, after all) is superbly presented, the characters grow in a very satisfying way, leaving you rooting for all of them- some will become your favourites, and you can't wait for them to appear. You will laugh out loud oh so many times and there will be a moment or twenty where you'll try to contain eyewater from flowing due to feels.
Its incredible how Masashi Kishimoto handled so, so many "secondary" characters and you get to the end feeling you know them all, their failures and triumphs as important as the Alpha stuff. Some of these gents and ladies are simply put, unforgettable.

A story that involves pre-teen kids as living Ninja weapons or something, should not be this amazing. Its a shonen story, with all its cliches, but damn, thiis is how you do it.
9/10. One point minus because of the above mentioned length of the final arc(s).

I'll buy myself the final 20 or so volumes one day and finish reading it. Looking forward to that.

One Punch Man. Everyone seems to love it. My brother, a non-manga/anime indulgent (usually) thinks it's cool. Watched the first episode of the anime and didn't feel that it'd have anything much else of substance to offer so never bothered with the second episode. However, thought I'd give the manga a go as I almost always prefer comics to anime anyway, and having now read the first 6 chapters of One Punch Man I'm still not sure what everyone's going crazy about. There are some funny parts and the backgrounds are gorgeous, but I'm not sure what's so mind-blowing about it.


Will try the next chapter and see how it goes.

20 volumes to go its basically the finish line, but you have some awesome stuff to read in the future. Man, I think the bit where I really got emotional (and instant top 3 moments of Naruto ever) with this manga was in volume 60 or so. Nothing I was expecting, and that is to say a lot- Naruto always surprised me tons when it came to character development and plot threads. For a blatant example, I was reading the final chapter's first page and could not say how it would all really end, only thing I was aware was that there is a sequel series.
But to be perfectly honest, my top arc in this saga is one you already read, by now, that is, Jiraya's solo story and the Pein stuff. Reading that as it came out weekly and discussing it online was real fun. Around this time is when one finds out about the true leadership of Akatsuki and that. Uchiha. Battle. I think its the best era from Naruto, the mistery and excitement were turned at 11.

One Punch Man does look good, and it has its fanbase, but I currently lack the patience to go through 30 chapters of something just to see if I like it enough to continue reading.

Yeah, it's frustrating to have read so much of it and then found myself unable to finish reading it back in the day. I think that was when I started university and had no time or money to spend on it. Have always wanted to buy those last few volumes and finish it though.

Naruto has always been a true masterpiece for a great many reasons, but the depth of its character set across the board really is impressive, and some of the character designs (visual and abilities) are really imaginative and engaging. All the more so because 'mortality' exists in this 'world' - for example, when Iruka dies, you really feel it. Having just finished off a series that I really enjoyed called Kengan Asura (MMA fight comic), the one thing that truly let it down is when I realised as a reader that the writer simply wouldn't kill his characters off, despite explicitly stating and showing them incurring literally fatal injuries. All that danger was gone from the confrontations, y'know? Nothing exciting left anymore. But in Naruto, if a character takes a fatal hit, they're probably going to die.

Speaking of which, I'm totally with you - the ONE time I had to fight back tears was when Jiraya descended to the bottom of the lake during his conflict with Pain... Oh man


I have 0 hype for the follow-up series though, knowing that it's not written by Kishimoto. Will be very surprised if I even bother giving it a look.

[depluto]

I am actually reading fewer comics now than at any time since 1990. Mostly that is due to the Valiant emphasis on miniseries (I wait and read them all at once usually) and also since I shed almost all Marvel comics when they got reboot and revamp crazy.

I did read some old Thor comics (really old) and actually enjoyed them quite a bit. I remember thinking they were dull when I was younger.

[Chiclo]

I did read some old Thor comics (really old) and actually enjoyed them quite a bit. I remember thinking they were dull when I was younger.

Just Thor?