What comics are you reading now?

[MarkRoseHFX]

I have not read any PunisherMax stuff by Ennis, but I think you guys would really enjoy "Red Team" from Garth Ennis. Gritty crime drama with good cops, bad cops, and a surprising twist at the end.

Here is the description on Instocktrades.com:

Red Team, the NYPD's elite anti-narcotics unit. Eddie Mellinger, Trudy Giroux, Duke Wylie, and George Winburn have taken down one drug lord after another with a careful blend of meticulous surveillance and applied violence, but their latest case has hit a brick wall. Frustrated that a guilty-as-sin scumbag may slip from their grasp, they take extreme measures... and discover that doing the wrong thing can be very, very seductive. Eisner Award-winning author Garth Ennis is one of the most recognizable and popular writers in comics, with legions of fans appreciative of the moral ambiguity and intense violence in such titles as Preacher, The Punisher, Hitman, and The Boys. Collects the complete six issue story arc from the Red Team comic book series.

http://www.instocktrades.com/TP/Dynamit ... EASON-ONE-(MR" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)/DEC131093

Dynamite is the publisher, but if you can get past that, you will love this book.

Michael
mkb28

damn it. that does seem like something i'd like. why does it have to be from dynamite

Go ahead, Mark, give it a try. Intrepidxc and I both loved it and you will not be disappointed. No one has to know that you bought it.

Michael
mkb28

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

[grendeljd]

I have not read any PunisherMax stuff by Ennis, but I think you guys would really enjoy "Red Team" from Garth Ennis. Gritty crime drama with good cops, bad cops, and a surprising twist at the end.

Here is the description on Instocktrades.com:

Red Team, the NYPD's elite anti-narcotics unit. Eddie Mellinger, Trudy Giroux, Duke Wylie, and George Winburn have taken down one drug lord after another with a careful blend of meticulous surveillance and applied violence, but their latest case has hit a brick wall. Frustrated that a guilty-as-sin scumbag may slip from their grasp, they take extreme measures... and discover that doing the wrong thing can be very, very seductive. Eisner Award-winning author Garth Ennis is one of the most recognizable and popular writers in comics, with legions of fans appreciative of the moral ambiguity and intense violence in such titles as Preacher, The Punisher, Hitman, and The Boys. Collects the complete six issue story arc from the Red Team comic book series.

http://www.instocktrades.com/TP/Dynamit ... EASON-ONE-(MR" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)/DEC131093

Dynamite is the publisher, but if you can get past that, you will love this book.

Michael
mkb28

damn it. that does seem like something i'd like. why does it have to be from dynamite

Go ahead, Mark, give it a try. Intrepidxc and I both loved it and you will not be disappointed. No one has to know that you bought it.

Michael
mkb28

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

I'd say that counts as supporting your library. You're in the clear in my book if you find it there.

[The Dirt Gang]

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

Pretty much everything I read these days comes from the library. As much as I would like to support a lot of these books by purchasing them, I'm not currently in a situation to do so. So it is either get them from the library or not at all. However, I often get the library to purchase TPBs they don't have, so in some way I'm still supporting these books and hopefully someone else will discovery them at the library.

[MarkRoseHFX]

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

Pretty much everything I read these days comes from the library. As much as I would like to support a lot of these books by purchasing them, I'm not currently in a situation to do so. So it is either get them from the library or not at all. However, I often get the library to purchase TPBs they don't have, so in some way I'm still supporting these books and hopefully someone else will discovery them at the library.

nothing wrong with that at all. a huge chunk of what i'm reading these days is either from the library or from friends. it's good to have friends that read stuff you like but can't afford at the moment

[nscc]

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

Pretty much everything I read these days comes from the library. As much as I would like to support a lot of these books by purchasing them, I'm not currently in a situation to do so. So it is either get them from the library or not at all. However, I often get the library to purchase TPBs they don't have, so in some way I'm still supporting these books and hopefully someone else will discovery them at the library.

nothing wrong with that at all. a huge chunk of what i'm reading these days is either from the library or from friends. it's good to have friends that read stuff you like but can't afford at the moment

I do the same, library and borrowed from friends. I have only recently started purchasing anything but VEI.

[ilzuccone]

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

Pretty much everything I read these days comes from the library. As much as I would like to support a lot of these books by purchasing them, I'm not currently in a situation to do so. So it is either get them from the library or not at all. However, I often get the library to purchase TPBs they don't have, so in some way I'm still supporting these books and hopefully someone else will discovery them at the library.

nothing wrong with that at all. a huge chunk of what i'm reading these days is either from the library or from friends. it's good to have friends that read stuff you like but can't afford at the moment

I do the same, library and borrowed from friends. I have only recently started purchasing anything but VEI.

isn't it awesome that you can get trades from the library?

[The Dirt Gang]

honestly the only Dynamite books i've ever read is a friend loaned me the first 7 volumes of The Boys. i really enjoy that series. maybe I can find it at the library...does that count as supporting Dynamite?

Pretty much everything I read these days comes from the library. As much as I would like to support a lot of these books by purchasing them, I'm not currently in a situation to do so. So it is either get them from the library or not at all. However, I often get the library to purchase TPBs they don't have, so in some way I'm still supporting these books and hopefully someone else will discovery them at the library.

nothing wrong with that at all. a huge chunk of what i'm reading these days is either from the library or from friends. it's good to have friends that read stuff you like but can't afford at the moment

I do the same, library and borrowed from friends. I have only recently started purchasing anything but VEI.

isn't it awesome that you can get trades from the library?

Indeed! It looks like I'm in good company.

[lorddunlow]

Just started reading V for Vendetta for the first time. Wow. One issue took 45 minutes - no exaggeration. Alan Moore may be an arrogant as, but he at least has the talent to back that attitude up. Such a great read.

Couple observations:

- reading this book that is more "traditional" in terms of sequential art storytelling makes me realize that the splash pages and gutterless art along with action breaking out of panels (or forsaking panels all together) can sometimes hurt the reader experience. I like some of the new techniques, but I think they're really overdone in modern comics - especially splash pages. Issue #1 had exactly one full page splash and no two pagers. This gave that singular splash a great sense of importance. Overall, the visual storytelling in this book is superb.

- lettering is atrocious. Not digging the borderless word balloons. And the inconsistency of the letters hurts my eyes/brain. My biggest complaint, though is there are too many hyphenated words used to fit the word balloons.

-screw decompression. I just felt like I read the equivalent in today's books of an oversized hardcover in a single issue. Tons of characterization. Numerous characters introduced along with two back stories. The state of affairs of the world at large laid out in detail. The stage literally and figuratively set. No one can convince me that decompression is anything other than a downsizing of material with an increase in price.

Onto #2!

[ilzuccone]

Just started reading V for Vendetta for the first time. Wow. One issue took 45 minutes - no exaggeration. Alan Moore may be an arrogant as, but he at least has the talent to back that attitude up. Such a great read.

Couple observations:

- reading this book that is more "traditional" in terms of sequential art storytelling makes me realize that the splash pages and gutterless art along with action breaking out of panels (or forsaking panels all together) can sometimes hurt the reader experience. I like some of the new techniques, but I think they're really overdone in modern comics - especially splash pages. Issue #1 had exactly one full page splash and no two pagers. This gave that singular splash a great sense of importance. Overall, the visual storytelling in this book is superb.

- lettering is atrocious. Not digging the borderless word balloons. And the inconsistency of the letters hurts my eyes/brain. My biggest complaint, though is there are too many hyphenated words used to fit the word balloons.

-screw decompression. I just felt like I read the equivalent in today's books of an oversized hardcover in a single issue. Tons of characterization. Numerous characters introduced along with two back stories. The state of affairs of the world at large laid out in detail. The stage literally and figuratively set. No one can convince me that decompression is anything other than a downsizing of material with an increase in price.

Onto #2!

+1

[Cyberstrike]

- lettering is atrocious. Not digging the borderless word balloons. And the inconsistency of the letters hurts my eyes/brain. My biggest complaint, though is there are too many hyphenated words used to fit the word balloons.

One has to remember that V For Vendetta started as a strip in Warrior (and even Miracleman's while not as bad it can be hard to read at times especially in the Eclipse issues and TPBs the new Marvel series did a great job of remastering and cleaning up the lettering and recoloring it) the lettering in both series was improved once the reprint material ran out and Eclipse and DC let Moore finish his work.

[lorddunlow]

- lettering is atrocious. Not digging the borderless word balloons. And the inconsistency of the letters hurts my eyes/brain. My biggest complaint, though is there are too many hyphenated words used to fit the word balloons.

One has to remember that V For Vendetta started as a strip in Warrior (and even Miracleman's while not as bad it can be hard to read at times especially in the Eclipse issues and TPBs the new Marvel series did a great job of remastering and cleaning up the lettering and recoloring it) the lettering in both series was improved once the reprint material ran out and Eclipse and DC let Moore finish his work.

Good to know.

I've discovered I'm extremely picky about lettering.

[caxiotis]

Read the following this weekend:

A&A tpb 4 - 2/5 - not impressed with the sect civil war

A&A tpb 5 - 3/5 - got better. Probably because of the bloodshot crossover

Manifest Destiny tpb - 3.5/5 - I wish I had more of this to read

Black Science tpb 3.5/5

Umbral tpb - 2/5 - too fantasy for me.

[georgiasam]

Peter Panzerfaust is one I have really come to enjoy. I'm really into the independent
books as of late. Image has been putting out some great titles lately.
Honestly from DC and Marvel I maybe get one or two from each. They
have been extremely disappointing lately.

[lorddunlow]

Read the following this weekend:

A&A tpb 4 - 2/5 - not impressed with the sect civil war

A&A tpb 5 - 3/5 - got better. Probably because of the bloodshot crossover

Manifest Destiny tpb - 3.5/5 - I wish I had more of this to read

Black Science tpb 3.5/5

Umbral tpb - 2/5 - too fantasy for me.

You and I must have opposite tastes, as I love Umbral and Archer and Armstrong while I can't understand why anyone likes Manifest Destiny or Black Science.

[caxiotis]

Read the following this weekend:

A&A tpb 4 - 2/5 - not impressed with the sect civil war

A&A tpb 5 - 3/5 - got better. Probably because of the bloodshot crossover

Manifest Destiny tpb - 3.5/5 - I wish I had more of this to read

Black Science tpb 3.5/5

Umbral tpb - 2/5 - too fantasy for me.

You and I must have opposite tastes, as I love Umbral and Archer and Armstrong while I can't understand why anyone likes Manifest Destiny or Black Science.

Starting to think the same thing. Nothing wrong with that, just have different tastes.

[lorddunlow]

Read the following this weekend:

A&A tpb 4 - 2/5 - not impressed with the sect civil war

A&A tpb 5 - 3/5 - got better. Probably because of the bloodshot crossover

Manifest Destiny tpb - 3.5/5 - I wish I had more of this to read

Black Science tpb 3.5/5

Umbral tpb - 2/5 - too fantasy for me.

You and I must have opposite tastes, as I love Umbral and Archer and Armstrong while I can't understand why anyone likes Manifest Destiny or Black Science.

Starting to think the same thing. Nothing wrong with that, just have different tastes.

Nothing wrong at all.

[Brother Darque]

I bought The Atomic Legion, a fun read.

[lorddunlow]

More V for Vendetta. More awesome.

Seriously, this book is one of the best I've read. It's very cathartic as well. I love watching these corrupt individuals meet such poetic endings.

I cannot believe these were written in 1982. They give current books a run for their money. I'm actually surprised this found an audience back then.

It's wonderful. In issue #3 there is the Prelude to Volume 2 in which V plays a song on the piano and sings. The musical staff in interspersed with panels of the comic. Lots of parallel panels are used and the words of the song reflect what the panels depict. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of sequential art I've ever seen.

There is nothing like this book in my opinion. It is a treasure to behold.

[The Dirt Gang]

SF by Ryan Cecil Smith (http://ryancecilsmith.com/blog/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - if you like manga inspired sci-fi, this is a really good small press series that wears it's influences on its sleeves but does so with a good sense of humor.


Appleseed Book 1 by Shirow - I love this book. There is some really great artwork here. Shirow and Otomo are two masters of cityscapes and Briareos is one of my all time favorite character designs. Shirow has some of the best mechs as well. I still remember the first time I found a copy of Appleseed as a kid. I was completely mesmerized, I'd never really seen anything like it and of course that was the only copy I could find at the time.


The Manhattan Projects Vol. 1-3. I really enjoyed these as well. Hickman has some brilliant ideas and I love the alternate history take. However, at times I wish Hickman would pull back and edit himself a little bit.

[The Dirt Gang]

More V for Vendetta. More awesome.

This one I've been meaning to check out for a long time now. I'll have to track it down.

[lorddunlow]

More V for Vendetta. More awesome.

This one I've been meaning to check out for a long time now. I'll have to track it down.

Now that I'm reading it, I can't tell you how upset I am that it has taken me this long to read it.

[ilzuccone]

More V for Vendetta. More awesome.

This one I've been meaning to check out for a long time now. I'll have to track it down.

Now that I'm reading it, I can't tell you how upset I am that it has taken me this long to read it.

I'll have to dust off my copy and take a look through it again. I watched the usual suspects ('95) a few weeks ago and had a similar experience. I was floored how much character development, content, etc you can actualy fit into a in a 106min. film.

It's sad when you think about how light our entertainment is these days.

[lorddunlow]

It's sad when you think about how light our entertainment is these days.

QFT

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I feel like more was accomplished in 3 issues (in fairness it's 34 pages each, so more like 4.5 issues) of V for Vendetta than what has been done in 25 issues of the VEI books (or really any other books for that matter).

[The Dirt Gang]

It's sad when you think about how light our entertainment is these days.

QFT

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I feel like more was accomplished in 3 issues (in fairness it's 34 pages each, so more like 4.5 issues) of V for Vendetta than what has been done in 25 issues of the VEI books (or really any other books for that matter).

I had the same feeling reading Batman: Year One - great story and tons of characterization. At the same time, I was reading Year One I read the first volume of Batman: Night of the Owls and it didn't make me want to read Batman further and I didn't get an ounce of the characterization.

[The Dirt Gang]

I'll have to dust off my copy and take a look through it again. I watched the usual suspects ('95) a few weeks ago and had a similar experience. I was floored how much character development, content, etc you can actualy fit into a in a 106min. film.

It's sad when you think about how light our entertainment is these days.

I'm always bemoaning that fact that it's hard to find films anymore that are 90-100. Almost all of them seem to be 2 hours or more and I don't get anymore for that extra time. I want to leave a movie wishing it would continue on, instead, thankful it's finally over.