posted
I'm relatively new to this forum, so I have no clue whether or not this topic has had a thread before.
And I'm too lazy to look, so, sorry.
I've been surfing the net for the last couple of hours looking for a suitable place to talk comics, but what i've found is pretty fucking dismal.
I'm no great scholar, but the first five or six forums I went to that discussed comics were full of people that CANNOT fucking SPELL. I don't mind the occasional misspelled word, and I easily forgive grammatical mistakes (unlike some folks on the net) but Jesus Christ...I was flipping around in one thread at Wizard World where "The Avengers" was spelled "The Avangars". It was not done in humor.
Indeed, it was like reading the shorthand of a retarded short order cook.
So, it behooves me to talk comics here, because I know that several of you read comics, and I know that you people can all write sentences that make sense.
All right, good. Had to get that bitch out my system...
the questions: what comics do you read month to month, and why? Do you follow particular writers or artists around, title to title, or do you stick with particular titles just because you dig the characters?
Right now, I'm reading a few things:
The Incredible Hulk--been reading it since I was knee high to a toadstool, as my father would say. Although occasionally plagued with some of the worst artwork ever seen in comics (such as by "artist" Sal Buscema, and Liam Sharp who was some kind of fan favorite, much to my eternal befuddlement) the Hulk has been an excellent read for over ten years now. As I said elsewhere, I'm enjoying the new direction of the title, and will probably continue to buy it until A) it becomes so bad it hurts to read B) I die or C) I have to choose between buying it or eating. Hopefully none of those things will ever happen.
The Dark Knight Strikes Back, or DK2 or whatever its title is--I'm buying this right now because I'm a huge Frank Miller fan, but I've got to say: What the Fuck was Miller smoking? The artwork is hideous, and the story as of the second issue is pretty blah. They are charging eight bucks for this terrible letdown of a comic, and it sucks. I mean really, I didn't know what I was expecting, as the Dark Knight Returns was so superior, but damnit, I am disappointed as hell.
Fury--Garth Ennis is one of the only guys that has never let me down. When I pick up a title Ennis is working on, I get entertained. He hasn't been QUITE as good on anything since Preacher ended, but I suspect that that was one of his babies, a project that he had put some of his personal feelings into...maybe it drained him a bit. Nevertheless, Fury is pretty fucking funny, and the violence level is, as always, over the top. Is it a limited series? Dunno.
Tom Strong--Alan Moore is the other guy that never lets me down. The rest of the ABC line is nice, but Tom Strong has some kind of quirky vibe to it that reminds me of how it felt to read comics as a child. Moore puts metaphysical concepts into his works the way other writers put fist fights into theirs, and I've always appreciated him for that.
The Marvel Ultimates--All of them so far. Ultimate spiderman is my favorite of the bunch, but I do have one strong complaint...they're starting to really drag the stories out. It feels like watching an episode of DragonBallZ...just when you think the damn things over, it turns out you've got to wait until the next episode... In Ultimate Spidey, Doc Ock was introduced FIVE issues ago, and we are apparently STILL no closer to the resolution...damn, Bendis, hurry UP.
Damn, that was a longish post. But it was fun to type, so who cares...
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
I was really excited when I heard about TDKSB, but what I've heard about the reality (haven't bought it yet) isn't making me feel to optimistic about it. Seems to me Miller is happy to cash in on the inevitable interest such a project would gather, while still trying to prove he's hip and with-it by being so experimental no-one likes it.
posted
which is sad. at times Miller being experimental is good.
Re: The Dark Knight Returns Re: Sin City (mostly)
apparently he can only be experimental and meet with success half the time.
Re: Ronin Re: 300 Re: This new piece of shit, DK2
from the interviews I read with him, it truly sounded like it was going to be excellent. Miller claimed to be "jazzed up like he used to be" while working on DK2. I think he was "jazzed up" because he officially became a multi-millionaire due to this project.
He'll defend himself to the end,--"artistic license, it was my story"--but the fact is i've seen pictures done by ten year olds that aren't as thin as this stuff, and they don't make any claims to being artistic.
Thing is, I realize that similar complaints were leveled against the original Dark Knight...but that was different. He was telling a story where there might be as many as twenty panels on a page. I don't expect awesome linework in such a project...and yet, when there was a splash page, he made it worth your while to look at it. He's not doing that here. Every page is a splash page. and every page could've been drawn by any one of us.
"He's using everything he's learned about storytelling in his twenty odd years in the buisness on this project, and it shows."
Yeah. tell me another.
As for the story...it's blah. Typical Dystopian future Justice League story, based roughly in the Dark Knight timeline.
DC is laughing all the way to the bank on this one.
I guess it pisses me off because I'm tired of over hyped stuff that doesn't live up to its' juice. Maybe instead of me slamming Miller for putting out a subpar product, I should slam DC.
Or maybe I should knee cap my own society, for making marketing a goddamned science, set up so that we slobber like Pavlov's dogs when the bell of advertising is rung.
My own consumerism pisses me off. *sigh*
Hype is the venom of all good things. I'm honestly starting to believe that.
Registered: Jan 2001
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I can't personally vouch for all of them, and I don't think Artbomb even has forums, but all those sites seem to come up when people talk about intelligent comic-related stuff on the web.
Registered: Mar 1999
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