Comic Reviews and discussions

[Faust]

Every so often I post about the comics I'm reading and while we've had the odd thread about Grant Morrison and Alan Moores stuff
most other comic book threads have fizzled out.

Shade, The changing man by Peter Milligan

I'm Just after finishing the seventy issue arc by Peter Milligan and I've found commentary/reviews online to be lacking, I can only assume this was a series that has either been forgotten about or didn't have huge numbers in its later years, which is a damn shame, It's excellent.

Vertigo is a line that prides itself on publishing books with unusual themes, concepts or morality, and I haven't read a title that better encapsulates this.

From the very start we are never fully sure where we stand with Shade, wether we can trust him or not from from his first incarnation as the possessed death row convict and psychopath Troy Grenzer, travelling with the daughter of his victims.

A recurring theme of shade is shifting identities and an endless growth, death reinvention cycle of all of the main characters persona's, something that if you get immersed in the story can be often painful or melancholy to experience.  As soon as you think you have shade figured out he changes again and you are never fully sure if it is for the better.

This is one of the strongest titles Vertigo has completed, my only complaint is I wish there was more. I'm really pleased to see that shade is being used in the DCU and hopefully people take an interest in where the character has come from like I did.

[kingyak]

Never read the original, but I've heard good things about it and generally enjoy Milligan's stuff. I loved the first issue of Justice League Dark, but the last few have felt like nothing's happening. I'm hoping that's a combo of Milligan taking his time and the fact that it's hard to do much in 20 pages, so I'll keep buying for a few more. Sometimes the good series take a while to get moving--I was about ready to give up on Invisibles early on, but gave it one last issue (I think it was the first issue with Jim Crow) and that's when it started to click for me.

[Faust]

Never read the original, but I've heard good things about it and generally enjoy Milligan's stuff. I loved the first issue of Justice League Dark, but the last few have felt like nothing's happening. I'm hoping that's a combo of Milligan taking his time and the fact that it's hard to do much in 20 pages, so I'll keep buying for a few more. Sometimes the good series take a while to get moving--I was about ready to give up on Invisibles early on, but gave it one last issue (I think it was the first issue with Jim Crow) and that's when it started to click for me.

The hard part with JLD is that it has to introduce several characters that people may not be familiar with so it will probably be issue six or seven where things really kick off, that being said I really enjoyed issue two's Deadman jacking a married mans body and alienating Dove.

The one character in that series that I haven't read in Vertigo (excluding Zatanna who still hasn't been given a title there  ), is Deadman. As a team they have the richest backgrounds to draw on of a lot of teams.

[kingyak]

Yeah, the JLA comic is kind of still stuck in the "introduce all the characters" stage, too, but the writer for it has the advantage of being able to just throw in fights with random bad guys to keep up the momentum, which doesn't quite work with the "occult superheroes" concept. Since Dark started off with suicidal buildings and shit, I'm willing to give it at least 10 issues to get moving.

[Faust]

I read Jason Aaron's weapon X last night. First marvel thing I have read in years.
My first impression is how quickly marvel action entertainment stories move. They introduce characters very quickly without much given to them, but the overall flow of the comic is fast and enjoyable for it. I had a gripe with how overexposed the character of wolverine has been over the last decade but this does well at telling a simple new story for the character that doesn't really reference any of that stuff.

My only real gripe with it is shoehorning Norman Osborn in there to do an evil cameo because of some stupid event that was going on at the time. It's silly stuff like that that stops marvel from having any single story that can stand out on its own merits and be a classic because for people like me who hate comic events it's alienating and pulls me out of the story.

That being said I'll give the next volume a look, JA writes a good wolverine, something I didn't expect to see for a long time.

[kingyak]

I've never been a big Marvel fan (I started reading comics (and working at a comic shop) right about the time Marvel was doing its level best to destroy the comic industry with the self-distribution thing, so it kind of gave me a bad taste), but the only thing I've read lately was a Deadpool issue that a friend of mine (Cullen Bunn, who does a great comic called The Sixth Gun for Oni) wrote about a year ago. I've been picking up the Fear Itself stuff Cullen's written, but haven't gotten around to reading any of it yet.

[BadBeast]

I remember reading early Milligan in 2000AD, especially his ministrip with Jamie Hewlett, Hewligan's Haircut, and Bad Company was great too. Can't really overstate 2000AD's influence in having so many British writers and artists showcased in Vertigo. Too many to count really.
And the first DC/2000AD crossover, Judgement on Gotham, was awesome too. Dredd and Batman Xovers are an underexploited asset still.  Movie stuff, really. Next Batman movie should be a Dredd crossover. Without Stallone.   
 

[Faust]

It has been mentioned in another thread but I've got to recommend the new Wonder Woman to everyone. It is brilliantly written, and while she has been written well before it's always been cheesy. This isn't.

The approach for this series is portraying a huge family feud amongst the Olympian gods (fueled on by our ol' lady discord), It has had no references to any of the other DC characters and that's the way I hope the series stays.

I cannot recommend this enough. To the people who read comics it is the best series DC have running, you should read it now.
To people who don't read comics I'd suggest waiting another six months or so for a couple of volumes to build up as I know most people wouldn't like reading it month to month.

[kingyak]

It has been mentioned in another thread but I've got to recommend the new Wonder Woman to everyone. It is brilliantly written, and while she has been written well before it's always been cheesy. This isn't.

The approach for this series is portraying a huge family feud amongst the Olympian gods (fueled on by our ol' lady discord), It has had no references to any of the other DC characters and that's the way I hope the series stays.

I cannot recommend this enough. To the people who read comics it is the best series DC have running, you should read it now.
To people who don't read comics I'd suggest waiting another six months or so for a couple of volumes to build up as I know most people wouldn't like reading it month to month.

This man is speaking the truth.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

It has been mentioned in another thread but I've got to recommend the new Wonder Woman to everyone. It is brilliantly written, and while she has been written well before it's always been cheesy. This isn't.

The approach for this series is portraying a huge family feud amongst the Olympian gods (fueled on by our ol' lady discord), It has had no references to any of the other DC characters and that's the way I hope the series stays.

I cannot recommend this enough. To the people who read comics it is the best series DC have running, you should read it now.
To people who don't read comics I'd suggest waiting another six months or so for a couple of volumes to build up as I know most people wouldn't like reading it month to month.

I usually read comics this way, rather than month to month.  I usually cant afford to buy them, so I just devour other people's comicbooks. I recently read Y: The Last Man and piled through 9 volumes in no time at all, which is a sign of how much I liked it. I liked it so much my sleep pattern is still fucked.

[Faust]

It has been mentioned in another thread but I've got to recommend the new Wonder Woman to everyone. It is brilliantly written, and while she has been written well before it's always been cheesy. This isn't.

The approach for this series is portraying a huge family feud amongst the Olympian gods (fueled on by our ol' lady discord), It has had no references to any of the other DC characters and that's the way I hope the series stays.

I cannot recommend this enough. To the people who read comics it is the best series DC have running, you should read it now.
To people who don't read comics I'd suggest waiting another six months or so for a couple of volumes to build up as I know most people wouldn't like reading it month to month.

I usually read comics this way, rather than month to month.  I usually cant afford to buy them, so I just devour other people's comicbooks. I recently read Y: The Last Man and piled through 9 volumes in no time at all, which is a sign of how much I liked it. I liked it so much my sleep pattern is still fucked.

Y was excellent, and I did the same over the course of the week reading volume after volume. Totally worth it.

[kingyak]

Guess I need to get around to reading that Y TPB that's been sitting in the pile for a year or so.

[Triple Zero]

I read that second episode (?) of WW, the one with Eris in it, and it was pretty cool. I might give it a go, even though I don't read comics much.

[BadBeast]

The one character in that series that I haven't read in Vertigo (excluding Zatanna who still hasn't been given a title there ), is Deadman. As a team they have the richest backgrounds to draw on of a lot of teams.

Zatanna crops up a couple of times in Swamp Thing or Hellblazer. (Maybe both) John Constantine began as a peripheral character in another title, and now Hellblazer is the only Vertigo title that has had an unbroken run from day one. So there may be hope for a Vertigo Zatanna title yet.

[Faust]

This evening I read the first volume of S.H.I.E.L.D written by Jonathan Hickman.

It's difficult to review this without giving away any plot related details so I am going to skirt around them. This series isn't about Nick fury or the very pro military fluff that shield normally embodies. It is a story of a secret society holding back the apocalypse, drawing together the spirit of science, invention and man's creativity. I would suggest not reading any synopsis beforehand or even flicking through it, just read it.

The art is stunningly beautiful and varies in style as it crosses centuries of human history.

I cannot recommend this enough, it is excellent.