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Thaddeus rolled 2 6-sided dice:
1, 2
Total: 3 (2-12)
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 Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:00 am
I enjoy comic books. What? I'm allowed. Just because I have superhuman abilities of my own and, for all intents and purposes, can't be killed doesn't mean that I can't enjoy fantastic stories of adventure, printed regularly for the enjoyment of people the world over. So I've decided to make myself a thread here for the purposes of discussing story arcs, swapping recommendations, talking about our favorite characters, writers, artists and whatnot. Also, I find the comic book forum here on Gaia to be a general waste of space-time. Motion pictures are re-energising the comic book industry in a big way. We should probably make provisions to avoid spoiling plots for each other, too. But I'll worry about that later.
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Thaddeus rolled 2 6-sided dice:
6, 3
Total: 9 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:38 am
Giant Comic Book Info Dump: It's a grand time to be a comic book fan, too be sure. DC's had their big Crisis in effort to make everything fresh and new... and if the major arcs relaunching the Superman and Batman books are any indicator, it's been a great success. Anybody with even a passing interest in the Man of Steel should be picking up both Action Comics and Superman right now. Kurt Busiek will be writing Superman solo after the current Up, Up, and Away arc ends, as well as co-writing the next 3-part story arc with in Action Comics, starting in late July. Busiek is the man behind Astro City, a phenominal series introduced to me by the Once and Future Nate. He also wrote Marvels (with art by the unstoppable Alex Ross) and Superman: Secret Identity (the best Superman story not about Superman). Paul Dini, one of the men behind Batman: The Animated Series, will be writing Detective Comics, come July 5th. And I couldn't be more excited. The man knows Batman, and he's bringing it back to basics. Gritty, detective stories. Woo-hoo! Meanwhile, Grant Morrison ( Arkham Asylum, Seven Soldiers, All-Star Superman) will be manning the superheroic adventures over in Batman. Along with artist Andy Kubert... whose brother, Adam, will be drawing Action Comics at the same time. They're part of a comic book artist dynasty, too. Also, if you like DC... check out the new Blue Beetle. Meanwhile, if you like Marvel: read Civil War. If you aren't reading it, then you are making a mistake. It really is changing the way the Marvel Universe works. It's shocking, and well written. Read it. Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon. Enough said. X-Factor written by Peter David and starring Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. Mutant detective agency in a world that suddenly got short on mutants. It's fun, it's clever, it's dark, it's noir-ish... it's all over the place, but it works. I'm not crazy about the art in Amazing Spider-Man, but writer J. Michael Straczynski reall knows his stuff. Issue #532 ties into Civil War, as well, so... big stuff happening there. New Avengers has been fun so far. And Captain America is a book that rose up from the shadows to become what it should have been all along: a good read. And for you folks interesting in independent comics, Scott Pilgrim is an geek epic of a kind never seen before on this Earth. So, yeah... Who likes comics?
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:05 pm
I love comics. ^_^
While I'm not a big fan of many of the DC line-up, a few shining gems stick out for me. I love Green Lantern, mainly for sunrise speeches and his multi-useful, yet not ridiculously powerful item of power. I'm not too happy with character's progression over the years, as much of what I loved about the character seemed to be slowly stripped away in the updating and streamlining process, but regardless of who wears the ring, Green Lantern will always have a place in my heart. Batman would have to be my second favorite of the DC crowed, but not really for the character himself. I find that I enjoy his villains for more than I do Batman. Some of his most diehard foes seem more real to me than the dark night himself. Scarecrow happens to be my favorite Batman villain with Joker and Mr. Freeze coming up close behind. The best part about most of his villains however is that at their core, they are just crazy humans. They show the depths of human depravity and, in Mr. Freeze's case, show us how far some people are willing to go to save the one's they love. That pretty much covers my DC fandom though, Superman, or even the rest of the Justice League never really did much for me. I was very impressed with the new Batman Begins movie. I think it did a very good job of portraying Batman as a man of determination and not some kind of invincible "answer for everything" god-beast.
Now, as far as Marvel goes......*Swoons*
Ok, where was I? Oh yes, Marvel. There are many characters in Marvel that I enjoy to read about; mostly X-men, but not all. One thing that I really like about Marvel is that characters in Marvel have problems, problems that I as the reader can identify with. It helps me to empathize with the characters better I think. Anyway, I'll not go into a long drawn out talk on all my Marvel favorites right now, it would be too long. Oh, and I have as of yet to be very happy about any Marvel movie that has come out yet, though I hope to break this streak with Ghost Rider. You here me Marvel, you've already got Nicolas Cage, screw up my Ghost Rider and I'll redefine your meaning of terror and pain. stare
As far as more independent comics go, I'm working on reading a series called Fathom by Michael Turner. I must say, I find his artwork amazing and his style fascinates me to no end. ^_^
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 1:29 pm
I mainly read whatever I can find a torrent for- so mostly manga. If any of you know a good site that will allow me to not pay for other material that would be neat but I think the manga stuff is only legal because someone has to buy the licence before they can start distributing the stuff in English for money.
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Thaddeus rolled 2 6-sided dice:
1, 5
Total: 6 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 2:49 pm
I don't think I'd be able to, in good conscience, hand out info on some place to read comics for free. My general policy is that, if I want to support something, I buy it. And I encourage others to buy it. With music usually, but I'd certainly hold to the same policy with comics. Free entertainment is all well and good, but these musicians, writers, and artists need to make a living. And considering the fact that I'd like to be a writer or artist, I'm gonna go ahead and discourage such things in my thread. If you want to get free comics, I can't stop you. All I ask is that you stay out of my thread with it. Although, as an alternative, borrowing things from friends is always smiled upon. And there are always web comics. ninja
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Thaddeus rolled 2 6-sided dice:
3, 5
Total: 8 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 2:58 pm
Banshi: Yeah, Michael Turner does some sharp work. Though, as I am a constant supporter of Superman and Batman, I'm gonna go ahead and suggest you check out the second volume of Superman/Batman. It centers around the arrival of Supergirl on Earth (the real one, not the weird a** one they had back in the '90s), and the artwork is done by Michael Turner. It's also written by Jeph Loeb: one of the best writers in comics today. Jon and St. B will back me up there. I'm kinda sad that you haven't like any Marvel movies thusfar. Personally I found the Spider-Man and X-Men movies to be thouroughly enjoyable. Any particular reason you didn't like them? Also, are you going to see Superman Returns? Because, being the fanboy that I am, I recommend it to everyone... what with the Kevin Spacey and the Bryan Singer and all. ninja
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:06 pm
I love comics, if you couldn't already tell.
I happen to be a DC fan. So here's what I'm reading from DC.
I happen to be a big Wonder Woman fan. The new story arc looks to be awsome, but I wont spoil it for anyone who wants to read it. Allan Heinberg is writing the new run and he has worked things such as The O.C. and Sex and the City and some work on the Young Avengers. This book looks like it's going to be really great (only #1 has come out so far, so there's still time to grab a copy and jump into the story).
I am also a big fan of the Teen Titans. There is a lot of stuff going on with the Titans. All I will say is that in the last year they have had more than 20 new members come and go and now it's One Year Later.
If you like intrigue and spy stuff, then Checkmate is a good way to go. There are metas in this book, but it's more about politics (in a UN kinda way) and spy opperations. This book only has three issues out (#3 just came out yesterday).
Let's see what else.
Shadow Pact is a fun little book, It's kinda light and adverturous. Good stuff. The Secret Six is a six part miniseries that looks to be really good. And the three part Spector miniseries is really good so far and only one issue has come out. If it's a DC miniseries running right now you can be sure that it's good stuff.
As for Marvel I don't actually buy very much Marvel, but I do read a lot of what Jon-Oh buys. Civil War is an incredible book, see Thaddeus' post above. The New Avengers line is also awsome. (How can you not like Captian America?)
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 4:34 pm
Thaddeus I'm kinda sad that you haven't like any Marvel movies thusfar. Personally I found the Spider-Man and X-Men movies to be thouroughly enjoyable. Any particular reason you didn't like them? Also, are you going to see Superman Returns? Because, being the fanboy that I am, I recommend it to everyone... what with the Kevin Spacey and the Bryan Singer and all. ninja It was really all of the little things that ruined the Marvel movies for me. It grates me when the people who wrote the original stories, who created the very fabric of worlds that I like to indulge in screw up on the most basic of levels. Cases in point: Spiderman: One and two. -"Bitten by a radioactive spider, Peter Parker...." Like I said, the little things. I went to these movies to see a great many classic Spiderman icons: a radioactive spider, web shooters...."Oh no, out of web fluid," and the like. What I got was some freaky genetically engineered spider, no mention of a genetic recombinator, and Toby Maguire running shamefully out of a lunchroom after he shoots web out of little skin-pockets on his hands. -"Secret identity? I have one of those?" Was I the only one who found it wrong that most of New York got to see Spiderman ripping off his mask every thirty minutes in the second movie for all to see? Hell, this third movie is going to be great now that almost everybody knows that Peter Parkr is Spiderman, even the villains that are still around. The Punisher: It was good, really....except for the beginning. -Once again writers decide to take a classic background and run it through the mud. The whole point of the Punisher was that his wife and daughter(?) were killed by accident by a gang crossfire. In the movie we see his whole family line erased by some sick money launderer as compensation for the loss of the man's son. It's not really "punishment" at that point.......it's just plain revenge. X-Men: 1,2,and......3 crying -I didn't get to see Beast until the last movie. I was not pleased. He may not be a favorite of mine, but he is a founding member of the X-men. He deserved to be in them all. Same goes with Angel. -These movies could have gotten along just fine without tapping into the Dark Phoenix story. I don't like Jean Gray, I don't like the Phoenix, and I don't like them hogging my movies. -"I'm the Juggernaut, b***h?" You're damn right he's the Juggernaut and I bet he's really pissed that they castrated a perfectly good character such as himself and turned him into almost comic relief. -I sat through three of these movies and the only part of a Sentinel I got to see was a severed head for a few seconds in a danger room lesson. -That all being said, I loved many of the cameo appearances of different mutants that I actually did like throughout all of the movies. Though, I would like to pose this question to the comic booking crowed. If the soldiers had shot all of multiple man's copies there in the forest, and all of them stopped being mutants, what would happen? Fantastic Four: Another example of story gone awry. -Somehow I remember four people, a space ship and some cosmic radiation, not five people, a space station, and......well, some cosmic radiation. I found out later that they were doing a take on the Age of Apocalypse Fantastic Four story line......it didn't seem right to me. I was sad. -Not a single Doom-bot and one Sith-friendly Darth Doom. Dare Devil: ......Actually, Dare Devil wasn't so bad. -I like what they did with most of Dare Devil. I didn't like what they did with it's follow-up movie. Electra:....No, just no! -I actually had high hopes for Electra, not because I like her or anything, but I thought some of her villains had potential. I was wrong. The story was weak at best and the one villain that I was rooting for got his neck snapped in three seconds near the end of the movie. I used to remember when people who made it to the last thirty minutes got a cool five to ten minute fight scene, not a "Hmm, I've seen this trick before.....*neck snap*." Hulk: Hulk bad! -Let's be honest, somebody dropped the ball big time here. There was no attention to story....or really anything else for that matter. As for Superman, yes, I'm planning on going and hoping that I will enjoy myself. At least DC seems to be able to remember how their headliners came to be and what drives them.
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Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 5:34 pm
*ahem* warning, nitpicker defending marvel comics movies... ready? here we go
the genetically engeneered spider was born from the Ultimate Spiderman line, however the natural web-shooters were an idea that came directly out of no where. It doesn't make sense that his webs would come from his wrists, but really does it make any less sense than "Hey good thing I was working on these wrist mounted liquid sprayers, I'll just toss a few chemicals into the ol' beaker and give 'er a stir.... wha-la.... web fluid."
and as to the Punisher thing, it really depends on which phase of the character you deal with. At some points his family (Wife, daughter and son) was caught in gang-land crossfire, others indicate that Detective Frank Castle was getting too close to the wrong people and becoming dangerous.
REALLY if you're going to indicate the beginning of the Punisher movie as being the weakest point, I'd say the exposition section was the weakest. It sure looks for all the world like those FBI guys went pretty far out of their way to make sure that they could get to kill those guys. How can you tell? the bad guys there were just standing there going "wha?" when under cover Castle whipped out a gun and got 'shot', which starts a gun fight. See, that's what happens, one guy gets shot, and then everyone else decides it's time to throw down.
But I digress. I find the rest of your points to be pretty valid.
I subscribe to Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corp, New Avengers, and Moon Knight, while regularly reading the Civil War titles as well as all of the Annihilation titles. Additionally I'm planning on picking up the upcoming Ghost Rider title as well as that Guy Gardner mini... why not, right? I seem to own literally everythign with the words "Green" and "Lantern" in the title produced in the last 2 years.
Additionally I read all that stuff Rayn buys, Checkmate is great, it's been awhile since there's been a truly good spy comic running around, I'm so hopeful that this'll be it. Also Alan Scott: The White King... HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT?
I'm a little surprised to find that Banshi and i have the same favorite DC character.
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 7:46 am
Jon-OH I'm a little surprised to find that Banshi and i have the same favorite DC character. What can I say, the Green Lantern practically oozes iconic drama. I'm very attracted to that. ^_^ heart I always imagined I'd make such a cute little addition to the Green Lantern Corps. ^_^
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:10 am
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:14 am
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:17 am
Banshi of Sector 2814, you have the ability to overcome great cuteness.
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:18 am
Jon-OH Banshi of Sector 2814, you have the ability to overcome great cuteness. Squee! ^_^ heart
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:28 am
Now if only I could figure out how ta get me onea' them rings awarded to me.
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Reply
