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[B]Shutter[/B] - don't really know how to slot Joe Keatinge as a writer. His Glory was a mess, but I liked Ringside. Only read the first three volumes of Shutter (though I have all 5), and it's... Ok. My mind isn't blown by any of it. The trusted patriarch turning out to be keeping secrets? Been there done that. I just don't know why I should care about this world.
That's the one thing I appreciate about BKV above all else, which is that no matter how outlandish the concept and world building, I always always care a helluva lot about his characters, and their travails are heartbreaking.
With Shutter, things feel mechanical. Kate's a photographer, but like why? How is that a defining part of who she is? I read the first issue of vol 4 and she seems to have just transitioned into it after being an explorer, just cuz? We've never seen her do any photography. I mean sure, "shutter" can have more connotations beyond a camera lens. But I guess a protagonist who just wants to have a normal life, a best friend who's all "stop being gloomy and let's go to a party", an evil society that's all "we're doing this for the good of the world, join us won't you?" is all just, as I said, been there done that.
Guess I'm just cynical in my old age; I just cannot get behind "solid" stories anymore; I need to be wowed. I guess it's my long winded way of asking: when is Saga coming back? Haha
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Just started on the [B]X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance OHC [/B]- flicking through it, a lot of the artwork is not the greatest for my taste but until now I find the 90s stories to better than their reputation. Maybe my expectations were low enough :)
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[QUOTE=Foxy;5531795]Just started on the [B]X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance OHC [/B]- flicking through it, a lot of the artwork is not the greatest for my taste but until now I find the 90s stories to better than their reputation. Maybe my expectations were low enough :)[/QUOTE]
OZT is an underrated crossover. I have the milestone collection in need of a revisit.
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[QUOTE=Foxy;5531795]Just started on the [B]X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance OHC [/B]- flicking through it, a lot of the artwork is not the greatest for my taste but until now I find the 90s stories to better than their reputation. Maybe my expectations were low enough :)[/QUOTE]
I hate most of the X-Men run of the latter half of the 90's - and that crossover in particular is extremely terrible, in my opinion. But eh, to each his own... :D
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[QUOTE=Hive;5532002]and that crossover in particular is extremely terrible, in my opinion.[/QUOTE]
Well, I'm only a couple of issues in so it can still convince me of its low quality :D
While I have been enjoying the 90s more than expected, I do have a couple of observations. First' it's not original era Uncanny Claremont storytelling. The writers try to do what he did, i.e. plant seeds that bear fruit sometime later but the development of those plot points is not as sophisticated as with Claremont. Secondly, I think that Nicieza is a better X-Men writer than Lobdell. Third, I feel like there are too many teams and too many crossovers they get thrown in, which does not leave sufficient room for build-up. I know they've been building up this Bastion guy for a while with a lot of foreshadowing, but until now I don't feel he has earned how powerful he is depicted. The list goes on but still I am having fun more than I am disliking it so that's a good start :)
Also nothing I've read so far has been as bad as Silver Age Fantastic Four (and that includes some really whacky Batman Golden Age stories in the Black Casebook ;))
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[QUOTE=Foxy;5533035]First' it's not original era Uncanny Claremont storytelling. The writers try to do what he did, i.e. plant seeds that bear fruit sometime later but the development of those plot points is not as sophisticated as with Claremont. Secondly, I think that Nicieza is a better X-Men writer than Lobdell. Third, I feel like there are too many teams and too many crossovers they get thrown in, which does not leave sufficient room for build-up. I know they've been building up this Bastion guy for a while with a lot of foreshadowing, but until now I don't feel he has earned how powerful he is depicted.[/QUOTE]
I think all of this is spot on.
I'm sure Lobdell is a fine writer in his own right - he just wasn't a great fit for X-Men. And yeah, Bastion was built up to be much more than he ended up being. I don't want to spoil anything, but the character pretty much fizzles out in the end.
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Bastion was a damp squib, to be sure.
I also preferred Nicieza over Lobdell. His Gambit series was pretty damn good. Lobdell was great at character moments though, especially between UXM 337-349.
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Lobdell was hit and miss to me, and it was incredibly random - Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix was awesome, his early X-Men stuff was decent, but I mostly disliked his work after Age of Apocalypse; his Teen Titans run was mixed, Flash Forward was pretty decent (given the constraints on him), but boy was his Nightwing run bad (again, there were editorial constraints).
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[QUOTE=bob.schoonover;5533379]Lobdell was hit and miss to me, and it was incredibly random - Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix was awesome, his early X-Men stuff was decent, but I mostly disliked his work after Age of Apocalypse; his Teen Titans run was mixed, Flash Forward was pretty decent (given the constraints on him), but boy was his Nightwing run bad (again, there were editorial constraints).[/QUOTE]
Oh post-90s Lobdell is a total miss, though I hear his Red Hood is good (?). If only I had interest in that set of characters.
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not quite half way through the Geoff Johns Aquaman omnibus.
Really enjoying it. Yes, Aquaman. lol
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I'm currently reading the TPB of [B]Scene of the Crime[/B] by Brubaker, Lark and Phillips.
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Recently finished the 7 Fantagraphics volumes of Usagi Yojimbo and have started a reread of the first Saga edition.
-M
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[QUOTE=MRP;5542524]Recently finished the 7 Fantagraphics volumes of Usagi Yojimbo and have started a reread of the first Saga edition.
-M[/QUOTE]
7 Fantagraphics volumes? I have the box with two. Are there more? Or are those 7 collected in the box?
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[QUOTE=JPAR;5542668]7 Fantagraphics volumes? I have the box with two. Are there more? Or are those 7 collected in the box?[/QUOTE]
The seven are the original tpb releases that were later collected in the 2 volume special edition. The 7 collect all the Albedo, Critters and early Fantagraphics issues of Usagi, same as that Special Edition. I just had the 7 original releases so never got the Special Edition collection.
-M
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[QUOTE=MRP;5542687]The seven are the original tpb releases that were later collected in the 2 volume special edition. The 7 collect all the Albedo, Critters and early Fantagraphics issues of Usagi, same as that Special Edition. I just had the 7 original releases so never got the Special Edition collection.
-M[/QUOTE]
Ah. Right. When I bought the special edition I thought I had them all. And I was right. The 9th Saga got delivered yesterday. Looking forward to reading that one. First got to finish my Daredevil omnibi read.