1000 books in 2018

[Mr`Orange]

A fairly productive reading period and a mixed bag of books.

Digital:
I have been picking up a lot more books digitally usually books I want to try out before picking up the larger HC collection or shorter series that will never get the HC treatment.

Black Dynamite - vol 1 (6 issues): Solid series but not as good as the movie. It should have been given a little more freedom around the portrayal of nudity. It straddled the half way house of being salacious but not actually showing anything which in my book is just pointless. Overall the execution was lacking due to the script not living up to the plot. A good story that wasn't executed very well. I won't be picking up any further books.

Flintstones - Vol 1 (6 issues) This was amazing, such a well written, thoughtful book. Great art and it really lived up to the hype. I'll be picking up the next volume soon.

Hardcovers

Black Panther - Vol 1 - (12 issues): Good book but not great, the hype is a little over zealous. I can see the quality hidden in the book but it took some time to come through. Coates is a very good writer but you can see it took him some time to understand the craft of writing comics (BP and The Crew he got into it). The story was very good and I am looking forward to the next book.

Mandalay - (9 issues): Part of my huge European comics splurge a while back. Very good art (for the most part) and a very interesting story. The script could have been a bit tighter but over all an interesting read. I love the size of these books too, you can really get lost in the art work.

Superman Earth One - Vol 3 - (6 issues): Never been a fan of Superman but I am loving this series. Such great art work and well structured stories. The pacing is just fantastic and so much gets done in so few pages.

Nailbiter - Vol 1 - (10 issues): Loved it! I had read the first issue a while back and bought the ohc when it came out, but as with most of my books it sat there waiting to be read. I finally unsealed it, read it and loved it. so much so I went and bought the next volume. Great story and execution, very interesting characters and a curious conceit that is being executed very well.

Secret Warriors Omnibus - (28 + 5 issues): I love Hickman, just putting it out there, Pax Romana was mind blowing and since then he as been one of the very few comic book creators I will blind buy. Secret Warriors doesn't hit the peaks of FF/F4 and his Avengers work but it is still a dense and complex
book. The only thing that lets it down is the constant art changes. I do wonder what could have been had it been given then full 60 issues it was originally scheduled for.




This week: 82
Total: 385

[OldManBrian]

July update:

Batman: Hush TPB (12)

- A decent enough story that seemed a lot like a celebration of the Batman mythos. It was fun seeing so many Bat-characters in the one book, but overall, the story was a little too formulaic/predictable and I don’t feel that the characters and their motivations were fleshed out properly. Very nice art from Lee, and I also really enjoyed the little “Who He Is and How He Came To Be” three-page story at the start.

Batman: Year One TPB (4)

- A classic book. Solid read. I’ve seen the origin retold and referenced so often nowadays that it likely lost some of its impact, but it was still fun to go back and give this a read. Glad to have read it.

Doomsday Clock #6 (1)

- This issue slowed the pace down a bit after it picked up last issue, The book is coming out too slowly to be moving along at such a slow pace, but I am still excited to see where this goes. Frank’s art is top notch.

The Flash by Geoff Johns Books 4 & 5 TPBs (27)

- Johns concludes his Flash saga in an excellent way. While I feel the run may have peaked early on, this was still a very satisfying conclusion. I liked how Johns brought back a lot of older elements and tied everything together. Johns absolutely excels with villains here, and everyone felt so well developed and realised. Everyone’s arc finished off nicely, too, which can be rare for big-two books. The ending really cemented the whole “The Flash is not about tragedy” point, which I really liked. In these later volumes, Johns also gave Wally a bit more depth, something I feel was lacking a little earlier on. This is just a really fun read: something you don’t have to focus on too hard but still really enjoy. Great work from everyone involved.

Green Arrow by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino OHC (21)

- Absolutely fantastic stories by a stellar creative team. The tone, the writing, the art, everything was exceptional. Filled with engaging characters, original and interesting plots as well as shocking plot twists, this book has it all. A few moments in here genuinely shocked me (in a good way), which I don’t say all that much. Everything felt earned, and I throughly enjoyed reading through each of the characters’ respective journeys. Sorrentino’s work is off the charts here.

Invincible Ultimate Collection Books 1-3 OHC (38)

- Really solid start to the series. It definitely took a few issues to get going, but then it picked up majorly. It seems a bit similar to Johns’ Flash at times in that it’s just a lighthearted, fun superhero story, but it’s able to balance this with large-scale storytelling that just works. The big plots connect in really cool ways and I am excited to keep reading. Ottley’s killing it on art.

Kingdom Come TPB (4)

- This is one that I plan on rereading a few times as I definitely felt it got better the more I read. Ross on interiors is amazing to see, and the pairing of his great art with Waid’s writing really works. Some fantastic moments in here. Definitely felt like reading some Shazam and Superman stories after this one. It was solidly self-contained, which meant that it delivered a fantastic climax. The final battle and the aftermath were fantastic sequences.

Monthly Total: 107 books
Yearly Total: 465 books

I just finished the last volume of Invincible. It's amazing from start to finish, all 12 volumes. You're in for a treat as you continue on. Ryan Ottley is so good on this book. Fortunately he draws a good 85% of it. I must have missed when it was announced, but I just recently learned he is working on the upcoming(?) Amazing Spider-Man relaunch. I'm looking forward to seeing his work on that cast of characters. Hopefully Spencer has a good and fun story to tell and Marvel themselves can stay out of the way and not muck it up.

[ArkhamJamie]

I just finished the last volume of Invincible. It's amazing from start to finish, all 12 volumes. You're in for a treat as you continue on. Ryan Ottley is so good on this book. Fortunately he draws a good 85% of it. I must have missed when it was announced, but I just recently learned he is working on the upcoming(?) Amazing Spider-Man relaunch. I'm looking forward to seeing his work on that cast of characters. Hopefully Spencer has a good and fun story to tell and Marvel themselves can stay out of the way and not muck it up.

I’ve started the 4th book today and it’s just getting better. Initially I was a little apprehensive and didn’t understand where the praise was coming from, but as I’ve gotten deeper, it really is a marvel. All the plots are linking up and all the characters are really getting fleshed out, it’s really taking off.

Ottley’s art is amazing on this book. I’ve read Spencer’s Ant-Man and I absolutely loved it, so I think he and Ottley are basically the perfect fit. Can not wait for a hardcover of that to come out.

[Mister Mets]

Thunderbolts (Zub) #10-12/ Secret Empire #0-10/ Captain America: Sam Wilson #22-25/ Steve Rogers #16-19/ Generations- Captain America/ Generations- Thor: The big event has some interesting turns and is worth checking out on Digital Unlimited, but I can see that there will be a lot of pushback at four bucks an issue. There's merit in seeing a Marvel Universe where things have really gone to hell, although it isn't the best exploration of that concept.

Metal #1-6/ Dark Days: The Call/ Forging/ The Wild Hunt: A decently made, though slightly by the numbers event book tying together disparate DC threads to introduce an apocalyptic new threat, that doesn't feel all that special.

Thor #356-365: The follow-up to the Surtur saga maintains the absurdly high quality with Bob Layton's great Hercules solo story, Thor as a frog, the last stand of the Executioner, and one of the nastiest Thor VS Loki fights ever.

Power Man #48-50: Solid Claremont/ Byrne tales that do a remarkable job of combining the worlds of Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

Flash Volume 2 #74-85: Waid's second year on the title has one of the best Flash stories I've ever read (The Return of Barry Allen) that could be seen as a master class in how to play with readers' expectations and keep them satisfied while denying them the thing they want. It's a great story of Wally coming to his own. The rest is okay, setting up his private life.

Amulet Volumes 3-7 (36 Issues Worth): The all-ages fantasy story tackles some interesting themes and has a message of redemption with villains revealing nuances, and introduces some good new concepts while borrowing liberally from existing tropes. The main plot might be going on a bit long.

Avengers #126-152/ Giant Sized Avengers #1-4/ Captain Marvel #33/ Fantastic Four #150: I really liked Englehart's Detective Comics run, so I'm disappointed that his Captain America and earlier Avengers haven't hit those high marks. It could be the dated elements, although this run does get a lot better with the arrival of George Perez on the art (not a knock on the other guys, but Perez is awesome) which seems to correspond to more accessible and epic stories.

And some Spider-Man...

Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #107-110: "The Death of Jean Dewolff" remains one of the richest Spider-Man stories. It's a great contrast between Spidey and Daredevil, and an excellent take on a time when things didn't work out for the superhero.

Marvel Team-Up #19-22

Generations: Miles Morales Spider-Man & Peter Parker Spider-Man

And finished the reread of the end of Slott's run...Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 #29-32/ Amazing Spider-Man #789-793/ Venom #159-160 / Venom Inc. Alpha & Omega/ Amazing Spider-Man #794-801/ Amazing Spider-Man Annual #42

Total So Far: 883 Issues, Six from the Golden Age, 10 from the 1950s, 35 from the 1960s, 100 from the 1970s complete (largely thanks to Marvel's kindle sales covering a lot of 70s Masterworks collections), 43 from the 1980s, 88 from the 1990s, 100 from the 2000s complete, 100 from the 2010s complete

Best of the batch: "The Death of Jean Dewolff" (although "The Return of Barry Allen" comes very close.)

[General Woundwart]

200. East of West 31
201. East of West 32
202. East of West 33
203. East of West 34
204. East of West 35
205. East of West 36
206. East of West 37
207. East of West 38
208. Paper Girls 16
209. Paper Girls 17
210. Paper Girls 18
211 Paper Girls 19
212 Paper Girls 20
213. Amazing Spiderman (Vol 1) 2
214. Amazing Spiderman (Vol 1) 3
215. Amazing Spiderman (Vol 1) 4
216. Amazing Spiderman (Vol 1) 5
217. Amazing Spiderman (Vol 1) 6
218. Invincible Ironman (2015) 4
219. Invincible Ironman (2015) 5
220. Invincible Ironman (2015) 6
221. Invincible Ironman (2015) 7
222. Invincible Ironman (2015) 8

Nice to finally get caught up on East of West and a good chunk of Paper Girls. Both of these are gorgeous books. East of West is one of the most impressive examples of world building i've seen.

I'm also enjoying the Ditko Era Spidey books. Is there a What If Spiderman Had Teamed Up with Dr. Doom (referencing Spidey #5)? I think that would make a pretty cool story. In those early issues Peter is dealing with a lot of anger and I love how every once in a while he questions why he isn't using his powers to bennefit him. He always pulls back and does the right thing, but in this era he sometimes does so begrudgingly- so it isn't TOTALLY out of the realm of possibility that this era Peter does take Doom up on his offer. Again- I think it would be cool to see this explored.

So 222 down only 778 to go. Still need to knock out over 5 books a day to make it!

[UltimateTy]

Invincible #127-144
Hawkeye (2016) 1-14
Carnage (2015) 1-16
Amazing Spider-Man #801 and 1-2
Immortal Hulk #1-4
Captain America #1-2
Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt (6 issues)
Ice Cream Man Vol 1 (1-4)
The Sentry #1-2
Venom #2-4
The Magic Order #1-2
Tony Stark: Iron Man #1-2
Avengers #3-5
Cosmic Ghost Rider #1-2
Black Panther #2
Astonishing X-Men #12
X-Men Red #5-6

Essex County

Total = 307

[TomSlick]

Mile Morales: USM omnibus (50)
All-New X-Men (Bendis) OHC vol. 1-4 (42)
Hellblazer 175-215 (41)
Uncanny X-Men (Bendis) OHC vol. 1-2 (35)
Absolute Authority vol 2 (19)
Northlanders deluxe edition vol. 1 (19)
Abe Sapien: The Drowning HC (18)
Fables OHC vol. 15 (16)
Avengers No Surrender OHC (16)
Invincible OHC vol. 12 (12)
Wonder Woman Rebirth OHC vol. 2 (12)
X-Men: Battle of the Atom OHC (10)
Crossed 10th anniversary HC vol. 1 (10)
Absolute Sandman Overture (8)
Earth One: Batman vol. 2 (6)
Earth One: Teen Titans vol 1 (6)
Green Arrow Archer’s Quest OHC (6)
Nailbiter 1-5 (5)
Darth Vader 18 (1)
Star Wars 50 (1)
Superman: Man of Steel 4-6 (3)

TOTAL: 336
OVERALL: 1,529

[TomSlick]

Mile Morales: USM omnibus (50)
All-New X-Men (Bendis) OHC vol. 1-4 (42)
Hellblazer 175-215 (41)
Uncanny X-Men (Bendis) OHC vol. 1-2 (35)
Absolute Authority vol 2 (19)
Northlanders deluxe edition vol. 1 (19)
Abe Sapien: The Drowning HC (18)
Fables OHC vol. 15 (16)
Avengers No Surrender OHC (16)
Invincible OHC vol. 12 (12)
Wonder Woman Rebirth OHC vol. 2 (12)
X-Men: Battle of the Atom OHC (10)
Crossed 10th anniversary HC vol. 1 (10)
Absolute Sandman Overture (8)
Earth One: Batman vol. 2 (6)
Earth One: Teen Titans vol 1 (6)
Green Arrow Archer’s Quest OHC (6)
Nailbiter 1-5 (5)
Darth Vader 18 (1)
Star Wars 50 (1)
Superman: Man of Steel 4-6 (3)

TOTAL: 336
OVERALL: 1,529

[Mr`Orange]

Thunderbolts (Zub) #10-12/ Secret Empire #0-10/ Captain America: Sam Wilson #22-25/ Steve Rogers #16-19/ Generations- Captain America/ Generations- Thor: The big event has some interesting turns and is worth checking out on Digital Unlimited, but I can see that there will be a lot of pushback at four bucks an issue. There's merit in seeing a Marvel Universe where things have really gone to hell, although it isn't the best exploration of that concept.

Do these books cover the whole event?

[Balakin]

slowed down this year significantly, concentrating on other things (mainly watching movies and series and drawing) and limiting my purchases but it's about quality over quantity now. Not sure if I'll make it to a 1000 but oh well.
So:

The Ultimates v1-2 26
I remember when I've read this the first time around a decade ago, I thought this is the closes we will ever get to an Avengers "movie". It's funny to see how dated this became and how wrong the approach is sometimes but as an elseworlds tale or a "What if the avengers were celebrity a-holes" story it's still a lot of fun with great art and cinematic storytelling. It balances between self parody and satire but to me it leans more towards satire and even if someone doesn't like this story you gotta appreciate how many ideas it provided for the MCU.
A distant neighborhood 10
Very low key time travel manga, concentrating on the personal drama instead of any type of sci-fi shenanigans. Good story, good art. Only problem is they flipped the book so it will have a left to right reading order which got confusing sometimes with the balloons.
Otherwise feels like a really personal work, well worth reading. This is the first book I've ever read from Taniguchi, sadly he passed away last year.
Scalped60
I've just rewatched Wind river which made me want to re read Scalped which made me want to watch Wind river again... There is just something to these crime dramas set in a Native American reservation.
Great art, great characters, great storytelling. Scalped is a dirty, thoughtful, depressing rollercoaster ride everyone needs to read who is interested in the subject matter.
Hellblazer: Dangerous habits 6
After some complaints about Hellblazer I've decided to reread the first Ennis story and I was surprised how much it reminded me of Delano's style this time around. It's still a good story (not so great art though) but the endless narration felt really Delano like to me. But I would still say this is very much the start the Constantine everyone knows and loves starts.

So that's: 102 issues
Total: 634

Favourite of the batch: Scalped

[OldManBrian]

slowed down this year significantly, concentrating on other things (mainly watching movies and series and drawing) and limiting my purchases but it's about quality over quantity now. Not sure if I'll make it to a 1000 but oh well.
So:

The Ultimates v1-2 26
I remember when I've read this the first time around a decade ago, I thought this is the closes we will ever get to an Avengers "movie". It's funny to see how dated this became and how wrong the approach is sometimes but as an elseworlds tale or a "What if the avengers were celebrity a-holes" story it's still a lot of fun with great art and cinematic storytelling. It balances between self parody and satire but to me it leans more towards satire and even if someone doesn't like this story you gotta appreciate how many ideas it provided for the MCU.
A distant neighborhood 10
Very low key time travel manga, concentrating on the personal drama instead of any type of sci-fi shenanigans. Good story, good art. Only problem is they flipped the book so it will have a left to right reading order which got confusing sometimes with the balloons.
Otherwise feels like a really personal work, well worth reading. This is the first book I've ever read from Taniguchi, sadly he passed away last year.
Scalped60
I've just rewatched Wind river which made me want to re read Scalped which made me want to watch Wind river again... There is just something to these crime dramas set in a Native American reservation.
Great art, great characters, great storytelling. Scalped is a dirty, thoughtful, depressing rollercoaster ride everyone needs to read who is interested in the subject matter.
Hellblazer: Dangerous habits 6
After some complaints about Hellblazer I've decided to reread the first Ennis story and I was surprised how much it reminded me of Delano's style this time around. It's still a good story (not so great art though) but the endless narration felt really Delano like to me. But I would still say this is very much the start the Constantine everyone knows and loves starts.

So that's: 102 issues
Total: 634

Favourite of the batch: Scalped

I love Scalped. Reading this makes me want to re-read Scalped .

[Bloodbones]

Mile Morales: USM omnibus (50)
All-New X-Men (Bendis) OHC vol. 1-4 (42)
Hellblazer 175-215 (41)
Uncanny X-Men (Bendis) OHC vol. 1-2 (35)
Absolute Authority vol 2 (19)
Northlanders deluxe edition vol. 1 (19)
Abe Sapien: The Drowning HC (18)
Fables OHC vol. 15 (16)
Avengers No Surrender OHC (16)
Invincible OHC vol. 12 (12)
Wonder Woman Rebirth OHC vol. 2 (12)
X-Men: Battle of the Atom OHC (10)
Crossed 10th anniversary HC vol. 1 (10)
Absolute Sandman Overture (8)
Earth One: Batman vol. 2 (6)
Earth One: Teen Titans vol 1 (6)
Green Arrow Archer’s Quest OHC (6)
Nailbiter 1-5 (5)
Darth Vader 18 (1)
Star Wars 50 (1)
Superman: Man of Steel 4-6 (3)

TOTAL: 336
OVERALL: 1,529

I am reading my Miles omni pretty fast myself. It's really great, and should be the first ever omni I finish lol. I'm reading only since April 2017 and so far I've read a bit more than half of Gotham Central but didn't read it for a few months now, read a bit more than half of Punisher by Ennis omni and in the process of finishing up my Ms. Marvel omni (read around half). I think the reason I never finish omnis is because it's longer and I read a lot of mixed stuff so my attention gets to other books lol. But the Miles omni is something I find excellent and i'm sure will finish it before next week's over. It read easily, the art is great and I love Spider-Man and Miles Morales.

[DamianWayne1]

Been a while since my last update but here it is!

June - (39 total) - Read a lot more single issues that usual. Standouts include:
- X-Men: Gold #30
- Tony Stark: Iron Man #1
- Abbott #1
- Justice League #1
- Hawkman #1
- The Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 (2)
- Lady Killer #1
- Teen Titans Special #1
- Isola #1

July - (166) - Back on track! Yay! Some highlights include were:
- Domino #1
- Supergirl: Being Super (9) - Gorgeous art and such a great story. Really resonated with me. Joelle Jones really is amazing and Mariko Tamaki is no slouch either. DC really does knock it out of the park with the alternate universe takes on characters.
- Catwoman #1 - It's Joelle Jones again! Great issue and I'm looking forward to picking up the trade.
- X-23 #1 - one of the better single issues of the month, and Tamaki really seems to have a good handle on Laura. If her run is half as good as Supergirl: Being Super, Laura is in good hands.
- Astonishing X-Men #13
- X-Men: Red #1-6 (6)
- X-Men: Red Annual #1
- Hawkman #2
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Volumes 1-4 (21) - I watched Power Rangers as a kid, so this was intriguing. Picked it up during the recent BOOM! sale on Comixology and didn't regret it. Really fun nostalgia and great art and writing.
- Might Morphin Power Rangers: Pink (7)
- Saban's Go Go Power Rangers #1-4 - I liked this series better than I did Mighty Morphin, though the latter is still great. Mora's art is great.
- X-23 #2
- Action Comics #1001 - Skipped Man of Steel but I really liked this and I'll be looking forward to Bendis's other DC work.
- The Dead Hand #1
- Oblivion Song #1
- Analog #1
- God Complex #1
- Nancy Drew #1
- The Beauty Volume 1 (7)
- Green Arrow by Kevin Smith (16)
- Green Arrow by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino Deluxe Edition (20) - read this right after Green Arrow by Kevin Smith. I enjoyed both takes on the character and like the way Rebirth's combined both aspects.
- Nightwing: The New Order
- Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith Volumes 1-2 - Gillen's series was awesome, but Soule's measures up! I think it helps that they tackle such different times in the Star Wars timeline, personally.
- Inhumans: Once & Future Kings - I liked this, but nothing will get me to forgive Marvel for how they handled the X-Men & Inhumans post- (and pre) Secret Wars.
- Monsters Volume 1 (9) - This was amazing. More comics should take on the high-fantasy genre.

August (So Far) - (29)
- Mr. & Mrs. X #1
- Batman #51-52
- Green Arrow #53
- Astonishing X-Men #14
- Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #1-2
- Captain America (2018) #1-2
- Superman #1
- BLACK #1
- Supergirl #21
- Hawkman #1
- Velvet #1-15 - got my hands on the rest of this series and did a full read-through. One of my favorite series ever. Brubaker & Epting are a match made in heaven, especially in the spy genre.

Total Read - 530 (470 to go!)

[comicscollector]

New Readings:

Master of Kung Fu:29-77 (48)
Phoenix Resurrection:The Return of Jean Grey:4,5
Fear Itself:The Fearless:1-12 (12)
Fearless Defenders:1-12 (Including issue 4 Age of Ultron Tie In) (13)
Marvel 2 In One :2
Amazing Spider-Man (Vol.5):1,2. (3)

Total for 2018 so far :825.

[Mister Mets]

Do these books cover the whole event?

There are some other tie-ins.

For example, there are a total of ten Generations one-shots.

New Readings:

Master of Kung Fu:29-77 (48)
Phoenix Resurrection:The Return of Jean Grey:4,5
Fear Itself:The Fearless:1-12 (12)
Fearless Defenders:1-12 (Including issue 4 Age of Ultron Tie In) (13)
Marvel 2 In One :2
Amazing Spider-Man (Vol.5):1,2. (3)

Total for 2018 so far :825.

How was Master of Kung Fu?