January: 149
February: 108
March: 69
April: 111
May/June: 179
July: 172
August: 188
September:
Grayson Superspy omnibus (28)
BPRD Hell on Earth 2 (14)
Ennis' Punisher Max omnibus 2 (38)
Aphrodite IX complete series (18)
Total 2018: 1076
January: 149
February: 108
March: 69
April: 111
May/June: 179
July: 172
August: 188
September:
Grayson Superspy omnibus (28)
BPRD Hell on Earth 2 (14)
Ennis' Punisher Max omnibus 2 (38)
Aphrodite IX complete series (18)
Total 2018: 1076
Last edited by JPAR; 09-21-2018 at 09:16 AM.
Invincible #0, 23-144: Kirkman's other Image epic is a solid story about a young superhero who changes in significant ways. There are some storytelling crutches, but it's a very well realized world. At some point around Issue 60, Ryan Ottley's art gets astounding.
Preacher #34-50: It's mostly two solid longer arcs of Preacher, as they have a major confrontation as Herr Starr's forces, and Custer goes in a new direction. It's a detour but a satisfying one. Quite messed up at times, but that's part of the appeal.
Marvel Team Up #138, 140-141:
Daredevil Volume 1 #22-38/ Fantastic Four #73: It's interesting to see where Stan Lee is goofing off. Some of the plot points are ridiculous (the whole pretending to have a twin brother comes to mind) but it is often a lot of fun (my favorite moment from any comic I read in this grouping may be when Doctor Doom has switched bodies with Daredevil to attack the Fantastic Four, and Daredevil responds by sending the Latverian army to declare war on every neighboring country.
Detective Comics #27-37 (Batman Stories):
I'm counting this as six issues. It's golden age silliness, but often fun, and interesting to see the developments of major parts of the Batman mythos (IE- the first recurring villain, the first batarang.)
Berlin #1-16: Very meticulous in its depiction of an important era (Weimar Germany) but dry. It gets better in the second volume with the introduction of a new group: Jazz musicians from the US.
Thor #367-382: The conclusion of Simonson's run might not be as memorable as what came before, but has nice art by Sal Buscema, and some truly epic sequences, especially the splash page heavy encounter with the Midgard Serpent.
Sgt. Fury #1-5: It's a fun World War Two book by Lee and Kirby, although the villains aren't all that interesting initially.
Avengers #153-166: Solid dysfunctional superhero stories, the highlight being a three part battle with an overpowered Nefaria.
Total So Far: 1261 Issues, 24 from the Golden Age, 15 from the 1950s, 58 from the 1960s, 100 from the 1970s complete, 80 from the 1980s, 100 from the 1990s complete, 100 from the 2000s complete, 100 from the 2010s complete
Best of the batch: This ends up being the best of Invincible, outside its first year, which is a bit tough to assess since a lot of it blends together. I'll go with the final saga (The End of All Things from Invincible #133-144), which does tie up one of the longest ever superhero runs in a very satisfying manner that fits the characters and message.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
Avengers #6-8
Amazing Spider-Man #3-5
Border Town #1
Relay #1-3
Thanos Legacy #1
Sleeper #1-12
A Sea Of Love OGN
The Infinite Horizon #1-6
Batgirl Vol. 1: Silent Knight #1-12 and Batgirl annual #1
The Omega Men #1-12
Eternals By Neil Gaiman #1-7
Thor #343-346
Fantastic Four #1-2
Captain America #3
Immortal Hulk #5-6
Venom #4-6
Skyward #3-6
Web of Venom: Ve'nam #1
Sentry #3
Gideon Falls #1-6
Magic Order #3
Tony Stark: Iron Man #3
Spider-Man Annual #1
Total= 400
We need better comics
Fantastic Four #52-67: This comes right before a four part Mad Thinker story that could mark the period when the book was good, but not as consistently excellent as it once was. Still, these issues come from the high point of the run's creativity with all-time great stories like Doctor Doom with the power cosmic, and some concepts that have stuck around for decades in the Marvel Universe (Black Panther, Wakanda, Klaw, The Kree Supreme Intelligence, Ronan the Accuser, Adam Warlock, Blastaar) and some of the best action set pieces ever in comics.
Marvel Premiere #3-14: The opening Shuma Gorath saga has several writers and artists (Stan Lee, Archie Goodwin, Gardner Fox, Steve Englehart, P Craig Russell, Barry Windsor Smith, Jim Starlin, Frank Brunner) but tells a high-stakes story of an apocalypic threat. Englehart and Brunner remain the creative team, and top it with a time travel epic involving Mordo and an ancient sorcerer.
Incredible Hulk #314-319: Byrne's six issue run is a kick in the pants for the book, with some impressive battle sequences and a promising new/ back to basics status quo.
Billie Holiday: (OGN- 3 Issues Worth)- It's a bit difficult to do music in comic book form, but this is a beautiful take on the struggles and musical impact of a great talent.
Preacher #51-66/ Tall In The Saddle: One of the most satisfying conclusions to any comic book run ever. The focus on Cassidy has changed what the book is about, but does so in an organic way. One of the best casts in comics generally get a satisfying ending, and some new twists (poor Herr Starr's genitals) still fit the series.
And some Spider-Man...
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #46: Stern/ Zeck's story pitting Cobra against Spider-Man is fun, and takes outsized significance due to the follow-up in ASM 231-232. It's a decent fight, elevated by complications when the cops get involved.
Amazing Spider-Man #240-241: Stern and Romita Jr give one of Spider-Man's one of Spider-Man's oldest enemies (in both senses of the word) an origin and it's totally fitting. The fight scenes are decent, albeit slightly redundant (there are clear homages, but there isn't much new, although I do like Spider-Man's difficulties getting to Staten Island quickly.)
Amazing Spider-Man #242-243: This parter's odd in that the focus is on Peter's private life, with each issue having a different A-plot (a decent fight with the Mad Thinker, a hostage situation in a cathedral). It's all very well told, as a sitcomish plot of Peter trying to help out a coworker leads to two major developments years in the making (the return of MJ, a major decision about Peter's education.)
Amazing Spider-Man Volume 5 #1-5: It's a pretty decent start for Spencer/ Ottley. Their storytelling style generally works, the first issue can be a master class in how to start a run, and the split of Spider-Man and Peter Parker allows for an exploration of the character. The bad guys are more of a set-up, and there some scenes I don't buy, especially in the resolution (four issues of set-up about a weird hunt ends on a predictable note, a major plot point is Peter telling Randy about a security risk in such a way that someone they both know to be a villain overhears.)
Total So Far: 1326 Issues, 24 from the Golden Age, 15 from the 1950s, 75 from the 1960s (counting a Lee/ Ditko reprint issue of Marvel Premiere), 100 from the 1970s complete, 91 from the 1980s, 100 from the 1990s complete, 100 from the 2000s complete, 100 from the 2010s complete
Best of the batch: The final issues of Preacher, depending on whether you count the Alamo as one story, or whether the preceding issues are a part of the finale as well. It stands with the best of the series.
Sincerely,
Thomas Mets
2018 Week 37
Defenders Epic Collection 8 The New Defenders (20 issues)
Total for the week: 20
Total for the year: 1117
2018 Week 38
Sláine 5 Demon Killer (160 pages, 7 issues)
Total for the week: 7
Total for the year: 1124
249. Heroes in Crisis 1
250. Fantastic Four 2
251. Sentry 4
252. Immortal Hulk 5
253. Amazing Spiderman 5
254. Amazing Spiderman 6
255. Avengers 7
256. Avengers 8
257. Nova (Vol 1) 1
258. Invincible Ironman (2015) 11
259. Invincible Ironman (2015) 12
260. Invincible Ironman (2015) 13
261. Invincible Ironman (2015) 14
262. Captain Marvel (2016) 1
263. Captain Marvel (2016) 2
264. Captain Marvel (2016) 3
265. Captain Marvel (2016) 4
266. Captain Marvel (2016) 5
267. Thanos (2016) 1
268. Thanos (2016) 2
I wanted to like that Captain Marvel run. I was interested in the evolution of Alpha Flight, but this book just wasn't good at all. There's no way I'm going to slog through the CW2 garbage. I'm glad I read this through Marvel Unlimited and was at least able to check it out. I'm loving that Thanos series so far(I know, I'm late to that party!)
268 down 732 to go!
Is it too late to start? How many comics must I read a day, starting from today, to reach 1000?
Thor 147-141 5 comics
depends on how much free time you have and what you read. With a diet of easy to breeze through stuff it might be achievable (Vaughan, Bendis, Johns some less wordy indie stuff or manga). Or just set up a challenge for yourself with 500 or less since you came in late.
It's not about rules, it's just about having fun (and moving through the ever increasing backlog).
Thor 137-141 5 comics
Batman 001-005 5 comics
Total: 10 comics