General omnibus & hardcover discussion vol. II

[ER Prest]

I finished Scalped last night. It wasn't the best ending I've ever read but it was a fitting one to an amazing series. I'm thinking of picking up Southern Bastards now, is it a no-brainer if I loved Scalped? Is the hardcover a good build that's worth the extra fiver?

I found the first SB storyline to be fairly cliche but I enjoyed the second one. I'll buy the next tpb when it comes out.

I thought the ending of Scalped was perfect for the series, honestly.

As far as SB goes, I have the first three trade that my buddy lent me sitting in my read pile, probably get to them this week. And I believe the hardcover is standard sized despite being labeled deluxe, if that makes a difference to you

[awayne83]

I finished Scalped last night. It wasn't the best ending I've ever read but it was a fitting one to an amazing series. I'm thinking of picking up Southern Bastards now, is it a no-brainer if I loved Scalped? Is the hardcover a good build that's worth the extra fiver?

I'm also thinking about picking up Maus. Anything that is so highly respected can sometimes leave me a little hesitant for a while.

Only read the first trade of SB, and as others said it's pretty generic, and doesn't hold a candle to Scalped imo. TBF, Scalped started out pretty generic as well, and i've heard SB improves as it goes along.

[Dayle88]

I think Scalped's quality is in the way it's told and the atmosphere combined with deep characterisations and interesting history weaved throughout. The actual plot boils down to a murder mystery and a pretty common undercover story. I wasn't criticising the ending to Scalped. It was the right way to end, it just wasn't one of those stories that has a use for a mind blowing ending.

I'll go for the first two trades of Southern Bastards as the HC is standard size then.

[TomSlick]

I thought the ending of Scalped was perfect for the series, honestly.

As far as SB goes, I have the first three trade that my buddy lent me sitting in my read pile, probably get to them this week. And I believe the hardcover is standard sized despite being labeled deluxe, if that makes a difference to you

Only read the first trade of SB, and as others said it's pretty generic, and doesn't hold a candle to Scalped imo. TBF, Scalped started out pretty generic as well, and i've heard SB improves as it goes along.

Ah, I didn't know there was a third tpb of SB. I picked up the first two at a half off sale at my LCS on a whim.
Regarding Scalped, I know ER Prest and I have briefly discussed it. I loved it and felt the ending was pretty good. It's certainly head and shoulders better than SB.

[LordJulius]

@Dayle88

I've only read the first five TPBs of Scalped and thought they were great (somehow forgot to continue reading, dunno why). As to SB, yes, the first arc is pretty "generic", but having read the second TPB as well, I'm convinced that one would best read the series as a whole. Without wanting to spoil too much, my view is that Aaron seems to play with perceptions and tropes here as the second book pretty much turns everything you thought you got out of the first one on its head.

"Maus" is a must-read. It is very dense reading, but a near perfect book. As it is a very unique book regarding the subject matter, particularly in combination with the underground-style art and anthropomorphic approach, you most likely won't have the same criticism that people have if they read Watchmen thirty years after it was first published.

[FluffySheep]

"Maus" is a must-read. It is very dense reading, but a near perfect book. As it is a very unique book regarding the subject matter, particularly in combination with the underground-style art and anthropomorphic approach, you most likely won't have the same criticism that people have if they read Watchmen thirty years after it was first published.

Agreed. It's the only book I've ever read that put tears in my eyes at the end. It's something that everyone should read.

[OldManBrian]

I love Scalped, one of my all-time favorites. I'm also loving everything about Southern Bastards so far. It's too difficult to compare the two at this point with one being a completed 60 issue series and the other just releasing issue 16 last week. I do think they are pretty similar in story structure so far and they both have outstanding art that fits their respective book and subject perfectly. I would think anybody that liked one would like the other at this point. My only negative on SB is who knows how long it will take to finish. They are getting 4 issues a year at best out now. They did say in this last issues letter column that it wasn't nearly as big a story as Scalped and wouldn't be 60 issues.

[Dayle88]

I was getting ready to make an order and realised a crime series I decided to wait on, 100 Bullets. How is the availability of the big paperbacks? I don't want to order the first two now and then a volume disappears (seems like some are low on stock in UK but who knows with Wordery and Speedyhen).

Is it still considered as one of the best crime series? I remember some people saying it was superior to Criminal.

[awayne83]

I was getting ready to make an order and realised a crime series I decided to wait on, 100 Bullets. How is the availability of the big paperbacks? I don't want to order the first two now and then a volume disappears (seems like some are low on stock in UK but who knows with Wordery and Speedyhen).

Is it still considered as one of the best crime series? I remember some people saying it was superior to Criminal.

No no. I like 100 bullets, but it's not on Criminal's level.

[Balakin]

I was getting ready to make an order and realised a crime series I decided to wait on, 100 Bullets. How is the availability of the big paperbacks? I don't want to order the first two now and then a volume disappears (seems like some are low on stock in UK but who knows with Wordery and Speedyhen).

Is it still considered as one of the best crime series? I remember some people saying it was superior to Criminal.

take this with a grain of salt because I've read it ages ago but I've found it's style a bit pretencious and the ending after a 100 bloody issues left me with a "that's it?" feeling. Sometimes it felt like it's going for a Watchmen kind of symbolism when there are things happening on the panel reflecting to the main plot metaphorically but it just felt forced to me.
But it wasn't bad by any means, it's a good read overall and I think you should give it a go, it is still a beloved series but IMHO it is far from superior to Criminal.

[Dayle88]

Cheers, it's probably not a fair comparison anyway with Criminal being a set of separate stories.

[Hellboydce]

I was getting ready to make an order and realised a crime series I decided to wait on, 100 Bullets. How is the availability of the big paperbacks? I don't want to order the first two now and then a volume disappears (seems like some are low on stock in UK but who knows with Wordery and Speedyhen).

Is it still considered as one of the best crime series? I remember some people saying it was superior to Criminal.

I thought it was pretty ****, nowhere near as smart as it thought it was

[seusilva]

I'm a big fan of Sean Phillips but the art from Risso from 100 Bullets is one of my favourites!
The story is too long - 50 issues would resolve the main story. But there are lots of sub-stories and tales from that universe. Its entertaining and well done but not genius stuff like Criminal and Stray Bullets.

[Dayle88]

I think I'll give it a go. I like the sound of it and as long as it's good and entertaining it's worth it. I'm trying to be careful with my purchases because I don't want average or bad stuff on my shelves and can't be bothered to sell stuff.

To Balakin: I read the first three chapters of The Rocketeer just now. Incredible!

[TomSlick]

Damn you fuckers are cruel to 100 Bullets. LOL.

I liked it, but I had to read it a few times over the years (this is before I got to the end - maybe read the first 75 issues in various forms several times) because some of the characters looked alike and, quite frankly, something would happen in say issue 20 that would pop up again in issue 55.

By the time I got all of it and sat down and power read it, I thought: Man, this is some amazing ****. Great story, well-thought out, blah, blah.

However, it's better if you read it all at once. Holy crap I can't imagine someone reading that in floppies, month by month for all those years. And that's where its fault lies.

Is it Criminal level? Hard to say. I tend to like the last thing I read better than the first. As I recall, there were a few cliches in Criminal I thought were somewhat bush league for Brubaker, but whatever, I'm a huge fan of his.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I'd certainly recommend 100 Bullets. Also Criminal. And hell, I was digging the first two volumes of Rucka's Stumptown, but I have to say Vol. 3 - and it wasn't because the art changed - just wasn't that great. I'm getting vol. 4, but if it's no better I'll probably call it a day on that title.