State the Last Comic Book You Read and Rate It

[Foxy]

Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu Omnibus 1 - had those omnis on the shelf for a while and after seeing the movie I thought I'd give it a read. It's surprisingly enjoyable, although it takes a while before it hits its strideI actually enjoy the "international spy" angle more than the "martial arts only" focus of the early issues. The art ranges from good to sometimes great but one thing that really bugs me: why is he so yellow? The other Asian characters aren't and he's supposed to be half caucasian. Doesn't make sense and actually looks a bit offensive. Enjoyed it enough that I will read also the subsequent omnis but with most older material for me it's a slower read.


Something is killing the children Deluxe Edition - this was a very quick read, creepy story with a bit of mystery thrown in. While the characters are portrayed well, especially also the grieving parents that are shown, I cannot help feeling that the actually quite sad and tragic nature of what's going on bugs down the horror aspect. But I have that with many horror films as well where I often just feel sad instead of scared. The art is generally good, I like the style as generally a somewhat abstract or not 100% defined style lends itself for horror very well in my opinion. However, some of the paneling does not flow well so I ended up reading horizontally where I should have read vertically etc. There are artists who guide the reader's eye through much more complex layouts effortlessly so that is definitely a point of criticism for me. Especially because it can take you out of the story when you have to reorient. Overall I would still recommend it and I would also read a continuation of the story but the arc contained in this volume has a good stopping point too.

[Gray Lensman]

I burned through the available chapters of Lore Olympus. Good enough that I read all 191 available installments (186 chapters and some writer Q&As) in two sittings - because I had to eventually get some sleep.

[Englehart Humperdinck]

why is he so yellow? The other Asian characters aren't and he's supposed to be half ca-casian. Doesn't make sense and actually looks a bit offensive.

Wasn't Shang-Chi usually coloured orange? A few of the Asian characters, such as Shadow-Stalker, were coloured bright yellow.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

"The Scarlet Witch" by James Robinson is a great take on Wanda. She becomes an supernatural Investigator and carves out her own little corner of the Marvel Universe. It's an episodic series that travels the world. It also has an overarching mystery about the previous Scarlet Witch and tackles why Wanda took the name in the first place. They should adapt this as the sequel to WandaVision.

4 out of 5 stars.

[Foxy]

Hi all, it's been a while, not much time for reading recently plus a bout of covid (zero stars, wouldn't recommend ). But I managed to read a couple of books in the last month and a half.

Batman by Snyder & Capullo Omnibus 1 - mixed bag. I really enjoyed the Court of Owls and Death of the Family stories, but the Zero Year was not up to par. Seemed a bit like a rehash of Year One that was not as good as the original.

The Fourth Power Deluxe OHC - meh. The late Juan Gimenez' art is as great as it was in his work on Metabarons, but his story-telling wasn't very engaging to me.

Batman by Snyder & Capullo Omnibus 2 - not bad, Superheavy was an interesting idea but dragged on for too long, but the Endgame story arc and Last Knight on Earth were actually fun.

New Teen Titans Omnibus 3 - what can I say, more Perez artwork is always good, but the collaboration with Wolfman is fantastic. Given the age of this comic, it is amazing how well these stories hold up. Of course there is some cringy dialogue here and there and really outdated pop culture references (I'm at least old enough to have a vague idea about them), but the general concepts still work.

Currently reading Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths for the first time (as I tend to try and read most of my DC books chronologically). So far only one issue in but it's the same creative team so it's not much of an adjustment.

After this string of DC titles, I will likely go and read some indy or Marvel for a while.

[Foxy]

Wasn't Shang-Chi usually coloured orange? A few of the Asian characters, such as Shadow-Stalker, were coloured bright yellow.

Yes, in some issues it's also more orange but in general I just think it's strange.

[Foxy]

Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths - very ambitious story, which I found interesting and enjoyed even though (i) I didn't know who 80% of the characters were and (ii) it is as much a massive plot device as it is a story. The art is the star here of course and man does Perez deliver.

Reckless / Friend of the Devil / Destroy all Monsters HCs - a homerun for my favourite creative duo in comics. With them I can just sit back and relax because I know I will be entertained. Can't wait for the next installment.

Blackbolt OHC - great little book, making a character interesting that is inherently difficult to portray as he (usually) doesn't speak. Great art from Christian Ward too. The story was very difficult from what I had expected but I enjoyed it.

Also, I have finally started my long planned Valiant read-a-thon, starting with the 2012 X-O Manowar series, all the way through the more recent ones. I'm limited to Deluxe Editions and focused on X-O, Harbinger, Bloodshot, Ninjak and the event titles (plus some others like Shadowman and RAI).

X-O Manowar Deluxe Edition 1 I had actually read this one but that was in 2017 so the refresher was needed. Strong start to the franchise, just as cool as I remembered it.

Harbinger Deluxe Edition 1 / Bloodshot Deluxe Edition 1 / Harbinger Wars Deluxe Edition - Harbinger and Bloodshot surprised me with the story, which I thought was well-developed. I read these in the recommended order and it made for a nicely integrated experience. I hope that will hold true also for the rest of the universe (which I plan to read in teh recommended order, switching between series sometimes).

[Lee Stone]

I've switched from Comixology to pdfs from official sources (DriveThruComics, IndyPlanet and Dynamite Comics).

So, now would be a good time to start doing something like this.

Space Crusaders #1 - featuring Rex Dexter of Mars (Atomic Pulp Media on IndyPlanet).
I really enjoyed the story, and the art was amazing. It truly felt like a long lost bronze age comic. I just know I'm going to like the next issue already, because it's the same artist. I do hope Rex and Cynde return to the book again in the future.
I also liked Lance Lewis, Space Detective, the back-up feature that's running over several issues. The art in it looked a bit more modern, but had some classic touches here and there.

Sleuth Comics #1 - featuring the Black Owl (Atomic Pulp Media on IndyPlanet).
Oh, to be able to take Batman back to a time before all the grimness became his primary tone. The Black Owl has a typical bronze age type criminal encounter, while a bit of exposition details some of his backstory. In just one issue we understand who he is, why he does what he does, who his supporting cast is and how they're connected, and we see glimpses of other criminals that establish that he's been doing this for a while.
Modern comics would've needed a four-issue arc for all of that (at the least).

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie #1 (Dynamite Comics)
I'm always skeptical when it comes to Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I like the original books. The kids were written as very wise for their age back then. It also helped that my first live-action exposure to them was the '70s tv series where they were young adults. It's good that there are younger iterations of them for kids today to connect with, but I always want to read/see more of that '70s version. The Big Lie is pretty darn close. It puts the original teen detectives through a Riverdale and Pulp Fiction blender and what comes out is an entertaining tale.
I also liked the name-dropping of other teen detectives of the era, including the Bobbsy Twins and Tom Swift. Someone really did their homework.

[Joe Sidetracked]

Hellions #5: The characters are supposed to be unlikable, I get it. But even knowing that, I still struggled with this issue. I'm gonna put it down to my general disdain for Otherworld and the magical elements of X of Swords thus far, and hope the series is back to its best post-crossover.

Batman: Dark Victory: Is it controversial to say I preferred this to The Long Halloween? Well, I did, which is pretty high praise in my book. It felt like I got more pure Batman from this story, from more Bruce Wayne, to Batman's darkening persona, to the awesome rogue's gallery in full force, all the way through to Robin. It marks the transition from Batman fighting organised crime to the "freaks" taking over the city, and I loved it.

[Foxy]

Continuing the Valiant read-through here. Bit difficult to judge the individual arcs in each book as I am still following an integrated reading order. Been switching between these books:

Bloodshot Deluxe Edition 2 - Shadowman Deluxe Edition 1 - X-O Manowar Deluxe Edition 2 - Unity Deluxe Edition

Enjoying this universe quite a lot. X-O Manowar is the strongest title so far. The Harbinger Wars crossover event was well executed, and the first Unity event was good as well.

[ed2962]

Kent State by Derf Backderf, great docu-drama about the incident were the National Guard shot four college students during a protest in 1970. Three and half stars.

[ed2962]

Enigma by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo. The storytelling is a bit clunky in spots, but it's still a pretty solid read. Characters from a cancelled comic seems to have appeared in real life and is causing all sorts of choas. A nerd living an unfulfilling life decides to get to the bottom of the mystery. Pretty interesting tale about identity, sexuality, and finding your own path in life. Three stars.

[Foxy]

It's been a while but I was very busy at work with not much time to read. Plus there are so many shows that I wanted to watch (Ozark, Better Call Saul, Stranger Things 4 etc.) Not enough hours in the day

Have been continuing my Valiant read-through with the following deluxe editions:

Harbinger 2
Shadowman 2
RAI
X-O Manowar 3
Armor Hunters
X-O Manowar 4
The Valiant
Divinity
Imperium
Ninjak 1
Book of Death
Wrath of the Eternal Warrior
Ninjak 2
X-O Manowar 5

As before, I would say that X-O Manowar is the one of the best developed series but for me, Imperium was a stand-out. Toyo Harada is a fascinating character, a really great bad guy that has motivations that many people could get behind. The Divinity series was also great, as were the Valiant and Book of Death minis. I enjoy this universe quite a lot and even when there are cross-over events, the number of tie-ins are relatively limited and in many cases actually add something to the story.