State the Last Comic Book You Read and Rate It

[Deathstroke]

The new Conan The Barbarian series from Marvel. Issue #4. It was a decent read say 3.5 out 5 stars.

[Foxy]

Lee & Kirby's Fantastic Four Omnibus volume 2: better than the first volume but still lots of Silver Age silliness. Actually I've put off reading this for more than a year after the first omnibus. Especially the whole depiction of women is jarring ("Silence, woman!" - "I need to better control my feminine side" - "She's only a female" etc.). Of course these are a product of their times but it's still annoying. The book starts slow-ish but towards the middle it picks up and gets really good towards the end as soon as the Inhumans arc starts, followed by Galactus / Silver Surfer and some more Inhumans and Doctor Doom stories. So this time around, I was actually keen on seeing what happens next.

Will read something modern first as a palate cleanser.

So, I did what I wrote above: I read Absolute Authority volumes 1 and 2, which were great fun! I found volume 1 by Ellis the best part. Very well thought-out, overarching story in the background and very entertaining issue to issue. Ellis is really one of my favourites, have never been disappointed so far. Volume 2 contains a collection of stories from a variety of writers, but most issues are by Mark Millar. The art is mostly by Frank Quitely, which I did not like quite as much as Bryan Hitch's cleaner art on volume 1. From Millar, I had only read his Wolverine omnibus (Enemy of the State / Old Man Logan), which I enjoyed a lot (yes, I admit it unashamedly). People warned me about his stories going only for shock value but I have just recently read Jodorowsky's Metabarons and after that, not much is shocking anymore That being said, I did like Ellis' run better.

After the Authority, I read Jodorowsky's The Technopriests Supreme Collection (same content as the ultimate collection but in an oversized format). The art was done by Janjetov, who did a great job at mimicking Moebius in Before the Incal. Here, his art has received more modern colouring, which gives it a very clean look. The story is not as bat-shit crazy as the Metabarons and I found it very entertaining. Once again, Jodorowsky shows his disdain for everything that interferes with the individual mind / spirit and "the Man" who hinders people from developing their full potential by keeping people in a state of constant fear and depression. When you watch the documentary on Jodorowsky's Dune, you will see what I mean.

However, also this story suffers from a number of issues: again it is not told in an omnipotent view but by two narrators who are also part of the events unfolding. This sometimes takes you out of the story because there is then always a need for these two characters to put everything in perspective. In addition, Jodorowsky is great in conveying big thoughts on big concepts but he does not explain enough. For instance, the main character achieve god-like powers at the end, which seem to evolve just like that for whatever is needed at the moment. Also, female characters are usually very two-dimensional.

Overall, I think I enjoyed it more than the Metabarons, but I may have to read these books again.

Next up is Harrow County Library Edition 1, of which I have heard good things.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Conan the Barbarian #1 and Savage Sword of Conan #1
Read both last night, not quite up there with the classic book from Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith/John Buscema, but both books (Jason Aaron writing Conan, Gerry Duggan on Savage Sword) were a good read, taking me back to those grand old days when everyone's favorite Cimmerian kicked Hyborian Age ass and took names.

three stars out of five.

[Scott Taylor]

Superman #9

This one surprised me, and honestly it is probably up there in my top 20 Superman books of all time. Just really loved the depiction of Ultlraman and the way John was handled. No flashback book should have any right to be this good.

Justice League Dark #9

As a series, this one had me skeptical at first. But its won me over at this point. At a time when magic in DC comics has been either gone or disappointing for several years, this series has done a great job with it. Magic feels like something truly unique but still explained in a way that keeps it unique. This book has been steadily giving me hope that we will see a major resurgence of the magical aspects of the DC Universe in the very near future.

Conan the Barbarian #1 and Savage Sword of Conan #1
Read both last night, not quite up there with the classic book from Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith/John Buscema, but both books (Jason Aaron writing Conan, Gerry Duggan on Savage Sword) were a good read, taking me back to those grand old days when everyone's favorite Cimmerian kicked Hyborian Age ass and took names.

three stars out of five.

I've been reading both series and both have impressed me. They definitely have the right feel to them for the most part. It reminded me of some of the later issues of King Conan/Conan the King that came out in the 1980s.

[Spike-X]

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #309 by Chip Zdarsky and Chris Bachalo.

The follow-up to what, honestly, would have worked better as a done-in-one - the death of Sandman('s human body). Having the reveal straight away that his consciousness was still alive in that one single grain of sand that contains it greatly weakened the emotional impact of the previous issue, in my opinion.

[Spike-X]

Superman #9

I'm (digital) trade-waiting Bendis' Superman and Action, and I really wish DC would stop dragging the chain with their tpb releases.

[dancj]

Unfollow v1: 140 Characters 4/5, v2: God is Watching 4/5 and v3: Turn it Off 4/6 - A good series, with good art by the various artists. The pacing is a little off towards the end - no-doubt caused by it being prematurely cancelled. Still worth a read though.

The Untamed 2/5 - Generic borng D+D inspired stuff. The art is immediately quite striking, but not that good when you look closer. I think the artist could probably make a good colourist.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Prelude 3.5/5 - Decent enough, but getting tired. I can definitely see why they felt it was time to kill him.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man 3.5/5 - This is largely a big fight scene, but unlike the similarly plotless Death of Superman, this one is actually well-paced.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Fallout 3/5 - This started really well. The funeral scene was actually quite moving. Unfortunately more than half of the book is given to other characters not particularly relevant, so the whole thing suffered.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man v1: Who is Miles Morales 4/5 - I thought Ned in Spider-Man: Homecoming was an original character. Turns out they just took Janke from this book and changed his name. Odd. Anyway, the book is good. It recaptures what was slipping in the previous volumes.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man v2: Scorpion 3.5/5 - Why is this called Scorpion? The story isn't about him at all. It's more about Miles's uncle. The bigger problem though is that they end the TPB after 5 issues in a really unsatisfying place.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Divided We Fall, United We Stand (first two issues only) 4/5 - The first two issues of this book give quite a satisfying end to the previous TPB - so why weren't they in the previous TPB? That would have made so much more sense - and would only have taken it up to 7 issues - one less than this one has.

I stopped reading there as I clearly have to read up on some of the other Ultimates books before I go further.

[Personamanx]

Read the first volume of the latest DOOM PATROL series on Hoopla last night. It was weird, really weird. Didn't hate it though. The art was amazingly, and by the end of it a lot of it was starting to make sense.

[comicscollector]

Savage Sword of Conan#2 (#237).The story of Conan in a treasure hunt is interesting and the art by Ron Garney is awesome.3.5/5.

Amazing Spider-Man#17.(#818) Great start of this story arc featuring Kraven with great art as well by Humberto Ramos.4.5/5.

Avengers#17(#707) A great Avengers story arc featuring Dracula with art by David Marquez that is the best to this action packed story,however in some panels i thought more background details would be better.4/5.

Marvels Annotated#2.Not much to add to how great this is limited series.story wise and art wise.But i am enjoying a lot reading all the extras so re-reading now this limited series with the extras is the icing on the cake. 5/5.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Young Justice #1
Brian Michael Bendis got the band back together (Tim Drake Robin, Impulse, Connor Kent Superboy, Cassie Sandsmark Wonder Girl) along with newcomers Jinny Hex and Teen Lantern to battle an otherworldly invasion of Metropolis and it was pretty wild. Looks like this could be a fun book, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Four stars out of five

[Foxy]

So I read Harrow County Library Edition volume 1 and I really enjoyed it. It's mostly about the atmosphere that is created rather than full-on horror (although it has some of that too). I think this would translate great into a TV show. Given that it is setting a mood / atmosphere, I think it benefits from reading it without distractions, ideally at night. I was reading during bright daylight with frequent interruptions from my children and that detracted a bit. Was a bit indifferent to the art to begin with but it grew on me. The splash pages before each chapter integrate the title into the pictures and these are spectacular. This was my first book written by Cullen Bunn and so far he is on my "like" list. Got volume 2 on Friday, so will continue it soon.

After Harrow County, I read Final Incal to conclude my Jodoverse read-a-thon. I have the oversized slipcase edition (not the bizarrely expensive supersized one), which also includes the unfinished "After the Incal", which was drawn by Moebius. I liked the story and I generally feel that the Incal books benefit from the absence of characters narrating the story, as is the case in for instance the Metabarons and the Technopriests. The narrators distract too much from the story IMHO. The Final Incal story is based on the After the Incal story but some aspects were changed. All changes were for the better in my view. While it was great seeing more Moebius art, this work was not coloured by Moebius himself and that shows. The colours did not fit the art very well and I would expect Moebius' own colouring would have been superior.

The last thing I've read was the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Omnibus. This is one of the largest omnis I own but I was not bothered too much by the weight or size. What did bother me is that the binding is quite tight, meaning that there was a bit of gutter loss. Plus the book closed like a mousetrap. Story-wise, it started out a little confusing, as we are meeting the characters but they think they are someone else and act as if they have amnesia. This is of course due to some evil-doings but it still could have been done better. The arcs after that are great fun if you happen to like the MotU. Everything written (or scripted) by Abnett was very good and I like that bascially all loose threads were resolved in the end. There was an arc in there with a Justice League cross-over and at first I rolled my eyes at the concept but then the story was actually not bad. The Thundercats cross-over had cool art but the story felt just standard.

Now on to some Lovecraft by Culberd.

[Spike-X]

Marvel Two-In-One #10

Ben and Johnny get their powers back and beat up on the bad guys real good an' stuff! 4 Flame-Ons out of 5

Moon Knight #199

Marc and Uncle Nazi have a chat and there's monsters that may or may not be real and wtf did I just read? I'm glad I read this on Marvel Unlimited instead of paying actual money for it. 2 Multiple Personalities out of 5

The Amazing Spider-Man #6

It starts out slow, but once Boomerang drags Peter Parker to a Spider-Man Trivia Night, the fun intensifies. 3.75 Firelord Beatdowns out of 5

And, the pick of the bunch from this week's new additions to Marvel Unlimited...

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #310, by Chip Zdarsky and Chip Zdarsky

Read this in the privacy of your own home, True Believer, because this one's a tear-jerker! 5 "He Really Gets It!"s out of 5

[Arfguy]

Skybourne by Frank Cho - 7/10.

[dancj]

Zenith Phase Three 4/5 - A step down from phase two. Steve Yeowell's art is gorgeous to look at, but it can be hard to work out at time, so storytelling suffers a bit. Morrison's story is a bit of a mess, with too many new characters not leaving much room for the plot. There are still some great moments though. It's still a good book.

Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses v2 4.5/5 - Continuing the story filling in a very big blank from the previous run. Very funny in places. It's just a great bunch of characters who are always a joy to read. Still hate the stories in the "Amy Racecar" world though.

[Personamanx]

Read through the first three TPBs of Warren Ellis, and Jon Davis-Hunt's THE WILD STORM this afternoon on Hoopla. I am kicking myself for not looking into it earlier at the shop. Granted aside from a very brief flirtation with GEN13 a decade or so back I've never been a fan of anything Wildstorm related, I was barely aware of the relaunch. But boy howdy, that was a solid read. Might have to start picking up the last few issues if it's ending at 24.