What Collected Edition are you reading now?

[your_name_here]

Reading Punisher by Greg Rucka

[Balakin]

Just finished reading the first Brubaker Cap omni. Thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a couple of scenes in there that had my eyes watering. I couldn’t help but compare and contrast it to the Death and Return of Superman omnibus. One felt like it was completely manufactured and bloated while the other was organic and paid off extremely well. I am a huge Superman fan and I wasn’t a Cap fan. This omnibus has given me a new respect for the character. A thoroughly decent man and real patriot which gave the book even more meaning when you look at real life and how our politicians are so lacking in these traits. I can’t wait to read the rest of Brubaker’s run. I’ll go back to Waid’s run as well and hopefully Gruenwald gets an omni because I need more Cap after this.

I don't think anything ever gave me the same feelings as Brubaker's Cap, and that was only good until the end of the "Death of" era. I've skipped the 2 Bucky trades (Cap Lives omnibus I think?) and read Reborn, which was fun (but it was lik 7-8 years ago and a lot has changed in my taste since).
The stories after that were just "further adventures of" and I didn't care for them.

Tried the first Waid epic and dropped it after like 3 or 4 issues. Hated the art and didn't care for the story.
Never tried Gruenwald's, it's long and I barely read superheroes anymore, especially older stuff, but I remember really liking his Squadron Supreme (I still have the first ed omnibus). so if I have hopes for anyone writing something that still golds up, it's him.
I quite enjoyed what I've read of the Stern run, but obviously it's bronze ages comics so very different than Brubaker's. But if you like bronze age Marvel, Stern is usually a good choice.

As for modern runs, Remender's was a bit too wacky especially compared to the more grounded Brubaker take. Read the first 5 or so issues of the Coates run, it's solid, well told, flows well, but it's just the usual cyclical superhero bs all over again. (somebody has a secret plan to destroy Cap, who could that be? Oh is it maybe the Red skull? ) So I've dropped it.

Btw I didn't write this to discourage you, just to say, I think Brubaker is probably the definitive writer on Cap (or regarded as that by many).

[Enigma]

I have never read Cap

[Balakin]

I have never read Cap

Brubaker is a good place to start...and end If you're interested in the character.
I'd say starting from Winter soldier right up to the end of Death of... is worth reading, Brubaker redefined the character and it's a solid, almost self contained run (right before the actual Death of...issue, you kinda need to know what happened in Civil war...man I hate crossovers).
I got the 3 chonky tpbs (Winter soldier, Red menace, Death of) and they still should be in print (or go to Marvel unlimited).
It's probably the best superhero run he wrote (but again, it's been like 7 years at least since I've read them).

[Johnny Thunders!]

I liked Brubakers Cap run! It grew on me and I have a few of the trades. I’m reading Kirby New Gods. I would have loved for him to take the Superman books! It’s crazy they redraw Superman and Jimmy Olsen. The story about Himon ends in a scene that looks quite a bit like The Empire Strikes Back.

[your_name_here]

For Brubakers Cap, I tend to find reading Cap 1-50, 600-601 and Captain America Reborn tells a complete story. Everything after that Brubaker did wasn’t BAD, but it also wasn’t as good. The story was done around there.

[Nab432]

Thanks for the thoughts and opinions. I guess I’ll judge for myself how I feel about the rest of the run. I really like or love almost everything I’ve read by Brubaker so that helps. Gotham Central, Kill or Be Killed and Pulp were all great. Didn’t care for Velvet as much. I’ll circle back to the rest of his Cap run not too long from now. To mix it up, I started black science. Really liking it so far. The world building and characterization has me intrigued. Very high concept and a lot of questions in the first 5-6 issues. Will be interesting to see if Remender pays off on these various threads. I really like Deadly Class and so far nothing I’ve read of black science diminishes the expectations I had going into the series.

[Ramsay Snow]

For Brubakers Cap, I tend to find reading Cap 1-50, 600-601 and Captain America Reborn tells a complete story. Everything after that Brubaker did wasn’t BAD, but it also wasn’t as good. The story was done around there.

I'd agree with that, although issues 602 & 603 were pretty good, too, but that's the storyline where Brubaker's run got weak (went downhill halfway through the storyline, partially because the whole thing with 50s Cap kind of became a dud....All he wanted to do was destroy the Hoover Dam, lol). Then the storyline with Zemo, after that, was kind of disappointing. Then it gets worse.

His Winter Soldier comic seemed like it was going to be good for the first few issues, but it turned out kind of weak, as well........I tend to like Brubaker's work, but sometimes he fizzles out. No one's perfect. Plus, that was a really long run.

Thanks for the thoughts and opinions. I guess I’ll judge for myself how I feel about the rest of the run. I really like or love almost everything I’ve read by Brubaker so that helps. Gotham Central, Kill or Be Killed and Pulp were all great. Didn’t care for Velvet as much. I’ll circle back to the rest of his Cap run not too long from now. To mix it up, I started black science. Really liking it so far. The world building and characterization has me intrigued. Very high concept and a lot of questions in the first 5-6 issues. Will be interesting to see if Remender pays off on these various threads. I really like Deadly Class and so far nothing I’ve read of black science diminishes the expectations I had going into the series.

Interesting......Velvet is one of my favorite Brubaker titles, I consider it one of his best works, along with the majority of his Cap run, Criminal, Daredevil, and Sleeper. His work on the Batman & Catwoman titles, as well as Fatale, I didn't care for much.

[Balakin]

I'd agree with that, although issues 602 & 603 were pretty good, too, but that's the storyline where Brubaker's run got weak (went downhill halfway through the storyline, partially because the whole thing with 50s Cap kind of became a dud....All he wanted to do was destroy the Hoover Dam, lol). Then the storyline with Zemo, after that, was kind of disappointing. Then it gets worse.

His Winter Soldier comic seemed like it was going to be good for the first few issues, but it turned out kind of weak, as well........I tend to like Brubaker's work, but sometimes he fizzles out. No one's perfect. Plus, that was a really long run.





Interesting......Velvet is one of my favorite Brubaker titles, I consider it one of his best works, along with the majority of his Cap run, Criminal, Daredevil, and Sleeper. His work on the Batman & Catwoman titles, as well as Fatale, I didn't care for much.

Oh dang I forgot his DD (not sure how). Yeah that's probably the best superhero stuff he ever wrote then IMO (more consistent than his Cap but you can't read it without Bendis'...which is probably the best thing Bendis ever written so not a big issue )

[Marvell2100]

Brubaker is a good place to start...and end If you're interested in the character.
I'd say starting from Winter soldier right up to the end of Death of... is worth reading, Brubaker redefined the character and it's a solid, almost self contained run (right before the actual Death of...issue, you kinda need to know what happened in Civil war...man I hate crossovers).
I got the 3 chonky tpbs (Winter soldier, Red menace, Death of) and they still should be in print (or go to Marvel unlimited).
It's probably the best superhero run he wrote (but again, it's been like 7 years at least since I've read them).

I would add Mark Waid and Ron Garneys' : Operation: Rebirth and Man Without A Country as must reads.

Also Mark Gruenwalds' legendary run on Cap

[Enigma]

I doubt that my library has the full runs (if any) but I shall see, once they reopen that is

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

I finished reading Weapon H, Hulkverines and followed by Defenders: Best Defense. Quite enjoyable all around. I thought Weapon H would be a bit of a slog to get through but Greg Pak really knows how to write an interesting and action-packed story. Similar with Hulkverines with some nice art from Ario Anindito and Guiu Vilanovo. Best Defense was also pretty good.

[Balakin]

I would add Mark Waid and Ron Garneys' : Operation: Rebirth and Man Without A Country as must reads.

Also Mark Gruenwalds' legendary run on Cap

Each to their own, Operation rebirth was the one I tried in Epic form and quit a few issues in. I've started reading it because it came highly recommended and I was beyond disappointed (and oh man did I hate Garney's art).

It's probably worth a try tho (it generally speaking, is a fan favourite run) but it's very 90s (even tho I know Waid's goal was to get Cap back to his roots).

[Foxy]

Reading the Before Watchmen Omnibus. About 300 pages in and liking it so far. The art is great on some of the series.

[Enigma]

I'm ill and can't go to the lab, so I decided to crawl under my blankets, renew my MU subscription (which I barely used at all) and start binging Ultimate Spider-Man. Oooph, glad I did that, I'm loving everything except the costume, at least in most panels. Sometimes in specific shots I actually like it

I might have to dive into some Cap after all, if there are some full runs on MU that is.