What Collected Edition are you reading now?

[bob.schoonover]

My big order came in from CGN early, so I'm 8 issues into the Dr Aphra omnibus. It's pretty enjoyable so far, even if the choices for pre-series inclusions are a little odd (or just spare?). It'll get cleared up if/when the Vader by Gillan omni goes back into print, so I'll survive.

[Hive]

Chuck Austin's run on Uncanny X-Men/New X-Men/X-Men. It often gets a bad rep for having too much soap opera drama, and although I agree that it could have benefitted from a tad bit less, I really enjoyed the run overall. I liked that the main focus was on characters instead of big set pieces; I enjoy a good Magneto/Apocalypse/aliens try to destroy the world or a mutants vs. humans war story as much as the next guy, but stories with a smaller scale but a lot of heart has their merit as well - and I feel we get a lot of that here. Juggernaut's addition was a brilliant and fresh movie, and I liked how him and Nightcrawler (along with Angel) were the main characters. Their arcs were great, though the execution on the Nightcrawler heritage story could have been better. I did not like seeing Angel go even further away from his Archangel persona though.

I'm pretty impressed with how interesting he managed to make his characters overall, given that most of them were not really among the stars of X-Men. Access to A-listers such as Cyclops and Wolverine were mostly reduced to cameos, but he made it work.

The art was pretty impressive for the most part - with the exceptions being Kia Asamiya, as I don't like the manga style, and Philip Tan, as I feel that his heavy use of black lines everywhere distracts and distorts.

My biggest complaint with this highly entertaining run is that it sometimes feels more like a companion piece to Grant Morrison's New X-Men than its own thing.

[DanMad1977]

I never understood the hate for Chuck Austin. I also liked his ideas.

[Phoenixx9]

I think the rest of us got the joke.

Maybe some of us Love Jean Grey and do not like that she was dead for almost 15 years.

But I know it is hard to keep track of all of the characters who have died and which ones are back.

I was just trying to help out in case it was a legitimate question. Sorry.

[JPAR]

Maybe some of us Love Jean Grey and do not like that she was dead for almost 15 years.

But I know it is hard to keep track of all of the characters who have died and which ones are back.

I was just trying to help out in case it was a legitimate question. Sorry.

We were just having some fun

[ARkadelphia]

We were just having some fun

Precisely!

[CliffHanger2]

John Byrne- Superman/Batman Generations

[newparisian]

Twists of Fate- love Paco Roca's work. Another homerun. Only downside is it's hard to distinguish between who's who sometimes (same issue as Winter of the Cartoonist). 10 out of 10

Ignited v1- book by Mark Waid. You've read this before. Teens find out they have powers, wanna do something with 'em, personality clashes along the way. Has a veneer of modernism with right wing nutjobs trying to co-opt school shootings for their own purposes. 4 out of 10.

Mystic v1-4- pulled out this Crossgen series for a re-read. Man, I'm just getting cynical in my old age haha but just "same old same old" or "solid" just doesn't hold my attention anymore. This series was fine; nothing special. Archetypal characters and plot where you're 10 pages ahead of the story. Cheesecake art. 3 out of 10

Wolverine: Prehistory- filler stories that I have no desire to read again. Do like the Millar WWII story and the Cable: Guts & Glory one-shot but those are collected elsewhere too. Otherwise, Prehistory has overlapping stories with the Amazing Immortal Man collection too, so that was a bit of a waste. 3 out of 10

The Weatherman v2- this was a fun romp with great art. Wonder when they're doing volume 3 to wrap up the story. 7 out of 10

Hexed omnibus- this was also a fun book. The heroine was an uber (no explanation of how she got this good and every spell of hers just works) with a thin personality and no non-work life or supporting cast (like if Buffy was just about fighting vampires without any of the high school or romance stuff). Still the twists and turns were nice and art by Rios/Mora was great. 6 out of 10

[newparisian]

Superman- Secret Origin- haha "Why" is the word that comes to mind. Plus I always hated the Legion's inclusion into Clark's youth. Like, it serves no purpose. The origin is fine without it. Let him be an insecure teen without being told he becomes the inspiration for the future. Sigh.. The rest of the story is ok. Nothing new or subversive being done with any of the characters. You've read this story before. American Alien did it better. 4 out of 10.

Meridian v1-4- another Crossgen re-read. This is better than Mystic with great early art by McNiven. There need to be more comics with sky pirates. Recommended. 7 out of 10

[newparisian]

The Wake- fantastic, amazing Sean Murphy art. Great story but which ends in gobbledygook. Still, recommended for horror/adventure fans. 7 out of 10.

Negation v1-4- the Crossgen re-read continues with one of its only series worth a damn. Great sci-fi book that sadly never got a proper ending. Great characters and twists. Recommended. 8 out of 10.

[lodebone]

Started East of West and loving it!

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Finally finished the War of the Realms Omnibus. Overall, a decent read. The main event and Thor issues were very good, although I'm not always keen on Russell Dauterman's art when drawing characters from a distance or how Daredevil is drawn, he looks rather bland and unimpressive. Otherwise, he does draw a very good Thor. The crossovers are a mixed batch. Some such as Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and in particular Captain Marvel were a bit of a slog to get through, others were pretty good such as the Strikeforce issues and some of the War Scrolls stories. At 1500 pgs or so, the build of the book is very good and the binding holds very well. At $125 RRP, it's decently priced compared to other $125 Omnibuses such as the recent UXM Vol. 4 Omnibus.

[The Cheat]

Started East of West and loving it!

I finally got the 3rd HC recently so sat down and read the whole thing in 2 days. Definitely worth the wait. My only "complaint" was that I ended up more interested in the politics of the world and the interactions of the various factions than I was in the main Four Horsemen storyline, which kind of bored me a bit. Overall, another hit from Hickman for me. He rarely disappoints.

[Dr Hank]

Just finished:
X-Men Inferno Prologue omni: I haven't read these issues in ages; some still holds up but the non-Claremont written material is just average imo. But he was an exceptional writer so it's probably not a fair comparison. Despite that, plot-wise I probably liked the Illyana & New Mutants stuff the best. I can't even remember what happens to her in Inferno so it'll be a surprise.

Akira: I finally finished the whole series! I actually read the last two volumes in a few days, just so gripping and urgent. I first saw the film in 1992 and I've seen it many times since but never got around to collecting the entire manga series. It's undoubtedly one of my all-time favorites now, it's really an astounding work.

[pedroaar]

I reading "Coleção Clássica Marvel" (Marvel Classic Collection) this comic was launched for the Panini Comics here, in Brazil