Whats everyone reading?

[Fungus]

Ditched the pull-list over a year ago now (time/storage/Hachette considerations...) but picked up some library goodness the other day. This may be the future! Reading in collected form clarifies most things and these picked up exactly where I jumped off:

Black Hammer vol. 2
I can't get over the perfect moodiness of Ormston's art, it's scratchy yet considered. Then LeMire's sci-fi soap opera is a great mix of genres. As per Sweer Tooth above, he tells them so well.

Kill Or Be Killed vol. 2
Like The Fade-Out, just sublime. The setup is a stretch of course (demons?-() but the execution is the usual standard from Brubaker/Phillips. Maybe that demon will prove to be less tangible as it continues.

Low vol. 4
Has a lot going for it but a bit repetitive to enjoy thoroughly. Action-packed but often hard to discern what's going on. I'm a lingerer when it comes to art this detailed  so maybe no bad thing. Remender was writing more books all the time, last time I looked. Wonder if he kept that up? Hm, think I'll hit Google.

[Theblazeuk]

Girl with All the Gifts is a great book though.

I've plowed my way through a bunch of Tim Curran books, wanting a bit of Weird West after watching Godless. Skin Medicine was alright but pretty flimsy, then I read Skull Moon - which was like the same book, written years before, in a much, much better way.

I've since moved on to The Black Company, a fantasy series that had been on my radar for years. A mercenary company that works for the Dark Lord (Lady) rather than a bunch of goodies? Yeah, could be good. But my appetite for fantasy fiction has dimmed even as my love for D&D etc has risen. However, the Black Company is so far really good fun with a right group of bar stewards. A nice precursor to Joe Abercrombie.

[Tiplodocus]

HUSH: Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williamson, Alex Sinclair.

A muscular romp through a cavalcade of Bat villains.
Does the story make sense? Not really.
Are there great scenes? Some but so much of it seems forced together.
Zingy dialogue? Not really.
Top detecting? Sort of. But it's mainly fights and top tarts in tight tops.
Gorgeous art? Lee is a bit marmite but I like marmite. Actually, he's more cheesecake than marmite. And I know I shouldn't but I like cheesecake too.

Did I enjoy it? Oddly... Yes, I did.

Some of the art on mutating Killer Croc reminded me very much of our own Ron Smith.

[Smith]

Grendel Tales v2.Macan's story is once again the best one,thou all in  all,this was a better volume then the first one.
Digging Byrnes Fantastic Four so far.His Doom is the only Doom.

[Fungus]

Sweet Tooth Book 1 (1-12).
It's LeMire's later stuff I know, so working through his early material is a (sweet) treat. It's an art style I like, bordering on sloppy though, with some weird anatomy at times. Plus the horses are... well, notoriously difficult as we know. In his case, I think his style is down to practicalities, he's a writer/artist and has so many books in him...
The tale is so perfect on character and tension, it reads like a dream. Fantastic.

Downside: Michael Sheen's purple prose introduction. I hate that kinda thing!

[abelardsnazz]

Just finished The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of five. I hadn't read volumes 4 or 5 before (I know, I know). Douglas Adams' wry humour at the general incomprehensibleness of everything is wonderful throughout, and a unique take on sci-fi. Enjoyed them immensely.

[Dandontdare]

Just finished The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of five. I hadn't read volumes 4 or 5 before (I know, I know). Douglas Adams' wry humour at the general incomprehensibleness of everything is wonderful throughout, and a unique take on sci-fi. Enjoyed them immensely.

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Phase 4 (The Hexagonal phase) is currently on Radio4 (and iplayer) featuring the original radio cast - plus Stephen Hawking as The Guide v2.0, former Dredd Toby Longworth, as well as Susan Sheridan, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks , Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn and Jon Culshaw.

[abelardsnazz]

Sounds great, will give it a listen. Thanks for the heads up.

[von Boom]

Just finished The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy of five. I hadn't read volumes 4 or 5 before (I know, I know). Douglas Adams' wry humour at the general incomprehensibleness of everything is wonderful throughout, and a unique take on sci-fi. Enjoyed them immensely.

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Phase 4 (The Hexagonal phase) is currently on Radio4 (and iplayer) featuring the original radio cast - plus Stephen Hawking as The Guide v2.0, former Dredd Toby Longworth, as well as Susan Sheridan, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks , Ed Byrne, Lenny Henry, Philip Pope, Mitch Benn and Jon Culshaw.

Erm, 6. Hex is 6.

[Dandontdare]

um ... yeah ... I knew dat 

[The Adventurer]

So this week I tackled Jeff Lemire's story of exiled super-heroes Black Hammer. Both volume 1 & 2. Volume 1 was really gripping, really made me want more. But I felt volume 2 spun its wheels a bit, stretching out its mystery a little too much. After those I'll be checking out the spin-offs, Sherlock Frankenstein and Doctor Star, and getting ready for the main series to resume on the 18th.

It's good, I recommend it.

[Colin YNWA]

So this week I tackled Jeff Lemire's story of exiled super-heroes Black Hammer. Both volume 1 & 2. Volume 1 was really gripping, really made me want more. But I felt volume 2 spun its wheels a bit, stretching out its mystery a little too much. After those I'll be checking out the spin-offs, Sherlock Frankenstein and Doctor Star, and getting ready for the main series to resume on the 18th.

It's good, I recommend it.

Yeah wholeheartedly agree. Over in the New Comic Book Day Mega Thread (which I think you started Adventurer?) a couple of folks, myself included have been waxing lyrical about this series. I really enjoyed Sherlock Frankenstein as well and Doctor Star has got off to a decent start too. Really looking forward to the main series returning too.

[TordelBack]

The whole project has been superb,  Lemire has done a very neat job of imbuing NotDC  hero archetypes (about whom I know very little) with genuine humanity, all set against an engaging mystery, and somehow without a hint of revisionism or cynical deconstruction: his cast are genuine do-gooder superheroes, but real people too.  Also, it contains Ormston's career-best work (so far), and I'm loving Max Fiumara's noirish stylings on Dr Star.

The only US comicbooks I buy these days,  and worth every penny.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

I'd agree with the love for Black Hammer, wholeheartedly. Waiting for the spin-offs and likewise inpatient for the next volume when it finally arrives.

Novelishly, I'm becoming a little enwrapped in Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space series of books and short stories. But also have the very interesting Themis Files series on the go- Sleeping Giants was a fun, light and quick read, and Waking God's is prepped for cracking open tomorrow while herself is at work.
In addition, I recently finished the first Noumenon novel, just in time for the sequel, Noumenon Infinity, to hit hardback in the next few months. That's worth a read of your tastes are, like mine, for hard Sci-fi.
SBT

[Theblazeuk]

I really didn't enjoy Sleeping Giants. The whole diary/found text format became really painful at points, worse than the old trope of "Oh god they are eating me alive and yet I am able to write a sentence noooo".

However Revelation Space is gold. Love all of Reynold's work but the Revelation Space setting and novels is peak crunchy, gritty SF. Chasm City is my favourite.