New Comic Book Day Megathread

[Hawkmumbler]

Some people really get hung up on alternate realities and multiple versions of characters kicking around. I really don't understand the confusion.

Not to bring up Savage Dragon TOO frequently but thats exactly what Larsen's been doing so well for over a decade now.

[The Adventurer]

Some people really get hung up on alternate realities and multiple versions of characters kicking around. I really don't understand the confusion.

Not to bring up Savage Dragon TOO frequently but thats exactly what Larsen's been doing so well for over a decade now.

To be fair to my favorite comic on the planet, Erik has often been a bit... haphazard with his alternate reality and time travel rules. And often includes long descriptions of convoluted events, when he could downplay them more during info dumping.

And to be further fair, classic comics of the 50s-80s had haphazard time travel/alternate reality/alternate dimension rules too, and there is a charm to just 'use what works, and damn the ramifications', but if you're gonna bring it all together in a big event style calamity, you better have your ducks in a row to tell that story. If you're worried about confusing new and old readers with convoluted reality bending events, be careful that your 'clean up' doesn't cause MORE problems. Which has been DC's ongoing problem since the Crisis. Trying to patch a timeline, that really never needed patching in the first place.

I mean, I love it. Its fun to watch a billion dollar company keep tripping over itself to try to 'streamline' things for new media penetration. But I can appreciate it being obnoxious for the kids in the trenches trying to read this stuff.

[positronic]

And to be further fair, classic comics of the 50s-80s had haphazard time travel/alternate reality/alternate dimension rules too, and there is a charm to just 'use what works, and damn the ramifications', but if you're gonna bring it all together in a big event style calamity, you better have your ducks in a row to tell that story. If you're worried about confusing new and old readers with convoluted reality bending events, be careful that your 'clean up' doesn't cause MORE problems. Which has been DC's ongoing problem since the Crisis. Trying to patch a timeline, that really never needed patching in the first place.

I mean, I love it. Its fun to watch a billion dollar company keep tripping over itself to try to 'streamline' things for new media penetration. But I can appreciate it being obnoxious for the kids in the trenches trying to read this stuff.

Good summation. I never had a problem understanding DC's pre-Crisis multiverse (Michael Moorcock's wasn't always so straightforwardly comprehensible to me). Marvel used to take great pride in its main continuity, and for a few decades more or less sniffed at the idea of a multiverse (even if occasionally paying homage to it with things like the Squadron Sinister/Supreme). Of course Marvel always contained parallel dimensions (like Asgard's Nine Worlds, or the domain of the Dread Dormammu, and many others seen in Dr. Strange), yet they deferred away from a "Marvel multiverse" of parallel earths until the first hints of that appeared in Alan Moore's Captain Britain, and it was many years before they started introducing whole worlds like Marvel 2099 and the Ultimate universe. By the time DC got around to Flashpoint, Marvel's multiverse had already become way more intricate and confusing than DC's had ever been prior to CoIE.

[The Adventurer]

Eh. Marvel had What If? for ages before Captain Britain and Earth 616 was a thing. If the 616 thing had just stayed a Captain Britain thing that probably would have been for the best. Having it leak into Marvel proper eventually having Marvel label EVERY UNIVERSE EVER is when things started getting obnoxious at Marvel. Culminating in the last few years of multiverse absurdity.

Funny enough, all of my favorite Marvel titles dealt with the multiverse in one way or another; What If?, Exiles, and Earth X.

[positronic]

Eh. Marvel had What If? for ages before Captain Britain and Earth 616 was a thing. If the 616 thing had just stayed a Captain Britain thing that probably would have been for the best. Having it leak into Marvel proper eventually having Marvel label EVERY UNIVERSE EVER is when things started getting obnoxious at Marvel. Culminating in the last few years of multiverse absurdity.

Funny enough, all of my favorite Marvel titles dealt with the multiverse in one way or another; What If?, Exiles, and Earth X.

I enjoyed all of those. Earth X in particular was remarkable, and seemed like a quite logical future projection of the main Marvel-616 timeline. Even though the What If? series (which did precede Captain Britain) was couched by the framing device of The Watcher peering into parallel dimensions, those were (mostly) one-off stories, a way to explore alternate story endings to well-known Marvel past events (at least at first). Occasionally things got a little silly with stories like "What If Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos Had Fought WWII in Outer Space?" Only a couple of the What If stories had any lasting significance (one of them, issue #4, "What If the Invaders Had Stayed Together After WWII?" actually turned out to be the main Marvel Universe, as did a slight variant on issue #9's story, "What If... the Avengers Had Been Formed During the 1950's?", which became, decades later, Agents of Atlas). In the latter instance, DC would have made something like that a reoccurring visit to a parallel earth protected by a different team of superheroes.

Marvel's nascent parallel-earth stories didn't really bear comparison to DC's pre-Crisis multiverse, which was characterized by different teams of superheroes being the dominant protectors of different parallel earths (and which evolved almost entirely from the annual JLA/JSA crossover stories). It was easy to identify DC's parallel earths simply by the superteams indigenous to them: JLA, JSA, Freedom Fighters/Quality Comics heroes, Fawcett heroes, etc. -- a legacy of both DC's Golden Age comics and those published by other companies whose characters' currently-published adventures had passed into publisher DC's hands.

Apart from the relatively rarely-seen Squadron Supreme (and the even more-rarely seen earths depicted in Captain Britain), Marvel didn't really have any reoccurring parallel earth characters (alternate future earths like War of the Worlds/Killraven, Guardians of the Galaxy, Days of Future Past and Marvel 2099 excepted) until the Ultimate Marvel universe.

[Colin YNWA]

Oh that they were all free huh... but alas not so having picked up my freebies, most of which are scattered on the floor as I type awaiting the return of children to add them to their collections, I also picked up my haul, which looks a little something like this.

Kamandi Challenge 4 for me the best of the series so far, utter poppycock and nonsense but done with such a sense of fun. As is Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 18 the end of this disappointing arc really a highlight to it (the disappointing arc) great conclusion added to the fact it contains the promise that Rocket Girl will be back this summer - wayhey... if that happens... Flintstones 11 is another manginficent slice of fun too, such biting rye fun, so sad next issue is the last, roll on Snagglepuss, I have high hopes for you. Paper Girls 14 fair rattles along and moves much along nicely of the two current BKV comics I'm reading this is by far the better! Kill or be Killed 8 just magnificent.

Elsewhere there is a little more to say. Firstly War Stories 23 is a fine example of whats so wrong with this series. See its a quite fantastic Ennis WWII story, up with his finest in this opening part. The trouble is the bloody art. I love it when you see an artist grow during their time on a comic, but Tomas Aira was bad when he started and after what feels like a life time on the title (probably a couple of years now?) he's still just as bad. Such a crime when you consider some of the talent Ennis has worked with in the past on his many war stories.

Black Road 9 - what hold on the penultimate part, what the... I thought this second arc felt a little like it was hurtling along. Who knows maybe this was always planned as 10 issue but it does read like it. Regardless its a bloody shame as this issue just shows how good this comic can be.

Judge Dredd - The Blessed Earth 1 - firstly didn't pick up on the artistic changem shame I liked McDaid on the previous run, mind the art in this isn't too shabby so all good. Its fantastic fun as well. Again not our Dredd but by heck its an interesting read taken on its own merits. Shame then that apparently this has been truncated from 12 - 8 issues.

Hillbilly 6 well in most hauls this would be at the top just fantastic comics. So much crammed into one comic, such a professionally crafted effort Eric Powell really is a master. Its not and that might seem an injustice until you realise I also got Unfollow 18 buy gosh they pulled it off did Rob Williams and Mike Dowling they managed to get an utterly superb ending this series deserved. So shocking, so in keeping with what's gone before. This series really should be hailed and that its been curtailed due to low sales (one would think) says much about ... not the state of the comics industry, it still produces stuff like this... rather the comics readers it serves. That this book didn't find an audience... really makes me sad...

... unlike free comics so lets mention a couple... well one does make me sad The Tick made me miss how much I used to love the old Ben Edlund stuff (I wonder would it hold up?) and that colouring OUCH! Tex also makes me sad, well only that I suspect the 'Signature Edition' this previews will cost me a fortune! Oh and OUCH that colouring job!

[Fungus]

Hm, from the outset you could see Unfollow would have a natural ending. Under the circumstances, 18 issues is a long run, really. I've no idea if it sold well or badly, don't follow that kind of thing (no pun, etc.).

One of the best series of recent times.

[Colin YNWA]

Hm, from the outset you could see Unfollow would have a natural ending. Under the circumstances, 18 issues is a long run, really. I've no idea if it sold well or badly, don't follow that kind of thing (no pun, etc.).

One of the best series of recent times.

I had a chat with Mike Dowling about it at the 40th and while he said they had managed to get to their planned ending, it was curtailed and they didn't explore the idea as they might otherwise have been able to.

But yeah it does work over the 18 issues and as they say better to leave us (me) wanting more.

[dweezil2]

Hm, from the outset you could see Unfollow would have a natural ending. Under the circumstances, 18 issues is a long run, really. I've no idea if it sold well or badly, don't follow that kind of thing (no pun, etc.).

One of the best series of recent times.

I had a chat with Mike Dowling about it at the 40th and while he said they had managed to get to their planned ending, it was curtailed and they didn't explore the idea as they might otherwise have been able to.

But yeah it does work over the 18 issues and as they say better to leave us (me) wanting more.

Yeah, Unfollow did feel rushed towards the end of the run-shame, for the most part, it has been a superb series, certainly one of my favourites for a long time!
Still, more shitty superhero comics, right? 

[Smith]

So the FCBD...Buffy sure shoots for nostalgia.TMNT,its a full fledged issue that does a ton of setup for the upcoming Trial of Krang and Dimension X story lines.A recap is a bit clumsy,but necessary here.As I keep saying,TMNT rocks and everyone should be reading it. 

[Theblazeuk]

TMNT was fun. I thought Betty and Veronica was surprisingly great!

[Hawkmumbler]

The Fantagraphics sampler was extraoridinary! Much to take away from it. Oh, and RIP Pepe, you are free now.

[Theblazeuk]

Was that the BOOM! one with Mouse Guard?

They are always something special. I found the hardback one from 2014 in a charity shop last year, one of the nicest things in my collection.

[Hawkmumbler]

Nah, Fantagraphics. Matt Furie's Funeral For Pepe was the drawing point for me, the rest was all new.

[positronic]

I always look forward to checking out the FCBD books from Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly. These often contain material that you just won't find in the average comic shop without specifically looking for it (and even then it's hit or miss).

Because they tend to be promoting work that appears in more expensive graphic collections, this is the only way to sample these creators' work -- most of them have no floppy comic version available apart from the FCBD giveaway.

The CBLDF Defend Comics FCBD book is always interesting, too - as is their annual edition of Liberty Comics.