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New Comic Book Day Megathread

Started by The Adventurer, 08 March, 2012, 09:36:36 AM

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Tjm86

Has anyone else given Death Orb or Infinite Dark a try?  Both read like strips that would not be completely out of place in Tooth on one level and TBH I've taken a punt on these based on online reviews.  I'm wondering though why Dark Horse and Image took a chance (more so with Death Orb than Infinite Dark).

Artwork on both is quite variable, Dark delivering better quality than Orb and Dark seems to have much more interesting potential.  Orb comes across as another poor man's Mad Max rip off that has been woefully overhyped to me.

I think that this is one of those occasions when expectation has outlived experience.  I mean, I hope that something comes about that makes the recommendation make sense but at the moment I'm really not seeing it.  Infinite Dark shows moments of promise but Dark Orb just seems riddled with cliches.

I guess when I say 'not out of place in tooth' I mean more along the lines of 'during the nineties when the likes of Junker and Crusade plagued the pages.

Theblazeuk

I started Dark Orb and bounced off hard for exactly the reasons you describe. Regression is still a damn good read. Also started catching up on Hellboy & the BPRD, glad I got around to it as I'd put it off given that BPRD was effectively detailing the apocalypse that Hellboy was always building up to.

Colin YNWA

Sick of reading a tried-out comic
Another drippie fail, a head full of zombie
I met a strange broader, he made me nervous
He took me in and looked at me steadfast
And he said

Do you come to comics in a blunder?
And get rubbish that makes you thunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear my wonders?
I'd better review, you better think them over.


Christ only knows where that song choice came from. Given some of the rythming not a good place that's for sure! Anyway dunn't matter none as it only a wee haul this time. Small but perfect.

Cinema Purgatorio 16 is still firmly 4 out of 5 and know I know it'll be done in two issues time I'm looking forward to reading the 4 as individual complete stories to get a better sense of them.

Immortal Hulk 10 was good, but frankly dragged out what we knew was coming and therefore felt like a tease. But we're there now and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Hillbilly - Red eyed witchery from beyond 3
continues to mark this series as not quite as good as the ongoing BUT Eric Powell is back on art so its still bloomin' excellent.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 38 damn when this comic is good it is such unfettered delight and this opening episode to a new arc suggests we got another great tale coming up. But its not quite book of the haul cos this is a...

Batman and The Maxx haul and that can only mean Batman and The Maxx 3 is book of the haul I mean this was good before but this issue marks up a notch it opens astonishing and then takes us to Batman's Outback for the last few pages and in doing so makes entirely clear why Maxx had to crossover with Bats and quite what Sam Keith has to bring to The Dark knight that no one else, NO ONE could of done. To say this is unfathomable undiluted genius is to undervalue it. I hope I never truly understand this but I will always love trying to work it all out.




Apestrife

#2448
BATMAN: DAMNED #2
Other than it being a bit too wordy (like one or two words too much) at times, I really liked this one. Continues what the first one started and goes all out from there. Really feels like Batman is loosing it in this one, and Constantine is having a ball narrating it. Azzarello really does a really good job making humans more horrifying than monsters. One scene in particular stood out, which I found refreshingly effective (since it's usually played for laughs). The ending was also very fascinating to me, how it manages to make violence look really scary even without going very far with things. Both a bit that it comes from a very dark place, and a detail which does a good bit of foreshadowing. Writing aside. Lee Bermejo's art... It could easily serve as a reason alone to buy this book. Cannot praise it enough. Marvelous stuff.

Sons of El Topo Vol. 1: Cain
Comic book sequel to Jodorowsky's El Topo, with Ladronn helping Alejandro putting his story into pictures. And it's really good. Takes place where the movie left off, in a way I think works well for both readers who's seen the movie as well as those who haven't. Has the classic (or perhaps it's typical) Jodo-stuff of bad people in black, good white, cruel violence and rape, but also some very beautiful scenes. Especially one involving puppetry. I cannot wait for the next part to come out.

The Metabaron Vol. 3: The Meta-Guardianess and the Techno-Baron
The new Metabaron story is by Jodorowsky, but written by Jerry Frissen. I think Jerry does a good job, but it's not as tight as Alejandro would plot it. Most notably a bit less eccentric, which I kind of felt fit the story. Has a couple of twists and turns and some tragedy towards the end, which ends on an interesting note. I just wish some of the characters from vol 1-2 came to better use. But all and all, a good read. Just wish it was a bit more insane.

Colin YNWA

I have read comics almost every night
Down throughout these centuries.
That is when you say, oh yes yet again
Can you stop them being a travesty?

Well good comics I review at home
In the Tharg free thrillout zone.
Wish I could be reading now
But I need to tell you about the ones I love.

Dub-a-dub-a-dum-dum
Comics can be so much fun
Dub-a-dum-dum-dub-a-dum
Comics can be so much fun
Dub-a-dub-a-dum-dum
Comics can be so much fun
Dub-a-dum-dum-dub-a-dum
Comics can be so much fun
You wish you had my comics  for Christmas.


Christmas eve at the in-laws and a quiet evening to catch up with ma haul - not a bad one either...

... though hopefully Klaus and the Crying Snowman isn't a bad omen. Why I keep assuming this X-Mas based fare will get better just cos I love Gmozz I don't know - but hey how. Everything else is grand...

...well okay James Bond Origin 4 is just okay BUT Jeff Parker and co give me enough hope as the comic is getting better and is just about hangin' in there. While at James Bond 2 regular there's fortunately a great improvement on the first issue and this second is a ripe snorting blast. A real Bond action thriller presented well.

Planet of the Apes - Simian Age 1 (is this a one shot or will there be more?) keeps up the standard of Boom!'s Apes comics with this lovely collection of shorts. Another one-shot (possibly) is Black Hammer - Cthu-louise whicj similar to the previous comic keeps up Jeff Lemires almost perfect record with Black Hammer comics... okay sure Quantum Age 5 is quite as good as what's gone before as it feels like its there to serve up the finale a little... but it serves it up well and can't wait to see how this series concludes.

Lone Ranger 3 may well deserve comic of the haul - its a great story and does a glorious job of introducing a villian that I think will be an utter chiller as LR&T serve some fun mischief... however there can be only one book of the haul this time...

...oh my giddy Aunt has Matt Wagner left us on tender hooks this month with Mage - Hero Denied 14 ... oh biy oh boy I don't think we can get a happy ending here... can we... will we... way to build the tension for the final issue Mr Wagner - just genius.

MERRY COMICMAS YOU LOVELY LOT!

Colin YNWA

Micro haul this time, not even worth a song, but by George have I got two gems to share with you.

Immortal Hulk 11 an examination of the hell we make for ourselves (ourselves being Humankind) I can see those right wing snowflake Comicgaters getting their knickers into a right old twist about this one. So that makes it well worth reading alone BUT read it cos it brilliant comics instead and just enjoy the rest.

Mars Attacks 3 Arh beautiful father and son bonding while a troop of surviving army soldiers are graphically torn apart by giant space bugs, or vapourised by giggling alien dome heads. Only comics can be this good. And my giddy Aunt the colouring in this issue by Chris and Liz Schweizer is just superb!

Apestrife

League of extraordinary gentlemen vol 4: The tempest #4
Reads a bit like The black dossier, but through news paper funnies, one pagers and so on. Took a while to get the hang of, but worked well enough. Fun read. Especially the 3D-stuff. Only two issues left now. Looking forward to see how they choose to end things.

Apestrife

The green lantern #3
Hal is busting [spoiler]god for buying earth, which was stolen in #2[/spoiler], and it goes from there. Simply put, brilliant. The book I look forward to each month now. Shaping up to become a similar book as Morrisons Allstar superman and Azzarello/Chiangs Wonder Woman. Fantastic stories about characters I didnt think Id never get :).

The Adventurer

Quote from: Apestrife on 09 January, 2019, 08:59:22 PM
League of extraordinary gentlemen vol 4: The tempest #4
Reads a bit like The black dossier, but through news paper funnies, one pagers and so on. Took a while to get the hang of, but worked well enough. Fun read. Especially the 3D-stuff. Only two issues left now. Looking forward to see how they choose to end things.

Did you spot the blatant 2000 AD cameo in issue 04?

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Apestrife

Quote from: The Adventurer on 13 January, 2019, 04:39:04 AM
Did you spot the blatant 2000 AD cameo in issue 04?

[spoiler]Nemesis[/spoiler]?  :)

The Adventurer


THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

Apestrife

#2456
Quote from: The Adventurer on 13 January, 2019, 05:11:37 PM
Quote from: Apestrife on 13 January, 2019, 08:40:53 AM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 13 January, 2019, 04:39:04 AM
Did you spot the blatant 2000 AD cameo in issue 04?

[spoiler]Nemesis[/spoiler]?  :)

Yup!

Gosh. Went into reading Tempest with such expectations getting to read sci fi stuff. But it seems I have to do with [spoiler] this Bond business.[/spoiler] Still enjoy it. Hope there's a killer ending :)

Colin YNWA

More comics means more whittering and so here I am telling youse what you should be readin' and what you should be avoiding.

There's only one comic in my haul that needs avoiding entirely and that's Judge Dredd - Toxic 3 - heavens to betsy is this terrible Dredd - YUCK. The story is bland and misses Dredd by a mile for me. I've happily read Dredd by IDW that was clearly not trying to be our Dredd and enjoy a fresh deliberately different take. Here however its not trying to be new, at least by my reading - Paul Jenkins just misses the mark... or has only read Millar and Morrison Dredd!

One comic that does need avoiding but does fall into the bland category is Turok 1. I mean I've tried Turok before as the idea appeals, Native American fighting dinosaurs in a lost word. Throw in some cowboys and this has gotta be a winner right... alas not so. The cowboys are dull cliches, the action tired and the art just competant.... I'm a sucker for this concept can some one please just get the excecution right... this is on watch already.

Speaking of on watch we have James Bond Origins 5. Its a good comic but lacks the energy I'm after. Here our proto-Bond shows in effective detail the challenges of bombing a German destoryer with a stolen Stuka... its pretty solid but this shouldn't be solid this should be breath-taking, action packed romp, considered and thought out be damned.. its pace is just off, still once again the next issue box has suckered me in... hope its worth sticking with!

Criminal 1 is as fantastically executed as you expect for a comic from Brubaker and Phillips. Its just its a story I've heard / seen / been shown a gazillion times before. Jaded old time crook forced into one last desperate heist... is a little tired itself alas.

Bumpy start huh. Well at least things get better. First we have Dick Tracy Dead or Alive 3 and the various Allred's and Tommaso remember that intrigue forged with fun = good comics. Moon Girl and Devil Dino 39 (how great this comic even has a 39 in this day and age!) isn't this series best but its fun and sets up an exciting direction for this arc.

Three cockers to wrap up, absolute cockers. Immortal Hulk 12 and this comic is crying for re-read.So many ideas and themes that I'm desperate to get this all read again but will wait until we're done, but lets hope its not for some time yet and this is dense, exciting smart comics from Al Ewing and co. Mars Attack 4 is smart but in a different way. Its light and fresh and exciting but has such a powerful well observed and emotioning engaging story Kyle Starks and Chris Schweizer have an under-appreciated classic on their hands here.


Book of the haul however is Gunning for Hits 1 what a fantastic first issue. Great characters, sharp snappy dialogue and a wonderful ending that just pulls you in for next time. It set in the late 80s music boom and has a lot of info to share to inform you about how its word works and it does this in a refreshing honest, info heavy way that is a joy to read. Just a great subject for a great comic.

Theblazeuk

Die by Kieron Gillen is a good read so far and lovely art.

Link Prime

Quote from: Theblazeuk on 28 January, 2019, 08:30:28 PM
Die by Kieron Gillen is a good read so far and lovely art.

Bit of buzz about that book alright, will defo pick up the first collection.