Whats everyone reading?

[NapalmKev]

Shakara - The Destroyer.


Absolutely stunning! Mad as hell storyline, incredible artwork. I rank this among the very best that 2000AD has given us over the years.


Cheers

[Theblazeuk]

Just finished off the comics I got for Christmas.

Saga book 1 of this much discussed and recommended series from Brian K Vaughn. I liked it! Magic v Tech meets Romeo & Juliet is perhaps not a gripping concept to begin with but there's some imaginative scene setting and character building at work even in these early stages. Artwork isn't entirely my cup of tea - colours lean too heavily on the bland pastels for me - but does work well when given grander scenes to depict. Would have read more if I'd had it to hand.

Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits had its moments but isn't quite the stone-cold classic I remembered. Very ambitious and artistic in the Delano-scripted earlier half (though the Meat Man section retreads the same ground as the Fear Machine), particularly where Constantine meets his 'Golden child'. In a way this sees the death of JC's old cast of friends and allies, the hippy folk that he met on the road and will never see again.

Ennis takes over and in short shrift, the weird trippy spiritualism is put aside for the gritty, decaying punk themes that will run throughout the series. Delano's genius was always his weakest point too and its perhaps for the better that these pleasant, weird non-conformist folk are largely relegated to brief references for the established readership to get. They'd only end up dead anyway. From what I remember there will be no Mercury or Zed from here on out, despite the great stories they were a part of in the beginning (particularly Zed's role in the heaven/hell shower-of-bastards storyline that kicked off Constantine's stand alone title). Of course dead and doublecrossed friends still linger as a theme.

Hellblazer is always a wordy comic, bringing its world to life with words rather than art for the most part, but this is really pronounced here and John hits upon his brilliant (and I still loved it) scheme to triplecross the Three Lords of Hell into curing his cancer almost too quickly. Looking forward to more Ennis collections soon however and frankly, giving the devil the finger (and then regretting it and shitting yourself the next day) is the best summation of John Constantine you could get.

[O Lucky Stevie!]

Warren Ellis's text heavy graphic novel Gun Machine*. Less the Bill Burroughsian rom com of Crooked Little Vein & more Chester Himes meets Transmetropolitan. In fact the  arrival of the [spoiler]CSUs [/spoiler]who speak just like Warren Ellis characters in the second fifty pages was initially quite distracting, but knocked off the remaining two hundred in a second sitting.

A dark dissection of the American psyche that's nevertheless rather enjoyable, 30 minutes in the future stuff.

*Well, there is a picture on the cover. 

[Theblazeuk]

I really enjoyed Gun Machine, though it is full off Warren Ellis characters. Fascinating stuff regarding the history of New York and the ritualistic interpretations of geography.

[Tiplodocus]

CHARLIE BROOKER - I CAN MAKE YOU HATE.

"David Cameron is a lizard - Part 2" had everybody on the train staring at me as I was convulsed with laughter.

[Recrewt]

Just finished off the comics I got for Christmas.

Saga book 1 of this much discussed and recommended series from Brian K Vaughn. I liked it! Magic v Tech meets Romeo & Juliet is perhaps not a gripping concept to begin with but there's some imaginative scene setting and character building at work even in these early stages. Artwork isn't entirely my cup of tea - colours lean too heavily on the bland pastels for me - but does work well when given grander scenes to depict. Would have read more if I'd had it to hand.

I have also just finished reading the first Saga tpb.  As you say, you can't move around the comics world at the moment without hearing praise for this and I thought it was justly deserved.  The universe that they have built is wonderfully diverse and I really like the mix of science and magic that they have used. 

I personally thought the artwork was great, I know what you mean about the grander scenes as there are some that are just brilliant (e.g. The Stalk at the end of chapter 5).  What really sets this above other comics is how realistic the relationship between Alana and Marko is.  Despite the crazy setting, it somehow felt real and it has drawn me in so that I will pick up the next tpb to see what happens to them next.

I can see why some people might think that this has been a bit overrated but I certainly agree that it is in the top 10 of comics that are currently released.

[Theblazeuk]

Well its the old hype problem ain't it. One recommendation peaks your interest, 30,000 explodes your expectations.

[ZenArcade]

Having a bit of jip posting on this topic....hope this forum isn't getting fed up with me already.
Anyway I agree with Napamkev about Shakara. I've been away from the prog for nearly 20 years and over the past year I've been getting back in in a big way. The 2 story lines (after Dredd of course, loved the Pit) which really caught my eye were Glimmer Rats and Shakara. I loved the visceral, hopelessness of Glimmer Rats and the stunning artwork. But Shakara is on an order of magnitude better than much else I've seen (so far). The Flint artwork coupled with the tangential plot has me totally engaged. Love it.

[Fragminion]

Old GiJoe trades and Dredd Case Files. Hellboy trades and old Shazam and Aquaman comics.

New stuff sucks.

[sheldipez]

Finished the entire Before Watchmen, only Silk Spectre is what I would call is being plain "bad" (it was bloody awful IMO), just too much of it (Comedian, Ozymandias, Doctor Manhattan) was pointless as they all fall into the prequel trap of being too focused on filling gaps in time that no one needed to know about (or really cared) rather than telling a good story.

That said I really enjoyed the Minutemen series, that was the most substantial and stood on it's own, if you were to read only one of them I'd recommend that. Nite Owl & Rorschach are worth a read (maybe three star books if I'm in a generous mood) and Moloch & Dollar Bill have serve no purpose of existing whatsoever and should be buried.

[HOO-HAA]

Onto Caliban's War, second book in James S.A.Corey's Expanse series. Simply put, this is hard-boiled space opera. Great characters, great storyline and an exceptional writing style throughout. Can't recommend this series enough. 

[Davek]

Managed to pick up the first 3 issues of Ballistic - was going to try and wait for the trade but got em cheap. Its a cyber/bio-punk story with noir theme. Its adult in places (no bad thing for me). Some of the future speak dialogue is crazy as well. It reminded me a bit of Downtown which I read a Christmas; Ballistic is a bit rawer though.

[Judge Brian]

I'm reading the Last Apprentice book series ( Spook's _ _ _ _ _ ) over there in the UK. I'm waiting for my local book store to get the paperback for book 11. It's very dark for a children's book, dealing with Satan & ritual sacrifice. I really can't wait to see how it ends.

[GrinningChimera]

Sinister Dexter - Eurocrash

I love that the story is an epic, at least in terms of Sin Dex. Great art, excellent stories. I only wish they would make more!

[radiator]

Just finished up listening to the audiobook of Difficult Men by Brett Martin - a dissection of the 'third golden age' of TV - the rise (then slight fall, then rise) of HBO and the proliferation of sophisticated, complex, literary 'visual novels' that became popular around the turn of the millennium, tracing the form's origins from Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere in the early 1980s to two series that the book really focuses on - The Sopranos and The Wire, and also touching on many other series such as Six Feet Under, True Blood, Deadwood, and the subsequent HBO imitator networks like FX and AMC, with sections devoted to Mad Men, The Shield and Breaking Bad.

Most of the focus of the book is on the evolution of the 'showrunner' - and details the careers and working practices of David Chase, David Simon and Matthew Weiner. Not surprisingly, they all come across as beligerant, grumpy, hot-tempered egomaniacs, with the exception of Vince Gilligan and Alan Ball, who seem like thoroughly decent chaps.

Overall I really enjoyed the book, made all the more enjoyable as I'm just reaching the end of a mammoth rewatch of every episode of The Sopranos, though I had to skip certain sections for fear of spoilers, as I've never seen The Wire or Deadwood, but now fully intend to. It's also made me really want to revisit Six Feet Under (of which I've only seen s1&2).