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Whats everyone reading?

Started by Paul faplad Finch, 30 March, 2009, 10:04:36 PM

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GlovePuppet

I was reading some Sci-Fi (Heinlein, Haldeman, Herbert), but I pulled out my Father's collection of 2000AD (70s to the 90s).

So I'm reading old 2000AD.  :lol: :P

Colin YNWA

Well a week with a fair amount of public transport has meant I've read my first section of 'Shade the Changing Man' 1-19 in just 5 days and chuff me its an interesting read. If you ever want to see an artists development over 18 months I can't think of a better example. Chris Bachalo's art comes on in leaps and bounds as he gets more confident. The only thing I've read quite like this, from the perspective of seeing an artist develop, is the early Cerebus stuff in the first trade.

As for story I was a little disappointed with the early issues. They are very good but they start to become a little repetative. Another aspect of American life exposed to madness, deal with it move on. It really comes to life when Lenny arrives, not because of Lenny herself persay, though she is an interesting character but its a useful benchmark. After this the book starts to broaden its scope, or well in fact narrow it and becomes a closer study of the characters and all the richer because of it. The issues from 8 onwards are superb mainly because of the wonderfully complex relationship between Kathy and Shade.

That said the American Scream storyline wraps up very nicely and my oh my in Troy Grenzer Pete Milligan creates one of the great comicbook villians for me.

Reading a few other bits and bobs before returning to the second chunk up to issue 50 which I'm really looking forward to.

Richmond Clements

Recently finished Cancertown, which was pretty good.
Currently reading a history book on the Samurai and Ian Rankin's Dark Entries. I'd guessed the twist to be [spoiler]that they're all dead[/spoiler], but he's just got rid of that halfway through, which was rather pleasing.

Satanist

Just got 3 volumes of Lovecraft off the Mrs for my Bday. Aint ever read any of that so looking forward to getting stuck in.
Hmm, just pretend I wrote something witty eh?

strontium_dog_90

I got a couple of "Legends of the Law" last week, the old DC version of Dredd. Not heard good things about them, but the storyline I got was written by Wagner and Grant, and I thought it was great fun - just like 2000ad Dredd but with a few changes that I thought actually worked well. Anyone else read any of them, and is the stuff written by other writers really as bad as everyone makes out?

SuperSurfer

Quote from: strontium_dog_90 on 22 April, 2010, 05:51:04 PM
I got a couple of "Legends of the Law" last week, the old DC version of Dredd. Not heard good things about them, but the storyline I got was written by Wagner and Grant, and I thought it was great fun - just like 2000ad Dredd but with a few changes that I thought actually worked well. Anyone else read any of them, and is the stuff written by other writers really as bad as everyone makes out?

The first few Wagner/Grant DC Dredd's issues were great in my opinion. Shame that they haven't been reprinted. As I have said before round here, it was a treat to read Wagner/Grant Dredd with entirely different pacing in longer episodes. As for the issues that followed – well, they just didn't work at all for me.

strontium_dog_90

Quote from: SuperSurfer on 22 April, 2010, 06:25:16 PM
Quote from: strontium_dog_90 on 22 April, 2010, 05:51:04 PM
I got a couple of "Legends of the Law" last week, the old DC version of Dredd. Not heard good things about them, but the storyline I got was written by Wagner and Grant, and I thought it was great fun - just like 2000ad Dredd but with a few changes that I thought actually worked well. Anyone else read any of them, and is the stuff written by other writers really as bad as everyone makes out?

The first few Wagner/Grant DC Dredd's issues were great in my opinion. Shame that they haven't been reprinted. As I have said before round here, it was a treat to read Wagner/Grant Dredd with entirely different pacing in longer episodes. As for the issues that followed – well, they just didn't work at all for me.


Yeah, I suspected the non Wagner/Grant stuff wouldn't be very good - the same shop had a few issues by other writers, and I didn't get them - remembered reading that they weren't very good. The story arc I got, though - great stuff.

It would be great to see the good stuff reprinted - that and the Case Files would be a great one to pass on to the young ones out there, to get them into Dredd  :)

TordelBack

Brubaker and Philips' Criminal.  Read the whole thing in one sitting.  Absolutely fantastic. 

Kerrin

Looks good, volume one ordered from amazon, cheers TB.

I'm about three chapters into "The Dispossessed" by Ursula LeGuin and it's great stuff. Hadn't realised, till I just looked at the Wiki page, that it's part of the same universe as "The Left Hand of Darkness", which I thought was a belter. I thought that (the left hand) must have had some influence on Iain M Banks when he came up with the concept of The Culture.

TordelBack

QuoteI'm about three chapters into "The Dispossessed" by Ursula LeGuin and it's great stuff.

My absolute favourite SF novel.  It's part of what's retrospectively known as the Hainish sequence (as they tend to involves Mobiles of the Ekumen, based on the planet Hain), much of which is contained in short stories of unbelievable brilliance.  It's let down only by the first two novels, which are only so-so, but best of all all the elements work on their own.

Kerrin

Woo-hoo! Just checked out The Hainish Cycle on Wiki and it looks like I got me some book buying to get done. I'm chuffed to bits there's so much more of this to read, cheers for the heads up TB. I think I'll start with some short stories, "The Wind's Twelve Quarters" methinks.

Dandontdare

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 22 April, 2010, 11:45:35 AM
Recently finished Cancertown, which was pretty good.

Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. The character-specific lettering was a little annoying after a while, but a dry script and some great looking nasties - I'm a sucker for big eye-ball creatures!



Radbacker

back on the Barker again, reading Imajica as there's a new print just out down here.  Fraking brilliant but very disturbed writter.  No one can get across squeamish horror and aching beuty in the same paragraph like Barker can.  last time I read this I was 16 years old and though it was worth another read (having recently been on a Barker kick after reading the Comic adaptaion of The Great and Secret Show and the Novella Nightbreed again.)

Cu Radbacker

strontium_dog_90

I've just read Batman: Lovers and Madmen - which, despite being yet another account of the "first" time Bruce Wayne meets The Joker, is pretty fun. One quibble, though - it kind of writes The Killing Joke out of continuity. Why would ANYONE want to write one of the greatest graphic novels ever out of continuity??

Colin YNWA

Which, on a bit of a tangent has apparently been paid tribute to in a recent episode of South Park.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/04/22/swipe-file-south-park-vs-the-killing-joke/