Whats everyone reading?

[BadlyDrawnKano]

With Tom Strong I expected it to get meta, or suddenly become horrific, but I'm 19 issues in now and it just seems like it's Alan Moore having fun, playing around with mad superhero ideas, and I'm enjoying the crazy plots which nearly always come with a happy ending. I've still got 17 issues to go so it might go horribly wrong, but otherwise I think this was Moore allowing himself to write something that wasn't bleak or disturbing for once!

You've got it exacxtly. I think people would enjoy Tom Strong more if they didn't know who had written it. Moore's name carries certain expectations of metanarrative or genre deconstruction or whatever, but most of the America's Best line is just him having fun, simple as that.

You're just about at the absolute peak, BDK - issues 20-22 are the absolute high-water mark of the series for me. After that, Moore bows out, and a series of other writers take over. Their contributions vary massively, which is probably why the rest of the series feels less essential - Peter Hogan's probably the best, doing a very passable imitation of Moore (they brainstormed most of the plots together). There's a Michael Moorcock two-parter and a Steve Moore one-off that are just... not good. Which is surprising, given the pedigree of those writers, but there you go. Moore comes back to write the final issue, and without any spoilers, it's a crossover spectacular that might be a bit lost on you if you haven't read any of the rest of the America's Best line - particularly Promethea.

After that, please try to track down a copy of The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong - it's glorious stuff by Hogan, Sprouse and a plethora of guest artists (collected in a TPB called America's Best Comics). Then Hogan gamely kept the ball rolling a little longer with Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom, and Tom Strong and the Planet of Peril (this latter is a return to Terra Obscura, from issues 11-12; but you should read Hogan 's two Terra Obscura series first).

Thanks for all of that, I have to admit to being disappointed to hear that Moore bows out for such a long period, I'd noticed Leah Moore had written a short one off and due to the list of writers at the beginning presumed that something similar would happen with them, and not that they were responsible for entire issues. Still, hopefully I'll like the rest a fair bit, and will definitely track down your other suggestions - Promethea in full is a little bit painfully expensive, so I'm not sure when though!

[BadlyDrawnKano]

I'm up to issue 25 now, I loved the Moore three parter but did immediately notice that there was a drop in quality with the Hogan issues, I enjoyed them well enough and the characterisation was still decent, but the plotting was nowhere near as innovative.

I'm taking a short break before finishing it off and read Hawkeye Vol.4 by Matt Fraction and Vol.5 by Jeff Lemire over the weekend. I have to say I'm not really a fan of Hawkeye (and really don't think Jeremy Renner's very good in the films) but I found the first volume of Matt Fraction's run in a charity shop and really enjoyed it. The big problem with the series is that Clint Barton's okay but not that interesting, and I much preferred the issues where Kate Bishop was the central character, and sometimes Fraction features a scene where a main character is repeatedly shot but the next issue they're in hospital and quickly recover, and given that they're both normal human beings and not superheroes felt a bit much. The fifth volume by Lemire is fairly good as well, but he left the series after the second, so I'll pick that up soon, but I don't know if there is currently a Hawkeye comic being released, or if it's any good.

[BadlyDrawnKano]

Bitch Planet Vol. 1 and 2 - Absolutely loved this, and I can't remember the last time I was so tense while reading a comic as I had no idea how it would end and if it would be bleak or not. The only frustration is that Vol.3 is supposed to be finished one day, but Kelly Sue DeConnick has been busy with other projects (and according to one twitter comment, "real life", but I've not been able to find out quite what was meant by that). Still, hopefully one day it'll eventually come out...).

[BadlyDrawnKano]

I finished Tom Strong and perhaps it was due to lowered expectations but I enjoyed a fair amount of it, the stories by Joe Casey and Brian K.Vaughan especially, and the only one I really struggled with was by Steve Aylett, it reminded me of the Garth Marenghi quote "I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards, every one of them" as it was so on the nose and spelt out all of the themes it was dealing with, and that was a surprise as I quite liked his novel Lint.

[Tjm86]

Still plodding through Stephen King's oeuvre and the latest read, The Dark Half.  One of those I never got around to back in the day and more fool me.  One of his subtly disturbing ones.  The usual selection of New York and New England scenes. 

A bit more of a supernatural one in some respects although as always with King that side of things is downplayed.  I mean you know that there is something a bit creepy / funky going on but it's also natural enough on one level that it feels real.

It's a bit like the Dark Tower sequence (just under half way through that).  There's that mixture of science fiction, fantasy and horror that makes it a little difficult to pigeon hole.  In the case of George Stark, the 'monster' of this piece, you can see shades of the villain of the Stand and Dark Tower in him, even some of the more disturbing characters of the Talisman (another one that shares that sort of hybrid "where the hell do you categorise this one" vibe with Dark Tower.

[JohnW]

Still plodding through Stephen King's oeuvre and the latest read, The Dark Half. 

I remember liking The Dark Half, even though the hero is, yet again, a successful writer. How many books does that make, Stevie?
I'm rereading The Body and I'd forgotten that the narrator is a novelist.
Just in case that detail slips the reader's mind, there's a whole lengthy chapter comprising one of the narrator's early short stories. As a digression it adds nothing, but as a self-indulgent way to derail the story and piss off the reader it works remarkably well.
And now I'm suddenly thinking of all those shorter stories where the narrator – usually not a professional writer – is recounting horrible goings-on for our benefit. You know the sort of thing:
'I'm now trapped in this cabin and I think I can hear them scrabbling around outside in the dark. I'm just jotting this down on a yellow legal pad before they break in...'

The hasty jottings then go on for page after page after page, often closing with something along the lines of, 'I've no more time! They're here! Oh my God! Aargh!'

I'm probably being unfair to Mr. King, but I still get the impression that New England is largely inhabited by abominable things and by people who write compulsively and at great length in times of stress.

[Barrington Boots]

That's one of my favourite tropes in horror fiction. HPL himself is pretty guilty of it. I absolutely love the idea that as some horrible thing busts through the window someone is taking time to write 'It's coming through the window! The eyes! The horror!'

To link back to 2000ad I also love the early issues of stuff like Flesh where people say 'Oh no, the pincers! They're cutting me in half!' or something.

[JohnW]

It would really jazz up a memorial service.

Barrington Boots has gone to his reward, but his last words remain to inspire us.

'Oh no, the pincers! They're cutting me in half!'

Rest in peace, Barry.

[Dark Jimbo]

Still plodding through Stephen King's oeuvre and the latest read, The Dark Half. 

I remember liking The Dark Half, even though the hero is, yet again, a successful writer. How many books does that make, Stevie?

I've been reading a lot of King myself and started wondering about this - it's so tropey it's ridiculous. There's Ben Mears from Salem's Lot; Jack Torrance from The Shining; Bill Denbrough from It; Paul Sheldon from Misery; Thaddeus from the aforementioned Dark Half; Bobbi Anderson from The Tommyknockers; Mike Noonan from Bag of Bones; Scott Landon from Lisey's Story;  More Rainey from Secret Window, Secret Garden; Thurston Marshall in Under the Dome, and, if you're so inclined, Stephen King in The Dark Tower series.

And that's just professional writer characters from the main novels. You've also got the likes of the eponymous Billy Summers, and Jake Epping from 11/22/63, who are writing novels during the downtime of their adventures...

[JohnW]

Red in The Shawshank Redemption not only wrote out most of the story before his release but shoved what was presumably quite a big roll of cheap stationery up his arse so he could get it out of prison undetected.
Neither Stephen King's nor his characters' prose is sufficiently succinct to bear rectal insertion.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Speak for yourself.

[The Legendary Shark]

The Brown Mile?

[BadlyDrawnKano]

Strangers In Paradise - I was a big fan of Terry Moore's Rachel Rising but hadn't read anything else by him, so when I saw this had been republished I bought it asap, I'm only half way through at the moment but am enjoying it an enormous amount. I got it for just under £17 from Speedyhen, and considering it's 480 pages I think it's a huge bargain, and I'm already looking forward to getting the second volume when it's reprinted later this year.

[JohnW]

I've always been in two minds about getting into this.
On the one hand: big solid lump of non-superhero comics for twenty quid.
On the other: divergent opinions I've heard down the years.

The impression I get is that Strangers In Paradise is firmly rooted in the nineties, and I didn't like the nineties. Then there's a random comment I just read describing it as 'the kitschy soap opera version of Locas (from Love and Rockets)'.
Locas delighted me when I finally gave it my time a few years ago, and I don't want to have anything to do with something that's comparable but doesn't quite match up.
I had a look at some of Terry Moore's art while I was dithering and, pretty though it is, Jaime Hernandez it ain't.
Some other time, perhaps, when I'm feeling more indulgent.

(In my dithering I accidentally purchased the Kindle edition of one of the SiP volumes and instantly had to ask for a refund. Damn these clumsy fingers of mine, and damn Amazon for making it too easy.)

[BadlyDrawnKano]

I've always been in two minds about getting into this.
On the one hand: big solid lump of non-superhero comics for twenty quid.
On the other: divergent opinions I've heard down the years.

The impression I get is that Strangers In Paradise is firmly rooted in the nineties, and I didn't like the nineties. Then there's a random comment I just read describing it as 'the kitschy soap opera version of Locas (from Love and Rockets)'.
Locas delighted me when I finally gave it my time a few years ago, and I don't want to have anything to do with something that's comparable but doesn't quite match up.
I had a look at some of Terry Moore's art while I was dithering and, pretty though it is, Jaime Hernandez it ain't.
Some other time, perhaps, when I'm feeling more indulgent.

(In my dithering I accidentally purchased the Kindle edition of one of the SiP volumes and instantly had to ask for a refund. Damn these clumsy fingers of mine, and damn Amazon for making it too easy.)

I've never got in to Love and Rockets as there seems to be so much of it, and I didn't know where to start. I plan to rectify that soon (it's my birthday next month and family always get me Amazon vouchers) and the first volume is really cheap, so shall look forward to checking it out.

From what I read on wikipedia Strangers In Paradise seems a little more reality based (there's certainly none of the magic realism that's mention on the L&R wikipedia page, not that I dislike the device) and I feel the characters are really well written. I'm very fond of Terry Moore's art too, I think he's superb at capturing quite nuanced emotional moments, though occasionally it can be a little cartoonish (and not when it's deliberately trying to be).

I didn't really feel that it was majorly influenced by the nineties, certainly there's very few pop culture references, and if it is of it's time it's more that the women have to put up with obnoxious comments in the work place, or are treated only as sex objects by some of the men (though not by all, I should stress).

I've almost finished the first volume now and I do have some minor issues with it, but overall it's something I'm very fond of, largely as I've enjoyed spending time with these characters so much, and reading a comic where not every storyline is about the hero preventing the destruction of the universe (not that I am knocking such a thing, and am  very fond of many!).