Whats everyone reading?

[Smith]

I quite like the HH stuff because, in a really ham-fisted way, there's almost a Shakespearan quality to the Primarchs in that they're all totally awesome dudes but one terrible flaw brings about their downfall. There's a lot of 'what ifs' hinted at - what if Magnus had been a little less hubristic? What if the Emperor had been less of a bellend to Angron? and so on. I would say though of the 30 books I've done so far I'd guess 10 are essential, 10 have plot-but-are-a-bit-boring and the other 10 are basically rubbish. I feel I've come this far though so I should finish.

And Angel Exterminatus is a prequel to Storm of Iron. There are probably several more prequels like that.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

Many decades ago, I loved The Uncanny X-Men. I think I must have been about twelve when I discovered them, and for about four years- up to the start of the John Romita Jnr run (around #190 ish) I was a superfan.

It all really kicked off for me with #111- the circus cover, John Byrne, etc- and I spent many a happy hour around London comic shops filling gaps. I think at one point i had the vast majority of them from Giant Size #1 up to #190.

Over the years, i sold them all of course, to pay rent and wotnot, but i always wanted to get a little run of the Paul Smith issues- which were the absolute peak of my passionate love at that time.

Well, now i do. So I've been reading those... and while obviously Chris Claremont cannot help but over write everything, bugger me if I'm not loving them all over again.

The weird thing was, that despite Wolverine being absolutely my favourite character- just a few years later when i was still into comics, his solo series came out, and I didnt read a single issue. Never had done, until about... two hours ago. Today, ESSENTIAL WOLVERINE VOLUME ONE turned up- won for pittance from Ebay- and I've just read #1-5.

I'd heard of this 'Madripoor' thing, and 'Patch', but never really spent much time bothering with it. Wish I had done now, because despite Claremont's usual flaws, this is bloody fantastic comics. John Buscema! Inked by Al Williamson and Klaus Janson! Fights! Drug running! No silly costumes! (Except Silver Samurai) It's lovely. And I've got 18 issues left to read- all in glorious black and white, unencumbered by lousily printed colours.

It's immediately drawn me in to a world I should have been a part of- and would have loved- at the age of nineteen. Such a shame it's taken me til hitting fifty to acknowledge it.

I think I'll be buying volume two well in advance of finishing this one.

SBT

[Colin YNWA]

Today, ESSENTIAL WOLVERINE VOLUME ONE turned up- won for pittance from Ebay- and I've just read #1-5.

I'd heard of this 'Madripoor' thing, and 'Patch', but never really spent much time bothering with it. Wish I had done now, because despite Claremont's usual flaws, this is bloody fantastic comics. John Buscema! Inked by Al Williamson and Klaus Janson!

I've long lost any interest in the Claremont X-Men run and even back in the day when I loved this stuff Wolverine was never a favourite of mine (I'm fighting with Kurt Wagner Block) but those words in bold have always made me want to check this out and the a copy of the Essentials might be a way to go. I got so many of these beggers, mind the new Epic Collections seem to be an option too.

[Tjm86]

Many decades ago, I loved The Uncanny X-Men. I think I must have been about twelve when I discovered them, and for about four years- up to the start of the John Romita Jnr run (around #190 ish) I was a superfan.

It all really kicked off for me with #111- the circus cover, John Byrne, etc- and I spent many a happy hour around London comic shops filling gaps. I think at one point i had the vast majority of them from Giant Size #1 up to #190.

Over the years, i sold them all of course, to pay rent and wotnot, but i always wanted to get a little run of the Paul Smith issues- which were the absolute peak of my passionate love at that time.

TBH I fell into X-men elliptically through marvel UK's comic reprints of Power Pack.  My reading started toward the end of the Romita Jr run and I slowly filled my collection back to GS1 over the years.  All while following the slowly diminishing returns of the next few years until giving up when the new series was launched.

I know what you mean about the Smith run.  A combination of great art and some of Claremont's better writing made it a good few years.  Romita started off with some duff material but as it closed in on the Mutant Massacre the quality of writing improved.  There are some cracking stories from that time.

Post Massacre it started to become a bloated mess and Marvel made matters worse with some of their crossovers.  For me personally the X-tinction Agenda was a perfect example of how to take a great idea and completely screw it up.

I came back to it a few years later and worked my way through the stuff that I'd missed.  In all honesty there was little that was groundbreaking stuff.  Post Claremont is littered with ideas that have started and then been abandoned.  The last few years have been even worse. 

I know that there is a school of thought that says Marvel left X-men and FF to wither on the vine while Fox had the rights to the movie adaptations.  There is plenty of evidence to support that notion to be sure.  For me though the recent Hickman run has finally killed off any interest.

I know that Hickman has a reputation for poor characterisation but what he has produced seems to take this to new limits.  Conceptually the whole Krakoa idea just .... no .... The idea of the resurrection protocols ...  the bloated title run and multiple, poorly written / drawn issues each month .... (oh and the current exchange rate / insane pricing).

Fortunately Rebellion has upped their game massively of late.  Faced with a choice between overpriced, mediocrity or some of the classics that are slowly being unearthed .... Aye, no-brainer ...

[Colin YNWA]

TBH I fell into X-men elliptically through marvel UK's comic reprints of Power Pack. 

I've said this before here and I'm sure I'll say it again but if anyone want to read an 80s superhero comic that really hold up Louise Simonson's with June Brigman and John Bogdanove run on Power Pack is they way to go. The first 40 odd issues, though the first 27 (I think it is) are the real highlights).

A classic that's just not talked about enough in my mind.

[TordelBack]

The slagging I got for buying Power Pack you would not believe. Even spotty nerds have minimum standards of cool. But having endured the slings and arrows of outraged '80s mates, it remains one of the only complete* runs of US comics I own, and it has aged barely a day - compare to my beloved Claremont books of the same period, which are tragically almost unreadable.

Wait til I tell you about my Dazzler collection.

*Well, first 30 or so.

[Colin YNWA]

Funny enough our ex-monarch Trout was just talking about finishing his Dazzler collection the other week on Facebook (I'm sure it was Trout, but now I'm worried I might be misremembering... my humble apologies if I am).

Its a series I never enjoyed from the little bits I picked up but now having two such estemned folks recommned it is making me think I should try it again... mind I hate Vince Coletta inks and I seem to recall he inked a lot of this?

[von Boom]

Wait til I tell you about my Dazzler collection.

I thought I was the only one with that secret shame!

[Tjm86]

I've said this before here and I'm sure I'll say it again but if anyone want to read an 80s superhero comic that really hold up Louise Simonson's with June Brigman and John Bogdanove run on Power Pack is they way to go. The first 40 odd issues, though the first 27 (I think it is) are the real highlights).

A classic that's just not talked about enough in my mind.

I'd definitely agree on the Simonson / Brigman run.  Bogdanove's run though ... start of the slide TBH.  The Snark / Kymellian stories are definitely the best.  I'd also have to throw in the X-men issue with Wolverine and Katie Power with artwork by Windsor-Smith ... a totally feral Wolverine, cyborgs and snow ...

There are a lot of hidden gems from the 80's that people really do seem to have let slide.  Marvel tends to be quite conservative at times but there are tittles that are well worth a look.  Rom is one of those.  DC tended to be much more interesting once you get away from its core output. 

There pre-Vertigo horror comic Wasteland is outstanding with artwork by David Lloyd among others.  then there are curios such as Spanners Galaxy and Conqueror of Barren Earth that would not have been out of place in tooth.

[TordelBack]

Don't let me mislead anyone, Dazzler is utter rubbish (and while I haven't re-read it recently, I think Colin is right about Colletta's inks on Springer's pencils - although the addition of some Billy the Sink later on makes up for that).

BUT. There's just something charming about it, the combo of Spidermanesque holding-down-a-job struggles, awful make-up,  glitterballs and roller skates, Klaw, Angel,  Spider-woman, Luke Cage, Doctor Doom, Enchantress, the Hellfire Club, gentle cheesecakery and simply endless crossovers and team-ups... It's just so 80s. I loved it, and best of all you could pick up back issues for pennies.

[judgefloyd]

I'm loving The Three Body Problem myself - I'm part-way through The Dark Forest, but I do see the annoyance mentioned above.  It's a really odd mix of very unusually deep for a sci fi book, workmanlike and plodding.
I'm also t-r-u-d-g-i-n-g through the first of a gazillion 'Shadowrun' books: 'Never Trust a Dragon', which a good friend loaned me why I do not know.  Only irrational completism keeps me going.  It makes me very nostalgic for the early 90s when we were all reading William Gibson and the Japanese were about to take over the planet and be all hi-tech.
Speaking of completism, I'm on an Agatha Christie rampage and am now reading 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'; very good puzzle, slightly annoying wacky couple (an attractive aristo woman and a perky non-aristo bloke) are doing the solving. 

[pictsy]

I finished Prelude to Foundation and found it a better read the second time (and reading it a chapter a day).  It was actually more interesting now I have read the Robots and Empire stuff and the new context adds a decent amount to it.  Really glad I'm doing this.

I've started Forward the Foundation and it took me a while to remember the structure of the book.  Turns out, this book is probably the one I remember the least.  I'm having a lot of "oh yeah" moments but still can't remember what happens.  It's almost like reading it again for the first time.

[TordelBack]

I'm loving The Three Body Problem myself - I'm part-way through The Dark Forest, but I do see the annoyance mentioned above.  It's a really odd mix of very unusually deep for a sci fi book, workmanlike and plodding.

Meant to update my complaints when I eventually finished the first one. Turns out I gave up the first time in the last of the "in game" sequences, which I still found excruciatingly boring and it picks up considerably after that. It's still a very odd read,  with Ye Wenjie's story being fascinating whenever it's centrestage, and the super-science is very cool when it finally shows up.

However, the conspiracy and game-playing elements that Hoover up the rest of the pages just don't work for me. There's also a plodding* quality in the game sequences which seems to bleed over into the real-world stuff.  An example of this is the Trisolarans' work on protons, which plays out like a three-part Goldilocks story, and is this painfully predictable.

That said, it's a worthy bit of SF on ideas alone, and the Cultural Revolution is a compelling background. Will I try Dark Forest?  Only the survival of secondhand bookshops will tell.

*Just realised Floyd used the exact same word: but it's the appropriate one.

[Colin YNWA]

Speaking of Calvin and Hobbes... well they were in the last  Mega City Book Club I listened to yesterday (Rok the God episode) I stumbled cross 'Exploring Calvin and Hobbes' a catalogue from a 2014 exhibition of Bill Watterson't semial work in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library Museum of Ohio State University Libraries and its a wonder.

150p of analysis, interview and high quality reproductions from original art - its not quite artist edition good but as good as I've seen. You can pick up up for just north of a tenner on eBay easily enough and I really recommend it to any fans of the strip and lets face it who isn't!

[TordelBack]

Ooh, that's a must-have. Cheers, Colin.