Board 8 > Scarlet and Ed's really cool comics topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hey there, random b8er

so @scarletspeed7 is back on the board and today is Wednesday and late enough that I actually read some of my comics today (full disclosure, I definitely mostly just read Oathbringer instead) but I thought it would be really cool to get one of these going again, perhaps with a bit more programming coming from me and scarlet talking comics - past present and future and topics relating to them .

On the topic of this week's comics I have nothing but the the real hotness right now is the Countdown to Doomsday thing. DCs first big event since rebirth, and really since DCYou started unless you count Divergence, which since it was just two months I really don't.

PLUS Wonder Woman has a non-shitty creative direction again, featuring Greek Gods, Baby Darkseid and a lot of pretending that the last 2-3 years of her book aside from the Darkseid war never happened basically, Superman is mired in a ton of not making any sense, Batman family is its most spread out its been since Snyder took over with each title really pretty much doing its own independent thing. Is this good? Bad?

And MORE probably including revisiting some classic stories ( I myself plan to revisit the Classic Legion Darkseid story, The Great Darkness Saga as part of this topic).
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Welcome back friend!

woo comics. I have a million things I want to discuss.
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Baby Darkseid?
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Anagram posted...

Baby Darkseid?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNSqmcXWAAAJ5_i.jpg:large
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Maybe I'll catch up on some new comics with this topic.
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Someone turned Darkseid into a baby and Batman used him as a weapon? ... Comics.
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Yeah, it makes sense in context, but really that's the only place it does.

Now, his daughter is like feeding him greek god souls to try and power him back up and wonder woman is only vaguely on the trail at this point, its pretty compelling
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Has anyone been reading Metal? I've gotten every tie-in and one-shot so far and have been enjoying it.

I thought Gotham Resistance was much better than Bats out of Hell, and the quality of the Batman one-shots have been generally good.

I just finished reading The Batman Who Laughs, and wow, it's pretty dark. Great issue.
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Also I'm so glad I read Final Crisis a few months ago or I'd be more lost than I already am with Snyder's references. The reveal at the end of Metal #1 flew right over my head so I had to do some research there.

I also read Watchmen for the first time a few months ago after having only seen the movie, so I'm hype for Doomsday Clock.
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I only have been reading the main series plus the Aquaman and Wonder Woman themed Batman issues and the ones that crept into my normal reading like Nightwing.

Aquamans was amazig, wonder Womans was severely whatever. As much as I hate Steve, Diana/Bruce is just ughworthy to the extreme and the 'reveal' at the end was pretty obvious from the word go I thought.

And yeah, Metal is not REALLY for the 'new' comic book fan which I would call its biggest flaw. Its still plenty comprehensible without all the backstory but its definitely highly enriched by having the kind of encyclopedic DC knowledge they sought to phase out use for with the New 52, so I guess in all ways that experiment is dead.
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I don't think you're missing anything too important by not fully reading the tie-ins. The only thing is that the main Metal issues tend to carry-over from whatever the previous tie-in was so it might take a second to figure out what's going on.

The Batman one-shots were pretty self-contained to start, but the last few had a lot more current universe stuff going on. The Batman Who Laughs is completely skippable in terms of overall importance, but I do think it's the best of the bunch.
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davidponte posted...

Anagram posted...

Baby Darkseid?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNSqmcXWAAAJ5_i.jpg:large

this is amazing
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I bought a bunch of digital comics on Amazon during their last sale.

Finally read through Marvel Zombies 1-5, that was a fun ride.

Read the original Jessica Jones, which was also cool. I should finish the Netflix show.

Read the Deadpool zombie books, those were great.

Not sure what to start next. Maybe Marvel 1602?
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Nice, I'm excited for this Ed.

I gots comics to talk about.

I'll pick it up tomorrow as it's pretty fucking late at the moment. Planning to talk about new releases from DC mainly each week and start re-reading some classic stories. If anyone has an old story they want me to talk about, let me know and I'll review it in the thread.
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Tag! I've been trying to dive into the world of comics and felt like I was at a really good point to do so with Rebirth, but I feel like I've gone and gotten myself lost again. If I want to get a really good sense of what's going on in the DC Universe these days, catch up for whatever shenanigans are going to be happening with the Watchmen (apparently?) and read some actually good books on the way, what would be a good path to take?
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Eddv posted...

PLUS Wonder Woman has a non-shitty creative direction again, featuring Greek Gods, Baby Darkseid and a lot of pretending that the last 2-3 years of her book aside from the Darkseid war never happened basically,

Wait, does this include the Rebirth continuity which was pretending the 2-3 years of her book before that never happened? Poor Diana.

Also, tag. Haven't been really keeping up with Rebirth but I did come back for Metal, which has been fucking rad.
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Xiahou Shake posted...

Tag! I've been trying to dive into the world of comics and felt like I was at a really good point to do so with Rebirth, but I feel like I've gone and gotten myself lost again. If I want to get a really good sense of what's going on in the DC Universe these days, catch up for whatever shenanigans are going to be happening with the Watchmen (apparently?) and read some actually good books on the way, what would be a good path to take?

Read the Rebirth special and the Oz related tie-ins. Read Metal. Read The Button. Then read any characters you care about.
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Also, I'm happy to give recommendations or review new comics as well; just would prefer to review older comics with complete story arcs.
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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

Wait, does this include the Rebirth continuity which was pretending the 2-3 years of her book before that never happened? Poor Diana.

Pretty much - Rucka made a giant mess that no one cared about, which is the worst kind of mess and then they brought in a temporary team that was just awful to do a poorly planned "Wonder Woman is a feminist" story and then Robinson took over and has basically ignored everything going back to the end of Azz's run with the exception of Darkseid war.
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Does Marvel have anything worth reading again or is it still kinda Garbo? I stopped getting comics again before the HYDRA story was done and had literally only Spider-Man on my pull.

Edit: And Daredevil.
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I did my once every few years "give marvel a try" push and dropped every single title I picked up at that time due to how shitty most of them were.

I read Daredevil and Spider-gwen (both excellent in my opinion) and on both of those a creative change would spell the end of my interest.

The writing is bad, but really its the art that makes me just...not willing to pay 4 bucks a title.

Ill post a screenshot in a little of some of this nonsense they publish as being high quality enough to charge 4 bucks for.
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I think at one point I had Moon Knight on it too (which I loved), but no team books were appealing. And they also had cancelled Thunderbolts which is a crime because I'll read Thunderbolts anytime unless it's that awful idea with the Red Hulk team.
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Bad art https://imgur.com/a/iWjyQ

This was from a guest issue of Spider Gwen and I get my comics from DCBS so i couldn't even not buy it once it became clear.

This was just trash - and frankly the art from All New Hawkeye was worse despite a much improved effort from Kelly Thompson writing it after 4 or 5 issues the art was so BAD i could no longer justify reading it.

And then when Marvel does have good art talent, they turn out to be like religious zealots and marvel boots them.
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After having never read Marvel I got peer-pressured into reading the Legacy one-shot by my lcbs owner, then decided to pick up Deadpool and Amazing Spider-Man and so far it's all been pretty meh.

There's probably better books to pull but I don't really care about gender-swapped Avengers or X-men that I'm generally unfamiliar with.
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Yeah I gave Zdarksys spiderman a shot and its like an aura of suck has floated over the guy since Superior Spiderman ended.

I had expected an injection of good hunor to counter Slotts largely humorless Peter but their insistence on keeping the continuity together basically prevented that. Send Zdarsky back to Jughead imo
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Finished my comics read for the week!

The Good:

-The Wild Storm #9: Yet another fantastic issue in this underrated little gem of a series. It's short, so if you enjoy that Warren Ellis style of comics, pick it up.

-Aquaman #30: Another great issue. Abnett is doing fantastic without Lanning hanging on to his coattails.

-Dark Nights: The Batman Who Laughs #1: I enjoyed the premise and the execution, although I feel like a one-shot did a bit of a disservice to this story; it needed more time to grow and expand, much like the old Flashpoint three-issue minis.

-Injustice 2 #14: I like the concept of Injustice, but I'm not a fan of the execution. That said, this issue threw a spotlight on Blue Beetle and Booster Gold for a brief moment, and I'll take anything I can get when it comes to those two.

-Superman #35: I'm interested in seeing where this family trip to Apokolips is going to take the story; I imagine it could have some rippling repercussions across the DCU.

The Meh:

-Nightwing #33: I didn't need Raptor to get a revenge. Honestly, I didn't need Raptor, but here we are. Nightwing feels like it used to be fun to read, but that was a distant memory. I'm hoping we get a new status quo soon that allows interesting stories to be told again.

The Bad:

-Batman #35: Really the first bad issue in a long, long time. If this is what we can expect from the Mrs. Batman's story arcs, then I'm avidly opposed.

-Justice League #33: There was some really, really bad dialogue in this issue, and it focused completely on Cyborg, the resident killer of fun in the League. Easily the worst tie-in to the Dark Nights story so far. Get this trash out of the Justice League.

Planning to read The Killing Joke when I have a few free minutes and review that.

Other good comics this week: East of West, Mighty Thor
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What do you think of Batman going from brooding loner to having the biggest supporting cast outside of X-Men?
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Batman has had the biggest supporting cast of a solo character aside from the insanely huge cast Starman had for decades.
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any recs for wonder woman stuff?
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I really enjoyed Azzarello's Wonder Woman. But DC apparently didn't. I thought the guy who was doing Wonder Woman recently was doing a solid job as well, and he's probably doing her book still. Someone more knowledgeable can probably tell you who that is.
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I am beholden to be an every other week reader by DCBS and my budget so instead I am going to run down my pull since I just ordered my comics for January.

DC:

Aquaman - Aquaman as failed king and revolutionary and...superhero instead has been a really good look as has Angry Widow Mera. Abnett is at the top of his game here.

Batman - Its been excellent - Tom King effortlessly carries on the tradition of Batman as a really solid title and does so while drastically scaling back the cast at least for now.

Doomsday Clock - no first issue yet but Geoff Johns doing an event is hype right?

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss chronicles - Its begun to feel like the teaser for this was a fever dream. Russell/Pugh are some of the most biting satirists around and that their preferred medium for that is Hanna Barbera characters is hilarious

Nightwing - I really loved this book back when Nightwing was working with the minor villains parole party. Its gone a little soap opera and bringing back Raptor right as theybwere starting what looked like a really amazing blockbuster story and the random hookup with Huntress interlude has me frustrated with this formerly excellent title but i believe it can and will turn the corner.

Nightwing: The New Order - Kyle Higgins elseworlds story has been pretty striking stuff. Nightwing as an authoritarian icon and a hero without a plan just desperate is so good.

Red Hood and the Outlaws - Unexpectedly the best superhero title I am reading. Thanks Lobdell! Each member of the team is great, the current flowers for Bizzaronon thing they have going is top tier and they don't seem to be in a hurry to ship Jason and Artemis so this has been great month in month out.

Sideways - Literally only ordered this for Rocafort on art and the tie in to Metal.

Super Sons - I like Jon(son of superman) and I like Damien. This comic isnt the best but it has Jon and Damien and thats usually fun at least.

Swamp Thing Winter Special: I dont usually go for one shots but this is Tom King doing Swamp Thing and Len Weins final story onnthe character before he died.

Wonder Woman: Already discussed that I am pleased with the current direction

Marvel:
Daredevil - This has been consistently pretty great and the twisting and turning back in on itself lately with the return of Blindspot has been great. Hes not Waid but Soul is still Pretty Good.

Spider-Gwen - atrocious fill in issues aside, this has been amazing, the art and the retelling of early style spiderman which marvel hasnt been consistently able to provide with Peter in Ages. Robby Rodriguez is leaving at the end of this Gwenom arc and rumor has it Latour is probably leaving the title when he goes. Will be sad to see this one go and for this title to get as awful as Gwenpool. Fuck you Bendis for making them waste 3 issues doing a crossover with miles.

Dynamite:
Sheena - I read this alongside Red Sonja because I have a soft spot for old school style comics. This one in particular because its being written by my main girl Marguerite Bennett. But the first few issues have been pretty dang good the sense of msytery and scale of the problem with some good old fashioned corporate greed as the villain

Red Sonja - the best comic no one really talks about. Since Gail Simone took over a few years back they have had people come on to do an arc at a time and the results have been a consistently good to great book featuring solid classic style art and a sense of constant momentum because the authors always know where they're going.
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Image:

Saga - always great. Literally I have no complaints ever about it other than the occasionally hamfisted social commentary

Paper Girls - Stranger things with girls and time travel. It is beginning to run the risk of getting too complicated while revealing far too little. Its good but it feels liks Vaughn is in the weeds abit.

Archie Comics:

Archie - Mark Waid writing teenage soap opera: better than it sounds. This new super sad direction with Betty is kinda bugging me since this WAS a really fun book prior to that. I guess its leaning into the whole Riverdale thing?

Josie and the Pussycats - Sadly ending but one more shout out to Bennett for making this a great little self aware ditty
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For Wonder Woman it depends how old you want to go with your comics, but I would recommend the following story arcs:

-The Hiketeia
-Eyes of the Gorgon
-The Circle
-She's a Wonder
-War
-Gods and Mortals
-Bones
-The Golden Perfect
-Guts
-League of One

Those are PROBABLY my top ten (not in order aside from the Hiketeia).
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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I really enjoyed Azzarello's Wonder Woman. But DC apparently didn't. I thought the guy who was doing Wonder Woman recently was doing a solid job as well, and he's probably doing her book still. Someone more knowledgeable can probably tell you who that is.

Rucka got off to a great start and then sputtered and died and left the book. And his run is being ignored by Robinson to boot.

Basically read the Azzarello Wonder Woman, read the Justice League arc "Darkseid War" and then hop straight to the present with issue 31
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Robinson coming back to the DC fold after failing to get his Fantastic Four opus off of the ground is going to be great for his DC fans. I'm also glad he's back.
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Eddv posted...

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I really enjoyed Azzarello's Wonder Woman. But DC apparently didn't. I thought the guy who was doing Wonder Woman recently was doing a solid job as well, and he's probably doing her book still. Someone more knowledgeable can probably tell you who that is.

Rucka got off to a great start and then sputtered and died and left the book. And his run is being ignored by Robinson to boot.

Basically read the Azzarello Wonder Woman, read the Justice League arc "Darkseid War" and then hop straight to the present with issue 31

it looks like a new writer took over for the tail end of the azzarello stuff. worth reading?

throwing all of these on my kindle wishlist for now, hopefully dc comics get a good sale at some point. marvel's sale got me to spend a little over $200 on 94 comics lol
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Its skippable unless after you finish where azz leaves you REALLY want to tie off the resolution for Zeke in which case go for it.
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I'll also run through my pull list and weekly reviews later on when I get home. If anything, it'll motivate me to read my comics early in the week rather than waiting until the Tuesday before new comics.
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as much as I like eddv I was a bit disappointed when this wasn't ed bellis' big comeback
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Out of curiosity, do DC or Marvel have any big heroes with ongoing books set outside of the United States? Like a hero set in Sweden or something.
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The answer to that question is usually Wonder Woman (who is pretty much always in Greece) and Black Panther (from his fictional resource rich kingdom). We can include Aquaman who is in Atlantis and the one Green Lantern book is in deep space.
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Yet another reason we need a Captain Britain book again.
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Anagram posted...

What do you think of Batman going from brooding loner to having the biggest supporting cast outside of X-Men?

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My Current Pulls:

Batman - Tom King is great. I have a soft spot for Snyder since his Batman is what got me into comics, but King's quality has been consistent. There are some arcs I've loved more than others, but I don't think there were any I outright disliked (other than Night of the Monster Men). Also I know it's become kind of a meme at this point, but the first Kite-Man story in #27 might be my favourite single issue of a comic.

Metal - I'm at the point now where I'll likely buy anything Snyder writes (I should probably read Wytches). As I mentioned, there are still parts of it that I don't fully understand, and some of the tie-ins (Bats out of Hell) haven't been great, but overall I'm having a good time.

Deathstroke - This was my favourite book for a little while. I think the change from bi-weekly to monthly hurt it a bit, but Priest is great. I'm incredibly excited to see him on Justice League.

Detective Comics - This was the best Rebirth book for a long time, in my opinion. I'm really liking the team dynamic going on, and the ending of the last arc was perfect.

The Flash - I'm only really still pulling this and JL because it's the Flash and JL. This isn't as bad as Justice League, but it's been really hit or miss. I'm not sure how I feel about Williamson.

Hellblazer - I desperately want a good John Constantine book. Seeley's arc was awesome, and despite the mediocre quality otherwise, I'm still enjoying it.

Justice League - This book has been bad. So bad. Likely the worst Rebirth book out there. I dislike Hitch as both a writer and an artist, and I'm so glad he's finally off this book. It can't get any worse, but I have faith in Priest to make it actually good.

Mister Miracle - I understand approximately 8% of what's going on in the book, but it's still awesome. I was a little lukewarm on the art at first but it's grown on me. The last issue in particular has been the high point.

Nightwing - It sucks to see Seeley finally go from Nightwing. Dick is my favourite character in the DC universe, so I'm really hoping the next writer does well. I do think that Seeley was kind of running out of things to do though, so hopefully we get something new and exciting.

Suicide Squad - I'm a sucker for team books. I've enjoyed most of the arcs here but it's nothing special.

Titans - Similar to Suicide Squad, with less overall enjoyment. At least it has Nightwing.
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I'm also pulling Amazing Spider-Man and Despicable Deadpool from Marvel, but I'm only 3 issues into each and don't really have an opinion. I'll give them both at least 2 arcs before I think about dropping them.
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davidponte posted...

I desperately want a good John Constantine book.

I'm just waiting for the Young Animal guys to get a hankering for more established fare.
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Oh yeah - I am obviously reading Metal and haven't dropped Batwoman yet; thats the state of my pull two months from now not its current state.
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And yeah when rebirth happened I picked up all of the "main" Justice League team members main books - just kinda for the novelty.

Its telling that I am down to just Aquaman and Batman from that group.
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Are you guys looking forward to the Justice League movie?
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