Board 8 > Board 8 Comic Book Club #1

(+) Yeah! (+)

I liked the concept of the series as a whole, but a few of the stories were very underwhelming. Like bass notes making people see angels - that's fucking stupid.
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Issue 2. Liked the case better. The characters seemed a bit more distinct, or at least as distinct as they could in 20 pages.

I guess only Zero and organizing girl carry over issue from issue?

Liked the variety of tech people helping out from various places that was a cool touch as opposed to there being a tech person.
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Issue 3 was my favorite so far.

Issue 4 was dumb.

I appreciate this series for what it is but don't think it's really for me.

I will keep reading but I don't know how much I will really have to say on things.
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Finally caught up on last week's readings. Despite not being Marvel/DC stuff. I really enjoyed both stories, and would say this confirms that I do enjoy more than the traditional superhero stuff/The Walking Dead.

Ex Machina in particular had me hooked. I breezed through those issues and was disappointed it ended where it did. The political drama with a hint of superheroics sprinkled in made for an interesting read. I definitely wouldn't mind continuing on with it in the future.
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For me, this is an interesting comic because it's clearly set up as storyboarding for a 40-minute television episode. You can see it in every panel and the entire structure of each issue. It's Fringe before Fringe in a lot of ways. Pseudoscience and modern +10.
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PrinceKaro posted...

I liked the concept of the series as a whole, but a few of the stories were very underwhelming. Like bass notes making people see angels - that's fucking stupid.

The spoiler bar one was really bad.

The parkour one was visually really cool but the story itself was meh.
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I should get through all of this tomorrow. I have a guest speaker in one of my classes which is prime not paying attention material.
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The one where Miranda gets kidnapped was good!
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MI, do you know who Michelle Forbes is, and if so, what do you think of her as Miranda (circa 2006)?

I really saw her in that issue.
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Crazy True Blood lady!

Yeah, that was well casted. I like who they had cast as Aleph too. Shame is didn't get picked up.
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Yeah, Aimee Garcia would have been great.

I love the kidnapping issue SO much. To me, that is phenomenal single issue writing. It's a great little turn on the formula without getting rid of said formula. And you see how the organization deals with something that could completely upend it.
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"This mission is teh suck"

Cringe.
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Remember that this comic is from well over a decade ago!
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Fair. High school me probably would've enjoyed that line!

And I am done with the series. It was good. Iy grew on me more the more I read. It had some stinkers (as is true for any procedural TV show as well!) but most of the issues were fine.

The best two were the Miranda one and the Aleph one. Which ties back into me wanting more character development, two of the issues focused on the recurring characters and were the better for it!
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That's an interesting perspective. He DID write the comic with the intention of pitching it as a show, so I think had this been an ongoing series we would have seen way more development.

I'm glad it grew on you over time!

This isn't the best Ellis comic, but it was one I wanted to share with the group.

Oh, and next week we go back to more traditional superhero fare.
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I have appreciated the detour into other comic media!

But I also am excited to get back tto Superheroes!
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Well just you wait. Next week is Liefeld week.
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Google tells me he is one of the most controversial figures in comics. Fun!
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That was a joke actually. I would never subject the group to that.
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Thank god. I like my superheroes to have feet and a discernible anatomy!
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Global Frequency is p cool, I think the aussie cop is my fav of them.
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Had you read any of it before, prof?
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Nah, but I did finish it last night.

Aussie cop was my fav char but the Japanese Hospital was my fav issue.
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I'm a few issues in and can't seem to get myself interested in the characters or the general idea of the story, especially considering I've only gotten a brief moment with each character before we move on to showcasing something else.

This formula works well with TV, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for in a comic. On one hand, I do want to make an attempt to finish it, but on the other, it seems like it's going to be more of the same so I doubt my thoughts on it will really change by the end.
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Well, you never know! This comic was super well-received when it came out, but no comic will ever get universal praise, so I don't hold it against you at all. Even Watchmen has detractors.
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New packet tomorrow!
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bump
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Might be a delay for a new packet. Black Friday week is my busiest week of the year.
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Boo.

Fair.

But boooooo.
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I read through all the Global Frequency issues last night. Each one being its own self-contained story made it feel a bit hit or miss, but I thought it was more hit than miss.

I really like the premise, and can definitely see how it could make a decent TV show. I love the idea of 1001 people across the globe with completely altruistic motives fighting against all sorts of weird bad stuff. It is a little idealistic, but it is also a comic so why not, I can buy it. Considering how often their people die, there is no way 1001 is accurate. I was also surprised that in all 12 comics, not one Global Frequency member was bad. Miranda Zero must be really good at vetting potential members.

Favorites included the Miranda/Aleph focused ones, the Japanese hospital, the one with the meme, and the one with Mr. Grushko and Ms. Lau. The Angel one and the one where two guys fight the entire time were the only two that I particularly disliked. The latter I may have been getting tired during, because I can't remember anything about it.
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While you're waiting for this week's packet, here is the actual pilot for Global Frequency. Snake clued me in on its location, so check it out for free here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EShP8FbVW_k" data-time="
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Thanks for waiting, the (currently remaining) 6 of you who are still playing along with me. At least that's what the download count tells me.

This week, we're going back to classic superhero storytelling with Kurt Busiek Week. In the 90s, at the height of the deconstruction era in superhero comics, the British invasion had come in and reshaped everything about superhero storytelling. Alan Moore had taken the traditional comic narrative down a grimmer, darker path with his landmark Watchmen, and other UK writers followed suit. In the mid-90s, Kurt Busiek kicked off a "reconstructionist" movement of sorts and rebutted the notion that protagonists must be mired in overcomplexity and ambiguity. Busiek wasn't interested in a throwback to the Silver Age like later writers, but instead wanted to find a medium that merged realism and idolatry.

While Busiek is known for a variety of comics, we'll be taking a look at the comics that really put him on the map. In Marvels, Kurt teams up with the iconic artist Alex Ross to follow the journey of beat photographer Phil Sheldon through Marvel history. This "eye on the ground" point of view became a trademark style of Busiek. The story of Marvels is both sprawling and at the same time intimate, and it would put both Busiek and Ross in the spotlight for the first time.

After that, we'll read two one-shot stories from Busiek's beloved self-owned franchise, Astro City. Astro City is Busiek's playground to explore analogues of every concept and creation in comic history. In Astro City #1, Busiek gives us a "day in the life" story of a Superman analogue in the story "In Dreams". This story won Busiek an Eisner Award (one of the top prizes in the industry) and launched a twenty-year franchise with a truly thought-provoking piece.

Finally, we'll read Astro City #1/2, the first issue of the second Astro City series. In "The Nearness of You", the toll of huge comic crossovers on everyday people is explored. This story has often been cited as one of the greatest stories of the 90s, and it also won an Eisner Award. Imagine what happens to your next door neighbor after Infinity War or Crisis on Infinite Earths, and this is what the story explores.

I've always had a huge soft spot for Kurt Busiek's work, and we'll likely read more of his work in the weeks to come. Busiek has worked on every character out there, and that's just in his landmark JLA/Avengers crossover, a one-of-a-kind massive story that was a huge money-mover for both companies. Here's a cool fact: Busiek wrote Avengers for years, exited the franchise with JLA/Avengers, and then started writing the Justice League! That gives you an idea how important this guy is.

This is a really light week, so I'll still leave the Tuesday due date up. As always, we have no cut-off to discuss previous comics, so feel free to chit chat about whatever catches your fancy. If you have trouble finding any of these titles, hit me up on Discord and I'll see what I can do to help you out.
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Sorry that I haven't been doing this, I hope to catch up entirely, reading the discussion when everything calms down for me, but right now I just haven't had that great of time.
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All three of those stories sound incredibly interesting. I should get to at least a few of them tomorrow during my commute.
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Oh my god Marvels is so good
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I literally read Marvels 1 on like Monday. How funny. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the others!
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Keep reading!
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Some thoughts on Marvels 1 before I read more

(Keeping in mind I wasn't reading it for this so my thoughts may be disjointed more than usual)

There were two aspects of the story that I really liked.

1) The art style. It is unlike any art I have seen while reading through Marvel Unlimited chronilogically. It felt like it transported me to the era of WWII while still being new, if that makes any sense.

2) The 'eye on the ground' as Scarlet put it. Phil doesn't always know what is happening and as such, we as the readers don't always know what is happening. At the end of the issue when Namor and Human Torch are fighting we don't know why. New Yorkers don't know why, they are confused, weren't these individuals just fighting side by side? Seeing how normal people react to these super power beings was really cool.
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Alex Ross' art is so freaking fantastic. He doesn't often do comic interiors (he's mostly a cover artist), but the few times he does work on interiors, it's always so striking and... iconic? I hate to use that word as an adjective, but his art really gives off the feeling that you're reading about gods far beyond mortal men. There's a timeless sort of quality to his work. You'll probably like Astro City since Ross designs every character in that series (and does the covers).
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Marvels 2 made me uncomfortable in a good way. I always struggled to accept the hatred towards mutants but the adoration of other super heroes in the Marvel universe. Giving us the perspective of normal people getting caught up in mob hysteria and not even really knowing why shows the hysteria that a few people can drum up.

I also liked the cameos of heroes in their civilian identities and people being unaware of them. The comic also kept people unaware instead of heavy handing it. At this point in marvel Thor hasnt been Don Blake in that, two decades? But that's the only reference you get to him.
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Yeah, the story is very IN the continuity of the time of the comic, so while it's nice to know some of the old, forgotten references, I think it feels so... real. It's like real life in the sense that we don't know everything about everything. There are a lot of senators, a lot of politicians, a lot of subject matter to talk about, and this Marvel world feels like there is a depth to it, a lot of information to know or not know, a lot of things to be knowledgeable or ignorant about.

Honestly, it's the best take on the concept of mutant hysteria ever simply because Phil is fallible and he knows it, but he can't figure out how to be the better man he clearly wants to be. He isn't a hero; he's a father.
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Finished Marvels! In my top 2 of things we've read here so far, i really enjoyed it. It was a new take for me to see the average people reacting to super heroes and i thought it was fascinating.

TotallyNotMI posted...

I always struggled to accept the hatred towards mutants but the adoration of other super heroes in the Marvel universe.

I liked how the series even covered this in later issues showing how fickle people were with the F4, Avengers and Spider-man!

Seeing Gwen Stacy die (AGAIN!) was just as painful as always but it was a powerful motivator for him to give up the way of his life. And i loved that they included the debate of her true cause of death.
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I always like when Gwen Stacy dies. It's good stuff. If I wrote Spider-Man, I would kill her more often.
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So Gwen Stacy is the opposite of Thomas and Martha Wayne?
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A little belated due to the holidays but I just finished Global Frequency. It wasn't bad, but I don't think the format is suited to Ellis's strengths. The series just wasn't clicking for me at first and I eventually realized why - it felt a little too much like a watered-down Planetary. Ellis's best for me comes when he can combine his snarky and sharp characterizations with his far out concepts, and with the rotating cast, more grounded nature, and episodic format made it feel like he wasn't getting room to breathe. I think the meme and magic issues were the worst example of this.

That said, there was a lot to like. All of my favorite stories came from after the halfway point, which is why it took me a while to finish. The Miranda and Aleph focus issues, the spy issue, and the finale were all great. Miranda Zero is just a very strong anchor that does play into the things I like from Ellis. And the rotating art was nice and good art could really carry some of the more narratively weak stories, like the parkour and hospital ones. Overall it was an interesting experiment and a good read, but not what I was expecting.
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Hopefully reading Astro City soon!
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Astro City was really cool. I liked the world and I liked that for the first issue it didn't delve into who everyone was and give us lots of details. It was just a normal day for these heroes who all knew each other and the details were left sparse. I assume they are filled in more in later issues, which would still be needed eventually, but for diving into this world I really liked the lack of those details. And I really liked the concept of this hero who wants nothing more than a minute of downtime and can't even get that spread out throughout the entire day, but despite this bit of internal grumbling still does what he has to do.

I would like to read more Astro City which is pretty cool, because I have another Astro City issue to read before tomorrow still!
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What did you think of Busiek's take (essentially) on Superman?

Also, I'm really glad you liked it. I could definitely put more Astro City into the line-up in the future; it's actually one of my all-time favorite comic book series.
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I liked it. He was obviously Superman but still felt like his own character at the same time if that makes sense.

He felt very real and nuanced for a one short story. There was an impressive amount of character shown in a short time
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Oh wow.

.5 was... just wow. Heartbreaking.

Was the event referenced an event that occurred in the first Astro City series? Or is it akin to what I mentioned after I read the first issue, that this world is full of events and history and we don't always get to see it take place?

On the lighter side of this issue, Captain America and Bucky were hysterical. They were so goofy I couldn't help but laugh and love them
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