15
votes
What comics books are you reading these days?
Inspired by the recurring thread on ~books.
What are you reading currently or have read recently?
Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit!
Inspired by the recurring thread on ~books.
What are you reading currently or have read recently?
Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit!
I picked up Transmetropolitan on a whim from the library. it's gonzo black comedy urban scifi satire and it's a lot of fun
I was already a fan of Hunter S. Thompson when I happened across Transmet and absolutely adored it from first page til last. Re-read the full series recently enough and even after 20 years I think the satire still holds up quite well, an all-time great for sure.
I recently read Immortal Hulk. I've never really read a solo Hulk book, but IH had me hooked from the first issue!
I think Immortal Hulk is up there with Planet Hulk and Peter David's run as a contender for best Hulk story ever printed. Merging all that unsettling body horror with a classic character like the Hulk was so unexpected and yet executed so well.
I walked into the comic book store and saw this horrible monster on the cover of what was apparently the latest issue of the Hulk. This dood was nasty. And he must be a big deal because he was on the cover instead of The Hulk. He was pushing his way through the big stone letters of “HULK” and the letters that spelled out “The Incredible” were on the ground by the monster’s feet. Very meta. I didn’t know the term “meta” back then; I was nine years old. But I was intrigued. The monster on the cover became my favorite comic book character of all time. It was issue #345 and it was the first comic I ever bought with my own money.
Planet Hulk/World War Hulk was the only other Hulk story I'd read, and you're right, Immortal is right up there with it. I'll have to check out Peter David's run!
I'm trying to convince myself to get back into reading comics again but am having a slightly difficulty time, tbh. I watch Comics Explained on Youtube as background noise sometimes and get the bug to read comics again every so often..
I picked up Astrobots #1 after finding a comic book shop near me finally. I expected a slow start since its a #1 in a new property so I'll give it a few more issues. I haven't been able to get back for issue 2 (and probably 3 by now).
Ditto for TMNT: The Last Ronin-The Lost years. I got issue #1 and liked it quite a bit. I had watched
I was also able to find and replace my lost issue #3 of Kingdom Come and gave that a reread. That story was so mind-blowing to me when it was released. It was still really solid rereading it but my nostalgia must have really elevated it higher in my mind.
Are there any modern "What If..?" or Elseworlds type comics? I really dug those back in the day.
I was a massive reader from '86 to probably around '94-'95. I started by reading X-Men and expanded into New Mutants, X-Force and occasionally some cross-over stories in Marvel. For DC I would usually get the "main" Superman and Batman books. I really liked Dark Horse crossovers (Batman vs Predator, Robocop vs Terminator, etc) and some of their other series at the time. I was all in at the beginning of X-O Manowar (bought #1 in an airport to read on the plane) and the launch of the Valiant Universe as well as Image. Over time I would get the distribution book and would order all sorts of independant comics and would spend $50-100 a week at a local shop. I didn't buy issues as an investment and I would only buy issues I wanted to read.
I know flagship titles like Spiderman, Superman, Batman and eventually the X-teams used to have concurrent titles every month but back then it seemed much more managable. Now it seems like every property has 5-6 titles each with at least an additional 2 mini-series or one-shots per month as well (Hulk, TMNT, even more X-team books, Avengers, etc). Even Ghost Rider has 2 books now doesn't he?? (regular and cosmic, right?) While I know I don't need every book of a character it seems rather daunting to go into a comic shop wanting to pick up an X-Men book to check out and see 8 different titles to chose from.
I just got to borrow "pet human" by a friend, haven't had time to read it just yet, but the art looks very inspiring.
https://comicsgrinder.com/2021/10/04/advance-review-pet-human/
I only recently got into comics. I’m reading Saga (the comic that got me into it!) and also Black Cloak.
I plan on picking up the Fables 20th anniversary boxed set and going through that.
how do you like Saga? it's been in my list a while
Not who you asked, but IMO Saga is a perfect mix of scifi and fantasy. It's one of the few series I started reading before it was complete, and actually keep going back to catch up on as more are released. Highly recommended.
p.s. I see you just started reading Transmetropolitan. That's easily in my top 5 comics of all time. Good choice! :P
Saga can be SO pulpy that it feels like it reaches for plotlines at times, but the characters are absolutely worth any low points.
awesome, I'll pick it up! and yeah it's wild AF lol
I'm ashamed to say I was late to start reading Saga because I believed it to be a rip-off of Fables, but in reality they're completely different, and Saga is so much better.
Have you read Fables before? I loved the first volume, and thoroughly enjoyed some of the following story arcs, but it gradually grew stale as it went on for much too long in my opinion.
I have read only a little bit of Fables but I love the idea of it. Shortly after I started reading it, they announced the 20th anniversary boxed set so I thought I’d pick it up. But it got delayed several times and I forgot about it until this post!
At present, I’m doing a deep dive on comics written by Tom King.
I received the Watchmen collector's Edition Box set yesterday, so I'll be rereading that the next couple of days....
I recently finished re-reading Watchmen myself. Some say it's the best comic book ever made. Maybe? It's certainly great.
Not an easy read, though. I think I wasn't mature enough the first time I read it, and definitely got more from it this time. I'm still not sure if I quite understand the pirate story. I guess the protagonist of Black Freighter is an allegory for the villain of Watchmen? Maybe I'll understand it on my second re-read.
I've read it a couple of times now, I think it's the best comic book ever made. I don't quite remember the point of the pirate story, but I remember it making more sense last time I read it, so I'm hopeful the pieces will fall into place this time.
I backed Keanu Reeves collab with Boom, BZRKR, so reading that as I get them. Also I've recently gotten really into Coheed and Cambria, so just purchased The Amory Wars comics as they had a prime day deal going on. Excited to start those!
I've been reading through the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
I've never really dug into superhero comics, aside from more self-contained things like Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen. But I've been playing Marvel Snap lately, and it made me a bit more curious about Marvel Comics. I saw this was written by Ryan North, and I used to be big into Dinosaur Comics, so figured I'd give it a shot.
It was fun enough to start with, but really hit a stride a few volumes in, and I'm honestly really impressed with it. It's funny, and makes interesting use of Marvel characters.
I'm currently on the second-to-last volume, and haven't figured out where to go from here. If anyone has any suggestions for fun, somewhat subversive comic runs, I'm keen for some suggestions. Bonus points if they're kid friendly.
If you like USG, you would probably like the Unstoppable Wasp and the Unbelievable Gwenpool. They're part of an unofficial girl power triad of the new 10s Marvel era. Wasp is fun, but Unbelievable Gwenpool is what happens when someone gets isekai'd into the Marvel Universe, and is irreverent as all get out.
I decided to go back to the start of the Krakoa Era for X-books and read all the ones that I just didn't bother to read when they were coming out. Luckily it's been affordable via Marvel Unlimited, so I've read Fallen Angels, Hellions, Cable, X-Factor, Children of the Atom, and I'm currently starting Excalibur. There's a lot that I just never bothered to read as they didn't interest me, but with Fall of X approaching I'd like to be able to read all of it.
This doesn't count the ones that I actually kept up with like the main X-Men title, Marauders, X-Force, New Mutants, Immortal X-Men.
Do you count manga? I have been going through Fly Me To The Moon and enjoying the sickly sweet newlywed romance!
I'm reading The Flash. Or more accurately waiting for the relaunch later this year. I jumped back into comics a few years ago. Started with Rebirth and been reading ever since.
As far as Manga goes, I'm reading One Punch Man. I'm also reading MHA up to where the latest season ended. I'm an anime watcher first :)
I've been slowly moving through Sergio Toppi's Scenes from the Bible. Incredible ink work from a master!
Also been really loving Creepy Presents: Richard Corben. He was so masterful with color. Love those purple and oranges! His black and white work is fantastic as well. Great horror stories, some he wrote himself, while others were collaborating with Bruce Jones.
Have a wonderful copy of the Artist's Edition of The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens that is next on my reading list. Another fantastic ink slinger!
I’ve never been able to get into comics even though I’ve wanted to. It’s hard for me to focus on them, or appreciate them somehow. Honestly I think I’m just not a very visual person, for example I usually prefer textual descriptions over imagery when learning new things, etc.
However, my most recent (and technically ongoing) attempt to get into comic books has been sponsored by my love for The Last Podcast on the Left. The hosts are huge comic book fans and have come out with their own collections in The Last Comic Book on the Left volumes 1, 2, and soon to be 3. They also did a short series called Soul Plumber for DC. I’ve read all of these and have enjoyed them and hope that maybe someday I’ll be able to truly appreciate more comic books, because I think it’s a cool medium with a lot of cool people involved, and I think it’s a shame that I’m missing out on a lot of really talented people’s works.
Honestly if anyone has any suggestions for gateway comics I’d be all ears. I like the aforementioned ones for their dark, gritty, horror, creepy, humorous, and irreverent aspects.
Horror comics are not my bag, but people have liked The Nice House By The Lake, Ice Cream Man, Gideon Falls and Paper Girls. Paper Girls is horror in the same way that Stranger Things is though.
Although, you might like The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. He's pretty classic and while there is new content in that universe, the original 75 issue run is pretty unimpeachable.
I'll second what moocow1452 said and recommend Nice House by the Lake (And everything else he said tbh). Really good. The art is amazing in it.
It might not be the easiest for a newcomer, though. I was confused by some of the characters (I wasn't sure who was who for a while), but other than that it's really good and short-ish. The story isn't finished though, so bear that in mind.
And to throw a couple more in, I'll mention Black Hole, about a sexually transmitted disease that causes mutations, and Uzumaki, which is a manga by Junji Ito, very well known for his horror stories.
Currently I have yet another free trial to Kindle Unlimited in addition to my library signing up for Hoopla, so I'm working my way through a lot of indie stuff. Most recently, I found Animal Castle, which is a spiritual(?) successor to Orwell's Animal Farm, which is it's own flavor of authoritarian hellhole, more built around dictatorship, resistance, and how the two intermingle.
I guess it’s technically not a comic book, but I’ve been making my way through Death Note. I have the all-in-one version and it is hilariously huge (2k+ pages). I’ve watched the anime before so I kind of know the story already, but I’ve been enjoying it so far.
I actually sorted through my collection last night. It's overwhelming the number of comics I have. Collecting gave me such joy, but having a collection gives me anxiety. Unfortunately, it seems my tastes and everyone else's don't align since most of it is not worth much.
If anyone is super into Aquaman, Batman beyond, spiderman, Joss Wheaton properties, ms. Marvel (carol), Captain Marvel (carol), X23 and the entirety of the Civil war with all tie-ins... Hit me up?
I've read a few Batman from the late 1980s. A lot of them are not good but can be fun either way. Also, nostalgia is strong and I love learning more about the history of the character.
Detective Comics 585 - 586, The Ratcatcher (Alan Grant, 1988)
The Ratcatcher maintains a prison in the sewer where he keeps those who he believed wronged him, notably a judge and a police officer. I like seeing Batman dwelling in the sewer and it makes for some cool visuals. 2/5.
Batman 421 - 422, Elmore's Lady (Jim Starlin, 1988)
Gruesome details such as the crazy homeless dude that keeps a decaying corpse as his "wife". The villain is a sexist, misogynous, anti-feminist psychopath that kills to "put women in their place". An interesting, grounded plot, giving a strong motivation for the Bat, with a villain that is easy to hate. 3/5
Batman Annual 12 (Mike Baron, 1988)
Slade Demon's: a great setup that puts Batman in a murder mystery game where he ends up having to play detective for real. Lots of whimsical characters with great lines, but the main plot is needlessly convoluted and it was hard to keep myself interested. 2/5.
The Back-up: A nice little story where Jason Todd (Robin) deals with schoolmates trying to cheat on their scores in a way that was smart and fitting. 4/5.
Batman 423, You Shoulda Seen Him... (Jim Starlin, 1988)
Batman starts saving a guy from committing suicide and ends with Bruce temporarily adopting a bunch of kinds. Life lessons. Wholesome, heartwarming story. 3/5.
Batman 424, The Diplomat's Son (Jim Starlin, 1988)
Abuse of diplomatic immunity is at the forefront here and is also explored in several other stories. I'm not sure what was the deal at the time. The son of a diplomat abuses and ultimately leads a woman into suicide (it's pretty bleak). Robin (Jason Todd) is deeply affected by this and ends up almost certainly murdering the guy, much to Bruce's dismay. That is seemingly the start of the "Jason Todd can't handle himself" ordeal that will eventually get him killed. 4/5.
Batman 425, Consequences (Jim Starlin, 1988)
Pretty pointless story, serving only to reinforce the notion that Todd's actions have real consequences -- the father of the guy he killed kidnaps Gordon to attract Batman and Robin to his vengeance. 1/5.
Detective Comics 587 - 589, Night People (Alan Grant, 1988)
I'm not gonna waste my time here, I hate that story. I see there's an attempt at sophisticated, indirect narration, but the result is that motivations are unclear and obscure till the very end. A complete mess. 1/5.
Detective Comics 589, For the Love of Ivy(1988)
Filler Poison Ivy story. 1/5.
Detective Comics 590, An American Batman in London (1988)
Anti-Muslim sentiments were clearly pretty high back then, but we also get some valid criticism of American external policy. 2/5.
Batman 425 - 427, A Death in the Family (Jim Starling, 1988)
The start of the famous arc where readers vote for Jason Todd to die. Except for Todd's emotional search for his biological mother, it's a fairly unremarkable story. Some very problematic depictions of middle eastern people. It's so weird to see the Joker trying to sell nuclear warheads in Palestine and rob supplies in Ethiopia. So incredibly random, why's he in this story in the first place? 2/5.
Batman 428 - 429, A Death in the Family (Jim Starling, 1988)
Not much to say here. The scenes after Jason's death are okay. The Joker becomes Iran's ambassador to the UN. Whatta fuck? 1/5.
Batman 430, Fatal Wish (Jim Starling, 1989)
Batman has to stop a lone shooter with a life trauma similar to his own. A simple and strong concept that was well executed. 3/5.
I just finished reading Final Crisis. It was really good! I like to read omnibuses so I don’t have to hunt down all the issues. They can be expensive but really worth it if you’re like me and want the complete story.
Next when I can afford it I’d like to buy the dark knights metal omnibus.
I’ve also read the DCeased comics and they were really good.
My Amazon wish list is full of omnibuses when my wallet is ready.
Also also the sandman collection was amazing.
I could start reading my green lantern omnibus but I swear it’s like 20 pounds and a million pages it’s huge lmao
I just finished The walking Dead about an hour ago.
I started reading it a couple of years ago but lost interest about halfway through. Then life happened, I got really sick last year and haven't thought about TWD for quite some time, but I remembered it a couple of weeks ago and picked up where I left it.
I liked the ending. What did everyone else think? ( please avoid spoilers for those who still haven't read it)