|
Michael Chabon, perhaps? I can't think of any immediate thematic parallels in their respective works at the moment, it might be I put them together in my mind because they've collaborated together before.
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2012 22:32
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:28 |
|
|
I think Hellboy is definitely part of the must-read, modern comics canon. Don't let any vague impressions gathered from the movies fool you--Hellboy has a lot more depth than a huge red guy going round beating up demons. It's honestly been one of the most consistent ongoing titles of the last decade. Mike Mignola is also one of the industry's most esteemed writer/artist; even when he's not contributing his own fantastic artwork, he has an eye for talent and has worked with great artists like Duncan Fegredo and Richard Corben. This hardcover collection contains the first two arcs and serves as a decent primer for new readers. The first story was co-plotted with help from John Byrne and the next story shows Mignola come into his own remarkably quickly and capably as sole writer.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 3, 2012 06:00
|
|
|
The Goon is coming back to form with dire portents and an issue devoted to the disgraced Zombie Priest this week. I don't know how you guys feel, but the book has been really rough since Eric Powell came back from hiatus. Some of the issues have been outright embarrassing to buy (like the literal fan-service issue about his burlesque dancer fangirl). But I think Powell is capable of some tremendous highs, and The Goon's overall story-arc remains utterly captivating even if some individual issues fall flat with me.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2012 08:09
|
|
|
Baltimore is like Hellboy if the sleeping vampire threat woke up shortly after the Great War, Europe is in utter shambles, and the protagonist is replaced by a one-legged British nobleman with a major chip on his shoulder. It compares very favorably in terms of story and artwork to Hellboy. I think I like Sir Edward Grey better when he shows up as a mysterious allusion to past paranormal events in the main series over his portrayal in his own minis because it's harder to reconcile the hooded, masked mystic that shows up alongside Dagda and the fairies with the mortal Sir Edward. That said, the first mini was quite good. I didn't care for the latest Witchfinder, despite it featuring some of John Severin's last work.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2012 07:48
|
|
|
Keep in mind that a major plot point for the story, with huge ramifications for one character, happens during Rucka's Q&C novesl. You don't necessarily have to read the prose since the comics sort of explains it in vague flashbacks, but the novels will help make sense of what exactly went down.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 17, 2012 03:54
|
|
|
Rex Mundi is indeed great but it's not like BSS gets a super amount of traffic or participation compared to other comics forums or even other subforums in SA. Hence this one thread serving as a catch-all for all the indie comics out there. That said, nothing's stopping you from starting your own thread for it. EDIT: It's probably also the nature of comics. It's hard to generate an entire thread's worth of discussion when a book comes out only once a month, unless it's a really popular series. I swear we had a Hellboy/BPRD thread not too long ago and it seemed to quickly drop into the archives despite all the love it gets and the multiple releases per month. moot the hopple fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Jan 21, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2013 05:49
|
|
|
Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:I caught myself up on Prophet after reading about it in this thread and (I think) in the Comic recommendation thread, and I am loving the hell out of this comic. It's bat-poo poo crazy. I'm also appreciating the level of craft that Graham is managing in Prophet. It feels like he's able to tap into a rich and storied backdrop with his subtle, passing references to the old Image properties, yet without taking away from his own clearly distinct vision of the world he's working within. It's almost--almost--enough to make me want to go back and reread all the terrible comics of my childhood, but then I remember I'm only enjoying it because it's Brandon Graham's version of the Image universe, that takes all of the interesting ideas and doesn't hew closely to the dreck. It's a less-is-more approach that feels really confident, not bogged down by existing continuity. If you didn't know anything about about pre-existing characters like Supreme or Diehard, you'd just naturally assume they were new and original characters, and they might as well be that with the way Graham is using them. I also love how he can throw out so many whimsical ideas and just have them stand on their own merits. Most writers, especially hard sci-fi writers, can often get stuck up their own asses trying to explicate to death all their grand ideas.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2013 02:39
|
|
," I feel like he's jumping up and down like a little kid saying, "Check this out! Check this out! It's a Crazy Goofy Scary THING!!" and is just letting you into his clubhouse because he's the nice but weird kid that wants friends with which to share.
|
The latest issue of Prophet has a copy of Brandon Graham's script in the back pages. It's mostly reference materials and rough thumbnails, but nonetheless a fascinating look at the process. It's interesting how they don't work with a conventional, written script but share enough common vocabulary as artists to flesh out a basic outline.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 13, 2013 03:28
|
|
|
I just finished the latest Abe Sapien mini and I'd contend that Scott Allie remains the weakest collaborator that Mike Mignola has ever paired up with. Dude should probably stick to editing instead of writing the stuff, in my opinion. Biggest pet peeve about this particular mini is that he seems to hold the amateurish belief that rendering convincing dialect means randomly switching half your lines to first year-level Spanish. Meanwhile, Mignola writing by himself on the recent The Midnight Circus was as excellent as you'd expect, and it's always a treat to return to Hellboy's younger years. Fegredo and Stewart do a great job of selling the dreamy mysteriousness of the circus and its demonic performers. The wait between these big books seems interminable but the payoff is always worth it.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 15, 2013 01:37
|
|
|
His recent Young Liars was good for the most part, but Stray Bullets remains my favorite of his work because it stayed accessible while still experimental. I do hope he resists the urge to color the new issue and stick with the black and white, however.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2013 05:54
|
|
|
Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:As much as I love Prophet, sometimes I just wish it would make sense or be coherent in some way. I feel like every issue adds something new and then never comes back to it. It makes my head spin. What seems to be confusing you, exactly? Nothing new was really introduced in the latest issue. If you're refering to the appearance of Badrock and Troll, that's been a development long in the making now. Even the living red pain in the center of space that decimates the fleet was introduced back in the mid-30s when it also destroyed the earlier hammer fleet except for a survivor whom the Earth mothers mindprobe for the location. Troll's prophetic words also reached both John leaders, drawing everything to its current head. There's relatively little words in Prophet and the focus shifts between arcs, but the overall story isn't as meandering as you say. It's a method of storytelling that requires effort and maybe good memory because things are seeded and alluded to, rather than played out beat for beat. Though the initial stories of the newly awakened Johns seemed disparate, the end of the very first arc laid out pretty clearly what was going on. There is a deliberate story being told, and what seems like "roadside attractions" have remained relevant to the grand scheme of things. Everything has been building to the upcoming war told by separate prisms of the conflict, whether it's concerning Newfather Prophet restoring the crumbling elements of the Earth Empire or Old Man John assembling allies to oppose this returned threat. Maybe the solely Giannis Milonogiannis-penned isse was a little indulgent, but even that had bearing to the machinations of the Earth Empire.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2013 03:12
|
|
|
Ugh, I prematurely gifted my old trades of Stray Bullets to my brother in anticipation of the Uber Alles addition. Now I'm waiting for instocktrades.com to ship my order before I start with #41 and Killers since the story's no longer fresh in my head.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2014 07:10
|
|
|
Finally received my Uber Alles edition  I feel like I should be reading it from a lectern or something because it's so loving big. Also trying to resist the urge to peek into Killers before I finish this reread which is hard because Spanish Scott was one of my favorite characters.It's been a while since I've read it but it's basically like returning to buried treasure. I never really paid attention to the significance of the title but I'm realizing how Stray Bullets is pretty much about unintended consequences. The lives of most of these characters are irrevocably derailed or knocked off course because another character is too self-absorbed with their own poo poo to understand the ramifications that their actions will have on others. But Lapham doesn't lay too much judgment on his characters, or at least tries to present a balanced and relatable portrayal for each member of his cast, whether they're heroes, villains, or even bit characters in the background. Everyone considers themselves the hero of their own stories, and the vignette structure of Stray Bullets allows these characters to shine from their own point of view with these brilliant, trenchant snapshots of their lives.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2014 22:07
|
|
|
This is some months old but I just got caught up with Fatale, and found a very good episode of Kieron Gillen's Decompressed podcast with Sean Philips and Ed Brubaker on it. There's talk about how they work together, nice words about Bettie Breitweiser, movie adaptations, moving away from mainstream comics, and some soft digs at Liefeld. Caveat: it is poorly mic'd and in front of a live audience so some parts are hard to make out, but still worth a listen. Also can't wait for The Fade Out to come out from these guys this August.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 2, 2014 03:22
|
|
|
GrandpaPants posted:So I'm reading Prophet, up to Vol. 3, and uh, is it supposed to be incomprehensible. Like I get the gist of the story, but I feel that parts are missing, which may be tied to the fact that A) I don't remember previous volumes because they don't make sense at the time and B) I had never read or heard of Liefeld's original. I like the worlds and settings and stuff, but drat do I have no idea what's going on. Yeah it's understandable to feel lost, especially if you're unfamiliar with the old Image properties. Some make neat cameos but others are pretty pivotal to the main plot. The plot's focus also jumps around a lot and you can easily forget about certain characters after they're introduced because the story doesn't return to them until months later. I try to reread the previous stuff as each new issue is released to keep a bird's eye view on the overall story. Basically, at the point you're at in the story, there are two factions. The old Earth Empire is reconsolidating it's hold over the galaxy after being awakened by Newfather Prophet (the first John introduced in #21 who now wears a dolmantle for his lost arm). We learn that this society is made up of Johns, who are barbaric, foot soldiers specifically gene-engineered to suit various roles and battlefields; all the different Johns we see running around in the first couple of arcs are the sleeper agents reawakened by Newfather after the first arc. The Johns are psychically controlled by the Earth Mothers, shriveled up masses of flesh who mentally project their image as little girls. There also appears to be a collective consciousness that is governing the whole Empire, one that starts to lose influence the further away the Johns are from it. The Earth Empire is opposed by Old Man Prophet, who is sometimes called the traitor of the Wolf-Rayet Star. Through allusions and flashbacks, we learn that this John led a slave revolt long ago that brought down the original Earth Empire. Old Man Prophet is currently seeking out his old allies and brothers (such as Diehard, the scale people, the tree-like Kinniaa, and the old sleeping war robots) to once again confront the reawakened Empire. Concurrent to all this is Troll, who is another Image legacy character and once part of the team Youngblood (along with Diehard and Badrock). Back then, he looked like this goofy motherfucker but in the current series he appears as a mysteriously cowled and cloaked figure who is influencing both Newfather and Old Man Prophet through dreams and visions. Troll warns both sides of a "red pain" residing in the heart of the galaxy that threatens everything. Not to spoil anything, but his plans involve Badrock, another long-lived member of Youngblood. The book has made allusions to him already with mentions of "McCall's children", the living celestial bodies floating in space. That's pretty much the big moving pieces to keep an eye one. The penultimate issue was just recently released, then we have #45, and finally the Prophet: Earth War series which will wrap up everything (hopefully).
|
|
#
¿
Jun 7, 2014 00:22
|
|
|
I feel like I can forgive the Prophet guys for sometimes going off on an indulgent tangent because the world they're building is so rich and exciting that I wouldn't mind a couple of more issues just to explore it. There's an upcoming issue for you that's focused completely on Diehard but it features some ridiculously awesome art from a bunch of great guys and gives a lot of backstory on the world and the first war. Even when they drop you into what is seemingly an entirely separate setting, there's enough ties to the main story to prevent it from going completely off the rails. Another little thing I love about the series is how they use the back pages as a showcase for other comics. I can't say that I've enjoyed each and every single one, but I really appreciate the magnanimous gesture of giving some extra exposure to their friends. Image used to do a similar thing through Top Cow with Pilot Season, where new creators could pitch and hopefully launch a series on the merits of their first issue, but they've stopped doing that.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2014 00:04
|
|
|
I actually remembered to remove the Abe Sapien series from my pull list due to having a small haul this week. I don't know about you guys, but I find it both bafflingly slow-paced and plodding AND somehow hard to follow at the same time. The transitions between scenes and issues in the same arc are just so inelegant that it struggles to form a cohesive narrative. It's a shame because the rest of the Hellboy/BPRD franchise is still going strong. I think BPRD in particular has been lately experiencing a second wind after making strides in fleshing out the rest of the BPRD as an organization. For a long stretch of time it was just Abe, Roger, Liz, and Sherman as the mainstays with a multitude of faceless, anonymous footsoldiers as background dressing, but now other field agents have been given the limelight. I have some reservations about how they've let the genie out of the bottle in other aspects of the story, but I've been enjoying the last couple of minis more than others of the recent past.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2014 02:10
|
|
|
StumblyWumbly posted:You're right. BPRD is really making gold out of some things I did not think would work, like Varvara and Iosef. I kind of wish the end was in sight, but it has been consistently good and evolving, so maybe that's fine. This is my biggest concern. Not that I'm so eager to see the end or I want them to stop making comics, it's just hard to predict if they can sustain their story at this level given recent developments in BPRD. Mignola has intimated that Hellboy might be stuck in Hell for quite a while, which could work out because there's plenty of stories to mine from the setting. But I think BPRD going into a similar holding pattern would be kind of weird because the world has already been pushed past the precipice. It already feels like the full stakes is on the line and we've reached the endgame at this point. I'm hoping they use the current premise to build towards something, not just idling in place in a tenuous status quo. There's already been some signs of Mignola/Arcudi and co. spinning their wheels with the resurrection of Leopold, Karl, and now von Klempt in the latest issue. The refreshing lack of meaningless comic book death and resurrections has been a distinguishing mark for Hellboy and this series, so it's kind of worrisome to see it being used now.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2014 07:01
|
|
|
CaptainApathyUK posted:How many unsubtle musical references does it make? I say this as a fan of their work, and in the knowledge that it was the actual premise of Phonogram, but gently caress me was some of Marvel Boy's music adoration in Young Avengers jarring. I'd say this is their most mature work yet. I also felt Phonogram was a little too dear with itself at times, but W&D's debut was quite strong. It's been really cool seeing Gillen grow from video game reviewer to solid comics writer. I think his work at Marvel has been given short shrift, so it's nice that he and McKelvie can create something of this caliber for themselves.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2014 23:37
|
|
|
So The Goon came back this week after another long gap and it was pretty disappointing. Powell has said he's moving onto an intermittent schedule like some other Dark Horse books, only his offerings don't feel as substantive as, say, Hellboy is when it actually comes out. It feels like he's all but abandoned the promising new storyline he introduced almost two years ago. This latest issue was filled with a bunch of his tired standbys that never really cohered into anything interesting; I don't mind when Powell indulges in barfights and old timey characters, but that was literally all this issue was about. The last couple of issues have felt very much like old hat now when there was a time when this series was one of my favorites for its unexpected creativity. In other continuing series news, Stray Bullets is still kicking loads of rear end. The only niggle I have is that Lapham's art skills seem to have deteriorated a bit. His lines aren't as crisp and his inkwork has become less elaborate compared to early issues, but I'll take any Stray Bullets I can get at this point. Lapham's writing is still superb (miles better than his work for hire stuff, if that's your only exposure to him) and he packs a lot of story into one issue. Granted, his issues are like one-third longer than the industry standard, but each one has this nice done-in-one trimness that's feeling more and more rare with ongoing comics.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2014 06:10
|
|
|
I've been reading through the works of the cartoonist Jason (aka John Arne Sæterøy) lately. He's always been on my peripheral but I finally bought a couple of his books off Amazon because I had some leftover credit. I'm now completely hooked, these are some seriously charming funnybooks. It's kind of hard to nail down their exact tone because everything is so understated and low-key. They're definitely funny, but not in like a knee-slapping, joke and punchline kind of way. They're also surprisingly emotionally complex, with the absurdist premise and the fact that the characters are anthropomorphic animals becoming minor, backseat details to the more interesting relationships explored in each book. Some books are funnier or more poignant than others, but every one I've read so far has struck a chord with me in the end. I breezed through Hey, Wait..., I Killed Adolf Hitler, Lost Cat, Werewolves of Montpellier, and The Left Bank Gang and now have the rest of his work via Fantagraphics on order. I'd probably recommend either I Killed Adolf Hitler or Werewolves of Montpellier as a decent intro to anyone is interested.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2014 03:52
|
|
|
Unmature posted:I love that podcast, I just wish more of the regular hosts were good comic writers. Len Wein is a legend and it's great to hear him talk, but he's really old school of course. And Adam Beechen is a super cool guy and sounds really nice and gives some good advice, but he's also... Adam Beechen. Y'know? And I still haven't read any comics by Ben Blacker, but I really should. I love that guy. If you like hearing about how the sausage is made, Kieron Gillen's Decompressed podcast where he talks to creators about their process and craft is also really cool. Warning: production values on this podcast are basically nil and some episodes take place in noisy, crowded areas. It's worth bearing through it, though, because the conversations are fun and illuminating, albeit sometimes hard to hear. I recommend listening to the Shaky Kane and David Hine episode at the very least because they go into their incredible series, The Bulletproof Coffin.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 14, 2014 00:03
|
|
|
Just got Copra #16 in the mail today Copra has been my cape comics fix ever since weening myself off company comics, but it's been so good that I don't really miss the big two superheroes that much. I just wish Fiffe would work with some kind of publisher for printing and distribution purposes. As it stands, his current model seems to only be able to support his established fans, since each issue has a very limited printing and back issues and the compendiums are basically impossible to obtain at this point (I had to get the first couple of compendiums secondhand off eBay). I don't mind buying directly from him for double the price of a standard comic, but it's hard to convince my friends to go to some etsy store that happens to share the same space as his wife's homemade jewelry. Really, my gripe is more that I so dearly want Fiffe to blow up super big and for more people to be able to read Copra. Dude not only writes, draws, inks, colors, and letters his own stuff, but also mails everything out himself. EVERY MONTH. It's incredible how consistently good this comic is, considering the huge amount of work that has to go into it. Everybody's probably heard of Copra by now, but you're really doing yourself a disservice by not checking it out. It truly lives up to the buzz. You can even read the entire first issue for free at Michel Fiffe's site. A new compendium that collects the first six issues is also coming out in the next month or two, so that would be a perfect jumping on point.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 27, 2014 00:27
|
|
|
chime_on posted:It's obvious that Fiffe working for Marvel is slowing Copra down just a little bit, but it's cool. I share the frustration about how tough it can be to get caught up at this point, but it'll all get worked out in time. To use another self-published book as an example, in the early to mid-80s it was really difficult to get caught up on Cerebus without spending ridiculous amounts of money on back issues, limited run reprints, etc. But once Sim got it all figured out, you could go into a comic shop and comfortably get it all. As much as I gripe about availability, part of me is in absolute wonder at how he's able to make self-publishing work for his purposes. It would be a feel-good industry story even if it wasn't some of the best superhero comics on top of all that. Anyway, the last issue of Prophet's main series came out today. I don't think there's any other comic that gives me more of an electric tingle using less words than Prophet. I'm looking forward to the concluding Earth War series and the supplementary Prophet Strikefiles, but I'm kind of saddened that we're about to reach the end of it all. On the upside, Graham and his wife, Marian Churchland, will soon be doing work on 8house, which looks like more sci-fi goodness.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 31, 2014 01:00
|
|
|
I've been picking through Warren Ellis' less popular/small press works whenever they show up for cheap on Amazon market or eBay, and they all kind of blend together into a bland pablum in my head. With stuff like Orbiter, Ministry of Space, and Atmospherics, Ellis starts with a sometimes novel sci-fi premise that struggles to sustain itself for the entire book or just flags away to a weak ending. A lot of his characters follow a cookie-cutter formula (manic pixie dream girl, hard-nosed professional, eccentric scientist) and wind up sharing the same sarcastic voice anyway. But I think with a writer as prolific as Ellis, things can't help but become a little formulaic as you read enough of their stuff to discover their idiosyncratic and sometimes annoying tics. It's kind of like how I feel about Stephen King, where I can see at least a basic competency for storytelling yet the appeal of their work wears thin as they retread old ground.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2014 01:16
|
|
|
I'll say this for Ellis, he certainly knows how to produce some very stylish comics. His latest Moon Knight had a lot of cinematographic flair, with the panel arrangement for each issue's title page sort of evoking a letterboxed opening sequence and these high octane scenes that allowed Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire to showcase some exhilarating artwork. The only problem is that there isn't much substance beyond the style. In Moon Knight, there was essentially no character development. The main character went out on some strange and exciting adventures but stayed static the whole time, which lately seems to be the blueprint for a lot of Ellis' work on a company property. The moments where Marc Specter is all alone and you're actually given a glimpse into the state of his mind were all too tantalizingly brief. The done-in-one tenant works fine when dealing with the central premise of each issue, since each episode wraps up neatly in the end and it would frankly lose something if Ellis tried to explicate every detail to death, but it's less satisfying when trying to explore the main character's own ongoing story. I guess my complaints with Ellis' recent output boils down to wishing he would do more. It's been a long time since I've seen him go for broke with an actual, top-to-bottom complete story. Still, Moon Knight had a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to the Moon Knight team reuniting for Injection next year.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2014 01:23
|
|
|
AV Club posted a preview and interview with the creators of The Fade Out. Some interesting workmanship details like Betty Breitweiser's thoughts behind her palette selections and Sean Philips' move to full digital art.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2014 01:10
|
|
|
I also want more Incognito more than anything else from these guys but I also hope that The Fade Out does well for them. You get the sense that Brubaker is really passionate about this project. The big draws for me is seeing them finally doing period noir without any genre mashups and Bettie Breitweiser, whose coloring really seems to be upping their game based on the preview (the latter, lukewarm parts of Brubaker's Captain America run were buoyed for me whenever she and her husband did the pages).
|
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2014 04:47
|
|
|
WinnebagoWarrior posted:In non-Ellis news, always excited to see another Stay Bullets:Killers on the shelves. This months was pretty tame but its a pretty great series so far. I thought about the last panel a good bit. Very effective. I thought it was a cool way of Lapham subverting expectations. At this point, we're so used to Virginia dealing with creeps, and Paul seems to ticks all the markers for a dirtbag, but in the end there's a perfectly mundane and innocent explanation for everything, which is rarely the case in her turbulent life. The real meat of this issue is seeing the chink develop in Eli and Virginia's relationship, which is still very much in it's honeymoon phase despite some hardships. My biggest worry is that star-crossed lovers rarely work out in Stray Bullets 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2014 06:28
|
|
|
WinnebagoWarrior posted:Killers is actually my first foray into Stray Bullets, but holy gently caress do I love it. I think I am going to pick up the Uber Alles version of the original series sooner rather than later. I strongly urge you to pick up the Uber Alles edition. Killers is neat because Lapham was able to come back to his baby in pretty much perfect form except for his art, which I think is now merely serviceable when it used to jaw-dropping gorgeous. You should read the earlier Stray Bullets if only to get a glimpse of his young and hungry days when he lavished his pages with ink. The difference in finishing is huge, the only problem is that you might become disappointed with the relatively flat looking panels in Killers compared to the rich depth and dimension of Lapham's early stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2014 22:48
|
|
|
Grab the original stuff collected in the recently released Uber Alles edition. I got mine from instocktrades for a really reasonable price. It used to be a bear trying to find all of the old El Capitan trades, so people jumping in now are in the best position to start reading Stray Bullets.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2014 01:04
|
|
|
dik-dik posted:Copra Round One is available now from Bergen Street Comics. It collects issues #1-#6. This is a really good purchase, guys. People have been waiting forever for the earlier issues to come back in print and there's no beating it for that price and number of issues collected. The first six issues has this really exhilarating, breakneck pace that ramps up the stakes from the word go, the artwork is like the legacy of Ditko and Kirby fulfilled, and the premise and cast, while rooted in the traditions of DC and Marvel, tells a much more engaging story than you'd commonly find in corporate comics. There's so many great things going for Copra and I can recommend it with absolutely no reservations.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2014 23:24
|
|
|
Preview of tomorrow's Prophet Strikefile #1 here. A bunch of cool people have already posted some of their contributions for this series online. I love seeing the fresh and bold takes that different artists add whenever they come onto Prophet. The one jarring thing about the preview is that this is probably the most overt amount of explication I've ever seen in any three consecutive pages of Prophet 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2014 21:56
|
|
|
I'm actually a fan of the sparse, breadcrumb plotting. In fact, my worry is that Prophet could lose some of its magic by filling in its backstory with Strikefile. I don't necessarily want or need every element to be pinned down for me, and I've found other encyclopedic supplements that try to cohere their universe together like this just wind up being stifling exercises in canon-policing. That said, I'm eager for anything Prophet related. From the pages already posted, it looks like it's going to be more of an excuse for other cool collaborators to come and work within the universe.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2014 06:35
|
|
|
Martello posted:I just ordered Prophet Volume 1. How awesome should I expect it to be? I like it a lot, just don't feel too daunted by the seemingly sudden shifts to other characters. The first trade introduces many key players that will have further bearing in the series so it's good to keep an eye on them even if they won't show up until some issues later. The newest Prophet Strikefiles allayed all my earlier worries. A neat thing about this series is that it doesn't necessarily call for sequential art. I'm a big sucker for tableaus, cityscapes, and diagrams so I found everything in this issue really fun to read.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2014 22:21
|
|
|
TheQat posted:I finished Copra Round One. Is there any way to get 7-12 at the moment or am I at the mercy of a Compendium 3 reprint/waiting for Round Two? Because I'm fiending. That was awesome. The compendiums are currently out of stock. I got mine used through eBay for close to their original price. Checking it now, there seems to be less listings available and finished auctions are indicating some ridiculously marked up prices. Keep in mind that the compendiums collect just three issues so you'd only be able to get up to #9 with Compendium 3 anyway. The only single issues still in print right now are 13-17, which work out to cost around 8 bucks per issue after shipping. I'm okay with paying that premium however because every subsequent arc has continually upped the ante. If I were in your position, I'd probably wait for Round Two. I bought Round One myself just because the price was too good and I'll probably switch over to trade waiting once the new editions catch up to the current issues.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 15, 2014 22:08
|
|
|
Martello posted:And the rest of us have to wait another month. Waiting sucks but I'm really happy that American publishers are making the effort to bring cool Euro comics to the English-speaking audience. Like I still can't believe we're going to get the complete Corto Maltese next year.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 23, 2014 03:11
|
|
|
GrandpaPants posted:I love finding new Euro comics and really miss the old Euro comics thread. Can anyone sell me on Corto Maltese? Also, Amazon just shows one Corto Maltese volume (of 12) coming out in December. Does that mean they're going to try for a monthly release or is there an omnibus-like book that you're talking about? I can't really vouch for it personally since I'm waiting on the new translation like everyone else, but it seems to be one of those cherished, seminal series that a lot of comics luminaries hold in high regard. Ballad of the Salt Sea has been on my radar after hearing it mentioned in a couple of interviews and best-of lists, though I don't think it will be included in the very first volume that IDW is releasing. Maybe it'll end up as one of those things that people say they enjoy to seem fashionable and it won't click with me, but I'm curious enough about its sterling reputation to check out whether it's truly deserved. Speaking of European comics, I wrote this about the Norwegian cartoonist Jason earlier this year: moot the hopple posted:I've been reading through the works of the cartoonist Jason (aka John Arne Sæterøy) lately. He's always been on my peripheral but I finally bought a couple of his books off Amazon because I had some leftover credit. I'm now completely hooked, these are some seriously charming funnybooks. It's kind of hard to nail down their exact tone because everything is so understated and low-key. They're definitely funny, but not in like a knee-slapping, joke and punchline kind of way. They're also surprisingly emotionally complex, with the absurdist premise and the fact that the characters are anthropomorphic animals becoming minor, backseat details to the more interesting relationships explored in each book. Some books are funnier or more poignant than others, but every one I've read so far has struck a chord with me in the end. I'm pretty much caught up with the rest of of his bibliography at this point (I think a couple of his books might be out of print or just unavailable from Amazon/Fantagraphics last I checked?), and it's probably the best comics discovery I've had in a long while. Some of his earlier stuff is flawed with a bit of stiffness and sterility, but I'd say he hits his stride by the time he starts working with the colorist Hubert. I'm almost hesitant to recommend a particular book by Jason because I don't want to give the wrong impression and it's really hard to choose just one book that's fully representative of what makes him so great. I'll just repeat that I stand by my earlier review after getting more exposure to his work. Probably not selling him properly, but I do hope people check Jason out because I think his books are very worthwhile.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2014 06:32
|
|
|
Yeah, the expensive and subpar versions floating around is mainly what kept me from checking it out earlier. IDW seems like they're trying for the most definitive and true-to-original version of Corto Maltese.The Action Man posted:I read Werewolves of Montpellier over a year ago; it and everything I have read by Jason is wonderful. He can be very low key tone wise, so it's weird to get so excited about his work. He deserves it, though. As a lit geek, I think my favorite has got to be The Left Bank Gang which is about the Lost Generation expats re-imagined as cartoonists and then bank robbers (and also depicted as animals as per his style). Even ignoring the unlikely mashups of this premise, Jason still weaves a legitimate heist caper with all the hallmarks of plot twists and betrayals you'd typically expect. But I think what elevates it is the authenticity and groundedness of his fictionalized characters. In a really tight amount of pages, Jason is able to capture the tumultuous relationship of the Fitzgeralds, Fitzgerald's and Hemingway's friendship, and Gertrude Stein's mentorship of Hemingway (the scene where she dictates her rules of writings but in comics terms is pretty much spot-on perfect). There's a really insightful eloquence to his characters that cuts down to the core and makes all the other wacky things going on much more approachable, which I think is true for all of his works.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2014 01:39
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:28 |
|
|
I'm a fan of Gillen and have followed the majority of his work. The Wicked + The Divine really seems like the natural progression of his work as it contains many of his familiar themes and interests, but it also feels like W+D has the luxury to work out its ideas in detail without being hampered by telling a superhero story in a preexisting universe. Comixology is selling the first issue for .99.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2014 04:37
|
|