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Pardon me, but this is my first time in the Digital Comics thread. I just posted this in the Hardcovers and TPBs thread, but I think it's worth cross-posting here. Hopefully this will be new to some of you: Those of you who have and use public libraries (which is hopefully most of you), check your library websites to see if they have added a new online service called Hoopla Digital. Mine added it earlier this year. You can create a free Hoopla account with your library card number, and then you can stream or (temporarily) download audiobooks, movies, TV shows, or music albums to your computers, tablets, or phones. It's very similar to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, in that you can browse categories, search, and add things to a list of favorites. There is a Hoopla Digital app, of course. You can usually keep things in your Hoopla account for 21 days, and then they either disappear (the system automatically checks them back in), or you can return them once you're done. And at least my public library set it up so I can check out a total of six items per month. That isn't a lot, the way I blow through media, but it's still a nice added feature. I was finally able to see The Long Goodbye thanks to Hoopla, which is of particular interest to anyone who read and enjoyed Matt Fraction's Hawkeye series. But the reason I'm mentioning this here is because about a month ago, they added a whole category of comic books, which is mostly trade paperbacks. They include DC/Vertigo (mostly New 52 TPBs, with some perennial favorites like Watchmen, Sandman, Preacher, and Fables), Dark Horse (tons of stuff), Image (I'm finally going to get to read Velvet, Lazarus, and Satellite Sam), Valiant (ditto for Archer and Armstrong), IDW (no James Roberts Transformers TPBs yet, but lots of other TF stuff, and a whole category for Doctor Who, for those who are into that). Marvel's absence is very obvious. I had never downloaded a comic before, don't have Comixology or any other apps like that, but it hasn't been bad at all reading comics on my iPad through the Hoopla Digital app. So far, I've finally gotten to read the first Justice League 3000 TPB (not my thing, although I appreciate that it brought back Beetle and Booster), the last two Batman Inc. TPBs to finally finish Morrison's epic Batman run, and now I've moved onto Lemire's Green Arrow run, which is excellent so far. My public library has a decent collection of TPBs, but there is still plenty of stuff they don't have that I'd like to read, and now much of it has been added to Hoopla Digital. So check to see if you all have access... but you don't have to take my word for it! Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Nov 2, 2015 |
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Nov 2, 2015 15:03
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zoux posted:Quantum and Woody sale!. Really? I've heard the original Priest series is fantastic -- an underrated highlight of the late '90s. The only bad thing I've heard about is the more recent Q2 miniseries.
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Nov 18, 2015 15:03
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Zachack posted:https://www.comixology.com/DC-101-Collections-Sale/page/9176?ref=c2l0ZS9pbmRleC9kZXNrdG9wL2xhcmdlQ2Fyb3VzZWw The first two Brubaker Catwoman collections are excellent, but the quality takes a huge dive in the third, when the artist changes and you start getting random chapters of larger Bat-family crossovers. I would strongly recommend the first two Booster Gold volumes by Johns (and I like the others as well), JSA: The Golden Age by Robinson, the two Deadshot volumes, and the first Authority volume by Ellis and Hitch.
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Dec 21, 2015 05:33
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Why I Hate Saturn is fantastic, too. Might be a little dated, though.
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Dec 22, 2015 17:40
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A Tin Of Beans posted:I'm gonna be a contrarian and say The Fade Out just isn't that good. I read the first 2-3 issues, and it just didn't do it for me. I like Bru, I like noir stuff, but it just never clicked. At half off though I guess it's fine. I like it a lot so far, but I'm a huge fan of James Ellroy, who covers the same era (L.A./Hollywood noir in the '40s and '50s), and so is Brubaker. I've only read the first two TPBs, but I like it more than Fatale, which for me didn't live up to its premise after the first volume.
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Jan 10, 2016 04:56
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Unbelievably Fat Man posted:It's a high octane pastiche of 80's comics (especially Suicide Squad) filtered through more modern alt/art comics. The art is beautiful, inventive and weird. The only real criticism I have of it is that the pastiche characters are kinda too dead on. Yeah, I'd describe it as Ostrander-era Suicide Squad fanfic done by a huge fan of Steve Ditko's more experimental Silver and Bronze Age work who grew up in the '80s.
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Jan 25, 2016 05:47
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Anime_Otaku posted:Comixology has a sale on Sex Criminals and for once the sale includes the collected editions. I've only read the first two collections so far, but I love Sex Criminals. It's one of my three favorite comics right now, along with Chew and Saga.
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Mar 18, 2016 13:30
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I'm lucky to live near several good comic shops, but one eliminated its back issue selection completely a few years ago, and the others are slowly shrinking theirs. They used to have great selections of '80s-'00s DC books, but when the New 52 started, most of the older stuff disappeared in favor of keeping endless back issues of the current runs on hand (pricing them at $4.50 and up). One of them also started packaging complete storylines and runs together, always at a markup. Our local chain of shops just had a "Buy Two Issues, Get One Free" sale on Saturday. I visited two of their locations, and was sad when I couldn't find three back issues I wanted at either store.
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Mar 29, 2016 04:55
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Before Watchmen: Minutemen was surprisingly good, because Cooke is amazing as a writer-artist, and because the story is mostly inconsequential, focusing on characters we didn't spend much or any time with in Moore's story. I haven't read any of the others, including the Silk Spectre one by Cooke and Conner.
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May 10, 2016 14:35
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I've been talking up Hoopla for months now. It is awesome. Again, it doesn't have any Marvel or Fantagraphics, but I've read lots of DC, Image, Valiant, Dark Horse, IDW, and Boom books, and I even got to watch The Long Goodbye, a movie I had wanted to see for years but was never streaming or showing anywhere. My local library system imposes a limit of six checkouts per month, but combined with physical books I check out and the very few I purchase, I haven't been longing for more. It's definitely a better system with a much wider selection than Comixology's new thing.
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May 25, 2016 05:19
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I can't recommend Hip Hop Family Tree highly enough, whether you love hip hop and its rich history or not.
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Sep 9, 2016 12:50
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hadji murad posted:Which is the best Bru? Personally, I like Sleeper the best by far of all his collaborations with Sean Phillips. For superhero work, I'd recommend Captain America (although it lost steam a few years into it) and the first 24 issues of Catwoman (Volumes 1 and 2 of the trade paperbacks). If you had to pick just one Criminal story to read, I'd go with Volume 6, "Last of the Innocent," which is his twisted take on some familiar character archetypes. And the Immortal Iron Fist run he co-wrote with Matt Fraction is super-fun. Brubaker is one of my all-time favorite writers, but I'm only recently realizing how dour and nihilistic most of his work can be. Let me clarify: I always knew it was dour and nihilistic, but maybe my tastes are changing. And that makes him a perfect writer for noir and espionage and crime stories, but sometimes I need a little bit of hope.
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Dec 4, 2016 05:23
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Mr Hootington posted:Comixology has an Infinite Crisis sale for DC this week. The countdown to, the 4 minis and corresponding one shots are all good. I love Countdown to Infinite Crisis and Villains United. OMAC Project is okay. I didn't care much for Day of Vengeance, and I HATED Infinite Crisis itself.
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Jan 25, 2017 04:39
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Anime_Otaku posted:What's Savage Dragon like? I've read a bit of Spawn and was unimpressed. Savage Dragon is an insane creative statement from one man, who has been writing and drawing it for well over 200 issues, but really ever since he was a kid. It feels like a creative pre-teen weirdo's epic fever dreams. It's ridiculously violent, with lots of brutal slugfests that last entire issues, but always somewhat tongue-in-cheek. It's full of crazy, unexpected twists and turns that constantly reset and reboot the status quo, a rarity in comics. Characters grow and change -- they fall in love, get married, have kids, get divorced, age, die, get replaced by parallel Earth or alternate dimension doppelgangers, meet their time-traveling children from the future, have their world literally destroyed and replaced by a similar one with very minor but unsettling changes, etc. There's a fair amount of humor, much of it sophomoric and silly, with occasional meta-commentary (and broader parody) of superhero comics in general. There's a surprising amount of frank sexuality, and all the women are drawn like busty, gravity-defying strippers, but there are some strong female characters in there too. Erik Larsen has done what very few in the comics industry have ever accomplished, in terms of keeping Savage Dragon running for 27 years as one man's unaltered creative vision, for better or for worse, and it's a hell of a ride. I don't think it would ever get listed in anyone's top 20 comic series of all time (maybe top 100?), but it's still fun, and it has that feeling of "anything can and will happen" that is lacking in most deadly-serious mainstream superhero comics. Keep in mind that in 2016, I binge-read the first 175 issues, missed a few due to trade paperback gaps, and then probably read about 25 more starting shortly before the landmark #200. So it's fresh in my head, and I have no regrets. The first 175 issues are available in seven thick Savage Dragon Archives TPBs so far, reprinting 25 issues each (but unfortunately in black and white), and Archves Vol. 8, which should collect up to #200, is due out in April, according to Amazon.
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Feb 4, 2017 06:40
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Endless Mike posted:How's the iZombie book? Didn't the original writer get kicked off towards the end? The art is glorious, because it's Mike Allred. But it's a very mediocre book that the TV show wisely ignored almost everything from. As far as I know, Chris Roberson stayed on as writer the entire time, but it's very different from the show, dealing with vampires, ghosts, were-animals, and a secret society of monster hunters, as well as zombies.
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Apr 4, 2017 13:39
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Teenage Fansub posted:
The first five volumes of this X-Factor series are outstanding. I loved them. I read it for a while longer through the library, but starting with Secret Invasion, it was never quite the same, and I have only the vaguest memories of what happened, aside from a major change of direction and setting, and a few new characters being added. It's almost more of a noir book than standard superhero punch-kick action, with plenty of character development and a surprising amount of humor. It actually reminded me a lot of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice Leagues, which are my favorite comics of all time (along with Starman).
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Apr 25, 2017 14:43
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zoux posted:It's dope, it's not like a standard X-book, more like "Jaime Madrox is a sad sack noir detective surrounded by fellow x-misfits and they solve crimes and deal with how hosed up they all are" and it has some great moments. Don't mouse over this if you haven't read it! It has legit one of the most sad, gut-punch moments I've ever read in comics. The baby? I'm glad I'm not alone in loving the beginning of X-Factor, or losing interest with Secret Invasion crossover (and yeeeurgh, that Stroman art!). It also made Madrox my second-favorite Marvel character, after Daredevil. I wonder what he's up to nowadays. It didn't seem to be included on the ComiXology sale page, but you also want to read the Madrox: Multiple Choice miniseries that launched this whole era of X-Factor. It was collected in a TPB that was later relabeled X-Factor Vol. 0: Madrox: Multiple Choice. Shame it isn't included as well, but it's also great.
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Apr 26, 2017 05:02
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Endless Mike posted:Speaking of, Hip Hop Family Tree is excellent if you have any interest in hip hop. I do love hip hop (especially from the late '70s to the mid-'90s), so Hip Hop Family Tree has been one of my favorite series of this decade, alongside Chew, Sex Criminals, Saga, Hawkeye, and Mind MGMT. Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Jul 26, 2017 |
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Jul 26, 2017 05:05
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Norns posted:DC is bad at Digital* DC is bad*
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Aug 2, 2017 04:46
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Teenage Fansub posted:
I loved the late '80s/early '90s Mister Miracle series than ran concurrently to JLI/A. I used to have all 28 issues and sold that run, among many other great comic runs, during my grad school collection purge. If you're a fan of the Giffen/DeMatteis JLI/A, don't sleep on that one.
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Aug 8, 2017 13:57
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) Also OMAC, the post-Kirby '84 NGs and every other Mister Miracle series.
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SMP posted:If I want to read JLI, do I just need those 6 vols on sale? Or is the reading order way more complicated / not fully collected / on sale yet? Don't buy those! They are incomplete and abandoned by DC. Get the new Omnibus -- there will probably be three of them in all to collect the entire run, and the first one that just came out collects pretty much everything in those six volumes. You'll probably love it, and this way you can wait around to collect the rest. https://www.amazon.com/Justice-League-International-Omnibus-Vol/dp/1401273866/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510642727&sr=8-1&keywords=jli+omnibus
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Nov 14, 2017 07:58
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SMP posted:Well I'm not really a physical kinda guy and the omnibi aren't on Comixology so RIP I forgot this was the Digital thread. If the six TPBs are on sale, then I guess it doesn't matter. I just hate having mismatched books and unfinished series on a shelf together, so go for it and enjoy some of my lifelong favorite comics.
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Nov 14, 2017 15:02
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I've talked about Hoopla before, a service many public libraries provide where you can temporarily download e-books (including a ton of graphic novels and single-issue comics) and even stream movies. It's a fantastic free service, and everyone should investigate to see if your library offers it. For the longest time, they have included every major publisher except Marvel, but as of last night, 61 Marvel titles finally showed up in it. It's kind of a random assortment of old and new stuff, but they add new titles every week, so it pays to keep checking. My smaller local public library system only allows us four Hoopla checkouts per month, but a friend elsewhere in the state gets nine checkouts through his library. It causes me to be very discriminating in what I choose, but Hoopla allows you to keep a list of favorites, so you can always add titles to your list to check out later. Their DC, Image, and Dark Horse selections are pretty great, and they also added Fantagraphics recently, with lots of Love and Rockets and the first two volumes of Hip Hop Family Tree. Definitely check it out... but you don't have to take my word for it! (Their movie selection isn't the best, but it's where I finally got to see The Long Goodbye, which I loved. Don't use Hoopla to read single-issue comics or TV shows, since one comic or one episode of a show count toward your monthly checkout limit.)
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Dec 8, 2017 19:05
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the guy from Semisonic posted:Wow. I just checked and my library allows 20 checkouts a month. Huh. drat, nice! Go to town.
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Dec 9, 2017 06:21
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Roth posted:Some of my own questions for the sale: Bendis' Daredevil is brilliant. Maybe the best run ever, and I include Miller in there. Brubaker's Daredevil is great too, but it follows directly from Bendis' run. Seconding Ostrander's Suicide Squad. One of my favorite runs of all time, and it's finally getting collected in TPBs. If you want good Batman, get Batman: Ego and Other Tails by Darwyn Cooke. It's outstanding. I also really love Batman/Grendel by Matt Wagner -- get the TPB which collects both miniseries from the '90s. Geoff Johns is controversial around here, but the first several years of his JSA series were great, classic superhero adventures with a mix of old and new characters. His Flash ('90s run) and Booster Gold (the series that came out after 52) round out my favorites of his work. I don't know if "All-New" X-Factor is the series I'm thinking of, but Peter David's mid-'00s X-Factor series that kicked off with the Madrox: Multiple Choice miniseries was excellent for the first few years. Volumes 1-5 of the TPBs are classic (plus the Madrox mini, which was collected separately and then re-released as X-Factor Volume 0), but I feel like the quality took a hit after that, when it tied into Secret Invasion. Big Bad Voodoo Lou fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 21, 2017 04:16
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Rusty Kettle posted:Awesome! I picked up all on this list that is still on sale. A few more: DC: Gotham Central by Rucka, Brubaker, and Lark Sleeper by Brubaker and Phillips (and the prequel, Point Blank, by Brubaker and Wilson) Planetary by Ellis and Cassaday The Losers by Diggle and Jock Wildcats (series 2, #8-28) and Wildcats 3.0 (#1-24) by Casey Booster Gold #1-6, 0, 7-10, and 1,000,000 (in that order) by Johns, Katz, and Jurgens Marvel: Daredevil by Bendis and Maleev, and if you like his run, follow it up with the Brubaker/Lark run Immortal Iron Fist by Fraction, Brubaker, and Aja X-Force and X-Statix by Milligan and Allred
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Jan 3, 2018 05:38
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Junkie Disease posted:I missed the first one but I just read it and its like being tricked by a gypsy. I thought I bought a readable comic! Peter David, is that you?
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Jan 23, 2018 06:47
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Mr Hootington posted:Len Wein sale for DC books. You can get the entire 80s Blue Beetle run for $24. I love that run. Got the whole thing bound into a custom hardcover, led off by Secret Origins #2, the origin of both Dan Garrett and Ted Kord, by Len Wein and Gil Kane. Paris Cullins (who also drew Blue Devil a couple years earlier) did a beautiful job pencilling Blue Beetle. His faces are kind of reminiscent of McFarlane's.
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Feb 11, 2018 05:21
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Junkie Disease posted:What's the best Black Panther stuff to read I just finished the Coates run and it's a drat drag. Plot takes one volume steps forward two volume steps back on everything. Definitely Christopher Priest's run. The only digital comic-reading service I use is Hoopla, through the public library, and all the volumes were recently added to it, so they should be everywhere.
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Mar 2, 2018 06:20
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I enjoyed Forever Evil, and I say this as having hated all of Johns' Justice League that preceded it. But I'm always a sucker for villains doing the right thing, teaming up with heroes against far worse threats (for those uneasy alliances and "we're not so different, you and I" moments), and occasionally deciding they'd rather stay on the side of the angels.
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Mar 21, 2018 05:31
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Drashin posted:So I just subscribed to Marvel Unlimited thanks to the Infinity Wars deal and I was wondering if anyone could recommend good books to start with? I will probably start with the newest Squirrel Girl run. Does anyone recommend anything else? I prefer comics that are less serious and more comedy focused if that matters any but I am a completed newbie to Marvel outside of the movies and Cultural Osmosis. She-Hulk #1-12 by Dan Slott (who also wrote a second series starting with #1 that lasted longer, but that first series was the best) She-Hulk by Charles Soule Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja (has some darker moments, but still generally light and entertaining) Superior Foes of Spider-Man by Nate Spencer and Steve Lieber Astonishing Ant-Man and Ant-Man by Nate Spencer Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Mike Allred (I admit I've only read the first volume so far, but everyone loved it) FF by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred
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Apr 30, 2018 18:44
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TheManWithNoName posted:I finally moved to a city that has a library with Hoopla. I am amazed at the selection of comics they have. Comixology is going to get less of my money going forward. I'm a lifelong comic fan and a librarian. I've been singing Hoopla's praises for a few years now.
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Jul 13, 2018 18:33
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How often does Marvel Unlimited put out a promo code? I'm thinking about treating myself and getting it for a month in December, when I'll have some time off work to just chill and read.
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Nov 22, 2018 19:58
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enigmahfc posted:So, are the Mark Waid Flash collections on sale on Comixology worth it for someone who isn't super into Flash (I know quite a bit about him, but nothing from that era), but likes Mark Waid? I've been slowly reading Waid's Flash run on Hoopla, and I had completely forgotten the glacial pacing and really bad art. I want to love it, but it feels like a chore to get through. Say what you will about Geoff Johns, his Wally West Flash run is the best Flash series ever.
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Jan 16, 2019 15:38
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And I'll put in my usual recommendation for Chew, along with Saga, Sex Criminals, Paper Girls, and Descender.
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May 12, 2019 19:30
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Junkie Disease posted:Bullseye 2017 one shot was fun, any other marvel stuff will entertaining villain stuff? Superior Foes of Spider-Man. One of my favorite Marvel series of the last decade. The ultimate in "entertaining villain stuff."
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May 16, 2019 13:56
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I'm a librarian, and I've been a huge Hoopla hype-man for years. I was literally just reading Darwyn Cooke's Graphic Ink and Copra Volume 5 on it. My public library system only allows four checkouts per month, which isn't a lot, but it's still a fantastic service. How many checkouts are you all allowed on it?
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Sep 2, 2019 06:44
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Gaz-L posted:Sadly the just released trade of it isn't in the sale, but Cry For Blood is probably the best Huntress story ever. It is awesome. I have the singles signed by Greg Rucka, and it's just a drat good miniseries. It's titled Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood, but it would be much more appropriate to call it Batman/Huntress/Question: Cry For Blood.
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Feb 9, 2020 02:18
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hadji murad posted:Quite a few can be borrowed on Unlimited but giving Fantagraphics money is always good. Public library users in the U.S. should have access to a lot of Fantagraphics books through Hoopla as well. Most of the major publishers are represented, although what is included from each often seems random. And each library will give users a different amount of checkouts per month, so keep that in mind too.
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Mar 31, 2020 20:57
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Will DC Universe stick around after all the corporate reorganization? If anyone has a subscription, could you tell me if the 1980s Vigilante series is available on it -- #1-50 and Annuals 1 and 2? I'm thinking about hunting down the back issues, but not if I can read it all online.
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Oct 30, 2020 13:54
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