Comic Books Comic Book • Page 347

The 20 Year War on Comic Shops - Part 1 - The Trade Paperback Collecti

 

Fascinating article. I can't help but wonder how much helpful it would be if comic publishers made their issues returnable for shops?

I work at a modest indie bookstore and the ability to return unsold copies of books plays a part in keeping us going. With that said, since trade paperbacks are returnable, they're convenient for little bookshops to carry.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for sharing that!

 

Symbiote Spider-Man #1 will be out in April. Peter David is writing it with art by Greg Land. Not super thrilled about Land being on it, but I’ll probably check out the first issue out of curiosity to see how the story is.

 

Boo Greg Land. Will probably pass based solely on that, which suck 'cause black costume Spidey vs Mysterio should be a great idea.

 

Yeah I’m a little baffled on how Marvel can make wonderful choices on who they hire and then also make ones like this.

 

is land the guy who traces? Or just blatantly reuses the same poses? I can never remember all of these hack artists. lol

 

He pretty much just copies other photos and puts them into the comics. I think there was something about using images from pornography, too. Sure seems like an odd way to draw comics.

 

Yes to both.

Which, I understand an artist who's been working on monthly superhero books for over a decade reusing some of their favorite poses. But, Greg Land's literal tracing of models on magazine covers and whatnot is egregious, & his art just often looks goofy in a bad way.

He must just hit deadlines really well & have enough of a fanbase. I dunno. He's definitely justifiably super hated, though.

 

I loved The War of Jokes and Riddles.

 

Kite-man!

 

Hell yeah!

 

Been on a real Tynion IV kick so I’m making my way through the Witching Hour.

It doesn’t really have the steam that the first JLD arc had. But the writing is still quite solid.

 

My favorite moments in Tom King's Batman are the moments of humanity. His relationship with Catwoman, his friendship with Superman, the way he questions himself, etc.

As someone who doesn't really like "I'm Batman" as some super cool, hardcore something or other, I love that the one time he said that in a fight, it had a completely different feeling. It came after an arc where it was revealed he thought about ending his life before following the path of Batman. It came in the context of a brawl that felt more Daredevil than Batman. It wasn't some dumb "always be Batman" meme, about how great it is to be Batman (King kinda treats the mantle the way Spidey being Spidey has always been, but heavier). It was a firm declaration out of desperation, certainty in the midst of uncertainty. And, it came in the same issue as Batman's actual best hardcore quote ever:

"You know how many times I've heard that? 'Rest in peace, Batman!' 'There's no escape, Batman!' 'Time to die, Batman!' Every night. Over, and over, and over. For so many years. 'This is the end, Batman!' Every. Damn. Night. And yet... I'm still here."

 

Having now read like 12 issues of various Bendis Superman titles...I don’t really have an idea for what his, for lack of a better word, thesis is for the story.

I thought the last run at least had a solid vision for what the thrust of the story was. Hopefully, Bendis becomes more focused going forward.

 

Got through the third Scalped book. Man, I love this shit. Aaron is so good at writing compelling characters.

 

I’m in the middle of Batman: White Knight and it’s one of my favorite Batman stories in a while.

 

Titans got cancelled, likely to make way for something closer to the live action show.

Should’ve kept the cast with Nightwing, Wally, Roy, Aqualad, Donna Troy and Lilith. THATS WHAT THEY GET. The makeup of the new cast felt weird. Nobody wanted a book with friggin Teen Steel.

 

I'm about 8 issues in to Sex Criminals. I'm a huge prude, so I'm blushing when I'm not laughing. Such a smart, fun series.

 

One of my favorite moments:

 

Can someone explain to me what Humble Bundle is?

 

Who would've thought Jen Bartel's style was perfect for Thanos? I love this.

She also did a Venom cover recently that's weird & wonderful.

 

Choose your own price for games and books at heavily discounted prices. There are often tiers of things they give you.

 

Monstress is still the best.

 

Damn, I didn't realize I was reading the last issue of Regression until a few pages before the end. Now I'm sad. Excellent series. I've read a lot of Cullen Bunn recently and this was far and away his best work. Vol 1 and 2 are a slow burn but it gets epic as hell by the end.

 

Spider-Man fighting Hobgoblin drawn by Fernando Ruiz, formerly of Archie Comics.