went to the local store across town and I was checking the .50 cent section and found a few Champion issues I was missing so that was nice. I also finally picked up friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Got Phantom Force, which I believe is Jack Kirby's final fully penciled comic, at my ship's Basement Sale (plus a ton of other stuff). Phantom Force was released by Image and is such an interesting collection of art. Plotted & penciled by Kirby, feeling the way Kirby art feels... But, inked by like 8 different people, including Liefeld, McFarlane, Jim Lee, Silvestri, & Erik Larsen. McFarlane & Liefeld especially put themselves into their work. It's so neat seeing those Kirby faces and poses under their 90s-style doodles. That feeling of seeing two artists' styles collide is something I really miss now that artists ink themselves. I'd love to see Liefeld & McFarlane do some more inking. Like, what would they look like over John Romita Jr, especially with someone like Jordie Bellaire coloring?
new comic series I am trying to find everywhere is any issue of the Ducktales comic. It is the best show so hopefully the comic is just as good.
my latest marvel unlimited project has been making my way through Daredevil. I read all of the Frank Miller stuff which had some truly incredible moments (issue 181, 191, most of Born Again), and some truly baffling 80s Frank Miller moments (the entire treatment of Heather Glenn), but I was overall glad I read those iconic foundational stories. I made my way from there to Bendis and Maleev's run, a run I'd been dying to read due to all of the praise its received. Hooooooooooooly shit this is some good fucking storytelling. I was literally on the edge of my seat reading some of this stuff. I know I'm kinda just stating the obvious here but if any of you have not yet read this run, DO IT DO IT DO IT. It's the definitive take on Matt Murdock for me (at least at this point). It feels like Bendis read the Miller run (particularly Born Again), and thought, "what if I did this kind of worst-case scenario story for Matt, but for an entire near 60 issue run?" The art is spectacular, the tension is palpable, the ending (I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it) left my jaw dropped tbh. Just masterful stuff. I'm about 2 arcs into the Brubaker stuff now and while it's not as good as Bendis, it's about as good as you could hope so far in someone following that run. I'm probably gonna skip the Shadowland stuff and just go straight to Mark Waid after reading Brubaker unless anyone here really thinks I'm missing anything good. But yeah, fully love Matt Murdock and his world at this point. /end giant post
Man, I love Born Again. Your assessment of Miller's run is basically my opinion of him as a whole, lol: gross & problematic enough that he's hard to champion, but also a really compelling creator at his best. Skipping to Waid sounds like a good choice. If you decide to go back to more classic stuff, I think the Ann Nocenti run after Miller is good. I know a lot of people like Charles Soule's run that just ended, though in spite of some Phil Noto art at the end, I never had interest. The upcoming Chip Zdarsky relaunch sounds great, though. Oh, and Daredevil: Yellow is cool.
I heard Nocenti's stuff is good! Definitely gonna go back for that eventually. I dunno if it's in that run or a different one where Daredevil gets transported into Hell and has some supernatural adventures there? lol. Oooh thanks for the tips on more current stuff. I was curious about the Soule stuff, might check it out, will definitely look at the Zdarsky stuff for sure though. Definitely need to read Daredevil: Yellow, interested to see how it compares to Man Without Fear in terms of a flashback/origin story type thing. And Tim Sale's art is always great.
Grabbed my pull, read Superior Spider-Man #2 & Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2. Friendly Neighborhood is going to be a fun series. I like these supporting players that are slowly being introduced. And, I dug the brief Human Torch appearance; since becoming a Fantastic Four fan, I've realized I love Johnny and Pete's friendship. Superior had some rad action between Superior Spidey & Terrax. Hawthorne, Von Grawbadger, & Bellaire make a dang good battle scene. Seeing that sick Travis Charest cover in print also makes me happy. Cool seeing Otto/Elliot getting wrecked so early in the run, and looking forward to what he does next issue.
I’m super impressed with JL Dark. Issue 5 was quite good. I thoroughly enjoyed the title reveal at the end.
I assumed I knew which issue you were talking about and I was right. Love Detective Chimp. The Otherkind are also like the creepiest villains ever.
I like Byrne's art (been reading some of his old X-Men work w/ Claremont recently), but man, I hate that people have forgotten about this. I don't know that I could be excited for new Byrne material if Marvel successfully got him to do something new. (Not that I'm always consistent in not supporting trash, if I'm honest. But still. Comics, try holding someone responsible, dang it.)
Bendis’ run and Brubaker’s run is by far the best Daredevil era. They’re collected in oversized “complete collection” trades. Two of my favorite runs ever.
Decided to look into the Free Comic Book Day selections. (If y'all don't know, FCBD is May 4th. Always the first Saturday in May.) Marvel's got their usual 2 comics w/ 2 10-page stories in each. An Avengers one w/ a Jason Aaron story & something from Gerry Duggan & Mike Deodato. And then some Amazing Spider-Man one that's still classified. Weirdly no Marvel Star Wars, even though FCBD falls on Star Wars Day, but IDW has a Star Wars Adventures comic. DC has a couple issues previewing their young readers graphic novels, one for Justice League and one for Catwoman. Probably smart to highlight those. Image has a new Deadly Class story, which is a cooler choice than just reprinting something. Though, I do like that they're also reprinting Todd McFarlane's original Spawn #1. I actually don't have that, even though reprints aren't hard to find in dollar back issues, so that's fun. Lots of other properties represented here. Doctor Who, Valiant's Bloodshot, Stranger Things, Pokemon, Riverdale, TMNT, Buffy & Firefly, Bob's Burgers, Casper, Lumberjanes, My Hero Academia, Robotech, Street Fighter, The Tick, Vampirella... An excerpt of the upcoming My Favorite Thing is Monsters vol 2. And lots of other stuff. 3 months away, but I think I already have a good sense of what I'll wanna pick up. Y'all should find a participating shop and stop by, too. Some shops limit you to one issue, others are looser. Some have different sales to incentivize people spending money while getting the freebees (which, if you go, even if there aren't sales, support the shop if you're economically capable, yo). It's a good time.
I want to start Spawn, but there isn't a run of books that has everything. That stuff goes out of print pretty quick and I don't know why.
Yeah. The first issue is easy to get in reprint form (thanks to it being packaged w/ toys), but that first arc, not so much. Frustrating 'cause I've been wanting to read the early McFarlane years recently. I've gotta believe they'll reprint it around the time that movie comes out. I don't have patience for the whole run, but outside of the early years, I also want that short run from the other year where McFarlane & Erik Larsen collaborated. I really like how Larsen's cartooning has grown in recent years... But, his Savage Dragon is really gross. His Spawn stuff wasn't as gross, & McFarlane inks on Larsen pencils is fun.
the comic store closest to my house finally moved locations and I was able to get a pull list started. My pull list so far: Champions, Killmonger, Ghost Spider, Miles Morales and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. I was thinking about adding Young Justice but I’ll wait until trades for that one.
I'm reading Final Crisis and barely understanding anything going on. Fucking Morrison. At least the Ultraman stuff rules.
added Ironheart to my pull list because I need to get all the Champions solo series’s. It sucks having to wait until the 20th to pick up all the comics together tho so I can save some gas lol.
Self Made is really great and I've been listening to the behind the scenes podcast for it too which had made for a really interesting experience. They kept the premise hidden so I'm not going to spoil it (you figure out in issue 1) but I think a lot of people in here would dig it. @scottlechowicz I think for sure.
Its really wonderful. Its like if Kill or Be Killed ditched the supernatural and did more social commentary. Its a great take on the political climate in cities. Probably my favorite Bendis story not named House of M.