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Underground > Comic Books >

Comics Read This Week?

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Matthew Fluxington

12:55 / 08.10.03

That's fair.

I get the impression that maybe Bendis getting some very deferential treatment from the editorial staff - that's he's generally on point and his name sells the comic pretty well, but no one is ever telling him to rein it in.

The Spider-Man cartoon on MTV that he's in charge of gets it right, so yeah, I guess he does know what he's doing.

He's a pretty awful choice to write Ultimate X-Men, though - his issues are almost entirely unreadable and boring as hell.

13:17 / 08.10.03

I thought you hated Bendis?

Regrettable Juvenilia

13:30 / 08.10.03

His Daredevil run was fucking awesome. I keep meaning to start a thread about that...

14:06 / 08.10.03

Do it. I'm there.

I think Boboss and Sebastian read it too.

He's back after this Mack fill-in too.

14:13 / 08.10.03

Yep, I enjoyed Bendis' run on DD, but I bloody hated the art - undynamic and static if you ask me. Testimony to the writing that I kept reading.

Should probably save this for another thread but... did anyone else think his run suffered from some pacing issues?

14:21 / 08.10.03

Flux, couldn't agree more on the reining in. Seems to be an over-common affliction amongst once great filmmakers.

Here's to editing and restriction!

I picked up a Mack episode of DD last week. Juvenile, pretentious, anacronistic shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a tosser.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

14:49 / 08.10.03

*choke* Maleev? You don't...like...Maleev?

Man, I love the art on Bendis' run. There's that interrogation scene where Foggy brings him the coffee and it says something like, and I'm paraphrasing the label on the cup, "Thanks For Letting Me Be Completely Subservient To You". I love his storytelling, his general style, and what the coloring does for it. I think it's really beautiful stuff and I'm just glad he can put it out consistently.

I just love it. Love the book. Love Maleev.

I picked up a few Claremont New Mutants issues, as I'm undergoing a bit of Claremont renaissance after seeing all that delicious Silvestri art. It made me realize why I get so steamed about the lowerxase lettering. Simply put:

THE X-MEN SPEAK ONLY IN ORZECHOWSKI.

I really liked the direction that Comicraft went with the first half of Grant's New X-Men run, and they struggled admirably with the lowercase branding, but now they've got Chris Eliopolus (sp?). Just look at how weak Magneto's shouting looks in 147. Then imagine it in full uppercase Comicraft. Then, just to rub it in, imagine it in Orzechowski.

Sad, right?

15:57 / 08.10.03

erm - didn't marvel phase out using comicraft and all other out of house letters halfway through grant's run?

Matthew Fluxington

16:16 / 08.10.03

Actually, I prefer the undercase lettering. It seems more elegant and understated to me.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

17:56 / 08.10.03

Yeah, they did ditch Comicraft. I should have been clearer on that. And you can bask in the stunningly great results to this day.

Flux, in the hands of good letterer, I don't mind the lowercase (Orz on X-Treme is a perfect example) and Comicraft did a pretty good job with it. But it wasn't until I checked out those old issues of Uncanny that I realized the source of my undying atatchment to uppercase. It was always Orzechowski. He did occasionally bust out the lowercase (I'm thinking of one of my favorite pages ever of his; the first page of a Fall of The Mutants issue where Peter is sketching all the X-Men) and it worked beautifully in comparison to the rest of the issue in uppercase. But he had a knack, and Comicraft did as well, of lettering in uppercase without making it look like people were yelling non stop.

In my mind, there was really nothing more elegant than the lettering in any issue of Uncanny that Orzechowski did, or even better, Excalibur.

Haus of Mystery

19:49 / 08.10.03

Was gonna start a thread on old comics that are severely underrated, but this seems like a good place, so:
Andy Helfer's late 80's weirdo-revisionist Shadow series was absolutely superb. Sienkevicz and then Kyle Baker on art chores until it's cancellation, some really skewed characters, and bizarro plots all added to the fun. series ended with the Shadow dead for the last six issues, his wayward americanized Tibetan sons transporting his body back to Shamballah. By the end all thats left is his head. Then his head is placed upon a robotic body. Y'feelin me? Basically it was an exercise in what you can get away with in the post-Dark Knight/Watchmen comic world and it was ace. And I got all 24 issues for about three quid. Which ain't bad since I'm used to spending around 8 quid a week and being left severely disenchanted. Anyone else read it?

23:48 / 08.10.03

Think so, but not for fucking years.

You will lend them to me. Yes?

Maleev is shit. Maleev is shit. The man cannot, I repeat cannot draw anything resembling an action scene - you know, with movement and suchlike. Sure he can draw a few expressions but who the fuck cares if he stumbles and falls the second a bit of dynamism is called for.

Luckily I can't be persuaded so there can be no argument.

Sorry about that. I win.

Hooray for the Boboss

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

03:37 / 09.10.03

Maleev is shit. Maleev is shit. The man cannot, I repeat cannot draw anything resembling an action scene - you know, with movement and suchlike. Sure he can draw a few expressions but who the fuck cares if he stumbles and falls the second a bit of dynamism is called for.

Thank goodness that once you run the preceding through an everyday Opinio-Scope, you realize that, when comparing said statements to the simple facts; Alex Maleev did in fact draw a fist fight between The Owl and Matt Murdock nee Daredevil, and it was colored and subsequently published by Marvel comics in early 2003; one might want to read the above in the following fashion:

"Maleev Is Shit," (written to appear as a statement of fact) when run through the Opinio-Scope, becomes a much more reasonable, "I, Bobossboy, do not enjoy at all the way that Alex Maleev decided to depict a fight between The Owl and Matt Murdock, nee Daredevil."

Luckily I can't be persuaded so there can be no argument.

Sorry about that. I win.

Hooray for the Boboss

04:34 / 09.10.03

I think Mack makes for a quite organic, smooth read with - fair enough - a hint of purple about it; Bendis pilloried his style quite mercilessly in the Oni Colour Special, 'Who killed Madman?' story. And they're mates, so he can take a joke. And the story he wrote but didn't draw was quite good, the half I read, anyway. I think of the words in the pics as more background noise.

Maleev is very good, but static. I really like it.

08:45 / 09.10.03

Sorry Falcon, I can't stress how much I hate Mack's writing. Perhaps I'll try articulating my loathing when I'm a little less hungover.

I'm quite looking forward to it, actually.

Ben, you really don't need to deconstruct a post as unashamedly opinionated as my last. It's pretty self-evident that I'm presenting nothing but my own opinion - in a somewhat garish, look-at-me-take-the-piss fashion.

As for Maleev, to be fair I don't mind the guy's work when a lot of movement isn't called for. It's just, ungh, when it comes to the fighty bits it begins to look a little wax-works meets Saturday Night Fever. A load of static, bad dance poses.

Anyone have a similar experience?

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

10:51 / 09.10.03

Agreed, Bobossboy. It's just sometimes when I see opinions doled out in such brazen and fact-like statements, the hackles on my neck go all wonky. But hey, that's the internet for you.

And like I'm not just as guilty of doing the same thing most of the time?

Funny that you mention that static-ness. Definitely a factor and kind of why I like it actually. His detail is such that it's kind of like someone dropped a strobe light into the Marvel Universe when he's drawing it. Different, but I like it.

19:29 / 09.10.03

His detail is such that it's kind of like someone dropped a strobe light into the Marvel Universe when he's drawing it

Ha, nice description.

So then, this week...

1) Tom Strong: wonderfully pulpy yet simultaneously dense enough for a nice long chew.

2) Ultimate X-Men: Good to have the X-Men back in their own comic. Loved the page where Phoenix flies to intercept the gunship. Freaky ufolike stuff.

3) Ultimate 6: Bugger me, yet another issue; Part 2 only came out last week. If there are any superhero fans on Barbyfriends not reading this comic, please note, you are doing yourself a diservice.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

19:45 / 09.10.03

Yes, yes. Ultimate Six is the Jimmies. This issue especially is some of the best Action writing BMB's ever done, in my opinion.

Ultimate X-Men, on the other hand, was a bit less riveting. Here I really feel like he's not doing anything new or fresh, just deeeeeeeeeeeecompressing very old X-Tropes. Where as on U6 he's magnifying your typical Team-Up Fracas and showing us the very real consequences of them.

I actually haven't even gotten a chance to read all my books this week, but I must make this brief plea. Give Runaways a shot. It's got the best written teens in the industry, bar none. The Pride are pretty flat and predictable but I just love listening to these kids talk to each other every month. The art is getting better every issue, sort of Middleton with less curve. It's a really good book.

NYX was also quite good, mainly because of Middleton. There is a fantastic bit of writing about Notes and Teachers and Parents, but there's also a thank you to Zeb Wells in the credits, so I'm guessing that he's probably responsible for at least that line. The main character has, again, thanks to Middleton, that beautiful and realistic cuteness that makes you wonder "How old is she supposed to be?" The Leon phenomenon, in other words. Then again, every cover of New Mutants he does has the same effect. He's the Scarlett Johannsen of comics.

20:36 / 09.10.03

I do so like Mr Wells.

Yeah, there's nothing particularly interesting about UXM, I just like some of the execution.

NYX sounds interesting. Tbh, I didn't even consider buying it. Maybe I'll pick it up.

21:03 / 09.10.03

New X-Men #147. Already discussed to death.

NYX #1 (on the shelves): I started another thread to discuss this. It looks good, but Marvel's ads are so horrid that I'll just wait for the trade now.

And the Pick of the Week is:

Steve Rolston's One Bad Day.

Proof positive that the man can not only draw hellaciously, he can tell an entertaining and suspenseful tale to boot.

And Cameron likes it too.

13:33 / 10.10.03

Re: ULT. SIX - am I to understand, then, that there won't be a 6th member of the Ultimate [Sinister] Six? As in issue 2, Normie just wants it to be Peter? If there's no real 6th member, it's a little lame to call it ULT. SIX. Or could the title refer to Spidey + the 5 Ultimates he teams up with?

Other than that nit-pick, I like this book a lot. FAR better than Millar's pathetic excuse for a mini, ULT. WAR from last year.

14:26 / 10.10.03

but the sixth could end up being harry [as hobgoblin, not too sure what his character's up to in ult.spidey though] or pym. i think the 5 avengers +spidey is the one we're meant to be going for though.

i hope some of the avengers at least get properly fucked up in this mini. only get the comics because i want u-cap and u-tony get their livers handed to them. cunts

16:44 / 10.10.03

...perhaps I should be buying Ultimate Six then. Reviews were middling on the first ish. Oh well.

I got Wonder Woman, Tom Strong,Punisher and Born. Some old Quality Bad Company stuff. Fuxxing excellent - other Milligan thrills, such as 'Freaks' included. 80p each. Oh, and 1602 which wasn't shit, I think. May have to recheck. Sweet cover anyway.

And Flaming Carrot/Reid Fleming, which seems very droll.

10:56 / 13.10.03

Ah, the lovely Flaming Carrot - haven't read that in years.

Yes, Dunc, you really should pick up 6, as far as I'm concerned it's the best Superheroes on the racks.

As for the sixth member, c'mon it's bloody Spidey. It makes sense thematically - he is the product of mutative technology, just like the rest of 'em - and, Christ, we know that Norman's got plans for him, plans that are likely to go further than a good kicking.

He refers to him as "my boy", for God's sake. Add to that the fact that the Goblin has already tried to recruit him in the past, and it looks like a foregone conclusion.

11:11 / 13.10.03

I picked up NYX an old octobrianna comic and the new adventures of Abraham Lincoln by scott McCloud...

00:53 / 14.10.03

Tell me about your Mack-hate then, Boboss. Coom onnn!!

09:35 / 14.10.03

I can't find the fucking thing! I need it in front of me to really unleash the hate.

Hmm, perhaps I binned it. Naw, it's got to be here somewhere.

17:52 / 14.10.03

I think the "6th member" will be a double psyche-out - we're meant to think it's just Norman wanting to recruit Spidey, and THEN it'll turn out to be Harry, who becomes the Hobgoblin to try to please his father, feeling jilted that his dad chose Peter over him.

Are this week's new comics delayed one day because of the Columbus Day holiday, by the way?

04:02 / 15.10.03

Stuck Rubber Baby: Overhyped with good pictures but mediocre words. I wish I'd read this for free. The subject matter is important, the story however, is quite worthless and uninspiring. The narrator wasn't very interesting either. It's like a comic written by Todd Solondz.

Pop Gun War: Bluesy beautifully drawn comic. Very well done. It's not quite as strong in places as it should be but still quite an experience. Original and novel. I like.

05:47 / 15.10.03

Snagged a few when I was back in my old stomping grounds for a friend's wedding.

NXM #147 - Yeah, I know but better late than never. A bit boring though a Kicked out Magneto might be worth seeing, for laugh track value if nothing else.

HELLBLAZER #188 - I'm beginning to wonder if grabbing this comic is worth my near 3 bucks a piece. Carey's work on Lucifer is the whole reason I sunk into this thing but it's not taking off with nearly the wings LUCIFER is.

Y: THE LAST MAN #15 - I've always said a good comic is one that can carry on a decent serial narrative, ala a good television series. And I'm pretty hooked into this one. I wondered if the space station crew were going to survive last issue. And was a bit shocked, though not completely, to see them not, save the one woman. That might've made me groan in dismay... but the pregnant astronaut is a nice and compelling little twist. And the return of Hero? *steeples fingers* Exxxxxxcellent.

EL CAZADOR #2 - So far this has been a little blast. The last Chuck Dixon I read was his run on ROBIN and BATMAN... a reader/writer relationship that ended after about six issues. He's not terrible. Just not terribly innovative. But what's this? A pirate comic?....Yes indeedy. And a good one too. 'Bout time you saw a female captain who stirs her brandy with a coffin nail, out to lock horns with a blackhearted villainous seadog. And mutiny and marooning all in about 30 odd pages. Yo ho ho! You're a dirty ninja if you're not reading this series. A Dirty, dirty ninja, yarrrrrr!

08:45 / 15.10.03

He's not terrible. Just not terribly innovative.

His politics are pretty fucking terrible.

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