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Nothing good came out this week, did it?

Regrettable Juvenilia

10:59 / 08.03.02

As far as I know, there's absolutely no reason for me to go into a comics shop this weekend. Anyone care to remind me of something I've forgotten, or attempt to persuade me otherwise?

(NB: don't bother recommending previously released graphic novels or anything like that - just stuff that came out this week specifically. Oh, and be prepared for mockery if you say something Knodge-like...)

11:14 / 08.03.02

My comic shop is a law unto itself as to when it actually gets stock in, so I'm not sure if these are really current or not, but my purchases yesterday were:

Powers. So-so. And although the lettercol makes me seethe, I can't help but read it.

Alias. So-so. Nice to see Rick Jones again, and the excerpts from his autobiography were quite amusing, especially about Captain American trying to remake him in Bucky's image.

Hellblazer. I so hate what Azzerello has done with Constantine.

Stray Bullets 24. Not read it yet, but this is only my second issue, and I'm a little confused by the jumping about.

In other words, no, don't bother. The shop did have a nice new trade of Alan Moore's Captain Britain, but at £15 it's going to have to wait until payday.

11:28 / 08.03.02

New x-force comes out next week...

Matthew Fluxington

11:35 / 08.03.02

You know what I picked up and liked a lot? The new issue of Exiles. I like how Judd Winick writes the book - it's cute and witty, and content to be a rather minor, insignificant comic book. I've read a few issues of the comic before, all of them on the newstand, and I like how every issue is written so anyone can jump right in and not be confused, even though the whole comic is built on the back of Marvel continuity. It has a nice 80s vibe to it, I can't quite articulate that properly, but that seems to be it.

Winick is a damn good writer, I like him. Pedro & Me and Barry Ween is good stuff too... He excels at doing low-key humorous stuff with a bit of adventure and social commentary thrown in. In other words, good pop entertainment.

The Planet of Sound

11:47 / 08.03.02

A new Tom Strong, a new Tomorrow Stories, and Shi'Ar madness in New X-men? Youcalldatnothin'?

Regrettable Juvenilia

11:53 / 08.03.02

Is the expression "this week" really so baffling?

Planet: New X-Men was last week. So was Tomorrow Stories, for that matter - I actually flicked through this and, tempted as I was by the lurid fantasies of the Greyshirt/Cobweb crossover, was still not convinced. I don't buy Tom Strong - pretty art, but I can't shake the expression that it's Alan Moore on autopilot. I might pick up the trades one day if I am very rich.

invix: yes, I'm looking forward to X-Force next week. However, if I go to my local comics store tomorrow and try to buy it, I will fail. Because it comes out next week. As opposed to this week. See?

11:59 / 08.03.02

What is this concept of 'weeks' of which you speak?

12:16 / 08.03.02

so stray bullets 24 is the only thing i have missed this week...

12:18 / 08.03.02

quote:Originally posted by Flyboy:
I don't buy Tom Strong - pretty art, but I can't shake the expression that it's Alan Moore on autopilot.

A fair point, particularly if you're referring to 'anthology' issues where it seemed like nothing more than exercises in showing how cleverly he could parody/ pay homage to various comic sub - genres ("Tom Strong's Terrific Tales", which I can't really be bothered with, seems to be the outlet for this now). However, the last issue was fucking rockin', classic moore in the sense of really, really tight storytelling and apparent effortlessness. also, and I think this is what truly redeems the series, the apparently pointless threads from the anthology issues are being brought back in to create a dense continuity in a very surprising way. The background situation is moving on too, what with Tesla's flame headed boyfriend and all. he's definitely knocked it out of stasis. And yeah, the art is great.

It was definitely out last week, tho'

The Natural Way

15:28 / 08.03.02

Again w/ the Stray Bullets 24.

15:45 / 08.03.02

Ellis' "Strange Killings" #1 came out. I read it. It reads much like the others, so if you like schlocky horror stuff, wait till this is collected.

Crusades #13. Can't understand why more aren't reading this. Consistently excellent.

As a retailer, I got the preview comic for the new "Transformers" series. (Ducks, as there have been Cameron Stewart sightings recently) It was quite good, and the art is really pretty.

I'll second Powers. I do like this comic.

Zoom.

Matthew Fluxington

16:17 / 08.03.02

Zoom, as a retailer, do you know when the next NXM will be out? Shouldn't it be two weeks from now?

Also, as a retailer, what do you make of this, by the way?

16:28 / 08.03.02

That's an interesting idea.

However:

"“There’s no good reason that the New X-Men can’t be weekly"

Guess Jemas isn't watching this title too closely, is he?

I think the only way this could possibly work is if you didn't worry about a stable artist on a title. Yes it's conceivable that Grant, or anyone else, could knock out 4 scripts a month, but I've never heard of an artist who could do 88 pages in one month. And, for NXM and Amazing Spider-Man at least, the artist is part of the draw. Well, when Frank's there, anyway....

And as for the next NXM, I only know what they post on their website. So if it's not next week, I have no idea. According to the Previews it was solicited in, it's due March 20. But then the last one was due Feb. 20, so I guess we'll see.

Zoom.

Matthew Fluxington

16:39 / 08.03.02

Well, I think that the obvious/implied compromise would be that there would no longer be a single regular artist on any of the bi-weekly/weekly comics.

I think bi-weekly is a better idea than weekly.... I think making the comics weekly would descend into some pretty bad hacked out comics.

I think it's a good idea, but only for things like Spider-Man and X-Men which have the audience to maintain this sort of saturation.

I would be happier getting NXM bi-weekly with a different penciller every other issue than waiting a month or longer... I think the way that Grant writes NXM lends itself to being read rapidly, with the next chapter coming sooner than later. It's a bit like tv, really.

I think that if they are going to have revolving artists, they should take advantage of that fact and plan out the issues to take advantage of the guest penciller's skills, or even pull in some really great artists to do a one/two issue stint who would normally not want to commit to a monthly comic. For example, what if an issue of NXM was drawn by David Gibbons? Steve Yeowell? Phillip Bond? J. Scott Campbell? Darwyn Cooke? John Romita, Jr.? Grant Morrison himself?

I'd prefer all-star guest artists to second-rate fill-ins like Igor Kordey and Ethan Van Sciver...

17:05 / 08.03.02

Well in the UK where the norm is weekly instead of monthlythere has never really been a problem. But then again there is a tradition of anthologies over here. For example even transformers (a title many grew up on) had a main strip and a back up strip. True the work load was spread over more artists and some material reprinted from america but the reader still got the same numberof pages of comic PER WEEK that American readers got, PER MONTH

17:38 / 08.03.02

[ 08-03-2002: Message edited by: Reason ]

17:49 / 08.03.02

Just flogging something that came out a few weeks ago. Muties #1 was really quite excellent. Only just got around to reading it.

Zoom.

17:55 / 08.03.02

At risk of further derailing this thread (sorry, Fly), I'd like to say that making NXM a weekly/fortnightly comic would be the exact opposite of what I've been thinking should happen. That being: get Quitely to do the art for every issue and give it an irregular schedule to accomodate him.

One of the best things about the silent issue (and I suspect that this also applies to Flex Mentallo) was the amount of incidental detail that was packed into each panel. From the script at the back, it'd seem that Quitely has just as much creative input here as Morrison. When you compare the issues that he pencils with those he doesn't, you can immediately tell that a lot of the features are Quitely-originated, just from the fact that they don't appear when he's not there. Losing the regular release status from a title is a price worth paying if the quality of that title increases as a result. Making the same title more regular seems utterly stupid.

18:22 / 08.03.02

yeah, y'know, I gots to agree, at least about NXM. Every Quitely issue is fucking beautiful. I'd be willing to wait months at a time. I think the unfortunate thing is that Grant's story, as has been previously pointed out, moves at break-neck speed. So the wait might be counter-productive.

Zoom.

Matthew Fluxington

18:24 / 08.03.02

I disagree. It seems what Grant is driving towards is making the X-Men a perfect serial, and that demands a regular schedule.

I agree that Frank is amazing, and the Frank issues are always better than the non-Frank issues - but the time it takes for him to produce an issue are at odds with what Grant wants to do with the comic as a writer, and I think Grant's writing is more important than Frank's art in how I enjoy the series.

I think it's probably better to have Frank Quitely be the secret weapon that puts certain issues over the top rather than be the anvil that drags down what should be a fast-paced serial.

18:42 / 08.03.02

I guess the problem comes down to this: when Quitely's not there, NXM just seems mediocre (very much my personal opinion, obviously). Maybe I'm just expecting too much from the comic that is, after all, Marvel's money printing machine.

20:11 / 08.03.02

I imagine GM already knows where hes going with the comic. If he could complete scripts for 12 issues (6 months worth on a biweekly schedule) they could divide the issues up among different artists, giving the later issues to whoevers slowest (in this case Quitely). Then NXM (or any other title) could have rotating artistic teams under a single writer and the story arcs (and trades) wouldn't have to flip flop between artists.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

10:39 / 09.03.02

I'd prefer Marvel to concentrate on publishing monthy books monthly before they start trying to 'break molds' and 'smash dogmas'. When's the next New X-Men supposed to come out?

15:12 / 09.03.02

Hawkman #1 came out this week.

It wasn't amazing but if people like the direction that started in JSA it's enjoyable with some good potential.

But I still like Katar better than Carter Dammit!

Matthew Fluxington

17:24 / 09.03.02

In defense of NXM: it hasn't been quite on schedule, but it has been consistently monthly since September 2001. The only bits of lateness came in the first three issues, when Frank Quitely was attempting to draw the book on a monthly schedule.

Honestly, I don't mind - those issues were brilliant, and it made the schedule so that the issues came out more rapidly as it went along - good news, I think.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

02:12 / 10.03.02

quote:Originally posted by Sax:
[QB]
Alias. So-so. Nice to see Rick Jones again, and the excerpts from his autobiography were quite amusing, especially about Captain American trying to remake him in Bucky's image.

QB]

I loved the Autobiography and would pay decent money to read Bendis writing the whole thing...but it's not Rick Jones we are seeing, I am betting, since it would not only mess with continuity (he's married to another woman) but it is SO not like Rick Jones to do cover songs.

I'm betting it's a Skrull.

Yep, I'm a big fanboy.

08:26 / 11.03.02

quote:Originally posted by Captain Zoom:
Crusades #13. Can't understand why more aren't reading this. Consistently excellent.

I subscribed in at a comic-shop.
By correspondence is the only means to get some US comic-books in Brittany. I'll have it in 2 months and I want to ask: is there strory-arcs, how many issues in the current one?

Our Lady of The Two Towers

13:27 / 11.03.02

Flux: We've had the rquisite number of issues come out, but not on a monthly schedule...

Matthew Fluxington

13:44 / 11.03.02

well, if you define monthly as "coming out on the same week every month", then no. but if you define monthly more reasonably as "one issue comes out per month", then yes, it has been on schedule since September. And as of this month's issue, it will probably come out perfectly on time for the rest of the run.

18:02 / 13.03.02

quote:Originally posted by Flyboy:
(NB: don't bother recommending previously released graphic novels or anything like that - just stuff that came out this week specifically. Oh, and be prepared for mockery if you say something Knodge-like...)

Why not?

I live about 75 miles from the nearest comic store, so my recent trip to Toronto was very exciting. I picked up an armload of comics for 50 cents each at the Beguiling (the world's greatest comic store). Included in the pile were issues of Kyle Baker's Shadow, Flex Mentallo #3 and Kill Your Boyfriend (I have both of these, but I picked them up for friends), three Shades I didn't have, six issues of Blade of the Immortal, a copy of Darwyn Cooke's Catwoman, an Adam Strange comic drawn by Cary Nord (fuck, I love Adam Stranfge almost as much as I adore Hawkman) and Morrison's final issue of JLA, which always brings a tear to my eye, big Silver Age softie that I am.

I also scooped that Tangled Web that Flux was praising, though it came out the week before. It's stellar.

And I topped it off by grabbing a collection by Al Hirschfeld, god of cartoons, a book by my favourite political cartoonist, Paul Conrad, the Nick Fury-Agent of SHIELD by Steranko trade, and The Spirit Archives #2.

I'm really starting to pick up these archive books. This might be the start of a new regular purchase for me. On my next visit, after I get my tax return, I'm going to be picking up three more. Either Green lantern, Blackhawk, Black Canary, The Flash, Hawkman, Plastic Man or Wonder Woman, since I can get them cut-rate. My heart is set on the Atom, Supergirl and (recently released, Flyboy) Doom Patrol Archives. I can't wait until they do the Challengers of the Unknown.

I've been drinking too much Coke.

[ 14-03-2002: Message edited by: moriarty ]

18:10 / 13.03.02

MikL - okay, it starts off with "Urban Decree", a prestige format special that sets up the story, introduces characters etc. It's broken up into 6-issue stroy arcs. The third has just started here. It's very good. Or, at least, I think so.

This week:

Transmet #54 - only 6 issues left to go. As a counter-point to that one story arc that moved incredibly slowly, this one is moving very quickly. I am all a-tingle to find out what happens.

I haven't read the rest of my stash for the week. Back later when I have.

Zoom.

Regrettable Juvenilia

23:07 / 13.03.02

quote:Originally posted by moriarty:
Why not?

Well, partly because I'd become a bit disturbed by the realisation that I've become one of those people who goes to the comics shop every week, pretty much, and I wanted to check that I could skip this one - didn't have the money at the time to indulge in anything else... But we're on a new week now, and so here endeth the thread.