[2021 Marvel Comics Omnibus Thread]

I have been eagerly devouring Roy Thomas & Barry Smith's Conan the Barbarian. I love the early Savage Sword of Conan issues, but for the longest time, I had this impression that the original Conan title was watered down and not worth reading. That was stupid of me. Smith starts out as a Kirby clone in the early issues, but he quickly begins to develop his own style, and within half a dozen issues, his artwork is simply phenomenal. It really is some of the most gorgeous stuff I've seen in comics. Although, I'm up to the Elric crossover right now, and I think that's been a misfire. 

I also read the Chris Claremont & Frank Miller Wolverine mini-series. Having lived in Japan for many years, I thought the representation of Japan was silly (Yakuza, ninjas, etc.), but the art is nice. If you like Miller's early work on Daredevil, you should check out his pencils on the series. 

[2021 DC Comics Omnibus Thread]

I finished Garth Ennis' run on Hellblazer. It tapered off a bit towards the end, as most runs do, but I was happy that he tied up all the loose threads instead of leaving them for another writer to ignore or misinterpret. The biggest problem I had with the run was the impetus for Constantine turning his life around after he'd hit rock bottom. I thought that could have been handled better. More impressive was the Heartland one shot that deals with Kit's life in Belfast and her relationship with her family. That was a great read. Proof positive that Ennis doesn't need to use shock tactics to write a really good story. 

Also, Jonah Hex, where have you been all my life? I've always had a fondness for Westerns but never explored the genre in comic book format. The Hex stories have been excellent so far. 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

As for hip hop, Mobb Deep also released a legendary album in '95, but I guess you can forgive the list for overlooking it.

Other bangers:

Spoiler

 

 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

1995

1995 was another formative year for me. I grew my hair out, bought clothes from secondhand ops and did my utmost to emulate Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain just like every other guy in high school. The book makes 1995 seem like a boring time for music, but I was sure having the time of my life at gigs. 

I think they picked the wrong Bjork song. I would have chosen Hyper-Ballad. Even today I think this is an exquisitely beautiful piece of music. 

The biggest omissions were Liquid Swords and Only Built 4 Cuban Lynx, two of the greatest hip hop records of all time. I also thought they should have included a track from Radiohead's The Bends and Death's Symbolic, the latter being perhaps the most accessible mainstream Death Metal I can think of. It doesn't make sense that they included the 80s thrash bands but didn't feature any extreme metal.

Here's a bunch of stuff I liked:

Spoiler

 

Some more stuff. (I like the Tony Stark joke in the Faith No More comments section.)

Spoiler

 

One more batch:

Spoiler

 

Props to D'Anglo too.

And the absolute banger of the year:

 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

Dear Mama is a good song. I like the Joe Sample sample a lot and the Sadie sample in the chorus. I also love the way Tupac stresses his rhymes.

I never really got into the dance scene from this era, but that Bucketheads song is an awesome throwback to the funk & soul era, and that's a type of music that this era desperately lacks. 

That Joe Henry song was a headscratcher. 

I was impressed with Carlos Nunez' musicianship, but I thought the book steered away from instrumentals? If instrumentals are fair game, why has there been no jazz or classical music?

I've never really listened to Jay-Z. That may sound crazy, but I had stopped listening to modern music by the time he got big. The song was okay, but far from the best hip hop released that year, and they probably should have included one of Biggie's own songs instead. 

 

[Cobra Kai]

I still think the first season was the best. Now that the cast has expanded, there's less focus on Johnny. I wonder if they can really stretch it beyond a 4th season. Once the issue with Kreese is resolved, where can they go from there?

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

'95 wasn't that bad.

It had Liquid Swords, Only Built 4 Cuban Lynx, and records by Radiohead, Pulp, Pavement, Guided by Voices, Tindersticks, Fugazi, D'Angelo, Teenage Fanclub, The Magnetic Fields, and Yo La Tengo. I've enjoyed exploring '95 while waiting for Liam's updates. 

[Cobra Kai]

Johnny vs. Kreese vs. Robby vs. Daniel four way = six stars? 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

Alanis Morissette was everywhere in 1995. I'm glad they included a song of hers as the authors often eschew the chart-topping hits. I've got to admit that Back for Good is a decent tune. I can imagine banging that one out at karaoke. Robbie looks like a prize dick in the video. 

I could have done without Bono. If they wanted Pavarotti in the book, they should have included Nessun Dorma. 

I was into Garbage at the time. I met they once at an autograph signing. I remember making a dick of myself telling Shirley Manson how beautiful she was. Listening to them years later, they kind of have that 90s Butch Vig production, but the tunes are catchy. I probably would have chosen Queer over Stupid Girl. 

Mad Season never registered with me, even though I was heavily into grunge at the time. 

I'm having some serious flashbacks to '95  -- Everclear, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Jewel, No Doubt... Why didn't they include Don't Speak! That's a great pop song. 

[Cobra Kai]

There's one thing that bugs me about Season 3:

Spoiler

How easily Miquel learns to walk again.

But...

The Good, The Bad, and The Badass was a seriously great episode. 

Arseface being renamed as Penis Breath reminded me of this:

 

[Cobra Kai]

"How to make legs work again"

 

[Marvel Comics Omnibus thread]

I did my own little tribute to MF DOOM by reading some classic Doom stories while listening to his music.

Emperor Doom offers up an interesting premise -- what if Doom took over the world and actually made it a better place? Doom solves the world's problems in short order, leaving the heroes with the moral quandary of whether it's right to have a utopia with no free will. Doom, for his part, grows bored with no one to challenge his authority. A decent Avengers yarn, but it wraps up too neatly, especially for the graphic novel format. I could understand it if it was in the monthly books, but I expected more from a prestige format book. 

Next up were the Wally Wood Doom stories. These were like a whirlwind. I had no idea what was going on half the time. Things just randomly happened. But the wackiness fit with the samples that MF DOOM liked to use from the Fantastic Four cartoon, and the art was great, as you'd expect. 

Lastly, the Doom arc from Fantastic Four #196-200. MF DOOM actually used a panel from #199 for one of his album covers, which is cool. The main event here is the double-sized anniversary issue with an epic showdown between Doom and Richards. It's a tremendous heavyweight fight. Richards had his powers juiced earlier in the storyline, and Doom snaps during their fight and nearly chokes Richards to death. The ending was brutal. You could easily read this as a standalone issue and skip all of the build up. I thought it was terrific. The art wasn't very dynamic, but the story lived up to its billing and was befitting of the occasion. 

[Cobra Kai]

Hash brown me too.

[Cobra Kai]

I watched the first two episodes of the new season. The best parts were Johnny and Daniel playing Tango & Cash and all of the scenes with Kreese. I don't want to blow through the season too quickly, so I won't watch anymore tonight.

Highlight for me so far:

Spoiler

Johnny driving Daniel's car.

 

[DC Comics omnibus thread]

6 hours ago, Eoae said:

What is the Dinah stuff?  I vaguely remember liking Longbow Hunters a lot and not caring for the book once Grell was off art, but I don't remember many of the specifics.  Google's not helping.  Apparently, the plot of Longbow Hunters had Dinah tied up by thugs and rescued by Oliver, who then kills her captors.  Was there more to it than that?

I might not have read much of the monthly.  For some reason, Grell and Jim Starlin writing works better for me when they're also doing interior art.

I still haven't read much of Grell's Warlord run.  I've always meant to get around to it but never have.  Going to see if it's ever been collected as soon as I post here.

She was tortured so badly that she was on the verge of death. It's implied that she was raped, but Grell denies this. He wrote a scene about it in the ongoing series where the subject is brought up during a therapy session. Due to the trauma, she loses her Canary Cry superpower. Later on, we discover that she cannot conceive due to the injuries she suffered.

Spoiler

She spends most of the ongoing series working in a florist shop waiting for Ollie to return from missions, though she does get involved in fighting every now and again. Most of the series revolves around Ollie's continuing midlife crisis. Things get messy when Shado accidently shoots Ollie in the chest and "seduces" him while nursing him back to health. She gets pregnant and Dinah finds out about the baby. Then she catches Oliver kissing a young teenager who had come into their lives, and finally she leaves him. 

 

[DC Comics omnibus thread]

I don't remember the Dinah stuff being offensive. Certainly not like what Shooter did to Ms. Marvel. 

[DC Comics omnibus thread]

2 hours ago, paintedbynumbers said:

What is everyone's opinion's on Mike Grell's Green Arrow?

 

I think his work is criminally underrated 

I liked it a lot. Granted, I am a fan of those 80s DC revamps in general as that was the point where I jumped on as a fan. The highlight is obviously Lowbow Hunters, but the ongoing title was good as well. I haven't read some of the other spinoff stuff. I remember there being quite a few parallels to Grell's work on Warlord and Jon Sable, as he tends to be the type of creator who is always writing the same kind of stories. Didn't they butcher the book one Grell left? I seem to recall they brought him back into the wider DC universe or something. 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

On 12/27/2020 at 10:20 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Hope the little one is doing well.

I like the Tricky song the best out of this batch, though I'm not sure if Tricky or Portishead used the Isaac Hayes sample better. I was never one for clubbing or raves, so I never got into any of the UK dance acts. I think Trip-hop might appeal to me nowadays, so I'll probably give that a try while you're busy changing diapers and doing midnight feeds. 

I listened to Maxinquaye. Not bad, but I didn't release that most of the tracks are sung by Martina Topley-Bird. I thought Tricky would rap more. 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

Hope the little one is doing well.

I like the Tricky song the best out of this batch, though I'm not sure if Tricky or Portishead used the Isaac Hayes sample better. I was never one for clubbing or raves, so I never got into any of the UK dance acts. I think Trip-hop might appeal to me nowadays, so I'll probably give that a try while you're busy changing diapers and doing midnight feeds. 

[DC Comics omnibus thread]

Is Night Force any good?

[Non-Big Two Comics Omnibus Thread]

I finally caught up with David Lapham's most recent work on Stray Bullets. Stray Bullets was one of the comics I bought when I was still collecting comics. I'm glad he's still producing it after all these years. His art and storytelling have improved immensely from the early issues. The most recent arc was bloated compared to the original series, especially given it was a prequel, and the obligatory Amy Racecar issues grated after a while, but when it was good, it was really, really good.

[DC Comics omnibus thread]

I started working through Gene Colan's run on Batman. There aren't any classic stories, but I simply love Colan's artwork. I was enjoying the stories by Gerry Conway and Klaus Janson inking the pencils, but I just reached the point where they changed the writer and inker, and the artwork is nowhere near as good.

I also finished Transmetropolitan. Warren Ellis can be smug at times, and the humour didn't always wash with me, but overall it was an excellent series. And scarily prescient of the Trump administration. 

I've also started reading the 90s reboot of Starman. And I am continuing to enjoy Ennis' run on Hellblazer. 

I've been slowly making my way through Mark Waid's run on The Flash. At first, I couldn't understand what the hype was about as I preferred William Messner-Loebs' run on the title with its quirky cast of supporting characters. However, that arc where Barry Allen returns. That was a great story. So I'm glad I stuck with it. I have also been revisiting the 5 years later era of Legion of Superheroes, which I know a lot of people hate, but I've always loved those types of resets. Giffen's art hasn't aged that well, however.

[Marvel Comics Omnibus thread]

I'm slowly trudging my way through 70s Marvel -- trying to finish Man Thing and Son of Satan. I recently began reading Omega the Unknown. I'm not a huge fan of Steve Gerber, to be perfectly honest (except for his Defenders run), but if you like his take on superhero comic books then Omega is perhaps the best encapsulation of it. I recently added Conan the Barbarian to the 70s slate. I love Savage Sword of Conan, but I had never checked out the main title. So far, it's enjoyable. Barry Smith tries a bit too hard to be Kirby at times, but I usually enjoy Roy Thomas comic books. Sticking with 70s Marvel, I watched an interview with Byrne today, so suddenly I want to check out his 70s work, which was before my time.

I started reading Squadron Supreme today. I can understand the Watchmen comparisons, but man, how many word bubbles can a guy read before his eyes dry out? I also started reading Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's Wolverine. So 80s. Ninjas! Japan! Yakuza! Plus I've been reading J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck's Captain America, which has been a bit boring, but Zeck's art is nice. Captain America seems like a difficult character to write, to be fair, like Superman or Wonder Woman.

 

[1,001 songs to listen to before you die...]

Welcome back. I've been binge listening to nothing but 1994 Memphis Rap and Black Metal since you left.

I lived through the whole Brit-pop era but wasn't British, so didn't take sides. Oasis was huge in New Zealand, but I was still heavily into grunge at the time, especially after seeing Pearl Jam live. From that point on, I started growing my hair out and wearing a corduroy jacket. The Oasis song is okay but sounds like Beatles wankery. 

The book ignored so much great country that I think we can safely ignore Garth Brooks.

I have a soft spot for Ash. I saw them open for Garbage in '96. They were a great pop act. I especially like Girl from Mars. 

That Smashing Pumpkins song holds up remarkably well. I suspect it's because of the way Corgan sings it. I imagine the Smashing Pumpkins' songs that don't hold up well are the songs where Corgan whines. That was a massive album, though. I remember buying it the day it came out. 

Common People is one of the best singles of the 90s. I also love Disco 2000. Hell, they could both make my 10 ten for the decade. Disco 2000 has the catchier chorus, but Common People is probably the better song overall. I'm not sure if Pulp ever lived up to their promise of being a Smiths or a Cure for their generation (or New Order, Pet Boys, etc.), but they nailed it with those two songs. And you can tell from listening to their earlier stuff that they were really building to those triumphant moments. The narrative was building and the music caught up. 

[Marvel Comics Omnibus thread]

Recently, I've been reading Jim Starlin's Captain Marvel & Warlock runs. They're good, but I wouldn't really rate them alongside my favorite stuff from the 70s. I can understand the appeal if you like cosmic superhero stories. I liked Starlin's work on Strange Tales best. What really impressed me was the Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel. That was a beautiful piece of work and deeply moving. Definitely up there with Dark Phoenix Saga, Miller's Daredevil, and the other great works of the era.