WholeFnMachine Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Animal Man is coming to a close, but he'll be joining Justice League Canada. I haven't read the book, but now that it's wrapping up I might pick up the trades. http://www.newsarama.com/19788-animal-man-ends-with-march-2014-s-29.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 The Rotworld story runs a bit long, but the book has consistently been one of the best series DC has been putting out within the New 52. I'm sort of disappointed to hear this, but I'm generally ok with it. The current storyline Lemire is on is pretty good and seems like it can lead to a good conclusion to his run. I'm not sure I would want to see anyone else on it so soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiztor Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 What do people find anti-climatic about Death of the Family? That no one died? I thought the story was pretty damn effective. Did people really think editorial was going to let the Joker slice off faces of some of their more popular characters? I thought the story was fine if you accept the idea that the Joker has a weird "attraction" to Batman and is more interested in keeping the game going as is than he is learning Bat's secret identity/killing Bats/whatever The "Joker may have been in the Batcave" stuff was pretty much in keeping with Batman/Bruce's established personality and issues. for a story that started with the Joker carving off his own face and then leaving Gotham City in suspense for a year over what he was planning, i think the ending of "the Joker just wants Batman back" is a bit anti-climactic. There were literally NO repercussions from the storyline. Damian is dead (different storyline); Tim wasn't connected to Batman before DOTF, so his disappearance doesn't mean anything; Nightwing has still been present in Batbooks; Batgirl removing her bat symbol had nothing to do with this storyline. Hell, even Alfred seems to have no aftereffects. And Bruce sure as hell doesn't. They constantly teased us with mutilations and deaths, and what we got was.....well, nothing really. Joker doesn't want to know Batman's identity. got it. Bruce continues to keep secrets from the Batfam. got it. everybody got captured and Bruce had to save the day. got it. it's all par for the course. i think after Court of Owls had this big reveal of Lincoln March, plus the return of the Joker, plus all the hype, people (myself included) just felt it didn't live up to any of it. Thus, anti-climactic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Territorial Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 I can see why the resolution let people down, but, personally, I didn't feel that way. For me, everything works except maybe the "batfamily overcomes the effects of the gas by thinking about family really hard". And even that may be intentional on Joker's part.. I though DotF was great. Reread it in one sitting last night and liked it even more. As I said originally. I think reactions to it probably vary depending on how much you buy the "Joker just wants to keep the game going as is" talking point. For me, it makes perfect sense that he'd want to ratchet up the death and horror, then step back at the last minute. My take on it is that Joker wanted to take the game to a darker place than they'd gone before, but still be able to stop short and go back to the "Batman puts the Joker in Arkham" status quo. 'Cause, if he really does killl the bat family, or slice off their faces, Batman might actually decide to kill him. As much as he claimed the sidekicks make Batman weaker. they're part of the game, so getting rid of them changes the rules. I didn't think the outcome of the dinner was really much different than the thing with Harley early on. Joker's aim was to see if he could get her to agree to let him slice off her face, not to actually do it. Actually doing it might change the dynamic of the relationship and Joker seems not to thrive on that. I can completely buy that, to his way of thinking, actually slicing off Harley's fave or killing Nightwing would ultimately be less fun than making people think he might do it and then going back to old dynamic. In the long run, removing Harley's face would be less amusing than continuing to screw with her head. Also really loved Joker (of all people) calling Bruce on his moral bullshit. The slipperly-slope-I-can't-sink-to-his-level argument doesn't hold up very well in the world of modern comics, where villians return time and time again to kill off large numbers of "extras" and suffer relatively mild consequences. I thought it was interesting that Joker is willing to kill large numbers of GC cops and citizens, but wasn't willing to risk killing off the Batfamily and changing the game. If Joker is correct and Bruce is as invested in keeping the game going as he is, the conclusion is is that Bruce is (unconsciously?) willing to tolerate mass casualties so long as they're not people he's actually close to. <Shrug> There's no right or wrong opinion. It's going to come down to how much the reader buys into Snyder's view of the Bats/Joker relationship. I thought DotF worked far better as a whole than the Court of Owls storyline. For me, Court of Owls was well scripted, but the whole ultimately didn't add up to the sum of the parts. And the Thomas Wayne thing was a big meh for me. I'm not against the notion of an (evil) secret brother, but it didn't seem to have a lot of impact o the story either. I'm hoping either Snyder either has a plan down the line for Lincoln March, or that it was just a red herring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unholy Dragon Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Well, given that Forever Evil is currently in full swing I'll be disappointed if Thomas Wayne, Court of Owls doesn't throw down with Earth 3 Thomas Wayne, Owlman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiztor Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 at this point, i'm just hoping Dick Grayson makes it out alive. As long as that happens, Forever Evil will be OK in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 The following DC Essential Graphic Novels are on sale on Comixology Watchmen The Dark Knight Returns Sandman Vol 1 Batman: Year One V for Vendetta Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book One Fables Vol. 1 The Killing Joke Y: The Last Man All-Star Superman Kingdom Come Batman: The Long Halloween The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 Batman: Earth One Green Lantern: Rebirth American Vampire Vol. 1 Blackest Night Final Crisis JLA (1997-2006) Vol. 1 Identity Crisis Batman: The Complete Hush The Joker The Flash: Rebirth Superman: Earth One Planetary Vol. 1 Does anyone have any suggestions outsid of Watchmen, DKR, The Sandman, Fables, Y, and The Killing Joke. The main ones I'm interested in right now are probably Identity Crisis, The Long Halloween, and Final Crisis. I'd love any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Buy Final Crisis. It's the best mega-crossover event in comic book history. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Long Halloween and Kingdom Come are musts. I dug the complete Hush, but some people didn't. Blackest Night was also good. As for Forever Evil, you can't kill Dick Greyson. You just can't. Although how Batman fixes things will be interesting. Course: Once Batman figures out how to spring Superman and Wonder Woman from the matrix, its all over anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unholy Dragon Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 JLA Vol. 1 is pretty great too. Collects the first 9 issues of Morrison's run plus some stuff. All Star Superman is an absolute must.I get a perverse enjoyment out of Batman Earth One. It's not what you'd typically call 'good' but it's so far outside the usual wheelhouse of what makes a Batman comic that I kind of enjoy it anyway.Joker is a really good self-contained deal too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Really, if Morrison wrote it, and you don't have it, get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Z Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Final Crisis is the worst book of that entire list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 Final Crisis is the worst book of that entire list. The Earth One OGNs say hello. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 As does the other book on the list with Crisis in the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Final Crisis is the worst book of that entire list. The Earth One OGNs say hello. I found the Earth One IGNs infinitely more entertaining. Final Crisis just felt like mess. The only issue I recalled enjoying was the Tatooed Man issue. Otherwise its the worst thing I have read by Morrison so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unholy Dragon Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Final Crisis is the best big event ever. All the crazy big moments, with a great story about characters as gods/icons and some really fun narrative tricks (the pacing is a story element, for example).It's great if you like comics that remain challenging and fresh even after multiple reads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 So...thanks for the input and all, but maybe the better question is what should I avoid? I'm going to be in a car for probably 12 hours round trip plus a few days in a house with one TV and bad internet so I'm trying to stock up on reading materials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Re: Supremebve. I'd strongly recommend Batman: Year One which for me is the best Batman book of all time, Batman: The Long Halloween which is one of the best Batman books ever done, American Vampire Vol. 1 is a must as it's the start to an awesome series and Batman: Hush divides opinion but I'm in the camp which liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bustronaut Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 If you're in the mood for something different, LXG vol. 1 is a fun diversion too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 I'm really loving Batman Beyond Universe right now. Higgins' run has started off on and stronger note than Beechen's, and his pulling form the past feels a lot more natural. Similarly Gage's run with Justice League Beyond has been a vast improvement over Fridolfs. Gage has done a good job building on what came before him while adding in new things. The latest issue in print with Brainiac returning has probably been my favorite issue of Justice League Beyond yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Get All Star Superman. Don't get Identity Crisis. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiztor Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 as a fan of the big "events", i didn't mind Identity Crisis as much as everybody else. i'm not gonna defend it or anything, but i didn't think it was terrible. Final Crisis i didn't enjoy upon first read (which was just the main series). When i sat down and read it and all the tie-ins, i felt that it was awesome. All-Star Superman is the correct answer here. Other good options: Blackest Night was fun, LXG is a good call out, and Swamp Thing was a great read for me (who had never read a Swamp Thing comic before). Long Halloween is very good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 That actually brings up a good question. Is the FC collection on there actually the entire trade, or just the actual issues of Final Crisis? Does it have the two Superman issues and Resist tossed in? Because without them, it's a significantly lesser experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Preacher is still my favorite comic book series ever. I love it like it was family to me. I own over 5000 comics and my Preacher collection remains my favorite. No other book grabbed me as emotionally as it did as an adult. It was like the greatest Vertigo book for those of us who thought Sandman was pretentious horseshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Hanger Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 I really need to go back and read Preacher again. When I read it in college, I was still devoutly Christian and felt like the first half was enjoyable as fiction, even from that perspective, but the second half felt like Ennis had his characters stop and look at the camera to shit on Christianity. It really turned me off on the last 2-3 volumes. Now that I'm in a very different place in my life, I need to go back and give it another chance. (Also: if the AMC show happens, and if it follows the book closely, there will be SO many protests...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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