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Speaking of IDW's refreshing takes on '80s toy comics, I just finished a rereading binge of issues #61-100 of Larry Hama's Marvel G.I. Joe series, after rereading #1-60 over the last few years. I had the entire 155-issue run and all the related series as a kid, read them countless times, and always thought they were pretty great. Reading them as an adult, I think they have aged remarkably well as a whole, especially compared to Marvel's Transformers series at the same time and a lot of the Big Two's '80s output. There were some boring stories that I remember being boring as a kid, but the good ones were still good, and I remembered them so vividly, right down to individual characters' lines. I could always tell Hama had his favorite characters, but was forced by Marvel and Hasbro to keep including the new characters that showed up as toys every year, and shoehorn their vehicles into it too. As a result, only a handful of characters received any kind of development or personalities beyond one or two identifying traits. Well, I just finished reading a more modern IDW G.I. Joe storyline, collected in G.I. Joe: Cobra: The Last Laugh. It was all about Chuckles, a G.I. Joe undercover agent known for wearing Hawaiian shirts, going deep undercover in different criminal and terrorist organizations, hoping to get noticed and recruited by Cobra. (This is a different continuity than Hama's comics, far darker and more "realistic," in a timeline where Cobra is a new and mostly-unknown threat.) Chuckles does horrible things in order to survive and keep his cover, and there are double- and triple-crosses, shocking deaths, and unmatched character development. It reminded me heavily of Sleeper, by far my favorite of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' collaborations. I was blown away by how good it was and how much I enjoyed it. It was co-written by Christos Gage (always a solid writer, but he never seems to break into people's A-list) and Mike Costa, who I was unfamiliar with. After binge-reading 40 issues of Hama's '80s G.I. Joe series in a few days, this felt like going from Silver Age Stan Lee comics to a modern writer like Alan Moore, Frank Miller, or, appropriately, Ed Brubaker. The IDW Transformers comics get a lot of discussion and a lot of love in the BSS Transformers thread, and I really enjoyed the little I've read of James Roberts' Transfomers: More Than Meets the Eye series. But has anyone else read this Cobra: The Last Laugh series, or any of the other IDW G.I. Joe comics? I have a lot of nostalgia for the toys, Marvel Comics, and even the cartoon, even though I sold all my comics and toys to help put myself through grad school. I would be very interested if any of the other series are this good, or if anyone wants to discuss this one.
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Apr 7, 2019 19:02
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Christopher Priest is doing a Vamperella ongoing from July. http://www.multiversitycomics.com/news/priest-gunduz-vampirella/ quote:“This version of Vampirella is set in the real world, as real as I’m allowed to make it,” said Christopher Priest. “What if an alien from another planet were stranded here? What if that alien looked like one of the Kardashians and wore barely any clothing at all? And had fangs, drank blood and sprouted bat wings? We’d assume she was a vampire. But she’s not a creature of occult origins. She’s a Martian who’s now stuck here with us idiots who stereotype her as this THING because she looks and functions a certain way. That would seem to be an allegory for how we treat each other; for racism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious persecution.”
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Apr 9, 2019 01:25
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Big Bad Voodoo Lou posted:But has anyone else read this Cobra: The Last Laugh series, or any of the other IDW G.I. Joe comics? I have a lot of nostalgia for the toys, Marvel Comics, and even the cartoon, even though I sold all my comics and toys to help put myself through grad school. I would be very interested if any of the other series are this good, or if anyone wants to discuss this one. I pick up an issue occasionally of Hama's current G.I. Joe run. I feel like the pace is glacial compared to the older stuff. It's not Hama without an '80s level of word balloon density.
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Apr 9, 2019 21:20
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My only complaint about Scioli's work is I don't think we'll ever get more 8-Opus.
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Apr 12, 2019 22:44
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So according to BKV, Saga is only at the halfway mark and has 54 more issues before the series ends. I find that...a tiny bit disconcerting. I still like the series but I feel like it's been spinning its wheels a bit the last two or three years. I thought there would be like two more years at most. If they actually do get to 108 then the series still has six more years left when it comes back, which seems like a lot.
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Apr 15, 2019 16:38
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Chairman Capone posted:So according to BKV, Saga is only at the halfway mark and has 54 more issues before the series ends. I find that...a tiny bit disconcerting. I still like the series but I feel like it's been spinning its wheels a bit the last two or three years. I thought there would be like two more years at most. If they actually do get to 108 then the series still has six more years left when it comes back, which seems like a lot. As long as they are working towards a definite ending, that’s more important to me than how long it takes.
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Apr 15, 2019 16:42
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It's not the length for me but the feeling like it hasn't been creatively fresh for a while now, so it going on for as long as it already has makes me worried about it. I'm sure they have the general outline worked out for the end they're building towards but it's more their ability to flesh out that skeleton, if that makes sense. Especially because the only other long-running BKV series I've followed was Y, and that ended around the point Saga is at now. And I feel like Y was stronger at this point than Saga is. Then again maybe this year off has really recharged them - hopefully so!
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Apr 15, 2019 16:50
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Saga is at a good point to shake things up considerably as a return from hiatus. The last arc or so kinda dragged but the last 2 issues were pretty good (even though I HATED what happened in them) and now would be a good time to really jump ahead into the next stage of Hazel’s life and move past Marco and Alana
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Apr 15, 2019 17:00
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Chairman Capone posted:So according to BKV, Saga is only at the halfway mark and has 54 more issues before the series ends. I find that...a tiny bit disconcerting. I still like the series but I feel like it's been spinning its wheels a bit the last two or three years. I thought there would be like two more years at most. If they actually do get to 108 then the series still has six more years left when it comes back, which seems like a lot. It might only be four and a half or five. The breaks were to allow Fiona to catch up with the art. If they're using the year break to build a buffer there should be fewer or shorter breaks after it.
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Apr 15, 2019 17:09
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At least it means you don’t need to strap in for a goddawful BKV ending for a while yet.
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Apr 15, 2019 18:41
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Jordan7hm posted:At least it means you don’t need to strap in for a goddawful BKV ending for a while yet. Indeed. I'd never accuse BKV of being a bad writer, but his endings can be hit or miss. I still think Y was a mixed bag on that front. Hopefully he finds a way to end Saga that doesn't feel as rushed and awkward as that one.
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Apr 15, 2019 20:57
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wielder posted:Indeed. I'd never accuse BKV of being a bad writer, but his endings can be hit or miss. I still think Y was a mixed bag on that front. Hopefully he finds a way to end Saga that doesn't feel as rushed and awkward as that one. Honestly I’m not sure I’d even say hit or miss. I’d say consistently bad. Ex Machina was basically a demonstration in how to ruin a series with a final story arc.
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Apr 15, 2019 21:25
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Jordan7hm posted:Honestly I’m not sure I’d even say hit or miss. I’d say consistently bad. When I was young and thought being reflexively cynical was the same as being worldly I was a big defender of Ex Machina's ending, but I reread it recently and it really does feel like the nastiness of it is sudden and cheap.
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Apr 15, 2019 21:45
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Hoo boy, that end to Hellboy. Hopefully not forever, and at least the retro series will presumably continue!
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Apr 17, 2019 21:33
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Chinston Wurchill posted:Hoo boy, that end to Hellboy. Hopefully not forever, and at least the retro series will presumably continue! There's a final page in the digital version (might be in the floppy as well, I don't know!) in which MM says there will continue to be stories set (presumably) in the 1900s as well as stories set in the new world.
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Apr 17, 2019 21:56
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Peter Cannon continues to really impress me. It's a familiar schtick, but it's executed so well that it's just a joy to see Gillen playing with these particular formal tools. I found today's issue earnestly really moving, especially the detournement of Rorschach's famous "I'm not stuck in here with you" bit.
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Apr 17, 2019 23:27
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Peter Cannon is great but I think I need some annotations on some of the references it's building on.
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Apr 18, 2019 07:25
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Whenever I hear the title of Peter Cannon I keep thinking it's a comic about the actual person named Peter Cannon. And given that he's a prominent Lovecraft scholar it especially didn't seem too out of bounds that some Cthulhu fanboy would make a comic about him.
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Apr 18, 2019 15:06
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Man, BPRD just isn't the same without Arcudi. I just finished Devil You Know and it felt a lot messier than Hell on Earth.
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Apr 24, 2019 07:12
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I still have one last Hell on Earth omni collection to read but is that a good stopping point? War on Frogs clearly ends on a to be continued... But does Hell on Earth generally "solve" things?
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Apr 24, 2019 20:29
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On a totally different note, can someone explain Prison Pit? I've read the whole thing, and generally enjoyed a ridiculous hyperviolent angry teen scribble notebook comic, but was there some deeper symbolism or metaphor I was missing when the main character starts jacking acid cum?
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Apr 24, 2019 20:31
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Zachack posted:ridiculous hyperviolent angry teen scribble notebook comic And creative! But no, I don't think there's a deeper metaphor. Or if there is, I missed it too.
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Apr 24, 2019 21:58
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Zachack posted:I still have one last Hell on Earth omni collection to read but is that a good stopping point? War on Frogs clearly ends on a to be continued... But does Hell on Earth generally "solve" things? The Devil You Know just finished and that was the series finale. It's only 15 issues so if you've gone this far you might as well keep going.
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Apr 24, 2019 23:17
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Unfortunately, The Devil You Know was a major disappointment in a lot of ways. There were a lot of cool story moments that could have been great, but it just felt like "WE GOTTA GET TO PLOT POINT A AND THEN B AND THEN C SO WE CAN FINISH THIS THING". I lay the blame squarely with Scott Allie, almost everything he wrote for the BPRD was only ever middling to bad. The only one I remember fondly is The Abyss of Time and maybe the Transformation of JH O'Donnell. I read somewhere that Allie's writing tends to be either insanely decompressed, like his work in Abe Sapien, or rushing from plot point to plot point with no room for character moments, like The Devil You Know. That's true, but I also noticed a lot of the same issues between the two, particularly where something would happen and it would be unclear why or how it was happening, o rthings would happen and then be dropped for a dozen or more issues and then suddenly come back with no re-introduction which really can hamper the story telling. It also doesn't help that Allie is a problematic assaulter that Mignola should have cut ties with years ago... That being said, it's worth reading because it's the ending for not just BPRD, but also the Hellboy story as a whole really. The final issue is mostly Mignola for both story and art and it ties into the earlier stories really well. I was a little mystified the first time I read it until I went back and re-read a lot of the Osiris Club bits in the earlier comics and the last issue of King of Fear, which has a lot of connections to the finale.
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Apr 25, 2019 00:29
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There's a Humble Bundle on Jeff Lemire https://www.humblebundle.com/books/creator-spotlight-jeff-lemire-books Especially useful if you need to catch up on Descender for the follow-up series, Ascender, that started this week. But get everything anyway.
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Apr 26, 2019 01:07
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I had no idea Bongo Comics folded last year. That really bums me out. It's been a while since I picked up anything from them but I used to like the Simpsons Comics in the 90s and I would occasionally pick up the Futurama comics when the show was off the air. But then again I guess it would have gone under after Disney bought Fox anyways.
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Apr 29, 2019 17:41
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Chairman Capone posted:I had no idea Bongo Comics folded last year. That really bums me out. It's been a while since I picked up anything from them but I used to like the Simpsons Comics in the 90s and I would occasionally pick up the Futurama comics when the show was off the air. But then again I guess it would have gone under after Disney bought Fox anyways. I read a ton of Simpsons comics but I can't remember any of them being any good.
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Apr 29, 2019 17:56
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On a related note, read the poo poo out of Matt Groening's "(Concept) is Hell" books.
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Apr 29, 2019 18:05
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Thank you, Invisible Kingdom, for replacing Saga in my heart.
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May 3, 2019 18:13
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things seem to be coming to even more of a head in Wic+Div plus a fuckload of exposition
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May 4, 2019 10:32
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Noticed that next week something called Uber It Ends #1 is out.
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May 9, 2019 11:18
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Chairman Capone posted:I had no idea Bongo Comics folded last year. That really bums me out. It's been a while since I picked up anything from them but I used to like the Simpsons Comics in the 90s and I would occasionally pick up the Futurama comics when the show was off the air. But then again I guess it would have gone under after Disney bought Fox anyways. What? poo poo, I loved the Simpsons Comics as a kid, even more so than the show. My copy of Simpsons Comics Royale is quite beat up as a result of having read it so many times. This news is indeed a bummer. I bet that even in its last days the comic was probably better than the show as it stands now though.
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May 10, 2019 02:30
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thats not a high hurdle
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May 10, 2019 02:36
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Dark Horse and Netflix signed a deal giving Netflix first-look rights for both TV and movie adaptations of all Dark Horse properties: https://media.netflix.com/en/press-releases/netflix-inks-first-look-deal-with-dark-horse-entertainment Wonder if we'll see another Hellboy reboot in a few years.
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May 10, 2019 17:07
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Chairman Capone posted:Dark Horse and Netflix signed a deal giving Netflix first-look rights for both TV and movie adaptations of all Dark Horse properties: gently caress Hellboy, gimme dat Concrete netflix series.
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May 10, 2019 17:14
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I'd be down for Black Hammer series.
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May 10, 2019 17:31
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A Black Hammer TV show and film were previously announced through Legendary Entertainment.
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May 10, 2019 18:57
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I could see Paul Tobin's Colder or Mystery Girl being decent TV shows.
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May 10, 2019 19:05
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Chairman Capone posted:Dark Horse and Netflix signed a deal giving Netflix first-look rights for both TV and movie adaptations of all Dark Horse properties: I've got my fingers crossed for a Grendel series! JordanKai fucked around with this message at 19:41 on May 10, 2019 |
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May 10, 2019 19:38
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I'm a terrible person and would like to see a very r-rated The Mask series
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May 10, 2019 19:44
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