Comics, etc.

Okay, so I'm new to trying this whole Comixology thing, but this confuses me and maybe some of you can help. I'm interested in trying out the new Captain Marvel comic so I took a look to see if it's available on Comixology and it is... in single issues only. So I checked Amazon and they have the first six issues collected in paperback. But then the prices for the first six issues of Comixology are dropped to two bucks, so that's about in line with the price, so maybe they're doing it that way? Except there's a volume two already out and issues seven through twelve are most certainly not discounted so buying them from Comixology is MORE expensive despite not having to have anything shipped to me. And on top of that the new Hawkeye has collected editions on Comixology.

So... what the hell is going on? Why does Comixology have a collected edition for one Marvel NOW comic but not for another?

Here's an update on some random comics:

Hinterkind just had its first issue, and I really enjoyed it. It's a very well written and drawn Vertigo title. It starts out by telling us that nature is reclaiming the world, and shows New York overgrown with plants. No spoilers, but there's something else going on as well that makes this different than just some post-apocalyptic sci-fi book (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Trillium is another Vertigo title. This one is a science fiction comic where mankind is on the verge of becoming extinct, and our scientist heroine is trying to see if an alien flower holds the key to our salvation. Three issues in, I'm hooked.

Powers is awesome, of course. Two cops (now Feds) investigate super-powers related crimes.

bnpederson wrote:

Okay, so I'm new to trying this whole Comixology thing, but this confuses me and maybe some of you can help. I'm interested in trying out the new Captain Marvel comic so I took a look to see if it's available on Comixology and it is... in single issues only. So I checked Amazon and they have the first six issues collected in paperback. But then the prices for the first six issues of Comixology are dropped to two bucks, so that's about in line with the price, so maybe they're doing it that way? Except there's a volume two already out and issues seven through twelve are most certainly not discounted so buying them from Comixology is MORE expensive despite not having to have anything shipped to me. And on top of that the new Hawkeye has collected editions on Comixology.

So... what the hell is going on? Why does Comixology have a collected edition for one Marvel NOW comic but not for another?

All these issues are far beyond the understanding of any comics consumer I know. Thankfully, they do have Marvel Unlimited, which is a great offering.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Here's an update on some random comics:

I haven't read Nextwave yet to please take everything I say with a grain of salt.

=)

I went through the first few volumes of Powers and it never really clicked with me. I'm going to give it another shot soon.

bnpederson: Who knows? I really only ever buy on Comixology when it's on sale. Hawkguy is a pretty big success so they most likely are combining issues and putting out trades as fast as they can. Captain Marvel, while good, isn't getting near the attention so they're probably a lot slower getting stuff out.

Hey, after the last Nextwave drubbing, I read the first issue! I picked it up free on Comixology at some point.

New She-Hulk in Februruraruyaryry! Horray!

Has anyone read Fracton's Sex Criminals? It sounds pretty cool.

There was enough buzz about Sex Criminals that I bought the first issue on Comixology. So far I'm not sure what all the fuss is about but I'm willing to give it a few issues.

I liked it. I'm not exactly certain the premise will have legs, but at least the first issue was excellent.

IMAGE(http://distilleryimage7.ak.instagram.com/218017f0310e11e397d322000aaa0a71_8.jpg)

Tour poster for band I'm currently obsessed with, CHVRCHES, by my favorite comic artist, Jamie McKelvie, of Phonogram and Young Avengers. I grabbed volume one of Young Avengers a couple weeks ago and it's really good and funny. And I can't wait for the next Phonogram.

Hawkeye is back from it's hiatus, bro.

ruhk wrote:

Hawkeye is back from it's hiatus, bro.

Bro, 13 is really good, bro.

Code Monkey Save World just released on comixology and I rather enjoyed the first issue. Doesn't hurt that I've heard all of the songs that it was based on to get the references made.

Crossposting from the Trading Post, as it seems applicable to this thread.... I preordered Batman Arkham Origins CE for PS3. Since then, I got a free PC copy with my new video card. If anyone is interested in buying the CE, I can update the order and have it shipped directly to you. Or, if you just want the game, we may be able to work something out, as I'm still interested in getting the CE extras. Otherwise, I'll just cancel the preordering a few days.

In addition to the obvious Chew, Locke & Key, and Saga, I pity the fool who isn't reading The Sixth Gun. This has the feel of ending up a legendary long-form indie comic. Even more indie than the other three I mentioned, if we have any comic hipsters around here.

And regarding Hawkeye: What the hell does Aja have to do that's more important than drawing every issue of this book?

Fedaykin98 wrote:

In addition to the obvious Chew, Locke & Key, and Saga, I pity the fool who isn't reading The Sixth Gun. This has the feel of ending up a legendary long-form indie comic. Even more indie than the other three I mentioned, if we have any comic hipsters around here.

And regarding Hawkeye: What the hell does Aja have to do that's more important than drawing every issue of this book?

What else has he drawn besides Iron Fist and HawkGuy? Because I would track that sh*t down.

According to Wikipedia, those are the only two he's been the regular artist on for any length of time, and he's not incredibly regular or prolific on either of those.

I'd suggest Aja fans check out another of Ed Brubaker's collaborators, Sean Phillips. They've worked together to produce Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito, and Fatale. All are damn good to amazing.

To my untrained eye, both Aja and Phillips have kind of a minimal, throwback style.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

According to Wikipedia, those are the only two he's been the regular artist on for any length of time, and he's not incredibly regular or prolific on either of those.

I'd suggest Aja fans check out another of Ed Brubaker's collaborators, Sean Phillips. They've worked together to produce Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito, and Fatale. All are damn good to amazing.

To my untrained eye, both Aja and Phillips have kind of a minimal, throwback style.

Both of those artists remind me a lot of Frank Miller/Klaus Janson's work on Daredevil. (Also David Mazzucchelli's work on Daredevil and Batman as well)

So I was mildly hyped for Arkham Origins, and then my roommate started playing Arkham City. Which led me to reread Haunted Knight, Long Halloween and Dark Victory. Which have led me to start replaying Arkham Asylum and rewatching Batman Begins.

Now that I've got more knowledge of the comic continuity (also have Batman: Year One), rewatching Batman Begins is an interesting experience. I still feel like it is the strongest of the three films, and in a lot of ways it makes for perhaps the best retelling of Batman's origins. While it's pretty big to his motivation in Long Halloween and Dark Victory that Bruce never found his parents' killer (especially in his decision to help Dick Grayson out), I think how it plays out in Batman Begins actually works out better. That conversation he has with Carmine Falcone in the film is the perfect sort of motivation for Bruce to leave Gotham and experience life as, well, a desperate person. To understand what might drive someone to theft. This is key in Bruce, and more so Batman, having compassion and refusing to kill.

Of course, if the comics did a more in-depth origin that covered such things, I'm not familiar.

However, while I've got plenty of minor gripes with Batman Begins (Jonathon Crane has two good scenes as Scarecrow (with Falcone and then when he lights Batman on fire) and then is a chump the rest of the flick), there's only one thing in hindsight I really feel would have made the film, and as a result The Dark Knight, better in light of reading through Long Halloween and Dark Victory better. Ditch the romantic subplot, and replace Rachel Dawes with Harvey Dent. Make Harvey Bruce's childhood friend, how the death of Bruce's parents inspired the both of them, and how they diverged. More so, Bruce's actions and the slow deterioration of their friendship (especially as Bruce pretends to be a self-centered billionaire playboy) could help develop that slow tumor that is Two-Face within Harvey Dent.

Then in The Dark Knight you have Batman, Gordon and Harvey take that vow on the rooftop, only for it to come to nothing as Harvey is then deformed. He snaps, he is killed, and in Dark Knight Rises Batman has the same moment he has with Alfred, lamenting that he almost was ready to tell Harvey, and maybe he should have...and then instead of some "look in your eyes" excuse of figuring it out, he tells "Robin" his identity in trust instead.

I dunno, just thinking out loud. Nothing will ever change the films as they are, but if they made one character change and removed that dumb romantic subplot, they could have implemented some of the best stuff from Long Halloween and Dark Victory even better.

That said, I think I might purchase another Batman trade when I get some cash next week. Knightfall and No Man's Land (the one that helped inspire Arkham City and Rises?) are too many volumes for me to tackle at the moment, so I'm looking at Hush, Under the Red Hood, Death in the Family, The Man Who Laughs, Arkham Asylum, or Catwoman: When in Rome (which seems to be a story not really in continuity seeing as it is about Selina Kyle no longer being Catwoman?). Right now, leaning towards Hush.

Any other recommendations?

Read Hush, and you'll understand a better choice for Bruce's childhood friend.

Considering how the Nolan Bat-Trilogy plays out, I don't quite think there's room for Dr. Elliott in the films. However, if the films were done a bit differently, that could have worked as well.

ccesarano: I like your ideas for the Nolan flicks.

I really really like Hush and Arkham Asylum.

Hush feels a lot like the "classic" batman stories like Long Halloween and Dark Victory. At 11 issues it is a nice long form story that is seen all too rarely in comics these days with seemingly everything going to the 6 issue story arc.

Arkham Asylum is good for a completely different reason, it is completely insane. It has a bit of fun with the question of whether or not Batman is really better than all those criminals he fights and whether or not he is also insane.

I don't think you can go wrong with either of them.

A lot of that list happened during the period where I wasn't reading comics, so I can't comment on everything, but Arkham Asylum was great. I've heard Knightfall is a bit of a classic now, but as it was coming out I didn't think much of it. Made a few bucks off it, though, which is nice! I read parts of No Man's Land and really liked what I read.

I've only seen the second movie of the trilogy.

Seeing as Hush seems to be written by Jeph Loeb, the guy who wrote Long Halloween and Dark Victory, the similarities don't surprise me.

The thing about Arkham Asylum is that I'm actually not too huge on the art style. Not for sequential art at least. However, seeing as I wasn't quite satisfied with The Killing Joke, I'm kind of hoping to get a comic with a Joker as satisfying as in the animated series and, Hell, even the films. Not that I'm a huge Joker fan, I feel like he is a bit overdone, but maybe that's part of it. Figuring out where the obsession comes from beyond the animated series and Heath Ledger's performance. in Long Halloween and Dark Victory I feel like Joker is overshadowed quite a bit even by mooks (Scarecrow and Mad Hatter interacting together delighted me for some reason).

I did notice it seems to be hard to find trades more focused on other villains, though. It seems you're basically going to get trades focused on Bane, Hush, or Joker primarily, which is a bit of a shame as I'd like to see a big story featuring Scarecrow or even a smaller bit fellow like Firefly.

Kamakazi010654 wrote:

I really really like Hush and Arkham Asylum.

This. You can safely delay Knightfall forever, since it is straight up dogsh*t.

Arkham Asylum is more of a classic than Hush, but it's a graphic novel that can be read in an hour or so. Hush is much longer. I like both.

I just finished reading Nextwave. You guys were right, that book is amazing!

ccesarano, try "Joker" by Brian Azzarello for another take on the character. Joker is pretty terrifying in that one.

Read the graphic novel for Thor: the Mighty Avenger. I thought it was pretty decent. It's a shame the title only lasted eight issues. The curse of the "all-ages comic," I guess.

edosan wrote:

Read the graphic novel for Thor: the Mighty Avenger. I thought it was pretty decent. It's a shame the title only lasted eight issues. The curse of the "all-ages comic," I guess.

Please refer to this title as, "My Boyfriend Thor."

And yes, it is wonderful.

Friends of the comic The Adventures of Dr. McNinja may be interested to know there is a Dr. McNinja card game on kickstarter.

Dr. McNinja's Legendary Showdown