Comic Books Comic Book • Page 460

Also really liking Wonder Woman Earth One, feels simultaneously classic and modern

 

Y’know what Marvel book I initially rolled my eyes at (as a sure symptom of symbiote over-saturation), but actually had a pretty fun debut issue this past week?

The new 5-issue miniseries Cult of Carnage: Misery.

It’s about former Peter Parker classmate Liz Allan, now a girlboss & mother & widow of Harry Osborn, trying to use Carnage symbiote mixed with Anti-Venom symbiote for medical purposes. It’s not amazing or spectacular, etc., but so far it’s a pretty fun slice of intersecting Spidey lore.

 

Instant buy for me

 

Weezie writing it is so awesome.

 

I know it’s a few days late, but anyone have any good Free Comic Book Day finds? I picked up a lot of The Wicked + The Divine back issues and almost completed my single issue collection of it and found 5 of the 6 issues of Gerard Way’s Killjoys series.

 

Really liking the YA reimaginings of DC origin stories I've read so far: Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, Poison Ivy: Thorns, and Shadow of the Batgirl.

 

Neither shop I went to was able to have any sales this year, and they’re both shops I frequent, so I didn’t anything special. But, I did have a great time with cool comic-reading folks, and also grabbed the 4-issue 90s Lethal Foes of Spider-Man miniseries from a dollar box.

As far as FCBD offerings, grabbed the prelude issues of Conan the Barbarian & Red Sonja, which were both a lot of fun. Summer of swords & sorcery! And, the Spider-Man/Venom/Ultimate Invasion issue was also fun. Zeb’s killing it on ASM, Al’s a king for pulling some golden age blorbo & tying him to symbiote lore, and that Hickman/Hitch mini is gonna be pretty dang cool.

 

Also really liked The Oracle Code. Dang DC, for YA these can get really dark.

I was a bit late to FCBD, if there was an ATLA one again I missed it, but at least I got another issue of Marvel Voices

 

I've been out of comics since pretty much the first time SAGA took a break, what are some must-reads from the past, say, 5 years?

 

DC: I’d suggest Tom King’s character minis (Mister Miracle, Strange Adventures, Human Target, Supergirl:Woman of Tomorrow)

Marvel: The X-Men line has been on fire since it was taken over by Johnathan Hickman. He’s moved on now but it’s still been great. Definitely would suggest House of X & Powers of X and the main X-Men title. Beyond that you can look through the different books/teams to see if any jump out at you.

 

What genres would you be interested in?

 

Outside of standard Super-Hero stuff, I dig horror/Sci-Fi stuff.

Thinking back on what I was reading, I really liked Posehn's Deadpool run (namely The Good, The Bad and The Ugly/Wedding of Deadpool), Superior Spider-Man, Snyder's Batman run, though I didn't read past Death of the Family, Saga as previously mentioned, and, of course, Fraction's Hawkeye run)

 

Right up my alley with regards to horro/sci fi. I’m not at my pc now but I’ll try get a list of some of my favourite stuff that started in the last 5 or so years up later today at some point.

 

The most iconic, beloved direct market series that it sounds like you completely missed is Al Ewing’s 50-issue (plus some specials) run on Immortal Hulk.

 

Right, I'm going to stick to mostly non big 2 books here but yeah here's a list that's probably too big and not big enough of some of my favourite of the last few years. Hopefully something can pique your fancy.

Behold, Behemoth (post apoc fantasy/horror)
Eight Billion Genies (fantasy)
Die (highly recommended, DND game turns real)
Gideon Falls (highly recommended, twin peaks-esque horror)
Something is Killing the Children (horror about monsters, House of Slaughter if you like that)
The Department of Truth (conspiracy theory horror)
The Nice House on the Lake (sci-fi horror)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (more adult and sci-fi orientated that the tv shows. fantastic comic)
Radiant Black (and other Massiveverse comics like Rogue Sun, No/One, The Dead Lucky)
Primordial (alt history sci-fi)
Strange Adventures (Uh Adam Strange may or may not have done something bad)
The Immortal Hulk (as Tim recommends. Brilliant book)
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (fantasy based on Indian mythology)
House of X/Powers of X (I'm an x-men fanboy and recommend all of them haha but these are brilliant)
Eat The Rich (title kinda explains it)
Time Before Time ( time travel sci-fi
Home Sick Pilots (ghost horror)
Ice Cream Man (anthology horror)
Black Cloak (saga-esque new ongoing)
Once and Future (fantasy based on british mythology)
Stray Dogs (horror starring puppies)
Wonder Woman Dead Earth (post apoc wonder woman)
Do a Powerbomb (uh like wrestling fantasy thing. hard to explain)



For Batman, check out DC black label, there's been a bunch of really good non mainline Batman books released on that sublabel. Spider-Man has gone through a rough time since then and I'd struggle to recommend much (sorry Tim)

 

Definitely check out Nailbiter and Nailbiter Returns

 

I've also been playing Midnight Suns, so any good related reading to that? Pretty unfamiliar with anyone that isn't an Avenger/Blade in that lineup, Magik and Nico seem cool.

 

I’d also recommend East of West and Black Hammer.

 

Lots of great stuff mentioned, I’d add Hickman’s Decorum, some of the best art I’ve ever seen.

 

@DeviantRogue

Nick is right about The Many Deaths of Laila Starr. That miniseries is one of the best direct market comics in the past handful of years. Absolutely brilliant mythological, meditative storytelling. Ram V is one of the most interesting writers in comics at the moment; I eagerly await his next creator-owned work.

Nick’s also right about Do a Powerbomb!, a fantasy superhero wrestling miniseries about family and grief and big, colorful, bombastic fun. So many “hell yeah” moments and impactful emotional beats & reveals.

Si Spurrier & Charlie Adlard’s Damn Them All recently finished its first story and was approved to become an ongoing. It’s a dark magic series at Boom! from the artist of Walking Dead, starting from a thinly veiled Constantine place and going from there, with Tom Mueller (House of X) data pages; it’s just dang good comics, imo.

I almost feel weird mentioning a comic I haven’t read yet, but I’m eagerly awaiting the collection for 20th Century Men (out I think at the end of this month), an Image book about imperialism through a sci-fi action lens that basically every single comics critic or reader with taste I follow online has been raving about.

As for current Big Two comics, the best ongoings for me right now are Scarlet Witch, Poison Ivy, and Amazing Spider-Man. Steve Orlando has taken my girl Wanda to the heights she’s always deserved and almost never reached; the exact same is true for G Willow Wilson and Poison Ivy. The internet is so polarized and inexplicably weird about ASM, but Zeb Wells & John Romita Jr have done the impossible: make fucking good Spidey comics that lean into everything that makes him traditionally compelling without doing a shitty cover act.

If you’re into Magik, the 80s are where you get her classic arc, from the Magik miniseries into the New Mutants up to Inferno. But, if you’re not in the mood for 80s comics, then start with the Zeb Wells New Mutants (I think in the late 00s?), then jump to the 2018 run of New Mutants by Jonathan Hickman, Vita Ayala, Rod Reis, etc.

If you’re into Nico, uh, just read the Runaways. There’s the classic run by BKV, and then I read very little of it but the more modern run by Rainbow Rowell & Kris Anka (which lasted quite a while) is also supposed to be great.

 

Magik has been great in New Mutants (2019). The Labors of Magik story that finished up Ayala’s run was great.

There’s a recent Midnight Suns mini from last year that was fine. It features Magik and Nico but I think you should read Strange Academy before jumping straight into that. If I’m correct Illyana and Nico are in Strange Academy too.

 

Been reading a lot of comics lately. Currently on the Ram V Swamp Thing mini. It’s very good so far.

I also read the Becky Cloonan / Michael Conrad Wonder Woman story Afterworlds. I was a big fan. Too bad they didn’t get longer on the title.

 

ASM #26 leaked avoid marvel leaks Twitter if you don’t want to be spoiled

my thoughts (no actual spoiler below just my feelings towards the spoiler)
l m a fucking o editorial can’t help themselves can they?

 

lol, saw that, truly do not understand how it’s possible for something like that to get out there 15 days before the issue’s supposed to hit shelves.

If it’s 100% legit, (vague, indirect spoilers that don’t mention anything by name) it’s very funny that it’s from the co-writer of that character’s next MCU appearance later this year, considering some of the things MCU did and implied for the character.

 

Judging by Nick Lowe and Marvel’s tweets I’d say this was leaked by Marvel themselves to create buzz