Comic Books Comic Book • Page 467

I know it was said a million times before, but it’s almost impressive how completely unusable Comixology is now.

Amazon came in and just broke each and every aspect of that thing that made it efficient.

 

I’m not a digital reader, but I do know there’s a new app for iPads called Omnibus that might be worth looking into. They’re slowly building into a proper competitor for the Amazon-owned Comixology.

 

This ruled. Zoe Thorogood is really cementing herself in my personal all-time comics pantheon, and at such a young age, too.

 

I still have yet to read It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth and Rain, and a bunch of other stuff on my shelf. My backlog is cray cray

 

So my town is where TMNT was created and they're unveiling a decorative manhole cover in front of where Mirage Studios was founded and some sort of landmarkers lol

 

Read the self-published graphic novel I Want To Be Your Doll, by Mira Ong Chua (who’s done a bunch of other mostly self-published comics; they also work in animation on things like Adventure Time: Distant Lands).

It was very cute! It’s a romance between a young man and a magical doll who looks like a young woman, which was mysterious dropped off at the guy’s apartment. The art reminded me a lot of Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Finished my re-read of Black Science. it held up really well. It took on a whole new flavor now that I am a parent.


I’m now about 1/3 or so through my re-read of Unwritten. This was a series that I absolutely adored at the time. And so far, it’s been just as enjoyable as j remember.

 

Us Godzilla fans are feasting, I promise!

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/godzilla-omnibus-original-marvel-comic-series

 

Are there any good Venom comics out there? Curious for some recommendations that aren't totally ridiculous. Is lethal protector super cheesy?

 

Venom is kinda fundamentally ridiculous imo, and that’s a good thing. And, there are plenty of good Venom comics from various eras.

But, you’re using “ridiculous” & “cheesy” as negative qualifiers, then uh… just start with the Donny Cates run that started in 2018 and go from there. That’s the best starting point for people not ready for older Venom comics.

 

Donny Cates run is brilliant.

but yeah Venom is cheesy as hell and I love that for him.

 

any other recs for single-volume miniseries? or maybe even anthologies? preferably centered on female characters. I've already got:

Batwoman: Elegy (although this does tie in to the rest of Williams' run)
Crush and Lobo
DC Pride 2021/2022/2023
Harleen
Harley Quinn: Black White and Red
Harley Quinn's Greatest Hits
Mera: Queen of Atlantis
Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death
Supergirl: Being Super
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Wonder Woman: Lords and Liars

also a bunch of Young Animal stuff like Cave Carson, Mother Panic, and Shade the Changing Girl that I've yet to check out

 

Mostly indie I guess but for female led miniseries I have a few rec’s. Do a Powerbomb is super cool. The Many Deaths of Laila Starr might be my favourite comic ever. Eat the Rich, Goddess Mode, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth and Rain are ones from the top of my head.

it’s not exactly female led per se nor a mini, but I think you’d like Die.

 

Finally read the full first book last month (for spooky season) and unsurprisingly loved it. Looking forward to another Chu & Lee collab.

 

Anyone have good pick ups today? Got the most recent She-Hulk run (covers alone are worth it), all the volumes of Batman No Mans Land, and finally pulled the trigger on the Immortal Hulk Omnibus.

 

Do you wanna spend hours on a deep dive podcast episode about Juggernaut (with a great host & guest with great chemistry)? That fantastic X-Men character who is clearly gay? Well, here you go!!!

Really, it’s great. Long (as this show often is), but great and worth it.

 

Cerebro is so good but man I barely listen to it because of how long it is. 7 hours!!

 

You mean you didn’t listen to all… what was it, 18 hours on Madelyne Pryor???

This one is so good and worth listening to in spurts. Anthony Oliveira is my favorite regular guest, and finally getting to Juggernaut feels like such a culmination. I’m listening at work and at the part where they talk the Spidey story “Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut,” which means they get to touch on my bestie Madame Web.

 

I love Maddie. I love Conor. I just cant deal with that. The first 8/10 episodes that barely broke 2 hours are my favourite. Once they started going north of 3 hours I stopped listening consistently. I’d rather listen to audiobooks at that time commitment. I think it took me two weeks to get through the Apocalypse episode haha

 

And almost three hundred graphic novels/tpb

 

Spent part of the quietest Christmas I can remember finally reading Mariko & Jillian Tamaki’s graphic novel, Roaming, which was unsurprisingly just as great as I’d expected. So many gorgeous double page spreads in that thing.

 

Alright, here we go: a numbered list of new comic releases in 2023 that I read and really dug! This was a little bit harder than my albums & movies lists, in part due to choosing which serialized floppies to count as definitively “2023.” Especially miniseries! But I think this is a solid snapshot of my last year of comics reading.

1. Girl Juice (Benji Nate)
2. Immortal Thor (Al Ewing, Martín Cóccolo)
3. Poison Ivy (G. Willow Wilson, Marcio Takara)
4. Leftstar & the Strange Occurrence (Jean Fhilippe)
5. Hack/Slash: Back to School (Zoe Thorogood)
6. Birds of Prey (Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero)
7. I Want to Be Your Doll (Mira Ong Chua)
8. Monica (Daniel Clowes)
9. Roaming (Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki)
10. Red Sonja (Torunn Grønbekk, Walter Geovani)
11. Out of Style (Dewi Putri Megawati)
12. Carmilla: The First Vampire (Amy Chu, Soo Lee)
13. Damn Them All (Simon Spurrier, Charlie Adlard)
14. Dark X-Men (Steve Foxe, Jonas Scharf)
15. Confetti Realms (Nadia Shammas, Karnessa)
16. Batman & the Joker: The Deadly Duo (Marc Silvestri)
17. Grog the Frog: The Book of Taurus (Alba BG, Davilorium)

 

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 was fantastic. Everything I could have hoped for. Can’t recommend enough.

 

Yeah, Ultimate Spider-Hickman was dope.

With how ugly some books have gotten at Marvel and elsewhere in the direct market, particularly in the coloring, it’s great to have Marco Checchetto and Matt Wilson on this thing. Love that it has the classic Ultimate Universe thing where, as an alternate universe riffing on familiar concepts, I feel like anything could happen at any point (except this time it doesn’t suck).

Also fun that, as someone who didn’t read the lead-in shit, I get to learn about Ultimate Invasion along with Peter, lol.

 

I finished Batgirls! Really loved it.

I know Barbara's spinal implant was about as controversial as the event that paralyzed her in the first place. Having her walk again felt like a step back for disabled representation and for her character as Oracle. tbh, I've only read Barbara's Batgirl titles so far, so I don't have much context for her as Oracle outside of like Young Justice and the Arkham games. I think this Batgirls series provides a nice compromise, tho: she occasionally uses a wheelchair and occasionally puts on the cowl, and in the meantime Cass and Steph get most of the spotlight. I would like to eventually own every Batgirl title, as I've yet to actually read the Cass and Steph solo runs, but for now I have a huge backlog to work through. Also would love to get into Birds of Prey, especially when Babs is featured more prominently as Oracle.

I was at my local comic shop a couple days ago flipping through recent issues and noticed Cass is in Birds of Prey with Harls, also saw Kate is in Outsiders. I looked online and apparently Babs is juggling Batgirl and Oracle in various other titles. Where's Steph...? Also why is Ivy preggers