Comic Books Comic Book • Page 174

Some of that sounds vaguely familiar. Maybe I've read about it before? Xavier is just the worst sometimes, lol. I love, late in Bendis' Uncanny, when that time-manipulator Eva Bell calls him out for his hypocrisy. A story about him realizing his failings and trying to redeem himself does sound pretty interesting, even if the execution isn't perfect.

And, yeah, the Shi'ar are super cool, lol. In Jason Aaron's Mighty Thor, there's currently a conflict between Asgard and the Shi'ar centered around newly introduced Shi'ar gods challenging Jane Foster Thor. It's been really fun so far. An upcoming issue's cover has Quentin Quire, so that should be fun.

 

That sounds awesome! Jason Aaron is a writer I really love. I didn't follow his Thor with Jane Foster because cancer stories can really bum me out haha. And I was dealing with a family issue surrounded cancer and I just didn't want to keep living that through my comic book reading.

But I imagine I will swing back around to that at some point.

 

Yeah, that's fair. I really appreciated the talk about chemo from Jane's perspective because my mom had to do chemo and still feels the effects, but if the situation had been worse than it was or ended differently, it would've been a harder read.

Russell Dauterman's art on the series is seriously wonderful, man. Such detailed and dynamic pages.

 

I'm so excited to get to that Thor stuff because I loved God of Thunder so much and the art looks fantastic and seeing that the same artist has stayed on for so long is a huge positive for a Marvel series.

 

There are fill-ins, which is pretty inevitable for an artist this detailed working on a steady monthly book, but they've been good artists utilized mostly for a couple flashback stories and a recent two-issue story, so no awkward interruptions. As long as fill-in artists don't interrupt an arc and don't feel like second-stringers, I don't mind 'em.

 

Yeah, I can deal with that, like you said it's inevitable. I just get sad when I get blown away by the art in volume 1 and then that artist is never on the book again, ha.

 

You know, I have come to terms with rotating artists on mainstream books. They have basically broken me in that regard haha.

My biggest gripe now is that they often just throw in artists without any real regard for the type of story that is being told. At least try to match an artist with a story / book that fits their style! Ugh.

 

Yeah, obviously I just have to deal with it but it sometimes really messes with a book for me. Sometimes I'm just baffled at how big a dip in quality some of the fill ins are though or how far from the tone the rest of the stuff has been, even if it's right in the middle of something. I've definitely seen good fill ins that seem to match what the rest was going for.

 

Switching artists was such a bummer for Trinity. The other artist's issues didn't hold a candle to Manapul's. That could have gone away as being a favorite story of mine because the script was so good. Should have just came out every 2 months or something.

 

Sex Criminals is so good. Glad they have this arc on a more consistent schedule.

 

That was such a weirdly fast turnaround, but at least I knew it was coming before I let myself get invested in the series. I still don't get why that happened.

Artists who don't keep up with monthly schedules should just do miniseries that get completely (or close to it) before getting released, or just do oversized one-shots/annuals or original graphic novels. I'm fine with the long wait between projects if I still get complete projects occasionally from these people.

 

I like what Image do where they release an arc then have a break to let the writers/artists take the time with the next one. Quality over quantity is always the way to go.

 

From a business perspective, though, I get why it makes sense to put the big name characters out consistently. Taking a few months off isn't the same for Batman or Amazing Spider-Man as it is for something like Saga.

Ideally, I think the Big 2 should have 3 tiers: strict twice-monthly books, strict monthly books, and books that run on an Image-style schedule. The third tier would have a clear writer and artist who launched the title and stick with it 'til it ends. The second one would either have a Mighty Thor approach to fill-ins or have two artists clearly alternating arcs (like Asrar and Kubert were on All-New All-Different Avengers). There wouldn't be more than a handful of twice-monthly books (DC has way too many imo), which would have a revolving door of artists but always a single artist per story arc.

 

Yeah I get it, I just know what I personally would like as a selfish fan, ha.

I do think they should take a little more care about it though, I'm honestly surprised at how sloppy it does seem considering how big Marvel and DC are but then again I don't know much about making comics. I think something like that would absolutely work though.

 

Just finished reading The Trial of Jean Grey and I really liked it. Makes me want to give that Guardians run a try.

 

I think for the biggest characters, having both a twice-monthly book and an Image-schedule book would be smart. DC sorta does that with All-Star Batman, but since it's a monthly that has rotating artists as part of the premise (and oversized issues at $4.99 each, lol), it's not quite the same. I think there's room for the biggest character to both have the traditional ongoings and a title run a little more creator-owned-esque.

 

I am very happy with the amount of Chris Bachalo I'm getting in Uncanny X-Men.

 

Superman Reborn is awesome and I'm so happy it's going down like this.

Catching up on Invincible was not always a fun experience, but now that I'm here at the end I'm glad I did. Eve and Mark trying to explain why Earth superheroes wear costumes was great.

Lol oh geeze, what a great reveal for the Nightwing villain. This arc is great.

Eclipse is really good. I don't think the artist changed but he/she is getting way better at drawing this world. Some fascinating full page post-apoc imagery. I'm glad it's sticking around, I knew it was originally going to be a mini series, did not know they were doing so well.

God Country just stepped on the gas pedal in the best way. Series is officially awesome.

- a lot more comics today so more thoughts later.

 

I'm into Wildstorm now. It helps that its only one issue a month, we'll see if I'm still into it once they start branching off into other stories.

I don't find Dr Polaris wildly interesting but there was some great Jess lines in GLs

I am 100% in on this Justice League story. The art is mindblowing, although most faces suck. The ending has me crazy exciting for next issue.

New Trinity arc is fantastic, reminds me a lot of Kurt Busiek's. Hopefully they can keep a solid artist or two this time because it looks great. Ra's is sure getting around in Rebirth.

Good start to Batwoman. I'm glad that Julia has something to do, hope she sticks around as Kate's "Pennyworth."

Excellent issue of The Punisher. MAX level violence. Just an all around blood soaked good time.

Wowzers at I Am Bane, best yet of an already perfect arc. Such a cool idea Having Batman's rogues actually working for him Favorite comic of the week.

 

Bendis' two X-Men titles both had such great art. Bachalo and his fill-ins (like Kris Anka) on Uncanny. Immonen, Marquez, and Asrar on All-New.

Even though Bachalo has done a lot of X-Men over the years, I'd love to see him do more now that his time on Doctor Strange is wrapping up.

 

Yeah I'm really glad they've stayed so consistent.

I'll read anything Bachalo does. Excited to see where he goes next.

 

Tomorrow @Tim and I will be recording a podcast on All-Star Superman. Episode will go up on Tuesday!

 

Can't wait to talk about how Superman is better than everyone ever, especially that dang Batman dork.

Kidding.

Kinda.

Hopefully I make a good podcast guest! lol.

 

Ooohhh I'm excited to listen to that one.

I will riot over any Batman hate!!!

 

Exclusive sneak peak at the podcast notes:

- Batman sucks
- Batman really sucks
- Batman is just the worst
- dadbolt can suck it