2012 what are you reading thread

Too late!

this shit cray

http://royalboiler.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ike.jpg?w=640&h=490

It looks cray! What is it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Transmutation_of_Ike_Garuda

enjoyed the Masters of the Universe: Skeletor origin story way more that I expected.

getting Frazer Irving to do the art makes sense as there's a strong Klarion/Gothic outcast vibe to the story.

I thought the Fraction/Larocca Iron Man sort of ran out of fuel half a lap from the finish line, but I do think overall it was solid, successful work. I took a look at the new series #1 (Kieron Gillen/Greg Land) yesterday and wanted to barf.

Marvel "NOW!!!!!1!" is supposed to be giving loads of people a great spot to hop on the train, but it's giving me a great place to hop off.

I wasn't sold on the art in the new Iron Man by a long way (Greg Land, wtf) but the writing had some potential

Yeah, I will hold off on being all judgey about the writing and general approach to the character until after the 1st story arc ends, but it was a bad sign for me that Gillen wrote specifically to Land's alleged strength -- the nightclub and penthouse scenes with the pneumatic blonde.

haha, true

I couldn't figure out who Land was modeling Tony Stark's appearance on. Half-melted GI Joe?

Sometimes I would swear Land and Dave Sim get together to cut up fashion magazines and divvy up the photo reference. And then do each other's hair and nails.

xp hahahahaha

I don't see why futuristic interplanetary soldiers with wings and horns and magic powers have to speak like 2010s urban Americans

I'm w/ Tuomas--really liked the SAGA tpb. I just tell myself that I'm reading future/alien translated into modern English.

Really loved the Chaykin/Mignola adaptation of "Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser" by Fritz Leiber (whom I haven't read yet, need to remedy this asap!) Fun sword&sorcery buddy comedy, amazing how good Mignola's art was even before he got started on "Hellboy".

I have the White Wolf paperbacks of the Fafhrd-Mouser stories which have Mignola covers and spot illos-- and this is full, mature Mignola we're talking about. Love them.

re saga: i'm not sure but aren't they speaking esperanto?

i'm not so much reading Building Stories as holding it, unpacking it, shuffling it...v slightly disappointed to find that I already have the longest section, in a nicer edition, as Acme Vol 18 - although tbf, that is my v fave Chris Ware comic/fetish object of all time

i also started to read the new charles burns, but realised i cldn't remember a damm thing abt the previous volume, so need to go back and re-read. will prob need to do the same again when the third vol appears.

continue to enjoy the lucky luke and blake and mortimer translations issued by cinebooks who, despite their shortcomings - ugly computer lettering, smaller size albums, censoring some of the material - continue to give the monolingual the chance to finally enjoy some of the greatest comics ever made.

Lucky Luke is pretty rad.

About to delve into the new GODZILLA series.

i bought a buncha stuff at the BK comics festival but am not with power or in my home yet but lots to recommend.
Starting with TRUE SWAMP comp!

still no power? damn dude!

re saga: i'm not sure but aren't they speaking esperanto?

The horned magical race's native tongue seems to be Esperanto, yeah. But there's some kind of translation spell that allows the different races speak with each other, and when they do, they speak like 2010s Americans.

continue to enjoy the lucky luke and blake and mortimer translations issued by cinebooks who, despite their shortcomings - ugly computer lettering, smaller size albums, censoring some of the material

Censoring?

on some of the more 'adult' titles they publish, they have covered up some of the nudity, removed some of the swearing etc (they claim it's been done with the artists' agreement.)

but at least lucky luke still has his cigarette

and Blake & Mortimer and Spirou are still the super-racists we know and love

Like I've said somewhere else (in this thread?), the censoring thing thing is really stupid, since I'd imagine 99,5% of the folks who actually buy these Cinebook titles are adults who can handle seeing a pair of boobs here and there. And the more kid-oriented stuff they publish, like Lucky Luke or Blake & Mortimer, obviously doesn't have anything they would need to censor. Also, the censored panels are pretty obvious, like a scene where a woman is lying naked on a bed except for a modern-looking bra, even though the comic is set in the 18th century.

Thor: God Of Thunder is pretty super.

I'll have to check that out. I lost interest during the Fraction run.

I was surprised how much I liked the new X-Men title that Bendis is doing. I'd been expecting that the reason for the old original X-Men showing up in the present day would be a big mystery, drawn out endlessly. But the how and the why are laid out right there in #1, and with reasonable motivation that ties into current continuity.

The X-Men are askew! Beast is having issues! Cyclops is having issues! Only the X-Men of the past can fix them!

I'm sad, I feel like Fraction's ideas get more diluted over his runs (but are fun!), Bendis is too everything-at-once despite being by the book, and Hickman has done solid work but only got trusted with a section of books that were self-contained. I liked his Fantastic Four/FF work despite not being really into those books, and was so-so on the SHIELD backstory historical book but liked how he did Secret Warriors. His Ultimate arc was good.

Aldo reads Marvel NOW! (even though you are, and he clearly hasn't learned his lesson)

Thanks again re: Dungeon. Just bought (and received) the whole set via Amazon and Gosh.

Some volumes are going fer craaaazy prices on Amazon, thanks to Amazon's crazy robot pricers:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1561634778/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

so silly.

London ILCers (do they exist?) take note -- Sfar is doing a talk at the Inst Francais this Saturday.

just picked up anya's ghost, sailor twain, unterzakhn, and right state on recommendation of salon.com and not the israel my parents promised me on recommendation of amazon.com's if you liked X you'll like this harvey pekar book about israel

I haven't read it yet, or been reading it, but the spoiler I've just read for Amazing Spider-Man 699 has made me want to pick up the recent issues. Then rinse my mind out with bleach.

what's that then?

Ok, needless to say SPOILERS SO DON'T COMPLAIN

Peter was thought to be dead but it turns out to have been mind transplanted into Doctor Octopus' body. This (somehow) gives him access to Doc Ock's memories and he is experiencing them as if he is there.

Like when Aunt May and Doc Ock had sex that time before they got married.

aaaaaghh nooooooooooo

ewww WHAT? He better be praying for another Mephisto mindwipe.

I thought that is the opposite of what was happening?

ah, I misread, that is pretty much it. Peter in Doc Ock's head, and vice versa, and they can remember each others lives.

lol, so glad i don't follow marvel's current lines these days; had no idea he was dead.

yeah today's posts are making me feel pretty morbs-y about current superhero comics

Only one line, in fairness - Marvel still def. have the advantage over DC.

uh don't Marvel have 616 and Ultimate and Zombie and kid-friendly lines? While DC under Nelson are so desperately ramming everything into one line that Vertigo has been bleeding out for three years, and Voodoo and Deathblow: Byblows are now in The DC Universe Stories Of Alan Moore TPB? (Are there any Johnny DC titles left past "whatever Art Baltazar has going"?)

because they have the worst editorial staff on the planet

TBF, 616 Spider-Man has been varying shades of terrible since the early '90s. I think it's safe to say that his story has run its course and then some.

eh, they did a fairly decent run in recent years, including a great Lizard story someone clued me into. I won't universally defend it by any means, but they wiped away all the angsty Spider-Man garbage of the 90s pretty effectively

The Waid stuff in Brand New Day was ok. I tried Spider Island but was kind of undreadable.

I've read everything from the beginning of Straczynski's run up until just before the Gauntlet stuff and I was pretty uniformly unimpressed. I guess there's a window between where I left off and the point when Slott (one of the most puzzlingly overrated mainstream writers these days, imo) took over full-time that's somewhat more lauded but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

I'd be a much bigger fan if the whole line were a loosely-connected series of Tangled Web-esque minis and one-shots.

Spider Island was such crap. I've had Slott's run pushed on me by several people but everything I've read is meh.