Well, I'm against anything that might give Johnny Ryan a wider audience
― Chuck_Tatum, Monday, 27 November 2017 18:46 (six years ago) link
I'm hate-watching "High Fidelity" (2000); one of the record store clerks (the guy who's not Jack Black) is wearing a hella cool L&R t-shirt beneath an unbuttoned flannel.
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Saturday, 9 December 2017 07:19 (six years ago) link
New book with a Jaime cover: https://i.harperapps.com/covers/9780062476807/y648.jpg
Looks like he took a quick stab at replicating "Death of Speedy"-era Locas, but without much attention to detail (Izzy's legs just look weird).
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Wednesday, 20 December 2017 19:35 (six years ago) link
I went to college with Hillary Chute. FYI
― dan selzer, Thursday, 21 December 2017 00:10 (six years ago) link
Just checked out her CV – pretty distinguished.
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Thursday, 21 December 2017 04:48 (six years ago) link
Looks like you guys were in college the exact same years I was... I always like seeing people my age doing interesting stuff. Sometimes I feel like most folks you "hear about" are at least 10 years older or younger.
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Thursday, 21 December 2017 05:13 (six years ago) link
Goddammit, Fantagraphics
half price sale on gift vouchers this week
― Haribo Hancock (sic), Wednesday, 7 February 2018 08:26 (six years ago) link
Been working my way through the Golden Age of Batman stories, and it's becoming evident how much of an influence Dick Sprang's style was on Gilbert.
This is from Detective #93, published in 1944. Just look at these panels, the way the characters are positioned in the foreground is so Beto.
https://i.imgur.com/svwUBaP.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/82x9s29.png
― Pheeel, Monday, 26 February 2018 22:30 (six years ago) link
I just read a 1985 issue of Legion of Super-Heroes that Joe Orlando pencilled, and it’s striking how much his art (while not very polished) reminds me of Jaime’s... particularly Jaime’s sci-fi/superhero stories. Is it possible Orlando was an influence? Going by his Wikipedia page, it doesn’t look like Orlando did a ton of superhero work (and a lot of what he worked on in that vein seems to have been in the mid-’80s, well after L&R debuted).
― absorbed carol channing's powers & psyche (morrisp), Sunday, 18 March 2018 05:34 (six years ago) link
It's possible. Orlando drew a bunch of sci fi in his EC days and did some superhero work for DC & Marvel in the 60s.
― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 18 March 2018 16:53 (six years ago) link
Picked up most recent 3 issues and jfc Beto’s output has really declined - shaky linework, incoherent plots and dialogue ugh. A bummer. Jaime otoh just gets better and better. Love the return of silly sf material.
― Οὖτις, Saturday, 4 August 2018 16:19 (five years ago) link
I stopped buying Beto collections in volume 3, but I've given up on the series altogether in v4 and am back to waiting for Xaime's collection.
― 16, 35, DCP, Go! (sic), Saturday, 4 August 2018 17:41 (five years ago) link
I haven't read any Jaime since Love Bunglers! I probably should
― Chuck_Tatum, Sunday, 5 August 2018 13:38 (five years ago) link
Love Bunglers is what prompted me to get the latest issues tbh, it was so good
― Οὖτις, Sunday, 5 August 2018 14:25 (five years ago) link
I finally started the New Stories. The hour glass figure of Beto's Sad Girl\Killer is disturbing to look at. Jaime's hardly shy with the exaggerated curvy figures either but I don't picture Vivian breaking in half at the waist.
― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Tuesday, 7 August 2018 14:22 (five years ago) link
I never read more than a few pages of Beto's stuff prior to finishing all 8 New Stories just now but I couldn't get into any of it. Meanwhile, Jaime was absolutely killing it. His panels are all like perfectly balanced mini-paintings. He captures a lot of fluid body language. People aren't cut-n-paste statues. Jaime's story-telling remains strong as ever. His mini sci-fi "Princess Animus" is pretty damn cool.
― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Thursday, 9 August 2018 02:10 (five years ago) link
Looks like a collection of Jaime’s current “reunion” storyline is coming in March: https://www.amazon.com/This-How-You-See-Countryman/dp/168396182XMeanwhile — I wasn’t aware that these “Complete Love & Rockets” volumes were still being published; this one seems to collect “Ti-Girls” and “Love Bunglers”: https://www.amazon.com/Angels-Magpies-Love-Rockets-Library/dp/1683960904(I’m still not clear if the stories about Tonta’s family from “New Stories” have ever been collected; but guess it doesn’t matter, for my purposes...)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Tuesday, 28 August 2018 03:56 (five years ago) link
Fantagraphics’ mobile website is unusable
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Tuesday, 28 August 2018 04:02 (five years ago) link
Site crashed while trying to calculate the infinite permutations of ways to read the L&R saga.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 28 August 2018 04:11 (five years ago) link
tbh two days ago a Fanta employee texted me that someone phoned the office wanting to buy "all of Love & Rockets" and I put together an email explaining the closest-to-possible best-format in-print way of doing so
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Friday, 31 August 2018 17:24 (five years ago) link
What about the page count of Los BrosHow did it get so high?I wonder if an ILXor knows how many books to buy
― Just eat a hamburger, it'll hit the spot. (Old Lunch), Friday, 31 August 2018 17:43 (five years ago) link
wrong ilxor
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Friday, 31 August 2018 18:13 (five years ago) link
You lay claim to the occupation if not the designation itself.
― Just eat a hamburger, it'll hit the spot. (Old Lunch), Friday, 31 August 2018 18:35 (five years ago) link
I'd like to see what you told them, sic (unless you already did upthread and I missed it)
― Dan I., Sunday, 2 September 2018 18:10 (five years ago) link
At this point, the digests (the Love and Rockets Library, I guess they're called) are pretty much definitive. They're a few years behind at this point but I'm pretty sure they collect everything. Vol. 13 (Angels and Magpies) is the most recent one I own, maybe the last one they put out (nb, I haven't bought them all because I have the entire original set of vol. 1 collections plus the Luba hardcover and a ton of original issues, can only justify so many double- and triple-dips before it just gets ridiculous).
― Digital Squirts (Old Lunch), Sunday, 2 September 2018 18:33 (five years ago) link
yeah angels and magpies is the most recent one.
― visiting, Sunday, 2 September 2018 19:00 (five years ago) link
also, the digests are the way to go unless you really need to keep up with what they're doing lately.
― visiting, Sunday, 2 September 2018 19:06 (five years ago) link
Do the digests have the same page dimensions as other formats? I've never seen them in the flesh, but had the impression they were somewhat miniaturized(?)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Sunday, 2 September 2018 20:28 (five years ago) link
they are smaller than the original (and latest) series, but similarly sized as the "new stories" series... amazon says they are 7.4 x 9.2 inches.
― visiting, Sunday, 2 September 2018 20:44 (five years ago) link
Yeah I mean you can see why the bigger size is preferred —https://imgur.com/download/pesuwfS/
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 3 September 2018 17:43 (five years ago) link
the picture appears for me in your first post.
― visiting, Monday, 3 September 2018 17:50 (five years ago) link
nuts, sorry
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 3 September 2018 18:01 (five years ago) link
yeah, the answer I'd give someone trying to buy the best version for themselves to read is different to the answer I'd give someone at the publisher trying to supply as many formally-in-print volumes as possible. there are still some of the larger old books from Volume 1 in the discount room at the Fanta bookstore that are no longer inventoried by the warehouse, too.
even the seventh volume of the Library editions is OOP, and while several of the larger Xaime hardcovers are still available, you have to double up with Library collections sometimes.
meanwhile, the Library books are well over a decade behind on collecting Beto, and I also listed all his in-print books (by theme) from Vertigo and Dark Horse and D&Q in case the customer wanted to know about those too.
Julio's Day is OOP already too. Certain issues of L&R vol 3, L&R vol 4, and Blubber are also unavailable.
(I skipped Yeah! because he didn't write it, it looks awful in B&W, and I hate the binding.)
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 00:23 (five years ago) link
hate to say it but I think I've given up on it all.
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 5 September 2018 01:22 (five years ago) link
I know a pirate that might hook you back in
― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 01:25 (five years ago) link
Bwahahah evilness rulez!
― He said captain, I said wot (FlopsyDuck), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 01:26 (five years ago) link
I don't know how inclined I'd be to make the effort if I hadn't kept up with it as it was being released (since the '90s anyway), but having kept up with it I can say that it's most definitely worth the effort (except maybe caveat emptor with Beto's stuff from vol. 2 on).
― Digital Squirts (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 01:40 (five years ago) link
yeah, Dan just buy the tall Jaime collections and forget Beto (or start that Patreon for him). Jaime's 2010s are his strongest decade ever.
and that's for a guy who had Jaime's '80s, '00s and '90s
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 07:08 (five years ago) link
and if you miss '80s Beto, try his The Twilight Children (drawn by Darwyn Cooke) on Vertigo.
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 07:09 (five years ago) link
Also, just to be clear, I think it's possible that Beto's volume 1 highs meet or exceed Jaime's (wrt writing if not draftsmanship). Love some of that material so much, and a lot of the Palomar-related material directly after is quite good. Also love the experimental Beto stuff collected in Fear of Comics (mostly culled from New Love iirc) a great deal. He's done some good work in recent years, but it's a mixed bag. It's just much easier to recommend, like, the entirety of Jaime's output sans reservations.
― Digital Squirts (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 5 September 2018 16:14 (five years ago) link
I've been sorta itching to re-read Jaime from the beginning again, but don’t know when I’ll find the time
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Thursday, 6 September 2018 04:06 (five years ago) link
I think it's possible that Beto's volume 1 highs meet or exceed Jaime's etc
absolutely, I liked Beto even before before Jaime clicked for me in my late teens - but after the FORTUNATO! era, his obsessions have become too niche for me to really connect even with effort. I can enjoy a single read of a story or a Fritz b-movie or an ultraviolence graphic novel or w/e, but I'm never going to get anything more out of re-reading them.
(his recent non-L&R work is a little more accessible, and the new Palomar stories in the current series were promising, but man, there's just too much ~stuff~ and not enough focus)
― ▫◌▫ (sic), Thursday, 6 September 2018 07:24 (five years ago) link
I started as a Jaime fan (punk rock teen, more accessible) but moved towards favoring Beto, esp circa Poison River and New Love/Fear of Comics stuff, but it all just spiraled out of control for me. I figure when I have some time, on my death bed, I'll get all the collections and read them all.
― dan selzer, Thursday, 6 September 2018 14:20 (five years ago) link
Just FYI, y'all, having undertaken the re-read several times over, I can report that it doesn't involve that significant a time investment.
― Digital Squirts (Old Lunch), Thursday, 6 September 2018 14:24 (five years ago) link
Maybe I’ll give it a go, when I’m done with my current re-watch of the original 2 seasons of “Twin Peaks” (...then I’ll revisit all the early R.E.M. albums, for a “teenage me” trifecta).
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Friday, 7 September 2018 02:22 (five years ago) link
Starting on pg. 1 of the whole shebang — “Mechan-X Starring Maggie Race Hopey (by Izzy Ruebens)” — it’s kind of astounding how consistent it is with the rest of the series to come. Mag & Hope’s dialogue “sounds” just like those two, as we’ll always know them... Maggie even kind of looks like Vicki Glori.
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 17 September 2018 04:30 (five years ago) link
(Huh, Vicki and Rena are mentioned two pages later — Vicki defeating Rena, “She used the ropes!,” etc. So much of the storyline was there at the inception...)
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 17 September 2018 04:36 (five years ago) link
The long Mechanics story is an early masterpiece... first of many, I suppose.
― stan in the place where you work (morrisp), Monday, 17 September 2018 05:39 (five years ago) link
“100 Rooms” isn’t Jaime’s best, but it’s cool to read the TPB version with an eye to the panels he added in ’86 (they’re not hard to notice). He really added some depth to the story.
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Wednesday, 26 September 2018 05:22 (five years ago) link
Closing out Vol. 2 — “Toyo’s Request” is a story I haven’t given a lot of attention in the past, but it feels like a transition to Jaime’s “mature style”... both in the economy of the storytelling, as well as the terrific layouts and art (particularly the panels of Rena driving thru the desert, and fighting Bull Marie). I guess these are Jaime’s first real wrestling action scenes in the series.The Rocky & Fumble story at the end of the book is (of course) delightful...
― brush ’em like crazy (morrisp), Tuesday, 2 October 2018 04:52 (five years ago) link