Comic books anyone?? (albums, story, written, great)

[Rob Allen]

Originally Posted by TKramar

DC was the only comic to consider having its characters age. You really didn't see that over in Marvel. You had characters die, but they didn't gradually age.

Back in the 60s it was the opposite - anything could happen to a DC character in the middle of a story, but you could be sure that everything would be back to normal by the last panel. You could take a year's worth of Superman comics and read them in any order. Marvel, on the other hand, had its characters age, grow and change, and the changes in one issue would still be there in the next. You really got a feeling that you were reading the story of the characters' lives. It's really unfortunate that Marvel got away from that.

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

The comic book characters that had the most impact on my life was Bucky Bug and his friend Bo.

Your photo album (and username) suggests differently..

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by b. frank

I haven't read those - but Morrison's run of Animal Man is probably my favorite thing to come out of mainstream comics in the 80s.
I understand the frustration of the purists when the Brits (Moore, Morrison, Gaiman, et al) came in and got all post-modern. But I love that stuff.

Never read Animal Man. I've heard it widely praised. But everything I've read of Morrison I really disliked. I don't mind his post-modern plots and such. I just don't think he's a very good writer. His characters talk to the reader rather than each other, his pacing is clumsy, and his attempt to blend adult themes with downright goofiness just rubs me the wrong way.

Moore's stuff is hit and miss with me. I love V For Vendetta. Watchmen is ok. I think it's good, but very over-praised. V For Vendetta is a much better story, better written, and much better art.

I haven't read much of Gaiman's comics work aside from the Marvel work he did a few years ago (which I liked). But I like his novels very much.

Mark Millar is another one of the "post-modern" Brits. I absolutely adore some of his stuff. But other stuff I loathe. Not much middle ground with Millar. I either love his stuff or hate it.

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

Never read Animal Man. I've heard it widely praised. But everything I've read of Morrison I really disliked. I don't mind his post-modern plots and such. I just don't think he's a very good writer. His characters talk to the reader rather than each other, his pacing is clumsy, and his attempt to blend adult themes with downright goofiness just rubs me the wrong way.

I'm pretty sure you will loathe 'Animal Man' then. Morrison goes completely off the wall. At first he just plays with the idea that the character had been resurrected from a previous time in comics history (which is true) but then he goes so far as to put *himself* in the comic to converse with his character about the meaning of life and reality. You would be disgusted I think.

Moore's stuff is hit and miss with me. I love V For Vendetta. Watchmen is ok. I think it's good, but very over-praised. V For Vendetta is a much better story, better written, and much better art.

I mostly like Moore because he is hyper-intellectual. 'From Hell' amounts to a long-winded history lesson as well as a graphic novel. Maybe not great for traditional comic fans and I can see why but that stuff just turns me on. What I really want to read is his run of 'Swamp Thing' - been meaning to get on that for years.

I haven't read much of Gaiman's comics work aside from the Marvel work he did a few years ago (which I liked). But I like his novels very much.

After I gave up comics as a kid, 'Sandman' helped pull me back in. Haven't read it in years but I remember loving that series.

Mark Millar is another one of the "post-modern" Brits. I absolutely adore some of his stuff. But other stuff I loathe. Not much middle ground with Millar. I either love his stuff or hate it.

Been meaning to read more of him, too. I've been hearing good things but I read 'Civil War' and I remember thinking it was full of cliches. Don't remember much else.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by b. frank

I'm pretty sure you will loathe 'Animal Man' then. Morrison goes completely off the wall. At first he just plays with the idea that the character had been resurrected from a previous time in comics history (which is true) but then he goes so far as to put *himself* in the comic to converse with his character about the meaning of life and reality. You would be disgusted I think.

Well, you're right. Based on your description, I'm disgusted. Sounds like pretentious dreck.

Originally Posted by b. frank

Been meaning to read more of him, too. I've been hearing good things but I read 'Civil War' and I remember thinking it was full of cliches. Don't remember much else.

When Millar is writing a character-driven story, he's awesome. When he's writing a plot-driven story, he's awful. And he's very uneven. When he was doing ULTIMATE X-MEN, the first issue was awful. Poorly written cliche. But then the second issue was awesome.

[anadyr21]

I rather enjoyed Rising Stars, well until the last act.
I have liked some of the storylines in X-Men, like The Age of Apocalypse.
There was a graphic comic that was I think an offshoot of Aliens that was good.
I also liked Runaways.
I can't deal with waiting every week or month. I have to wait for trade paperbacks.

[Rob Allen]

I'm a little late, but I finally bought a copy of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home last weekend. I'm 35 pages in, and completely hooked. Really, really well done autobiography.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by anadyr21

I rather enjoyed Rising Stars, well until the last act.

I LOVED Rising Stars when it first started. The same with Straczynski's Squadron Supreme. Both GREAT STARTS. But something happened in the last act that seemed to drain all the life out of it. Started with a totally cool bang. Ended on a rather uninteresting whimper.

His run on Amazing Spider-Man was ... well, amazing. One of Spidey's best writers in ages.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy
The comic book characters that had the most impact on my life was Bucky Bug and his friend Bo.

Originally Posted by b. frank

Your photo album (and username) suggests differently..

By the time The Freak Brothers came around, I was already one of them, but it was my fascination with Bucky Bug and Bo when I was a little kid that made me love alternative ways of living and using different "found/free" things.

I wish I could have slept in that sardine can four poster bed that Bucky's girlfriend had, and I loved those sewing thread tables they used.

During our Hippie years, we made furniture from cable spools we got from the local utility company.

If Bucky Bug was a lot bigger, he would have loved them.

[citizenkane2]

Anyone reading The Mighty? This is a very good series...