The Comic Book thread

[kanedaestes]

To my knowledge they aren't ending it. They are going to explain it all with all the subtle plots that have been dropped and they are going to shrink the line. The biggest indicator is the Ultimate Spider-Man is going to end that is about it. Ultimates Vol. 4 and other titles are still going.

[chowyunskinny]

right on, thanks for the clarification there kanedaestes

[sidearmsalpha]

Man, sometimes I miss my comic collecting days. I was really into all the X-Men and Spider-Man titles, but then I got into collecting Japanese toys more and more, and the comic collecting got put on the backburner until I stopped collecting alltogether except for the occasional Transformers book. The ever-increasing cover price for comics also drove me to stop collecting since I just couldn't support too many hobbies anymore. What's the average comic cost nowadays from the big two?

Maybe, I'll try to get some Ultimate Spider-Man tpb's on eBay and check it out.

[Roy Focker]

I stopped collecting years ago. Back in 93 I was collecting 6 issues a month. I dropped that habit for these various reasons: Bad or inferior art. Things are going really good and they switch an artist. If the art sucks. I'll stop collecting. Sequential art was replaced with one big large action panel. Writing was reduced to short 1 to 3 word bubbles. Price increased with better coloring process and paper quality but art and writing didn't.

I ended up switching to reading roleplaying books. It was better value for my dollar. Lots more words but still more close to comics than an actual book.

Occasional every 6 months or so I'll step into a comic book store. I feel like an old man. I'll barely recognize things. Even familiar titles look completely different. Worst are the prices what $3.50 average for a comic?

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

If the Ultimates universe ends, it will end on a bad note, Ultimates 3 sucks. Ultimates should have been left where it ended in vol2.

Comics these days are a different animal than before. With photoshop and other coloring programs readily available there has been a steady rise of computer colorists, and while some of the newbies are in awe of digital color, many times the coloring job ends up looking muddy and obscuring the pencils or inks, which completely defeats the purpose of coloring. Other times the colors tend to be bland and useless, with the colorists merely going for a "HEY LOOK ITS A GRADIENT THATS SO AWESOME" effect. There are great colorists who do well with the computer programs, but by far, there are truly many bad ones too.

Another thing that irritates the hell out of me is when a penciler can illustrate well, but can't draw well sequentially, and people say he is the superior comic artist compared to others who are better sequentially, draw well, and have worked on a given title.

I am glad that the days of the mid 90's with hackerific artists who cross hatched their pages to oblivion are basically over. There is a huge difference between fine detail, and a complete mess that obscures the entire panel to the point where no one knows what the f&*( you were trying to draw/convey.

One thing I do hate though, is how inking is becoming a lost art.

[mikeszekely]

One thing I do hate though, is how inking is becoming a lost art.

Here here. I've seen shoddy and even half-done pencils turned into fantastic art by the inkers. I've also seen great pencils reduced to rubbish with poor inks.

Speaking of fantastic pencils, I miss Brett Booth. Sure, he had some troubles drawing women, but man could he draw just about everything else.

[sidearmsalpha]

Here here. I've seen shoddy and even half-done pencils turned into fantastic art by the inkers. I've also seen great pencils reduced to rubbish with poor inks.

Speaking of fantastic pencils, I miss Brett Booth. Sure, he had some troubles drawing women, but man could he draw just about everything else.

I remember picking up his Image stuff. I didn't like his work at first, but he really improved quickly. He pencilled a Backlash/Spider-Man crossover, IIRC. Whatever happened to Matt Broome? He started off with Wildstorm eventually doing that Defcon 4 mini-series which had some pretty cool pencils. I think he did a stint on WildCATs and maybe some of the X-Men books, but I'm not sure.

[kanedaestes]

I feel the same a lot has been lost lately with the advancement of new tech. On another know one of the hardest things that has hit was was when i was reading in the news Michael Turner of Fathom and Witchblade fame finally lost his battle with cancer and passed away. The main reason I got back into comics was because of the art and to give me something to draw while i was bored at work. Joe Mad, Bryan Hitch, and others including Turner where the main reasons for my return to comics and it very sad such a good talent is gone. With all the passing the enteratinment industry has suffered this year for some reason that hit me the most. I never knew him but from all the articles i read and things i had seen he seemed like such a great guy, and I loved his art.

[Twoducks]

I feel the same a lot has been lost lately with the advancement of new tech. On another know one of the hardest things that has hit was was when i was reading in the news Michael Turner of Fathom and Witchblade fame finally lost his battle with cancer and passed away. The main reason I got back into comics was because of the art and to give me something to draw while i was bored at work. Joe Mad, Bryan Hitch, and others including Turner where the main reasons for my return to comics and it very sad such a good talent is gone. With all the passing the enteratinment industry has suffered this year for some reason that hit me the most. I never knew him but from all the articles i read and things i had seen he seemed like such a great guy, and I loved his art.

Very sad news. I thought he had his cancer under control. And only 37, damn, it can happen to anyone at any age (a friend of mine has her sister with cancer, they are winning but she's just 28). Makes you value the little things.

[Smiley424]

Oh my God, I didn't know Michael Turner just passed?!? I read/collect comics regularly but I don't keep up with all the news. Turner is one of my top five favorite artists. I always try to pick up his variant covers if they aren't too overpriced. He will be missed!

I currently collect some Marvel and DC titles, but I think I'm gonna start cutting some titles out. Between the two, I find myself less interested in Marvel. I started during House of M and every Marvel event since had left me disappointed. House of M, Civil War, World War Hulk, all seem to just end with nothing really happening or changing in the 616 universe. I may just drop all my 616 titles altogether. It depends on how Secret Invasion plays out. I do love the Cosmic Marvel stuff right now though. Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest were pretty good as well as Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket Raccoon ftw!

[Mellow Yellow]

Damn, that's sad about Mike Turner. I used to collect Fathom, then he got sick and the book pretty much stopped. I never really got back into it when it started up again.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Update:

Comics still are expensive and Marvel is screwing up by having Jeph Loeb write every other series.

[mikeszekely]

Update:

Comics still are expensive and Marvel is screwing up by having Jeph Loeb write every other series.

Um... thanks for the update?

I don't really buy single issues anymore anyway. TPB's are easier to shelve.

[Keith]

I've never been a fan of comic books, don't like the general rampant way franchises are milked, or th eincessant way hundreds of volumes are churned out with constantly re-written canon.

Closes thing I've come to tip-toeing into comic book fandom is Batman the Animated series, and checking out some of the recent Bruce Team movies. Justice League New Frontier was pretty good, Green Lantern was passable.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Um... thanks for the update?

I don't really buy single issues anymore anyway. TPB's are easier to shelve.

I know. There are only a handful of series that I buy issue after issue b/c the story has good writing. Or I just really like the hero.

Edit: Avoid anything that bares Jeph Loeb's name as writer.

I've never been a fan of comic books, don't like the general rampant way franchises are milked, or th eincessant way hundreds of volumes are churned out with constantly re-written canon.

Closes thing I've come to tip-toeing into comic book fandom is Batman the Animated series, and checking out some of the recent Bruce Team movies. Justice League New Frontier was pretty good, Green Lantern was passable.

Check out Alex Ross' Kingdom Come and Marvels. The Artwork on both of them will pull you in. And the stories are original as far as i know.

Edited August 20, 2009 by BeyondTheGrave

[Einherjar]

I bought a couple of the Ultimate Spider-Man collections years ago and thought it's pretty good. But, does anyone know if the quality of the Ultimate universe stories have gone down over the years?

[BeyondTheGrave]

I bought a couple of the Ultimate Spider-Man collections years ago and thought it's pretty good. But, does anyone know if the quality of the Ultimate universe stories have gone down over the years?

depends on the series and who the had writing.

Jeph loeb=bad

[eugimon]

I bought a couple of the Ultimate Spider-Man collections years ago and thought it's pretty good. But, does anyone know if the quality of the Ultimate universe stories have gone down over the years?

yes. I used to be a big proponent of closing down 616 continuity altogether and carrying on in the Ultimate universe because I liked it so much better.. but not anymore, early every flagship book has gone to crap in terms of storytelling and quality.

[Einherjar]

How about Ultimate Spider-Man? I heard some of the crew that started it left near issue 100.

[eugimon]

How about Ultimate Spider-Man? I heard some of the crew that started it left near issue 100.

yeah.. I stopped reading it around there too. Well, I stopped reading spiderman completely since the main continuity story got pretty ridiculous as well.

[Einherjar]

yeah.. I stopped reading it around there too. Well, I stopped reading spiderman completely since the main continuity story got pretty ridiculous as well.

The hell, wikpedia says it's over? In fact, the Ultimate universe is over? What happened?

Guess if I ever get back to it I'll be stuck with Joe Quesada's retcon.

[eugimon]

The hell, wikpedia says it's over? In fact, the Ultimate universe is over? What happened?

Guess if I ever get back to it I'll be stuck with Joe Quesada's retcon.

what? it's over? lol, I heard they were going to shut it down but some books like Ultimates 3 hadn't even concluded. haha

[Einherjar]

It says it's been repackaged into the Ultimate Comics line, but not before having a comic book killing spree in the Ultimatum.

It's crap like this that makes me hesitant on sticking to a comic book series for a long period of time. And I thought the Ultimate universe would be different.

Edited August 21, 2009 by Einherjar

[eugimon]

AHAHAHA, I just read the wiki. hilarious.. poor James, I'm sure he'll be back but man, that's gotta sting. 616 logan was dumped into molten vat of metal so I'm sure pug-logan will make an appearance in ultimate land.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Jeph loeb Killed the ultimate universe. Ultimatum purely sucked. Loeb will kill off characters for no reason. and pretty much disregards all previous issues in a series for his work.

But in all of this Joe Quesada is the one to blame.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Double post.

Edited August 21, 2009 by BeyondTheGrave

[eugimon]

Funny, cuz for a while everyone loved Joe for reviving Marvel... when did the infatuation end? I like to think it started with Origins.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Funny, cuz for a while everyone loved Joe for reviving Marvel... when did the infatuation end? I like to think it started with Origins.

the good one or this crappy current one?

People still love him but a large portion of people Dislike the decisions made.

Edited August 21, 2009 by BeyondTheGrave

[eugimon]

the good one or this crappy current one?

People still love him but a large portion of people Dislike the decisions made.

there was a good one? lol

[Einherjar]

Funny, cuz for a while everyone loved Joe for reviving Marvel... when did the infatuation end? I like to think it started with Origins.

The most infamous of all the changes he made, Spider-Man: One More Day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_One_More_Day

[mikeszekely]

The most infamous of all the changes he made, Spider-Man: One More Day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_One_More_Day

The worst thing about One More Day was the way Peter and Mary Jane's relationship was ended, and the way they made Peter's identity secret again. It was cheap and gimmicky.

The execution was poor, but the results aren't half bad. After 20 years of stories about Pete and MJ struggling to pay the bills (even though MJ is supposed to be a model/actress) and Pete's home life was more stale than the pizza crust under a frat house sofa. Getting rid of MJ opens a world of possibilities for Peter... too bad they can't seem to think of anything interesting for him to do when he's got the mask on...

[eugimon]

The worst thing about One More Day was the way Peter and Mary Jane's relationship was ended, and the way they made Peter's identity secret again. It was cheap and gimmicky.

The execution was poor, but the results aren't half bad. After 20 years of stories about Pete and MJ struggling to pay the bills (even though MJ is supposed to be a model/actress) and Pete's home life was more stale than the pizza crust under a frat house sofa. Getting rid of MJ opens a world of possibilities for Peter... too bad they can't seem to think of anything interesting for him to do when he's got the mask on...

It would have been far more interesting to just have norman kill her. Recycling 20 years of peter stuck at home with aunt may isn't terribly interesting either.

[Einherjar]

When you're in a medium that constantly churns out stories with no end in sight, it's a forgone conclusion that they would repeat the same stuff again. Just like a TV show or manga, sometimes I wish comics like Spider-Man could plan a real ending. That has to be a real motivation to do something worth reading.

Edited August 21, 2009 by Einherjar

[Keith]

So wait a minute, what the hell would a demon want with a marraige? And why trade in "hot young wife" for "aunt may" if she legitimately died...? Hell, have a kid & name it may, agian random crap like this is why I don't read comics.

[Twoducks]

Read Loeb lost his skills after he had his teenage son die. Poor guy.

I'm reading the original Exiles series. Man, I'm hooked to this series!!

The whole alternate versions of classic events and the relationship between the characters are fantastic. Best of all: no need to know squat about Marvel current continuity clusterfarts. Each issue explains fast what the hell is going on in each alternate reality the team visits.

BTW, the Exiles I'm talking about would be the third series: the fist one is a POS from Malibu comics and the second another POS with Malibu and Marvel characters... these two have NOTHING to do with the story or the idea behind the Exiles I'm referring to.

Edited August 21, 2009 by Twoducks