Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Any recommendations

I was not impressed with how the last storyline ended, but the most recent issue (with the Atom) was SUPER-FABOO! Best comic I have read in DECADES!

I'll also join others in recommending GOTHAM CENTRAL.

Sleeper is a great read. So is Ex-Machina. Love Wonder Woman under Rucka.

I always liked the First, especially the beginning plots.

A contra-recommendation...

Don't waste your money on Inhumans 2099. What a waste of money. The art was horrid, the story disjointed. Even Lockjaw looked pitiful.

Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai: I don't know where the story's at right now (I'm a TPB reader), but the series is consistently good. Also, most of it is self-contained stories (although there is an overall narrative), and, despite it's twenty-year history, it's quite easy to follow.

Uncle Scrooge: A mix or reprints and new stories. Good, unpretentious fun starring some of Disney's best characters. It's a bit pricey ($6.95 for 64 pages) but on the upside, there's very little in the way of advertisement.

Y, the Last Man. Consistently excellent series by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, dealing with the aftermath of a plague that killed all the men in the world, with two exceptions.

Fallen Angel, by Peter David and David Lopez. Funny, dark, with some very interesting characters, including Superwomen, a man who may or may not be Hitler, and an asian drug dealer who lives in a cript.

Batman Adventures, by Dan Slott, Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett, and others. Recently canceled comic based on the Dini/Timm/Burnett animated series. Batman as he should be. Fun, and oftentimes surprising, mature enough for adults, while still wholesome enough for the kids.

Ultra, by the Luna Brothers. A mini-series about women in a world where being a super-hero is just another job. Each comic book is also framed around a different magazine, adapting it's cover style, table of contents, and interview sections in order to develop the world.

I have to agree about some of the Crossgen books. I went to my local comic shop who was having a one day sidewalk sale and they had a load of Crossgen. I got most of the Negation series, the First and Meridian..all for 18.00
(gotta love those .25 sales)

I read alot of books and Birds of Prey is one of my favorites. Gotham Central is great as well.

Oh heck yes, I bought almost the whole run of Starman out of the quarter box a while back. That run was as good as the other guys were saying it was.
Judicious quarter box searching is one of my favorite pastimes.

I'm going to have to look into that Peter David book. I enjoy reading his work, his style has a flow that really pleases me.

No one has mentioned Astro City yet. I enjoy the everyday people aspect of the series. In fact the Ordinary People mini was a good read.

One of the unusual comics I read is from Matt Howarth. I loved Those Annoying Post Brothers and there are a few trades available but they have to be ordered. Nobody stocks 'em. A three part Savage Henry comic just finished up and I think a new Post Bros series is supposed to be launched by year's end. It's not a book that appeals to a huge audience as Howarth tends to be focused on the band The Bulldaggers and to my mind the musical aspect of the band (which is their "superpower" in a sense) gets lost in the graphic medium. I still love 'em though.

You gotta buy Liberty Meadows if you like funny animal comics at all. The recovering alcoholic drug addict former fraternity mascot pig is worth the price of admission alone. And too, Frank Cho's beeeyyyyoooo-tiful artwork doesn't hurt either.

Here's my laundry list...

The books that I'm finding consistently great at the moment are:
Adam Strange, Ex Machina, Flash, Identity Crisis, Intimates (BUY THIS BOOK!), JLA: Classified (BUY THIS BOOK TWICE!), Ocean, Planetary, Powers, Superman/Batman, The Question, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Wanted (desperately awaiting the conclusion) and WE3 (BUY THIS BOOK THRICE!).

The books that I'm finding merely OK, or kinda inconsistent, are:
Green Lantern: Rebirth, Iron Man, JLA, JSA, Strange, Supreme Power, The Authority: Revolution, Ultimate Nightmare and Ultimate X-Men.

The books that I'm reading largely out of a sense of form, and may be cancelled at some stage, are:
Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, B.P.R.D.: The Dead, Doctor Spectrum, Rising Stars (well, at least it's almost over), Teen Titans and Ultimate Elektra (only a mini-series, fortunately).

The books that I'm really looking forward to are:
The Apparat Singles Group (Warren Ellis stuff from Avatar), Battle Hymn (Image WWII story), Legion of Super-Heroes (OF COURSE!!!), Seven Soldiers (Morrisson's DC Super-Epic), The 49ers (prequel to Top Ten with Gene Ha art), Ultimate Secret, Ultimates Vol 2 (BRING IT ON!), Vimanarama and Wildguard: Fire Power.

I also buy Losers & Invincible in trades (oh, and Exiles too), all of which are enjoyable.

Edited to add: Ooh! And how could I forget Madrox, which isn't on my order, but I still grab each month off the shelves. It's awesome.

"Madrox" and "She-Hulk" are two of the more inventive mainstream comics out there, with interesting takes on the genre (or actually placing superheroes in other genres - noir detective story and legal drama/comedy respectively)

"The Question" is a very different kind of detective story and I love the art (though it's not for everyone).

"Supreme Power" used to be my favorite book, but I think it's off its shipping schedule and the story has been more plot oriented lately rather than character oriented. It's still one of the better things out there though.

IMO Y-The Last Man is the best adult oriented comic today. There are currently 4 TPB's which collect the first 20 or more issues.

I agree about Y-The Last Man.

I was lucky enough to have my comic book store owner suggest the first paperback. The next week, she asked me what I thought of it. After I finished telling her, she just grinned and handed me #7.

It's the LAST book in my stack to read. I just like to end my reading with a good book. And this is shaping up to be an incredible series.

Other good titles not mentioned so far:

The current AQUAMAN series from about issue 14 to present has ranged from pretty darn good to flat-out excellent. Avoid the first 12 issues.

Christopher Priest is a tough read, but CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE FALCON is good stuff.

THIEVES & KINGS is a little fantasy-themed B&W indy with deceptively simple artwork that belies a years-long storyline that evokes Tolkien without being the least bit Tolkien-esque. No elves, dwarves or such. There is an unseen dark lord who is apparently the brother of the heroic wizard who, apart from being a nutcase, appears to never actually cast a spell. Ah, why am I trying to explain any of this? http://www.iboxpublishing.com/?page=1

And I like ASTRO CITY, ULTIMATES and BIRDS OF PREY, too...all for different reasons, obviously.

yep, astro city is good!!! I also highly recommend Dave Lapham's Stray Bullets...excellent comic!!!

GRIMJACK: KILLER INSTINCT by John Ostrander & Timothy Truman. OH GOD, what a sick, depraved, violent, viscious yet somehow glorious piece of work! You'd SWEAR it can't possibly be 15 YEARS since First Comics went belly-up. The "sci-fi Mike Hammer" is back!

I've meaning to check that Grimjack out.

You make it sound like so much fun.

Congrats on getting your letter printed in the latest Alter Ego, btw. Roy Thomas was even kind enough to plug your book.

2 cool HORROR reprint items on page 276 of this month's PREVIEWS:

EDGAR ALLAN POE by Richard Corben

DRACULA by Fernando Fernandez


I have both of these books from around 20 years ago. Both are adaptations of classic stories with exquisite painted artwork. Nice to see them back in print for a new generation!

I find it interesting that the Fernandez DRACULA adaptation is coming out again only months after the Thomas & Giordano version is FINALLY being finished, "only" 30 years late! they're both worth checking out.

Following on the heels of the GRIMJACK revival...


JON SABLE FREELANCE by Mike Grell !!!


As with GJ, a brand-new mini-series by the original creator-- AND a reprint volume of the old stuff. (Also solicited this month, a 2nd GJ reprint volume.)

Get Cable/Deadpool. Get it now.

That is all.

Solicited this month:


BATMAN: DARK DETECTIVE # 1 & 2 by Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin, a brand-new SEQUEL to their 1970's stories. (Also, a new TPB reprints the originals.)

IRON MAN MASTERWORKS Vol.2 -- reprinting TALES OF SUSPENSE #51-65 in color, by Stan Lee & Don Heck. This includes the very first appearances of The Black Widow and Hawkeye The Marksman! (To think, it "only" took them 13 YEARS to do a follow-up to VOL.1)

ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS VOL.1 -- includes the 3-parter between DR. STRANGE, SUB-MARINER & HULK that started things rolling, MARVEL FEATURE #1-3 and the first year's worth of the regular book. Included in there, apparently, is the entire AVENGERS-DEFENDERS WAR. Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, lots of Sal Buscema and a variety of other artists.

ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR Vol.1 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. Sure, they're better in color, but here you get 528 pages for only $16.99!

Solicited this month:

YEAR ONE: BATMAN / RAS AL GHUL # 1 (of 2) -- art by PAUL GULACY!!!

BATMAN: DARK DETECTIVE # 3 & 4 (of 6) -- Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin!!!

DC SPECIAL: THE RETURN OF DONNA TROY #1 (of 4) -- art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez & George Perez (gee, the 2 guys who did the longest runs on NEW TEEN TITANS in the 80's!)

GIFFEN'S WHAT WERE THEY THINKING (one-shot) -- that lunatic Keith Giffen takes old WALLY WOOD war comics and replaces the dialogue to turn them into comedies... I'M NOT making this up!!!

SECRET IN THE SHADOWS: THE ART & LIFE OF GENE COLAN (available as either HC or SC)

WALLY WOOD'S LUNAR TUNES -- the last work Woody did before he passed away, most of it never published before (Wonder what took so long?)

Solicited this month:

ESSENTIAL KILLRAVEN --contains the entire run of KILLRAVEN / WAR OF THE WORLDS from AMAZING ADVENTURES, plus the MARVEL TEAM-UP issue, the KILLRAVEN graphic novel, and, inexplicably, the 1st issue of the Marvel Knights KILLRAVEN series. (Say what???) The bulk of the collection, of course, are stories written by Don McGregor and illustrated by Craig Russell!

DOCTOR WHO / THE TIDES OF TIME -- 3rd collection of DWM comic-strips, this one gets into the Peter Davison era, beginning with "The Tides Of Time", art by Dave Gibbons, considered by many possibly the single BEST DW comic-story EVER.

WALLY WOOD'S WAYOUT -- collection of Wood's sci-fi paintings!

X-MEN MASTERWORKS Vol.5 -- contains X-MEN #43-53, essentially Arnold Drake's run on the book, with art by Werner Roth, Jim Steranko, Don Heck & Barry Smith (his very 1st Marvel appearance!)

The New Legends of the Dark Knight storyline called "Snow" with seth Fisher (a personal fav) on art! The way he draws Alfred's hairdo is worth the price of the book alone

Well, this is what I am geting these days. Not too much. Marriage, a house, dogs, a kid, and of course beer cut into the old budgetmore than you would think.

LOSH (of course)- pretty good, need more interaction with the characters though

Teen Titans- like it, keeps my interest

JSA - starting to slow for me but will get JSA Classified

JLA - the arc about the fall out from Identity Crisis, we'll see from there

Supergirl - I'll try it

Return of Donna Troy- How can you pass it up if you're a Titans fan?

Green Lantern - The mini was okay, art good, but this is a trial

Young Avengers - Has my attention and I am enjoying

Red Sonja - Only have #0 so far but I likey!

Rann/Thanager War - Legion tie in, I'm in

Dropped Fables recently, it wasn't bad but just wasn't grabbing me much, I dunno...

Any new must haves out there?

Anyone else around here read The Goon? Downloaded it on bittorrent just to see what the fuss was about, and I'm now going to get the trades to have it onhand for re-reading. Someone referred to it as a cross between The Spirit and Hellboy, and that comes pretty close. Hilarious and violent, but also has some touching human moments here and there.

Other offbeat stuff I've enjoyed lately is Walking Dead and Death, Jr. (both from Image).