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

I got Black Widow number 2 today, it is rolling along uphill.

It does seem a whole lot like Hawkeye ...



pretty awesome.

Q: Are there artists whose work you will buy no matter what title they work on because they are just that good? Examples?

A: Definitely. One such artist is the extraordinary Javier Pulido.

Q: Do you like superhero comics that can be a mix of action, comedy, drama and have enjoyable complicated plots.

A: Why yes, those are the best kinds of superhero comics.

Q: Do you realize that She-Hulk #1 is the exact type of comic book you're looking for?

A: What am I, some kind of fucking idiot? Of course I realize that!

She-Hulk #1. Pretty awesome.

Is this the She-Hulk comic we have all been waiting for??????

Actually, I just joined the queue because...well..everyone else was on it... She-Hulk you say...I have the first couple of Byrne issues somewhere...

Picked up She-Hulk #1 and #2 today.

I read issue one ... and laughed out loud.

read issue #2 ... and laughed out loud again.

I can count the number of times a comic has made me exclaim out loud on one hand, and She-Hulk now carries two of those fingers!



Also, I really like how they do the "last time in She-Hulk" front page.

I've just finished the first 24 issues of Rachel Rising. I had drifted away from reading my pull list for a number of months so I got to catch up with it all in one sitting.

Our story begins with a woman, being watched, crawling from a shallow grave in a gorge. She has a ligature mark on her neck she has no memory of how it or she got there.

So, it could go the way of any number of unsettling crime dramas. But Terry Moore expands on it, escalating events and the scope every issue. The book still has plenty of the great character interaction and comedy moments that made me enjoy Strangers in Paradise in the first place. As usual it's effortlessly mixed in with the drama and fascinating characterisation.

Issue 25 is supposed to be a jumping on point, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Others may have already mentioned the Unwritten (it started publishing in 2009 after all) but I very recently started reading it. It's about the power of story; there's a mystery, a sinister cabal (redundant?), and storytelling has some inventive moments. For example, issue #17 is one of the character's origin story in a choose-your-own- adventure format.

What I've been reading mostly these past two weeks or so, is an enormous tome: From Hell. As I try to complete my Alan Moore reading experience by reading all of his works, I had to finally get around to reading this one. It took awhile, and I'm still reading his 42 page end notes (which is really like 180 pages if printed out single spaced on Word).

To give an idea of what I thought of the series, I'll say this:

To me, there is one VERY CLEAR greatest comic book writer of all time. That is Alan Moore. Many others come close. But Alan is the greatest. He is a true genius, like Picasso or Lermontov or Chaucer. I truly mean that. The man is just brillaint.

And as an extension of that, having read just about all of his work (though not quite all of it yet), I have to say that I think From Hell may just be his single very best. I do have a personal soft spot for V for Vendetta, though. And its hard to choose. But From Hell is that damn good.

It's hard to put into words why, as no words can do it justice. Moore's collaborator Eddie Campbell certainly proves himself to be among the very best artists in the medium, and that helps.

But it comes down to this: Moore understands characters better than anyone. He understands plot and narrative structure better than anyone. His mastery of language in all forms, is second to none. His ability to speak on multiple levels about various things is masterful. And his incredibly intense research into every single facet of life in London in 1888 is just astounding.

The work is brilliant. It has my highest recommendation. There are scenes that are mesmerizing, within. Just mesmerizing.

A creator who may need his "ALL-" thread is Matt Kindt, who IMO has quietly emerged as one of the true new geniuses of the medium. I don't say this lightly. I highly recommend everyone check out any of his works where he is both the writers & artist, creating the entire thing from scratch.

He's best known right now for some DC and Valiant work, which is probably the least impressive things he's done, and also for Mind MNGT, the ongoing series at Dark Horse which is about to conclude soon. Mind MNGT has been terrific and I've enjoyed it immensely, but I suspect it will be even better when read in trades. The reason is that its his original graphic novels that are totally mind-blowing.

I reviewed Revolver earlier in this thread a few years ago (from Vertigo) and will repeat it was simply fantastic, and blew me away. It remains one of the best things things Vertigo has ever produced, and its an OGN everyone should check out.

I just recently read another OGN, Superspy which was produced by Top Shelf. Once again, I was blown away. Kindt layers in so much detail and creativity to his work, and you find that in every aspect of the story. Superspy tells the multiple stories of various spies during World War II--some working for the Germans, others the British, others the French, English or Russian, and many of them working for various governments at once. Each spy has a story that is fantastic and unique, being just odd enough that he or she probably deserves their own movie franchise. They then interact with one another and along the way we get a steady dosage of humor, tragedy, poignancy and excitement. Kindt presents the story with a narrative structure that makes it all the more enjoyable with stories comingling together and happening in a somewhat nonlinear fashion (until about midway when it gets linear to the end). Writing wise, he is among the best in the industry.

And then art-wise, he brings his own unique style which I've fallen in love with. Like so many other greats, his style is at first a little jarring but once you get used to it, you start to enjoy the intricacies of it all. It at first feels "simple"; you then see Kindt is having a blast playing with the different narrative structures of the medium, using all kinds of little tricks, layouts and mis en scene to heighten the experience. He also uses color marvelously--another of his plethora of talents.

Superspy was fantastic and probably the best thing I've read in the last 12 months. My one single bit of advice is if anyone does check it out, try to read it all in one sitting. Your memory will be on point that way and you'll be able to keep track of all the various spies. It would take about 4 hours, as its about 200 pages.

My next reading project will be the other Kindt work I have, Red-Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes, published by Top Shelf as well. I'm very much looking forward to it!

Thanks for that Cobie. I don't try out the OGNs anywhere near as much as I should.

I usually don't either. About once a year I'll do a big buy of about 10 or so OGN / TPB's that I've been meaning to sample although this year I went overboard and got about 20 of them. So often the best stuff in the industry can be found in the OGN's from Top Shelf, First Second, etc.

Has anyone read the "The Power of SHAZAM!" series from the 90's? I picked up this issue from a comic bin at my local used bookstore and it looked interesting.

I do have some of the early issues (got cheaply from a warehouse). I got them for the Ordway art presumably, but they haven't left any lasting impression on me I'm afraid.

NL, I've read Power of Shazam, and while I loved it at the time, I feel it doesn't hold up to re-reads. It's very much of its time, trying too hard to be all things to all readers, and never quite revelling in the shameless absurdity of the whole Shazam thing. The recent Shazam one-shot that ties into Multiversity is much better, as is the late 70s/early 80s Shazam, when it was relegated to backup stories in Worlds Finest around issues 250-280.

Hmm, I guess I'll give the series a go. I've never read any Captain Marvel stuff before and this series is probably the cheapest stuff out there.

I'd like to recommend the Superman's Metropolis Elseworlds trilogy. The three books in the overreaching story were all based on combing DC characters with German Expressionist cinema.

Superman's Metropolis, Batman Nosferatu, and Wonder Woman: The Blue Amazon.

Ted McKeever's art really works for the whole premise because it adds a level of surrealness towards everything, which is fitting considering the movies they're based on.

It works in a way just by drawing natural connections between what already exists in the DCU and movies like Metropolis, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The only stretch is the Wonder Woman book which, even though it's one of my favorites, is kind of weak because Diana doesn't really do much in this story.

'Stalg, I read these as they came out and found them incredibly enjoyable. While I've always loved Captain Marvel, this is the series that made me care about all the rest of the Marvel family / Fawcett characters. Ordway truly cared about these characters, and begged, borrowed and stole to launch the series, and it shows: he brings he A game with both writing and art.

I'd actually like to read these again. I've read some of the Golden Age and some of the 70's, but they've never been as good as these stories IMO. (The recent Multiversity issue was great, it's just 1 issue).

I think you won't be dissapointed.

I can attest that Ordway does indeed care about these guys. I don't have a lot of issues from Power of Shazam. In fact, off the top of my head, I think I only have three issues plus the prestige format one-shot that started it, but I do think it's good. I managed to find the Annual at Big Apple Con last Saturday, as in the one where Thunder was introduced, and I have a digital copy of the DC One Million issue.

Just, don't buy the Blackest Night issue. Ordway had nothing to do with it beyond the cover and overall it's pretty bland.

I've not read the Wonder Woman Metropolis one. Thanks for the reminder it's out there Sarky.

The sad thing is the creative team had plans for a fourth book involving Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Aquawoman.

So, hope this is the right place but I have a question: I haven't bought a comic in over a year now, so what one trade do you recommend I buy? My taste tends to be group s over solo stars, I'm not scared off by adult themes, love me sci fi and actually enjoy a densely packed bit of writing. With that in mind, what would you suggest would be the best to go look for?

What's the last thing you really liked?

Ummm other than the Legion, to be honest probably the last thing I really really liked was the first two years of the Authority back in the day, they took super heroics well left of field. I've dipped in and out of quite a few of the big two's groups but never quite gelled with them. Avengers could be fun but didn't have any lasting pay off, ultimate FF was great for a wee while, JLA is very hit or miss, I can't be bothered with the multiple X books since Morrison left and to be honest thought he ran out of things to say after the riot storyline and the art wasn't consistent, New mutants annoyed me as I've spent two thirds of my adult life teaching and have never ever had kids that dreary in any lesson. I have the odd single issue of various others bought on a whim but never stuck to it. I guess I want to read something where anything can happen and it won't revert to the status quo at the end of the arc. Does that help any?

Sounds like you might like....Saga! It's not superheroes, and the writing isn't "densely packed"--but otherwise it seems like it would fit the bill. Lots of people love Saga.

Okay doke, thanks Pal, I've read plenty of reviews that rave about it so will definitely check it out. Thank you!