quote:Originally posted by Blacula: I also just bought all three Trades of The Young Liars. Did anyone here read that book? I think I remember hearing good things about it around the traps.
Will post a review once I'm done with it.
Cobie loved the HELL out of Young Liars, Blac! Scroll thru the pages of this thread, and I think you'll find he had some interesting thoughts to share on it.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Blacula: I also just bought all three Trades of The Young Liars. Did anyone here read that book? I think I remember hearing good things about it around the traps.
Will post a review once I'm done with it.
Cobie loved the HELL out of Young Liars, Blac! Scroll thru the pages of this thread, and I think you'll find he had some interesting thoughts to share on it.
Yeah, see numerous back pages of this thread for tons and tons of praise I heaped on Young Liars! I was totally loving it when it came out and was trying desperately to get others to try it to stave off cancellation. It remains one of my favorite comics to come out in the last 10 years, and I hereafter now consider David Lapham a "mad genius" of the comic book industry.
I will give you a disclaimer though: this is some pretty weird, bizarre stuff. So you may want to try to be in the mood for things to get weird when you read it; because man, will they EVER. I'm talking Pollack Doom Patrol weird (but much better of course). The story, the characters, the progress of the whole thing--all weird on all levels.
But man, was it great. And fun. And freaking crazy.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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So today I read the final issue of the 10-part Daytripper series by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. Wow, what a series! I'm totally glad I picked this up (on CJ's recommendation--that's Ceej!) to begin with and followed it through. It's a really difficult story to describe and I can easily see many readers not liking it or getting it, but personally I thought it was really beautiful.
The final 2 issues were especially powerful, and I was really moved by the last one. The series was about death, life, relationships, and a sense of 'home' among other things. Ba and Moon made the series very central to Brazil and their own lives, yet touched on themes in such a way that I think anyone could relate to it.
Really great, unique series, and a highlight of 2010's comic book output.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Chief Taylor: I read American Vampire # 6 last night, and I must say that this book is looking very healthy post-Stephen King if this first offering is a good indication! This is an especially good thing because the first five issues didn't exactly knock my socks off as they progressed. Though they were ripe with some decent moments of characterization, the two split stories of those issues went to some predictable places plotwise. Worse, King's Skinner Sweet story was downright confusing read in monthly format. It was hard to remember who's who and what's what, especially among the good guys in his story.
But with number six, Snyder goes it alone and shows quite a bit of promise as this arc changes the setting to the formative years of what we now know Las Vegas to be. As with his focus on early Hollywood in his first arc, Snyder shows us Vegas as it is about to become the Sin City it is (in)famous for being. Snyder shows how it began to attract the gambling and partying element as it catered to workers who were constructing the nearby Hoover Dam in their downtime.
We meet Vegas's sheriff who is dealing with the town's overnight growth and especially all the crime this brings with it. His police force is far too understaffed and underfunded to deal with this negative side effect of his town's growth. He doesn't know it yet, but the latest crime he's investigating heralds the presence of another unsavory element in his town--vampires. And by the end of this issue we learn our old friend Skinner Sweet has already dug his nails into the town.
Honestly, the issue would be fascinating to me even without the vampiric elements. If this were simply the story of nascient Las Vegas and a sheriff trying to deal with a sudden overwhelming criminal element, I'd really be enjoying the story on that alone. It seems Snyder's one of those writers who's gifted with telling interesting historically-set stories. Having already interested me in silent film-era Hollywood, he's awakened another interest I never knew I had in learning part of how Vegas became Vegas. That's quite a talent in my book.
Snyder also has his secret weapon in Rafael Albuquerque, his tremendously gifted artistic collaborator. Albuquerque has already drawn three American historical settings in this series and pulled them all off terrifically while subtly changing his style for each. He's terrific with setting the story's mood and selling the characters to us. I'd say he's as much the star here as Snyder, and I hope they are together for the long haul.
I was kind of iffy about whether I'd continue with this book for much longer after the initial arc and with the $3.99 price tag staying even with reduced story pages, but this issue seems to show that this series has a lot of life to it and should be well worth the cost! I hope it lives up to the promise!
I couldn't agree more! Especially with #7 now also out, expanding on #6's story, I'm enjoying this arc even more than I did the first arc. Snyder and Albuquerque are delivering on all levels, with the tone & pacing picking up and shifting perfectly so that you're totally engrossed in the story.
I totally agree that the history of Las Vegas, influenced by the development of the Boulder Dam while the country dealt with the Depression and came out of prohibition, is just fascinating. I could read a comic book based on that alone.
Add in the vampire element with Skinner Sweet (who may be the single best new comic book character in 2010), and a murder mystery (multiple ones actually, including the Chief's father), and this story has several great layers to it.
I'm enjoying how Snyder brings in new characters like Cash and make you curious about them and care about them immediately.
Felicia Book and her history with Skinner Sweet is a welcome element to the mythos of the series, and now it appears Pearl is about to join the story as well (I was a little surprised considering how packed it already is).
And recent news that this series is going back to $2.99 is good as well.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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What can best be described as an all-Vertigo Anthology/Crossover takes place in House of Mystery Annual #2, which features Madame Xanadu, John Constantine, I,Zombie, Lucifer and the House of Mystery gang. Each one has their individual story with a larger story running through it, featured four cursed trick or treaters forced to continue trick or treating for over 60 years, where they've developed into a pretty rotten bunch.
I thought it was pretty groovy! I liked that all the character's main creators were involved (Wagner did MX, Roberson & Allred did I,Zombie, etc).
Man, those trick or treaters were nasty!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Well, one of the best comics of the last 2 years has come to an end as Unknown Soldier #24 and #25 brought the series to a conclusion. I've raved about this comic since inception and I really hope others check it out in trades in the future, particularly FC who expressed some interest in it. It has been one of the more powerful and realistic comics I've ever read and I think the subject matter has just been too serious and too harsh for people to take.
The final issues were an excellent finish, each one providing some really great. #24 gave a really terrific "Holy Shit!" moment that completely turned one of the facets of the serious on it's head and I was kicking myself for never suspecting. I loved how the original Unknown Soldier, whose only had a hinted at presence in this comic, ties himself into it and in a wonderful twist.
#25 brings the series to it's inevitable conclusion. It's fitting that the previous issue had a shocker because there were no major surprises here--the series ended the way it should end. Powerfully.
Anytime a reader wants things to get serious...wants things to get heavy...want things to matter: this is where you should turn.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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From Amy Reeder-Hadley's interview at CBR re: Madame Xanadu -
"I think I found out in the summertime that it was being canceled. What I heard was that it had nothing to do with me leaving the book or DC characters going back into the DCU. It had solely to do with the sales. Vertigo had to look at their books that were under a certain bracket and cancel them. So that’s why “Madame Xanadu” is canceled. That’s the only reason I was given. It’s a shame."
OK fellow Legion World MX fans. I've got the pitchforks, you bring the torches. Now let's find out who wasn't supporting this book! ... sobbing :cry:
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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Anytime a good book like this is cancelled, I hope another Teen Titan is murdered.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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With the Demise of Madame X, I'm down to just iZombie and Hellblazer from Vertigo (well, "Joe the Barbarian" too, but the last issue was dropped from December solicits and never re-solicited, so I don't expect it for a good long while).
May be time to look for a new series to latch on to.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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^ I keep meaning to pick up The Unwritten but I don't hear anyone talking about that anymore. Has all the buzz on that book died now? Is anyone here reading it? Recommend it?
In the meantime, I'm slowly making my way through Young Liars in TPB format and can definitely recommend that if you haven't read it Dave. I'm not saying you'll like it since it's... well, hard to explain and I imagine it could be very polarizing for readers. But it's so one of a kind that it's definitely worth a read.
And yes, I will be reviewing it once I'm done Cobalt Kid. If a book as out there as this one is can be reviewed.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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The Unwritten is better than ever right now and I highly recommend jumping in!!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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I finally read the final issue of Madame Xanadu which as expected, was another excellent story by the incredible creative team. Many of us have gone on and on about how good a series this was and how much it sucks that it's getting cancelled, so I won't beat a dead horse. I'm really going to miss this excellent series.
I did like how Wagner ended the series on a high note that gave a sense of excitement for the oncoming Silver Age. It almost made me want to break out Cooke's New Frontier.
Should this series restart without Wagner, I'll probably play 'fickle comic fan' and not buy it.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Air, v.1-3, by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Parker
When I saw the previews for Air, it looked like another homeland security tale, with airplanes and Muslim terrorists, so I gave it a pass. Then I read Cairo by G. Willow Wilson and was impressed enough to give this other work of hers a try.
There are terrorists, hijacking and airline security issues, but not for the reasons we've come to expect. Air deals with another reality beyond our everyday world (and I love other reality stories), the power of symbols and the importance of maps.
Blythe is a stewardess who is afraid of heights, so she pops Halcion to get through her days. On one flight, a passenger hands her a package and she finds herself immersed in plots and counterplots, the Etesian Front, Interpol, a lost country (lost because people forgot about it), sky gypsies, a feathered serpent and a "jury-rigged and completely illegal" airport that hovers above the Earth. She also embarks on a relationship with the mysterious and elusive Zayn, although she seldom knows where, not to mention who, he is. Some girls have all the fun....
The core of the story revolves around an ancient Aztec device, the Hyperprax Engine, which would open up a new age of air flight. Few people have the natural talent needed to fly a Hyperprax craft, and Blythe is one of them: she learns to fly an airplane, essentially, by thinking. "They thought if they could build a machine that treated the whole world as a series of symbols, they could travel from poiint to point by interpreting reality instead of moving through it."
Of course, different factions are trying to get their hands on this machine and therein lies the adventure, interwoven with the love story. What is real and what is Halcion-induced hallucination or dream, I wasn't sure, but I was captivated by Blythe's quest to put all the pieces together. Happy ending, too. What more could you want?
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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If a book as out there as this one is can be reviewed.
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