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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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So I have to say I thought Velvet ended kind of abruptly! Maybe I missed some communication but I was under the impression it was supposed to go a little longer. While it was still great, this kind of took the impact of the ending away from me a bit.
In the back Ed explains that the delays have been his fault, and not Epting or Bettie's. He explains his tv work is to blame. Now, I don't want to read too much into it, but after collecting Bru's comics for over 15 years, I feel I can infer a few things, and I don't like the idea of his writing suffering from tv stuff. I've seen that happen too with Matt Fraction in recent years and it's always been an issue that's haunted comic book indie creators, especially writers. I hope Ed gets it together.
We were promised more Velvet and I hope we see it sooner rather than later. I'll be getting whatever either Ed or Epting does in the future regardless.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872
More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
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More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872 |
Velvet's over??? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!! Well, I'll give at least a fair chance to whatever Epting does next. Brubaker, I'm not so sure about now.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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There's no real clear admittance that the series ended earlier than expected, but I can't help but infer that's the case. I'm glad your surprise equals mine! (Well, not glad, since we both agree it sucks, but I was wondering if I had somehow missed something).
The story is still terrific. Epting's art with Bettie's colors are really spectacular and I hope to see them continue to team up.
Brubaker is one of my favorite authors, but I have to also add that his latest with Phillips, Kill or Be Killed, probably has the weakest opening issue of any of his series I've ever read. Maybe its just not to my tastes...but c'mon, y'know?
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872
More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
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More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872 |
Writers, even the best ones, tend to have peaks and valleys in their careers. I wouldn't be surprised, Cobie, if the first example that came to your mind was the same one that came to my mind: Peter Allen David. So, if the above analogy holds, and Brubaker is going through a "Genis Mar-Vell/Post-Pantheon Hulk" phase, then he'll most likely bounce back with a "Young Justice" phase. (Though I must admit the thought of Bru writing an all-ages book is quite bizarre.)
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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"Young Punisher & His Amazing Friends"
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872
More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
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More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872 |
Cobie, LOL "Follow the adventures of plucky Franklin Castle, whimsical Wade Wilson, and that fun-sized feral ball of fluff, Li'l Logan!" Kinda funny IMO that we're talking about PAD in an Image thread, given his feuding with most of the Image founders. That said, I recently started re-reading PAD's 1994 book collecting the early years of his CBG column, and I re-read his very first essay in which he critiqued Image. Objectively, I found his arguments reasonable and sound. Methinks the Image founders were even more thin-skinned than our pal PAD, and didst protest overmuch.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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To keep the digression going, I've read numerous times that Erik Larsen has regretted his involvement, saying that in his younger days, he definitely had thin skin and was quick to fire first and ask questions later. Still, all these years later, he still seems to be a bit like that.
One Founder who PAD always said was a voice of reason among the Image Founders was Jim Valentino, which is no real surprise since he was an industry veteran and an indie guy. Alan Moore always said he was "the honorable one" among the Image people he dealt with too.
I used to read But I Digress in those years when it came out. I started reading CBG when I was 11 and always read PAD's column on the last page. When I started reading it, it was right during this time. At the time, I was totally Team-PAD and anti-Image, mainly because my Dad really disliked the Image style. (Though I did convince him to let me keep Shadowhawk and Spawn as part of our pull list). My favorite PAD column during this time is when things became so heated, PAD asked Walt Simonson to pitch in, and for one week rather than a column, it was a splash page of the Hulk punching Spawn through a brick wall. It was the then equivalent of a 'mic drop'.
(Walt, still fuming from comments about Weezie by Liefeld and Larsen, was only too happy to oblige).
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 16,853
Time Trapper
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Time Trapper
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 16,853 |
Velvet's over?! Getting my comics this week, thanks for the warning. Probably better to end it, though, with the possibility of a new storyline later, than to have some other team take it over, which the big two would probably have done if they'd been publishing/owning the book.
Holy Cats of Egypt!
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872
More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
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More Polyanna than Poison Ivy
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 17,872 |
Good point well taken, FC.
And Brubaker said pretty much the same thing as you when asked recently whether he'd consider ever working for the Big Two again.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947
Don't Stop Peelieving
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Don't Stop Peelieving
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947 |
Oh, and I forgot to mention: The Goddamned is the new comic by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guerra, your beloved creative team from Scalped! So far, so awesome! This book's gone into Archie Horrorverse-late territory... The newest issue I have in my preorders was #5, and that was solicited in the January PREVIEWS...
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947
Don't Stop Peelieving
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Don't Stop Peelieving
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947 |
FINALLY received and read #5... only to find an announcement on the inside back cover: THE GODDAMNED Next Story Arc The Virgin Brides Coming in 2017 ?!?!?!
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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Yeah, I ended up dropping it and have opted to collect it in trades. The problem with these delays is I just can't remember wtf is going on, and I don't feel like working that hard. So I'll probably pick up reading this in like 2020 or 2023 or something.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947
Don't Stop Peelieving
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Don't Stop Peelieving
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947 |
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,720
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,720 |
Hey did you guys hear about how Liefeld is bringing back Youngblood and Brigade and all those other guys back... again... again?
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 31,400
Tempus Fugitive
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Tempus Fugitive
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 31,400 |
How many of those rumours were false starts? I seem to have heard about relaunches so often.
I finally read the first Saga TPB from the library. I jumped on the title a bit later, and then let it slip. But it's worth reading in enjoyable TPB sized chunks.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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As counter-intuitive as it sounds, I just don't consider Liefeld stuff to be "Image" anymore. Image to me is Saga, Walking Dead, Morning Glories, Stray Bullets, etc, etc.
When it's Liefeld's characters by Warren Ellis and Tola Lotay, then sure, that sounds like Image. When its him actually writing or drawing it? Ew. Not Image and a hard pass.
PS - Thoth, glad you're back on Saga. It just continues to get better and better IMO. It's been such a strong series for a few years now and I find myself just relishing the reading experience whenever it comes out.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947
Don't Stop Peelieving
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Don't Stop Peelieving
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 12,947 |
I wish he'd take his Deadpool $$$$ and disappear...
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 16,853
Time Trapper
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Time Trapper
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 16,853 |
The Old Guard #1 by Greg Rucka, art by Leandro Fernandez, Daniela Miwa on colours
Greg Rucka has a story: it's about a tough woman soldier. Most of what I've read by him, going back to Queen & Country, features this same iconic character. It's a type I enjoy, so I keep reading.
In The Old Guard, we meet a woman named Andy who, it appears, has either reincarnated many times, always dying in battle, or is immortal and taking on a new persona after each apparent death. She's sick of life at this point, killing time with casual sex, but is still involved in the soldier game (perhaps she has no choice?) as head of a small group of specialized mercenaries who are also death-proof.
In this first issue, after meeting the team, we follow them on a mission to rescue girl hostages in North Africa. It doesn't go well. In fact, somebody set them up to record their mission and their near-instant recovery from fatal injury.
A second story tells the tale of Sargeant Nile Freeman, a young female Marine in Afghanistan, searching with her team for a terrorist. That doesn't go well either - and Nile is killed. Or is she? No spoilers!
Although there's no shortage of male combatants, the story focuses on the two women, Andy and Nile. The feminine is accented by the vibrant colour scheme: pinks, peach, purple, definitely not your usual war story palette.
Andy is no Forever Carlyle, Rucka's lead character in the Lazarus series. She's been around a lot longer, she's much wiser to the ways of other people and she has no apparent allegiance to anyone other than herself. I suspect that Andy is short for Andromache, from the Trojan War, or some other legendary female, but that remains to be revealed.
It's a compelling story for the immortality/reincarnation aspect as well as what I expect will be a hunt by unknown interests (government? private?) to trap the team into revealing their secret. The Nile and Andy stories will surely converge at some point as well.
Holy Cats of Egypt!
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 34,634
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My Image pull list is waaaaaay down as there are just so many new series that feel repetitive and like creators trying to speak in the same voice. But the really brilliant Image series continues to be the best stuff in comic books like Saga and Walking Dead. Also among them is the ridiculously amazing Stray Bullets, which is utterly fantastic each and every month. When Stray Bullets started back up, I was super pumped and I totally loved it, but I was too afraid to imagine that two years later it would still be going strong and I would love it more than ever.
Hands down one of the best series ever. It's hard to classify it as a crime comic, though that's clearly the most appropriate genre, since its so chalk full of humor and sheer insanity. I recommend it to anyone who just loves great art.
Last edited by Cobalt Kid; 07/06/17 02:15 PM.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 530
Active
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Active
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 530 |
My Image list is still pretty large, although it's static instead of growing as I pass on more and more new books. I remember liking the Stray Bullets self-published run, although it often left me in an uncomfortable headspace. It's a book that I keep telling myself to pick back up, but haven't yet. Lately the books that have been making it through my filter have been fun books like Rock Candy Mountain and Shirtless Bear Fighter. I think I've overdosed on slow, serious dark books, although I'm still following the really good ones I have been. I'm just not adding to the pile at the moment.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,720
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,720 |
Did anyone hear about what happened with that Howard Chaykin Image book?
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 530
Active
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Active
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 530 |
Yeah. I'm pretty over Chaykin at this point. He basically has one lead character. They all even LOOK like American Flagg. And he's been playing the tired trans panic thing since at least Black Kiss. And the straight CIA white male author telling minorities to cowboy up has been the theme of pretty much everything he's ever done. I'm less outraged than tired at this point.
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 29,245
Time Trapper
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Time Trapper
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 29,245 |
So I just completed a backlog read of floppies that spanned from October 2016 to March 2017. Obviously, there were some Image books among them: Chew: The read pretty much began with the last 2 issues of this long-running series. Overall, a satisfying conclusion. 59 was the proper ending and 60 an epilogue. 59 brought a lot of tragedy to Tony Chu's life and to the earth in general as he had to follow thru with a loved one's sacrifice and make a larger one that would also cost him someone dear. Flashforward many years later for the epilogue, which explains the unanswered questions at the series' heart without dumping exposition. You get toward the end and kinda go, "oh...riiight." It has kind of a sudden, oddball ending that is in line with those of some crazy cult films many of us treasure. Pretty much perfect for a wild book like this one. Overall, Chew is a pretty satisfying book, though it suffers somewhat from significant padding at times to get to that issue count. If one were to do a "director's cut", the book would benefit from cutting some of the "weird food powers" issues and storylines that get a little repetitive. The main course is awesome and unique but sometimes gets buried by all of the finger food. Autumnlands: I thought this Kurt Busiek series about a world of magic and anthropomorphic animals really found itself in this latest arc that focused on a quest and the main characters. I'm a fool for a good quest story, this one brought in living semi-nude female statues! Beautiful art from Ben Dewey and a welcome non-Astro City fully-realized world from Busiek make for a great under-the-radar book. I sure hope a third arc is imminent before long, though. Haven't seen anything solicited since that arc. Invincible: This long-running Robert Kirkman superhero books is entering its endgame, and it shows, as a major character falls and the Viltumite storyline that has been the spine of the book from the beginning enters its final phase. I've enjoyed this book ever since I discovered it, and I'm both savoring and dreading its last days. Manifest Destiny: Another awesome under-the-radar series that has awesome detailed artwork and a great horror take on the Lewis & Clark expedition. After probably the best arc of the series, "Sasquatch", I'm two issues-deep in the next arc. The threat appears to be a mystical fog that manifests the fears of the crew as they camp out for the winter. Or all the threats they've faced to this point appear to be coming back for revenge. I think it's the fog, but it's too early to tell. But seriously, Manifest destiny is just CRAZY good and deserves everyone's rapt attention! Paper Girls This Brian K. Vaughn series that is not Saga returns for a third arc. The girls are seemingly in a pre-historic era this time, but I'm betting it's likely post-apocolyptic instead. The first 2 issues have been pretty slow, unfortunately. If the rest of the arc doesn't bring it home, it may be back in cancellation territory for me. I mean, the cliffhanger in 12 is one of the girls getting her first period? Saga has what may be its most uneventful arc from 37-42. It seems heavily about moving characters around and developing them, even as it begins with possibly the most shocking death (for more than one reason) in the series. It ends with what I feel is an over-dramatic cliffhanger emphasized with a series of black pages to end the arc. It's still Saga, so it's still better than almost every comic out there--but it's not the dynamic arc that others have been. Sex Criminals returned with a new arc that I was only able to read the first part of before my self-imposed reading cut-off. I LOVED this issue, though, as it featured a welcome return of Jon and Suzie as the focus of an entire issue. They reconnect as they try to come up with some goals for their lives and go about it quite sexily! An excellent return that reminds me why I fell in love with this series in the first place. Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses really heats up the arc about the gang laying low at Beth's mom's place really comes to a head. So gripping and thoroughly entertaining in its storytelling! The only time this story comes to a dead halt is in the (thankfully) infrequent Amy Racecar one-offs. These are fantasy stories that tangentially inform the main story, but essentially tell barely different versions of the same fantasy again and again. I'm almost tempted to not buy those issues when I can figure out which they are because they are so extraneous and repetitive. I don't know if I could bring myself to do that, though. The main story is ALWAYS a page-turner, though, and one of the very best things going.
Still "Lardy" to my friends!
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 31,400
Tempus Fugitive
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Tempus Fugitive
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 31,400 |
Just looking at the last post makes me realise just how many top books they put out. I'm reading Sex Criminals and Stray Bullets. Read Chew. I've picked up a lot of Invincible and have dipped into Saga. It looks as though I'll be giving Manifest Destiny a shot too, based on the above.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
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Re: IMAGE explosions
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,720
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 6,720 |
You guys should give Moonstruck a look it's pretty great.
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