who around here still actually read comics?

Originally posted by Cogito
Totally agree with DK being one of the best titles in the New 52. Totally disagree with E2 being worth reading. Those were the first titles I dropped, only a few issues in.

I'm a big fan of the Justice Society and I was a huge fan of Johns' run, and I hated how they completely altered some of the oldest and most storied characters in comics history 👇

FTR I never said earth 2 was good. I've been a huge JSA fanboy since the silver age. Alan scott is my favorite character and i absolutely hate what they did to him in the Nu52. I'm also far from keen the way Jay started out so lacking in confidence and sense of self.

I bought it because of my love for JSA and kept getting it in the hope it would get better.the only characters that i liked in the new version are Terry Sloane and thomas Wahne. probabaly because there was such a removal from the original it didnt detract.

DK was literally the only thing NU52 that was awesome. JlA dark was good for for the first year and a half as was batwing.

Originally posted by Digi
I feel for you, dude, and agree with most of what you're saying here. But retiring to "just a movie watcher" and retreating to good indie titles saved my enjoyment of the medium. My gripes weren't the exact same ones you have here, but a lot of them were variations on the same frustrations. These problems may never go away at this point. Letting go of it, while keeping the good parts of it in my mind, did wonders for my enjoyment of the comics I do still read.

I just did what I swore I'd never do: Trust my own headcanon more than the comics themselves.

Originally posted by beatboks
FTR I never said earth 2 was good. I've been a huge JSA fanboy since the silver age. Alan scott is my favorite character and i absolutely hate what they did to him in the Nu52. I'm also far from keen the way Jay started out so lacking in confidence and sense of self.

I bought it because of my love for JSA and kept getting it in the hope it would get better.the only characters that i liked in the new version are Terry Sloane and thomas Wahne. probabaly because there was such a removal from the original it didnt detract.

DK was literally the only thing NU52 that was awesome. JlA dark was good for for the first year and a half as was batwing.

I'd argue that Action under Morrison, Aquaman under Johns, and Justice League by Johns too, was pretty damn good.

Originally posted by -Pr-
I just did what I swore I'd never do: Trust my own headcanon more than the comics themselves.

Oh, my head canon is insane with this stuff. But I learned a trick. Comics like to tease the next big thing. It's a never-ending cycle. So I'd wait until I was able to read a particularly satisfying arc, and even if there was a next "big bad" or whatever the hell, I would lean into it. That next tease would be the promise of never-ending adventures that I could continue in my mind. Or, more likely, just feel content that they're still going on, without actually acting them out in my mind. Leaving on a high note (hopefully, though not always), but with the promise of more, allowed me to leave the characters unspoiled, as if they were riding off into some sunset. Does that make sense? Or is it only making sense to me?

Perfect example was the Star Wars EU novels. The movies were about to invalidate it as canon, and I knew I was going to need to jump off. A major arc had just ended, but a background figure that had only been hinted at for several years made himself known and had a sort of "I'll get you next time!" confrontation with Luke right at the end. It was perfect, because now in my mind EU Luke is still somewhere out there battling this guy (and other threats). It's honestly better if it never gets resolved for me.

I'm a complete and utter dork like that, I realize. But it really did help me leave this stuff behind.

Originally posted by Digi
Oh, my head canon is insane with this stuff. But I learned a trick. Comics like to tease the next big thing. It's a never-ending cycle. So I'd wait until I was able to read a particularly satisfying arc, and even if there was a next "big bad" or whatever the hell, I would lean into it. That next tease would be the promise of never-ending adventures that I could continue in my mind. Or, more likely, just feel content that they're still going on, without actually acting them out in my mind. Leaving on a high note (hopefully, though not always), but with the promise of more, allowed me to leave the characters unspoiled, as if they were riding off into some sunset. Does that make sense? Or is it only making sense to me?

Perfect example was the Star Wars EU novels. The movies were about to invalidate it as canon, and I knew I was going to need to jump off. A major arc had just ended, but a background figure that had only been hinted at for several years made himself known and had a sort of "I'll get you next time!" confrontation with Luke right at the end. It was perfect, because now in my mind EU Luke is still somewhere out there battling this guy (and other threats). It's honestly better if it never gets resolved for me.

I'm a complete and utter dork like that, I realize. But it really did help me leave this stuff behind.

I did pretty much the same thing with X-Men, tbh.

For me, X-Men ended around the time Osborn attacked the island. Not a high point, but tbh, better than what followed, and in the writing I've been doing, that's my jumping off point.

Originally posted by Galan007
The DCnU had some fantastic titles that I enjoyed immensely--especially in its infancy:
Animal Man
Captain Atom
Swamp Thing
Aquaman
Demon Knights
Constantine
Dial H
I, Vampire
Action Comics(Morrison's stint)
Justice League Dark

Etc.

However, most of the above were cancelled at some point; and the ones that weren't went to complete shit over time. DC(and Marvel) lack consistency... That's what ultimately drove me away, tbh.

Those were excellent, though I later realized that they cannibalized Vertigo to give us said titles.

Morrison, Lemire, Ellis and a few others tend to always offer up quality stuff, but by and by we're in a slump.

Indie titles are too meagre. 15 pages a month isn't enough to keep me occupied, even with 10 titles that's barely an hour worth of reading :/

Originally posted by leonidas
i know this will be moved (sorry to be a pain in the a$$ pr) but no one really reads the comic book forum it seems. which is too bad since there is some good sh!t over there.... 🙁

anyway, just legit curious--how many here still ACTIVELY read current books? i mean newly published WHOLE books, not just the posted bits and pieces in the forum or ownage threads. aside from galan and myself, who's still reading??

i ask, because so many opinions on matches are outdated or simply...uneducated. so who reads what and how much?

I think the problem with the comic book forum is that Team Authority is there. The Team Authority thread gets so many hits that it drops the other threads down to the point where they disappear. Maybe the Authority thread should get moved somewhere else idk.

I'm 36 and I've been reading and collecting since I was 10, with the exception of a few years hiatus when I was in the US Army and when I first became a father. Now I'm back in the game full throttle.

I've been much more into manga and anime lately, to be honest. Maybe it's the fact that it's one creator working on a never ending title. Or it's that each writer at Marvel/DC has to try and one up the other when they pick up new stories, meaning plot threads that have been dropped as hints for later ever get used when a new writer jumps on board, making everything feel inconsistent.

I'd rather read Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, etc over anything at Marvel/DC right now. Except maybe their graphic novel one shots (i.e. DC's Earth 1 series is great IMO) because they get the chance to tell a complete story.

I also think that most manga, even the super popular ones like Naruto, made exclusively for kids-teens, are much deeper thematically and cover more ground in interpersonal issues than say Iron Man. Obviously you have things that are super shallow made for panty shots, but the fact is even the made for the masses works like Naruto/One Piece cover more narrative issues than any equivalent comics besides maybe Spider man who, at his heart is about a guy dealing with normal human issues and the complications that arise because he's also a superhero.

I'm currently reading Saga, Sex Criminals, Southern Bastards, Constantine: The Hellblazer, The Walking Dead, Savage Dragon, The DC Rebirth lineup, Civil War II, Survivor's Club, and the new Punisher.

Southern Bastards is quality stuff. Just excellent.

There's also stuff like Colder, Copperhead and Invisible Republic.

Originally posted by Blair Wind
I've been much more into manga and anime lately, to be honest. Maybe it's the fact that it's one creator working on a never ending title. Or it's that each writer at Marvel/DC has to try and one up the other when they pick up new stories, meaning plot threads that have been dropped as hints for later ever get used when a new writer jumps on board, making everything feel inconsistent.

I'd rather read Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, etc over anything at Marvel/DC right now. Except maybe their graphic novel one shots (i.e. DC's Earth 1 series is great IMO) because they get the chance to tell a complete story.

I also think that most manga, even the super popular ones like Naruto, made exclusively for kids-teens, are much deeper thematically and cover more ground in interpersonal issues than say Iron Man. Obviously you have things that are super shallow made for panty shots, but the fact is even the made for the masses works like Naruto/One Piece cover more narrative issues than any equivalent comics besides maybe Spider man who, at his heart is about a guy dealing with normal human issues and the complications that arise because he's also a superhero.

Even the mainstream stuff in Japan seems to stay a couple of levels of quality over the big titles DC and Marvel churn out. With the exception of a few very, very good titles like Lucifer, Miracleman or The Invisibles, I think my top stories are manga. The Japanese business approach is also infinitely more consumer friendly I believe, maybe because manga make out a far greater share of their profits. Marvel make more off of toys than they do on comics.

Looking at it from a genre point of view I'd say that:
Comics seem to tackle mysticism, cosmic stuff, meta and mythology very well. Manga is the winner when it comes to horror, mystery, fantasy and martial arts.

Politics and sci-fi is a toss up.

Originally posted by Blair Wind
I've been much more into manga and anime lately, to be honest. Maybe it's the fact that it's one creator working on a never ending title. Or it's that each writer at Marvel/DC has to try and one up the other when they pick up new stories, meaning plot threads that have been dropped as hints for later ever get used when a new writer jumps on board, making everything feel inconsistent.

I'd rather read Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, Ghost in the Shell, etc over anything at Marvel/DC right now. Except maybe their graphic novel one shots (i.e. DC's Earth 1 series is great IMO) because they get the chance to tell a complete story.

I also think that most manga, even the super popular ones like Naruto, made exclusively for kids-teens, are much deeper thematically and cover more ground in interpersonal issues than say Iron Man. Obviously you have things that are super shallow made for panty shots, but the fact is even the made for the masses works like Naruto/One Piece cover more narrative issues than any equivalent comics besides maybe Spider man who, at his heart is about a guy dealing with normal human issues and the complications that arise because he's also a superhero.

Originally posted by Mindset
Read better manga.

👆

Originally posted by cdtm
👆

I'm reading Vinland Saga, Berserk, and Vagabond right now.

Originally posted by Mindset
What do you read?

I'm reading Vinland Saga, Berserk, and Vagabond right now.

Originally posted by Mindset
What do you read?

I'm reading Vinland Saga, Berserk, and Vagabond right now.

Two manga about farming and one about sailing.

What excellent choices 🙂

Lol those are the manliest manga of all time with arguably the best pencil work

Originally posted by krisblaze
Two manga about farming and one about sailing.

What excellent choices 🙂

That's pretty much your cultural history.

Originally posted by Impediment
I'm currently reading Saga, Sex Criminals, Southern Bastards, Constantine: The Hellblazer, The Walking Dead, Savage Dragon, The DC Rebirth lineup, Civil War II, Survivor's Club, and the new Punisher.

My personal favorites from Valiant are X-O Manowar and Ninjak. Rai and Eternal Warrior are also stellar--but like I said, I haven't disliked any title(s) Valiant has published so far. Shit is legit. 👆

Originally posted by -Pr-
I just did what I swore I'd never do: Trust my own headcanon more than the comics themselves.

I'd argue that Action under Morrison, Aquaman under Johns, and Justice League by Johns too, was pretty damn good.

i never got a single issue of Action so really not equipped to comment. I only got a hanful of early issues of JLA a d dropped it because I was underwhelmed.

but yeah Aquaman started off pretty good, at least what issues i could pick up. out LCS literally only orders a few copies of anything beyond committed and prepaid for comcis. you literally have to be paid up 3 months in advance to be sure you get a copy and when you cancel you still get that three months. its the same at most comic shops in australia unfortunately (except the big ones like kings comics in sydney but then your stuck with much higher postage charges than you'd get elsewhere)

Originally posted by Galan007
It wasn't obvious?