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The Comic Book Questions Thread International. Of America.
Finally read Glory, and I have a couple plot questions.
What was the point of the second war between her parents, where her mom is faux-assassinated? And by the same token, what was the point of her father attacking Mont St Michel? Admittedly I enjoy the visual of launching an assault against her father only to find him making a nice brunch, but it basically threw away those plot points.
I'm even okay with the war just being a thing that boiled over and was forcibly stopped by the Knight showing up, but the way it was shown made it look like a scheme that the king and queen cooked up, and there doesn't seem to be much to gain from it.
After much thought, and much resistance thanks to that awful movie, I figure I should try and give Daredevil another shot. Where, oh mighty Comic Book Question Thread, would one find a favorable start to such a character?
Or, if you can wait about a month and have $60 to spare, the Miller/Jansen omnibus would be a great place to start as well. Or you can start with Miller visionaries v2, which starts at #168 (the first issue where Miller took over writing duties).
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
edited October 2013
Part of it depends on the tone of Daredevil story you're looking for. Most Daredevil stories of the past decaf or so have been pretty depressing, as writers put Matt Murdock through one soul-crushingly awful situation after another. Bendis' run was excellent, if you're in to that sort of thing. Mark Waid's current run is the most fun the character has been in a long time, and it is a damn good book besides.
Hello questions thread. I come to you asking for guidance of a somewhat different kind than usual.
I thought it would be fun this year to pass out some comics to the kids during Trick or Treat along with candy. Last night I dropped by my LCS and picked up a bunch of old singles from the 25-cent boxes, along with some FCBD leftovers they had in the back room. Managed to get what I think is actually some pretty cool stuff from the quarter boxes: Justice League International, Claremont/Lee-era X-Men, etc.
Now though I am having second thoughts. A lot of these old issues are in fairly bad shape in terms of the pages being all yellowed and stuff, and now I am wondering if any kids will want/enjoy them or just think they're dumb and lame and that I am weird and lame.
I am going to my dad's house to pass out candy, because I live in a condo development where there's basically no kids, but he lives in a suburban neighborhood (where I grew up) and is going to be out of town on business so he wouldn't be there to pass out stuff anyway. So all that to say, it's not like people on the block would think I was the lame weird guy who passes out comics since I don't live there anymore anyway...although I guess maybe they'd think it was my dad who had been doing it.
What do you think, comics thread? Objectively, is this a good idea/worth doing? Am I overanalyzing this?
You passing out candy AND comics? or just the comics? I think it's a unique idea, some kids will appreciate it, some won't. But the same will go with the candy too, some like Twix, some prefer Snickers. It's a great alternative to like fruits and other lame stuff like floss, and hell man, we might get a few new comic readers out of it too. I say go for it!
I think handing out comics with candy is a great idea! As long as the comic is in good enough condition that it's not falling apart, and it's not written by Scott Lobdell, the kids will love it!
I would go through them to make sure they are really in good condition and also be on the look out for "objectionable content" so that you don't have a parent coming back and complaining, especially since trick-or-treaters can be quite young.
Yes, I am passing out candy and comics, everybody will get a snickers or something tasty along with their yellowed single. I really have no idea how many kids the neighborhood will get, so I may run out of comics. I probably will, in fact. I have 30-ish comics, would have gotten more but I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for decent stuff in the quarter bins after a while.
I guess worst case scenario some comics just get deposited directly in the garbage when the kids get home along with candy corn and tootsie rolls.
I thought it would be fun this year to pass out some comics to the kids during Trick or Treat along with candy. Last night I dropped by my LCS and picked up a bunch of old singles from the 25-cent boxes, along with some FCBD leftovers they had in the back room. Managed to get what I think is actually some pretty cool stuff from the quarter boxes: Justice League International, Claremont/Lee-era X-Men, etc.
What do you think, comics thread? Objectively, is this a good idea/worth doing? Am I overanalyzing this?
I've been doing this for a couple years now too, and I agree that you should go through the comics to remove any possibly objectionable stuff - just nudity and bad language, although some parents oppose occult stuff too. We gave out 119 last year, and hope to give out more this year.
Thor 2 finally awakened the need to re-read ( And promised my buddy once I got it all together and did my run through, he could go next)
So what all issues do I need to find and dig out, to complete the Loki tale from Siege to the Journey into Mystery finale. Was it just JiM and Thor post siege? I forget how much Fear Itself crossed into it also.
UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
I never read the main book of Fear Itself, just the JiM kickoff/tie-in issues, and didn't feel I missed out. Loki's work in the background during FI don't require you to know what Thor's doing in the main book.
so Siege: Loki, FI:JiM, JiM proper, and the New Mutants crossover? You probably do want the Everything Burns Thor issues too.
Anyone reading any of the pulp-based books from dynamite, like The Shadow? Are they any good?
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
I'm not, but have heard other people express disappointment with them
if you're looking for a good (and absolutely gorgeous) pulp-influenced comic though, check out Francesco Francavilla's Black Beetle if you haven't already
I am slowly working my way through all the big Thanos stories from Thanos Quest to present day. So far I've only had time to go through Thanos Quest, Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War, and I've really dug Thanos Quest and Infinity War the most because I've enjoyed reading stories that focus on him and his point of view as a main character rather than as just a big-bad, like he was in Gauntlet.
But I've got a couple questions:
1. Is Infinity Abyss worth reading? I had never even heard of it until digging through various wikis this week.
And the second question is a little spoilery for Thanos's role in Infinity War:
When does he transition back into being a bad guy? I really enjoyed his role as a protagonist in Infinity War, and I know that he takes a similar role in the Jurgens Thor arc he shows up in, as well as in Starlin's Thanos series from right before Annihilation. The way it was all set up makes it sort of hard for me to buy that he would just revert into being this monstrous conqueror again.
I don't want to say that Infinity War is the last decent Thanos book but...well, pretty close. I found Infinity Abyss to be mediocre, and Thanos' own series was pretty poor as well, and the whole Thor story-arc was blah and The End was horrible. You only ever get tiny hints of the awesome that was Thanos Quest in any of them. Annihilation wasn't bad, just not really his strongest characterization.
Phase One: Origin
Thanos War and Thanos: the Final Threat (Collected in Avengers vs Thanos)
These are alright; though Thanos' characterization isn't that great; he's your basic uber-bad guy and the only real unique thing about him is that's he doing it all to win Death's heart. Still, they're fun 70's era Marvel stories with cool stuff happening and neat battles and what not. Worth reading if only to see where Thanos started
I really liked this story; it shows Thanos' cunning and malice real well and Thanos Quest is him at his best, pulling the rug out from under some of the wisest people in the universe. I recommend it.
Infinity Gauntlet
Awesome. 'nuff said
Infinity War
The story isn't great, but this is really where Thanos comes into his own; freed from his desire to win over death and reevaluating his place in the universe, we see him scheming and dealing with various powers of the universe, and are never sure of his motives until the very end. I enjoyed watching him a lot in this. Enjoyment is really dependent on how much you care (or don't) about the Infinity Watch (Warlock, Gamora, Dumb Drax, Moondragon and Pip the Troll) since they're the major players in this.
Infinity Crusade (Collected in Infinity Crusade 1 & 2)
I remember less a bout this, so I'll file it under "not memorable." Thanos wheels and deals for the universe again, but I can't tell you much more than that honestly. The main storyline is pretty crap, all things considered. You can probably skip it.
Thor: Blood and Thunder
This isn't part of the Infinity Series, but takes place shortly after the last one. Basically, Thor has gone beserk and the Infinity Watch tries to stop him, makes things worse, and Thanos winds up getting involved. Not a super great story, but I HIGHLY enjoyed the part where Thanos basically takes on Odin 1on1, even though he's definitely outmatched. Fun, but not essential.
Phase Three: Starlin Didn't Write these
Cosmic Powers
I haven't read this one (it's not released in trade format) so I dunno how good it is. It sounds like it could be good or bad, which Thanos tears ass around the universe challenging the most powerful foes he can find for some reason. I dunno why, but it could be fun to read.)
Ka-Zar vs Thanos
I haven't read this one either, mainly due to not being fully available in trade. It was featured mostly in the pages of Ka-Zar y Mark Waid(1997), which is collected in two volumes, with the final story being in X-Man vs Hulk Annual (which isn't collected anywhere as far as i know). I haven't heard good things about it though. See Infinity Abyss for an additional tidbit.
Thor vs Thanos
Haven't gotten my copy of this either, so I can't say how it is. I haven't heard much about it either. See Infinity Abyss for an additional tidbit.
Avengers; Celestial Quest
This was crap. The story wasn't very great (basically about Mantis' offspring being the celestial messiah and Thanos basically wanting to fuck with that) Super regressive characterization of Thanos, and a really stupid plot involving him and Death. Not recommended. See Infinity Abyss for an additional tidbit..
Phase 4: The Starlin Returns Trilogy
Infinity Abyss
Not a great story, and Thanos doesn't do much awesome in it. It does, however, retcon the last three stories above as not being Thanos, so that's funny. This story is basically there; not super terrible but not super great. You can probably skip it.
Marvel Universe: The End
This is a weird duck; the main story is kinda crappy wrapped in a shell of potentially awesome, the villain is worthless and throwaway as hell, and generally most of the book is forgettable. Thanos' narration and final revelation is enjoyable, and his final action would have been a fitting end to the character. Skippable, really
Thanos: Epiphany (Collected in Thanos: Redemption)
This story was almost great, as it deals with Thanos, after having lost ultimate power so many times, trying to find his place in the universe and perhaps finding it through redemption. The story falls apart when the villain is a supergoofy extradimensional alien who's apparently worse than Galactus (He eats UNIVERSES, not just planets!) but also narrates to the reader in a sarcastic, fourth-wall breaking manor. I'm not sure what Starlin was thinking, personally. Not horrible, but not must-read either.
Phase 5: The Giffen/D&A Cosmic Epic
Thanos: Samaritan (Collected in Thanos: Redemption)
I really enjoyed this story; it picks up from Epiphany with Thanos still searching for purpose; he makes a pilgrimage to the Crunch, the place that the universe is expanding from. It's a place of religious significance, as well as a giant prison, and IIRC, a prison break manages to happen around Thanos, so seeing him deal with all that is pretty great. This also marks a turning point in his relationship with Death. I recommend it.
Annihilation (Collected in Annihilation Books 1-3)
Thanos has a smaller role to play in this event than he usually does; he plays the vizier to Annihilus, taking a backseat to the action and planning his best moves. Thanos as a characters gets a brief bit of catharsis in this story as well. But you know what, forget Thanos, this story is just awesome in general, get it.
Seriously, get Annihilation, it's awesome!
Thanos Imperative
Thanos, due to his unique connection with death, essentially becomes the most important person in the universe as the whole of creation is on the verge of a war it may not win; While the stakes are technically higher than Annihilation, the smaller page count of the event makes it feel smaller, though brief shots of impossibly epic battles are still fucking awesome. Thanos though, doesn't get a whole lot to do until the final end though. However, If this was the last Thanos comic ever, the ending would have been great; as is, it's pretty good, but knowing it'll just get retconned in a few years kinda sucks. Still, I liked the book and would recommend it.
Phase 6: Oh hey, he's going to be in a movie, right?
Avengers Assemble by Brian Michael Bendis #1-8
Crap. And it even gels improperly with past and future comics. Even ones that Bendis himself will write! Thanos is bland and uninteresting, and literally is just interested in taking over Earth. Yeah, really. SKIIIIIIIIP
Thanos Rising
A few interesting ideas and some cool moments don't make up for what I feel is a critical misunderstanding of the character and his relationship with Death. I can't recommend this at all, though I may be being a bit harsher on it than most people would.
Infinity + Tie-Ins (He's all over the place here. Infinity and Infinity Companion should cover everything, when it comes out)
Thanos is going to be the big foe in the movies, so they got to make him a big foe in the comics. That's how Infinity feels, at least, but the jury's still out since the event isn't quite finished here. Thanos' motives are either ill-defined, or wildly petty considering the ammount of hurt he's putting on Earth. Seeing him beat the shit out Black Bolt was totally worth the price of that one issue though. I'll wait and see how it ends before I give a recommendation though.
I probably missed a small story here and there (He popped up in the 1997 run of Deadpool once or twice.) but I think I got his major appearances there.
As for your question, Hadji
He basically stays as a wildcard for the rest of Starlin's run, does some evil stuff that gets retconned for a few years, then Starlin has him be more of an opportunist; more interesting in exploring possibilities than conquest. Later he's trying to find his place in life, and eventually
find contentment in death (and in Death :winky:)
but when that is later taken from him and made impossible to attain again, he gets SUPER pissed and decides to take his rage out on the universe. His most recently characterization hasn't been super detailed, but it's likely he's still running off that.
EDIT: Whoops, forgot about Thor: Blood and Thunder
I think UD touched on most Thanos appearances and series, but one he didn't mention that I quite like was Thanos appearances in the Captain Marvel series (the Genis-Vell series by Peter David, though the Thanos appearances were pencilled by Starlin). It had Thanos and Genis teaming up against a Death God named Walker.
That is an awesome post, Scottsman, and pretty much confirms what I was planning on reading (The Infinity Trilogy, the short Thor arc, Thanos's solo series, and then the Annihilations, DnA's Guardians and Thanos Imperative).
Now I have a counter-question as a DC fan. I had always heard that Thanos is a straight Darkseid clone, which I can see how a large part of him originated that way, but he's much more flexible than Darkseid is. So it was a big surprise to me to see the arc Thanos had taken through the 90s and early 00s, and also to see how much control Starlin had over him for such a long portion of the character's existence.
So, now I'm wondering, are there any big or decent Darkseid stories post-crisis besides Legends, Rock of Ages, Seven Soldiers/Final Crisis, and the awful Starlin Death of the New Gods and Superman/Batman arcs?
So, now I'm wondering, are there any big or decent Darkseid stories post-crisis besides Legends, Rock of Ages, Seven Soldiers/Final Crisis, and the awful Starlin Death of the New Gods and Superman/Batman arcs?
So, now I'm wondering, are there any big or decent Darkseid stories post-crisis besides Legends, Rock of Ages, Seven Soldiers/Final Crisis, and the awful Starlin Death of the New Gods and Superman/Batman arcs?
Besides those, no.
You forgot about Walt Simonson's run on Orion.
Well worth reading. It has John Workman doing the lettering.
if i were only to get, say, 5 of those story arcs. Which 5 should i get?
IMO?
1. Avengers vs Thanos
2. Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos
3. Infinity Gauntlet
These three are the absolute must-haves of Thanos.
4. Annihilation
5. Thanos Imperative.
I love this story arc, but there's a ton of non-thanos stuff you'd probably want to get in-between Annihilation and Thanos Imperative. I'll see if I can dig up the latest cosmic Marvel chart.
Can you guys think of any old Franco-Belgian style comic about a family living in the future, or with futuristic technology? Vague, but I read something like that 15 years ago, and I'm trying to remember the name.
Can you give a bit more information? Standard Franco-Belgian comics about families usually have the one supergenius family member that creates futuristic technology.
edit: to help along a little:
- Do you remember the language?
- Drawing style; was it cartoonish or more realistic?
Posts
Its a comic about somebody hunting and killing movie slasher villains and the writing is on the same level as most straight to DVD slasher movies.
I'm even okay with the war just being a thing that boiled over and was forcibly stopped by the Knight showing up, but the way it was shown made it look like a scheme that the king and queen cooked up, and there doesn't seem to be much to gain from it.
I thought it would be fun this year to pass out some comics to the kids during Trick or Treat along with candy. Last night I dropped by my LCS and picked up a bunch of old singles from the 25-cent boxes, along with some FCBD leftovers they had in the back room. Managed to get what I think is actually some pretty cool stuff from the quarter boxes: Justice League International, Claremont/Lee-era X-Men, etc.
Now though I am having second thoughts. A lot of these old issues are in fairly bad shape in terms of the pages being all yellowed and stuff, and now I am wondering if any kids will want/enjoy them or just think they're dumb and lame and that I am weird and lame.
I am going to my dad's house to pass out candy, because I live in a condo development where there's basically no kids, but he lives in a suburban neighborhood (where I grew up) and is going to be out of town on business so he wouldn't be there to pass out stuff anyway. So all that to say, it's not like people on the block would think I was the lame weird guy who passes out comics since I don't live there anymore anyway...although I guess maybe they'd think it was my dad who had been doing it.
What do you think, comics thread? Objectively, is this a good idea/worth doing? Am I overanalyzing this?
I guess worst case scenario some comics just get deposited directly in the garbage when the kids get home along with candy corn and tootsie rolls.
I miss Marvel Adventures so much
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
So what all issues do I need to find and dig out, to complete the Loki tale from Siege to the Journey into Mystery finale. Was it just JiM and Thor post siege? I forget how much Fear Itself crossed into it also.
so Siege: Loki, FI:JiM, JiM proper, and the New Mutants crossover? You probably do want the Everything Burns Thor issues too.
if you're looking for a good (and absolutely gorgeous) pulp-influenced comic though, check out Francesco Francavilla's Black Beetle if you haven't already
But I've got a couple questions:
1. Is Infinity Abyss worth reading? I had never even heard of it until digging through various wikis this week.
And the second question is a little spoilery for Thanos's role in Infinity War:
Sex & the Cthulhu Mythos
Phase One: Origin
Thanos War and Thanos: the Final Threat (Collected in Avengers vs Thanos)
Phase Two; Infinity Trilogy
Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (Includes Thanos Quest)
Infinity Gauntlet
Awesome. 'nuff said
Infinity War
Infinity Crusade (Collected in Infinity Crusade 1 & 2)
Thor: Blood and Thunder
Phase Three: Starlin Didn't Write these
Cosmic Powers
I haven't read this one (it's not released in trade format) so I dunno how good it is. It sounds like it could be good or bad, which Thanos tears ass around the universe challenging the most powerful foes he can find for some reason. I dunno why, but it could be fun to read.)
Ka-Zar vs Thanos
I haven't read this one either, mainly due to not being fully available in trade. It was featured mostly in the pages of Ka-Zar y Mark Waid(1997), which is collected in two volumes, with the final story being in X-Man vs Hulk Annual (which isn't collected anywhere as far as i know). I haven't heard good things about it though. See Infinity Abyss for an additional tidbit.
Thor vs Thanos
Haven't gotten my copy of this either, so I can't say how it is. I haven't heard much about it either. See Infinity Abyss for an additional tidbit.
Avengers; Celestial Quest
Phase 4: The Starlin Returns Trilogy
Infinity Abyss
Marvel Universe: The End
Thanos: Epiphany (Collected in Thanos: Redemption)
Phase 5: The Giffen/D&A Cosmic Epic
Thanos: Samaritan (Collected in Thanos: Redemption)
Annihilation (Collected in Annihilation Books 1-3)
Thanos Imperative
Phase 6: Oh hey, he's going to be in a movie, right?
Avengers Assemble by Brian Michael Bendis #1-8
Thanos Rising
Infinity + Tie-Ins (He's all over the place here. Infinity and Infinity Companion should cover everything, when it comes out)
I probably missed a small story here and there (He popped up in the 1997 run of Deadpool once or twice.) but I think I got his major appearances there.
As for your question, Hadji
EDIT: Whoops, forgot about Thor: Blood and Thunder
Now I have a counter-question as a DC fan. I had always heard that Thanos is a straight Darkseid clone, which I can see how a large part of him originated that way, but he's much more flexible than Darkseid is. So it was a big surprise to me to see the arc Thanos had taken through the 90s and early 00s, and also to see how much control Starlin had over him for such a long portion of the character's existence.
So, now I'm wondering, are there any big or decent Darkseid stories post-crisis besides Legends, Rock of Ages, Seven Soldiers/Final Crisis, and the awful Starlin Death of the New Gods and Superman/Batman arcs?
Edit: And also Cosmic Odyssey, of course.
Besides those, no.
You forgot about Walt Simonson's run on Orion.
Well worth reading. It has John Workman doing the lettering.
Why I fear the ocean.
so now i have a question.
if i were only to get, say, 5 of those story arcs. Which 5 should i get?
PARKER, YOU'RE FIRED! <-- My comic book podcast! Satan look here!
IMO?
1. Avengers vs Thanos
2. Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos
3. Infinity Gauntlet
These three are the absolute must-haves of Thanos.
4. Annihilation
5. Thanos Imperative.
I love this story arc, but there's a ton of non-thanos stuff you'd probably want to get in-between Annihilation and Thanos Imperative. I'll see if I can dig up the latest cosmic Marvel chart.
I gotcha, dude: http://i.imgur.com/N7OXfyI.jpg
edit: to help along a little:
- Do you remember the language?
- Drawing style; was it cartoonish or more realistic?