Your Pull List!! ! Comics you're reading/have read/recommend.

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I've been doing lotsa digital comics since I got my tablet....

I just finished Scott Synder's 10 issue run on Detective Comics (before the new 52 reboot). I gotta say, it was really good--so good I might start reading the new Batman comics on a monthly basis since he's writing that now. I hear the "Court of Owls" storyline is pretty good.

Right now I'm reading Dynamite Comics Warlord of Mars series since comixology is having a sale.... I'm about 1/3 of the way through it. It's pretty good, if you like pulp scifi.

I also just picked up Test Patterns an omnibus of Johnathan Hickman comics. It's about 700 pages and contains the series Transhuman, Red Mass For Mars, Nightly News, The Red Wing, Pax Romana.

I've only just started Pax Romana but it's blowing me away...

It's a very intriguing idea and so far, it's very well done...

When I was about 14 I had a bit of an identity crisis and sold my comic collection, but I've recently bought a few graphic novel collections and I'm reading this



I'd recommend it, especially if you're already into Mills/O'Neil. I used to love their Nemesis The Warlock work in 2000AD.

I love Scott Snyder's books. I actually am having dinner with him this weekend as he is coming down this way for a convention.

DC Books I am enjoying:
Batman (I am actually enjoying most of the Batman series)
Action Comics
Aquaman
Animal Man
Swamp Thing

Marvel Books I currently enjoy:
Captain America
Winter Soldier
Daredevil
Wolverine and the X-Men (The X-Men lineup of books are really awesome right now and I enjoy them a lot.)

Small Press Books:
American Vampire ( Favorite series in all of comics)
Criminal
Fables
Fatale
Scalped.

Fortunately I work at a comic shop so I don't have to pay for all the books I read.

@ ZX

I've heard good things about Marshal Law. I'll have lookout for those trades.

@neerdowell

Dinner with Scott Snyder sounds pretty cool. Misanthrope that I am, I don't think I could pass that up!


So....

I'm done with Pax Romana and about halfway through Test Patterns 788 pages overall. I gotta say, Hickman is a genius. I hope he revisits the Pax Romana universe very soon--there's just so many stories left to tell.

Comixology is having a sale on Wasteland and The Walking Dead, so I have my comic reading plate full for a while....

Here's the first issue of Wasteland free online for anyone interested...

http://www.onipress.com/thebigwet/downl ... /index.php

Good stuff!

Comixology is releasing The Sixth Gun in collected volumes!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99uPUpm3Nc0[/youtube]

This series is unspeakably good! I'm so happy the trades are finally getting a digital release. The TPBs (currently 3 vols) are like $20 ea. The books ARE worth it but I'm a cheapskate!

If you like weird westerns this is the comic for you.

PS

Read the first issue free HERE (CLICK)!

For those who came in late…

1536—Christopher Standish washes up on a bloody Bangalla beach, sole survivor of a savage pirate raid on his father’s ship. Befriended by the Bandar tribe, he becomes their champion, liberating the pygmies from the “giants” who had oppressed and enslaved them for generations.

Later Standish swears an oath on the skull of his father’s killer, “I will devote my life to the destruction of piracy, cruelty, greed and injustice. My sons and their sons shall follow me!”

Donning a costume resembling the giant tribe’s demon god, Christopher Standish becomes the jungle’s avenging spirit, protecting the righteous and punishing the wicked.

For near 500 years the solemn duty of jungle protector has passed from father to son—a secret only the Bandar know. To the rest of the world this protector is “The Man Who Cannot Die,” The Phantom who has protected Bangalla for 5 centuries…

Kit Walker (Mr. Walker*), is the 21st of his line to swear the oath of the skull and become Guardian of the Eastern Dark…
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So, my dad introduced me to Lee Falk’s Phantom when I was six and I’ve been a fan ever since. The Phantom was actually the very first thing I ever read strictly for pleasure, and it pretty much doomed me to the life of a comic book geek…

Some interesting trivia:

The Phantom premiered in 1936 and was the first costumed/masked crime-fighter ever, predating Superman and Batman by about 3 years.

Originally, Falk planned to make his hero a wealthy, urban, socialite, calling his masked alter ego The Gray Ghost… Luckily, he changed his mind!
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Anyway, I’ve just finished The Phantom: The Man Who Cannot Die from Moonstone comics. It’s a trade that contains Mike Bullock’s first run on their comic series. It starts off a bit shaky, but improves quickly. The storylines “Walker’s Line” and “The Invisible Children” are very good.

I thought it was pretty cool that Bullock created the evil warlord HIM/Joseph to draw attention to the plight of child soldiers and the crimes of Joseph Kony years before the movie Kony 2012. As Bullock said, “If the Phantom were real, Joseph Kony is exactly the kind of guy he’d be fighting against.”

I agree.


So, my first taste of Mike Bullock’s Phantom was good enough that I went to Amazon and ordered The Phantom: Guardian of the Eastern Dark, which covers Bullock’s run on Moonstone’s second comic series. I also ordered The Phantom: Generations which includes stories for each of the 21 Phantoms….

It’s gonna be like x-mas when all that comic book goodness hits my mailbox!







*For the Ghost Who Walks…


PS

comixology.com has The Walking Dead 50% off 'till 7/15 ! !! !! !

If you buy the limited time omnibus editions, you can get the entire run (1-99) for about $0.80 each!

Man.... My comics budget is blown! But, I do have lotsa good comics to read now!

Darkness and Witchblade are great comics!

Neil Gaiman's Sandman is excellent. Really want to check out the Lucifer series.

You know, I love Gaiman's prose, but I'm ashamed to say I've never read any of his comics. I read on.... IGN I think, that he's going to do a new Sandman series.
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As for me, when I'm not reading The Phantom, these days it's Batman, BATman, BATMAN!! !! !!

DC recently revived one of my favorite comics as a weekly digital only title: Batman-Legends of the Dark Knight.

I love this comic because, like the original, it is out of continuity with the rest of the comics. It's just good old stand-alone Batman stories told over one or a few issues, which is great for a quick, weekly Bat-fix.

Another nice thing about the comic is that, because it's out of continuity, the writers have more creative freedom... The series also tends to attract writers and artists who would not normally do Batman--that's always interesting.

The first major multi-issue story of the new series ended last week. Crisis in Identity is a fun Joker story, but the art of Ben Templesmith makes the story truly special.


You can get the whole series to date at Comixology for less than $6....

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Awhile back, I also read The Gates of Gotham ... This was the second major Batman storyline for Scott Snyder. Like his run on Detective Comics, this story involves Dick Grayson under the cowl and, also like his DC run, this story provides background for Snyder's epic Court of Owls run just finishing in the Batman monthly.

I really like Snyder's Dick Grayson/Batman. He's not nearly so grim, but I think he's (potentially) a better leader. He knows his limits and he's not afraid to let someone with better skills do a job for him. In this case, Dick keeps to the streets (cracking heads) and leaves the detective work to Tim Drake who is a much better investigator.

The story also features Damian Wayne as Robin and Cassandra Cain as the Black Bat... Probably the most fun of this story is just watching "the kids" run the family business while Dad's away.

If you're a Scott Snyder or Batman fan this is a good read.

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Finally, I just finished Batman: Earth One . This is sort of like a Marvel style "Ultimate Version" of the character done by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. From what I've read on the interwebs, people seem to either love or hate this book (most love it).
Personally, I think it's fantastic!

I don't what to spoil any of the story, so I'll just say this:

If Frank Miller and Chris Nolan had hot man sex and made a love-child... and if that love-child grew up to write yet another origin comic for The Batman, it would be but a pale, sickly thing when compared to Batman: Earth One.

Seriously, it's a fun story, and this is, by far, the most realistic world a Batman has ever tried to exist in.... I cannot wait for the next installment (probably 2 years away).....