Comic Books

July 23rd, 2017 by

Second time without a Brady Bunch related posting. Don’t worry, I still have more blogs related to the show to post. Amazing how deep the show really is and how much content one can pull from the show and comment. To quote Peter David, but, I digress.

It has been a while since I have been excited about comic books. For the most part, I went from being the super fan to the casual fan, and I was collecting three titles, one of which I seriously decided to drop. Because I still have some love for the hobby, I was buying first issues of a series to try. Since I am very skeptical, if the issue did not grab me right away, I moved on. It appears that the alternative presses are picking up and producing better quality titles, and Marvel & DC are now moving toward telling decent stories again, without being socially preachy. Actually more DC and Marvel. Then there is Image, which has gone into the mode DC and Marvel were into, though things have not hit Walking Dead hard.

Walking Dead has been one of my favorite comics, since I picked up Compendium #1, and read it. I was never a zombie comic guy, usually a superhero guy and some fantasy or science fiction. When I read the Walking Dead Compendium, I was engrossed. Go to the bottom of the page and there is Amazon links to order things. All the Walking Dead Compendiums are available. But, I digress.

Besides Walking Dead, I am currently reading ElfQuest: The Final Quest. It seems a bit laborious now, but I will let that go, since Wendy Pini is obviously setting things up for her to leave, and sell off to Darkhorse. From there, what Darkhorse does, is up to them. Wendy Pini, whom I consider one of the best artists to ever put pencil to paper, then ink, and her husband Richard, told one of the finest Elf related stories ever. Since I first bought a collected edition of the first ElfQuest series, I have been a fan. ElfQuest has been one of my favorite comics, for over 3 decades. Sometimes good, with some bad, but that goes with comic collecting and a long running, creator owned series.

My only major publisher series I am reading is by DC, which is Batwoman. DC reintroduced Batwoman with the New52, unfortunately the story went off the rails in my opinion, and I stopped collecting the comic after issue 10. If DC had held the creative team to a standard 6 issue story arc, for trade paperback purposes. I would have collected the comic to the end. Maybe. With the Rebirth launch, I was skeptical, and did not by anything DC, but then the relaunch of Batwoman, intrigued me. So far the comic has held my interest.

Batwoman was introduced back in the 1950s as a romantic interest for Batman to counter the accusations of homosexuality, brought about by the Seduction of the Innocent investigation. Just Google the stuff. In the end, Batwoman was cast off in a very short time, the campy 1960s Batman took over, and, Bat history took a completely different turn. Catwoman was always the romantic foil. Talia Head was eventually Batman’s lover, and mother of his child. In current Bat cannon.

When Batwoman was relaunched, as a possible independent, but related character, though a lesbian, I was happy. I thought an under utilized character was being mainstreamed. The relaunch was solid, except after issue 6, the story diluted, and I lost interest. Now Rebirth has cured all the ills so far. Batwoman is part of the Batman family, and yet independent. The stories are so far solid.

Another excitement from DC, is the whole Dark Days story line to run through many titles. The Forge, and The Casting have been interesting. The 6 issue miniseries The Metal seems to be really exciting in tying together the continuity issues DC always had with some characters. My guess is the Watchmen sting will be part of it, and the whole Doomsday Clock series will help finally merge the multiverse in a cohesive unit.

My biggest hope is maybe Geoff Johns will do Legion of Superhero series. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page, and order his one story so far from Amazon.

Then there is the “Uber Invasion” series from Avatar. I started picking up the “Uber” series, like I do with most alternative press series in trade paperback format. Collected editions of a six issue story arc in one book, you can get a better feel for the whole story, when you have it to read completely. Modern comic story telling is geared to a six issue arc that is collected into a more salable format. Salable to the general public, because any existing bookstores or chains these days do not carry comics, but do carry trade paperbacks. I love the whole alternative history concept of Uber. It involves World War II, a subject on which I have become highly educated and very interested in, especially the European theater. Kieron Gillen is an incredible writer. It asks the question of “what if” and expands to a very gross, but interesting concept. What if Germany developed super humans? It takes place just days before Hitler killed himself, and Germany ultimately surrendered. Due to the super human development, Germany turned back the tide. Creating a stalemate. But, Hitler or at least the man impersonating Hitler, read the story, was not going to be happy with a stalemate. The United States was capable of attacking Germany, and Germany could not respond if the US developed a super human army. So, Germany attacked the US with it’s superhuman force. Uber ended, and the series shifted into Uber Invasion. I decided to purchase the comic format.

It has been a while since I have been excited about comics, and I am now excited. I will see where things go, and I am cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for stopping by.