What I Bought - July 18

I made the monthly trek to Barbarian Books today. I wasn't planning on buying a lot. I ended up spending more than $50, which is well within my monthly budget but more than I thought I would.

20th Century Boys v2 & v3 - link - I'm not completely sold on the series yet but I decided to take a chance and buy the next two books at the same time based on how I felt about writer/artist Naoki Urasawa's previous series, Monster.

Superman: The Bottle City of Kandor - link - which is a collection of stories from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s about the Kryptonian city of Kandor. I may have read one or two of these before but I couldn't resist.

Carl Bark's Greatest Duck Tales Stories v2 - link - Uncle Scrooge stories from the 1950s and 60s. Hard to resist. I recall reading some of these kinds of stories before I really got into reading comic books. I would usually find them at the barber shop. When I was in my teens I sometimes watched the Duck Tales animated tv series. This collection is of comic book stories that were made into episodes of the tv series. I would have bought v1 if they had it but they didn't.

Starman, Nevermen, Monster, Doom Patrol

OK, so as usual I'm in the midst of reading several things at once:

• Starman Omnibus HC v1 - link - Progress: # 0-11 - Bit by bit this series is growing on me more and more. I'm still not sure why everyone seems to love it. Maybe its one of those group-think things and most people only love it because other people say they love it. I dunno but I really like the writing on this series.
  
• Nevermen TP - link - Progress: ch 1-3 - This underappreciated book is just awesome in that kind of way that I often have a hard time describing. I love it for the artwork at least as much as the story. Guy Davis pencils and Dave Stewart's leave me gaping in wonder. If you asked me to explain the story I would be hard pressed to do so without telling you everything that happens. I can't boil it down, I can't simplify it. It just is. It doesn't all make sense, it just exists. Its not that I've never seen stuff like this before just that I love it so much that I don't care if it makes sense or not, to me.
  
• Monster v14 - link - Progress: ch 1-7 - I'm amazed at how things continue to develop in this series, this late in the game. The series is only 18 volumes long and yet it seems that new characters and situations are still being introduced. Can't wait to see how it all wraps up.
• Doom Patrol Archives v1 - link - Progress: # 80 - Its a silver age comic book so it can't be read and/or digested the same way a modern one is. Still, I love the sillyness of it all. I'm also suitably impressed by the artwork. I've been meaning to read something from the silver age that wasn't published by Marvel. This was the only title from DC that caught my eye.
  

Why Fantastic Monsters?

Y: The Last Man v9 - by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra; collects # 49 - 54. Another great read. Loved some of the reveals. The last couple chapters didn't really have anything to do with Yorick, 355, or Dr. Mann. They were good chapters but it was a little frustrating not getting more about the main characters, especially when the series is almost over and done with.

Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four v6 - by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; collects # 51 - 60. The last four chapters (# 57 - 60 where Dr. Doom steals the powers of the Silver Surfer) were awesome. The rest was also pretty good. The introduction of the Black Panther and Klaw wasn't quite as awesome as I hoped it would be. I did get a little tired of the way the saga of the Inhumans kept dragging on, and still wasn't complete at the end of this collection. Presumably they will come back into contact with the FF at some point.

Monster v12 - by Naoki Urasawa; collects chapters # 96 - 104. The best reveal was saved for the last chapter. More is learned about the twins past and their mother. Inspector Lunge goes to the Czech Republic on vacation but ends up working instead of relaxing as he traces down more information on the origins of the twins (Johan and Anna). Good read but of course this is one big story. There are some arcs within but it is hard to judge this series one book at a time.

Free Comic Book Day II

I went to Barbarian as promised. They didn't seem to have any copies of Punisher: Circle of Blood so I bought manga instead.

• Bleach v16
• Monster v14
• Yotsuba v4

The volumes of Monster are starting to pile up. I now have 12, 13 and 14 sitting in my living room unread. I hope to start on v12 this week.

I also picked up two free comic books.

• All Star Superman #1
• Hellboy: The Mole

I read All Star Superman. I can see now why everyone is raving about it. The artwork by Frank Quitely is gorgeous. The colors are beautiful. The first page is awesome: Superman's origin explained in four panels and eight words. This book has a fresh feel to it that I like. Maybe if I had read more Superman comic books over the years I wouldn't feel like this. I'm not completely sold on the series but I like how it has started out. Love the sci-fi elements. The one thing that keeps nagging me about this book is why isn't 'All Star' hyphenated?

Anways, finally I usually don't do the meme thing but I've seen this one floating around and felt the urge to contribute:

Questions:

1) What was the first comic you remember reading?

2) What was the first comic that made you realize that you might be in this for the long haul?

3) If you had to make a snap decision to take one comic or one comic run to a desert island, what would it be? Don't think too hard!

Answers:

1) Star Wars # 7, I'm talking about the original comic book series that was published by Marvel. Mom bought it for me and my brother at the PX (at the U.S. Embassy) in Paris, where we were living at the time. I think it came in a three pack that also included #8 and #9. We had other comic books, Donald Duck, Asterix, Tintin, Lucky Luke, etc. but Star Wars #7 is the one that sticks in my mind even though it may or may not have been the very first comic book I read.

2) Marvel Graphic Novel # 5: God Loves Man Kills

3) All-Star Squadron - hands down my favorite series when I was growing up. I loved the history lessons in the letters pages. Plus Roy Thomas was nice enough to publish two of my fan letters. Towards the end of the series it lost some of its momentum but it was still a must buy for me and I hated to see it go.