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.

Free Comic Book Day

Its Free Comic Book Day! I'm planning to go to Barbarian. I dunno if they are having a sale or not but maybe they'll have some of them free comic books. Also I think I wanna buy a copy of the new printing of Punisher: Circle of Blood. I've never read it before and it was drawn by Mike Zeck who drew Captain America way back when I had a subscription, 25+ years ago. He draws faces kind of funny or maybe its just the shapes of peoples' heads that look odd to me; either way I like the way he draws.

P: COB was written by Steven Grant. I read something else that the two of them collaborated on. I think it was an image or Dark Horse. It had a very noir feel to it and I think I liked it. It was a bout a guy who gets out of prison and returns to home town. Of course, things have changed and not for the better. I think it was called Damned. That's about all I can remember.

In other news....


April is over and here's what I read during April:

Manga

• Yotsuba v3 ~ chapters 21 & 22
• Phoenix v8 ~ pp. 171 - 340
• Bleach v 15 ~ chapters 124 - 130
• Fruits Basket v1 ~ chapter 1
  

Comic Books

• Strangers in Paradise v2 ~ #s 8 & 9
• Powers v7: Forever ~ #s 34 - 37
• Invincible v6 ~ #s 25 - 30
  
• Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four v6 ~ #s 55 & 56
• Uncanny X-Men Omnibus v1 ~ #s 118 - 120

Fantastic Four is still awesome although I think I will take a break from the Lee & Kirby stuff once I am finished with the current volume I am reading.

Uncanny X-Men by Claremont, Byrne, and Austin is still a lot of fun but not quite as perfect as some people would have me believe. There are highs and lows. The artwork by Byrne and Austin is for the most spectacular. The stories and characterizations often leave me wanting more and thinking that they could have done a better job with the material.

So I finished reading all the Powers stories that were originally published by Image. I love this series but I can see how some people might not. It isn't standard superhero fare. I think that's why I like it. Standard superheros are fairly predictable. The average reader knows what their powers are, their motivations, etc. That is not the case with Powers and I love all the little reveals that happen along the way.

I've already written about how Invincible left me feeling. Will I ever pick it up again? Maybe.

Strangers in Paradise is very different from the other comic books I've been reading. I sometimes have a hard time connecting with the story. I don't think its the writing or the art as much as it is my preconceived notions of what a comic book should be. Most mainstream comic books are predictable. SiP isn't mainstream and it isn't predictable. So it is a different sort of read; more like a novel than the the other sequential artwork that I read. I've got the next volume, so I'll read it but I'll have to see if I will read any more beyond that.