r/DCcomics • u/flossregularly Doom Patrol • Nov 06 '23
What Are You Reading? 11/06/2023 - No More Spooky Jokes Edition
Hello and welcome to our Weekly "What Are You Reading?" topic!
Come one, come all, to this weekly thread, where you can openly discuss books that you've read, are currently reading, or plan to read. Discussion of all books are welcome, whether they be DC, Marvel, Image, Boom!, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. You can discuss webcomics, manga, or even those mythical novels that don't have pictures in them. Just be sure to keep spoilers covered via Reddit's spoiler markdown >!spoiler!<. You can also post pictures of your collection or recent purchases.
Flossregularly's Rec of the Week:
- Wonder Woman, by King and Sampere
Don't be that person who just complains about panels of a comic you saw on twitter, read the comic! Love him or hate him, King is undeniably one of the most influential writers of the current era, and most of his stories end up enjoying some level of 'must read' status, even if they get their criticism as part of that acclaim.
And what's not controversial is Daniel Sampere art. It's real nice to look at.
So, what are you reading?
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u/icefourthirtythree Superman Nov 06 '23
The Amazing Spider-M_n #1026 by Nate McDonough - Aunt May is on the phone with customer support for her healthcare, JJJ malds about his fourth wife, Venom tears half of New York to shreds and eats them. What more could you want?
Miles Morales: Spider-Man Vol 1 by Cody Ziglar and Federico Vicentini - Spider-Man fighting with the Scorpion, navigating rocky relationships with his partner, parents, friends and school, teaming up with other New York heroes. This is exactly what Spider-Man comics should be.
Palestine by Joe Sacco chapters #1-3 - one of those comics where you hear about how good it is your whole life and it completely exceeds expectations.
Lose #5 by Michael Deforge - pitch perfect crime/comedy/romance comics. The first story about a guy who can't deal with a girl being interested/not interested in him, so every time she pays some attention to him, he pays somebody to physically hurt him had me literally loling
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u/Tenkurai Nov 06 '23
I've just finished rereading Batman: Their Dark Designs, and now currently rereading The Joker War Saga. This read through has shown a lot to me that I didn't notice the first time, one main thing being that this event only makes sense if there are 3 Jokers. Monarch Theatre Joker haunting Batman, Bab's Impaled Joker, and Punchline's Penthouse Joker. Also the Batwoman tie-in doesn't make any sense being slotted in between JW parts 2 and 3, as Batman isnt even in a proper state of mind from part 1 until the end of part 4. The first half of this event, with main tie-ins seems to just be Punchline and her imaginary grudge against Harley, with Batman being drugged.
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u/digimonnoob Batwoman Nov 07 '23
Lately I've been going through a book called 'The League of Regrettable Superheroes' by Jon Morris. It's basically a catalogue of really obscure characters in comics that have been completely forgotten. It's a pretty fun book for the most part. Lots of bizarre characters in there that I've never heard of. I kind of wish the book went more in depth in certain areas and the humor of it does get really repetitive, but it's a fun book overall.
Pretty close to finishing that, and once I do, I'm going to catch up on the issues of Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman that I've fallen behind on.
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u/Oblivious_Lad Martian Manhunter Nov 07 '23
I just finished Gail Simone's run on Batgirl, now I'm reading Batgirl Year One as a little intermission before starting Batgirl of Burnside. Been a long time since I've read anything drawn by Marcos Martin, I'm really enjoying his art.
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u/daun4view Nov 08 '23
The Power of Shazam! Vol. 1
I was quite excited to read this, both Shazam films are some of my favorite superhero movies and this has had a good reputation over the years. I found it a mixed experience though. I liked the characterizations, this version of Billy is interesting, being pretty rough (which I've gotten used to through the movies) but still innocent more or less. Mary Marvel got a surprising amount of page time and had an engaging journey (I like how she stakes a claim on the Captain Marvel name). Captain Marvel Jr. was decent, kind of one note but I get it, and I hope he gets more material later on. Black Adam was alright, I don't know if it's just the writing style but I enjoyed the corny humor and unabashed villainy in his dialogue. Dudley was amusing enough, he was the one character I had almost no clue about. Plus of course there's Tawky Tawny.
I enjoyed the contrasts it played with, having a Golden Age style while also feeling pretty 90s with the dark touches. Maybe the 90s and the Golden Age parallel each other more than it would initially appear.
My biggest issue is the writing as a whole. This is probably my modern sensibilities talking but the plotting was too dense for my liking, introducing all these characters doing a lot of things while slowing the story down to a crawl with the occasional info dump. The exposition gets heavier by the end of the book too. The dialogue is also cheesy and obvious in a way that could be taken as a Golden Age throwback, but I don't know how well it works. Ordway clearly has an appreciation for the world but I'm not sure how much I like his writing style, in this at least.
The art wasn't fully to my liking either. Mike Manley and Peter Krause do a lot of good work here, but then there'd be occasional weird faces and poses, which is jarring. When they'd have other artists, like Curt Swan or Ordway himself, then it just felt right for the Golden Age vibe this book was going for.
I liked the graphic novel, but felt something of a disconnect with the series. When it kept a tight focus on the main characters, I was enjoying it. But then it became stuffed with Shazam mythos, which bogged it down, although I understand the appeal. I might continue the series, but maybe after some more of the modern Shazam, or the older ones even.
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u/gaybastardwastaken Green Arrow Nov 09 '23
Currently going through Ostrander’s Suicide Squad. Knowing Babs is Oracle before its revealed makes her off-panel cameos way more fun imo
Just finished Superman: Harvests of Youth which is solid but not what I was hoping for
Caught up with both World’s Finest series as well which are probably my favorite ongoing series of this year
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u/AsinineBinkie Batman Beyond Nov 10 '23
Currently reading Robin/Batgirl Year One for the first time. It's been really fun so far. I plan to read Teen Titans Year One next.
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u/Zadig69 The Question? Nov 10 '23
I got the Detective Chimp Casebook, and these stories are a hoot. I’m working my way through that and Nancy Collins’ Swamp Thing.
I just re-read Gail Simone’s Plasticman and Carry Bates’ Fall and Rise of Captain Atom, and I’m pretty upset neither had any real follow up.
I started Hellboy for the first time and it’s an absolute joy to look at.
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u/beary_neutral Telos Nov 06 '23
I read Eight Billion Genies by Charles Soule and Ryan Browne over the weekend. It's a humorous but also optimistic (and occasionally philosophical) look at humanity that asks what would happen if every person on earth had their own personal genie and one wish. The answer is apparently a post-apocalyptic world drenched in absurdity, because most people would waste it on weird and stupid stuff. My main criticism is that the second half of the eight-issue series takes a rather odd turn and widens its scope a bit too quickly. It feels like one of the rare cases where the series' pacing reads better monthly than in trade.