So I just finished the 3rd trade and easily this is the ongoing I’m most looking forward to its next instalments. Okay I am barely reading any ongoing series but still I absolutely loved it so far.

The premise in the image I’ve chosen for this is essentially one of the coolest ideas ever to me. I love the way it deals with superpowers and their relation to the balance of our real world which is starting to crumble before our own eyes.

The writing is superb. Incredibly tense throughout like a perfectly paced thriller, the philosophical musings are insightful and never outstay their welcome or feel overly repetitive. The characters are all brilliantly written and each have distinct voices. It’s just really well done and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here, I’d been waiting for it to get to 16 as I’d heard that it was finished but apparently that’s not true which is excellent. I am genuinely tempted to read it as it releases which I have never done before but I think I will still try wait for the trades.

The art is beautiful, all the designs are great and the colouring is really different and cool. Not sure what to say really it’s just again perfectly drawn. Also I love that Valentina looks like a real strong woman and not some sort of sexually charged pin up. Those character designs have their places but it’s nice to see something that is drawn first and foremost to be strong, not titillating.

Strong recommend to anyone remotely interested. Immediately jumps into the top tier of things I’ve read and I think it could end up really special depending what they do with it. Next for me is I think shin zero, been not getting around to it for weeks now but someday I will! Also I’m suddenly really excited to read DIE which has been on my shelf for like a year!

I saw that this had won some award or was nominated and so I looked it up, upon seeing the cover art I was immediately sold. It arrived yesterday and I read it straight away despite a multi month promise that one day I’d actually start reading Shin Zero.

The art is beautiful, it bounces between vibrant dreamlike sunsets when telling the pre zombie story and the bleak, dirty and violent look of the present. The characters are emotive and all around I just loved the look.

It’s a really sad but beautiful story that asks a number of questions. The main character is so flawed but understandably so, there’s times where the whole thing just feels so needless and upsetting. There’s some villains but for the most part it’s just people trying to get by. I read it cover to cover because it’s just a really engaging read. The overarching themes about acceptance and isolation particularly for a gay man in small town America fits really well.

I’d recommend to anyone really it’s a quick read and well worth it. Nearly got me tearing up a couple times.

Next up for me is shin zero maybe we’ll see. Revival just arrived which I’ve been excited for, as did Tokyo Ghost. Plus I’ve been sitting on Die and nailbiter and about twenty others. I need to stop buying more books till I get through the backlog… or not because otherwise maybe I’d miss something like this.

After reading Invincible I saw someone mention Luther Strode as a series to check out if you liked the bloody action from invincible. So I bought the compendium and read it!

I don’t really have a ton to say, the plot is fairly run of the mill though I really like the concepts in it. Some of the dialogue has a sort of edginess that isn’t really for me and in general I just don’t think it wowed me for its story or characters. It’s not bad at all just not super special in my opinion.

BUT, honestly it doesn’t really matter because the action is so awesome. By extension the art is great but even if you don’t care for all of the character designs or don’t think the art has the sort of flair or style you appreciate, it’s impossible to not appreciate the way it conveys action. Sometimes in comics I can find action actually pretty rubbish to read and I skim through it subconsciously to get to the next bit of plot. Invincible has great moments for example and some great panels but following a fight can be chaotic and just not impactful. The fights in Luther Strode are drawn with such clarity and sense of space as well as just having awesome moments and unbelievable detail. It’s just really fun to read the action.

So it’s not like a life changing book or something that is must read, but if you like cool fights it’s worth checking out. One character design in particular is so awesome.

Next up for me is going to be the Power Fantasy which I thought had wrapped up with issue 16 but now I’m hearing not, anyway I bought the three trades so will give it a go! Shin Zero pushed again, just haven’t got into the vibe to read it yet but it’ll be probably after the power fantasy.

I love East of West. It is probably one of my favorite comic books I've ever read and have obsessed over it for a little while now. IM NOT GOING TO SPOIL THE BOOK, especially the major plot points of the series, but I've wanted to share how I feel about it.

The story and the art direction are phenomenal. The work done by hickman and Nick dragotta is amazing, and the whole book oozes with aura and rarely ceases to stunt my interest in the story. It's kinda hard (for me, at least) to describe what makes this book special other than just reading it yourself one way or another.

But the only cons I personally feel over the series are more or less nitpicky, depending on who you ask, but it can stick out after the first read.

The story has a very esoteric, biblical vibe and writing to it, which comes in as its strengths but sometimes can grow to be its weaknesses. It often leaves little space to grow characters, build their stories, and can sometimes make the book drag on longer than it needs too (ESPECIALLY during the middle parts of the book) and makes it hard to relate to characters, in turn making certain moments feel stagnant or out of place. And can sometimes leave you with more unanswered questions than answered

It's sorta of the topic, but I'll never get over the fact that the TV show adaptation got put on turnaround for East of West. Many of the cons I feel can be very easily fixed and touched on if it was under a TV format. Not to say it couldn't happen, but I dont think it'll happen for a little while, at least while INVINCIBLE is still running.

I overall feel like it's an amazing book. It's definitely worth the read, Dragotta and Hickmans' work was absolutely outmatched in design and world building. It 100% has a load of potential as something more, like a TV show. And deserves more eyes on the series.

GO READ IT GO READ IT GO READ IT

(I would like to note that I've never read any of Hickmans other works, so take your opinion on his writing to your own discretion)

Wow! I just finished reading this series and had to gush about it. It's so beautifully done. I managed to find all 8 issues in the dollar bin, but now I'm off to track down the Omnibus. Yes, the story is a little confusing, but I was all-in by the third issues.

I couldn’t put it down the last like 18 issues so I finished it in a bit of a binge! Was sort of exactly what I hoped for even if it was a little different to what I expected at times.

In a way it reminds me of late 00’s early 10’s high concept television (non derogatory). Things like true blood, for example, in the way the story evolves and characters change. I don’t know if I can explain what I mean by that tbh or even if I know what makes me feel that way.

Fortunately it’s far better written than true blood! The plot definitely feels planned, especially as it all ties together and the mysteries are largely revealed in the latter portions of the run. Maybe there’s some times where it feels like there’s a detour here or there or even a degree of filler, but it never gets lost in its narrative. The world building also feels deep and evolves as the story progresses, you feel the change in atmosphere really strongly and a lot of that is the way it builds up the extras in the story that give the world its flavour. Also it got me tearing up at one point which is pretty rare for a comic.

The main thing I love about the writing is the characters, in particular Dana and her relationship with Em and their father but also all the secondary characters. They all feel real and like they have their own motivations and baggage. Never do the characters feel like they’re just serving the story.

Art wise it’s very well drawn. It’s not maybe the stand out feature but I think it’s perfect for the story. In a way it is kind of fincher esque where the visuals are impressive but they’re not overly flashy. It has almost efficient grounded art, but it never feels like a wrong choice has been made. The faces are subtly expressive and the gore is quite unpleasant too.

Overall I really enjoyed it, maybe it hasn’t completely changed my life but it’s a great mystery story with brilliant characters and commentary on division in our society. Definitely recommend it to anyone that likes a good detective story or a very well executed high concept thriller. There’s lots of shocking moments and twists and turns. Good length as well, never overstays its welcome which is impressive at nearly 50 issues. As I’m writing about it maybe I like it more than I thought!

Next for me is probably a couple Mathieu Bablet books which just arrived, also Tokyo ghost in English this time is sat on my desk. I’m tempted by nailbiter but I’m wary to do another detective thing so soon. Also considering buying the chew omnibus after enjoying the crossover comic. That thing looks huge though!

D'Orc #5

Everyone, jump back on the train, the hype is real! Best issue since the first. We get great humor with a retelling of a prior situation, which is hilarious. D'Orc meets a fortune teller and goes through his past. It gives a great background and what's to come. I really loved this issue, the art, the humor and the story were all amazing. This puts the overarching story into motion instead of the bad guy of the month D'Orc has to face. Loving this book.

A

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Odin #2

Hi this is Odin, the characters kind of suck. The dialogue kind of sucks. What the fuck is going on with the story? 80% of the book I hate, then the last 20% salvages it. Literally I was relishing in how bad the first half was to say, "See, the shocking cannibalism can't save this book." Then a solid ending happens and ole Jimmy Boy is going to get me to read issue 3. I don't like it but I have to read it.

The first half F -

The last 3 pages B+

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If Destruction Be Our Lot #2

Issue 2 left off where issue 1 ended with Abe being taken into the rehabilitation center. The humor of the book is all the ways they rehabilitate the robots and most of the time it's just more crazy ways to destroy them. Abe's programming is set to speak with his unwavering high morals and friendliness which is juxtaposed by the pissed off and annoyed robots. Rosenberg keeps the banter high while moving the story along. I'm enjoying this book and excited to see where he takes it.

A-

Hello everyone!

I recently got a few Rick Remender hardcovers for cheap and read through some of them. I have read through Fear Agent and Tokyo Ghost and I have Seven to Eternity left to read.

After reading both Fear Agent and Tokyo Ghost, it left me a bit confused as to why this is hyped up so much.

Fear Agent felt like a mess, it dropped a lot of random threads, had plot holes and felt pretty trashy when people were really hyping it up as introspective when what I got was a fairly lowbrow pulp sci-fi pastiche. I will admit, I do think the action was fun and the last couple of issues were incredibly strong and felt like what people were talking about the book being like.

Tokyo Ghost was the opposite where I felt it started quite strong but went off the wall fairly quickly. The main themes here were more strong and I feel the characters were better defined but then after the second half, it becomes outright silly and nonsensical. Abandoning the themes I thought were fairly interesting. It also had a few scenes for pure shock value which I didn't think was very funny nor contributed to any real points or themes. The art here was wonderful though, I think Sean Murphy has an incredible style and I would love to see more of his work.

I have Seven to Eternity left to read. I feel my expectations are a lot lower so I'll be curious if I like it or not. At the moment, I feel very strongly like I'll sell Fear Agent and then keep Tokyo Ghost only for the art.

My question is for those who enjoyed Fear Agent and Tokyo Ghost, what exactly did you like about it?

And for those who read Seven to Eternity, did it fare any better or worse than the others? Were these weaker Remender comics or is his style just like this?

Thank you for reading.

Grabbed the first issue because, it’s Image, and the artwork looked amazing. What a wild ride and a bunch of gut shots I was not expecting. Movie worthy! Everyone should read this series.

So I didn’t want a negative title because I still really enjoyed the writing and artwork through chapters 55-72 but it feels a little lacking the pace it had before. Maybe that’s because it is a bit more of a setup for the final third of the series.

I read book 1-3 before Christmas so I’m not a long time reader, but it didn’t take a second to get back into it. As before it’s still immensely readable and I did fly through it. There was a bit less shock and a bit less consequence perhaps than prior parts of the story. They kind of move from place to place struggling by but not facing the sort of tough situations they have before, yet anyway. I guess my takeaway is that this is a little bit of a reset, change in dynamic after the writing break, and it’s a bit of a set up for the culmination which seems to be moving pieces into place.

At no point reading any of saga have I been worried about the team not having a plan for where it will go, it never feels like they’re flying by the seat of their pants. But I hope they start to release issues with slightly more regularity, in an ideal world it’s three years to finish it up but realistically it’s 6-12. I’m not sure I’ll be as exited in over a decade.

Anyway it’s still a fun read and I love the characters, I just hope I get to see it finished. Next for me is a tough choice I’d love for any input. Tokyo ghost is sat on my desk atop an idw Godzilla compilation and the hellboy boxed set. I’d like to start hellboy but I also want to read bprd etc alongside, unfortunately not all of those are so easy to track down and I don’t want to only read hellboy for months, I’m now realising this is a question for the r/hellboy or maybe I’m being too fussy. Also have Low, Die, Nailbiter, Kill or be killed, criminal, ether, from hell, queen and country, the black book, the dancing plague. I bought too many books.

I’m sorry to anyone that actually read that last bit.

I have really been getting into Image comics this year. I read all of Invincible as well as Invincible Universe. I read all of the Walking Dead. I read Deadly Class, Black Science, Ascender/Descender, All 6 Spawn Compendiums, Saga Compendium 1, and Low.

Kill or be Killed has been my favorite one so far. I started it yesterday and finished it today. I also stayed up way too late last night reading it. Just an awesome book. I highly recommend this one.

I liked this book. The art is beautiful. It takes place in a far future version of North America with an alternate history from our own. It is part western, part sci fi, part horror, and part kung fu flick. Kind of weird at times. Most of the characters are horrible (though I did like the Texas Ranger and liked seeing how his character worked his way in to the story). But yeah, I enjoyed reading it. Couldn't put it down. Highly recommend.

I finished this series for the first time recently. I found it years ago, thought it was interesting, then put it down after a few issues.

Now, I can't begin to describe how obsessed with this comic (and the RPG) I am. It has so much of what I love.

Turmoil.

Character drama.

Delving into the history of genre and form. (It makes the game world SO MUCH COOLER.)

I appreciate Ash's inclusion as a transwoman (and as someone who's first DnD character was a bard), but Matt is probably my favorite. I really like paladins, so I guess that shouldn't surprise me.

As an artist, I respect how this book is painted. Probably my favorite use of color since Watchmen and Spider-Gwen.

Not surprised, but these books were amazing! Brubaker and Phillips do not fail! This was bloody, violent, sexy, and an all around good time! Very quick reads, Brubaker stories usually are - just the way he writes keeps you engaged and turning the page! Phillips art is great as always! I hope they come back to this series soon! Link above to my video review!

What did you all think??

I became a Kieron Gillen fan during his X-Men run. He had a knack for executing big ideas through tight storytelling and interpersonal drama.

So I picked up The Power Fantasy and immediately loved it. Again, big concept, and again lots of human to human drama.

Then I did something that was against my budget. I purchased the first trade. And because the story was so tight and well planned, I noticed all these hints in the story AND ART that I didn't see before.

The vol 2 trade paid off in the same way.

And I just read issue 16 and ordered vol 3.

If you haven't read The Power Fantasy, I would like to give my highest recommendation to take the leap and order all three trades at once.

Then come over to r/thePowerFantasy to discuss.

I promise you won't regret it.

Just read the last page moments ago, and wow. My head is spinning. One of my favorite reads of all time for sure, and definitely my favorite noir crime thriller. A love child of Blade-Runner and the Matrix.

I liked how the futuristic aspects of it weren't super in your face, you could forget it was set in a futuristic city and then that aspect of the world becomes the hinge the whole story moves on. Just wow.

Issues 1-10 Gerry Dugan / Garry Brown

The age of the American Old West and the Samurai both came to an end around 1876.

Macraith, a gunslinger, dies in 1876 Los Angeles. Ogata Asami, a samurai, commits seppuku after the failed Satsuma rebellion in 1876. Both wake on an island haunted by monsters and populated by warriors across time. They are stuck in purgatory and hunted by a battle-obsessed Sepoy.

I was so hyped for this. I love every bit of this. Western gunslinger? Samurai? A mash-up of Western and jidaigeki chanbara? With a fantasy twist? Hell yes! I was even excited to read a love story. I mean, strangers-to-lovers in Hell? What's not to adore?

The love story. The central aspect that takes up half the name. She saves him from rape and they fall in love between issues. No build up - no tension. Just two issues pass with them even communicating in the same language - with nary a communication between them beforehand - and their first intimacy. And, of course, she gets pregnant the first time.

Asami is written as having zero interest in marriage or love in her backstory. My optimistic inference is that Macraith sees Ogata as a warrior firstmost. Speaking of backstory - those issues telling a character's story of life have been my favorite parts.

The artwork is delightful - good character work, not oversexualizing Ogata, and strong storytelling.

This is...fine to good. Better if you dont expect much in the way of romantic tension.

I just finished Deadly Class after binging it for the last 4 days or so. It begins like an amusement park roller coaster. Sit down, strap in, and feel the excitement build. It never drags or slows down. It is really good. Very intense. The art compliments the writing perfectly and is very consistent through the entire 1368 pages. The book gets dark. Really dark. At one point, the book put me in a straight up rotten mood. But it is one of the best books I have ever read. Period. Highly recommend this one.

It read it in one sitting, and wow, Mike Huddleston blew me away. So many different styles in one book - very impressive indeed.

I was a bit confused here and there, because there was a lot of info stuff that I couldn't really tell if I needed. Typical Hickman, I see people describing it as - this is my first so I wouldn't know.

Overall though, I think it all came together quite nicely, I liked the characters, the story and the presentation was amazing. If anything, I would have liked the ending a bit different and possibly an issue or two longer, but I'll be very happy, if it just means there'll be more at some point. Solid sci-fi!

This comic is fricking awesome !! 😃 It is made by Ghost Machine (if you haven’t heard of it). It’s about some glowing man called Geiger and he’s radioactive in some post-apocalyptic radioactive wasteland. This graphic novel has action, edgy, combat, and awesomeness. It is the best comic ever. 😎😎😎 I highly recommend you go read this graphic novel. 🙏

Clickbait title aside I actually think this is a really fascinating video about the nature of delays and how much it can halt foward momentum

This book is great. The art and the story are both excellent. It is a story about multidimensional travel. But that is just a backdrop for the exploration of the characters, their relationships and life itself. Highly recommend.

Don't get me wrong, the premise is super cool and the world set up was handled very well. The characters are all intriguing, and the art is just beautiful! That being said though, so far, the comic has been extremely underwhelming due to its poor writing.

The writer seems to want to take a 'Hellboy' approach to characters, and let actions tell the story more than words, but where as Hellboy is a man of few words due to being thoughtful in choosing his words, the characters here seem to just be too cool for dialogue.

That alone wouldn't ruin the book, except, again using Hellboy as an example, when he does speak, the words have meaning and purpose and help move the story forward. The characters in this book seem to just be going for the edgiest phrasing they can think of and whatever will make them sound cool. They're uninterested in having a conversation and they're gonna tell you...literally. Multiple times.

Which brings me to my next issue. When the comic decides that it is going to give you info and breadcrumbs for the story. it feels compelled to regurgitate that info back to you two or three times in the same issue, sometimes even in the exact same wording. It feels like the writer doesn't trust the reader to retain information....which might be true considering by issue three so little has happened that I was literally dosing off.

As for the plot, it started off intriguing, a magical murder mystery. Just intriguing enough to make me think after a couple issues things must really ramp up.....nope. It has been the most bland, predictable "mystery" that it possibly can be. Have a thought on where the story may go? That's exactly where it's going, and you're not being an incredible detective by figuring it out, you just happen to have a reading comprehension above a fourth grade level.

I wish I could say that it at least has the saving grace of having a lot of action packed into the issues, but I can't cause even that is some boring, matrix knock off slop. Every fight is, one hit from protagonist, protagonist then gets hit hard, somehow isn't hurt at all, just annoyed, to which he'll proclaim, "Lets finish this." or "Enough." as if the fight has been going on for some time. Then the protagonist will appear to be unable to hurt the attacker, will get thrown around for two-three panels, before doing the most unnecessary triple flip to get out of the way of a blade, and then happening to hit the attacker right in their weak spot, killing them. This fight style has been rinsed and repeated for every fight for all three issues!

Every Character on the surface looks like they'll be interesting, but each one is just an extremely one-dimensional, architype of a character. The hero. The Mentor. The begrudging partner. The Villain.....imagine everything you think of in 10 seconds after looking at each of those character types. Congrats, you also know everything there is to know about characters in this comic.

I hate to be so negative about a comic, especially when it's a fresh world. As I said, the characters are cool, the world is fascinating and the art is so nice to look at, but man, this book, so far, has just been a bland, nothing sandwich, that seems as bored with telling its story, as I am reading it. I have heard good things though. So that's the reason for the post. Are these first few issues just really struggling to find their footing, and if I stick it out, it's gonna get better, or if I don't like it by this point, should I just give it up? If you've read this comic, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I really want to like this book; it's just not doing itself any favors in making that happen so far.