What Comic Books Have You Read Today?

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I dipped in to my IDW Steve Niles Omnibus again. I read the first couple parts of the five-part miniseries Wake the Dead, which was illustrated by Chee in a style that reminds me of Kelley Jones. It's a modern Frankenstein story, but mad scientist Victor is trying to bring back his friend William, which is unlikely to end well.

Beware the Creeper was a five-part Vertigo miniseries by Jason Hall & Cliff Chiang (who also did the covers). It was the first lengthy, high-profile illustration project Chiang did after his assistant editor stint at DC. This Creeper is female, and the story is set in Paris in the 1920s, so there is no direct connection to the original Creeper created by Steve Ditko. But Zatana appears, so it is apparently set in the DC Universe.

[Kirk G]

I read the third installment of the Avengers set-up arc, and believe me, it's just as confusing as the first two parts of the arc were.

I read Young Avengers #1, and also feel confused, but hopeful the threads will come together.

The last Brubaker issue of Winter Soldier is good, but a bit of a let-down that not everything was happily resolved.

The third issue of Uncanny Avengers was good, but I wish they'd get on with it.  I'm not sure just where they are going to take this Red Skull/Prof X Brain combo, but I suspect that the Red Skull is going to get ID'd as having some mutant gene and bit it big in the end.  (IS this and on-going or a mini series?)

Have I gone on record as haiting the Secret Avengers recently?  Didn't find the next/new issue, but I swear, it will be my last.

That means I'll be down to just five regular titles each month... $20 out of my pocket for my "habit".  We'll see if I can aford that new  budget for this year...

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Beware the Creeper was a five-part Vertigo miniseries by Jason Hall & Cliff Chiang (who also did the covers). It was the first lengthy, high-profile illustration project Chiang did after his assistant editor stint at DC. This Creeper is female, and the story is set in Paris in the 1920s, so there is no direct connection to the original Creeper created by Steve Ditko. But Zatana appears, so it is apparently set in the DC Universe.

When did this one come out, Mark? It doesn't ring a bell at all.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

The first issue is cover dated June, 2003. It's also part of the VertigoX ten year anniversary celebration.

Travis Herrick said:

Beware the Creeper was a five-part Vertigo miniseries by Jason Hall & Cliff Chiang (who also did the covers). It was the first lengthy, high-profile illustration project Chiang did after his assistant editor stint at DC. This Creeper is female, and the story is set in Paris in the 1920s, so there is no direct connection to the original Creeper created by Steve Ditko. But Zatana appears, so it is apparently set in the DC Universe.

When did this one come out, Mark? It doesn't ring a bell at all.

[Kirk G]

I remember it coming out, Travis.  If you're looking for it, I know I bought a couple of the issues. I'd gladly part with them. Let me know before I go digging through everything to find my mint copies.

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I remember really liking it -- Chiang's art impressed me from the jump.

[Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man]

I read Stumptown #5 this morning. It was the big wind-down after the rush of the previous couple of issues. The story was nice, the pages felt were heavy, and the art was pretty good. The "benefactor" who appeared in this issue was drawn pretty unevenly--you couldn't tell he was the same guy from panel to panel let alone page to page. Overall, satisfying conclusion.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

The first issue is cover dated June, 2003. It's also part of the VertigoX ten year anniversary celebration.

Ah, okay. I know I got the 10 year anniversary book, but heck that was quite a while ago.

I remember it coming out, Travis.  If you're looking for it, I know I bought a couple of the issues. I'd gladly part with them. Let me know before I go digging through everything to find my mint copies.

Thanks for the offer, Kirk. I'll check at my LCS next weekend, plus there is a show the weekend after that. I'll keep you in mind if I don't find it. It would be a while before I ever got to it anyways.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

I could have sworn I remembered a trade collection, but Amazon lists one due to be released on August 6, 2013. I finished reading the individual issues this morning, and I'd say it's worth seeking out either way. There are several twists at the end. They're mostly predictable if you were really paying attention, but not entirely. The ending pays off nicely.

I also finished Steve Niles' Wake the Dead mini. Not bad, but it seems like Niles thickened the plot by having every possible thing go wrong. It was a bit much by the end, but I liked the ending his Frankenstein monster got.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Long weekend for me. I started the final Northlanders collection. Northlanders Book 7: The Icelandic Trilogy tells the story of the Norse settlement of Iceland. Each of the three-issue arcs was illustrated by a different artist: Paul Azaceta is the first. I note that DC's cover blurb describes the series as "the modern classic," which is a pretty ironic thing to say about a series they cancelled rather abruptly.

Vertical was a one-shot by Steven T. Seagle, Mike Allred, Philip Bond, and Laura Allred. As the title implies, it was done in an experimental vertical format, with a six-panel grid on each set of facing pages. Brando Bale leaps off of buildings--always miraculously finding a way to survive the landing--and it is those splash pages that justify the format. Otherwise it's a love story set at the Warhol Factory of the '60s, the center of Pop Art. Brando's love interest Zilly Kane is a dead ringer for Gwen Price, the lead character in iZombie.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Forgot to mention that Vertical is half the width of a normal comic book. So a pair of facing pages gives the same amount of page space as a single comic book page. The panel layout does make use of the format, but only the falling sequences actually require it as they were drawn.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Mark Sullivan said:

Long weekend for me. I started the final Northlanders collection. Northlanders Book 7: The Icelandic Trilogy tells the story of the Norse settlement of Iceland. Each of the three-issue arcs was illustrated by a different artist: Paul Azaceta is the first. I note that DC's cover blurb describes the series as "the modern classic," which is a pretty ironic thing to say about a series they cancelled rather abruptly.

I read that earlier this week myself.  I thought it was quite good, and liked the century spanning arc. I hated Paul Azaceta's art when he on Spider-man a 2-3 years ago, but I think it worked well with this story.