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!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"I have them in magazine B&Bs but they don't really fit in there."

Ya shoulda bought the slipcase like Rob and I did. :)

"...is that the size the creators intended?"

Yes, that's what I remember reading when they were released.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

What comic books have I read today? Well, I'll tell you. Every once in a while I kind of "overextend" myself and keep reading until something breaks. Inexplicably, this often happens over Labor Day weekend. Currently I partially focused on reading comics books I own but have never read. That's not stopping me from buying new ones, though, not even "new" backissues.

"DETECTIVE" COMICS: Last week I had only two issues of The Maze Agency; today I own every issue (from three publishers) except two. This started out as reading comics I bought 25 years ago, but ended up a "quest." Today I'm reading Sandman Mystery Theatre #5-8. (Last week I read #1-4.) These are comics I have read before, but not since they were new. The Maze Agency is going to keep my busy for some time but, if my mood holds, once my slate clears a little I plan to move on the Nathanial Dusk (which, again, I have read before, but not for a while). 

TIME TRAVEL COMICS: I started last weekend reading Aztec Ace. I had planned to finish it last weekend, but it's taking me longer than I thought it would. I have several other "time travel" series waiting in the wings.

Last week I reread Infinity Gauntlet for the first time in a while. I like Thanos and I like Jim Starlin (not to mention George Perez), but I tend to reread Captain Marvel and Warlock much more frequently than Infinity Gauntlet. I think I might recommend Infinity Gauntlet to only t a non-comics-reading fan of the MCU.

I have been meaning to start a "She-Hulk" discussion for years now. It would have been one issue at a time, but if I do it now I may do one series at a time. Now, perhaps inspired by the new TV show, I am currently about half-way through The Savage She-Hulk for the second time (in my life, not recently). 

I am also working my way through Wasteland. This is a series, like The Maze Agency, I can easily put down and walk away from if I get overloaded, then come back to when I'm in the mood. I'm also in the mood to read Jonah Hex, but I've got to clear something off my plate first. 

Plus there are my ongoing discussions, Swamp Thing, Sandman and Marvel Fanfare (not to mention new comics every week).

Okay, those are the comics I am reading. 

[The Baron]

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle-dungle-burstein-von-knacker-thrasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty-spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen-gutenabend-bitte-ein-nürnburger-bratwustle-gerspurten-mitzweimache-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-shönendanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm #4

(Sorry, just running a joke into the ground.)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

HIGHBALL #1: In one of DC's more recent Green Lantern reboots, "Highball" was Hal jordan's Air Force nickname. Here is a character who actually lives up to what the name implies. It reminds me a little of Fletcher Hanks' Spacehawk (but only a little). 

DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #4: The first three issues of this series were titled "Dark Crisis." Now that the cat is out of the bag, DC is going back to print on #1-3 with the full title on the cover. Show of hands: How many people are going to buy a second copy of each? (Perhaps a better question would be: How  many people bought the first three issues?)

NEW FANTASTIC FOUR #4: Once "The World's Most Commercialest Magazine."

CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINAL OF LIBERTY #4: The best issue so far; very philosophical.

SHE-HULK #6: So different from The Savage She-Hulk. So much better. 

[The Baron]

No, a person would have to be a special kind of obsessive completist fanatic to do that.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #4: The first three issues of this series were titled "Dark Crisis." Now that the cat is out of the bag, DC is going back to print on #1-3 with the full title on the cover. Show of hands: How many people are going to buy a second copy of each? 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"No, a person would have to be a special kind of obsessive completist fanatic to do that."

Why're you looking at me when you say that? 

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Big Man Plans (Expanded Edition) - This was great! A, um, little person exacts revenge upon people who did not only him, but a person he cared about wrong. I am both delighted and mad at myself for getting into Eric Powell's work so late.

The Winchester Mystery House - This was okay. There is a significant passage of time in this trade, but it doesn't tell you exactly how much, which perturbed me. There is also a part in which a black person kills someone, and Sarah Winchester tells him he must hide because the law won't treat him fairly. Lord knows, that is true in the history of the US. But he did kill the dude, and it was only because he got scared.

[JD DeLuzio]

I came across a cheap and pristine copy of Magnus, Robot Fighter Archives, Volume 3. That was the era I know, so I have a solid collection with incredible art of some stories I read and some that are new to me. It's a weird blend of progressive and problematic. Tech, as in so many depictions of the future, is the expected blend of far-future dreams and contemporary assumptions. The series both tries to be more inclusive, with sporadic missteps or facepalms. The stories, as comics of the period, hold up well.

[TheBastard]

Captain Marvel #37-39 - Trial of the Watcher

Has to be one most pointless and poorly "classic" Marvel stories I've read. I can't even really put the plot into words coherently but I think it goes something like this:

- Hank Pym tells Mar-Vell that the Lunatic Legion is on the moon and is trying to kill Rick Jones.

- Mar-Vell goes to investigate and is attacked by The Watcher for seemingly no reason

- The Lunatic Legion has their base set up in The Watcher's home and somehow The Watcher is ok with that, no mind-control or anything (at least I don't remember it mentioned or anything)

- Lunatic Legion captures Mar-Vell and tries to disintegrate him with a mind weapon, but to no avail

- Due to the affects of the weapon, him and Rick Jones can now willfully transform back and forth

- He defeats the Lunatic Legion just by punching and kicking them and The Watcher goes back home for his trial

- At the most pointless trial ever, the other Watchers reprimand Uatu for interfering again and again.

- But Mar-Vell comes in with some speech and.......all the other Watchers were moved and says "good job"....end of trial.

The Thanos War arc was probably the best classic Marvel story ever and after that I get one of the dumbest stories ever....wow. 

[The Baron]

Unmagical Girl , vol. 2, by Ryouichi Yokoyama and Manmaru Uetsuki - A young woman named Tanahashi Mayuri inadvertently summons her childhood favorite anime character, Pretty Angel NirBrave (think "Dollar Tree Sailor Moon") into the real world. It truns out that Brave has no marketable skills, can't get a job, and ends up crashing on Mayuri's couch.  Things get complicated as other characters from the anime turn up and have their own issues dealing with a "non-super-hero"  world.  Amusing stuff.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

MARVEL FANFARE: I recently completed reading the entire run. (Don't be tooo impressed, though; I started three years ago.)

AZTEC ACE: Just finished this 1980s Eclipse series for the first time. Good stuff, but very dense.

SWAMP THING: I started reading Swamp Thing from the beginning earlier this year and have just finished the second series.

SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: A few weeks ago, I reported rereading #1-8, which is where I stopped buying. My LCS has two tpbs (reprinting #1-12 and #13-24). I have since bought and read #9-12 as backissues so that, when I'm in the mood again, I can pick up the second tpb.

With these series off my plate, I can concentrate on other things.

[Travis Herrick (Modular Mod)]

Eight Billion Genies #1-4 - I read the first 4 issues of this 8 issue mini-series. It is insane and insanely good. Here every person on Earth gets their own genie, and everyone gets one wish. With this, chaos ensues. Some of the scenes of what is going on is very cool looking. As the series progresses you see how some people are trying to use their wish in imaginative ways. Some want to help, some don't. A lot of people waste their wish. So far I've really enjoyed this, and this is by the same team that made Curse Words, Charles Soule and Ryan Browne. Which I also really liked.