Or so you would think. Lately, though, I have somehow managed to run up something of an issues mountain. I'm not sure why this is… maybe I have been spending too long looking for pictures of pandas to accompany short posts about some lamer music festival I was at a couple of months back.
Anyway, I know propose to list my recently acquired but unread comics issues.
The Programme #7, by Peter Milligan and C.P. Smith
I have somewhat lost interest in this nicely drawn tale of a mysterious Soviet Union superhero programme that has now somehow been reactivated. Maybe I will eventually read this and realise it is a work of genius and charge off to look for issue 8.
The Umbrella Academy #6, by Gerard Way & Gabriel BaThis series was written by a member of some well-known goth/emo band, but the real star has always been the art. This is the last issue, I must read it sometime to see if the titular heroes (a bunch of adoptive sibling superhero types) manage to save the world from whatever it is they were trying to save it from.
Star Wars: Rebellion #11, by Jeremy Barlow, Colin Wilson, & Wil Glass
I picked this up on a whim, because of its nice art. Colin Wilson was a 2000 AD artist, famous for his grotty high-tech work on the likes of Judge Dredd and, particularly, Rogue Trooper. Even if the story is rubbish, I will still have the art. However, one thing making me afraid to read it is that maybe the story will be total genius, and I will then become the kind of person who starts buying Star Wars comics, and you don't want that.
Secret Invasion: Saga by various Marvel hacks
Where the fuck did this come from? I think maybe this is some kind of thing you get free when you buy things in the comics shop or something. It looks like it some kind of Marvel Universe primer for whatever their latest suckass crossover is.
The Exterminators #27, by Simon Oliver and John Lucas
This is a rofflesome comic about these pest exterminator guys who spend their time killing cockroaches and rats and stuff. This is not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. I must read this issue sometime, don't want to full behind.
Star Wars: Free Comic Book Day by Miles Lane & Nicola Scott
Look, it was given to me by a friend, I swear.
Apocalypse Nerd #6, by Peter Bagge
As was this. I actually bought and read the first issue of this one ages ago, but then missed the second and decided not to bother thereafter. It is about some nerds who have to survive out in the back woods after the North Koreans launch a nuclear strike on the USA. It will probably be funny.
Young Liars #1, by David Lapham
David Lapham is one of those comics auteurs you hear about. I bought this because first issues of comics always increase in value.
Batman: Detective Comics #842, by Peter Milligan, Dustin Nguyen, and Derek Fridolfs
I must have bought this on the assumption that Peter Milligan's name on the cover of a comic is a mark of quality. I'm not sure where I get these ideas… while I love his Skreemer, that was twenty years ago, and I am not aware of him doing much of consequence since then. But we will see.
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ReplyDeleteConsidering that in the last twenty years Milligan has written Skin, Shade, Enigma, Face, The Human Target, The Extremist and X-Statix, I feel that his name on a comic should at least suggest having a look!
ReplyDeleteYay Panda Panda Panda
ReplyDeleteSorry I have nothing to add on the comic front except to say I occasionally dip into the books that D has and enjoy them to a point. Not too pushed on how they depict women. I find them lacking in strenght the way the male characters are not.... I wait to be corrected on that front cause I do not read that many so poss do not know what I am talking about.
Anyway as I was saying Panda, Panda, Panda....
Andrew - I take your point, but many of those comics are either from ages ago or are not that good (or both). Having said that, even his bad stuff has a certain quality to it, and I basically agree with you that seeing his name on a title does make it worth checking out.
ReplyDeleteFlossyla - I've never been a great fan of the "strong women characters" criterion for judging the worth of artworks, as strong characters are often not that interesting. Though of course it depends what you mean by "strong", of course.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to claim that comics generally are hotbeds of fully rounded female characters, though I reckon that a lot of the male characters aren't that well-developed either, particularly in the comics about people in funny costumes kicking the crap out of each other; it's just the male characters tend to be weak in other ways.
I've never been a great fan of the "strong women characters" criterion for judging the worth of artworks, as strong characters are often not that interesting. Though of course it depends what you mean by "strong", of course.
ReplyDeletedo you have any idea how much trouble you're in now ian.
do you
No, I do not.
ReplyDelete