What I'm reading

For no particular reason, here are the comics I currently am reading:

  • Fables: The story arc dealing with the war between Fabletown and the Empire just concluded, and damn was it satisfying. Great, distinctive art, wonderful storytelling (both visually and in the script), and a truly diverse, interesting, deep cast of characters.
  • Thor: Not actually a favorite any more, I just keep forgetting to tell my comics shop to stop setting it aside for me. It's gotten awfully dull, Thor just sort of broods all the time. Granted, in the last issue they dropped Asgard on the gods of the Skrulls, which is pretty nifty, but there was sure a lot of exposition getting there.
  • Ex Machina: This title started off really strong, but has gotten weaker in the last year. The photo-referenced art is starting to feel stiff and lifeless to me, and the stories aren't quite as interesting as they used to be. I'll probably stop collecting this one soon, too.
  • Invincible: My favorite super-hero title of the last twenty years. I love, love, love everything about this series, from the fantastic art to the fun stories, it all just works, exactly the way the best super-hero comics of the past did. Great storytelling and engaging characters paired with massive slugfests and crazy villains just rocks my world.
  • Dynamo 5: I like the premise (Superman-like character fathers many children by many women, five of them eventually band together to form a team, and each one has just one of their father's powers), and the first few issues were fun, but it's starting to lag as well.
  • Jack Staff: Consistently great, consistently fun, consistently wonderful. A great, great comic. You will believe comics can be in black and white and not suck.

That's pretty much it for me. I'll pick up one or two singles or small runs if I read something good about them online (usually via Chris' Invincible Super-Blog), but really it's Jack Staff, Fables, and Invincible that keep me going to the comics store nowadays.

I'd love to hear what you're reading in the comments, maybe I'll trip on something new and great.

8 Responses to What I'm reading

  1. tristan says:

    theres no comic book stores in Tasmania(In Australia)so i can only read the xmen, batman, superman, jsa and jla comics. it sucks to never be able to read a series. 🙂

  2. DJ says:

    I don’t read comics anymore. When I did read them I was a huge fan of Young Justice and Classic West Coast Avengers. Still wouldn’t mind finding them again.

  3. The Imp says:

    I don’t buy many monthly comics anymore; I haven’t since I grew disillusioned with the whole five-million-Xmen-titles-and-if-you-miss-just-one-issue-of-any-of-them-you-won’t-understand-what’s-going-on of the mid to late 90s.

    Now I go to my local comic store every couple of months and buy TBs. The only thing that sucks about that is that I have to wait months and months for each new volume. 😀

    But anyway, some of my current & past favorites, in no particular order:

    1) The Boys, by Ennis & Robertson.
    2) The Walking Dead, by Kirkman.
    3) Fables
    4) Girls, by the Luna Bros.
    5) Moon Knight

  4. Jose Inoa says:

    Love and Rockets, TMNT (Non-Archie, that is), Deadpool, Green Lantern (anyone but Kyle Rayner), Sin City, Scud the Disposable Assassin, Dawn, Marshall Law, and my current favorite, Kick-Ass!

  5. Jeff Hebert says:

    Jose, is Kick-Ass anything beyond just, you know, violence and pointless bloodshed? I haven’t picked up an issue yet, I’m just looking at the covers and I dunno, it kind of was screaming “FANBOY FODDER” at me, you know? I hope it’s more than that, let me know.

  6. Jose Inoa says:

    “Kick-Ass” IS about a teenage fanboy who, despite his lack of coordination and a cause, decides to become a super hero and hit the streets. The streets hit him back really, really hard. What I like about this book is that the hero gets his ass kicked. That, and it’s got a Don Quixote thing going on. I think if anyone decided to take on this lifestyle of being a vigilante, it would look like this comic. It’s also being made into a movie. (www.imdb.com) This book makes me laugh.

  7. DJ says:

    Jose-There ARE people who are like that in real life. Not many of them actually FIGHT crime but they do patrol in costume and stuff.

  8. Jose Inoa says:

    Yesss… Terrifica, Captain Jackson, Tothian, Citizen Prime, Dark Guardian, the Justice Society of Justice… oh there’s so many of them! And God bless them that no RLSH ever ends up in a hospital if someone decides to engage them in combat. That being said, I buy “Kick-Ass” mostly because it plays on such fears of mine. I don’t know of another comic that goes there.