Dark Horse
Star Wars - Brian Wood's story takes place after New Hope and Empire as Vader hunts down Skywalker to redeem himself for the Death Star's destruction, Leia struggles with losing Alderaan and finding a new home for the rebels
DC
Sword of Sorcery (just ended with issue #8) - Great series that lives up to it's namesake, stars Amethyst and her diverse Gemworld kingdom; post-apocalyptic Beowulf mini-series is pretty good too
Prophet (Vertigo label) - Really out-there sci-fi that's truly imaginative, unrelenting and also unsettling at times
Lot's of ideas to plunder for games...
Dynamite
Flash Gordon - Classic Flash in the 1930s with a hefty coat of the 1980 film's flamboyance
IDW
Godzilla: Half Century War - Tracking the big guy through the jungles of South East Asia. Art by James Stoke is...I don't even...just look (you need to right-click these to really appreciate):
The High Ways - John Byrne hard sci-fi adventure about a cargo crew. I'm amazed at how hefty these issues are--lots of story packed in!
Mars Attacks - After being repelled by Earthlings 40 years ago, the Martians are back. ACK! ACK!
Image
The Activity - Excellent, modern-day, action comic about an black ops military unit, illustrated by our own local-boy-done-good, Mitch Gerads
Marvel
Hawkeye - Seriously one of the best-written comics right now. Fantastic art as well.
FF - Second string Fantastic Four babysits the planet while Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny leave for a quick "four minute" trip. Lots of charm and just plain fun--love the Mike Allred artwork!
Fearless Defenders - Good start with great character writing for Marvel's first, official all-female super team. Wonderfully inventive covers too!
And anything with a cover by Francesco Francavilla...
Trade paperbacks
I love single issue comics, there's just nothing like holding one in your hands--and I especially like supporting writers/artists who's work I enjoy during the run--but it does get expensive. Plus, friends want to borrow, and I'm sorry, but I'm NOT giving out my single issues! So trades are a great alternative...
- Adventure Time (Boom Studios) Too hard to find all the singles, but I'll pick up the trade
- Avengers Asssemble (Marvel) I have most of these, but stopped until the trade comes out
- Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel) - I'm a sucker for talking racoons so I've got the first single, but I'll wait for the trade
- Jupiter's Legacy (Image) - Mark Millar and Frank Quitely team up to write about second gen supers living in their parent's shadow, have the first single and now waiting for trade
- Nova (Marvel) - Looks like good fun with a GotG tie-in, but again, waiting on the trade
- Hawkeye (Marvel) Have first vol. will likely pick up a few more singles
- Mars Attacks (IDW) Have first vol., just dropped single issues to order vol. 2
- Prophet (Image) I've recently been unable to get the last 3 issues due to shortages so I'll now have to switch to trades
- Saga (Image) Have first vol., I'm waiting on vol. 2, only first single collected
- Warlord of Mars (Dynamite) I have up through the first two dozen or so issues, just dropped to switch to trades
- Young Avengers (Marvel) - A new Avengers team for modern times, great stuff, but again--it's almost always sold out, so gotta get the trade
So what are you reading in print these days?
Sadly my list has been widdled down to Aquaman...just Aquaman. Marvel's constant event books have really put me off of them in the last year, and DC keeps canceling everything I love. If Aquaman gets cancelled I might just need a new hobby. My local shop is pretty mainstream, I definitely need to start branching out into digital comics at this point.
ReplyDeleteDigital is the way of the future, and I hear you on the big events. I've ducked most of them in recent years . That's why I like the more character or small-team driven stories.
ReplyDeleteJohn Byrne draws a Traveller comic book? Sold! Take my money!
ReplyDeleteIndeed he is! While there's not as much blastin' as I usually like in my space comics, it's well written with some really well-defined characters.
ReplyDelete