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Post by wamphari on May 19, 2015 11:14:13 GMT -5
So just a random topic for a Tuesday afternoon. Over the course of our geek lives we get excited for some things and are sideswiped by others. So in that vein what is something that you were super looking forward to that didn't come anywhere near your expectations and alternately what is something that you never gave a second thought about, that was amazing? I'll get us started:
Disappointment: (don't hate me bob) New X-factor book. Loved the series with Jamie Maddrox (in my top 20 favorite characters) and really angry when they canceled it. So, when they announced a second series, I was really excited. I hated it. The characters didn't fit together, the art style was wrong, and gambit was basically being written as Maddrox-but-a-ladies-man rather than being his own character.
Pleasant Surprise: Film rather than Comic, but Dredd. I had no interest whatsoever in a reboot of the reboot of an awful Stallone movie. That movie is Awesome. The expendables and other new action flicks attempt to recapture the glory of 1980's action flicks and continually fail to do so, but Dredd picked up that torch and shot it with a rocket launcher. The gunfights are great, the villain is a meth addled cersei lannister, the sidekick is a fully formed, female character who kicks ass and there is more violence than you can shake a violent stick at. Great flick, came out of nowhere.
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Post by BarefootRoot on May 19, 2015 11:46:11 GMT -5
I loved the X-Factor Investigations run as well, but Guido was my main man. The book was never the same this time around without him. I totally want to see a new book called "Guido Carosella: Lord of Hell". Pleasant surprise: Guardians of the Galaxy. When they first announced the movie I was all "a talking raccoon and tree? come on..." and brushed it off as lame. Then I saw the lego movie and loved Chris Pratt in it. I walked away saying "Chris Pratt is playing Star-Lord? I loved that guy in the Lego Movie, so I think I'll give GotG a shot." Guardians was my favorite movie last year (and I really liked Winter Soldier a lot). Disappointment: Marvel Comics in general. When I was a teenager I was a Marvel kid. I collected a few different X books, a little spider man, a little wolverine... Marvel, and specifically the X-Men related books were my bread and butter. I got back into comics in the winter of 2013-2014 and spent the whole year trying various Marvel titles and aside from New X-Factor (don't hate me Wamphari ) Spider-Man 2099 (which was a little disappointing in its own way) and Rocket Raccoon they all felt really flat. Everything seemed too serious, all the characters felt like cardboard, too many events interrupting the books I want to read (hello spider-verse, AvX, Messiah Complex, Fear Itself and Civil War), and there were too many alternate reality/timeline versions of things going on and I just couldn't get into it. I don't know how else to explain it; the characters I loved when I was younger just didn't appeal to me anymore. Currently all my marvel books have either been removed from my pull (amazing spider-man, spider-gwen, amazing x-men, legendary star-lord, ms marvel, moon knight), canceled (New X-Factor) or killed by Secret Wars (Spider-Man 2099 and Rocket Raccoon). I'm hoping the fallout from Secret Wars brings me back in because there is a lot to like about the Marvel characters as long as someone can give me a story I want to read.
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Post by IncredibleD on May 19, 2015 11:54:21 GMT -5
Off the top of my head:
Dissapointment: iZombie(the comic) - I read the whole run a couple of weeks ago, didn't like it as much as i thought i would.Allreds art was good on this book but for me it didn't come anywhere close to his work on a lot of his other books, like FF and Silver Surfer.And the characters and the writing also didn't do anything for me.I'll check out the TV show as soon as i can, but the comic was not for me.
Pleasant Surprise: IDWs TMNT - This book is awesome!I decided to buy the first trade a few weeks ago and while i didn't really expect anything from it i was amazed by how good the first arc was.They really get the characters right and i love how dark it gets sometimes.It made me want more, so i bought some more trades and i enjoyed every issue.Think i'll buy some more soon since there's another sale on Comixology.
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Post by henrythemorerecent on May 19, 2015 18:00:12 GMT -5
Love this thread. I've been reading a lot of comics everyone seems to hate and lambaste but usually only because of reputation and heresay rather than actual personal experience reading it. So I've been going through a lot of pleasant surprises recently.
Disappointment: Ed Brubaker, the finish of his Cap + Winter Soldier runs and in turn Marvel comics in general. Brubaker's Cap run was the first ongoing series I ever started buying. Late into the game starting around the trial of Bucky Barnes. I have gone back and re-read from beginning to around then many times I loved it so much. But Brubaker's attitude to the Big 2 really started showing through his writing towards his wrap up of both Cap and the WS solo series. He seemed bitter and loveless towards it all. And he doens't seem to have a nice thing to say about DC, Marvel, superheroes or the movies anymore. To end a critically acclaimed run that he'd been working on for 8 years on such a mixed note was super disappointing. There was no closure, there was no definitive ending. The latter part of his Cap run was co-written with someone else and was a mess. Jason Latour did a better job of ending Winter Soldier than he did. This made me realise that every Marvel series I have started or even tried I have never stuck with or finished because they never end. I know comics are ongoing and all that. But specifically when creative teams leave, arcs end, there's never that sense of closure I get with DC and it's usually because of an event interruption. Now I'm only speaking for the series I have read. I know there are others out there that indeed have closure. But those aren't books I've read or are interested in. I just have bad luck with Marvel and I have no excitement for their books anymore. To date the only Marvel title on my bookshelf and pull list is Ultimate Spider-Man. So Bendis better not screw up this ending.
Pleasant Surprise: The Death of/World Without/Return of Superman. Wow. This cops a beating. And yes it did make death in comics meaningless. I was put off from ever reading this because of the negativity around it. It wasn't until Man of Steel came out that I decided to give it a try. I read the whole run in one day. I'm planning on re-reading it again next month. I love it. Looking past the actual Death event, Funeral For A Friend is one of the most character driven story arcs I've ever read. Every DC character of note with a relationship to Supes gets a beautiful moment. Then the mystery surrounding his death, Lex Luthor, the destruction of a city, the multiple Supermen. 90's leather jacket Superboy!!!! Need I say more. And then his actual return is such a payoff. I think also people only read the readily available trades (Death/World Without/Return) The story really gets a sense of closure with Hunter/Prey. Its worth a read if not to just say you've read it.
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Post by Simon on May 21, 2015 8:38:13 GMT -5
I loved the X-Factor Investigations run as well, but Guido was my main man. The book was never the same this time around without him. I totally want to see a new book called "Guido Carosella: Lord of Hell". Pleasant surprise: Guardians of the Galaxy. When they first announced the movie I was all "a talking raccoon and tree? come on..." and brushed it off as lame. Then I saw the lego movie and loved Chris Pratt in it. I walked away saying "Chris Pratt is playing Star-Lord? I loved that guy in the Lego Movie, so I think I'll give GotG a shot." Guardians was my favorite movie last year (and I really liked Winter Soldier a lot). Disappointment: Marvel Comics in general. When I was a teenager I was a Marvel kid. I collected a few different X books, a little spider man, a little wolverine... Marvel, and specifically the X-Men related books were my bread and butter. I got back into comics in the winter of 2013-2014 and spent the whole year trying various Marvel titles and aside from New X-Factor (don't hate me Wamphari ) Spider-Man 2099 (which was a little disappointing in its own way) and Rocket Raccoon they all felt really flat. Everything seemed too serious, all the characters felt like cardboard, too many events interrupting the books I want to read (hello spider-verse, AvX, Messiah Complex, Fear Itself and Civil War), and there were too many alternate reality/timeline versions of things going on and I just couldn't get into it. I don't know how else to explain it; the characters I loved when I was younger just didn't appeal to me anymore. Currently all my marvel books have either been removed from my pull (amazing spider-man, spider-gwen, amazing x-men, legendary star-lord, ms marvel, moon knight), canceled (New X-Factor) or killed by Secret Wars (Spider-Man 2099 and Rocket Raccoon). I'm hoping the fallout from Secret Wars brings me back in because there is a lot to like about the Marvel characters as long as someone can give me a story I want to read. I agree with your disagree. Marvel just isn't quite what I want it to be either, the only books I'm picking up have been so slow (Hawkeye, I'm looking at you) or absolutely MURDERED by events (Nova only started in 2013, barely two years ago, and has been interupted by not one, not two, but FIVE EVENTS). I just want some relief from Marvels side. Pleasant suprise though? The New 52. Now before the internet collectively loses their mind, a lot of the New 52 has been really good. In 2013 I made it my mission to own at least the first volume of ALL the new 52 series as a way to form educated opinion on the new 52 as a whole and I have to say, most of it has been really good, as good if not better to where it was to before the reboot. Action Comics is in a better place than it was before the reboot, from the at best forgettable Reign of Doomsday storyline that was running immediately before, to Grant Morrison's run and more recently Greg Pak's amazing run. Aquaman's title has been phenomenal, who could have expected that from Aquaman? Batman under Scott Snyder, who needs to say anything. Who remembers what was happening just before that? Either the lackluster Gotham Shall Be Judged storyline or the not much better Eye of the Beholder. It took us a few tries, I.E: The sub par Judd Winick run, or the less said the better Ann Nocenti run, but we got a good Catwoman comic when was the last time that happened? Ed Brubaker? We had an amazing run on The Flash by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato that I enjoyed more than what was happening pre52 AND THAT WAS GEOFF JOHNS! We have so many books that are in better places than when we started. DC even took a tonne of chances on books they never would have before. We got an Aquaman spinoff! We got a book about an African Batman. We got not one but two different fantastic books that are based in Gotham that don't have Batman in it! It took them to see the success of Powers to get them to do one before. Superman had more great comics than you can shake a stick at. We had not one, but three (at least) amazing Green Lantern titles. And then there were all the weird books, we got an amazing western team up book, three different war books, some solid books based on Wildstorm books nobody cares about, a medieval team up book staring a demon, Dial H (I have no other way to describe that, it was a damn weird book). We had not good, but amazing runs on books that haven't been good in years, like Animal Man or Swamp Thing. We may have had some crap ones but who cares? It's not like everything we had before the reboot was amazing. People treated it like Snyder and Capullo's Batman was this diamond in a pile of filth, to to be honest, and from someone who has read most of it, it was this diamond in a pile of other slightly rougher, less brilliant jewels, and then some other polished turds that were left at the bottom unread and cancelled after 8 issues(CoughKatanaCoughCoughKlarionCoughTheBooksThatRobLiefeldTookOver)
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Post by BarefootRoot on May 21, 2015 9:06:53 GMT -5
Off the top of my head: Dissapointment: iZombie(the comic) - I read the whole run a couple of weeks ago, didn't like it as much as i thought i would.Allreds art was good on this book but for me it didn't come anywhere close to his work on a lot of his other books, like FF and Silver Surfer.And the characters and the writing also didn't do anything for me.I'll check out the TV show as soon as i can, but the comic was not for me. Pleasant Surprise: IDWs TMNT - This book is awesome!I decided to buy the first trade a few weeks ago and while i didn't really expect anything from it i was amazed by how good the first arc was.They really get the characters right and i love how dark it gets sometimes.It made me want more, so i bought some more trades and i enjoyed every issue.Think i'll buy some more soon since there's another sale on Comixology. I picked up the first 3 trades of TMNT during a comixology sale a few weeks back and was pleasantly surprised at how well it was done. I grew up with the turtles and the Tick on saturday morning way back and it was cool to see it feeling fresh despite having been around for ages. in those trades I particularly loved the Kevin Eastman covers they included. I love the look of those old books and it was really cool to see that same art style, even if it was jsut a few pages i nthe back of each trade.
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Post by IncredibleD on May 21, 2015 14:38:19 GMT -5
I also picked up the first three trades during that sale.And i also bought the first Microseries trade, which is also very enjoyable.It has four stories, one for each of the Turtles, and some of the art in that is really amazing. If i'm not mistaken the IDW sale that's on Comixology now ends tomorrow, so i think i'm gonna buy some more right now.
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Post by jonathansoko on May 21, 2015 15:09:36 GMT -5
Disappointment - marvel farming talent on the xmen, then moving them to the avengers leaving the xmen with creators who just don't get it.
Pleasant surprise - Venditti, van janson and Brett booth on the flash. At first I was bitter towards it. But after a solid year on the book, they have given me an all time favorite run on the flash. And Brett booth draws the flash with more energy than any artist before him.
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Post by supersmoothers on May 22, 2015 10:35:59 GMT -5
For me its the Daredevil Netflix show.
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Post by supersmoothers on May 22, 2015 10:36:43 GMT -5
Disappointment - marvel farming talent on the xmen, then moving them to the avengers leaving the xmen with creators who just don't get it. Pleasant surprise - Venditti, van janson and Brett booth on the flash. At first I was bitter towards it. But after a solid year on the book, they have given me an all time favorite run on the flash. And Brett booth draws the flash with more energy than any artist before him. Do you have any concrete examples? I donĀ“t that applies for the last few years tough
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Post by jonathansoko on May 22, 2015 11:59:33 GMT -5
Jason Aaron and ed mcguiness launched amazing xmen.... and I don't just mean they move on to avenger group books, it can be any avenger solo book as well. It is a common practice. It happens all the time, especially in the last few years. Brian wood and Oliver coipel launched the adjective less xmen title..... I can keep going
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Post by toxicsooner on May 22, 2015 14:04:54 GMT -5
This is a great thread. I really had to put some thought into it. I'll start with the positive first.
Pleasant Surprise: Rat Queens... I didn't have any expectation for this book. Never been a fantasy or D&D guy, but I picked the first couple of issues up during a comixology sale. This is one of the funniest, exciting books out. The characters are developed and charming, the art is stunning (Both Upchurch and Sejic), and the dialog is Awesome!!!
Disappointment: Pretty Deadly... I really, really wanted to like this book. It was one of the first Image books I picked up when I started listening to the podcast and it just straight up fell flat for me. Rios's art was nice and it was well constructed, but I came away from it really not caring about any of it. I've had other books that I do that with but this is the one that I was probably most excited to try.
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Post by harmonica on May 22, 2015 16:52:32 GMT -5
Pleasant Surprise: 1. Mad Max went in without any expectations, just expecting a nice Action movie, but it just totally melted my brain. go watch it right now! 2. Planetary: i was making my chrismas wishlist this year while browsing all the recommendation sites that were around and added Planetary without knowing anything about it, it was the first Omnibus i ever had and my wrist didnt like the book very much, but my brain did. 3. Annihilation: pretty much my first comic after deciding to go with Cosmic marvel, GotG in perticular, instead of X-Men/Avengers because of the smaller backlog of stuff thats out there. im still reading comics and thats because Annihilation all that followed.
Disappointment: 1. Ice Age: damn i hate that movie it was the first and only time in my life that i truly regretted paying for a movie ticket. ill never forget that day. 2. Deadly Class: after all the Fuzz about that comic it left me very unimpressed 3. Every Final Fantasy game after FFX: this used to be my favourite game series and it just has been a trainwreck for a while now. the FFXV demo looks promising though.
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Post by darthrabie on Jun 18, 2015 7:22:38 GMT -5
Pleasent surprise.
1) Sweet Tooth. I know every likes it, I bought the first trade because I was on a big Vertigo kick and wanted non superhero stories. Now that they are doing it deluxe style I will buy those books for sure. 2) Chew. The first Omnivore edition was cheap on Amazon. I bought it and really liked it. I like to call Guillory's art graffiti art, as it reminds me of all the tagging going on in Vancouver in the late 90ies. 3) Oz by Shanower and Young. Man that first trade is awesome. So awesome that when the Omnibus came out i bought it straight away. Great read.
Disapointments.
1) Scalped. The art is so good. I don't have the book anymore so I can not credit the artist properly, but Arron's story was really boring for me. I didn't care about the main character and was glad when the first trade was finished.
2) Brian Wood's X-Men. I guess he doesn't write it anymore but still, such great characters reduced to cat fighting.
3) Here it is, get ready for the hate mail. Y the last man. I like Saga, a lot. I bought the deluxe edition and love it. So I thought I would give some other Vaughan stuff a try. After the first ten issues in trade one, I am disapointed in the story. Perhaps the hype has created an unreasonable expectation for me to strive or I just don't care for that story, regardless, I did not like the first trade. The thrid trade was in the bargin bin on Amazon.jp for 500 yen. That is crazy cheap. So I had to buy it. Now I am commited to buying the seires and perhaps my opinion will change when it is all said and done. We shall see.
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Post by BarefootRoot on Jun 18, 2015 8:58:35 GMT -5
3) Here it is, get ready for the hate mail. Y the last man. I like Saga, a lot. I bought the deluxe edition and love it. So I thought I would give some other Vaughan stuff a try. After the first ten issues in trade one, I am disapointed in the story. Perhaps the hype has created an unreasonable expectation for me to strive or I just don't care for that story, regardless, I did not like the first trade. The thrid trade was in the bargin bin on Amazon.jp for 500 yen. That is crazy cheap. So I had to buy it. Now I am commited to buying the seires and perhaps my opinion will change when it is all said and done. We shall see. I can understand being disappointed. I have heard a lot of people praise that book, and snagged the first trade on Comixology a while back. It was not bad but it didn't grab me enough that I felt a huge need to go get the rest of them, so you're not alone not loving it
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