Chad’s Comments (group member since Mar 22, 2018)

Chad’s comments from the I Read Comic Books group.

Ed wrote: "What's really insane is how little this website has changed in 10 years. Still the same bad search engine and the same old bugs and the same bad automatic recommendations."

I think when Amazon bought GR, they immediately abandoned it and we are all too stubborn to quit using it. Plus, I haven't found anything better.

Lenny wrote: "I nominate Long Lost, Book One by Matthew Erman and Lisa Sterle."

Are they ever going back to finish this story? They only released two issues after this and the last one was two years ago.

Matthew wrote: "Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill"

That was very good. So was Plunge.

Anurag wrote: "Probably already done...but if not, that's the one I want to suggest.

The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye"

If you wait until next year, we can read the colorized version.

There's some great stuff here so far. Something is Killing the Children and Coffin Hill are both fantastic. Vampironica is fun too with some great Greg Smallwood art.

Today's comic shop run.

Batman's Grave #10
Detective Comics #1027 - This thing is massive.
Excalibur #12
Hellions #4
Giant Size X-Men: Storm
X-Men #12
Thor #7
Seven Secrets #2
Once and Future #11
Finger Guns #5
Star Wars #6
Stillwater #1
Iron Man #1
Devil's Highway #3
Dead Day #3
Fearless Dawn Meets Hellboy

Last week's adventures in comics.

Falcon: Take Flight ★★
Falcon fights a gang war instigated by Blackheart. Not good.

Miss October - Volume 2: Murder of the Month ★★★
Some good old fashioned, seedy noir set in L.A..

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1: The Final Gauntlet ★★★★★
Donny Cates furthers his little Cates-verse within the Marvel universe.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Faithless ★★★★★
Cates labeled this his worst Marvel work and I still loved it.

Grass Kings, Vol. 3 ★★★
Matt Kindt's serial killer within doomsday preppers story.

Silver Surfer: Black ★★★
I hate Tradd Moore's art so much but this ties into Cates's current Venom and Thor and the story is good. The Silver Surfer gets transported back to the beginning of the universe.

Invaders, Vol. 1: War Ghosts ★★★★
Zdarsky has created another winner. Namor has went off the deep end and is preparing to start a war with the surface world while Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, try to stop him.

Invaders, Vol. 2: Dead in the Water ★★★★
Zdarsky has a great handle on Marvel's history and uses it to his advantage.

Thanos: Zero Sanctuary ★★★
Nicely filled in some of the gaps of Gamora's and Thanos's history together without retconning their past.

Black Order: The Warmasters of Thanos ★
Five issues of The Black Order doing nothing more than killing people nonstop.

Tales Through the Marvel Universe ★★★★
An anthology series in honor of Marvel's 80th anniversary where each story takes place in a different decade.

Empyre ★★★★★
A terrific Marvel event. The Kree and Skrull empires combine forces against the Cotati with the Earth caught in the middle.

Empyre: Lords of Empyre ★★★★
Most of these one-shots giving backstories from the main players of Empyre are surprisingly good.

Join the Future ★★★★★
Join the Future is about a future where megacities started gobbling up the small towns around them, offering prosperity and advanced technology as incentives to become a citizen and offering the whip instead when refused. One girl decides to stand up to them and the freedom to make her own choice.

Deadman ★★
Another Neal Adams clunker. Terrible story, great classic art.

Black Widow (2020-) #1 ★★★★★
A fantastic first issue. Great art and story.

Hellblazer, Volume 1: Original Sins ★★★★
This held up much better than I remember from the first time I read it years ago.

A Very DC Halloween ★★★★
The first half of this book is from a collection of horror versions of Elseworld stories featuring members of the Justice League. Stories where things went wrong in their creation or macabre endings for the characters.

Justice, Inc.: The Avenger ★★★
The Avenger is something of a cross between the Shadow and Doc Savage. I get what Mark Waid was trying to do with the pulpy exposition but it was just too much.

Dawn of X Vol. 9 ★★★★
The big addition here this month was Cable #1. It had a decent start.

Black Crown Omnibus Vol. 1 ★★
90% filler with only a couple of new stories.

Justice League Odyssey, Vol. 3: Final Frontier ★★
The title shifts focus as only Jessica Cruz from the original team is still around. Abnett is trying his best to turn this into Guardians of the Galaxy but fails. This was boring.

This week at the LCS.

Grendel, Kentucky #1
Spy Island #1
Mean Girls FCBD
Cyberpunk 2077 Trauma Team #1
Marvel Zombies: Resurrection #1
Dry Foot #1
The Incal FCBD
Empyre Fallout: Fantastic Four
Empyre Aftermath: Avengers
Web of Venom: Wraith
Death Metal: Trinity Crisis
Fire Power #3
Superman #25
Join the Future #5
Marauders #12
The Resistance #5
Something Is Killing the Children #10
X-Factor #3
X-Force #12

Last week's adventures in comics.

Infinity 8 vol.8 : Until the End ★★★
An ambitious and complicated timey-wimey story of aliens trying to murder humanity throughout the cosmos.

The Collected Toppi vol.4: The Cradle of Life ★★★★
Sergio Toppi was one of those pleasant surprises with all these European comics being printed in the U.S. for the first time. His page composition is terrific. Both volumes I've read have been fantastic.

Ever After ★★
A ho hum zombie comic that is way too long.

Swamp Thing: Twin Branches ★
A YA graphic novel based on a super hero with no super heroics or anything else going on.

Teen Titans: Beast Boy ★★★
A YA super hero origin story done right for the most part.

Undead Messiah Vol. 3 ★★
Some manga that was never as good as it should have been.

Plunge ★★★★★
This was a terrific horror comic! A salvage crew goes to investigate a boat that's been missing for 40 years in the Arctic Sea.

Resident Alien Omnibus Volume 1 ★★★★★
Murder She Wrote with an alien. I love this series. It's coming out as a TV series on SyFy.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 7: A Rogue's End ★★★
Dr. Aphra's first series comes full circle and to an end.

Wonder Twins Vol. 2: The Fall and Rise of the Wonder Twins ★★★
Wonder Twin powers activate! Not as tightly written as the first volume.

Sea Dogs ★★★★
The backup story from Hill House Comics. A group of mercenary werewolves are hired to take out the crew of the HMS Havok, a British ship obliterating American ships up and down the Colonial coast during the revolutionary war.

Batman and the the Outsiders, Vol. 2: A League of their Own ★★★★
The Outsiders continue their search for Ra's al Ghul while he seeks to corrupt each of them.

Green Lantern: Earth One, Vol. 2 ★★★★★
I love the straight up sci-fi approach while still incorporating core Green Lantern concepts like the Guardians and the Yellow Lanterns.

Legends of Marvel: Spider-Man ★★★
Marvel produced a bunch of timeless tale one shots for their 80th anniversary bringing back some of the longtime creators for those books. This collects the two Spider-Man comics and a Power Pack one.

Legends of Marvel: Avengers ★★★★
The shining star in this collection is the new Hulk story from Peter David and Dale Keown set during their epic run.

Legends of Marvel: X-Men ★★★★
Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz back on New Mutants? Yes, please!

Empyre #6 ★★★★
A great end to a great event!

Avengers Epic Collection Vol. 23: Fear the Reaper ★★
There's a reason why this title was in the toilet in the early 90's. Not even some early Steve Epting art could save this boring ass comic.

Ark Angel: An Alex Rider Graphic Novel ★★★
An adaptation of one of the James Bond, Jr., I mean Alex Rider books.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Vol. 3: Family Business ★★★
This, just like every other story Ahmed has done on this title, is just OK.

Asgard, Vol. 2: The World Serpent ★★★★
Vikings fight a giant eel. Cool comics from Europe.

Loki: The God Who Fell to Earth ★★★
The series had potential as Loki strives to become an Avenger but the writing lacks focus.

Avengers by Jason Aaron, Vol. 6: Starbrand Reborn ★★★★
The Avengers head to space to find the new Star Brand and get in a lot of trouble. Better than most of Aaron's previous Avengers arcs.

DCeased: The Unkillables ★★★★★
Taylor really knows how to bring the heart out in a zombie apocalypse comic. It even survives some terrible art by Karl Mostert.

Marvel has secretly made all of their Black Panther single issues free on Comixology. It's almost 300 single issues. Here are links to all I've found so far:

https://www.comixology.com/search/ite...
https://www.comixology.com/search/ite...
https://www.comixology.com/search/ite...
https://www.comixology.com/search/ite...
https://www.comixology.com/search/ite...
https://www.comixology.com/search/ite...
https://www.comixology.com/Fantastic-...
https://www.comixology.com/X-Men-2004...
https://www.comixology.com/X-Men-2004...

Thanks to Sam Quixote for tipping me off to this.

Stopped in the LCS today and picked up:

Jack Kirby, King of Comics FCBD
Lady Mechanica FCBD
Disaster Inc #3
Shazam #14
Strange Adventures #5
Lords of Empyre: Swordsman
Cable #4
Empyre #6
New Mutants #12
We Only Find Them When They're Dead #1
Wolverine #5
Hellblazer: Rise and Fall #1

I try and set aside my lunch hour every day as prose reading time and then any other reading time is for comics.

My review

Last week's comic reading.

Bandit ★★★
Written by a former bank robber turned filmmaker, a fictionalized account of his life.

Asgard, Vol. 1: Ironfoot ★★★★
Vikings hunt a sea monster. Great stuff.

The Master Chocolatier - Volume 1 ★★★★
A comic book about a chocolatier. Surprisingly good.

Ivory Pearl ★★
A 50's spy story with too many moving parts.

Bronx Heroes in Trumpland ★★★★
A hilarious satire re-imagining Trump as a super villain with poor art.

The Sons of Apollo (Gloria Victis, #1) ★★★
Follows the son of a famous chariot racer in the Roman empire as he tries to make his way.

Trese, Vol. 1: Murder on Balete Drive ★★★★
Some indie comics about a female John Constantine operating in the Philippines. This was the basis for a Nexflix anime.

Graveyard Wars Vol. 1 ★★★★
The story of two warring factions between people who can channel the abilities of the dead.

Big Black: Stand at Attica ★★★
The true story of what happened in Attica Prison in 1971. The worst prison standoff in the history of the U.S. Powerful, gut-wrenching story, but poor storytelling.

Dawn Of X Vol. 7 ★★★★
Wolverine gets a giant-sized first issue and more.

Dawn Of X Vol. 8 ★★★★
The X-Men are back and finally well-written.

Captain America by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vol. 3: The Legend of Steve ★★★★
Cap fights the Watchdogs while a fugitive on the run with the Daughters of Liberty.

Ghost-Spider, Vol. 1: Dog Days Are Over ★★★
Gwen goes to college in the 616 universe. Seanan McGuire's stories are boring and WAY too decompressed. She does realize things need to happen in Marvel comics, right?

The Phantom Twin ★★
Meh. Poor art, poor storytelling.

Doctor Tomorrow ★★★
Valiant revamps another one of their characters from the 90's in Doctor Tomorrow. The story involves some timey-wimey stuff and dimensional travel. Like most Valiant titles these days, it was just OK.

King Tiger: Son of the Dragon ★★★★★
Does it get better than magic and martial arts? You can think of this as a less goofy Big Trouble in Little China.

The Stonekeeper's Curse (Amulet, #2) ★★★★★
I'm quickly becoming obsessed with this all-ages series. I might seriously have to invite my friend over for a barbeque just so I can talk to her 10-year old daughter about it. It's great!

The Flash by Geoff Johns Book Five ★★★★★
Geoff Johns finishes his terrific run on The Flash (Wally West edition).

The Man Who F#&%ed Up Time ★★★★
Sean Bennett goes back in time a week to fix his life and somehow alters the past to the point where people are riding dinosaurs and Abe Lincoln IV is now the dictator in chief.

Empyre: Avengers ★★★
Various Avengers around the world fight the Cotati as part of the Empyre event.

DC Cybernetic Summer (2020) #1 ★★★
Some fun, light-hearted stories involving summer or robots, often both.

Batman: Three Jokers #1 ★★★★★
After teasing us in DC Rebirth and a 4 year wait, Geoff Johns finally delivers Three Jokers.

Here's my review. It's just OK.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kyle wrote: "This is good to know. I do all my Marvel reading through Unlimited but they can't put anything with Conan in it up due to some publishing rights issues. I've purchased some of the Conan stuff and found it super hit and miss, but am intrigued by Savage Avengers."

That's good for me to know. I do a lot of my reading through MU as well and didn't realize any of the new Conan stuff wasn't there. I may start picking this up in single issues then. I got the first trade through the library.

Anurag wrote: "What's "Little Free Library"? Sounds interesting..."

People build these little libraries sort of in the shape of a mailbox out on a street where you are free to take or leave a book. It's a really nice idea. A lot of youth organizations like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will build them as a community service project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_...

Ed wrote: "I have now had my review of Garfield: His 9 Lives declared "mean" by 2 random people!

Better not cross those Garfield fans!"

Shame on you Ed. You've offended 2 children with your benign review.

Last week's light reading.

Lucifer, Volume 1: Cold Heaven ★★★★
This is a continuation of Mike Carey's and Peter Gross's original Lucifer series.

Lucifer, Volume 2: Father Lucifer ★★★
Where the first volume was a murder/mystery, this was about the oncoming storm and setting the book up to face this "new" evil version of God.

Lucifer, Volume 3: Blood in the Streets ★★★
This is a continuation of Mike Carey's and Peter Gross's original Lucifer series.

Avengers by Jason Aaron, Vol. 5: Challenge of the Ghost Riders ★★★
Four pointless issues of Robbie Reyes and Johnny Blaze racing through Hell. Why? I don't really know.

Apes & Babes ★★★★★
Showcases a lot of Frank Cho's work for Marvel and Dynamite.

Skybourne ★★★★★
Frank Cho + mythological creatures = A rip, roaring good time.

The Flash by Geoff Johns Book Three ★★★★★
This is the run that made people stand up and take notice of Geoff Johns. He shows why in this volume.

The Flash by Geoff Johns Book Four ★★★★★
Everyone has forgotten who The Flash is, including Wally West. Great stuff!

X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction ★★★★
Piskor takes some liberties with the X-Men's history. This mainly covers from Fall of the Mutants to The X-Tinction Agenda with a weird amalgam of Days of Future Past and Bishop's origin tacked onto the end to fill it out.

To Hell You Ride ★★
Was this about a Native American curse from a hundred years ago or chemtrails dumping poison on a Colorado town? Somehow, I think Henriksen meant for it to be both.

X, Volume 6: Marked for Death - Enter The Mark ★★★
The Archon returns, this time with The Mark following him.

Flinch: Book One ★★
Given the level of creators involved, I expected a lot more from this Vertigo horror anthology series.

Flinch: Book Two ★★★
The stories are still very hit and miss, but what do you expect from a book full of 8 pages stories by various creative teams.

Wonder Woman by John Byrne, Book One ★★★
This actually held up better than I thought it would. Wonder Woman moves to Gateway City and fights Darkseid and Morgan Le Fey. Also, this is the first appearance of the current Wonder Girl, Cassie Sandsmark.

The Mercenary Sea, Vol. 1: Top Hat, White Lies, and Tales ★★★★
Set in the 30's, this has a strong Johnny Quest / Indiana Jones vibe. Matthew Reynolds art was fantastic. It has a lot of animation influences with this unique use of silhouettes I've not seen in comics before.

The Perhapanauts, Vol. 3 : Danger Down Under ★★★
A fun read. Lots of shenanigans as this team of cryptozoologists and mythic creatures capture cryptids who are hurting people.

Blackwood: The Mourning After ★★★
A horror comic about 4 college students at a school for the occult.

Grass Kings, Vol. 2 ★★★
This Briggs Land type story is interesting but the art is definitely a problem for me. The water colors are so bad.

Savage Avengers, Vol. 1: City of Sickles ★★★★
This book is shoe-horned together to bring Conan into the current Marvel landscape but it works.

Tony Stark: Iron Man, Vol. 3: War of the Realms ★★★
While the story isn't bad, it's only 3 issues long, padded out with reprints.

Swimming in Darkness ★★★
A strange, Twilight Zone like story about a man obsessed with the architecture of a remote bathhouse in Switzerland.

The Dream ★★
An odd Faustian type story that tries and fails to be sexy.

Purple Heart ★★★★★
Some great hard boiled noir set in 1950's NYC.

Clan ★★★
A Yakuza revenge story reminiscent of Old Boy.

Miss October 1. Playmates, 1961 ★★★★
A noir set in 60's L.A. On one side a deaf, cat burglar, heiress. On the other, a detective, investigating the murders of young women who are posed in Playboy type pinups. At some point, their paths will cross...

Seven Secrets #1 ★★★★
A great start to a new Tom Taylor series about a secret society that protects seven secrets from the world. Di Nicuolo's art is bangin, full of kinetic energy, it's always in motion.

Empyre #3-#5 ★★★★
Al Ewing is kicking ass on this event. Damn you Marvel though for making the book weekly except for the last issue.

Lords Of Empyre: Celestial Messiah (2020) #1 ★★
This serves mainly as a recap of Mantis and Swordmaster's past. Completely skippable.

Shadow Service #1 ★★★★
Witchcraft and spy craft. This first issue was great.

Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists #1 ★★★★
The main character is a drifter who fights monsters. Great start to this series.

Collapser ★★
Mikey Way should stick to My Chemical Romance. The exposition is outrageous. He might as well wrote a novel.

Batman: Overdrive ★★★
Bruce Wayne gets a Fast & Furious makeover in this Elseworld story for kids.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider, Vol. 2: The Impossible Year ★★
This isn't bad per se, but it's sooooooooo decompressed. Six issues of Gwen having problems with her powers with no resolutions and very few bad guys other than street crime.

Sentient ★★★★★
Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta create a sci-fi masterpiece. I loved this.

Erin wrote: "Chad wrote: "This week's LCS trip."

Whoa, Atlantis Wasn't Built for Tourists sounds cool! How did you like it?"

I really enjoyed it. It has a bit of Something is Killing the Children vibe but with less gore.

Shadow Service was also very cool. Witchcraft mixed with spycraft. The next issue is titled MI-666.