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

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

Lenny wrote: "Is there any required reading before the new Valkyrie? I'm still filling in some gaps on Jason Aaron's many Thor stories. (As you can see I'm catching up on Marvel in general w/the Unlimited subscription)"

I'd definitely read Aaron's Thor run first. Valkyrie spins out of War of the Realms.

This week's comic shop run:

Joker 80th Anniversary
Lois Lane #11
Killadelphia #6
Something Is Killing the Children #7
Artemis and the Assassin #2
Adventureman #1
The Batman's Grave #7
Excalibur #10
New Mutants #10
Legion of Super-Heroes #6

Stephanie wrote: "we've got a couple of local comic stores and it sounds like the managers for the stores have been coming together to talk about what this will mean for them, so it will be interesting, and I hope this decision from DC doesn't end up resulting in the folding of LCS's because.....so not okay."

I've heard some stores in the same area are placing their DC orders together to save on shipping costs, but what I pain in the ass that is going to be for them to separate their orders every week. I worry about the people who work at my shop too because I consider them friends and don't want to see them lose their jobs or businesses.

If DC doesn't shape up, I'll just quit ordering DC books and shift my money to other publishers.

Kate wrote: "Whoaaaaaa. That seems like a massive blow to LCS's that are already struggling right now!."

It's certainly poor timing to say the least. DC also doesn't have distribution set up for Canada or the UK so our friends in those countries are screwed. The shipping alone will double the price of DC comics in those countries.

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dc-co...

Things at your LCS on going to get even more interesting. DC just announced effective immediately they are quitting Diamond. My LCS owner was already super pissed with DC. Their new distributor on the East Coast is owned by Midtown Comics which is a direct competitor to everyone else in the New York area.

Kyle wrote: "I've done shockingly little reading this week but I've been working my way through Paying the Land. Very good."


I have that in my pile to read as well. I'm glad to hear it's good.

This week's trip to the comic book shop.

Hellblazer #6
Shazam #12
Finger Guns #1 and #2
Birds of Prey
Catwoman 80th Anniversary

Caught up on some Europe Comics over the weekend I had failed to review.

Esteban: The Whaler ★★★
A kid from Tierra del Fuego joins a whaling ship 100+ years ago.

Mia & Co. ★★
Preteen fluff.

Life and me (Pico Bogue, #1) ★
The Dennis the Menace of France. It's terrible.

Jeremy: A Tribute to Jef Nys ★★
A Belgian Little Rascals but not good.

A Dream for Three (Emma and Violette, #1) ★★
Two sisters try to make it into a ballet conservatory in Paris.

Children of the Resistance, Vol. 1: Opening Moves ★★★★
Two French teenagers resist the Nazi occupation by printing pamphlets on the back of wallpaper among other things.

Cervantes: The Genius's Fantasy Part 1 ★★★
Miguel de Cervantes's life structured as a play.

Southbound! (Glorious Summers, #1) ★★★★
The story of a Belgian family traveling to France on holiday in the 1970s. A great slice of life story.

Harmony's Necklace (Alcyon #1) ★★★
A classical Greek tale of the hero's journey as two teenagers set off in search of a mythological necklace.

Golam - Volume 1 - The Son of the Moon ★★
Pokemon set in an Arabian world.

Mike wrote: "They can still sell the trades, though?."

Once they are eventually released yes. But would you want to shell out cash for a trade when you already bought the first 2/3rds of it in single issues?

Brandon wrote: "I'm glad Valkyrie is at least being released in some way instead of outright cancelled partway through- but this means it's likely going to be cancelled by the end of the arc anyways. As a digital ..."

Not to mention struggling retailers who now can't make a dime off the comics.

I'm fine with digital only series. It's the transition midway through a series that drives me batty. I was talking with my LCS owner today. He said they were Marvel's lowest selling titles. I guess if printing drops below 10,000 copies, Marvel or DC can't turn a profit on it because the printing costs go up quite a bit. He said because of the pandemic the orders for the books had dropped significantly. Basically LCS's don't want to carry any additional copies right now and are only ordering to fill pull lists on lower tier books.

BTW, DC is doing this as well for Supergirl and The Terrifics. Supergirl only had one more issue left.

Erin wrote: "Chad wrote: "Erin wrote: "Just finished Giant Days - I miss it already! I need a hug 😭"

I hadn't heard of either of those - I'll have to give them a shot. Thank you!"

I found Nuclear Winter on Hoopla. It's a French Canadian comic that was translated to English. I'm not sure if Steeple is out in a collected edition yet.

Erin wrote: "Just finished Giant Days - I miss it already! I need a hug 😭

Any recommendations for similar series? I loved the occasionally fantastical slice-of-life nature of Giant Days!"

John Allison has a new book out Steeple. I haven't had a chance to read it yet though.

Have you ever read Nuclear Winter? I feel it has a similar kind of vibe but with slowly mutating humans thrown in the mix.

Now what's up with this bullshit? According to this article, these Marvel comics are becoming digital only in the middle of their runs and will be collected in print trades later on. Don't they know comic book readers are super anal about their comics? If I start a run as a print comic, I want the entire thing as a print comic. This is infuriating to me and it's a real FU! to comic shops. This is the kind of thing DC would try and pull.

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comic...
https://www.comicsbeat.com/marvel-goi...

Tom wrote: "This is the first I've seen anything about the character. The show seems to be coming together quite nicely."

Geoff Johns based the main character Courtney on his sister who died when TWA flight 800 exploded off Long Island in 1996. DC just released a new version of the collection the show is based on, Stargirl. The comic was originally entitled Stars & S.TR.I.P.E. If I remember correctly, it was the first time Johns got his own book at DC.

My wife and I watched the pilot for Stargirl the other night and thought it was wonderful. I liked how it adhered to Geoff Johns's and Lee Moder's comics while bringing in some JSA stuff. Just curious what everyone else thought.

Ed wrote: "And finally, I decided I should finally read some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. By mistake I got the 2012 re-boot rather than the original. Should I now try the original?"

I think both are pretty good. Depends on if you like Kevin Eastman's highly stylized art I guess.

Dark Horse has a bunch of free comics on Comixology right now.



Hellboy Vol 1

All of Alex Di Campi's Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight are free (in single issues):

Semiautomagic Vol 1

Smoke/Ashes

Empowered Vol 1

Andy Diggle's Snapshot

Jamie wrote: "Hey Erin,

Thanks for the welcome, and I’ll definitely check out that challenge, had a quick glance and I think a few of them already cross the list of wanting to read!

Invincible is definitely on..."

I'm a big fan of Invincible as well. It takes a couple of trades to really get going but once it does...

Humble bundle has a whole lot of Manga from Kodansha available for $20. I haven't read any of it so I can't vouch for it but that's a hell of a deal.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/aw...