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

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

I really dig it. It definitely captures the look and feel of the comic. I love the soundtrack and the show's use of 80's goth and post-punk. It really sets the tone and brings the comic to life. The characters are dead on with the comic.

I listened to the first episode of the companion podcast the other day. Remender said the show would hit all the major plot points of the comic along with fleshing out other aspects of the school not shown in the comics. They also talked about the differences like how Sayia doesn't kill the police officer when she meets Marcus on the show.

Mike wrote: "especially given the prose work. "

I've always found myself bored with Moore's prose whether it be Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or Providence. I always reach a point of "This sucks. Why am I bothering to read it?" and then skip over the rest.

I still consider it a classic that I go back and re-read every 6-7 years. Some of it is dated now. It definitely picks up a lot of life in the Reagan era. I typically skip all the Black Freighter stuff on rereads. This is the book that made me a huge fan of Dave Gibbons.

The movie didn't do a whole lot for me. While Zack Snider makes some really visually appealing scenes, I'm not a fan of his grim-dark movies. Hopefully the HBO series will be much better.

frankie wrote: "I’m currently a freelance illustrator and have gotten some neat commissions but I’m still working on the comic part. "

Welcome Frankie, What parts about becoming a comic book artist do you find the most difficult? Drawing sequentially, following a writer's script, Marvel style, etc. It's definitely a different animal than just drawing static pictures and I am curious.

This week I read:


Superman Vol. 1: The Unity Saga - Phantom Earth ★★★
Black Hammer, Vol. 3: Age of Doom Part One ★★★★
Weapon X Vol. 2: The Hunt for Weapon H ★★★
Weapons of Mutant Destruction★★★
The 100 Greatest Moments From The Justice League ★★★
Runaways: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2★★★★
Runaways: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3★★★★
Hellboy: The Complete Short Stories Volume 1 ★★★★★

Tom wrote: "That said, could I keep reading and re-reading the same stories over and over again? Probably not."

There are certain stories that are so good I revisit every few years. Dark Knight Returns, Hellboy, Planetary, Authority, Ex Machina, Watchmen, Fables are a few that come to mind. But I don't know that that is nostalgia or just the desire to read a really good story.

I think nostalgia in comics is both good and bad. IDW has certainly taken it to the extreme with all its Transformers and GI Joe comics. I want to like them a lot more than I actually have. I think Marvel has done a good job of continuing the Star Wars comics. They have all the fun and action of the movies.

Black Hammer is a good example of a title that stirs nostalgia without actually using characters from the past. Lemire has done a great job of stirring up those some feeling from reading comics in the 80's and 90's.

Mike wrote: "Kara's book has been updated!!"

Ugh, it doesn't come out until July.

Christopher wrote: "Not comics, but "Stranger Things" was very nostalgic."

Technically, Stranger Things is now a comic too. ;) Dark Horse is publishing it.

The Sixth Gun is a fantastic series. The Damned is also very good.

IRCB Podcast Team Recommendations:
[X] Mike - Tetris: The Games People Play   ★★★
[X] Brian - Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 1   ★★★★★
[X] Tia - Megahex   ★★
[X] Kara - Hellboy, Vol. 3: The Chained Coffin and Others   ★★★★★
[X] Nick - The Massive, Vol. 1: Black Pacific   ★★★★
[X] Paul - All The Answers   ★★★
[X] Rene - Dr.STONE 1   ★★
[X] Kait - A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories   ★★★★
[X] Kate - Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars   ★★★★★
[X] Zander - Fence Vol. 1   ★★

Goodread Folks Picks:
[X] Robert - Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick   ★★★
[X] Erin - Heathen Volume 1   ★★★★
[X] Danny - Mech Cadet Yu, Vol. 1   ★★★★
[X] Devon - Last Sons of America   ★★★
[X] Aaron - A Walk Through Hell Volume 1   ★
[X] 47Time - Kill or be Killed, Vol. 1   ★★★★
[X] Francis - Judge Dredd: America   ★
[X] Geoff - Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road   ★★★★
[X] Jakub - Alone   ★★
[X] Oneirosophos - Clara   ★★★★★
[X] Stephanie - Jem and the Holograms Vol. 1: Showtime   ★★
[X] Philip - Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 1: Power and Responsibility   ★★★★★
[X] Craig - Judas   ★★★★
[X] James - I Am a Hero Omnibus, Volume 1   ★★★★
[X] Brittney - Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death   ★★★★

Nancy wrote: "Hello fellow comic fans! My name is Nancy and I am a teen librarian in Illinois. I co-write a graphic novels blog although I do like many other book genres too. ElfQuest and X-Men brought me into c..."

Welcome Nancy. All my GR friends are starting to pop in here. It's a great group and podcast.

Machteld wrote: "And a question: which signs do I use to link the titles, like some..."

You can use straight up HTML anchor tags or code Goodreads has added.

[ book:book title| book ID found in URL of the book] <--- Just remove the space before book for this to actually work
Faith:Dreamside

[ bookcover:book title| book ID found in URL of the book]

Tom wrote: "Who's watching? What do you think?"

They are only available on the DC Universe app. I haven't seen enough content on there to make it worth it. Am I wrong?

Anthony wrote: "Finally got around to the trade of Doom Patrol, the Young Animal title, and enjoyed it much more than I expected. Knew nothing of the characters going in, had never read the Grant Morrison stuff, but thoroughly had fun with this trade. "

You should definitely read the Grant Morison run. Way's run will make more sense, especially as you read later volumes.

This was just not for me I guess. I dig fantasy comics, but this was difficult to follow. There's at least 20 characters and they all look alike except for their hair style. The art has a less stylized Paul Pope quality to it. The plot moves at a snail's pace. There are so many conversations that are trying to build this world, but it's just two people talking and it never becomes very clear how the political structure here works beyonds the basics of a medieval kingdom. This whole 6 issue arc was mainly just prelude to what the author appears to be setting up for a future that will probably never happen. This came out a couple of years ago, so I'm guessing we won't ever see a sequel. There are so many pages wasted in transition. There was more than once where a character just walked by themselves for 3 pages.

The only interesting character in the book was Elena, the daughter of the local Lord. She feels trapped because she has no say in how she lives her own life. It's a trope you see in lots of male dominated fantasy books, but I'm cool with it as long as at some time she gets to break out of that role and live her life as she chooses. I just wish she was the center of this "story". Instead it's plagued with 20 some odd other cardboard cutout characters, none of which are given enough of a personality for me to care about. In fact, the majority are just plain unlikable. I can't stress how much I disliked this book.

OK to air.

Eli wrote: "Caitlin wrote: "Nimona by Noelle Stevenson."

I second Nimona. Been wanting to read that."

We read Nimona in June.

Erin wrote: "I’ve been meaning to read Plastic, which sounds like it will be delightfully weird, so I nominate that!"
That's a good choice. It's fun but twisted.

I'm going to go with Empire by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson.

Machteld wrote: "To build a fire: Chabouté
Descender Vol 1: Lemire & Ngujen
Green Arrow: Lemire & Sorrentino
Blackhammer vol 1: Lemire & ormston
Whiteout: Rucka
The woods volume 1: Tynio. IV
Gotham central vol 1: B..."

Those are some fantastic comics.