What are you reading right now? (September 2018)

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

What comics/manga have you beed reading lately? Any standouts? Any duds? What's on your pull list and what backlog comics have you been reading?

[Judah]

I’m currently reading the Annihilation: Conquest omnibus.

It’s very good (and there are some truly great parts), however, there are large chunks that I simply don’t care much about.

Furthermore, there are some reunions that should feel more like reunions than they do.

If i was a part of the Infinity Watch, once upon a time... and I ran into another former Infinity Watch member I hadn’t seen in a while... I’d be stoked! At the very least, I’d react. Many if these reunions don’t feel like reunions, as if Dan Abnett or Christos Gage never read the Jim Starlin stuff (and we know that’s not true.)

It’s slow going. I’m almost finished, but I keep taking breaks to read other stuff... especially when I’m slogging through a long part that features Super Skrull or Wraith (sorry... not very interested in those characters.)

[Judah]

Also avidly enjoying Cosmic Ghost Rider, Thanos Legacy, and the new (long awaited) Silver Surfer Annual, which is gorgeous, and an obvious tribute to Moebius.

[Phil]

The top books that I've read recently are The Infinity Gauntlet and Harbinger, Volume 5: Death of a Renegade. Both really good books. Infinity Gauntlet was pretty easy to get into considering I haven't actually read anything with Thanos or the Infinity Gems in it before.

[Judah]

Ooooo make sure ya read the Silver Surfer Infinity Gauntlet tie ins!!! They make a big dif

[Chad]

Phillip wrote: "The top books that I've read recently are The Infinity Gauntlet and Harbinger, Volume 5: Death of a Renegade. Both really good books. Infinity Gauntlet was pretty easy to get into considering I haven't actually read anything with Thanos or the Infinity Gems in it before. "

Infinity Gauntlet stands well on its own as long as you read Thano's Quest first, but i think that's typically included in most of the collections.

What did you think of Harbinger? It was always my favorite series of the 90's Valiant universe and the new one is good as well. Actually the whole Valiant line is pretty solid.

[Aidan]

My current pull list is Ms Marvel, the new Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Gideon Falls, Black Magic and The Walking Dead. Saga was in there too, but.....you know......

Out of all these titles the one I most anticipate each month is Gideon Falls. The writing is spine-tinglingly suspenseful and the art really is astonishing. I usually read through it quite quickly the first time to find out what is happening next, then return for a more detailed (and always rewarding) panel-by-panel slow read.

Daredevil and Ms Marvel are always entertaining, and the latest story arc in The Walking Dead has seen the welcome introduction of a very different kind of nemesis for Rick and co.

I'm also re-reading Invincible (just SOOOOO damn good), finished Sabrina (all accolades are deserved) and checking out the latest Aquaman run (a character I've never really cared for but the glowing reviews for this series have been justified, IMHO).

[kaitlphere]

Aidan, I'm glad I'm not the only one who flips through books a second time! I usually do the detailed read first, then flip through to see if I missed foreshadowing or details that round out the story. It really makes a difference sometimes!

I finally read The Last Airbender: The Search, which I found at a library sale a while back. The creators did a great job keeping true to the characters from the show.

I also read Motor Crush vol. 1, and I am super glad I did. I love this weird world where motocycles can be drugged with neon pink Crush. It ended on a pretty intense cliffhanger. The second volume is on Hoopla, so I'll be looking into that.

I also read Animal Man volumes 1-3 so far. It's real weird and gory. I have five volumes from the library, and I'm trying to get through them all. I like Buddy Baker ("Butter Baker" says the goat shepard!) and I like some of the character design (like the goat shepard). I do not like the fleshy chaotic fight scenes.

[Phil]

Chad wrote: "What did you think of Harbinger? It was always my favorite series of the 90's Valiant universe and the new one is good as well. Actually the whole Valiant line is pretty solid."

I've been enjoying the Harbinger series a lot. Death of a Renegade had a lot of excellent moments in it. Even though I knew which character was going to bite the dust, it was interesting to see how it happened and how the other characters reacted to it. Some day I might try to track down the 90's Harbinger series, but for now I'm just trying to catch up on all the more recent Valiant stuff.

[Francis]

I'm not reading anything newly realeased just now, just catching up and rereading older stuff.

I'm just finishing reading Volume 7 of Giant Days, which will bring me as up to date with those books I have bought. It's been an excellent series, and has really made me nostalgic for my own student days.

I've also been working my way through all the cannon Star Wars media I have chronologically, based on the timeline that's up on wookiepedia, so I started with Star Wars Vol.4 Yoda' secret war, then read the most recent Darth Maul series etc. This week I re read Mace Windu Jedi of the Republic. I didn't really enjoy this first time round when I was reading it issue by issue on release, but On second reading I enjoyed it much more. I think my experience tells me the Star Wars comic mini series are much better read in a collection.

Next up I'm looking forward to re reading Maus for the IRCB Book of the Month.

[Daniel]

I have been busy reading in September!! mainly thanks to the Labor Day holiday and taking the train to work more often.

Here is what i've read so far this month

Giant Days, Vol. 1
Giant Days, Vol. 2
Giant Days, Vol. 3 - I love Giant Days so MUCH!!! and i took the Quiz, I am Esther.

BUZZ! - I finally started reading this for the IRCB Challenge. It was an interesting premise but after a while it was very repetitive also I personally do not like a lot of Yellow in my aesthetic so that really made it hard to get thru.

Spider-Gwen, Vol. 4: Predators
Wolverine: Old Man Logan Vol. 7: Scarlet Samurai
Weapon X Vol. 3: Modern Warfare
Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc.
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
Ninja-k Vol. 1: The Ninja Files Vol. 1
Doctor Strange: Damnation The Complete Collection
Batman & the Signal

Venom & X-Men: Poison-X
Venomized - These 2 books complete the Overarching story that Started in "Edge of the Venomverse" and Venomverse - if you like Cullen Bunn or Venom, go read these.

X-Men Blue, Vol. 4: Cry Havok - Trying to catch up on X-Men Blue so i can read "X-Termintation"

[Stephanie]

AHHH you are all reading amazing things! And I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who used Labor Day as a chance to catch up on comics!

I've gotten so hideously behind on Lumberjanes, that every time I went into my fave local comic book store and got a new one, I'd internally find myself crying because of how behind I was, and the overwhelmed feeling was a bit ridiculous, so I figured Labor Day would be the best time to tackle it. I re-read Lumberjanes, Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan because it's delightful, and then read Lumberjanes, Vol. 5: Band Together (PUNK ROCK MERMAIDS=MY FAVE), Lumberjanes, Vol. 6: Sink or Swim and then finished up the day with something completely different and finally read all 5 issues of Infidel

[Stephanie]

also, apologies for hitting publish before my post was finished, if you magically saw my totally unfinished post (with incomplete sentence and all!), I am very sorry. Occasionally my enthusiasm for things means I forget how to do things correctly.

Anyway! over the course of the month (so far), I have also finished the rest of the Lumberjanes books (Lumberjanes, Vol. 7: A Bird's-Eye View--YOU GUYS MAGICAL KITTENS I WANT THEM--, Lumberjanes, Vol. 8: Stone Cold, and Lumberjanes, Vol. 9: On a Roll. From there I was finally able to start catching up with the single issues and dove in..... only to find that I had issue 43 and issue 45 and no issue 44! so I hit up my lcs to re-buy issue 44. oops. Anyway, after all of that, I'm mostly caught up and am only 5 issues behind. Given the 4-issue arcs they tend to do, I think I'll default to being okay with being four issues behind max.... :)

As someone who's worked in libraries and seen the Hilda and the Troll and a few of the other volumes, I've been actively curious about the serious for a while. I discovered it's coming to netflix and checked out the 5 available volumes, and devoured them very quickly. I love the colors and the illustration in these comics, I'm really not sure about the strange woodman character, but the adventure with the sparrow scouts and the black hound was probably my favorite, if only because I'm now convinced hilda needs to join up with the lumberjanes.

Oh! Kim Reaper #1 is back and of course I read that and OMG SO CUTE HELP

I also started Bad Girls by Alex de Campi & Victor Santos, which I've been looking forward to reading for a while.

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

I finally got caught up on X-Men Blue (so I can read Extermination #1-2 --which I did--and Astonishing X-Men #13 onward). I got real into the last few issues, so Cullen Bunn has me hooked on that book again (at least until it, I assume, ends).

I also read the last two volumes of Darth Vader: Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War & Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 4: End of Games. Star Wars books can REALLY pull me in sometimes.

[Chad]

Mike wrote: "I also read the last two volumes of Darth Vader: Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War & Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 4: End of Games. Star Wars books can REALLY pull me in sometimes. "

I'm always surprised at how good the Marvel Star Wars comics are. The Star Wars books have felt very neutered since they started the new canon.

[Daniel]

Mike wrote: "I finally got caught up on X-Men Blue (so I can read Extermination #1-2 --which I did--and Astonishing X-Men #13 onward). I got real into the last few issues, so Cullen Bunn has me hooked on that b..."

I need to catch up on X-Men: Blue as well.
There is so much X-Men, I both love it and hate it.

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

Chad wrote: "Mike wrote: "I also read the last two volumes of Darth Vader: Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War & Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 4: End of Games. Star Wars books can REALLY pull me in..."

they FEEL neutered at first, but they're damn good when you actually read them.

[Rick]

I have been listening to a podcast that is going over The Marvel Saga series from the 80’s. I am reading along as they release episodes. They are at Issue 13 of 25 right now. Knowledgeable hosts and it has been fun to read.

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

Hey Rick! What's the show?

[Judah]

Rick! That sounds awesome!

[Wayland]

This week's comic run, much delayed by storms and power failures:

Fantastic Four 2- Reed and company find a new enemy that is going to need everyone who ever wore the 4 to come help beat.
Domino 6- The end of the fight with Topaz, and at least one relationship
Champions 24- it's a school shooting issue, and it was really, really well done. Best read of the week, but not exactly uplifting.
Titans 25- I'm really not liking the new team as Nightwing and Miss Martian deal with their combative relationship
Suicide Squad 46- Sink Atlantis part 3, as the Squad clashes with Aquaman and Mera
Plastic Man 4- strange development with the man of rubber
Ms. Marvel 34-Bruno makes a major discovery about how Kamala's powers work as she fights Shocker
Hawkman 4- Carter ends up on Thanagar as he tries to reconcile his past lives
Mystery Science Theater 3000-1 Jonah and the bots get sent into a 50's comic.

[Daniel]

some things I've read this week

Avengers: No Surrender - i fyou were reading any avengers book before the relaunch this will be your Jam (Avengers (2016), USAvengers, Uncanny Avengers, Occupy Avengers)
Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 7: Batmen Eternal - The last Volume by Tynion, wraps up the Batmen arc set up at the beginning of this run back from when Rebirth relaunched.
Captain America: Home of the Brave - Waid and Samnee ...cannot go wrong there
Batman: Damned (2018-) #1 - This book is something else, Bermejo's art is haunting!!

[Wayland]

This week's comic run:

X-Men Gold 36-- the team tries to help a new incredibly powerful mutant with a series of shocking developments, including (for me at least) this being the FINAL ISSUE
Thor 5- In the far-flung future, All-Father Thor clashes with Old Man Phoenix. And the Thor Daughters fight a new and surprising foe.
Star Wars 54- can Leia get the codes to save the fleet off the Executor with Luke and Han flying cover?
Nightwing 49- the weird motorcycle race continues.
Mr. and Mrs. X 3- Rogue and Gambit's honeymoon continues to be interrupted by weird events as a new character with a familiar origin pops up.
Avengers 6- with the Celestials dealt with, the new team takes shape in the most unique headquarters they've ever had.
Aquaman 40- the clash between the Antlean royals and the Suicide Squad ends, as does at least one character.
West Coast Avengers 2- the 50 foot Tigra is among the least of their problems...
Justice League 8- the Legion of Doom seems to be unstoppable, and an obscure character from the 90's gets resurrected in yet another rewrite of one of my favorite characters.
Multiple Man 4- the origin behind the Madrox variants as the twisted tale continues.

[Mike, Host & Producer of IRCB!]

Slowly but surely catching up on Monster. Volume 14 (aka Volume 7) is on my desk at home ready to read (due at the Library tomorrow!!).

Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 14: That Night

[Aidan]

Animosity and the Divinity series on Valiant. Also, about to check out Family Business by Mark Waid - an interesting looking Spidey/Kingpin cross-over.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/im...

[Paul]

Batman 66, Hellboy omnibus 2 and Wonder Woman 77 meets the Bionic Woman.

[bn00880]

gear school and ruse(2011)

[Phil]

Dead and Gone - Fantastic. Develops the Shadowman legacy and plants some seeds for potential storylines.
Southbound! - A short comic about a family vacation. Sluggish at first, I like how it finishes up.
The Flash, Volume 1: Lightning Strikes Twice - I think this is the first Flash comic I've ever read. I enjoyed it, but it didn't make me want to read more about the character.
Harbinger Vol. 6: Omegas (Harbinger: Omegas - End of the series. Fairly short, but I think it did a nice job wrapping things up while preparing for what is to come.
Gideon Falls, Vol. 1: The Black Barn - Amazing.
Zojaqan - Somewhat of a mixed bag. It might be one that needs to be read again.
Oblivion Song, Vol. 1 - Possibly my favorite Kirkman book to date. Definitely interested to see where this is going.

[Judah]

Just wanna let everyone here know... if you haven’t read Northlander by Brian Wood, you’re missing something special.

I just started volume 1 and I am LOVING this. The art is exceptional... it’s graphic, violent and intense, and the writing/characterizations are fascinating. The middle ages and viking age really seem like some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland. I’m so hooked!

[Chad]

Aaron wrote: "Just wanna let everyone here know... if you haven’t read Northlander by Brian Wood, you’re missing something special.

I just started volume 1 and I am LOVING this. The art is exceptional... it’s g..."

You'll probably want to check out the Black Road when you finish Northlander. It's basically a continuation of the series.

[Judah]

I absolutely will!!!

[Daniel]

Ok Last update for the month probabaly, I gotta say, riding the train really allows me to read a bunch of stuff!! I am doing like 1 train per day :D

Nightwing, Vol. 6: The Untouchable - I love this book but i cannot afford to put it on my pull List so i wait until my library gets it digitally. This is one of my favorite books from Rebirth, constantly, I think everyone who works on Nightwing, just Loves the character.
The Walking Dead, Vol. 30: New World Order - this book is too solid to be truth, Charlie Adalard's art has never looked better.
Lando - Double or Nothing - Star Wars book duh!
Star Wars: Beckett (2018) #1 - See above note
Hulk: Return to Planet Hulk - I didnt know i wanted to go back to planet hulk. I will say the art is not my fave but it fits the story.
Hunt for Wolverine: Adamantium Agenda - if you like Wolverine Stories not centered around Wolverine you will enjoy these "Hunt for Wolverine" Tie-In series
Hunt for Wolverine: Weapon Lost see above

Also started a new manga 炎炎ノ消防隊 1 Enen no Shouboutai 1 - hopefully that goes well.

Good September!!!

[Francis]

This weeks reading, I picked up Domino Annual #1, which was really good, and features a couple of cameos from some X-Men which was great, as I've not read any other X-Men titles for a while and it was nice to see some well kent faces.

I also got Doomsday Clock #7, which I continue to enjoy. This issue felt like it took a big step forward in the narrative, a teases a potential climax to the story. I just wish its release schedule was more regular.

Finally, I got Saga Vol. 8 in a comixology sale, and I'll probably get round to reading that once I've finished reading Maus.

[Wayland]

This week's comic shop run:

Doctor Who: The Many Lives of Doctor Who- Best read of the week. Small scenes from each Doctor with a lot of the past Companions, leading to the new Doctor.
Titans 26- the team clashes with the Blood Cult. I've been a Titans fan most of my life, and I really have to say I'm close to dropping this.
Xena 8- the Oracle story wraps up
Mr. Terrific 8- the team meets Tom Strong and Swamp Thing
Red Sonja 21- the end of the current era for the She Devil with the Sword, and the start of new travels.
Moon Knight 199- a clash with an old foe and a really weird trip through the city.
Domino Annual 1- how Dom met Outlaw, a post non-wedding story with Colossus, guest shot by Cable, and a few other stories.
Doomsday Clock 7- Alan Scott's lantern plays a surprising part as things get weirder and weirder.
Heroes In Crisis 1- Wow I hope this wasn't what it looked like. If it was, several heroes, including some of my personal favorites, are dead, and something disturbing about another hero comes up.
Shanghai Red 4- more adventure in the 1800's