- Joined
- Jul 3, 2006
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At my last job everybody I worked with was an unapologetic nerd. We’d go out to lunch and talk comic books, which brought much joy into my life. At my current job everybody’s into home improvement and sports. No one even went to see Iron Man, for @#%’s sake. So, I thought I’d start a thread where nerds could gather to discuss our raison d’etre.
The canon (Watchmen, Dark Knight Sandman) have been talked to death. If you haven't read all of them get thee to a comic shop and come back when you're done. Have you read anything lately that you consider in that league, or at least really good?
Supreme Power
The best title that isn’t Watchmen, Dark Knight or Sandman, and I never would have picked it up if it weren’t for my buddy Steve. Thanks Steve. Supreme Power is a thinly disguised take on some DC stalwarts with a much more, um, realistic tone.Superman Hyperion landed on a farm in the midwest and was immediately snatched from Jon & Martha his parents to be raised by the government, who did a predictable job of mangling his emotional equipment. Batman Nighthawk’s parents were killed by racist rednecks when he was a boy and he’s not entirely at ease with race relations. Wonder Woman Zarda would kill you as soon as look at you. Etc.
The main series was published under the Marvel Max imprint, so there’s plenty of carnage and T&A. A wise nerd in another thread pointed out that the Supreme Power series is descended from a 1980s run of the same characters, but I don’t know anything about that.
Supreme Power Volume 1 - Main story arc. I envy you the experience of reading it for the first time.
Supreme Power Volume 2 - First half continues the main story arc, the second half is a related self-contained story.. Just as good as vol. 1.
Doc Spectrum: Full Spectrum - Of the lackluster spin-off titles, this one is my favorite.
Supreme Power: Nighthawk -Batman Nighthawk vs. the Joker Someone Who Isn’t The Joker But Looks A Lot Like Him. Readable, but didn’t rock my world.
Squadrom Supreme - The Pre-War years. I forgot I had this one actually. Same writers, but it’s not under the Marvel Max imprint so it’s toned down.
Ultimate Power - Reed Richards opens a portal into the Supreme-verse. Meh ensues.
I think the series is still running--the story arc doesn’t feel concluded, anyway--but I haven’t seen anything new in the main arc for a while. Also, lead writer J. Michael Straczynski is currently campaigning to be a writer/producer on the next Superman movie. He’s been quoted as saying he wants to do Superman as sort of an angry god. That sounds promising, but I still want more Supreme Power.
The Ultimates
This is the only one of Marvel’s Ultimate <pick character> series that I really dug, so far anyway. (I’ve also looked at Spider Man & X-Men). Capt. America is your grandfather trapped in the body of a wrestler, Quicksilver has a love for his sister that extends well into creepy-land, and Betty Ross keeps Banner's manhood in her purse.
Uniformly good writing, phenomenal art.
Books of Magic
Around 1993 Neil Gaiman wrote a four issue run on a kid who’s gonna grow up to be a great wizard. This was in parallel to, not imitation of, the start of Harry Potter. It pulls in most of the obscure DC supernatural characters (Deadman, Mister E). Personally, I think it’s the best thing Gaiman ever wrote. I loved it unreservedly.
Fables
This is a soap-opera like saga of fables living in exile in NYC. The collections are about 6 inches tall when stacked on top of each other, so there’s too many story arcs to summarize. Bigby Wolf is the sheriff, Goldilocks is a rabid left-wing revolutionary, and so on. I dug it and I’ll read it when nothing better is handy, but to me it didn’t stand out tot the degree that the stuff above does. YMMV, though. A lot of people loved it.
So what else is good?
The canon (Watchmen, Dark Knight Sandman) have been talked to death. If you haven't read all of them get thee to a comic shop and come back when you're done. Have you read anything lately that you consider in that league, or at least really good?
Supreme Power
The best title that isn’t Watchmen, Dark Knight or Sandman, and I never would have picked it up if it weren’t for my buddy Steve. Thanks Steve. Supreme Power is a thinly disguised take on some DC stalwarts with a much more, um, realistic tone.
The main series was published under the Marvel Max imprint, so there’s plenty of carnage and T&A. A wise nerd in another thread pointed out that the Supreme Power series is descended from a 1980s run of the same characters, but I don’t know anything about that.
Supreme Power Volume 1 - Main story arc. I envy you the experience of reading it for the first time.
Supreme Power Volume 2 - First half continues the main story arc, the second half is a related self-contained story.. Just as good as vol. 1.
Doc Spectrum: Full Spectrum - Of the lackluster spin-off titles, this one is my favorite.
Supreme Power: Nighthawk -
Squadrom Supreme - The Pre-War years. I forgot I had this one actually. Same writers, but it’s not under the Marvel Max imprint so it’s toned down.
Ultimate Power - Reed Richards opens a portal into the Supreme-verse. Meh ensues.
I think the series is still running--the story arc doesn’t feel concluded, anyway--but I haven’t seen anything new in the main arc for a while. Also, lead writer J. Michael Straczynski is currently campaigning to be a writer/producer on the next Superman movie. He’s been quoted as saying he wants to do Superman as sort of an angry god. That sounds promising, but I still want more Supreme Power.
The Ultimates
This is the only one of Marvel’s Ultimate <pick character> series that I really dug, so far anyway. (I’ve also looked at Spider Man & X-Men). Capt. America is your grandfather trapped in the body of a wrestler, Quicksilver has a love for his sister that extends well into creepy-land, and Betty Ross keeps Banner's manhood in her purse.
Uniformly good writing, phenomenal art.
Books of Magic
Around 1993 Neil Gaiman wrote a four issue run on a kid who’s gonna grow up to be a great wizard. This was in parallel to, not imitation of, the start of Harry Potter. It pulls in most of the obscure DC supernatural characters (Deadman, Mister E). Personally, I think it’s the best thing Gaiman ever wrote. I loved it unreservedly.
Fables
This is a soap-opera like saga of fables living in exile in NYC. The collections are about 6 inches tall when stacked on top of each other, so there’s too many story arcs to summarize. Bigby Wolf is the sheriff, Goldilocks is a rabid left-wing revolutionary, and so on. I dug it and I’ll read it when nothing better is handy, but to me it didn’t stand out tot the degree that the stuff above does. YMMV, though. A lot of people loved it.
So what else is good?
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