What have you been reading lately?
by: wetz Friday, Apr 02, 2010
Here is the latest reading list I have finished:
Punisher: Six hours to kill by Duane Swierczynski and Michel Lacombe - After breaking up a slave ring in Philly, Frank Castle wakes up to find himself chain to a table and injected with a virus that will kill him in six hours unless he takes out a predetermined target. With the toxin rushing through his veins (slowing down his senses and reaction time), frank takes out a large portion of crime within the city before starting his hunt for the target. I like Swierczynski on Iron Fist, but he is aping Garth Ennis’ version of the Punisher a little too much for my liking.
Bendis Daredevil Omnibus Vol. 1 - Brian Michael Bendis is one of the best comic writers in the medium for the last decade, but I never read any of his Daredevil run. I always thought there were too many story lines going on that I would miss something. Well this Omnibus tackles the first half of his Daredevil run. Bendis had Alex Maleev on the art duties (hot off their Max series Alias). Bendis takes the reader into Matt Murdocks drive to become a hero and the stumbling blocks of what that title means. I loved this series and now know why Bendis writing Daredevil is a huge fan favorite.
Punisher Max - Welcome To The Bayou by Victor Gischler and Goran Parlov - This is your standard Punisher read, very serviceable, but nothing special. Half the time I feel like writers feel a sense obligation to write Frank Castle like Garth Ennis writes the character. I would say only Rick Remender is taking Frank Castle into new areas and exploring new aspects of the character. This was a decent read, just nothing that blew the door off the hinges.
Wolverine Volume 2: Coyote Crossing by Greg Rucka and Darick Robertson – I wanted to check out Rucka’s first work at Marvel. It was not worth the time put in. Pretty boring, except for the Darick Robertson artwork.
Wolverine Vol. 3: Return of the Native by Greg Rucka and Darick Robertson
Agents Of Atlas: Dark Reign by Jeff Parker and Carlo Pagulayan - The artwork and Dark Reign tie-in made this a really fun read. I don’t know if I would have laid down $$$ for it (I got it from my library). But it was quite entertaining.
2 Replies
I would actually tell you to AVOID the Daredevil from Joe Quesada (the saving grace with his run is David Mack’s artwork) and the run from Kevin Smith (too wordy and meh). I would HIGHLY recommend ANY of the Bendis’ Daredevil. Actually Marvel is really good with putting a one page “catch the reader up to the story” page before most of the Daredevil graphic novels (very helpful). When I first was reading the Bendis and the Brubaker runs of Daredevil I was reading them completely out of order (whatever came in through the library) and I wasn’t confused what-so-ever. Just a thought.
Rucka is usually a home-run for me, but not on Wolverine. If you want a good writer on Wolverine, try Jason Aaron’s newest run with Ron Garney. Aaron writes Wolverine like a Clint Eastern western film. If you haven’t jumped on the Jason Aaron bandwagon, I would HIGHLY recommend anything by him.
Scalped
Ghost Rider
Punisher MAX (with Steve Dillon)
He also wrote a couple one-off issues for Batman, Iron Fist, Dark Reign, The List (fun Punisher story with JRJR artwork), and Secret Invasion: Black Panther
For me, the writer is 80% of the draw. If I want great, fun, entertaining comic read. I’m heading to Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Geoff Johns, Matt Fraction, Abnett & Lanning, Rick Remender, Mark Waid, Hickman, Bendis, Dan Slott, Rucka
They can pretty much punch my ticket and sell me on anything they do.
I LOVE me some Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Jeff Lemire, Warren Ellis, Bryan K Vaughan, Garth Ennis. But sometimes they do something so creative that it isn’t “entertaining”. It is like reading homework. Garth Ennis’ Battlefields is that way for me. I LOVE it, but I REALLY have to be in the mood to read something like it.
I just finished up a biography and jumped back into my comic reading.
i just finished a Green Lantern bender. I read all of Green Lanterns up to Prelude to Blackest Night and Green Lantern Corp up to Prelude. There's one more Green Lantern Corp book i have to read before i am fully caught up and ready for Blackest Knight. Then all i have to do is wait til July when the Blackest Night books start rolling out. The Green Lantern series rocks. Johns has really established Green Lantern as a first tier able to stand toe to toe with Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. And the space epic scope of the series is awesome.
Before that i pretty much have caught up with HULK, from Planet Hulk all the way up to Saga of the Red Hulk. so i'm all set for Fall of the Hulks to come out in May. I actually haven't read a Hulk book since the days of HULK Crossroads. But Hulk is awesome! Pak and Loeb both write a really really FUN book. Lots of SMASH! and Adams' and McGuinness' art is perfct for the book.
So now i'm just waiting for the Con so i can get caught up on Cap, Iron Man (i'm glad they are re-releasing the Ellis Extemis book), Spidey and Avengers. and i need to catch up on Hellboy, BPRD and GOON. oh and SUPERMAN and Batman stuff.
man that's sad to hear about Greg Rucka on Wolverine. I love his Bat stuff. As for the Punisher stuff i just really want to read Ennis' work and that's it. And i've never read Dare Devil other than that Loeb/Sale book and that Miller origin series, oh and i never finished that kevin smith series either. But i'm open to it to Bendis' run.