Greg's Comic Book Club #19: Participation Thread

Required Reading - We stand on guard I really enjoyed the premise and the world here, I found it to be an interesting take on greed driven wars, and the dangers of pre-preemptive strikes and paranoia. As a half-Canadian I relished every indulgent super patriotic line, but also really enjoyed the twist that it was Canada who (supposedly) started the war. I liked the characters, but ultimately felt like we didn't spend enough time with them for me to really get attached. I feel like I would be much more open to this story if it were an ongoing, or even a 12 issue series as opposed to 6. The world is cool, but we don't really get time to explore it through the plot. Revealing the brother was alive was neat, but didn't add much except for trying to inject hope into the ending, which I didn't really feel. It seems like the war will just continue on for years, but the ending didn't thematically represent this to me, instead presenting itself as a moment of triumph. Overall I still really enjoyed it, but I definitely think it would be better suited to a longer form story. HOUSE OF X AND POWERS OF X WOOOO WHAT A COMIC. This might be one of the best series I've read so far, and we're not even at the end. Hickman expertly juggles a variety of tones, creating a suspenseful foreboding and mysterious aura, but still interjected with grandiose moments and some really sassy levity. The changes being made are drastic and really shake up the X-men universe, without feeling forced for the sake of change. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, and reinforces the emotional moments so well. My only complaint right now is that the far future storyline isn't really connected to the present day one, but there's still two issues to make it work. Despite how daunting it seems, it's actually a pretty great jumping on point too, given you're at least somewhat familiar with X-men. Batman Universe A delightful read, it's really great to see a fun batman every once in a while. The plot is very light, but it serves it's purpose of getting batman to new whacky locations and teaming up with other heroes, with crazy antics and witty banter galore. Hawkman(2018) I've never been super into Hawkman, but this book has definitely convinced me otherwise. It dives right into Carter's complicated past in a way that's not only accessible for new readers but adds genuinely engaging intrigue to it. DCEASED: A good day to die Constantine is good. I like it. The end.

lilBimBam

Question for Ryan What run would you recommend for someone looking to get into a Marvel series other than Spiderman (or Star Wars)? Outside of the MCU and Spiderman the only Marvel superhero stuff I’ve experienced has been reading one-shots. Is there a specific character – or better yet a specific run – with great character moments that you’d like to recommend as a starting point for someone wanting to get deeper into Marvel? Required reading I started off expecting to read a sci-fi story about a political situation evolving into the US invading Canada. Instead what I got was a humanising tale about a suicide bomber. It used a fictional setting (that they didn’t have much time to explore) to tell a very real story, and although it wasn’t very subtle it was still an interesting read. Although I think it would make a great extended story, I realise they were telling one vignette and thought it was the right length for what they wanted to do. What I’ve been reading Marvel’s Civil War I’d heard a lot about how the comic is much more political than the film, but I think I misunderstood what that meant: yes, the government (and S.H.I.E.L.D.) is more involved but that doesn’t mean they explored the details, motivations and implications of the register any more than the film did. I was left with a similar feeling as when I read Kingdom Come: this is a really solid story with an interesting ending and I enjoyed it, but there are too many characters I’ve never heard of – and therefore don’t care about – stopping it from having a place on my ‘most loved’ shelf. Batman: Rebirth (issues 1-32) Loving this series so far. Issue 1 perfectly sums up why I love Batman. Sure, Superman would sacrifice himself to save the world, but it has to be a world-destroying threat before his life’s in any danger – we probably all like to think we’d sacrifice ourselves to *literally save the world*. Batman could die at any time and is prepared to die saving a plane that was going to crash into the city centre. The same way he’s prepared to die from any stray bullet from any random thug every single day. He doesn’t get an epic send-off or to say goodbye. And when the day is saved by Gotham and Gotham Girl (who are stand-ins for the rest of the Justice League here) they don’t even realise what he was about to do. That’s what makes him extraordinary, in my opinion. When I finally got around to reading Batman: Rebirth and saw the asterisks saying some of the stories were in other books, I had to get them too: Batman: Night of the Monster Men Even though it was a solid story I’m not sure why it wasn’t all included in the deluxe edition (or none of it) – it felt like the sections included were just there as advertising, before making me pay more to get the ending, which has left a bad taste in my mouth. Justice League vs Suicide Squad When I looked it up the premise seemed interesting as a standalone read: what happens when the Justice League finds out about the Suicide Squad initiative? Unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations and I wouldn’t recommend it. I wasn’t big fan of how they made Amanda Waller a straight-up villain rather than a complicated amoral character and the story didn’t draw me in. Batman/The Flash: The Button I read Batman: World of Flashpoint years ago as a standalone story and absolutely loved it. So when I got to the part of Rebirth that revisits it and saw they skipped part of the story I stopped everything to get this asap. Unfortunately I didn’t realise I was paying for just a few extra pages – fine if it’s free (those pages do flesh things out a bit) but 100% not worth paying for when nearly all of it was already in Rebirth, including everything you need for the Batman story. I think I’ve learnt my lesson about buying crossovers! The Adventure Zone: The Rockport Express I wrote in about this series from the McElroy brothers when I read volume 1 (Here Be Gerblins) and I still highly recommend it. I think this volume is even better than volume 1, but it’s very definitely the type of story where you need to start at the beginning, especially as this second volume was slower to start, relying on you already being invested in the characters. What I’m reading next Batman Rebirth issues 33-present The Walking Dead I’ve mostly managed to avoid spoilers for the last 48 issues (145-193) of the Walking Dead, and the final giant compendium comes out on the 8th October. I can’t wait! Being gifted the 1st compendium (issues 1-48) for my birthday almost exactly 5 years ago was one of the first comics I actually owned and really helped get me into the hobby, so I can’t wait to see how the series ends.

Katie Gallacher

I found We Stand On Guard to be a massive bummer. I came away from it feeling really depressed with a "what was that all about" kind of feeling. I don't know what it was trying to say other than war and conflict are awful and there are civilian casualties we don't think about... But the ending was so bleak with no real heroes, no side better than the other. The Canadians weren't innocent, the Americans were over reaching. Is it a statement on 9/11, inside job, false flag culture, on perpetual war as the excuse for resource grabbing? I don't know. I do know the art was great, the dialogue was great, but it was so mean spirited... Oh and the VR torture thing with the dad... gross. Seriously gross. On the bright side I started Spider-Man by JJ & Henry Abrams and I love what it's doing. It's one of the more interesting "What If" style books I've read in a while and I think after it's run it should be required reading. It's really interesting getting to see a Spider-Man story that's a father/son story, especially since it's written by a father/son team. I'm most excited to see where it's going. Lastly I just read issue 2 of Batman: Last Knight On Earth and I liked this issue much more than the first. The first issue was very obtuse with no straight answers as to what was going on. Who was this Batman? What happened to the world? Was he crazy? What was up with that VR program? So much had happened to the world that I thought it was crazy far in the future... issue 2 however felt like Batman's version of Old Man Logan. Batman and the Joker's head continue their trek through broken DC's America. We get to see a lot of familiar faces and the mystery of what happened to the world starts to come more into focus and it is terrifying. This book revels in being edgy. Batman still doesn't kill but he sure doesn't mind hanging out with people who do. Superman fans will be really interested to see what happens in this book. It's dark, it's crazy and Luthor's story is... well it's as crazy as the rest of this shit. This isn't going to be fore everyone. It's part Heavy Metal, part The Dark Knight Returns, and everything is fucked up and broken. The world of DC has no polish on it. No joy. It's like Zack Snyder looked at his own films and said "this is too upbeat... let's bring it down a notch or 40"

djKENTO

Hello Greg, Ryan, Kevin and anyone else at the KF Headquarters on the moon! Required Reading: Sorry, I totally forgot this month! What I've been reading: I looked through my books and realized there were a few great books pretty much every week since the last episode! I don't want to write a novel here so some things had to be left off and some will just get short mentions. Die #7: I don't have much to say about this issue that hasn't been said about the previous ones but suffice to say the book is still great! Superman Year One #2: The first issue of this book was pretty good and the first half of this issue was great. But then Supes spent a lot of time fighting a sea monster and dealing with incestuous mermaids and it got really weird. It's hard to say if I liked the issue or not because I really liked the first 2/3 but also HATED the last 1/3. DCeased: Both issue 4 and the tie-in "A Good Day to Die" were really great! They have what Tom Taylor does best: Heart! AGDTD was particularly great and had a lot of touching moments with some characters who don't always get enough love like Constantine, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Batman 78-79: A lot of people seem down on these two issues but I loved them! They do a great job to explore the Bat/Cat relationship and the conclusion to the ongoing "Boat vs. Street" debate was great imo. King Thor #1: This is the beginning of the end! Jason Aaron has been writing Thor since 2012 and this is the first issue of his concluding miniseries. I don't want to mention much about it here because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might be getting caught up (I know a lot of people jumped in after War of the Realms). I'll just say that it sets up some great things and it's really rewarding for people who have read the whole saga. I can't wait to see where we go from here! Batman Universe #3 and #4: This book is great! As I said, I'm liking Tom King's Batman but this book is a nice excursion. It's technically a "big" story in scope (because Bruce goes teleports and stuff) but it feels like a smaller adventure, which is really nice considering the majority of Batman books tend to be over-the-top these days. Loki #3: Oh yeah, gimme that meta shit! I'm a sucker for metanarratives and this book seems to be setting that up. Loki visits the House of Ideas (A real-world nickname for Marvel) and finds out how characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man can be in so many stories in such a relatively short amount of time. It's wonderfully done and I hope it continues down this path! Friendly Neighboorhood Spider-Man #11: This book continues to be my favorite Spider-book for a few simple reasons: It's got a lot of heart and it respects its characters. A lot of other books treat girlfriends and boyfriends as damsels in distress and that makes no sense. If someone has spent a lot of time with heroes, they're gonna pick up a few things. This book shows that by giving us a whole issue from MJ's perspective. It really highlights how much she loves Peter while also showing that she's a capable woman in her own right. It was wonderful! Spider-Man Velocity #1: This book was my biggest surprise when it came out. I liked the game (Beat it 4 times and platinumed it) but I didn't think I needed any more stories in that universe. While that may be true, it was still really nice to read a story with a Spider-Man that doesn't have as much baggage as the main universe (And isn't an old man, no shade). Seeing Game-Pete and MJ was nice and the fun exploration of that universe was a nice respite. Question for Ryan: What's the best thing about Marvel that isn't getting enough love? Is there a book that I should be reading? A writer or artist that I should be following? A game (that isn't already big) that I should be keeping an eye out for? A show that I should be watching or getting excited to watch (Aside from Agents of SHIELD, which is already the best comic show on tv)?

We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughn: STILL WORKING ON FINISHING IT! What Kala's been catching up on... Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1-#3 (Matt Fraction/Steve Lieber): I really enjoy this series, Fraction's not-so-serious writing style mixed with Lieber's adorable 50's throwback (but with a modern take) art is a duo I can get behind. I would highly suggest reading to issue #3 if you were wanting to give it a try, since there's a Past/Present/Future timeline in this book, but it seems to catch up to future Jimmy by the end of 3. It's incredibly ambitious, and the one of the few lighthearted books out right now at DC Comics---sometimes you just need that tonal shift, when all you seem to read is about dark, depressing stuff. Speaking of tonal shifting... Lois Lane #2-#3 (Greg Rucka/Mike Perkins): Another book that has not disappointed me yet. Rucka's dialog between Lois and Clark is really stellar and dynamic. Plot is a bit slow, but I feel it will pick up soon enough. Another Question reveal made for pretty much the excitement in issue 3 (Renee Montoya and Vic Sage, reunited and it feels so good...). Flash Forward #1 (Scott Lobdell/Brett Booth): When Heroes in Crisis ended, you could say I wasn't a big fan of how it all ended for one particular character- Wally West. So just when HiC ends, they have to pull me right back in with a mini series to fix the wrongs they achieved with Wally. 1st issue is not a terrible start, I can already see what they're trying to do with it (if anyone has read Geoff Johns' run of Booster Gold, it feels more reminiscent of that)--the Dark Multiverse is coming (like always), and Wally is the only one to rid of it. So he has to bounce around different universes to stop it. I'll give #2 a go, see if it grabs its' hooks in me. Doomsday Clock #11 (Geoff Johns/Gary Frank): And here we are with the penultimate issue, two years in the making! #11 was definitely a revelation when it comes to certain characters motives, which was nice to finally get straightened out. I'm really glad this isn't turning into a paint-by-numbers/predictable kind of story, and for me it's been consistently interesting. I'm curious what the outcome will be with Doomsday Clock and DC Comics as a whole when #12 comes out in December. Star Wars-Jedi Fallen Order: Dark Temple- The story of Jedi Fallen Order is a bit of a mystery right now when it comes to some characters like Cal, so i'm hoping maybe there will be an intriguing story to coincide with the game. The book revolves around a Master (Eno Cordova) and its Padawan (Cere Junda), in the timeline before Episode I. Not the most imaginative writing so far with the two, but I feel the potential with the introduction of the Second Sister inquisitor (the antagonist we've seen in the Jedi Fallen Order trailers so far). The art is really nice, and pairs well with the writing. It's a five issue run that's bi-weekly, that should end before the release date--so if you're hyped for this game as I am and wanting to dip your toes in some backstory, this is the one for you! EDIT: I saw the new Fallen Order trailer that came out on Thursday, and wouldn't you know, both the characters of the comic are in the new trailer. I'm a dum dum and didn't realize that the woman with the ship that saves Cal from the Second Sister is Cere. And there's a scene where Cal is in a Jedi Temple and looking at a hologram that looks exactly like her master Eno...so, already seeing some connections with the book to the game.

Kala Del Giorno

Olllo Greg and Guest: TB… Oh wait we know the guest. Hi Ryan. It's been a rough two month for me. As you probably all know, last episode Kevin called me, and I quote “Weird Kid”. He didn’t even have the respect to turn on his microphone. It’s been hard to read comics these months through the tears but I powered on. This Weird Kid is ready to talk comics (That's right Kevin, I have embraced it now. You will never defeat me). Required Reading; WE STAND ON GUARD; I’m conflicted on “We Stand on Guard”. I enjoyed reading it but ultimately it lead to nothing. Now maybe that's some deep metaphor that war is pointless, but it still makes the story’s ending unsatisfying to me. There were too many side characters for the length of the book. Making it hard to care about any of them due to the lack of panel time each of them get. The world-building was very cool though, reminding me of wolfenstein. The Art is also pretty great with the occasionally odd facial expression. Overall I thought it was a great first Chapter to a story but as a stand alone I don’t think it works that well (maybe we will get a sequel one day). I give it 3 “Cancel VR. I never want that torture option to be available in real life” outta 5. Recommendation; IVAR, TIMEWALKER (#1-12/ Complete); Last month Greg mentioned that he loved time travel stories, So I thought I would suggest this. As a time travel fan myself, this is my favourite time travel story ever. Split into three acts, the story fits a lot in its 12 issues but never feels rushed. A Scientist Neela Sethi is about to discover time travel but before she does a jaded Time Traveller (Ivar) shows up to save her life. Seeing as she is not in danger she doesn't take him very seriously. But it turned out he was just a little early, and before you know it, they are travelling through time trying to escape her hunters. Lots of twist and turns in here that I don’t want to spoil. It’s worth giving a try. Currently Reading: GIANT DAYS; It’s over. I will miss this slice of life goodness in my life. Not much to say other than if you haven’t read this yet and are looking for some light hearted fun, go binge this amazing run. As someone who never went to University (Collage), it was a great window into an over exaggerated view on that lifestyle. I give it 5 “hardest fork in the road since Furious 7” outta 5. SUPERMAN;I like to stay positive when I do these dumb reviews, But chuff me I done with Superman. I was a big supporter of Bendis’s Superman books when they started, but right now they are just not there. Action Comics is just pointless Event Leviathan tie ins and Superman is well.. Rant time. What is happening in this book. Over #18 issues of “Rogal Dumb” set up for him to just get punched in the face and that's it. In issue #13, Jor-El said that we would finally learn the truth but all we got was “I am Rogal Dumb, and I destroyed Krypton”. WE ALREADY KNEW THAT! We knew that since the finale story in Action Comics #1000. What a waste of my time. I hope Legion of Superheroes is good as this book clearly died to set it up. I give it 2 “Me Rogal Dumb, I sit by camp fire and that's it” outta 5 BATMAN UNIVERSE; Bendis might have dropped the ball on Superman for me, but he’s picked up the Batman ball with full force. This book is a great more light-hearted adventure for batman, rather then the doom and gloom he so often gets paired with. The dialogue is witty, charming and funny and the universe trotting adventure is awesome. This might be the best thing Bendis has done for DC. I give it 4 “I love dinosaurs” outta 5 ONCE & FUTURE; Another new book from Best Friend Kieron Gillen and oh boy is this very British. As a British man I love it. King Arthur's legend, Old sassy ninja lady, awkward but yet confident ginger man and maybe some Brexit undertones. Its great, would recommend. I give it 4 “Oi Guv make us a brew like a right proper lad” outta 5 HICKMEN OF X; When this started I did not expect it to be about AI and ascension, but its cool all the same. Powers of X is the least interesting of the two for me but its still fun if not Confusing. House of X is more my style, telling more of what seems to be a personal story. That issue with the assault on the mother Mold (or whatever Mold it was) was amazing. So many great personal moments. And those last words where hype inducing. Hickman truly is the master of “moments”. I give it 4 “What timeline are we in? What’s that AI called? Pod people? Let me check my 45 pages of notes real quick” outta 5. That's all (maybe too much) nerds.

This is my first new comic in years as it's usually not my medium but i saw the cover and i took a chance and I quite enjoyed it and it's art. How do feel this book comes across to new readers or people who are new to the medium?

Lucas Keys

So I’ve read almost nothing this month apart from the new Batman issues and I don’t have any interesting things to say about it. So I’ll just state this I loved We Stand on Guard it’s a very interesting what if? Scenario and the scene where the main character is tortured for information is extremely intense if I remember correctly. I might reread it and edit something more specific so if this comment just ends here I haven’t done that. K bye beautiful people

Riley O'Neil

Yo Greg and everyone else: Required Reading: We Stand on Guard By Brian K. Vaughn I think my feelings for this book can simply be summed up as "meh". I felt myself being forced into continuing to read, as I just wasn't interested in any of it aside from the giant robots that we saw very little of. I think this book built a very interesting world and had the beginnings of a good story, but in the end it felt like I just only watched the season finale of the second season of a show that went for four seasons. So much stuff happened before the book, and so much will happen after and I don't have more than a small inkling of either. So, we have a snippet of a story and then we get thrown a small handful of characters that don't really get any story or growth other than "two kids lost their parents and fought for their lives on the run". That's pretty much all of the information we got on a character and we have so much more just left hanging: 1.) What happened in the White House attack? 2.) Who really was Amber and Thomas' mom? 3.) Who was "The American"? What rank was she? How was she ordering around generals? 4.) Why did the word "hydro" suddenly matter? 5.) Why did the 2-4 so easily let in this random girl and then give her so much authority overnight? 6.) How did Amber go from girl on the run about to get killed by a wolf to bad-ass insurgent fighter in about 24 hours? 7.) What are the resources of the 2-4 and how did this band of 5 random non-military people do this much damage? 8.) The arsenic poisoning chases away the Americans for now, but what about all the Canadians who need the water? Maybe I'm being too hard on this book, but quite frankly I was left with more questions than answers after every chapter. It was more annoying to not know anything than it was to discover anything in the book. The first two chapters had some cool scenes with the American's giant robots both fighting and getting taken down, and that was enjoyable - but then it gets a back seat even when it's supposed to be at the forefront at the end. Also, the Americans have a laser with sniper like accuracy.... why wouldn't they use that for every single purpose ever?! I know Vaughn is generally regarded as one of the best out there, and I definitely still have Saga on my list... but this book makes me want to push it further down the list. What I've been reading: Nothing. Actually been a slow comic month for me.

REQUIRED READING IS ONLY $5.39 ON COMIXOLOGY! https://www.comixology.com/We-Stand-On-Guard/digital-comic/478822?ref=cGFnZS92aWV3L2Rlc2t0b3AvZ3JpZExpc3QvbGlzdDMxNTcy

djKENTO