I have increasingly become disillusioned with the current crop of comics that have been released over the past few years. It seems that new ideas are few, and the major publishers such as Marvel and DC seem hesitant about taking chances with new characters, and giving them time to build an audience. For example, Breach was a good comic by DC but i never saw it advertised anywhere or pushed in any way. They apparently also had a title called Fallen angel that reached issue 20, but I had never heard of it until I saw a cover for issue 19 at mycomicshop.com. Marvel seems to refuse any creative story if it does not have an "X" in the title. New companies such as Image never have an issue(with few exceptions) that survive past issue 10. Though I do wonder if is the fans who are hesitant to buy any new titles or the company who are gun shy?

And with DC and Marvel, is anyone else bothered by their constant renumbering, and restarting of titles. They just canceled Flash after 230 issues, as with Wonder Woman, and Superman. I can't help but think it cheapens the title and characters every time they do so. What is everyone else's thoughts on this.

What are all your thoughts on the state of comics?

I've definitely been reading more stuff by other companies (though several are Vertigo titles) like Y the Last Man, Hellboy, Kabuki, Hellblazer, Powers (got my first TPB of Transmet the other day! Wa-hoo!).

Re: the renumbering thing.

It pisses me off, but at the same time I kind of understand it. They do it so as not to intimidate "new" comic book readers. Technically, I think that's why Marvel started up the "Ultimate" line (and DC the "All-Star" line). But it just pisses me off. I think Captain America's rebooted several times now in the past decade. Captian frickin' America! As a result, it's become much more confusing than it ever was before.

I do give Marvel props for retooling some of their characters, the way Brian Michael Bendis did with Daredevil and Grant Morrison did with the New X-Men. Amazing stories! Especially since those were both rooted solidly in continuity.

Hellboy is defly a good read, what is Kabuki and Powers? And I completely agree that retooling is a good idea. Characters do need to keep fresh, especially ones that were old when our parents were young. I do wonder what the timeline is from when a title is restarted to when new readers feel it has become too continuity heavy.

Powers is about a couple of police detectives who basically work superhero homicide. The first volume I thought was okay, the second was really good. It's written by Brian Michael Bendis who (aside from the New Avengers) I generally really enjoy.

Kabuki is about...well, here's the link to the first book. Circle of Blood (vol. 1) starts off as kind of an assassin/revenge tale set in futuristic Japan, but it is an incredibly layered story. Perhaps one of the best written superhero-type stories I've read. David Mack did it, and it's very interesting to see his artistic and narrative styles evolve along with the character. (Example: Circle of Blood is mostly done in traditional albeit fantastic pencil and ink format, the next few, I think, are done with watercolors). The other volumes go in all kind of weird directions, but they're all very interesting, to say the least.

I have all but given up on new comics, at least from Marvel and DC. Not that they are bad, but because I still haven't recovered from the Early-Mid 90's with the advent of holofoil covers, variant covers and stories of little substance inside.

Roy Thomas had a good article about the golden age of comics. I believe it was in a DC Archive. He wasn't referring to a particular date necessarily, but a person's personal golden age.

Mine was the around age 12. I was reading back issues from the 70's and the new stories of the mid 80's.

I have since reverted to reading reprints from Marvel and DC from the 1950's through 1980's.

I don't know if my post is relevant to this thread, it may be more of a rant.

I really long for that golden age again.

My favorite story writers were in no particular order:

Stan Lee(Nuff Said)
Ann Nocenti(Longshot, X-men, etc)
Mark Gruenwald(dearly missed)Squadron Supreme
Jim Shooter(the Marvel stuff)
Roy Thomas(lots of DC stuff)

and many, many more that I would have to list later. I know the stories better.

Sadly, my weekly visits to the Laughing Ogre for my wednesday fix have become a thing of the past. However, if you are disappointed in current fare, might I recommend my favorite titles of recent years in TPB?

- Promethea (Vertigo- Alan Moore)
- Fables (Vertigo- Bill Willingham)
- Transmetropolitan (Warren Ellis- Vertigo)
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore again with the Vertigo)
- Planetary (Warren Ellis- Vertico)
-Supreme (Me like some Alan Moore-- but there's supposed toi be a new Supreme series coming out by the original creator, Rob Liefeld)

I've been curious about Kabuki just because the covers are incredible. I'm also curious about other America's Best titles, like Tom Strong and Top 10. Any thoughts/recommendations?

Kabuki knocked my socks off! If you can check it out, I'd definitely recommend it, Alaura. Start with Circle of Blood, and then move onto some of the others (like Metamorphosis). I have nothing but respect for David Mack (and he did some killer Daredevil issues, too ). Not only is he an intersting artist, but he's a great writer, too. He really knows how to weave the visual and lyrical parts of comics into one.

I like Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon at the helm, at least. Another series numbered at the beginning, but it doesn't bother me much. Believe me, work in the serials section of a library or academic booksupplier, and your complaints about series will overcompass mere numbering. At least you don't have to worry about X-Men 14 coming out before 13 because Marvel decided it was ready to be released, only to find out it hadn't gone through a galley stage and was full of errors. *sigh* Days when I'm glad I left that section of the company, for sure.

I also collect Ultimates and am thinking about starting up Ultimate Spiderman. Looks very cool, based on the first graphic novel, much closer to what the comic started out as with a few nice modern twists.

Beyond that, eh, nothing's got my attention.

I never really got into superhero comics, mine is the typical story of starting out with Sandman, venturing into other Vertigo series, and on from there.

I second (third? fourth?) the suggestions of Kabuki, Hellboy, Powers, Fallen Angel (it's got one TPB out), and the rest of the Vertigo line. Check out the offerings of Top Shelf, Image, and the other indie publishers in the comic shops. Pantheon puts out a handful of quality comics every year (trade paperbacks)--Daniel Clowes, Marjane Satrapi, Chris Ware, Charles Burns...the list goes on.

In June, Alison Bechdel, of the Dykes to Watch out For comic, is coming out with a powerful autobiographical comic called Fun Home. I got my hands on an advance copy and it's definitely worth picking up--check it out if you like non-fiction comics/graphic novels...even if you don't, or haven't tried any.

The state of things aren't as dire as they seem. Major publishers are picking up on the trend and starting their own graphic novel/comic imprints, with mixed results.

Sorry, I guess I kind of went off on a tangent there. Whew.

quote:

Originally posted by The Scoundrel:
Powers is about a couple of police detectives who basically work superhero homicide. The first volume I thought was okay, the second was really good. It's written by Brian Michael Bendis who (aside from the New Avengers) I generally really enjoy.

Powers is, in a weird sort of way, hit and miss. I always really like it. But sometimes, it's just downright amazing. Volume 4 (Supergroup) and Volume 6 (The Sellouts) are absolutely stellar. 3 is a bit dodgy, and I'm not sure what to think about 7 yet (just bought 7 and 8 last friday... 8 was pretty damn rad, too).

It's also drawn by an extraordinarily talented gent named Michael Avon Oeming, who posts occasionally over in Gaiman's Other Works. (and yes, it really is him, not just somebody using his name)