Collected Comic Book Bonanza

[sdelmonte]

I may have mentioned before that I am able to find a fairly wide variety of comic book trade paperbacks and hardcovers in the New York and Queens public library systems. (Queens has its own system distinct from the one that serves Manhattan and the Bronx, and Brooklyn has its own, too.) In the past month, though, between the two libraries near me in Queens, the one near my office, and trips to the larger libraries in Midtown when off from work, I have found 20 such books. It's been quite a journey.

I've read the fifth and sixth Girl Genius collections - yes, I know it's online for free, but I still prefer books. If you haven't tried Girl Genius, you are missing one of the great fantasy epics of our time.

I've read three Hellblazer collections, two from the Mike Carey era and one from way back in the Garth Ennis era. These are often harsh and horrific, but John Constantine always makes for gripping (if tragic) reading.

I've read Gail Simone's Secret Six miniseries, which evokes memories of the old Suicide Squad comic, and which is possibly the single most adult comic to appear with the DC logo in ages. It's also just a great comic with characters that you care about even though all of them are killers and not exactly heroes. I'm halfway tempted to start buying the Secret Six series that debuts this week, but think I will just wait for the collection, since this worked so well in one big dose.

I've read lots of other things that aren't that great, but are fun, things like John Byrne's run on Fantastic Four and a graphic novel telling the origin of Conan's worst enemy. I have tried things that I might have never otherwise have thought about if I'd needed to pay for them, and even if I did like them, I felt good for stretching my bounds.

I've read the first of the new Jonah Hex collections. I'm glad that DC is giving a Western hero a try, and loved the art. But after six issues of Hex's sneering and lots of violence, I was bored. He just doesn't do it for me.

And I didn't read the first collection of Brad Meltzer's run on JLA. Or rather, I read about four issues and just couldn't make myself read any further. I cannot say the last time I took a collection out from the library and returned it unread. But this was clumsy, cloying, painfully manipulative soap opera disguised as a super-hero comic. The characters were almost interchangeable, the plot was pedestrian and no way to relaunch the world's greatest super-hero team, and the melodrama about Red Tornado and his family was awful. Never mind that the Big Three are making plans to select Justice Leaguers for much of the story and none of their choices are actually invited. I am so glad I didn't pay one penny for this junk.

But I'm not done yet. I have 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen and Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules waiting, and pretty soon I will be getting my hands on a few more things on reserve. The fanboy adventure continues...

Comments

[kali921.livejournal.com]

God, I loved the Secret Six minis. Did you read Villains United?

[sdelmonte]

Oh, yes. It was far and away the best of the four Countdown to Infinite Crisis books. Too bad she lost a cast member between the miniseries and now, but I am very encouraged by one of the villains she's adding.

[mbarr.livejournal.com]

Just finished reading all of Girl Genius. Addictive!