And I’m really looking forward to reading these things. After all, I’ve been looking for an opening into the world of superhero comics for two years now, without really finding a good place to start. Thanks to Loki’s help, though, this has changed, and in a couple of days, I’ll be reading about Wolverine, Storm, and the other guys, whom I previously’ve known primarily through the X-Men films.
Yay!
(Now all I gotta do is start collecting Ultimate Avengers or whatever that one’s called, and then I think I’ll be satisfied with Marvel for a while.)
(EDIT: And three new categories (four now, actually), just for this post. Meaning that this blog now has 47 categories, 93 posts and 314 comments, as per 00.43 CET on October 10, 2006. The plethora is becoming Byzantinian — a yay for that too! :D)
Posts
The HARDCOVER? Of a series you’ve never even read?!
O.o
My God, you have too much faith in me, you realise how guilty this will make me feel if you end up not liking it?
“Ultimate Avengers” is called “Ultimates”.
And while the Ultimate-universe is rather different from the normal Marvel-universe, I think you’re making a smart choice as far as introduction to super hero-books go - there is no gargantuan baggage of continuity in the Ultimate-titles, and they hold rather high quality out and through. Just be aware that Ultimate Beast might not act and think like normal Beast, Ultimate Storm have a different background from normal Storm, and so on and so forth.
When you’re finished with the Ultimate-titles you mention, let me know, and I’ll give you some Batman-titles you should check out. (If you haven’t already… I forget)
10. October 2006 @ 02:01 ( Permalink )
“The HARDCOVER? Of a series you’ve never even read?!
O.o
My God, you have too much faith in me, you realise how guilty this will make me feel if you end up not liking it?”
Well, they’re durable, at least. And besides, it seems like the kind of stuff I could like. Fantasy/sci-fi-thingy (although I suppose it’s not really any of them), with many characters interacting with each other.
I gotta stop buying the books at the local shops, though, no matter how much they need the support. ‘cos I paid 300NOK for the one I bought today, while the ones I bought from amazon cost like £14. And 14×12 is much less than 300…
And you have no need to feel guilty. After all the goodness you’ve pimped, I can take som mediocrity.
““Ultimate Avengers” is called “Ultimates”.”
Thanks, I’ve been wondering about that.
“And while the Ultimate-universe is rather different from the normal Marvel-universe, I think you’re making a smart choice as far as introduction to super hero-books go - there is no gargantuan baggage of continuity in the Ultimate-titles, and they hold rather high quality out and through. Just be aware that Ultimate Beast might not act and think like normal Beast, Ultimate Storm have a different background from normal Storm, and so on and so forth.”
Good thing I’m not too familiar with the ordinary universe, then. These things probably won’t bother me much. But thanks for the heads’up, anyway.
“When you’re finished with the Ultimate-titles you mention, let me know, and I’ll give you some Batman-titles you should check out. (If you haven’t already… I forget)”
Yay!
By the way, the guy I share kitchen and bathroom with has recommended “The Return of the Dark Knight” or something like that — it’s the one where an old Batman returns to fight the JLA or similar, which has ruled the world for a time. Sounded like a hell of a concept… and I kinda trust his taste, as he’s a huge fan of Whedon and other geeky stuff.
10. October 2006 @ 04:44 ( Permalink )
“Dark Knight Returns”, an immensely gritty work by Frank Miller (”Sin City” ,++) which is often cited as having redefined superhero comics into something for adults. It’s not in-continuity (thank God, as I think his interpretation of Batman in it is, well, not complety on the mark) but it’s very good. If you’re into horribly dark futuristic scenarios where it’s kill or be killed and no matter which choice you make, you’re corrupted. Which Miller obviously is.
He doesn’t fight JLA in that one, though, just Superman (and one hell of a fight it is), he fights the JLA in the sequel, “Dark Knight Strikes Back” which isn’t quite as good, but still decent.
But if you’re going to start reading Batman, I’m not sure if I’d use that one as your first window in. Frank Miller has another very known Batman comic, “Batman: Year One”, which takes place (obviously) in his first year as Batman and is one of the major inspirations for “Batman Begins” (though their plots are very dissimilar). That one I can recommend (not that I can’t recommend DKR, but you get my meaning), and it spins directly over in one I can recommend even more, “Batman: Long Halloween” by Jeph Loeb. Thus I’d rather pick that as an introduction to the Caped Crusader of Gotham, seeing as it actually does deal with his early years. “Long Halloween” has an almost equally good sequel by Loeb, too, “Dark Victory”, in which, among other things, Robin is introduced, I think. So you could read those three, “Year One”, “Long Halloween”, “Dark Victory”, and you’d be rather well versed in the Batman-mythos already, plus having read quality stories.
(Odd thing; with the possible exception of Year One, which I haven’t read in a while and thus remember little details of, I’m not too big a fan of the drawings in any of these. XD Just so you don’t think I’m praising the artwork as well as the plots and dialogue and so on. Not that it’s BAD. It’s just not for me. )
10. October 2006 @ 13:17 ( Permalink )
I’m ever grateful for these recommendations of yours, Loki. It’s so bloody hard to just find somewhere to start, when there’s hundreds of titles and just as many writers and artists to choose from…
10. October 2006 @ 18:27 ( Permalink )
Yeah, I know, word-of-mouth is extremely importent in my choosing titles, too. As you say, horrible amounts to choose from.
Then, when you’ve read a few such titles, you start noticing writers (and for more aestethically oriented people than me, artists) you tend to really like the stories of, and you can start buying stuff with their name on it despite not really having heard much. That’s the way I do it, at least.
10. October 2006 @ 20:28 ( Permalink )
Sounds like an good method.
Oh, and Vol. 4 and 5 arrived from Amazon today, so I’m even more giddy than before — I can hardly wait to get my hands on the first three volumes. This is in part because vol. 5 had an illustration of Rouge kissing some robust fellow on the backcover, and I’d like to find out who he is and why he isn’t writhing in pain while his life force is being sucked from him.
10. October 2006 @ 21:14 ( Permalink )