So I've been really enjoying reading comics. Being that a single issue doesn't take very long to read through, it's nice to be able to read in short bursts or longer depending on how I feel. For example, a lot of times on work days I don't have the energy to read for very long after work. So it's nice to have small chunks to read in, if need be.
I've already mentioned that I read
Batman Year One, and I was very impressed with it. So I've sort of been going down the Batman rabbit hole. After looking into it a little, there's a lot of things that are in continuity with Year One. But it's sort of confusing, it looks like Year One is part of multiple continuities LOL.
After Year One, I read
The Man Who Laughs. It was also very enjoyable, although I think I enjoyed Year One a little more. The hardcover of The Man Who Laughs that I picked up also includes two other tales. One is some sort of Batman Noir. It's a standalone story in its own universe, I suppose. I was enjoyable. There's also a Batman tale guest starring the Green Lantern, but I haven't read that one yet.
Then I read the
Dark Moon Rising series, which is composed of two tales: Monster Men being the first, and The Mad Monk being the second. Monster Men has the villain Hugo Strange, who I thought was a great character. The Mad Monk was kind of weird in that the main villain might be a vampire. I mean, I think we're suppose to assume that he is, but I thought it was ambiguous enough that it leaves it as a "is he, isn't he" question mark. Both stories share some interesting sub plots. Namely, a love interest and the organize crime families in Gothom. I don't think Dark Moon Rising is the highest regarded Batman tale, but I found it enjoyable. Perhaps because I don't have much to compare it to yet?
The Dark Moon Rising series is spread over 10 issues, and I actually picked up the individual issues since I was able to get them cheap enough. At first, I was kind of annoyed at how many ads there are in those issues. About half of the pages are ads! But there are a lot of fun ads to look at. These issues came out in the early 2000's, so all of the video game ads are now retro gaming! Lots of Gamecube, PS2, Xbox stuff. As well as some PSP and GBA! So I ended up enjoying the ads, despite how many there were.
After that I read
Prey. Prey is a great sequel of sorts to Monster Men, at least in the sense of Hugo Strange. I find Dr. Strange to be a very fun character. He fights Batman with psychological warfare, and it picks up on some threads from Year One. So it all seems like a continuation of the Year One story. The digital copy of Prey that I bought also came with
Terror, so I read them both back to back. Terror is a sequel to Prey, which came out many issues later, but fits perfectly right after Prey. I definitely enjoyed both.
Next I read
Gothic, which was a good read but not exactly traditional Batman. It falls more into the supernatural category, like Mad Monk, and I'm just not use to that when it comes to Batman. Still, it was a pretty decent read. Dark though, even for a Batman tale. Unlike Mad Monk, I don't think it was ambiguous at all. There definitely is a supernatural element to it. Could be a good stand alone read for October.
Then I read
Venom, which seems to have polarizing opinions. It kind of works as a stand alone tale, although it still fits into the continuity I'm in. I thought it was a good read, and enjoyable, but not near my favorite of what I've read so far. It's a nice dive into the psyche of Bruce Wayne, especially in the early years. And it's kind of neat to see the drug venom early on, knowing that it comes into play again...
Then I read
The Long Halloween. And damn, it was good! It was definitely a page turner. I've heard complaints that Batman doesn't really do anything, and stuff is just happening. But I think that's what makes it great. It's face paced, and the events are out of control for Batman. I thought the story and artwork were both top notch. It might have been my favorite Batman read yet. It also seems to very neatly start the transition from the Year One Batman into the established Batman. Namely, how the organized crime families are Batman's biggest enemy during the Year One era.
And now I'm reading
Dark Victory, which is a sequel to Long Halloween. I'm not finished with it yet, but so far I think I'm liking it MORE than Long Halloween! After this, I might read
Catwomen: When in Rome. As I understand it, it's a tale that takes place in parallel to Dark Victory. In the timeline that I'm reading, I've been enjoying the character of Selina / Catwomen so far. So I see no reason not to read it.
After that, sheesh, there's only a million and one other Batman tales to read. I'll take a break from Batman at some point, but right now it's just sucking me in. I do want to read some Superman, and perhaps so other superheroes as well.
I still have to finish the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy. It's just that Batman Year One was so good that I'm sort of hooked on Batman right now LOL. After that, in the Star Wars department, I think I'll read Shadows of the Empire. I've been wanting to read that one since the 90's!
It's sort of bad to binge stuff like this, because (for me at least) it ends up blurring together and it doesn't resonate the same way. If I read them at a slower rate, you have time in between to let them sink in. But they've just been so good, I can't help it!
I did pick up the first volume of
Power Rangers and made it to chapter two. I don't know, it just didn't suck me in. I love the artwork, and the character and the lore and everything is cool enough. I don't know, maybe it's just too boiled down of a formula for me at this point. Power Rangers are in school, Rita sends down a new monster, it's morphin' time, Rangers in peril, but no, they defeat said monster. That's not to say I don't like it. I don't know, I'll have to read more. I'll at the very least finish the volume I have.
I also picked up the first volume of the EC Archives
Tales from the Crypt. I've read 2 or 3 stories so far, and they're great! I haven't read a story yet that really knocked my socks off, but I think they're perfectly entertaining stories considering the time they were written in. I mean, they hold up well today.
rainingman wrote: It is indeed quite telling that the academy prefers to use the term "graphic novel" to "comic." As if they need to invent a respectable term to study works they don't really regard as serious enough, if at all serious in the first place.
Funny you brought that up, because I've been thinking about this. I was somewhat confused. I've heard the term "graphic novel" before, but I always thought that was something different than a comic. But it seems they can be used interchangeably, to some extent. Like, if a number of comic issues are collected into a book, you can call that a graphic novel. I always thought a graphic novel was just that. Something that someone wrote, in a comic book style, with the intentions of it being a book. And I thought collected comic issues, or an omnibus, were still comics. But no, it seems you can call them graphic novels.
