999 Reading Challenge Review and Discussion Tread

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

In the past few weeks I've finished:

Morning Glories HC: This is a reread for me of the first 12 issues.  This just confirms how much I love this series.  Reading the 12 issues back-to-back was actually really great, I made some connections I don't think I made the first read through monthly.  My wife also read this and said of the stuff she has read so far, this has been her favorite.  So she now rates Walking Dead, Chew & Morning Glories in some order 1-3.

Sweet Tooth catchup:  This was my catchup on Sweet Tooth which covered issues 10-31.  Clearly, I haven't read my Vertigo for awhile.  During this time, I was seriously tempted to drop Sweet Tooth as I didn't love the first 9 issues.  I'm glad I stuck with it.  While the story itself, in broad strokes, is really just another dystopian, post-apocalyptic narrative, it is the character work being done that really makes this work.  Liked it more and more the further I read.

Fables catchup:  This covered issues 101-current.  I didn't hate it, but Fables has lost a bit of its luster for me.  At this point, it may be just the fact that I have the entire run that keeps me buying.  

I have to cathup with these series during this challange as well. For me though, its only the latest trades. Fables is a tough egg to crack. Im up to the Super Team arc and its not bad stuff. On it's own I think its very solid story telling but its just in the wake of a monumental piece of work that makes it difficult to compare on its own. I one described Fables as the best four play with climax in comics. Then 10 minutes later you want to go again. Its fun and enjoyable but just not as good as that first OHHHH face.

Travis

[S. Earl]

Today was the first TPB of Fear Agent. Vol. 1. Damn this was great....

Travis

Welcome to the greatest comic series in this modern age. NO HYPERBOLE! SCIENCE FACT!

I'm about done with the first volume of The Sword and Chester Browns' I never liked you. Watch this space for reviews later.

[Night (Travis) Nurse]

Welcome to the greatest comic series in this modern age. NO HYPERBOLE! SCIENCE FACT!

I'm about done with the first volume of The Sword and Chester Browns' I never liked you. Watch this space for reviews later.

The Sword from Image? I have the collected oversized, and havent read it yet. Look forward to hearing about Chester Brown. I really like Paying for It but have nothing else from him.

Travis

[Farrell]

Welcome to the greatest comic series in this modern age. NO HYPERBOLE! SCIENCE FACT!

I'm about done with the first volume of The Sword and Chester Browns' I never liked you. Watch this space for reviews later.

If you're busy, I'll write them for you.

The Sword: Freaking awesome.  I will quit my job and read the rest right away.

I Never Liked You: Incredibly freaking awesome.  But sad.

[Tim H]

The Sword from Image? I have the collected oversized, and havent read it yet. Look forward to hearing about Chester Brown. I really like Paying for It but have nothing else from him.

Travis

The Sword was huge, fun, summertime action.  It had insane fight scenes that sometimes spread through multiple issues, over-the-top violence, and great cliffhangers that really compel you to just keep reading and reading.  It was really pretty to look at too.

[S. Earl]

Yeah, I'm liking them both for wildly different reasons.

 I like the Luna brothers, but Girls lost me after a while. Too much mystery, not enough payoff. I'll be picking up the second trade of the Sword soon though.

[Farrell]

I like the Luna brothers, but Girls lost me after a while. Too much mystery, not enough payoff. I'll be picking up the second trade of the Sword soon though.

I had the same experience with Girls.  The good news is that The Sword has a much more satisfying progression and ending. 

[S. Earl]

I had the same experience with Girls.  The good news is that The Sword has a much more satisfying progression and ending. 

I never even finished Girls. Bailed around issue 17. I'm sure I didn't miss much.

...

Well, besides all the boobies.

[Ryan 'gobo' C.]

Finished up my first 9

Air Volume 1 by G Willow Wilson and MK Perker

Really love the art in this and the premise is really interesting, KIND of Unwritten'y but sort of based more in the real-world. Definitely excited to read the rest.

Astro City: Life in the Big City by Busiek, Anderson and Ross

Really liked the one and done stories in this setting up and fleshing out the world Astro City is in, can't wait to read more. I've seen Family Values in long boxes a bunch of times but never realized it was volume two, looks like it's out of print at the moment but I'll have to keep my eyes open at cons and shops.

Next 9:
Iron Council by Mieville
Black Hole
New York Four
Gus and His Gang
The Quitter
Air Vol 2
32 Stories
I Saw You
American Barbarian

[Robert]

Mesmo Delivery Service by Rafael Grampa

I found this book to be exceptional.  The strength of this tale is its inherent simplicity.  Grampa allows the artwork to do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to telling the story.  Reminiscent of James Stokoe's exasperating detail and Frank Quitely's line fluidity, they merge intelligently with Grampa's layouts.  All of this plus the length of the tale, coming in at roughly 58 pages, are perfect without allowing the art to become too cumbersome and the story-telling to become too tedious and boring.

I probably will read this book a second time, as Grampa's art is detail laden and I want to savor it more without having to depend on following the actual script. 

Page per page, maybe as perfect a story as could be read.

[evaD]

Mesmo Delivery Service by Rafael Grampa

I found this book to be exceptional.  The strength of this tale is its inherent simplicity.  Grampa allows the artwork to do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to telling the story.  Reminiscent of James Stokoe's exasperating detail and Frank Quitely's line fluidity, they merge intelligently with Grampa's layouts.  All of this plus the length of the tale, coming in at roughly 58 pages, are perfect without allowing the art to become too cumbersome and the story-telling to become too tedious and boring.

I probably will read this book a second time, as Grampa's art is detail laden and I want to savor it more without having to depend on following the actual script. 

Page per page, maybe as perfect a story as could be read.

I read it not too long ago. Awesome only scratches the surface. It's a great book.

[whirlwindx]

Astro City: Life in the Big City by Busiek, Anderson and Ross

Really liked the one and done stories in this setting up and fleshing out the world Astro City is in, can't wait to read more. I've seen Family Values in long boxes a bunch of times but never realized it was volume two, looks like it's out of print at the moment but I'll have to keep my eyes open at cons and shops.

I thought they were being re-released since they are out of print? Maybe that was my assumption. I have the old Family Album Hardcover and was happy when Life in the Big City came back into print and it wasn't just a trade so I could continue with the hardcovers. I didn't realize there was so many one and done stories.

[Ryan 'gobo' C.]

I thought they were being re-released since they are out of print? Maybe that was my assumption. I have the old Family Album Hardcover and was happy when Life in the Big City came back into print and it wasn't just a trade so I could continue with the hardcovers. I didn't realize there was so many one and done stories.

Family Values is out end of 2012 so at the worst I can get it then.

[Farrell]

I never even finished Girls. Bailed around issue 17. I'm sure I didn't miss much.

...

Well, besides all the boobies.

That series reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when he has the girlfriend who does everything naked and it becomes un-sexy for him.  Pretty soon it's like, "Ho, hum, another bunch of hot, naked mass murderers are after our heroes.  Yawn."  Naked girls should never make you yawn.

[Lukeh]

I noticed the other day they had another series just starting called whisper or whisperers. Something like that. Looked like it was about a ghost. Wish I picked it up now!

Thumbs up to the sword though. Great series.

[Robert]

That series reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when he has the girlfriend who does everything naked and it becomes un-sexy for him.  Pretty soon it's like, "Ho, hum, another bunch of hot, naked mass murderers are after our heroes.  Yawn."  Naked girls should never make you yawn.

I think that was supposed to be part of the experience though.

What started as every hetero males fantasy turned into a nightmare for everyone involved.  Sure the pacing was a bit tepid at times, but even the reader was supposed to become inundated with the sight of boobies, just like the townsfolk. 

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the book was a bit of a victim of its own success.  Was it not supposed to be a much shorter series originally, but due to good sales, it was extended?  I'm not making excuses, but it certainly did read that way as it did meander a bit.

[Farrell]

I think that was supposed to be part of the experience though.

What started as every hetero males fantasy turned into a nightmare for everyone involved.  Sure the pacing was a bit tepid at times, but even the reader was supposed to become inundated with the sight of boobies, just like the townsfolk.

That's a good point.  You're absolutely right.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the book was a bit of a victim of its own success.  Was it not supposed to be a much shorter series originally, but due to good sales, it was extended?  I'm not making excuses, but it certainly did read that way as it did meander a bit.

Hmm, I dunno.... I haven't heard that before, but I wasn't really paying attention to the buzz about Girls when it was coming out.  I didn't know the Luna Bros then, and I thought it was a T&A exploito-comic.

[ford]

ZEGAS #1 & #2
I kinda love Michel Fiffe right now. ZEGAS is joy, ZEGAS is enthusiasm, ZEGAS is creation, ZEGAS is COMICS. The best comparison I can make to this is 100% by Paul Pope. It is slice of life, interesting characters in a city that is meant to represent a real place but with a sheen of something so much more. However trying to explain the magic that is this comic is kinda hard so here is a sample page:

The books are a similar size(page size) to Ganges and are easily the best things I have read so far this year.

This is great to hear, just got #1 and 2 in the mail yesterday. Flipping through them definitely built up my excitement. The way Fiffe composes his panels is amazing, so much detail and space simultaneously.

[ford]

Not really reviews.

Just finished The Art of Daniel Clowes. It was a very enjoyable experience for many reasons. Firstly it was nice to be able to around lots of Clowes' work outside of the context of reading a comic. Each essay coming from a different contributor was a great strength of the book as it delivered a diverse range of opinions in its coverage of varying topics/angles.
Personally the book couldn't have come at a better time for me. I'd read Clowes in high school and really got into his stuff but through time, growing up and changing tastes I'd forgotten him. A little after the release of Wilson I rediscovered him and have since read everything I could get my hands on and re-read everything from my first time around. Since Wilson there has been a good run of Clowes' stuff released/re-released which for me sort of built up to The Art Of...

Batman: R.I.P. was an interesting re-read for me as I didn't particularly enjoy it, despite remembering it fondly. This was mostly because of Tony Daniel's art which was a mess. It was filled with a juvenile grasp of anatomy which I found continuously
 distracting. Reading R.I.P. this time around did very little for me but the book wasn't a complete disappointment because it included the two-part Final Crisis/R.I.P. aftermath story. The two-parter was a lot of fun and Lee Garbet's art was a nice pallet cleanser making the previous six issues a distant memory.
Being exposed to this stuff again made me realize that Morrison's run was a big turning point for me. Loved it to begin with then almost gave up on it. If I didn't persist with it I would have never gone into the Morrison psychosis I've been in the last few years.
I propmtly followed R.I.P. up with Time and the Batman which was lots of fun. There were two issues in the middle drawn by Daniel who's art was much improved. He was inking his own stuff this time around which made the work a lot more dynamic and loose.

[Tim H]

That series reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when he has the girlfriend who does everything naked and it becomes un-sexy for him.  Pretty soon it's like, "Ho, hum, another bunch of hot, naked mass murderers are after our heroes.  Yawn."  Naked girls should never make you yawn.

Farrell, have you read their miniseries Ultra?  I really enjoyed The Sword but now have no desire to read Girls.  If you've read it, how is Ultra compared to the two?