Saga Volume 4

OK so I bought volume 3 last April and am still to read it but I've just got volume 4.

I'mj sure it'll read better in one go anyway!

The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies

We watched this last chapter in the Hobbit trilogy today.

Not at all plot heavy but lots of action. Pretty much what we've come to expect.

Again interested to see what is added to the special edition because I don't judge these movies completely until I've seen that.

Retribution Falls

Great book. Bit steampunky and even though it wasn't set in space it did remind me of Firefly quite a bit.

Will read the sequel v v soon!

Wookie World

So I've just purchased Volume 6 of Dark Horse's reprinting of the old Marvel Star Wars comics.

This volume, picked up on ebay for £10 incl P&P, reprints issue numbers 82-95. It's the last one I needed to complete the collection.

A bit of irony though as DH has just lost the license and in a month or so Marvel will start publishing Star Wars comics again. They are also planning 2 omnibus volumes reprinting their original series but I'm happy with these DH collections.

Added to My Collection - Even More Bronze Age Iron Man

I keep spotting bargains on ebay which mean I'm quickly moving towards my goal of completing the Iron Man run from 50 - 281. Only a month again I won a auction lot and again this week I won 171-180 (but not 172) for £5. These are circa 1983 and were published just before I got back into comics with the discovery of speciality comics shops.

So just 172 to go now!

Various new purchases

Time for some new purchases. All of these are continuations from previous volumes I already have.

The Hawkeye soft cover is of note. \i had previously got an oversized collection containing vols 1 and 2. Word is that there won't be one for 3 and 4 and Marvel is going straight for the omnibus. Darn-it! So softcover versions of 3 and 4 for me.

The Might Thor Epic Collection Vol 1

This arrived a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to post about it.

Better value than the Masterworks series and good for me to collect for series featuring "secondary" Marvel characters - the Epic line is, well, epic.

These volumes are also coming think and fast and so hopefully I can add to more Cap America, Thor and possibly Doc Strange epic volumes

Harley Quinn Hot in the City

Ordered last May - arrived today!

(It was only published a week or so ago but the first one got lost in the post!)

The Rocketeer

I've recently finished all my Rocketeer trades.

First up was the Complete Adventures by the creator Dave Stevens. This consists of two stories the second of which I've had for some time. Simple plots full of humour and adventure with fantastic art. I love Dave Steven's style.

Post Steven's death, new stories have been published and I thought I'd try a couple.

These were definitely in homage to the original work but lacked the art (although I can't moan at Darwyn Cooke's crack at the character in the adventures Treasury.)

Both volumes were fun to read though.

Neil Adams Batman

Just finished reading all three volumes of Neil Adams Batman which feature stories from the various Batman titles from the early 1970s.

One thing I can say is 1970s DC was so different to Marvel at the same time. The majority of the stories were done-in-one. There were no sub-plots and except for the Ra Ghuls stories not much of a complex plot to anything at all.

BUT Adam's art was fantastic from Vol 1 and, at last, I can see the influence he had on other artists particularly John Byrne,

I was thinking of reading some Jim Aparo Batman next but I think I need a break from 1970s DC. I'll pick up that in a little while.

New She-Hulk and Fatale Conclusion

New purchases!

I'm still keeping to my resolution to keep off Marvel for the year but Fatale will be read soon. Just finishing some Batman trades!

Added to My Collection - More Bronze Age Iron Man

It's only been a month since I purchased some other Iron Man back issues but I've already added some more leaving me just a handful to get to complete a run from 50 - 281.

This was a lot of various issues from 168-199 of which 11 were back-issues I needed. One or two replaced older copies I had so it is all good.

Added to my collection - some Bronze Age Incredible Hulk

My Hulk collection took a giant step forward to being complete (or as complete as I'm ever going to get it) with the purchase of a small lot on ebay which included #153 and #159. With only the (very expensive) issues with the first appearance of Wolverine missing from my run once I get the next soft cover Masterworks , I'm pretty much sorted.

This lot went for £10.67 so I'm pleased as I've seen these two issues go for more then that individually.

Couple of tasty new purchases

Pleased with these although I'm unlikey to read the Black Widow trade for a while (as 2014 is a Marvel free year) I've started reading the Order of the Stick with my son already. He couldn't wait.

Considering the latter was sent from the US via Amazon it's in great condition. Better than the kickstarters!

Added to my collection - Bronze Age Iron Man

I've not purchased many back issues this year as I've concentrated on trades and, truth be told, there's not many I want in this golden age of reprints.

Iron Man is one title where I'd prefer to get the original issues between 150 - 200 that I've not got. With this ebay purchase of 7 issues I've now completed the run to issue 168.

Batman Silver Age Classics

I'm about to start reading some trades of old Bronze Age Batman stories and it suddenly occurred to me this was the perfect time to read these two reprints of some key Silver Age material of the Dark Knight. I've had these for years and never read them.

Historically very interesting. Amazing to see how DC comics from 1955 and 1964 were put together.

Batwoman Vol 3 World's Finest

I enjoyed this more than the previous volume because of the imaginative and fairly unique art from J.H. Williams III, The story isn't amazing or anything and after recently reading Sleeper and Doc Unknown it felt very slow paced.

Still only 1 more volume to go.

Not my cuppa tea - Batman and the Outsiders

Oh this is a shame. i wanted to like these 3 issues of Batman and the Outsiders so much but I just couldn't despite competent art from Jim Aparo and great art from Alan Davis.

There was nothing for a new reader to the series to connect to. No explanations and various characters thrown around with hardly an introduction. So despite me saying I might get more, I think not.

This three issues was the start of a long Batman related run of comics I'm going to embark on over the next few months. Not a good start.

Captain America Epic Collection Society of Serpents

I love the value of these Epic Collections. This cost £15.25 and reprints Captain America (1968) 302-317 & material from Marvel Fanfare (1982) all in colour. So more comics and cheaper than a masterworks. Just it isn't in hardcover...but you do get the extras which are now included in the masterworks collections.

If I was just starting to buy collected material this would be the format I'd go for.

At least with Cap I've not got many of the original comics so this and the previous collection are welcome additions!

Doc Unknown

Well I breezed through the Doc Unknown kickstarter comics. The stories, most of which were short,. were fast and furious. They were fun but not very demanding on the brain. Compared to the silver and bronze age comics there was hardly any text. How times have changed!

Sleeper Omnibus

So I've raced though this 720 page volume in about a week or so. It's typical Brubaker/ Phillips fayre - i.e. violent, sexy and exciting. The plot has various twists and turns but you always feel Brubaker is in control and knows where he's going.

This was apparently their first collaboration back in 2004. It won't be long before I'm going to read their latest when the final volume of Fatale is released in October.

Batwoman Vol 3 World's Finest

I'm definitely going to get all four vols of the J.H. Williams III run even if the last one wasn't that great. This time he's back on the art!

More Kickstarter Comics - Doc Unkown

Received these comics direct from the US via Kickstarter. This is the description from the kickstarter campaign.

DOC UNKNOWN is a pulpy, supernatural action/adventure series about a man chosen by fate to battle the forces of evil during World War II. It's for fans of Batman: The Animated Series, Hellboy, and Planetary.
DOC UNKNOWN: Winter of the Damned & other tales will be a 104 page graphic novel. The book continues the strange adventures of the Gate City Guardian. Instead of putting out costly single issues we're going straight to trade. But before we can do that, we need funding to pay for Ryan's page rate (artists deserve to get paid!). The 5,500 will go to the art team, anything raised above that will go into the printing and shipping.
The book will feature an introduction by Michael Moreci (Hoax Hunters, Curse), 61 new pages of art from Ryan Cody (Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures), the 12 page story currently appearing in Five Ghosts (Image Comics), and will include pin-ups from John Broglia (God Complex) Scott Godlewski (Dracula) Artyom Trakhanov (Undertow), Aaron Conley (Sabretooth Swordsman) and Nick Pitarra (Manhattan Projects).

I also picked up print copies of the other stories featuring the character to make sure I'm up to date. They look like fun comics.

Crewe Alex - After Dario

Besides being a bit of a geek - I love footy. In fact, I spend just as much on football related stuff as I do on my comics and gaming hobbies.

After Dario by Jules Hornbrook is a good read recounting the trials and tribulations of the last three seasons of the team I support, Crewe Alexandra.

It's gotta be Guardians of the Galaxy

Well the GOTG film hit the cinemas approx 2 weeks ago and it seems, in general, the comic fanbase approves. In fact it was quite hyped-up.

I saw it last Wednesday and although I throughly enjoyed it, perhaps it didn't quite live up the hype and expectation. Still lots to enjoy and I'm not complaining!

I was always planning on purchasing the trade by Abnett and Lanning which the film was based on but as it wasn't going to be available on Amazon until after the film's release I thought I'd try the local Forbidden Planet. No luck. Sold out straightaway!

So I had to order it on Amazon anyways!

Miracleman Vol 1

Just finished vol 1 today.

Some odd pacing going on with this (nice looking) hardback collection. Things start out ok and build up to a fairly meaty battle but the last two chapters felt a bit of a letdown.

Nice to finally read this series and see what the fuss was about.

Denver - my first Kickstarter purchase

This graphic novel finally arrived today. I bought it via kickstarter and it cost $36 plus a similar amount for postage. BTW, according to the packaging it was posted on 14 July so it took over two weeks to arrive from the States.

It's written by Jimmy Palmiotti (who's signed the front) and Justin Gray with art by Pier Brito and. I'm happy to pay the creators directly for their work. They deserve it. One of the reasons I went for this was to get the bonus items which make Kickstarter projects attractive. In this case I got two Amanda Conner prints and one of those is signed.

She's a great artist and this was a chance to get something a little bit special from her.

I also got my name in the back of the book! :-)

Overall a nice package. I've a couple of other kickstarters to come. One comic and the other Castle & Crusades rulebooks. I'll see what condition they arrive from the US before deciding if to purchase any more as this graphic novel was just a little damaged at the top of the spine.

Babylon Steel by Gaie Sebold

I read this whilst on holiday in Rhodes. Nice and simple Sci-Fi/Fantasy with a likeable main character and a fast paced plot. An enjoyable holiday read.

Has Alan Moore lost his spark?

I never completed the League of Extraordinary Gentleman "Century" as reviews of the final part weren't that good and I didn't want to read Moore having a go at Harry Potter.

But I thought I'd give both "Heart of Ice" and "Roses of Berlin" a go. I like the hardback format but it's a shame as both stories were a bit average. Especially compared to some of Moore's past work including Vols 1 & 2 of LOEG.

I think, like many creators, he's lost some of his gift. He's produced so many great stories in the past that IMHO he's probably run dry. Unless reviews of new material proves me wrong these will be my last new AM stuff and I'll read his old material - and there's quite a lot of that I've still to read.

Daredevil Vol 3 by Mark Waid

It's actually not that long since I purchased Vol 2 of these nice over-sized DD collections. So I'm happy that Vol 3 is already out. However, as I'm not reading Marvel in 2014 it's only the comfort that it's safe and sound on my bookshelf which I can take at the moment.

Black Science Vol 1

I've completed this trade a day or two ago. Hmmmm....interesting and I'll certainly get Vol 2. I see that Image have yet to publish issue 7 (this collection reprints 1-6) and I guess that's to encourage readers of the trade to pick up the monthly comics.

I loved the colours on this. Just fantastic to look at. The story was a wild and fast paced adventure with characters dieing left right and centre.

2014 A summary of the last six months

As usual at this time of year I take a look at how I've been doing on my constant BUYING v READING competition. Previous retrospectives have shown that I'm buying more than I'm reading - but is that still the case?

For this summary I'm introducing a new category - that of Epic and other collections. These are the books which are either part of Marvel's new EPIC line or they don't quite fit into the Masterworks or standard trade description.

The numbers at the end of 2013 were (brackets are the 6 month figures);

New back-issues purchased      (30) 30
New trade collections                 (44) 51
New copies of Masterworks  & Omnibus editions     (6) 24

Back-issues read                       (19) 39
Trades read                                 (19) 23
Masterworks read                      0
Books (novels)                            (3) 6

AND: Movies watched at the cinema (3)  5

For the first 6 months of 2014 my record is;

New back-issues purchased      4
New trade collections                 21
New copies of Masterworks  & Omnibus editions     12
EPIC and other collections         2

Back-issues read                       0
Trades read                                 19
Masterworks read                      0
EPIC and other collections         0
Books (novels)                            1

AND: Movies watched at the cinema     2

So I can say that I've cut down on purchases (which is a win!) but still not managed to read more than I've bought. The book I read Lies of Locke Lamora did take me a long time and with work and reading RPG stuff my time for reading comics has been restricted lately. My plan for starting my Marvel run at the beginning from early 2015 is looking like it might need to be revised. I've got lots of Batman books to get through before I start! Plus I've a few Omnibuses of more modern material I want to get stuck into as well, so perhaps 2015 will be Modern Marvel, Powers and Grendel.

Impulse Purchase - Harley Quinn

Oh the dangerous of wandering into Forbidden Planet on a whim.

Picked-up this trade which collects some of Harley's first solo adventures. I'm looking forward to the new collection by Palmiotti & Connor but thought this looked interesting as Terry and Rachel Dodson do nice cheesecake style art.

Batwoman Vol 2 To Drown A World

I must admit that I didn't enjoy this volume nearly as much as the previous ones. It was probably due to a combination of the change of artist (J.H. Williams III only wrote the story this time) and the weird structure which just didn't click for me.

I will get the next one though as I think Williams is back on the art then.

Flesh The Dino Files

There are some comics from your childhood which conjure excitement and mystery just because you know about them but you never got to read them.

Flesh - which is a strip which featured in 2000AD Prog 1 - is one such comic. I remember friends at school going on about it and it sounded great but as I could only afford to read Marvel comics 2000AD passed me by. But I remembered Judge Dredd and Flesh. And now I've got the reprint from Prog 1-19 in my collection and I can see what the fuss was about.