The Silver Surfer by Dan Slott and Mike Allred

Last night I finished the fifth and final trade collection of Slott and Allred's Silver Surfer run.

All my versions were read on my Kindle and I didn't mind one bit reading the digital version.

Loved the series too. A satisfactory conclusion at the end was cleverly scripted. Great job all round.

Catching-up on what I've read

It's been a while since I blogged about what I've read and that's because for the most part I've been reading this monster-sized Omnibus. It's a 1200+ pages!

After buying a few Omnibus editions recently I thought I ought to read some of my older ones and I'd had this one on my shelf since March 2014

For the most part I enjoyed it and certainly in the first 2/3 of the book the rotating team and their refreshing agenda for fame and fortune made for interesting reading. Perhaps I got a little jaded towards the end and that's even with fitting in the following two collections to give me a little rest.

These were recent acquisitions and were great.

Although some of stories in the Bronze-Age Superman collection were  a bit silly, I think that is part of the charm of that period of DC. It's also only something I've recently begun to appreciate.

One thing I really liked about this edition was the reproduction. The colouring style meant you still felt like you were reading a 1970's comic but it was clear and neat. Difficult to describe but it felt just right.

The Vision story was very modern and very well done. I'll have to get part 2 very soon.

iZombie Omnibus

A new Omnibus arrived yesterday!

Just as I was thinking about ordering Vol 2 of iZombie by Chris Robertson and Mike Allred after reading vol 1 , DC announced an Omnibus edition of the whole series.

I gave vol 1 to my nephew and sat back to wait for the complete story in a nice hardback format.

iZombie Vol 1

I'd never heard of this until I read it had been made into a TV show. Mike Allred is a good artist and I'm enjoying his work at the moment so I thought I would give Vol 1 a try.

And then read it before purchasing Vol 2 to make sure I liked it.

I will get vol 2. Interesting concept and I know the series has an ending so it's not an ongoing commitment.

New Purchases - both old and new

Plenty of stuff arriving and believe it or not I'm near to completing some trades and can blog about them soon.

First is Doctor Strange Masterworks vol 1. This is a new hardback printing of this once rare and, hence expensive, masterworks. I've not got any of these stories so I'm pleased with this. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. It's going to be a blast I know it.

Next up, iZombie.I've seen that this is now a TV show so I thought I should check out the first volume of the trades. Mike Allred does the art so definitely worth checking out.

And lastly, a variant (but unsigned) Scarlett Couture comic. Issue #2. Nice cover!

FF Vol 2 Family Freakout

I can't believe it was last August when I read vol 1 and I've only just got vol 2.

With my policy of no Marvel stuff in 2014 it will be some time before I get to read this but I hope I'll have vol 3 by then. In fact, I hope I'll have the complete Matt Fraction run on Fantastic Four and FF so I can enjoy the whole story. Flicking through this - it looks very interesting. Just loving Allred's art style.

Two Massive Marvel Omnibus

Well I've been coveting these two massive collections for some time and finally gave in and treated myself.

I'm pleased I did as they look great.

Spider-man omnibus is 1088 pages (approx 40 issues) reprinting the earliest adventures by Lee and Ditko.

X-Static omnibus is even bigger at 1200 reprinting loads of issues from 10 years ago. But it's the whole run and I'm quickly becoming a fan of Mike Allred's art.

God knows when I'll get stuck into these but when I do, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

Now considering selling some of my old Lee/ Ditko issues as the omnibus does the stories justice and I'll probably not really "read" the originals again. Oh, what to do!?

FF and Star Wars trades

I raced through these two trades over the weekend. The Star Wars one maybe just a bit too quickly but the action was near-enough none stop.

Some good moments in Fraction's FF too. It's got a nice quirky feel to the book.

Saga, Fantastic Faux and Fatale - three new trades

All these arrived in one parcel today and are now added to the reading list. Looking forward to them all.

Reading progress looks slow at the moment as I'm just under halfway though a Star Wars novel and I'm also reading the rules for the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire beginner game.

Fantastic Four by Matt Fraction

I breezed through this trade which reprints Fantastic Four (2012) 1-3, FF (2012) 1- and material from Point One Vol. 2.

The reviews from both series had been good particularly FF(2102) which is drawn by Mike Allred and I did find the whole book a fun read. I will certainly be getting Vol 2 of both series as the stories diverge and hence the separate trade reprints.

More trades to add to the "To be read list"

Two relatively modern superhero trades to add to the list.

"Batman: The Cat and the Bat" is another of those stories recommended in the Best Stories articles on CBR. This particular one was in the Best Barbara Gordon stories ever told. It's about 10 years old. When I saw that the art was by Kevin Maguire I knew I had to get it.

"Fantastic Four: New Departure, New Arrivals" is brand new. I've been reading very good things about the Fraction/ Allred run on FF and this trade collects the 1st 3 issues of that run together with Fantastic Four 1-3 which explains why the orginal FF have to leave and the new FF have to take their place.

I also have purchased a new Star Wars trade from Dark Horse. "Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison" is set in the Dark Times and looks really good. Going to have a bit of a Star Wars month soon and will read it then.