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Post by hector on Jul 20, 2005 6:15:58 GMT
Superman vol.2 #1-219.
Action Comics #584-828.
Man of Steel #1-123.
That's gonna take a while...
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Post by philster on Jul 20, 2005 6:27:07 GMT
A lot of fun, though. The early issues of Superman vol. 2 were some of John Byrne's best work - ever.
Action Comics early issues were good.
How did you get these issues anyway, Hector? That's quite a stack of comics.
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Post by hector on Jul 20, 2005 6:46:26 GMT
From an Ebay-like auction site. I wanted Adventures of Superman, too, but I couldn't find it. I don't know if I'll start reading them right now or until I get those, it's near damn impossible thanks to the [Censored]ing perpetual crossover mode the books always have had.
Yeah, I have fond memories of some of those early Byrne issues, I have about half of them in spanish from a long time ago. Of those 500+ comic I think I have about a fifth in spanish, too.
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Post by philster on Jul 20, 2005 15:16:35 GMT
Hmm, yeah that would pose a complication. Maybe you SHOULD wait until you can find the complete stack of Adventures of Superman.
How much did it all cost you?
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Post by hector on Jul 20, 2005 18:31:23 GMT
Less than a hundred each run, which is not bad, especially for Action.
I've given up trying to read them that way, it's just too annoying. And I'm not even up to the triangle issues. The Loeb/Mc Guiness Superman issues look pretty good, maybe I'll read just that.
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Post by philster on Jul 20, 2005 19:50:58 GMT
Maybe you can send me the rest you don't want to read ;D
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Post by hector on Jul 20, 2005 19:52:51 GMT
Oh, I will read them. But maybe not just yet. Do you like Superman? I didn't knew that.
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Post by philster on Jul 20, 2005 20:05:13 GMT
Yeah. Superman was one of the first superhero comics I got into. Even before Spider-Man.
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Post by hector on Jul 20, 2005 20:08:52 GMT
Have you followed him much? I try to, but sometimes the storylines just suck badly. But lately I've had an itch to follow him again.
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Post by philster on Jul 20, 2005 20:12:02 GMT
Not since the Death of Superman, the Supermen, and the Return of Superman storyarcs, I'm afraid.
I'm happy to say I missed the whole story where Superman was Electro-man.
Edit - the Superman vs Aliens comics by Dark Horse were pretty cool, though.
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Post by SilvaShado on Jul 25, 2005 17:49:38 GMT
I finally got the 2000 AD issues! Now I'm only missing 4 progs! woohoo!
But... I haven't had any time to read them. I really want to sit down and read complete stories all at once. They're usually 12 issues long and times that by 4 or 5 stories in each prog... it's gonna take me a while.
But I've been doing okay keeping up with new comics, but still have a few left over the past couple of weeks - Conan and Fables.
Man, used to be the day that I read Fables right away. Guess I just haven't been as into it as I used to be. But then it has some good competition lately - Shojo Beat is a lot better than I expected.
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Post by hector on Jul 25, 2005 22:25:33 GMT
Not since the Death of Superman, the Supermen, and the Return of Superman storyarcs, I'm afraid. I'm happy to say I missed the whole story where Superman was Electro-man. I quit after the Dead Again 'event' and actually came back for that story...damn it was bad. And Superman Forever was just a '[Censored] you' to the readers. I haven't gotten Adventures yet but what the hell, I resigned myself to curse every third issue and started reading. I gotta say that the Loeb/Mc Guinness issues are really, really good. I just love that team. With just the few issues I've read and they are already my favorite regular Superman issues ever. I liked that too. Well, except for the Supergirl bait and switch.
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Post by philster on Jul 26, 2005 0:36:58 GMT
I quit after the Dead Again 'event' and actually came back for that story...damn it was bad. And Superman Forever was just a '[Censored] you' to the readers. I haven't regretted stopping reading Superman so far. I tend/try to only spend my money on what I'm fairly certain that I will like. That's why I was so bitter with Grant Morrison's New X-Men, among other comics I could name. Can't say I blame you for being frustrated but at least you have 3/4 of the collection now. You got more stories of the 80's-90's Superman than most people will ever have. I've heard good things about the writing in these stories and I ALMOST picked up the title but Guinness' art just didn't do it for me. I have a firm image in my head of what artists should avoid when drawing Superman, and the way Guinness drew it it was just too hard for me to believe that it was difficult to not know that Clark Kent was Superman. For me, too, art comes first over the story in most cases. I don't mind mediocre writing if the art is good, as long as it doesn't make me angry. Only will truly, truly excellent writing turn the tide for me and help me look past the art that I don't like. Yeah... ah well, there's almost always something you don't like in a story.
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Post by hector on Jul 26, 2005 1:03:56 GMT
I haven't regretted stopping reading Superman so far. I tend to only spend my money on what I'm fairly certain that I will like. That's why I was so bitter with Grant Morrison's New X-Men, among other comics I could name. I usually do that, but the costume change seemed big and I wanted to know at least how the did it... I didn't even knew the books have been linked forever. I tought it was just prior to the Death... but it goes all the way back to the Byrne reboot. His art is just a big a draw as the writing for me. I just love how he draws the characters powerful and heroic, despite the cartoony style. For me that's a must for any Superman artist. It's sad how Byrne's Superman used to be like that, and now he's just a puny guy in a cape. I dunno, I've always tought that one either buys that Clark can desguise himself with a pair of glasses or you don't. The art has always seemed second nature to me with that particular convention. I'm usually the other way around. The writing always comes first, even if I end up buying the book. It's when there is a terribly imbalance between the writing and the art that I find incredibly annoying. Like Superman's For Tomorrow or Sandman's The Kindly Ones.
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Post by philster on Jul 26, 2005 3:31:28 GMT
I usually do that, but the costume change seemed big and I wanted to know at least how the did it... Was there ever any doubt they'd go back to the original costume, though? The first time I heard about it on the news I instantly thought "gimmick. when will it ever end?" Oh yeah. I could've told you that. I don't even mind the cartoony style ( I do read manga after all), it's that Superman was just too uber-muscular... eh, it's just a personal preference, probably because I'm an artist, but ever since seeing Christopher Reeve's Superman movie, I've been fascinated with the artistic challenge of rendering Superman as powerful and heroic while realistically keeping him from looking like a musclehead, so that his appearance as Clark Kent doesn't seem too... fake.But that's just me. edit - It's kinda like how Cyclops was portrayed as being too muscular in some UXM issues and that wasn't him. That also similarly annoyed me enough that I dropped the title for a while, until another artist jumped on. Not sure what you're talking about, here. Since this is a writers' board for the most part, I think most people here feel the same way as you do. It's harder for me though. But I do agree, if the artist and writer aren't compatible enough, it does ruin the story. I can see what you mean by The Kindly Ones, most definitely. But I was so enamored with Gaiman's work by that point I didn't care too much about it. Gaiman is the perfect example of how an excellent writer can really help me look past the art.
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Post by thebarkingshark on Jul 27, 2005 3:08:53 GMT
Okay, this is what I've read since I last posted on this thread: Swamp Thing 1-14 (Brian K. Vaughan series) Walking Dead #20 Y The Last Man #35 Zombie King #0I'm missing issues 15 and 16 of Swamp Thing, so I have to wait on those before I finish the series. It wasn't great by any means, but it was worth the read. Especially liked issue #10, which featured Constantine. Zombie King was [Censored]in' awesome! Highly recommended! Especially if you want to see a zombie having sex with a cow! ;D -SHARK DIGGLER
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brett
Apprentice
"We'll get you some cool new clothes, Tom"
Posts: 162
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Post by brett on Jul 27, 2005 9:04:11 GMT
I gotta say that the Loeb/Mc Guinness issues are really, really good. I just love that team. With just the few issues I've read and they are already my favorite regular Superman issues ever. That run is the sh hit. They really had something good going. Loeb went to crap with/after Our Worlds At War but. Their issues in that are probably the best of the whole crossover, but the event just drags them down with it, and IMO Loeb hasn't been the same writer since. Something's just been missing from his writing since, even when he re-teamed with Ed on Superman/Batman. I adore the Loeb/McGuiness 'Return to Krypton' issues, plus their 'Emperor Joker' issues. I mean, they brought back Krypto!!! Best move on a Super-book ever! Too bad they went out with a whimper (Ian Churchill filling in, and Superman vs Dracula? No thanks) rather than a bang. Just ignore the fact that Our Worlds At War is virtually the culumination of their run (or rather, Loeb's), and you'll bloody enjoy it. As you already are.
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Post by hector on Jul 28, 2005 8:18:39 GMT
I don't even mind the cartoony style ( I do read manga after all), it's that Superman was just too uber-muscular... eh, it's just a personal preference, probably because I'm an artist, but ever since seeing Christopher Reeve's Superman movie, I've been fascinated with the artistic challenge of rendering Superman as powerful and heroic while realistically keeping him from looking like a musclehead, so that his appearance as Clark Kent doesn't seem too... fake.I don't have a problem with that, in fact I prefer to see a more muscular and imposing Superman. He's, after all, supposed to be an inspiring figure. That's one of the reasons I like McGuinness' art so much. That leads to my comment about Byrne's current art, his Superman used to be just like that, big, powerful, iconic, but that got lost over the years, and he now draws a plain-looking Superman. I tought you liked Jim Lee. I can look at nice art and enjoy it by what it is, but what makes a story memorable for me it's the writing. I can always stand bad art with good art but not too much the other way around. Though most of the cases, it has to be a synergy between both. Yeah, some of Sandman's artwork was sub-par, but Marc Hempel was truly horrendous, I just can't stand it, and the Kindly One was argueably the most important art. But as bad as it was, it wasn't enough to ruin the arc. I also had the same problem with Lucifer #50, which he drew, and it was possibly the best issue of the series.
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Post by hector on Jul 28, 2005 8:37:46 GMT
That run is the sh hit. They really had something good going. Yep, I haven't finished reading all of the comics I bought, but I can already say that they are, indeed, my favorite regular Superman series. Loeb's grasp for characterization and McGuinness fluid art, infused with some Silver Age spirit made for one truly enjoyable run. I like Superman/Batman, but you're right that it doesn't quite reach the levels of their Superman run. The plotting is..looser, not quite as tight as it was before. And now I don't think Loeb meshed so well with Lee, as with McGuinness or Loeb. Their chaper of Return of Krypton was perfect, the rest..not so much, but still entertaining. It's funny how that retcon was retconned and then retconned again. Oh, and Emperor Joker? Curse time again. Because I don't have Emperoro Joker #1 Anyone who doesn't like Krypto doesn't have a heart. There were four McGuinness issues after that Churchill fill-in, I'm not quite there yet. That's why I just read one or two issues each day. A lot of the other 500+ issues I'll just read them, but these issues I want to enjoy them.
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Post by philster on Jul 28, 2005 9:05:46 GMT
I don't have a problem with that, in fact I prefer to see a more muscular and imposing Superman. He's, after all, supposed to be an inspiring figure. That's one of the reasons I like McGuinness' art so much. That leads to my comment about Byrne's current art, his Superman used to be just like that, big, powerful, iconic, but that got lost over the years, and he now draws a plain-looking Superman. Ah, I see. Well, Byrne's original Superman was pretty close to my ideal Superman... heck, that WAS my ideal Superman. The latter Byrne Superman I haven't seen too much of, but I think I've glimpsed what you're talking about. I do. I know that Jim Lee made "Slim" Cyclops more muscular than he was supposed to be, but he was still lean enough for it to work OK, especially since Cyke was a workaholic who was working out all the time. Why shouldn't he get stronger? (Plus, Jim Lee's art is just beautiful, I don't care about the inconsistences as much in his art!) I'm talking about this. Some artists (post-Jim Lee) just took it too far. (That one was Roger Cruz above). Yeah, I agree - that's the whole point of sequential storytelling, for both the words and art to work as one, in an effective way, after all. Actually, right now there's not much comic book art that I like at all, so... see? I'm not reading much of anything. I agree. It also kinda had a tough act to follow, because I thought the last arc before that had some of the best art in the whole Sandman series. That title really could have used better artists in many cases, though.
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