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Roger Ash
by Roger Ash
If you routinely checked out my columns right here at the Westfield blog, you understand I try to stay positive. The reason for this is simple: in my opinion, I believe it’s much better to steer people to books I like rather than away from books I don’t like. Why provide time to books that I don’t care for? I understand there are people who disagree with this stance, however it’s mine as well as I’m staying with it. That being said, to get to the topic of this column – what I’m reading – I believe it’s productive to go with the journey that’s gotten me to this point which includes what I’m not reading. as well as what I’m not reading is extremely many superhero comics.
Like many comic readers, I started out with superhero comics. I couldn’t wait on the latest adventures of Spider-Man, the great Four, or Thor. Yes, I was a marvel Zombie in my early years. I liked superhero comics then as well as I still do, however I checked out extremely few of them. part of that is I just aged out of the target audience the book was meant for. Some is that as I aged, my tastes changed. however the biggest factor just recently is that I’ve ended up being weary with events.
Flashpoint
The majority of marvel as well as DC books these days seems to be connected into some type of event. DC’s recent Flahpoint didn’t truly stimulate my rate of interest so I provided it a pass, yet a few of the tie-in miniseries looked interesting, so I tried them. as well as I enjoyed them up until I got to the last issue. When I checked out a miniseries, I expect to get a total story with a beginning, middle, as well as end. However, with the exception of Frankenstein as well as the Creatures of the Unknown, none of the Flashpoint tie-in series I checked out ended. To get the ending, I had to checked out the final problem of Flashpoint. As a visitor I discovered that extremely frustrating.
Fear Itself
Meanwhile, over at Marvel, I was extremely intrigued by the idea of fear Itself. A villain who feeds on fear as well as gets stronger the more people are afraid? That seems great! Yet the execution of that concept didn’t grab me. everything turned into a huge superhero brawl (which, admittedly, can be fun) with the fear idea more of a background aspect than what I had really hoped for.
Swamp Thing, a new 52 book I rather enjoy
Back at DC, we have the new 52. Granted, this is not an event in the exact same method that Flashpoint as well as fear Itself are, however nobody can suggest the truth that it was a big event for DC. We were told this would be new, exciting, as well as different yet, at the end of the day, I personally discover I’m reading about the exact same number of DC titles as I checked out before the relaunch. as well as things don’t truly seem that much different than before. There have been some character modifications that angered people (Catwoman as well as Red Hood as well as the Outlaws spring to mind) however before the relaunch people were mad about Justice League: The increase of Arsenal as well as Justice League: Cry For Justice. As the old stating goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Daredevil #8
Enough. ever since the huge company-wide events started there have been two that I feel have lived as much as their promise, DC’s dilemma on infinite Earths as well as Legends. I understand they must be bringing in money for the publishers otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing them, however I’m with with events. I’m tired of having my expectations increased then dashed. So, I’m not reading that many superhero comics anymore for all the reasons specified above. There are some available that I still enjoy such as Daredevil, great Four, as well as FF; as well as I’ll provide anything written by Dan Abnett as well as Andy Lanning a try (Resurrection Man, Villains For Hire, new Mutants) as I believe their work is great as well as doesn’t get near the amount of interest they deserve.
Rachel Rising #5
So what am I reading? Well, there are non-superhero comics available such as the extremely weird Rachel Rising, the all-ages fun of Roger Langridge’s Snarked, as well as anthropomorphic samurai action of Usagi Yojimbo (which is, month in as well as month out, my preferred comic being published). however what I discover I’m truly excited about are a few of the traditional comic strip collections, with my favorites coming from Fantagraphics as well as IDW.
Walt Disney’s Mickey mouse Vol. 2
Fantagraphics’ collections featuring Charles Schulz’s comic strip masterpiece, Peanuts, are great as well as if you’re a Peanuts fan, you requirement to be reading these. Floyd Gottfredson most likely did as much to shape the character of Mickey mouse as well as his supporting cast as Carl Barks did for the Disney Ducks, yethis work has never got the exact same degree of interest as the work of Barks. Fantagraphics is correcting that with Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. The very first two volumes of this series are great as well as the strips most likely look much better right here than they did when they were originally published. It’s a joy to watch Gottfredson establish as a storyteller as Mickey as well as the gang evolve together with him. The stories are interesting as well as fun though of their time as there are racial stereotypes that were typical at the time that are unacceptable by today’s standards. There’s likewise lots of background material to location the stories into historical perspective. as well as the collection of Walt Kelly’s Pogo that hits stores this week is gorgeous. I have a few of Fantagraphics’ previous Pogo volumes as well as this blows them away. I’m likewise getting into Popeye for the very first time with their collections of Segar’s traditional strip.
Bloom County: The total library Vol. 3
Anything that comes from The library of American Comics & IDW is worth a look however what has my interest right now is their recently-completed five-volume run of Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County. Bloom region was my preferred comic strip in my late-high school/college years. It’s been a genuine enjoyment to revisit it in these outstanding books. The books contain annotations from Breathed as well as I admit to feeling truly old when the editors have to point out cultural references such as who Ed Meese, Caspar Weinberger, as well as Rona Barrett are. As an animation nut, their upcoming Chuck Jones: The dream That never Was might be the release of the year as far as I’m concerned.
Yes, events have lastly gotten the much better of me, however that doesn’t mean there aren’t great deals more outstanding comics to read. What are you enjoying reading right now? comment below as well as let me know.
Now, go checked out a comic!