Recommend the latest Comic or TPB you have read

[protector2814]

I just picked up the Antartic Press, 4-issue collection of their book Nazi Zombies. I was only ever able to find one ish back when it was being published, but I liked it enough to pick up this collection that was just released. If you like old DC WWII comics, & also dig Garth Ennis' War books too ... and happen to like zombies, then this trade is well worth buying (under $15 on Amazon). It's a very well crafted story which builds intro-stories for most of the squad sent deep into Germany towards the end of the war to destroy these zombie nazi death squads that hunt at night under direction from high-ranking, living comanders. I liked Joseph Wight's writing very much & Wight & Ben Dunn's art is clean w/ detail, like you want a good war book to have. Great summer read. Very fun. -

[Babytoxie]

I only picked this up because the hardcover was in a bargain bin for $5. I'd never planned on reading it, as the whole thing tanked pretty quickly, but I enjoyed it enough for a re-read and will hang on to it.

In 2006, Warren Ellis was given the go-ahead for a 20th anniversary revamp of Marvel's New Universe. Oddy enough, the New Universe was a well-intentioned yet failed celebration of Marvel's 25th anniversary from 1986. Ellis was a promising choice to bring it back; unfortunately, his revamp got even less attention from modern audiences, though I suppose I'm part of the problem for only now getting around to reading it. Newuniversal: Everything Went White streamlines the multiple series of the original New Universe into one introductory six-issue miniseries. It retains many of the same or similar characters & events from the original, with the story focusing on Ken Connell - the Star Brand, John Tensen - Justice, Izanami Randall - Nightmask, and Jennifer Swann - Cypher, after their lives are transformed by The White Event, a flash of blinding light that is seen the world over. At the same time, a lost ancient city is revealed in Latvia, a city which has a mysterious connection to the four main characters, as well as to a one-shot character from Marvel's early Bronze Age. This particular part of the story took me completely by surprise and ends up working quite well. I have to give Ellis a thumbs-up for providing this Earth-555 with a fully-realized alternate history (the setting of the original stories always struck me as pretty bland), as well as his detailed explanation of the White Event and why it affected these individuals as it did.

Salvador Larocca's painted artwork is consistently impressive throughout the entire book. His redesigns of the characters look great, and everything looked alive.

The story also includes doses of Ellis' standard fare, such as fringe theory and metaphysics, and as such, he's really made this failed `80s concept into his own thing. It was a fun read, but it's too bad that it didn't continue, as it set the stage for bigger things. Marvel did release some subsequent one-shots that provided some more detail on this world (and I am still trying to locate a collected edition of those - could have sworn I've seen one), but that was it. Who knows... maybe in 20 years, they'll give it another try.

[SONICobra]

x-force, sex and violence - overall just outstanding. art, story eveyrthing is perfect. a book i will go back and read again and again. thought the last couple panels were pretty funny too

[Babytoxie]

After reading James Stokoe's impressive Orc Stain, I vowed to keep an eye out for any of his future projects, which I assumed would be creator-owned. Little did I imagine that Stokoe would instead crank out a stunning 5-issue miniseries for IDW featuring, of all things, Godzilla. The Half-Century War is a fresh experience in terms of both story and art, focusing on two humans' encounters with various kaiju throughout the latter half of the 20th Century. Lieutenant Ota Murakami's first encounter with Godzilla on that fateful day in Tokyo in 1954 leads him into a career with the "Anti-Megalosaurus Force". More meetings between Ota, his brother-in-arms Kentaro, and various kaiju occur throughout the years in China, Vietnam, Ghana, India, and elsewhere, with a final chapter set in 2002 that is both satisfying and depressing. It's made clear that the destructive powers of the kaiju have taken a heavy toll on the Earth over the decades; a nice touch that made the overall story more ominous.

The art is amazing. Human characters are illustrated in a manga style, with exaggerated expressions and actions that worked very well on the page. Stokoe's masterful use of color makes every panel look vibrant, and his highly-detailed linework enables the reader to see every scale, crack, and wrinkle on the monsters' hides, as well as the minute details of the cities and their eventual destruction. I never thought I'd have an opportunity to say this, but the King of Monsters has never looked so beautiful.

I've been unimpressed with IDW's various Godzilla series over the last couple of years, but I now see that there are still some great stories to be told, provided that the right creators are involved. For 20 years, I'd considered Randy Stradley and Art Adams' Godzilla Color Special #1 to be the ultimate Godzilla comic, but The Half-Century War completely blew me away. It gets my highest recommendation. 5 issues collected in softcover for $19.99, totally worth it.

[Babytoxie]

This frequently ends up on lists of must-read collections, and now I know why. It was brilliant. It's told in a style similar to Warren Ellis' Ministry of Space, in that you are presented with an alternate timeline, and it is slowly revealed how that timeline came to be, with a nice twist at the end. In this case, a research team funded by the Vatican discovers time travel, and they send an expedition back to 4th century Rome to "right some wrongs"; however, some within the expedition have their own agendas.

It's a fascinating story told not just with panels and text balloons, but charts, maps, and transcripts. It's only 4 issues, but it took me some time to finish and instantly warranted a second reading. Pax Romana is my first dive into Hickman's works, and if it's any indication, I'm in for a good time.

[supahman]

Thanks BT !! totally agreed. And what great art / design sense.

Now you gotta do Nightly News and Manhattan Projects.

[Babytoxie]

Originally Posted by supahman

Thanks BT !! totally agreed. And what great art / design sense.

Now you gotta do Nightly News and Manhattan Projects.

They are on my nightstand, along with Comeback, another time travel GN.

[Babytoxie]

This was a true test of whether or not a great story can overcome absolutely crappy art. The Tooth got my attention when it was first offered back in 2011, as the solicited cover and description reminded me of such tongue-in-cheek Silver Age homages as 1963 and The Bulletproof Coffin. I figured I'd found my latest journey into a past that never was; however, once I looked inside a copy at the local comic shop and saw the art, I left it on the shelf. What I saw between the covers of The Tooth was so awkward, so lowbrow, so painful to look at that I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who felt that way, as that very copy sat in the same spot on the shelf for two years until being marked down 60%. I finally went for it, and I was amazed.

The story by Cullen Bunn and Shawn Lee was so much better than I'd expected. It's a combination of '70s horror/fantasy comics and Greek mythology, steeped in Marvel bullpen joviality. While the book itself is a beautifully-produced hardcover with heavy paper stock, it's meant to be read as a run of beat-up Bronze Age comics, complete with ads, letters pages, editorials, and a heavy amount of simulated wear and tear. There's even a "missing" issue that honestly doesn't detract from the story at all. Everything begins with Graham Stone inheriting his estranged grandfather's estate, which, to his surprise, includes a large collection of occult items. Unfortunately for Graham, he is regarded as an obstacle by others who have their eyes on that collection. With his life at risk, Graham becomes the unwilling host for a magical creature that can only be described as a walking lump of dentine and enamel. While you may be wondering about the logic behind that - yes, even in a comic - it's all good, for The Tooth has a very creative origin that shows Bunn and Lee did their homework.

As for the art, I suppose the less said, the better. Matt Kindt has a style reminiscent of Bob Burden or Ted McKeever, and it certainly captured the bizarre atmosphere of the story, but a man can only take so much. If this was meant to be a throwback to an earlier era, then it would have benefitted more from having an artist who could mimic the styles of the time. The story was so good that it actually settled me into Kindt's style, but I still wonder what might have been.

So, The Tooth was a worthwhile read, and the care that was put into the design of the graphic novel was stunning; however, for all my raving over the story, I absolutely would not fault someone for passing on it due to the art.

[Simplyrob]

Originally Posted by Babytoxie

They are on my nightstand, along with Comeback, another time travel GN.

Nice to see some love for Comeback. I too enjoyed that series. I felt it could've been a regular series rather than a mini. Any time travel story has so much potential if done correctly. I was lucky enough to grab a few of my favorite pages from Michael Walsh earlier this year. I scored the splash of time being reset and the page with the time machine on it.

A new book that I'm currently enjoying, via TPB's is Morning Glories. Love Eisma's art and the character development is fantastic. My only problem is that this far, through 3 trades, I'm not sure what the school really is. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the writer does either. Kind reminds me of Lost. The non-linear storyline is a bit confusing at times, but, thankfully I can always flip back a reread whatever I don't get the first time through. I currently am in talks with Eisma regarding a badass commission idea. Should have that locked in within a few days.

[Babytoxie]

Although filled with clichés and fairly predictable, the graphic novel A History of Violence is a riveting story of someone's past coming back to haunt them. With stories of this type, it's the way they are told that can separate them from the pack, and writer John Wagner succeeds with a tense tale of an apparent case of mistaken identity. Two thugs hold up a small-town diner and are quickly dispatched by the owner, nondescript everyman Tom McKenna. The resulting media storm gets the attention of an elderly New York mobster who thinks he recognizes the owner - not as McKenna, but as Joey Muni, who, decades prior, ripped off the mob in a daring heist. As Tom's life begins to fall apart under the mob's harassment, he finds that he can no longer run from his past and decides to take the fight to them. Wagner has incorporated elements of crime fiction in works such as Judge Dredd and Button Man, but with this graphic novel, he goes for the essence of the genre, creating a story that stands tall alongside such essentials as Sin City, Stray Bullets, and Criminal. One interesting element is the fact that, in the intervening years, Tom has built a family, and they are dragged unwillingly into the consequences of his former life. So, he's not your typical protagonist with nothing left to lose - in his case, he has everything to lose.

I've long been a fan of Vince Locke's art on titles such as Sandman Mystery Theater and Saint Germaine. With A History of Violence, there's no masked men, no mysticism... just ordinary people, and Locke's style is a perfect fit. His artwork is composed of innumerable shaky lines that, altogether, provide a high level of detail, similar to the style of Guy Davis. His depictions of mundane characters, common items, and calm settings provide a stark, almost unsettling contrast to the darkness of the story.

I didn't like David Cronenberg's movie adaptation, due to the heavy alteration of the story, as well as the fact that we only got half of it; however, one thing that I feel did work better in the movie was that, in his prior life, Tom was a gangster, rather than just a simple thief and street punk. A background as a killer is more in line with his actions in the graphic novel, where he efficiently takes out numerous opponents. The most recent edition features a striking cover by Dave Johnson that, unfortunately, takes its visual cues from the movie; therefore, a newcomer may finish the book and wonder how a cheerleader figures into all of this. Perhaps she's rooting for Tom? I know I was.