What Are You Reading?

Started by Dr. Insomniac, December 27, 2010, 04:55:59 PM

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Mustang

Hajime no Ippo. After Bleach ended I was pretty much done with manga, but I forgot that I still read this series lol. Anyway, much has changed since I last posted about this series. I can't stand Ippo. I have no problem with being a goody-goody, but I there are times where it's too much, and it just irks me. He cheers for everyone, alright, cool but when you speak bad about Miyata, he pouts, and I'm like really? This past chapter I really hope was a wake-up call for Ippo because, in the ring, Ippo is great, but outside the ring he annoys me. Miyata and Sendo are still my favorites (Do I really need to speak on them?). Ippo vs #2 world ranked was so good. I probably need to go back and read that fight (I might be getting this fight mixed up with Takamura and that Bison dude). I can't remember his name, but I did like the battle between the two. Takamura is too good, but there are times where I want/need someone to knock him down a peg or 2.
Street Fighter 6 - Ken, Cammy
Tekken 8 - Hwoarang, Lee, Kazuya

Dreamer2

I haven't started reading them yet, but I got two new books today.

First is a How to Train Your Dragon comic that takes place after the second movie. Flipping through it and the art looks really nice, especially the dragons. They look great.

I also got the beautiful deluxe edition hardcover Ghost in the Shell. It's awesome just to look at. I've never read the original story, so I'm looking forward to it.

My comic/manga stack is looking really big right now. Got to read more!

Dr. Insomniac

To kill time before watching Samurai Jack, I read Steve Ditko's legendary underground classic Mr. A. For anybody who ever argues that Stan Lee didn't do anything of worth in Spider-Man's creative development, I point to them to Mr. A. It has the most redundant, meandering dialogue possible, with one issue where the word "sob" is said in every word bubble, and another issue where the antagonist always refers to Mr. A as "one guy" without notice. The paneling and pacing are so stilted, making reading five pages seem like forever at some points. The title character is a jackass who has to hammer his moral absolutism to everyone he encounters. I remember reading Alan Moore say that he wrote Rorschach as a toned down version of Mr. A, and he wasn't kidding. Everything that comes out of his mouth is nothing but confused diatribes about how "good is good" and "evil is evil" and how there is nothing in-between. Even his walkways are littered with speeches about how truth and justice are virtues against lies and injustice. And that complete lack of self-awareness was what made it a hilarious read. Something that more people should read to get a good giggle, and to see how one of the founding fathers of Marvel descended into a raving Objectivist loon.

Avaitor

I decided to use B&N's 20% coupon to pick up the first 3-pack for One Piece. I figured that it was time to give it another shot, but I have a big stack of stuff to go through first. I'll hopefully get to it soon, though.
Life is not about the second chances. It's about a little mouse and his voyage to an exciting new land. That, my friend, is what life is.

Sir, do you have any Warrants?
I got their first CD, but you can't have it, motherfucker!

New blog!
http://avaitorsblog.blogspot.com/

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

Glad to see you give it another shot. It really is a great long-running series. It has its highs and lows (though even its lows are more "underwhelming" then ever being badly written), but on the whole it's a lot of fun in that early Dragon Ball sort of way. In the manga in particular Oda's unique art-style really shines, and while the early stories are very simple and basic, Oda's ability as a writer to build up extensive plot threads by carefully planting seeds and paying them off big time later on is what constantly keeps the main story so engaging, while all of the whimsy and sense of adventure from everything in-between is what keeps the series enjoyable from a moment-to-moment basis.

I think it's around the Enies Lobby arc where I finally had the realization that this series was intensively planned out from the beginning for all of the big and well-earned "holy shit" moments and reveals were in that arc and how well it connected so many other parts of the story and characters that may have previously seemed unrelated. Oda has a bit of that George R. R. Martin vibe in that regard. But most of all I love seeing him delve into stories that are clearly inspire by something. Like, Oda is a fan of Tim Burton's earlier work, and the Thriller Bark arc is like a love-letter to those kinds of movies, especially stuff like The Nightmare Before Christmas which I recall reading was one of Oda's favorite films. The point being that One Piece feels very inspired at times and that really helps to add to its charm, IMO.

Granted, the early stuff may be slow for first time readers, but personally I've really grown to appreciate it.

Avaitor

I will say that I never had a problem with the art style. In fact, I like how cartoony it looks, and that it sticks out so well. I know the art is a turn-off for western audiences, but that was never one of my issues with OP. Especially compared to, say, Naruto, which I always felt looked kind of boring.

I couldn't get into the characters or story at the time, but it's been a long time since I tried it, and I'm a different person. But even if I do really get into OP, I'll probably take my time, since it's not the cheapest investment, and I have a long time to catch up. But I'll see how it goes first.
Life is not about the second chances. It's about a little mouse and his voyage to an exciting new land. That, my friend, is what life is.

Sir, do you have any Warrants?
I got their first CD, but you can't have it, motherfucker!

New blog!
http://avaitorsblog.blogspot.com/

LumRanmaYasha

Hope you enjoy OP Avaitor! It's a great time to get into it with it's 20th anniversary coming up. Some say it doesn't hit it's stride until Arlong Park, but personally I think there's a lot of strong material from the start, and that first omnibus covers a great chunk to get a feel for the series.

Quote from: Avaitor on March 17, 2017, 07:09:47 PM
I will say that I never had a problem with the art style. In fact, I like how cartoony it looks, and that it sticks out so well. I know the art is a turn-off for western audiences, but that was never one of my issues with OP. Especially compared to, say, Naruto, which I always felt looked kind of boring.

It's funny, but OP's cartoony style is actually what attracted me as a kid. I've always thought it was reminiscent or at least heavily inspired by Toriyama's art, which was a big selling point considering I was becoming a big fan of DB and Dr. Slump at the time. OP's art and character designs have a lot of personality, and it definitely has some of the most expressive and impressive art in a long-running shonen action title, especially during it's prime between Water 7 and Marineford.

Avaitor

I just posted about manga a moment ago, but I'm still reading comics right now. :P

Well, I finished refreshing myself on duck comics (man, if you haven't read a Carl Barks story, you're really missing out IMO), I decided to finally check out the first volume of Superior Spider-Man, like I've been meaning to. It's pretty good stuff so far. Of all things, Octavius is a decent Spider-Man, but he's missing what it takes to be human. Even if it's Parker. That said, I do think the addition of Peter doing what he can to fight Octavius' negative influence does draw me in. It's that bit of decency that he brought into Kraven's Last Hunt that makes it such a great story.

I probably should have got the edition with Dying Wish, so I could have understood the story better, but it's fine.
Life is not about the second chances. It's about a little mouse and his voyage to an exciting new land. That, my friend, is what life is.

Sir, do you have any Warrants?
I got their first CD, but you can't have it, motherfucker!

New blog!
http://avaitorsblog.blogspot.com/

Dr. Insomniac



A lot of what the Marvel editors said a few days ago regarding diversity and sales was dumb, since Alonso managed to both alienate fans of the new trends, and critics who are still waiting for an answer to many faults in recent runs. But they have a sincere lack of awareness if they do not understand why comic readers are buying a book where Peter's allowed to have a family with MJ. A book where One More Day never happened.

Avaitor

I haven't really commented on the matter, but Marvel is ran by morons. I've been having little patience for them lately. Yikes.

Anyway, my girlfriend recently showed me a cool used bookstore, and I went back today. I picked up the second volume of DMZ, since I read the first one a while ago and wanted to read more. What I didn't know is that they lower their prices after their merch has been in stock for a while, and this was here for about 3 years. So it went fro $7 to just around $4.

Not only do I plan to go back and get more volumes soon, I intend to check out their manga. They have a bunch of Kenshin and OP volumes, and if they've been around long enough, it would be cheaper to buy them in bulk rather than Viz's omnibus editions.
Life is not about the second chances. It's about a little mouse and his voyage to an exciting new land. That, my friend, is what life is.

Sir, do you have any Warrants?
I got their first CD, but you can't have it, motherfucker!

New blog!
http://avaitorsblog.blogspot.com/

Avaitor

I went back to that book store and got volumes 7-9 of Kenshin, and the next 2 Superior Spider-Man books. Not bad, all in all.
Life is not about the second chances. It's about a little mouse and his voyage to an exciting new land. That, my friend, is what life is.

Sir, do you have any Warrants?
I got their first CD, but you can't have it, motherfucker!

New blog!
http://avaitorsblog.blogspot.com/

Avaitor

I forgot to mention this, but I did finish reading the first Vizbig collection of OP, and y'no, part of me feels like I'll never get into this series the same way many others have. I appreciate Oda's love for adventure and his character building, but so far, it's still not grabbing me.

But I do think that the characters are pretty likable, and they're already starting to shape up for bigger and better things. I might get to more of the franchise, but it's not a top priority right now.
Life is not about the second chances. It's about a little mouse and his voyage to an exciting new land. That, my friend, is what life is.

Sir, do you have any Warrants?
I got their first CD, but you can't have it, motherfucker!

New blog!
http://avaitorsblog.blogspot.com/

LumRanmaYasha

One Piece takes a while to grow on some people, and like many series, it's probably harder to fall in love with the older you get and the more exposure to similar stories you have. Many find Arlong Park to be the arc that sold them on the series, so I'm curious to see your reactions when you get to there (it would be around the 3rd omnibus).

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

#1348
I can definitely understand that. I had a similar feeling about One Piece this early on, and much like my experience with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, it very much took me quite a while to really grow an appreciation for the material. Keep in mind that while I like the early material a lot more than I used to, it comes from retrospect more than from my initial viewing of it.

I really don't like using the "it improves over time" argument (mostly since it applies to a lot of things), and if a work doesn't grab you then it just doesn't grab you. That said, should you ever see fit to move further with the series at a later point in time, it is worth noting that it builds on its characters and lore quite a bit and in very interesting ways. That more than anything is why so many people, including myself, hold it in such high regard, rather than just instantly loving the series from the start.

But, of course, should you decide to drop it, I'm still glad to see that you at least gave it another fair shot.

Spark Of Spirit

If you don't like the Arlong Park arc then you probably won't like the series as a whole. It takes a bit to get rolling.
"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder." - G.K. Chesterton