What Are You Reading?

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

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LumRanmaYasha

Quote from: Markness on July 22, 2017, 11:50:32 AM

I actually recommend watching all of the original anime first before reading the manga. Yes, the manga is superior but the original anime will make you appreciate it more. It actually made me crave more Berserk; I know that sounds like I am saying it isn't satisfying enough but it's hard to explain. The animation also holds up well today and the music is intoxicating. The new adaptations should be avoided like the plague, though.

The first anime is worth watching for sure. But you definitely have to double back and re-read those events in the manga because there's a fair bit they take out, including characters that are important to the rest of the story.

Quote from: Markness on July 22, 2017, 11:50:32 AM
How often do you guys re-read your favorite series? I recently re-read my volumes of Nanatsu no Taizai and it was fun reliving the moments that made it my favorite manga as well as seeing details I had forgotten about.

I enjoy re-reading my favorites every now and again. I don't get the chance to often since I feel more obligated to read new stuff, but once in a while I pick up a book off my self and find myself engrossed in reading it over again. I re-read stuff I own digitally much more just because there are a lot of opportunities when I'm out of the house and just waiting around and need something to occupy my time. I've re-read Dr. Slump and Saint Seiya more times than any other manga in the last year because of this.

Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on July 26, 2017, 04:21:03 PM
Heads up that Souboutei chapters 2 and 3 were finally put up.

Awesome! Will have to give those a read when I get the chance to. Glad to see the scanlation group is continuing with it, though I'd really prefer Viz or Yen Press or whoever would get on licensing it.

Quote from: Avaitor on July 29, 2017, 02:51:24 PM
I finally finished Slam Dunk last night, and wow, what a ride. I think that it had a terrific ending, and rightfully had a massive range of emotions. It was the perfect balance between happy, spot-on, and bittersweet. But I was really impressed with all the character moments in the final game, from Sakuragi recognizing Rukawa's talents, to Akagi recognizing Sakuragi's place, to Sakuragi and Rukawa finally high-fiving. The action throughout was great, but it's a testament to Inoue's talents that he could find room for little moments like constantly in between a really intense game.

Glad you enjoyed it! That final game is really what makes the series for me. A perfect swirl of intense emotions and personal stakes that makes the payoff feel incredibly satisfying and the ending feel appropriate even though they didn't progress further in the tournament. I like the rest of the manga, but I love that final match with Sannoh.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

So, I decided to just fold and start buying the digital volumes of Blade of the Immortal rather than waiting for the omnibus releases for the rest of the series. Of course, admittedly I may double dip and buy the future omnibi once they come out since they are such high quality releases and, IMO, worth collecting.

On another note I just finished the Death of the Family storyline from Scott Snyder's run and was utterly repulsed by it....and not in the intended way. What is it with writers trying to make Batman dark and edgy just for the sake of it? It's like everyone read Frank Miller's earlier Batman stories like Year One and TDKR and completely missed the point of what made those stories so good....including Miller himself, with his later attempts at writing for Batman.

I have the first two volumes of Tom King's run ready to start reading, so hopefully that's a lot better. I've also been reading bits and pieces of the classic series here a and there. A couple of years ago I read the Kinghtfall trilogy, and lately I've been reading the issues with Jason Todd in them (pre-Death in the Family). As hokie and dated as some of this material may be, it all has a genuinely fun charm to it, IMO. Certainly more enjoyable than anything that I read from Snyder's material.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

I'm enjoying the I Am Gotham story so far. Most notably, I just like how Batman is actually being a superhero and saving lives for a change. Right from the very start of this story it hit me that I never actually saw anything of this sort happening in what I read of Snyder's material.

Dr. Insomniac

Yeah, Tom King's had a grip on Batman that I haven't seen in a while. I know others have complained that his run is a little slow and they're not fond of some events that happen with Bane or Selina, but I think he's been able to explore Bruce's character further than other Bat-writers have in the past few years. He also did wonders for Vision in that 12-issue Vision series he did for Marvel, so much that I saw Paul Bettany praising the book. Better reception than Chris Evans gave to his character's comic.

And if you haven't, I strongly suggest you read Grant Morrison's Batman run too. I know I called it a clusterfuck years back, but rereading parts of it recently has been an absolute joy. It is very daunting though given the amount of trades and other runs Morrison connected to his story, but here's a reading guide to make things easier.

Spoiler
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Dr. Ensatsu-ken

#1429
I read through both the "I am Gotham" and "I am Suicide" stories from King's material. I really enjoyed both, though I do have to question why that whole elaborate plan of Catwoman fake double-crossing Batman only to reveal herself as a double agent was even necessary. I mean, it seems like they managed to totally catch Bane by surprise with their fake plan, anyways. Even in that regard, it seems a little presumptuous that Batman knew for sure that when he initially let Bane capture him that he would just lock him up with both his suit and gear still on him instead of just stripping him of those and even possibly outright killing him. It's nitpicking, of course, and like I said I still enjoyed the story, but that whole setup did feel a bit too convenient and lucky for my liking.

Also, thanks for the list of Grant Morrison stuff to read. That said, spending several minutes just trying to decipher how to properly read that chart (even with the key description included) really does remind me of just how daunting following comic book continuity can be, even for just the works of a single writer. Like, I could see a series like One Piece or Berserk being an intimidating proposition for people due to their sheer length, but at least it's clear where to start and where the catch up point is. It's literally as simple as going in sequential order. With comic books it's very telling that I need a chart just to understand what the sequential order of reading even is.

Not to say that this factor dissuaded me from reading them anymore. Obviously I've been reading my share lately. I just figured that it was worth pointing out what a tough sell it can be for some people.

VLordGTZ

I finally finished Karakuri Doji Ultimo.  While I can say for sure that it's the weakest Takei's major works, it had some great ideas and solid action scenes.  You can really tell that Takei took the simplistic concept Stan Lee gave him and turned it into something much deeper and fleshed out.  That being said, the series has some noticeable blemishes.  The series didn't start off very strong and felt a bit rushed and convoluted near the end due to all the time travel antics.  Overall though, it was a fun ride and I'm glad that I saw it through to the end.   

I'll likely go and finish Shaman King pretty soon, but for now I'm going to read Death Note since I've never actually read it ( :humhumhum:).

Dreamer2

I finished volume 3 of My Hero Academia! I'm trying to take my time with it, but I'm probably gonna end up reading volume 4 later this week because I actually have it right now. I was kind of tempted to just read it tonight. That's how much I was into it.

It's still super fun with lots and lots of great characters. The battle with the villains was really well done and I really liked how they handled All Might. Deku is like the perfect protagonist. Yeah, I've probably seen characters like him lots of times before, but I don't care, he's fantastic. How he won the obstacle course was great! I love when I can really get into a story and root for the hero. That's always nice.

If it's really only gonna get better from here, than I'm pretty hyped up.

But, I'm a little bummed about DeMarco basically saying that Toonami can't get My Hero Academia right now. Who knows if they ever will. I guess I'll just watch it subbed once I get caught up with the manga. I want to watch some of this stuff animated!

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

The dub for MHA is also quite good, and actually on par with the sub, IMO. I end up watching both since it gets simul-dubbed, but you would need to be subscribed to FUNimation to get access to the dub. That said, the sub is perfect as well, of course.

Anyways, I'm glad that you're really enjoying it. Currently it's tied with The Promised Neverland as my second favorite currently running Weekly Shonen Jump manga (right behind One Piece as my favorite). The encounter with Stain is where it really gets good for me, which should be coming up sometime around volume 6 or 7, I believe.

Spark Of Spirit

The series really hits its stride in volume 5 which is the end of the Sports Festival. If you're liking it now, you'll like it even more by then.

It's a shame Toonami hasn't picked this up. I can't imagine it not being popular.
"The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder." - G.K. Chesterton

gunswordfist

The obstacle course is the hardest I've ever rooted for Midoriya, in the anime. Hell, maybe the hardest I've ever rooted for a fictional character.
"Ryu is like the Hank Hill of Street Fighter." -BB_Hoody


Dr. Ensatsu-ken

I just finished Volume 1 of Morrison's Doom Patrol run. Aside from that one story about a some dude's tattoos having the power to summon a giant eyeball that could erase the Universe, it was some pretty entertaining stuff. I especially liked the last story in the volume which did a great job of showcasing just how funny Morrison can be. I have volume 2 ready to start tomorrow, but I'll need to shop around for the third volume. Incidentally, I was wondering if it was worth it to read any other Doom Patrol material outside of Morrison's run, or if his work on it was the only good stuff from the series?

I've also been trying to shop around for the Animal Man Omnibus, but it's fairly expensive online and I'm not sure if it's worth spending more than $100 on, so I may have to come back to that one. If it's available digitally anywhere for cheaper, that would be a better alternative for me.

Dr. Insomniac

The current Gerard Way run is okay, I guess? The thing about post-Morrison Doom Patrol is that future writers either just copied his approach like the Rachel Pollack run or did more traditional superhero fare like John Byrne did. And neither of those runs have been collected anyway. The only other runs that have been put into trades are the Way books going on right now, the original Doom Patrol comics from the 60s, and a run Keith Giffen did.

Dr. Ensatsu-ken

Actually, I did find Doom Patrol volume 4 available online, which covers Pollack's material, since volume 3 covers the end of Morrison's run. So technically at least part of her run has been collected, if not all of it. That said, if it's just a pale imitation of Morrison's work, then I'll probably pass on it.

I've also been wanting to read some of Morrison's shorter works as well, such as the few issues of The Flash that he did when his buddy Mark Waid wanted to take a break, but before that I do want to read Waid's run leading up to that point, but I'd need to order the subsequent volumes online since my local BAM only carries the first volume of his run for The Flash.

Avaitor

I decided to pick up a couple of singles I've been meaning to get for a while, and a recent one. One of those was the last issue of God Country, which was a terrific finish to a terrific story. The art's great, but what really sells it is despite the bigness in its scope, the story is a sweet intimate piece that keeps its power from start to finish. The trade should be out now, and I highly recommend it.

I also got the first issue of Dark Nights: Metal, and while I've recently read some criticism of Snyder's writing, I liked this one. I'd say it's one of the better beginnings to an event story that I've read in a while, and has me interested in keeping up. The last big event I can recall being interested in was Blackest Night, and even I dropped that by the end,
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Dr. Ensatsu-ken

I've been reading some of Ed Brubaker's Batman run, which is rather mediocre on the whole. I really enjoy what I've read of his Captain America and Iron Fist runs, as well as his stand-alone Graphic Novel series Criminal under Image comics, but I suppose he was just less experienced back when he worked on Batman.

I've also started reading some of Frank Miller's work on Daredevil. It's really baffling just how good his 80's work is. Most of it still holds up remarkably well, and unlike other dark and gritty comic books, these actually work because they have a sense of purpose to them with actual stories to tell that do a great job of both understanding the core values of these iconic characters while also completely redefining them for a new generation of comic book readers.

Somehow, it's hard to believe that the guy who wrote works like The Man Without Fear and The Dark Knight Returns is the same person as the one who wrote the things that he has in the 2000's.

I'm almost done with volume 2 of Doom Patrol, and it'll be a while before I can get volume 3 since I'll probably have to buy it online. In the meantime, I plan on moving onto some of Morrison's work on Batman.

And I'm currently up to volume 10 of Blade of the Immortal. Seeing as how this series is 31 volumes long, I'm really curious to see how the story can go on for so much longer as it does seem like it has a clear-cut ending point that it's going for and the pacing has been surprisingly brisk in the past few volumes, so it feels like it could easily end in another 5-10 volumes, but it'll be interesting to see how Samura actually manages to keep the story going on for so much longer, and if he's able to maintain its quality throughout its entire run.