Comics/Manga Discussion Thread

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, this is pretty awful news: https://www.google.com/amp/s/comicbook.com/anime/amp/news/act-age-manga-creator-arrest/

Having the author (Nobuhiro Watsuki) of my favorite WSJ manga (Rurouni Kenshin) outed as a pedophile was devastatingly disappointing as it was. Having the author (Tatsuya Matsuki) of what was my current favorite running WSJ series (Act-Age) arrested for the physical act of engaging with minors is beyond disgusting to me.

It just never ceases to disturb me how the creators of genuinely great pieces of art can be such shitbags in real life. Tack onto that Warren Ellis also being outed for predatory behavior towards women, among various other creators guilty of various indecent and criminal activity, and it really makes me weary to think about the people behind the art being produced.

[Avaitor]

Act Age has officially been canceled.

I hadn't got around to reading it yet, but I know that it was a beloved series for many, so it's unfortunate that he's a creep. Hopefully the artist will move on to something just as good, if not better, now that she's done with it.

[VLordGTZ]

Act-Age's cancellation is super depressing for me, but after Matsuki's actions, it was necessary. It was easily the best series in WSJ right now by a landslide, and it's disturbing how the writer behind the best female representation from the magazine in years is a total scumbag. A lot of mangaka are showing their support for Shiro Usazaki on social media, so I hope we see another series by her eventually. Act-Age was her first work as a professional artist, and her improvement since the beginning of the series has been insane, so it'd be devastating to see her career cut short because of this.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Shueisha absolutely made the right (and only) call here in abruptly cancelling it, and Matsuki definitely deserves what he's gotten and everything else now coming his way after such terrible behavior towards minors. That said, I can't lie, this news is crushing for me. Despite being scum, his work on the series was phenomenal and it was by far my favorite currently running WSJ manga, with Kei Yonagi being an incredibly well-realized protagonist that few other Jump titles could even come close to matching up to. I will sincerely miss keeping up with this series and I really wish it didn't have to be an absolute piece of shit person which was talented enough to write it.

Still, what's done is done and there is no going back. Much like others, I hope that Usazaki can find other great work now that Act-Age is no more. Given her improved skill, I'm sure there are other writers who would be eager to work with her.

[Daikun]

Kissmanga is dead.

[Dr. Insomniac]

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Invincible trailer just dropped: https://youtu.be/VMaA1m7LPU4

I read through the whole series a couple of months back and really enjoyed it, and this looks to capture that same sort of energy, so I really hope that it does well.

[Avaitor]

I've only read up through volume 9, but I really enjoy Invincible, too. Frankly, I think it's much better than Robert Kirkman's other major series.

But anyway, this is indeed looking pretty good. I think it was a good call for animation.

[Daikun]

Viz got Fist of the North Star.

[Markness]

Wow, I wasn't expecting Viz to ever try again at publishing Fist!  It's good to see a classic manga that didn't get completely published in the English speaking world come back from the grave!

[Markness]

Read the latest Berserk chapter. Despite the long gaps between the chapters these days, the content in them makes up for the long waits. I especially was blown away by the memory in the Beserker Armor. We see Void but with four different members of the Godhand. Fans have speculated there was a previous Godhand and that they cycled out members but I tend to think maybe the Skull Knight killed the others except for Void and that the current members aside from him are replacements.

[Markness]

Anyone have any opinions on the current X-books?

I am interested in reading Teen Titans Academy when its first issue drops this March. Looks like they will be taking an X-men like approach with the seasoned Titans teaching a new generation. A similar thing happened in the 90's with the X-book Generation X.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Anyone have any opinions on the current X-books?

Yeah, the ones I've read have been pretty good. Marauders has a really fun dynamic between Kitty and Emma, and making a pirate branch of the X-Men's an inspired take. Read a little of Hellions, and I liked it even though it read like X-Men Suicide Squad at first. And the mainline title's great. It managed to give Apocalypse some much needed character depth.

[Mustang]

So my interest in Thor spiked recently after God of War and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Not to mention Chris Hemisworth's portrayal as the character got me very interested. So I'm curious about any good Thor comics, preferably not dating back to the old days (60s-80s). I can't help it. I love good artwork (bonus points if its modern with great artwork)

I guess the same can be said about Ironman, but I've been interested in this angle when Dr. Doom becomes Ironman but I have no idea where to even start with that one.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

For modern stuff I think Thor: God of Thunder by Jason Aaron would be right up your alley. It's a 4-volume run so it's not too big of a time investment, unless you plan on reading everything leading up to War of the Realms. As a stand-alone title it's an easy jumping on point and it introduces perhaps the best original new villain in Marvel comics of the past decade in Gorr the God Butcher. The God Butcher story also has ties Donny Cates' Venom run (which I also think would be up your alley).

Thor by JMS is also pretty great but it gets cut short and never really gets the chance to properly unfold and conclude due to editorial being more interested in tying it into the Siege event than in letting it be a strong stand-alone story. Good solo runs being sabotaged by having to tie into major crossover events is perhaps my biggest issue with the modern era of Marvel comics.

And if you're still invested in Asgardian characters than some of the Loki solo runs from around that that timeframe are pretty noteworthy as well.

If you ever feel like giving some of the older stuff a chance, though, than Walt Simonson's Thor run from the 80's is still the most iconic (it's what Waititi takes the most influence from in Thor: Ragnarok), and to me it still holds up incredibly well as a genuinely great superhero comic.