what about "adventure magazines?"

[Slant]

I used to call comic books "adventure magazines" since they were not books, nor were they comical (at least not the ones I read as a nipper).  What comics are you all reading?  Or am I the only one?  I've been following Poison Elves, Liberty Meadows, and Knights of the Dinner Table for years, amongst others.  What about the rest of you?  Do any of you like the new "Ultimate" iniverse from Marvel?  Who else was really ticked off over the lackluster Wolverine Origin story?  Does anybody out there remember The Maxx (one of my all-time favorites)?  

[Mr_Pleasington]

I used to be a huge Marvel fan when I was in Jr. high/ early high school.  I stopped reading about the time of the Infinity War.  The only thing I read now-a-days are Knights of the Dinner Table.

I never read The Maxx, but I watched (and still have on tape) the entire animated series they showed on MTV.  I was a teenager when it aired, and while I found it cool at the time, it made little sense.  Maybe it would make more now if I went back and watched it.  What was the premise again? It's been too long...

Also, can someone clue me in on Wolvie's origins?  I'm dying to know.

[Spriggan]

I don't read any that aren't free on the net.  Way too expensive for my taste.  the comic book industry should do what they do in asia and that's publish a weekly collection of about 10 comics on news print for about $4.  then release a nicer collection of each of the included comics.

[Fellfrosch]

I've quite enjoyed Ultimate Spiderman, but ever issue of The Ultimates (the new avengers) drives me further and further into a maelstrom of outrage. I have yet to read the Ultimate X-Men, but I do plan to get to it soon.

[Kid_Kilowatt]

I don't buy comics anymore, but I have a brother that buys almost everything worth reading, so I borrow whole series to read from him based on his recommendation.  I recently read the whole run of an indie called Box Office Poison, which was pretty good.  

I just finished reading Kurt Busiek's run of Avengers this morning, and I was more than a little disappointed.  His work on Astro City is better than anything done with superheroes in the last decade, but his Avengers storylines were a mess - too many villians and too many uninspired new characters (Silverclaw, Triathlon, Pagan).  Next up: Transmetropolitan!  I've been wanting to read this for ages and now I've got the whole thing. I was thinking of delving into the Ultimates series again, but Busiek's Avengers was so bad that I'm thinking of reinstating my "no Marvel" policy.

I can't wait till I have enough disposible income to catch up on all the stuff I need in trade paperback form: Lone Wolf and Cub, Bone, Invisibles, Astro City, the last four Cerebus phonebooks, etc.

[Slant]

Kid, I think they just came out with a new Cerebus book (14 or 15 I imagine).  These days they are nowhere near as thick as the Church & State/Jaka's Story books.

::)SPOILERS ALERT

As for the Wolverine origin, it's pretty poor.  Seems he is really a guy named James Howlett who began life as a sickly rich kid near the turn of the century before killing his rich grandpappy's handyman, a low-life thug named Mr. Logan, after Logan killed off his father.  There is a family rumor that logan was actually James' biological father since james' mom was a bit of a "tart" in her youth.  Anywhoo, when his dad is killed, james goes nuts and pops his claws for the first time, killing Logan.  He and his pretty red-headed friend then high-tail it to the wilds of Canada to escape and James loses his memory of his entire past. James, who his friend now refers to as "Logan" in order to keep anybody from thinking he is actually James Howlett (a really silly plot twist if you ask me) ends up working in a mining camp where he becomes tough and strong (natch) and he is taken under the wing of an older man who calls him "bub" all the time and tells him about life in Feudal Japan.  Eventually, Logan's (the evil Logan, not Wolverine) son (now a grown man) who calls himsel "Dog" tracks James down to the mining town and makes life hell for him.  In the end, james' pretty friend marries his grizzled mentor, establishing what will becomea pattern of unfulfilled relationships in Wolverine's life.

If the above description sounds like ca-ca, there is a reason for it.  you have been warned.

[Kid_Kilowatt]

If you're referring to the new Cerebus with the Hemingway story, I've read it - and I enjoyed it more than any of the other recent Cerebus stories.  It is uproariously funny in places, which is odd since it deals with the last years of Hemingway's life (which makes for incredibly depressing source material).

Cerebus has come up on two different threads, so I'll plug it briefly as it's unlike any other comic.  It started off years ago as a bad parody of Conan the Barbarian but, against all odds, it turned into one of the most literary continuous narratives put into print in the last several decades.  It has included the best comic-book stories in the realms of politics (High Society), religion (Church and State), romance (Jaka's Story), gender (Women and Guys), and philosophy (Minds and Flight).  It is also very funny, with spot-on parodies of the Marx brothers, superhero comics, and numerous other pop culture icons (e.g. a character combining Elric and Foghorn Leghorn).  Three storylines have dealt specifically with literature, analyzing the life and works of Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, and F Scott Fitzgerald.  On top of it all, the narrative is very personal and autobiographical, revealing an author with very unique (and often upsetting) views on the issues he deals with.  

The Cerebus corpus is immense, well over 5,000 pages, but it is one of the most satisfying evolving stories to come out of the world of modern comics.  A couple good primers on the subject (requested by Tage):

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/5145/CEREBUS.html  

http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2000winter/cerebus.shtml

I would argue that Cerebus shouldn't really be grouped with the typical furry fodder because a) it predates almost all of the modern furry trends, b) the book contains absolutely no sexy animals, and c) the subject matter is wholly different from what usually attracts the furry crowd.  Having said that, though, I have to admit that Cerebus did have some links with furry culture in its past, as the writer supported indie furry comix like Omaha the Cat Dancer when the nascent genre was first coming into its own.  

[Spriggan]

Cerebus also appeared in the orignal TMNT comic, in the 4th graphic novel (I think).  It's the one where they get shot into another deminsion.

[Mr_Pleasington]

Wow, Slant, that is a really sucky origin for Wolvie.  Talk about bland!  Thanks for the info.

I also remember Cerebus popping up in an issue of Spawn at some point.  I never read much Spawn, but that issue was a pretty cool  commentary on the superheroes who were not owned or written by their creators anymore.  

[Kid_Kilowatt]

Yeah, that issue of "Spawn" about owner's rights was pretty cool - it was the manifesto for the Image Comics mentality that everyone was so crazy about at the time.  I admit that I got swept up in it like anyone else even though I always loathed Rob Liefeld (no-talent schmuck that he is) - I stopped buying Marvel comic books (sorry, "adventure magazines" just sounds SO gay) and got every piece of crap Image churned out (even "Freak Force").  

Unfortunately, it turns out that Todd McFarlane was as big a tyrant as his former bosses at Marvel.  He stole the characters that Neil Gaiman created for the Medieval Spawn stories and didn't give him royalties or anything and then bought up all the rights to Miracle Man, one of Gaiman's other popular characters.  Gaiman sued his ass off and won on all counts - apparently Todd came across as a total jerk in court and the jury hated him.  I couldn't be happier about how that turned out.  Dave Sim is just lucky that Todd didn't steal the Cerebus character and make millions off of Cerebus movies and action figures.

[Mr_Pleasington]

So THAT'S why everyone hates McFarlane.  I always heard people bad mouthing him here and there, but never knew why until now.  Thanks!

[Slant]

I dunno, a Cerebus figure WOULD be kinda cool....

I may be wrong, but I could swear that there was a Cerebus cameo in an issue of Dork Tower.  At any rate, the Cerebus issue of Spawn remains as one of my all-time favorite single issues.  

[Slant]

Before I kip down for the night, let me throw out the names of some more comics I think are kinda cool:

The Goon
Teenagers from Mars
Alias
Zero Girl
Snapdragons
PVP
Powers


And to all, a good night  

[Mr_Pleasington]

Man, I love PVP.  It's one of the few webcomics I check daily.


A few months back I picked up a few issues of the new Tranformers and GI Joe comics for nostalgia's sake.  I really dug the art in TF, but never got any more issues.  

On a related note, I did watch the first episode of Tranformers:Armada on Cartoon Network the other day.  I thought it was pretty good, although it now has a Pokeman "gotta catch 'em all" story arc.  Probably won't hold a candle to the old series, but I'll hold my final judgement.

I have always wanted to check out Hellboy, but have no idea where to start.  It looks like my kind of thing.

[Slant]

Oh yeah, I meant to include the new GI Joe on my list of cool comics.  I used to love the old series when I was a kid, but I was less impressed with the tv show: dozens of elite soldiers with high-powered rifles and it seemed like they could never actually HIT anything.  The new comic has been pretty good so far.  As with the old series, my favorites seem to be the bad guys, especially Destro, Zartan and the Baroness.  The Cobra troops always seemed much more interesting than the GI Joe guys.  They may have been evil, but there was a certain whimsy about them.

On a Hellboy note, there is going to be a feature film released next Christmas with Ron Perlman as Hellboy.