What are you reading 2015 edition

This Year, I have been mostly reading..."Indie" Comics.

I've worked my way through the new version of Glory, from Image. Started off strong, but faltered, and eventually died a death not really accomplishing much.

Michael Avon Omeings The Victories V1 & V2. Interesting premise, with a hero who started off with MUCH darker beginnings that I first imagined, but again, quickly dropped through the veil of conspiracy theory stuff into standard "Rich Guys What Run the Planet, Yo"


TMNT v1 is what I am currently working my way through, but I want to complete Prophet this year as well, as I've heard great things about that.

Man is the Golden Age Dr. Fate ruthless. I am reading through the archive collection and have read More Fun 55-63 and aside from the first 2 stories where he fights Wotan, Fate has outright killed the villain in every story, and destroyed an entire planet and everyone on it because they posed a threat to earth. He burns, them, throws them off buildings, uses their bombs to blow them up, etc. etc. Utterly ruthless, and so far the Lovecraftian influence has been part and parcel, sorcerers summoning cosmic entities form space using ancient tomes of forbidden knowledge and Fate uttering incantations calling on entities with Lovecraftian naming conventions in just about every story.

All I can say is...great stuff.

It took 13 stories before they got around to telling Fate's Origin (which they do in 3 pages and then tell another in the remaining 3 pages of that issue) and the first mention of Nabu. Of course the origin slightly contradicts some of the things they had established about Fate in the previous stories, but hey it's the Golden Age.

And Fate continues to be a ruthless bastard. One of the villains (an ancient Mayan death god imprisoned millennia ago by Dr. Fate-who then is shown only to have been created in the 1920s in the origin story, one of the minor contradictions) has captured Inza and tells Fate he will kill Inza if Fate intervenes...Fate's response, go ahead, her life is a small price to pay to stop you and save the universe...which stuns the villain that he is so willing to see her killed and the villain hesitates allowing Fate to stop him and save Inza. Of course the next story he destroys an entire race of sea creatures (an analogue to Lovecraft's Deep Ones) because their leader is corrupt and threatens humanity, not blinking an eye at the act of genocide...

good ole ruthless Dr. Fate....hero of the golden age...I love it!

-M

So I am rereading a lot of classic stuff-the early Lee Ditko Spider-Man and the early Claremont/Cockrum All New All Different X-Men. Enjoying both, but I had forgotten how good those early X-Men stories were. I last read this stuff circa '92-94, so it's been over 20 years since I have read it.

Also reread the Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson Manhunter stories. Phenomenal stuff way ahead of its time. I last read it about a decade ago, and it gets better each time I read it. They were originally back ups in 'Tec in '73-74 and concluded with a Batman team up that was the lead story in 'Tec, but this was Paul Kirk at his finest. 

Finally got around to reading Chaykin's Ironwolf stuff. Way ahead of its time, but also apparent it was early in his career when he was still learning his craft.

Started up reading my way through Master of Kung Fu again, was reading it last year but got distracted and stalled.

The Golden Age Dr. Fate stuff has become a chore to get through, but I am still plugging away. Every story is generic super-hero fare as Dr. Fate fights some crook and can't be harmed by bullets or knives because his body is made of energy, but he has to breathe, so every crook has gas or a lariat or something to choke him and take him out of the fight, take Inza as a hostage then have Fate recover once he gets fresh air (even slashing a tire to get the pure air he needs form it when trapped in a room filled with carbon monoxide...no I am serious) and beats the baddies. The only recurring foe is a criminal named Mr. Who (yep long before the BBC timelord), who created a chemical formula in a pill that give shim the ability to do anything (change size big or small, shape change, whatever the plot needs) but he seems to have a glass jaw and Fate defeats him each time with a sock to the jaw, he goes to prison and someone smuggle shim in some compound Z so he can escape and do it all over again....sigh. I've got 18 or so more Dr. Fate stories form the golden age to get through, and I will get through them, but after so much promise in the first dozen or so stories, the rest had been pretty bad repetitive Golden Age fodder. Substitute Superman for Fate, gas for kryptonite, and Lois for Inza and the story would read the same....the cool unique Fate was a victim of the success of super-heroes and the formula publishers felt they needed to sell them. Not sure how Fate fared in All Star Comics with the JSA, as I don't have those in collected form, but the More Fun stuff started strong and tailed way off.

-M

Read the first installment of the 49th Key, the new series by Erika Lewis and J.K. Woodward being serialized in Heavy Metal Magazine starting with the latest issue(273). John Barrowman's production company (he of Dr. Who, Torchwood and Arrow fame) has already made a deal to adapt it into a television mini-series event) and I am sooo on board after the debut.

Any series that invoked John Dee, Edward Kelly and Enochian myths has my attention, but it is set in the modern world as a pediatrician and an archaeologist follow parallel paths of a mystery, centered on a young boy who can only communicate via music and art. The bimonthly wait between issues of Heavy Metal is going to be a killer with this series, but it seems it will be well worth it.

-M

At the moment, having spent the last two days back down South with my wife while she interviews a few jobs, I have been reading the Demon series', particularly Kirby's Demon - which is totally different to what I was expecting, actually.

To the point where I was quite shocked, as it really is very different, to begin with, to how he is portrayed in later years.

Just picked up a load of comics from the library last week and read:

Green Lantern Corps Vol 5: Uprising which I surprisingly liked after a terrible opening for the new GL writers with the Relic arc.
Fables Volume 14: Witches- love the Fables Universe and this volume was no exception looking forward to the next volume.

Still have the last volume of Hickman's F4 to read as well.

Updated through the end of March and the first few days of April...lots of stuff read in the first quarter of the year, not sure I can keep up this pace, but I am buying less and reading more...

-M

Updated for the first few days of May, delving into a few semi-longer series hoping to read at least 20 issues of each this month, so far have read 12 Golden Age Hawkman stories from Flash Comics #1-12 collected in the Golden Age Hawkman Archives, the first 8 issues of Warlord, 6 issues of Master of Kung Fu (I've been reading through this one for a bit so not a new series, just one I continue to plug away at), and the first 4 issues of Dreadstar (re-read Metamorphosis Odyssey, The Price OGN, and the Marvel GN last year and diving in to the series proper again now, haven't read this stuff since the late 80s/early 90s.

-M

Updated for June...

Highlights-The Sculptor by McCloud, the Shuma-Gorath, Sise-Neg and Silver Dagger stories from early 70s Dr. Strange

The lowlight-early Silver Age Thor in Journey into Mystery, some of those are painfully bad, interesting for their place in history, but not the best reads

-M

While I have't been writing a damn thing, I have been reading a shit ton of stuff this month, somewhere near the equivalent of 300 or so comics this month, including:

-Nova #1-15, Annual 1(2007-08)
-Annihilation Conquest: Prologue, 1-6 (2007-08)
-Annihilation Conquest: Star-Lord #1-4 (2007)
-Annihilation Conquest: Quasar #1-4 (2007)
-Annihilation Conquest: Wraith #1-4 (2007)
-The Stainless Steel Rat #1 (1985)
-Sgt. Rock #405 (1985)
-Groo the Wanderer #7-8 (1985)
-Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #14 (1985)
-Red Sonja: Vacant Shell (2007)
-Red Sonja: Monster Isle (2006)
-Savage Beauty #1 (2011)
-Blue Ribbon Comics #8 (1984)
-Jack of Hearts #1-4 (1984)
-Robin: A Celebration of 75 Years {including Batman #20 (1943), Star Spangled Comics #82 & 86 (1948), #103 (1950); Batman #107 (1957) 156 (1963), Detective Comics #342 (1965), Batman Family #1 (1975) and JLof A #55 (1967)}
-Warlord #31-60(1980-82)
-Point Blank #1-5
-All Star Comics #58-63(1976)
-Showcase Presents Hawkman Vol. 1 (including B&B #34-36, 42-44, Atom #7, Mystery in Space #87-88; 1961-63)
-Sleeper Season One (including #1-12; 2003-04)
-CrossGen Primer nn (2000)
-CrossGen Sampler nn (2000)
-Enemy Ace Special #1 (1990; including stories from Our Army at War #151 & 153; 1965)
-Druid #2 (1995)
-Break Thru #1-2 (1993/94)
-Brian Bolland's Black Book #1 (1985)
-Sleeper Season 2 (including #1-12; 2004-2005)
-Martian Manhunter Annual #2 (1999)
-The Sixth Gun Vol. 2 (including #7-11; 2010-2011)
-Sabre #11-14 (1984-85)
-Essential Dr. Strange Vol. 3 (including Dr. Strange #10-13; 1975-76)
-Airboy #13-30(1987)
-Four Color Magazine #1 (1986/1987)
-Brave & the Bold #143 (1978)
-Flash #266 (1978)
-Ghost Rider #32 (1978)
-Men of War #9 (1978)
-Hall of the Dead (from Ace Conan #1; 1967; by De Camp & Howard)
-The Fade Out #1-4 (2014-2015)
-New Avengers #32-43, Annual 1-2 (2006-2008)
-True Spy Stories #1 (1991; Tome Press/Caliber)
-Green Lantern #76 Millennium Edition (1970/2000)
-Mighty Avengers #7-11 (2008)
-Adam Strange #1-3 (1990 Prestige)
-Nick Fury from Strange Tales #151-158 (1966-1967)
-Captain Atom #85 (Modern Comic reprint; 1967/1978)
-Fantastic Four #23-26 (1964)
-The Hand of Nergal (from Ace Conan #1, by Howard & Lin Carter; 1967)
-Daredevil #9-25(1999-2001)
-Ghost Rider #1-6 (2001-02)
-His Name is ...Savage #1/Gil Kane's Savage #1 (1968/1982)
-Under the Moon-A Tale of the Aeon Society by Warren Ellis (short story; 2001)
-Outcast by Kirkman and Azaceta Vol. 1 (including #1-6)
-Hellboy Animated:The Black Wedding OGN (2007)
-Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw Vol. 1 (including #1-6; 2014-15)
-Red, White and Grey by Yvonne Navarro (Rocketeer short story from Jet Pack Adventures Anthology; 2014)
-Weird Science #1 (Gladstone; 1990; reprints Weird Science #22 (1953) & Weird Fantasy #1 (1950) )
-The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #63 (1978)
-City of Skulls (from Ace Conan #1, by de Camp & Carter; 1967)
-The Dust of Death-A Tale of the Aeon Society by Greg Stolze (short story; 2001)
-Sixth Gun Vol. 3 (including #12-17; 2011)
-Demon Hunter #1 (1975)
-Viking Prince: Viking Glory HC OGN (1991)
-Red Shadows by REH (Solomon Kane short story from Weird Tales Aug. 1928; collected in Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1)
-The Harp of Alfred by REH (poem from Weird Tales Sept. 1928; collected in Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1)
-Easter Island by REH; poem from Weird Tales Dec. 1928; collected in Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1)
-Sisterhood of Steel #1-8 (1984-1986)
-Heavy Metal #276 (2015)
-Mercenary Sea Vol. 1 (including #1-6) (2014)
-Batman: Black and White 1,3,4 (1996)
-Chase #1-3 (1998)
-Southern Bastards Vol. 1 (including #1-4; 2014)
-Skulls in the Stars by REH (Solomon Kane story from Weird Tales Jan 1929; collected in Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1)
-Crete by REH (poem from Weird Tales Feb 1929; collected in Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1)
-Moon Mockery by REH (poem from Weird Tales April 1929; collected in Shadow Kingdoms: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Vol. 1)
-Wytches Vol. 1 (including #1-6; 2014-2015)

-M