Superhero Comics!

[Kadigan]

The first time I saw Jubilee was in the 90s cartoon. Then I randomly found an X-Men comic in one of those big packs you used to be able to buy at supermarkets (They'd have about 10 unrelated comics at the time) and I couldn't reconcile it. It was them living in australia, her stealing from them, and Nanny. It was a very weird first X-Men comic to read.

[Kailandra]

The first time I saw Jubilee was in the 90s cartoon. Then I randomly found an X-Men comic in one of those big packs you used to be able to buy at supermarkets (They'd have about 10 unrelated comics at the time) and I couldn't reconcile it. It was them living in australia, her stealing from them, and Nanny. It was a very weird first X-Men comic to read.

It makes more sense when you read her first appearance, which happened an issue or two earlier. Storm, Rogue, Dazzler, and Psylocke decide to have a Girl's Day out and go to a mall in LA. Jubilee is being chased through the mall by some wannabe Ghostbusters-knock off mutant hunters. The ladies save Jubes, and she jumps through their portal back to Australia, hiding out until she figures out what's going on, because the X-Men are supposed to be dead at this time.

[Kadigan]

Oh I've read it since then, and it does make sense now ( Probably should have thrown that in there) but at the time it was very odd. First comics are always odd like that. First GL I ever picked up was part 3 of Kyle Rayners fight with Fatality. First FF was the "New FF vs. Original" Unless there's a major event there's never a "good" time to jump right in, you kind of just have to get in then read forward and eventually read back if you like it enough.

[Dhi]

Barbara Gordon's returning as Batgirl with a new design!





A Chrissie Zullo Batgirl statue is the only superhero toy I own. I wouldn't have identified myself as a Batgirl fan before, but she does bring me joy and I do consider Killing Joke a vile personal attack.

[Kadigan]

It's a nice look, but it looks a lot like the Batgirl of Burnside look with a longer cape and modified cowl. Though admittedly the bat costumes are ones you can't do major redesigns with too often (though I always dug Cassie and Stephanies BG costumes.)

[Dhi]

There are elements.



But I liked the Burnside costume a lot, so I don't mind that. It seems like a maturation of the Burnside look.

We'll see about that black/blue lipstick.

[Foxy DeVille]

"Maturation" describes it to a tee. When they made Babs Bats again I found it a bit jarring how younger she seemed and wondered why they just couldn't keep Steph in the ears if they wanted that kind of portrayal. I adjusted to it but it stayed a bit odd for someone remembering her pre-Crisis version that already had a PhD when she first donned the cape and served in Congress. So I like the new look.

[Dhi]

Love the variant cover for this month's Marauders #22 by Gerald Parel!



And an upcoming Hippolyta Justice League #67 variant by Alexander Lozano.



I recently snagged a Vampirella variant along with all the Rose Besch covers, she's doing so many in 2021!



Last thing I wanted to share is the cover for Valiant Entertainment's Harbinger, which I found so striking. Hopefully the book is just delayed and not canceled. It would be very interesting to compare this to the Milestone relaunch, since they're similarly grounded, progressive, and stylish.

[Foxy DeVille]

Oof. So finding out about Jessie Drake in the Black Cat story from Marvel Voices: Pride led me to read her brief appearance in Marvel Comics Presents. Yikes. It was the mid-90s. It was a comic starring Typhoid, Wolverine, and Vengeance. It was maybe not the best setting to introduce a trans character. Nocenti might have meant well but there was a lot of cringe. Still, Jessie is an interesting and unexplored character so hopefully Marvel won't wait another quarter century to give her a few pages.

[Inkidu]

You know, I know Superman gets a lot of crap for being vanilla or boring and invincible, but God damn do I love every time the Big Blue Boy Scout just totally lets go and destroys Darkseid. I generally loathe thanatotic characters like him, so watching him get his shit stomped is always a delight.

[AlizsahTheBard]

So I saw this thread and while awaiting to be approved. Figured would present a question that had occurred to me. I will note don't read great deal of comics, but big comic media fan and massive fangirl for MCU. I watch some Linkara and Nerdsync. With that in mind, do you think DC and Marvel should lay off the Massive event comics for a time as they generally just seem to piss people off, not to mention they end popular series very often and fans of those are generally not happy. Now events within the series, people don't mind as much but large-scale events just as a whole seem to lead to more anger and frustration from what I see online and what I read.

Thoughts?

[Dhi]

The most recent DC shakeup event provided me a fantastic place to jump in and decide which titles are my thing. I would say that's the strength of massive events, and if so, DC may do it better since the catalyst for those is usually an editorial change in direction, some kind of narrative shift. Marvel just wants me to pick up $100 in Secret Civil Infinity In Black crossovers, and after two out of two of those failed to really land, I'm good ignoring them from here on out. They don't make me angry at all. Sometimes an issue is weird because I don't know where this dragon Jessica Drew is fighting came from or what invasion Captain Marvel is calling her about, but whatever. Marvel's just like that all the time.

Out of the books I picked up this week, not much stood out. Batman kicks a cyborg, Green Lantern has a whole issue of exposition with zero lantern powers, Justice League picks up stinky old Bendis plot threads, Swamp Thing has a one and done filler, Wonder Girl wrangles in Cassie and Artemis but doesn't do anything with them yet. The Nice House on the Lake #2 was the best of the lot, I would wholeheartedly recommend for anyone who digs horror comics.

X-Men has relaunched, following the not-so-massive Hellfire Gala event which redefined the team. It seems poised to distance itself from Krakoa by setting the team up in Manhattan, so for everybody waiting for a return to classic X-Men adventures, we're probably seeing that here. Nothing very engaging happens under that premise, so the book is going to be a pass for me. I'm content with Excalibur, Marauders, and Hellions until those are inevitably canceled. And X-Statix, whenever that happens!

While I'm thinking about X-Statix and Peter Milligan, this week's Swamp Thing #5 is written by Ram V but feels so very much like a Peter Milligan issue of Shade that it can't possibly be coincidence. You could replace every panel of Swamp Thing with Shade, change the references to The Green with The Madness, and this is verbatim a Peter Milligan story.

I'm only acutely aware of the similarity because I re-read all of Shade a couple of months ago. The homage is probably lost on many. I am seeing a number of comments that Swamp Thing #5 "feels like classic Vertigo," so the zeitgeist at least is there.

If Ram V is drawing inspiration from some Peter Milligan Shade, maybe this means a return of Rac Shade to Justice League Dark?

[LunarSage]

The most recent DC shakeup event provided me a fantastic place to jump in and decide which titles are my thing. I would say that's the strength of massive events, and if so, DC may do it better since the catalyst for those is usually an editorial change in direction, some kind of narrative shift. Marvel just wants me to pick up $100 in Secret Civil Infinity In Black crossovers, and after two out of two of those failed to really land, I'm good ignoring them from here on out. They don't make me angry at all. Sometimes an issue is weird because I don't know where this dragon Jessica Drew is fighting came from or what invasion Captain Marvel is calling her about, but whatever. Marvel's just like that all the time.

Out of the books I picked up this week, not much stood out. Batman kicks a cyborg, Green Lantern has a whole issue of exposition with zero lantern powers, Justice League picks up stinky old Bendis plot threads, Swamp Thing has a one and done filler, Wonder Girl wrangles in Cassie and Artemis but doesn't do anything with them yet. The Nice House on the Lake #2 was the best of the lot, I would wholeheartedly recommend for anyone who digs horror comics.

X-Men has relaunched, following the not-so-massive Hellfire Gala event which redefined the team. It seems poised to distance itself from Krakoa by setting the team up in Manhattan, so for everybody waiting for a return to classic X-Men adventures, we're probably seeing that here. Nothing very engaging happens under that premise, so the book is going to be a pass for me. I'm content with Excalibur, Marauders, and Hellions until those are inevitably canceled. And X-Statix, whenever that happens!

While I'm thinking about X-Statix and Peter Milligan, this week's Swamp Thing #5 is written by Ram V but feels so very much like a Peter Milligan issue of Shade that it can't possibly be coincidence. You could replace every panel of Swamp Thing with Shade, change the references to The Green with The Madness, and this is verbatim a Peter Milligan story.

I'm only acutely aware of the similarity because I re-read all of Shade a couple of months ago. The homage is probably lost on many. I am seeing a number of comments that Swamp Thing #5 "feels like classic Vertigo," so the zeitgeist at least is there.

If Ram V is drawing inspiration from some Peter Milligan Shade, maybe this means a return of Rac Shade to Justice League Dark?

Who's in the new X-Men?

[Dhi]

Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine (X-23), Rogue, Sunfire, Polaris, Synch, and I think Pickle Rick?

By far the most page time is dedicated to Cyclops and Jean Grey. I don't really get a sense of who Synch is. Writer Gerry Duggan is familiar to me from Marauders, and in that book Iceman and Pyro never did anything much. If he does the same here and highlights just three characters, it's probably going to be Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Polaris.

[Skynet]

Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine (X-23), Rogue, Sunfire, Polaris, Synch, and I think Pickle Rick?

By far the most page time is dedicated to Cyclops and Jean Grey. I don't really get a sense of who Synch is. Writer Gerry Duggan is familiar to me from Marauders, and in that book Iceman and Pyro never did anything much. If he does the same here and highlights just three characters, it's probably going to be Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Polaris.

Is this a Marvel nickname, or is there a Rick & Morty crossover that I'm unaware of?

[Dhi]

[Foxy DeVille]

You know, I know Superman gets a lot of crap for being vanilla or boring and invincible, but God damn do I love every time the Big Blue Boy Scout just totally lets go and destroys Darkseid. I generally loathe thanatotic characters like him, so watching him get his shit stomped is always a delight.

Superman when done right can be a very good character. Like in Action Comics #775, a story so classic it got made into a movie. Or one where Batman was helping Supes find a missing Lois Lane and the contrast between the two was empathized, Batman being coldly distant while working a case and relying on intimidation while Supes allowed himself emotions and was seen as a hero even by criminal riff raff.

[Kadigan]

Let's see, today I read, while I should have been working..

1602, quite fun. I've read it before but enjoyed it again. I plan on hitting the spin offs at some point.

Meet the Skrulls. Might be one I'd love to see on Disney + someday, it'd probably be a bit to wandavisiony though on how it would have to play out. Though if they spun it as more a take on CW esque shows then a parody of classics it might work. Or if they played it straight, though the skrulls still being "good" in the MCU would hinder that.

Also, in the vein of the Are Big Events Awful question, another one. Which character redesign/reboot/recast was handled the best/worst to you?

Personally, Jane Foster Thor opened up a ton of new possibilities and characters in the comics, new interactions, and the personal sacrifice she had to make every time she switched was great. Obviously Miles Morales knocked it out of the park. And honestly, I always dug the Dark Avengers. I know that's not exactly the same thing, but I felt that that Dark Reign plot could've lasted a few more years easily....but..hey there's movies coming out and the familiar faces need to be there.

[Dhi]

Going to a convention this weekend. I'm not sure what I'm doing. The guests are unfamiliar to me and I super don't like taking pictures of people. I've been to a few as a doll collector, supporting local artists and stuff. When it comes to comic books, what should I be looking for?

[Kadigan]

Going to a convention this weekend. I'm not sure what I'm doing. The guests are unfamiliar to me and I super don't like taking pictures of people. I've been to a few as a doll collector, supporting local artists and stuff. When it comes to comic books, what should I be looking for?

Comics, whatever jumps out at you to be honest. What I always liked going to cons for too was playing games that might be released or tried on kickstarter or such later, you might be able to pick it up before a lot of other people if you enjoy it (I liked it before anyone else did, mehhhh!)

[LunarSage]

So I saw this thread and while awaiting to be approved. Figured would present a question that had occurred to me. I will note don't read great deal of comics, but big comic media fan and massive fangirl for MCU. I watch some Linkara and Nerdsync. With that in mind, do you think DC and Marvel should lay off the Massive event comics for a time as they generally just seem to piss people off, not to mention they end popular series very often and fans of those are generally not happy. Now events within the series, people don't mind as much but large-scale events just as a whole seem to lead to more anger and frustration from what I see online and what I read.

Thoughts?

Did this ever get answered?  I didn't want it to seem like you were being ignored, but I don't really have a solid opinion about this right now.

[Dhi]

My answer was that I don't mind them, and I did directly benefit from DC's latest event. What's your opinion? It doesn't have to be solid. We're just talking about comics.

[Dhi]

Since Tom King seems to be appreciated here,



Announced today was a miniseries for Human Target, a Howard Chaykin-style man of mystery from the 70s.

Normally it would be a pass for me, but on the left, those hands unmistakably belong to the Justice League International. JLI was among my favorite DC titles way back when, and if they're going to be in it, it should be worth a read.

Peter Milligan did a Human Target story for Vertigo. That seems like a good place for me to start with the character. Maybe I'll find the trade this weekend!

[Foxy DeVille]

The Vertigo Human Target stuff was all really good. Milligan did a nice job at creating plots that could get mindbend-y considering the nature of the character but not in a way that sacrificed characterization or coming across as being smugly proud at his own cleverness. Ya know, the TV tie-in comic wasn't bad either. Anyhoot, the new book checks a lot of boxes for me... Tom King, the Human Target, Black Label, the JLI, and a Silver Age looking cover. And Smallwood was the artist on one of the more interesting Moon Knight series (does any character have his comics vary wildly in quality as poor ol' Marc Spector?) so that's a plus too.

[Skynet]

I realize that I'm coming to the party nearly a week late, but it seems like no fictional universe is safe from a Rick & Morty crossover these days.