Comic Book Coffee Break #44

Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. Today I'm drinking Folgers' Coffeehouse Blend with Irish Creme syrup and a little creamer.  The best part of waking up...

Anyway, let's talk comic books. 

Archie Comics

Curveball! My hold on Archie V.3: Archie and Katy Keene came in at the library so I popped it to the top of the stack.  The series has been a little on the decline since the glory days of the Mark Waid relaunch, but I enjoyed the last volume (Archie & Sabrina) quite a bit. With this volume they pulled the old bait and switch. I might have been more open to this had it just been marketed as what it is, a Katy Keene mini series. Releasing it as Archie v.3 sets up different expectations that were not well met. (Though realistically I wouldn't have picked up a Katy Keene mini series so I guess touché.) Anyway, boring. I wanted more of Archie & Sabrina.

DC Comics

I made good on my Superman promises.  First, I finished Superman in the Seventies by Elliot S! Maggin, et al. What a nostalgic romp this was. Brought me back to the glory days of my childhood comic shop, a teal, windowless building filled with quarter bins. These were the kinds of issues I would dig for. Just beyond the extreme goofiness of the 60s Superman and before the Byrne "this is effing serious" relaunch in the 80s.  We got some Jack Kirby, the infamous Lois Lane vs. race issue and just a ton of goofy fun.  I'd read Superman in the Fifties forever ago and now I might just have to read all of the decade collections.  Good times.

On to New 52, where I was on Superman: Doomed.  I liked it the first time and I liked it now. A lot goes down in this book. Superman is bit by the Doomsday bug, there's a Braniac angle, Superman/Wonder Woman romance, Red Lantern Supergirl, and on and on.  It's impressive that this collection never loses the thread. It also does something that the DCEU never does.  It makes a case for Superman's goodness and sets him up to be this necessary figure in the world, something the characters seem to realize while stuff is going down.  I really liked it. This is where the New 52 Superman really starts to hit the mark. I'm looking forward to what's next.

Marvel

Quirky X-Men title?  Check. This week it was X-Men Ronin by J. Torres and Makoto Nakatsuka. This was a real win for me. I love when they set out to do a take on characters and actually succeed.  This wasn't a case where they changed the costume designs and called it good.  Conversely it wasn't just X-Men in name only. This was an honest to goodness reimaging of the characters in a very successful way. The redesigns are good and there's a ton of good character work, particularly with Jean (!) and Storm. Yes, the art gets a little fan servicey at times, but the overall story and tone are what really sell it here. I loved it.

Next time on Comic Book Coffee Break: 

Well, I do want to finish Secret Avengers as I'd planned, plus a little Black Panther to round out the Marvel side. I'll continue New 52 Superman and try to pick up where I left off in the Rebirth era. I think I'm on Nightwing which would be great!  See you then.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #42

Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break.  Today, I'm drinking an XL tea from Tim Horton's (4 sugars).

Let's talk comic books.

DC Comics

Starting in DC Comics this week, I got back on track with my reading of the post-Rebirth world.  I was on Teen Titans V.3: The Return of Kid Flash by Benjamin Percy and Khoi Pham. For the most part this is a pretty solid Teen Titans story. I like Robin having his weird hairy monster bat. It's a nice bit a continuity with that short-lived Robin series from awhile back. I guess the problem here is Kid Flash. And it's not his fault. Ever since Rebirth kicked off we've been dragging along this storyline with a new Kid Flash bumping up against the OG Kid Flash from the Pre-Rebirth days and it's just tired. If that's truly over and done with then I'm looking forward to the next volume.  I wasn't really down for a Damian fronted Teen Titans, but this book has surprised me. 

In my New 52 Superman reread I came to Action Comics v.5: What Lies Beneath by Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder.  This was the first title in my reread where I changed my star rating. It actually went up.  I think by this point in my initial read I was just so over weird, edgy Superman stories that I had no patience left. This time, however, I was kinda in. It's primarily a Superman/Lana story.  Superman finds a little monster changeling who's probably a prince who lives in an underground city and Lana is a Lara Croft type... I should stop. I'm talking myself out of that star upgrade. The point is. It was kooky, but this time I found it fun.

Marvel

Over in Marvel, I continued my streak of X-Men side quests by reading Robert Kirkman's 5 issue Jubilee series. This came out in 2004 and I remember buying this in single issues for my girlfriend.  (We got married shortly after, so I'd say it worked!) She was (and is) the bigger X-Men fan out of the two of us. I absolutely love Kirkman's Invincible series, and didn't realize it was him until I started reading. Overall, I would mark this as okay.  I like the idea of spinning off Jubilee, but this rarely feels like her throughout the run. Little action, hardly any use of her powers. It's so far removed from the X world, that when Wolverine ultimately (and inevitably) shows up, it's actually a little jarring. If there were more I probably would have read it, but this ends nearly before it starts.  Extra points for the BTTF Easter Egg with "Twin Pines Mall" and the nod to Jack Kirby with the Kirby Puffs cereal.

Archie Comics

A few weeks back I did an interview with Jamie Lee Rotante over on Howe's Things.  We talked mostly about her Betty & Veronica books, but also briefly discussed Archie Comic's super hero line. I've read The Shield from The Golden Age and found it to be pretty on par with its Marvel counterparts. For this week a read a more modern take. New Crusaders: Rise of the Heroes sees the Shield as the last remaining member of the old guard, prepping the way for a new batch of heroes.  While I did enjoy the book, I felt like it spent a little too much time on setup.  Because of that, the action felt forced and rushed.  I also was a little surprised by the violence mixed with Archie-style illustrations (though really Invincible) should have prepared me for that.  Even with the short comings, it did make me interested in the world.  I would read more.

For next week, I'm planning to get back to my Marvel readthrough, picking up Uncanny Avengers.  At this point, I figure I might as well lean in to weird X-Men so I'm going to pick up where I left off with Exiles. For DC, I'll be on to the next New 52 Superman and maybe even some Nightwing. See you then.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #38

 For 37 weeks I co-hosted Comic Book Coffee Break with Eric Mikols for the Radio Meanwhile Network.

You can find the early video episodes here and the 37th and final episode here.  While that version of the show came to a restful end, I'm still reading comic books.  So welcome to Comic Book Coffee Break: The Text Adventure. 

Let's talk comic books. 

First off, my coffee today was Blue Mountain Blend Medium roast. I had it with some creamer and a little Torani Irish Cream syrup. It was a good start.

First, Archie Comics.  

Over on my podcast, Howe's Things, I recently did an interview with Jamie Lee Rotante about her Betty & Veronica books, my favorite of which was Betty & Veronica: Senior Year. It works because it updates the characters while staying true to the classic roots. Talking Archie got me in the mood to revisit some of my old favorites so got a month of Archie Unlimited.

I started with Little Archie v.1 by Bob Bolling. This was not the Little Archie I was expecting. Typically when these stories pop up in a digest they tend to stick to the Archie pattern only from a different angle since the gang is younger.  This collection was more about outlandish Archie adventures with pirates, aliens and Mad Doctor Doom. While it was interesting to see them take Archie in a completely different direction, it rarely felt like I was reading the Archie Andrews I know. This could have been any little red-head and for that it didn't really work for me.  There is a volume 2 and I will likely read it because I'm a completist, but this was not my jam.

Marvel Comics

Over in the World of Marvel, I read volumes 2 & 3 of New Mutants Classics as research for my guest-hosting gig on the New Mutants episode of Previously on X-Men.  I had read the first volume years ago and tapped out because I just found it dull. It felt liked the Saved by the Bell: The New Class of the X-Men franchise and I was not all about it. I was glad that I continued on because things heat up when Chris Claremont teams up with artist Bill Sienkiewicz.  The art takes on a scratchy, abstract vibe and the story gets weird. This section includes the Demon Bear Saga which is a major basis for the 20th Century movie. While it didn't make me a New Mutants convert, I did appreciate it taking on it's own identity. It's worth reading once.

Elsewhere in Marvel, I read the final volume of Red-She Hulk, Route 616.  This collection concludes the Red Hulk run that began with the Ed McGuiness/Jeph Loeb stories.  For whatever reason I got really in to these back in 2012 and finishing this story was my reason for signing up with Marvel Unlimited. While I don't think these last two volumes where Betty takes over as protagonist really work, this run will always have a special place in my heart. It was colorful and big, and at times downright nonsensical, but that's how I like my Hulk. 

DC Comics

On the DC horizon I finished the mostly uncollected Firestorm series featuring Jason Rusch as the lead. While this story started with a pretty interesting hook, it devolved into a mess of crossovers and an overcrowded narrative. I feel the character deserves better, though he'll likely never see it.  I still don't get why they created an original character to take the Firestorm mantle for Legends of Tomorrow. Jason was right here waiting!

I've also been reading a lot of Rebirth Flash lately, so I picked up the out-of-continuity collection Flash: United They Fall by Gail Simone and Clayton Henry.  While the art feels modern and jazzy, the stories felt mostly like a waste of time.  They were fine, but nothing I would pull out and recommend to someone. Oh well.

Speaking of things that were fine, I read Batman V.6 Bride or Burglar by Tom King. This was the ultimate in wheel spinning.  Sometimes that's okay, but I just found these dull. Just get on with the wedding (that will definitely happen for sure) already.

Everything Else

Finally, I read an interesting little graphic novel called Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11's Third Man by Alex Irvine and Ben Bishop.  I'm in research mode because I'm set to interview Alex Irvine for Howe's Things in a couple of weeks. This was a cool story about Michael Collins, the astronaut who gets the least amount of credit for Apollo 11. It was fascinating because I know nothing about this man and have never heard his name before this. The book is well done and informative. It made me want to pick up Collins' biography. I'm looking forward to the interview with Alex.

That's it for this week.  Next, I'm planning to reread the Truth arc from New 52 Superman and probably dig further into Alex Irvine's back catalogue.  See you then.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.