What are you reading in December 2013?

I was very impressed by Exit Wounds, the graphic novel by Israeli artist Rutu Modan. I was afraid it would center around terrorism, but it turned out to be a complex story of romantic & family relationships.

I was prepared for violence in anything scripted by Garth Ennis, but I still enjoyed Fury MAX: My War Gone By, Vol. 1, his adventures of Nick Fury during two fascinating historical moments: the French losing their grip on Vietnam in the late 1950's, and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

Mr. Spic Goes to Washington, written by Latino cultural critic Ilan Stavans, follows a populist (radical, really) Latino politician from his East L.A. gang member roots to the US Senate, where he ends up filibustering a la Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". The artwork is somewhat simplistic (reminding me a bit of Ben Katchor), but fit the writing well.

I've followed Love & Rockets in single issues for 25 years, but it's fun to read the collections. The Education of Hopey Glass covers two long storylines: one of Hopey moving from serial shit jobs toward a career in education, and the other of Ray's pursuit of Vivian ("The Frogmouth"), though his heart is still with Maggie. Jaime Hernandez is the best!

Finally, I read Girls and Boys, the first collection of alt-weekly strips from Lynda Barry. She hasn't quite found her genius voice of creative, tortured childhood yet (many of these strips are about dysfunctional romances), and the drawing is raw, but still quite funny.

Wow, you've been busy - and only two days into the month!

Reading DMZ

2> Okay, I admit it, I read some of those in late November :-)

Lots of intriguing reads. I liked DMZ. Brian Wood gets into a lot of different types of stories, doesn't he?

Hawkeye Vol. 1 was surprisingly good. Snappy noir dialogue. I'm ignorant on a lot of the backstory, but I still enjoyed it. I'm trying the new Dresden Files graphic novel next, called Ghoul Goblin.

DMZ is a favorite of mine. Though my library doesn't have 11 & 12 so I haven't seen how it ends :(

I finished reading Aquaman vol.1: The Trench and it is great to see Geoff Johns back in form doing what he does better: streamlining old characters! Ivan Reis has its best artwork in here. Highly recommendable, but my little complain is that Johns uses a lot of blood to give the book "some atitude".

5 & 7> I enjoyed DMZ. He does get into lots of stories, and I think given the context of our times (mid-2000s-present) it has a lot to say. I think there were a few single issues and one of the middle arcs that were not as good as the others, but the direction of the story as a whole kept me guessing. It's definitely one of those series I wish had a longer run. Great, memorable characters.

>8 brianjungwi: Agreed, there were some various bits that weren't as good, but overall it's a great series and very relevant to the times.

Speaking of Brian Wood, I've been greatly enjoying his monthly The Massive. Though the story occasionally threatens to go off the rails, it will be interesting to see where the whole thing ends up.

I've finished reading Morrison's Happy! by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson. It tells a story of a killer-for-hire following what can be a allucination which can lead him to his last good act. It is Who framed Roger Rabbit? turned upside-down.

The best part is seeing Morrison using a wider pallet of genres than the ones he uses to work with. He does hard boiled action in a very competent way. Darick Robertson's artwork is his best work and the coloring is very fitting to the art.

Locke & Key: Alpha part 1. The ride is coming to an end in style. Very dramatic issue. A good easter egg are the pictures of the TV show pitch, which did not came to be, unfortunately.

I'm liking Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Marjorie M. Liu. I wasn't familiar with this character, and this is a good story.

Still reading Walking Dead Compendium 2 (Great!), Redwall, Bankrupting Physics, etc. Just went to the library and read Runaways vol 1 (fun), World War Hulk (fun), iZombie vol 1 (fun), Saga vol 1 (funny/cool) & Batman & Robin vol 1: Batman Reborn (just ok). Still in the middle of reading Batman: The Widening Gyre & Spider-man: The Original Clone Saga.

I read BPRD vol 11, BPRD vol 12, and BPRD vol 13 a couple days ago. I have Unwritten 1-2 out also, though I'd already read 1-3 but it was like 2yrs ago and the library only just now got up through 7 or 8? and I don't even remember what was going on it's been so long, so I have to start over, ugh. And I've got Charley's War vol 1 out also, since they looked potentially interesting. These 3 should be read before the month is up also.

Reading Spider-man: Maximum Carnage, Hulk: The End & American Vampire vol 1. Read Runaways vol 2 (fun). Batman: The Widening Gyre & Spider-man: The Original Clone Saga were just ok.

16>
I've liked Hulk: the end.
I'm very curious about your opnion regarding the Carnage book. Oh, the 90's.

17>
I, too enjoyed Hulk: The End. Especially the Maestro story...always wanted to read that one. Surprisingly I'm enjoying the Maximum Carnage book. 90's cheese aside, I just love seeing all of the character interactions! Carny, Demo & Dopy have always been favorite designs of mine.

American Vampire vol 1 is pretty awesome too.

I'm enjoying the second Matt Fraction Hawkeye. I never followed this character, but they've made him interesting.

19>
Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things about the new Hawkeye series from many sources. I'm going to try to pick it up from the library today.

>20 Death_By_Papercut: It was the same for me, DPB. I kept hearing good things about it, and finally gave it a try. Pleasant surprise.

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

>22 apokoliptian:
Same to you, my friend!

Just read Saga vol 2. Still quite entertaining.

Having read the first two volumes a while ago I finally got to read the entire series of RASL - a science fiction work by Jeff Smith of Bone fame. It's grittier and less all ages than Bone. Overall I enjoyed it.

Read "Wolvering by Greg Rucka Ultimate Collection." The first story arc is one of my favorite Wolverine stories of all time but the other two are just ok.

I'm digging First Kingdom Vol 1: The Birth of Tundran. This is the initial collection of a 24-issue science fantasy series that was published over 12 years beginning in the mid-1970's. It amazed me when I read it in single issues back then, and is still mind-blowing. Densely plotted, written, & drawn in black & white, each page is a master class in figure drawing, filled with graceful, mythic, dynamic nudes, with little winged lizards & fairies filling up the corners. I don't blame him for signing his name on each page. There is really nothing like it that I've seen, but it maybe has influences from Hal Foster's artistry, Shakespeare's tragic plotting, and Jack Kirby's cosmic weirdness. Katz comes off in his introduction as a visionary crank, and that's okay by me.

I'm part way through 4 printed collections of the web comic Templar, Arizona. It follows some quirky, likable characters through a weird small city rife with odd cults and diverse architecture. Nice clean drawing and occasionally chilling monologues.

I'm reading a printed collection of another web comic, Clumsy Love. This is a humorous, newspaper-style family strip (though occasionally too scatological for an actual newspaper), often playing the autobiographical cartoonist's man-boy tendencies (he loves comics & toys) against his practical, no-nonsense wife.

(These last two remind me that I strongly prefer to read comics on paper. I like the occasional New Yorker gag or Doonesbury strip, but I just don't enjoy long-form reading on a monitor. I only discovered those two artists because they were tabling at comic conventions. I guess I'll get a tablet eventually...)

I liked most of Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 6, but wasn't so thrilled with the 2 issues of Hulk cross-over included here (mostly fight scenes, and in a different art style). I was tickled by the attorney-client relationship of Matt to Bruce Banner, to the annoyance of the S.H.E.I.L.D. director.

Finally, I enjoyed the first collection of Powers: Bureau (Vol. 1: Undercover). It's no different from the regular Powers series, a snarky and violent superhero police procedural with cosmic overtones. I just love the main characters, Pilgrim & Walker.

Hawkeye vol 1 = Good
The Goon: My Murderous Childhood = Good/funny

I've finished the All Star Superman and it is so good and has so many levels that deserves annual readings. Grant Morrison managed to give relevance to the Silver Age, creating an iconinc Superman that can last forever and spicing it with his ideas and experiments:
- Reducing the most known Secret Origin of all to a Haiku;
- Working the compressed narrative to create the Silver Age experinece of monthly one shots;
- Giving another chance to Jimmy Olsen to be a good and fun character (the first chance was given by Kirby).

It is interesting to state that he worked the Silver Age thing in Superman in a slicker and streamlined way than he has done in Batman.
Another Morrison's characteristic is creating a parallel universe of his own, which came full-circle with All Star Superman by connecting themes used in JLA: One Million and Seven Soldiers of Victory.
Regarding Frank Quitely's art, what can I say? Pure genious.

28>
Just finished Maximum Carnage. Call me a corn ball...but I loved it. ^.^

29>
No judgements. I'll try it and tell you later. :)

Being a big fan of the games, I just read Gears of War vol 1. It's about what I expected; good, not great. High on action, low on plot.