Good for you. I hope it will continue to be to your enjoymet

 

I really enjoyed the House of M to Second Coming block, but after that it was a slow, slow decline under Bendis and those who followed him.

 

I'm optimistic; so far a lot of it reminds me of my favorite parts of The Manhattan Projects which, given the distinct lack of new issues of The Manhattan Projects, is a pleasant enough compromise. The broader X-books are also doing a good job of sprinkling in enough cast members that I feel encouraged to go check out solid old runs I never got around to. It's such a nice change of pace from where I was with comics back in The Day (TM).

 

I've been reading some of the collected trades (correct me if that's the wrong terminology, I've lost my comic vocab over the years) of John Byrne's Wonder Woman run and, so far: I like it. My local library has three collections and I just checked out books 2 & 3. The art style is different from Perez's run, but it's similar enough for me to consider it a natural 'sequel' to the events of Perez's run, though I know there was a run or two between his and Byrne's.

The art looks very pretty, but I don't care for the Mike Schorr character (a cop and a potential will they/won't they type) nor do I care for Cassie Sandsmark (the plucky teenage daughter type who is rebellious and stuff), though it is weird seeing her character with a short haircut when I grew up seeing her drawn with longer hair and with more of an stereotypical comic-book hourglass shape. The design she has feels more appropriate and is a refreshing break from the usual female comic character shape.

I've read some of the Azzarello stuff, too, but it's been so forever ago that I'm probably going to check out the trades they have at the library. Then, I'll probably go to the library downtown to read more of Rebirth Wonder Woman.

 

Add Rucka's first WW run to your list.

Simone's run is also one for the list.

 

Also George Pérez, he did a lot of the reinvention groundwork in the 1980s post-Crisis and it’s still pretty readable IMO.

 

Thanks for the recommendations!

It's criminal that my library has neither Rucka's first run nor Simone's. I may have to hit up Comixology.

I picked up the Pérez trades my library had, but I don't believe they had all of them there.
From what I read, I loved pretty much everything: the art, the lore, the supporting characters and Wonder Woman herself. I also enjoyed the fact that there was no Zeus-as-the-father storyline. Idk if Rebirth is still doing that, but from what little I've run of Rucka's second run he is still the father, though it wasn't as emphasized. I can settle for that.

 

Oh, that's a shame - the only thing I recommend is you have to also read Infinite Crisis, as Rucka's run leads into it and Simone's is some time after and that series made quite a few changes.

 

Zeus as Diana's father was entirely a product of Azzarello's tenure, as far as I'm aware (there are too many weird, half-documented Silver Age imaginary stories I've never read to feel totally confident). I don't know if he's solely responsible for that retcon, it seems like too pivotal a change for an editor not to have been playing a role, but it was outright not a thing prior to the New 52.

 

Oh, I knew that before I ever read Pérez as the great denizens of the Wonder Woman sub-forum on CBR used to bring it up every time they discussed Azzarello's run. Weirdly enough, while I am not the biggest fan of Zeus being the daddy, Azzarello's run was my first run. I enjoyed the writing and the art (when Chiang was drawing it), but when I learned about some of the other runs and Diana's earlier origins, I began to feel that the Zeus origin was a tad reductive to the themes of her character (I could expand on that more, but I don't want to type too much about WW on a general comics thread lol). Like I said, as long as it is not too pronounced, I don't mind it too much, but I prefer her being born of clay and getting her powers from the female gods and Hermes. Heck, I even prefer Marston's way of Amazon powers being derived from mental concentration.

 

Without giving the game away, don't be too bothered by anything Azzarello's run did.

 

Yeah, I was a big fan of that series, but there's zero mention about what happened to it. I don't feel it got the closure that it needed.

 

I suppose the biggest thing in this week's X of Swords was Sinister playing the mutants into thinking they were on a mission to intercept all the swords but he was on a gene gathering mission of his own then killed everyone before they could tell on him.
We're almost to the end, the teams are tied. Apocalypse vs his long lost love are next.

Juggy gets off in court, especially after the court is attacked by Quicksand.

Kind of like this Ghost Maker, but it is an obvious theme that he is what Batman would be if he just went ahead and killed his villains, that he does not go deep enough or some such so larger players get away.

 

Glad I don't have to wait this week.

X-Men 15
Excalibur 15, X of Swords Destruction which is part 22 of 22 and I had to get the cool in store Magik variant.
Shang Chi 3, which I put on pulls but was not pulled and I had to get it off the rack and it was the last one.
Legion of Superheroes 11
Hellblazer 12, for some reason this is an extra large issue.
Detective Comics 1031, "Batman and Robin no more!" I feel like I have seen that headline before.
Justice League Dark 28
Batman Superman 14
Action Comics 1027
Wonder Woman 767, Maxwell Lord dove right back to villainy when he had the chance.
Conan 16
Dardevil 24
Doctor Doom 9
Free DC Future State, the actual titles start in January and I did not know it was going to be such a large title selection. Do I really want to spend that much more money?
Marvel free Previews.

 

I got myself the Bloodquest THB - the original was black n' white but this verison is coloured, I was a bit afraid that the colour would not fit since the original b&w was really done with lots of shading and other things that used the b&w medium fully but the colourist have done a wonderful job.

 

DD pleads guilty in court in front of various friends and an enemy, off to prison he goes. Happily, Elektra bought all the properties he wanted to save.

JL Dark, this was a good Zatanna issue, against the Upside Down Man.

Conan, can't get anymore Conan than this issue; blasphemy, jailed, escape, killing guards, offered a kingdom which he turns down in bloody fashion, and fights his way out to freedom.

Constantine defeats his future self, but magic has a price, and he may be walking dead.

I never read the original Hush storyline. Well he's back.

Shang Chi, essentially what they are doing is a lil retcon to coincide more with the coming film. Fu-manchu will have just been an identity for example.

X of Swords, well, the Council is a tad weaker in terms of the nicer mutants, Saturnyne gets a Captain Britain Corps, Apocalypse walks off with his original family so the Q will be if they intend his eventual return to be villain or anti-hero again. It was a good story overall.

Doom 9, the primary reason to get this is reading of Doom's "humility" and the semantic argument he has with Reed Richards.

Future State is interesting enough that I will pick up most of them.

 

Good stuff all around. Set up for a generic action battle, and then went about a million different other crazy ways.

 

Today we have

Modok head games 1
Black Widow 4
Batman Catwoman Black Label 1
The Dreaming 5
Hellions 7, lol, Sinister crying over a headstone that says RIP Hellions...you know, the ones he killed.
X Factor 5
Daredevil 5, apparently while Matt sits in jail Iron Fist will fill in. I like.
Thor10
Batman 104
Marvel Free Previews.

I did not get Black King 1, I have no interest.

 

Oh, so that's the big twist of DD#25 huh?

 

Again? Wonder if he will reuse the voice modulator.

Yea, Sinister crying over all just fells out of character

 

You read the comic, right? No one bought Sinister's crocodile tears.

 

Hell, Sinister is being written as playing so many long games he might have convinced himself they're real tears as part of his double secret plot to use his fake tears he's convinced are real tears to then more effectively fake cry at some as yet unknown date.

 

Nop. And I meant that him ever crying, even if it was just one a sensational cover that has little to do with the story just feels wrong. If he actually attempted that in the comic for sympathy points have he really lost his touch as a manipulator

 

He was assuming that they couldn't bring back the ones that died in Otherworld, unaware that they had already been brought back and that the Council knew it. Emma was greatly amused to let Sinister go on about it.

He does get emotional over a death in the comic.

Spoiler

The AI of his super cool plane. I think it's very much on brand for Sinister.