I'm boring. Mostly mainstream (or at least popular) things for me, though I'm looking to change that when I have some more time.
Thus far my most obvious comic reading consists of Watchmen, pretty much anything Batman, a dash of Superman, scattered Spiderman stories throughout the years (this was "the comic" growing up), and, well, I think this incredibly short list might have already ended on me. Batman is a character in particular that I've come to love, for a smattering of both artistic and personal reasons, and I've read a large percentage of the essentials. I plan to pick a point about as far back into the Golden Age as contains cheese that I can tolerate and just read everything from that point onward. Probably sometime in the 70s, when they actually really tried to start writing good stories but weren't very good at it yet.
I've also read a couple of indy things you've probably never heard of (insert hipster scarf here but not really). I've read all three volumes of Shadow Man, which I found enjoyable but other than the Garth Ennis run in volume two (cut all too short), found to be summed up as a lot of missed potential more often than not. I've read the run of Global Frequency, which as far as pulp goes was very enjoyable, and at rare times clawed at the ceiling of dumb fun, trying madly to reach something truly good and meaningful. I've read the Snake Plissken comics, entirely out of my love for the character and films, and more out of dutiful obligation than enjoyment, really. The Snake Plissken Chronicles had their moments. Read Miller's "The Hard Goodbye" a few years back as well, and I really enjoyed it. Oh, and I read a bit of Kick-Ass, which was incredibly hot and cold for me. I feel like Mark Millar has nuggets of greatness in his writing but gets bogged down in gimmick and shock jock tactics too much. Never was persuaded to finish or keep up with it.
Currently working on the KnightsEnd arc of Batman. I must say, I was actually really beginning to enjoy Jean Paul Valley as Batman. I felt he brought unique conflict and characterization to the role while also filling the mantle very deftly, and feel a bit like the writers went cheap and pandering in writing him away as a hardassed villain rather than the intriguing, struggling character he'd been beforehand. I'm right around where Bruce starts training up to take him on, so that should be fun, anyway.
The best stuff I've read thus far would probably be Watchmen (it really is that good) and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which feels a bit like David Lynch and Frank Miller were in some kind of cosmic explosion and merged into the same person. Really brilliant exploration of Batman and one of the more tragic depictions of Harvey Dent. "Joker" by Brian I-can't-spell-his-name-and-won't-try was probably about on the level of Serious House, but for Batsy's arch-enemy rather than the pointy-eared one himself. I'm a big fan of The Long Halloween as well, and admire it for taking time to develop its plot twists, and also Harvey Dent as a human being before he became Two-Face, rather than just a setup for as much. And I do love my noir.
einsam
Colbitzer
@ 3:32 PM Apr 17th