Comic Book Talk (2 Viewers)

[GrandAdmiral]

You may have luck at Excalibur in Shreveport. I don't remember them ever not having issues of major books on hand for stuff like this. Not promising they will but they are a good store.

There's also digital if that's an option.

 

[Thunderchild]

There's also digital if that's an option.

Comixology. Great source for digital. And once digital it is always available. Never goes out of "print".

I've gone almost all digital (I just bought The Authority omnibus, so some paper). A good sized tablet is hard to beat as a comic reading media.

On the topic of the demise of comics, I'm honestly more worried about the smaller publishers than DC or Marvel. The little guys are putting out some great stuff these days and are willing to take chances that the Big 2 are not.

Dynamite, Dark Horse, Valiant, Image, IDW, and others all have some really good titles available. I'd hate to lose those guys, but they'll probably be the Canary in the coal mine. When we start seeing those guys fold, DC and Marvel may not be far behind

 

[bonnjer]

As much as I'm into technology, I just never can get into digital comics. I love having the actual book in my hand, opening it up, and sticking my nose close to the inner fold of the pages to take in the smell. I'm old school like that.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

As much as I'm into technology, I just never can get into digital comics. I love having the actual book in my hand, opening it up, and sticking my nose close to the inner fold of the pages to take in the smell. I'm old school like that.

I'm old school too, but I do digital as well, particularly for graphic novels. As @MightyMite said, it comes in very handy when you can have hundreds of titles to choose from on your 10.1 inch tablet.

Since the indies gave been mentioned, let me also state how much I love them. For the first time ever, I'm reading more stuff from Image, Boom, etc. than the Big 2. I don't think they're in as much trouble because they seem to know the market better. They don't have large runs and they have awesome stories to go along with them so the financial risk seem more minimal. More and more know how good they are these days. Case in point, every nominee for Best New Series at the 2019 Eisner Awards were Image books. That has never happened before.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

@Sun Wukong, thoughts on the claims Hickman plagiarized for House of X...

 

[Sun Wukong]

@Sun Wukong, thoughts on the claims Hickman plagiarized for House of X...

Pretty weak from what I can tell. When I first read the accusations I expected it to be some blatant thing, but it basically boils down to claims he lifted the idea of Moira living multiple lives from the book of novelist Claire North, who he's praised in the past. But...that's hardly a unique trope. It's been done time and again. For it to be "plagiarism" in any real sense, it would need to be a unique idea to her work to begin with and, well, it isn't. It's been around for decades. Whose to say she didn't rip the idea off from All You Need is Kill? Or Groundhog's Day? Ken Grimwood was using that plot device in Replay over three decades ago. Claire North didn't invent that plot device so she can't really lay claim to any kind of ownership of it. Hell, author Jonathan Lupoff tried to sue Columbia Pictures when Groundhog's Day came out because he felt it ripped off a story of his from the early 1970's, but was basically told by lawyers there wasn't a case and dropped it.

For that reason, plot devices are rarely actionable as plagiarism in legal cases unless the plot that contains them is beat for beat similar to something pre-existing. A general concept (reliving one's live over and over again) isn't unique enough to be "stolen" per se. For Hickman to have plagiarized North, it would have to be way more specific to her work than that (specific plot beats, characters, etc), and I don't see where it is. North's story is about two guys having a multi-lifetime rivalry and involves a secret society of people who reincarnate. There's nothing like that in Hickman's work, really. They're both using the same idea but it seems to begin and end there. And many others before them have used a similar idea. So...much ado about nothing in the end, I think.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

The comic book goodness just keeps on coming from BEC. BTW, I've always had a crush on Bennett...

 

[Cage1]

Is there a good comic that’s basically a sword and sorcery fantasy character thrown into today’s world? Like Conan or a knight or something kicking arse in the modern world? Not looking for something related to superheroes. Can have magic. Does that exist? If so, is there a really good one?

 

[Thunderchild]

Is there a good comic that’s basically a sword and sorcery fantasy character thrown into today’s world? Like Conan or a knight or something kicking arse in the modern world? Not looking for something related to superheroes. Can have magic. Does that exist? If so, is there a really good one?

There is a new one out from Dark Horse written by Jeff Lemire. He is a good writer and the art is decent. 4 issue miniseries. Just read the first one and it is promising.



"A merciless sword and sorcery warrior finds himself blasted through a wormhole to a modern-day metropolis where he must protect those around him from an evil wizard determined to send him to hell. From the Eisner Award-winning team of Jeff Lemire, Mike Deodato Jr., and Frank Martin comes this urban warrior fantasy series!"

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Is there a good comic that’s basically a sword and sorcery fantasy character thrown into today’s world? Like Conan or a knight or something kicking arse in the modern world? Not looking for something related to superheroes. Can have magic. Does that exist? If so, is there a really good one?

Actually, Marvel has taken over the rights to Conan again and there are several books in the universe that might interest you. As for Conan, he's, unfortunately, has been messing around with the Avengers...

 

[bonnjer]

There's also digital if that's an option.

Ok, so I decided to give digital another try. I got on Reddit and bought some digital codes. Ended up getting HoX and PoX #1 and 2, all four books, for $6. Beats the ridiculous prices I'm seeing for these back issues....by a longggg shot. I got them downloaded, but haven't had a chance to sit down to start reading. Maybe tonight.

 

[RazorOye]

I read a few comics over the years, but never really stuck to any one series except for Hama's GI Joe.

Then, when my daughter was ages 2-5 she was really into DC characters and I'd pick up some kid-friendly ones and read them to her or tell her the stories.

Well, she and my son (10 and 6) went into our LCS last week a couple of times because they wanted to get into comics themselves. We enjoy Spider Man in the house and she walked over to the Spider Man section and was overwhelmed. I explained to her that I felt the same - and though I'd been in comic book shops a fair bit over the years, I was at a loss as to what to explain to her about the different series available.

And then my son was intrigued by Teen Titans, because he watches Teen Titans Go! And he was asking about that.

I didn't know where to start. I searched "how to start reading comics" and that wasn't helpful either

it has been a daunting landscape, because I want to support their interest and what little I read is too advanced for them, but I'd like them to start on a series that they'd like (I know my son is pretty young for it, probably)

I've just never felt so overwhelmed walking into a comic store

 

[bonnjer]

I've just never felt so overwhelmed walking into a comic store

That's part of the problem with the comic industry these days. It's over-saturated. They've got too many series to keep up with. Plus, they end and restart them quite often.

It's easy for a new reader to get overwhelmed. Try to pick a main title to ease into and go from there.

 

[Torgo]

That's part of the problem with the comic industry these days. It's over-saturated. They've got too many series to keep up with. Plus, they end and restart them quite often.

It's easy for a new reader to get overwhelmed. Try to pick a main title to ease into and go from there.

I would also suggest starting with trade paperbacks.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Here's something to consider for your kids @Oye. Each of the Big 2 have lines specifically for kids. DC has DC Kids, which supposed to cater to the young to tween ages. Marvel has the Marvel Action line. It's specifically for the younger crowd and they actually license this line of books to another publisher (IDW) who has a good line of kid-focused books.