The Previously.TV Comic Book Book Club

[girlonthepark]

Since I just started it: I'll nominate Sex Criminals (five issues I believe).

 

I just finished reading Sex Criminals and am hoping to meet Chip Zdarksy at TCAF tomorrow! I will report back if/when I do!

[Crim]

I could read Lazarus or Sex Criminals. I've also picked up Zaya, which has very interesting art.

[Monty]

I've decided I need to know about John Constantine before the TV show Constantine starts. Because I suspect that the Keanu Reeves movie is not the ideal version of the character. So my point is that I'm going to pick up some Hellblazer.

[Wilowy]

Constantine also has a turn in Preludes and Nocturnes, the first trade in The Sandman series. :)

[Monty]

Oh, I think I have Sandman covered.

 

[Danny Franks]

I've decided I need to know about John Constantine before the TV show Constantine starts. Because I suspect that the Keanu Reeves movie is not the ideal version of the character. So my point is that I'm going to pick up some Hellblazer.

 

I actually like Constantine, as a movie. Is it much like the comics, and is Keanu Reeves much like the comic book character? Nope. But it's a decent movie, and I think Reeves does a good job of playing a doomed, fatalistic cynic who has seen too much of what lies beyond. Plus, Peter Stormare plays the creepiest version of Satan I've seen on screen. So unsettling and just... off.

 

But I think the TV series will be more like what fans were hoping for. Though, going off the trailer, they dropped the Scouse accent completely. Or the guy playing him doesn't know what one is. No complaints, because it's a horrible accent. And, given that it's on NBC, I doubt it lasts very long. It's sad that I rarely watch new shows, nowadays, because I'm just waiting to see the inevitable ratings tank and cancellation of anything that looks interesting to me.

[Wilowy]

Aww, @Danny Franks, remember what Zoe says: "I ain't so afraid of losing something that I ain't gonna try to have it."

 

I've always felt it's important to support genre stuff, no matter how long we actually have it. :)

[Danny Franks]

Aww, @Danny Franks, remember what Zoe says: "I ain't so afraid of losing something that I ain't gonna try to have it."

 

I've always felt it's important to support genre stuff, no matter how long we actually have it. :)

 

I know, but I just get too invested, and I'm tired of the old, 'wait with bated breath for the overnights to come out, and then negotiate myself off the edge by trying to tell myself that they'll go up next week.' They never do. They just slowly drop again. And again.

 

I had to to that with Chuck, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Stargate: Universe, Friday Night Lights, Community and others. And then I say to myself, 'well, I'll watch Believe/Crisis/Last Resort/Terra Nova etc when I get round to it.' By the time I get round to it, the show has been cancelled and there's no point.

 

Oh, and screw AMC forever for cancelling Rubicon, because that was amazing. Bah. It happens with comic books I like as well. I'm just cursed to not enjoy what the masses enjoy, I think.

 

Anyway, for this club, I'm going to recommend We3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. And I'll keep recommending it until it's selected. 'Tis only three issues long.

[Wilowy]

FNL got four seasons, that's pretty respectable. I loved that show so...

 

Though I can sympathize with loving whatever gets canceled, it happens to me too (LIFE, I'm looking at you!).

Oh, I think I have Sandman covered.

 

 

Marry me?

[David T. Cole]

Any more nominations before I put up the next poll?

[Omar G.]

I'm woefully behind on Runaways, but I did buy that Humble Bundle, so any of those sound great.  I've read Saga, but none of the others in that bundle except Walking Dead.

[jellysalmon]

This is a bit dated but Chris Ware who you might recognize from some of The New Yorker covers he has done put out a pretty neat little book called Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Unfortunately, it might be hard to find and/or expensive. It's a great story and I really enjoy the the way he organizes his panels to tell stories. 380 pages

 

I mentioned liking Stuart Immonen's art in the Favorite Artists topic but Warren Ellis' Nextwave was the first thing I saw of his. It's like Buffy writing meets Marvel (oh wait, that's been done already?) only way sillier. Also more censored cursing. And dragons wearing underpants. Also lots of this. 12 issues. Although one barely has any dialogue. 

 

Something that Nextwave mocks is Mark Millar's Ultimates series illustrated by Bryan Hitch, it is an alternate universe Avengers and was the first appearance of black Nick Fury. When Captain America meets him and tells him he's a general, Cap's response is this because he's ya know, from the 50s and doesn't know any black men with military power. It has some of our favorite avengers in slightly different roles. Ultimates 2 is also enjoyable but Ultimates 3 is possibly one of the most shoddily written comics I've ever read. 12 issues per volume

[Fukui San]

I've decided I need to know about John Constantine before the TV show Constantine starts. Because I suspect that the Keanu Reeves movie is not the ideal version of the character. So my point is that I'm going to pick up some Hellblazer.

 

Start with the Dangerous Habits trade. The movie borrowed liberally from it.  Proceed down the Garth Ennis run. Those are essential. 

 

Constantine debuted as a supporting character in Alan Moore's awesome Swamp Thing run. Well worth getting those.  Then a solo with a notable Jamie Delano run. Then Garth Ennis which is how I think of the character. Then a lot of other well-respected writers whose work on Constantine is honestly hit and miss.  Great names like Azzarrello and Mike Carey and some others.  I haven't been motivated enough to keep up with it consistently since the Ennis run.

 

I suppose I should say something about The Runaways. I liked it quite a bit at first.  The best part of the initial run was the third trade, and if we were able to discuss to that point we'd be able to discuss the plot in a more satisfying way. 

 

Honestly if you are given the assignment of creating a new team from scratch in the well-trodden Marvel Universe these days, I can't think of a better attempt. Every other new team that has come by recently with any staying power has had the benefit of a previous title to build off of.  Young Avengers, Thunderbolts, X-whatevers. Though it kind of looks humble and it wasn't the most ambitious-seeming title, it was an actually original take for it's time and created some valuable characters for Marvel.  How long until this becomes a blockbuster movie?   (Granted they'd have to reboot the comics series)

[Wilowy]

Ok, so what do we want to read next? New nominations! Let's each nominate two this time, and those that get the most noms will be on the poll, as usual. Mine:

 

Batwoman: Elegy

Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes

[halgia]

I'll re-nominate Sex Criminals since I want to read it.

[Monty]

I don't have a specific suggestion yet, but I think we should consider reading something besides the first collection of something. Let's jump to the good stuff and figure out what's going on when we get there.

[David T. Cole]

Revelations from the Bible it is!

[Wilowy]

ACK!

[ShadowDenizen]

I'm not sure how Hellblazer/Constantine will translate to the small screen.

 

While I love the comic series as a whole (though I'm actually NOT a huge fan of the Jamie Delano era), and Constantine is an interesting character, is it too "niche" for TV?

 

Although they have somewhat de-clawed him, since the move from Vertigo to the "DCU Proper", Constantine is pretty racy and profane in almost every story-arc; they don't shy away from nudity, violence, or profanity.   I'm not sure how much bleakness/negativity/moral ambiguity: the average TV viewer can handle. (And yes, I know Walking Dead and Game of THrones [and even Breaking Bad] are/were huge hits.)

 

Or it could be that I'm starting to suffer from "Superhero Overload" on the big and small screens.

 

***

As an aside, why has Marvel not mined the "Thunderbolts" property?

 

I think it's better suited to the small screen than the big screen, but the premise alone (Supervillians posing as Superheroes, most of whom eventually succumb to the lure of "Turning Good") is spectacular if pulled off well.

 

(And I"m referencing Thunderbolts Classic, not the "All New Thunderbolts" which bears no resemblacne to previous incarnations.

Edited June 13, 2014 by ShadowDenizen

[Chip]

I'd be up for reading a Hellblazer story arc for book club. I read it for years since it first spun off from Swamp Thing, but dropped it a while back for financial reasons. Any suggestions for a good era for new readers?

[ShadowDenizen]

I think Garth Ennis had the seminal run, and "Dangerous Habits" is arguabaly the most inportant arc in the Hellblazer mythos.

With the new reprint books [which are really nice looking, and reasonably inexpensice at $20 a pop for 10+ issues per volume!], Ennis' run starts midway through Volume 5.

 

As an aside, I'd HIGHLY recoomend "Hitman" as well. It's Garht Ennis trying to stay PG-13 for mainstream DC, and it's awesome for MANY different reasons.