Still reading Watchmen

I have now reached the 8th chapter and am now really caught in the story. The first 2 or 3 issues were a bit “slow” to me… But after setting up the story and introducing the main characters it really became interesting to read. Add to this a good share of violence with a zest of sex and I was hooked up.

As I read through the different issues, I realized the story was set up in a parallel reality in which U.S. actually won the war in Viet-Nam and took the advantage over Russia. The only thing is they lose their edge and the Russians cease the opportunity and start invading Afghanistan which makes a lot of people go even crazier than they might have been to begin with. The story also lets us know more about some of its principal characters along the line. You get to understand their nature a bit more and see clearer in the way they behave which is always nice.

At first, I really didn’t see why this book was considered as one the bests, if not THE best comic book ever… But after going through those 8 chapters, I really got into the story, really got myself involved in the characters messed up lives, wanting to read on and on as I’m eager to know the end of it. Those 2 guys managed to pull out a trick that really worked on me… It’s not only the story itself but also the way it’s being built in the book, the storytelling part… You really have to read it as it’s difficult to explain with words… It’s a bit like trying to explain to somebody why Pulp Fiction is great. There’s just “something”… And talking about movies, Watchmen is also supposed to come out on the big screen, but honestly, now that I’m reading the book, I wonder how they’re going to reproduce that atmosphere and that gut feeling you get page after page.

Mycomicshop.com weekly promotions

This week's promotion over at Mycomicshop.com are:

5% off pre-1981 issues

10% off modern-era issues in the following groups:
Avengers Titles
Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery Titles
Marvel M to Z Titles
Viz Titles

How can you get access to the discounted prices? Easy, just click on one of the above links and enter my preferred customer password for this week: CALTROP

Disclosure:
As I am part of their affiliate program, clicking on one of the above links will help me out raising some credits for my future purchases... Mycomicshop.com will credit 15% of your first order (yes, your first order only, not the following ones) on my account. As a way to thank you, I offer the weekly password so you can enjoy a 10% rebate... So we both win something in the end! Thanks for you support!

Ghost Rider

For some reason I've been liking Ghost Rider's comics since my young age... I don’t know why I just seem to be attracted by the less popular characters whereas most people would be X-Men, Spider-Man or Superman addicts… So yeah, I liked Johnny Blaze and his curse and the whole story around it, that is, until someone decided to make a movie out of it. I was OK with Nicolas Cage until I watched that movie… Damn it, that was a waste of time and money. And the worst part is it deteriorated my views on that character and lost my interest in the comic book as well, like a lot of other people I guess.
Anyway, it seems I was wrong and the Ghost Rider franchise is still alive and well. I have read a nice review of issue#28 by Nooch and another of issue#29 over at CBR that confirmed this fact. Jason Aaron and Tan Eng Huat are currently working on those and it seems to be worth picking up, so I encourage you to include this title back in your “Let’s give it a try” pile.

And the winner is… Watchmen!!

Wrath of the Lick King has arrived and everybody’s playing it now, busy leveling up their toons as well as their professions. I wasn’t lucky enough to get my copy the day it went live and am still waiting to receive it. Noone’s willing to do any heroics, let alone 10-man raids like Karazhan or Zul’Aman so I spend my time exploring Kalimdor at the moment. Discovering parts of the map and farming ores for the auction house at the same time is only fun for a bit, that’s why I had to decide quickly on which book I was going to read after flipping the last page of Dark Victory.
Yesterday, I finally picked Watchmen as I heard many good things about it. It’s considered to be “the bible of comic books” (replace bible by what suits your religion best) and I usually enjoy Alan Moore’s work so that works for me.

At first, I was a bit “shocked” by the art that seemed a bit too “old fashion” even comparing to those Batman titles I was reading that came out more or less at the same time (mid to end 1980’s). But I got used to it and it didn’t matter anymore after a few pages.
Their style is quite fun to read… Or maybe I should say “not read”. You can get several panes without any dialog at all, just a guy walking around a crime scene, inspecting for any proof that could have been left behind. I also liked the way it started and ended: from extreme close-up to far-out. I am not sure it will be the case for all the chapters as I’ve only read the first one so far but I guess it is going to be.

The story takes place in New York City and it seems most of the super heroes have been “retired” by the government. Some accepted and began living a normal life, some did not and went rogue. That’s what the main character of this story, Rorschach, did… And although he seems to have quite an attitude, he’s kind enough to visit his old masked mates, who quit being super heroes, to warn them of potential danger coming their way.

That summarizes the first part of the story. Nothing revolutionary but Rorschach seems to be enough of an asshole for me to want to read further. I’ll keep posting as I read on.

Mycomicshop.com weekly promotions

This week's promotion over at Mycomicshop.com are:

5% off pre-1981 issues

10% off modern-era issues in the following groups:
Archie Titles
Avengers Titles
DC A to L Titles
Image Titles

How can you get access to the discounted prices? Easy, just click on one of the above links and enter my preferred customer password for this week: TOPPER

Disclosure:
As I am part of their affiliate program, clicking on one of the above links will help me out raising some credits for my future purchases... Mycomicshop.com will credit 15% of your first order (yes, your first order only, not the following ones) on my account. As a way to thank you, I offer the weekly password so you can enjoy a 10% rebate... So we both win something in the end! Thanks for you support!

Tough choice ahead

So I’ve finally found the time to finish reading Dark Victory. All in all it’s a great read and it ends the trilogy nicely. If I had to rate those 3 books in order of preference, it would be The Long Halloween first, followed by Dark Victory and Haunted Knight. I think I preferred The Long Halloween over the others because I somehow found the intrigue was better. I’ve changed my mind several times trying to guess who “Holiday” was, and Loeb and Sale got me several times… You get a new piece of info, you think you finally know, then it changes once more, setting your mind on something else, then reverses again to end up somewhere completely away from the first idea… I don’t know if you’re following my idea, read the book and you’ll figure out what I mean.

So what’s next? I’m not so sure myself… I have several books piled up on my desk right now, waiting for a charitable soul to pick one of them… There’s still several Batman books among them as well as others such as Watchmen, V for Vendetta and the complete Y The Last Man saga. Tough choice to make as they’re all very promising books… I’ll decide which one wins very soon and post about my impressions as soon as I start reading it.

Long time no hear (or read)

Hi all (not that anyone is actually reading this blog), I haven’t been around for some time… Well, life caught up with me, I got really busy at work and I basically spent all my spare time trying the new WoW patch 3.0 like everybody else.

Of course I still managed to get some reading done. I was in a Batman mood so I went through Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween and am about 70% through Dark Victory… And I have to say I really love those books. The first time I read Haunted Knight, I still had the chills from Batman: Year One and I have to admit I felt kinda disappointed by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s work at first. Not that it was bad or anything, it was just not up to par. But that was a mistake; it’s actually a great book that sets the tone for the next two. I love the art and storytelling and how the mix of both can make you feel the characters’ emotions, even when you cannot see their faces as lots of time, they’re just filled with black ink… I’ve recommended those books and the past and still recommend them now.

I’ve also mentioned one author I liked very much: Brian Wood. This week I finally read the first issue of DMZ and it is awesome. The art is great (he’s using colors as opposed to Channel Zero), it’s really detailed and dynamic too… Plus the story is really catchy. I was planning on waiting for all the trade paperbacks to be released before purchasing them but I got caught up and feel I want to read more right now… Maybe I’ll order the first 5 in my next purchase. I think the next one is coming up some time in February 2009.If you haven’t checked his work yet, head to his website’s download section and get some of the files available. They’re in PDF format so you may want to get a PDF reader first.There’s also a nice Channel Zero review written by Nooch over at J!NX.com you may want to check out.

Mycomicshop.com weekly promotions

This week's promotion over at Mycomicshop.com are:

5% off pre-1981 issues

10% off modern-era issues in the following groups:
DC Comincs M to Z Titles
Eclipse Titles
Marvel 1990 to 1999 Titles
Science Fiction Titles

How can you get access to the discounted prices? Easy, just click on one of the above links and enter my preferred customer password for this week: ILLUMINATI

Disclosure:
As I am part of their affiliate program, clicking on one of the above links will help me out raising some credits for my future purchases... Mycomicshop.com will credit 15% of your first order (yes, your first order only, not the following ones) on my account. As a way to thank you, I offer the weekly password so you can enjoy a 10% rebate... So we both win something in the end! Thanks for you support!