PixlBit

Anyone else been checking out Spider-Man after Superior ended? They've been really good so far.

Got Original Sin #3 and Halo Escalation #6 today and read them at lunch. Original Sin had another page of Dr. Strange and The Punisher exchanging wise cracks at each other's expense. It seems a lot of the super heroes don't get along with each other. The Halo comic was all about a confrontation with an anti UNSC leader and a reveal about the location of the Spirit of Fire, the ship featured in the Halo 4 game, which was lost soon after the events of Halo 4.

And I still haven't read King Conan: The Conqueror #4 because I can't read it in public. Look at the cover and you know why.

Ah Tomas Giorello, you know how to draw the ladies.

Back to real photos from me. Used to love doing it at 1UP.

This week it's Wasteland #55. We're almost at the end of this run and finding out what happened to Earth and where Adam came from.

Roger Corben's one-shot of two Edgar Allen Poe short stories. I was unfamiliar with Morella but I've read Murders in the Rue Morgue (great Iron Maiden song btw) and he did a great job translating it to a comic.

And Star Wars #18 written by Brian Wood. This ongoing series is amazing and takes place between the films A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Both art and writting is fantastic. It manages to tell a story that isn't ridgidly repeating evey last catch phrase and character quirk from the movies. It seems fresh yet very familiar. I hope the upcomming movie is as good.

Got All New Ultimates #3. Series is alright now. Has huge potential, right now I'm mainly reading because it teams up a bunch of Ultimate Spider-Man characters I love anis wish got more focus or their own comic.

@Epic Greenman: I'm curious about the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. I hear they're good, and I loved what little I played of the game way back on original Xbox.

I actually prefer USM to 616. Like it's version of Peter a lot, he still a nerd and down on his luck guy, but you really see being spidey get to him as well as nailing Spidey fighting superheroes. Any issue involving the Kingpin is gold, series single handedly made him my favorite Spidey villain.

Harley Quinn #7 was surprisingly good this issue and long too. Got my money's worth there. It reveals why so many bounty hunters are after her. Good action and dialog between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. I was beginning to worry this series was getting too silly. 

Original Sin #4 was really good this week too. Lots more Doctor Strange in this one and a big reveal. Plus I picked up my third free Watcher Eye rubber novelty. I can now juggle them.

Went to a signing to the New The Wicked and the Devine yesterday. I got 2 copies signed

Got the new Amazing Spider-Man and All New Ultimates. Spidey was good, but a little too much buildup and not enough focus on what's going on at hand. Ultimates was great. Very little action, but the stuff they wrote for Spider-Woman especially was great.

Picked up a bunch this week. Halo Escalation #7, King Conan: The Conqueror #5, Mass Effect Foundation #12, The Massive #24, and FUSE #5. I read FUSE and Mass Effect over lunch. Both were excellent. I'm still looking for issue 1 of Star Trek City on the Edge of Forever, the Harlan Ellison rewrite. It was sold out last week and my comic shop hasn't gotten any more in yet. They will though, and I'll get it. 

Original Sin #5, Atomic Robo: The Knights of the Golden Circle #2, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Galaxy's Most Wanted One-Shot. I read them all over lunch.

Guardians of the Galaxy one-shot was disappointing because it was only half the issue, with the other half being a Thor story. It was fun though as Rocket Raccoon has to fight off a bounty on his head with Groot. I saw another trailer for the film last weekend. I'm so pumped for the movie. I hope there'll be a movie tie-in comic and not just a one-shot.

Original Sin's plot thickens as we get closer to knowing who killed the Watcher. No spoilers, but it's interesting. No Dr. Strange pages this issue. I cried a little cry. 

Atomic Robo Golden Circle was a surprise in that Comixology didn't list it this week, but there it was on the shelf of new releases at my comic store. Atomic Robo is in the past, during the Old West in Kansas, and doing Old West style gun battles and such. A new villain appears and weird things are being done to humans. I don't know who it is, but we'll find out next issue I'm sure. 

No sign of the Harlan Ellison comic version of Star Trek's City on the Edge of Forever yet. The first issue sold out the first week, and a week later, still no sign of it. I hope they get it in next week before issue 2. I don't want to miss anything. I may have to wait for the trade if it doesn't come in. 

Downloaded the new Ultimate Spiderman. Nothing but setup, gotta wait until next month for the good stuff I guess.

i keep on looking at single issues of new comics and graphic novels of old ones online, but I still haven't taken the plunge yet.  Reading on iPad seems convenient, but I didn't like it.  Maybe I need to give it another chance.  I just like the feel of paper, and the physical comic. 

I kind of want to read Sandman again, and Alan Moore's Miracleman, which just got reissued.  I've also heard Saga is really good.  And I never finished Swamp Thing.  I'm just not feeling a lot of the new Marvel comics, though the Spider-Gwen thing is definitely the kind of idea I want to see more of. 

@Matt Snee: I hear Saga is really good, but I've never jumped on. I think about it everytime I see a new issue.

I picked up Trees issues 1 and 2 over the weekend.  I haven't read them yet, but I am excited for when I finally do. 

Wasteland #56 reveals more about the origins of Michael and co.. We're really close to the end of this series. Maybe issue 60 will be the last. I noticed one character that looks strikingly like the main character in another Johnston/Mitten series Umbral.

Star Wars 19 continues the awesomeness. We are introduced to rebel undercover agent Seren who is being pursued by an assassin robot that makes me think of HK-47 from the KOTOR game. Have you heard that Star Wars episode 8 is already in production? How cool is that! We're going to have Star Wars movies regularly now just like it always should have been.

I tried out the new Suicide Squad #1 without knowing anything about it except that Harley Quinn was in it. It's ok, but she hardly says anything in it. I think I'm done with series' that have a character I like but don't feature him or her.

Tomorrow is new Comics Day

I may rewatch and reread the Crow while i'm at it.

Borderlands: Fall of Fyrestone #1 is a new Borderlands comic that seems to be retelling a very similar story to the beginning of the first game. The original characters get off the buss at Fyrestone and are tasked with freeing the place from Nine Toes. So far it's fine. I'm just happy to have more Borderlands comics to read.

Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International San Diego one-shot is a fun story with the current incarnation of Harley Quinn and crew. They go to comic-con and Harely gets in all sorts of trouble with cosplayers. There are digs at the current writers of the main series and the appearance of Harley Quinn creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. I realize now I actually have a reason to go to a comic con to meet such writers and artists. The Philly comic con just happened but maybe next year.

Atomic Robo: Knights of the Golden Circle #3 continues in a story line that reminds me strongly of the one in the video game Wolfenstein: New Order where a mad scientist, Deathshead, was converting people into robots. Writter Brian Clevinger really knows how to get the most out of the fewest words. It works so well with Scott Wegener's art. I love the Atomic Robo.

Original Sin #6 was really good. Things are really heating up in the chase to find the killer of The Watcher.

Umbral #7 is really beautifully drawn and colored. In this issue we're introduced to a new player in the political game between Umbral (which I think means "shadow") and ancient mages, The Whisperers. They seem to be a guild of assassins but what they want is uncertain. There's a map of the world on one page. I always love maps.

I read only one of these today 'cause I get embarrassed reading comics as an adult when I have to sit right next to some people in my coffee shop. Sometimes I don't care though. I'll fill in on the rest as I read them.

Star Trek City on the Edge of Forever #2 is the first I've read of this adaptation of the famous TOS episode because issue one sold out. My comic shop owner told me there would be a reprinting of issue 1, so maybe I'll get a hold of that eventually. Anyway, it's basically Harlan Ellison's orginal screenplay adapted by Scott and David Tipton. When I saw The Tipton Bros. names on the inside of the cover, I inwardly cheered because these guys really know how to do Star Trek. I get everything they write. I'm kind of glad I didn't know they adapted this story, because I would've been climbing the walls when I couldn't get a hold of issue #1. I love the cover art by Juan Ortiz, but the inside art is all photo referenced characters with new backgrounds. It's servicable, but nothing special. From reading the letters to Harlan Ellison in the back I was told that certain things drawn here weren't realized in the TV episode and that this original screenplay is a little different in writing from the episode as well. From how I remember the TV episode, this original screenplay seems like a slightly better story. I'm definitely following this series to it's conclusion. 

Mass Effect Foundation #13 wraps up this particular run and the Raza story line. I think the ending links up with the begining of ME2 or 3, but I haven't played those games yet, so I'm not sure. I liked it.

Halo Escalation #8. Finally we get to see the aftermath of the events of the Halo 4 game and Master Chief front and center. I think this is the last issue of the run. I think this is trying to tie in with what will be the Halo 5 game. I can't elaborate or I'll spoil the comic.

Secret Origins #4 covers the origin story for Harley Quinn, Green Arrow and Damion Wayne, son of Bruce Wayne who becomes Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman after Batman's death. The Harley Quinn story is written by the current main series writers and summarizes what was already told there, but I liked it anyway. The other two stories don't interest me much, but they were very good being written by other teams that I'm not familiar with.

   A very large catch this week. Six comics? That's like $20. I gotta take it easy next time. Anyway, I couldn't resist starting two more series: Deep Gravity, a hard scifi interstellar space travel story, and Rick Remender's Black Science which blends scifi and fantasy elements. I wanted to start Rick Remender's Low as well, but I was already loaded up. Maybe on a slow week I'll start that one too.

Black Science #7 begins a new story arc, so I jumped on. My store only has half of the previous issues, so I'll have to pick up the trade to get 1 thru 6 sometime. The art by Matteo Scalera is really great. It's super colorful and full of detail. It reminds me of Frazetta and the fantasy elements in the movie Heavy Metal, which I think were based on a Roger Corben comic. The writting is really good of course. Rick Remender did Fear Agent and lots of stuff for Marvel comics. He's really good with action and snarky one-liners. He mixes comedy with serious stuff really well. So I think you can tell I loved this issue and will be following it now.

Harely Quinn #8 is just full of good times in the daily life of Harleen Quinzell: pawning stolen goods, launching stuff off her building's roof, and thawarting the attempts of more bounty hunters. The end possibly begins a longer story arc with a new enemy. It's villain on villain action. Can't get enough of it.

The FUSE #6 is detective noir in a space station and completes the first story arc for this series. Art and story is great. I'm not big on these kinds of stories, but put them in space, and I'm in love. This one wraps up the tangled web of lies and intrigue surrounding The FUSE space station's mayor.

Deep Gravity #1 is very cool. It's about a ship of scientists and workers going to a distant planet to study and capture life forms to bring back to earth. The main character is an engineer who takes the three year voyage to Poseidon, the exoplanet, to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend. So far so good. The ending can't be given away, but big changes will take up issue 2 for sure. I'll be following this series.

The Massive #25 seems to be coming close to a big reveal about what Mary is all about. More major ecological changes are happening and it's anyone's guess what's causing it all. Does Mary have something to do with it? If so, it could take the story into weird places. I think issue 26 might have an answer to that.

King Conan: The Conqueror #6.  We see Conan trying to regain his throne by, of course, gathering an army and fighting in a pitched battle with his foes. Of course, the enemies use dark magic, and, of course, they have his girlfriend. He'll have to crush quite a few skulls to come out on top in this one. T. Truman gives Conan a very serious tone; the drawing by Giorello is really detailed; and the colors by Villarubia are rich and earthy. Pure perfection in my eyes. I love this team!

Nothing new this week, so I picked up last week's Low #1 written by Rick Remender and the reissue of Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever #1 that was sold out in its first run. I also picked up the first trade for Black Science to get the first six issues and the first story arc of the series. It was only $10! Most trades are usually $25. It is also written by Rick Remender. I tried the series out last week with issue 7 and really liked it. And that's Retronauts on my iPod Touch. This week it's all about Planescape: Torment. 

Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever #1: I liked the inside artwork a little better than in issue 2. There's more backgrounds of the planet and drawings of the Guardians of Forever. The photo referenced characters still bug me a little, but it's ok. This version of the story really makes Yeoman Rand a strong female character. She's mostly eye candy in the TV show. I like that. I found out from the notes in the back that cover artist Juan Ortiz has a book Star Trek: The Art of Juan Ortiz. I want to get that sometime. His covers are fantastic!

Low #1:

Black Science Vol. 1: What a fantastic book! The art is amazing! Love the story too.

Original Sin #7: This is the penultimate issue and it really explains a lot. The story flashbacks to the day of The Watcher's death and shows what happened there but there's still a big question mark, and last issue #8 will certainly reveal it. Can't wait. I should mention there was only the briefest of moments with Doctor Strange, my favorite character. Despite that, the story was very good.

Star Wars #20: More awesomeness in the Star Wars universe during the time just after the Battle of Yavin where the first Death Star was destroyed (Ep. IV movie). The rebel alliance is still looking for a new home and trying to avoid Imperial detection. In this, and previous issue, there is an assassin Droid, IG-2000. Ever since HK-47 in KOTOR I love seeing these guys. I love the design of them, how they're drawn, and their attitude is pure mercenary ruthlessness. They're so much fun!

Harley Quinn #9: Harley Quinn is abducted by an "admirer", but who's abducting who? You never know with crazy Quinn.

Umbral 8 by Anthony Johnston and Christopher Mitten. Our heroes are on the run from the Umbral infested Red Guard and come to a forested area with new threats to overcome. Can't they ever get a break?

I stopped my weekly single issue comic pickups. Now I'm going through the list of trades on https://forbiddenplanet.com/log/recommendations/50-best-best-graphic-novels/ . I've done Batman Dark Knight Returns - awesome! -, and Watchmen - super awesome!. I can't wait to start the next one. I'm rotating a print book from the http://thegreatestbooks.org/ list, graphic novels from the above mentioned list, and a collection of books I have at home. Next up is a home book, but then it's back to the graphic novel list.