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BobBretall wrote: That said, it doesn't sound like there's going to be anything I can say to get you to try a Boom book.

For other people, I'd recommend trying the book for $1. I personally thought it was much better than Avengers Arena.

abysslord wrote: Not true, I may check out the first issue now because it's so cheap. In fact, I'll add it to my next shipment now

Not true? I was playing off this quote in your 1st post:

abysslord wrote: I won't even try Deathmatch because:

fudd71 wrote: I could not agree more with this sentiment. One of the things I like about comics and the story telling style is the episodic nature. The biggest reason I read so few books outside of Marvel (I don't currently read any Marvel books, but for a whole different set of reasons) and DC is that most simply aren’t on-going stories. With very few exceptions there aren’t many books that get past an issue #12 and if they do #25 seems to be the ceiling.

That's fine if you only want to have long-form stories, but to me it's like saying "I don't watch movies because they're only a hour or 2 long. I prefer TV series that go for several seasons.

I like long-form and short-form fiction.

In novels I like one-offs and series with recurring characters & settings. I have a place for both.

But, every individual is going to read what gives them the most enjoyment.

For me, Deathmatch #1 is the best single issue I've read since Harbinger #6.

BobBretall wrote:

BobBretall wrote: That said, it doesn't sound like there's going to be anything I can say to get you to try a Boom book.

For other people, I'd recommend trying the book for $1. I personally thought it was much better than Avengers Arena.

abysslord wrote: Not true, I may check out the first issue now because it's so cheap. In fact, I'll add it to my next shipment now

Not true? I was playing off this quote in your 1st post:

abysslord wrote: I won't even try Deathmatch because:

I meant 'not true' about the part 'there's nothing i can say to get you to try it'. I read your arguments and agreed

fudd71 wrote: I could not agree more with this sentiment. One of the things I like about comics and the story telling style is the episodic nature. The biggest reason I read so few books outside of Marvel (I don't currently read any Marvel books, but for a whole different set of reasons) and DC is that most simply aren’t on-going stories. With very few exceptions there aren’t many books that get past an issue #12 and if they do #25 seems to be the ceiling.

Well my point was specifically about BOOM as many titles I've loved from them were ended very short. I read plenty of other indies though and don't care if they eventually fizzle out because they're still really good quality. I said it doesn't make sense and I should still buy BOOM books if I like them, but it's just a thing like "I KNOW it will only go a few more months, I'll just buy another title."

abysslord wrote: Well my point was specifically about BOOM as many titles I've loved from them were ended very short. I read plenty of other indies though and don't care if they eventually fizzle out because they're still really good quality. I said it doesn't make sense and I should still buy BOOM books if I like them, but it's just a thing like "I KNOW it will only go a few more months, I'll just buy another title."

Unfortunately this is true. I've had a lot of titles I like run short from a number of Indie publishers. Low sales in the direct market (dominated by Marvel & DC) is a path to a premature end.

I was really liking a lot of the stuff from GG studios & unfortunately, that entire company seems to have stopped publication. Same with Radical. Another example is Reed Gunther (creator owned & out through Image). A great all ages book that ended due to low sales.

Does not mean I didn't enjoy their stuff while it was coming out.

BobBretall wrote:

fudd71 wrote: I could not agree more with this sentiment. One of the things I like about comics and the story telling style is the episodic nature. The biggest reason I read so few books outside of Marvel (I don't currently read any Marvel books, but for a whole different set of reasons) and DC is that most simply aren’t on-going stories. With very few exceptions there aren’t many books that get past an issue #12 and if they do #25 seems to be the ceiling.

That's fine if you only want to have long-form stories, but to me it's like saying "I don't watch movies because they're only a hour or 2 long. I prefer TV series that go for several seasons.

I like long-form and short-form fiction.

In novels I like one-offs and series with recurring characters & settings. I have a place for both.

But, every individual is going to read what gives them the most enjoyment.

For me, Deathmatch #1 is the best single issue I've read since Harbinger #6.

I don’t dislike like movies or novels or even OGNs. There is a place for short stories, long stories and long or short running episodic stories. My problem is that the comic book medium and publishers try to masquerade most everything as episodic storytelling with the 22 page monthly periodical. Unfortunately very few comic stories are actually written as episodic stories. Marvel and DC suffer from this too with the arc mentality, the art of telling episodic stories is simply dying. Most modern writers don’t know how to write episodic stories. They simply write a story of some length and then parse it out in 22-pages at a time with no natural breaks. If you tell me you have an interesting story that is hundred and thirty pages long great. I may buy that. But don’t put out six 22-page issues just because that is norm for comic books if it isn’t truly an episodic story. This is my personal major complain. That and that many of those novel size stories that are being parsed out as episodic stories by indie publishers never finish, or have huge gaps between issues.

Moving along.....

The End Times of Bram & Ben #1 (Image) - The Rapture happens and all good souls are brought to heaven.

Because of a clerical error Bram gets brought along for the ride, but Heaven tosses him back when they realize he's not the kind of guy they want up there. Not your typical "post rapture" story, we don't immediately get hell on earth, we have life going on mostly as usual with news stories wondering what happened when millions of people (a lot of them children) vanished.

Nicely written by James Asmus & Jim Festante, good humor and some nice touches on what life will be like without all the "goody two shoes". I'm guessing this is not something for every reader, you need to be able to read the premise & not be immediately offended, and also be able to enjoy them poking fun at the bureaucracy in Heaven. In the afterword, they point out that no major publisher other than Image would come within 100 feet of this project, some people just don't have a sense of humor when it come to poking fun at matters of faith.

I enjoyed it and will be back for the rest of the 4-issue mini series.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #1 (Marvel)

(Spoiler Warning ... yes, contains possible spoilers, if you do not know what happened during the last few issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!!!!!)

Okay ... yep, that color you see above is green. And while I did not buy this, for much like Bob, I am not really a fan of non-Parker Spider-Man, I did read one of my friend's copies and sadly it appears I am now adding this to my pull.

I went in honestly thinking of how much this book was going to suck (no, that is not a fair way to approach things, but that is the truth). I came out the other side very impressed with what I read. I didn't read a comic starring a Spider-Man that was not Parker, I read a Doc Oc comic with him dressed as Spider-Man. Yes, there is a distinction when you read this, even more so than in the past 3 or 4 issues of Amazing.

I am also surprised in my enjoyment because I am not a huge fan of Mr. Slott's writing style. His timing at times just irks me. His improper use of time-flow in the gutters between panels has been less than stellar, for me, in the past. Yet here, he nails it. Time and pacing flow perfectly panel to panel.

It was also a joy to see some of the antagonists in this issue. Some were real surprises for me and I really enjoyed how Spider-Doc handled them (and didn't handle them).

I also am happy to know that it will not be long at all before we see Parker back in the suit, where he belongs. I won't say why I feel that, but those that have read the issue know.

My mom always said that prejudice is just fallacy with a slightly different definition and it does no-one any good. Dear mom, I'm sorry I didn't listen.

8 outta 10 Spider-Tracers

Perry wrote: I went in honestly thinking of how much this book was going to suck (no, that is not a fair way to approach things, but that is the truth). I came out the other side very impressed with what I read. I didn't read a comic starring a Spider-Man that was not Parker, I read a Doc Oc comic with him dressed as Spider-Man. Yes, there is a distinction when you read this, even more so than in the past 3 or 4 issues of Amazing.

I don't think the book would suck, I just didn't want to read about Doc Ock in a Spider-Man suit (or anyone other than Peter in a Spider-Man suit).

I'll be back when Peter takes his brain back.

BobBretall wrote: ... I just didn't want to read about Doc Ock in a Spider-Man suit

That's what makes having a choice so cool.

You choose not to give a book a chance, I chose to do so. No-one is wrong here.

Scam
http://www.comixtribe.com/comics/scam/s ... gust-2012/
It has nice pacing and a decent premise. Things are being revealed as they need to be. The art is decent but nothing to write home about. It's full-color on heavy paper with a decent page count for a fair price for an indy book. I like how the bad-(bleep) in the story seems to keep changing and how I'm just not sure what the characters are capable of.

There's really not much to dislike that I can remember, so the minuses can't be too horrible. Even Non-Human's and Fly's spelling and grammar mistakes stay with me, so I think this book is pretty solid.

The premise is essentially what they've laid out so there's no apparent bait and switch. The parallels to Italian Job and Ocean's Eleven are pretty obvious so if re-imagining movies bothers you then I would recommend you skip it. They don't try to hide this influence so it doesn't bother me.

It also encouraged me to pick up Red Ten (from the same publisher) in the sense that I was willing to take another chance on this publisher, if that tells you anything.

A team of professionals, the promise of fabulous loot, the perfect job – what could go wrong? Well when one of them turns against the others, a lot of things. Join Tru, Doc, Michelle and the rest of the gang as they embark upon their mission of vengeance. Sure they got super powers so that means a lot of flying sparks, but they’re also the best grifters in the business… so that makes them even better.

PRICE: 3.99
DIAMOND ID: JUN121002
RATING: Teen + Up
FORMAT: double issue, 44 pages, color (1 of 5 mini series)

SCRIPT: Joe Mulvey
ART: Joe Mulvey
INKS: John Ercek and Jules Rivera
COLORS: Andrew Crossley
LETTERS: AndWorld Design
COVER: Joe Mulvey and Andrew Crossley
EDITORS: Tyler James and Steven Forbes

PUBLISHER: ComixTribe
COPYRIGHT INFO: © Joe Mulvey

SCAM is “X-Men meets Oceans 11″ and involves a team of super-powered grifters on the biggest con of their lives… taking down a Vegas casino and getting revenge on a former teammate who double-crossed them.

boshuda wrote:
It also encouraged me to pick up Red Ten

Jumped on the FCBD issue when I placed my order with DCBS. Looked "cover cool". Really drew me in.

I Love Trouble #1 (Image) - The solicit didn't grab me but an ad with art did. I really like the art style in this book and the way panels are laid out. The story is typical in that a normal person suddenly develops a power and has to figure it out, but it's told in a new way I think so I didn't care.

I will say #2 brings about another cliche story device with this type of story, and while it doesn't bother me since the art style and characters are good, I wish for once we'd get a book about someone developing powers that didn't have this device in it. Or maybe it's just because I finished Legend of Luther Strode #2 right before reading this.

Anyway, I really like this book. I also love the paper stock. I think if you're okay with the art style it's a really good read so far.

New Avengers #1 (Marvel) - I'm a new reader to a lot of Marvel books and I'm trying out most of the NOW titles. I basically only read Spider-man titles and X titles up to this point.

I thought this issue was interesting and the art was pretty nice. I'm interested in this book since I've heard it will deal with stuff like the Infinity gems. If I had no knowledge of where this book was going, I may be a little confused since this issue was basically a Black Puma story. But I liked it as a Black Puma story as well.

In the past I haven't liked Hickman's books but maybe that's because I came in towards the end. So far I'm enjoying his Marvel books.

abysslord wrote:I Love Trouble #1 (Image) -
Anyway, I really like this book. I also love the paper stock.

I just read this last night and I enjoyed the book also, but I felt the paper stock detracted from the art. I love the art but it felt 'muddy' and I feel like that's a result of the paper stock.

Did anyone get this digitally? I would be curious to hear what digital readers thought about the colors.

Blackacre #1 (Image) - I initially passed on this because the art on the cover wasn't my thing. I've since seen preview pages and liked the interior art and concept so I checked it out. It's kind of weird, usually I gripe that the cover art is really nice and you open the book and the art isn't quite as good....this was the opposite.

Loved it. This was pretty much a perfect #1 for me. It takes time to stage the story, and I like how they did that here. Then they have a good premise for a take on a apocalypse type story. It may not be the most believable thing in the world but hey, neither are zombies And then there's enough stuff going on where I want to read more, and the ending had a good hook. I'm on board for more.

I'm a little afraid that #2 only sold like 4k I think. That's pretty low for a #2 for an indie so I hope it can pick some more up or do really well in trades or this may be a short ride.....I believe it's an ongoing.

Threshold #1 (DC)

I enjoyed this issue enough, however I’m not really sure what the premise of this series is and where it is headed. As a person that doesn’t read previews or read much in the way of comic book “news” the first issue doesn’t make clear what the intent of this series is. Is this going to follow Caul (was this character introduced in the New Guardians annual or does he have more history?) and Stealth? Is the series going to follow this “The Hunted” game show? Is the book an anthology like DC Universe Presents? Is it an anthology that will stay focused in the “Lantern Verse”? If anyone knows I would be interested in the theory of this book.

As for this issue, I liked but didn’t love it. Following the character Caul from the New Guardians Annual into this “The Hunted” game show was interesting enough. I am not sure I would want to read a series completely about that, with films and books like the Running Man and Hunger Games and comics like Avengers Arena and Deathmatch I am not sure we need another story like this. The introduction of the character Stealth seems interesting enough. I liked the first story in this issue but don’t know if I would want to continuing reading about The Hunted for an extended period. The second story, a Larfleeze story I enjoyed a bit more than the first story. The cliffhanger was somewhat unexpected and could have ramifications across the entire Green Lantern Universe.

Overall the issue was OK and I will get the next one, but for $3.99 an issue I don’t think I will stick with this title in the long run unless I get a stronger sense of what it really is.