Board 8 > Board 8 Comic Book Club #2: Where We All Have Issues

(+) Yeah! (+)

By the way I'm not a big fan of Parable either, but it was an opportunity to read some Stan Lee, so I wanted to see what people thought. And getting some French comic art into the club is probably a good thing.
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As reparations for Parable, how would you all like to read a little more Astro City this week? Busiek Week seemed really well-received.
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scarletspeed7 posted...

It's not the Silver Surfer either.

Well then I am dumb and don't get what I just read.
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I hesitate to say this but

It's a

Parable.

It's not an alternate reality. It's an imaginary story.
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...

Don't mind me.

I blame new dad brain.
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I think new dad brain is about as good a reason to completely whiff on that than anything else!
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I really enjoyed the story overall. Definitely near the top of the stuff we've read so far, and I didn't feel like the material was too dense, like some events make you feel.

I jotted down notes while reading so I'll just copy those over:

- It's Interesting that Thanos could apparently control his father disappearing yet chose to not have all the heroes disappear as well
- I knew most of the characters, but the gods were all new to me for the most part, which is fine
- Really liked that there was an internal struggle between the formed group that had to be dealt with
- The actual assembling of the group and the first time they were all together was pretty exciting
- You can kind of see the similarities between this story and the film with the thinking that attacking Thanos is essentially a fool's errand and the heroes know they are heading to their death
- I was not expecting as much death as we got in that initial battle against Thanos
- This is my introduction to Adam Warlock and he is a badass
- In hindsight, that extreme death in the battle makes sense because of course everything is going to go back to the way it was - also makes it less impactful though
- Nebula sure did neglect to think things through

I agree with MI that it started a little slow, but once it picked up it was full speed ahead.
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Parable wasn't my least favourite story that we've read, but the art was pretty mediocre and I feel a headache coming on just from trying to parse some of that lettering. The lettering on all of the 90's Batman stuff is one of the only blemishes on those stories in my opinion, and here it's ten times as bad. How could anyone think that it was okay?

I have a confession to make: The only real experience I've had with the Silver Surfer was that Fantastic Four movie, so I was always under the impression that he was a villain, meaning I was very confused when I started reading this week. What's even worse is that I just re-read a plot summary of that movie and he isn't even really a villain in it, which means I wasn't paying attention when I first watched it when I was thirteen and have been misinformed all this time.
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I thought about doing more Astro City this week, but instead I changed my mind. For week 10, we're going to the opposite side of the cosmos and hitting up the DC Universe's space-based fare. We'll be reading The Omega Men #1-12, a self-contained mini-series featuring the talents of Tom King, currently one of the hottest writers in the DC stable. He's probably best known for his work on Mister Miracle and of course Batman, but his first real rise in profile at DC came with this tale of the Vegans. And I don't mean people who refuse to eat meat.

In the star system of Vega, there is a ragtag group of rebels fighting an evil Empire. And when good ol' Green Lantern Kyle Rayner tries to step in and end the civil strife, he's left without a ring and without a way home. Kyle is inserted forcefully into said rebellion, and hijinks pursue from there.

I think this is a great mini-series, and it's completely different from what you get on the Marvel side, so it should be a lot of fun for all of us to read together!

Next week is Christmas week, so I'll be doing a few really short Christmas stories (including one of the first comics I ever bought with my own money!) so if you need a week to jump back in, that will be a great one.
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I've had The Omega Men on my wishlist for awhile as a self-proclaimed Tom King superfan. It'll be fun to read this before I pick up my own copy of it for my collection.
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davidponte posted...

I've had The Omega Men on my wishlist for awhile as a self-proclaimed Tom King superfan. It'll be fun to read this before I pick up my own copy of it for my collection.

Ha, same. Thanks for helping me clear my backlog instead of adding to it, Scarlet!
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I'm happy to do it. Looking forward to some thoughts soon!
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Read the first issue. It has a very cinematic quality which I'm enjoying

However I have no idea what's happening story wise.
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Is there some series that leads up to this?

I literally have no idea who any of these people or factions are or anything that's happening.

Like I get there are rebels and the government. But some of the rebels seem like normal people but then there's a giant beast (I think he's the omega man?) But then the viceroy and governor start talking about more factions and tribes. I'm just not absorbing anything.

I finished issue 3 and I think I might be done for the week.
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There is no lead-in.
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Oh shit, you know what? I think there was a sneak peek lead-in. I completely forget about it.

https://www.dccomics.com/reader/#/comics/362076

DC published it free on their website.

@TotallyNotMI

I completely forgot that this wasn't included in the main series.
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That actually seems like it might make things make more sense! I will start over with issue 1 again and see if I understand things better.
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I don't know how much is re reading and how much is that tie in but i'm enjoying this so much better now

Issue 4 was great. I know nothing about Kyle so getting an issue pretty much dedicated to his character was nice!
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The tie-in probably made the difference.

I'm so sorry that I forgot about that!

Also Kyle is not only my favorite Green Lantern but also a Top 10 DC character for me, so I hope you end up enjoying him.
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I am alive? How pleasant.

Doc is my favorite!
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Finished issue 7. Quite impressed with Kyle.

Him falling for Kalista, while annoying, told me a lot about him as a character. Desperate for a purpose, desperate for someone to need him, desperate for love. But not so blind that he couldn't see her playing him. That was great.
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Issue 11

Kyle buying his cross back put the biggest fucking smile on my face.
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And done.

I didn't like most of the Omega Men, but I am not sure if I was truly supposed to. I liked two of them a lot and of course those are the two that died but other than them it was all about Kyle and the Viceroy for me.

I wouldn't mind a Kyle Rayner week sometime!
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Wow, you really ripped through that.

I will make a note about the Kyle Rayner week. I was actually planning a weird week where I pulled an old JLA storyline out that featured Kyle in an important role, but I may save that for a K-Ray Day.

I get the feeling that the prologue must have done just enough to really draw you into the story, and I'm glad of it!
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A little over halfway through. Just finished #7.

Confession time: I've never really liked Kyle Rayner. Not outright disliked, and I like him as part of an ensemble like JLA or GLC, but he's by far my least favorite Earth GL. I'll admit this is because I've really only read him in post-Johns stuff. He's just always felt completely out of place, and it doesn't help that that was one of his defining character traits (along with having the WORST luck with women).

That said, it's a low bar but this is easily my favorite characterization of him post-Johns. It only took removing his GL abilities and most of his agency, as well as putting him in something where being out of place is a strength!

Also I liked the quick nod to Grayson with the Hypnos in that last issue. Cute.
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Finished it. It was damn good, and impossible for me to put down.

It left me with a pretty strange, sad feeling, in a good way. The heaps on heaps of grey morality contrasted with Kyle, the hopeless romantic and eternally suffering sadboi, worked extremely well. ONLY Kyle could pull that off, so I'll admit it's a fantastic use of the character.

It's always cool to see a writer just go completely off the wall with established properties like this.
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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

Also I liked the quick nod to Grayson with the Hypnos in that last issue. Cute.

I was wondering who traded a shoe!
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I really like this comic. I want it to be a movie. why isn't it a movie?

anyway, I love Kyle Rayner in this, and the way his faith contrasts with the cynical black-and-white viewpoints of the Vegans.
The other main Earth Lanterns range from totally obnoxious to totally boring and it is good to see the human race represented in the corps by someone who inst an embarrassment to the species.
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Hey, Guy Gardner being an embarrassment to his species is his biggest strength!
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Guy Gardner is a very entertaining character but I can understand why someone would find him obnoxious.
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This is going to be a Monday/Tuesday read for me, but I did read through that preview and I am ready for more Tom King.
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