What comics are you reading, January to March 2021?

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What comics are you reading, January to March 2021?

1spiralsheep
Dez 28, 2020, 5:39 am

I thought these threads might get more comments and interaction if they cover three months instead of one, so I've put this up for January to March 2021.

Over the holidays I've been reading:

• Giant Days vol.14 (the last) by John Allison and Max Sarin which was a perfect end to a consistently excellent series. 5/5

In fact I enjoyed the last Giant Days so much that I re-read all the volumes I had to hand, 7 to 14, again. All 5/5

• The Avant-Guards vol.3 (the last) by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes was only a 3/5 for me as the promising college basketball set up and potentially engaging characters didn't develop into a sufficiently interesting story for me.

• I'm also reading ongoing episodic webcomic Steeple by John Allison.

• But I'm going to need new comics in 2021 as Giant Days has ended and Lumberjanes is about to end. It always seems much easier for me to find new mainstream superhero and action comics than slice of life or humour comics, especially ongoing series.

• What are y'all reading?

2Euryale
Jan 1, 2021, 8:36 pm

I'm starting 2021 with Pretty Deadly Vol. 3 and then will be reading the first omnibus of Lone Wolf and Cub for my comics book club this month.

>1 spiralsheep: I don't know if you like manga at all, but I recently finished reading the young adult series Silver Spoon and enjoyed it. It's by the same creator as Fullmetal Alchemist, but is a slice-of-life about students at an agricultural school.

3spiralsheep
Jan 2, 2021, 4:22 am

>2 Euryale: I read all types of comics. Silver Spoon sounds delightful. Thank you for the rec!

4spiralsheep
Jan 4, 2021, 4:19 am

I read Mooncop by Tom Gauld. A short graphic novel about, unsurprisingly, a policeman on the moon. Tom Gauld is better known for his short cartoons but his style of understated minimalist storytelling expands well to book length. Who else could make me laugh aloud at, "I'm afraid that item is not in stock."? Or delight in moonbase buildings that look like mid 20th century furniture? And parks that look like Victorian glass dome displays? Or create an uplifting comic about the horrible feeling that your life is being dismantled around you?

5AnnieMod
Jan 4, 2021, 4:57 am

>4 spiralsheep: I read it back when it came out and loved it. :)

6spiralsheep
Editado: Jan 4, 2021, 5:31 am

>5 AnnieMod: I'm so glad you enjoyed it too. It's amazing how enthusiastic I feel about an understated minimalist comic!

7WildMaggie
Jan 5, 2021, 1:28 pm

Started Black Orchid by Gaiman et al. So far, so weird. (That's a good thing.)

8elenchus
Jan 5, 2021, 2:16 pm

Recently finished Taking Turns, an oral history of an HIV/AIDS unit at the hospital I work. Part of a series, evidently, and while I found this mixed in terms of leveraging the comic style, it was effective as both graphic novel and as history. Unit 371 closed well before I began working at the hospital, but I was pleased to find evidence of our hospital culture from that time, and in fact predating the impact of that unit.

This isn't a title I'd steer anyone unfamiliar with graphic novels to reading first, but recommended for anyone interested in historical drama.

There's an eBook version of it but not sure how successfully it was adapted. I read from a paper copy.

9apokoliptian
Jan 7, 2021, 6:37 pm

I've just finished The Arrival by Shaun Tan, a silent story exquisitely drawn which tells us the tale of an immigrant in a new land and the people that he finds in his journey. Very emotional comic.

10spiralsheep
Jan 7, 2021, 6:56 pm

>9 apokoliptian: I've read almost all Shaun Tan's work and loved everything I've seen. The Arrival is especially good. I've still got his latest, not a comic, on my To Read pile.

11apokoliptian
Jan 7, 2021, 7:58 pm

I am reading Carthago, which starts telling a story a finding of the Megalodon, a pre-historic shark, and the intrigues around it. The story has some plot twists that turn it more interesting. The art of the first five books has clean line and is hyper-detailed regarding archtecture and machinery.

12spiralsheep
Jan 9, 2021, 5:09 am

I read a collection of Tom Gauld's single page newspaper and magazine cartoons, You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, which is clever and witty and frequently made me laugh aloud. 5*

13Bookmarque
Jan 11, 2021, 3:44 pm

thanks to apokoliptan, I'm also reading Carthago. I don't know if it's the translation or if it's just kind of bad, but the dialog is VERY stilted and full of As-you-know-Bob info-dumps. Still the artwork is fun and I'm intrigued by the old man and the storyline as a whole so I'll keep going.

14defaults
Editado: Jan 12, 2021, 3:26 pm

Caught up with Monstress vols. 3-4 with vol. 5 on the way, and finished The Wrong Place by Brecht Evens which was lively and free-flowing both story- and watercolor-wise.

15elenchus
Jan 12, 2021, 3:43 pm

>9 apokoliptian:
One of my favs.

>11 apokoliptian:
>12 spiralsheep:
Both sound interesting so think I'll see if my Local has a copy through interlibrary loan.

16spiralsheep
Jan 12, 2021, 3:53 pm

>15 elenchus: Tom Gauld has published two further collections of his single page comics and they're all equally good: Baking with Kafka and Department of Mind-Blowing Theories.

17elenchus
Jan 13, 2021, 6:07 pm

>16 spiralsheep:

It appears my library system has Gauld's Jetpack so I'll start with that one, once it arrives. Fingers crossed that COVID precautions don't waylay it overly much.

18spiralsheep
Jan 13, 2021, 7:00 pm

>17 elenchus: I hope you enjoy the book! It's always a good feeling when searching a library catalogue and the book you want is waiting for you. I'm lucky my local library system has been doing click and collect with no reservation fees during lockdown.

19spiralsheep
Jan 16, 2021, 12:13 pm

I read the second collection of Tom Gauld's single page newspaper and magazine cartoons. I prefer his first and third collections but Baking with Kafka has plenty of Gauld's clever wit and it made me laugh aloud. 4*

20spiralsheep
Jan 27, 2021, 6:54 am

I read Spell on Wheels Volume 2: Just to Get to You, by Kate Leth and Megan Levens, published 2020, which is a fantasy comic set in contemporary USA about three "witches", each with a specific power, on a road trip. 3.5*

21elenchus
Jan 27, 2021, 12:19 pm

I'm making my way through Carthago and largely echo the experiences and impressions noted above. Not sure I'll continue after finishing this book, but there's time for me to be persuaded.

22Euryale
Jan 27, 2021, 1:17 pm

Just read and enjoyed Moonshot, Vol. 1 and Paul Pope's Heavy Liquid.

23spiralsheep
Jan 31, 2021, 4:37 pm

I read Department of Mind-Blowing Theories by Tom Gauld, which is a collection of his single-page comics mostly published in New Scientist magazine. It probably goes without saying that I laughed aloud. 5*

24elenchus
Jan 31, 2021, 4:46 pm

>23 spiralsheep:

Just finished You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack and liked the cultural references crammed into each comic, but ultimately didn't find it as funny as I'd hoped. Clever, just not the occasional panel sending me into giggles like Douglas Adams does, or to make a comics-based reference, Shannon Wheeler and his Too Much Coffee Man.

25spiralsheep
Jan 31, 2021, 4:52 pm

>24 elenchus: I'm glad you found something to enjoy about You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack even if it wasn't outstandingly funny for you.

Humour is such a personal thing. Mine also depends on my mood and while I was reading Department of Mind-Blowing Theories I noticed that I laughed much less if I read them when I was tired, partly because the humour is clever and requires my brain in full working order and partly just because raising a laugh is more effort when I'm tired.

26Euryale
Fev 6, 2021, 4:27 pm

>25 spiralsheep: Ha! One of my friends just sent me Department of Mind-Blowing Theories as a gift, so I'm also reading some Tom Gauld this month. His comics are definitely clever, and they're snack size.

27spiralsheep
Fev 6, 2021, 5:28 pm

>26 Euryale: Now I have four Tom Gauld books it occurs to me that I could re-read them in infinite rotation at the rate of a page or two a day....

28andyl
Fev 7, 2021, 5:04 am

I've just finished volume 2 of Once & Future by Kieron Gillen.

29spiralsheep
Fev 7, 2021, 6:02 am

>28 andyl: I find Gillen's writing a bit hit and miss. I enjoyed Phonogram back in the day, got bored with The Wicked and the Divine around volume three, but enjoyed two volumes of Young Avengers scripted by Gillen even though I'm not usually a YA reader. Maybe I enjoy his style more than his substance.

30Bookmarque
Fev 9, 2021, 5:50 pm

Finally got four volumes of Gideon Falls from the library. I think it's the whole story. It's all they had and rumor has it they're breaking away from our river valley library association which annoys me because they're the largest branch with the most holdings. Grrr.

Anyway...I'm not blown away by the story or the artwork, but I have the rest of the books so I'll get through them.

31spiralsheep
Fev 11, 2021, 5:28 am

I read Battlepug: War on Christmas by Mike Norton, which is a graphic novel sequel to his original excellent Battlepug webcomic with script and art all by Norton. This is the mighty tale of a barbarian warrior and his trusty steed the giant, erm, pug dog known as Battlepug (aka Sir Sprinkles Goodsniffer von Wigglebottom) and the friends they make along the way.... And, yes, it's every morsel as mad as it sounds. I'd laughed aloud before the end of the first text box, and Mike Norton's artistic talent continues to range skilfully from the epic to the comedic. Full marks, despite the cliffhanger ending, but probably only if you've read the preceding five volumes (or the compendious Compugdium). 5*

Not recommended for anyone who can't handle cartoon violence, anyone who is a fan of Trump or Putin, anyone who doesn't think sweary children are funny, anyone who can't deal with a competent fat black heroine, anyone who objects to satire about a "war on Christmas", anyone overly attached to My Little Ponies, and anyone who prefers their barbarian power fantasies without a parodic sense of humour. Oh, and I suspect it also takes the piss out of Renaissance Fairs but I'm not entirely sure as we don't have an exact equivalent over here and I cba googling.

Quote

"But the wind grows colder already. // Maybe we should stop somewhere and find some pants."

32edgewood
Fev 15, 2021, 8:23 pm

Just read Now #9, one of the strongest issues so far of this Fantagraphics anthology series. I would classify the series as a whole as "art comics", meaning most are visually unorthodox, sometimes stunning, sometimes off-putting; the narratives vary from straightforward storytelling to impressionistic. The covers are usually willfully ugly, an interesting editorial choice.

After a couple of years, I'm done with reading the current run of Heavy Metal magazine. The quality is too uneven. Things seem to have gotten worse under the new owners. It probably shouldn't bug me so much, but there are obvious typos all over, especially in translations to English. I did especially enjoy the issues (before the new management) edited by Grant Morrison.

Speaking of Morrison, I gave some of his recent DC work a try: The Green Lantern Vol. 1: Intergalactic Lawman and The Multiversity. While I appreciate his gonzo creativity, I'm just not a DC guy, and gave up on Multiversity a few issues in. But I should say in past reading I enjoyed his New X-Men run, and his Seven Soldiers of Victory maxi-series.

33apokoliptian
Fev 16, 2021, 8:06 pm

>32 edgewood:
Multiversity is an experience. The books can be read separately and some of them would make great new series, like Society of Super-Heroes and Thunderworld. Pax Americana is the whole Watchmen in one book.

I am really suspect when talking about Morrison's work.

34apokoliptian
Editado: Mar 14, 2021, 7:36 pm

I'm in a Howard Chaykin spree. I have read The Shadow: Blood & Judgment, The Shadow: Midnight in Moscow and I'm currently into American Flagg. It is surprising how American Flagg and the 1980's Shadow miniseries are still relevant and actual.

35apokoliptian
Editado: Mar 28, 2021, 9:45 pm

I've finished rereading Morrison's run in Animal Man and I think that this book aged very well and is still relevant (I even like better Chas Truog's art).
I now entered Peter Milligan's short run (that I didn't like in the first time, but let's see now, 25 years later) and intend to stick till the last issue with Jerry Prosser.

36elenchus
Mar 29, 2021, 11:02 am

I've just placed Saladin Ahmed's Abbott on hold at my local and hope to retrieve it before the weekend.

37Euryale
Mar 29, 2021, 9:32 pm

>36 elenchus: That's a good one; hope you enjoy it!

I've been catching up on my prose reading recently, so not much in the way of comics, except my book group is reading The Boys, Vol. 1 for next month. I'm not a huge Garth Ennis fan, but we'll see.

38apokoliptian
Abr 17, 2021, 8:55 am

>37 Euryale:
The Ennis' work a more escatological lean are more commented, but there are some other works in which he shows a not-so-commented side that appeals to me the most, like Heartland and his war stories, like Enemy Ace.