The Comic Book Thread

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This current arc for TWD has just gone on and on. I'm really sick of it and have been considering giving it up. If digital buys weren't so effortless I'm sure I'd have stopped reading by now.
 
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SouthtownKid

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It's one of those runs that is deserving of the omnibus treatment

I agree, but I don't know if they'd sell enough to justify it. I don't think the numbers were that great when they collected it in TPB several years ago, because they downgraded the paper quality to cheap newsprint (worse quality than the original single issues) for the last few TPBs. I think they may also have failed to include the Annuals, but I'm not sure about that.
 

Cylotron

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This current arc for TWD has just gone on and on. I'm really sick of it and have been considering giving it up. If digital buys weren't so effortless I'm sure I'd have stopped reading by now.


hah... i've been thinking about that for awhile myself "this whole negan b.s. is still going on!?"
i believe that they're just trying to stretch things out as much as possible. since it's 'the walking dead', they know people will buy anyway.
 

Hot Chocolate

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I agree, but I don't know if they'd sell enough to justify it. I don't think the numbers were that great when they collected it in TPB several years ago, because they downgraded the paper quality to cheap newsprint (worse quality than the original single issues) for the last few TPBs. I think they may also have failed to include the Annuals, but I'm not sure about that.

Yeah if DC feels the money won't be there they won't put out a tpb for it with the last two volumes of the last REBELS series being a example, I tracked down the single issues when they canceled the release of the tpbs
 

Comrade Porn King Mikhail

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I recently learned that Kirkman rhas said he has several regrets about how he wrote the comic, the biggest being how he chopped off Rick's hand. He said he wished he'd never done it because it presented a lot of challenges to him as a writer that were, and still are, difficult to overcome. He has to avoid putting Rick in certain situations so that he doesn't create a complete bullshit scenario to get him out of it. Would have been easier if he'd have had two hands.

I would think a good writer would embrace such challenges and use them to allow the character to evolve further. This situation reminded me of how you originally described Jaime Lannister and his character arc after being captured.

Kirkman wants too much out of Rick. He's always the center of attention and the eventual leader of every group. Would it have hurt for Abraham to have taken the leadership role with Rick seething in the background? The existing conflict with Negan is indeed challenging to write because Rick should not be the leader to challenge the Saviors. Take aside Issue 100, and Negan becomes a far more interesting and compelling character to follow than Rick in the past 40+ issues since the hunters.
 

Taiso

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I would think a good writer would embrace such challenges and use them to allow the character to evolve further. This situation reminded me of how you originally described Jaime Lannister and his character arc after being captured.

Kirkman wants too much out of Rick. He's always the center of attention and the eventual leader of every group. Would it have hurt for Abraham to have taken the leadership role with Rick seething in the background? The existing conflict with Negan is indeed challenging to write because Rick should not be the leader to challenge the Saviors. Take aside Issue 100, and Negan becomes a far more interesting and compelling character to follow than Rick in the past 40+ issues since the hunters.

Maybe I didn't articulate it well enough.

What Kirkman was saying was more that by not having two hands, there are stories Rick can't explore and situations he can't put Rick in because it would stretch credibility beyond reader tolerance. He's essentially closed a shit ton of doors to himself as an author if he wants to continue to tell Rick stories. And I understand that.

As for Rick taking the lead in every situation, I think that by this point, it's fairly established that he IS a leader of men, someone other people in that world are willing to follow. Furthermore, it's natural that he would want to take complete control of any situation that his son is involved in. He wants the best for Carl, and in this world that means controlling the environment, as much as he can, that the boy is going to grow up in. Combine that desire with his natural skills and you have a situation where he's going to take control.

As for other characters taking the forefront and assuming control responsibilities, I feel that's been more or less organic. It would be far more contrived for other characters to suddenly become more prominent at the expense of Rick's role in things.

Some of the other characters are more interesting than Rick right now, especially the newer ones, but that's natural when Kirkman is making them stand out. Characters like Negan and Jesus. But I still am invested in Rick, and even though it's a guess I'd venture to say the success of the comic has a lot to do with the Rick-Carl dynamic.

I'm suspecting a major paradigm shift coming up, though. Not that Rick won't be around or that he won't be the leader (in fact, based on the most recent issue's events, it's fairly obvious that

Spoiler:
Negan is dead, infected with a dirty knife like he used on a lot of Rick's group.


More I suspect that you're going to see a whole cast of new characters somewhere else while Rick and co. rebuild. And eventually you'll see the groups meet up. That's just my guess, however.
 

Comrade Porn King Mikhail

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What Kirkman was saying was more that by not having two hands, there are stories Rick can't explore and situations he can't put Rick in because it would stretch credibility beyond reader tolerance. He's essentially closed a shit ton of doors to himself as an author if he wants to continue to tell Rick stories. And I understand that.

More I suspect that you're going to see a whole cast of new characters somewhere else while Rick and co. rebuild. And eventually you'll see the groups meet up. That's just my guess, however.

I was leaning towards the latter since Kirkman starting teasing a whole new direction. I welcome that kind of change and the possibility to look at a new group with a completely fresh viewpoint.

I completely get what you're saying about the hand issue. However, I don't see Rick's disability preventing him from doing things integral to the story. He can't mountain climb or chop wood effectively, but we haven't seen anything on the TV show, or leaked otherwise, that would indicate storylines where the full ten finger capacity would be necessary. No doubt, Kirkman could squeeze some minor different situations were Rick fully handed, or had Shane stayed around but was exiled (a la Merle). If he really has a concrete plan on how to end the series, all of these should be part of the master plan.

Unless the plan is changing as the universe is turning into a cash cow. Next thing you know, we may see Disney buying him out and putting TWD into Disneyland next to Darth Vader and Captain America.
 

Taiso

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I'd argue pretty hard that in a world like the one from TWD, survivors will be able to do better with two hands than one:

Setting traps
Using crowbars/prybars
reolading guns
Construction
Hunting
Defending one's self

I think it's wrong to say 'Rick hasn't needed two hands.' I think it's more fair to say 'Rick hasn't been put in a situation where he needed two hands.' And that is because Kirkman has to keep him out of those situations and put other characters in them. No matter how you want to look at it, having to keep a character out of a scenario at the risk of losing him when you have plans for him is a narrative obstacle. Every time he wants to write for Rick, he has to either keep him out of certain dangers or he has to just pull the trigger and off him.

So I'd disagree that Rick doesn't need two hands to have more narrative opportunities. Kirkman writes the damn book. He knows all the times he's had to change his ideas because Rick only has one hand, and I'd bet they're considerable.
 
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Comrade Porn King Mikhail

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So I'd disagree that Rick doesn't need two hands to have more narrative opportunities. Kirkman writes the damn book. He knows all the times he's had to change his ideas because Rick only has one hand, and I'd bet they're considerable.

No argument that survivors will do better with two hands rather than one, or any other physical disability. Likewise, yes there would be story directions Kirkman couldn't choose due to a disability, ones that haven't been shown to us. But he did choose this disability and gave us the first look of true evil in the world. Everything else that followed, from Lori to Dale to Carl, starts with that first shock.

I realize that he has to keep Rick out of certain situations and write him a way that does not endanger him. But I would argue this is similar to other limitations imposed by the world. Whether its a lack of bullets, fresh produce, or gasoline (which should have gone bad by now), these limitations put constraints on the world he chose to write.

I suppose it's simply frustrating to hear that he wishes he hadn't chopped the hand off because it throws doubts on his intended plan for Rick through the rest of the series. Instead of saying "yes, this was an absolutely necessity that changed Rick's perspective and is a key part of his character arc", Kirkman is essentially dismissing this event as just another horror moment in the series and lessening the impact it's supposed to have on the character. At least that's how it feels to me.
 

Taiso

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Why would you read anything in to Kirkman's feelings about his regrets? To read that much into it is to make a prediction that you can't possibly know is true or false. That's just projecting your own fears, IMO. Kirkman may do the best work of his life in the next few years because of his plans or Rick. You can only justifiably have those feelings or apprehensions after the fact. Until then, just enjoy the ride (or don't) but don't start seeing Kirkman's regrets in everything that Rick says or does moving forward. Whether real or imagined, you'll just prevent yourself from liking the book if you have have a 'director's commentary' running in your head and overscrutinizing Kirkman's possible projections.
 

Comrade Porn King Mikhail

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Whether real or imagined, you'll just prevent yourself from liking the book if you have have a 'director's commentary' running in your head and overscrutinizing Kirkman's possible projections.

That's actually the reason I usually avoid movie director commentaries and avoid the letter columns.

Someone on the CGC forums just posted major spoiler pictures without any spoiler tags. I guess we can't even browse certain threads the day before the official street date for a book.
 

Taiso

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That's actually the reason I usually avoid movie director commentaries and avoid the letter columns.

Someone on the CGC forums just posted major spoiler pictures without any spoiler tags. I guess we can't even browse certain threads the day before the official street date for a book.

That really sucks. I'm good with people spoiling stuff in public forums as long as they tag it for the people that don't want to know.

I may have mentioned this one before, but if you haven't checked this out yet, I HIGHLY recommend you all read Wolfsmund, a manga being published in the US by Vertical.

It's a historical fiction manga that takes place in the 14th century and is, essentially, a fictionalized account of the story of William Tell's rebellion against the Hapsburgs of Austria. It speficically focuses on Albrecht Gessler's cruelty and why the Old Swiss Confederacy rose in rebellion against Austria. Gessler, in case you didn't know, is the baliff that famously forced William Tell to split the arrow on his son's head with a crossbow bolt.

The reason I'm giving it such a strong recommendation is because of the powerful storytelling and the visceral depiction of Gessler's cruelty, which is extremely creative and emotionally exhausting. I don't want to spoil anything for anybody so I won't give any details. This is the kind of story that is best not spoiled-it works best when you're on the edge of your seat wondering what happens next. Don't get comfortable here-that's not the best way to enjoy it.

It is a great mixture of western culture from an estern point of view. The familiar storytelling elements of seinen manga are fantastically integrated and even though you're aware you're reading a manga just from the way people talk to each other, the narrative is arresting and the characters are captivating. The intrigues are vicious and the violence is graphic and absolutely unflinching. Check it out. This is a work that deserves to be read by as many people as possible:

1935654756.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
 
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Taiso

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So, the All Out War story arc finally ended in The Walking Dead.

Wow. What a complete let down this arc was.

I've never just been flat out disappointed in The Walking Dead until now.

I am hoping the next arc redeems it. Very weak in my opinion.
 

SouthtownKid

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A picture of Wolverine standing with his claws out framed within a silhouette of Wolverine standing with his claws out. Oh yeah, that's not completely pointless. :rolleyes:

And what is Wolverine's levitating legless torso supposed to represent?
 

Coleridge

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Also, you guys ever talk about the vertigo shade, the changing man and sandman mystery theatre from the 90s? I go back and reread those books every few years. Great stuff.
 

Hot Chocolate

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So comixology aka Amazon has decided to remove the store from the app on the iphone/ipad( you now have to go to the website to look at comics you don't own or have in your wish list )

While still refusing to even fix the app on the kindle:hammer:
 

Hot Chocolate

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Got Adam Warren to sign my old copy of Titans: Scissors, Paper & Stone, damn '97 feels like a long ass time ago
Titans_zps166d2c74.jpg


Also chatted with Mikhail today in the flesh
 

Comrade Porn King Mikhail

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Also chatted with Mikhail today in the flesh

I confirm that Trey is real as well.

Picked up some Powers hardcovers at half off at the Big Wow Comic Fest. Hopefully this series is all its cracked up to be since Bendis has been pimping it lately on his Tumblr.
 

Hot Chocolate

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I confirm that Trey is real as well.

Picked up some Powers hardcovers at half off at the Big Wow Comic Fest. Hopefully this series is all its cracked up to be since Bendis has been pimping it lately on his Tumblr.


Was that at the vendor who had all tpbs 50% off?
 

Cylotron

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I'd have gone to Big Wow but live down here in San Diego & couldn't make it. I'm planning to go to Comic Fest this October though.
 

Taiso

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Been reading Vinland Saga:

vinland1-220x300.jpg

A historical fiction manga about vikings in the early 11th century. It takes place roughly 50 years before the Norman Conquest, and during the waning days of viking raiding.

This manga is fucking amazing. Just like Wolfsmund, I can't recommend it highly enough. Easily one of the highest quality comics I'm reading right now. I don't want to even talk about it because I'm afraid I'll spoil it. But it pulls no punches and holds nothing back. It's pretty goddamned awesome.
 

Hot Chocolate

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Sounds cool Taiso, been a minute since I've picked up a new manga series, I think the last one was..............Blue Exorcist I think

Any chance you've seen or read Rat Queens from Image?
 
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