Is anyone here familiar with uncanny X-Men comics? I was thinking of buying the DVD with 485 Uncanny X-men comic book issues (comes with annuals and Giant X-Men as well), but I wanted to know if the comics are actually any good! I'm too young to have grown up with this stuff.
Me and my dad bought the spider-man box set and I really enjoy reading them. There are a lot of good issues in there. Should I buy the X-Men one as well? I've always liked the X-Men characters and how complicated the plotline got with everybody's backstory and all of those mutants all over the place.
I just wanted to know if anybody knows a lot about the comic series and if it's worth spending 50 bucks on! Thanks!
I need advice about X-Men comics!
I'm not much of an x-men fan, but those dvds are a pretty amazing deal, and even beats those big 'essential' collections that aren't in color. That said though, regardless of whatever way the medium goes, I'll still miss physically owning comics (versus reading them on a computer).
SHMUP sale page.Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
I like the X-Men, but if you get that collection, do yourself a favor and start with the Byrne/Claremont era (and the 'all-new, all-different X-men'). The early issues are good, but the focus of the book was rather different and IMHO those issues can't compare to other classic Marvel stuff like early Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer.
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.
I second the Byrne/Claremont comment from above. I collected for several years in the past and worked in a comic book store for a short time, and loved the Claremont X-men books. I think his run started around 130ish and lasted into the 200 somethigns, but his earlier work is excellent......the dark phoenix saga, the first brood issues, trial of Magneto, all great stuff........the character development from that era was incredible, and the stories were amazing too. I quit collecting when writing in comics got really lame, and when I picked up some current X-titles to see what was going on, they sucked. So I would recommend the DVD but just stick with the old stuff.....
And anyone who reads comics who hasn't read Alan Moore's Watchmen yet, shame on you!
And anyone who reads comics who hasn't read Alan Moore's Watchmen yet, shame on you!
Don't just dodge bullets, dance around them.
Overrated. Seriously. It's basically, entirely character driven but attempts to have an in depth plot anyway (which ends up being a real chore to follow), plus, there are all these secondary narrative tracks that aren't very interesting and get very tedious having to read.postman wrote:And anyone who reads comics who hasn't read Alan Moore's Watchmen yet, shame on you!
Sounds like the DVD is gonna be worth picking up!
Wow, somebody else also feels that Watchmen was pretty boring. I read it when they released the TPB and was incredibly disappointed that I couldn't relate to the events at all. Very gritty but it never touched me.Andi wrote: Overrated. Seriously. It's basically, entirely character driven but attempts to have an in depth plot anyway (which ends up being a real chore to follow), plus, there are all these secondary narrative tracks that aren't very interesting and get very tedious having to read.
And holy shit, I didn't know these Marvel DVD collections existed. I think I might buy a few. Are the scans high enough res?
Anyone that doesn't like Watchmen had most of it go over their heads. There is no other work of fiction that has a plot structure as tightly written as that series, it's really pretty incredible. I've read a long 60 page thesis on the series that points out all the small stuff that no one is likely to notice their first time through.
The use of the visual nature of comics with written text is fully realized here, for example, in the issue "Fearful Symmetry" that uses constant images of reflections and symmetrical images. Moore and Gibbons went so far as to make the entire issue itself symmetrical: the first page has the same panel layout as the last, the second page the same as the second to last, etc. until you get to the middle of the issue where you see the panels in full opposition.
In the issue they constantly alude to Rorschach's identity by having the newspaper man say things like "I bet there's all kinds of things we never notice" with the man who turns out to be Rorschach walking by in the background. Rorschach's alter ego is holding a sign and the newspaper says "Don't people read the signs? Don't they know where this is headed?"
There's a million instances of this and you'd never notice it otherwise because the story flows so well. Watchmen is unparalled in its use of the medium and there's really nothing else like it out there.
I would encourage anyone that didn't like it to go through it again with the 60 page annotations handy, it will completely change your mind. If anyone is interested I'll hook you up with a copy.
BTW, re: Uncanny X-Men. All superhero comics like this are pretty basic and not really worth it if you're older than 15. There's just nothing there. I actually have the first 60 issues of the series as well as most of the 80s and 90s stuff, so it's sort of fun to see how it developed. I have about 1100 comics from the 60s, including the first Spider Man, Fantastic Four, and whatever else was out at the time. That shit will get me a nice house someday.
The use of the visual nature of comics with written text is fully realized here, for example, in the issue "Fearful Symmetry" that uses constant images of reflections and symmetrical images. Moore and Gibbons went so far as to make the entire issue itself symmetrical: the first page has the same panel layout as the last, the second page the same as the second to last, etc. until you get to the middle of the issue where you see the panels in full opposition.
In the issue they constantly alude to Rorschach's identity by having the newspaper man say things like "I bet there's all kinds of things we never notice" with the man who turns out to be Rorschach walking by in the background. Rorschach's alter ego is holding a sign and the newspaper says "Don't people read the signs? Don't they know where this is headed?"
There's a million instances of this and you'd never notice it otherwise because the story flows so well. Watchmen is unparalled in its use of the medium and there's really nothing else like it out there.
I would encourage anyone that didn't like it to go through it again with the 60 page annotations handy, it will completely change your mind. If anyone is interested I'll hook you up with a copy.
BTW, re: Uncanny X-Men. All superhero comics like this are pretty basic and not really worth it if you're older than 15. There's just nothing there. I actually have the first 60 issues of the series as well as most of the 80s and 90s stuff, so it's sort of fun to see how it developed. I have about 1100 comics from the 60s, including the first Spider Man, Fantastic Four, and whatever else was out at the time. That shit will get me a nice house someday.
I enjoy my Spider-Man comics I have on CD and I'm 21 years old. Your opinions aren't fact.
This is amusing: -------- "Fearful Symmetry" that uses constant images of reflections and symmetrical images. Moore and Gibbons went so far as to make the entire issue itself symmetrical: the first page has the same panel layout as the last, the second page the same as the second to last, etc. until you get to the middle of the issue where you see the panels in full opposition.
That obviously makes the issue good, right?
I'm also in love with my chessboard.
EDIT: "There is no other work of fiction that has a plot structure as tightly written as that series"
Somehow I seriously doubt that!
This is amusing: -------- "Fearful Symmetry" that uses constant images of reflections and symmetrical images. Moore and Gibbons went so far as to make the entire issue itself symmetrical: the first page has the same panel layout as the last, the second page the same as the second to last, etc. until you get to the middle of the issue where you see the panels in full opposition.
That obviously makes the issue good, right?
I'm also in love with my chessboard.EDIT: "There is no other work of fiction that has a plot structure as tightly written as that series"
Somehow I seriously doubt that!
Yea and someone who takes Spider Man comics to be quality really knows what good writing is They've played that "with great power comes great responsibility" shit for 40 years as if it's something profound. I don't care if you enjoy them, but they're empty fiction, like Michael Crichton, Stephen King, or Tom Clancy. They're written by immature white boys for immature white boys.
I'd like to see you name one comic book that has gone so far to bring writing and images together as well as Watchmen. One. You're not going to find it. The focus of the series is to analyze the medium, from superhero cliches to how comics are actually structured and it's amazing how well they pulled it off, especially considering that the two never saw each other during the series creation. When was the last time they tried something of that scope in X-Men? Never. Marvel has no balls.
They've played that "with great power comes great responsibility" shit for 40 years as if it's something profound. I don't care if you enjoy them, but they're empty fiction, like Michael Crichton, Stephen King, or Tom Clancy. They're written by immature white boys for immature white boys.I'd like to see you name one comic book that has gone so far to bring writing and images together as well as Watchmen. One. You're not going to find it. The focus of the series is to analyze the medium, from superhero cliches to how comics are actually structured and it's amazing how well they pulled it off, especially considering that the two never saw each other during the series creation. When was the last time they tried something of that scope in X-Men? Never. Marvel has no balls.
Ronin for one, same with the earlier books for Blade of the Immortal. There are plenty of comic series and standalone stories on par with The Watchmen.NTSC-J wrote: I'd like to see you name one comic book that has gone so far to bring writing and images together as well as Watchmen.
I'd agree that Marvel has lost its balls but would never say that they didn't have them at some point. I mean look at their Epic line from the eighties and late seventies. Basically the last bastion of hard sci-fi that wasn't semi-porn like in Heavy Metal. Lots of cutting edge stuff.
Maybe some of us just have different standards of quality. For me, comics don't have to be super deep to be good. You don't have to be a 10 year old kid to enjoy Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, or even Disney Comics. There is more to comics than just plot. Well done action scenes, likable characters, and many other aspects can make comics enjoyable too.NTSC-J wrote:Yea and someone who takes Spider Man comics to be quality really knows what good writing is
I'd like to see you name one comic book that has gone so far to bring writing and images together as well as Watchmen. One. You're not going to find it. The focus of the series is to analyze the medium, from superhero cliches to how comics are actually structured and it's amazing how well they pulled it off, especially considering that the two never saw each other during the series creation. When was the last time they tried something of that scope in X-Men? Never. Marvel has no balls.
I haven't read Watchman, but I do know of a comic that is very deep and well done. Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
I've never read The Watchmen. I'd probably like it. I just don't like how you told everybody that if they didn't like it that they're stupid/immature/whatever.
I think the whole idea of peter parker getting dragged into being the reluctant hero is pretty cool. Just the idea of it is something we can all relate to. It doesn't have to be totally complicated and full of symbolism for me to like it. THere are some really shitty spider-man comics though. Aunt May's at death's door again, Spidey's costume got dirty, MJ is mad at him, and some 2-bit badguy is robbing a bank.
but there's a lot of good ones, too.
i dont know where i'm going with this. I'm sorry that Tom Defalco is an immature little white boy. Maybe he can go read a symmetrical comic book and his balls will drop and he'll change enthnicity.
I think the whole idea of peter parker getting dragged into being the reluctant hero is pretty cool. Just the idea of it is something we can all relate to. It doesn't have to be totally complicated and full of symbolism for me to like it. THere are some really shitty spider-man comics though. Aunt May's at death's door again, Spidey's costume got dirty, MJ is mad at him, and some 2-bit badguy is robbing a bank.
but there's a lot of good ones, too.
i dont know where i'm going with this. I'm sorry that Tom Defalco is an immature little white boy. Maybe he can go read a symmetrical comic book and his balls will drop and he'll change enthnicity.
J is right. About everything.
My advice about the X-Men? If you've never read them before, are over the age of fourteen and have done anything interesting with your own life, they're gonna get stupid fast.
This is coming from a guy who absolutely LIVED on the X-Men from the age of 6-13. There was nothing better. But then they had to start killing characters and all that stupid cliche shit they started doing at Marvel (across the board, not just in X-Men) with heinous crossovering to sell more books and I realized that it was retarded and that Marvel indeed has no balls.
Now, for the sake of Nostalgia I can read anything from #1 up to somewhere like in the 170s or so and enjoy it. After that, it's pure garbage. And honestly, if I hadn't been so devout in my youth, I'd surely dislike the early ones too. Lord knows I can't read any of the other Marvel schlock that seemed so poignant in my sheltered youth.
If you need any more advice about comics that feature actual depth and can be painlessly read by intelligent adults I'd ask NTSC-J.
Pa
My advice about the X-Men? If you've never read them before, are over the age of fourteen and have done anything interesting with your own life, they're gonna get stupid fast.
This is coming from a guy who absolutely LIVED on the X-Men from the age of 6-13. There was nothing better. But then they had to start killing characters and all that stupid cliche shit they started doing at Marvel (across the board, not just in X-Men) with heinous crossovering to sell more books and I realized that it was retarded and that Marvel indeed has no balls.
Now, for the sake of Nostalgia I can read anything from #1 up to somewhere like in the 170s or so and enjoy it. After that, it's pure garbage. And honestly, if I hadn't been so devout in my youth, I'd surely dislike the early ones too. Lord knows I can't read any of the other Marvel schlock that seemed so poignant in my sheltered youth.
If you need any more advice about comics that feature actual depth and can be painlessly read by intelligent adults I'd ask NTSC-J.
Pa
God damn PaCrappa, you remind me of when I stopped reading X-Men/Marvel comics in general. It was in the eaerly three hundreds and up or so (ironic since I think the issues leading up to that are some of the best the franchise has produced), they spent like two years of comics moping around the mansion talking about how life is unfair and how ______ character died instead of doing having any of the cool futuristic action stories that made the comics fun in the first place.
NTSC-J: I could argue that you didn't get all of Ronin if you don't think it's in the same league as Watchmen, I respect both books a lot (even if I do think Watchmen is vastly overrated).
Blade of the Immortal, I don't know, I feel so immersed in it I can't even explain it.
Berserk is all around fantastic. Something for everyone in there.
NTSC-J: I could argue that you didn't get all of Ronin if you don't think it's in the same league as Watchmen, I respect both books a lot (even if I do think Watchmen is vastly overrated).
Blade of the Immortal, I don't know, I feel so immersed in it I can't even explain it.
Berserk is all around fantastic. Something for everyone in there.
My interest has been piqued. Is this a good versionof Watchmen to get? Also, I wouldn't mind getting a copy of that thesis, Kane... erh, NTSC-J.
Are there any other graphical novels worth a look at? I'd heard good things about The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale. Although I suppose that might not be the same type of graphical novel.
Are there any other graphical novels worth a look at? I'd heard good things about The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale. Although I suppose that might not be the same type of graphical novel.