Every week Comic Book Daily asks the question and the crew (and special guests) give their answers; we’ll be doing this for 52 weeks. Tip of the hat goes to the gang at Scans Daily for the inspiration.
This Week’s Q: New/Old.. what’s the book you want to read/re-read this summer..
Ed Campbell (Blogger – Trust Me I Know What I’m Doing)
The Watchmen – I have been re-reading my way through my comic collection for the last couple months, but I am looking forward to reading The Watchmen again.
Kevin Boyd (Director of the illustrious Joe Shuster Awards Committee)
The book I most want to GET is the big Walt Simonson’s Thor: Artist’s Edition from IDW, but there’s not a lot of reading there LOL. So the book I am most looking forward to reading over a few lazy summer days has to be the just solicited massive Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus edition, those are some great comics by Byrne at his best, and it will be handy to have them all in a single volume that can be read under a tree by the water at the cottage. Plus I hope this will lead to a Byrne Alpha Flight Omnibus… but I guess the new book I am most looking forward to reading right now is Paying for It, by Chester Brown, which ships this week.
Peter DeCourcey (tumblr, friend to all mankind)
I’m actually reading the Walt Simonson’s Thor omnibus right now and am blown away by just how great it is. It’s really up there with Miller’s initial Daredevil run as being one of those “Oh so this is basically where the comic fans became the industry.”
I haven’t read much of Byrne FF but if they’re as beautifully recolored as the Walt Simonson omnibus, it’ll be must read.
Kevin: I agree Walt’s Thor is awesome, but the Artist’s Edition only reprints the original art for six issues, as opposed to the Omnibus, which I’m hesitant on because I already have the deluxe signed hardcover of the first Visionaries volume. I would put Miller’s DD, Byrne’s FF and Walt’s Thor on the same pedestal. They were really doing great things at Marvel in the early 80’s.
Peter: Really?
I have a hard time getting into Byrne, because his art doesn’t work for me. What is so amazing about his FF run? Re-reading his and Claremont’s X-Men was painful. It’s almost instantly dated and hit or miss from issue to issue. Seriously, the Dark Phoenix saga was a huge let down of BDSM imagery and twelve inch caption boxes.
Yet, I’ve heard that his FF run is pretty good.. except for his treatment of Sue. I’ll definitely get the omnibus on your recommendations… but if you let me down…
Kevin: I LOVE Byrne’s FF run. In some ways he outdoes Lee and Kirby. I’m interested to read what you think of it when you do get it. First time I’ve heard of anyone complain about his treatment of Sue. 232-268 are particularly excellent.
Chris Howard: I wonder if much of the appeal of those Byrne runs is nostalgia. We look back at them with our memory of them and not objectively.
Scott: I believe that’s why people take time out during the summer and it’s reduced comic release schedule to go back, re-read and enjoy past classics. Hence this week’s 52Q!
Ryan O’Reilly (writer and artist of I Was A Hero)
This may sound weird, but I have really been meaning to read Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” again, every time I read it, my passion for comics is renewed!!
Not tying to jump on the bandwagon, but I am reading Walt’s run on Thor, starting from #337.I am kicking myself for not paying attention to Mr. Simonson’s amazing skills at an earlier age! When I first started reading comics I was mainly reading Spider-Man and X-Men, my brother read Thor and Hulk. Yes, we were Marvel kids. I remember really enjoying issues #363-#366, Loki turned Thor into a frog!
….thank you Walt!
Chris Howard (From Egesta Comics, one of the masterminds behind the fan favourite webcomic series Dressed For Success)
As to what I’m looking forward to reading this summer, I’ll likely still be trying to work my way through my TCAF haul. Beyond that I’d like to finish both Pluto and Monster and maybe tackle Y The Last Man.
Andrew Ardizzi (Roving reporter for CBD and student of journalism at Humber. He writes for the Humber Et Cetera. You can find him at his blog Come Gather ’round People Wherever You Roam.)
I have a few books I want to read from my library. I suppose as far as new books go I need to get caught up on Booster Gold. After this week’s release I may be about 8 or 9 issues behind. As for older books, I haven’t read V for Vendetta in some time and would like to. I also have a pile of old Gambit comics I haven’t read through yet, but may just start reading through all my Daredevil books to relive to the glory days. Despite what many people say about Shadowland, I liked it. Other than that, I’ve been pining to read some more Hellblazer too, so who knows.
Y The Last Man is a great read, you’ll enjoy it.
Speaking of which, I need to read Vaughan’s Ex Machina too. I have the first two volumes and just haven’t had time to read them.
Anthony Falcone (Writer of Whosoever Holds This Hammer)
As many of you know, my comic collection is quite small. All my issues fit into a short box, and all my trade paperbacks fit on 2 shelves. As a result I am forever re-reading stuff to see if I need to keep or sell it. Every year I read Sandman, Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Transmetropolitan and The Long Halloween.
This summer I’ll re-read Reinventing Comics, Avengers Disassembled Thor, and From Hell.
My new reads include Y The Last Man and Ex Machina. And that is a little journey into the mind of Anthony.
And Pete, besmirching the good name of the Dark Phoenix Saga? For shame sir, for shame.
Scott VanderPloeg (Editor In Chief, PITA to all CBD contributors)
This summer I plan to work through The Spirit Archives volumes 11-20; took advantage of DC’s Archives clearance. I’ve read this is Eisner’s best work: post war and in his prime.
Peter… “instantly dated”? Wouldn’t this be the case with most books that are 30 years old? Back then artists had to conform to a house style which meant guys like Ramos, possibly Bachalo (who’s work I adore) would probably have been rejected by Marvel and DC. Byrne may have been the golden boy of the 80s but I think his art could still hold it’s own today if he cared enough to make the effort. Byrne’s problem is that he’s classically trained and wont budge from his purist attitude.
Byrnes FF run was controversial in that he made a lot changes that weren’t popular with the fans. I’m mean, Johnnys GF becomes the herald of Galactus then he gets it on with Ben’s GF Alicia? But I agree with the comment about Sue… I remember Marvel had a contest running at one point where fans could vote on her hair style. Byrne was always experimenting with her and in the end it became clear that she was actually the most powerful member of the team.
One of my fav from the series was #247… a direct response to #200 where the FF helped Zorba defeat Doom. Byrne skew this story and made Zorba the villain and Doom reclaimed Latveria. I didn’t like this idea of changing what had happened but I have to admit that it was done well. Byrne has a habit of tinkering with the past, even as far back as the golden age…
I picked up a pile of Byrne books the other day from the $1 bins… Marvel Fanfare #29, Babe from Dark Horse, Aliens and Critical Error which I’m looking forward to reading.
I have a large stack of the “Savage Sword of Conan” trade paperbacks I’m going to plow through (in preparation of the movie this summer!)
I started reading Walt Simonson’s Thor Omnibus this week. THIS IS AN AMAZING COLLECTION. The artwork is beautiful. I am glad I am reading it in the collected edition, because of the quality of the paper and picture quality. If I read these stories now from 1983, I know the page quality would be poor and I may not enjoy it enough.
I have become a big Beta Ray Bill fan after reading the omnibus.
You should pick this up. It is a good starting point if you want to become a Thor fan.