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Superman Unchained

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Walt

superman_unchained_02In early 2013 or so, I recall a bit of personal excitement that had me ready to jump back into the Superman books…the prospect of a quasi “return” to there being several familiar titles each month. Superman and Action Comics were (and are, and remain) two “staples” of the New 52, and aren’t likely to disappear regardless of creative team turnover. There was the digital-first Adventures of Superman, and the pending Scott Snyder-takes-on-Superman fourth title, rumored at the time to be “Man of Steel” or such with the new movie on the immediate horizon.

The Snyder book wound up being Superman Unchained, and quickly soured me. I remember a fair bit of hubbub over the price point on the title–the first issue was $4.99, apparently super-priced due to the inclusion of a pull-out “poster” that would actually tie to the story. I got the issue, and was VERY disappointed with the so-called poster, as it was just some stupid, giant-sized “panel” of Superman crashing through a satellite. Nothing that couldn’t have simply been done as a “regular” double-page spread or such. It by no means needed a poster or pull-out or whatever, and was nothing “worth” putting on a wall or framing for the wall.

That the title was a $3.99 book–to my knowledge–combined with the frustration over the vastly over-hyped pull-out soured me. Add to it the slew of expensive variant covers and I didn’t even bother to pick up #2, accepting my loss on the first issue and moving on.

Flash ahead to present, and this “new series” had turned into a “limited series,” ran late, lost steam, etc. and generally fell off my radar.

But there’s a collected volume, a deluxe oversized hardcover…collecting the ENTIRE SERIES, the entire story into a single, nice-looking volume.

superman_unchained_01And while this would EASILY be a $50-$60 book (if not $75 just for the sheer heckuvit) from Marvel…from DC, Superman Unchained is a WHOPPING $29.99 cover price as an oversized hardcover. 9 issues, content from a Director’s Cut of #1, PLUS a cover gallery of all those too-many-to-count variants of the first six or so issues (presumably before the title ran late and lost steam and all that). 9 issues at $3.99 apiece would be $36ish. $37 for that first issue being an extra $1. Add another $4 for the Director’s Cut (I think it was actually $4.99 if not MORE, though) and we certainly hit the $40 mark. Heck, even at a mere $2.99/issue…9 issues and the director’s cut puts us squarely at $30 MINIMUM.

This book–oversized, hardcover, no ads, no wait between issues, no screwy over-hyped poster gimmick, everything in one volume–is $30.

I have yet to read the story itself…but it’s Snyder. It’s SUPERMAN. It’s A STORY, it’s significantly longer than the Earth One OGNs that I’m willing to buy despite the $20+ cover price. So it’s safe to say that yes…I’m happy with my purchase. The volume is seems a good value. I can’t imagine I’ll dislike the story enough to “ruin” having bought the book. Having followed Doomed earlier this year, I didn’t notice anything in that that was truly impacted by this story; nor have I seen anything else I’m consciously aware of that ties back to this.

So I get an epic-length self-contained Superman story and even if it sucks, it’s done in one at this point and I’m not going to be led into buying other titles or having to track anything down. Money well spent, and an impressive volume for the shelf. 

That I enjoyed paging through the cover gallery as much as I did almost warrants the purchase by itself.

This is truly an example of why I–by FAR–prefer the collected edition format to the single issues.

I don’t have to track down all the variants to get to ENJOY them, their very existence, seeing them with the logo/trade dress. Below, see (on the right-hand side) the “Superman Reborn” series of variants, reuniting classic ’90s Superman creators with the post-Death of Superman-era characters.

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Above: Covers from Superman Unchained #1…

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Above: Covers from Superman Unchained #2…

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Above: Covers from Superman Unchained #3…

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Above: Covers from Superman Unchained #4…

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Above: Covers from Superman Unchained #5…

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Above: Covers from Superman Unchained #6.

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The Weekly Haul – Week of December 3rd, 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Walt

This was a decent-ish week, if a bit clustered on the Valiant side…

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Three $1 books, three Valiants, and three DC weeklies.

Sadly enough I have a lot of catching up to do, so it was really hardly worth hitting the shop today, and I think I did so out of habit.

Three Valiant books in one week, in a five-Wednesday month…even without the extra week, if that were consistent it’d suggest 12 monthly books instead of 9ish. Perhaps this is the odd week, though.

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The Weekly Haul – Week of November 26, 2014

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Walt

Yet again, I notice how the three DC weeklies make every week a rather large week anymore…

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I’m quite disappointed to learn that the Gold Key books from Dynamite—Turok and Magnus, at least, if I recall–have turned out to be ending at #12. As such, at this point I’ll finish out these runs but probably let the titles go from there (though time and mood will tell in the new year).

While I’d prefer the TMNT stuff be spaced out rather than clumped…it’s definitely cool to get two official TMNT books in one week!

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I’ve liked the look of the Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years book, but wasn’t willing to pay $40 for it. At 70% off (~$12) it’s a steal. Invasion! and Millennium together cost about what 3 Marvel single issues would.

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And these Superman Chronicles volumes (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8) worked out to $4.50 apiece or about the same as a single Marvel issue, or cheaper than a single Annual/”special” issue. (Of course, now I “have to” track down volumes 3 & 7 likely closer to full price).

A HUGE week overall, but some great additions to the library, at a mere 30% of cover price. A bit of buyer’s remorse at first, but the more I look at stuff, and contemplate what others will be blowing on Black Friday stuff this week…this kind of WAS Black Friday for me, comics-wise.

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The Weekly Haul – Week of November 19, 2014

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Walt

This proved to be a rather large week yet again, with some clustering and an impulse purchase.

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Valiant has out what I believe is its first “original” thing since its return 2 1/2 years ago in Punk Mambo #0. Surprisingly enough in a way, the Dynamite Gold Key books keep coming out.

And I couldn’t resist the Magneto issue for that cover and the prospect of him dealing with his once-good-friend being dead and corrupted.

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Then of course the DC Weeklies, a random $1 issue, and Astro City (which I really need to catch up on my reading with!)

I also snagged a bunch of quarter-bin issues (first time in awhile that that actually gave me “buyer’s remorse”), but picked up most of a run of Supreme vol. 2 from Image’s early-days. Also picked up a bunch of X-Force issues that may or may not be duplicates, as I haven’t properly curated my list.

So nothing particularly amazing or special this  week; just a clustering of the Valiant and Gold Key stuff, and the THREE weeklies are starting to make every week rather large.

And the Magneto issue…irked me, on reading. But I’m planning on reviewing that “properly” so I’ll save my comments for there.

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The Weekly Haul – Week of November 5th, 2014

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Walt

Kicking off November with a decent haul this week!

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The latest Batman Essentials issue, this month chapter one of Year One. And of course, the three weeklies.

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Valiant and Gold Key books from…Valiant and Dynamite. Different flavors at this point, but same nostalgic motivation, even though Valiant already seems to have a better track record, and I’m embarrassingly far behind reading the Gold Key stuff. I’m still not sure whether or not to “trust” Dynamite to keep these titles around longer than a year or so…though they’ve been doing a pretty good job so far of keeping these timely!

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Along with the new stuff, I raided the quarter-bin for a mere 4 issues ($1)’s worth of stuff this week. I think the GI Joe issue brings me 1 issue closer to a complete Marvel run of the series. I’ve wanted to read the final chapter of the Spider-Man Clone Saga for far too many years to pass it up for a mere 25-cents. And I snagged the Prophet/Cable issue to go with my Cable collection.

I passed on a near-complete run of Supreme vol. 2…not wanting to hassle with “having to” track down isolated issues…plus already being quite “over budget” for the week not having expected the Gold Key issues.

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Acquiring Critical Mass (and TPB pricing)

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Walt

Usually, I’m not one for buying a tpb the week it comes out, nor for buying it at a shop instead of waiting to get it on Amazon or some other site or finding it at a used book store.

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But this volume is a bit of a milestone: it begins the collection of Paul Jenkins‘ run on the title–brand-new-to-collected-format material I have been interested in reading for well over a decade!

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I’ve been trying to keep up with these new editions, and fully intend a serious re-reading project at some point. Until then, though, I add to the shelf, while removing my older editions to make space for these numbered editions.

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This volume collects 13 issues, and while not the thickEST of the Hellblazer volumes in this new run, it’s still a very nicely-thick book. The best part is that despite that whopping issue-count…the cover price is STILL ONLY $19.99. And truthfully, I felt the need to buy this one in-store because so few volumes carry such a REASONABLE, respectable ratio of price-and-content.

I’ve no doubt that a Marvel volume of this size/this many issues would be at MINIMUM $34.99 if not $39.99. Of course, for Marvel, that’d be a “mere” $3/issue contained within as opposed to the seeming “standard” of $4-$5/issue contained.

This volume works out to about $1.54/issue…which is LESS THAN COVER PRICE for the individual issues it contains. Truly a benefit of the format, and a large part of what draws me in: the bargain of having en entire story or run of issues in a single volume…at a better price than the single issues. All the more as these issues are from the mid-1990s so nearly 20 years old and (at least in my experience) not the easiest to come by in bargain bins.

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These new editions are becoming a larger part of my overall Hellblazer library. With many of these replacing 2-3 prior volumes, I’m also liking how the collection is shaping up with the thicker volumes instead of a bunch of skinny little things.

I’d thought this 9th volume wasn’t going to replace anything, but then realized that the first issue of the collection–#84–wraps up the material reprinted in the Hellblazer: Rare Cuts volume. At the time, that volume had stuff that hadn’t previously been reprinted, but it was primarily from the earliest part of the series–and these editions have filled in the gaps that Rare Cuts had tried to fill.

With this volume carrying to #96, I figure volumes 10 & 11 will be completely “new” content to my collection, with Son of Man picking up at #129. With several months between volumes, that won’t be something to worry about until next year sometime.

What’s going to be particularly “interesting” to me is when (if?) these catch up to where I “joined in” around #160/161 or so; or just as much a few issues earlier with the start of Azzarello‘s run.

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Dropping a Comic Because of the Art

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Walt

I hesitantly checked out the first Johns/Romita Jr. issue of Superman this summer, and thought I’d give it a chance, even though I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the art. I figured it would grow on me.

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I’m done.

I’m interested in the STORY but while I may not be an artist myself, I know what I do and do not like, even if I can’t typically pinpoint it.

But this week, in the latest issue (#35) I pinpointed it in this particular case. Just within a couple pages, we have at least four different people in the darned costume with varying facial structure, visual definition, and necks!

I get that there are issues of “perspective” and “angles” and all sorts of other stuff that I–as Not-an-Artist–am not gonna “get” here.

But I obviously don’t like the visual style, don’t like the way Superman (in this example) is drawn, the inking/coloring can’t get past that, and I definitely don’t like Ulysses’ look (though that could be given a pass where Superman is a far more familiar character to me).

Johns has me for the story…but the art–for me–is just such a turnoff that I’m done. This isn’t some self-contained series like All-Star Superman was. This is simply THE Superman book, but the costume is just a costume to me, if the character isn’t recognizable facially.

Vote with my wallet, right?

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The Weekly Haul – Week of October 22nd, 2014

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Walt

Another week, another haul…

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Kinda “normalizing” a bit. Decided to try Predator: Fire and Stone #1 to give all 4 #1s a shot, though having realized they’re just all 4-issue minis, I figure I’ll wait for the 16-issue compendium/omnibus/whatever.

Giving DC a chance on all 3 weeklies, still…though I’m a bit iffy on World’s End. Already falling into the trap I did at the start with the other two in getting backed-up on several issues…though I suppose reading several issues at a time won’t be bad.

Continuing to quite enjoy Valiant, and TMNT, and Letter 44.

And as usual…quite a spread of titles/publishers…but clearly lacking in Marvel.

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The Weekly Haul – Week of October 15th, 2014

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Walt

While it could have been a small-ish week, this proved–yet again–to be another HUGE week, as far as my desires for a $10-$20 week are concerned.

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Turok and Magnus both out, as well as Unity and Q2: Quantum and Woody for Valiant, both TMNT books from IDW, and the DC weeklies. I’m far enough behind on Futures End that I let that stay behind, with the intent I’ll catch up next week. Not likely at this point to catch up on the reading, so…c’est la vie.

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And though I have several of them from the previous round of One Dollar Debut editions, snagged the various Valiant books. Store owner gave me the Valiant Universe Handbook free, and the others fell within my usual standing order of all $1/promo-priced books.

With the cover changes to the review blurbs, at least these are different-looking editions.

I usually despise variant covers…but these $1 editions I’ll let slide, BECAUSE they’re Valiant, and they’re not every-day editions.

The Action Philosophers is apparently the first chapter of a hardback due out next week…while it could be interesting, I’ve sorta had my eye on The Fifth Beatle for a bit, so if I buy anything from Dark Horse, that’s likely to be the one I go for.

Along with all these, I also picked up the “final” chapter of The Death of Wolverine, to read the thing for myself before various reviews and spoilers and such. I was rather disappointed, but at least that was my own thoughts/feelings without being “spoiled” on the “how” front.

$4.99 for a shiny cover…didn’t bother to count the pages, but seemed like very little story for the price, and unlike the recent DC 3D covers, this cover seemed to be an added element of the price, along with several pages as a “checklist” of the various variant covers for this miniseries.

I’ll just have to make darned sure I redeem the digital code so that part doesn’t go to “waste.”

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Batman Eternal…Together Finally

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Walt

While out with a friend for Free Comic Day 2014, I decided to pick up the first four issues of Batman Eternal provided the store actually had all 4. Just one month’s worth of a weekly book, and Batman at that, just for something to read.

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I’ve wound up keeping up with it, quite preferring it to some Zero Year thing and despite the shifting creative team, very much liking the frequency of the book–a new issue every week.

Well, at this point–26 issues in and the 27th out tomorrow–the book is just past its halfway point (I think I read that it’s a 48-issue thing, but even a full year–52 issues–26 is the half). And I think I’m on board for the long hault…not much point to just give up on it now, and I’m liking characters it’s involving and introduced.

And now for the first time in several months I finally gathered all the issues together and intend to keep the series together moving forward.

With the various one-shots last month, I also decided to catch up on Futures End–should finish catching up tomorrow–and I’m even entertaining the notion of checking out the Earth 2 weekly coming up soon. So long as they stay on the new issue racks, I might even pick off the rest of the Futures End Month one-shots just to have the complete epic when all’s said and done.

Time will certainly tell…

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