The Comic Book Pile:Summer 2012

***Note***
This is an unpublished blog post from 2012. Not sure why I never posted it, it was interesting to see how much has changed in 6 years. I've inserted some updated comments.
- Chris Sept 25th 2018
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2012: (2018)

I am currently blogging while on my vacation in Fairview, Alberta. The family and I are visiting my Grandparents-in-law. (Sadly we did not make our annual trip to Fairview in 2018)
We are having a blast as always. But onto the blogging:

 

As you no doubt know I am a huge comic book fan. I order most of my comics on line from a company out of Quebec called 'Comic Pull' (I no longer order comics through Comic Pull. I get my comic books digitally from comixology and I order trades from Amazon) . I also have a 'pull list' at the 'Comic King' comic book store in West Edmonton Mall (Which has now been closed for probably 2-3 years. The last owner was a bone head and not a comic book fan and had no clue how to stay in business. I really did not like him and I am glad to see his business fail, although I am sad to see no comic book store in the mall. I have a lot of fond memories of WEM Comic King as it was my first comic book store).

I read a lot of comics in a month so I've decided to do a quarterly update segment where I tell you what I feel is the best of what I read (I never kept up with that nor do I want to do that now...lol). Some titles will not change from month to month because my favourite titles are pretty solid, but I'll try and include something different. If your thinking about picking up some comic books to try I hope this segment will help. in my opinion this truly is a great time to be reading comics.  

 

Top 10 Comic Books (In my opinion)

 

1- Batman (DC). Best written and drawn book out there!! (Still good with Tom King currently writing it)

2- Invincible (Image). Created and written by Robert Kirkman (creator of 'The Walking Dead' comic and TV show) (Sadly this book ended earlier this year but still worth checking out)

3- Daredevil (Marvel). Written by the great Mark Waid. This book is a lot of fun. (Waid no longer writing and I stopped reading it)

4- Fantastic Four (Marvel Comics). Jonathan Hickman is a great writer and this is a fun thinking man's comic book. (Hickman no longer writing and it just relaunched with Dan Slott writing after a 3 year hiatus of the title. So far it is good) 

5- Earth Two (DC) Still a new title but this is a great read by James Robinson (Starman) (No longer being made)

6- FF (Marvel) This is the sister book to the Fantastic Four and is written by Hickman. Fun book. (No longer being made)

7- Saga (Image) Written by Brian K. Vaughan this is a cool sci-fi comic book. Romeo & Juliet-ish it is. (No longer reading. got very boring)

8- Justice League (DC) Written by Geoff Johns, art by the legend Jim Lee. The back up 'Shazam' story is great too. (No longer reading. Johns no longer writing)

9- Aquaman (DC) Written by Geoff Johns. This really is a fun book to read and yes it is Aquaman. (No longer reading. Johns no longer writing)

10- Flash (DC) I was a fan of the Flash but with the relaunch of the 'New 52' this book got really good. (No longer reading. Got boring and redundant in my opinion)

 

Mentions: Swamp Thing (DC)(No longer reading) , Secret (Image) (No longer being made), Action Comics (DC), Hulk (Marvel)(No longer reading) , Batman Incorporated (DC)(No longer being made) .

 

Trade I'm reading: Starman Omnibus 1, paperback from DC comics. Reprinting this series from the 90's written by James Robinson (Earth Two). this is a fun book to read. the art is not the best but it suits the story I think.

  

See you in the fall for more of 'The Comic Book Pile'!! (No you won't)
(But more blogging goodness next week as always!)

The Comic Book Pile: Summer 2012

As you no doubt know I am a huge comic book fan. I order most of my comics on line from a company out of Quebec called 'Comic Pull'. I also have a 'pull list' at the 'Comic King' comic book store in West Edmonton Mall. I read a lot of comics in a month so I've decided to do a quarterly update segment where I tell you what I feel is the best of what I read. some titles will not change from month to month because my favourite titles are pretty solid, but I'll try and include something different. If your thinking about picking up some comic books to try I hope this segment will help. in my opinion this truly is a great time to be reading comics.  

 

Top 10 Comic Books (In my opinion)

 

1- Batman (DC). Best written and drawn book out there!!

2- Invincible (Image). Created and written by Robert Kirkman (creator of 'The Walking Dead' comic and TV show)

3- Daredevil (Marvel). Written by the great Mark Waid. This book is a lot of fun.

4- Fantastic Four (Marvel Comics). Jonathan Hickman is a great writer and this is a fun thinking man's comic book.

5- Earth Two (DC) Still a new title but this is a great read by James Robinson (Starman)

6- FF (Marvel) This is the sister book to the Fantastic Four and is written by Hickman. Fun book.

7- Saga (Image) Written by Brian K. Vaughan this is a cool sci-fi comic book. Romeo & Juliet-ish it is.

8- Justice League (DC) Written by Geoff Johns, art by the legend Jim Lee. The back up 'Shazam' story is great too.

9- Aquaman (DC) Written by Geoff Johns. This really is a fun book to read and yes it is Aquaman.

10- Flash (DC) I was a fan of the Flash but with the relaunch of the 'New 52' this book got really good.

 

Mentions: Swamp Thing (DC), Secret (Image), Action Comics (DC), Hulk (Marvel), Batman Incorporated (DC).

 

Trade I'm reading: Starman Omnibus 1, paperback from DC comics. Reprinting this series from the 90's written by James Robinson (Earth Two). this is a fun book to read. the art is not the best but it suits the story I think.

 

See you in the fall for 'The Comic Book Pile', but see you next week for more blogging goodness!

Beer Goggles: July 2012

Beer Goggles: July 2012   

 

As part of my 'Random Nerdness' Blog I have included a monthly update I am calling 'Beer Goggles' where I will share a brief outline on what I am drinking, reading, viewing and listening to for the month.

 

Beer: I am drinking some Rickards. I am a huge fan of the Red, but I decided to buy the sample pack and it included Rickards Dark, Blonde, White and Red. there really is nothing better than drinking a Rickards Red on tap. I also purchased some Sleeman's Cream Ale and Coors Light Iced T. 

 

Comics & Books: I am almost a year behind in reading 'Catwoman' and 'Supergirl' from DC Comics. I keep ordering it every month and the pile keeps on getting bigger so this month I intend to get caught up on the adventures of those fine women.

 

I bought the first 2 novels in Peter David's 'The Hidden Earth Chronicles' at the Calgary Expo, from Mr Peter David himself and I even had them autographed. I'm not a big fan of fantasy novels but given that this is written by Peter David it should be an enjoyable read. I had intended to start reading Book 1 in May, but I got busy with work and such so maybe this summer I'll get cracking.   

 In March I bought and continue to read the 'Compendium' of the comic book series 'The Walking Dead'. In March I finished the first trade and I was blown away by what I read and saw. I loved it so much I went out and ordered the first Compendium of this comic series, and I will buy the second one when it is released. Robert Kirkman is perhaps one of the greatest comic book writers in history!

 

Also a Trade I'm reading is the 'Starman Omnibus 1', paperback from DC comics. Reprinting this series from the 90's written by James Robinson (Earth Two). this is a fun book to read. the art is not the best but it suits the story I think.

Viewing: I'm still very much behind in my DC Animation viewing so this month I will be watching for the first time the 'Batman Year One', 'Wonder Woman' and 'Batman/Superman Public Enemies' DVD movies. DC has done an excellent job with their movies that I have already seen so I'm sure to be pleased. 

Listening: Having a long drive to work every workday I tend to do a lot of listening. 'The Atomic Geeks', 'Nerd Lunch' and 'Classic Film Jerks' are all great podcasts I love to listen to. Some other great podcasts I listen to are: 'Nerd Hurdles', 'Starbase 66', 'iFanboy', 'Comic Geek Speak' and 'I Sell Comics'. I've also downloaded some great audiobooks I hope to crack open this month: 'Bradbury 13', radio-like drama's about some of Ray Bradbury's classic sci-fi tales. Also 'World War Z: An Oral History Of The Zombie War'. I also have William Shatner's and Leonard Nimoy's autobiographies to listen to. 

 

Well that is all for July's 'Beer Goggles'.

 

Cheers!