The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by vynsane »

anarky wrote:I meant he literally was like Wolverine. True, Blue out-badassed him by a country mile, but due in large part to the vorpal sword and the witching cloak. Bigby not only was a major badass in his own right, but he came up from being the runt of the litter, which is pretty sweet. There's also the minor issue of the Big Bad Wolf being a much more popular fairytale character than Little Boy Blue, making him pretty close to immortal.
oh, yeah, i know - it's just that it's cool that boy blue came out of nowhere as the badass
Two incredibly minor, minor things about Fables: first, I'm still not sure I quite get the point of the first Red Riding Hood duplicate. To provide intelligence about who escaped from the castle to the Mundy world? That would require the goblins to know who the hell she was, which is possible, but, even as the most logical explanation, doesn't quite cut it. That just puts an awful lot of faith in the goblins, which the Adversary and his human minions don't seem to have. The only other possibility is to endear herself to Blue on the off chance Blue escapes and a sorceress can pretend to be another duplicate centuries later, which puts a ridiculous amount to chance.
i don't remember this plot point all that vividly. i should re-read the series one of these days.
Second, much more minor, I wish there'd been more focus on Flycatcher during the period where Blue and Pinocchio left for the Homelands, when he was released from "servitude" by Beast. I think we got one scene of him that showed he was bunking with Cole, but that was it. Everything else came up in conversation between Rose and Beast later. A scene of him going to the comic shop by himself would've been especially emotional, done right.
what are you up to now? flycatcher gains more prominence in 'the future'.
JJ, I will definitely take into account that you recommend Preacher more highly than Sandman, given the praise you've heaped on Sandman in the past. (I still haven't caught up on that series.)
i never read sandman, but preacher was incredible.
Speaking of which, with Fables, there's the main series (still ongoing), Jack of Fables (ended with #50), 1001 Nights of Snow, at least two Cinderella spinoff miniseries (the first one in paperback, and the second either just started or soon to begin), and something called The Literals, which I can't find much on since I don't want to completely spoil it. Anything else?
'the literals' was a mini that was created during 'the great fables crossover' to tell part of that story. the two cinderella minis are her exploits as the superspy of the fables world, and yes, the second one is in the middle somewhere right now. jack of fables was awesome in a totally fourth-wall-breaking, insanity-laden way - it's probably the closest thing out there to the concept of aaron munchausen, and i'm glad it's over so it will give me a bit of time to avoid comparisons (if i ever get off my ass and get the chance to tell some munchausen yarns...)
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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vynsane wrote:what are you up to now? flycatcher gains more prominence in 'the future'.
The story I read last night had him donning Lancelot's armor, bringing the dead back to life, founding a new kingdom in the midst of the Empire, and destroying Gepetto's magic grove. Really, when is he going to amount to anything? ;)

I was actually referring just to that one time period. He seemed to be glossed over when Blue was in the Empire, and it seemed like a missed opportunity.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by anarky »

I must say, I did not expect the war to end the way it did. Wonder how the old Adversary will fare in Fabletown...? (Not asking for spoilers, mind you.)
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by anarky »

Thinking of taking advantage of the Amazon 4-for-3 deal. The only Vertigo (or similar) books I've found are the first volumes each of 100 Bullets, Fables, Scalped, and Ex Machina (technically Wildstorm, I know). I definitely want to have copies of Fables and 100 Bullets of my own (partly to monetarily reward the talented creators for their work, even if it's only a few cents, no matter how twisted some people might think that is) and Rollo's endlessly recommended Scalped. Anyone have an opinion on Ex Machina? It gets some nice reviews, so I figured it'd be worth a try.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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anarky wrote:Anyone have an opinion on Ex Machina? It gets some nice reviews, so I figured it'd be worth a try.
highly recommended. tony harris' art is so awesome and BKV is an amazing writer (also did 'y: the last man'). this is another one i need to go back and re-read now that it's all over and i can absorb the entire tapestry at once. i was buying it monthly, and it's so dense and disjunctive that i know i missed stuff.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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Good enough for me.

I used some Borders credit to order Jack of Fables volume 1 today. Should be here this weekend or early next week. Looks like I've got to burn through six volumes of that before Fables volume 14. Not that I'm complaining, though. ;)

I noticed that the new editions of Transmetropolitan appear to reprint the extra material in different order. I got the first one on someone's recommendation, but will have to keep that in mind (assuming I don't read it and say "this stinks!") and make sure to only get the new editions so I don't wind up missing anything.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by Rollo Tomassi »

I second Ex Machina. I have like the second half of the series basically, except for the final three issues, and its awesome. And I don't know if the 4 Specials are included in the Trades but there was one I read where the Mayor gives this great speech about people who wear masks (be they vigilantes, heroes, Klansmen, etc) that basically says anybody who covers their face in anonymity, their opinion means fuckall. It was amazing writing.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by anarky »

Just finished up 100 Bullets last night (staying up way too late to do so). I thought it ended on a bit of a whimper, to be honest.

The final story arc reminded me quite a bit of the last season of The Sopranos in that there's a massive, somewhat rushed, body count, and an ambiguous ending.

Throwing Slaughter into the mix, as yet another assassin connected to the Trust and looking way too much like the others, didn't make the already overcomplicated chore of keeping all these Minutemen straight. Way too many characters who look alike and don't have too many defining characteristics. I'm sure that was partly the point, but when they're all on different sides and allegiances change every three pages or so, it's tough to follow it.

Didn't mind the ambiguous ending. Did Dizzy shoot Graves? Was she going to? Did she die? Was Graves making a power grab all along, or trying to bring down the Trust from within? I rather liked that it didn't answer any of these questions and left them up to the reader.

I was rather annoyed that it never addressed what the deal was with the damned painting after only, what, 80 issues of buildup.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by Rollo Tomassi »

The reason I didn't like it after only reading the last ten issues was that none of the characters seemed to have any redeeming qualities. At least, none enough to make me want to go back and read the first 90 issues.

As far as the ending...I thought it was pretty clear that nobody got out alive. I guess the moral being that karma sorts you out in the end. So both characters in the last page are dying or dead. Thats how I read it anyway.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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I figured Dizzy shot Graves in the head immediately after the last panel. He put her in charge of the Minutemen when he was given a house, but obligated her to kill him by striking against the other heads of houses. And she's obviously dying. So the Trust died that evening, and it's up to us to figure out what comes next in a US not secretly under the control of the Trust for the first time. The only person left alive was Loop Hughes, IIRC, who decided to call it quits on the whole mess.

Like I said, the brushing off of the mysterious painting really bugged me. It'd been a major MacGuffin for ages.


I would recommend reading some of the earlier stuff, though. Graves, Dizzy, Loop, and Branch (who's dead by the time you came into the picture, IIRC) are much more sympathetic early on.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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Jack of Fables Vol. 1 was quite good. I just placed an order for Vol. 2. I'd read several comments along the lines of "just because you like Fables, don't count on liking Jack of Fables." Admittedly, Jack's probably my least favorite Fable, but even Jack is still better than most characters out there. I'd also seen complaints about the writing, that maybe Willingham wasn't doing as much as he should to slap his name on it, but I saw no issues whatsoever with the story.

Love the way every flashback is wrong (Jack making out with Snow! Ha!) and how the "next issue" teases are almost entirely bullshit. Unless he somehow solved the Brazilian financial crisis off-panel. :lol:
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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So I've read all the Fables books they have at the library (up through Volume 13, The Great Fables Crossover). The Dark Ages is, well, dark. Really dark, and not because of Mister Dark. Didn't expect Blue to die, and I'd be lying if I said I'm not hoping they get access to the lost rooms in Fabletown soon. (I didn't realize until TGFC that Bufkin was still in the business office, all by himself.)

TGFC... mixed thoughts. It seemed to be forcing the very different tone of Jack of Fables into the main book, and the Literals miniseries only existed to add three extra chapters. It seems like it could've been done in four months rather than three, trimming a bit of the fat from the story. It's almost like the folks at DC knew people wouldn't keep up with it for that long and threw in the extra three issues of the miniseries. It's not a bad story, but it just seemed like such an intrusion on Fables to clear up what was clearly a Jack of Fables story--too metatextual for Fables, and they need to get back to this Mister Dark issue. And, again, Jack is an unlikeable shit in Fables, even when he's doing the same things that make him fun in his own book. They're just too tonally different at this point.

I'm kinda spoilerized on a lot of what will happen in the next five volumes of Jack now, I guess. No big deal.

The blue ox is pretty amusing. I didn't know what was up with his thought bubbles at first, but the one where he's thinking about Snoopy was the best page in the whole crossover.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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Interesting aside: in the afterword to Peter & Max, Willingham thanks the Heritage Foundation for the use of a house in Vermont. I thought that was odd. Looked it up, and, yeah, it's the same Heritage Foundation that makes Limbaugh look like a liberal. On DC's boards, there were actually idiots posting stuff like "I just found out he's a conservative and read this article he wrote and won't be reading any more of his work." The article in question was that superheroes aren't portrayed as good all the time anymore. On the opposite side of the aisle (mostly), I can't disagree with that. Maybe a bit of the nationalism he mixed in I can disagree with (I love my country, but nationalism is a scary thing that has historically gotten us concentration camps in more than one nation).

Just found that interesting. It's to me more a sign of professionalism that someone can hold extreme views and write something that's more universal. There might not be a gay couple anytime soon in Fables, but, eh, big deal. But I guess I'm supposed to not enjoy something by someone I disagree with, right?

If that's the case, why do I still have my Ted Nugent albums and have no plans to toss them, no matter how batshit insane ultra-right wing he is? Maybe I'm supposed to just lose on Guitar Hero because I refuse to play against the Nuge?

That's the biggest thing wrong with this country today. People just demonize everyone they disagree with. And, worse, refuse to see they're doing it and attribute that behavior to everyone they disagree with.
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

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anarky wrote:[...]it's the same Heritage Foundation that makes Limbaugh look like a liberal. On DC's boards, there were actually idiots posting stuff like "I just found out he's a conservative and read this article he wrote and won't be reading any more of his work."
yeah, i heard about his views a long time ago and it hasn't altered my enjoyment of the books i've read that he's written, because he doesn't preach a lot of them in his works.
If that's the case, why do I still have my Ted Nugent albums and have no plans to toss them, no matter how batshit insane ultra-right wing he is? Maybe I'm supposed to just lose on Guitar Hero because I refuse to play against the Nuge?
no, you have that wrong. you HAVE to play against him, because if you don't then there will never be gay marriage or gun control or abortions, ever!
That's the biggest thing wrong with this country today. People just demonize everyone they disagree with. And, worse, refuse to see they're doing it and attribute that behavior to everyone they disagree with.
yeah, i just read a blog article written by an ex-co-worker who has apparently had one devout troll commenting on his posts who keeps calling him a socialist because my ex-co-worker supports insurance regulation so that things like AIG will never happen again. :roll:
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Re: The all-purpose Vertigo thread

Post by anarky »

vynsane wrote:no, you have that wrong. you HAVE to play against him, because if you don't then there will never be gay marriage or gun control or abortions, ever!
Challenge accepted, Mr. Sane. :lol:

Truth is, I'd go to a Ted Nugent concert wearing an Obama t-shirt, except that everyone would misunderstand why I'm wearing it (or not care) and my life could be in danger. The man's insane political views are matched only by his dazzling "show-off" guitar work. (Though I'll admit in a heartbeat that I don't listen to his later stuff, because the guitar isn't nearly as cool on the little I've heard, and it's impossible to listen to his rants without something cool to actually capture the attention.)

It's totally off-topic, but go over the full career of Charlie Daniels sometime. He goes from a full-on hippie to a raging neo-con. It's actually pretty funny to listen to "Uneasy Rider" followed immediately by "Uneasy Rider '88." (The first is a classic, and the second is a dud, though the practically polar opposite political standpoints aren't the reason. The first deserves lots of spins. The second should probably be forgotten.)

Oh, and I should stop laughing at Kelsey Grammer and Airplane!, shouldn't I? :roll:
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