What Am I Reading These Days?

I recently bought the Saga trades but haven't gotten around to reading them. I read the first issue and was not overly impressed but since it's Vaughn, I'm assuming it will read better in trade. I had a similar experience with one of his other books, the name is escaping me at the moment. BKV is a very talented guy. Hollywood did good by grabbing that guy while they could.

I'm reading the X-Books again for the first time in 10 years. I didn't expect to like it. I'm not Brian Michael Bendis's biggest fan on team books (eg: Avengers) but All-New X-Men and Uncanny are really good. Brian Wood is killing it on X-Men, but the existence of that book doesn't really make sense to me because most of the same characters are in Uncanny X-Force. Which leads me to Cable & X-Force. Why are there two X-Force books? It doesn't make sense. I can't get into X-Men Legacy though. Wolverine is good right now, as opposed to Savage Wolverine which I'm not reading. I just hate that they keep going back to "Wolverine lost his powers. Oh woe is me!" as a plot device. Uncanny Avengers is good, but I keep forgetting to read them. I really like Wolverine & The X-Men but read it in chunks. It reads better as arcs to me.

Hawkeye is probably my favorite book at the moment.

Daredevil and Daredevil: Dark Nights are really good. And while I'm on Mark Waid, The Indestructible Hulk is working for me. I started with the Walt Simonson issues and have kept reading.

Batman is phenomenal and the only New 52 DC book I'm buying. I'm digging the Year Zero arc.

The other Vertigo book I'm really digging is American Vampire. I read it in the hard covers. I like reading it in arcs but don't like waiting for the trades to come out.

Walking Dead is good. It reads better in arcs. I almost prefer to wait for the omnibus editions to come out. Otherwise you feel like the story never gets anywhere. I like The Shadow and Green Hornet. 

I'm liking these sci fi mini series that Byrne is doing over at IDW. Hellboy is great when it comes out. Satellite Sam seems fun one issue in. I have the second one and haven't read it yet. And Wasteland from Oni is really good, but I prefer to read it in trade.

The only other regular books I'm reading is Usagi Yojimbo and GI Joe: A Real American Hero.

Robert Kirkman: Invincible

When this book was first suggested to me - oh so many years ago, I immediately dismissed it as a poor purchase that I would have to force myself through. Oh, how wrong I was. After reading the first few trade paperback, I thought that Robert Kirkman would run out of material or that he had reached the peak of the series. Again, I was wrong.

I have never picked up the actual comic book, but I have collected each of the trade paperbacks, and while other trade paperbacks were not a must read - each one of these has been. I guess if I was going to define the series, it would be Peter Parker's life with Superman's powers. (There is even a redhead girl who has the hots for him.) However, the story keeps getting better. Dysfunctional father villain/hero. Boss who is a friend / villain.

The book maintains a great cast of supporting characters, which Kirkman is perfect at intermingling (just enough) to build on the story. There is a point to everything that happens, and once you realize that, you enjoy the down times as much as the battle scenes.

As for the pencils, Ryan Ottley is great. I actually have grown to appreciate his style and will have to follow-up with Robert on what other books he has worked on. (I don't keep up on that kind of stuff.)

If you haven't read one, pick it up. If you have read several, keep reading. This is what comic books are supposed to be about. Heroes, villains, and way too much drama.

Invincible Trade Paperbacks - Pull.