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Topic: So... what are we currently reading? (Read 14457 times) |
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TurkeyMoose
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #660 on: Mar 18th, 2012, 02:26am » |
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Time for another update on my chronological readings. This installment features some of the most significant turning points in the history of the DC Universe! Here we go...
The New Teen Titans #33-34 - Starfire goes to Wayne Manor to find Dick but is informed by Alfred that Dick is no longer living there. Donna Troy accepts Terry Long's marriage proposal. It is revealed to the reader that Terra is secretly working with Deathstroke.
The New Teen Titans Annual #2 (1983) - Adrian Chase becomes the Vigilante. First appearance of Cheshire.
Batman #362
Justice League of America #217
Batman and the Outsiders #1-2 - Batman has a falling out with Superman and Wonder Woman and officially resigns from the Justice League of America. He then assembles a new team of misfit superheroes called the Outsiders. The group consists of Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce), Metamorpho (Rex Mason), Geo-Force (Brion Markov), Katana (Tatsu Yamashiro), and Halo (Gabrielle Doe).
The New Teen Titans #35
Batman and the Outsiders #3 - Batman sets up his old penthouse as the headquarters of the Outsiders.
The Brave and the Bold #200
The New Teen Titans #36
Batman and the Outsiders #4 - The Outsiders continue getting to know each other and learning to work as a team.
JLA: Incarnations #4 - The legendary Justice League Satellite is permanently destroyed, marking the end of an era in JLA history. The team officially disbands for the first time since its inception and is subsequently reformed with a new roster and a new headquarters in Detroit.
The New Teen Titans #37 - The Titans meet the Outsiders. It is revealed that Terra and Geo-Force are half-siblings. Robin tells Batman that he wants to end their partnership. The two teams get together to battle the Fearsome Five. Continued in the following issue of Batman and the Ousiders...
Batman and the Ousiders #5 - Continued from previous issue of The New Teen Titans. Batman and Robin continue to have problems with one another, but in the end, Batman compliments Robin on his leadership of the Titans and the two shake hands.
The New Teen Titans #38 - "Who Is Donna Troy?" - Classic emotional issue in which Robin helps Wonder Girl finally discover her origin.
Batman and the Outsiders #6-7
Batman #408-409 - "Did Robin Die Tonight?" - Robin is shot in the shoulder during a fight with the Joker and Batman decides to sideline him. Later, Batman makes his annual visit to Crime Alley on the anniversary of his parents' deaths there. A homeless orphan boy named Jason Todd steals the tires from the Batmobile. Batman enrolls him in a school for boys but it turns out that the old lady who runs it is secretly teaching the kids to be criminals. Jason helps Batman take down the school and Batman takes him home.
The New Teen Titans #39 - Dick Grayson works his last mission with the Teen Titans as Robin. He then announces that he will no longer be Robin and is taking a leave of absence from the team, leaving Wonder Girl in charge. Kid Flash (Wally West) announces that he is leaving the team permanently.
Nightwing: Year One - Batman fires Dick Grayson from being Robin once and for all. Dick travels to Metropolis to speak with Superman, who tells him the legend of an ancient Kryptonian hero whose name translates as "Nightwing". Dick takes that as his new superhero name and sets out on an adventure, first visiting his old circus and encountering Deadman, who was actually spying on Dick for Batman. Dick then decides to return to Gotham City and encounters Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, and the new Robin trainee, Jason Todd, who helps him take down the new criminal known as Killer Croc. Alfred sends Dick a new costume.
Batman #410-411 - Jason Todd officially becomes the second Robin.
The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract - Collects issues of The New Teen Titans #39-44 and The New Teen Titans Annual #3 (1984). Dick Grayson introduces his new Nightwing persona and returns to the Titans. Deathstroke's son Jericho (Joseph Wilson) becomes a member of the team. Terra betrays the Titans and then causes her own death in a violent, insane frenzy. Note: The title of the series is changed to "Tales of the Teen Titans" at issue #41.
Batman #416 - Nightwing confronts Batman in the Batcave and they speak for the first time since Dick became Nightwing.
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TheMidnighter
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #661 on: Mar 19th, 2012, 07:11am » |
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I've read the four Definitive Editions for Queen & Country. It is an espionage book that shows a lot of realism. All except one chapter were written by Greg Rucka. Every mission is pencilled by another artist. The series depicts a set of three special operatives for the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).
The series conveys the intricacies of Special Operations very well. Almost nothing in this series seems farfetched (except when an agent just happens to know the daughter of the client they help, did I think to myself that that was a bit too convenient and improbable) and that helps with drawing you into this realistic and real world.
The realism of the world (e.g., dialogue, interactions, politics, mannerisms) can conflict with some of the artists that are featured. The very first artist is also the most cartoony of the series so, whilst that made it a bit difficult for me to get into it, if you can manage the first mission/story arc, you will do fine.
I enjoyed this series a lot and recommend it to anyone that likes realistic espionage.
(I actually read the first Definitive Edition and half of the second more than a year ago. With the sun shining bright these past few days my balcony called out for a good read so I sat down and read all of them.)
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Nick
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #662 on: Mar 28th, 2012, 12:48am » |
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I'm not certain why, but all I know is that I really don't like Fabian Nicieza's Tim Drake.
I really liked Robin Post OYL later under Adam Beechen. I liked the brief return of Chuck Dixon fine. But I really didn't enjoy the Nicieza issues that tied in with RIP and then the Search For A Hero run. By the end of that storyline I didn't like Tim Drake anymore. At all!
Then came Red Robin. Chris Yost wrote Drake as a complete Dick, but he was charismatic and likable despite his anger. I thoroughly enjoyed both of Yost's Red Robin TPBs. I've always hated Ra's Al Ghul as a character, but I truly believe Yost's Red Robin run were a shining example of the only time I think the character has been put to good use. I genuinely enjoyed both TPBs (particularly the second), which came as great surprise.
But then Nicieza returned. I didn't really like Hit List, and I just read 7 Days Of Death and didn't like that either. Both books had moments I enjoyed, particuarly in the latter where Dick flies about and Tim just stands there in awe. But for the most part Tim is back to being simply unlikable again. And there is just something about Nicieza's plots I just find really dull. Search For A Hero was tedious, and so was all this overly long stuff about the 'Unternet' in 7 Days Of Death. This virtual reality idea was more successfully explored in Oracle: The Cure, and especially Batman INC.
Even the very final issue that was sceaming with potential awesomeness ended up being a whimpering non-event.
I find Fabian Nicieza's Tim Drake unlikable and his stories boring, I'm just not entirely sure why.
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| « Last Edit: Mar 28th, 2012, 12:51am by Nick » |
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Nick
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #663 on: Apr 11th, 2012, 11:33am » |
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I don't know why, but I was really looking forward to Gotham Shall Be Judged. I think it largely boils down to the savouring of any Grayson Batman books that are not written by Tony Daniel that I have not yet read - epecially ones with both Wayne/Grayson Batmen working together and the amazing wasted Incorporated costume that Bruce wore for those precious few months.
David Hine has only let me down once (Batman: Imposters), but aside from that I think I have enjoyed all of his work, I really loved his Arkham Asylum stuff in the Batman Reborn period. Nonetheless, I was genuinely surprised just how much I enjoyed his Azrael issues!
I'm sorry Fabian Nicieza, first I dislike your Robin and Red Robin work, but I don't like your Azrael work either. I read the first Azrael TPB last year, didn't like it. I read the second last week, it was a huge improvement, but I still found it largely dull and unimportant.
But David Hine's Azrael just felt so much more organic, deep, and maturely written. It has a sort of poetic quality akin to Morrison that is lacking from Nicieza's work. To make matters even better, I really liked the Cliff Richards' art! Ramon Bachs' (of City Of Crime infamy) art is just so thick it is hard to make out detail. But Richards' art really fit the tone of the book, and his scenes of the two Batmen together were especially good.
Once we reached the crossover issues of Batman/Sirens/Red Robin it all got a bit disappointing and the climax was an extreme anti-climax. But then, this seemed to have been rushed through just to get a resolution before the Reboot when there were much bigger stories going on for all the characters involved. But despite the predicted disappointment of the finale, the build-up was a very pleasant surprise.
Not a great book, and if you skip the Azrael TPBs there is no reason to get this either because aside from some terrible faux-resolution for Maggie Kyle, this book impacts nothing in the greater Pre-Reboot Continuity. But as irrelevant as the content is, it still wins out over the Reboot any day.
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TurkeyMoose
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #664 on: Jun 12th, 2012, 11:14pm » |
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Hey! It's been a while since I've updated my timeline of the old DC Universe. I've been rather distracted these past few months with work and a new girlfriend and I just haven't been reading or thinking about my comics as much. I've only read like two issues in the past two months but I do have a few things that I read in the few weeks prior to that, just after I made my last update. I'll go ahead and list those items now. We left off just after Dick became Nightwing. Now we continue...
Batman and the Outsiders #8-10 - The Phantom Stranger makes an appearance.
Batman Special #1 (1984) - "The Player on the Other Side" - Batman encounters The Wrath.
Batman and the Outsiders #11-13 - Batman reveals his secret identity to the Outsiders.
Batman and the Outsiders Annual #1 (1984) - Batman tells Geo-Force the truth about how his sister Terra betrayed the Teen Titans. The other Outsiders give him a new uniform.
Batman and the Outsiders #14-15 - The Outsiders battle Maxie Zeus. There is sexual tension between Geo-Force and Halo.
Tales of the Teen Titans #45-50 - The Titans finally eliminate the H.I.V.E. Donna Troy marries Terry Long in a lavish ceremony attended by pretty much everyone. Bruce and Dick speak at the reception and Bruce tells Dick that he is proud of him.
Batman and the Outsiders #16-20 - Halo discovers her true identity (or so she thinks). Superman makes an appearance.
Tales of the Teen Titans #51-55 - Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) goes on trial for his crimes but he is acquitted due to lack of evidence. Changeling then confronts him alone and wants to kill him but Slade refuses to fight him and they end up having coffee together and talking it out. After a deep conversation, Changeling realizes that Slade was not as bad of a villain as they thought he was. Slade tells him that he is leaving the country and that their paths will not cross again.
Batman and the Outsiders #21-23 - Batman and the Outsiders visit the ruins of the JLA Satellite. Halo finally discovers her true origin as an ancient energy being that inhabited the dead body of a woman named Violet Harper.
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TurkeyMoose
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #665 on: Jul 30th, 2012, 8:40pm » |
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Here I am again with another update of what I've been reading in my chronological trip through the (real) DC Universe. This is the big one. I have finally crossed the threshold of the Crisis!
Batman Annual #9 (1985)
Batman #386 - Roman Sionis becomes Black Mask.
Detective Comics #553 - "The False Face Society of Gotham"
Batman #387 - Roman Sionis' ebony mask is permanently burned onto his face.
Detective Comics #554 - Black Canary begins wearing a new outfit.
Tales of the Teen Titans #56-58 - The Titans battles the Fearsome Five. Cyborg attempts get new life-like prosthetic body parts to look more human but his body rejects them. Psimon of the Fearsome Five is taken by the Monitor, who states that there will be a "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in three months. (Note: These are the final new issues of this series. Hereafter, the Titans' stories will be chronicled in a new incarnation of "The New Teen Titans".)
Batman and the Outsiders #24
The New Teen Titans: The Terror of Trigon - Collects issues of The New Teen Titans #1-5 - Raven's father Trigon returns. His evil power infects Raven and she joins him. Lilith rejoins the Titans. Titans Tower is destroyed by Trigon. Raven is seemingly killed in battle but her body later vanishes, leaving her whereabouts unknown.
The New Teen Titans #6 - The city of New York has a parade in honor the Titans for saving the world from Trigon.
Batman and the Outsiders #25-27
The New Teen Titans #7-12 - Lilith finally learns her true parentage. Her father was a mortal man and her mother is the goddess of the sun, Thia. After a visit to Olympus with the Titans, Lilith chooses to stay there and take her rightful place as a goddess. The new character Kole returns with the Titans. Also, a new Titans Tower is under construction.
Batman and the Outsiders Annual #2 (1985) - Metamorpho (Rex Mason) marries his lover, Sapphire Stagg.
The New Teen Titans Annual #1 (1985)
Crisis on Infinite Earths - All of existence is threatened by the Anti-Monitor and his anti-matter universe. All of Earth's heroes and many villains come together to battle the mutual threat. Guy Gardner officially becomes a Green Lantern. The Flash (Barry Allen) dies while saving the universe. Wally West (formerly Kid Flash) becomes the new Flash.
Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Takes place during and after issue #4 of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The New Teen Titans #13-14 - Ties into Crisis on Infinite Earths. Nightwing, Starfire, and Jericho begin a journey to Starfire's home planet of Tamaran.
JLA: Incarnations #5 - Ties into Crisis on Infinite Earths.
World's Finest #323 - Final issue of the series.
Batman and the Outsiders #28-32 - A new character, Looker (Emily Briggs), becomes a member of the team. Batman leaves the team and they decide to carry on without him. (Note: These are the last issues of the series under this title. Hereafter, the series is titled "Adventures of the Outsiders".)
Adventures of the Outsiders #33-38 - The Outsiders relocate to Los Angeles. (Note: These are the final new issues of the series. Hereafter, the Outsiders stories will be chronicled in the new series titled "The Outsiders".)
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| « Last Edit: Aug 2nd, 2012, 06:23am by TurkeyMoose » |
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snipe
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #666 on: Aug 30th, 2012, 7:26pm » |
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I just finished Mark Waid's Irredeemable / Incorruptible series. It's a fantastic read. I'm not going to critique it literarily, but it was fun. Read all 17 trades in about a week.
The last two pages were total bad-ass.
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TheMidnighter
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #667 on: Aug 31st, 2012, 12:32pm » |
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Sweet, snipe. I got the first five trades of Irredeemable and the first three of Incorruptible. I have really enjoyed it so far. I'll wait until my online comic shop has a sale on the other trades before I buy some new ones, though.
Do you have a reading order for me, snipe?
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snipe
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #668 on: Aug 31st, 2012, 2:02pm » |
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on Aug 31st, 2012, 12:32pm, TheMidnighter wrote:| Do you have a reading order for me, snipe? |
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Yep! Irredeemable 1-2, then basically alternate the rest of the way:
Irredeemable 1
Irredeemable 2
Incorruptible 1
Irredeemable 3
Incorruptible 2
Irredeemable 4
Incorruptible 3
Irredeemable 5
Incorruptible 4
Irredeemable 6
Incorruptible 5
Irredeemable 7
Incorruptible 6
Irredeemable 8
Irredeemable 9 (includes "cross-over" issues)
Incorruptible 7
Irredeemable 10
Nothing in the two titles is dependent on reading the other. That's why I put the "cross-over" issues in quotes.
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TurkeyMoose
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #669 on: Sep 28th, 2012, 3:19pm » |
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I recently took a break from my usual DC Universe chronicles to read The Walking Dead. I love this series! I bought the first TPB Days Gone Bye, just to see if I would be interested in the series, and then when I returned to Barnes & Noble to pick up some more TPBs, I happened upon the huge compendium edition collecting the first 48 issues (or 8 TPBs) for only $60, which was quite a bargain, so I went ahead and bought that and finished it in about a week. The second compendium, collecting issues #49-96, comes out in a few weeks, so I'll be picking that up and continuing the series. 
In addition to that, I also picked up the first volume of Alan Moore's work on Swamp Thing and read that. This is the new printing which includes his very first issue on the series (#20), which was omitted from previous printings for some reason. The second volume of the new printings just came out so I'll be getting that soon and continuing. I was delighted to discover that these fit perfectly into DC continuity, so I'll be weaving these books into the proper place on my timeline, which I just opened a new thread for here.
I also purchased the first two volumes of 100 Bullets and the first volume of Y: The Last Man, but haven't really dug into those yet.
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Nick
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #670 on: Nov 28th, 2012, 8:52pm » |
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I finally read Tony Daniel's final Pre-Reboot book Eye Of The Beholder... *sigh*
Unsurprisingly I thought it was truly awful. How can this man be hired as a professional writer when his stories are mostly incoherent? The pacing is poor, the dialogue is painful, and the story jumps all over the place with nonsensical 'revelations' and most mysteries teased and never explained.
What a sad and sorry final tale for The Riddler of our Continuity. I have never held back from Paul Dini criticism, but his reformed Riddler was probably the most interesting thing anybody ever did with the character. But this was far too intellectual for Tony Daniel who had to undo all of that right at the end of a Continuity just because he could.
And what a sad and sorry return for Gilda Dent, or fake Gilda Dent (who the fuck knows? Not Tony Daniel, he didn't seem to want to make up his mind who he was writing). I have been very clear of how much I hate Scott Snyder's Reboot work, but his Pre-Reboot work was great, and I love the way he used Barbara Gordon SNR to great effect. Even his creation of a daughter of Boss Zucco served a purpose. It doesn't work this way for Tony Daniel, he digs up any old character dead/alive/otherwise or creates random children of old characters and shoehorns them into worthless stories and tells us we must care because these characters are important. It is cheap and incompetent storytelling from a substandard writer when he feels the need to mine the past in order to get his audience to care. A decent writer (and I could name many) can make you care about a brand new character in a single issue if they are good enough, they don't need to resort to such cheap tactics.
But is Tony Daniel actually aware of his failings and laughing about it? In Life After Death he has Dick ask something along the lines of "can't these guys come up with their own identities?" referencing a new Reaper, which summed up his stagnant stories nicely. And in this book he asks about the return of Sensei something like "can't any of these guys stay dead?" So who is Tony Daniel laughing at here? Is he laughing at us, the poor long term Batman readers who are being insulted by his turgid tales? Or is he laughing at DC who keep paying him to write this shit in a headline book?
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| « Last Edit: Nov 28th, 2012, 9:00pm by Nick » |
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Nick
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #671 on: Feb 2nd, 2013, 06:15am » |
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I've read a few things recently that I haven't spoken about because they were neither good enough to speak highly of, nor bad enough to criticise, they were perfectly acceptable reads. But then this morning I sat down with Batman The Dark Knight: Golden Dawn...
Even ignoring the huge Continuity issues with Killer Croc, this book sucked. David Finch is a good artist, but don't let that man write a story! Hmmm, haven't I said this about an artist-turned-writer before? Compared to Mr Daniel, David Finch's writing holds up much better; his dialogue has a few painful lines, but overall it is of a much higher standard. Nonetheless, his actual story is a hot mess of poorly told and poorly interwoven plot threads - none of which have any sort of emotional resonance or point. The story concludes with numerous plot threads unresolved, do they pick up in the rebooted series? Actually I don't care.
Considering this was announced as a huge book that was supposed to herald the return of Bruce Wayne after his time away, it is an embarassment. And I'm not even going to go into the publication schedule of the original issues.
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Drakul
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #672 on: Feb 10th, 2013, 10:05pm » |
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I've read a few one-shots that I got recently.
Batgirl Special. Pretty average and not very interesting even at the 'last batgirl story'
Batgirl Girlfrenzy - very nice read and art. It's a nice investigative story and also nice to have Zasz as the villain.
Penguin Triumphant - Very nice Penguin story, a fun read and there's not many Penguin centric stories so it's nice to read.
Then I also read the 'of the demon' trilogy. Son of the Demon is an OK read, Bride of the Demon is pretty boring but Birth of the Demon is a really great read about the origins of Ra's Al Ghul. Interesting story, well written and great original art.
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masahikotahara
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #673 on: Feb 13th, 2013, 10:23pm » |
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Just read Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow.
Quite forgettable. Storywise, a lot of things just didn't make sense. Art is OK, but not mindblowing, although I like the way Poison Ivy and Green Arrow look.
Any thoughts?
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hanotsri
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Re: So... what are we currently reading?
« Reply #674 on: Mar 3rd, 2013, 7:46pm » |
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I'm new here, so I hope you don't mind my input. I just finished reading Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty (the newer edition) and man, is this series great. I can't believe one of my now favorite Bat-related books barely contains the Bat at all.
I am hoping to next get Batgirl Rising to read, but geez is that book ever expensive online.
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