Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 25, 2018, 12:06:07 AM

Quote from: rusty on October 20, 2018, 03:04:02 PM
I also read around a dozen comics from Joe Books.   Their output is nonexistent now so I am wondering if they have financial problems.

I haven't paid too much attention to JoeBooks, but they're still soliciting new product for January 2019 shipping (Disney Cinestory graphic novels). Only two items for that month's solicitation, but they're still in business.

Were these in the November Previews?  If so, I haven't received it yet.  I didn't see anything in the October Previews and the only item in the September Previews was a Wreck it Ralph activity book.  Their monthly comic titles stopped coming out earlier this year so maybe they are focusing on areas that sell better or make them more of a profit like the Cinestory books.

Quote from: rusty on October 25, 2018, 01:01:19 AM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 25, 2018, 12:06:07 AM

Quote from: rusty on October 20, 2018, 03:04:02 PM
I also read around a dozen comics from Joe Books.   Their output is nonexistent now so I am wondering if they have financial problems.

I haven't paid too much attention to JoeBooks, but they're still soliciting new product for January 2019 shipping (Disney Cinestory graphic novels). Only two items for that month's solicitation, but they're still in business.

Were these in the November Previews?  If so, I haven't received it yet.  I didn't see anything in the October Previews and the only item in the September Previews was a Wreck it Ralph activity book.  Their monthly comic titles stopped coming out earlier this year so maybe they are focusing on areas that sell better or make them more of a profit like the Cinestory books.

https://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog?pub=JOE%20BOOKS%20INC.

They've kind of made the Diamond Previews printed catalog almost obsolete now -- not only can you download a PDF version of both the catalog and the order form from Previewsworld.com, but all the catalog listings are online (usually on the Thursday prior to the week when the printed catalog ships to comic shops). And that's coming from a guy who Previews was like The Bible to. I don't even bother downloading the PDFs, because that's just a hassle to page through all the listings, match up the Previews page numbers with the order code numbers listed in the PDF of the same month's order form, and so forth. I just go straight to www.previewsworld.com/catalog every Thursday before the last Wednesday of the month to check the newest solicitations. Don't ask me why, but this month the November Previews solicits were online by 10-18-18, even though it's a month with 5 comic-shipping Wednesdays (although the printed PREVIEWS did arrive in comic shops yesterday, 10/24).

Every month I spend a busy few hours going through all the listings and copying & pasting Diamond order codes of products I plan to order (or am at least considering ordering). I just paste the order codes, product title, price, and projected shipping dates into an Excel spreadsheet, and use that to keep track of what I have or haven't placed an order for yet. I have a color-coding scheme to let me see at a glance whether or not I've already ordered it, and I don't delete those listings until I've actually received the products. It works for me, anyway. I wish it were organized by product type (comics & graphic novels, magazines & books, merchandise & apparel, games) like the physical catalog, since that would make it easier than looking through the listings for each individual company, but... oh, well, so I have to do SOME work. It's always good for me to start working on that new online Previewsworld catalog ASAP, since having a list in Excel lets me sort products by ship dates, or add up prices to see how my monthly comic budget is looking. Sometimes I need to add up the overall totals, then decide whether or not I want some of the more expensive items that badly or not. (Those IDW Artist Editions put a serious dent in things sometimes.) Then again, the more expensive the item, the more likely it is to be advance-solicited (and sometimes, the more likely it is to ship later than scheduled).

Apart from having the Previews catalog listings online, there are other good reasons to use Previewsworld, because you can get lists of everything that shipped to comic shop retailers from DCD's warehouses this week, and what's confirmed as being received by DCD from publishers and planned to ship to retailers NEXT week. You can also get Product Updates (changes in price, format, contents, shipping date), and listings of Cancelled product solicitations. Like, for example, going back through the last 5 months of cancellation listings, I don't see any products from JoeBooks that were cancelled, which might be a good indicator if they were in some sort of financial trouble. Since they're actually shipping the products they're soliciting*, even though there might not be a lot of them, they can't be as bad off as you seem to think.

(Well... apart from that unfortunate failure to ship HARVEY HITS #2, 3 & 4 that they solicited last year... )

I'm been using Previewsworld and its predecessor for the Weekly Releases lists since 2005.  It is pretty useful and each week I use it to make up a list of what I am expecting in my orders from that week, even though my shipments are monthly now.  I will also occasionally peak at the next week list.  I'll stick with the printed Previews catalog, though.  It only costs me 99 cents and I don't mind waiting until it shows up in my order the first week of the month.  The preorder setup at Mycomicshop comes in pretty handy as well and their layout tends to be a decent match for the printed book.  Plus you can only look at new material or graphic novels etc.


I've finished catching up on Valiant over the past few days.


Armstrong and the Vault of Spirits - Every year on Armstrong's birthday, Ivar opens up a vault with one bottle of wine (or other spirits) for each year Armstrong has been alive.  Funny and entertaining.  Archer and Armstrong was one of my favorite Valiant titles.


Bloodshot Salvation 1-12 - Bloodshot is living off the grid with his wife and daughter until he learns of Magic's crazy father and family and heads off to try and put a stop to it before trouble arises.  It doesn't quite go as planned.  This is a pretty good series.


Britannia We Who are About to Die 3-4 and Lost Eagles of Rome 1-4 - A nice historical series (of miniseries) about a Roman era detective.


Divinity 0 and Eternity 1-4 - I didn't really care for these as most Valiant series.


Faith and the Future Force 1-4, Faith Dreamside 1, Faith's Winter Wonderland Special 1 - Faith is a fun character.  The miniseries sees her having to assemble a team to help the Timewalker defeat an alien bent on killing off humanity in the distant past.  Plenty of humor as well.


Harbinger Renegades 5-8,0, Harbinger Wars Prelude 1-4 Aftermath - Hard Corps has been attacking and killing psiots including many children.  This eventually leads to a war.  The Hard Corps approach is kind of repulsive and I don't think is very convincing.  The stories were decent, but I don't like the setup.


Ninjak Shadowman Rapture 3-4, Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe 1-4, Ninja-K 1-11 - The first two series were pretty good, but the ongoing series is even better.  That one deals with the history of Britain's Ninja program, starting with Ninja-A during World War I, Ninja-B and so on.


Quantum and Woody 1-10 - This series has always been pretty funny and entertaining.  Eric Henderson continues to be the serious one trying to be a hero (Quantum) and his adopted brother Woody continues to be a goofball.  Then there is the goat...


Secret Weapons 2-4, 0, 0 Owen's Story - A group of people who gain abilities of questionable usefulness are now on the run from Hard Corps and are being aided by Livewire.  One member can talk to birds, another can make things appear out of thin air, but has little control over it and another can turn to stone.  This series was pretty good.


Shadowman Rae Sremmurd, ongoing 1-7 - The one shot deals with two young men who sell their souls to the devil in exchange for five years of fame and success.  The ongoing features the return to Earth from the Deadside of Shadowman after a long absence.  He has to deal with Baron Samedi and the history of the various Shadowmen is covered as well.  Shadowman has never been one of my favorite Valiant characters, but I liked these a lot.


Valiant High 1-4 - An interesting alternate take where the Valiant heroes are teenagers attending Valiant High with Harada as Principal.  It is sort of like the John Hughes films from the 1980s and is perhaps not the most original, but was fun.


War Mother 1-4 - In the distant future, groups of humans try to survive in a hostile environment.  The leader of one group is a woman who has a talent for survival.  It wasn't bad, but didn't feel necessary.


XO Manowar 5-19 - Aric is trying to make a life on a distant planet, but has been forced to join one side in a three way battle for supremacy.  He tries to make things better, but his plans don't really work out as he hoped.  He is also trying to deal with trauma from his past.   This series is pretty consistent and entertaining.




Aftershock is next.

Quote from: rusty on October 26, 2018, 07:52:07 PM
I'm been using Previewsworld and its predecessor for the Weekly Releases lists since 2005.  It is pretty useful and each week I use it to make up a list of what I am expecting in my orders from that week, even though my shipments are monthly now.  I will also occasionally peak at the next week list.  I'll stick with the printed Previews catalog, though.  It only costs me 99 cents and I don't mind waiting until it shows up in my order the first week of the month.  The preorder setup at Mycomicshop comes in pretty handy as well and their layout tends to be a decent match for the printed book.  Plus you can only look at new material or graphic novels etc.

I have to admit Mycomicshop has one of the best online comic stores I've ever seen. I often use it as a kind of mini-database, because it's easier to navigate and faster loading than either comics.org or comicbookdb.com !  The catalog section of Previewsworld is pretty easy to use once you figure it out, and you can choose to view "comics", "graphic novels/trade paperbacks", "books", "magazines", "apparel", "toys & models" etc. to further narrow the product listing, including the list within any one publisher/vendor. I just like it because I can copy and paste the information directly from that into a document or spreadsheet, once I've located a product of interest. Also, Previewsworld tends to have the complete monthly solicitation information earlier than any other site. I just can't deal with reading the comic newssites like Newsarama, etc. any more... all those popup ads and extraneous graphics & animation make any of those sites slow and painful to use these days.

Quote from: rusty on October 26, 2018, 07:52:07 PM

I've finished catching up on Valiant over the past few days.

Valiant High 1-4 - An interesting alternate take where the Valiant heroes are teenagers attending Valiant High with Harada as Principal.  It is sort of like the John Hughes films from the 1980s and is perhaps not the most original, but was fun.

I've never been a Valiant fan. Well, okay, actually I was a Valiant fan back when Jim Shooter was the Editor-in-chief. I think that was for the first year-and-a-half, two years... something like that, back in the early 1990s. I really only read them for Solar, Magnus, and Turok. Never really cared much for any of their original characters. So I only picked up VALIANT HIGH because it was Derek Charm's work (which I'd previously enjoyed on both IDW's STARFLEET ACADEMY and ACP's JUGHEAD). I liked it, but I didn't imagine that high school setting could be part of the real in-continuity backstory of the Valiant Universe. Too bad it was so short; I'd love to see a continuation of that, as long as Derek Charm continued to be the artist.

Deadly Class - Book #1- Noise Noise Noise
Last Look
Colder - Omnibus
The Secret Loves Of Geeks - Volume #2
Fence - Volume #1

I'm caught up on Aftershock now:


Animosity 8-15, World of Animosity 1, Animosity The Rise 2-3, Animosity Evolution 1-7 - One day, the animals of the world suddenly gain the power of speech and they have an intelligence equal to humans.  A lot of death follows with various groups battling.  Various groups are formed as well - some are only human, some only animal and some a partnership between the two.  In the main title, 11 year old Jessie survives the Wake in New York City, but her parents die.  Her loyal bloodhound Sandor and other friends that she make try to get her across the country to California where her half brother Adam live.  The last two titles focus on Adam, a veterinarian in San Francisco where animals run things, but humans are allowed with an animal guard.   Each of these series is pretty entertaining and well written.


Brilliant Trash 1-6 - Superpowers are now secretly available, but they are controlled by the government and a few private companies.  The world at large is mostly unaware of these abilities which come at the cost of the user's lifespan.  I thought the series was okay, but could have been better.


Jackpot 1-6 - What starts as a sort of con series along the lines of Oceans 11 turns into something else when one of the characters develops the ability to control probabilities through an innate understanding of the underlying calculus of the world.  I think the grifting storyline would have been more interesting.  The end result falls a bit flat, but wasn't bad.


The Normals 1-6 - The Normals are a fairly normal family - father, mother, teenage son and teenage daughter.  When the son falls and hits is head it leads the family to return to where the parents grew up, but things take a few unexpected turns.  I thought this series was pretty well done.  I would like to see a second series.


Rough Riders Riders on the Storm 1-6 - When President McKinley is shot, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Houdini, Jack Johnson, Thomas Edison, Annie Oakley and Monk Eastman reunite to try and foil the secret society that seems to be trying to kill the President and wreak more havoc.  I thought this was just as much fun as the first series.


Rough Riders Ride or Die 1-4 - This series takes us to 1906 when Alice Roosevelt is getting married.  The gang reunites for another adventure involving the supernatural.  I didn't think it was quite as good as the previous series.


World Reader 1-6 - A group of astronauts are searching distant planets that once held civilizations.  Among them is a woman who has psychic abilities and can see and communicate with the dead civilizations.  She discovers that a being seems to be going from world to world snuffing out life and she tries to find out why.  I thought the series was pretty good at the start, but fizzled a bit at the end.  Still a decent read.




IDW is next.

I read
Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #260 & #267
World Of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #82

FROM HELL: MASTER EDITION #1 (of 10)
SCOOBY-DOO! TEAM-UP #43 (with The Doom Patrol)
EXORSISTERS #1 - This may be my favorite of Gisele's creator-owned series yet. Cate & Kate Harrow are the Patty & Cathy of supernatural investigators (sort of, but not quite... to explain further would be spoiler-y). BUY IT! READ IT! You won't be sorry!
EMPOWERED & SISTAH SPOOKY'S HIGH SCHOOL HELL #6 (of 6)
BLACK HAMMER: AGE OF DOOM #6
BETTY & VERONICA: FRIENDS FOREVER - STORYBOOK TALES #1 (#3 in a series of #1s)
VAMPIRONICA #4
VAMPIRELLA: ROSES FOR THE DEAD #2 (of 4)
VAMPIRELLA/DEJAH THORIS #2 (of 4)
VAMPIRELLA HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (one-shot)
BETTIE PAGE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (one-shot)
ARMY OF DARKNESS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL (one-shot)
  -- The above were the not-so-special examples of DE's 2018 Halloween one-shots. What I want to know is where's the one I was REALLY looking forward to as something special, the ELVIRA HALLOWEEN SPECIAL by Dan Parent and Fernando Ruiz? Fernando had an 8-page backup story in the Bettie Page special, but it wasn't anything to compare with his work on DKD (probably would have been funnier if he wrote it himself, or Dan P did).
MARS ATTACKS #1 (Dynamite 2018) - I was expecting more of a direct continuation of the series as it existed as published by IDW, but this was something different. More alt/indy, and more interesting, I thought.
THREE STOOGES: MONSTERS & MAYHEM #1 (#11 in a series of #1s)
ARCHIE MEETS BATMAN '66 #4 (of 6) - Happy/sad. Happy for what it is, but sad when I think we're only two issues away from the end of what is probably the last Batman '66 series, as well as the last long-form (issue-length stories, as well as the last longer story arc) of classic Archie. Of course there are still the five-page digest stories, but it just isn't the same.
PLANET OF THE APES: THE TIME OF MAN #1 (one-shot)

manga:
   SLUM WOLF by Tadao Tsuge - "Alternative" Japanese comix, mostly stories from the 1970s.

   STREET FIGHTER II VOL I-III (of 3) by Masaome Kanzaki - Not bad, but you could tell it was an older manga by the limited number of SF characters.

   PLUS-SIZED ELF VOL 01 by Synecdoche - No idea why I picked this up (must have been the cover), but it was fun. I'll read more volumes unless it becomes boring.

   NURSE HITOMI'S MONSTER INFIRMARY VOL 08 by Shake-O - Haven't really gotten into the last couple of volumes as much as the earlier ones. I wish the stories would go back to focusing on Nurse Hitomi more. Also, the student cast is large and varied, and it's hard to remember everything about all the characters, so there should be a little two-page "cast" intro for each volume, at least reminding us what was already known about the characters spotlighted in this volume. The other thing was the whole volume took place on a class camping trip outside the school, and was a sort-of parody of horror/slasher movies (not really my thing, but whatever). One amusing bit had a recognizably-drawn Danny Trejo (from Machete, and a bunch of other Robert Rodriguez movies) in a guest-starring role.

   MOB PSYCHO 100 TP VOL 01 by ONE - Not what one would expect from the title, but very similar in premise to The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., although told in a style that has common points with ONE's One-Punch Man.

   PRISON SCHOOL TP VOL 03 (of 10) by Akira Hiramoto - Never fails to make me chuckle out loud. There are aspects of this that remind me of Gisele's Menage A 3, as far as the sex comedy goes. The plot, however, is as intricately constructed as that of Death Note, but with all sorts of references to R-rated women-in-prison exploitation flicks (with role reversal) and even war movies like The Great Escape or Stalag 17. Obviously there's a level where the entire situation is just too over-the-top to be believable, but on the other hand, like the fantasy aspects of Death Note, if you accept those premises as given, within its own context there's a level of realism to at least some of the characters. We don't get much in the way of insight into the motivations or thoughts of the (all-girl) Shadow Student Council (Underground Student Council in the anime), but then again, the story isn't from their POV, it's from the POV of the five male "prison inmates" of the school. The Shadow Student Council are the antagonists, so you don't get a balanced perspective on things from both sexes. Oddly enough, at the heart of this is a love story (and maybe more than one).

   FRANKENSTEIN: JUNJI ITO'S STORY COLLECTION HC - It's a fairly straightforward adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel right up to the point where Frankenstein strikes a bargain with his creation to make a mate for him. Then things take an unexpected diversion from the novel, with Henry Clerval discovering Frankenstein's secret and aiding him in his creation of The Bride. When Victor is unable to obtain a useable female head in good condition, the monster provides one himself -- the guillotined head of Justine Moritz, unjustly convicted of the murder of young William Frankenstein (apparently in Switzerland at this time, it's possible to convict a murder suspect on mere circumstantial evidence, a weakness of Shelley's novel). In the novel, Justine was hanged, not guillotined, after being convicted, and Frankenstein in fact destroys the body of the monster's mate before ever bringing her to life. Here, as in Universal's The Bride of Frankenstein, there is a much more elaborate scene (with an argument from Henry Clerval that it's Frankenstein's duty to restore Justine to life -- even though earlier in the story it's made clear that Frankenstein is somehow creating the brain of the creature himself, not merely restoring a dead brain to working condition). The end result is the same, with the monster feeling himself betrayed by Frankenstein and vowing his vengeance when (as in Universal's film) he's rejected by his bride-to-be and she tries to kill him. Still, the difference from the book here is that Frankenstein acts in good faith to fulfill his end of the agreement... but he can't be held responsible when the mate he creates rejects the original monster (somehow the monster doesn't see it that way, even though he's in most respects reasonable). The adaptation takes up about half the book, with the balance a collection of modern horror stories focusing on junior high school student Oshikiri.

I'm all caught up with IDW now.

Atomic Robo The Spectre of Tomorrow 1-5
Real Science Adventures 1-6 - The Atomic Robo books have been consistently entertaining for quite a while now.  The Atomic Robo series has plenty of humor and not as much adventure this time, though Robo does have to combat and defeat a long time nemesis.  The Real Science series takes place just after WWII and has a long aerial chase by pirates trying to recover one of their planes after being taken by the Flying She-Devils.  This series fills in some of the history of Robo's world.


Back to the Future 21-25
BTTF Biff to the Future 1-6
BTTF Tales from the Time Train 1-6 - These Back to the Future series have been a lot of fun.  I think they do a decent job capturing the feel of the movies.  The Biff series explores the world created by Biff taking the Sports Almanac back to the 1950s.  The Time Train series has the professor and his family visiting the New York World's Fair in 1939.

Donald and Mickey 1-4
DuckTales 0-13
Mickey and Donald Christmas Parade 3
Uncle Scrooge 28-40 and My First Millions 1
Walt Disney's Comics & Stories 739-744
Walt Disney Showcase 1-6 - These books mostly reprint stories from Europe that have never been published in the USA (except for the DuckTales series which I think is all new).  The tone is often a bit different than the classic Ducks (and Mouse) tales, but they are usually still pretty good.  There are a lot of stories available from Europe that have never been seen here and it is nice that IDW is putting a lot of them out.

Half Past Danger 2 #1-5 - A decent sequel in the Indiana Jones vein.  I enjoyed it and would read a third series.

Judge Dredd Blessed Earth 1-8
Judge Dredd Under Siege 1-4 - Blessed Earth takes place 10 years after Mega City Zero and a thousand years after the original Judge Dredd books.  It wasn't my favorite Dredd series, but it was okay.  I liked Under Siege a lot more which deals with mutants trying to take over a residential block near the edge of Mega City One.

Orphan Black Deviations 1-6 and Crazy Science 1 - The Deviations series is a 'What if Beth didn't jump in front of the subway train' story and I thought it was pretty entertaining.  The Crazy Science series got canceled after one issue due to low sales and hopefully it will be completed some day in a trade.

Saucer State 1-6 - This series continues Vertigo's Saucer Country series from a few years ago.  The President and a few others see aliens on occasion and the question is whether the aliens are real or just the product of microwave technology.  First contact may be on the horizon.  One more series is being kickstarted soon to finish off the story.  I've enjoyed it.

Star Trek Boldly Go 10-18
Star Trek Discovery The Light of Kahless 1-4, Succession 1-4 and Annual 1
Star Trek TNG Mirror Broken 1-5 and Through the Mirror 1-6 - Boldly Go continues the adventures of the reboot Enterprise crew.  I hope that their adventures continue in comic form since this was a good series.  Light of Kahless shows how the reunification of the Klingon Empire came about and was good.  Succession is a Mirror Universe series and I didn't find it as interesting, though it wasn't bad.  Mirror Broken shows how Picard gets the newly built Enterprise and holds on to it while Through the Mirror is a crossover between the Mirror Universe Enterprise and the regular universe Enterprise.  Both series were pretty good.

Star Wars Adventures FCBD 2017 2018 1-14 Annual 1 Tales from Vader's Castle 1
Star Wars Forces of Destiny (five one shots) - The Star Wars Adventures books feature two stories per issue from throughout the Star Wars timeline.  The characters change from issue to issue except for the occasional two parter.  They tend to be lighter in nature, but are fun.  The Forces of Destiny books focus on some of the female Star Wars characters (Ahsoka, Padme, Hera, Leia, Rey, Rose, Paige) and are pretty decent stories.

Tangled the Series 1-3 - About what you would expect, but decent Disney fare.

The Highest House 1-6 - In the beginning, Moth is a young boy sold into slavery by his mother.  He is taken to one of the most important houses in the realm where he will serve the family as a roofer and later in other ways.  This is a fantasy series by Mike Carey and Peter Gross and is very well done.  It is done in magazine size which I think suits the story well.  It looks like this will be told over many miniseries and I'm looking forward to the next one.



Dynamite is next

Quote from: rusty on November 02, 2018, 08:56:50 PM
Donald and Mickey 1-4
DuckTales 0-13
Mickey and Donald Christmas Parade 3
Uncle Scrooge 28-40 and My First Millions 1
Walt Disney's Comics & Stories 739-744
Walt Disney Showcase 1-6 - These books mostly reprint stories from Europe that have never been published in the USA (except for the DuckTales series which I think is all new).  The tone is often a bit different than the classic Ducks (and Mouse) tales, but they are usually still pretty good.  There are a lot of stories available from Europe that have never been seen here and it is nice that IDW is putting a lot of them out.

I'm getting all these IDW Disney comics (except for the new DuckTales; I only get the "classic" DuckTales) in TP collections, but I mostly get to pre-read the floppy comics by borrowing them. I've fallen a little behind and am trying to figure out what TP collections I might have missed (so far I've identified one Mickey Mouse TP  and one Uncle Scrooge TP). In addition to that, I've been getting the Carl Barks Library, Don Rosa Library, and Disney Masters hardcover collections from Fantagraphics, and now I see Dark Horse is soliciting some new "classic" Disney graphic novels (Mickey Mouse starring in Treasure Island, Uncle Scrooge starring in Moby Dick) -- I haven't seen these as of yet (they're due soon, though) so I'm not sure if the source of these is from one the various European Disney publishers, or if these are Dark Horse originals. I know Papercutz and JoeBooks Inc have done some licensed Disney comics (although those seem more directly aimed at kids than at general audiences, and tend to skew to the modern Disney properties), and I don't know what other American publishers may be doing Disney-licensed comics right now. Not sure if Papercutz may be done with licensing Disney characters now. Marvel also had a fling at doing some for a few years, but that seems to have ended now.

Quote from: rusty on November 02, 2018, 08:56:50 PM
Half Past Danger 2 #1-5 - A decent sequel in the Indiana Jones vein.  I enjoyed it and would read a third series.

I remember the first one, with elements of ERB's The Land That Time Forgot (or DC's War That Time Forgot/Dinosaur Island if you prefer) and a character who was an analog for Captain America, and enjoyed it. For some reason I didn't get this one (was it by the same artist as the first series?), but perhaps I'll pick up the trade collection somewhere later down the road.

Quote from: rusty on November 02, 2018, 08:56:50 PM
Judge Dredd Blessed Earth 1-8
Judge Dredd Under Siege 1-4 - Blessed Earth takes place 10 years after Mega City Zero and a thousand years after the original Judge Dredd books.  It wasn't my favorite Dredd series, but it was okay.  I liked Under Siege a lot more which deals with mutants trying to take over a residential block near the edge of Mega City One.

I'm a big fan of Dredd, and of the other long-runnning 2000 AD characters like Judge Anderson, Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper, RoBusters/A.B.C. Warriors, etc. I have to say that IDW totally lost me with Mega City Zero and The Blessed Earth. I can appreciate the bind they're in here, because if you do something too off-trail, like those series, you lose the feeling of the original -- it's too great a departure. On the other hand, stuff like IDW's first ongoing Dredd series and Under Siege seem almost too much like "business as usual", but with a little bit less of the 'genuine flavor' you'd get from the actual 2000 AD/Rebellion strips written & drawn by British creators -- resulting in them feeling somewhat like "Judge Dredd lite". The most successful IDW Judge Dredd offerings so far, it seems to me, have been the out-of-continuity (or continuity implant) limited series like Year One, Mega City Two, and the PSI Judge Anderson miniseries -- somewhat outside the normal continuity, but 'filling in the blanks' as it were, on lesser-known aspects of the characters' backstories. Those and the crossovers with other properties (I particularly loved the MARS ATTACKS JUDGE DREDD miniseries, and Dark Horse's more recent ALIENS vs JUDGE DREDD vs PREDATOR miniseries).

Quote from: rusty on November 02, 2018, 08:56:50 PM
Saucer State 1-6 - This series continues Vertigo's Saucer Country series from a few years ago.  The President and a few others see aliens on occasion and the question is whether the aliens are real or just the product of microwave technology.  First contact may be on the horizon.  One more series is being kickstarted soon to finish off the story.  I've enjoyed it.

UFOlogy lore is an interest of mine, and as such, I loved both the original Vertigo series and IDW's sequel of Paul Cornell's SAUCER COUNTRY. There are a lot of details of the plot where it shows Cornell really did his homework, touching on all sorts of established aspects of the lore. I really hope this story gets a conclusion.

Quote from: rusty on November 02, 2018, 08:56:50 PM
Star Trek Boldly Go 10-18
Star Trek Discovery The Light of Kahless 1-4, Succession 1-4 and Annual 1
Star Trek TNG Mirror Broken 1-5 and Through the Mirror 1-6 - Boldly Go continues the adventures of the reboot Enterprise crew.  I hope that their adventures continue in comic form since this was a good series.  Light of Kahless shows how the reunification of the Klingon Empire came about and was good.  Succession is a Mirror Universe series and I didn't find it as interesting, though it wasn't bad.  Mirror Broken shows how Picard gets the newly built Enterprise and holds on to it while Through the Mirror is a crossover between the Mirror Universe Enterprise and the regular universe Enterprise.  Both series were pretty good.

I enjoyed the first two J.J. Abrams Star Trek films, but I have to admit I gave up on the ST "Kelvin universe" after the third Star Trek film (not directed by Abrams);  I hated it so much that I walked out of the theater about 1/2 hour into it. So I never did continue with the monthly IDW comic after it was renumbered as ST Boldly Go #1. Nevertheless I did read the trade collection of "I.D.I.C." (Boldly Go #13-18) and enjoyed it somewhat, if a little less than the original IDW ongoing ST series. I haven't caught up on the latest TNG mirror-universe crossovers yet, but I expect to get them in trade collections as well (they do seem to read better that way). I'm holding off on ST Discovery for a while. I haven't decided how I feel about the rebooted Klingons (and apparently they are claiming it IS part of the ST 'Prime universe' timeline, set about 10 years after the events of Enterprise), but I won't subscribe to a new Paramount channel on the hopes of a single show. I've talked to a few people (all avowed Trek fans) who feel the same way.

Quote from: rusty on November 02, 2018, 08:56:50 PM
Star Wars Adventures FCBD 2017 2018 1-14 Annual 1 Tales from Vader's Castle 1
Star Wars Forces of Destiny (five one shots) - The Star Wars Adventures books feature two stories per issue from throughout the Star Wars timeline.  The characters change from issue to issue except for the occasional two parter.  They tend to be lighter in nature, but are fun.  The Forces of Destiny books focus on some of the female Star Wars characters (Ahsoka, Padme, Hera, Leia, Rey, Rose, Paige) and are pretty decent stories.

I've sampled a few of the new IDW 'young reader'-aimed Star Wars series, but haven't been a regular reader. I did note the semi-regular participation of Derek Charm as an artist on these kid-friendly SW stories, and would love to have a trade collection of just those stories, but it doesn't seem like he's associated with any particular subset of characters or storyline within this franchise. Are these based on an animated SW spinoff currently running on Cartoon Network? I'm a little curious why Marvel isn't handling this series themselves, unless they've outright admitted they're out of their depth when it comes to targeting the young reader demographic. I guess if it would fall under IDW's general license to adapt Cartoon Network product, that would explain it. I have to admit that the whole Star Wars franchise has gotten away from me in recent years. I haven't paid as close attention to it since the CN series Clone Wars ended and the first film of the new sequel cycle, so there are newer characters who've been introduced since that time that I'm unfamiliar with.

Stephen Mooney wrote and drew each of the issues for Half Past Danger and its sequel.  He did most of the covers, too.
I won't subscribe to the CBS service (or the DC service for that matter).  Discovery is coming to BluRay and DVD in a couple of weeks and a friend of mine who is getting it will let me borrow it to watch.  The same will probably happen for Titans and the other DC streaming originals eventually.  I have a Netflix subscription that I share with my niece and may give Hulu a trial some day in the distant future, but I don't like how all of these pay streaming services are popping up.  I will give the Apple one a try since it should be free for me to watch their content on my phone, though watching things on my phone is not ideal.

Quote from: rusty on November 03, 2018, 09:19:45 AM
watching things on my phone is not ideal.

I've come to the conclusion that it must be some sort of generational thing, since large numbers of people seem to have absolutely no problem with the idea. That goes for reading comics or e-books, as well. Then again, if a video is not being displayed in its correct aspect ratio it's immediately apparent to me (and annoying to the point where I just can't watch it), but apparently what's annoying to other people that they just can't stand is an area of their screen that isn't being used where nothing but black bars appear.

But that's coming from a guy who has no idea why anyone would want to text on a phone using a tiny keyboard when they could just call (even if it's just to leave a voicemail) or email someone. People not only seem to enjoy but actually prefer texting, though.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on November 03, 2018, 04:43:12 PM
I've come to the conclusion that it must be some sort of generational thing, since large numbers of people seem to have absolutely no problem with the idea. That goes for reading comics or e-books, as well. Then again, if a video is not being displayed in its correct aspect ratio it's immediately apparent to me (and annoying to the point where I just can't watch it), but apparently what's annoying to other people that they just can't stand is an area of their screen that isn't being used where nothing but black bars appear.

But that's coming from a guy who has no idea why anyone would want to text on a phone using a tiny keyboard when they could just call (even if it's just to leave a voicemail) or email someone. People not only seem to enjoy but actually prefer texting, though.

I've gotten used to reading ebooks on my phone, though usually it is when I am waiting somewhere and it helps pass the time.  I've started texting more since I got my iPhone a few years ago, but still prefer the phone call and actual talking.  I've adapted somewhat, though, as it had become clear that some of my friends are much easier to reach via text since they tend to respond to that more than a voicemail.  I will sometimes make use of the speech to text option with my texts where I just have to tap the microphone button and then dictate my text message, making sure to read it over for any errors.

I read
The Best Of Archie Comics - Betty & Veronica - Book #2
Betty & Veronica Spectular - Volume #1
Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #292
Menage A 3 - Volume #1
Secret Loves Of GeeKs - Book #2
Fence - Volume #1

Quote from: rusty on November 03, 2018, 06:31:24 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on November 03, 2018, 04:43:12 PM
I've come to the conclusion that it must be some sort of generational thing, since large numbers of people seem to have absolutely no problem with the idea. That goes for reading comics or e-books, as well. Then again, if a video is not being displayed in its correct aspect ratio it's immediately apparent to me (and annoying to the point where I just can't watch it), but apparently what's annoying to other people that they just can't stand is an area of their screen that isn't being used where nothing but black bars appear.

But that's coming from a guy who has no idea why anyone would want to text on a phone using a tiny keyboard when they could just call (even if it's just to leave a voicemail) or email someone. People not only seem to enjoy but actually prefer texting, though.

I've gotten used to reading ebooks on my phone, though usually it is when I am waiting somewhere and it helps pass the time.  I've started texting more since I got my iPhone a few years ago, but still prefer the phone call and actual talking.  I've adapted somewhat, though, as it had become clear that some of my friends are much easier to reach via text since they tend to respond to that more than a voicemail.  I will sometimes make use of the speech to text option with my texts where I just have to tap the microphone button and then dictate my text message, making sure to read it over for any errors.

E-books are less of a problem, I admit. If you have options to control  text wrapping, size and font, it's barely an issue except in terms of the number of swipes or toggles relative to a larger-sized screen. I've never had one with the text-to-voice feature (so I'm not sure how 'robotic' it might sound), but it seems to me the way to go is just to download the audio version from Audible.com or wherever. I must admit it's convenient to listen to a book while driving and helps you utilize the time spent.

Regarding texting with speech-to-text, that seems to be the way to go, but it does seem like it's jumping through hoops in a technological sense.