JeffromOhio

August 1, 2013 11:57 am I need to see this. I read the entire Flashpoint event, every series, as it was being published, and it was some of the most exciting comic reading I've had in years. Harrowing, yes, but definitely ambitious and energetic. The reveal of Batman's identity was interesting, but it was the reveal of who the Joker was that floored me - I jumped out of my seat and exclaimed "oh my God!" when I turned the page to it (and no, that isn't a common occurrence with me at all). Yeah, I know, everyone else will say they saw it coming a mile away, but I didn't, and got one of the few genuine shocks I've ever gotten in 40 years of comic reading. I'm going to keep my expectations low for this movie. The Flashpoint event worked for me because I read all the books, so it seemed like a huge sprawling epic to me. Had I just read the mainline series, it wouldn't have affected me at all. So distilling it down into a 75-minute flick isn't likely to carry the same kind of weight. Still, it looks like a lot of fun.

June 13, 2013 9:43 am I have always had the impression that Supes is a good fighter, regardless of powers, because he spends so much time duking it out with others with powers almost as great as his. I mean, how many times has he been tossed into the gladiatorial ring on Apokolips? It's not like he spends most of his patrols smacking around jaywalkers. Though that would be an issue I'd make sure not to miss.

June 12, 2013 4:31 pm I'm in agreement with this pick, in a big way. This particular comic came along right at a time when I'd begun to pull away from comics in general, and superhero comics in specific. This one, though, grabbed me before I even realized it. A cursory look when the storyline started indicated to me that it seemed similar to earlier storylines, some still rather fresh in memory. But it began to worm its way into my mind, making me think about it days and weeks after I'd finished an issue. There definitely is a tension inherent to the book - the sheer fun and occasional lunacy of comics at their classic juvenile best vs an increasing streak of doubt on the part of the reader, and, perhaps, the protagonist himself, that the bad guy may actually have a good point. I don't like Gorr, and hope the Thor triumvirate bash him good, but that's more due to his methods rather than his reasons concerning what he does. I'd gotten more than a little tired of all the crossovers in Thor books and Journey into Mystery. Thor: God of Thunder came along and gave us what is not just a self-contained storyline, but almost a self-contained universe. I, too, felt much the same way, that I could read this story forever. That's tempered by the knowledge that it won't last that long, of course, and the events in it will be ephemeral in the larger Marvel Universe scheme of things. But I think this storyline and art will stick with me long after the comic has moved far beyond them.

May 24, 2013 1:25 pm My phone does, indeed, make a snap sound when it takes a picture.

May 10, 2013 2:47 pm Most of the books on my pull list have been canceled. Nowadays, I'm very choosy about putting a new book on the list. Thor: God of Thunder has been stunningly good, good enough to make it a must-read for me. Everytime a new Thor book, creative team, or story arc comes along, I brace myself; so far, though, every change has been engaging and surprising, even when some of the same concepts have been covered again. This book is no exception; I look forward to it every month. Great final panels seem to be a matter of course for it.

April 1, 2013 1:47 pm Oh, by the way, Jim Mroczkowski, wouldn't you want to ask Obama about Conan the Barbarian? That's the book he collects, as I recall.

April 1, 2013 1:30 pm This article pretty much encapsulates my feelings about ROM for the past decade or two. I never laid eyes on the toy until longer after the comic. I remember buying the first issue at a convenience store, walking home, and getting caught in a sudden downpour so torrential that I, and everything I was carrying, was drenched thoroughly, to the point that I turned around after drying off, went back to that convenience store, and bought another copy. I was hooked. Yeah, that book definitely was bonkers. That's why it has stuck out in my memory 30-some-odd years after it ended its run. ROM remains one of my favorite comic book heroes. Spaceknights and Dire Wraiths may still lurk in the Marvel U, but the absence of ROM himself makes their presence frustratingly tantalizing. The rights must be as labyrinthine as mentioned by dfstell. Seems so silly to think that a relatively obscure toy, which Marvel fleshed out so thoroughly as a character, could have its rights hidden away and jealously guarded (or so it seems) like a piece of Smaug's hoard.

March 8, 2013 4:38 pm I'm 47. I have a pull list. A very short one, but nevertheless, I have one. The comic shop I go to has a stream of customers from their mid-30s into their 60s. Some may be older, but it's not my business to ask or guess. The (few) kids I see in there are with their parents. Wondering if you'll be reading comics at 50 seems bizarre to me, as if you think you'll somehow turn into another person entirely. You should be able to tell right now if the medium will still hold your interest. By this point in your life, assuming you're at least in your mid-20s or early 30s, your personality is fully cooked. You are now who you'll be. Certainly your tastes will shift. But the major parts of your personality are pretty much set. Our culture has been gradually changing so that "geek" and "nerd" hobby pursuits don't suffer the same kind of peer pressure to quit that they once did. The real question is what kinds of comics you'll want to read at 50. I can say that my tastes have changed a lot since I was, say, 25. Then, I was still interested in following a large number of titles, the newer and edgier the better. Not for me then were the silly, colorful books of the '70s, the ones I grew up reading. Now, I find myself drawn back to those old Marvel Two-in-Ones, or anything that reminds me of that era - Hickman's run on the Fantastic Four, for example. I now tend to gravitate towards more colorful, fun books; I get enough doom and gloom from the news. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate more literate comic books, especially graphic novels. I do. But nostalgia is now a draw, too, a powerful one. I don't mean to imply your tastes will become like mine. Of course they won't. But they will evolve. Not become "better" or "more refined." Just different. You might burn out on comics from time to time. I did. I stopped reading for at least a decade...mostly. I still felt like a comic fan. I'd just overloaded on them. I'd grab one or two a few times a year. Now, they're like old friends, that I don't need to see every week, but with whom I like to hang out once or twice a month. Now, you could find yourself feeling peer pressure to drop comics as you get older. "A grown man reading those kinds of books!" some will say. A grown man, or woman, reads what they want. Peer pressure was bad enough when we were high schoolers, and is even more pointless in our adulthood. Read what you want. Do what you want. And stop thinking in ageist terms - "when I'm fifty I'll be too old to..." Someday you'll be fifty, and wondering why you thought you'd be so different.

March 4, 2013 1:14 pm There were a lot of cogent points in this column, not just about comics. I'd say, though, it's more about comics being dark rather than serious. Serious and fun can be combined - Hickman's recent run on Fantastic Four was mostly serious, but it sure was a lot of fun. It harkened back to when I first started reading comics in the '70s in its sheer exuberance for all the ideas and implied craziness inherent in a comic book world. It was usually played straight-faced, but it was a big, colorful playground of a world. Marvel Two-in-One is my personal go-to comic for fun comics. Sure, some of that comic's run now seems creaky and silly, but a lot of it still seems tinged with a crazy joy that shines out of the unabashed embracing of a comic universe's addled assumptions. Even when Mrs. Grimm's bouncing blue-eyed baby boy wisecracked or shouted his battle cry of "It's clobberin' time!" while battling the villain of the month, the characters, and by extension, the writers and artists, took their creations seriously. They took fun seriously, as a pursuit worthy of being pursued. I'm not putting down modern comics. I read and enjoy plenty of 'em, sometimes more than my wallet likes. But there does seem to be a perception among some other comic readers I've spoken to that seriousness and fun do not, or should not, mix, or that gritty and serious comics are the ones that deserve the most respect.

February 7, 2013 7:54 pm I'm also disappointed to see Sword of Sorcery go so soon. I loved Flashpoint, and was excited to see what would come with the New 52. Since the initial debut of the New 52, DC has steadily canceled almost every book I liked. I get that sales weren't there for a lot of them, but I'd hoped that books like OMAC and now Sword of Sorcery, would have been given a bit more chance to flourish.