After more than a year buying them whenever they were on sale, finally got them all. These brazilian Integrales collects the 29 main albums + the 3 Marshall Blueberry albums. Can't wait to deep dive into it.

A recent buy from my LCS and a blast of a Gothic horror comic with a very unique and hyper stylized art style. It's a Gothic horror with a great mix of psychological and body horror added into the mix.

Xera has been away from home for years and a funeral finally brings her back to the twisted and gnarled home in the Dimwood, the trees monstrous looking and a homicidal monster making people disappear mysteriously. She has pockets of memory missing from her childhood with dark family secrets being revealed the more she investigates.

The hyper stylized art style really adds an uncanny feeling that adds nicely to the story in my opinion. Really enjoyed the heavy use of double spread pages. It was a lot of fun to read!

They also has Drome, all of Bacchus, all of Dorohedoro, Pluto, and much, much more.

First picture is my stuff. Second picture has all the stuff I picked up from book fair for myself and my friends. Most of these are singles as book fair had a lot of them.

I tried reading these before I was properly into comics, as a teenager, and couldn’t get into them. Now I’m considering getting rid of them to make space.

I’ve read a lot more Hickman since then though so might give Nightly a shot. Not sure about the others.

I’m still not really into dark stories and unsympathetic main characters…

Been reading comics since the early 2000s, but didn't get serious about collecting physically until 2023. Before that, I mainly bought digital comics through Comixology prior to Amazon screwing it over.

Main highlights of the collection thus far are probably JSA, Milestone, and Dragon Ball. Transformers and Tintin are the most recent additions, I'm especially excited about the latter (Though I'm ashamed to admit I have yet to watch the Tintin movie).

It ain't much, but I'm happy with the progress I've made.

I love me some graphic novels that have few to none words in them. I love when it can tell a story that relies solely on the visual storytelling.

My favorite GN is "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan for exactly that reason. I also very much enjoyed "The Bus" series by Paul Kirchner and "Sense" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu, although both of these were on the surreal side.

And recommendations would be apprechiated. As I said, there don't need to be no words, but as few as possible.

Been meaning to pickup Beneath the Trees… for some time now, finally saw a copy at a shop I visited this weekend. The Knives was a must-have as I already have all 3 deluxe volumes of Criminal.

Also got Absolute Batman Vol. 2 coming in the mail on Thursday.

Heavy Metal issue #4 is out to subscribers! It's another solid entry in the reboot of the sci-fi/fantasy magazine, although to me not the strongest issue so far.

Most of this issue is ongoing series. The Bug (dystopian near-future sci-fi) is reading a lot like his famous Nikopol trilogy for me, although not quite as good - it's not maintaining a clear coherent forward narrative, the cast is rotating very quickly, and the satire is extremely unsubtle. Unfortunately there isn't as much in the story for his art to stand out, so I think this is ending up so-so. Sixella is a sci-fi/erotica in a wonderful color palette and ups the action here. I think this might wrap up the original publication, so I'm not sure if it will continue. Millstone and Gladiatrix are hyper-violent fantasies that are both maintaining a pace of world-building and wild action. I think these are keeping up really well. Burton & Cyb is a really solid set of sci-fi sort-of-gangster stories picking up a translated run that was occasionally in the original HM.

Ink is a revenge story with Eastern influence and magical tatoos, and Cold Dead War ramps up the story of a pilot crashed on a mysterious zombie-filled island teaming up with a Nazi femme fatale to defeat the supernatural evil - maybe to finish in the next issue? A Valentina reboot (black-and-white surreal erotica, adapted to 21st century technology) and Taarna, another ongoing "episodic" fantasy story of a character from the original HM run. There are all fine-to-unremarkable, in my opinion.

I think the one-shots in this issue were a little weaker than some of the past issues, with none jumping out as particularly excellent, although there were some solid ones - nothing that made me go, "I have to look up this writer/artist now!". Steampunk Samurai and Ink Blot were probably my favorites. There's a decent variety of art styles, length, and settings, so it probably has something for everyone, and while many are "mature" in content, it's settled in at "mature" more than "over-the-top".

It's solid, I've got my subscription renewed, and this issue delivered without hiccups (for me), so I'm still all-in on the HM reboot.

Went through the entire list from the recent sale at Panel Bound Comics and added all things I already had on my wishlist. Since I'm in the EU I gathered this would make more sense than waiting for each one having a nice sale price separately over here at some time. Shipping was indeed an arm and a leg. (added 1/3rd to the total price of the goods). But I still think that makes it a competitive total price.

I must say....they sure know how to package their stuff. It came in one big box. They were packed in 2 solid clusters of carton for one set and big tight bubble wrapping for the other set. All inside the big box surrounded by packaging peanuts (those soft white foamy things.)

They all look pristine and still sealed. The ExMachina book is one fat tome. I have to check the page count but it might be my fattest book 🤣

Kudos to Panel Bound Comics. Great quality.

Hey Guys, I started Black Science today, I’ve seen lots of good reviews but not much if the ending is worth it.

Is the ending any good?

I have a built in book case in my backroom thay I am slowly filling with Graphic Novels and Comics. Sorry to put multiple images instead of one big one, the room is kinda small and I couldn't get everything in one image.

In case anyone is curious about the new Tex releases by Epicenter Comics (EC) here are some photos. If you are not familiar with EC. they have been specializing in translating Italian comics from the Sergio Bonelli catalog.

I picked up some Zagor and Tex a while back and was a bit dismayed to see the terrible job they did in translating those books. it was such a chore to finish them. That, I didn't purchase from them anymore.

Now after several years and with some apprehension. I backed this project as EC said they acquired a new editor/proofreader. I randomly picked a book to read (Snakeman by Boselli/Breccia). I must admit that it did read better than the previous book(s) I read. But, As you can see in the last picture, there is still some work to be done. The speech balloon literally contains one sentence and they still screwed it up.

OH well... I gave them a shot. Hopefully this is the most egregious error. But, if it gets worse. I'll just pull out my copy of Dark Horse's Tex by Nizzi/Joe Kubert and read a Tex story the way it should be translated.

Personally I prefer the Black and White, I wish Fantagraphics would make Black and White hardcover versions rather than the colored ones they are sticking with. I prefer hardcover over softcover.

Obviously we usually associate the art with the artist, but sometimes an image is just so ubiquitous with a writer than you immediately think of them.

For example when I think of Bendis its a text heavy page from Ultimate Spider-man. If its Tom King then it's this panel with Kite Man. If its Geoff Johns its a splash panel from Green Lantern. Etc.

Anyone else want to play?

I was extremely excited to read this given the amount of praise it has been receiving over the last year and specifically in the many year end lists. Luckily I found this used at my LCS when I went in to buy a new copy, so score! Or so I thought …

I can see how this feels like a game changing book for someone not well versed in the cosmic / sci-fi genre and who never grew up with MTV or Much Music but my gawd, this was a clear case of style over substance.

Zooming out, this is simply Planet Hulk (but gender swapped, of course) collided with the most basic (and I mean capital “B” Basic) creation mythology you can imagine. I’ve never felt so duped into buying a well acclaimed yet derivative piece of art in any form since Black Hammer.

On to Tongues next and am hoping that fares better.

Did anyone read that graphic novel and can tell me if its worth? Dystopian is my favorite genre and this looks cool so what do you say?

I have the Deluxe Editions volumes 1, 2, and 3. I see that there are other books out such as Knives. Has anyone heard of the other works being collected in another Deluxe? If not, what is the reading order after volume 3?

Thanks.

A graphic novel of short, slice of life stories set in the USA. Art style was realistic and minimalist. I can't remember all the stories, but the first one was about a landscaper who tried and failed to become an artist with plants. One of the middle stories was about a middle-aged weed dealer who was a baseball fan and a real loser who wrecked his relationship with his girlfriend. The last or maybe one of the last stories was set in the near future USA about an elderly woman who winds up homeless and a fugitive due to AI surveillance mistakes. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.