Scalped Vol.2-6

Greg told me that he would give me his entire run of his SCALPED trade paperbacks when he came home to visit but I liked the first one enough that I couldn't wait. Someone on ebay was selling  Trades 3-4 and 6 for 22 bucks (with free shipping) so I went ahead and ordered it. Then I ordered books 2 and 5 separately.
So far so good...and I'm loving what a luscious slut Carol is in each chapter! Waiting to see how this character develops. She can't be here purely for gratuitous sex scenes, can she?

Scalped Vol One: Indian Country

Another title Greg recommended, but after Welcome Back and We Can Never Go Home, I was pretty reserved about trying another series he liked! LOLOL.  But one weekend I was bored as shit and Ted at Gecko's was talking about the series and so I decided, hell, couldn't hurt to try the first trade. So far so good!

Manifest Destiny Vol.4: Sasquatch

Continuing on with this wonderful series by Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

Yes, reading this awesome classic ONCE again!!!

Welcome Back, Vol.1: Help, I'm Alive

Sorry Greg, I just didn't like this one. Well, it was better than We Can Never Go Home, but the manic shift in art style really put me off. Enough of these hipster misfit kids with guns. They're Not Like Us already has the lock on that genre and they ROCK it.

We Can Never Go Home

Argh, man how I hated slogging through this series. Another recommendation from Gerg, this comic was written by the same guy who wrote that "4 Kids Go into A Bank"comic (also recommended by Gerg) which I hated, and I think by now it's safe to say that I just don't like this guy's writing.

Archie

As a huge, huge fan of artist Fiona Staples, i knew I had to get this one, but I'm REALLY not a fan of these new Archie reboots, as you may recall in my entry on "Afterlife With Archie"...Somehow in these new versions,  they forget how all the characters were basically good and likeable people. Veronica and Reggie are always portrayed in these new ones as 100% bad and Mr. Lodge as a cranky old tyrant, even Jughead, the most laid-back and mellow dude ever, is portrayed as more of a condescending and arrogant guy. And sadly, this new series is just like the others: despite its' awesome art, these reboots, though probably great for the kids of today, just don't do it for me.

Sweet Tooth, Vol.1-6

After hearing how much I loved his earlier recommendation for Manifest Destiny, my friend Gerg suggested I might like Sweet Tooth, the story of a young boy born with deer antlers on the verge of Apocalypse. It was an okay series, good to spend a week reading.

4 Kids Walk Into A Bank

Along with the awesome Manifest Destiny book, Gerg also gave me the first in a 5-part series called "4 Kids Walk Into A Bank" that he really loved. Can't say I cared for this as much as he did, but then again he was always a bigger fan of the "witty youngsters" kind of stories than I...

Spider-Gwen, Vol.1: Most Wanted

Gerg gushed about this comic so much that i picked it up this past week, but I have to say that I am just about done with these "hip, young" Marvel comics which do absolutely nothing for me. Gerg says he'll try not to immediately recommend superhero stuff anymore, but laughingly doubts he'll be able to resist, LOL

The Authority, Vol.1-3

 The series that reinstated my belief that comics COULD be good again! By the time my friend Gerg handed me The Authority, I was already a bitter, jaded comic book reader who thought that most of the new comics stuff was mere flash written by high schoolers, but WOW this series just blew me the HELL away!

Atomic Robo Vol.One-Vol.Seven

 Hahaha, where else are you gonna get a Post-World War II atomic powered secret agent battling the likes of an intelligetn Evil Scientist Dinoasur,a Time-Travelling Oobleck and a dastardly Dr. Thomas Edison and cool partners like a totally kick-butt Carl Sagan? Yeah, this comic is as WACKY and fun as it sounds!

Next Wave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

An absolutely BRILLIANT series satirizing every cliche in superhero comics and poking fun at some of Marvel's sillier characters from Machine Man, Modok, Devil Dinosaur & Moon Boy and all of the zany Psychedelic Steranko-influenced hijinks of the late 60's Spy movies, NEXTWAVE concerns a bunch of C-List Superheroes banded together to go against their own evil organization when they find they're trying to "take over the world", fighting against impossible odds even while fighting amongst each other and their own self-loathing and short-comings!! A True MASTERPIECE!

Afterlife With Archie

Greg recommended this one for me but I have to say as an Archie fan how much I DIDN'T like it. These characters had nothing to do with the beloved Archie characters outside of their names.

Beasts Of Burden: Animal Rites

I've loved artist Jill Thompson ever since her stint in my still favorite Sandman arc BRIEF LIVES and so when my friend told me about a new series she was illustrating featuring a team of sleuthing dogs (the titulars 'beasts") of a rustic town (Burden Hill) how could I refuse? And as written by Evan Dorkin, this series was as fun and imaginative as I'd hoped!

Neil Young's Greendale

Second time reading this Graphic Novel take on Neil Young's Greendale album, by Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang and it's even better the second time around! My copy is signed by Josh Dysart and therein lies an interesting tale...
When I first met my friend Gerg, he offhandedly mentioned that he didn't like Neil Young and I snorted and said "Then you can go to Hell!" He was stunned by such a passionate retort from me, but as a huge Neil Young fan I'd been hearing from people who groused that they hated his voice, "He Can't Sing!", etc. all my life, and had just been reading earlier that day about Def Leppard's Joe Elliot putting Neil down too, so my gumption was up!
We laughed about it, and as we became close friends, we would occasionally remember that time, and jokingly say "Never diss Neil Young in front of Z!!"HAHAHA!
 Anyway, one day back in late 2010 or so ,Gerg was visiting his local comic book shop, and that day they had an in-store signing with writer Joshua Dysart, promoting Greendale! Seeing the title, on the cover, Gerg remembered how much I liked Neil Young and decided to not only get me a copy of the book, but have Dysart autograph it as well!
When Gerg went up to Dysart, he explained about me, who really liked Neil Young and how I got mad at him cause he said he didn't. "So you don't like Neil Young?" Dysart asked Gerg, who admitted he didn't. Dysart laughed, and signed the book to me:"Z, your friend here sucks!" LOLOL!

Saga #1-5

My friend Gerg who keeps abreast of all the newer comics and graphic novels out there came to town for a visit, and after shooting the breeze over lunch, we made our way to check out our old haunts, including a couple of comic stores that still were around back when he lived here.
 So we’re in there and he begins pulling the latest issue of a comic called SAGA, which was at the time on issue 4. I ask him about it, and he says it’s a comic that he’s really getting into lately, and thinks even my overly-discriminating eye would like it. I laugh and tell him I’ll think about it, but then I see him mosey over to the clerk and ask her if she has the first three back-issues available. She concurs, and directs him to the shelf where issues 1, 2, and 3 are hidden behind some older releases. I eye the stack in his hand suspiciously, saying, “Hey, if you already have these issues, why are you buying them again? He doesn’t answer, but then OF COURSE, once we get back to my house, he hands them to me!!!
 I’m like, “DUDE! You don’t have to BUY me these- I told you that if I wanted to read ‘em, I’d get ‘em myself!”  “Yeah,” he replied, “But If I waited for YOU to buy these, the series might end before you felt like it!” “Besides”, he waved off my exasperation, “this series is written by Brian K. Vaughan, and I KNOW you like his writing.” I stopped for a minute. “Oh, wait, really? The guy who wrote Y THE LAST MAN??? Ummmm…Then…..OKAY, I’ll check it out, LOL!”
By the time I actually got around to reading it, Gerg had already flown back to LA, but read it I did, and I was floored at how good it was! Like Y The Last Man, the stories were just FULL of these intriguing characters, and before you knew it, I was totally immersed in this story (and equally blown-away by Fiona Staples' amazing artwork!!)...The tale begins with the star-crossed relationship between a guy and girl from opposite sides of a war (two alien  races, one horned and one winged), who are trying to escape with their newly-born child while bounty hunters and government agents alike follow in hot pursuit! As the story progresses and you get to know all of them, hero and villain alike, you get the feeling you are getting prepped for a tale of immense proportions!!!!
I became an immediate fan and jsut this week, I ran down to my lcola comic store to l=pick up the latest issue which jsut came out (issue #5) and am sure i'm going to continue collecting it for good!!!