buggery | Comics -- yes, I still read them!

A couple of questions. One is spoilery for the most recent issue of GOTHAM CENTRAL and possibly other titles, and is thus behind an LJ-cut... which you skipped past, if you're reading this.

So if you aren't caught up on all your comics -- I'm still months behind on some titles, myself -- and want to avoid possible spoilers, stop reading here.

Right.

So, in GOTHAM CENTRAL #34, we get, among other things, a tour of Arkham for the purposes of making sure all the ~~inmates~~ ~~patients~~ inmates are still where they're supposed to be. And... Harvey Dent is there.

Now, like I said, I'm *not* caught up on all my comics, but in the ones I am caught up on, and no more than two or three months ago in the ones I'm not, the last time we saw Harvey Dent was at the end of "Hush," at which time he had one face, no hair, and his freedom. So did I miss something, or is this how they meant to inform us that Harvey is back in the shrink-clink for whatever reason? Help.

Now, the other questions.

For those of you reading Y: THE LAST MAN ...is it still going? Is there a trade or trades out, and how many separate TPBs will collect the full run, if the full run *will* be collected? If you've read it all, or read up through the current issue (if it hasn't wrapped or been cancelled yet), did you like it / would you recommend the series?

Also, for those of you who read Brian Azzarello's year-long storyline in SUPERMAN... well, same questions, more or less. Is it collected in its entirety, and if so how many trades will it take to get the whoile thing? And if you read it, how did you like it? As far as this goes, I'd prefer recs (or pans) to avoid plot spoilers, if you can possibly tell me why I should/n't read it without spoiling me.

Thanks!

(My birthday is next Wednesday, and my mother called me a few hours ago to gently remind me that I haven't given her any idea what to get for me. From fandom people, any sort of Dick Grayson fanart or fiction would be more than welcome, but no gifts are expected.)

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For those of you reading Y: THE LAST MAN ...is it still going? Is there a trade or trades out, and how many separate TPBs will collect the full run, if the full run *will* be collected?

It's still going (up to #36 in a planned ~60 issue run) and the fifth TPB (containing issues 24-31) came out... last month? It sells insanely well in TPB so will definitely end up collected in full. I recommend the hell out of it at least through the (seriously awesome) Safeword arc, which is in the fourth volume.

I've only read the first TPB, but I'm definitely planning on getting ahold of the rest. I've loved what I've read.

Azzarello's Superman run is out in two thin hardcovers. FOR TOMORROW, as I recall. I didn't much like it: decent idea, clotted writing and plotting.

Happy birfday in advanced!

Maybe I'll rally my art Muses together. Yes, Dick Grayson needs more pictures made!
No promises though. Sometimes I can draw. Other times...well, I shouldn't be in the same room as the pencil.

No idea what's up with Harvey. Shows up in some books as One-Face, in others as Two-Face. Bat-editorial doing its usual, stellar work.

Y is insanely good. It's like... a (good) HBO series in pamphlet form. It won't be canceled; it's Vertigo's top monthly seller, and the trades sell exceedingly well.

Superman: Like "Hush", mushy and incoherent. Unlike "Hush", So Fucking Boring OMG.

No comment on Dent, as Bat editorial seems to be flailing about what they want as far as Harv's concerned, too. Some books he's sane, other books he's not, most books just want people to forget he was ever "fixed" to begin with.

Y: The Last Man - haven't read. All signs point to awesome, though.

Superman: For Tomorrow (the Azzarello arc) - first half is good. Last half is not.

(If I miss it, happy birthday in advance! Hope it's a good one!)

I actually liked Azzarello on Superman. I recognize that it was too complicated for its own good and the dialogue was pretty weak in parts, but it was wacky in a crazy sci-fi way that I haven't seen from Azzarello, and it offered a new take on a Superman almost desperate with grief. Because it's set further along than any other DC title (what, a year in advance?) it's a confusing read but it makes more sense after Identity Crisis and OMAC. I'd see if you can download it or borrow it before shelling out for the two-part trade collection. I'd offer you my issues for your birthday, but they're in a box in my dad's basement. But the thought was, y'know, there ;-)

It's early.

I'm never early though. Wow. Um...yeah.
I think it's decent. Hope it suits your need for short pants and blindfolds.

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Happy early birthday.
-Stacy

Okay, cool. I'd been holding out on reading Y, because I had the feeling having to wait for the story to trickle out to me, as it were, would drive me too buggy with that particular sort of story. But if fully half the (expected) series run is available in trades already, I should be able to start reading at a pace which hopefully won't make me too fretful over the continuing wait. Thanks!

(Also your Hurley icon is adorable and makes me sad that I so completely failed to get into Lost.)

Cool! I looks forward to reading. Thanks for the rec.

The first Y:TLM TPB, I'm guessing, as opposed to the Azzarello Supes one? Anyway, thanks.

I know a lot of people had mixed or differing opinions on it. I do tend to like Azzarello, in general, but I think I'll mull a bit more before shelling out for this. Thanks!

Hee!

(See below.)

Bat-editorial doing its usual, stellar work.

There should be an award for the level of work they've been doing lately. Perhaps illustrated with a crack-pipe or named after someone with a traumatic brain injury.

The news about Y's sales is encouraging, but, well, after my years as a Farscape fan, I'll never again fully believe that something I love is in no danger of cancellation based on logic.

Re Harvey, I'm starting to suspect editorial does in fact have a clear idea what they intend to do with him... but that they aren't sharing those plans with all their writers, and that they're not bothering to have anybody check the scripts coming from writers not in the loop to make sure they're not unintentionally using him in contradictory ways. (What the heck are these people *doing* to earn their pay, I have to ask...)

Re "For Tomorrow," is it that you found the storytelling in the second half lacking, or that you found the conclusion of the storyline unsatisfying?

Hmm, interesting. Maybe I should hold off until after we see where the new Crisis takes us and then solicit people's opinions on that Azzarello storyline again.

Thanks for the birthday offer. ::wink:: I don't mind continuing to wait.

OMG THAT IS THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER OMG.

The dialogue is so... just, HEE. *HEE*. Old-school *playful* Bruce!

And... okay, I *know* it's wrong that I'm perving on that pose you put Dick in. I'm not gonna put the shame off on you by asking. But... oh, that's wrong in just the right way. Innocent on Dick's part, inescapingly prurient on ours, in the best tradition of the cover of LotDCU #6.

Best five-days-before-my-birthday present ever! I am so doing something special for *your* birthday in a few months...

Perving is allowed. I had to find the perfect pose to get the bum-shot to *fit*. I'm quite proud of that.

LotDCU #6?

I'm glad it worked out. I have a few failed attempts at this pic that I scrapped. Was close to thinking it wouldn't work, and then, behold! Bruce is standing and I had a decent sketch to work off for Dick.

I'm pleased!!

Happy birfday! And *squee*. I'm going to will November to be closer and faster in coming. :D

Oh, that makes me feel much better. In the way that it really doesn't. Oh, Bat-Editorial, you make my head go spinny.

The storytelling lacked, and Azzarello took some, let us say, rather un-Azzarello-ish twists off into strange-inexplicable-plothole land.

That and starting off with Superman-and-priest and ending with Superman-must-fight-Zod-(AGAIN) just . . . the tonal shift was too abrupt for me. I mean, the Supes and priest bit - that was amazing, and had that remained if not a focus then at least a presence in the storyline in the second half, it might have worked out better. But then bringing Zod into it all as an explanation when Zod's already been used at least twice before in the past year and a half for essentially the same fight irritated the heck out of me.

It didn't help that the second half pretty much confused the hell out of me.

Comics -- yes, I still read them!

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