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    Old Man Logan

    Old Man Logan by Mark Millar Illustrated By: Steve McNiven Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2008 Publisher: Marvel The second Mark Miller comic I mooched during my time in Vancouver was Old Man Logan. It’s a ‘what if’ story, set fifty years in the future in a world where the supervillains won. They teamed up for once and managed to kill most of the superheroes in America. Wolverine, who now only goes by Logan, is one of the few left alive, and he’s just trying to live life with his small family on a farm. He hasn’t drawn his claws, or hurt anyone, for fifty years, not since he went…

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    Civil War

    Civil War by Mark Millar Illustrated By: Steve McNiven Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2006 Publisher: Marvel About eight years ago I decided it would be fun to get back into reading comics. I hadn’t read any since I was a kid, so I wandered into the comic book shop and picked up the first thing that caught my eye – the trade for Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1 by Mark Miller. The Ultimate line was a non-canonical reboot of some of Marvel’s most popular books. It was a great idea, as it meant new readers could jump in without needing to know everything that had been happening for the last…

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    Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit

    Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke Format: Original Graphic Novel Published: 2010 Publisher: IDW Publishing This is the second Donald E. Westlake novel that Darwyn Cooke has adapted. The previous book was great, and this one is just as fun. Both follow Parker, who is essentially James Bond as a ruthless criminal. What could be better than that? Very little. In The Hunter, Parker was left for dead after being betrayed and spent the book hunting down those responsible. Since then, he’s recieved a new face through surgery and has been anonymously enjoying the rich life. Unfortunately, someone blows his cover and squeals to the Outfit, a mob-like organization he…

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    Green Lantern Vol. 6: Secret Origin

    Green Lantern Vol. 6: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns Illustrated By: Ivan Reis Format: Trade Paperback Comic Collects: Green Lantern #29-35 Published: 2008 Publisher: DC Comics I was looking forward to watching the Green Lantern movie, which actually slipped from my radar after seeing the reviews, so I picked up Geoff Johns’ retelling of the origin story a couple months back. I love me some origin stories, and I’d heard that Johns was DC’s golden child after his runs on The Flash and the Green Lantern Blackest Night/Brightest Day event, so I was curious to read something from him. I knew next to nothing about Green Lantern. I knew he’s…

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    The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out

    The Walking Dead (Volume 14): No Way Out by Robert Kirkman Illustrator: Charlie Adlard Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2011 Publisher: Image Comics This blog hasn’t been abandoned! I fell quite ill a month ago, even got to spend a couple of weeks in hopsital, and I wasn’t really reading or writing much during that period. I’m back home and settled now, and I’m feeling much better, so I’ll be catching up on the few books and comics I actually got through. Before I was sick, I read the latest installment of The Walking Dead. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this comic. The dialogue’s always been…

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    Lost At Sea

    Lost At Sea by Bryan Lee O’Malley Format: Original Graphic Novel Originally Published: 2003 Publisher: Oni Press Before Scott Pilgrim, Bryan Lee O’Malley wrote a stand-alone graphic novel about a girl who believes her soul’s been taken by a cat. It’s a coming-of-age story for Raleigh, a recent Vancouver high-school graduate on a road trip in California with three school peers she barely knows. As far as coming-of-age stories are concerned, I tend to love the Spielberg-esque child to teen variation and despise the overly-angsty teen/twenty-something to adult variation. This definitely leans towards the latter, and there’s no denying that it has its fair share of angst, but it is…

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    Wolverine

    Wolverine By Claremont & Miller by Chris Claremont Illustrated By: Frank Miller, Paul Smith Format: Trade Paperback Comic Collects: Wolverine #1-4, Uncanny X-Men #172-173 Originally Published: 1982/1983 Publisher: Marvel As a short, angry, hairy Canadian, I’ve always felt a special kinship with Wolverine. If there was ever a superhero I could relate to, it’s him. And if it wasn’t him, it might have to be Puck, and that would just be sad. I’m the best there is in what I do. But what I do best isn’t very nice. Wolverine had been part of the X-Men for six or seven years at this point, but this was the first solo…

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    The Unwritten, Vol. 3: Dead Man’s Knock

    The Unwritten Vol. 3: Dead Man’s Knock by Mike Carey Illustrated By: Peter Gross Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2011 Publisher: Vertigo This is one of my favourite comics going right now. Imagine if J.K. Rowling based Harry Potter after her son of the same name and then disappeared before the last book had been finished, and her son then grew into his 20s as a bitter Harry Potter Con regular living off his fame as a muse. That’s essentially how this series began – Wilson Tayler based his incredibly popular series on his son Tom Tayler, and Tom was drifting through life on that fame until the stories around…

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    Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter

    Richard Stark’s Parker #1: The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke Format: Hardcover Graphic Novel Published: 2009 Publisher: IDW Publishing When I ordered The Hunter, I didn’t realise this was originally a noir crime novel from 1962, although in retrospect the title probably should have been a clue. That book also has three film adaptations, including Payback starring a pre-meltdown Mel Gibson. All I knew was that this was on a lot of random people’s best of the year lists for 2009, so I figured I’d check it out. The main character is Parker, a criminal in 1960’s New York City, who was betrayed and left for dead by his partner and…

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    Pax Romana

    Pax Romana by Jonathan Hickman Format: Trade Paperback Comic Published: 2008 Publisher: Image Comics I’ve been hearing about Jonathon Hickman since I started getting back into comics. He’s was touted as a wonder child in the indie comic scene and has now been brought into Marvel. This is the first comic of his I’ve read, and I’m looking forward to picking through the rest. Pax Romana begins 40 years in the future, when the Catholic church has lost most of its followers. The Vatican has finally embraced technology and have managed to unlock the secrets behind travelling back in time. They decide, in typical churchy fashion, that they know enough…