Arctic Grodd Speaks: A Present for the New Year

Hello there,

For some time now my friend, Robert, has been running this fabulous blog, and for an equal amount of time he has been kind enough to invite me to participate. I have been terrible about taking him up on that offer. Its a project I have had in the back of my mind but never actualized. Now with the new year fast approaching it’s high time I got my act together. The problem is I can not read ever comic out there. The comic book industry is strong and vast in titles, so I decided I shall create a pull list of few comics I am already reading, and stick to the promise made to myself more then Robert to blog about them.

I’m sure as the months pass more titles will join but for now twelve eleven will do.
_{Editors note: Arctic Grodd only mentions 11 titles 😛}

From DC I am already reading Detective Comics. I have always enjoyed reading Batman comics and it was hard to decide upon which title to go with. In the end it was the team dynamic that drew me. I made the decision to start reading Wonder Woman when DC Comics 52 came along. I had been feeling the need to move away from male centric books for a few months, and 52 was a natural entry point. It was a decision I never regretted. I have long been a fan of the Teen Titans, but the 52 version bored me dreadfully and I dropped it. Now with DC Comics Rebirth I am returning for another kick at the can. Currently I am shopping for what will be my fourth title. Which when you think about it is more a statement about how far i have traveled away from the DC Universe then I thought it would.

Marvel has for decades been my company of choice, or at least if asked a few years ago I would have sworn that was true. Lately it’s output has not been worthy of my money. Still I can find four gems within the dross. After Reed Richards – Doctor Strange was my main Marvel hero. I enjoy the stories about broken spirits that solve problems more with their brains than their brawn. Sherlock Holmes was my first super hero. On the other hand Black Panther was never a character that excited me, even with the plethora of compelling argument that he should stand shoulder to shoulder with Reed, and Steven as a character I should be reading. The Panther’s newest book is my test at seeing if it’s true.

Marvel Comics new Star Wars comics, dang if I don’t like everything about this franchise. So including its flagship title was a given certainty.

The cap and cowl crew have been losing steam for me over the years. Too many of their stories are run of the mill regurgitation of existing plots. So off to the fabulous worlds of creator owned or independent, read not the big two, comic books. Hopefully to find something novel (that is indeed a pun). Kill or be Killed lept onto my list because of the author, Ed Brubaker. I will read anything written by him. I follow him. I stalk his works. Because writer are more important to me in the creation of comic books than any other contributor I follow Jonathan Hickman as well. Above I mentioned Reed Richards, for all his flaws, was my favorite super hero Mr. Hickman’s work with Reed will always have a warm spot in my heart. I have not yet read a single issue of Black Monday Murders. I think out of fear that it will taint my respect for Mr. Hickman. a feat his twitter hasn’t done, but we shall see. Lazarus (from Image Comics), what to say. I have been on board since the beginning and will ride this crazy wonderful train through every twist and turn to the end. I must leave off typing about the book for now, this is already too large a wall of text and Lazarus as a subject would require thousands of more words.

Transformers: Lost Light is the rename or re-branding(?) of the Transformers comic Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye. I will have to perform some heavy catch up of this title to get into the monthly swing of writing about it. I have been and always will be a fan of the Transformers. Giant stompy robots fighting each other, what’s not to like.

Well there you go verbose wall of text about what i shall be doing in the new year. Will it work out. I’ve no clue, but here’s hoping to have fun along the way.

– Arctic Grodd