I often wonder about how many people on the Guild read and enjoy comics. The last few years I've got back into the hobby, and I'm currently reading a ton of good stuff. The new Space Ghost stuff from Dynamite is what got me back in the comic shop, then DC had to go and make Kyle Rayner the main Green Lantern again so I've been picking that book up for the first time in years. Dynamite is also doing an exceptional crossover between the Thundercats and the Silverhawks which I never thought I'd see in a million years. They also landed the franchise Fire and Ice, and while I missed that series they made a spin-off Darkwolf series I managed to score the first issue of last week. There's also a new Rocketeer series called Rocketeer Ignition from IDW that's probably the best Rocketeer book I've ever read. OH! I also picked up the first issue of another indy book from some random publisher called Zorro Legacy that's about a new Zorro in the modern day. HIGHLY recommend all of this stuff. Absolute Green Arrow too. That's the only Absolute book I'm reading rn, but it's killing me wondering who's behind the mask.

Anybody around these parts reading anything?

One of my favorite comics I've read in the last year was Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke, amazing crime noir comic adapting a classic novel in the genre. Great art, every line of dialogue is pulled from the book, and a chapter dedicated to a flashback has excerpts of the novel to read to go along with the visuals. Really great stuff.

On the superhero end of things, I read through all of the (good) modern Moon Knight runs last year and recently caught up on the current run by Jed MacKay (which is on its fourth title now), really ignited my love for a character that I had only really a passing interest in before I read through some of the backlog.

I've been hooked on martial arts manga. Baki and Kengan Ashura/Omega have been my jam, but I'm more or less caught up on both. So lately I've been reading TOUGH: Legend of the High School Iron Fist. It's been published about as long as Baki has, and it seems to have a much greater reverence for MMA history than Baki or Kengan ever go for. It still indulges in its impossible moves and larger than life capabilities, but the art is beautifully drawn and really cool to follow: in particular the mangaka loves drawing grappling situations, and its awe-inspiring to see how he renders the flow from one joint lock to another, counters upon counters upon counters.

my main issue with it is that it's not translated all the way. I've read ~400 chapters, but I can't find the back 100 chapters in English anywhere. For some bizarre reason most of the sequel series have been translated, but no one has managed to actually translate the final stretch of the original manga. I didn't realize this was the case and it was deeply frustrating to find out. Imagine chewing through 400 chapters in a few weeks and then finding you can't even finish the damn thing! I'm debating between just moving on to the sequel series and picking up what happens from context clues or just cutting my losses and moving onto greener pastures.

In terms of comics I'm also back on my X-Men grind since I finally watched season one of X-Men 97. Back when I first read X-Men I started from Claremont's Giant Size X-Men and fell off sometime after the New Mutants were introduced. Not because of quality, but moreso because other things came up in my life, but I'm finally in a place where I can start again. This time I'm starting from the Stan Lee stuff. I still don't like his writing very much, but its interesting how ultimately transparent his process feels issue-to-issue, you can see him rethink stuff and toss out or remix plotlines in real time. It's also just a treat to see the origins of these classic elements -- and those elements that have rightfully fallen to the wayside.

Historically I've only ever read collected graphic novels and haven't ever really done the weekly trade paperback thing; I'm not organized enough to figure out when new issues drop or where to get them when they do, so I've always gravitated toward collected stories like Long Halloween or omnibuses like Hellblazer Vol 1. I really enjoy what I read, I've just never been able to get in the habit of the weekly drop, and to be honest I'm so out of the loop on releases I wouldn't know where to start or what's available anyway.

Absolute Martian Manhunter has really caught my attention though which is unusual so something I want to pursue, though again I missed the first 4-5 issues before it hit my radar and nowhere local to me stocks back-issues; so again, I'll probably wait until a collected volume is printed and read the whole series in one go. I have recently started collecting Jamie Delano's original Hellblazer run in trade paperback though, 20-something issues currently, including Hellblazer #1, and I'd like to do the same with Jeph Loeb's Long Halloween for the covers (no one touches Tim Sale's art for me when it comes to Batman), as I think Long Halloween really is the single best Batman story ever printed. I know loads of people read online so something I might explore but I'm also really into my physical media so want to support the industry that way.

Primarily, I'm reading from the Distinguished Competition these days, with a little Marvel and others thrown in, my pull-list is rather long:

-Absolute Batman
-Absolute Catwoman
-Absolute Flash
-Absolute Green Arrow
-Absolute Green Lantern
-Absolute Superman
-Absolute Wonder Woman
-Barbara Gordon: Breakout
-Batman
-Batman/Superman: World's Finest
-Clayface: Celebrity Dirt
-Dark Knights of Steel II ( If anyone ever wants to do an RP like this...)
-Deathstroke: The Terminator
-JSA
-New Teen Titans
-Nightwing
-Supergirl
-Supergirl Survive
-Superman

-Iron Man
-Red Sonja Noir: The Plunder & The Princess
-Red Sonja: She-Devil with a Sword

-Vampirella
-Zorro's Legacy (Decided to check this out after reading Zorro: Man of the Dead by Sean Murphy)
-Zorro

Of the Absolutes, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow have been head and shoulders above the rest, but the whole series is a flop in my books (Notably the lack of Absolute Martian Manhunter was because I couldn't get into it at all). It's all trying too hard to be dark and different, but I'm still reading them. Comparatively, Dark Knights of Steel has been one of my favourite reinventions of the characters and the art doesn't hurt either. The newest Batman run has been great, curious to see where it goes but I hate the current arc in Nightwing with the superhighway. Give me the Tom Taylor days again anytime, Cirque du Sin and now the Witch of Blüdhaven are just not hitting the same. Supergirl Survive likewise is an interesting alternative take, and World's Finest has just been consistently great.

I'm actually enjoying this new Deathstroke run even if I saw the 'twist' coming from a mile away.

I loooooove comics, I think they are probably the peak story medium for me. I'm a visual person, I love art, and the way a good artist can show you motion on a still page is so amazing to me. I also like the feeling of your brain filling in blanks for you; how characters sound, what minor actions they take getting from one panel to another, what color scheme they have if its a black and white series... and also the way the paneling can be done in general. When artists mess with the layout, or bring the characters' action or dialogue out of the boundary of the panel, or sound effects that really have an impact instead of just sitting there on the page. Oh, but shout out to the writers too, even the most gorgeous art would struggle to hold up a comic series with really bad writing. That marriage is also one of the things I appreciate.

I usually go through ups and downs periods of reading comics, but my current "up" of binge reading has last for several long months now. I do mostly read manga nowadays simply because its easier to access... even if it is due to scanlation sites. I make sure to buy volumes of any I like though (my shelf is quite full).

If anyone has suggestions of easy access to western comics that would be great! Preferably not mobile app based though.

I did used to read a lot of western comics though. I think the last runs I read as they released were... Fraction's Hawkeye and Redhood and the Outlaws... so like ten year old stories. It has been a while you see haha. Hard to keep up with currently running series. I do pick up omnibuses every now and then though, been chipping away at the ol' Dark Knight omnibuses.

I'd be curious to know if anyone has any indie comics recommendations that aren't superhero based?

Btw, if you can find translations of French comics (or can read French lol), they have such a wonderful selection of stuff in all sorts of genres!

Imagine chewing through 400 chapters in a few weeks and then finding you can't even finish the damn thing!

Ah, I know that feeling quite well haha. Lately I have been sticking to only reading through completed series that also have complete translations available for that reason. I imagine I'll join you in the martial arts manga soon, as I've been slowly incorporating martial arts in my sports manga binging. I recently finished Hinomaruzumou and the mangaka's unfortunately short lived MMA manga Asumi Kakeru, both good, and the early manhwa parts of The Breaker (which is more mystical). I've read other martial arts stories in the past, Teppuu and the like, but normally it's not a genre I seek out. Until now anyway.