# Weekly Comic Book Discussion 5/20/2004
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 20, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172 "2004-05-20T13:28:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/21 "2004-05-25T16:49:21Z")
I’m looking for a review of **New Frontier**. Anyone heard anything good about it?
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/22 "2004-05-25T17:00:27Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> I’m looking for a review of **New Frontier**. Anyone heard anything good about it?
DC : New Frontier? I’ve been buying it.
I like it, but I’m not quite sure what it means to be yet.
It looks like a gritty retelling of the DC universe from about the beginning of the Silver Age. Except, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman debuted consistent with their pre-Crisis Earth Two origins.
So, it’s kinda like the post-Crisis DCU if they’d kept the Golden Age interpretations of the big three.
I like it so far. Do you want more on the art, plot… what particular elements are you curious about?
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/23 "2004-05-25T17:12:01Z")
I’m looking for some insight into its plot, and if it has any relevance to the current DCU.
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/24 "2004-05-25T17:21:27Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> I’m looking for some insight into its plot, and if it has any relevance to the current DCU.
As far as I can tell, it exists outside the current DCU.
The plot, as far as I can make it out, begins with :
…the ‘Mystery Man’ purge by the House Un-American Activities Commission. Basically, as in the core DCU, the Justice Society members are ordered to reveal their identities. Most choose voluntary retirement instead. Wonder Woman and Superman go to work for the government … Batman remains an extant rogue vigilante. (There’s also an amusing reference to a failed attempt to subdue the Dark Knight using Superman.) We pick up with the background stories and origins of Hal Jordan in the Korean War, we see the Flash and Martian Manhunter as early icons of the Silver Age… it appears they’re building towards some sort of invasion storyline, based on Batman’s interaction with the Manhunter.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/25 "2004-05-25T18:05:56Z")
I was just over at [dccomics.com](http://dccomics.com) on the New Frontier message board reading some posts. Looks like the author stops by quite often to answer questions and such. Someone asked a while ago about continuity - and it looks like its Elseworlds. He had asked DC for the Elseworlds logo, but they’ve stopped doing that.
Regardless, I can’t get over how fantastic the covers are. The artwork and plot summaries really remind me of “The Watchmen” - so I think I may pick up the back issues tonight to catch up before tomorrow’s issue.
Thanks for the info.
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### Author:  [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/26 "2004-05-25T20:13:20Z")
Darwyn Cooke is an amazing artist, so I have no doubt New Frontier will be great. I’m waiting for the inevitable trade paperback, though.
If y’all are enjoying New Frontier, I’d highly recommend The Golden Age, a four-issue Elseworlds miniseries by James “Starman” Robinson and Paul Smith.
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### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/27 "2004-05-25T20:25:16Z")
Why do people prefer the trade paperbacks? Is the few bucks you save? I feel that reading the comics individually is more satisfying - you get a greater sense of the individual story of each book.
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/28 "2004-05-25T20:50:24Z")
Golden Age does rock the house.
I guess the allure of TPBs is that essentially you get a whole chunk of it all at once… they sit nicely on shelves… and you generally don’t need to give a lot of thought to preservation, because they’re not especially collectible.
I dig’em.
Also, Marvel has had the horrid habit in recent years of slowing story development down to a crawl so that the plotlines are specifically paced for the trade paperbacks, ruining the flow of the individual issues.
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### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/29 "2004-05-25T22:08:11Z")
Issue #11 of **Girl Genius** is supposed to be out tomorrow! According to Studiofoglio.com there was a problem with the company that was supposed to be printing it and they had to get a new printer, which delayed this issue.
Hopefully from here on it’ll ship on time. Though, having experienced Foglio before, I’m sure there’ll be some future delays. I love his work, but he’s not the most reliable publisher.
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### Author:  [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/30 "2004-05-25T22:10:20Z")
Oops. GG #11 is _shipping_ tomorrow. It should be in stores next week. :smack:
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### Author:  [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/31 "2004-05-25T22:18:01Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> Why do people prefer the trade paperbacks? Is the few bucks you save? I feel that reading the comics individually is more satisfying - you get a greater sense of the individual story of each book.
No ads. I _loathe_ ads being inserted every few pages. One more “Tobacco is Whacko”, “Army of One”, snack food or gaming advertisement, and I will lose it. For me, the constant interruption interferes with the flow and atmosphere of the story, especially if it’s something tightly plotted like Sleeper.
There are also the added bonuses of requiring less storage space, not being quite as fragile, more easily lent out to friends (which I do extensively), and more convenient to read as complete stories. It’s also considerably cheaper if you purchase through an on-line retailer like Amazon or Overstock; cover price is already a little cheaper than the singles, but once it’s discounted another 30 - 40% the difference is substantial, especially on something as expensive as comics. It’s very rare I’ll buy singles any more. Only if a story is unlikely to be collected will I bother.
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### Author:  [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/32 "2004-05-26T07:04:49Z")
I much prefer individual issues to trades most of the time. When the stories are written for the individual issue, even the multiparters, there are things about them that work better for me than trades.
First, I like the individual covers. Part of the pleasure of a good comic is the cover art. Yes, I know these are typically collected in the trades, but it’s not the same. Good covers enhance the story in a comic in a way that the cover of a text book doesn’t. The covers of _Walking Dead_ are a wonderful example of this.
Second, I’m a sucker for the big end of issue splash. Having to wait a month to have the suspense resolved is part of the pleasure, and revisiting the previous issue or two to refresh my memory of what exactly led up to the action in the current one is also part of the pleasure.
That said, trades are clearly better for certain titles. _Gotham Central_ doesn’t work at all as individual issues. Brubaker doesn’t even attempt to set up each issue as a self contained chapter. I’m still subscribed, but I wait for each storyline to reach its conclusion before reading them now.
I get the individual issues for less than the trades for the most part. JLA, for example, costs me about 9.00 for six individual issues, while a trade with that many costs a little more.
I can see why people prefer trades; I just happen to like the individual issues better.
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### Author:  [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/33 "2004-05-26T07:37:29Z")
Oh, and I forgot one. The letter column. I remember a debate in the late 80’s in the letter section of _Uncanny X-Men_ in which a physics student proposed a possible mechanism by which Nightcrawler’s powers might work, which was refuted a few months later by a physics professor.
It’s also fun to read people making fools out of themselves. Early in the current run of _The Flash_, it was a little amazing to see letters complaining about Wally’s immorality and promiscuity for having three or four girlfriends in a space of about 40 issues (roughly a year in terms of DC continuity). The same run had a group outraged at the revelation that the Pied Piper was gay, and included some well-thought, reasoned responses to the outrage.
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/34 "2004-05-26T12:36:12Z")
People, people… you’re missing the most important news of all. According to Aint-it-cool News, Quesada announced at the Wizard World con in Philadelphia that What If? was returning to the Marvel line-up!
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### Author:  [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/35 "2004-05-26T14:08:51Z")
> [@Number Six](#):
>
> I get the individual issues for less than the trades for the most part. JLA, for example, costs me about 9.00 for six individual issues, while a trade with that many costs a little more.
JLA is only $1.50 an issue?
Marvel has done a nice job in the past couple of years of matching their TPB pricing to the cost of the individual issues. Personally I don’t mind paying a buck or so more for the TPB since it is (normally) ad free and more convenient.
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### Author:  [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/36 "2004-05-26T23:14:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> JLA is only $1.50 an issue?
I use a subscription service that gives me a 35% discount, which means that JLA, with a cover price of 2.25, costs me 1.46. The 2.95 books come in at about 1.90 after the discount.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weekly-comic-book-discussion-5-20-2004/246172/37 "2004-05-26T23:43:07Z")
[Your Help Requested, Please.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=257480)
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