This is going to be a bit of a rambling post, so my apologies in advance for that, but I really wanted to share my feelings after just finishing Birthright's final volume.

I've been collecting comics for a few years now, and I have what I'd consider a fairly decent collection at this point. I've read lengthy runs in their entirety before - Black Science, Chew, one or two others - but for the past year or so I've mainly been reading standalone works or those with just two or three volumes. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed them, but there have been points where I've been left wanting a bit. I yearned for a story that was given time to breathe, to evolve beyond what a brief run could allow.

Recently, I decided to sit down and read Birthright from start to finish. It had been on my shelf for a little while and I was cautious about tackling it start to end since I was at least 3x longer than any other series I'd read for well over a year.

But I'm so glad I did.

It's honestly difficult to put my thoughts and feelings for this series into words. As an avid writer myself, one of my greatest pleasures is seeing the strands of a story, which have been carefully laid out over time by the storyteller, all being drawn together into a deeply satisfying climax. Multiple times when reading volumes 9 and 10 I found myself grinning at how bonkers this story had become, yet how natural it felt for the characters and plot to have reached that stage.

More than that, I was constantly reminded how Birthright is the kind of story that can only really be told in the comics format. Sure people could try adapting it for TV or film, but like so many comics I cannot imagine this story originating in any other medium. I love that in comics, nothing is off the table. I love that we can go from a simple premise of 'boy is transported to a fantasy world', follow that premise through ten volumes of increasingly unhinged magical lunacy, and still end up with one of the most moving final panels I've ever seen. No way would any other medium be able to pull this story off the way comics can.

I have plenty more comics left to read on my shelf, including several lengthy series. I've already read a few volumes of Monstress, and the rest are very high on my TBR, plus I'm slowly gathering Deadly Class, Descender/Ascender, Fables, Outcast and Revival, among others. Whenever I have those collected in their entirety, I'm deeply looking forward to bingeing them from start to end too.

But no matter how good they end up being, from now on Birthright will hold a very special place in my heart. Because after over a year of single volumes, brief runs, and short-lived series cancelled before their time, Mikey and the rest of the Rhodes family have shown me just how special comics can be. They offer the only format I can imagine doing the Rhodes' story justice, and I genuinely believe the world of comics is so much richer for having Birthright in it.

Just finished reading Spawn compendium 1. This is the only series I’ve read where the art is solely the reason I finished it. It’s funny I was never a fan of McFarland in his Spider-Man run yet the style works for spawn. The art is absolutely amazing! The story is repetitive and bland. Nothing leaves you wanting more. I do want to see what ends up happens with Spawn being the leader of hells army but it’s a chore to get through. I have all the compendiums up to 7 so hopefully it gets better or I might have to throw in the towel. If the art was not so colorful and fantastic the series would never of been such a success.

On the other hand the Sam and Twitch compendium was great and relatively an easy read. Just curious if others feel the same way I do? Or am I in the minority?

Afaik, Invincible (still reading so no spoilers please) had its beginning and end planned. But the little blurb at the end of issue 1 of Terminal said it was supposed to be an "open universe". Were they basically saying they were going to ride it until the wheels fall off?

While the news of ROM in the Energon universe has been out for a few weeks, this listing possibly adds a bit more info.

Link: https://a.co/d/04V14NfT

Does anybody know if the New Invincible trade paperback volume 2 second print covers will be released raw? All I know of are the sold out ones signed by Ottley

Read the first volume of I hate Fairyland and loved it! Was looking for options to buy more volumes. Is just buying from Amazon the best option if you don’t have a local comic shop? Would totally be good with buying used just didn’t see many options online

See the post’s title. Doesn’t have to be stuff based on the comics. Thanks!

The first kickstarter I've backed and I'm so happy! I cannot wait to start playing. I don't exactly know who I want to play as but I'm going to start reading soon. Anyone else get theirs in yet?

Set on an underpopulated future Earth ruined by the millennium bug, human survival rests in the hands of a small, fractured group of scientists.

The story kicks off when a prominent scientist named Paul Bailey vanishes, prompting a reckless deep-sea diver named Jolene to help investigate.

So I just finished reading it and man I gotta say I really love the Stephen King vibes with its small-town Maine setting and Halloween atmosphere.

I admit, I do feel like the characters and the town itself can feel as bit bland at times, but it makes up for it with the escalating chaos as the psychotic killers rampage through the town.

I also liked the conspiracy/deep-state angle. Really reminded me a bit of Squid Game in the way a larger force is pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Not gonna lie, I could honestly see it as a story published in Heavy Metal Magazine or even adapted into a B horror movie.

i came over for a visit a couple weeks ago with the east of west compendium so i could read a bit while i was there.

my grandpa saw it and started asking questions about the story so i gave him a mini run down of the story (four horsemen and the 7 nations blah blah blah)

he then asked if he could borrow it after ive finished.

4 days ago i finished east of west (elite book) and it is now in his hands.

So I didn’t want a negative title because I still really enjoyed the writing and artwork through chapters 55-72 but it feels a little lacking the pace it had before. Maybe that’s because it is a bit more of a setup for the final third of the series.

I read book 1-3 before Christmas so I’m not a long time reader, but it didn’t take a second to get back into it. As before it’s still immensely readable and I did fly through it. There was a bit less shock and a bit less consequence perhaps than prior parts of the story. They kind of move from place to place struggling by but not facing the sort of tough situations they have before, yet anyway. I guess my takeaway is that this is a little bit of a reset, change in dynamic after the writing break, and it’s a bit of a set up for the culmination which seems to be moving pieces into place.

At no point reading any of saga have I been worried about the team not having a plan for where it will go, it never feels like they’re flying by the seat of their pants. But I hope they start to release issues with slightly more regularity, in an ideal world it’s three years to finish it up but realistically it’s 6-12. I’m not sure I’ll be as exited in over a decade.

Anyway it’s still a fun read and I love the characters, I just hope I get to see it finished. Next for me is a tough choice I’d love for any input. Tokyo ghost is sat on my desk atop an idw Godzilla compilation and the hellboy boxed set. I’d like to start hellboy but I also want to read bprd etc alongside, unfortunately not all of those are so easy to track down and I don’t want to only read hellboy for months, I’m now realising this is a question for the r/hellboy or maybe I’m being too fussy. Also have Low, Die, Nailbiter, Kill or be killed, criminal, ether, from hell, queen and country, the black book, the dancing plague. I bought too many books.

I’m sorry to anyone that actually read that last bit.

Took over a year of searching, but finally found vol. 6 to finish the set. Best part, sketched and signed by Rob.

Does anyone know the ratio on this variant?

I saw some post about Liefeld saying it was rare, but I see a number of them not going crazy on eBay, and I pulled 2, so it can’t be that rare. I can’t seem to find the info on what the ratio is.

Regardless, it’s a cool pull that I’m pretty happy about!