I bought a Justice League Dark omnibus because I found a lot of fanfic very interested in Nick Necro
and I have read up to page 435
which has included a lot of Nick Necro.
I was puzzled reading the bits on the internet at how Nick thinks Z and John betrayed him
but reading it all in a row I realised
despite John *saying* threesome
the book thinks Nick is straight.
Well that's a lot more boring as a story.
Like yes betraying a friend and mentor is a story, but, *waves at John Constantine's everything*
they absolutely were shagging.
I'm not convinced this comic is well acquainted with John's everything though.
I mean they're actively remaking it, but I am frequently not impressed with what they're attaching to the name here.
And Zatanna is pretty much reduced to Daddy Issues in a bustier.
Also I am not getting along with superhero comics pacing anymore again. Everything happens so much, on any given page, and yet by page 435 it sure doesn't take many paragraphs to sum it up. People come and go so often it's not always worth memorising the names, yet the book seems to exist to intro them and tell us how the world works in the then new configuration. Crossovers dance across the pages in a splash and then go away to books not covered here. There's no through line, it's too choppy. And the summaries provided by the characters already contradict what I actually read.
Which is occasionally interesting because you learn for sure you can't trust a word out of Nick Necro's mouth and he may well be fooling himself as well, but that is not the only impression it gives.
It's doing a lot with Constantine and Zatanna so I'm glad I'm reading it, but it's mostly making me want to mine it for parts, which is my usual comics reading experience.
Also it very seldom has page numbers. This makes citing pages a tad bit difficult, and I do not see it naming individual source issues clearly here either, just in the opening table of contents. It can go entire story arcs before it bothers printing a page number so it is not easy to connect the table of contents to what you happen to be reading. And every time a splash page happens some numpty designed it so the important bit goes in the middle where the pages bend, which gets you staples in individual issues but is just unpossible to read in omnibus.
... this thing is over 1600 pages of graphic novel sized paperback. I am using a pillow to read it on and I still feel like if I sneeze I'm going to have at least two books in my hands.
It's interesting, but as often happens I don't know why they did this to existing character (mostly John) instead of admitting they had a whole new guy. They spend so long introducing the House of Mystery and making John go questing for magical artefacts, and those are not what I recall as core features of the Hellblazer. This comic also has him using mostly con tricks to get money from rich guys, theoretically, like that's what gets interrupted by the plot when it kicks off. Doesn't really seem like something you'd need magic for, though it is specifically tricking those going looking for magic, which happens a lot. So I can see where they're going with this guy, but.
I like Legends John better, or Constantine 2014 John, and they're still not Vertigo John.
... they do have the advantage in terms of screen time and focused storytelling.
I had noted before that the sliding timeline makes this John stand in a different relationship to punk and magic, and here rather than taking an original approach he's studying from the greats and that's supposed to be Nick. Says Nick picked the name Necro because punk. I can see why some articles think Nick is just John from a different canon. But the bit where it says he feels too ordinary and that's why he wants magic? New guy.
I think this comics team that wanders in and out of crossovers is a reading experience pretty much opposite to the focused one to a handful of characters stories I've been liking most lately.
Like these people are interesting, but only enough to make me want a story about them. Not thus far to feel like I've read one.
Comics require different reading muscles.
... as does this 1622 page book...
and I have read up to page 435
which has included a lot of Nick Necro.
I was puzzled reading the bits on the internet at how Nick thinks Z and John betrayed him
but reading it all in a row I realised
despite John *saying* threesome
the book thinks Nick is straight.
Well that's a lot more boring as a story.
Like yes betraying a friend and mentor is a story, but, *waves at John Constantine's everything*
they absolutely were shagging.
I'm not convinced this comic is well acquainted with John's everything though.
I mean they're actively remaking it, but I am frequently not impressed with what they're attaching to the name here.
And Zatanna is pretty much reduced to Daddy Issues in a bustier.
Also I am not getting along with superhero comics pacing anymore again. Everything happens so much, on any given page, and yet by page 435 it sure doesn't take many paragraphs to sum it up. People come and go so often it's not always worth memorising the names, yet the book seems to exist to intro them and tell us how the world works in the then new configuration. Crossovers dance across the pages in a splash and then go away to books not covered here. There's no through line, it's too choppy. And the summaries provided by the characters already contradict what I actually read.
Which is occasionally interesting because you learn for sure you can't trust a word out of Nick Necro's mouth and he may well be fooling himself as well, but that is not the only impression it gives.
It's doing a lot with Constantine and Zatanna so I'm glad I'm reading it, but it's mostly making me want to mine it for parts, which is my usual comics reading experience.
Also it very seldom has page numbers. This makes citing pages a tad bit difficult, and I do not see it naming individual source issues clearly here either, just in the opening table of contents. It can go entire story arcs before it bothers printing a page number so it is not easy to connect the table of contents to what you happen to be reading. And every time a splash page happens some numpty designed it so the important bit goes in the middle where the pages bend, which gets you staples in individual issues but is just unpossible to read in omnibus.
... this thing is over 1600 pages of graphic novel sized paperback. I am using a pillow to read it on and I still feel like if I sneeze I'm going to have at least two books in my hands.
It's interesting, but as often happens I don't know why they did this to existing character (mostly John) instead of admitting they had a whole new guy. They spend so long introducing the House of Mystery and making John go questing for magical artefacts, and those are not what I recall as core features of the Hellblazer. This comic also has him using mostly con tricks to get money from rich guys, theoretically, like that's what gets interrupted by the plot when it kicks off. Doesn't really seem like something you'd need magic for, though it is specifically tricking those going looking for magic, which happens a lot. So I can see where they're going with this guy, but.
I like Legends John better, or Constantine 2014 John, and they're still not Vertigo John.
... they do have the advantage in terms of screen time and focused storytelling.
I had noted before that the sliding timeline makes this John stand in a different relationship to punk and magic, and here rather than taking an original approach he's studying from the greats and that's supposed to be Nick. Says Nick picked the name Necro because punk. I can see why some articles think Nick is just John from a different canon. But the bit where it says he feels too ordinary and that's why he wants magic? New guy.
I think this comics team that wanders in and out of crossovers is a reading experience pretty much opposite to the focused one to a handful of characters stories I've been liking most lately.
Like these people are interesting, but only enough to make me want a story about them. Not thus far to feel like I've read one.
Comics require different reading muscles.
... as does this 1622 page book...