House of Horror 26 - National Comics

Read the three books with women/girl stars. The image of a dead dude with a toe tag didn’t entice me. Sue me. Mixed reaction. Very much enjoyed Looker, though it’s very different I thought it a reasonable reimagine. Gorgeous art. Madame Xanadu I thought was okay, setup nice, story okay, just wasn’t really pulled in. Rose and Thorn, mixed reaction. Liked the set up, let’s see Rose and Thorn as a teen. Liked the art, but then the book went in that Alan Moore direction. Maybe I’m getting old, but old dudes and underage teen girls is gross (not to mention a felony). I know the bad girl is at “fault” her, but still.

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100% agre on your M X take and Looker, Looker I would have read more of.

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I am with you on this but have somewhat accepted this trope at face value. Meaning, the writers put themselves in a corner and that is the easiest way to get out of that corner, for better or worse…and it is always 99% worse. I won’t say 100% because sometimes that is the story that needs to be told. R&T was not one of those stories.

I really think Looker was the book that I wanted to see more of the most. It was able to build an entire world in one issue and I want to see more of it. I think Madame X was a good book but it could have been better? It honestly felt like a Doorway to Nightmare story where Madame Xanadu is in the story but only a bit player and the meat of the story are one-off characters.

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Really? Madame Xanadu is one of my favorite comics ever lol. I’ve got 4 comics in my favorites & that was the very 1st I put in there. Won a handful of Eisner awards too which idk until after I loved it which helped validate what I was already thinking. I loved the bit character stories. Especially the ones that were obvious nods to famous people. Like the artist (who was obviously Andy Warhol) & his muse which was obviously Nico. I definitely liked the main storyline issues way more tho. I’m a huge Morgaine le Fey & Xanadu fan. Phantom Stranger was great in it too. I loved how they followed her thru history highlighting major historical events & just how she started out in the Forrest as a fairy 🧚‍♀️. I was hooked instantly.

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I definitely need to read more Madam Xanadu. I loved Doorway to Nightmare. I’m going to have to consider more of the pop culture references of the time when reading her books.

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This wasn’t a Madame Xanadu book but Madame X. I have to read that Xanadu series. Instead, this was a one shot that felt like the beginning of a series that never happened.

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I used to be a huge anime fan through the 90s and early 00s. At some point in time it turned into a weirdly teen sexy thing. I just can’t watch just about anything. They are all pretty creepy. Which sucks, the art is usually so incredible but it grosses me out as an adult. Thankfully the old stuff still exists.

I also get the same vibe from this now that you said something.

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I don’t know, it’s like how I was blown away by Miller’s Batman Year 1 or Killing Joke because they were new and felt different. Now, I read Jim Gordon I mean Batman Year 1 and it’s about sex workers and Gordon cheating on his pregnant wife. Killing Joke feels a little sick now. I think it may have more to do with the dreck that followed in their wake that plowed the same earth (mixing aquatic and soil references) than the original works.

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I wasn’t entirely sure if they were supposed to be different people or not. Their backgrounds are very different I thought it may have been some sort of reboot thing since their gimmicks are so similar.

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Yes, we all love Madame Xanadu Vertigo, it’s a law here. Seriously, I love that book just read it for the first time this year.

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Yeah, it was the same character. I also checked the fandom wiki page, because of things, and it confirmed that it was Madame Xanadu. This could have been the sleeper and been actually great in about 3-5 issues.

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I’ll get some torches ready but I have a pretty unpopular opinion. I only like Sin City by Frank Miller. Otherwise I hate his stories. I have not bothered to read Batman year one by him.

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Depending on which villagers you think are carrying the torches, the crowd might be smaller than you think. Just about everything ‘important’ that Miller wrote has gone down how I perceive it over the years. Some to the point of being nearly unreadable.

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No angry villagers? Not a one? Shucks not even If I call Ronin a dumpster fire of non-sensical jibberish.

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Oh ok gotcha I know which one u mean. Xanadu is incredible @LaserPuff & @D4RK5TARZ ill put my stamp on it. If u don’t like it I can’t request much better. As good, yes, but not much better.

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Meant to post in current iZombie thread.

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Nice @msgtv that’s how strongly I feel about it too. It’s my go to if anyone asks for something good to read & Omega Men is number #2. I think it’s King, it’s not the maxi it’s the 12 issue (I believe) one. I could make it so much easier but I like to not research cuz I learn/remember better that way. Even if I’m wrong I’m gonna get corrected & I’ll remember that much longer than if I Googled it. Those go right in & back out of the memory for me. I gotta learn by it being an actual experience?

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That book made such an impression on my, that it is now my history for X rather than whatever else another writer may tell me

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Well, there are two irritated itinerant travelers with rotten cabbages.

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@D4RK5TARZ This sounds like something we may have to put on the list.

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