Um. well. see my sig....
figured since this is a comic board, may as well let people know what I am reading there
I got out of Marvel due to excessive events around Civil War. It's taken me a while to come back to them, and then I am pretty choosy and try to stick to more fringe stuff, to avoid crossovers as much as I can. I read
X-Factor, which is basically a mutant detective agency in NY (though it moves around over the course of the series) consisting of Madrox as the leader, Rictor, Shatterstar, Longshot, Rahne, Strong Guy, Siryn, Monet and Layla Miller at the moment. So yeah, a big team. People come to them with problems, they go out to solve them, but being a superhero book and all, sometimes they get into trouble all on their own. There is a heavy emphasis on team interaction and drama. I like it for the strong character driven work, it's taken a cast of second or third stringer characters and made me care about all of them. I also recently got caught up on
Uncanny X-Force because I saw that AoA Nightcrawler was in it, but instantly took a liking to the subtle character work and more edgy tone of the book. You may tell from my sig, I tend to like things a bit more on the dark side, these days.... C's description is as good as anything I could add.
The Boys is basically depicting Superheroes as inept and sometimes evil fools who are in it for the fame and money more than doing good. There is a group of people, The Boys, who are there to keep them in check. The Boys consists of Butcher, who is the leader, Mother's Milk, the Female, the Frenchman and Hughie, who is the POV character and the heart of the team. The Seven (a Justice League analog) consists of The Homelander, (leader, the 'Superman'), Black Noir (Batman), Queen Maeve (Wonder Woman), A-Train (The Flash), The Deep (Aquaman), and Starlight (replacement for their Green Lantern). They are controlled by a company which represents the government, thought the general public is largely unaware of this fact. They make money through merchandising, namely comic books which portray them in an extremely flattering light, but they are really selfish, inept and in some cases crazy with some exceptions. Other analogs of teams make appearances as well, such as the X-Men, GenX, the Legion, the Avengers etc. I like it for it's clever deconstruction of the comic book publishing industry, I like deconstructions. And it's got that trademark Ennis Preacher style crazyness.
Irredeemable/Incorruptible are sister series. Irredeemable is basically what if a Superman type character (The Plutonian) reaches his breaking point and just SNAPS. He goes on a rampage, obliterating entire cities, and killing all his old teammates, who are at a loss as to how to stop him. Incorruptible is the opposite, a villain, Max Damage, sees the Plutonian's rampage and decides it's up to him to step up and be a hero.... except he doesn't quite know how. I like these for their excellent character work (seeing a trend here?) and the moral questions it poses. It's clever, and makes all the characters, but especially Max and the Plutonian rounded characters and really examining what makes them tick. I find it really interesting, to get inside the head of a Superman who utterly snaps, and the mind of a villain trying to redeem himself but not quite knowing how. The explanations and logic behind their powers is also handled really well.
American Vampire is basically... what if the classic vampire you know was only one species? that there are many different types of vampires, of which they are merely the most recent development... at least until Skinner Sweet is infected with vampirism and becomes a new type, the American Vampire. then it becomes a fight to destroy this new upstart species, so they can retain their position of power in the world. I got this because I wanted to see what Scott Snyder's writing was like, and I was FLOORED. This is one of the best comics I have ever read, no joke. Skinner Sweet is a fantastic villain, he's got depth and character without losing any of his edge. Pearl is one of the best written female characters I've come across, like, ever. And the whole mythology of the different types of vampires is just fascinating. I also love how it moves so quickly through time, we've gotten to see the old west right through to WWII so far, and it's all been great. I hear that they will be spending a good bit of time in the 50's and early 60's after Skinner's flashback arc, which should be interesting. Also, Snyder is the absolute master of the comic book jump scare. I have no idea how he does it, but he can make you jump even if the panel is in the middle of the page.
Fables, I am sure everyone knows. But basically, What if all the fables and stories in the world were real? they have their own dimension where they live their lives, until a mysterious Adversary begins conquering each world, one by one. The survivors escape to our own world, there they live hidden among us. This one is mostly for the premise, but the writing is top notch, and certain characters like Bigby and Flycatcher are real favorites of mine.
Sweet Tooth is about a boy named Gus. Gus has antlers, and lives in a post-apocalyptic world. He is travelling to "The Preserve" which he understands to be a haven for human/animal hybrids like himself. As with American Vampire, I got this to see what Jeff Lemire's writing was like. again, floored. I know, it sounds weird, but you gotta give it a try. Again, the character work here makes it.
I won't get into the DC ones right now, since I haven't actually read them yet. But the creative teams have me highly enthused.
[Edited on 31/8/11 by Bamfette]