The month of March was the biggest reading month I have had this year so far! While I didn’t hit my target goal for the month, I came very close and read some truly fantastic stuff! New favorite series, a new favorite writer, and a stain on my favorite childhood franchise… Let’s take a look at everything I read in the month of March 2024!
March 4th, 2024 (7 Books)
W0rldtr33 (Image Comics) #1 – 7
Basically the story is about a group of kids in 1999, that discover a secret part of the Internet called the Undernet. They record their findings on a message board called W0rldtr33, but then all violent hell breaks loose! Thinking they had safely sealed away the horrors of the Undernet they had discovered, years later they find out they were very wrong. The Undernet is back, it’s killing, and soon all will know the meaning of PH34R!
I had heard really good things about the writer of this series, James Tynion IV, so I thought I would check it out. It’s actually quite good! The sales of the book are also really good and sell out, so I added this one to the old physical pull list at my LCS
(Warning: Book contains violence, some nudity, and is for Mature readers only)
March 5th, 2024 (6 Books)
W0rldtr33 (Image Comics) #8
Got caught up with the latest issue the next day. For a full description of this series, see what I wrote above 😉
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
I am still working on the Superman Reading Project, and have finally arrived at the Legends story arch that ran through all DC titles in 1986, as well as having it’s own mini series. I am only focused on the Superman books, though I did read the mini series as well. Otherwise nothing would have made any sense lol. Books read were Superman, Vol. 2 #3, and Legends #1 – 4.
In an effort to take over Earth, Darkseid finds a way to turn the people of Earth against all of the heroes (Legends) that fight to protect them. It’s a pretty good story and the first big DC Universe crossover to come after the famous Crisis reboot a year earlier.
March 6th, 2024 (19 Books)
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
Continuing on with the SRP, including the rest of the Legends story arch and beyond, 7 more books were read. Books read were Superman, Vol. 2 #4, Action Comics, Vol. 1 #586 – 587, The Adventures of Superman #426 – 427, and Legends #5 – 6
She-Hulk, Vol. 4 (Marvel Comics) #1 – 12
I have always been a fan of She-Hulk, ever since I was a little kid back in the 80s. Though honestly I was mostly collecting Superman books back then, and didn’t collect a lot of Marvel. This new series is fantastic in every way you can imagine! There’s love, humor, and action all rolled up into an amazingly well written series from Rainbow Powell (more on her in a bit). Easy to read, easy to follow, and really nice artwork throughout every issue! And one of my favorite cover artists in modern comics, Jen Bartel, does the main (non variant) cover of each issue! Her style is unmistakable, and I am such a huge fan of her work!
Here are some other examples of Jen’s work 🙂
March 10th, 2024 (5 Books)
She-Hulk, Vol. 4 (Marvel Comics) #13 – 15
Took a few days, but I got back to the rest of the Vol. 4 run and completed it. The run was a great 15 issues! The story doesn’t end there however, as 3 months later Ms. Walters / She-Hulk returned in a new series!
The Sensational She-Hulk, Vol. 2 (Marvel Comics) #1 – 2
I love that when the series returned in October 2023, they brought back the classic Sensational banner from the 60 issue run in the 80s/90s! Famously started by John Byrne, The Sensational run was famous for really putting She-Hulk on the map, and started the whole 4th wall breaking gimmick she became known for.
The new series picks up right where She-Hulk, Vol. 4 left off, featuring the same awesome writing and art! Also because this is a #1 issue, it gave Marvel the excuse to make more variant covers. You know, for suckers like me lol.
March 12th, 2024 (7 Books)
The Sensational She-Hulk, Vol. 2 (Marvel Comics) #3 – 6
Nothing new to say here. More of the same great Shulkie! Now caught up to the most recent issue, though as of this writing, issue #7 is out this week! 🙂
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Dark Horse Comics) #1 – 3
I LOVE all things MOTU… except for this 4 issue series. Written as a prequel to the hit Netflix series, and written by Kevin Smith (yes that Kevin Smith), it was a bore & chore to get through. Comics in my opinion need to have a good balance. Art and text that work together to tell a story. Sometimes just the art can do that. The opposite however isn’t true. Too much text to read, especially when it’s all over the place in terms of plot, is a pain in the ass. It takes the enjoyment out of what could’ve been a great series! Again in my opinion.
There are 2 more 4 issue series to follow this one up. Neither written by Kevin Smith. I sure hope they are better reads. 😦
March 13th, 2024 (2 Books)
Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Dark Horse Comics) #4
Finished the last book in this 4 issues series. Glad to be done with it lol
Scarlet Witch, Vol. 3 (Marvel Comics) #1
My other favorite bad ass Marvel character, the Scarlet Witch started a new series at the beginning of 2023. It had been awhile since I had read them, so I decided to go back and start over. After reading the first issue, I fully planned to keep going with it, but got distracted by some other really great books! So alas, Scarlet will have to wait. Hopefully I will continue her books in my April 2024 readings. 🙂
March 14th, 2024 (2 Books)
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
Not a big reading day, but I was able to knock out a couple more books for the SRP. Books read were Superman, Vol. 2 #5 and The Adventures of Superman #428.
March 16th, 2024 (8 Books)
Transformers (Image Comics) #1 – 6
Growing up in the 80s, I was huge on Masters of the Universe. But I was never allowed to watch G.I. Joe, or The Transformers. Deemed to violent (guns and such), I never got to really experience the Robots in Disguise until I had my own son and watched the cartoons and movies with him in the 2000s. Though I’ll never be as into the Transformers as hard core as my son or my best friend, I was intrigued by the new TF books that are now being published by Image Comics and part of the new Energon Universe. So I picked up the first issue from my LCS and I was instantly hooked!
Daniel Warren Johnson does an amazing job in my opinion of writing a series that does 2 things at the same time: writing that’s easy for a newcomer, yet also gives a lot to the hardcore TF fans. The series is a much (MUCH) darker take on the TF Universe and it’s characters, adding death and realism that you didn’t see in the cartoons of old.
I seriously cannot recommend this series enough! It’s a must read! And the book is selling tremendously well… as of this writing, they are releasing a 5th printing of the first issue this week! Holy cow! So Transform, roll out, and check this series out!
Gun Honey (Titan Comics) #1 – 2
While perusing through a comic book site that I frequent, I came across a series that was listed as being quite popular. Labeled as a Crime Thriller / Mystery series, and even praised by Stephen King, it sounded pretty cool so I thought I’d check it out. After just the 1st issue, I could definitely see why the series was so popular. So let me just alter the label I mentioned…
The series should be labeled as a Crime & Boobs Thriller / Mystery with Boobs, and did I also mention Boobs? Seriously this series has so much nudity that it started to feel like it was just for the sake of having nudity. The story was great, the artwork was good, but man… lol. If you’re offended by boobs, or nudity then steer clear of this one.
March 17th, 2024 (11 Books)
Gun Honey (Titan Comics) #3 – 4
Well I had to see how the first series ended didn’t I? Lol! Wait… the first series?
Gun Honey: Blood for Blood (Titan Comics) #1 – 4
That’s right, Gun Honey is back! Called back into action, this series continues from where the first series left off. Same great writing, artwork, and… ahem… maturity can be found here as well.
Yeah look, mature stuff aside, it’s not a bad series. I rather enjoy the story! 😉
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
Chipped away a bit more at the SRP. Ya know, these early Superman books are very good but hard to follow continuity wise as each title had its own running storyline. Things will be a lot better once I get to the Triangle Era in a few months. Books read were Superman, Vol. 2 #6, Hawkman, Vol. 2 #10, Action Comics #588, and The Adventures of Superman #429 – 430.
March 18th, 2024 (1 Book)
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
Just one book towards the SRP: Action Comics #589
March 19th, 2024 (1 Book)
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
Just one book towards the SRP: Action Comics #590
March 20th, 2024 (3 Books)
Various Superman Related Titles/Books (DC Comics)
Just three books towards the SRP: Superman, Vol. 2 #7 – 8, and Legion of Super-Heroes, Vol. 3 #37
This ended up wrapping up books towards the SRP for March, as my attention got completely sidetracked to a completely different series and in the absolute best possible way.
March 24th – 26th, 2024 (30 Books)
Saga (Image Comics) #1 – 30
30 books in 3 days. Once I started, it was so hard to put down. This series is hands down one of, if not THE best comic book series I have ever read!
I had heard about Saga and how popular it was over the last few years, but basically slept on it. Something I definitely regret. So what’s it all about? Nothing I write can describe it fully, or with justice, so here’s a blurb from League of Comic Geeks for issue #1…
Y: THE LAST MAN writer Brian K. Vaughan returns to comics with red-hot artist Fiona Staples for an all-new ONGOING SERIES! Star Wars-style action collides with Game of Thrones-esque drama in this original sci-fi/fantasy epic for mature readers, as new parents Marko and Alana risk everything to raise their child amidst a never-ending galactic war. The adventure begins in a spectacular DOUBLE-SIZED FIRST ISSUE, with forty-four pages of story with no ads for the regular price of just $2.99!
After reading the first 30 issues of Saga, I am completely convinced that Brian K. Vaughan is one of the best modern comic book writers out there. He’s able to put so much into his stories, yet not making you feel like you’re reading walls of text. He’s able to make you care about the character’s from the major ones , to the minor, or otherwise. He crafts an entire world… worlds… galaxy into such an amazing and exciting story! Full of humor, love, action, violence, war, true human emotions, and situations that really tap into real world topics and issues of our time.
As for the artwork, holy crap it’s so good! Fiona Staples does a fucking superb job at bringing Brian’s written characters and locales to brilliant life! She not only does the pencils, but also all of the inks and colors herself! That’s normally the jobs of 3 different people in a normal book, but this gives her all of the control over the art and it shows fantastically! Thus the reason after issue #25 she receives top billing and is a co-creator and co-owner of Saga.
The books can get graphic at times (violence, nudity, sexual situations, etc.) but not in a overly gross way (see Gun Honey above lol), and in ways that make sense for the story and progressing it further. Remember this is labeled as a book that leans towards Game of Thrones style themes at points.
I absolutely cannot recommend this series enough! I want everyone to read this and check it out! I truly don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
March 29th, 2024 (16 Books)
Runaways, Vol. 5 (Marvel Comics) #1 – 2
So after reading the first 30 issues of Saga, I decided to switch to something different. I don’t want to get burned out on any one series or character, so I like to bounce around between different series through the month. As Saga does 6 issue story arch’s (think of them as seasons in a tv series), I already finished the first 5. So it was a good spot to pause.
Remember earlier I said I would come back to Rainbow Rowell? Well here we are! I knew the Runaways was a comic series (never read it), and there was even a tv series based on it (never watched it). When I saw Rainbow wrote the entirety of the Vol. 5 run, I decided to check it out as I love her writing style! I was right in thinking it would be fantastic! Her writing style is unmistakable, and really shines here! There’s just one big problem… unlike She-Hulk, this is not a good jumping on point for new readers. There’s so much going on with various characters, backstories, and plots… you really need to go back and real of the comics that came before this series. While that’s something I plan to do eventually, I have other books right now that are a priority. Runaways and Rainbow will have to wait awhile longer. I’ll get back to these eventually.
In the meantime…
Paper Girls (Image Comics) #1 – 14
It’s another Brian K. Vaughan spectacular! If you think Saga is great, then you’ll LOVE Paper Girls! A sort of ‘Stand By Me’ meets ‘War of the Worlds’, filled with time travel that spans from the 80s/90s to prehistoric to the future! A young adult adventure that leaves you absolutely hooked and binge reading, I love this series! Even my wife has shown interest in this book!
Once again, Brian’s writing and creative composition of characters and environments shines, telling a fantastic story that really takes you all over the place yet still feels very connected. The series at this point is completely wrapped up within a 30 issues run, and I am super excited to see how it all ends! I highly recommend this series!
Final Thoughts…
While I missed my goal of reading 5 books a day on average, and only hit 118 books out of a possible 155 for the month, I am SUPER happy with everything I read! I discovered a new writer that I now love, 2 great new (to me) series, and just worlds of joy! While the MOTU books were the only stain on this month, overall everything I read was really good!
Next month, I plan to finally hit a monthly goal (150 for April) and finish up a couple series. I will also get a bigger chunk of the SRP knocked out, and who knows… maybe I’ll discover some more great new series along the way.
I. LOVE. COMICS!
Stay awesome, stay nerdy, and always stay true to yourself! Until next time friends!
~ Malty
The Malty Gamer 