i just went thru the 3 tpbks. purdy cool stuff. not unlike morrison's invisibles, but more coherent. too bad abt the erratic releases tho. any fans up in here?

 

Yeah, I like it.

FYI, one chapter (I think it was #9 or something) is a reference to Morrison's Invisibles (and The Matrix, which supposedly imitated some elements from Invisibles). It's the one with Ambrose Chase and the fictionauts.

The story is concluding soon, supposedly the last issue will be out in December.

 

Make sure you read Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth, great story.

Sleeper and the original 30 or so issues of Authority are also really good.

 

Oh yeah, I read Planetary!!! Have the absolute volume 1 and all the single issues after it. Even got a ish sign by Warren Ellis. I love all the homages and twisted versions of literature and comics characters in this book. The best part all issues of the regular series are by the same creators. Oh yeah, It has beautiful Cassaday art...just beautiful! I also loved the planetary/batman team up because the appearances of all the batmans from the past. This is a great book, pick it up..now!

 

Planetary and the Authority are awesome. I wish they came out a little more regularly.

 

hmm. ive put off the the planetary crossovers, thinking theyre not relevant to the series. maybe i'll give it a go, eh? thx!

 

i have the first trade waiting for it to finish before i get the rest sao i can get them all in trade form as i jumped on late

 

love it. too bad the series is about over. :-\

 

I liked it, in general, although I dont always agree with the way of the world as composed by Ellis.

PS. Is it just me, or is Ellis not fond of Superman? Everytime an analog of him shows up (Or even the man himself) he seems to die horrible, get humiliated, or get humiliated and THEN die horribly.

 

i think basically the point he is trying to make is, in the world of planetary, comic superheroes, idyllic/idealist beings just dont make the cut.

 

Nah, Ellis actually does appear fond of the character ( See "Why They'll Never Let Me Write Superman" part of this link )

Off the top of my head the things that could be Superman or Superman-analogues that Ellis has written included:

-The High from STORMWATCH: CHANGE OR DIE
-Apollo from STORMWATCH & THE AUTHORITY
-The JLA vs Pulp Heroes fight in the first PLANETARY issue
-Maybe the superhero in the PLANETARY Vertigo-themed issue but I don't really count that since it's more representative of Marvelman and Ellis' endfate joke for Captain America.
-The issue with the Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman origins being stillborn as a result of the evil analogues of the Fantastic Four
-PLANETARY/JLA

In general, I wouldn't really count analogues too much, as they are often made to be different characters than the actual character. For instance, The High's beliefs are more like the early appearances of Superman plus what The Authority would later adopt. And if you argue that Superman got a bum deal in PLANETARY/JLA, you could also argue that the rest of the DCU.... Flash, Atom, the Green Lanterns, Swamp Thing, Cyborg, etc. got worse fates than him.

 

The Batman and Authority ones are worth getting, but the JLA one's rather flat. Still, the TPB with all three is probably cheaper/easier to find than the two separately.

Great series. I've semi-followed what was happening since getting the first two trades of the main issues, but I think I'm gonna wait for it to be concluded before picking up the rest as trades, going through it all very slowly and savouring. It's a definite keeper.

 

since some of you have been behind on the TPBs (admittedly i only picked mine up when i found a place that had all 3 in stock) heres a quickie review on the 3rd and latest (ish 13-18) off the top of my head:
- feature sherlock holmes and dracula and doc frankenstein's castle
- a neat aborigine based tale of ayer rock
- jakita's (who i find to be the most asexual leather clad hottie in comics) origin which includes the tarzan-based dude
- tha capture of mr leather with a tale of ppl from the 1800s trying to land themselves on the moon

i also have a copy of the issue where they referenced galactus - a nice twist on the hunger theme - , prior to the encounter with jacob greene, the most mysterious of the four thus far. and the issue with drummer's origin. "worst. rescue. ever." i LOLd.

 

To me the only downside to the series is timing between issues because little nods in issue 17 could be big plots in 19 especially when the issues could be spaced over a period of six months.