What is the worst comic book that you have ever read ?


IGN comics recently reviewed Justice League: Cry for Justice # 7 and totally thrashed it, giving it 1 out of 10: "Abysmal" rating. i guess its their worst rating.



Just read what the reviewer had to say about it: Warning:Spoiler Alert!

I realize this might be symptomatic of a serious character deficiency on my part, but I normally derive great enjoyment out of reading a truly awful comic. Not so with James Robinson's conclusion to his remarkably terrible Cry for Justice miniseries. Here's a comic that is so awful, it dives well below other entertainingly bad comics right into the category of books that just make you sad, dumbfounded, depressed and a bit angry. How does a major publisher let something this awful see print? How do they allow their characters to be handled in such a way? If there was a purpose to this series beyond mistreating two of DC's flagship characters beyond repair and providing definitive proof that James Robinson has officially lost his touch, I missed it.

Robinson had his work cut out for him if he wanted to up the moronic stakes of the previous installments in this concluding chapter, but he pulled it off spectacularly. How does one possibly make a story filled with inexplicable plot twists, gratuitous cameos, mindless violence and cringe-inducing dialogue any worse? You raze cities, kill innocents, maim heroes and murder villains, all while failing to inject even the flimsiest sense of logic into the mix. This plot isn't simply dumb; it's bafflingly dumb. I defy anyone to explain it to me in a way that makes sense, and without laughing.

What's most baffling about Cry for Justice #7 is that the characters mistreated by it most severely, Roy Harper and his daughter, aren't even active participants. The way Robinson treats the pair is so crass, haphazard and mindless, it makes Brad Meltzer's treatment of Sue Dibny in Identity Crisis seem sophisticated. Even worse, Robinson doesn't even pretend to probe the emotional ramifications of the damage he inflicts on the characters. He simply pauses briefly before continuing along on this incredible train wreck of a plot in which characters lift things, run around and occasionally scream at one another.

The art is just as bad as the writing. As far as I can tell, Mauro Cascioli draws all of three pages, an opening shot of Green Arrow crying for justice and the book's moronic two page denouement. The rest of the interiors are handled by Scott Clark and Ibraim Roberson, but since I have no idea which artist handled which scene, I won't try to credit either with specific blame. Suffice it to say neither of them appears too interested in drawing backgrounds, coherently staging action or drawing the human anatomy the same way twice.

Cry for Justice #7 might be the worst comic I've ever read, and I've read a lot of crappy comics. Thanks to Cry for Justice, I will no longer think of James Robinson as the writer of Starman. Instead, I will now forever think of him as the man who wrote the script to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen film, and of course this disastrous, detrimental mess of a mini-series.


So, what is the worst comic book that you have ever read ? Why not share it with us ?

I personally almost hate the current Hulk (Rulk)series/crossover by Loeb.

600WPMPO wrote:
What is the worst comic book that you have ever read ?

So, what is the worst comic book that you have ever read ? Why not share it with us ?

I personally almost hate the current Hulk (Rulk)series/crossover by Loeb.

Cry for Justice is up there for me, but I wouldn't call it the worst ever. I actually thought the whole Prometheus characterization was right in line with his previous characterizations (Morrison's Prometheus, not the mis-handled second Prometheus) and his plot made logical sense. Roy losing an arm I don't really mind (Arrow characters have a history of that, plus I like him better as Arsenal anyway), but Lian's death was shocking and cruel. I love Robinson's work on Starman, Action and Superman, so I was quite let down by this mini.

As for the Red Hulk, I've never been that invested in the Hulk, and this is the first time I've been reading him regularly since Peter David's run in the early 90s, so I'm not sure what the problem with the current series is? They're taking their sweet ass time to get around to anything, but I'm enjoying it so far.

The comic that comes to mind when I think of "worst" is Superman: Birthright. Not only did it screw up 20 years of carefully executed Superman continuity, but the art was terrible and the story was a rehashing of the origin that didn't really add anything different but just brought back elements that Waid/et al thought needed to be back but no one missed (Clark and Lex growing up together, for instance). So the whole thing was really pointless, especially when you consider Johns is currently doing a third Post-Crisis origin to "clean things up" again.

I don't follow justice league (or most of dc for the matter), but i think some of the comments on this thread might be interpreted as spoilers (what happens to certain characters, so on). How about putting a note "[SPOILERS] -" in the thread name, so that the casual visitor doesn't have his comic reading ruined? At least for recent comics.

Just a thought, and nice to see comic discussions in here.
fK

forkicks wrote:
How about putting a note "[SPOILERS] -" in the thread name, so that the casual visitor doesn't have his comic reading ruined? At least for recent comics.

Yeah, I agree with you, and I tried, but there appears to be a word limit on the thread title, and that's how long it can be to a maximum. Maybe cYo will look into this, and increase the word length for the thread title..

Differences of opinions can vary so much sometimes. For the review of "Justice League: Cry for Justice #1", here is a comparison of IGN Comics review with that of CBR, and the contrast is striking !

Here are the comments by IGN Comics:

Unfortunately, Robinson's approach continues the team's slide into a quagmire of comic book clichés, unexciting plotlines, and cursory characterization. And, sadly, that is not the justice these characters deserve.
Like many other Justice League aficionados, I've looked on in frustration as the title has devolved into corny, inconsequential superhero theatrics since the conclusion of Brad Meltzer's excellent, nuanced run on the series. Meltzer's greatest skill was his ability to imbue these iconic heroes with actual humanity and three-dimensional depth. The writers who have followed him have reduced these figures to cartoon characters fit for a Saturday morning cartoon

Score: 5.2 out of 10

Now, compare them with that of CBR:

Yes. Yes it is worth the wait. Not only is it worth the wait, but Robinson himself provides insight as to why there was a wait and how the title has evolved.
This is a rare book for me in that I am impressed with the complete package and can easily see this becoming a book I regularly go back to re-read. As such, I've already committed a slice of my comics budget to getting the rest of this series in floppy format –- as I cannot wait for the next issue already! - as well as hardcover. If we're getting this level of "extra" material in the "normal" book, certainly the collected edition will have some more gems for us lucky readers.

Score: 5 out of 5

Man, that is some serious confusion out there !!

I'm still curious to hear why you don't care for the Red Hulk storyline?

600WPMPO wrote:
Man, that is some serious confusion out there !!

This is a perfect example of why I don't read reviews. A wise man once said "everyone's favorite comic is someone else's most hated comic." People generally don't bother writing reviews unless a) they're being paid for it (a small minority) or b) they feel very strongly about it, positively or negatively (and most of the time, negatively). That tends to lead to only the most extreme reviews getting through.

Reviews are nice for getting a sense of what a community thinks of a comic (again, skewed as I indicated above), but I tend to think people should read reviews only after they've read a comic so they're not influenced.

DouglasBubbletrousers wrote:
Reviews are nice for getting a sense of what a community thinks of a comic (again, skewed as I indicated above), but I tend to think people should read reviews only after they've read a comic so they're not influenced.

Yes DouglasBubbletrousers, I fully agree with you. Reviews can bias the gullible. I almost always read reviews after I've read the comic.

Sometimes i disagree with the reviewers' opinion, like:

Captain Britain & Mi:13 was loved by reviewers, but I could never understand what the fuss was all about.
The current Frankencastle story-arc of Punisher has got good reviews, but I feel that it is horrible.

Mostly, however, I agree with them:

Nobody likes the Cable ongoing series. It is the same shit repeated in every issue.
Everybody likes 'Green Lantern Corps'. I love it.
I had never read 'Y:the last man on earth' till i got to know IGN had given its last issue an unprecedented 9.7 out of 10. i read the series, and it remains one of my favorites to this day.

Here is my post in the "Add reviews and ratings" thread where I have taken great pains in describing why I like reviews. Please tell me your opinion regarding this.

If you like reviews, that's cool and I'm not trying to dissuade you or others from reading them if you like, but I don't personally see their value. All they succeed in doing is make me wonder why I care what some random nerd on the internet (and I feel comfortable saying that as I am a random nerd on the internet myself ) thinks about things (nor do I expect other people to care about what I think).

I should also say, I'm interested in what people I interact with directly think about comics (which is why I asked about your thoughts on Rulk), but that's more about understanding you and your tastes than evaluating a comic.