Well the Spiderman thing was done by the writers because they didn't want Peter to be tied down by a family like he was, and they Spider-Man was beginning to get somewhat convoluted so they just cleaned it up. Hell, DC rebooted all of their characters in the 90's.

quote Byzantine

One thing is certain though, Marvel and DC are doing leaps and bounds better than they were in the 90's, economically speaking.

Late '90s, yes. Early '90s, not even close. Case in point, sales for Spider-Man 2099 issue 1 was at approximately 1.5 million. The top selling book these days when it's a major crossover might hit in the area of 200k.

quote Xaxas

I mean they killed Aunt May at the end of Civil War and then because of fan outcry they recanted that, and just about everything else in Spiderman's character from the past 20 years. Just to bring Aunt May back.

Set her up to die. The deal with Mephisto changed that. The only thing changed continuity-wise was Spidey being married. Instead they were living together for that time.

quote Xaxas

Now I don't know about DC and what they have done with Batman, but isn't this upcoming crossover called "Batman:reborn" or something?

Battle for the Cowl is the crossover. This summer is going to be having the Batman family of books redefined.

quote Byzantine

Well the Spiderman thing was done by the writers because they didn't want Peter to be tied down by a family like he was, and they Spider-Man was beginning to get somewhat convoluted so they just cleaned it up.

Editorial. Joe Q, specifically. Beginning to get convoluted is an understatement. And a gross one at that. The Spidey books had been problematic at best since the Clone Saga in the mid '90s which was part of Marvel's response to DC's death of Superman, replacement of Batman, etc. Every attempted fix since had simply achieved a further propagation of the mess.

quote Byzantine

Hell, DC rebooted all of their characters in the 90's.

50's and 60's, actually for the first time as part of the Silver Age superhero revival. The one you are thinking of was in the 80's with Crisis on Infinite Earths. The '90s Zero Hour was more of a slight tweak on a few things which needed to be touched on. We then had Infinite Crisis not all that long ago which did such things as reestablish Power Girl as Kryptonian, Wonder Woman back as a founding member of the League, Legion back into the Superman mythos, etc.

So I just picked up yesterday all the books from the past month that I had been missing. Deadpool Suicide Kings was pretty good, a lot of book for little buck and an enjoyable story. And the first part of Deadpool and Bullseye/Hawkeye's crossover like thingy is setting the stage for awesomeness (loved the joke at the end though). I also picked up Wolverine Weapon X #1, was a decent read, can't really tell the point of the book though, suppose its to showcase all the Weapon X former members. Had a decent Bio on Agent X in the back. Finally I was able to, despite it being way past FCD, get a free copy of the GL Blackest Night, honestly it was a lot more then I expected from something out of DC, while my view is pretty jaded and askew, I might actually follow the event.

Also to reiterate a question posed earlier, Mac what would be a good Conan The Barbarian book to read? One of the Dark Horse comic retelling's of the books?

Good Conan material (and I'm meaning the best) for the most part would be the first hundred issues or so each of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan series (both being reprinted and collected by Dark Horse) along with Dark Horse's 50 issue Conan series recounting his early days which has since been replaced by Conan the Cimmerian which takes place later and is in the middle of adapting "Black Colossus".

So, pretty much can't go wrong with the Dark Horse stuff?

The ongoing series material. The spinoff limited series is more depending on taste. Can't go wrong with the first several years of the Marvel material either.

So when does Blackest Night #1 come out?

Also, is there a list of release dates for comics?

It starts July, beyond that I have no clue.

Look in the back of your issue of Blackest Night #0 you got on Free Comic Book Day, it should have a list of all immediately important comics dealing with Blackest Night.

quote Darknet

Also, is there a list of release dates for comics?

Yes, but since release dates change so frequently (up until the last minute) along with the occasional delay, it might be easier and better to simply keep up with weekly release lists. Unless you have some particular items in mind?

Picked up "the Frost Giants Daughter" and I have to say it was much much more then I expected, I'm curious to know how much of the original books are transposed to the graphic novels? But other then that little thought it was amazing, the art was some of the best I have seen in some time, the action was fierce and brutal, and the story was actually really good.

Except for the Born on the Battlefield storyline, all of the main series of Conan from Dark Horse adapts Howard's stories. Mignola wrote the issues based off of one of Howard's unfinished story fragments.

Been picking up the Conan stories, really great reads. I had been in the mood for some good hack n' slash tales and Conan fits the bill, with surprisingly good stories to be told at the same time. I really enjoy the insights to stories and the writer that the graphic novels provide at the end of the books. Going to pick up "Halls of the Dead" tomorrow. Possible review if anyone is interested of "The Frost Giants Daughter"

Be sure to read "God in the Bowl". Conan version of a locked room mystery.

Hm, Conan thread is needed?

Oh I have already, I'm up to book 4 of the Dark Horse run, reading sequentially. And yeah I would enjoy a Conan thread. So tell me Mac whats your favorite Conan story, am I to assume it is "God in the Bowl"?