The Comics & Graphic Novels thread v1.0

Interest in comics and and graphic novels is too stark here to warrant a bunch of threads, and people end up repeating themselves over and over when a "recommend me x" thread pops up every now and then. Let's keep everything in here, same as the Anime/Manga thread. Separate threads for major works is still cool (like the Watchmen thread...and the NGE thread is separate from the anime/manga thread, etc).

And as always, I promote and encourage the discussion of non-superhero books. There are plenty of greats, but that's not all there is to the medium!


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To kick things off, I just purchased Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell. It was on the recommended reading shelf next to Blankets (which I nearly purchased) at my local shop.

I think I might take a ride down to my local shop sometime this week, I haven't read a graphic novel in months. Any good war related graphic novels you would recommend?

Kinda interested in The Amory Wars by Claudio Sanchez at the moment

btw posting from an iMac at the apple store LOL

Maus is a must.

Thanks I'll look for that. Manga, I'm assuming?

EDIT: Shit never mind definitely not manga. Looks amazing though. Is it pronounced "Mouse"?

No.

If it were manga it'd be in the manga thread

It's by Art Spiegelman.

Damn it lol

Yeah this definitely seems to be what I'm looking for, hopefully the comic shop down the street from me will have it.

Yes, it is pronounced "mouse."

I'm also looking into one called War Fix. Sounds interesting.

Been meaning to get my hands on Maus.

Oh shit Borders has some decent coupons right now I might just have to take advantage of those

Oh, also, DMZ. It's not historical or anything. It's about a photojournalist in a demilitarized New York City amidst a new civil war. I read the first 20 or so issues. It's pretty cool.

I also need to get the final 4 volumes of The Walking dead.
Fuck, I need some money.

I read "Mr. Punch" (Gaiman + McKean) a month ago and didn't make one bit of sense out of it. Highly recommended. i think

Just popping into this thread to say Maus is incredible. One of the only comic books to almost bring me to tears.

http://www.fiveeightforums.com/the-...ssion-thread-v-for-vendetta-t63783/index.html

Nobody posted in it because all of you idiots thought my witty version number meant the thread was solely about V for Vendetta.

Since you directed me here, I will reply here.

So far I've enjoyed V's character more, as well. I don't remember, do they have his "conversation" with Lady Justice in the movie? That seems quite important to leave out, but, as Alan Moore said, the movie seemed not to focus on the anarchy vs. fascism thing quite as much.

No since he blows up the Old Bailey in the beginning of the movie. They squashed a lot of his destruction into one or two segments in the movie whereas it's more spread out in the book.

On a side note has any read the Bone series? I keep seeing it advertised as being for kids but several people have told me great things about it. I wanna get it but I'm torn between the $40 1330 page single volume that is black and white or getting each of the 9 books separately but in full color.

That's what I thought. I noticed that in the movie the Old Bailey is the first thing that goes instead of the houses of parliament. It's sort of disappointing. I liked his chat with Lady Justice.

That whole buildup was amazing, especially with the box of chocolates. You'll appreciate some of the other ones later on.

You know, I think that my enjoyment of V for Vendetta was reduced because I already watched the movie. I don't mean to say that i didn't like it, but knowing the basic plot made the twists pretty ineffective.

I know that it has a lot more to offer, since it is a very dense book, but i wish I had read it first.

Has anyone here read Fables? I picked up the first volume from the library and it was pretty cool. Does it stay as good throughout?

Gonna read Brian Azzarello's Joker tonight, will report back.

I think I read the first 60 to 70 issues of Fables. It's pretty consistent. I enjoyed it.

Interesting story, though...Bill Willingham is a fucking asshole. I'd heard this from lots of people over the years, but he pulled some shit at San Diego Comic-Con this year that really cemented that. At the Spotlight on Fables panel, there were a lot of Venture Bros. fans in the room because the next panel was the Venture Bros. panel (and they never force-clear the rooms between events). Bill somehow picked up on this and started bitching about it and kept making nasty comments about it all throughout the panel. The Venture Bros. fans were not being cocks. They were keeping quiet, applauding out of courtesy, etc. While they were mostly attentive, they were quiet and they weren't heavily interacting with the event, asking questions, being super responsive, etc. That's fine. Instead of taking this opportunity to pick up some new readers, he made a fool of himself and now the entire Internet knows about it.

Quotes from Something Awful and the Vertigo forums...

Now, I'm not going to start magically disliking Fables or anything, but this will always be in the back of my mind. Not good.

Also i actually, finally purchased Watchmen a couple of days ago, after seeing the movie twice already. Excited to read it.

Well, that was pretty good, not great, but I enjoyed it. I liked the way it had the whole "destined to do this forever" theme that The Dark Knight had.

I haven't picked up an in-continuity DCU book in years, but

isn't Bruce Wayne "dead?"

He actually got sent back in time, but everybody thinks he's dead. god I hate comic books

I'm currently reading The Unwritten. Brilliant. Go out and buy all three issues right now while it's still early, and if you don't I hope your eyes roll out of your heads. It's probably the best thing out on the market right now IMO.

Also, Greek Street is another current series that is pretty interesting. The first issue starts out disturbing. It's also $1 for the first issue, so it's worth a shot.

I, too, hate this type of thing in comic books. It's one of the three reasons I don't read superhero books. The second is the unneccesary complexity of the storylines stretching across eighteen books and not being any more complex than one guy in a suit beats the crap out of another guy in a suit. Yes, I'm oversimplifying it a bit, get over it. The third is what I just said about people in suits beating up other people in suits. Again, I am oversimplifying, but I don't get the draw towards something like Justice League. It just seems pointless in the end.

Awesome.

Exactly. I love superheroes and still read cape books, but only in standalone trades. Fuck these insane story-arcs and the cross-overs galore. The plots get stretched so thin. DC is a way bigger offender at this than Marvel. And all sorts of the stupid bullshit - that is too extravagant to hold any water for a decent amount of time even in a fucking cape book - ends up getting retconned anyway.

Grrr. It makes me sad that awesome writers like Greg Rucka get roped into doing that shit full time.

The series 52 is probably the main reason I stopped picking up single issues of mainstream comics.

If you haven't checked out the Scott Pilgrim series, you really should get on that.

So what Alan Moore book should I read after Watchmen, V and the Killing Joke?

I'm very interested in From Hell, which will probably be on my next purchase. Promethea also sounds interesting. I dunno about League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I had never seen the movie because it didn't seem very interesting, but i saw a bit the other day and it seemed cool.

...

The movie is nothing like the book. Same with most comic book films. You should know this.

Anyway, I've never read it but supposedly Top Ten is an excellent book of his.

But before reading that I'd recommend you branch out and read other things or you'll burn out on Moore. But, you haven't really listened before, so...

I've read all four trades of Top Ten, and it's pretty much amazing. It's got a lot of black humor, which is awesome. I haven't read Promethea yet...want to though.

By the way, no one has said they are going out to get/read The Unwritten. Do it, damnit!

HOLY SHIT

A few years ago, I decided I was gonna keep up with X-men comics. This was about the same time the whole House of M thing started and just confused the living fuck out of me. Gave up after a few months. Then I started reading stuff about the same time Civil War started. I finished the whole series and have not read a cape comic book series since.

And I still think DC must be worse because of the whole insane "let's reboot the whole continuity but wait I liked that part ok we'll save it nevermind let's bring it all back nah let's just ditch it all now what the fuck Robin's alive again FUCK."

I hope all of this bullshit is a trend and we will one day come back around to books driven by their own content, by their own characters. All the things that made them loved so much in the first place.

Until then, fuck contemporary cape books, for the most part.

That being said, though...I will pick up the first trade of Warren Ellis' Astonishing X-Men, coming out at the end of this year. Marvel usually allows him to ignore most of the universal bullshit going on and do his own thing. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't agree to write the books.

House of M was one of the first books I read when I got into comic books properly. I didn't find it confusing in the slightest, though there were a few things in the continuity that I had to look up. In fact, I found the whole thing to be one of the less retarded crossover events I've read.

Has anyone read the comic adaptation of The Stand? I figured it might be worth getting.

I read the Amory Wars earlier today and now my conceptions of SSTB are all screwed up.
It was a cool comic, i guess.

Well I'm just starting reading comic books, so I know there a lot stuff out there that I'm not aware of. But I'm trying to get there little by little.

Cape books don't have to be the "gateway" into comics for anyone. They usually are, but that's because they are famous.

And yes there is a lot of stuff out there, but I (and others) will be glad to make you aware of it, if you'll give it a chance.

I just hate to see people burn out like I feel I did. Cape books are fun, but if you take in too many at once you'll eventually become sick of them.

I'm lucky that I don't have any interest in cape books. Yeah, I've read a couple, but I'm more into the non-mainstream stuff. Vertigo prints a lot of stuff that I find interesting, but I also really like books written by Jason (read I Killed Adolf Hitler...brilliant, and hilarious).

Anyone read Local by Brian Wood (writer of DMZ). Very cool, very simple book.

I think this thread needs more Hellboy appreciation. It's simply a really enjoyable monster or the week (or month) series for the most part, but the monsters are so awesome. They're all firmly based in mythology and you'll go "Oh yeah, I remember that," and it's awesome. And when they do have ongoing stories, they're just as enjoyable. Plus, Nazis in jars.

Anyone know where I should start with Hellblazer? I downloaded a scan torrent of hundreds of issues a few years ago but the early issues were totally illegible.

Man, downloading comics is so wrong. I dunno, i'm not against downloading stuff in any way, but downloading comics doesn't make sense to me.

Doesn't really matter where you start. It's been going on for over 21 years. Just find an author you like and read their issues.