i don't particularly like comics

seriously ! i never got the comic book culture. about all i've heard out of it that sounded interesting was alan moore:

  Quote

When originally reading Watchmen in comic form, I got the impression that the plot was being written as it went along.

 

AM: Yeah, absolutely. I think we got to issue three and, on the first page, there were all these things coming together; there was a new way of telling a story. We got the captions from the pirate comic [within the comic]. We got the balloon from the news vendor. The radiation sign was being screwed onto the wall on the other side of the street and they were all in this dance together. And then we thought, 'This is new. This is good. We can take this further.' And so with the next issue, we did that complicated thing with Dr Manhattan where we were slicing up time and rearranging it to achieve a kind of specific effect. And then we made the issue that was entirely symmetrical. Making all the scenes mirror each other from front to back. In every issue, we were trying to push it a bit further. We were thinking, 'Are we doing something new with the storytelling? Are we doing something that hasn't been seen before?'

 

Have you turned your back on superheroes now?

 

AM: I'm interested in the superhero in real life, but not the comic book version. I've had some distancing thoughts about them recently. I've come to the conclusion that what superheroes might be — in their current incarnation, at least — is a symbol of American reluctance to involve themselves in any kind of conflict without massive tactical superiority. I think this is the same whether you have the advantage of carpet bombing from altitude or if you come from the planet Krypton as a baby and have increased powers in Earth's lower gravity. That's not what superheroes meant to me when I was a kid. To me, they represented a wellspring of the imagination. Superman had a dog in a cape! He had a city in a bottle! It was wonderful stuff for a seven-year-old boy to think about. But I suspect that a lot of superheroes now are basically about the unfair fight. You know: people wouldn't bully me if I could turn into the Hulk.

http://thequietus.com/articles/04603-alan-moore-interview-unearthing-2

does anyone honestly get weepy and nostalgic over the glory of "iron man" on the big screen? forgive me if i didn't grow up in the 1950s. i've been seeing more and more of "comic of yesteryear you remember and cherish," which i do not remember or cherish at all.

the intellectual zone joke "stuck in the 1950s" works here.....

further irresponsible rambling: i saw the watchmen movie in theaters, and i barely understood what the fuck was going on. a disorganized, microwaved trainwreck of hollywood fx combined with (presumably) haphazard snippets of dialogue and plot from the original comic.

in fact, while i'm here, i would say "Eraser" feat. Arnie Schwarzenegger is at least 1000x better than The Watchman Comic Movie

also, i should have quoted this part of the interview !

  Quote

You talked about the link between drugs and environment and culture before. In the mid-eighties, was it serendipity that you chose to use the smiley badge on the front cover of the comics just before it was adopted wholesale by acid house fans?

 

AM: That was just one of the many strange little coincidences that seemed to happen. When Watchmen came out, Tim Simenon from Bomb The Bass put a splash of jelly across one of the eyes in homage. But I can remember walking through town wearing an old Watchmen T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and somebody shouting 'Aciiieeeeeeed!' at me from the other side of the street! Which was a pleasant and engaging experience! Working as a writer, one of the reasons I got into magic was because you start to notice this feedback between the writing and real life. It might be entirely in my head, but it seems significant. I mean, there was a conference last weekend in Northampton called Magus. It was academics coming from all over the world to talk about me and my work. So I went down with Melinda. They were nice people. One of the academics at this conference was saying that he was working on a book which was about Watchmen as a post-9/11 text. I can see what he means to a degree. One of my friends over there, Bob Morales, said he'd been talking to some people on Ground Zero on September 12, 2001 and he was asking them if they were alright and what it had been like. Two of them, independently of each other, said that they were just waiting for the authorities to find a giant alien sticking half way out of a wall.

tangent: robert crumb has admitted his "genesis" comic was a cash grab. he also spoke, with a disgusted tone, about how now comics were now supposed to be called "graphic novels." he seems to be right proper, but i think he fails to realize the spirit of the word "comic" has been sold out. picking a new term is a feeble attempt to salvage the value of the thing. if you call it a comic now, it's a remake of something my dad bought for 25c at the fruit stand or some shit !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31JMfRiyQo0

i did kind of like johnny the homicidal maniac. it wasn't the maximum utmost, but it was visceral and engaging.

I'm not sure what to add, I've only got a couple of comics but it was breaking my heart to see you're the only person who's posted so far.

it hit me that i'd been thinking this topic over for like three years now !

I can't figure out how to respond to this incoherent babble. Yes, The Watchmen is very good? Is that what you are looking for?

watchmen was an amazing experience to read. i was very glad that i had not seen the movie or had any of the plot/themes explained to me beforehand. the story unfolds so beautifully when you don't know what's coming.

then i read from hell, which is even more of a mindfuck in a lot of ways. both are great books, can't say which i liked more. i've never been that into comics, but i'm starting to appreciate them more lately.

I've got Watchmen, Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, Moore's From Hell and plenty of Batman novels.

I'd say Swamp Thing has been the most intellectually stimulating; really great art too. Watchmen is clever in certain aspects, but it does drag and lose its direction at times. From Hell is definitely worth a read though. It'll really pull you in and get you enjoying comics if you don't already. It's a little heavy and the language may be a problem if you're not acquantained with Victorian English, but it's really worthwhile.

Sin City will be my next purchases.

  On 4/4/2011 at 11:21 AM, hahathhat said:

i did kind of like johnny the homicidal maniac. it wasn't the maximum utmost, but it was visceral and engaging.

This is the only comic book I own. Awesomeness. I might get Squee! at some point.

The thing is, although he's done some really great work, Jhonen Vasquez himself is a total cunt, as is evident by his tweets. His overall attitude to his fanbase is disgusting, and I've seen him say some pretty offensive and hateful stuff.

frankly sir, i think you should be burned alive at the stake. good day!

excuse me, "graphic novels",

lol

As someone who's had a Swamp Thing avatar for the last three months I've got to step in and express my praise for one of the my favorite series.

The image to my left is from one of my favorite issues, a standalone in which Swamp Thing, traveling through space as a disembodied elemental spirit which cannot return to Earth crosses paths with a single ancient alien that's been waiting in space for a suitable creature to imitate and thus pass it's characteristics onto it's offspring. The issue is from the perspective of the alien telling it's children the story of how it's path intersected with the unknown creature which it subsequently captured, dissected, raped, and loved tenderly before allowing it to escape and travel on it's way.

Pretty fucking fantastic issue, if you ask me. Alan Moore's description of the alien is refreshingly abstract and intelligent. I cannot recommend his run on Swamp Thing enough. Particularly the first two volumes of the trade paperbacks.

you should pronounce batman with a schwa in the second syllable, like in the name "bateman" for example. that's the best way to pronounce batman. try it.

I have a friend that reads Killer Bunny. As previously stated, Jhonen Vasquez does some good things, but holy shit is he a try-hard.

The only comic I've ever read really are just the newspaper ones and V For Vendetta. I still greatly enjoy both. The movie for From Hell was pretty good, but I've never read it.

  On 4/4/2011 at 2:04 PM, Xyrofen said:

I have a friend that reads Killer Bunny. As previously stated, Jhonen Vasquez does some good things, but holy shit is he a try-hard.

 

The only comic I've ever read really are just the newspaper ones and V For Vendetta. I still greatly enjoy both. The movie for From Hell was pretty good, but I've never read it.

I've never seen the film, but I've read that the two are very different. Allegedly only the character names are the same.

From Hell (novel) is focused mainly from the Ripper's perspective.

BATM'N!

  On 4/4/2011 at 2:17 PM, Iain C said:

BATM'N!

LOL, you're right, it does sound better. I might start using it.

R Crumb is the only comic artist that has ever kept me engaged as an adult. And his music is awesome too.

I like good artwork. I like Crumbs comics. I met Crumb :-)

Ive never liked sports. I like tennis and boxing. dont follow it though. Never understood this collective mind set people get with sports. I dont like sports.

  On 4/4/2011 at 11:21 AM, hahathhat said:

i did kind of like johnny the homicidal maniac. it wasn't the maximum utmost, but it was visceral and engaging.

i ate that shit up when i was a teenager, despite being uncomfortably close to the kind of person he was constantly lampooning. i even played vampire: the masquerade perpetual hassle.

but really, that and american splendor and to a much lesser extent sandman were all i ever really got into.

I really enjoyed The Invisibles. :)

something about almost all forms of superhero comics irritate the hell out of me.

i've only been able to dig the following so far:

transmetropolitan

the boys

planetary

junji ito's work

EC comics in general

and then a bunch of graphic novels, as silly as that term is