Comic Books / Graphic Novels thread

been watching a lot of Big Bang Theory and it has rekindled my old geek passtime of reading comics & TPBs. there was a graphic novel thread about a year ago, but i thought the topic deserved expansion. do any readers on here still trek down to the store, or download digitally for tablets, maybe just pirate CBR files? still trying to fill in the gaps on my Jack Kirby Fourth World collection, and damn they went up in value quickly (hardcovers).

it's so hard to keep up with Marvel & DC continuity, what do the fans on here read? indies, manga? recommendations welcome.

I read a whole bunch of Image. I regularly buy the Walking Dead and Invincible but will buy pretty much any first issue if it looks promising.

Infinite Vacation, Carbon Grey, and Nonplayer are the ones I've been impressed by in the past year.

I don't see how anyone could buy comics in a digital format. I understand it's convenient and "green," but there's something to holding the actual physical thing in your hand. I tend to value it more when I can actually touch it.

Currently on: Battle Angel Alita & The Walking Dead

so fucking good!

  On 11/11/2011 at 5:17 AM, RadarJammer said:

Currently on: Battle Angel Alita & The Walking Dead

 

so fucking good!

Read the rules.

that Nate Simpson artwork reminds me a lot of Moebius.

That first issue is fucking gorgeous. It's been nearly a year and I'm still waiting on issue #2, but I know it will be well worth it. I heard it took about a year to complete that one, by the way.

ive never been a big graphic novel person, but alan moores 'from hell' is soo fucking good that it made me think that the medium could equal the power of novels or films. plus watchman was good too. but i only watch the blu ray motion comic of it (i did read it once tho)

basically, alan moore is the man and i dont know about anything else

I should mention, since it's the first page and all, that Scud: The Disposable Assassin is my favorite comic ever. It was compiled into a large trade paperback called The Whole Shebang.

This comic is so creative and weird. Definitely an influence in my creative thought.

not just being a knob but http://forum.watmm.com/topic/45965-graphic-novels/page__hl__%2Bgraphic+%2Bnovel__fromsearch__1

the one the only

i read that recently and was amazed at how much longer they are and how much more detail they go into with the books.

yeah, fantastic read ! always been a fan.

edit: of course they go into more detail, just didn't know that they were way longer. whatever. i need to start smoking pot or something.

Has anyone checked out Craig Thompson's latest, Habbibi? It looks gorgeous, but I can't muster up the $35 that it'll take to purchase it.

  On 11/11/2011 at 5:37 AM, Z_B_Z said:

ive never been a big graphic novel person, but alan moores 'from hell' is soo fucking good that it made me think that the medium could equal the power of novels or films. plus watchman was good too. but i only watch the blu ray motion comic of it (i did read it once tho)

 

basically, alan moore is the man and i dont know about anything else

yes he is, he kind of jumped the shark on his most recent continuing story 'League of Extraordinary Gentleman but i always have high hopes for his work.

there are a bunch of good graphic novels he's put out that aren't talked about very much. Try reading these

Imagine if Alan Moore wrote Superman in a parallel dimension where he addresses the idea of parallell dimensions in one of the most interesting ways i've ever seen a writer achieve it.

Miracleman, my favorite work of Alan Moore written in between V for Vendetta and Watchmen. It goes so many interesting places i wouldn't want to spoil it for you.

There are so many 'holy shit' moments in the comic and things that were shocking for the time, like a graphic depiction of child birth. Originally published in 2000AD magazine along with Judge Dredd

Moore was also hired to do write a Death of Superman story that DC ended up thinking was too ridiculous to fit into the actual timeline, so they made it a one off story that didn't effect the continuity of the normal superman.

Its cheesy to say this but the whole comic is almost a metaphor of the death of pulpy golden age superheros. Where as The Supreme is him trying to fit in a pulpy golden age super hero in the modern world of Image comics where all super heroes have robotic appendages and machine guns. DC ended up being inspired by Moore's death of superman tale that they ended up writing the Doomsday story about 7 years later, theirs was not nearly as satisfying to say the least

if you only read One superman comic in your life, make this the one

I've been going back to my childhood love of 2000ad/judge dredd, buying up in bulk anything from 1985 onwards, it is addictive and fucking amazing, I feel like a teenager.

  On 11/11/2011 at 5:25 AM, Rubin Farr said:

that Nate Simpson artwork reminds me a lot of Moebius.

moebius actually complimented the work before it was released. (is it out yet, i haven't been paying attention lately, and the comic blog i go to has been taken over by someone more interested in correcting the ills of male kind and posting cosplay than actually telling you about comics (comicsalliance))

I was a huge batman fan back in the day.

Aside from the 2000AD stuff I mentioned in my thread, I've never been a big reader of comics or graphic novels...

That said, Maus by Art Spiegelman - which probably needs no introduction - was profoundly moving for me...

This year, I also enjoyed this excellent graphic novel memoir:

Chester Brown is a creep and a libertarian (do you think that counts as a tautology?) but I enjoyed this very honest and distinctly un-erotic story of his life as a john.

He essentially decided that he was never going to have a romantic relationship again, and that he'd get all the physical release he needed from prostitutes. Fair enough. But he ends up in some kind of weird in-between relationship where he's the sole paying customer of just one woman.

It has a lengthy appendix where he makes some very good arguments for legalising prostitution (which I'm all for) but also some very stupid libertarian ones (why on earth would such an industry ever need any regulation? It's not like there's any potential for explotoitation!)

  On 11/11/2011 at 8:53 AM, kaen said:

I've been going back to my childhood love of 2000ad/judge dredd, buying up in bulk anything from 1985 onwards, it is addictive and fucking amazing, I feel like a teenager.

Seems like a lot of people are going through this at the moment! I was amazed to find that 2000AD is still as good as I remember - if a bit smaller each week. You should pick up some of the new issues, man. Some of the art (especially in Indigo Prime and Ampney Crucis) is breathtaking.

Batman: Year One ****

The Dark Knight Returns ***

The Dark Knight Strikes Again ***

The Killing Joke ****

The Long Halloween ***

Hush ***

Watchmen ****

From Hell ****

SwampThing (5 books) *****

Maus *****

Scott Pilgrim (6 books) ***

I never had the opportunity or funds to buy comics until a few years ago. If I had started when I was ~12yrs I would probably have a big collection of Iron Man comics. And after having spent 2 years buying all of those, I've decided to start a subscription to the new DC52 of Batman and SwampThing. They're both on issue#3 at the moment, and it's very different from getting the whole story in a novel, but I feel happy knowing that I'm contributing more.

I strongly recommend Alan Moore's run on SwampThing. Horror elements with fantastic characters and really stunning artwork; because SwampThing is an elemental-being who transcends space and time it gets really trippy.

Currently following:

-Walking Dead

-Swamp Thing

-Animal Man

-Detective Comics

-Action Comics (which has recently been rebooted & taken over by Grant Morrison)

-Justice League Dark

-giving most of the DC relaunch a few issues to leave an impression

All time favs:

-Alan Moore's Swamp Thing

-Akira

-Miracleman

-Sandman

-Shade, The Changing Man

Marvel is including digital download codes in new graphic novels, hopefully the way of the future.

http://io9.com/5858614/exclusive-select-marvel-comics-graphic-novels-will-come-with-digital-download-codes

Oh man, how could I forget Alan Moore's Swamp Thing? That run is one of the most satisfying I've read.

Will Eisner's stuff never fails to blow my mind from a visual standpoint. I'm not too fond of his stories, but his sense of composition is consistently brilliant, especially when considering the time period in which he was doing a lot of it. His variations on a theme, lack of frames, and fluidity of motion are a big inspiration.

Also, while we're talking about visual composition, I've got a mention Chris Ware:

Unfortunately, just posting his illustrations would not convey the level of craft he puts into his work. To do that you absolutely have to hold one of his books in your hands. Every inch of space is rich with detail and design choice. Nothing is left plain in his printed works. Absolutely nothing.

I like Jodorowsky The Incal (original coloring), AKIRA and Batman: Year One, this would be my favorite list. I like to read on real paper because the scans and the monitor don't have enough definition and resolution.

im not a huge fan of comic books/graphic novels/manga but i like them here and there. lately i have enjoyed

love and rockets

solanin

most things by osamu tezuka (esp phoenix)

the maxx

the tick

aaand i am a massive tintin nerd