Comics!

[Vilden]

Hi all!

Anyone else into comic books? I'm a big nerd myself and read way too much (when I had the time atleast, not as much nowdays).

Mostly into the franco-belgian scene nowdays (Blueberry has to be the most beautiful series ever), but alot of american stuff is also great even though I've been kinda disillusioned by DC and Marvel lately. Japan and the rest of Europe has alot of good books too.

So, favorite books, artists, writers, etc? Any new comics worth checking out? Whats on your pulled lists, etc, etc.

:*

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

I tuned out of comics for a while but over the past year or so I've been slowing getting back into them. The book that restarted my interest was Pretty Deadly. I suppose the best way to describe it would be a metaphysical revenge western/fantasy with some horror elements as well. Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by Emma Ríos and published by Image, the press release when it first came out called it a cross between Sandman and Preacher which isn't inaccurate, there are times when the vibe of those classics is echoed but make no mistake, this is on its own trip. The writing can be a bit difficult to digest for some and indeed many have bitched about the storyline being difficult to follow (and funnily enough DeConnick has stated that she feels the first 6 issue arc reads better in trade form) but the world created is so easy to get lost in so if your like me you won't mind that it might not make much sense on the first go around. Its very much written from the subconscious.

Emma Ríos' art is jaw-dropping. Very "cinematic" drawing on influences from spaghetti westerns, chiefly Leone's Man With No Name films but also 60's samurai films. One reviewer actually refereed to it as "spaghetti manga". DeConnick has another book called Bitch Planet which is a women in prison in space story which I've been meaning to check out and Ríos' has her own book Mirror which look mighty interesting as well.

Being a massive Tales From the Crypt fan I got into the old EC horror comics years ago and have a few issues of Tales, The Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear. All reprints of course but I treasure them nonetheless. Also have several volumes of The Complete Robert Crumb collections.

I found an old binder full of comics not to long ago and have been wanting to give them all a look over. There's quite a few Hulks in there (basically the only superhero I truly cared about to be honest) but most of it is 90's stuff that I never really remembered hearing about back in the day and some movie tie in's. One title that comes to mind is Motorhead which I'm pretty sure I got just because it was called fucking Motorhead! I know there's an issue of Ghost in there too. Always liked that one. And naturally Spawn.

My knowledge of manga basically begins and ends with the Angel Guts series which I've actually never read but I bring it up because you mention favorite artists and the man behind that series who wrote and illustrated all the books, Takashi Ishii (who also happens to be one of my favorite filmmakers) is a brilliant artist. I've only seen the pages that have been scanned and put online but I really wish someone would translate that series although I don't ever see that happening but that's a topic for the If Mort Ruled the World thread so lets just move on

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Invincible is probably my favorite comic. Written by Robert Kirkman (the Walking Dead) Excellent superhero book.
Saga is fairly new and im way behind on it, but I loved the first 15 or so issues. It's like a mature crazy Star Wars.

 

[Vilden]

I tuned out of comics for a while but over the past year or so I've been slowing getting back into them. The book that restarted my interest was Pretty Deadly. I suppose the best way to describe it would be a metaphysical revenge western/fantasy with some horror elements as well. Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and illustrated by Emma Ríos and published by Image, the press release when it first came out called it a cross between Sandman and Preacher which isn't inaccurate, there are times when the vibe of those classics is echoed but make no mistake, this is on its own trip. The writing can be a bit difficult to digest for some and indeed many have bitched about the storyline being difficult to follow (and funnily enough DeConnick has stated that she feels the first 6 issue arc reads better in trade form) but the world created is so easy to get lost in so if your like me you won't mind that it might not make much sense on the first go around. Its very much written from the subconscious.

Emma Ríos' art is jaw-dropping. Very "cinematic" drawing on influences from spaghetti westerns, chiefly Leone's Man With No Name films but also 60's samurai films. One reviewer actually refereed to it as "spaghetti manga". DeConnick has another book called Bitch Planet which is a women in prison in space story which I've been meaning to check out and Ríos' has her own book Mirror which look mighty interesting as well.

I considered picking up Pretty Deadly when it came out, I get the Diamond Previews-catalogue and I remember it being pretty hyped in there. Kinda glad I didn't now if it works better in Trade form, guess I'll have to read the first one and see. I read that Rios's art also were influenced by my earlier mentioned Blueberry which is one of my favourite comic books and without a doubt the best looking one ever. So that's already another thing sparking my interest.

Have you read any european comics? It kinda sounds like alot of it could be right up your alley. Humanoids has released some titles in english, even though they are abit focused on sci-fi. There are alot of other stuff to digest too!

Invincible is probably my favorite comic. Written by Robert Kirkman (the Walking Dead) Excellent superhero book.
Saga is fairly new and im way behind on it, but I loved the first 15 or so issues. It's like a mature crazy Star Wars.

Saga is just like Pretty Deadly a series I considered picking up when it came out but never did. It's one of the most critically acclaimed series in the last few years so it should probably be good. I was put off because I've read both Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina and thought both were pretty lackluster. I guess I have to check it out someday though.

One of the best ongoing series right now is Morning Glories (also from Image Comics) by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma imo. The art isn't my favourite but I can live with it, but the writing is great. It's a combination of high school drama with weird time travel and magical stuff. I think the best way to describe it is Buffy meets Lost. Very interesting and deep with alot of referenses and small details in earlier issues that is relevant 10 issues later.

When it comes to favorite comics ever, some of mine includes:

Blueberry
The Incal
Spirou
Judge Dredd
Battle Angel Alita
Locas (from Love and Rockets)
Strangers in Paradise
Hellblazer

 

[TageRyche]

I'm a comic fan.

I don't read much from Marvel except Daredevil and anything Peter David writes. The only DC title I'm reading is Deathstroke.

I've been reading the stuff from the smaller publishers. They can range from Conan titles to Usagi Yojimbo. I like Greg Rucka's stuff on Lazarus and Stumptown. Oh, and the Copperhead series by Jay Faerber is good as well. There's a lot more to talk about I'm sure.

 

[Burkhard]

As far as longer stories are concerned, my favourite comic series over the past couple of years has been Fables and its different spin-offs. Unfortunately, the main series is over now.

I also enjoyed the Belgian comic albums of "Stam & Pilou" (which I ordered from the Belgian Post).

About two years ago, I read the graphic novel about Edvard Munch by Steffen Kverneland and liked it very much.

Last year I discovered the comics by Frank Flöthmann, who uses pictograms instead of words, thus his comics don't need translations.

Way back in the eighties, I enjoyed some funny comics by some French artists like Édika, Maëster and Marcel Gotlib.

If shorter comic strips may also be mentioned here, my current faves are the Norwegian series Kollektivet (only available in Norwegian as far as I know) and Nemi, Pearls Before Swine and the Swedish series Elvis.

I also like several cartoonists, but I don't know if they belong into this thread.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

I considered picking up Pretty Deadly when it came out, I get the Diamond Previews-catalogue and I remember it being pretty hyped in there. Kinda glad I didn't now if it works better in Trade form, guess I'll have to read the first one and see. I read that Rios's art also were influenced by my earlier mentioned Blueberry which is one of my favourite comic books and without a doubt the best looking one ever. So that's already another thing sparking my interest.

You can find the first trade for a good price pretty much anywhere. 'tis a thing of beauty. They second arc began in November and they've skipped ahead a few time periods from the wild west to WWI but the general aesthetic established by the first arc remains. I guess they're planning on 6 arcs, each within a different time frame. Apparently the third will take place in medieval times.

I was aware of Blueberry but after looking some things up it wouldn't surprise me if Rios was influenced by that art. She's incredibly versatile. While the only book I've actually read with her art in it is Pretty Deadly, just by looking at other stuff you can tell each has its own distinct personality.

Not sure if anyone else here knows of José Ramón Larraz but like Takashi Ishii he's another one of my favorite filmmakers who began his career in comics. Not much is written in English on his comics so this was a nice little discovery. His main interest seemed to be exotic jungle tales. He did most of his comics work during the reign of General Franco and ran afoul of the censors one too many times and finally said "fuck it" and left Spain. I think his actual quote was "This is the last pair of tits you cut out of my comics!... So I left."

 

[Vilden]

I've been reading the stuff from the smaller publishers. They can range from Conan titles to Usagi Yojimbo. I like Greg Rucka's stuff on Lazarus and Stumptown. Oh, and the Copperhead series by Jay Faerber is good as well. There's a lot more to talk about I'm sure.

Both Conan and Usagi are nice, didn't really like Brian Woods Conan run though, never really liked him.
Rucka is usually great but never got hooked on Lazarus. Have you read his Gotham Central or Queen & Country? Great stuff!

As far as longer stories are concerned, my favourite comic series over the past couple of years has been Fables and its different spin-offs. Unfortunately, the main series is over now.

If shorter comic strips may also be mentioned here, my current faves are the Norwegian series Kollektivet (only available in Norwegian as far as I know) and Nemi, Pearls Before Swine and the Swedish series Elvis.

Fables is undoubtly a modern classic but I think they should have ended it when the first arc ended (when they defeated the advesary). I think The Unwritten is the better recent long going series from Vertigo.

Short strips are ofcourse welcome here too, I think Bill Watterson with Calvin & Hobbes is the uncontested king in that department. I actually think both Elvis (even though he likes Mercyful Fate! ) and Nemi are quite bad and cringeworthy alot of times.

You can find the first trade for a good price pretty much anywhere. 'tis a thing of beauty. They second arc began in November and they've skipped ahead a few time periods from the wild west to WWI but the general aesthetic established by the first arc remains. I guess they're planning on 6 arcs, each within a different time frame. Apparently the third will take place in medieval times.

Not sure if anyone else here knows of José Ramón Larraz but like Takashi Ishii he's another one of my favorite filmmakers who began his career in comics. Not much is written in English on his comics so this was a nice little discovery. His main interest seemed to be exotic jungle tales. He did most of his comics work during the reign of General Franco and ran afoul of the censors one too many times and finally said "fuck it" and left Spain. I think his actual quote was "This is the last pair of tits you cut out of my comics!... So I left."

Guess I'll buy the first trade and check it out!

I got kinda interested in Takashi Ishii actually. At first look he seams kinda like a japanese who could be published in the Heavy Metal magazine?

Rereading Watchmen right now, one of the best superhero comics for sure. Too bad Alan Moore has gone quite steeply downhill since then though.

 

[TageRyche]

Both Conan and Usagi are nice, didn't really like Brian Woods Conan run though, never really liked him.
Rucka is usually great but never got hooked on Lazarus. Have you read his Gotham Central or Queen & Country? Great stuff!

I loved Brian Wood's run on Conan and it got me to check out a few other things he wrote before it and a few things that came after.

I think you are missing out on Lazarus, but to each their own. And I was a huge fan of both Gotham Central and Queen & Country. Did you ever read the Q&C prose novels he wrote? And if you haven't, you should check out the two Whiteout trades he wrote. I was lucky enough to meet him back in 2005.

 

[Vilden]

Maybe I need to read up on Lazarus too then, my wife subscribes to it so I've got all issues at home, I've only read 3-4 or so but they never really stuck. Whiteout on the other hand, I loved. I only got the first trade though, is the second as good? I'm a sucker for harsh climate and isolated villages/communites/camps in fiction.

 

[Carpe Mortem]

I started collecting deadpool comics back in my btard days, but really its just a collection, not a full blown reading hobby. I was convinced he was obscure enough to make money someday. Now Ryan Reynolds is either fucking up my retirement plan, or accelerating it.

Last check, my most valuable was $32.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Been collecting for most of my life. I have a ton of old comics from the 60's-90's, and a nice collection of TPB's and graphic novels.

Frank Miller's Daredevil run is my all time favorite.

Out of the more recent stuff, i really enjoy Jeff Lemires work(Essex County, Sweet Tooth, The Underwater Welder). Lock & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez was also pretty good. Geoff Johns Green Lantern run was nothing short of epic and Jonathan Hickman completely blew my mind with The Nightly News and Pax Romana, his Fanatastic Four run a few years ago was also one of the best F4 runs of all time imo ... and if you guys want something completely different, make sure to check out the first two books by him that i mentioned. But Jason Aaron(Scalped, The Other Side, Wolverine, Ghost Rider) still reigns supreme for me amongst the "newer" writers.

Also, if any of you guys haven't read Concrete by Paul Chadwick ... do yourselves a favor and get started on it.

 

[Carpe Mortem]

I am super open to suggestions though. I'm an animation buff, and I used to read, maybe its time I wed the two fully.

Psychadelic and filthy horror with a solid comedic slant would be my preferred genre.

 

[Vilden]

Jamie Delanos Hellblazer run has to be the best psychadelic horror comic ever. I guess you know about that one though? A newer series is Fatale, lovecraftian cult horror mixed with film noir type drama.

One of the most weird and disturbing comics ever has to be Clowes 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron'. David Lynch fans will probably love this. Not really horror but more creepy than most.

 

[Carpe Mortem]

Jamie Delanos Hellblazer run has to be the best psychadelic horror comic ever. I guess you know about that one though? A newer series is Fatale, lovecraftian cult horror mixed with film noir type drama.

One of the most weird and disturbing comics ever has to be Clowes 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron'. David Lynch fans will probably love this. Not really horror but more creepy than most.

Lol I don't know shit about any comics, even the ones I own. But I'll try to remember to look into those. I've been meaning to check out Weaveworld too, loved the book.

 

[requiem]

I'm into comics a lot more these days than I ever have been before, but I'm still pretty mainstream with it all I'm afraid.

I've read Phantom comics since childhood, and they're still published regularly here in Australia and can be found in any newsagent, which I think is amazing in this day and age. As a child I was obsessed with Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck.

As an adult and lately I've been blown away by 'The Sandman' by Neil Gaimon, and really enjoyed 'Y The Last Man' by Brian K Vaughn. I ended up buying the full set of both titles in trade paperbacks. Of course 'Watchmen' and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series by Alan Moore. Just great literary books.

I always found mainstream American comics disorientating and hard to get into, so when DC reset with the New 52 I saw my chance. I have all the New 52 trade paperbacks that have so far been released for Aquaman, which I really love. I also stuck with Scott Snyder's Batman up to Volume 5 'Zero Year: Dark City'. I read the Loeb/Sale Batman books as well (and Frank Miller etc) and I think I'm over the whole Gotham thing. It's pretty cool and everything, but I can find it really claustrophobic. Like, here we go again, Batman is following clues from the Joker in this depressing darkness with constant references to his parents being killed. Fuck that. I'm working through Green Lantern and was blown away by Wonder Woman which I think I'll continue to follow.

Basically my decision to read Aquaman came out of a Batman hangover when I realised I didn't really like this traditional hero so much and that the more potentially oddball characters like Aquaman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were worth a look, and I'm glad I did because they're awesome. I also felt a lot of liberation in that Aquaman has the oceans to move around in (and the land of course), Green Lantern has space, and Wonder Woman is always flying about. Total opposites to the restrictions of Batman's dark existence.

I can't really get into Marvel for some reason. The Spider-Man titles I've read seem like little kids' books, although some recent Thor was very good.

Of course other bits and pieces too. I'm interested in checking out Vaughn's 'Saga' as it seems to be getting a good rap.

 

[TageRyche]

Brian K. Vaughn also completed a 6 issue miniseries called We Stand On Guard. It started out really good in the first 3 issues, but I was disappointed in how the last three issues ended the story.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

Snyder on Batman is awesome. Although I'm far behind.

 

[requiem]

Brian K. Vaughn also completed a 6 issue miniseries called We Stand On Guard. It started out really good in the first 3 issues, but I was disappointed in how the last three issues ended the story.

How did you find 'Y the Last Man'? I loved the first half of it but found the ending really a bit disappointing. The whole 'reveal' kind of fizzled rather than exploded and I'm still not entirely sure what the hell happened. It was an amazing idea that I don't think was fully resolved at the end. Maybe Vaughn is great at coming up with ideas but not as confident in ending them? Have you been reading 'Saga'? Should I check it out?

 

[requiem]

Snyder on Batman is awesome. Although I'm far behind.

Yeah it was really good. I just overdosed on Batman, which means overdosing on that damn origin story and the constant references to 'Gotham this' and 'Gotham that' every fucking panel. I know that's basically what Batman is, and presumably what the fans want, but I can't take it anymore.