Comics, graphic novel, paper back, WHATEVER thread

[Rongi]

I need reccomendations. I just read Watchmen and I need more :o

I'm thinking of getting Starman or Swamp Thing

[FartinMowler]

I was thinking of getting Starman or Swamp thing.

[pjalne]

Swamp Thing (the Moore period) contributed greatly in the "growing up" process mainstream comics went through in the mid-eighties, but it can seem a little slow now. It's a lot like Citizen Kane, you have to know about the history of the medium and the time it was released at to really appreciate it. To common readers it can seem a bit slow and it seldom reaches the depths Sandman and Watchmen do.

Speaking of Sandman: read it if you haven't already. It's fucking fantastic. I can recommend League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as well, though I think I kind of remember you talking about having read it already in some other post.

Others:

Alan Moore: From Hell (great if you can handle the artwork) and V

Jeff Smith: Bone

Neil Gaiman: Books of Magic tpb 1 (read after you've read Swamp Thing and Sandman)

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (ill.): Signal to Noise (amazingly beautiful), Violent Cases (sweet and brutal) and The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch (haunting and bizarre) - these are all a little arty, if you're into that.

If you get through the Sandmans and like them, there's an illustrated story where Gaiman has inserted his Sandman characters into a Japanese fairy tale called Dream Hunters.

Hope this helps.

[Rongi]

I saw the From Hell movie. I didn't really like it too much, but a lot of people are telling me the comic is much much better.

[pjalne]

It is, but it's pretty hit and miss. Some people like it a lot, others can't be assed to finish the first chapter.

[FartinMowler]

I was just pissing on you Rongi, I dig some digging on Watchmen and I will go to see if I can get a copy. I was never a big comic book fan :/ http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_images/175/30251175.jpg

[BlueOatmeal]

Frank Miller's Sin City:A damne to kill for was a pretty damn good noir graphic novel that I really liked. Alot of falling out of glass though.

[pjalne]

Also Miller: Dark Knight Returns.

[glowbelly]

preacher :)

[Snatchtastic]

HARD BOILED is a sweet ass graphic novel. Geoff Darrows illustrations are insane. It's like a where's waldo book that drank too much varnish. Not to mention the ultraviolence that bleeds from the pages. :)

[Protoclown]

"Preacher" is my favorite comic series of all time. It is INSANELY fun and fucked up. Start with "Gone to Texas", and I promise you you cannot go wrong. After that it's "Until the End of the World" and I think they started numbering them at that point.

"Sandman" however is the best comic series I've ever read. If you're going to get all 10 books it's gonna cost you about $200 when you're finished (more if you're inclined to get the spinoffs and whatnot, which I would HIGHLY recommend), but it is DEFINITELY worth every penny. Start with "Preludes and Nocturnes". All the volumes of Sandman are clearly numbered. The first one is my least favorite though, it didn't REALLY hook me until the last issue.

[Rongi]

I just ordered Preacher and Sandman. I only got the first issues just to see if I like em, which I probably will :P

I'll get the other stuff you guys reccomended later on when I get payed. I think I read a few Bone comics once. I don't remember much, but I do remember it being entertaining. I also remember some other comic called Ralf Snart.

[Black Flag]

Monkey vs. Robot >:

or pretty much anything by James Kochalka

[Schimid]

MAX PAYNE :lol

[Protoclown]

Rongi, I look forward to hearing how you enjoy Preacher and Sandman. Both of those hold a dear place in my heart.

Another one I'll recommend if I haven't already is Transmetropolitan. The first book, if I recall, is called "Back on the Street". It's only the first 3-issues, so it's cheap. Like $7 or something. It'll give you a taste of Spider Jerusalem (one of the best characters EVER...anyone who shoots people with a bowel disruptor is awesome in my book) and then the next book, "Lust for Life" will give you a much more satisfying quantity of 8 or 10 issues or something like that.

[Zhukov]

Preacher is the one where God rips out his eye and some bloke has sex with a lady made out of pork chops and sausages, right?


My mate has a whole pile of that kind of stuff, so if it is Preacher, I might start reading them.

[Rongi]

Bowel Disrupter??? This is must see :eek

Thanks guys. You've all been great help so far

[Protoclown]

Preacher is the one where God rips out his eye and some bloke has sex with a lady made out of pork chops and sausages, right?


My mate has a whole pile of that kind of stuff, so if it is Preacher, I might start reading them.

Yep, that's the one alright. It's insane.

[glowbelly]

:love http://www.homestead.com/glowbelly/files/tulip.jpg :love

[klownboy]

YALL SHOULD READ JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC... IT KICKS ASS!!
INFACT MY URL IS A JOHNNY PICTURE... PILLS... NEED... :puke

[Drev]

At the moment I'm reading the new Masters of the Universe comic series. It's going along great, and has a better story line than the cartoon. Hell, they already introduced the Horde in it in #6.

EDIT: 50th post! Give me my damn prize! >:

[klownboy]

you dont get a stupid prize for the 50th post... i think its the 100...

[Rongi]

Get out of my thread, klownboy

I just read the first Preacher book, and I'm hooked :love

The characters are all extremely fucked up and hysterical, especially the self hating tough guy gay cop and Cass. And the humor is especially fucked up, like when Preacher says go fuck yourself to Hugo and he cuts off his own dick and shoves it into his colon, and then shots himself in the head in the ambulence right infront of his retarded son.

They could never make a movie out of this without it being NC-17

[glowbelly]

just wait.

seriously. you'll never want it to end, and when it does, you're all like :wow.

it's my fave.

tulip kicks ass.

[Rongi]

Yeah, Tulip rocks too. She reminds me of a neighbor I use to have. She looked just like her too.

I hope the next books are a little longer. The first one was a little short :(

[glowbelly]

they're all about the same size. there's 9 of 'em.

i put the first one under the sink in the bathroom so my boyfriend could read it while he was pooing. hehe.

[Protoclown]

Rongi, I'm glad you're enjoying it, I knew you would. Glowbelly's right, you just never want that series to end. It's 66 issues, but it just doesn't seem to be long enough.

The ending is fucking fantastic though. One of the most epic comic series you'll ever come across.

[FS]

when Preacher says go fuck yourself to Hugo and he cuts off his own dick and shoves it into his colon, and then shots himself in the head in the ambulence right infront of his retarded son.

It's impossible not to get curious about this comic after reading that sentence.

[Rongi]

The Sandman came in a few minutes a go along with a cd rom full of other DC stuff. I'll read it after I get some work done

[Rongi]

Holy shit. That was incredibile. It was very imaginitive and mystical and just...holy shit :eek

If this is the worst one, I can't wait to see the best ones :love :love :love

[pjalne]

I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed, though the other volumes have a slightly different tone from the first. The next (The Doll's House) is pretty great, and if you like the first two there's no way you won't like the rest. You've got a lot to look forward to.

[Generator86]

Aside from Sandman (God), Preacher (Allah), and Transmetropolitan (um, Vishnu?), 100 Bullets is really damn good. So's Y-The Last Man.

I don't really know much about comics, since I just borrow whatever my drummer/guitarist suggests, and I have a lot of faith in his tastes regarding comics. Usually Vertigo stuff.

Hell, I think Fables has a pretty cool premise, but I don't know how you'd feel about all the fairy tale characters being forced to live in New York, or wherever they all live.

[Immortal Goat]

If you like vampires, might I suggest the series 30 Days of Night? I enjoyed it because of it's artistic presentation and plot. (plus, I just think vampires are fucking awesome). Granted, this isn't for everybody, but *MEH*...give it a try.

[glowbelly]

fables is super rad. unfortunately i'm in saving money mode, so i stopped buying comics for now. i left off at issue #12, i think. :(

i'll buy the trades when they come out. another one that i was really getting into was alias.

[Protoclown]

I think the best comic coming out today is Y - The Last Man. Fables is pretty damn high on my list too. So is Alias, actually, but that book is ending soon and rebooting with another title, and it's going to have a larger cast of characters, where Jessica Jones is only going to be a part of the whole. I've heard Luke Cage is going to be featured as well, I don't know who else.

[Ninjavenom]

Here i come to fag it up around here with some manga! :O

http://napalmninja.tripod.com/alita.txt

Helm told me about Battle Angel Alita over the summer, and i just got around to checking it out now. It's super nifty, about a cute cyborg girl who kills bad dudes. :U

Akira is always mentioned, and with good reason. Great story telling, and very little dialogue considering the length of each volume.

Also read Blade of the Immortal, that one's ace. It's about this samurai sumbitch that can't die cuz he has these maggots in his blood that heal his wounds for him. Whenever he kills the villain for that issue, or a big important fella, there's this big two-page spread of it, with little birdies and stuff flying around :O ! Neat characters too, some are pretty twisted, like a fella who stuffs his lovers' heads and puts them on his shoulders so he can always be with them. O .o

I've also got one about a guy who "has a passion for breadmaking". o .o

[Rongi]

Bump

I'm up to the forth book in Preacher, with the story behind Saint Of Killers. Preach just continues to kick ass with each issue. So far I don't really like this one that much, but it's got arseface in it, so it's bound to kick ass later on :sunglasses

[Rongi]

I finished the 2nd Sandman book. They just continue to get better :love

[pjalne]

The second one is one of my favourites.

[Protoclown]

Rongi, wait till you get to book four, "Season of Mists". That one will knock your fucking socks off. The third one is good but it only contains four issues and they are all stand-alone stories, so it's not as satisfying on a whole as some of the larger books.

Book Four of Preacher isn't as enjoyable as the others because it's not part of the series proper. But it's awesome to see the backstory of the Saint o' Killers. And the story about Jody and TC is just fucking funny.

[pjalne]

Season of Mists is the one where the Sandman universe really comes together and you REALLY get the direction things are moving in. Plus, it's just so damned fun to see all the mythological characters and universes (universa?) come together so seamlessly.

[Anonymous]

Well, in the tradition that Ninjavenom attempted to start, I'd like to point out that Dark Horse has published a translation of the Berserk manga.

http://209.95.35.130/covers/12/12705.jpg

For those of you familiar with the series, the manga takes place just after the last episode in the series. It tells the story of a man with a big ass sword and an extraordinary will to fight. There's more to it than that, but I don't want to ruin any of the plot for those of you unfamiliar with the series. Just know that it's a very horrific story with gruesome battles and horrible enemies. In a word, cool.

Back me up here, ninja.


Edit: Here's Dark Horse's summary:

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned -- and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance. Created by Kenturo Miura, Berserk is manga mayhem to the extreme -- violent, horrifying, and mercilessly funny -- and the wellspring for the internationally popular anime series. Not for the squeamish or the easily offended, Berserk asks for no quarter -- and offers none!

[Ninjavenom]

Oh yeah, Berserk is good times. I obtained the first volume from soulseek. I like how the action is very clear, so you can see what's going on. Sometimes in mangas like Blame! you'll have a really hard time trying to figure out what's going on because there is so much background detail. The story is very gruesome, and i love that about it. If you don't hate all manga/anime for no reason, i think you'd like this one.

I read the first volume of one last night called Freesia. It's about a guy who has a latent psychic sense that allows him to avoid danger, and he joins a Revenge Corpoation. It takes place two years or so from now in Tokyo, when an act that allows you to murder a murderer of family member(s) as an act of revenge, and there are special companies that will get the job done for you, so you don't have to risk your own life dealing with the criminal. It's very cool, in a noir-sort of way. It's also pretty graphic, though. For some reason we get a few close-up panels of the main character having sex with his whore friend, and then his friend threatening that whoreish friend and essentially raping her, but i think this is to illustrate that the woman lives a horrible life. I don't know too much yet. You can get it on Omanga (http://www.omanga.net/?cid=freesia).

I also read a good one from SnoopyCool (http://snoopycool.com/manga/midori/index.htm) called Midori No Hibi. It's just a funny manga about the toughest guy in a school. He wakes up one day with the girl that likes him on his right hand, and ever since then, girls have been hitting on him, and his life has been pretty weird and annoying because he has to always hide Midori. Also check out Yakitate!! Japan, That one is the breadmaking one, and it's actually very interesting. :o

I also read an issue of Spider-Man recently. :o

[Mockery]

I saw a picture of Storm Shadow having severed the head of Optimus Prime on the cover. Is that comic out yet? I wanna check it out (though I'm sure the story is complete ass, seeing Storm Shadow fight Optimus Prime would be pretty amusing).

[The_Rorschach]

I liked the Watchmen, and New Mutants, so my taste in comics is sort of, well, broad -or bad, depending upon one's outlook. I haven't read anything since 'Executioner's Song' (which was like an uninspired Xtinction Agenda in my opinion) but I recall the four part mini series of Cyber Force that came out around 94/95 or so was actually pretty cool. Only four issues, so short, but it was a favourite for awhile.

The actual series that came out as a result was complete and utter shite, so if you decide to pick it up, be careful.

[Zbu Manowar]

I liked the Watchmen, and New Mutants, so my taste in comics is sort of, well, broad -or bad, depending upon one's outlook. I haven't read anything since 'Executioner's Song' (which was like an uninspired Xtinction Agenda in my opinion) but I recall the four part mini series of Cyber Force that came out around 94/95 or so was actually pretty cool. Only four issues, so short, but it was a favourite for awhile.

If you want me to catch you up on X-Men, here goes:

They jacked up the price of the book by calling it Deluxe to $2, then went upwards from that. More angst, more 'no, he didn't really die' and more stuff like that. All subplots that were interesting were dropped and eventually Magneto had his brain sucked out by Xavier, who then developed a Tyler Durden personality called Onslaught which Marvel used to destroy all of their titles above issue #100 because 'all kids are too stupid and won't get involved because of the BACKSTORY.' Then 1996 came around and that's when Marvel died.

Bitterness aside, I just got the whole run of Avengers West Coast for under $10. If you dig the early '90s comicwise now is the time to get them very cheap on Ebay.

[The_Rorschach]

What fucking nancies.

Well, fuck. . .Alot of the storylines weren't worth expounding on. Like that wretched Externals plots, which wasn't anything but a Mutant Highlander thing comprising of the most uninteresting characters Marvel could offer- Wolverine, Cannonball, Gideon and Sauron et cetera- and of course, well, but why go on?


Thank you brother. If I ever thought to start going back and reading, now I know not to.

[Zbu Manowar]

Then I just saved you $5 per issue. You're welcome. :)

[Spectre X]

I'm trying to nag my parents into getting me Watchemen for my birthday.

Finally I can be cool *sniff*

[A.S.H.]

Transmetropolitan is goodness indeed. I'm up to "The New Scum".

Lupin III manga is very awesome, being a good deal more raw than the anime, while still being very funny and wacky.

Lone Wolf & Cub, fucking awesome. I don't think I should say anymore.

Storm Riders by Wing Shing Ma (it's a tall and thin, rather than a short and thick)

Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, done by Hayao Miyazaki, his only manga work. Very gritty and a very cool and detailed post apocalypse environment.

Jing: King of Bandits. Very Non-Linear in a good way with mixes of sci-fi and fantasy throughout.

Five Star Stories, expansive tale crossing apparently thousands of years, big mechs, weee!

[PonchtheJedi]

I picked up Berzerk No. 1 based on Dr. Boogie's recommendation - I must say, it's very good. Check it out if you can.

I looked for Transmetropolitan, too, but they only had single issues (and none of em were number 1) so I just figured I'd order it off of Amazon.

.

[Level_Ten_Balrog43533]

I dunno, most of the comics i read igot from the library...
read
Akira, and Nausica though, that kicked ass. Oh, and Rising Stars
Sandman was decent, I was able to read all the books except for the 2nd and 9th. Usagi Yojimbo is pretty good, and Batman vs. Predator is too.

[pjalne]

Sandman was decent, I was able to read all the books except for the 2nd and 9th.

Doll's House and The Kindly Ones rock your ass until it bleeds >:

[Spectre X]

I just finished reading my copy of Watchmen, which I got today.

Wow.

Holy fucking shit.

[pjalne]

:)

There's been talk that William H Macy will be playing Rorschach in the movie version. A lot of protestors out there, but I for one hope it's true.

[Rongi]

As long as he can keep that monotone voice I know and love, I'm happy.

And whoever says Sandman is just decent deserves a painful death for being so god damn stupid.

[Ghost of Fraiser]

Macy is a frightening good choice for Rorschach.

[Protoclown]

William H. Macy would be PERFECT for Rorshach. I'd love to see that happen!!

[Spectre X]

What was a bit confusing though, when Laurie shot Ozy, did he actually catch the bullet? :eek