Recommended graphic novels / comics

[Soundwave]

Thanks for the offer Neil - much appreciated - but I already have my own copy! I bought it as part of the drunken binge :-) I've also got the first volume of The Boys lurking around too.

Now onto the 4th Saga book. The first page boasts a huge picture of a television-head squeezing through something... It took me ages to work out that it was an infant tv-head emerging from a big pair of flaps.

No worries buddy you're welcome, you should try giving it a read at worst you get completely repulsed & put it away lol

Let me know how you get on with the Boys I might give it a try.

Lol that's quite possibly the most random thing ever.

I thought some might like to see these...





I got them sent away when I was at the London Super Comic Con back in March.
Cost about $90 with return shipping to get them all done but I think it was worth it...will get more done down the line now too.

Neil

[prinnysquad]

Superb - not just a wise investment but something to cherish. I've got a few signed books myself - nothing in comics but still significant to me - and I wouldn't part with them.

What are those titles about? I'm a bit brassic after a splurge on kung fu posters, so my budget is tight, but I do intend to create a hitlist.

Also, has anyone on this thread attempted to create their own personal top 10? I've been trying recently, and the best I can come up with is:

From Hell
Watchmen
Maus
Persepolis
Bone
Fell
Preacher
Saga
V for Vendetta
Doll (a manga)

[Atticus]

Also, has anyone on this thread attempted to create their own personal top 10

Off the top of my head ...

Sandman
Hellblazer
Swamp Thing
Walking Dead
DMZ
Love & Rockets
Jimmy Corrigan
Fables
Watchmen
Batman DKR

[prinnysquad]

Love Sandman but never finished it. I read the Alan Moore Swamp Thing run - excellent. I'm mightily impressed by Fables. Dark Knight Returns was very enjoyable, but I don't like Miller's outlook or politics much, he seems like such a gun-slingin' right wing gimp.

Hellblazer, Love and Rockets, Jimmy Corrigan and DMZ I know nothing about. Care to give the lowdown, Atticus, old bean?

I read the first trade paperback of Transmetropolitan ten years ago and seem to remember thinking that had a lot of potential. Likewise, I really enjoyed the Mouseguard stuff. That Grant Morrison effort, though - The Invisibles - left me utterly cold and befuddled. Yet it's highly rated? Feel as if I should give another shot.

[Atticus]

Sandman was the series that really got me into reading comics/graphic novels. I tend to read the entire run every few years or so. Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing is something I only got round to reading recently. It's something else. Every panel is like poetry. Amazing.

Hellblazer is the story of John Constantine (I'm sure you know the character, as he first popped up in Swamp Thing). It finished a couple of years ago after 300 issues. My favourite period was the Garth Ennis run ... though some might thing it's slightly dated now, I think it's still awesome.

DMZ has been referred to as a love letter to Manhattan. There are 10 graphic novels in total and the story is about a second American civil war in the not too distant future where Manhattan becomes a demilitarised zone. Well worth a read. I loved it. Odd protagonist though.

Love and Rockets is a little more alternative. Little bit punk rock and very 90s. Check out the Hernandez Bros who created it.

Jimmy Corrigan is pretty alternative too. It's a little bit abstract, and a little bit melancholy, but beautifully executed. Very original.

From your list I know nothing about Bone or Fell. Can you fill me in on those?

Saga has been on my radar for a while but I haven't got round to picking it up yet.

[prinnysquad]

Great suggestions there! DMZ sounds particularly intriguing.

Bone is a black and white fantasy story by Jeff Smith. When you first read it you're thinking, 'What the hell is all this about?' and it seems underwhelming. But it totally sucks you in. I suppose it's an epic fantasy with a dark sense of humour, but with character moments full of light and pathos. I found myself reading the last two-thirds in one sitting. The art style is very cartoony, and it's very accessible. It's a book that warmed me as I read it, rather than wowed me.

Fell is very good, but pure frustration. There's only ever been 9 issues as far as I know. The first set of 8 are collected in a trade paperback. It's written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Ben Templesmith, whose art style appeals to me. It's started in 2005, but the last issue was released in 2008. It's been on hiatus ever since. There's been numerous incidences - Ellis's computer lost a load of scripts back in 2008; Templesmith took an age to draw issue 10; Image won't publish issue 10 unless other scripts are in the bag - which has prevented any more being released. It's highly annoying because I was loving it up to that point. It's about a Detective called Richard Fell who is posted across the bridge to Snowtown, a down-trodden fleapit of an area with vice and corruption around every alley. Each story is short and self-contained, but there's a narrative strand running vaguely through the whole thing. Worth a look.

[Atticus]

Both sound well worth a look, cheers prinny

I've kind of gotten into the habit of re-reading my faves instead of buying new stuff. I've also got the first eight graphic novels of The Boys but I stopped half way. It started out great but by book 5 it just seems to be going for shock factor above anything and feels like it's lost a bit of quality. Might push on and finish the ones I've got though.

[Soundwave]

Superb - not just a wise investment but something to cherish. I've got a few signed books myself - nothing in comics but still significant to me - and I wouldn't part with them.

What are those titles about? I'm a bit brassic after a splurge on kung fu posters, so my budget is tight, but I do intend to create a hitlist.

Also, has anyone on this thread attempted to create their own personal top 10? I've been trying recently, and the best I can come up with is:

From Hell
Watchmen
Maus
Persepolis
Bone
Fell
Preacher
Saga
V for Vendetta
Doll (a manga)

Thanks man I'm really pleased with them & will be great to keep & display.

The 1st 2 books are what I'd recommend the most they have been some of my books of the year.

Synopsis for each are here...

Outcast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcast_%28comic_book%29

Wytches

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wytches_%28comics%29

Grimm is a long standing ongoing series that started as retellings of the Grimm Fairy tales with modern twists but have become much more.
The one I got graded is the 100th issue so thought it was a milestone worth getting done.
It's not a series I really recommend to many people & I only really got into it because I got suckered in by the slightly pervy Pin Up style covers & then got into the story that way, they are good reads but not really many peoples cup of tea.

Wow a top 10...damn I don't think I could narrow it down lol

Neil

[QualityChimp]

Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing is something I only got round to reading recently. It's something else. Every panel is like poetry. Amazing.

My Mom picked me up a Moore Swamp Thing from one of those bargain book shops one Christmas. I loved it so much, I went back and bought the others they had. Really interesting story and a nice cameo from Batman.

[Soundwave]

My Mom picked me up a Moore Swamp Thing from one of those bargain book shops one Christmas. I loved it so much, I went back and bought the others they had. Really interesting story and a nice cameo from Batman.

I'm thinking I might need to investigate this version of Swamp Thing, I've always just dismissed him as a bit of a nothing character & just not bothered with it.

Lately though I've been hearing more & more about it & definitely piquing my interest

Neil

[QualityChimp]

Heh, I actually went up the loft to find my Swamp Thing books as I wanted to re-read them after we'd spoke about them.

I have books 9, 10 and 11.

9 is my favourite as it has a couple of fun cameos and a great story.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swamp-Thing-Volume-Alan-Moore/dp/1852861002/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EZ6QW9BACXZMQ0BG0RS

I had a bunch of other stuff up there with my graphic novels like some comics from the 80s like 2000AD, Hulk, M.A.S.K., Spider-Man and some DC issues. Nothing of value, just interesting to have.

[Soundwave]

Heh, I actually went up the loft to find my Swamp Thing books as I wanted to re-read them after we'd spoke about them.

I have books 9, 10 and 11.

9 is my favourite as it has a couple of fun cameos and a great story.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swamp-Thing-Volume-Alan-Moore/dp/1852861002/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1EZ6QW9BACXZMQ0BG0RS

I had a bunch of other stuff up there with my graphic novels like some comics from the 80s like 2000AD, Hulk, M.A.S.K., Spider-Man and some DC issues. Nothing of value, just interesting to have.

Lol it's funny what you do when others start talking about it.

I have just been looking on Wordery & they have them for around ?10 each (well up to book 6 anyway...nothing past that)

https://wordery.com/graphic-novels-anime-manga-books/all?term=swamp+thing

Will see what I get for my birthday this month & if I don't get a stupid amount of stuff to read (mostly asking for GN's as it is) then I'll grab books 1 & 2
But whatever happens these will be in my to buy list for later down the line

Neil

[prinnysquad]

I've just about finished the first tpb of The Boys. It's highly enjoyable. More swearing than a conversation with The Hound, and just the right side of vile. The sex scenes and violence are, in the main, fascinatingly amusing rather than alarmingly grim. I quite like the main character and the Simon Pegg dude so far. The initiation story for the new girl in The Seven was the only thing that left a bad taste in the mouth (so to speak) but it was in keeping with the central concept of rotten apples abusing their powers. I shall read on with interest.

[Soundwave]

I've just about finished the first tpb of The Boys. It's highly enjoyable. More swearing than a conversation with The Hound, and just the right side of vile. The sex scenes and violence are, in the main, fascinatingly amusing rather than alarmingly grim. I quite like the main character and the Simon Pegg dude so far. The initiation story for the new girl in The Seven was the only thing that left a bad taste in the mouth (so to speak) but it was in keeping with the central concept of rotten apples abusing their powers. I shall read on with interest.

Boys sounds pretty good there & glad you enjoyed it.
Will grab that this week I think as it's pretty cheap on Wordery & Speedy Hen (Sub ?8 delivered)

Twas my birthday on Wednesday & I had a couple of new books with a couple more to come apparently (wife forgot & didn't order anything until the Tuesday night ) I have these so far

From my parents...



Should have had volume 5 as well but for some reason they shipped 2 copies of Volume 4 so that will be here eventually lol

From Wifey...



Not sure what else is on rout from her though so hoping for some more goodies.

Popped into my LCS yesterday & came out ?33 lighter for 3 comics...yes just 3
Although I did get one comic 7 times!! (It would have been 8 but they never received delivery of the Cyborg cover but I'll get that in a weeks time) because they all form an interlocking picture like this...




Gap is obviously where the Cyborg cover should be

It's also the 75th anniversary of the Joker so they did a Joker Variant which I picked up as well...



Overkill a bit me thinks

Neil

[randombs]

I've just about finished the first tpb of The Boys. It's highly enjoyable.

Decided to check it out and I've been glued to it. Such a great premise and plenty of wtf moments.