The Comic Book/Graphic Novel thread

[Neccy60]

This is where we talk about cool stuff like this:

[Volk9]

Looks like it hurts

Only comic book/graphic novel that I've read recently was Bone (complete series) I want somethign else, but dont know what. And recommendations?

[Dimitrius]

There's a graphic novel called Joker, which is very good!

[ariich]

Watchmen is amazing.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is amazing.

That's the entirety of my GN experience so far, but I'd like to broaden it at some point!

[veronica]

My list of cool things I've read are all mentioned already:
Watchmen, Sandman and Bone. We have a few more series in the shelf that I'm going to read though, like Priest...

[Neccy60]

As far as thick graphic novel stuff, I've read Bone, Blankets, Watchmen, the entire The Sandman series, and I've dipped into Marvel and DC superhero comics at times.  I need to read Lucifer, Hellblazer, Transmetropolitian, and Preacher, I've heard they're awesome.

[skydivingninja]

If I had to pick my favorite graphic novel nowadays, It would have to be "Batman: The Long Halloween."  Made Two-Face my favorite Batman villain, and Batman's villains are the best.  Others I enjoy include Watchmen, Sin City, Other Batman comics, classic X-Men/Spider-Man, and V For Vendetta.  When I come across large amounts of disposable income, I plan on buying The Sandman.

Are we allowed to talk about Manga here too?  If so I'll gladly talk about Death Note and FMA.

[Genowyn]

I've only read Watchmen and one Batman Novel (Killing Joke). If this category includes manga, I'm presently reading Elfen Lied. I also keep up with the Buffy, Angel, and Firefly graphic novels.

[orcus116]

Read:

Watchmen (Alan Moore)
V for Vendetta (Alan Moore)
Ex Machina
The Eternals (Neil Gaiman)

I picked up the first Bone comic instead of opting for the full one volume edition because I hear the color is much better.

The Moore books were very well written though I found V for Vendetta hard to get used to due to it being illustrated very black with thick lines. Ex Machine wasn't bad and it was drawn fairly well. I gotta say I wasn't a huge fan of Eternals. I found the writing fairly cheesy and juvenile though the illustrations were very well done. I feel like I don't do well with cape/superhero comics but from what I hear many of them are very bad.

[LudwigVan]

Well, I'm a comics/graphic novel junkie.   I'd recommend:

Preacher
Hellblazer
Swamp Thing (Alan Moore series)
Daredevil (any of the Frank Miller series)
Hellboy
100 Bullets

[skydivingninja]

Read:

Watchmen (Alan Moore)
V for Vendetta (Alan Moore)
Ex Machina
The Eternals (Neil Gaiman)

I picked up the first Bone comic instead of opting for the full one volume edition because I hear the color is much better.

The Moore books were very well written though I found V for Vendetta hard to get used to due to it being illustrated very black with thick lines. Ex Machine wasn't bad and it was drawn fairly well. I gotta say I wasn't a huge fan of Eternals. I found the writing fairly cheesy and juvenile though the illustrations were very well done. I feel like I don't do well with cape/superhero comics but from what I hear many of them are very bad.

I liked Eternals a lot.  Best part is when they humiliate Tony Stark and the whole point of the Civil War when they say they won't get registered.

Also, if you need your opinion on superhero comics changed, buy some good quality Batman books.  I have so much fun with those.

[LudwigVan]

Dunno if you guys have noticed, but quite a few 'regular' novelists and writers of TV shows have crossed over to write for comics/graphic novels, helping to give the 'superhero' genre a bit more weight. 

For instance:

Joss Whedon (Firefly and Buffy TV series) has 4 X-Men graphic novels out which are highly regarded
Michael J. Strazcynski (Babylon 5 TV series) has written many stories for Thor, Spider-Man and Fantastic Four
Brad Meltzer (bestselling novelist) has done Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Justice League stories
Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game novels) has done a couple of Iron Man graphic novels

[orcus116]

Read:

Watchmen (Alan Moore)
V for Vendetta (Alan Moore)
Ex Machina
The Eternals (Neil Gaiman)

I picked up the first Bone comic instead of opting for the full one volume edition because I hear the color is much better.

The Moore books were very well written though I found V for Vendetta hard to get used to due to it being illustrated very black with thick lines. Ex Machine wasn't bad and it was drawn fairly well. I gotta say I wasn't a huge fan of Eternals. I found the writing fairly cheesy and juvenile though the illustrations were very well done. I feel like I don't do well with cape/superhero comics but from what I hear many of them are very bad.

I liked Eternals a lot.  Best part is when they humiliate Tony Stark and the whole point of the Civil War when they say they won't get registered.

Also, if you need your opinion on superhero comics changed, buy some good quality Batman books.  I have so much fun with those.

I plan on reading the essentials (Killing Joke, Dark Knight Returns) at some point. The other thing that really bothered me about Eternals was the lack of any kind of ending but I assume it's part of a series.

[hefdaddy42]

Well, I'm a comics/graphic novel junkie.   I'd recommend:

Preacher
Hellblazer
Swamp Thing (Alan Moore series)
Daredevil (any of the Frank Miller series)

All of this, especially Preacher.  Holy crap, that's some awesome stuff.

[Cool Chris]

I have not read many graphic novels, but I am a huge fan of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, but I am a bit of a Jack the Ripper junkie. I know people tend to think of Watchmen as Moore's best or most defining work, but I think the effort and research and creativity he put in to From Hell makes it his best work.

https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Alan-Moore/dp/0958578346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249879120&sr=8-1

[veronica]

Joss Whedon (Firefly and Buffy TV series) has 4 X-Men graphic novels out which are highly regarded
Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game novels) has done a couple of Iron Man graphic novels

I've never heard about these before now, but I need them!

I completely forgot to mention 300. Going to read Ronin, Preacher, Digger and 30 days of night (have at least one volume of all of those in the shelf). V for Vendetta as well!

[Scurvy!Dreams]

Ex Machine wasn't bad and it was drawn fairly well.

Ex Machina is pretty good, but if you want something a lot better from Brian K. Vaughan then check out Y: The Last Man. Best comic series I've ever read. (I'm only 2 into Sandman though.)

For the Buffy fans, BKV's run on the Season 8 comics is really great too. It's book 2, "No Future For You."

[hefdaddy42]

I have not read many graphic novels, but I am a huge fan of From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, but I am a bit of a Jack the Ripper junkie. I know people tend to think of Watchmen as Moore's best or most defining work, but I think the effort and research and creativity he put in to From Hell makes it his best work.

https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Alan-Moore/dp/0958578346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249879120&sr=8-1

Yeah, it was good.  Too bad the film wasn't very good.

[SupermanJLU]

I would suggest Kingdom Come for any fan of DC Comic book heroes. The story is great and art work is awesome. The link below gives a very short plot summary and a picture of the New Edition Cover. 

https://www.dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=9978

I am glad to see a comic book thread here as I did a search a little while back and got no hits.

Now if anyone if interested in the current DC comics story arcs I would suggest picking up Blackest Night. It is 8 issue series just just started last month. There is a little bit of reading to truly understand the scope of what was being setup in the previously released issues building up the Story in Green Lantern V4 and Green Lantern Corps V2. The first Issue was great and I cannot wait for the release of the second issue soon. The link below is for Blackest Night #1

https://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Blackest_Night_Vol_1

If you want to check out what is going on the current Superman World. The run is about half way through but has been a great read so far Superman: World of New Krypton. I have a link below to the first issue.

https://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Superman:_World_of_New_Krypton_Vol_1_1

[hefdaddy42]

I would suggest Kingdom Come for any fan of DC Comic book heroes. The story is great and art work is awesome.

No question.  One of my favorite books ever.

[YtseBitsySpider]

I highly recomend the graphic novel or "trades" version of Marvell's The Secret Wars I and II. They've condensed both into a trades considering the hundreds of dollars it would take you to acquire them in comic form. Some excellent side stories involving DOOM, the Beyonder and most notable the "actual" story of where SpiderMan got his black/symbiot suit.

[Scurvy!Dreams]

I would suggest Kingdom Come for any fan of DC Comic book heroes. The story is great and art work is awesome.

No question.  One of my favorite books ever.

It's more than worth reading for the art, but I didn't think it was that interesting a story. Maybe I'm just not well-versed enough in DC canon.

[RobD]

Personal favourite is Sam & Max: Freelance Police (as you can tell from my avatar). I just wish that he spent less time earning money at a day job in Pixar and carried on making them.

-"It was the stern guiding voice of the Commissioner with just the right kind of hair-raising case we can wrap our overactive adrenal glands around."
-"Are you talking dirty?"

Also just ordered Dethklok vs The Goon, so looking forward to reading that one.

[hefdaddy42]

I would suggest Kingdom Come for any fan of DC Comic book heroes. The story is great and art work is awesome.

No question.  One of my favorite books ever.

It's more than worth reading for the art, but I didn't think it was that interesting a story. Maybe I'm just not well-versed enough in DC canon.

Perhaps so.  I thought the story was fantastic, but I was extremely well-versed in DC canon at the time.

Although, with all of the Crisises they've had, is there any DC canon left?

[Scurvy!Dreams]

A final Brian K Vaughan recommendation: Pride of Baghdad. Amazing one-off book about a pride of lions that escape from the Baghdad Zoo during the bombings. Some of the best art I've seen in a comic. Not as big a fan of BKV's writing in this as I normally am, but I feel like the third act is going for some allegory that I'm not political enough to understand.

Another favourite series of mine is Scott Pilgrim. Very quirky comedy/action/romance book. Art is good and really adds a lot to the gags, but it is manga-style which might turn some people off. These are simply some of the funnest books I've ever read. It wouldn't be hef's style, but I recommend it to anyone under 25, regardless of if you read comics or not.

[LudwigVan]

ZOMG I just started reading The Exterminators.   Check out this book NAO

[ACID_FOX]

The Killing Joke

The Man Who Laughs

Batman: Year One

The Dark Knight Returns

Batman: The Long Halloween

Batman: Hush


My personal favorites

[Dimitrius]

The Killing Joke

Amazing graphic novel!

I've been reading the first few comics of Iron Man (Tales of Suspense 39-99).

Comics in the 60s were very innocent.

[Jamariquay]

[PuffyPat]

V for Vendetta

[Norwood]

Never really liked Watchmen, and don't particularly care for all the books you're supposed to like if you like Watchmen.

Right now I'm reading The Walking Dead, Absolution, Green Lantern: Blackest Night, Chew (which a friend of mine got signed for me when he went to the SDCC) and anything with Deadpool.

[Neccy60]

I finished Preacher.  So.  Freaking.  Awesome. 

I've also read some issues of Star Wars Legacy, and it's pretty good.

I"m only two issues in, but Lucifer doesn't seem that great so far.

[RobD]

Got Dethklok vs The Goon. Really not that great. Just a string of references for half-arsed fanboys to cream themselves over. And Dethklok are drawn really badly. The Goon side of the art though is great.

Gone back to reading Spawn from #1 straight through. :

[hefdaddy42]

Gone back to reading Spawn from #1 straight through. :

I have the first 30 issues, but I don't remember the last time I read them.

[jfwund]

From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Sandman are all incredible, especially if you like your graphic novels on the more literary side.

Jason Lutes' Berlin books are pretty damn good as well.

Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland is cool, and defies description. Gemma Bovary is an interesting rewriting of Madame Bovary, but I can't remember who did that book, and I'm too lazy to get up and find it on the shelf.

As I have a pretty strong interest in WWI, I'm partial to the Charley's War books. I actually teach the first two in my WWI literature class.

What else? Transmet was pretty good. As far as superheroes go, I agree with the OP, you can't go wrong with Marvel Civil War, and did anyone mention Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum: Serious House on Serious Earth (or some subtitle like that)? That book is awesome, one of the best Batman books I've read.