The Comic Book/Graphic Novel thread

[hefdaddy42]

Jackie, from a Christian's perspective, I thought Preacher was hilarious.  It's fiction, so I don't get hung up on the "theology," I just care if it's a good story.

Read the Sandman books if you haven't yet.

[bout to crash]

Yeah, that makes sense. Hilarious it is!

I have not read Sandman, but I've heard good things so if you recommend it I will go for it 

[hefdaddy42]

I have not read Sandman, but I've heard good things so if you recommend it I will go for it 

I cannot recommend it highly enough.  Possibly the best comic/graphic novel series ever.

[Big Hath]

There have been some quality graphic novels mentioned in this thread so far.  I'll post my list of favorites in a day or two, but I wanted to list off some of my favorite single issues:

G.I. Joe #21  - Silent Interlude, aka the "Silent Issue" - Snake Eyes goes on a one man mission to rescue Scarlett from Destro's mountain fortress.  He fights a horde of troopers and ninjas to infiltrate the castle while Scarlett is doing her thing to escape.  Wires get crossed and Scarlett ends up rescuing Snake Eyes, but as that is happening he saves her life with an awesome catch of a thrown sword.  High action, awesome story, and we get to see Storm Shadow discover that he has a special connection with Snake Eyes.  And not a word is spoken the entire issue.  No speech bubbles, no sound effects, not even a narrator or thought caption.






The Flash (vol 2) #54 - Nobody Dies - Wally West is flying in a passenger jet to escort some criminals cross country and befriends a flight attendant.  The bad guys cause some havoc and a hole is ripped in the plane sucking out the attendant.  His mind races for a solution, and what does he do?  He jumps out after her.  No, he cannot fly.






Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 - The Anatomy Lesson - Freaking. Awesome.  In this issue Alan Moore completely reworks who, or more accurately what, the Swamp Thing is and isn't.  The consequences are beyond awesome.  I don't want to spoil it.  Go find it and read it.  NOW!

[hefdaddy42]

I agree with that GI Joe and Swamp Thing, they are classic individual issues.

Not familiar with that issue of Flash.

[Big Hath]

Not familiar with that issue of Flash.

yeah, it was in the middle of a pretty nondescript run of stories that appeared in between the Vandal Savage storyline that led up to the big #50 issue and the beginning of Mark Waid's run on the series, starting with the Year One arc.  Kind of gets lost in the shuffle since it wasn't part of a big story arc and will likely never be reprinted or collected in a trade paperback.





I love this next panel

[Big Hath]

ok a few more single issues I love:

Planetary #3 - Dead Gunfighters - This one reads like an awesome Japanese action/crime film.  I'll talk more about Planetary when I do my graphic novel/trade paperback list.





The Flash (vol 2) #182 - Absolute Zero - Brilliantly told origin of Captain Cold.





Action Comics #775 - What's So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way? - Post Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, the proliferation of anti-heroes in comics seemed to leave no room for the classic do-gooders like Superman.  In this story we get to see just how far Superman will go to remain relevant in this new climate.

[hefdaddy42]

I don't know any of those.

[ozzy554]

I've been trying to get into comic books lately. I read watchmen which I enjoyed. Next I'm getting Batman: The long Halloween, I heard it's a pretty good place to start.

[bosk1]

I still have a copy signed by McFarlane in mylar.  Kinda wish I would have bought multiple copies of #4 as well.

[Dimitrius]

I've been trying to get into comic books lately. I read watchmen which I enjoyed. Next I'm getting Batman: The long Halloween, I heard it's a pretty good place to start.

More Batman goodness: The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke.

[hefdaddy42]

Also, Year One.

Also, the two-part Batman/Grendel crossover was some of the best superhero storytelling I've ever read.  But if you don't know Grendel, it may not work for you.  Also, good luck trying to find it now.

[masterthes]

The Locke & Key series by Joe Hill is amazing

[bout to crash]

I've been trying to get into comic books lately. I read watchmen which I enjoyed. Next I'm getting Batman: The long Halloween, I heard it's a pretty good place to start.

More Batman goodness: The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke.

I just recently read both of these. Oh man!

[Dimitrius]

THEY'RE SO FUCKING GOOD!!

I especially love how TKJ ends.

[ozzy554]

Well I loved the long halloween, I read it in a day.  Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with the batman universe but I think I liked it more than watchmen.

[hefdaddy42]

One of my favorite graphic novels of all time was a story of Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom called Triumph & Torment.  Fantastic characterization and storytelling of Doctor Doom acquiring Doctor Strange's aid in rescuing his mother's soul from the clutches of Mephisto.  Probably hard to find now, but just a great, great story.

[ozzy554]

so Frank Miller is writing the dark knight returns 3 https://www.avclub.com/article/frank-miller-return-gotham-dark-knight-iii-master--218546


After the atrocities that were All star Batman and Robin and Holy Terror(originallly meant to be a batman comic) I'm surprised that they even let him into the building let alone him write for batman again.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm surprised they let him do it after DK 2.

[LudwigVan]

The Locke & Key series by Joe Hill is amazing

Absolutely this.  It got me wondering "who is this Joe Hill guy"?  When I found out he's Stephen King's son, I'm like "yeap ...uh huh, figures".

[Cyclopssss]

About that Flash issue: it did help that the girl that was sucked out of the plane was pretty hot! 

I loved Batman Year One, and definitely loved reading The Dark Knight Returns. I stopped reading at Killing Joke, though. Thought that was over the top. Curious what Miller comes up with next. 

(yes I used to read comics).

[bout to crash]

I read Batman Year One last night, pretty good! Enough to keep me up past my bedtime.

[LudwigVan]

You guys should check into a book called 'Saga' by Brian K. Vaughn. So much goodness.

[bout to crash]

I have not read Sandman, but I've heard good things so if you recommend it I will go for it 

I cannot recommend it highly enough.  Possibly the best comic/graphic novel series ever.

Whoa, it was exactly six months ago that you said this. Anyway, I read the first book on a plane Sunday, then I had to wait a day (impatiently!) for the library to get me the second. I read that one last night, and again I'm waiting for the library to get the third (they already have the fourth and fifth on hold for me, but I guess the third is coming from a further branch). Damn, I'm loving it!

[hefdaddy42]

 

My favorite is Season of Mists, which I believe is the fourth collection.

BTW, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is working on a film adaptation.  I can't envision it, but I wish him luck.

Seems like it would be better suited to longer format, like a series on HBO or Netflix.  But whatever.

[ariich]

My favorite is Season of Mists, which I believe is the fourth collection.

Probably my favourite too. The series as a whole is just so great though.

BTW, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is working on a film adaptation.  I can't envision it, but I wish him luck.

Seems like it would be better suited to longer format, like a series on HBO or Netflix.  But whatever.

Yeah, I think a series would be much more suitable too for the storytelling, though visually it would probably need a pretty huge budget.

[bout to crash]

Yeah, definitely would be better as a series but as long as they don't try to fit EVERYTHING into one movie it could be super cool... and maybe lead to multiple movies? Who knows.
Anyway, either I screwed up or the library did because my hold was not on the list when I logged into my account this morning. I want to make sure I have the next several books for my upcoming road trip, so I went to another library and got the third book. I may dive into it tonight rather than save it for the weekend though

[DoctorAction]

My main reading material is comics these days. Prose gets a look-in pretty much for just non-fiction.

Image is by far my publisher of choice and makes up 95% of what I read. I don't read superhero stuff, typically, but I'm not snobby about it.

Currently reading The Sheriff Of Babylon vol 2.

[DoctorAction]

Come on. I can't believe a board full of prog nerds doesn't have a massive boner for comics as well... 

[Adami]

Marvel and DC are halting digital releases since physical releases were halted due to
Diamond Distributing stopping right now. Lame. I buy 5-15 marvel comics a week.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Come on. I can't believe a board full of prog nerds doesn't have a massive boner for comics as well... 

I'm quite a big fan of a few webcomics, but to be honest the entire style of print comics has never appealed to me. I picked up Neil Gaiman's Death because it seemed pretty highly regarded, and I still had the same issues with it that I have with any other comic.

Then again, maybe that's just because of Neil Gaiman? There's no doubt the man's talented, but 90% of American Gods bored the shit out of me.

This is now a thread where I review various authors, I guess.

[Eldomm]

I buy 5-15 marvel comics a week.

5-15 a week??

where do you find the time to actually read them? 

[DoctorAction]

Excellent. You came! 

Marvel and DC are halting digital releases since physical releases were halted due to
Diamond Distributing stopping right now. Lame. I buy 5-15 marvel comics a week.

Yeah, it's annoying. I just started ordering single issues of a few series from my local comic shop again, picked up one issue then it's stopped.

Trades vs floppies is interesting to me. There are pros and cons to each, I think. I usually buy trades as it's good value and I can sell them on to a book reseller to get them out of my house if I'm done with them (I keep the things I really like and/or may re-read but get rid of everything else). But it results in annoying gaps of time between volumes unless you wait until a series is over. And then you can have a pretty massive chunk of content at once.

I was curious about single issues, though, so ordered Brubaker/Philips' Kill Or Be Killed in that form when that came out and I absolutely love the regular, perfectly-sized portion of story you get, the easily open-able spine, the extra shit at the back. But I don't like how they don't neatly bookshelf, nor that I can't resell them so easily.

I'm quite a big fan of a few webcomics, but to be honest the entire style of print comics has never appealed to me.

Comics in general are a fascinatingly different form from anything else, in my eyes. Is it just that you don't like them on paper? I've only ever read a few comics digitally (some Dredd, some Walking Dead) and it was ok, surprisingly. I like them on paper a whole lot more. Not read any webcomics, I don't think.

Some random comic thoughts:

• I love Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips the most. Noir perfection. Everything is golden.
• Dredd is my all-time favourite character, but it's the city that is the real character against his unwavering consistency.
• Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer world is the business.
• Mark Millar is not a favourite creator of mine.
• I'm about to start reading Tom King's Vision series for Marvel.

[Eldomm]

I only buy "paper" comics of selected authors (Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Alex Ross, some Frank Miller), with a few exceptions.
Other than that, I read a lot on the tablet. IMHO, tablet reading has one big plus and one big minus:
plus: brightness and possibility to zoom in
minus: it's much more difficult to go back and find a section to reread or review

[hefdaddy42]

I have a nostalgic love for comics, as I actively read and collected when I was younger, but I am not a current reader.

However, I still have a love for many of my former favorite characters, or certain writers or artists, so I occasionally will buy a collected edition of newer stories, or older ones that escaped me.