comics/graphic novels you've been reading

[JohnnyRed]

Was never into comics as a kid, but I got into it through the indie / underground shit recently. My picks for

Indie:

American Splendor

Optic Nerve

Black Hole (!!!)

Acme Novelty (Jimmy Corrigan, Rusty Brown)

Eightball (Ghost World, Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron)

More Mainstream:

Hellblazer (good arcs from Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis, Jamie Delano)

Hellboy (and spinoffs, BPRD and Lobster Johnson)

Transmetropolitan

Sin City

Preacher

[mrip]

yeah, there are a few comic threads

just search for them.

there was an active one month or two back

[2000dB]

I was mostly reading european comics as a kid since I couldn't read english back then, but I haven't read much lately. One of my favorites has always be "berceuse assassine".

I read Wanted a few weeks back which was funny. I've also been Transmetropolitan. I need to get grittier stuff.

[Lab]

I posted this in some earlier comics thread, but I used to collect. Mostly DC...

Here's a pic of my storage closet back home...dump everything I don't really go through anymore...kinda a bottle of my childhood. except for snakes on plane sticker. Brother put that there.

Nowadays, I pick up TPBs, since they're cheaper and I don't worry about their condition.

[hey]

This is really my kinda thread.

While I agree with you about the maturity of comics now vs. comics back in the 90's, we're really not living in a heyday or anything. Everything DC is doing (mainstream) is basically garbage tied into repeated continuity reboots. It's terrible.

Marvel's doing alright, but some of the stuff they've done recently (Loeb's Ultimates 2, One More Day) is pretty awful.

Indie comics are fucking fantastic right now though: Walking Dead, Local, DMZ, American Virgin, Scott Pilgrim...I could go on.

I think it's also only fair to mention that going back through the 90s (and 80s, which were generally better) you can still find some good stuff written by the big names, like Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, etc.

Also, I met Brian Wood (DMZ, Local, Pounded, Couriers, Supermarket, gooooood shit) this weekend. He was totally down to earth and really cool. Got some good stuff from him too, like a sketchbook from Italy that are limited to 12 in the USA.

Talking point: How do people feel about Quesada's choice (don't really wanna spoil) in One More Day? I'm personally pretty pissed and a lot of the "resets" seem arbitrary.

[jeepster]

does anyone want to buy 500+ comics straight up for a set price? there are some great ones in here including:

avengers

most if not all x-men and offshoot series (new mutants, x-force, etc. etc.)

conan the barbarian (magazine & comic versions)

spiderman

robot fighter

and many many many other titles.

there are a bunch of rare & valuable comics, and the rest are great reads. they range in quality and condition good to very good (++) and some are immaculate.

i'm thinking of how much i'd put the price down, most of these are worth between $1-$2 by blue book value, but there are a good number of rare and unique as well as valuable comics.

pm me if you're interested. im still taking inventory on all of them.

[beast]

I remember really getting into comics around 1992, a little before Image first came on the scene and Valiant was huge. Thinking back, I didn't appreciate the writing as much as the art. For instance, I loved the artwork of Jim Lee during his run of of X-Men/ Wild C.A.T.S., as did everyone else in my Junior High Class. Revisiting the comics of that age, the storylines and writing was pretty wack in my opinion.

Flash forward and I'm back into comics. When people find out that I read comics, they immediately throw the nerd card at me and assume comics are still the"funny pages" that are meant strictly for children and pre-pubescent fanboys (which isn't entirely false). What most of the lay-population doesn't realize is that within the last couple of years comics have really matured to a level where they don't have to rely on scatily-clad heroines and chromium/holographic covers to sell. Great writers are producing fantastic and engaging storylines that deal with so much more that the run-of-the-mill "superhero fights supervillan and saves the city" plots.

That being said here are a couple comics/graphic novels I high recommend. The list is mostly mainstream comics...I'm not going to front, I like independent stuff as well, but I'm always a fan of superheroes

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello

Fables by Bill Willingham

Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn

Daredevil - story arcs by Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon

The Ultimates by Mark Millar

Runaways by Brian K. Vaughn

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb

All Star Superman by Grant Morrison

We3 by Grant Morrison

Iron Fist (current story arc) by Ed Brubaker

Preacher by Garth Ennis

Punisher Max by Garth Ennis

Sandman by Neil Gaiman

New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke

Scott Pilgrim by Brian Lee O'Mally

All I can think of at the moment...any SuFu comic book geeks in hurrrr???? Anyone have any good titles to recommend? I'm always up for a good read!

Dude,

1. There are many threads on comics already.

2. Good writing has always been there. They first came into prominence due to Alan Moore's and Frank Miller's work.

3. As for receommendations, I actually read many of the titles in your list.

You can try Alan Moore's Swamp Thing series which ran a couple of years. Those still stand the test of time.

If you like Bendis'/Maleev's Daredevil, you must try Miller's Daredevil Born Again where Kingpin discovered DD"s identity. Miller's earlier DD run was a bit 70s to me with all the Ninja and eastern mysticism.

While on Bendis, try his Powers.

His New Avengers doesnt seem like Earth's Mightiest Heroes bt Bendis' Favourite Heroes. Cage, Spidey, Spidey chick, Iron Fist being Earth's mightiest heroes?

If you like Morrison, try his New X-Men with Quitely. Great stuff better than his JLA.

BTW I like WE3 too. Took me 30 min to read & brought a tear to my eye.

Warren Ellis' Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Galactus, Desolation Jones, Planetary where they tied in with Batman is classic and worth reading again and again.

Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis.

Really too many good stuff to try.

[beast]

Forgot to mention this.

You should get a comic in Stryzinski's reinvention of Squadron Supreme - "Supreme Power". Squadron Supreme is Marvel's retelling of JLA with their own version of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman etc etc.

His initial arc is great. There were titles released under Supreme Power as well.

The one you must read is Supreme Power: NIghthawk by Daniel Way and Steve Dillion.

Its a retelling of Batman and his first meeting with Joker.

Batman is now a bald black billionaire who kills criminals ala Punisher.

Joker is now a true psychopath who experiments in making his poisons and sells/distributes them so that it can kill off people.

There was a scene where the Joker was transfixed with the TV show showing people dying from his poison. He was watching it in the nude except with his clown makeup on. He then peed on the floor while watching it and sat in his own urine and continued watching.

Hard core stuff than Nolan should read to seek inspiration for Dark Knight.

BTW the book is so hard core, my local library decided to pull it off the shelves.

[ThyAllMighty]

I read a lot of these comics, for some reason, it's comforting to know that there are other people who are into fashion, that are into nerd ass shit like me.

SuFu SDCC meet?

[CityHunter]

HaHa sorry guys...I didn't even bother looking for the previous comic thread.

Beast:

I am loving all that Supreme Power ish. It is such an interesting (and violent!) take on JLA. Unfortunately I have only been able to read the 1st Nighthawk TPB and the 1st Supreme Power TPB. I jumped ahead and got confused...why is Hyperion a bad guy? Did he find out he was just a tool of the govt and go crazy or something? I need to read more.

And Miller's 'Born Again' run on Daredevil is one of my favorite arcs of all time. Matt Murdock seemed so vulnerable, so human. Such a great character...fuck the movie.

I hear Bendis' Powers is great. For some reason, Powers makes me think of Ellis' (I think) The Authority. Is that title any good? I hear it is basically the Ultimates.

Is it just me or is Morrison's writing paired perfectly with Quitely's art? I read Morrison's 'Filth' and it just didn't seem right without Quitely. And Morrison's run on New X-Men was...interesting. I definitely thought it was well done...but I felt he was throwing in too many twists and new characters and it confused me. I'm still confused about that whole Cassandra Nova/Ernst thing. Is his run on JLA worth picking up?

Hey:

DMZ is freakin' cool...Brain Wood rocks that shit. Have you read his "Fight for Tomorrow"? Unfortunately, I didn't like it. Hey, hit or miss, you know?

OK guys, I am kind of behind. Has Ultimates 3 #2 come out yet? #1 was super disappointing. I honestly dislike Jeph Loeb, minus Long Halloween, Hush and to a lesser extent, Dark Victory. I am not even too much of a fan of Joe Mad's art...no doubt he is an amazing artist, but I'm feeling it this time around. Maybe I'm just bitter Millar didn't return =(

I forgot to mention "Kingdom Come". Such a great book. "Justice"....not so much

And 'One More Day' is a cheap deus ex machina to breathe new (but not needed) life into Peter Parker. Stupid Parker, Aunt May needs to die. Seriously.

[beast]

HaHa sorry guys...I didn't even bother looking for the previous comic thread.

Beast:

I am loving all that Supreme Power ish. It is such an interesting (and violent!) take on JLA. Unfortunately I have only been able to read the 1st Nighthawk TPB and the 1st Supreme Power TPB. I jumped ahead and got confused...why is Hyperion a bad guy? Did he find out he was just a tool of the govt and go crazy or something? I need to read more.

And Miller's 'Born Again' run on Daredevil is one of my favorite arcs of all time. Matt Murdock seemed so vulnerable, so human. Such a great character...fuck the movie.

I hear Bendis' Powers is great. For some reason, Powers makes me think of Ellis' (I think) The Authority. Is that title any good? I hear it is basically the Ultimates.

Is it just me or is Morrison's writing paired perfectly with Quitely's art? I read Morrison's 'Filth' and it just didn't seem right without Quitely. And Morrison's run on New X-Men was...interesting. I definitely thought it was well done...but I felt he was throwing in too many twists and new characters and it confused me. I'm still confused about that whole Cassandra Nova/Ernst thing. Is his run on JLA worth picking up?

Hey:

DMZ is freakin' cool...Brain Wood rocks that shit. Have you read his "Fight for Tomorrow"? Unfortunately, I didn't like it. Hey, hit or miss, you know?

OK guys, I am kind of behind. Has Ultimates 3 #2 come out yet? #1 was super disappointing. I honestly dislike Jeph Loeb, minus Long Halloween, Hush and to a lesser extent, Dark Victory. I am not even too much of a fan of Joe Mad's art...no doubt he is an amazing artist, but I'm feeling it this time around. Maybe I'm just bitter Millar didn't return =(

I forgot to mention "Kingdom Come". Such a great book. "Justice"....not so much

And 'One More Day' is a cheap deus ex machina to breathe new (but not needed) life into Peter Parker. Stupid Parker, Aunt May needs to die. Seriously.

1. If you read the Nighthawk TPB, I think you would have read what I was talking about.

Milton became a recluse but the Government was afraid of his immense power and sent Prism after him.

2. Powers is different from Authority. Authority is more JLA but with attitude. They see something wrong with the world, they go in and make things right including interfering with the government.

3. New X-Men is excellent. Many of his new ideas are great except the Magneto is Xorn crap which ended up he isnt Xorn.

4. Lastly the spidey thing is soo bad. Wiping off MJ's marriage to him is soo lame. And basically makes a fool of fans who have been following that for years. What's next? Steve Rogers revived? Parker's revelation of his id on TV erased? So lame. I wonder does Stryzinski have a hand in this?

[hey]

CityHunter - I haven't read Fight For Tomorrow, or Pounded, or Couscous Express or a ton of his other work, to be honest. My main exposore to Brian Wood is through DMZ, Local, and Supermarket. He has a new project coming out that's basically aimed at 10-year-old girls called New York Four that he insisted was actually good and worth reading even if you're, you know, a 20-year-old dude. I'll have to check out Fight For Tomorrow though.

Edit: Beast-

Morrison's Magneto/Xorn stuff was fine, it was Claremont who fucked it up afterwards with numerous confusing retcons. I fucking hate comics sometimes.

Also, Parker's TV revelation WAS erased. He also is back to mechanical web shooters. And Harry Osborne is alive. And he's a photographer. It's fucked up.

Stracynzki had a hand in it, but got so pissed off at the direction Quesada took that he almost wouldn't let them put his name on the thing. Quesada eventually convinced him otherwise, but I'm sure he was still none too pleased at the outcome.

In other news, Quesada spoiled tomorrow's Captain America on the Colbert Report, although I think everyone was sort of expecting it.

[beast]

CityHunter - I haven't read Fight For Tomorrow, or Pounded, or Couscous Express or a ton of his other work, to be honest. My main exposore to Brian Wood is through DMZ, Local, and Supermarket. He has a new project coming out that's basically aimed at 10-year-old girls called New York Four that he insisted was actually good and worth reading even if you're, you know, a 20-year-old dude. I'll have to check out Fight For Tomorrow though.

Edit: Beast-

Morrison's Magneto/Xorn stuff was fine, it was Claremont who fucked it up afterwards with numerous confusing retcons. I fucking hate comics sometimes.

Also, Parker's TV revelation WAS erased. He also is back to mechanical web shooters. And Harry Osborne is alive. And he's a photographer. It's fucked up.

Stracynzki had a hand in it, but got so pissed off at the direction Quesada took that he almost wouldn't let them put his name on the thing. Quesada eventually convinced him otherwise, but I'm sure he was still none too pleased at the outcome.

In other news, Quesada spoiled tomorrow's Captain America on the Colbert Report, although I think everyone was sort of expecting it.

Dude,

Xorn have super healing prowess. Mags despite the world beater he is and can make God shit bricks, dont have that.

Claremont is interesting. During his run with Romita Jr, I love his stuff down to Marvel Mutant Massacre. After that, it degenerated into some shit. Just compare Xtreme Xmen with Astonishing or New.

Oh my on spidey. That is soo lame. It just makes fools of fans who bought the issues where Spidey got married or reveal his id wanting to give to their grandkids.

What about the spider totem think and the Wolvie spikes Stryzinski made for him?

I assume they resurrected Green Goblin from the grave due to Spidey I the Movie.

[Charlie Delta]

Merge with this thread?

[hey]

So I read the final Issue of Y - The Last Man today and all I have to say is :(:(

What a fucking finale.

[CityHunter]

So I read the final Issue of Y - The Last Man today and all I have to say is :(:(

What a fucking finale.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well, that's a downer.

Newest pick ups:

Spiderman: Reign

Spiderwoman: Origins (Bendis) ($5 for a hardback...I couldn't resist!)

Spiderman and Black Cat (Smith)

The Spirit (Cooke)

The only one I got through so far was Spiderman: Reign. This was a really good book, even though it was pretty much "Dark Knight Returns" with Spiderman.

Anyone get to read the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier yet? The first LEG installment was excellent.

[ang_kangkong]

What's We3/WE3? Big Gaiman fan. But haven't been in a comicbook store in a spell. Actually recommended his New X Men in another thread. Probably the one Cotton's saying we should splice with this one.

[hendo99]

I really enjoyed The Dark Tower series and the Astonishing Xmen trade paperbacks.

[sushijerk]

What's We3/WE3? Big Gaiman fan. But haven't been in a comicbook store in a spell. Actually recommended his New X Men in another thread. Probably the one Cotton's saying we should splice with this one.

We3 was a short comic from Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly about a cat, a dog, and a rabbit who were turned into cyborg weapons by the US military. Good read, although it was heavy-handed on the "animals are innocent/experimentation is evil" angle.

[CityHunter]

^^ and it was really short...you can finish it in like 15-20 minutes.

I loved the 1st Astonishing X-Men trade...my friends hated on the 2nd one, and while I thought "Danger" was kinda lame I still enjoyed it. I'm trying to keep up w/ single issues now with the whole 'worldbreaker' thing.

[weirdnjfan1]

I'm waiting for the massive TPB of Y The Last Man. I'm too cheap to go out and buy the individuals. I there a chance that something like that happening or did I just make something up.

[jsn]

It should be coming out sometime as Y The Last Man just ended at issue 60. Personally, I'm hoping for an Absolute edition, that would be cool.

[sushijerk]

I doubt they'll do an Absolute edition of Y since it 1) doesn't have "that" kind of cult status and 2) I can't see Y having enough interesting extras/background material to fill the books.

I can definitely see it getting an Omnibus though, so that's like meeting halfway.

[beast]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well, that's a downer.

Newest pick ups:

Spiderman: Reign

Spiderwoman: Origins (Bendis) ($5 for a hardback...I couldn't resist!)

Spiderman and Black Cat (Smith)

The Spirit (Cooke)

The only one I got through so far was Spiderman: Reign. This was a really good book, even though it was pretty much "Dark Knight Returns" with Spiderman.

Anyone get to read the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier yet? The first LEG installment was excellent.

Smith's Spidey/Cat chick was bad. In fact so is most of his other stuff except for Green Arrow: Quiver. Spiderwoman wasnt one of Bendis' inspired writing.

[Liberation1945]

aw man, i used to be the biggest fucking nerd(comics, magic the gathering,etc) and so all my money went on comics, but i stopped suddenly and sold off a lot...i want to get into comics again, but i'm really lost because there are so many out there and i haven't even touched a comic book in 5 years...

i mainly used to read gen13, witchblade, fathom, etc...anyone recommend me something good? i'm lookin for something a bit darker and it'd be nice if the series has ended or just started.

[beast]

aw man, i used to be the biggest fucking nerd(comics, magic the gathering,etc) and so all my money went on comics, but i stopped suddenly and sold off a lot...i want to get into comics again, but i'm really lost because there are so many out there and i haven't even touched a comic book in 5 years...

i mainly used to read gen13, witchblade, fathom, etc...anyone recommend me something good? i'm lookin for something a bit darker and it'd be nice if the series has ended or just started.

I had the same problem.

Picked up 10 years after dropping totally. Stopped and picked up another 3 years later.

Start with TPB and go from there. Many of the stuff listed in the first post are good stuff to sink your teeth in.

[Guest jmatsu]

[CityHunter]

Smith's Spidey/Cat chick was bad. In fact so is most of his other stuff except for Green Arrow: Quiver. Spiderwoman wasnt one of Bendis' inspired writing.

Finished Smith's Spidey/Cat. It wasn't THAT bad (I'm a sucker for Spidey/DD team-ups) but that last issue?

*RAPE IS BAD*

Did Smith have to hammer that point in so hard? It got pretty annoying. That ruined it for me. I recall a similar stunt that Smith pulled that pissed me off in another of his books...was it Dardevil (Guardian Devil)? I forget.

Oh...and Ultimates 3's Hawkeye = Grifter. WTH

[sushijerk]

aw man, i used to be the biggest fucking nerd(comics, magic the gathering,etc) and so all my money went on comics, but i stopped suddenly and sold off a lot...i want to get into comics again, but i'm really lost because there are so many out there and i haven't even touched a comic book in 5 years...

i mainly used to read gen13, witchblade, fathom, etc...anyone recommend me something good? i'm lookin for something a bit darker and it'd be nice if the series has ended or just started.

What kind of dark? Like superheroes with an edge or genuinely occult/dark? Based on Gen13 and Witchblade I'd rec Stormwatch, and its follow-up The Authority. Both are by Warren Ellis who kind of writes dark stuff in general. He also writes Planetary which is a classic.

Is Hellboy dark? I'm not sure. I really liked Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse for something that's more Victorian horror inspired.

[hey]

Finished Smith's Spidey/Cat. It wasn't THAT bad (I'm a sucker for Spidey/DD team-ups) but that last issue?

*RAPE IS BAD*

Did Smith have to hammer that point in so hard? It got pretty annoying. That ruined it for me. I recall a similar stunt that Smith pulled that pissed me off in another of his books...was it Dardevil (Guardian Devil)? I forget.

Oh...and Ultimates 3's Hawkeye = Grifter. WTH

Please don't read Ultimates 3. Or if you do, don't pay for it. It's people who indescriminately buy whatever is put on stands that are really bringing down the industry. Loeb's writing was okay once upon a time, but Ultimates 3 reads like shitty fanfiction. The industry won't know this is unacceptable unless it sells very few copies.

I read the first issue and basically laughed until I turned blue, then felt dirty inside because my roommate actually bought a copy.