Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
4 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Reccomended Comics
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 1 of 24 (47087)
07-23-2003 1:28 PM


Spun off from the Dinner Party thread in the coffee house forum. A quick list for anyone who's interested. The comics listed here are a mix of American, Japanese, English, and French. Every single one is available in English, though.
Love & Rockets - 15 volumes - by Los. Bros. Hernandez
Magical realism and Punk... together at last.
Special Reccomendations: Chester Square, Death of Speedy Ortiz, Poison River
Hate - 6 volumes - by Peter Bagge
The adventures of the greatest detestable slacker in history.
Special Reccomendation: Buddy the Dreamer
Bone - 8 volumes so far - by Jeff Smith
Fantasy with a semi-Disney cuteness to it.
Cerebus - read up to volume 6 and stop because it gets awful - by Dave Sim and Gerhard
26 years in the life of an aardvark. No, really.
Special Reccomendation: Jaka's Story
Usagi Yojimbo - 16 volumes so far - by Stan Sakai
A samurai tale set in feudal japan, in which all characters are anthropomorphic animals.
Special Reccomendation: Grasscutter, Space Usagi
Dragonball/DBZ - 22 volumes translated so far - by Akira Toriyama
BoomboomkickpunchYEAH!
Adolf - 6 volumes translated - by Osamu Tezuka
Historical fiction (more emphasis on the fiction than the historical) set in WWII.
Ranma 1/2 - 22 volumes translated so far - by Rumiko Takahashi
Gender bending comedy. Wonderfully, unapolagetically stupid.
Blackjack - 2 volumes - by Osamu Tezuka
The world's most talented surgeon. OUTLAW SURGEON, THAT IS!
Phoenix: A Tale of the Future
Phoenix: Dawn
by Osamu Tezuka
Tezuka's grand life work, covering the entire fictional history of the universe.
The Complete Hutch Owen - by Tom Hart
The collected ravings of an anti-establishment homeless character.
X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
Silly superhero melodrama at its finest.
Essential Fantastic Four volume 3 - by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
The best superhero comics have ever gotten. (At least in my opinion.)
Ethel & Ernest - by Raymond Briggs
Briggs' biography of his parents. Charming, but fairly dark as well.
Champs
Don't Call Me Stupid
White Flower Day
by Steven Weismann
The various adventures of the... I guess the best way to describe it would be "the little rascals from Hell..."
From Hell - by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell
Jack the Ripper as midwife of the 20th century. Possibly the best comic ever released in America, if not the world. Pay no attention to the awful Johnny Depp/Heather Graham movie based on it.
Watchmen - by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Superhero deconstruction meets 80s right-wing facism.
Maus - by Art Spiegleman
Spiegleman's autobiography/biography of his father, revolving mainly around his father's experiences as a holocaust survivor.
Akira - 6 volumes - by Katsuhiro Otomo
Normal manga apocalypse culture, but without the usual My Little Pony aesthetic.
Domu: A Child's Dream - by Katsuhiro Otomo
Much like Akira, but shorter and cheaper.
Signal to Noise - by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
A dying screenwriter works on his last film.
Violent Cases - by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
A child witnesses extreme violence, but doesn't really understand what he's seeing.
Sandman - 10 volumes - by Neil Gaiman and various
Special Reccomendations: Season of Mists, Kindly Ones
The life and death of Morpheus, the personification of the act of dreaming.
Scary Godmother: Ghoul's Out For Summer - by Jill Thompson
Fairy tales for grown-ups? Best description I can muster at least...
Epileptic - 1 volume translated, one to come - by David B.
The author recounts his brother's struggle with epilepsy.
Cowboy Wally Show
Why I Hate Saturn
by Kyle Baker
Dialogue-driven comedy. Hysterically funny.
Peanuts - pick up any of a number of collections - by Charles Schulz
Damn straight.
David Boring
Ghost World
by Dan Clowes
Horribly depressing, but wonderful.
Three Piece Suit
How to Be an Artist
After the Snooter
by Eddie Campbell
Autobiographical comics, told via the thinly-veiled protagonist "Alec MacGarry".
Jar of Fools - by Jason Lutes
An escape artist who wants to commit suicide.
Berlin - by Jason Lutes
Historical fiction of Berlin between world wars.
Paul Auster's City of Glass - by David Mazzuchelli
An adaption of the novel.
Safe Area Gorazde - by Joe Sacco
Journalism comic about Bosnia shortly after the fact.
Heavy Liquid - by Paul Pope
Drugged up bounty-hunter pounding through streets under foglit neon lights.
Hicksville - by Dylan Horrocks
Part history of comics, part mystic nature of art.
Cages - by Dave McKean
A story in which all artist, from a corner saxaphone player up through God, are portrayed as equal participants in the ongoing creation of the universe.
Jimmy Corrigan - by Chris Ware
Beyond depressing. If you have a history of depression, do not allow yourself contact with sharp objects while reading this comic.
More to come as they occur to me. If anyone else has reccomendations, throw 'em down!

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 1:39 PM Dan Carroll has not replied
 Message 3 by zephyr, posted 07-23-2003 1:48 PM Dan Carroll has replied
 Message 8 by PaulK, posted 07-23-2003 2:36 PM Dan Carroll has replied
 Message 10 by MrHambre, posted 07-23-2003 2:48 PM Dan Carroll has replied
 Message 15 by nator, posted 07-23-2003 7:48 PM Dan Carroll has replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 2 of 24 (47089)
07-23-2003 1:39 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 1:28 PM


And two more occur to me:
Abe: Wrong for All the Right Reasons - by Glenn Dakin
A collection of short meanderings
Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President - by Kaiji Kawaguchi
5 big volumes or 22 small volumes, depending on which edition you buy.
The story of a third-generation Japanese-American running for president. Political intrigue alongside a concurrent murder mystery.
I'll shut up for a while now.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 1:28 PM Dan Carroll has not replied

  
zephyr
Member (Idle past 4550 days)
Posts: 821
From: FOB Taji, Iraq
Joined: 04-22-2003


Message 3 of 24 (47090)
07-23-2003 1:48 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 1:28 PM


Transmetropolitan: a certifiably insane journalist seeks the Truth in a corrupt future society, aided by filthy assistants and oodles of drugs.
Preacher: have only started this one, about an ex-pastor who decides to find God and tell him a few things. First issue looked pretty cool.
Y - The Last Man: every guy in the world dies except for one. What would you do?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 1:28 PM Dan Carroll has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 4 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:01 PM zephyr has replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 4 of 24 (47094)
07-23-2003 2:01 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by zephyr
07-23-2003 1:48 PM


Preacher... eh, Preacher's okay. I would stop after the fourth volume. After that it goes through a long, repetitve, overly melodramatic stretch, then starts building the plot again way too fast, and builds and builds toward a really unsatisfying ending. I'm also not crazy about Ennis' implications that engaging in anything kinkier than a heterosexual blowjob will result in utter perversion and at times outright evil. And personally, I don't like the art.
However, if you like the first couple volumes, I would highly reccomend both the Preacher one shot "Cassidy: Blood and Whiskey" and the Hellblazer volume "Dangerous Habits". They're probably the two best things Ennis ever wrote.
I keep meaning to try "Y: The Last Man" but haven't gotten around to it. I hear it's really fun, though.
Transmet is really, REALLY fun, even if it is kind of "Hunter S. Thompson 2099."
[This message has been edited by Dan Carroll, 07-23-2003]

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by zephyr, posted 07-23-2003 1:48 PM zephyr has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 5 by zephyr, posted 07-23-2003 2:05 PM Dan Carroll has replied

  
zephyr
Member (Idle past 4550 days)
Posts: 821
From: FOB Taji, Iraq
Joined: 04-22-2003


Message 5 of 24 (47096)
07-23-2003 2:05 PM
Reply to: Message 4 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 2:01 PM


quote:
Transmet is really, REALLY fun, even if it is kind of "Hunter S. Thompson 2099."
That's a problem why?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 4 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:01 PM Dan Carroll has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 6 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:08 PM zephyr has not replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 6 of 24 (47097)
07-23-2003 2:08 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by zephyr
07-23-2003 2:05 PM


Fair point.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by zephyr, posted 07-23-2003 2:05 PM zephyr has not replied

  
crashfrog
Member (Idle past 1467 days)
Posts: 19762
From: Silver Spring, MD
Joined: 03-20-2003


Message 7 of 24 (47102)
07-23-2003 2:25 PM


I'm glad to see that some of the comics I've read are on this list. For instance I loved Bone - as much of it as I've been able to read - to the point where a few of my college friends and I got drunk and wrote a song called "Three guys named Bone".
It's not very good, so I won't inflict anyone with transcripts.
Glad to hear that "From Hell" is better than the movie. When I saw the movie (on someone else's dime, thank Stan) I was all like "This is the oldest Jack the Ripper theory in the book, and this is supposed to be based on some groundbreaking comic?"
Jimmy Corrigan makes me cry. I haven't been able to finish it (because I haven't been able to buy it) but when I flip through it in Barnes and Nobel I want to die.

Replies to this message:
 Message 9 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:44 PM crashfrog has not replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.2


Message 8 of 24 (47104)
07-23-2003 2:36 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 1:28 PM


You might like the Bone "prequel", Rose. Less of the cutesy stuff and Charles Vess art.
And talking of Charles Vess, Stardust by Neil Gaiman is excellent.
On a quieter note Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge is worth a look. I'm not sure how to describe it. An English Twin Peaks perhaps ? The mix of strangeness and soap is about right - but it is less violent and without the sleazier elements.
Hellboy (and the BPRD spin-off title) by Mike Mignola - A demon summoned from Hell as a child (really!) battles assorted monsters and Nazis.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 1:28 PM Dan Carroll has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:48 PM PaulK has replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 9 of 24 (47106)
07-23-2003 2:44 PM
Reply to: Message 7 by crashfrog
07-23-2003 2:25 PM


From Hell... can't say enough good things about it. It's the same killer as in the movie, but it's not done up as a whodunit. We know who Jack is by chapter two, and the next thirteen chapters are about his motivations, and why a person would possibly want to mutilate five women. The whole things wrapped up in mystic Freemason rituals, lectures on occult architecture, and general themes of gender persecution and all sorts of fun stuff. It's also meticulously annotated at the end, pointing out panel by panel what is historical fact, what's taken from conspiracy books, and what Moore made up himself.
Jimmy Corrigan... hoo boy. Pick up a copy if you want Sob-Fest 2003. The worst part is that every time you're about to cut your throat in a display of solidarity with Jimmy, the plot shifts back to Jimmy's great-grandfather when he was a boy, and shows us someone with waaaay worse problems with Jimmy. So you feel awful about yourself for feeling awful for Jimmy when this kid in the past really has it rough, and... oh, Jebus, I'm getting sad thinking about it.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 7 by crashfrog, posted 07-23-2003 2:25 PM crashfrog has not replied

  
MrHambre
Member (Idle past 1393 days)
Posts: 1495
From: Framingham, MA, USA
Joined: 06-23-2003


Message 10 of 24 (47107)
07-23-2003 2:48 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 1:28 PM


quote:
David Boring
Ghost World
by Dan Clowes
Horribly depressing, but wonderful.
I'm a big 'Eightball' fan, especially the surreal serial 'Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron.'
quote:
Cowboy Wally Show
Why I Hate Saturn
by Kyle Baker
Dialogue-driven comedy. Hysterically funny.
Baker's comics in New York mag were hysterical, and 'Saturn' was great. My favorite line: "You could have heard a pin drop, except that we were both screaming 'FUCK!' at the top of our lungs."
No props for Chick Publications' ongoing series of cartoon pamphlets for born-again folks? Clowes himself parodied the format with his 'Devil Doll.' I figured their anti-evolution diatribe 'Big Daddy' would have made someone's list.
------------------
Quien busca, halla

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 1:28 PM Dan Carroll has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:52 PM MrHambre has not replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 11 of 24 (47108)
07-23-2003 2:48 PM
Reply to: Message 8 by PaulK
07-23-2003 2:36 PM


quote:
You might like the Bone "prequel", Rose. Less of the cutesy stuff and Charles Vess art.
Been meaning to read Rose for ages, but haven't for one reason or another. One of those books I always forget when I'm in the store, you know? Same deal with Stardust.
Although I don't mean to slam Smith with the disneyish description. He's a great artist, it's just shows through that he used to work in animation.
quote:
On a quieter note Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge is worth a look. I'm not sure how to describe it. An English Twin Peaks perhaps ? The mix of strangeness and soap is about right - but it is less violent and without the sleazier elements.
Hunh. Haven't even heard of this. Have to check it out, thanks!
And yes, Hellboy is always fun. Did you read "Amazing Screw-on Head?"

This message is a reply to:
 Message 8 by PaulK, posted 07-23-2003 2:36 PM PaulK has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 14 by PaulK, posted 07-23-2003 7:22 PM Dan Carroll has replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 12 of 24 (47111)
07-23-2003 2:52 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by MrHambre
07-23-2003 2:48 PM


Baker's genius. I've never laughed so hard as at Cowboy Wally, except maybe at Saturn.
quote:
No props for Chick Publications' ongoing series of cartoon pamphlets for born-again folks?
Hey, I love Chick, in an "Ed Wood of Comics" kind of way.
[This message has been edited by Dan Carroll, 07-23-2003]

This message is a reply to:
 Message 10 by MrHambre, posted 07-23-2003 2:48 PM MrHambre has not replied

  
Dan Carroll
Inactive Member


Message 13 of 24 (47125)
07-23-2003 4:26 PM


One for the Creationists... (because there are several on the forum, and a lot of these comics work from the assumption that Christianity is bunk. Might as well provide something for everybody!)
Creature Tech - by Doug TenNapel
A very fun comic that works from the assumption of intelligent design as a necessity to the plot. Don't believe it myself, but don't have any problem with it being used in fiction.

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.2


Message 14 of 24 (47133)
07-23-2003 7:22 PM
Reply to: Message 11 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 2:48 PM


I'd rate _Stardust_ as one of the best things that Neil Gaiman has done. Don't forget it again :-)
Strangehaven is a self-published job with an irregular schedule so it's not surprising that it's relatively obscure. Definitely worth a look, though. Two collections so far.
(This reference may mean nothing to anyone outside the UK but the closest thing I know of was a TV series _Children of the Stones_ )
I Don't recognise the "Amazing Screw-on Head" title. I have all the Hellboy collections, as well as the BPRD collection, all three "Hellboy: Weird Tales" comics, and Soul of Venice.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 11 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 2:48 PM Dan Carroll has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 16 by mark24, posted 07-23-2003 7:53 PM PaulK has replied
 Message 17 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 10:04 PM PaulK has not replied

  
nator
Member (Idle past 2169 days)
Posts: 12961
From: Ann Arbor
Joined: 12-09-2001


Message 15 of 24 (47136)
07-23-2003 7:48 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Dan Carroll
07-23-2003 1:28 PM


Our copy of Maus is autographed!
We went to hear a talk/exhibit by Speigelman about 6 years ago, and he drew a great picture of "himself".
Did you go see the touring exhibit of his work? I saw it in Philly.
I also loved the Watchmen.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 1:28 PM Dan Carroll has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 18 by Dan Carroll, posted 07-23-2003 10:07 PM nator has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024