Good Comics/Graphic Novels

Reality's Fringe

Reality's Fringe

CAGiversary!
Feedback
8 (100%)
Can anyone reccomend me any good ones? A comic book/GraphicNovel/Manga shop opened up about 15 minutes away from me and I would like to get "into" it as it were. I've read HellBoy and Just A Pilgrim and thought they were quite good. I also heard that Bone and Zap Comic stuff is pretty good. I'm really looking for stuff that isn't ENTIRELY Marvel or DC.
 
US Comics:

The Goon is pretty clever

Paul the Samurai or The Tick (older and didn't get high circulation)

100 Bullets (has some great artwork and a solid story)


Manga:

Berserk is excellent, and they have four volumes translated at present.

Blade of the Immortal is pretty sweet too
 
Mage is an all-time great series. It's sequel series isn't quite as good.

Grendel, also by Matt Wagner, has its high and lows since he like to use it for experiments and each major section is handled very differently.

Miracle Man aka Marvel Man by Alan Moore is a great examination of the idea of superhumans and how they change the world. It may seem overly familiar until you check the dates and realize how immensely influential it's been on almost all other writers in comics. It also get a bit annoying in the last couple of issues as Moore indulges some of his Communist fantasies. He can get away with it in this instance due to the presence of technology indistinguishable from magic changing all the rules. It's very important to keep in mind the this ws before the collapse of the USSR and Moore was one of those people convinced Reagan and Thatcher were going to start WW III just for shits and giggles. Still a great series in spite of those weaknesses.

V for Vendetta, also by Alan Moore. Again, this suffers from Cold War paranoia of the hippie sort but still an amazing piece of work.

More recently, Moore has done some fun stuff like:
Top Ten, about the police department in a city where everybody is some sort of superhuman.

Promethea, a goddess/superheroine whose power is derived by the belief of others in her mythology.

Tom Strong, a take on the Doc Savage style of pre-Superman adventure hero.

Planetary by Warren Ellis is a great analysis of how the world in comics seems to simultaneously be full of wonders and completely ordinary. Where giant monsters roam and aliens invade but the average American has never heard about it. The title group investigates these weirdnesses and why they've managed to remain obscure to all but a few. Your pop culture trivia knowledge will be well tested by this one.
 
sounds good. I'll have to check em out the next time I'm out that way. All I really have to do is get past that really odd odor prevalent throughout the store......
 
the Captain america TBP I think called Red white and balck is a great read. It's about the first african americans exposed to super soldier serium, and how the goverment exploited them. The art is different the most comics but you get used to it and learn to appriciate it.
 
My reccomendations:

DC
Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns
Year One
Long Halloween
Haunted Knight
and many more, but those will be a good start!

Superman of Many Seasons

OTHER

The Watchmen -- YOU MUST read this, it's imo the best graphic novel ever written
V for Vendetta
and many more...
 
Watchmen definatly...

Also ...
30 Days of Night (very, very, very, awesome)
any 'Sin City' (R. Rodrguez, Q. Tarantino, and Miller are all making a few short stories into one film based on several of the GN's)
Dark Knight Returns
Y: The Last Man
 
Reality's Fringe said:
sounds good. I'll have to check em out the next time I'm out that way. All I really have to do is get past that really odd odor prevalent throughout the store......
Click to expand...

I like not being that store :)

Superman-Red Son
Y: The last Man
DEMO
Supreme Power
Soulfire
 
Small Gods and Forsaken are 2 really good series.

Some good GNs to check out are Freak and The Black Forest.

100 Bullets is also really good.
 
Not superhero/comic related, but I recomend
Maus (about a son of a holocaust surivior) and Maus 2
City of Glass

and the other that i have is Kid Koala's book (hes a DJ) and thats a quick read cause its a graphic novel with no words, but an accompanying (short) cd, but I cant remember the name of it right now...
 
Some of these have been mentioned already:

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
The Invisibles by Grant Morrison
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
 
[quote name='moe11888']I know that you dont want marvel, but I still suggest you try the Ultimate Marvel Series.[/quote]
Yea I love Ultimate X-Men. I suggest the "Here Comes Tomorrow" arc/GN. Really cool things going on there. I would also suggest DC's Identity Crisis. Its a really powerful story thats non-readers have been taken in by. They're only 2 issues in, not sure if the thirds out yet but read the first issue and I'll bet you'll get sucked into the DC universe. A couple of my other favorites right now are Superman and Nightwing. Haha sorry that all my suggestions are DC or Marvel. I'd say just pick up a couple issues of things that look interesting and if you like the story continue buying the next issues.
 
Yes, Watchmen is the very first one! Get that immediately.

I've been getting a few over the summer, and Watchmen is the greatest. I finished it recently, but am still looking it over, and re-reading sections.
 
First 3 issues of Identity Crisis #3 is out, and has one of the best choreographed fight sequences in the beginning
 
Watchmen is another Moore work that must be taken in the context of when it was published. Loathe as he is to admit it, Moore was a bit off about some of his beliefs and would have to approach the material very differently today. Without that context some of the settings and urgency doesn't have the same resonance or even make much sense. This comes from a time when most still regard the USSR as something that would always be around and held at bay. (Or form a kind of partnership for colonizing other worlds as in the CoDominium setting.)

The Dark Knight Returns also had the same era driving Frank Miller's mentality in ways that seem pretty outlandish today. It's not much different than somebody who isn't old enough to recall the Cold War reading early Tom Clancy novels.
 
The Akira Phonebook size Manga is excellent. Other GN i'll recommend are:
Trigun
Batman vs. Predator
Punisher kills The Marvel Universe
Kingdom Come
Marvels
Dirty pair
Revenge of The Living monolith
 
BERSERK! I just got done with some of Volume 27, I need more! I also suggest Lone Wolf and Blade of the immortal, good stuff. Also maybe Hokuto No Ken(Fist of the north star).
 
Not a lot of manga offerings so i'll shoot:

Naruto: one of THE best ninja manga/anime out
Battle Angel Alita: last order
Rebirth: vampire
Ragnarok: based on the computer MMORPG
Get Backers: awesome fighting anime
King of Hell: not as good as ragnarok but it's a pretty good fighting manga (author's korean no less - same as ragnarok)
Full Metal Panic: Military and giant mechs in high school!
Full Metal Alchemist: Sorcery through alchemy (not related to Full Metal Panic)
Azumanga Daioh: funny as hell school life manga
Trigun: gunfightin' anime
Gunslinger Girls: same as above except w/ little girls
Cowboy Bebop: C'mon! You've got 2 have heard of this one!

If you want the lovey-dovey stuff:

Love Hina
Ai Yori Aoshi
Negima
Fruits Basket
A.I.

Strangely enough, these 5 have some stuff that guys would be interested in

Most of the titles I've mentioned have a corresponding anime as well. My own top two choices: Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist
 
[quote name='pimp_daddy_smurf']ive never heard of arika

or are you saying AKIRA? i loved that movie to the death, still watch it once a week[/quote]

Then you should check out the phonebooks (massive comic collections) which cover the 99% the movie had to leave out. The story is vastly deeper and even make some sort of sense compared to the movie's WTF ending.

Speaking of phonebooks, there is nothing quite like Cerebus. I gave up when it appeared to be getting hopelessly mired in pretentiousness but it supposedly got back on course and ended as scheduled at issue #300.
 
These are all from my paperback trade collection that just happens to be in the same room with me right now. I'll try to name the first volume of each, so you know where to start...

Bone is definetly awesome. It has a sort of Disney feel, without treating it's audience like children.
First book: Out From Boneville

If you like campy spy action, I really enjoyed Danger Girl, all nicely gathered in a sweet collection with an intro by Mr. Bruce Campbell.
First (and only) book: Danger Girl: The Ultimate Collection

Transmetropolitan is a great series by Warren Ellis. It tells the story of Spider Jerusalem, a Hunter S. Tompson-esque reporter in the far future. It's a lot of fun.
First book: Back on the Street

Y the Last Man is also an excellent title. The premise is that a virus spread across the earth killing off all males, except for one. Very entertaining.
First book: Unmanned

Preacher is the story of a, well, preacher from Texas who gains "the word of God", meaning that he can command anyone to do anything. He joins up with his gun toting girlfriend and an Irish vamprie, and sets out to find God and make him answer for how bad the world has become. Also, it's by Garth Ennis, who wrote Just a Pilgrim
First book: Gone to Texas

Powers is also a great title. Basically, it's a cop drama, but they investigate super hero related crimes. It's a very cool read.
First book: Who Killed Retro Girl?

Fables is a great title, too. The idea behind it is that the characters in the fables and folklore we read are real, and they've been driven from their homelands to our world, where they live among us in secret. It's a really cool title, especially if you have a knowledge of those sorts of stories, because you'll recognize a lot more of the characters that show up.
First book: Legends in Exile

I hope this list helps. If you have any questions on any of these titles, let me know. I'd be glad to help. And whatever you decide to get, I hope you enjoy it.

Edit: My girlfriend looked at the list, and pointed out that I'd forgotten Fables, so I added that. I'll try and post with some manga reccomendations tomorrow...
 
.......COmic....and....Graphic....Novel....OVERLOAD. I can feel my wallet screaming in fear. I'll try Watchmen, Preacher, and Bone the next time I head down there, and hopefully I'll get to many of the other ones you suggested. It's all just so......Expensive.
 
Not nearly the same as these others, but a GREAT read (graphic novel):

MAUS I
MAUS II

by Art Spiegelman

These are a factual tale told by a concentration camp survivor to his son (the son wrote the books). I have the black and white version, which I recommend, but apparently there's also a color version now.
 
Well here's my opinion for one's you should get. some have been previously mentioned, but you can never same them enough.

The Watchmen-ONE OF THE BEST COMICS EVER CREATED.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns-read above
batman: Long Halloween-Quite an enjoyable read.
Batman: Haunted Knight-pretty good.
Sin City-iinteresting.


I know you aren't into DC or Marvel stuff, but try some of the Green Lantern stuff. IMO the greatest superhero (Maybe not the best comic but the best superhero in my opinion again) Again that said try reading the Green Lantern: Zero Hour (if you can find it).
Other good Dc IMO are the Crisis on Multiple Earths or the sequel (which I liked better) Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Kingdom Come




Manga

Rurouni Kenshin (sp)
Inuyasha
Psychic Academy
Cowboy Bebop
Full metal Panic
Full Metal Alchemist

Edit: I thought of a few more awesome comics/GN. they are Star Wars: Dark Empire 1 and 2, and the the climactic ending, Emporer's end (I believe this is what it was called, I don't remember) . Also ofStar Wars that should be looked into is Crimson empire 1/2, Leviathan, and any of the comic book writers, Kevin J Anderson, timothy Zahn (i.e. the Emperor's Hand Mara Jade), Michael A Stackpole, and tom Veitch. awesome, awesome stuff if your into Star Wars.
 
Reality's Fringe].......COmic....and....Graphic....Novel....OVERLOAD. I can feel my wallet screaming in fear. I'll try Watchmen said:
Yeah, it does get pretty expensive, unfortunately. My wallet quakes in fear every Wednesday when new comics come out. :)

Btw, I know you're kinda overloaded with titles, but I did want to mention two great manga titles, in case you have the extra cash...

First off, The Kindaichi Case Files is great if you enjoy murder mysteries. It's about the grandson of a famous detective solving all kinds of murder cases. Each volume is a self enclosed case, so they're great to pick up one at a time. The series starts with "The Opera House Murders".

The other series I want to recommend is Sgt. Frog. It's one of the most whacked out comedies ever. It's about a race of frog like aliens that are trying to invade Earth. They have to abort, but they leave their advance scouts behind. The leader, Sgt. Keroro is captured by a family, and starts living with them. It's really weird and really funny.

I hope you enjoy the titles you said you were going to look for. All three are excellent reads. Welcome to another money devouring habit... :twisted:
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top