Comics

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I don't see any forum dedicated to the discussion of comics, so I thought why not start a thread. Who wants to talk about DC, Marvel, Image, Vertigo, Indies, and Manga?

Ive never seen the appeal of dc/marvel comics beyond that of being for 10 year olds. Dunno, western comics for me are just too stereotyped and unoriginal.

I do enjoy some like Groo the Wanderer because its literally just drawn to give you laughs.

Johny the homicidal maniac...same as above but with very dark humor.

Webcomics however... there are plenty of those which are very,very good.

Sluggy Freelance
Drow Tales: The Moonless Age
Sinfest
Outsider
Megatokyo
Errant Story
Geist Panik

In my teen years I liked The Darkness and Witchblade. I have all of their comics released in my country. Doh! No, almost all! I thought that the drawings were better than other superhero comics and the story was more intricate. Apart from that I only bought mini-series. I am a little excited about the Green Lantern movie. I wanted to buy Green Lantern No Fear comic about the reconstruction of the Green Lantern corps but the price is high 54 USD.

I had a discussion on Marvel vs DC with my roommate and her boyfriend the other day. It was fun. But I digress. I really enjoy comics when I can get my hands on them and I like graphic novels as well. I'm not as big a fan of manga because the ones I've come across are mostly linework and that makes them hard for me to read, but I love comics that are in color or with easier to read linework.

I used to be a huge fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books when I was a kid. Now, I'll read just about anything provided either the art of the storyline attracts me first. Over my last break I read the Good Neighbors Trilogy. That was really good. I also found some political cartoon books in my library. I enjoyed those a lot more than I thought I would. I don't tend to read superhero comics very often, but that's mostly because they're so popular that people check them out of the library all the time.

I also agree with Dantac. There are a lot of amazing webcomics online. FreakAngels, Strays, The Meek, Hanna is Not a Boys Name, The Dreamer and Goodbye Chains are among my favorite that are still updating.

I read English comics of the weekly variety as a kid then drifted away around puberty except for occasionally sticking my nose in someone else's 2000AD's until Love and Rockets caught my attention, Fleetway launched 'Crisis' and DC launched 'Hellblazer' and released 'V for Vendetta' then I kind of got back into them [new obsessiveness ] including some Manga.
DC's Vertigo imprint has certainly release some good stuff and Drawn and Quarterly and Fantagraphics are fairly consistent publishers of well executed and interesting stuff but there are loads of interesting comics in the world

peace j

Read The Killing Joke yesterday, was pretty sweet.

I kind of understand the popular opinion that superhero comics are about adolescent wish-fulfillment, and I'm certainly not disputing that they appeal to some people based on that, but people underestimate them. Comics (superhero or otherwise) are an absolute aspie niche of mine; I wrote my dissertation on them. I know people like to get pretentious about it -- and they have every right to be if that's the way they want to be -- but it's not as simple as a lot of people think.

Anyway, I look at superheroes as the modern incarnation of folk icons like Paul Bunyan, etc. They make for an excellent way of exploring broad issues in a safe environment. On top of which, the interconnected, serial medium of comics laid out the foundation for other media to pull from. Only in recent years has television at large really begun to utilize tactics that comics have been using for years. There are exceptions, obviously, but it's overall true. I'm not saying that all comics or even all superhero comics are great examples of amazing literature -- not even close -- but not every movie is Citizen Kane or even the King's Speech (I think that won best picture this year). Whatever your preferred medium of entertainment, there are always going to be bad examples out there. Should I hate all television because a large portion of it is made up of crappy reality shows? Further, should I hate all reality shows because so many of them are terrible (e.g. Jersey Shore, Survivor, etc.) even though there are good ones (my preferred: Top Chef, assorted documentaries, etc.)? I think all the hate they receive is pretty unfair.

On top of which, even the ones that are simpler and have fewer literary merits doesn't make them bad. Escapism isn't a bad thing. I think that, if you're on this forum especially, you've probably experienced some hard things in your life. Sometimes you just need to escape it, whether that be with the 22 pages of a comic book or the 22 minutes of a television program. Some people like to watch the aforementioned reality shows, some people like to read romance novels, some people like to hike or work on cars or cook or whatever. Me? One of my favorites is comic books.

Like I said, you're certainly welcome to your opinion. I genuinely don't mean to attack anyone. I just thought that a defense of them might be nice.

Here are some recommendations for comics that I hope might help with my argument:

SUPERHERO:

Batman: Killing Joke
Watchmen
Ex Machina (10 trade paperback collections)
All-Star Superman (2 TPBs)
52 (4 TPBs)
The Question (6 TPBs)
Alias (4 TPBs)
Sleeper (2 TPBs)
Immortal Iron Fist (3 TPBs)
Planetary (3 TPBs)
Superman: Red Son
Gotham Central (4 hardcovers or 5 TPBs)

NON-SUPERHERO

Y: The Last Man (10 TPBs)
100 Bullets (13 TPBs)
WE3
Criminal (5 TPBs)

. . . and a whole lot more that I don't really have time to list because I have to get back to work. I wanted to include links to the books on Amazon, too, but I don't have time. I'll try to post some later.

I hope I don't make anyone too mad. I really hope those of you that are skeptical of superhero comics will check some of them out. Best wishes!

I would like to recommend to everyone's attention the comic X-Factor, from Marvel Comics, written by Peter David, and featuring such things as a visit to Fantastic Four HQ by X-Factor Investigations, during which Ben Grimm makes a snide comment about how Rictor and Shatterstar (a gay couple) must love gladiator movies. It escalates to a fistfight, in which Shatterstar uses his superior knowledge of fighting techniques and leverage to throw Ben out the window, then poses in the hole and shouts down to Ben (embedded in the sidewalk below), "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"

There are also some sad moments, as when Jamie Madrox's son was born, only for Jamie to realize too late that this wasn't a baby - it was one of his duplicates, as he was reabsorbed into Jamie's body the moment Jamie touched him...

The Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman and a team of artists. By far my favorite series.

I grew up with Marvel, in particular the Fantastic Four, Spiderman, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, Super-Villain Team-Up among others. And even though I haven't read many comic books in recent years, beside Darkhorse's Conan, I still think of myself as a Marvel guy.
My wife, on the other hand, is a DC girl. I forgive her.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer