Recommend Me A Comic Book- Updated w/ Pics of the Haul

I haven't read any comics regularly since I was a kid, but I've been jonesing to get back into one for years. Help me out, GWJ comic book hipsters.

I read a couple of issues of Hellboy several years back, and liked that quite a bit. My friends and I also watched the Spawn HBO show and were mightily impressed by it. As a youngster, I read Amazing Spider-man, Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor and Groo the Wanderer.

I'd like something intelligent; I don't mind a lot of reading with my art. I fear not sci-fi or any other genre. Whatever suggestions (with explanatory remarks) are welcome. I'd prefer something that has back issues in trade paperback form so I can get caught up.

Thanks in advance, guys and girls.

Not long ago I finished reading the entirety of Bone. The above-linked item is the massive 1300+ page omnibus edition, and at that price ($27.00 US), it''s a steal.

Bone is a comedic fantasy epic revolving around three cousins who get lost in a strange valley. These comics do away with the omniscient narrator text which is present in so many comics. Nor are there any ""thought balloons""... none at all. As a result, you''ll find yourself focusing more on the artwork to divine such things as setting, character thoughts and emotions, etc. Jeff Smith''s bold, black-and-white artwork is more than up to the task of presenting the necessary subtext. The result is that Bone feels less like an abridged novel and more like how a good comic should feel. I recommend it.

I''ve reading Artesia , a fantasy warfare setting, The Walking Dead, really scary zombies, and The Red Star, sci-fi universe based on the Soviets.

You can pick up trade paperbacks of any of these if they peak your fancy. (Just be warned the latest trade of Artesia has some very strong sexual content).

The Sandman series I thought was interesting, and is completely out in trade paperback.

"richyrambo" wrote:

You can pick up trade paperbacks of any of these if they peak your fancy. (Just be warned the latest trade of Artesia has some very strong sexual content).

Aw shucks, Richy. My mom probably won''t let me get that one, then.

Cerebus the Aardvark finished its run a while back, the longest running independent series ever. It started as a spoof of Conan the Barbarian back in the 80''s and worked itself into its own story complete with social and political conotations (sp?).

As a plus you can possibly find the trades collected in your library, at least I can in mine and I don''t exactly live in a metropolitian area.

<cracks knuckles>

Astonishing X-Men - Written by, believe it or not, Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame) it TOTALLY revitalized a tired franchise. Only on issue 7, so you can catch up.

Secret War (Marvel) - A limited release, I think, but VERY cool, from an art standpoint. A cadre of Marvel characters (Wolverine, Captain America, Spiderman... umm... Luke Cage, Daredevil) drawn by this Italian guy who PAINTS (like, really... paints) his books. There''ve only been two issues, because it takes him a pretty long time to crank them out, but some of the most beautiful, original art I''ve seen in awhile.

Brian Michael Bendis is doing some good stuff with Spiderman and Daredevil. Actually, anything by Brian Michael Bendis, in my opinion, is good times... well written, and you know that he''s not going to betray his own storyline, even across titles (he''s currently working on about 7 different titles).

If you like DC at all, their recent Identity Crisis line (7 issues) was great - it''ll make you look at Superman, Batman, the Flash, the Atom, etc, in a way that you maybe didn''t want to look at them. If you''re looking for things that are older, but good, Bendis'' Alias is very good, as is X-Statix by Milligan/Allred. Great Golden-Age style to the art, and the most absurdly current and social-commentary style ironic humor. Good stuff.

I''m sure I can think of more. I go to the comic book store almost every Thursday night (GEEEEEEK!) so if anything else jumps out at me, I''ll add them. But, this should get you started.

"Sanjuro" wrote:

Aw shucks, Richy. My mom probably won''t let me get that one, then. ;)

But that''s what makes it a guilty pleasure (ahem).

""No honey its not porn. Its a comic!""

Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Cerebus the Aardvark (Both of these mentioned above)

Sin City by Frank Miller (Soon to be a -hopefully- good movie)

Watchmen by Alan Moore

Miracleman (Which was started by Alan Moore, then Neil Gaiman took over and as far as I know the series was never finished)

Epicurus the Sage I & II

The first 10 issues of HellBlazer by Jamie Delano

If they are still available, the Lone Wolf and Cub series that First Comics published after getting rights to this Japenese comic.

Mage the Hero Discovered by Matt Wagner

Most of these are several years old though. Been a while since I was reading comics. I need to check back into them.

The only one I''ve bought in 20 years...Vol 1 of ""The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"". Vol 2 is just out in softcover, I believe...

Outstanding!

I used to be really into Jaime Hernandez''s ""Locas"" stories, which appear in the indie comic Love and Rockets and are now collected into a massive volume titled ""Locas"". If you don''t want to go for the big tome, the best story he''s done was previously published as a graphic novel titled ""The Death of Speedy.""

I like the superhero concept well enough, but I just can''t deal with the baroque style of those comics these days.

Powers, by Brian Michael Bendis is great. A lot of it is in trade paperback, the one linked here is the first 5 issues I think.

100 Bullets
Queen and Country
Astonishing X-Men
Watchmen
The Sandman
Planetary (Anything by Warren Ellis really, like Transmetropolitan or even his Ultimate Fantastic Four run which I think is still going)
Preacher (The only Garth Ennis stuff I like, but check out his Punisher: War Journal runs if you dig the Punisher.)
Bone
Lenore (I love the art)
30 Days of Night is in TPB, and I think Return To Barrow is as well now. Might be wrong.

You''ve read the great Batman storylines, right? Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, etc? I don''t read a whole lot of strictly Superhero stuff anymore, but I still respect it. I''d say go into a local comic book store, look around at some of the covers, and see what art catches your eye. That was how I got back into it a year or so ago.

Another addition if you like Batman: The Long Halloween

Transmetropolitan. Brilliant sci-fi/satire, starring gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem. (Think Hunter S. Thompson. Except even more so.) All out in in TPB too, which is nice. The first one, Back on the Street, collects only the first three issues and consequently can be bought with someone''s stolen lunch money. You won''t regret giving it a go at that price.

I''m currently collecting the volumes of Y: The Last Man.

It''s interesting, funny, and it pleases one of my main fantasies - being the last man on earth. : D

Flaming Carrot

Cerebus (again)

Knights of the Dinner Table (I honestly think it''s hilarious)

Hate

Eightball

Love and Rockets

Damn, I forgot all about Flaming Carrot. That was a great comic.

I second Hate too.

Preacher
Y: The Last Man

only two I''ve bothered with in recent memory

Another vote for Bone. It''s genius, it really is.

Sandman - advantage of having all of them out in trade paperback now. Neil Gaiman wrote the entire series, and the art commissions included some of the most amazing fine and comic artists alive. This series may be one of the only reasons Vertigo is still around.

From Hell: Amazing, dark, broody, difficult..macabre and gory in places. A really intriguing look at an odd Jack the Ripper conspiracy. Highly recommended.

The Watchmen - Alan Moore, see above, again.

Anything from Kitchen Sink Press.

edited for typo.

"Mex" wrote:

I''m currently collecting the volumes of Y: The Last Man.

It''s interesting, funny, and it pleases one of my main fantasies - being the last man on earth. : D

That''s been a longstanding fantasy of mine as well. As a teenager, that fantasy drove me to hoard apocalyptic fiction of all stripes. Things like The Stand by Stephen King, Lucifer''s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr., Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard (it''s not a bad book, I swear!), etc.

I''ve always secretly (or not so secretly) hoped that the world might someday be devastated by some great catastrophe, leaving me with naught but guns and wits to ensure my own continued existence. Sometimes in my reveries, I meet up with friends of mine who also managed to survive, and we have to navigate the decrepit planet as we search for high adventure. Usually, I stumble upon a suitable mate, which is cool! And on rare occasions, I find myself grouping with a community of lawful-good survivors, and we must endure great hardships in order to deliver enlightenment and rationality to the blighted planet.

So, there''s a big part of me that craves an element of the epic. This is why, when I lose myself in fiction, it''s usually in an epic of some sort. Whether it be the poems of old, the movies of today, or a suitable game (Fallout comes to mind as one example, but really any game in which the player is the hero will suffice), I am ineluctably drawn toward it. I haven''t done P&P RPGs for a while now, but when I did, it was because of the epic stories in which it allowed me to participate, or which it allowed me to craft as a DM. Escapism is a wonderful, marvelous thing; our proclivity for it is, I think, perhaps the finest attribute of our species.

Thanks you guys. GWJ rules.

So I''m going to the comic book store tonight with Transmetropolitan, The Bone, and The Red Star in mind. I shall look around and see what art catches my eye, in the manner that Demiurge hath suggested.

I''d recommend ""Kingdom Come"", it''s one of the DC Elseworlds series. Basically, it''s what would happen if all the DC superheroes were allowed to age naturally, what kind of world they''d end up in. It''s pretty good for the most part.

Also The Dark Night Returns. That''s all I have to say as I don''t read many comics.

"Sanjuro" wrote:

So I''m going to the comic book store tonight with Transmetropolitan, The Bone...

Bone. Just Bone. You don''t want the comic book guy to make fun of you, do you?

I''m going to have to insist that you consider Preacher. A little on the violent side, but tons of fun. I read through the entire trade paper collection over my first winter in New England, and it really hit the spot.

I really don''t ""do"" comics, but Preacher and Sandman are my guilty pleasures.

Sandman is really more like beautifully illustrated classical literature than sequential art. If I were a college professor (HAHA!) I''d teach a class on it. Perhaps I''m a bit of a Gaiman fanboy though.

I''ll have to put more emphasis on Planetary as well... it''s the best science fiction you''ll read. Only downside is that it''s not on any sort of regular release cycle.

I''m going to have to insist that you consider Preacher. A little on the violent side, but tons of fun.

.

If violence is what you are looking for, check out Frank Miller''s Hard Bolied three issue series. Two page, tabloid spreads of meticulously drawn violence, carnage and mayhem. Plus great names for future cars like the Clint Eastwood and the Jesus Chrysler.

Some quick additions that I didn''t see above are Miller''s The Dark Knight Returns and Alias which is put out by Marvel.

Also, the Fables series is excelent as well.

Alias which is put out by Marvel.

Indeed. Also by Brian Michael Bendis.

Only about 26 issues, but good stuff. Jessica Jones (the heroine) now appears in The Pulse, also by Marvel (straight up Marvel, not Marvel Max like Alias, so expect a LOT less sex and swearing) which is good, but a distant second place to Alias.

[quote=""WarlockActually, anything by Brian Michael Bendis, in my opinion, is good times... well written, and you know that he''s not going to betray his own storyline, even across titles (he''s currently working on about 7 different titles).[/quote]

Warlock! You gotta stop drinking the Bendis kool-aid.

NEW AVENGERS is one of the worst series I''ve ever read. Granted, I''m no huge BMB fan, but I was willing to give it a chance. After 3 issues, amm I can say is... Thhhhhhhhbbbpt.

NEW AVENGERS is one of the worst series I''ve ever read. Granted, I''m no huge BMB fan, but I was willing to give it a chance. After 3 issues, amm I can say is... Thhhhhhhhbbbpt.

Aww, man! I was SO excited after issue 3. You got Luke Cage, TOTALLY kicking the Purple Man''s ass (damn near to death) Spiderman gets his ARM broken, and Cap''s like ""Hey... let''s start the Avengers again!""

And then Tony Stark''s all like ""really? Seriously? Fiiiiine.""

I''ll just go back to my Bendis Kool-aid, I guess.

"Warlock" wrote:
NEW AVENGERS is one of the worst series I''ve ever read. Granted, I''m no huge BMB fan, but I was willing to give it a chance. After 3 issues, amm I can say is... Thhhhhhhhbbbpt.

Aww, man! I was SO excited after issue 3. You got Luke Cage, TOTALLY kicking the Purple Man''s ass (damn near to death) Spiderman gets his ARM broken, and Cap''s like ""Hey... let''s start the Avengers again!""

And then Tony Stark''s all like ""really? Seriously? Fiiiiine.""

I''ll just go back to my Bendis Kool-aid, I guess.

Thats what I''m talking about... Bendis is so obsessed with these odd characters that they show up everywhere. I guess if you''re a fan of his other works, you think its cool that ""Powerman"" is going to join the Avengers... I haven''t read ALIAS, don''t know/care about the history with Cage, Purple, etc. So for me, this team line-up is akin to the years when the JUSTICE LEAGE features such heavy hitters as Gypsy, Steel, and Vibe.

and really, for someone who made his name writing Ultimate Spidey, I''ve found his depitction of the regular PP to be very bland and boring... dialog is poor... and I''m sorry, the mask being ripped off and getting totally ""surprised"" by that squad of villains? (in jail with their costumes on, too :))?

I''ll say it again... THHHBBBBBBBBBBPT

p.s. Oh yeah... SENTRY? Lamest. Hero. Ever.