Cultured fellows, what graphic novel should I read next

[Phoenix Dark]

I'm leaning towards Sandman and The Dark Knight Returns. Basically I'm looking for something more in line with Watchmen in terms of more serious (cynical) graphic novels. I'm going to check out stuff like Morrison's run on X-Men and Extraordinary Gentlemen as well, a bit later though

TVC recommended From Hell. Any thoughts on it?

[Reb]

I've only read The Dark Knight Returns, and I really liked it. I especially liked how it handles Superman.

I also like the cliché superheroes though, so maybe I'm not the right person to ask.

[TVC15]

I think you should do like 2 volumes of Sandman and then do From Hell, and then more Sandman, and then something else.  Just to, you know, break things up a bit.

[Phoenix Dark]

Yea I heard Miller kicks Superman in the balls, which sounds cool. I hate Superman

This is the first Sandman volume correct?
http://www.amazon.com/Sandman-Vol-Preludes-Nocturnes/dp/1563890119

I'll get this during the weekend to celebrate the end of mid terms, and I'll pick up From Hell and TDKR

[fistfulofmetal]

I'm going to be completely predictable and suggest starting the Hellboy series.

[Human Snorenado]

GET WE3 YOU DIRTY WHORE

[TVC15]

Seaguy > We3.

[Vizzys]

i was recommended sandman and fables here, both of which are good

go with sandman though, its great, dont buy just one you will want the next one by the time you finish

[Eric P]

any interest in breaking out of the standard capes and fantasy stuff?

[MrAngryFace]

Fables rox

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Millar sucks, though Red Son is okay.

Sandman would be an excellent next step. Fables is okay but Sandman is far-and-away better.

You really can't go wrong with Morrison, but I'd recommend his New X-Men arc if you want an "easy" in. Animal Man is also FUCK AWESOME but I think it helps to have a bit more familiarity with the medium before you jump into that one.

[Phoenix Dark]

any interest in breaking out of the standard capes and fantasy stuff?

Definitely. All suggestions welcomed

Patel: you don't like Miller in general?

[TakingBackSunday]

From Hell, V for Vendetta, and for the love of all that is demi, Batman Long Halloween.

[Reb]

Millar sucks, though Red Son is okay.

You liked Red Son better then TDKR?

[GilloD]

FABLES

[Howard Alan Treesong]

It's Millar, and no, he's a shock artist with very little actual talent. The first time you go "wow, how edgy!" but the twentieth time you're just bored and wish you were reading something with actual characterization and plot.

If you want something outside of capes/fantasy but that's still super enjoyable, my shortlist recommendation would be Queen and Country. Incredibly bad-ass book about a female spy that makes Bourne Identity look like escapist fun. The third super-cheap, super high-quality omnibus edition just came out last week - they are a ridiculous value.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Millar sucks, though Red Son is okay.

You liked Red Son better then TDKR?

Oh, sorry, I got Mark Millar and Frank Miller confused.

Frank Miller is okay, though he descends into self-parody too often for my liking (see: The Dark Knight 2, All-Star Batman and Robin).

Mark Millar is a fucking hack.

[bud]

one of the few i've ever read: a history of violence

i thought it was better than the film

[duckman2000]

GET WE3 YOU DIRTY WHORE

THIS

[TakingBackSunday]

Is that Queen and Country stuff Time Sale artwork?

[Eric P]

a few things real quick

Persepolis - a young girl growing up in revolutionary iran and her attempt to integrate in europe.  

Fun Home - Alison Bechel coming to terms with her father's death and homosexuality and her own.  Absolutely Amazing.

Cerebus: High Society - the most self contained portion of the 300 issue multi decade spanning independent comics milestone.  it's big it's funny it's political it's packed with pop culture references and it's not yet filled with bizarre misogynistic diatribes which poison the series for many

Black Hole (Charles Burns) the story of teens who contract a sexually transmitted disease which horribly disfigures them.  to be turned into a film by David Fincher

from hell - WARNING.  DENSE DENSE DENSE DENSE.  I love it.  many people don't.  be prepared for dozens of pages of seemingly unrelated text broken into panels under the flimsiest of pretexts for graphic narrative fiction.

let me see if i can come up with some others.

[Eric P]

Millar sucks, though Red Son is okay.

You liked Red Son better then TDKR?

Oh, sorry, I got Mark Millar and Frank Miller confused.

Frank Miller is okay, though he descends into self-parody too often for my liking (see: The Dark Knight 2, All-Star Batman and Robin).

Mark Millar is a fucking hack.

millar = ass

miller = ass but used to be awesome.

[Eric P]

Is that Queen and Country stuff Time Sale artwork?

covers only

[Don Flamenco]

The Crow

Desolation Jones

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I didn't like Fun Home, I feel like this makes me a bad person. :/

It's odd because I love Blankets so much that I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.

I guess one speaks to my experience and feelings and the other just did not.

I almost recommended Black Hole but I'm not sure what it would do to PD's mind. I'm trying to recommend stuff to ease him into the medium.

[Phoenix Dark]

I read Persepolis in HS, and I liked the movie as well

Queen and Country sounds badass. I'm gonna have to look up Black Hole, sounds interesting

[Eric P]

blankets?

i didn't know you were a girl

[Howard Alan Treesong]

shut up shut up SHUT UP

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I love The Cure

[close]

[Reb]

Millar sucks, though Red Son is okay.

You liked Red Son better then TDKR?

Oh, sorry, I got Mark Millar and Frank Miller confused.

Frank Miller is okay, though he descends into self-parody too often for my liking (see: The Dark Knight 2, All-Star Batman and Robin).

Mark Millar is a fucking hack.

That makes more sense.

[Don Flamenco]

Black Hole was very entertaining

[TVC15]

shut up shut up SHUT UP

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I love The Cure

[close]

Liking The Cure doesn't mean you are a girl.  It just means you are probably gay.

[Eric P]

I read Persepolis in HS, and I liked the movie as well

Queen and Country sounds badass. I'm gonna have to look up Black Hole, sounds interesting

Q&C is bad ass.  make certain you read the novels that Rucka wrote about the characters as well.

i am going to avoid all rucka talk so that wilco can come make his pitch.

i'd like to suggest Kane by Paul Grist as well.  it's a series, not GN per se.  It's about a cop who shot his corrupt partner and his return to work.  told in an excellent fashion with great art and story techniques which can ONLY be done through Comics.

My friend Johanna Draper-Carlson does Comics Worth Reading which is a blog you may want to look into.

[Phoenix Dark]

And also, I'm not new to comics - I collected them for about 5-6 years. But  yea, I am new to the graphic novel medium

[Eric P]

shut up shut up SHUT UP

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I love The Cure

[close]

Liking The Cure doesn't mean you are a girl.  It just means you are probably gay.

but that contradicts the disliking of Fun Home based on personal experience



Check out Stagger Lee, anything by Kyle Baker, the Bluesman, Miss: Better Living through Crime

[Don Flamenco]

Miss: Better Living through Crime

ah! this was so good too, read it years ago. 

This thread kicks ass, I gotta pick all this shit up.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

That makes more sense.

I describe Miller as "okay" because it's a mixture of early, awesome Miller and modern, ridiculous Miller.

I mean:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Eric P]

i just found a copy of a 2nd edition (full color) here in nyc.  i was floored.

hey, pd.  maybe American Flagg! would be of interest as well

[Eric P]

That makes more sense.

I describe Millar as "okay" because it's a mixture of early, awesome Millar and modern, ridiculous Millar.

I mean:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

or the frequent calling 16 year old batgirl a cunt in the printed page

[Reb]

That makes more sense.

I describe Millar as "okay" because it's a mixture of early, awesome Millar and modern, ridiculous Millar.

I mean:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Stop mixing them up! Aack!

I agree though, Miller started off awesome, I just ignore his recent work.

[Phoenix Dark]

I just read that he's working on some type of Batman vs Bin Laden comic wtf. Plus I didn't know he was a neocon 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

if you want more Moore-on-superheroes I would recommend

Miracleman - Sadly uncollected due to nightmare legal fuckmines but easily torrentable. More "hardcore" than Watchmen in its "serious" take but pretty memorable due to that. When Kid Miracleman fucks up London there is an emphasis on FUCKED UP. KIMOTA!

Supreme - Somehow Moore takes a third-tier Rob Liefeld Superman clone and turn it into a fantastic metanarrative on the comics history, using a variety of art and writing style he creates a rich 50-year history for the character that pays homage to all the great stories and eras of comics. The best Superman story ever written is Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" one-shot, but I prefer this to "All-Star Superman" as the ultimate "long form" Superman experience. It's just rich and textured and creative and FUN FUN FUN.

And if you want the ultimate Hollywood widescreen superhero experience get the first 12 issues of The Authority



1-4: Defeat a 100,000-strong army of superpowered clones
5-8: Repel a full-on invasion by an interdimensional Earth attempting to destroy our world Sliding Albion
9-12: Kill God

Ellis left the series at that point as there was nothing left to accomplish.

[Joe Molotov]

Bone

[Eric P]

god no

[Howard Alan Treesong]

god no

Bone has great art but the plot and characters made me want to DIE

Skip Bone, read Pogo

We3 more like  :'( W :'( e :'( 3 :'(

[Phoenix Dark]

thanks for telling me it has a sad ending/outcome guys

smh

[Himu]

Sandman, Fables, anything by Alan Moore, anything by Osamu Tezuka particularly Buddha.

If you want good ol' capes and leather boots I highly suggest the New X-Men by Grant Morrison. Iirc it's in graphic novel format now. There are some good Marvel and DC ones I could suggest if you're interested.

Yoshinori Tatsumi's stuff is really really good too. The Pushman and Other Stories is something I read every once in a while.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

it's probably not the sad ending you'll be expecting

I've read it at least a dozen times and I STILL tear up every time

;________________________;

it also has the best action sequences in a comic like ever

[Himu]

I'm gonna have to read this WE3.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I prefer 1 but then I'm a dog person

omg you posted my favorite page like ever

that page layout is like staring into the mind of God

[patrickula]

I liked Blankets but I dunno if I'll ever reread it.

From Hell is awesome but yeah it's dense as fuck.  The annotations are great  

League of Extraordinary Gentleman is very good fun.  I LOVE Top Ten too and V for Vendetta's good too.

DKR is classic.

I really dig Joe Sacco stuff, Palestine is a good one to read first.  That's not superhero or fantasy at all!

Akira is very good though I dunno about the end.  Ends better than the movie at least.

WE3 is fantastic  :'(

[Phoenix Dark]

wtf @ those pages 

[Eric P]

pogo is excellent.

bone is excrement

[Himu]

I think DKR is okay. I mean, I like it, but how some people revere it can border on ridiculous.

What about Tin Tin

[Joe Molotov]

god no

god yes 

[Himu]

Tin Tin really is awesome

[Eric P]

couldn't get into it as comics

but adore the TV series.

[Eric P]

Asterix and Obelix rule

[Himu]

I'd like to read more European comics but my bookstores rarely carry the stuff and that's always where I get my graphic novels so I can sneak a peek of the story before I buy.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I've read EVERY Tin Tin book

me