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Not Marvel Comics, err, Other Comics, or, What Comics Do You Read Each Month
It doesn't really matter what I call it, because the thread will die a quick death anyway. They always do.
Here is a list of what I'm reading monthly, or as close to it as I can get without doing a super geek-out (I'm sure there are a few books left out, or maybe a couple that have ended).
No, I clearly do not BUY all of these books each month. I think I spend between $80-100 on the monthly on the books I do buy (which used to buy so much more - because I buy less each time prices go up). I also usually end up grabbing a collected volume or two a month (on average).
Without a doubt, the publishers I buy the most physical copies from are Dark Horse, Image and DC's Vertigo line.
Alabaster Wolves - Dark Horse American Vampire - Vertigo/DC Angel & Faith - Season Nine - Dark Horse Artifacts - Top Cow Atomic Robo - The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific & Real Science Adventurs - Red 5 Comics Batgirl - DC Batman Inc - DC Batman & Robin - DC Batwing - DC Batwoman - DC Battle Beasts - IDW Before Watchmen - All of 'em - DC Blue Estate - Image Birds Of Prey - DC Bomb Queen - Image Brilliant - Icon Buffy - Season Nine - Dark Horse Catwoman - DC Carbon Grey - Image Courtney Crumrin - Oni Chew - Image Creator Owned Comics - Image Conan The Barbarian - Dark Horse Crossed - Badlands - Avatar Crossed - Wish You Were Here - Online Dancer - Image Danger Girl - IDW (normally, whatever is being released, but the recent crossovers aren't my thing) Dark Horse Presents - Dark Horse Extinction Seed - GCS Studio Design Detective Comics - DC Dominique Laveau Voodoo Child - Vertigo/DC Elephant Men - Image Epic Kill - Image Executive Assistant Assassions -Aspen Fables - Vertigo/DC Fairest - Vertigo/DC Fathom - Aspen Fatima - The Blood Spinners - Dark Horse Hack Slash - Image Harvest - Image Hellblazer - Vertigo/DC Higher Earth - Boom! Hoax Hunters - Image I, Vampire - DC Idolized - Aspen Infected - IDW Insufferable - Online It-Girl and the Atomics - Image iZombie - Vertigo/DC Jennifer Blood - Dynamite Lady Sabre & the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether - Online Legends of the Dark Knight - DC Lenore - Titan Locke & Key - IDW Loose Ends - 12-Gauge Mark Millar (Hit Girl, Secret Service, Supercrooks) - Icon Mediterrania - GCS Studio Designs (well, wheneve they get them out) Mike Mignola (All of it! BPRD, Hellboy, Baltimore, etc.) - Dark Horse Mind MGMT - Dark Horse Mind The Gap - Image Mondo - Image Mouse Guard - Archaia Nightwing - DC Night of a Thousand Wolves - IDW Orchid - Dark Horse Oz - Whatever Shanower/Young book is currently being released - Marvel Peter Panzerfaust - Image Pigs - Image Planetoid - Image Prophet - Image Punk Rock Jesus - Vertigo/DC Queen Sonja - Dynamite Rachel Rising - Abstract Studio Rasl - Cartoon Books Red Sonja - Dynamite Reset - Dark Horse Revival - Image Saga - Image (the best book I'm reading right now, possibly the best in a long time) Skullkickers - Image Spaceman - Vertigo/DC Spawn - Image Star Trek - IDW (although it pains me) Star Wars - A bunch of 'em - Dark Horse Takio - Icon (probably going to stop reading this one) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - IDW Thief of Thieves - Image Vescell - Image Witchblade - Top Cow Wasteland - Oni Wheel Of Time (Robert Jordan's) - Dynamite Whispers - Image Tarot - Witch Of The Black Rose - BroadSword Comics The Cape - 1969 - IDW The Creep - Image The Darkness - Top Cow The Dark Tower (whatever mini-series is currently running) - Marvel The Goon - Dark Horse The Hypernaturals - Boom! The Massive - Dark Horse The Ninjettes - Dynamite The Secret History - Archaia The Secret History Of DB Cooper - Oni The Shade - DC The Straing - Dark Horse The Tower Chronicles - Legendary (Man I hope this goes monthly) The Unwritten - Vertigo/DC The Walking Dead - Image
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So like, what comics to y'all read each month (including Marvel)? Curious Cerebi' wanna know. | |
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When i was young my parents couldnt afford to let us buy comic books but they did have them in the news papers and i loved Snoopy, Charlie Brown ~ Peanuts
does that count????
mailto:www.iDon'tThinkSo.com.Uranus | |
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I was so happy my thread didn't die it's predicted death, and like, now I'm not. | |
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Dude! This is a pretty incredible list. You have a lot of things on there that I haven't checked out yet, and I'm thankful for the recommendations.
At this point, I do most of my reading in collected form, so I'm waiting for the first volume of Saga to come out. From all I've read and heard about it, I'm pretty sure I'll be as enthusiastic about it as you.
Did you read the final issue of Rasl? It wraps up the series very satisfactorily. I don't know why that series didn't get more accolades. It may have been flawed, but it was still so much more adventurous and inventive than most of the comics out there right now. Now that's it's finished, I'm looking forward to rereading the entire run from start to finish; I think I'll love it even more when I read it as a complete, cohesive piece.
For the DC New 52 titles, I was really impressed by the Batman Court of Owls storyline (although I've only read the first hardcover collection). Also really loving the relaunch of Wonder Woman, much to my surprise. I didn't like Swamp Thing at first, but then it kind of grew on me. I wish I liked the Legion titles more. Also, I'm looking forward to the Looker series from DC...just because I used to love that character so much. I have a ton more to say about DC, but I don't want to prattle on.
At Comic-Con this year, I stopped by Terry Moore's booth to pick up the first trade of Rachel Rising, but (I'm ashamed to admit this) I haven't read it yet. I will get to that soon.
And finally...I'm not a huge Marvel guy, but I have to mention that I am loving the Mark Waid Daredevil trades; really, really loving them. And I still worship Ed Brubaker as a comics writer. His Captain America stories are so great, and I have never been a Cap fan.
Thanks for the thread! | |
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I still read old Archie comics sometimes, Prince, in you I found a kindred spirit...Rest In Paradise. | |
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Hey, thanks for the kind words on the reading list. If you have any questions about anything on it don't hesitate to ask.
Regarding Saga, man, right now, it is SOOOO good! I'm trying to temper my expectations, though, because Vaughn's "Runaways" and "Y - The Last Man" both had great high points, but ended weakly, imo. But it's been great so far. I don't think waiting to read this one in collected volumes would be a bad idea, either. Every issue has left me letting out a "gah! don't end there!"
Fables isn't far behind Saga, either. So if Saga falls off, Fables will go back to being my favorite monthly.
I haven't read the last couple issues of RASL (maybe the last three), which is something I actually buy (even picked up the first limited slipcover hardback). I imagine I'll buy whatever Jeff Smith does, because I loved, loved, LOVED Bone. And Bone, I imagine, is why this book hasn't done as well, or been as highly praised. Bone was new and different and turned out to be pretty damn great. They're still releasing new editions of Bone right up to this Summer. RASL is everything that Bone wasn't. It's darker, more introspective, and it's downright strange sometimes. For me, that's fine. I like it. But it's nowhere near being as good as Bone was.
The only New 52 that I read, and the only super hero books, are those set in the Batman universe. For years - decades actually, since the mid 80s - friends and other "comic book people" have always stared at me blankly, head cocked to the side, and asked, "well what do you read then?", when I tell them that.
I only read all that Batman stuff because I can download it. I stopped buying it way back at the time of the second Tim Burton Batman movie. The value of everything Batman related had risen to unreal levels. There was some other stuff that I wanted to buy so I sold my entire Batman collection at HUGELY inflated prices. I see books that I sold 20 years ago for sale now for 1/4 of the price, sometimes less.
As an aside, I only started reading Batman because a "comic shop guy" finished reading "The Killing Joke" while I was in the shop. He was all weirded out about it because it was "dark" and "different". Based on the stuff I regularly bought he thought I might like it.
I love that world, that it's grounded much closer to reality than most other super hero "universes", so when downloading became possible I got back into it. My digital Batman collection borders on obssessive at this point. I think the Batman stories have remained pretty strong and interesting for the last decade plus, and across the board they were DC's highest selling books, so I don't know how I feel about them being involved with the New 52. I think the concept in general was rather desperate and highly insulting to fans who stuck with them through decades of writer/artist changes, re-boots, origins and re-origins, crossovers and events. But I also understand DC gotta eat, so whatever they need to do to keep books out there is fine with me in the end.
I digressing a little bit there...
I'm enjoying the New 52 Batman books the same as I was the old ones. Some will go, or change when different creative teams take over. But that's always the way they've run that "universe". Court of Owls/Night of the Owls was good for me. Not bad, but not great. I like what Snyder and Capullo are doing, so I rode with it. I've NEVER been a fan of crossovers and events, though. They're one of the main reasons I don't like superhero books. And when this one bled over into titles like Red Hood and Justice League I was like,
I'm a big Grant Morrison fan, so anything he does in the Batman "universe" makes me happy. He's one of the few writers working in the field right now who is allowed to take established characters and turn them on their heads. The stuff he comes up with is sometimes head-scratchingly strange, but at least it's something different.
Terry Moore is great! Talented, intelligent and still a down to Earth, regular guy. He's another one I see myself staying loyal to forever, unless he totally dicks out at some point (which I don't see happening). I can't recommend Rachel Rising highly enough. I really want to say a few things about it right now, but I won't, because it would be spoiling what happens in the book. | |
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"same shit, New 52". 
What I will say about it is that the women still look like Francine and Katchoo from SiP. EVERY woman he draws looks like Francine and Katchoo to me. The women in Echo looked like Francine and Katchoo. All the women in his "Terry Moore Draws..." books look like Francince and Katchoo!
Those books have brought A LOT of people into the world of comics over the last 60 years (or however long it's been). | |
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Oh yeah, Ed Brubaker is great! Have you read any of his non-superhero stuff? I've read Sleeper, Incognito, Criminal, Deadenders and Fatale (which is ongoing right now) and they're ALL good-to-great. Mostly in the suspense, crime or noir categories, but some of his Vertigo stuff falls in with their regualr "off-beat, doesn't really fit in any category" range (like Deadenders). He's definitely a real solid writer, but obviously I don't read his Captain America stuff. | |
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I'm surprised you say that about Y: The Last Man. I thought the ending held up brilliantly--although I still have trouble accepting Agent 355's death. That totally broke my heart.
I have the utmost respect for Morrison--there are very few comics writers who have been as incredibly inventive--but even so, he is really hit or miss for me. I kind of respect that, because I think it's a sign of a great artist to take risks and push boundaries like that, but still... Also, I hated his Batman work. Mostly, that's because I'm incredibly picky with Batman. I love what Snyder does with him, even if some of it is over the top.
There's a Rasl collection ("The Lost Journals of Nicola Tesla") that collects the last few issues and also has some fun bonus materials. I always like taking a trip through Smith's mind and his creative processes, so I really enjoyed it. I know what you're saying about Bone, which is one of the best comics ever. In that light, Rasl definitely suffers in comparison. But it kills me that something lame like Hark! A Vagrant gets heaps of praise, while Rasl is kind of ignored.
A friend of mine refuses to read Echo, even though I've recommended it a hundred times and I know he would absolutely love it. His sole reason for not reading it is because when he looked at my copy of The Complete Edition, he said, "That's Katchoo! This is bullshit! I'm not reading this!" It infuriated me, but I had to admit he was right. And I honestly cannot understand why an artist as good as Terry Moore can't draw women who look different. [Edited 8/20/12 6:47am] | |
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Yeah, I love his non-superhero stuff! Sleeper, Incognito, and Criminal especially are my favorites. | |
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mailto:www.iDon'tThinkSo.com.Uranus | |
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I guess nobody was a fan of the original Vampirella comics, eh? I really liked those from the 70s-80s, along with Uncle Creepy... "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato
https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0 | |
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I'm just gonna write without quoting to avoid huge quote strings...
I know A LOT of people feel like you do about Morrison and Batman, and I totally understand that point of view. For me, I think the reasons a lot of people dislike it are exactly the reasons why I love it. It's just so strange and different from everything else that has EVER been done with those characters. What I love about it most, though, is that in the end it always comes back around to making sense and usually ties in with the rest of universe (or, as is the case with some of his changes, ends up in it's own, new book
Did you read All-Star Superman? If so, what did you think? I have it, but I'm not a Sup's reader so I've never checked it out.
Invisibles! LOVE IT! An all-time favorite. The shit that went on with Morrison in the "real world" during that books various runs is comic book legend. Magic, masturbation, illness, censorship, etc. Love that book.
We3.... man.... I just love that book. No words, really. Just love it. It's one of those stories that reminds me of why I love comic books, because you couldn't tell that story as powerfully with just prose. I do wish somebody would spend a large pile of cash to make a movie out of it, though.
I definitely agree he's hit and miss, though. But how many other writers would ever have even thought to try something like Seven Soldiers?
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I've thought more than once that I need to do a re-read on "Y - The Last Man". It could just be that, reading it monthly, it didn't end the way I wanted, or the way I was expecting. But I also remember being less and less interested in it over the last couple years of its run. Sometimes I wouldn't read it for months on end, even though I never had it removed from my pull-list. I still think it's an incredibly original and thought provoking book, but it didn't end up being the classic I was expecting at the beginning. Which is the same thing I fear with Saga, because it is just SO GOOD right now.
I have to say, though, that the same thing happened to me with Ex Machina. The same thing happens to me with a lot of books. A lot of writers have great ideas for their pitch, or the first couple arcs. But once the books get into their third, fourth, fifth, etc. years, the interesting ideas start to dry up. I would never deny that this happened with Cerebus, which is (obviously) my favorite book of all time. It happens with most books, in my opinion. Notable exceptions for me would be Sandman (second favorite book), which Vertigo/DC graciously allowed Neil to end, even though it was selling HUGE numbers; Bone, which ended; and Fables, which has so far remained VERY strong, even as it's rolled well past 100 issues.
I'm not opposed to long runs, in fact, I really enjoy them. I'm just very honest with myself about the quality of what I read and I wonder if more of them wouldn't be better served by ending sooner.
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I have the monthlies of RASL and unless I'm totally blown away by what happens in those last few issues I won't be buying any more of the collected versions. Buying anything he puts out supports Cartoon Books, but I think it's important that he (and Terry Moore) keep doing something monthly. As long as they're doing that I'll keep buying the books in that format.
And ya know, as far as my memory goes, Echo didn't get nearly as much attention as Rachel Rising is getting, either. Smith will (probably) have more luck with different projects the farther away he gets from Bone. And if he doesn't, he'll STILL always be the guy who created, wrote and drew that book, which ain't half bad.
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Cool that you have that Complete Echo book.
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Damn, so nobody but me likes the original Vampirella and Uncle Creepy comics? "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato
https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0 | |
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Also, I totally understand your friends aversion to Echo. It really does bother me, too. But Moore's stories are just so good, so emotionally strong, that I can look past the fact that every woman looks like Francine and Katchoo.
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Ed Brubaker should be a "best of the best comic book superstar", IMO. Obviously, he gets work, but I know people who wouldn't know him by name. Or at the very least haven't read his work outside of the superhero genre. Too bad, because I think his other stuff is much better. Although I did like what he did with Gotham Central. | |
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I've gone through a phase, or a learning period, with pretty much every kind of comic book in the last 30 years. I tried to get into the old horror books - the Eeries, Creepys, Draculas and the like - because when I first started reading comics in the early 80s the back issues of those books were still very popular. I tried a few of the old Vampirellas, and I've tried a few of the new ones over the years as they re-boot it or do a new mini-series. For whatever reason, I've found that they just aren't my thing. Even now the vampire books I read are more on the alternative side of comics, and other than 'The Walking Dead' I stay as far away from zombie books as possible.
Vampirella is a, uhhh, nice looking character, though.
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Un unh...I like the original Vampirella magazines from Warren... I liked the art and stories from the orginal Warren mags. In fact, I bought most of the series a few years back. Covers like this:
"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato
https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0 | |
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snoopy needs some love [Edited 8/21/12 3:53am] mailto:www.iDon'tThinkSo.com.Uranus | |
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I don't read much non-Marvel. Since the last DC relaunch I still read:
Batgirl - as long as Gail Simone is writing Batwoman - J.H. Williams III Justice League Stormwatch - the duo of Apollo and Midnighter (a.k.a. what if Superman and Batman were gay lovers) is always a good read. Wonder Woman
As for other publishers, I have Fatale and Lady Mechanika sitting in a pile waiting to be read. I'm currently going through the HC of Gilbert Hernandez' Luba series. I absolutely love all of his Palomar-related books. When I'm finished with Luba, I'll tackle the High Soft Lisp and all-ages Venus collections. I'm a big Joe Linsner fan too and recently read his Dark Ivory book. It was okay. Other notable mentions are Phonogram and the Whedon-supervised Buffy books. | |
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Read issue six of Saga this morning and it's another GREAT issue... but they're going to do TWO FULL SKIP-MONTHS BEFORE ISSUE SEVEN!
J.H. Williams III - I haven't seen ANYBODY do anything near that interesting with comic book page layouts since Dave Sim was redifining what you could do in that regard with Cerebus. The colors are incredible, too. I love that they've kept it to a specific palette.
Batgirl.... you know you just jinxed Gail Simone, right?
Stormwatch - I go way back to the Warren Ellis (my favorite working writer) days with that book, but I'm not sure I'm going to continue with the current volume. It's a little too much straight ahead tights and superpowers for my tastes.
Fatale - Great so far!
Lady Mechanika - I'm a big supporter of Aspen books - always have been. And I've been waiting for somebody to do a GREAT steampunk book for, it seems like, forever! I LOVE the way this book looks, but I'm not sure if that might be the only reason I'm reading it. It's good, but I'm hoping it gets better.
Los Bros. Hernandez!
I enjoyed both volumes of Phonogram, but I think the second volume (The Singles Club) was better. Color did a lot for that book.
Whedon.... Buffy... fahgetaboudit!
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Luba is a great characters, but I love pretty much everything they've done. Back in my early, stubborn, I will ONLY read independent comic book days, Love & Rockets was one of the high points. I haven't read High Soft Lisp yet in it's collected for, only when it was serialized in the original comics. I think you get more pages in the collected version. I was super surprised a couple months back when my "local comic shop guy" put Fatima - The Blood Spinners in my box, because I didn't even know it was coming out! Woo-hoo!
About the only thing I'm picking up right now...The Boys (Garth Ennis). It's been a fun ride, sad to see it wrapping up (so far it looks like Ennis isn't going to stick the dismount, but we'll see).
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I read the first collection of Rachel Rising (which collects the first six issues). I love your suggestion of thinking of them as alternate-universe versions of Katchoo and Francine; that adds such an interesting element to his work. And I'm liking his venture into horror here. Moore is such a chill, unassuming guy, and that gentleness is such a part of his work--contrasted with a story about death and murder, it works really well.
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well, if there is any thread that would appreciate this, this is it.
phil jimenez came in my bar this weekend. he's a great comic artist and writer, known most for his run on wonder woman, but i know him from some marvel runs like astonishing x-men and new x-men.
he was very sweet and was surprised and touched that i knew who he was. gave me his email and even drew a wolverine on the card. i am gonna get him to autograph a few.
he also did this very famous cover:
[img:$uid]http://www.dynamicforces.com/images/C111870.jpg[/img:$uid] [Edited 8/20/12 7:14am] Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. - Lord Acton | |
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Was he looking for me by any chance? | |
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you woulda drooled. hes kinda hot Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. - Lord Acton | |
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The funny thing about Love & Rockets is I discovered it by coming in through the back door (pun intended) when I was looking for pr0n comix during my horny college days and read Gilbert's Birdland mini series featuring the XXX adventures of Fritz and Petra. A few years later I saw Fritz and Petra's on the cover of Luba's Comics and Stories and recognizing them from Birdland, picked that up too. Then I bought the collected Palomar books and became the fan I am today.
I've never read Jaime's stuff. I do like that his artwork is a bit more refined than Gilbert's. It was great to see him draw Luba and her family that one time in the Hernandez Satyricon TPB.
So I got into Love & Rockets because of pr0n. | |
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I know her^ | |
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Holy fuck balls! JH Williams is doing the art for the new Sandman mini-series! How did I not know this!? Unfortunately, issue one won't hit the shelves until Nov, 2013.
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