i just figured this forum could use a running comics thread....

whatever you're reading, what you think is good, whatever debates can be had...that sort of stuff.

i gave up on the mainstream superhero stuff a few years ago. i mostly follow small press/self-published/indie/underground(?) type comics these days, with the occasional dip into mainstream comics if there's something from a creator whose work i enjoy.

this is the stuff i've acquired recently...



libertarian rod decides it's time for love and chooses socialist tangerine as the object of his affection. hilarity ensues. nick maandag is hilarious. i also highly recommend his 'facility integrity'.



'bastard' #3 by belgian cartoonist max de radigues. a brother and sister on the run with a bag of cash. running from what...why? i also really enjoyed de radigues' 'moose'. both titles published in the US by oily comics.



25 years in and john porcellino can still hit you in the feels with the simplest pen strokes. it takes some investment getting to know john p to enjoy his comics/zines, but it's very worth it.



anthology 'irene' #6. i picked this one up mainly for the inclusion of a new comic by tillie walden, an amazing up and coming cartoonist. she's 19! check her out. also, the amazing cover and some interior art by co-editor dw.



picked this up at my local shop yesterday for my son and i...we've been re-reading 'bone' in anticipation of it's release, but i haven't quite finished yet so can't speak to how good it is. he read it and loved it.

many, many more that i'll get to on and off. what all y'all been reading?

[Edited 7/28/16 6:49am]

[Edited 7/28/16 7:04am]

EmmaMcG said:

I really want to read The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke and Death In The Family.

you should...dk returns is pretty good. it and alan moore's 'watchmen' set the tone for pretty much all of superhero comics since their publication. and if you like batman v superman, you'll see where a lot of the story beats and visual influences originated...

the killing joke is alright...better than the movie, i'm sure; but it's really not as good as most of alan moore's other stuff. if you're interested in literary type comics, alan moore's your man.

[Edited 7/28/16 12:30pm]

[Edited 7/28/16 12:30pm]

peedub said:

None. I've considered getting Kindred graphic novel, but I've got and read the book so I don't know if there would be a point to that.

I enjoy having a title or two to give me a reason to go to the Comic Book store...I'm enjoying these 2 for the imagery. I love love love Fiona Staples' clean lines and crazy imagination.

I will pick up anything drawn by Howard Chaykin, still, so I've also been getting 'Midnight of the Soul'. I lifted my screen name from "American Flagg!".

MarkThrust said:

I enjoy having a title or two to give me a reason to go to the Comic Book store...I'm enjoying these 2 for the imagery. I love love love Fiona Staples' clean lines and crazy imagination.

I will pick up anything drawn by Howard Chaykin, still, so I've also been getting 'Midnight of the Soul'. I lifted my screen name from "American Flagg!".

i'm not a huge chaykin fan, but i did pick up a complete run of 'american flagg!' at a garage sale ten years or so ago...i read about half of it and really enjoyed it. i'll have to start over again and read the whole thing.

i gave 'saga' a try after the first trade came out, but it didn't stick. it just seemed to follow the same-ish storytelling formula of too many comics these days. and it reads too quickly...you could read the whole first trade in the time that it would take to read a single issue of 'american flagg!'. i don't like spending more time turning pages than i spend actually reading.

i did really like bk vaughan and marcos martin's 'private eye'. i love marcos martin's work. i followed that one as it was released online via panelsyndicate.com...there's another comic on there called 'universe' (i think?) by a spanish cartoonist. that's a really good read, too.

I'm not so much into comics but I'm getting more and more into graphic novels. I'd appreciate any recommendations that anyone has. I seem to like the anthropomorphic characters such as in Grandville, Blacksad and the classic Maus. I work with young adults and am increasingly saying that I think the graphic novel will really take off in the next decade or so - I do hope I'm right

[Edited 8/3/16 13:20pm]

Über - I finished volume 5 while on holiday last week. It's sick. I like it a lot.

X-Men / X-Title fan here (old enough to know better, but who cares!!) ... have been disappointed with the direction of the comics for some time though. They just seem to be repeating storylines that have already been done. And they haven't introduced any new or interesting mutants for years

One thing that does puzzle me though, for fans of single character comics like Batman ... how the hell do they keep coming up with fresh stories to tell? Surely by now every possible Batman story has to have been told?...

maplenpg said:

I'm not so much into comics but I'm getting more and more into graphic novels. I'd appreciate any recommendations that anyone has. I seem to like the anthropomorphic characters such as in Grandville, Blacksad and the classic Maus. I work with young adults and am increasingly saying that I think the graphic novel will really take off in the next decade or so - I do hope I'm right

[Edited 8/3/16 13:20pm]

i'll spare everyone the comics (a medium) vs. graphic novel (a marketing term for 'comics') debate...

you might dig 'usagi yojimbo'...exhaustively researched and historically accurate (with a few supernatural embellishments), stan sakai is a master cartoonist telling the story of usagi, a ronin samurai, and an extended supporting cast in shogunate era japan...



you might also enjoy some carl barks/don rosa donald duck and uncle scrooge comics. both barks and rosa are excellent cartoonists telling stories of high adventure and subtle humor.

if you enjoyed bryan talbot's 'grandville', you might like his 'luther arkwright' comics...they're not anthropomorphic, but dense, sprawling, psychedelic sci-fi...





and then there's always bone...just awesome comics.

peedub said:

maplenpg said:

I'm not so much into comics but I'm getting more and more into graphic novels. I'd appreciate any recommendations that anyone has. I seem to like the anthropomorphic characters such as in Grandville, Blacksad and the classic Maus. I work with young adults and am increasingly saying that I think the graphic novel will really take off in the next decade or so - I do hope I'm right

[Edited 8/3/16 13:20pm]

i'll spare everyone the comics (a medium) vs. graphic novel (a marketing term for 'comics') debate...

you might dig 'usagi yojimbo'...exhaustively researched and historically accurate (with a few supernatural embellishments), stan sakai is a master cartoonist telling the story of usagi, a ronin samurai, and an extended supporting cast in shogunate era japan...



you might also enjoy some carl barks/don rosa donald duck and uncle scrooge comics. both barks and rosa are excellent cartoonists telling stories of high adventure and subtle humor.

if you enjoyed bryan talbot's 'grandville', you might like his 'luther arkwright' comics...they're not anthropomorphic, but dense, sprawling, psychedelic sci-fi...





and then there's always bone...just awesome comics.

Thanks - I'll be sure to look these up - especially the Bryan Talbot one - he's a phenomenal artist. As for the comic vs graphic novel debate, I probably agree with you about marketing etc... However, I do share a lot of books and re-read them and I find that the graphic novel has more longevity than the comic format which takes more preservation. Also, if I'm really honest, they feel somehow a little more grown up. My son reads the Beano every week and hates it if the postie doesn't deliver it on the Saturday (meaning he has to wait until Monday). He consistantly says he wants to be an animator when he's older so we're doing our best to teach him to understand comic formatting and to improve his art. Also my husband is teaching him computer animation in case he wants to pursue animation in that respect (he's only 9). He hasn't explored much further than Beano/Dandy/Beezer etc... so I might try an few alternative ones with him, see what he thinks.

Thanks - I'll be sure to look these up - especially the Bryan Talbot one - he's a phenomenal artist. As for the comic vs graphic novel debate, I probably agree with you about marketing etc... However, I do share a lot of books and re-read them and I find that the graphic novel has more longevity than the comic format which takes more preservation. Also, if I'm really honest, they feel somehow a little more grown up. My son reads the Beano every week and hates it if the postie doesn't deliver it on the Saturday (meaning he has to wait until Monday). He consistantly says he wants to be an animator when he's older so we're doing our best to teach him to understand comic formatting and to improve his art. Also my husband is teaching him computer animation in case he wants to pursue animation in that respect (he's only 9). He hasn't explored much further than Beano/Dandy/Beezer etc... so I might try an few alternative ones with him, see what he thinks.

i HIGHLY recommend 'bone' for your son. my 9 year old son has read it over and over for four or five years, now (it is literally how he learned to read). jeff smith started as an animator before he became a cartoonist. he is a master of panel to panel timing and expression. the story is great, high fantasy adventure with strong themes of friendship, loyalty, good and evil (but not too scary). there are dragons and rat creatures and swords and sorcery...it's one of my favorites of all time, as much for the fun story as for the opportunity to see what a great storytelling medium comics can be. you can get the whole thing in one giant book or in 9 seperate volumes.

peedub said:

Thanks - I'll be sure to look these up - especially the Bryan Talbot one - he's a phenomenal artist. As for the comic vs graphic novel debate, I probably agree with you about marketing etc... However, I do share a lot of books and re-read them and I find that the graphic novel has more longevity than the comic format which takes more preservation. Also, if I'm really honest, they feel somehow a little more grown up. My son reads the Beano every week and hates it if the postie doesn't deliver it on the Saturday (meaning he has to wait until Monday). He consistantly says he wants to be an animator when he's older so we're doing our best to teach him to understand comic formatting and to improve his art. Also my husband is teaching him computer animation in case he wants to pursue animation in that respect (he's only 9). He hasn't explored much further than Beano/Dandy/Beezer etc... so I might try an few alternative ones with him, see what he thinks.

i HIGHLY recommend 'bone' for your son. my 9 year old son has read it over and over for four or five years, now (it is literally how he learned to read). jeff smith started as an animator before he became a cartoonist. he is a master of panel to panel timing and expression. the story is great, high fantasy adventure with strong themes of friendship, loyalty, good and evil (but not too scary). there are dragons and rat creatures and swords and sorcery...it's one of my favorites of all time, as much for the fun story as for the opportunity to see what a great storytelling medium comics can be. you can get the whole thing in one giant book or in 9 seperate volumes.

Okay - I've just been looking on Amazon. I'm going to take your advice and order it. Is the cover that you posted the giant book? Also have you read the following (it just caught my eye whilst browsing)?

maplenpg said:

peedub said:

i HIGHLY recommend 'bone' for your son. my 9 year old son has read it over and over for four or five years, now (it is literally how he learned to read). jeff smith started as an animator before he became a cartoonist. he is a master of panel to panel timing and expression. the story is great, high fantasy adventure with strong themes of friendship, loyalty, good and evil (but not too scary). there are dragons and rat creatures and swords and sorcery...it's one of my favorites of all time, as much for the fun story as for the opportunity to see what a great storytelling medium comics can be. you can get the whole thing in one giant book or in 9 seperate volumes.

Okay - I've just been looking on Amazon. I'm going to take your advice and order it. Is the cover that you posted the giant book? Also have you read the following (it just caught my eye whilst browsing)?

yeah, the picture i posted is of the single volume edition (although it's been reprinted with several different cover images). it's the one i read and is over 1000 pages. maybe a little unwieldy for young hands? and, it's black and white (how it was originally published). the 9 individual volumes are colored and more kid friendly.

i haven't read 'beautiful darkness', but i remember reading very favorable reviews when it was released...here's one...

http://www.tcj.com/reviews/beautiful-darkness/

[Edited 8/4/16 8:23am]

peedub said:

maplenpg said:

Okay - I've just been looking on Amazon. I'm going to take your advice and order it. Is the cover that you posted the giant book? Also have you read the following (it just caught my eye whilst browsing)?

yeah, the picture i posted is of the single volume edition (although it's been reprinted with several different cover images). it's the one i read and is over 1000 pages. maybe a little unwieldy for young hands? and, it's black and white (how it was originally published). the 9 individual volumes are colored and more kid friendly.

i haven't read 'beautiful darkness', but i remember reading very favorable reviews when it was released...here's one...

http://www.tcj.com/reviews/beautiful-darkness/

[Edited 8/4/16 8:23am]

THANK YOU - I've ordered volume 1 of Bone. I'll let you know how it goes.

I got distracted (as always on Amazon) and ordered a few other ('normal') books as well so I'll try the library for Beautiful Darkness. The reviews on Amazon are really good as is the one you posted so I will give it a try as I will with Luther Arkwright (I will try the Japanese one too at some point). Thanks again.

Every year or two I get the urge to check back in with the "Marvel Universe". It sure is a mess nowadays.

StrangeButTrue said:

Every year or two I get the urge to check back in with the "Marvel Universe". It sure is a mess nowadays.

I was big in to it in my teens (mid to late 90s) and took the plunge a couple of years back to get back in to it ... and I agree, its a real mess these days. Marvel seem to have ants in their pants, they can't go more than a year without retooling the whole universe/continuity, messing with their main characters, and going back to issue 1's ... its very annoying, but I guess they think it'll make them more money.

i just ordered all of the issues of 'epoxy', which cartoonist john pham has just made available via his storenvy. all of these comics/zines have only been available if you got them from pham at a comics festival or if by word of mouth/internet you were able to hear about their release in time to make an online purchase from him via his instagram...i've read some of his other comics in anthologies (kramers ergot) and some bigger releases; but 'epoxy', by all accounts, is excellent comics that plays a lot with various formats and stroytelling devices. i can't wait to get these! i love getting comics in the mail!

i also recently got 'sir alfred #3' (there is no #1 or #2) by tim hensley...sort of an anecdotal biography of alfred hitchcock, told in the format of varying styles of short comic strips. it's very fun and tim hensley is a very good storyteller. this is a limited edition of 1000 copies and is the last publication of pigeon press, due to the death of publisher alvin buenaventura...if you're a fan/aficionado of alfred hitchcock, you'll recognize most of what is detailed in this comic from various biographies, interviews and news stories. hensley did his research and translated to comics brilliantly.