In which I learn the obvious: Classic comic book series are classic for a reason. - Page 2

A Zarkin' Frood · 11-05-2011, 07:40 PM

Those were great yes, I have not yet read the latter though, I have to admit. Haven't read any comics in a few months even though I have a huge list of things to work through.
From Hell is basically really just him waving his monstrous dick and nothing else, though. Nice to read once I guess. I haven't yet tried to read it a second time. It's a phone book sized comic after all but it's size barely manages to convey the proportions of Alan Moore's artistic and intellectual dick(s?). Well, the contents do. the exterior doesn't. It's one of those dicks that's bigger on the inside than the outside. I hope that doesn't make sense.

Another, a little more obscure, thing that springs to mind is Umbrella Academy. Not from any big name writers, but a really fun comic with interesting characters and crazy plots that could not exist outside of comics. So far there are two volumes out and the third one will be released once it's done.

Magus · 11-05-2011, 11:26 PM

Your comic book store guy is way better than my comic book store guy, who pushed me into buying a copy of Batman: The Dark Knight the first time I was there. What a tool! I enjoyed the copy of Batman Beyond I also bought far more.

Not sure what you've read, all the suggestions here are more original series, although I concur with the Batman graphic novels and will add a mention of Gotham Central, which I hope is available as some kind of omnibus since it's about forty issues. But just a stellar, stellar story set in Gotham, but not starring Batman (although he's in it), but instead the detectives of the MCU, such as Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock. The series is interesting in that the story shifts back and forth between the day shift and the night shift, and it works a lot like a crime procedural despite their having to deal with Batman's rogues gallery quite a bit, as well as crooked cops in their own department. Basically it's like the Wire meets Batman, and is excellent. Knowledge of the greater DC universe is not required to a great extent, other than that a concurrent plotline in the main Batman comic makes them antagonistic towards Batman about 2/3rds through, where their relationship changes suddenly within the span of one comic. But the ending of the series is easily one of the best things I've ever read in comics.

Batman graphic novels I'd recommend besides The Killing Joke: Batman Year One, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Man Who Falls, The Man Who Laughs, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth, Joker: The Dark Knight, Catwoman: When in Rome, and I dunno, Two-Face Strikes Twice for a little fun?

Fifthfiend · 11-06-2011, 01:47 AM

Darwyn Cooke seems like he'd maybe be up your alley, try New Frontier and The Spirit. New Frontier is like, Superman and Wonder Woman and suchlike but instead of a bunch of hassles about continuity you just have like, 1950s political intrigue and Wonder Woman beating up Vietnamese slavers and such. The Spirit is like, basically just rad as hell pulp detective/adventure stories.

Immortal Iron Fist was hells good, if you like comics about kung-fu billionaires and the seven secret immortal cities that love them then this could be the comic for you? It's IN-CONTINUITY but not in any way that matters, you certainly won't know the difference between the stuff that's actually from an existing Marvel comic somewhere and the mountain of stuff that the writers are making up on the spot. I've seen it described as the Marvel Universe's idea of Exalted.

Marvel's Annihilation is basically just this fantastically grandiose space opera epic saga in space. It is insanely, insanely continuilicious like I don't think there's a thing in it that doesn't have 40 years of backstory connected to it. I personally didn't know hardly any of that backstory before I picked it up and I enjoyed it pretty good but I have a pretty high tolerance for that kind of thing. If Immortal is Marvel's version of Exalted then this is Marvel's version of 40K.

Fifthfiend · 11-06-2011, 01:59 AM

Oh, OH, if you haven't read it, a pretty standard recommendation for anyone who enjoys Atomic Robo: Hellboy, aka "Atomic Robo is pretty much just this comic except Scott Wegener traced uglier lines on top of it and then Brian Clevinger scrawled his own garbagewriting into all of the word bubbles".

The first volume of the series is actually a bit rough, so maybe grab two or three and start there and then go read the first one after you're into the storyline already, if that's the sort of thing that works for you (The first volume is co-written by Mike Mignola and Chris Claremont, the later volumes are written by Mike Mignola solely and his personal writing style really suits the series more).

Mr.Bookworm · 11-06-2011, 02:01 AM

Two one-shot comics that I just got done reading that I would recommend are Joker and Luthor (you might find it as Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, but the most recent edition is just titled Luthor). Both are by Brian Azzarello, who also did 100 Bullets which is pretty great (okay make that three recommendations). They both take place from the viewpoint of the villains and neither is in continuity, so you don't really need to know anything beyond the bare basics of Superman and Batman.

Joker is about the Joker getting out of Arkham and wreaking havoc, takes place in a really noir-ish Gotham City, and has Batman show up for about five pages and completely steal the show while only speaking three words in the entire comic.

Luthor is about Luthor being a pretty nice and noble guy on the surface while doing some absolutely monstrous things in his crusade against Superman. Also has Superman (who always shows up from Luthor's point of view as a scowling monster with glowing red eyes) turn up pretty rarely, he only gets a single line, and he does pretty much steal the show.

EDIT: Oh yeah, Hellboy. Hellboy is fantastic. And great. BUY IT.

Like, if you are just starting out in comic books, you pretty much have a couple of years worth of non-stop great reading material ahead of you.

Meister · 11-06-2011, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Sevenshot Kid

I've read a tiny bit of Transmetropolitan and I'm pretty sure if you like it, then you'll like Preacher. Seriously, if you've not read it then you need to because it's one of the greatest comics of all time.

Iiiiiiii dunno, I don't see much of a resemblance. I mean Preacher's good and all but in a whole different way than Transmet and only under a specific set of premises. Basically every time the choice comes to have the next storyarc feature incredible violence, machismo and freakshows or consistent characters and thoughtful moments, Preacher always goes straight for the violence, and if you're okay with that, you'll enjoy it a lot. Also if you ever wanted to know what having that disorder feels like where you can't tell people apart by their faces.

The Sevenshot Kid · 11-06-2011, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meister

Iiiiiiii dunno, I don't see much of a resemblance. I mean Preacher's good and all but in a whole different way than Transmet and only under a specific set of premises. Basically every time the choice comes to have the next storyarc feature incredible violence, machismo and freakshows or consistent characters and thoughtful moments, Preacher always goes straight for the violence, and if you're okay with that, you'll enjoy it a lot. Also if you ever wanted to know what having that disorder feels like where you can't tell people apart by their faces.

I've never heard anyone complain about inconsistent characterization in Preacher. If anything, I heard the opposite where friends I lent the trades out to were frustrated by the characters not really learning anything or changing in meaningful ways until the very end of the series. But the art thing I get. Steve Dillon's art ain't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but it's an acquired taste that I picked up immediately.

I know this series is relatively new but Chew is just great. If you're down for a totally bizarre alt. universe with art that refuses to obey the rules of anatomy, it's a great read. The basic set-up is that it's about a cop with the ability to know everything about something by taking a bite and chewing it. It got noticed pretty early in it's run and Showtime is looking at making a pilot based on the series.

I'm seconding the Immortal Iron Fist recommendation and also motioning the Bendis' run on Daredevil. I bought one of three omnibus type collections of his run, burned through it in a day, and am now waiting for the second one to arrive in my mail. It's great storytelling accompanied by great art the whole way through that makes me want to read all the way through this and Brubaker's run. As my first dip into the Daredevil pool outside of the movie (which I think had a great director's cut), it's a great intro to the character that makes you want to go back and read Miller's old stuff.

So far I've read Born Again and the first couple of Stan Lee issues but I suggest skipping the early years and getting right into the Frank Miller era. I think Miller did his own take on the origin at some point so that seems like a good place to start. Also, the new relaunch written by Mark Waid is fantastic. After the overwhelming darkness of Miller and Bendis, this series is just fun and enjoyable. Great place to start if you don't feel like digging through the archives.

Superman: Secret Identity is a great Elseworld's book by Kurt Busiek that is one of the few examples of a flawless work of art in the comic book world. It's an amazing character piece that demands a read at least once a year so you can see how your understanding of it has changed as you grow older.

V for Vendetta is superior to Watchmen.

The 2009-2011 Batgirl will be a classic one day thanks to it's amazing sense of fun and great cast of characters.

And Robert Kirkman's Invincible is great. I suggest buying as much of the series as you can before reading it because it's really cohesive with every little thing sticking together and callbacks that reward the reader's love of the series. What makes it truly outstanding is the lead character. His evolution into a real hero is amazing and you really feel for him the whole way through, sharing his highs and lows. At 84 issues, I don't think this series is going to live past 100 thanks to Kirkman's workload and the tone that the series has been taking lately. It's a great run with very few weakpoints.

Ultimate Spider-Man. All of it. For much of the same reasons as Invincible. If you know a kid around nine years old or so, give him this comic and watch how greatly it effects him.

**Satan's Onion** · 11-07-2011, 09:54 PM

Just finished Freakangels. Dammit, why are you all making such excellent suggestions, you jerkfaces

DarkDrgon · 11-07-2011, 10:12 PM

I can't shout enough that the new DareDevil is fantastic. I'm hoping they don't start throwing DD down the "Happy-shitty event-downward spiral-I'ma pull through" storyline that they've been rehashing since born again. Robo and DD are the only reasons I go to my comic shop anymore, if something else catches my eye, great, but without those 2 I wouldn't even bother with new comics

Fifthfiend · 11-07-2011, 10:16 PM

Quote:

I extra-double-specially need to make a list.

BKV
Y: The Last Man
Ex Machina

ELLIS
Transmetropolitan
Planetary
Black Summer
~~No Hero~~ READ AT OWN RISK
Doktor Sleepless
Supergod

MOORE
The Killing Joke
For The Man Who Has Everything
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow
From Hell
V for Vendetta

DARWYN COOKE
New Frontier
The Spirit

I'M NOT OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Umbrella Academy

GRANT FOOKING "I'M GRANT FOOKING MORRISON" MORRISON
Arkham Asylum
The Invisibles
The Filth

MIKE MIGNOLA
Hellboy
BPRD

KURT BUSIEK
Superman: Secret Identity

ROBERT KIRKMAN
Invincible

GARTH ENNIS SAYS DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS
Preacher

SICK, SHAMEFUL CONTINUITY
Immortal Iron Fist - Ed Brubaker/Matt Fraction/David Aja
Annihilation - Keith Giffen
Gotham Central - Fuck I should know this one
Impulse - Mark Waid, William Messner-Loebs, some other guys
Deadpool - Joe Kelly
Wonder Woman - Greg Rucka (I think he was the same guy who wrote Gotham Central)

11-05-2011, 07:40 PM	#11
A Zarkin' Frood formerly known as Prince. Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Right here, with you >:) Posts: 2,395	Those were great yes, I have not yet read the latter though, I have to admit. Haven't read any comics in a few months even though I have a huge list of things to work through. From Hell is basically really just him waving his monstrous dick and nothing else, though. Nice to read once I guess. I haven't yet tried to read it a second time. It's a phone book sized comic after all but it's size barely manages to convey the proportions of Alan Moore's artistic and intellectual dick(s?). Well, the contents do. the exterior doesn't. It's one of those dicks that's bigger on the inside than the outside. I hope that doesn't make sense. Another, a little more obscure, thing that springs to mind is Umbrella Academy. Not from any big name writers, but a really fun comic with interesting characters and crazy plots that could not exist outside of comics. So far there are two volumes out and the third one will be released once it's done. __________________ >:( C-:

11-05-2011, 11:26 PM	#12
Magus Archer and Armstrong vs. the World Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 7,164	Your comic book store guy is way better than my comic book store guy, who pushed me into buying a copy of Batman: The Dark Knight the first time I was there. What a tool! I enjoyed the copy of Batman Beyond I also bought far more. Not sure what you've read, all the suggestions here are more original series, although I concur with the Batman graphic novels and will add a mention of Gotham Central, which I hope is available as some kind of omnibus since it's about forty issues. But just a stellar, stellar story set in Gotham, but not starring Batman (although he's in it), but instead the detectives of the MCU, such as Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock. The series is interesting in that the story shifts back and forth between the day shift and the night shift, and it works a lot like a crime procedural despite their having to deal with Batman's rogues gallery quite a bit, as well as crooked cops in their own department. Basically it's like the Wire meets Batman, and is excellent. Knowledge of the greater DC universe is not required to a great extent, other than that a concurrent plotline in the main Batman comic makes them antagonistic towards Batman about 2/3rds through, where their relationship changes suddenly within the span of one comic. But the ending of the series is easily one of the best things I've ever read in comics. Batman graphic novels I'd recommend besides The Killing Joke: Batman Year One, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, The Man Who Falls, The Man Who Laughs, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth, Joker: The Dark Knight, Catwoman: When in Rome, and I dunno, Two-Face Strikes Twice for a little fun? __________________ The Valiant Review Last edited by Magus; 11-05-2011 at 11:28 PM.

11-06-2011, 01:47 AM	#13
Fifthfiend for all seasons Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 19,409	Darwyn Cooke seems like he'd maybe be up your alley, try New Frontier and The Spirit. New Frontier is like, Superman and Wonder Woman and suchlike but instead of a bunch of hassles about continuity you just have like, 1950s political intrigue and Wonder Woman beating up Vietnamese slavers and such. The Spirit is like, basically just rad as hell pulp detective/adventure stories. Immortal Iron Fist was hells good, if you like comics about kung-fu billionaires and the seven secret immortal cities that love them then this could be the comic for you? It's IN-CONTINUITY but not in any way that matters, you certainly won't know the difference between the stuff that's actually from an existing Marvel comic somewhere and the mountain of stuff that the writers are making up on the spot. I've seen it described as the Marvel Universe's idea of Exalted. Marvel's Annihilation is basically just this fantastically grandiose space opera epic saga in space. It is insanely, insanely continuilicious like I don't think there's a thing in it that doesn't have 40 years of backstory connected to it. I personally didn't know hardly any of that backstory before I picked it up and I enjoyed it pretty good but I have a pretty high tolerance for that kind of thing. If Immortal is Marvel's version of Exalted then this is Marvel's version of 40K. __________________ check out my buttspresso Last edited by Fifthfiend; 11-06-2011 at 01:49 AM.

11-06-2011, 01:59 AM	#14
Fifthfiend for all seasons Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 19,409	Oh, OH, if you haven't read it, a pretty standard recommendation for anyone who enjoys Atomic Robo: Hellboy, aka "Atomic Robo is pretty much just this comic except Scott Wegener traced uglier lines on top of it and then Brian Clevinger scrawled his own garbagewriting into all of the word bubbles". The first volume of the series is actually a bit rough, so maybe grab two or three and start there and then go read the first one after you're into the storyline already, if that's the sort of thing that works for you (The first volume is co-written by Mike Mignola and Chris Claremont, the later volumes are written by Mike Mignola solely and his personal writing style really suits the series more). __________________ check out my buttspresso

11-06-2011, 02:01 AM	#15
Mr.Bookworm YYYEEEEEAAAAAAHHH Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,034	Two one-shot comics that I just got done reading that I would recommend are Joker and Luthor (you might find it as Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, but the most recent edition is just titled Luthor). Both are by Brian Azzarello, who also did 100 Bullets which is pretty great (okay make that three recommendations). They both take place from the viewpoint of the villains and neither is in continuity, so you don't really need to know anything beyond the bare basics of Superman and Batman. Joker is about the Joker getting out of Arkham and wreaking havoc, takes place in a really noir-ish Gotham City, and has Batman show up for about five pages and completely steal the show while only speaking three words in the entire comic. Luthor is about Luthor being a pretty nice and noble guy on the surface while doing some absolutely monstrous things in his crusade against Superman. Also has Superman (who always shows up from Luthor's point of view as a scowling monster with glowing red eyes) turn up pretty rarely, he only gets a single line, and he does pretty much steal the show. EDIT: Oh yeah, Hellboy. Hellboy is fantastic. And great. BUY IT. Like, if you are just starting out in comic books, you pretty much have a couple of years worth of non-stop great reading material ahead of you. Last edited by Mr.Bookworm; 11-06-2011 at 02:06 AM.

11-07-2011, 09:54 PM	#18
Satan's Onion Swing You Sinners! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: 4th Street Posts: 2,666	I extra-double-specially need to make a list. Just finished Freakangels. Dammit, why are you all making such excellent suggestions, you jerkfaces __________________ Good evening, ladies. Please enter and be tained .

11-07-2011, 10:12 PM	#19
DarkDrgon Always Trick Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 978	I can't shout enough that the new DareDevil is fantastic. I'm hoping they don't start throwing DD down the "Happy-shitty event-downward spiral-I'ma pull through" storyline that they've been rehashing since born again. Robo and DD are the only reasons I go to my comic shop anymore, if something else catches my eye, great, but without those 2 I wouldn't even bother with new comics __________________ [color=red] Kneel before the Lord Drgon, or you will be knelt.