the_grip on 10/2/2013 at 22:44
I haven't read graphic novels for about 10-12 years or so, and I recently started reading the Locke & Key series and have just about burned through the first four chapters in a week and a half... Really like it.
Can anyone recommend any other graphic novels? The last series I read was Sandman (way back when) and the occasional Conan issue. I tend to lean towards horror and grittier titles.
gunsmoke on 11/2/2013 at 00:15
OOOH! Definitely check out the Walking Dead.
june gloom on 11/2/2013 at 01:37
From the same guy, but better -- Invincible. Both comics just put out issue #100 recently. I suggest you not read it all at once, though -- I did, and was traumatized. Lots of bad shit happens in those comics.
demagogue on 11/2/2013 at 02:37
I can only mention ones I know.
Queen & Country I was going through
Cerebus the Aardvark and thought it was pretty good until the author goes legitimately batshit in the last few episodes, although even that is sort of interesting in a "car wreck in slow motion but you can't stop watching" sort of way.
I always like (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_%28comics%29)
Jason's comics, but they're on the minimalist side.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - from the guys that did Watchmen & V is for Vendetta.
I would mention
Lupin III, my favorite comic series of all time, but English translations are actually hard to come by AFAIK, or maybe easy and I haven't searched very hard. (
http://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/forums/index.php?topic=2019.0) Here are some I could find. If you can find some in English, I recommend it. That and
Cowboy Bebop, which has an American distributor so English versions aren't hard to find.
Fafhrd on 11/2/2013 at 04:24
Phonogram: Start with 'The Singles Club' and then read 'Rue Britannia,' as Singles Club is a better introduction to the concept.
Hellboy: Really excellent mix of horror and adventure and folklore and comedy.
Ministry of Space: Self contained alt-history one shot where Britain wins the space race.
Ignition City: Another self-contained piece (though I really, really wish there was more). Deadwood, but with old sci-fi pulp heroes instead of historical Western figures. Flash Gordon is Al Swearengen. See if you can pick out who everybody else is based on.
Planetary: Awesome meta pulp/superhero/pop culture mash-up. Occasionally borders on Grant Morrison territory, but never gets as baroque as Morrison tends to.
the_grip on 11/2/2013 at 06:29
Thanks for the recommendations... I will definitely look into these. I've been watching The Walking Dead since the first episode came out on Halloween a few years ago or so. That's been on my list to follow up on.
If anyone has not read Locke & Key and likes Lovecraftian horror, then I 100% recommend it. It's a great story and I find it very compelling. I've read through all the chapters up until the final one now (just finished Clockworks tonight), and I'm off to my local comic store to buy the issues of the final chapter that have been released thus far.
Fun little trivia... Joe Hill, the author of Locke & Key, is Stephen King's son.
june gloom on 11/2/2013 at 11:24
I actually have an ongoing list of DCU stuff that I think is worth reading, but I need to update it before I can post here. It's very Batman-centric.
Stitch on 12/2/2013 at 21:57
Quote Posted by demagogue
I can only mention ones I know.
Queen & Country I was going through
Cerebus the Aardvark and thought it was pretty good until the author goes legitimately batshit in the last few episodes, although even that is sort of interesting in a "car wreck in slow motion but you can't stop watching" sort of way.
Cerebus holds a weird spot in my world. The second half of its 300(!) issue run is more or less one slow collapse down into the dumper, and yet it's the title that really opened my eyes to what comics were capable of. It's not a stretch to say that I wouldn't be working on comics now if it weren't for pre-crazy Dave Sim.
Anyway, other recommendations:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preacher_(comics)) Preacher is a hyperviolent good time, a gleefully nasty romp that probably couldn't exist in any other form. Also gets points for containing one of the best romances I've ever encountered in any medium. That being said, the selective morality of it all definitely makes
Preacher not quite for everyone.
On the other end of the spectrum,
(http://www.amazon.com/Blankets-Craig-Thompson/dp/1891830430) Blankets is a touching autobiographical tale of the author's first love and eventual loss of faith. The first aspect connects a little more solidly than the second, but
Blankets succeeds at being a rich, dense read that touches storytelling beats completely out of the realm of the more episodic monthly-collection graphic novels.
Blankets is the graphic novel I hand to someone when I want to show that comics can be more than male action fantasies--not that I don't love a well-done male action fantasy (i.e.
Preacher).
And, of course, I have to pimp my own work-in-progress
(http://atroxity.com) Atroxity, although at the moment that's more of a graphic chapter than a graphic novel. Still, we're finally adopting a new one-page-per-week publishing rate, which means constant visible progress.
june gloom on 12/2/2013 at 22:15
It kind of goes without saying, but Transmetropolitan is 60 issues of absolute fucking madness by Warren Ellis. It's one of my favourite comics of all time.
Stitch on 12/2/2013 at 22:34
Transmet gets off to a rough and disjointed start, which should TOTALLY BE POWERED THROUGH as the series does eventually find its legs and get incredible a volume or two in.
