Comic book/graphic novel recommendation?

[WolfThomas]

I'd like to recommend any thing from these authors:

Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Miracleman)
Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Doom Patrol, Animal Man, The Invisibles, Kill Your Boyfriend, WE3)
Warren Ellis (Next Wave: Agents of H.A.T.E., The Authority, Transmetropolitian, Ultimates Galactus Trilogy)
Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher)
Mark Millar (Kickass, Wanted, Ultimates 1 and 2, Superman : Red Son, The Authority)
Neil Gaimon (Sandman, Marvel 1602, Miracleman)
Brian Michael Bendis (Alias, Powers)
Brian K. Vaughn (Y - The Last Man, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Ex Machina)
Brian Wood (Northlanders, DMZ)

Also Cable and Deadpool (Fabian Niceza) is a fantastic comic.
Also David Tischman's run on Cable and Soldier X is such an unique look at being a super hero.

 

[freakydan]

I've been reading Garth Ennis' run on "The Punisher MAX", which is surprisingly good so far, if you don't mind excessive amounts of gore.

 

[Fuselage]

I probably got Ninja'd but... Wanted, Batman: The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth and if possible, ALL OF THE SANDMAN SERIES.
Seriously Neil Gaiman is a GOD.

 

[WolfEdge]

Don't forget to check out Lackadaisy! And Boxerhockey is incredible too!

If you're more interested in printed stuff, nothing wrong with a little Calvin and Hobbes. I've also found Maus: A Survivor's Tale to be excellent. And the on-going graphic novel series Dreamkeepers is spectacular. Also, as others have said, Scott Pilgrim is pretty much a requirement now.

 

[Con Carne]

Hack/Slash

 

[InfiniteSingularity]

The Sandman. I'm sorry, but you can't get any better than Neil Gaiman himself

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

Gantz!
It's a manga though if that's not what you were looking for.
Graphic novel...just reads backwards.

Probably shouldn't look at this recommendation if you're <18yo though

 

[Harrowdown]

Anything by Alan Moore is good, especially Watchmen and V For Vendetta. Then there's the Scott Pilgrim series, which is brilliant.

 

[Arean]

Watchmen is a timeless classic, so if you want a graphic novel it's kind of a go-to starter.

Another graphic novel I really enjoyed was Camelot 3000. Imagine the knights of the round table. in space. with lasers.

As for regular comic books, really depends on your taste. If you like lightness of tone combined with great action, I'd go for some Deadpool comics, especially rhe Cable and Deadpool run.

 

[Neo_Merlin]

There's a lot of good suggestions but I don't think anybody mentioned this. It has the advantage of being very new, indie (which is all the rage at the moment) and currently you can read it for free.

http://www.winter-city.com/latest-news.php

It's a comic mini-series set to be released over this year. The artwork is awesome. This is what the synopsis on the website says.

During the coldest winter on record, in one of the countries most corrupt cities, seven men will die. Every sin has a price and Sam Winters is coming to collect.

No longer the man he was, no longer a husband, no longer a father. Sam has fallen over the edge of sanity and into a dark, twisted reality where he truly believes he is Death incarnate on a mission to claim the blood debt from the evil that is destroying the world.

As Sam Winters claims his vengeful retribution from the vile criminals who destroyed everything that mattered, Sam's sociopathic tendencies are revealed through a retrospective look into an abusive childhood, a violent adolescence, and a nurturing love affair that ends in a climactic tragedy.

The city has a new law and those who choose a life of sin will be brutally punished. Every sin has a price.

 

[Infernai]

the walking dead was a graphic novel before it was a tv show.

watchmen is popular. most frank miller novels (sin city!).

Ok, even though Frank Miller has definitely had his share of good stories.....I'm sorry, but i've gotta post this:

 

[SketchyFK]

for marvel comics, i'd recommend Planet Hulk and then World War Hulk trades IF you're wanting to jump into reading comics. For DC, maybe Blackest Night? Or one of the batman n robin/ red robin trades. Both are pretty good (pre return of bruce wayne).

If you're just wanting to stick to graphic novels then... um... V for Vendetta? One or 2 of the Superman trades? I hear All Star Superman is one of the best out there (i havn't read it, just heard from numerous review sites. You could always just play it safe and get Watchmen, shouldn't be too difficult to find.

I will probably make a total ass out of myself but didn't they made a film or an animation at least of planet hulk?

Yeah they all sound good, I will look into them, Watchmen a few people have said so I will try and get that.

thanks for the recommendations

I see no ass, you are completely correct, they did make a film version of Planet Hulk. I really, REALLY wouldn't recommend it though. They had to cut ALOT (I can't stress how much) from the original comics and it lost alot of what made the comic great. In their defense there was ALOT to cram into the movie. It's like "The Last Airbender"'s movie by Night, far too much to put in. If it was over 2 movies then it might have been good but alas.

If you are interested in any of the comic versions of the Hulk, I'd probably recommend Wolverine vs the Hulk, because it has lots of comedy and it also has a follow on (an episode of X-men evolution or Wolverine and the X-men, i forget which)

 

[[.redacted]]

[sub]...Claymore..?[/sub]

I have no place here =(

 

[Illesdan]

Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis' Justice League International (the original format was simply 'Justice League') then later changed to 'Justice League America' (Giffen/DeMatteis) when they spawned the spin-off series 'Justice League Europe' (Gerard Jones), which is also a good series.

Green Lantern and the GL spin-off 'Mosiac', featuring John Stewart. The back issues are going quite cheap, and you don't need the first issues to get into the stories. Also, look for 'Guy Gardner Reborn' and 'Green Lantern Emerald Dawn I and II'. These titles were all written by Gerard Jones.

I don't know how easy it would be to find, but find every issue of 'Dalgoda' you can find! It is an amazing science fiction read that still holds up to this day (it first came out in '82/'83, I believe. These were put out by Fantagrapics Books.

Other recommendations:

The Walking Dead, Myth Adventures (this might be a little hard to find), Knights of the Dinner Table, Booster Gold, Power Girl, Crossed, The Destroyer (Another title that may be difficult to find), Peter David's 'X-Factor'... Well, anything by Peter David, really, the man is a genius. That's all off the top of my head. Once you start finding writers and artists you like; you'll find more on your own.

One piece of advice, though; STAY AWAY FROM THE SILENT HILL COMICS!!! They are rubbish, and I will leave it at that.

 

[Ambi]

Logicomix is worth a look; it's all about Bertrand Russell and math and philosophy, and it's really quite compelling.

Seconded. It even almost made learning maths look appealing to me.

Plenty before me have also said V for Vendetta, I also recommend it.

As of recently, I've discovered how awesome the comic section at the local library is, so here's my list:

- Bodyworld

Collective consciousness, those little reflective quirks that make you laugh, a strange new drug, a sort futuristic town (with a map that folds out of the cover), a self-destructive botanist, high school, relationships, aliens... It manages to incorporate all these things in an endearing and sometimes humorous way. As well as ink, the artist used paint in various ways, charcoal, and some other things, which I thought was more interesting than just regular ink. I liked it a lot.

Spoiler alert (but if you want to see some of it):

- Box Office Poison

At first I was like "meh, it's just relationship melodrama, kind of vapid, pah, I am a non-conformist and above such forms of entertainment! I may as well be one of those idiots obsessing over shitty soap operas on TV. Just because the characters are cool and from New York and are in the comic book industry, does that redeem me from-" (you get the gist of it) but then I started liking the characters and became curious about what happens to them. It primarily follows the lives of a college graduate working at a bookstore job he hates, his grossly irresponsible girlfriend, an insecure pudgy virgin comic book artist and the insufferable yet pitiful comic industry veteran he works for, a cute female comic book artist, and her history lecturer boyfriend.

- Why I Hate Saturn

The main character is a witty, procrastinating, somewhat insecure columnist for a pretentious hipster magazine who gets caught up in some absurd adventure because of her slightly insane sister who believes she's from Saturn. The dialogue is the most interesting part to me.

- Dante's Divine Comedy: A Graphic Adaptation

It does the story justice in that that cartooning style actually presents it as a comedy rather than something terrifying. I liked the man-tangled-with-snake pattern on the inside of the cover pages. It looked pleasant and neat like vintage wallpaper, but it was quite absurd. Also, they had a portrait of a dumb looking dinosaur labelled "SATAN". Things like that made me smile in amusement.

- Afterschool Charisma (manga series)

It's about a high school for clones of famous historical figures who are expected to carry on work of their originals, and one non-clone. It's interesting seeing how the author chose to present the personalities of characters such as Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Sigmund Freud, Florence Nightingale, and Joan of Arc in a modern day setting. It also brings to mind questions of the nature vs nurture debate and what people can really be capable of.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Rogue 9]

So sad, everyone always mentions Alan Moore but no one ever seems to mention my personal favourite of his works, Top 10. It's about the police force in a city where just about everyone, from kids to old folks is a Science Hero. Truly fantastic, imaginative books.

Also on the Warren Ellis bandwagon, I highly, highly recommend Freakangels. It's a webcomic that updates with 6 pages at a time, most Fridays, but is also available in 5 (so far) collected volumes. This sums it up better than I could without copying it -> http://www.freakangels.com/?page_id=2

If you're into Star Wars at all, there are plenty of good series that have come out over the years, including several ongoing. Knights of the Old Republic, which has finished now, and which is an indirect prequel to the games is excellent, as is Legacy which is set long after the original movies. The 50-issue Legacy series is now finished, but the story is continuing in the current Legacy War mini-series.

What else...? Atomic Robo is wonderful, as some people have already mentioned. I'm a huge fan of Fables. Runaways, particularly the first three story arcs, is a must read in my opinion. Oh, Skullkickers is a fun new series (issue 6 just came out this week) about two quite vulgar and violent mercenaries, a man and a dwarf, causing moderately well intentioned mayhem in a fantasy setting. Oh! And Empowered by Adam Warren. Originally a guilty pleasure, this series which comes out just in collected volumes (6 so far, plus a one shot single issue) features a fair bit of "sexual themes" so it's definitely not recommended for younger readers, but the characters are some of the best in all of comics. It's about Empowered, a struggling Superheroine, and her ordeals as she copes with villains, unfortunate publicity and her often unsupportive team mates.

 

[tahrey]

If no-one else has said at least one of these yet, my work is done

Obvious:
Kick Ass (yes there is a sequel, currently serialised in CLiNT magazine)
Batman - Dark Knight etc
Transmet
Akira (this'll take you a while) << for the record, the movie cuts off somewhere in the middle of book 3 of... 6? 7? in the master collection, and mashes SO much of the fine detail together.
Sandman
Watchmen / V for Vendetta / moore-stuff in general

Hell, I've only read maybe half of those, but I've seen bits and bobs of the others and wished that I'd had the time to plough through whilst they were close at hand.


Less obvious but probably already mentioned:
Maus should be required reading on the school curriculum
Persepolis is along similar lines but not quite as grim.
Bone... if you have the patience.
Ghost in the Shell ... it was a good anime, but an AWESOME manga (the same effect as Akira but on a smaller scale - lots of stuff went missing), and the paper version has dated far better than the movie.
Various other Shirows (author of GitS) - they can be hit and miss, so if you don't like one, ditch it and sample another. Tank Police, Black Magic, Appleseed, all pretty cool. Strangely the "side story" volumes are at least as good if not FAR better


Probably not mentioned? (more detail with these)
* The Adam Warren version of The Dirty Pair. It's trashy and just one massive excuse for him to draw cheesecake, but by heck is it enjoyable. A fair bit of proper hard-science fiction in there too, bubbling away under the surface but - much like Cowboy Bebop after it - never becoming the main focus or overtaking the dramedy that is the thing's driving force.
(Also his more original "Empowered" is pretty good)

* Paradigm Shift - an american drawn manga that started life on the web ... no, don't run off! It's goddamn brilliant, and the print copies are cheap (alternatively: badger your local library to get it in and spread the love). It is released on a terribly slow schedule though, much like Akira was (and NotVoW - see later). There's not a great deal I can say about it that doesn't ruin the plot twists, so just consider what would happen if the X-Files, CSI and Law & Order crashed together at an intersection in downtown Chicago.

* Girl Genius has a more traditionally comicky (but watercoloured!) style and went through a bit of a fanzine - webcomic - mixed media evolution, but is good. Think: voluptuous steampunk dramedy epic.

* Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is something to move onto after you've built your staying power with Akira and a taste for manga and far-flung settings with some of the others. Think: Hayao Miyazaki hand draws several thousand pages of his own epic manga. Think: world suffering from catastrophic, global, manmade ecological collapse and all the conflict that comes with. Think: jet scooters. Think: Scrappunk. Fox-squirrels. Bearded swordmasters. Teenage girl with unfeasibly large bosom (always dressed in winter clothes, though) attempting to save the world FROM ITSELF.
It's complicated. It's in 4 volumes. You'll have to re-read it a couple times, particularly if you want to properly soak up all the detail in the artwork after getting the gist of the story. You may have to mentally grapple with Nausi herself being an obvious, Tumnus-grade Christ analogue. It's worth it.

* Oh, and so many various damn good web comics have had print runs, but whilst they're available free online you may as well explore for yourself... For something different and as an example plucked entirely at random, try "Lackadaisy". 1920s gangster... cats. With gorgeous sepia-toned art. It's quite lightweight, and for now, fairly short in terms of amount published, so could be a coffee-table book.

Edit: Oh god, is there NOTHING here that no-one else has said about?
Consider it all VOTES for them, then.

Also go just browse the library graphic novel section and flick through a few, see if anything catches your eye.
For extra trashy, eye rending colour, pulp sci fi awesomeness, see if they have any compilations of the old "Amazing Science Fiction" comics and similar. My dad used to read those, I looked through them when he was done, they're ... mad. Mad, bad, and UTTERLY BRILLIANT.

 

[Hyper-space]

All-star Superman
Watchmen
Scott Pilgrim
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Fables.

 

[GiantRaven]

So sad, everyone always mentions Alan Moore but no one ever seems to mention my personal favourite of his works, Top 10. It's about the police force in a city where just about everyone, from kids to old folks is a Science Hero. Truly fantastic, imaginative books.

Top 10 is Alan Moore at his very finest. Thanks for reminding me of it's existence. I should give it another read.

Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher)

I wouldn't recommend The Boys personally. Ennis is trying to be far too gratuitous than he should be, and the main story and characters are really suffering as a result. It started off ok but it very quickly became incredibly tedious to read.