Comics?

[mountie218]

Hello forum.

So I am just getting into comics and I was looking for suggestions on some great books that will introduce me to the various stories and characters the medium has to offer. I enjoyed "Watchmen," and REALLY enjoyed "Sandman," but I was looking for more. I am currently reading "The Walking Dead Compendium," but I haven't decided what I shall take on after that. So I come to you, fellow patrons of the geek arts, for suggestions on more great books. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LuckyClover95]

AAAH I was going to suggest The Walking Dead, it's the only comic set I read.
Darn you for already knowing it. Anyway, to be honest I wouldn't recommend superhero ones very much, but thats just me. Actually, X-Men are pretty good. Also, Scott Pilgrim.
Good luck <3

 

[Bucht]

If you want to get into Marvel comics I'd start with the big events (Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege,...) and read the tie-ins from all the characters you like.

 

[Mr.Petey]

I found the Alien Omnibus series of comics to be very enthralling. Basically each comic takes a handful of stories from the Alien saga, weather they be corporate corruption or human survival, and puts it into one thick comic book.
They stand independent of the movies so they don't need a whole host of film knowledge to understand everything.

Hope this is of some help to help broaden your palette!

 

[Kris015]

If you have an iPod/iPhone/iPad or the like, i suggest the Marvel Comics and DC Comics (apps). There you can see previews and also get some free comics (The comics are 1-3 dollars each).

 

[Aurgelmir]

Hello forum.

So I am just getting into comics and I was looking for suggestions on some great books that will introduce me to the various stories and characters the medium has to offer. I enjoyed "Watchmen," and REALLY enjoyed "Sandman," but I was looking for more. I am currently reading "The Walking Dead Compendium," but I haven't decided what I shall take on after that. So I come to you, fellow patrons of the geek arts, for suggestions on more great books. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

If you want to get into more mainstream Superhero stuff I recomend Ultimate Spider-man. It is a great way to get into the Ultimate Marvel Universe, which can later lead you into the "normal" universe.

PS: Ultimate Marvel is a "reboot" of most of the marvel comics, without doing a DC and starting everything over (again), worked out quite nicely. Ultimates 1 and 2 are good too.

 

[Hristo Petrov]

Transmetropolitan and Black Summer

 

[Xerosch]

Hmm... as you've already read Sandman and Watchmen, you've basically covered two of the best/most important things on the comic sector.

Try 'Fables'. It's about all the faerie tale characters being forced out of their magic world into New York (I think). The first TPB is a bit slow and not that new, but stick with it and you'll be surprised what the author did with the material. And no, it's not the kind of sweet and endearing story you might expect.

If you can get your hands on it, I highly recommend 'Peter Pan' by Régis Loisel. It's essentially the prequel to the know Peter Pan story and in equal parts beautiful, sad and gruesome. Really a fantastic read!

If you're in the mood for some anarchisitc humor, try 'Transmetropolitan'. It's great but a little bit different to what you mentioned as comics you've already read.

There are some great 'Batman' stories that don't force you to keep up with the continuity. My personal choice would be 'Arkham Asylum' and 'The Long Halloween'.

 

[manythings]

Anything by Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore is a pretty good way to do things. League of Extraordinary Gentleman is great along with the Killing Joke. Maybe try some Hell Blazer, John Constantiine is fucking good stuff.

 

[sketch_zeppelin]

Give Empowered a try. It's currently a 6 book set by Adam Warren (gen 13, dirty pair) It revolves around a wanabee super herione called Empowered. She's clumsy, has a costume (the source of her powers) that is always malfuctioning, she's constanly getting kidnapped and she has self esteam issues which aren't helped by her fellow super heros treating her like a joke.

She's also one of the best things to happen to super hero comics in a long time. Empowered is a deep rounded character with a small circle of friends that cloesly mirror most people in RL. Even her role as a super hero is treated like a job that she really wants to do well in but isn't getting any help from her co-workers.

On top of this the book is cute and funny as hell and has a unique art style thats a nice cross between the Marvel/DC style of the west and the Manga style of the east. the books are in black and white too.

You can find vols 1-6 at most borders or barnes and nobles. Things from another world and dark horse online also are good places to get them.

 

[mountie218]

Give Empowered a try. It's currently a 6 book set by Adam Warren (gen 13, dirty pair) It revolves around a wanabee super herione called Empowered. She's clumsy, has a costume (the source of her powers) that is always malfuctioning, she's constanly getting kidnapped and she has self esteam issues which aren't helped by her fellow super heros treating her like a joke.

She's also one of the best things to happen to super hero comics in a long time. Empowered is a deep rounded character with a small circle of friends that cloesly mirror most people in RL. Even her role as a super hero is treated like a job that she really wants to do well in but isn't getting any help from her co-workers.

On top of this the book is cute and funny as hell and has a unique art style thats a nice cross between the Marvel/DC style of the west and the Manga style of the east. the books are in black and white too.

You can find vols 1-6 at most borders or barnes and nobles. Things from another world and dark horse online also are good places to get them.

Wow, that sounds a lot like "The Greatest American Hero." I'll check it out!

 

[WolfThomas]

There's a new thread like this everyday but hey I do love talkin' bout comics. I find good advice is to find a writer you enjoy, they're stuff is usually quite consistent across titles.

Some of my favourite writers are:
Grant Morrison (All Star Superman, Animal Man, The Invisibles)
Warren Ellis (Next Wave: Agents of Hate, The Authority, Transmetropolitian)
Garth Ennis (Hellblazer, Punisher MAX, Hitman, Preacher)
Neil Gaimon (Sandman)
Mike Carey (Lucifer, The Unwritten)
Brian K. Vaughn (Y - The Last Man, Runaways, Pride of Baghdad, Ex Machina)
Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
Brian Michael Bendis (Alias, Powers)


.

 

[Hap2]

Maus
Persepolis
Transmetropolitan
V for Vendetta
Anything by Osamu Tezuka (Buddha, Black Jack, the Phoenix books if you can find them)
20th Century Boys

A little bit of everything from around the globe.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

--

 

[Gabanuka]

Civil war is a pretty good Marvel one

 

[Tsukuyomi]

DC's Kingdom Come is always worth a read, along with everything else that's been mentioned so far in this topic.

However I will point out that while Watchmen and Sandman are great in their own right, going to Marvel or DC (personally I enjoy DC more, but I am finding some stuff to enjoy in Marvel) may be a bit of an interesting experience for you. Things aren't quite as grim or gritty as say Watchmen was, in current comics. Well, maybe a few are, but for the most part not really. The bottom line is that not all of it is going to be as awesome or groundbreaking or thought-provoking as those two titles, as well as some of the others listed in this topic, are. As long as you understand that, you'll be just fine, I think.

After that, I tend to find that I do best by going to the comic shop and wandering around. Picking up and reading a few pages of what I see that catches my attention. I found Green Lantern that way (yes, it's much better than the movie portrays it. Although contrary to popular belief, I don't think it was THAT awful.) and I've read others on a whim too.

So yeah...bottom line is just don't expect everything to be deep or thought-provoking, and don't be afraid to just try some random titles.

 

[AlAaraaf74]

V for Vendetta (my favorite, as you can tell by my avatar)
Persepolis
Maus
a lot of others have already been mentioned...

 

[SquidVicious]

As many people have already said, Transmetropolitan. It's about a cyberpunk version of Hunter S. Thompson armed with a gun that makes you shit yourself.

Some other good series' would include:

Preacher, a comic about a foul mouthed, chain smoking, fist fighting, whiskey swigging preacher, his hitwoman girlfriend, and their Irish vampire friend on a quest to punish God for his sins against humanity. It does actually delve into deeper themes like feminism in the modern age, inter-racial relationships, and how to be a hero. Plus it has probably the most tragic character ever created, arseface.

Finally my third comic series I would recommend would be Fell, written by Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan) and the artwork done by Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night). It's a police procedural about a detective in one of the worst inner cities in America. It's only got one full collection out right now, so you can finish it in two hours, but each of the stories are well constructed and the characters are quite interesting.

 

[aba1]

I'd recomend Bear by jamie smart really funny n silly lots of fun