Chiggins said:
This might be considered off-topic by comic-book purists - but what would anyone recommend in the way of manga?
Oh, I am so very glad you asked!
First of all, the ending of the original "Battle Angel Alita" series was reportedly forced the author by the publisher. "Alita" has been restarted as "Battle Angel Alita: Last Order", picking up pretty much at the destruction of the sky city and carrying on from there into some truly epic territory.
So, looking at my shelf, here's what I would loan you if you asked me that question in person.
--"Vagabond" by Takehiko Inoue. Dude, I totally lack words for the gorgeousness of Inoue's art. It's set in feudal Japan and tells the life story of Musashi Miyamoto, an actual historical figure who became a "sword-saint," enlightened through the pursuit of perfect swordsmanship. If Akira Kurosawa made manga instead of movies, this is the manga he would have made.
Cultural note: you'll see the motif of "enlightenment through battle" A LOT in anime and manga. That's one of the reasons why you get these extended (multi-episode/multi-issue) fight sequences - because in the heat of battle is where all the real personal growth and character development takes place. If you ever watch the anime "Bleach" or "Naruto", you will see prime examples of this. I recommend "Bleach", by the way, anime or manga. Good Stuff.
--In a complete 180 from sword-saints and enlightenment, "Genshiken" is the story of an anime/manga/video game/cosplay fanclub at a Japanese college - basically a room full of geeks of all sorts. It's hilarious as well as human. You might feel a little lost at all the genre references (hentai? yaoi? magical girl?) but if you get into manga and anime, come back to this manga which will seem very Japanese and totally familiar at the same time.
--If you liked "Battle Angel Alita" and you end up liking Frank Miller (or not - I hate Frank Miller's work with a passion but I understand why those who like him do) then you should definitely hunt down "Ashen Victor", which is a one-shot story set in the "Alita" universe. The timeline and perspective flip back and forth a bit, so you have to pay attention, but it is a masterpiece, one of my favorites ever. It went out of print for a while. Not sure if it's still available.
--"Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service" is a great, low-key, slice-of-life style manga, if your life happened to involve communicating with the deceased to try and help them rest in peace.
--"Deathnote" is kind of hard to explain, because the plot is so intricate. Starting point: A high school kid finds the notebook of a Death God. Anyone whose name is written in the book will die of the cause specified in writing. So, if you had a notebook like that, would you use it to totally reshape the world to your ideals? He would. And others try to stop him in what becomes the most elaborate psychological chessgame I've seen in ANY media, not just manga.
--"Great Teacher Onizuka" is an example of the Japanese sense of humor, which is a very slapstick, banana peels and fart jokes sense of humor. The 23-year-old former head of a biker gang graduates from a diploma mill college, needs a job, and decides to become a high school teacher so he can hit on 16-year-old girls. Hilarity ensues. Are you familiar with the Japanese school girl fetish? If you aren't, you will be if you spend any time at all consuming manga and anime.
Japanese anime and manga tend to be divided into boys' and girls' manga (shonen and shojo). The ones I've listed so far are all boys' manga, because I've made the assumption that you are a guy. Being a fangirl myself, I also read girls' manga, which can match the boys for story and art, but the subjects and handling tend to be different. If you are interested in shojo recs, either for yourself or for someone you know, I'd be happy to give you some great titles to start.
Also, regarding regular old comics, Alan Moore=BUY IT! Seriously.
Fantastic comics I'm reading right now:
--"Ex Machina". What if a not-so-superhero became mayor of New York? Brian Vaughn is made entirely of awesome.
--"Desolation Jones." How much drugs has Warren Ellis taken, anyway? Los Angeles is an open prison for ex-super spies. Desolation Jones is one of them who ends up being a sort of private investigator for the rest of them.
--"Powers" by Brian Michael Bendis. Cops + Superheros is like Chocolate + Peanut Butter, and like snack size Reese's, I will take as many of these as anyone is willing to give me. Bendis writes the best dialogue in comics today. Fact.
Stuff I'm not reading now because it's all wrapped up:
--"The Invisibles". However much drugs Warren Ellis has done, it is nothing compared to Grant Morrison, who could just be famous as the weirdest bastard to ever write mainstream comics, except that he's super talented, so he's the weirdest bastard to ever write really good comics, and with Alan Moore and Warren Ellis as competition, that's saying something.
--"Kabuki" by David Mack. This isn't technically wrapped up, but Mack is such a lazy S.O.B that there's maybe an issue every 6-8 months, when his publisher send a couple thugs over to threaten to kneecap him if he doesn't get his ass back to the drawing table. Get the trade paperback collections, because even though Mack is a total wanker, his art and writing are astonishing, completely beyond anything else you've ever seen in comics.
--"Batman: Arkham Asylum" - written by Grant Morrison (Batman always attracts the freaky writers) and painted (not drawn) by Dave McKean, who is the cover artist for the Sandman series, and probably the only artist who jaw-drops me even harder than David Mack.
