Sooo..... Comic books. Anyone else think most of them are kinda teribble?

[Bohemian Waltz]

I don't hate comic but I rarely find any that I like. Does anyone share a similar opinion? Could someone recommend me a series?

If your at all interested in reading something by D.C. which doesn't suck and is fantastic try picking up Superman: Red Son [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman:_Red_Son]. It's a 160 page mini-series and it's basically "what if... superman's rocket ship lands in the Ukraine instead of Kansas in the 1950s altering the cold war towards soviet dominance in the future with Superman as the authoritarian 'big-brother-ish' party leader".

It's pretty short and quite good.

Spoiler: Here's a picture

 

[ComicsAreWeird]

I have to disagree. Sure, there´s a lot of crap ou there, but to say that most are terrible isnt accurate. If you read Vertigo, Dark Horse and Image books you´ll find plenty of variety outside the mainstream spandex superheroes. A few examples:

...
-The Dark Tower
...

Does it have anything to do with Steven King's The Dark Tower novels?

Yep, it´s a great adaptation of Stephen King´s novels. If you´re a SK fan, i´ll also recommend The Stand. Marvel is doing a great job adapting them to the comics medium. The fact that SK is closely involved and that the art is gorgeous are huge draws. Checkém out:

Spoiler: The Stand pic

Spoiler: The Dark Tower pic

 

[campofapproval]

Do you count graphic novels because there are many good ones out.
I hardly even read comic books.

once again, what does that mean? does that mean you only read comics in trade paperback form? does that mean you only read limited series that can be collected in one trade/hardcover edition? are you saying you only read comics that have strong story arcs?

Yes i enjoy 'graphic novels' that have a reasonably good story line. Graphic novels aren't exactly the same as comic books, graphic novels tend to act like a normal novel with a strong stroy, but illustrated. Comic books usually are filled with more action and movement, so that it needs to be illustrated to show the plot and what is happening. Paperbacks have nothing to do with the main stem of comic books or graphic novel.
They could both be collected if so chosen but then again, collection has nothing to do with it. But my main point is that i choose the book more 'advanced' (i.e. graphic novels), in my opinion.

BTW: From my previous statement i meant to say that i prefer story more than picture.

i get what you're talking about, graphic novels having character development and narrative arcs as opposed to yr average funnybooks. what are some of your favorite series?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ofcourse they are, every medium has a small percentage of good work next to a huge pile of poop, that is just how things are.
You just need to find the ones that work for you, but the trend is the same everywhere, alot of movies/games/music/poetry/books/.... simply suck.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

Wait!!!!!! Don't flame just yet! Let me say my opinion first.
I don't hate the medium of comic books. I like the format of comic books just not the content. I like plenty of comic books. Scott pilgrim, Watchmen and that halo graphic novel was cool (elites are awesome). But the majority of comics are about super heroes which in and of it self isn't a bad thing. But the story's they get up to and the things they do is just this jumbled mess of barely related events that they just string together with barely relevant time travel and inter dimensional sub plots. Dc is particularly guilty of this.
I don't hate comic but I rarely find any that I like. Does anyone share a similar opinion? Could someone recommend me a series?

Your spelling of 'terrible' is terrible .

On a more serious note. Find better comics. There's more than just the ones you are referring to. It's all a matter of really trying something different than following the formula you've been so familiar with that is now irking you.

Get out there, explore the world of comics. Better yet- make your own if you have some great ideas on what a good comic should be.

 

[WolfThomas]

It's really about the writers, art is important but with a terrible story it's worth nothing (look at Jeph Loeb's fourth series of ultimates, so pretty yet godawful). So in that vein I'd suggest the following writers:

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

Also Cable and Deadpool (Fabian Niceza) is a fantastic comic.

 

[campofapproval]

Ofcourse they are, every medium has a small percentage of good work next to a huge pile of poop, that is just how things are.
You just need to find the ones that work for you, but the trend is the same everywhere, alot of movies/games/music/poetry/books/.... simply suck.

why do people always say that? what "sucks" is clearly subjective, not the same as what can be considered barf by an objective critical eye. sometimes there's merit in stuff i find bleh, and i don't know why everyone has to be so! darn! cynical!

 

[BlackWidower]

Let me begin by saying I've read and hated Watchmen. I think it's a pretentious piece of shit.

Now unfortunately I can't recommend any comics because I don't read them. Not because of the storylines or anything. I've read up on some of the stories and I kinda like them. But my problem is the 50 years of back-story I would feel I'd have to go through in order to get anything out of the story. Which would probably take me 50 years.

 

[purf]

What you might want to try:

100 Bullets
Y: The Last Man (already mentioned)
DMZ

edit: also, you might want to listen to what KuwaSanjuro mentioned: there are some brilliant Batman comics around

I find it funny that you don't recommend Watchmen while having Rorschach as an avatar.

Haha, you're perfectly right of course So'll add Watchmen to the list. The thing is, though, I'm a bit angry with that book. The ending is too much (yes, pretentious) morality with too little sense. *pours some gasoline over his head* The movie did a much better job here.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

yeah, i'm especially excited to see what brubaker does with incognito and the next criminal story arc. is he still writing secret avengers? i sort of tuned out on that one cause of this and that.
yeah, the show's got some appeal to non-zombie movie fans, darabont showrunning and all. andrea touching moment with zombie amy was a nice bit of weepy business, not to mention the lori's-pregnant-with-shane's-baby-probably thing that seemed soap opera-ish when i first read it. wait, spoiler?

Ah everyone guessed that twist. I'm not up to date with Marvel lately but yeah I can't wait for more Incognito and Sleeper

 

[Joepow]

What you might want to try:

100 Bullets
Y: The Last Man (already mentioned)
DMZ

edit: also, you might want to listen to what KuwaSanjuro mentioned: there are some brilliant Batman comics around

I find it funny that you don't recommend Watchmen while having Rorschach as an avatar.

Haha, you're perfectly right of course So'll add Watchmen to the list. The thing is, though, I'm a bit angry with that book. The ending is too much (yes, pretentious) morality with too little sense. *pours some gasoline over his head* The movie did a much better job here.

The ending was indeed very strange considering the comic's tone, although I am not sure what exactly you mean by "pretentious morality". Haven't seen the film, so I can't comment on that.
edit: INTRUDER ALERT! RED SPY IN THE BASE.

 

[elvor0]

Superhero comics tend to be that way, which is why I avoid them like the fucking plague.

Unless a comic is a stand-alone product, I'm not touching it. This is probably the same reason why I feel the Avengers movie can fuck right off.

Yeah I really doubt Avengers is going to have a convoluted back story that only the finest minds can grasp. If it isnt set up so that you can dive right in I'd be highly surprised.

 

[Lonely Swordsman]

Superhero comics (outside of independent series like Hellboy and Invincible) are rightfully infamous for being as bad as they are.
The trick is to find the exceptions. They're often hidden away from continuity in standalone stories or spinoffs.
Admittedly, this can take a good while.

Personally I don't really read anything Marvel or DC anymore except when someone I trust recommends me stuff.

BTW if you're looking for a great comic in general, read Transmetropolitan. Hunter S. Thompson and his sexy assistants vs the nastiest parts of Blade Runner, Neuromancer and basically every other cyberpunk world rolled into one big fucked up mess.

 

[jasonbirkoff]

OP check out Joseph Michael Linsner's DAWN series, all his other stuff is well above average as well, but the DAWN series is grand indeed.

 

[campofapproval]

Let me begin by saying I've read and hated Watchmen. I think it's a pretentious piece of shit.

Now unfortunately I can't recommend any comics because I don't read them. Not because of the storylines or anything. I've read up on some of the stories and I kinda like them. But my problem is the 50 years of back-story I would feel I'd have to go through in order to get anything out of the story. Which would probably take me 50 years.

that's not the case with most vertigo, image, icon, idw titles. pick up the first trade of criminal, fables, chew, y: the last man or what-have-you from yr local comics store and you can pretty much jump right in, considering those series were created by the writer and don't have zillions of years of continuity to meet. of big-time series for dc and marvel's main continuities respectively, secret avengers, the current batman things, blackest night and doom patrol aren't that hard to follow without years of prior knowledge. zatanna or something like that you can jump right into without worrying all that much about not knowing the guy with a skeleton head's first appearance in action comics issue three zillion when he originally was a soviet spy or whatever.

 

[The Stonker]

I kinda hate most comic books but not Deadpool! I love Deadpool.
*starts crying* Oh Deadpool! What would I do without you?!

 

[y1fella]

Wait!!!!!! Don't flame just yet! Let me say my opinion first.
I don't hate the medium of comic books. I like the format of comic books just not the content. I like plenty of comic books. Scott pilgrim, Watchmen and that halo graphic novel was cool (elites are awesome). But the majority of comics are about super heroes which in and of it self isn't a bad thing. But the story's they get up to and the things they do is just this jumbled mess of barely related events that they just string together with barely relevant time travel and inter dimensional sub plots. Dc is particularly guilty of this.
I don't hate comic but I rarely find any that I like. Does anyone share a similar opinion? Could someone recommend me a series?

Your spelling of 'terrible' is terrible .

On a more serious note. Find better comics. There's more than just the ones you are referring to. It's all a matter of really trying something different than following the formula you've been so familiar with that is now irking you.

Get out there, explore the world of comics. Better yet- make your own if you have some great ideas on what a good comic should be.

Well that's actually a possibility me writing comics. you see I can draw (Not extremely well) and I do like writing short story's. So I could just be writing short story's with pictures that all share the same story. Could be fun. Could were on my patience. I'll give it a shot.

 

[LightspeedJack]

hyperbole snip

Successful troll is successful.

Walking Dead, Dark Knight Returns, Joker, Red Son, Series of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Green Lantern Blackest Night take your pick.

 

[SovietSecrets]

I kinda hate that about comics. Its just a huge mess most of the time. Yet stuff like the Civil War and Punisher MAX series are fucking sick and worth reading.

 

[y1fella]

Dc is particularly guilty of this.

You belong in a condemned sweatshop.

I'm sorry but what? Are you a fan of DC or something? did I just make myself out to be an idiot? You could be a little more help full then mindless insults.