Off-topic
Comics (aka Graphic Novels)
anchorm4n created a thread for book recommendations, and Koetti asked if comics counted (recommending Blacksad). I figured "hey, why not create a new sister thread just of comic recommendations? First a note though : actually buying comics is terribly expensive and impractical. If you're interested, I recommend trying to borrow trade paperbacks from your local library -- they are collections of 5-6 issues in a single ~130 page book, and most collect them just like normal books. Alternatively, the following online resources are great:
- If your library participates, https://www.hoopladigital.com/ is incredible -- you'll get ~6 free downloads every month, and they have a very respectable library
- "ComiXology Unlimited", "Marvel Unlimited", and "DC Universe Infinite" are subscription models, like Netflix for comics.
OK, recommendations (disclaimer, all these will be on the mature side of things) :
Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughan illustrated by Fiona Staples - 54 issues and going
Frankly, you should be suspicious of any list of great comics that doesn't at least acknowledge Saga -- it's just that good. Saga is a one-of-a-kind sprawling space opera that's like Romeo and Juliet meets Star Wars. Be forewarned that it is very R rated though and often goes over the top.
Hawkeye, written by Matt Fraction illustrated by David Aja - 18 issues
You know all those jokes that Hawkeye is the weakest Avenger? Matt Fraction doesn't just lean into that schtick; he buys it a steak dinner. But the real magic trick is how, in a universe full gods and world-ending threats, he gets you to instead care about the residents of a crappy apartment complex and a one-eyed dog.
The Boys, written by Garth Ennis illustrated by Darick Robertson - 72 issues
OK yes there's a very popular Amazon series based on this series, but the original comics are fantastic in their own right! And they are different enough that, even if you're fully caught up with the Amazon version, the comics can still surprise you. The final twists near the end of the series are what really do it for me, though -- I don't think I can name another villain I've sympathized with so much yet at the same time needed to see him stopped.
Invincible, written by Robert Kirkman illustrated by Ryan Ottley - 144 issues
Another comic that's about to have an Amazon series! This is Robert Kirkman's homage to classic superhero comics, and he does a fabulous job reproducing all the standard tropes...only to break them when you least expect it. The story starts with the titular character in a "son of Superman" role, but it certainly doesn't stay there. Fantastic combination of engaging characters, thrilling plot lines, and some surprisingly bloody action sequences.
Lazarus, written by Greg Rucka illustrated by Michael Lark, 28 issues and going
I generally enjoy all of Greg Rucka's work, and he's done some premiere world-building with this series. It's set in a dystopian future where everything is ruled by 16 rival families who are constantly warring and making and breaking alliances with each other. Each family is allowed one special champion, a lazarus, to be imbued with death-defying regenerative abilities through either cybernetics, nanites, pharmaceuticals, or some combination thereof. The whole thing takes on a modern day Game-Of-Thrones vibe.
Red Sonja, written by Gail Simone illustrated by Walter Geovanni, 18 issues
I'd always been dismissive of Red Sonja -- the whole "barbarian in a chain-mail bikini" appearance felt like a trap. Gail Simone does some incredible work with the character, though, forcing me to reassess everything. The opening scene sets the series perfectly : bandits come across a half-sleeping Sonja, who lazily admits them she's probably too drunk to stop them from making off with her horse but not so drunk that they wouldn't regret trying more. What follows is a beautiful blend of drama and comedy that makes me wish it wasn't only 18 issues long.
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anchorm4n created a thread for book recommendations, and Koetti asked if comics counted (recommending Blacksad). I figured "hey, why not create a new sister thread just of comic recommendations? First a note though : actually buying comics is terribly expensive and impractical. If you're interested, I recommend trying to borrow trade paperbacks from your local library -- they are collections of 5-6 issues in a single ~130 page book, and most collect them just like normal books. Alternatively, the following online resources are great:
OK, recommendations (disclaimer, all these will be on the mature side of things) :
Saga, written by Brian K. Vaughan illustrated by Fiona Staples - 54 issues and going
Frankly, you should be suspicious of any list of great comics that doesn't at least acknowledge Saga -- it's just that good. Saga is a one-of-a-kind sprawling space opera that's like Romeo and Juliet meets Star Wars. Be forewarned that it is very R rated though and often goes over the top.
Hawkeye, written by Matt Fraction illustrated by David Aja - 18 issues
You know all those jokes that Hawkeye is the weakest Avenger? Matt Fraction doesn't just lean into that schtick; he buys it a steak dinner. But the real magic trick is how, in a universe full gods and world-ending threats, he gets you to instead care about the residents of a crappy apartment complex and a one-eyed dog.
The Boys, written by Garth Ennis illustrated by Darick Robertson - 72 issues
OK yes there's a very popular Amazon series based on this series, but the original comics are fantastic in their own right! And they are different enough that, even if you're fully caught up with the Amazon version, the comics can still surprise you. The final twists near the end of the series are what really do it for me, though -- I don't think I can name another villain I've sympathized with so much yet at the same time needed to see him stopped.
Invincible, written by Robert Kirkman illustrated by Ryan Ottley - 144 issues
Another comic that's about to have an Amazon series! This is Robert Kirkman's homage to classic superhero comics, and he does a fabulous job reproducing all the standard tropes...only to break them when you least expect it. The story starts with the titular character in a "son of Superman" role, but it certainly doesn't stay there. Fantastic combination of engaging characters, thrilling plot lines, and some surprisingly bloody action sequences.
Lazarus, written by Greg Rucka illustrated by Michael Lark, 28 issues and going
I generally enjoy all of Greg Rucka's work, and he's done some premiere world-building with this series. It's set in a dystopian future where everything is ruled by 16 rival families who are constantly warring and making and breaking alliances with each other. Each family is allowed one special champion, a lazarus, to be imbued with death-defying regenerative abilities through either cybernetics, nanites, pharmaceuticals, or some combination thereof. The whole thing takes on a modern day Game-Of-Thrones vibe.
Red Sonja, written by Gail Simone illustrated by Walter Geovanni, 18 issues
I'd always been dismissive of Red Sonja -- the whole "barbarian in a chain-mail bikini" appearance felt like a trap. Gail Simone does some incredible work with the character, though, forcing me to reassess everything. The opening scene sets the series perfectly : bandits come across a half-sleeping Sonja, who lazily admits them she's probably too drunk to stop them from making off with her horse but not so drunk that they wouldn't regret trying more. What follows is a beautiful blend of drama and comedy that makes me wish it wasn't only 18 issues long.
Oooh, now that's a thread I like to see!
I'll repeat what I said in the one for books, in case no one read it:
A great series that got me into comics. There's 5 books with about 54 story pages each, and apparently there's a new one coming out later this year!
Other comics I'd recommend:
...and of course pretty much any european comic that you can find.
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Recommendations:
Undertaker by Ralph Meyer and Xavier Dorison
- No, not that one. Undertaker is a European comic about an fictional person in the occupation of an undertaker. Yes, you read correctly, its about a guy burying the dead. So what makes this a good read, apart from the fact that the art is excellent? Well, obviously this undertaker used to be a big shot sharpshooter who's now an outlaw, so he figured he get some peace and quiet by shaving his face and take on a job no fool would ever want. If you want to skip to the good parts, just read the Shadow of Hippocrates arc. Worth your while, really.
Sword Master by Xavier Dorison and Joell Parnotte
- Excellent art, drab title. But the story is really not half bad if you like seeing lots of blood spilling from melee weapons. In fact, every important figure in this story tends to either die or get injured so much that it sometimes make one wonder if their flesh is made of hand-carved mahogany.
The Goddamned by Jason Aaron and R.M Guera
- If you ever grown up in a ghetto and wonder aloud why God continue to allow mankind to suffer so much, here's a comic book that won't answer those questions but will seriously make you believe it could have been a lot worse. Basically this is a retelling of the B.C. years in such a way that will be immediately considered racist to our paleo ancestors. But in a way, its both intriguing, and entertaining in a mysterious sort of way.
Lobo: Fragtastic Voyage by Alan Grant and Hermann Mejia
- Its a one issue about anti-hero, merc for hire, all around bastard Lobo being hired along to remove a blood clot from an alien. Yeah, I think I'll just leave it at that. Artwork is superb, and the writing actually kept me laughing to the end.
Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido
- Its already been recommended here, but I thought I'd add it in just to show how many times I've actually read this series. Its hardboiled detective fiction stuffed with anthropomorphic animals, but don't let the furry labels put you off. In fact, to be real, the illustrations are so human-like that there's barely anything animal about it. From the second tome onwards, all pretense of animal people is reduced to a paper-thin consistency, with very human-related themes that somewhat would never work with anthro animals, not that anyone would ever make an issue of it.
But as far as illustrations, story, and entertainment goes, this one's really up there for being both unique, and daring at the same time. Outside of kiddy comics, I've not come across another comic that features anthro animals that so well polished and not blatantly pandering to certain groups at the same time.
Oh. I almost forgot. Here's one last one, to pander to our obviously hearthstone playing audience;
Boomlabs by Mark Evanier, Ludo Lullabi and Konstantin Turovec
- One of the most pleasant short comics I've ever read. Do I need to give a review or an introduction? Go read it. Its free from blizz (at least I think it is), so enjoy it because I don't think we'll ever be getting another one.
Ahh! I see, you're a gentleman of culture as well!
What's your favourite entry in the series? Mine's either Arctic Nation or A Silent Hell. Because of its subject matter and grey-ish colorpalette, Arctic Nation just has an awesome atmosphere that feels so serious and, well, cold. Silent Hell is pretty much the opposite of that imo. It feels so vibrant and almost wild, and the setting is also very interesting. New Orleans' jazz culture in the 50s, hell yeah!
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Best one's probably Silent hell. Artwork was at its peak, a good detective story well told (though you have to have half your brain turned off if you couldn't guess whos the villain here), and the characters were interesting enough to make me want to go through it multiple times just so I didn't miss anything by mistake. And besides, its got Weekly in it so that's always a plus.
Arctic nation is good, but from this book onwards I think Juanjo just basically started treating his subject matter like humans rather than animals. The story is also rather weird, trying to tie this religious-white supremacy idealogy within a group of animals, which quite frankly is a ridiculous concept since most animals are by nature multicolored. So the whole setup is conveniently filled with naturally white and black animals, while never addressing whether someone like Weekly could ever be either colored or white. Nice end though.
My favorite is obviously Silent hell, but I remain somewhat in awe over the first book. It had a different tone and design. Most characters retain some of their animal-ness, like how Blacksad had claws and his head was properly cat-like. Makes me wonder what eventually made him turn away from this design.
Its been some years since the last book Amarillo, and since I can't read french, I can't tell if its cancelled or simply put on hold. Probably a good bet that its cancelled, since the art in Amarillo feels a little rushed, as though Juanjo simply lost his passion. Im still hoping there would be a few books left, but after waiting somewhere around 5 years, that hope is slowly coming to a halt.
Did you manage to play that video game though? I've been thinking about getting it, if only because that's another Blacksad story I've yet to actually read.
Oh yeah, that whole white/colored thing is always a bit awkward when your story is set in a world of anthropomorphic animals. I always assume, when they're talking about colored people, they literally mean color, and not just black. As in all the darker shades of the fur. I think there's even a hint at that in silent hell, when blacksad finds sebastian.
I don't really feel like the art in amarillo is rushed, but I'd have to give it another look since it's been a while I touched that one. Could be that Guarnido tried a different style, since the story of that book is also not really what you're used to from that series. However, it wouldn't surprise me if it really was rushed, considering that Guarnido probably also started to work on Les Indes Fourbes (about 160 pages) around that time. That also might be the reason why there's been no new blacksad books. But, if I can trust google, they're working on 2 new ones, with nr.6 apparently releasing on oct 26th this year.
I haven't played the game, but i heard it's pretty meh. I remember watching a random vid from YMS, where he made fun of it. Though, apparently the story is pretty solid.
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Get to the last page where Blacksad found Sebastian. There's two toilets, one labeled white and the other colored. Obviously we're in post reconstruction America, but I really wonder if those animals would stare blankly at those toilets trying to figure out which is the right toilet to use from time to time.
Damn, try to imagine being a zebra in that situation!
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Both are outstanding Batman comics by anyone's standards. If I were forced to give my #1 "best Batman ever" recommendation, however, I'd have to side with The Long Halloween written by Jeph Loeb illustrated by Tim Sale. A large part of Hush's success is the mystery, and I think Loeb does an even better job with TLH. Plus TLH is loosely an origin story, so you don't need any prior context or introduction for the characters while at the same time the plot moves quickly so you're not wasting time rehashing familiar content or worrying if something is being retcon'ed. Sale's artwork is also gorgeous -- he gives the series a very noir feel which goes fantastically with the murder mystery plotline.
(Side note: even though its very beloved by most Batman fans, I personally wasn't really impressed with The Killing Joke. I suspect part of that may be because it was so revolutionary when it was originally released but not so much now 30+ years later -- I find a lot of Alan Moore's work like that.)
OK, recommendations (disclaimer, some of these will be on the "dated"/ or plain racist side of things) but Ducktales is based off of his universe:
Fantagraphic's the Complete Carl Barks Disney library volume 12: Only a Poor Old Man
This is absolutely the best Carl Bark's collection out there. I don't care what you say about Lost in the Andes... I disagree. I prefer the kindle version of these books because now I have over 1600 pages of Carl Bark's on my phone to keep me busy whenever I have to wait.
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If you want some more recommendations from this collection it would be:
A Christmas for Shacktown
Trail of the Unicorn
Lost in the Andes
The Seven Cities of Gold
The Pixlated Parrot
The Twenty-Four Carrot Moon
Christmas on Bear Mountain....
(the list goes on and on because Carl Barks worked on these comics relentlessly in three decades from 1940s into 1960s)
The above comment assumes a Hearthstone Wild perspective.
And bookmarked!
Had this comic cross my way a couple of times. Was always on the fence about buying that one, because I never really heard much about it. But if it's better than Hush, I'll be on the lookout for it. The only thing that I didn't really like about Hush was the ending. Wasn't really satisfied with that.
And about Killing Joke: I enjoyed the Story, and that's although I'm not really a fan of the Joker. I often feel like the writers don't do that much with the character outside of this whole "different sides of the same coin" with batman. Killing Joke has that too, but at least they're trying to give him more of a personality and some emotions, and don't just go with the "constantly laughing chaotic maniac, because everything's a joke".
What I did not enjoy much about the comic was the art. I can't really put my finger on it, but for some reason I just can't stand Brian Boland's style.
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While this is certainly true for some of his work, I find that the absolute standouts - Watchmen and From Hell - grow on every re-read for me.
My recommendations, if you're interested in crime comics at all, would be:
Oooh, I love this thread. I used to read comics a lot until that hobby became too expensive. Here are some of my recommendations, meaning they're the absolute best stories I've read in graphic novel form. Most of these are Marvel and DC titles, as I was a bit of a superhero geek back then.
AVENGERS & NEW AVENGERS - Jonathan Hickman
Probably my favorite run from any comic book writer ever. The gist of the story involves the Avengers' and Illuminati's attempts to prevent the multiverse's collapse that would bring about the end of everything, caused by a mysterious entity called Rabum Alal. It's a story that spans multiple titles (there's the Avengers and New Avengers titles, Infinity, and concludes with Secret Wars), and trust me when I say it's the most epic thing you'll ever read. Just get the correct reading order online to get the full experience.
OLD MAN LOGAN - Mark Millar & Steve McNiven
It's your typical Mark Millar shock value fest, but I just love the apocalyptic setting this story is set in. In this universe, the villains won and have divided up the US among themselves, with Red Skull, Magneto, Dr. Doom, Hulk, and other villains lording over their own regions. One of Mark Millar's best work.
HAWKEYE - Matt Fraction & David Aja
Someone already recommended this, but I can't stress enough how good this run is. It's got a unique voice, the art is great, and the story feels bigger than the small-scale hijinks of Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. It's something I re-read every now and then.
THE VISION - Tom King & Gabriel Walta
I can't recommend this enough. The "WandaVision" series borrows heavily from this story by Tom King, which sees the Vision creating his own family and trying to live in the suburbs. It's creepy, unsettling, and a damn good read.
LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL - Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo
The first in Brian Azzarello's series of stories told from a villain's POV (he followed this up with "Joker," which is just as good). The story is told from Lex Luthor's perspective; he's written as the protagonist of the story, with Superman as some looming presence that threatens the existence of humanity. It's gripping, paranoid, and engrossing, and what's most impressive is it manages to make you sympathize with Luthor.
ASTONISHING X-MEN - Joss Whedon & John Cassaday
X-Men characters well. He "gets" Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, and especially Kitty Pryde, who is the real MVP of this run. If you're looking for some great X-Men stories that aren't too reliant on the bloated history of the X-Men, this run is for you.
PREACHER - Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon
A tough Texan, Jesse Custer, obtains the power of the Word of God--he can make anyone do his will just by commanding them with his words. It's a great premise, and it's propped up by a memorable cast of characters like Cassidy, Herr Starr, The Saint of Killers, Arseface, and God. The TV series didn't do the comic justice IMO; read the comic if you really want the unfiltered depravity and violence of Garth Ennis's story. Oh, and Preacher has some of the best cover art in the history of comics.
TOKYO GHOST - Rick Remender & Sean Murphy
Follows the adventures of Debbie Decay and Led Dent, two "peacekeepers" in the technological dystopia of LA. The story's pretty good, a little cliche, but the art is what does it for me. The grimy cyberpunk aesthetic perfectly captured the story's essence.
Its stretched a bit far honestly. Superman has red glowing eyes all the time in this comic, and that scrap he had with batman made absolutely no sense considering batman is already often portrayed as having a spare kryptonite with him. Even more baffling is how batman (as Bruce Wayne) later shared technology with Luthor despite being Superman's ally. But that said, I do love the story, making Luthor more human than a saturday cartoon deranged psychopath bent on destroying superman at all costs.
I don't mind the red, glowing eyes of Superman in this comic since it's told entirely from Lex Luthor's point of view. It makes sense that we see him as the monster that Luthor sees him as ;)
I'll have to re-read it again, but didn't Bruce Wayne share Luthor's fear that Superman could one day decide to rule over the Earth? Or it could be that Luthor manipulated Bruce into thinking the same way, hence the scrap he had with Superman. And from what I remember, I think Superman sensed that Batman was carrying kryptonite with him that's why he attacked him. They weren't really depicted as "allies" in that story, more like guardians of their own domains that kept a respectful distance from each other.
Batman does share that fear, hence why he often has kryptonite with him at all times, and Superman is aware of this fact, so it made no sense for him to get upset at batman for having it. The story goes that Luthor presented it to him to curry favor with Bruce on some tech sharing deal to build a synthetic superhero. Batman was holding the kryptonite (in a lead case) when Superman 'attacked' him in an alley, and with glowing red eyes, destroyed the kryptonite in front of him.
But superhero comics have never been shy of taking liberties with canon, and it is from Luthor's perspective so obviously Superman must be the villain here. Just a little strange why they decided to insert batman into the story when it only weakens the perspective.
I remember loving comic books since I was a kid. My favorites were Hulk and Batman. I was really into them. Even watched all the movies.
I have read Watchmen, Dc: the new frontier, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Final Crisis, Spiderverse, Multiversity and Secret Wars(2015) at least 3 times apiece. Mostly because they're all really good and engaging stories.