Comics Extravaganza - Pow Bang Smash!

[Codicier]

This is probably nothing new to yall, but hes my favorite degen in the comics world, so I feel I must:

 

Garth Ennis is known as the wacky, wanabee tarantino of the comics world, but some of his stuff is actually really powerful imo, particularly his shorts about ww2 which all offer unique perspectives. Some of his earlier stuff about ireland is very interesting as well, and you cant miss PREACHER, as nutty as it is.

 

I also really liked his punisher reboot, the first arc is very well done, art as well as story.

 

Oh and if you want to feel dirty and disturbed for at least a day or two, check out CROSSED. *shiver*. I still get nightmares about that shit. Not for the faint of heart.

 

Ennis is a great example of what i like to think of as "the pub storytelling style" . He writes very naturalistic dialogue, and gives his character a wonderful awareness of how farcical the situation they find themselves in often are.

It feels like he's also a writer who has a talent for picking collaborators on the same wavelength, with Steve Dillon probably being the most famous example.

Check out their run together on Hellblazer, it's one of my favourite takes on a very British character.

[namman siggins]

Ennis's War Stories are an must read because they're absolutely brilliant and which contain some of his more humanistic stories; they're also some of the best action comics ever created.

When Ennis is on his A game, he can create amazing characters and situations that hit close to home.

 

I really enjoyed the Nick Fury comic he wrote last year with Goran Parlov.

[TheLastBaron]

Garth Ennis is great. He's better than anyone else in the industry at making you care about characters and making their relationships feel believable. I'm curious to see how the Preacher show turns out as its one of my all time favorite comics (It's my favorite series Vertigo has ever put out).

[Tanukitsune]

ComiXology has a super deal of 100 comics for 10$! They are from the "Sumbit" section and there are plenty of good ones in this.

 

This offer ends tomorrow so act now if you see anything you like!

[tomobedlam]

 My favourite Ennis book is Hitman,  one moment you´re laughing out loud and the next you feel you´re heart breaking, is really, really good, including one of the best  superman stories of all time, wich is really something worth nothing for an author who really despises the genre, and there are plenty of examples in hitman too.

  My second favourite is his punisher max stuff, incredible what he manages to do with such unidimensional character

[TheLastBaron]

Afterlife With Archie #4: Jesus that was fucking rough...

[Tanukitsune]

It seems that someone was such a big fan of Gigi D.G.'s video game comics before she started Cucumber Quest that... they started a Kickstarter without her consent.

 

Way to be classy, guys... How did KS even allow this?

[Tanukitsune]

OK, I know the last post is mine but.... Dark Horse is selling EVERY Hellboy issues for 50$!

[TheLastBaron]

Oh man, new Stray Bullets. It's been almost 10 years since the last issue came out and I was a little worried if David Lapham could jump back in. It's just as bleak, just as nihilistic, and just as good as it's ever been.

[Ben X]

It's Hellboy Day! Dark Horse are doing a digital megabundle, and I'm tempted. But I'm worried that I would need to start picking up BPRD titles as well for this run to make narrative sense - any Hellboy fans who can advise on whether these will work fine on their own(I'm guessing BigJKO can if no one else)?

[Tanukitsune]

I just posted about that a few days ago... I've only read the Hellboy crossovers so far, but it seems Dark Horse in general isn't very strong about the whole "Read issue #X of another series to get this", so far I've only seen them do "Read issue #X of the older series to get this".

[Ben X]

Oops, missed your post! Ok, thanks, have gone for it. If I enjoy it I may start picking up the BPRD stuff anyway...

[syntheticgerbil]

Oh I guess I should comment since I've read allt Hellboy and B.P.R.D. stuff chronologically up until 2007 (or 8). I've also read the novels, which are supposed to be in the comic universe and not the movie or animated show (plus some of the same authors are shared from B.P.R.D.), but they are stand alone cases for the most part.

 

I'm not to Hellboy in Hell yet, but at least up until TPB 8, Hellboy never references or crosses over with the happenings of the B.P.R.D series. I'm guessing since he goes to hell, there'll be even less intersect. In general though, most Hellboy stories are self contained cases that don't require much prior knowledge. It's odd that this set contains the Weird Tales series, which are just funny and strange Hellboy comics drawn and written by others (the Dorkin one is my favorite of course). Strangely enough, it doesn't include the fucking insane and raunchy Hellboy Junior comics released long ago. Maybe they thought the non canon of that particular series would confuse everyone since Hellboy is perpetually in hell in that book while a pesky naked Hitler runs around.

 

Besides just basic references, all B.P.R.D comics are self contained. The series is heavy on continuity after the first two TPBs though, so it's probably best to read all of those in order.

 

Although, since I'm about 5-6 years behind on all of the content, I can't really say what the requirements of reading are when Abe Sapien has his own spin off series now. There's also Lobster Johnson stuff, but all of the things I've read so far (barring TPB 5 of Hellboy) have nothing to do with the story line are are just a comic within a comic, kind of like Radioactive Man within the Simpsons.

 

Unfortunately, I know nothing at all about Witchfinder.

[Ben X]

Okay, thanks! The consensus is definitely that I'm safe. As I said on the IRC earlier, as long as it's not stuff like

 

Well, now that Abe Sapien is evil... [*see BPRD ish 526! - Ed]

 

it's cool.

 

That Dorkin one is fucking brilliant. On the strength of that I'm probably going to end up getting into BPRD too.

 

I've read up to Seed Of Destruction ish 3, and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I did when I buzzed through a library copy of SOD years ago.

 

Speaking of the IRC, I didn't see all of it but Nappi and JKO were exchanging links to cool Hellboy stuff, like the 20 Years Of Hellboy book and the oversized hardbacks etc. Post those here, guys, while it's still Hellboy Day!

 

Here's a nice mini-interview with Mignola picking out his favourite pieces from the 20 Years book: http://io9.com/mike-mignolas-favorite-artwork-from-hellboys-last-20-1548974210

[Nappi]

These are the amazing Hellboy Library Editions that I mentioned:

http://www.amazon.com/Hellboy-Library-Seed-Destruction-Devil/dp/1593079109/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUG5TYDTzQI

[syntheticgerbil]

I would say B.P.R.D. is well worth the read if you really like the characters from the main series, especially Abe Sapien. It answers a lot of questions of everyone's past plus they have their own cases that are pretty neat in their own right. Mike Mignola usually writes for the series (or cowrites with Christopher Golden), so it's legit enough. Guy Davis does most of the art, and while I found it jarring at first with how cartoony it looks compared to Mignola's, it grew on me and I found it very atmospheric and colorful.

 

Speaking of the IRC, I didn't see all of it but Nappi and JKO were exchanging links to cool Hellboy stuff, like the 20 Years Of Hellboy book and the oversized hardbacks etc. Post those here, guys, while it's still Hellboy Day!

 

Here's a nice mini-interview with Mignola picking out his favourite pieces from the 20 Years book: http://io9.com/mike-mignolas-favorite-artwork-from-hellboys-last-20-1548974210

 

I would love to get that 20 Years book, but I'll have to wait until later for the cash flow. I'm also a bit worried there may be spoilers for someone like me who is not caught up. But the books always have a lot of cool bonus material, especially in the Library editions and the B.P.R.D. omnibuses, so I'm sure 20 Years is that times 10. Plus I think the big collections are the most cost effective way to get updated on the series at this point if you aren't buying used books. Do the digital comics come with all the sketches and character concepts?
 

EDIT: Wow there was a lot of stupid spelling mistakes in there.

[Ben X]

I dunno, I think they're just the original paperback releases, so if those did I guess these will. One of them did have that little story about Man and Dog and Frog at the back... I'm still on SOD!

[namman siggins]

It's amazing how the quality of a comic can go downhill so fast and I'm talking about BPRD.

 

Once Guy Davis left, BPRD went down in quality and that's mostly because Davis did an amazing job building and creating the atmosphere and monsters of BPRD. Not only that, Mignola and Arcudi expanded and lingered too much with their stories. Though I will say that The Long Death was one of the better post-Davis stories and was a cathartic read because it perfectly wrapped up the Johann Kraus & Captain Ben Daimio arch which was years in the making.

 

I'm enjoying Hellboy in Hell but it needs to come out faster.

[Lechimp]

These are the amazing Hellboy Library Editions that I mentioned:

http://www.amazon.com/Hellboy-Library-Seed-Destruction-Devil/dp/1593079109/

 

Would you recommend these if I wanted to get through the series? I've only read the first story a long time ago and would like to get through the rest. I don't know why I waited since I really liked the comic too. Are the spinoffs worth reading too? I know nothing about Hellboy aside from the first few issues.

[Nappi]

I have only read the library editions (the first two volumes actually), so I don't know how they compare with other editions, but I don't see any reason why you shouldn't pick these for that purpose. As far as I know, the volumes are arranged in the publication order, the concept art relates to the stories of that specific volume, etc.

 

As for the spinoffs, I have read one volume of Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder, and B.P.R.D. each. I found Lobster Johnson interesting and Witchfinder not so much. I couldn't really get into B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth, but I think I need to give the series another chance at some point.

[Tanukitsune]

 

I've.... run out of Yotsuba! mangas to read....

 

[namman siggins]

Would you recommend these if I wanted to get through the series? I've only read the first story a long time ago and would like to get through the rest. I don't know why I waited since I really liked the comic too. Are the spinoffs worth reading too? I know nothing about Hellboy aside from the first few issues.

It's the best way to get through the Hellboy series.

The bigger format really showcases hiw amazing Mignola's art and Stewart's color is.

[tegan]

 

I've.... run out of Yotsuba! mangas to read....

 

 

Which ones have you been reading? Because if you haven't read the ADV translations of the first five volumes, you haven't read Yotsuba.

 

 

I started reading Cat Eyed Boy again. This series starts so much stronger than it ends. I kinda want to make my own weird horror compilation comic.

[namman siggins]

Which ones have you been reading? Because if you haven't read the ADV translations of the first five volumes, you haven't read Yotsuba.

 

 

I started reading Cat Eyed Boy again. This series starts so much stronger than it ends. I kinda want to make my own weird horror compilation comic.

Speaking of Horror manga, I would LOVE an Junji Ito collected stories collection or to see the Fuan no Tane series translated.

AJIN and Prophecy is getting translated from Vertical and I'm very excited about that; good horror mangas.

Urasawa's also getting Master Keaton and Monster re-prints which is amazing news.

[Tanukitsune]

Which ones have you been reading? Because if you haven't read the ADV translations of the first five volumes, you haven't read Yotsuba.

 

 

I started reading Cat Eyed Boy again. This series starts so much stronger than it ends. I kinda want to make my own weird horror compilation comic.

I've only read the online version, which is the only version I can access, since I don't think legal digital manga distribution is going to happen easily because it's a different distributor for each country, making it a nightmare.

 

They well places that do sell digital manga seem to have it region locked. :|