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(=Afrodisiac)

Blacksad always catches my eye but I can't shake the (probably unfair) feeling that such painterly comics often disregard the writing side of things.

Wow I'm an idiot, I'll edit that. I think the writing in Blacksad is very good, obviously the art is a bigger draw, but imo it's not a book with A+ art and a passable story, its a book with incredible art and writing that is also very good.

Another fantastic book that I'd recommend that people read is Too Cool to be Forgotten, by Alex Robinson. It's definitely on the "graphic novel" end of the spectrum, as opposed to the "comic book" side, as it's a normal book about people. All I can say is that after I read it I felt like I had been punched in the chest.

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I'll second all of Chris Remo's recommendations, and Fun Home too.

A few others I've found excellent...

  • All of Joe Sacco's journalistic work, but his most recent, Footnotes in Gaza, is his strongest yet.
  • All of Ben Katchor's books, starting the the Julius Knipl: Real Estate Photographer books. There's a good reason this guy won a MacCarthur (sp?) fellowship.
  • Has no one mentioned Dan Clowes yet? I'd start with the David Boring graphic novel.
  • Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks, particularly for those who are already comic book fans, is a beautiful story.
  • And for whatever its flaws, Dave McKean's Cages is magnificent. So few cartoonists have ever given themselves that kind of space to record the subtleties of conversation, or this particular slow-developing surrealism.

So many wonderful books to discover for someone new to the medium, but those five are all indispensable.

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Has no one mentioned Dan Clowes yet? I'd start with the David Boring graphic novel.

Synth mentioned him in the other comics thread. I've never got into Clowes, but I think I'll get David Boring from the library as it's had some recommendations here and I also read an avclub article recently which likened it to Jimmy Corrigan

I love Squee by Jhonen Vasquez (also JTHM and I Feel Sick), and all of Kyle Baker's early stuff (The Cowboy Wally Show, Why I Hate Saturn, You Are Here, I Die At Midnight). Jay Stephens' early Land Of Nod and Oddville stuff was also great before he segued from 'kids' comics for adults' to 'kids' comics for kids'.

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Why I Hate Saturn […]I Die At Midnight

These two are brilliant. I had a clearout recently, and couldn't bring myself to part with them. Baker's dialogue is sharp, and he's really deft when it comes to facial expressions.

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[Why I Hate Saturn & Die At Midnight] are brilliant. I had a clearout recently, and couldn't bring myself to part with them. Baker's dialogue is sharp, and he's really deft when it comes to facial expressions.

Yes! I only hesitated to mention Baker because it's been a long while since I last read him and wasn't sure how well those books had aged. Personally, I'd recommend the Cowboy Wally Show and Why I Hate Saturn. He was at his best when relying on his pencil&ink skills (nobody can do facial expressions like Baker...an odd combination of high-realism and charicature), but he seemed (like so many) to have become caught up in computer colouring (including colouring his linework), which made a lot of his later work pretty hard on the eyes, I think.

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I had a clearout recently

What did you get rid of and what did you do with them?

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I can't remember everything I got rid of. Some went to charity shops, some to friends. One thing I held onto is a complete set of Cerebus phone books, because it might be out of print soon. I wouldn't recommend it as a whole though, because during the last half it steadily degenerates into mad sexist rambling and the weird personal Christian mythos of Dave Sim. It's a long time since I read it, but as I recall he equates feminists with the Taliban. Gerhard's backdrops are really beautiful though.

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Wow! A very weird mash-up idea, but I'd love to see it. I'd love to get back into Baker.

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Thanks for the recommendation of Buttercup Festival, Twig, great stuff!

I really like "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan. The story it tells is not new, but the way it's presented, the style of the drawings, their visual language are fantastic.

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Big Questions (by Anders Nilsen) and Daytripper (by twins Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, of Casanova fame) are two graphic novels that I read last year that still linger in my mind as powerful postulators on the meaning of one's own life and purpose. They both explore it in completely different ways, and while I think the latter is a slightly more worthwhile read, both haven't lost their essence at being profound for me. So, :tup: for both of them.

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Daytripper (by twins Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, of Casanova fame)

I love Daytripper!

Also: I really want to read this.

post-26042-0-23646800-1346699820_thumb.jpeg

Not much I can say that I haven't already said. I love Jeff Lemire.

Anyways, so I'm pretty sure it hasn't been brought up yet and deffiniteley should. The Richard Stark's Parker books by Darwyne Cooke, who did DC: The New Frontier, which probably deserves it's own post and recomendation. So far I've only read the first book, there are two more out and a fourth in the works. It's good. Really good. The art, the writing, everything.

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I just bought Rasl Vol 4 by Jeff Smith (Bone), and am looking forward to re-reading the first three in preparation over Christmas.

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I haven't bought many comics lately until I discovered ComiXology for digital comics, which is great since I can't afford shipping and I don't really have space for them anyway.

The first two comics I bought were Scud The Disposable Assassin and The Pro. Scud was pretty amazing, it's the tale of a robot that must self-destruct once it's completed it's mission, so it simple "half-kills" the target and puts it in the hospital and has to take on more mission to pay for the hospital bills. And it's pretty crazy!

The Pro is a parody of superhero comics in which a prostitute is given super powers and joins a parody of the Justice League and well... hilarity ensues?

Oh, and I bought this... It's like a 90's cartoon with dinosaurs and lasers! DINOSAURS AND LASERS!

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I haven't bought many comics lately until I discovered ComiXology for digital comics, which is great since I can't afford shipping and I don't really have space for them anyway.

Yeah, I only read digital comics these days, for the most part at least. I actually bought a Nexus 7 for the sole purpose of reading comics.

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So I've been reading some old DC books and was reading the Knightfall/KnightQuest arc of the Batman books from the early 90's where Bane was first introduced as a character and broke Batman's back. It reminded me of Chris' complaint about Arkham City and how even though Batman is infected with the deadly virus he can still take out waves of dudes. In the Knightfall arc his spine is broken, but a few issues later he's walking around with a cane and fighting people, though he does spend a fair amount of time in a wheelchair (which of course has been outfitted with tons of gadgets and such).

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Before I give you my opinions on what I enjoy reading, I suggest you take a look at some authors' repsonses to the term "graphic novel" when associated with the comic book medium. It's an interesting rabbit hole to go down.

Speaking of rabbit holes, I'm seconding the vote for Alan Moore's Promethea. It is a beautiful text on metaphysics and illuminates Moore's brilliance. Read it while listening to Explosions in the Sky and you will understand the universe.

As for writers my go to (much like you guys) Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, and Garth Ennis. Which I will include a lovely picture of:

2655135-tumblr_mb9fp8onge1qmskf5o1_1280.jpg

As for other comics, check out:

Saga by Brain K Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Fatale by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

Whispers by Johsua Luna

Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Invincible by Robert Kirkmam

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Oh boy, a comics thread.

I got into comics and manga in a big way when I was a teenager, but then it almost completely fizzled out when I came to the simultaneous realization that it's incredibly difficult to find American comics you'll enjoy if you don't like superheroes* and that the public face of manga has turned increasingly to creepy, pandering crap. My interest is being gradually rekindled since I moved to a city with a couple of really good comic shops, though, so I'll have to look into a few of the recommendations here.

One thing that has fascinated me over the last few years has been the gradual translation of the works of Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy. I've been sure to grab everything of his that gets localized and it's almost universally fantastic. It's like gradually discovering some crazy alternate world where Walt Disney, Stanley Kubrick, and Mahatma Gandhi were all the same person; and that said person had the world's most insatiable work ethic.

*incidentally, if you do like superheroes, I recommend Scott McCloud's Zot! series.

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I'm gonna second Brian K. Vaughan's Saga series, it's pretty fantastic.

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run is pretty great.

Just ordered Underwater Welder as well as Jim Henson's A Tale of Sand which looks incredible on the art side at least.

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Over the past few weeks I keep finding myself hovering over the "add to cart button" on amazon for the hardcover edition of Nausicaä that came out recently. I traded in the two paperback volumes I owned a few months back when it became clear that I would never find the remaining five for a reasonable price, and I've always wanted to finish the story.

It also doesn't hurt that I love huge hardcover volumes of comics. I'm still working my way through the Tintin hardcover set.

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