Comics Extravaganza - Pow Bang Smash!

[N1njaSquirrel]

Also, does this include manga?

 

(sorry for the double post)

[tegan]

I'm out. The Criterion club works because everything's taken from a selection from a service that is already a mainstay for a lot of forumgoers (which kind of makes it fall apart outside the US, honestly...), but the closest comics have to a service like that is something like Comixology, and that selection is severely limited. The only way I could see us all reading some of the best comic books is by buying them, and I can't afford that.

[TheLastBaron]

I assumed it would cover everything, or rather I would be interested in reading anything suggested regardless of what type of book it is. Also, I don't see big-two books being a big deal given this group.

For long running series' I guess it would probably just be a single trade or something. In this sense this whole thing would probably favor OGNs over ongoing stuff, but there are a lot of books that have really good arcs that are then in single trades. Plus if people like a series they can just continue reading it and discussing it here.

[TheLastBaron]

I'm out. The Criterion club works because everything's taken from a selection from a service that is already a mainstay for a lot of forumgoers (which kind of makes it fall apart outside the US, honestly...), but the closest comics have to a service like that is something like Comixology, and that selection is severely limited. The only way I could see us all reading some of the best comic books is by buying them, and I can't afford that.

Yeah I definitely thought about that and am kind of skeptical that this will pan out in any way since like you said it requires people to go out and buy a book every time, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

[Ben X]

This is probably too impractical to be of any use, but Nottingham comic shop Page 45 does a Comic Book Of The Month group with a 20% discount on one book per month:

 

http://www.page45.com/store/comic-book-of-the-month.html

[TheLastBaron]

This is probably too impractical to be of any use, but Nottingham comic shop Page 45 does a Comic Book Of The Month group with a 20% discount on one book per month:

 

http://www.page45.com/store/comic-book-of-the-month.html

Wow, that's a really good list of books, I wish this store was near me.  I think I'm going to use this as a reading list for the future since of the books on here that I have read I've liked all of them.

[namman siggins]

I'm up for a comic book club

There's also your library, so you don't have to buy it. Or you can go to your bookshop hope it's there and read it.

[TheLastBaron]

Picked up some new books, and by new I mean mostly books that I'd read but either didn't own, or wanted better copies of.  Really looking forward to Klezmer, I really like Joann Sfar's other stuff.

[tegan]

What I've read of Afrodisiac has been great.

 

 

 

 

Also, the first issue of Boom Studios' The Amazing World of Gumball comic is out today, and it looks pretty rad.

 

[TheLastBaron]

Yeah it's really good, I gave my copy to a friend and immediately bought it again because it's just so fun to flip through. In terms of design sense Jim Rugg is as good as it gets.

[Codicier]

Yeah I definitely thought about that and am kind of skeptical that this will pan out in any way since like you said it requires people to go out and buy a book every time, but I figured I'd throw it out there.

 

Just want to throw another voice behind the idea of trying to base it of Public Library collections

 

In the UK at least between individual branches collections and interlibrary loan you can get access to a very good selection. Idk how well the USA, Canada or other places hold up though.

 

For example I've just finished reading (from my local library)

 

Are you my Mother : Alison Bechdel

Which is the second of Bechdels work I've read and must go down as one of my favourite memoir graphic novels. It's weird I seem to see the "Bechdel Test" talked about more than her work, which I'd encourage people to give time to because frankly she's a great storyteller. 

 

The Nao of Brown: Glyn Dillon

The illustration for this is gorgeous, and some of the character building and interaction is really sensitively done, but fundamentally I'm not sure I can recommend it because of the somewhat contrived feeling to the books conclusion.

 

The Tale of One Bad Rat: Bryan Talbot

Just very very good. Deals with what is a occasionally harrowing subject matter, all handled with Talbot's normal accomplishment 

[TheLastBaron]

I can't speak for other places, but the public libraries near me are all really good in terms of what I can get a hold of.  Using books that are likely to be in public library catalogs seems like a good idea. 

 

I remember really liking One Bad Rat a whole lot, but it's been so long that I don't remember it that well.  I love Bryan Talbot.

[Mangela Lansbury]

In the UK at least between individual branches collections and interlibrary loan you can get access to a very good selection. Idk how well the USA, Canada or other places hold up though.

 

In the USA, you should at least be able to access a statewide interlibrary loan system. If you have access to a university library, the interlibrary loan system is more robust -- but the state / county interlibrary loan system is probably good enough for most things. Just go to an information desk and ask about the interlibrary loan systems your local library has access to and you'll probably make some frustrated librarian's day.

[Ben X]

Just want to throw another voice behind the idea of trying to base it of Public Library collections

 

In the UK at least between individual branches collections and interlibrary loan you can get access to a very good selection.

 

I found this was true in London but not Nottingham or Cambridge.

[Codicier]

I found this was true in London but not Nottingham or Cambridge.

 

I gotta admit that surprises me, I mean I live in a town literally 1/10th of the size of Nottingham  

I suppose partly it depends on how much money local government is putting into the service, but also quite heavily on whether you have a member of staff who's prepared to advocate for their inclusion in the collection.

 

I wonder if having a university running a illustration (or similar course) helps or hinders public libraries trying to build up a decent collection, on one hand you have a constant supply of people with a interest in the subject to drive issues, but on the other hand I can easily imagine some of the senior librarians I've worked with using the argument that if the uni already has a specialist library they don't need to replicate the service.

 

Getting away the how for a moment, and talking a bit about the "what" perhaps using something like the Eisner awards as a baseline might work, I mean sure its not going to be perfect but you would get a list of books that would almost certainly be fairly widely available.

 

You could even move the focus out a bit, instead of doing one graphic novel you could pick one author/illustrator (or combination of) and say "OK lets talk about this person's work", rather then "lets talk about this specific piece of work".

[TheLastBaron]

So I've been reading some of my sister's old Archie Digests and man these are great.

 

Getting away the how for a moment, and talking a bit about the "what" perhaps using something like the Eisner awards as a baseline might work, I mean sure its not going to be perfect but you would get a list of books that would almost certainly be fairly widely available.

This is a good idea, if people wanted to do this the "Best Graphic Album" winners makes a pretty good list to choose from.

[Trip Hazard]

I read Judge Dredd vs. Mars Attacks a week ago, after spotting it in the library (the library in Crewe has a pretty good selection), and it was...disappointing? I mean, conceptually it has so much promise and it could never really live up to my expectations, but the humour fell flat for me and it just didn't have a lot of memorable moments. 

 

And then I read Strontium Dog: The Kreeler Conspiracy, and that cheered me up loads because it was amazing. John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra have got to be my favourite duo working in comics.

[tegan]

Bryan Lee O'Malley has a new book coming out? When did that happen?

[TheLastBaron]

I remember seeing something about it probably a year ago or so, but just that he was announcing it was going to be delayed until Fall 2014 and other than that I know nothing about it.

[tegan]

The latest Lumberjanes was great, maybe my favourite issue so far. I really appreciate that this series is actually resolving its mysteries and conflicts as it brings new things up.

 

Also, I found out from the back cover ad that there's going to be a Teen Dog print comic, and Teen Dog is the best.

 

[namman siggins]

Oh shit! That's great news; I LOVE teen dog.

[Ben X]

Bryan Lee O'Malley has a new book coming out? When did that happen?

 

For the few forumites who still live in Nottingham, UK:

 

http://www.page45.com/world/2014/06/bryan-lee-omalley-signing-sketching-at-page-45

[Codicier]

I remember buying a few things off Page 45's through Amazon market place including several Love & Rockets things i couldn't find anywhere else .

 

It's good that a shop that has such pride in it's work is still kicking about, In the last 10 years I've seen pretty much every local shop I've bought from vanish until on line shopping was the only option for me.

[Ucantalas]

So I moseyed on down to the local comic shop today to browse a little.

Ended up grabbing All New DOOP #1-3, as well as a Deadpool comic.

Not having any idea who or what Doop was, I don't know if I should have picked up three issues of it. I ended up just getting a little confused and slightly bored reading it. It all happens during an X-Men plot that I had not followed, so that, on top of dimension hopping stuff and characters I don't know anything about but should, made me lose interest fast, but part of that just feels like my own fault for not thinking before buying.

...then I cleansed my brain-palette with the goofy dumb action of Deadpool, and all was right with the world.

(Also, I have a job interview tomorrow, if that goes well and I get the job I'm totally preordering Bryan Lee O'Malleys "Seconds".)

[tegan]

Read it in BMO's voice: