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Recommend me some graphic novels

joobz

Tergiversator
joobz
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
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Ok.
Since, everyone was going on about the watchmen, i decided to get a copy and read it. I must say that I greatly enjoyed it. I found much of the imagery impressive, and couldn't help but relish the ugliness of it all.

So, does anyone have any suggestions as to what other graphic novels would be worth reading? I'm open to any genre except perhaps family drama stuff.

Thanks in advance for your input !
 
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Let's see...

If you want a comic that's about a former preacher kicking God's ass together with his hot girlfriend and vampire buddy, then go with Preacher. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon creates a new kind of Western story with some real characters. Especially the Saint of Killers, who is so bad-ass that even Satan kicked him out of hell.

Transmetropolitan is one of my absolute favourites when it comes to comics set in the future. Spider Jerusalem is cynical as three hells, manic-depressive, drug-abusing bastard who doesn't feel alive until someone is wishing or trying to kill him, and whose major fault is that he cares too much, in his own black-hearted way. Gonzo journalism took several steps forward with this series.

If you want to be introduced to manga, then the starter point could be Akira, but it does feel a little weird at times. An easier-to-digest thing could be Outlanders which is space opera at a high and mostly light-hearted pace, and with plenty of action and hot space chicks throughout all 8 volumes.
 
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Tressa, I liked the first Sin City on the first read through as well. I've since cooled a bit on Frank Miller in general - his stuff is so cliché, so macho and though graphically interesting, IMO he can't really draw.

To the OP: Try
  • Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware. It doesn't get much better than that, though it sort of is a (non-)drama. Very subtle.
  • Bone (Jeff Smith), even though it looks like a kids' book it has some of the most elegant story telling around, and is very emotionally involving. And fun.
  • Akira (Katsuhiro Otomo) is a classic action adventure. I'd advise you to get the whole series right away, long as it is, since it's so hard to put down you might get withdrawal symptoms like I had when I ran out of books before the story was finished.
  • Any Moebius / Jean Giraud from the seventies, like John Difool. Better yet, the Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius, especially if you can get in the larger European format in black and white. Pure psychedelic beauty.
  • Recent Enki Bilal, I think the ones I'm thinking of are called the Hatzfeld Tetralogy (three or four books out so far). Or get Exterminator 17 from '79 and compare with Moebius.
  • Norwegian Jason's the Iron Wagon. Beautiful, haunting, suspenseful.
  • Blacksad by Canales / Guarnido. A hardboiled detective / noir pastiche, but much less serious about the clichés than Frank Miller. Excellent art!

(ETA: Hawk one, Preacher definitely seconded! I'll have to check out Transmetropolitan.)

That's quite a diverse list - let us know how it goes!
 
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What's your opinion on walking dead?

Also, I saw Akira, and loved the movie. But i never read the Manga. How much does the movie relate?
 
Hawk one said:
Let's see...

If you want a comic that's about a former preacher kicking God's ass together with his hot girlfriend and vampire buddy, then go with Preacher. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon creates a new kind of Western story with some real characters. Especially the Saint of Killers, who is so bad-ass that even Satan kicked him out of hell.

Transmetropolitan is one of my absolute favourites when it comes to comics set in the future. Spider Jerusalem is cynical as three hells, manic-depressive, drug-abusing bastard who doesn't feel alive until someone is wishing or trying to kill him, and whose major fault is that he cares too much, in his own black-hearted way. Gonzo journalism took several steps forward with this series.
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LISTEN TO THIS MAN FOR HE SPEAKS THE TRUTH. My two favourites. I owuld also recommend Y: The Last Man, but it's an unfinished series, and apparently the final TPB volume is only coming out in June 2008 or something. :mad:


For manga, I would recommend Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. The anime movie is awesome, but the manga is even better. Superbly beautiful and massively epic, it should be read by anyone, really.

Off-topic: how do I get a cool title under my nickname, like joobz here has? :)
 
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Morrigan said:
LISTEN TO THIS MAN FOR HE SPEAKS THE TRUTH. My two favourites. I owuld also recommend Y: The Last Man, but it's an unfinished series, and apparently the final TPB volume is only coming out in June 2008 or something. :mad:


For manga, I would recommend Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. The anime movie is awesome, but the manga is even better. Superbly beautiful and massively epic, it should be read by anyone, really.
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Morrigan, considering we share much in favorite authors, I greatly value your opinions and shall put those on my to read list.
Hawk one, thank you!

BTW, my brother-in-law loves Y: the last man.

Morrigan said:
Off-topic: how do I get a cool title under my nickname, like joobz here has? :)
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I thought you'd like that one!

go to this thread
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45138
and ask the kind faries to change your title.
 
joobz said:
What's your opinion on walking dead?

Also, I saw Akira, and loved the movie. But i never read the Manga. How much does the movie relate?
Click to expand...

Well, the comic is a +2000 page epos, so it's more or less the main characters and their attitudes, and some other important facts that relate. But while you will reckognise these things, you will also notice all the things that - rather naturally - couldn't possibly have fit into the movie. The comic also has the luxury that it can explain what's going on to a much greater degree than the movie with regards to those powers.

Tiny spoiler:
For one thing, more than half of it takes place -after- Akira awakens.
 
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joobz said:
What's your opinion on walking dead?

Also, I saw Akira, and loved the movie. But i never read the Manga. How much does the movie relate?
Click to expand...

Haven't read Walking Dead. On Akira, think of the books as the longer, more elaborate version of the movie. That's not a bad thing, we get more background, more depth to the characters, and the good bits lingered on a bit. It reads pretty much like the movie, it's a page-turner, except you can take your time and go back when the plot gets too twisty for you. I started with the movie, too, but didn't fully grasp all of the plot details until the second or third viewing.

ETA: Hawk one, this is uncanny, uncanny I say!(Like Clark Kent and Superman desperately trying to appear in a photograph together.. I swear I'm not a sock!)
 
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ThatSoundAgain said:
ETA: Hawk one, this is uncanny, uncanny I say!(Like Clark Kent and Superman desperately trying to appear in a photograph together.. I swear I'm not a sock!)
Click to expand...

Well, frankly, considering just how fast Superman can actually move, it should easy enough for him to keep switching places so often, that it appears to our slow-poke "only registers twelve times per second" eyes as if there are two persons there.

Of course, he would have to get some clothes for his Clark persona that can withstand the enormous friction...
 
Nausicaä by Miyasaki Hayao.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by whatshisface, I have lent my copies to a friend.
 
Walking Dead is very good, especially for fans of the Zombie genre. Rather than the short term effects you see in most of the movies about a zombie outbreak, this series looks at the long term effect it has on society, families and individuals. The first artist (Tony Moore) was unremarkable, but the later ones by Charlie Adlard are striking. The latest volume (#7) is a transitional storyline, but what it leads to is something to look forward to.
 
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What? No love for the Sandman books? (although I admit it does only really get into its stride with tthe second volume).

Top Ten is good fun in a kind of camped up watchmen way.

Oh and I enjoyed 30 days of night too.
 
brodski said:
What? No love for the Sandman books? (although I admit it does only really get into its stride with tthe second volume).
Click to expand...


Plenty of love here!

And worth saying that it's only the first book out of ten thats a bit hit and miss, so there's plenty of good Sandman after the first book. Like brodski said :)
 
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What, not much superhero stuff? Anyone who wouldn't recommend The Dark Knight Returns is a dirty word!
 
Vim Razz said:
5) Ghost in the Shell
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I'm a big fan of the original Ghost in the Shell movie, but the graphic novel dissapointed me greatly. There is a childish recurrent drawing style in some of the endings of the chapters that doesn't match at all the humorless and clearly mature style of the movie. Also the book seems quite disorganized to me at some points, not very coherent.

I also recommend Akira, both the movie and the books.

Have seen many recommendations of Watchmen and want to read it, but haven't had the chance yet. Will now check out Preacher and Transmetropolitan.
 
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