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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 2, 2019 19:04:22 GMT
Alright, so I've been trying to get myself into reading more regularly, but I've actually never touched a graphic novel in my life (except for the manuscripts I had to read during my production internship) and I really want to get into them.
I just ordered myself Watchmen and Batman: Year One as both seemed like good starting points and a good place to start for the style I (think I'll) enjoy.
What are some of your favorites and/or what do you think are essential reads?
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Post by The_Cake_of_Roth on Jul 2, 2019 19:31:07 GMT
If you enjoy Batman: Year One, you might check out Frank Miller's other stuff like The Dark Knight Returns or his work on Daredevil (particularly Born Again). Those I would say are pretty essential.
Also, Alan Moore's The Killing Joke for another classic Batman story.
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Post by DeepArcher on Jul 2, 2019 19:42:19 GMT
On the subject of Moore, V for Vendetta is an essential. Not quite on the same level as Watchmen for me, but close.
I’ve had Maus sitting on my bookshelf for about half a year now and plan to get to it before the summer’s up. I’ve only heard amazing things about it and it’s my understanding that it’s typically considered a quintessential work to the medium, so I’d definitely say check that one out.
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 2, 2019 19:52:56 GMT
I haven't read much in the superhero genre... in fact, I've only read Watchmen. Been meaning to get into some Batman, because Batman is awesome. My experience comes from independent webcomics that have shitty update schedules.
Through the Woods by Emily Carroll -- A horror anthology that is short on the gore and high on atmosphere. Imagine that Poe wrote fairy tales for little children and you'll have the idea. Perhaps a bit weak on character development, but Carroll is more interested in the feeling of walking through a dark wood or that sickening knowledge in your bones that there is something horrible on the other side of a door. And she succeeds in getting that fear through.
...Okay, that's pretty much it.
Edit: Oh yeah, Maus is pretty good. Spiegelman can't quite craft a meaningful narrative out of it, but how do you craft a meaningful narrative out of surviving the Holocaust anyway?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2019 19:53:41 GMT
I haven't read many comics for about a decade, but from what I have, I really liked: Watchmen, Urasawa's Monster, Berserk, and the first two story arcs of Bleach.
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Post by stephen on Jul 2, 2019 20:12:06 GMT
Torso Y: The Last Man
Preacher
The Boys |
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Post by TerryMontana on Jul 3, 2019 16:18:55 GMT
I'm not a big fan of comic books but I have to recommend a few great ones:
Neil Gaiman's The Sandman
Brian Azzarello:
100 Bullets
Superman For Tomorrow
Alan Moore:
The Killing Joke
V for Vendetta
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Watchmen
Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
For the Man Who Has Everything
Frank Miller:
Batman: Year One
The Dark Knight Returns
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee's Batman Hush
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Post by mikediastavrone96 on Jul 3, 2019 16:20:18 GMT
One that hasn't been mentioned: Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman.
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 3, 2019 16:40:52 GMT
I'm not a big fan of comic books but I have to recommend a few great ones: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman I tried this one, but the gore and ugliness of the first volume really threw me off. Does it get less... um, eye-stabby in the later volumes, or does it continue to be just as gory and otherwise dark or unpleasant? |
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Post by TerryMontana on Jul 3, 2019 16:52:36 GMT
I'm not a big fan of comic books but I have to recommend a few great ones: Neil Gaiman's The Sandman I tried this one, but the gore and ugliness of the first volume really threw me off. Does it get less... um, eye-stabby in the later volumes, or does it continue to be just as gory and otherwise dark or unpleasant? I haven't read it for years but I don't remember minding the gore. Actually, I kind of like gore and splatter in books (and movies) so it wasn't an issue to me. But the theme in Sandman is really epic fantasy and fiction. If this is up your alley, then go ahead. Give it one more chance and I guess you'll like it. |
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Post by ibbi on Jul 3, 2019 22:16:29 GMT
I would recommend two other Batman ones - The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. The two of them work really well as the second and third parts of a trilogy with Year One. Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke are both for sure worth reading too, and if you like the former you could always dip into Dark Knight Strikes Again which continues the story and tone yet loses its nuance.
Three Judge Dredd ones I love too - The Cursed Earth, America, and The Pit.
Others I like - Rise of Apocalypse, Batman: Knightfall (good luck if you can get through it all, but the first part is worth reading for sure).
Watchmen is the grand daddy of them all.
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Deceit
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Post by Deceit on Jul 4, 2019 13:17:28 GMT
Black Hole by Charles Burns
The Cage by Martin Vaughn-James
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Preacher by Garth Ennis
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 1:43:21 GMT
If you enjoy Batman: Year One, you might check out Frank Miller's other stuff like The Dark Knight Returns or his work on Daredevil (particularly Born Again). Those I would say are pretty essential. Also, Alan Moore's The Killing Joke for another classic Batman story. I definitely want to get into more of the Batman graphic novels/comics, especially Frank Miller's work, but I can never find a good chronology to work with. Each website or blog has completely different routes they prefer to take. The only one commonality I could find among them was to start with Miller's Year One hence why I bought it and really looking forward to it. Killing Joke is on my list for sure. As is Daredevil (particularly Born Again, though again it's one of those "where do I start?" things that's got me caught up the same as Batman). |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 1:44:22 GMT
On the subject of Moore, V for Vendetta is an essential. Not quite on the same level as Watchmen for me, but close. I’ve had Maus sitting on my bookshelf for about half a year now and plan to get to it before the summer’s up. I’ve only heard amazing things about it and it’s my understanding that it’s typically considered a quintessential work to the medium, so I’d definitely say check that one out. Definitely heard good things about Maus as well, so looking forward to that one. If it's Alan Moore, it's no doubt on my list already as well. Very excited to finally dive into Watchmen. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 1:45:29 GMT
I haven't read much in the superhero genre... in fact, I've only read Watchmen. Been meaning to get into some Batman, because Batman is awesome. My experience comes from independent webcomics that have shitty update schedules. Through the Woods by Emily Carroll -- A horror anthology that is short on the gore and high on atmosphere. Imagine that Poe wrote fairy tales for little children and you'll have the idea. Perhaps a bit weak on character development, but Carroll is more interested in the feeling of walking through a dark wood or that sickening knowledge in your bones that there is something horrible on the other side of a door. And she succeeds in getting that fear through. ...Okay, that's pretty much it. Edit: Oh yeah, Maus is pretty good. Spiegelman can't quite craft a meaningful narrative out of it, but how do you craft a meaningful narrative out of surviving the Holocaust anyway? Thanks for the rec! I've never heard of that one, so adding it to the list. I love me some horror. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 1:50:41 GMT
Torso Y: The Last Man
Preacher
The Boys Oooh forgot about Torso. Think I had it on my list forever ago when Fincher was hired to direct it (sad that didn't happen). Sounds amazing. Y: The Last Man has been on my list forever too, also because of a scrapped film project years ago. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 1:54:08 GMT
One that hasn't been mentioned: Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. I'd be very curious to check out some Superman comics/graphic novels as well, but any idea where a good starting point is? That seems to be the most difficult thing when it comes to comics as there are so many iterations. It would seem chronologically would be good, but then you have to read over a hundred comics to get to the really good stuff sometimes (especially with Superman whose been around the longest of them all). |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 2:02:48 GMT
I would recommend two other Batman ones - The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. The two of them work really well as the second and third parts of a trilogy with Year One. Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke are both for sure worth reading too, and if you like the former you could always dip into Dark Knight Strikes Again which continues the story and tone yet loses its nuance. Three Judge Dredd ones I love too - The Cursed Earth, America, and The Pit. Others I like - Rise of Apocalypse, Batman: Knightfall (good luck if you can get through it all, but the first part is worth reading for sure). Watchmen is the grand daddy of them all. Actually the list I'm sort of going off of with Batman suggested to follow up with those two novels so I'm glad to see there's some sort of agreement in the Gotham City-verse. Good call on Judge Dredd as well since I forget those were comics as well. For me, I always prefer to start at the beginning, unless the issues are stand-alone and don't require a sort of understanding of the universe in some way. Would those fall into that category or no? Thanks for the recommendations! |
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Post by mikediastavrone96 on Jul 5, 2019 2:06:45 GMT
One that hasn't been mentioned: Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman. I'd be very curious to check out some Superman comics/graphic novels as well, but any idea where a good starting point is? That seems to be the most difficult thing when it comes to comics as there are so many iterations. It would seem chronologically would be good, but then you have to read over a hundred comics to get to the really good stuff sometimes (especially with Superman whose been around the longest of them all). I'd say you'd be safe checking out All-Star Superman first, it's a self-contained story outside of the greater comics continuity that really distills a lot of the core values and intrigue with the character (at least as far as what I love about him). For a greater breakdown of other comics to check out to get yourself better ingratiated with the Man of Steel, this article is pretty handy and will tell you what to expect with each arc and iteration so you can tailor it to your interests. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 5, 2019 2:10:49 GMT
I'd be very curious to check out some Superman comics/graphic novels as well, but any idea where a good starting point is? That seems to be the most difficult thing when it comes to comics as there are so many iterations. It would seem chronologically would be good, but then you have to read over a hundred comics to get to the really good stuff sometimes (especially with Superman whose been around the longest of them all). I'd say you'd be safe checking out All-Star Superman first, it's a self-contained story outside of the greater comics continuity that really distills a lot of the core values and intrigue with the character (at least as far as what I love about him). For a greater breakdown of other comics to check out to get yourself better ingratiated with the Man of Steel, this article is pretty handy and will tell you what to expect with each arc and iteration so you can tailor it to your interests.Ooooh, thank you. That's a great help. So many of these sites I looked at to try and start on Batman had a whole map laid out - but it was different with every single site (save Year One being a good place to start). It's good to have a site kind of separate the different series so you can choose your own path and not be bogged down by the whole "well, I never read that issue from 1982, will I understand this one?!" type of thing. |
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 5, 2019 2:17:36 GMT
I haven't read much in the superhero genre... in fact, I've only read Watchmen. Been meaning to get into some Batman, because Batman is awesome. My experience comes from independent webcomics that have shitty update schedules. Through the Woods by Emily Carroll -- A horror anthology that is short on the gore and high on atmosphere. Imagine that Poe wrote fairy tales for little children and you'll have the idea. Perhaps a bit weak on character development, but Carroll is more interested in the feeling of walking through a dark wood or that sickening knowledge in your bones that there is something horrible on the other side of a door. And she succeeds in getting that fear through. ...Okay, that's pretty much it. Edit: Oh yeah, Maus is pretty good. Spiegelman can't quite craft a meaningful narrative out of it, but how do you craft a meaningful narrative out of surviving the Holocaust anyway? Thanks for the rec! I've never heard of that one, so adding it to the list. I love me some horror. You can read the third story of the anthology (called His Face All Red) here if you want to check out her style. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2019 5:31:06 GMT
Hmm (or should I say “hurm”?), I just got through reading Watchmen again recently.  |
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Post by ibbi on Jul 10, 2019 22:05:28 GMT
I would recommend two other Batman ones - The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory. The two of them work really well as the second and third parts of a trilogy with Year One. Dark Knight Returns and Killing Joke are both for sure worth reading too, and if you like the former you could always dip into Dark Knight Strikes Again which continues the story and tone yet loses its nuance. Three Judge Dredd ones I love too - The Cursed Earth, America, and The Pit. Others I like - Rise of Apocalypse, Batman: Knightfall (good luck if you can get through it all, but the first part is worth reading for sure). Watchmen is the grand daddy of them all. Actually the list I'm sort of going off of with Batman suggested to follow up with those two novels so I'm glad to see there's some sort of agreement in the Gotham City-verse. Good call on Judge Dredd as well since I forget those were comics as well. For me, I always prefer to start at the beginning, unless the issues are stand-alone and don't require a sort of understanding of the universe in some way. Would those fall into that category or no? Thanks for the recommendations! Well I've never read any other Dredd comics other than those three, and I understood everything fine! Certainly America and The Pit are undeniably fine standing alone. I've not read Cursed Earth in years, but if there are callbacks to previous stories they are relatively minor. |
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Post by idioticbunny on Jul 13, 2019 3:59:46 GMT
Well I've never read any other Dredd comics other than those three, and I understood everything fine! Certainly America and The Pit are undeniably fine standing alone. I've not read Cursed Earth in years, but if there are callbacks to previous stories they are relatively minor. Certainly good to know! I'd be excited to read them then! |
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