Comics as an art form and what you're reading right now.

[beyelzu]

I believe that the comic industry is in a golden age of comic books. Writers like Ellis, Enis, Bendis, Kirkman and Stazynski are writing crazy good shit. Also, the net allows for the shall we say sampling of the comics so you can separate the wheat from the chaff without paying a fuckload for a bunch of shitty comics to find the good ones. DC++ is a great way to fileshare and find good comics.



So what are you reading and why?


or your topten and why?

or your thoughts on the nature of comics are?


My favorite comics right now are Invincible, a cool take on the teenage super hero, The Walking Dead, a great zombie black and white comic, anything by Warren Ellis including Bad World, Transmetropolitan and Scars, anything by Frank Miller the sin city books and 300, and actually a bunch more, but I will wait to see if anyone else posts on this thread before I make a more comprehensive list.


Oh, check out Empire by Waid, some really good shit.


also, if you are going to mention a spoiler please use spoiler tags as most of these comics are written by kickass story tellers so the story isnt all shitty and predictable like they are in so many mainstream comics.

[livius drusus]

I'm quite comic ignorant (although I did adore "The Dark Knight Returns") so thanks for the tips, bey. I'm really looking forward to seeing what gems this thread uncovers.

Meanwhile, for anybody who might not be familiar with our spoiler tags, here's (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode#spoiler) a how to.

[beyelzu]

I'm quite comic ignorant (although I did adore "The Dark Knight Returns") so thanks for the tips, bey. I'm really looking forward to seeing what gems this thread uncovers.

Meanwhile, for anybody who might not be familiar with our spoiler tags, here's (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode#spoiler) a how to.
The dark night returns is uber badass. Frank Miller is a hell of a writer.

[livius drusus]

He really is. TDKR played a big part in a final report I did in an English literature class comparing Batman to archetypes of the hard boiled detective. As a comic book outsider, I had little idea of the history of Batman as a dangerous, dark figure of extra-legal vigilantism. Reading Frank Miller opened my eyes to just how profoundly subservise the tradition was.

[beyelzu]

Transmetropolitan is my favorite comic series. It ran 60 issues and is just really well written and has a dark, nihilistic spirit. Think Hunter Thompson in the future and kicking ass.

from Transmetropolitan: tales of human waste (which is exceprts of articles by Spider Jerusalem the main character of transmet and not story driven like the original title was)


We Live in a monoculture.
What does that mean? Well, go out to your street corner. You'll probably see a Long Pig stand, SPKF on a screen somewhere, an Angry Boy Dylan's Gun Store. You'll go into a record store and see new recordings by the usual suspects, maybe a special Space Culture display rack.

Go out onto a streecorner in London and you'll see the same thing. Same in Prague. Same in Sao Paulo. Same in Osaka, and Grozny, and Tehran, and Jo'burg, and Hobart.

That's what a monoculture is. It's everywhere, and it's all the same. And it takes up alien cultures and digests them and shits them out in a homogenous building-block shape that fits seamlessly into the vast blank wall of the monoculture.

This is the future. This is what we built. This is what we wanted. It must have been. Because we all had the fucking choice, didn't we? It is only our money that allows commercial culture to flower. If we didnt want to live like this, we could have changed it any time, by not fucking paying for it.

So let's celebrate by all going out and buying the same burger.

[Godless Dave]

The dark night returns is uber badass. Frank Miller is a hell of a writer.
Is DK2 any good? I loved Dark Night Returns but I picked up the first two issues of DK2 and they didn't do much for me. I heard someone else say not to bother with it. I also found that I hate reading comics an issue at a time, I much prefer waiting until they are collected into compilations.

Which reminds me, I need to find and read Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, and hopefully track him down at a con or at RenFest this summer and get him to autograph it.

[Scotty]

<sigh>

You just reminded me of my 30 boxes of comics, and 10 years of collecting.

I stopped when my friend who ran a comics shop was put out of business by Marvel.

I did very much like the whole comics industry, and think there are a lot of talented people working on it.

At this moment, I am blanking on the comics I liked at the time, but I have a few of them laying around, maybe 8000 or so.

-Scott

[livius drusus]

Wow, Scotty. Are those boxes accessible? I wanna know what's in the 8000.

[beyelzu]

The dark night returns is uber badass. Frank Miller is a hell of a writer.
Is DK2 any good? I loved Dark Night Returns but I picked up the first two issues of DK2 and they didn't do much for me. I heard someone else say not to bother with it. I also found that I hate reading comics an issue at a time, I much prefer waiting until they are collected into compilations.

Which reminds me, I need to find and read Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, and hopefully track him down at a con or at RenFest this summer and get him to autograph it.
Dk2 is a steaming pile, I always figured Miller was just cashing in.


Even great writers produce crap soemtimes. :shrug:

I never got into sandman, I mean to download some and see if I like them before I go buy some trade paperbacks.

check out dc++ and these two hubs

Z-Cult-FM.no-ip.org:1599
and
megacomics.no-ip.info:1776

both require a 1gb share to join but you could easily download that with torrents at suprnova.org or http://zcultfm.com

[beyelzu]

<sigh>

You just reminded me of my 30 boxes of comics, and 10 years of collecting.

I stopped when my friend who ran a comics shop was put out of business by Marvel.

I did very much like the whole comics industry, and think there are a lot of talented people working on it.

At this moment, I am blanking on the comics I liked at the time, but I have a few of them laying around, maybe 8000 or so.

-Scott

I am telling you, it is a fucking golden age right now. there is alot of good shit to check out.

I am interested to know what struck your fantasy to the tune of 8000

[Scotty]

Wow, Scotty. Are those boxes accessible? I wanna know what's in the 8000.

I suppose I could go through them and write a little bit of a list. I was rebagging them a while back but never finished. A while, that was probably 2 years ago, the last time I opened them. Previous to that was like 7 years.

They are in good shape though, maybe they will be worth something in 30 years.

Many I bought just to collect. Not as many to read.

-Scott

[beyelzu]

Liv,

since you liked Dark Knight Returns and like historical fiction, I give you Frank Miller's 300 (http://www.night-flight.com/fmiller/fmiller300.html) about the battle of thermopylae.

[livius drusus]

I wouldn't ask that you go through all thirty of them or anything, but I'd be curious to see a rough list of the contents of even one box.

[livius drusus]

since you liked Dark Knight Returns and like historical fiction, I give you Frank Miller's 300 (http://www.night-flight.com/fmiller/fmiller300.html) about the battle of thermopylae.

Oh. My. God. As soon as I recover from the dead faint I feel coming on, I'm buying that badboy so quickly my head will spin and I'll probably faint again. :faint:

[Dingfod]

The real golden age of comic books was in the late 1960s when I could buy a regular comic book for 10 cents and the thick bookbound ones for 25 cents. My 50 cent allowance would entertain me all week with the likes of Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Fantastic Four, The Justice League and my favorite at them time, The Adventures of Superman. The prices they charge for them nowadays, I couldn't even begin to read and enjoy the quantity that I did in my youth.

[beyelzu]

The real golden age of comic books was in the late 1960s when I could buy a regular comic book for 10 cents and the thick bookbound ones for 25 cents. My 50 cent allowance would entertain me all week with the likes of Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Fantastic Four, The Justice League and my favorite at them time, The Adventures of Superman. The prices they charge for them nowadays, I couldn't even begin to read and enjoy the quantity that I did in my youth.
but the stories were formulaic and blahhh at that time.


I am talking about some uber good writing here.

Plus 10 cent comics were in the sixties, adjusted for 40 years of inflation it has to be a couple of dollars by now, which is how much comics cost

[viscousmemories]

I had the bible as a set of graphic novels when I was a kid. Much better than the text only version.

I got into alternative comics for awhile in the early 90's: Reid Fleming (http://www.reidfleming.com/), Eightball (http://tralfaz-archives.com/comics/clowes/eightball.html), Flaming Carrot (http://www.flamingcarrot.com/FC/whatis.html).

I have a number of x-rated comics, including most of Milo Manara's (http://www.milomanara.it/) novels.

I am currently reading the Cartoon History of the Universe, Book II (http://www.larrygonick.com/html/pub/books/his2.html).

[Dingfod]

Plus 10 cent comics were in the sixties, adjusted for 40 years of inflation it has to be a couple of dollars by now, which is how much comics costThe last time I bought a 10 cent comic was probably in 1970, the prices of most things has increased about 1000%, or 10 times over, which should make comic books about a dollar if they had kept pace. But, no, falling in line with medical care and the price of a glass of iced tea in a restaurant, the price of comic books has gone up at least twice the average rate of inflation. Are the $2 comic books today worth twice or more than the comic books of my youth? I don't think so, but then, it's only an opinion, you know what their worth. However, back then I gleefully forked over half my weekly allowance for the bigger comic book back then every time a new Superman or Spiderman Special Edition came out. They always had bonus sections and those really neat Charles Atlas ads on the back. I wish I had kept the thousands of them I bought (hundreds of dollars worth over a decade or so), but sharing a room with two brothers 6 and 8 years younger than me made it impossible to have and keep anything intact. You should see what they did to my 1:72 scale WWII airplane model collection and my three-rail Lionel train set.

As for comic books today, let's just say that, like Dick Cheney during Vietnam, I have other priorities. :D

[wei yau]

Proud and embarassed owner of over 40 long boxes of comics. Each box contains approximately 250 comic books. Most are DC publications. Although, I do have some Dark Horse and other independent companies.

The time period is primarily mid-to-late 90s, though I do have substantial runs of specific titles reach furhter back. There was a time when my friends and I would visit comic book stores that were closing and buy entire boxes at a time. Heady days, indeed.

I do have a mostly completed list of titles somewhere in the house. My wife and I spent hours cataloging the issues, but stopped and never got back to it.

Some titles of note are:

The Question
Suicide Squad
Jonah Hex
New Teen Titans
Tim Truman's Scout

Ahh, nevermind, there are too many. I need to find that list. I don't think I have the Excel file anymore, but I can always convert from hardcopy.

[wade-w]

I never really got into comic books. But then again, when the other kids were reading comics I was reading Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard.

[Ymir's blood]

I never really got into comic books. But then again, when the other kids were reading comics I was reading Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard.
I did both. However I pretty much got out of comics in the late nineties. The collector's boom pretty much knocked the bottom out of industry, IMO. Is that what you were referring to, when you mentioned your friend, Scotty?

I remember growing up, going to the flea market and buying tons of back issues to read. Great memories that thankfully survived what the collectible craze did the to heroes in later days. I got into Manga pretty heavy for awhile, then quit all together during a rough part of my life. These days I occasionally buy trade paperback collections. I've been working my way through Sandman, which I never read when it was coming out. Up to book nine now, I think.

[seebs]

I love comics. I like a lot of the obscure ones. I have a small series called "Quantum & Woody" which is hilarious parody of superhero stuff. I have DKR and DK2, both of which I enjoyed. Also Kingdom Come. I tend to buy occasional comps of DC stuff. For non-superhero stuff... Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee, and I Feel Sick. In short, anything Vasquez was involved with. (Yes, the Invader Zim guy.) Strangers in Paradise. Unbefuckinglievable. PvP, Dork Tower, Nodwick. If you can find them, the Knights of the Dinner Table "bundle of trouble" compilations are a pretty good deal, and absolutely hilarious if you do tabletop gaming.

My wife used to have the first 170 or so issues of Sandman, some autographed, which we sold once when we were short of money. I regret that greatly, especially because we found out (not being "serious" collectors) that we were wrong to call them VG, and had to send some money back. Honestly, if we'd had the money, we would have sent it all back and kept the comics. I still resent that. I have been left with a permanent bad taste in my mouth with regards to the serious collectors who have very rigid terminology and won't bother to explain it to newbs.

We also collect a lot of manga, such as Metanoia. :P Seriously, though... We have the usual suspects (a bit of Tenchi, a bit of Lum, nearly every last shred of Ranma and Inu-Yasha, the whole run of Maison Ikkoku), of course. Everyone's gotta have some Rumiko Takahashi around. (Although, if they call her "irrepressible" one more time, I will have to send them some, uhm, other comics, and point out that she actually seems pretty repressed by comparison.) Other things we collect... Vagabond, Blade of the Immortal, Banana Fish, a couple of complete CLAMP stories, most of Battle Angel Alita, the Trigun manga, Hellsing, GTO, Priest... I'm sure I'm forgetting a few of these. We have crates and crates of the stuff.

Jesse has a 2/3rds or so complete collection of Love and Rockets, too.

Oh, and Madman, and Red Rocket 7. I like Madman a lot more than I like Red Rocket 7.

Er, yeah. A few. :)

[Ymir's blood]

Oh, forgot to mention Astro City. Kurt Busiek's comic about people (super and mundane) in a superhero world. It didn't last a long time but it was great.

[Scotty]

I wouldn't ask that you go through all thirty of them or anything, but I'd be curious to see a rough list of the contents of even one box.

Ha ha, I wrote a bunch down from some lists on-line, the first is just Marvel then I went alphabetically with everything else, but it is nowhere near complete.

Alpha Flight
Electra Assassin
A few Incredible Hulk (with wolverine in them, like 180 and 181)
Green Arrow (Mike Grell run, he lived only a short distance from me when I lived close to West Seattle)
Marvel Universe
Marvel Presents (lots of issues of those, mostly because it was showing Wolverine before his series)
The Punisher (three separate titles of him for a lot of issues)
She-Hulk (when John Byrne started it over)
Silver Surfer (when it started over, like revision 4 or something)
Spider Man (Web of Spider-Man also)
Wolverine (right when he got his own title, first run)
X-Force
X-men (spotty number of these, i was trying to get them all, too expensive)

Others- ;)

Action Comics (just some with Superman around when he died)
Age of Repiles (short run)
Ambush Bug
Aliens (lots of different titles, short runs, from Dark Horse Comics)
Aquaman (short run)
Atari Force (I think)
Azreal (batman)

Badger
Batman (a lot of these, but there were a lot of batman, I don't think I ever read them)
Batman the dark knight returns (bad copies now, many people read them)
Batman showdow of the bat
Gotham Nights (mini series)
Bill the Galatic Hero
Boris the Bear

Camelot 3000
Chronos
Colossus (short run)
Crisis on Infinite Earths (when DC blew up a lot of their alternate universes to make it easier to keep track of shit)
Critters (where Usagi Yojimbo started)
Cyclops (short run)

The Dark Crystal
Dark Horse Presents
Deathlok
Detective Comics
Dinosaurs Attack!
DNAgents
Doctor Who (Marvel)
Dreadstar
Droids
Dynamo Joe (LOVED THIS COMIC!)

Elfquest (2nd series, something with "broken wheel" in the title, did I ever mention I met Richard Pini once, funny story)
Eternals (pretty sure I have some of these, maybe a reprint)
Excalibur

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Fathom
Firebrand (I think)
Forbidden Planet
Unknown Worlds of Frank Brunner

Gilgamesh (pretty sure)
Grendel (many different short runs)
Grimjack
Groo (all of them! LOVE GROO!)

Havok & Wolferine Meltdown
Hawk and Dove
Hawkman (pretty sure)
Heroes for Hire (think this was a promotional thing)
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (and the rest of the titles)
Human Torch (short series)

Iron Man (a few)
Indiana Jones (short runs, like in Atlantis or something)

Jack of Hearts
Jonny quest
Judge Dredd
Justice Machine

Kitty Pride & Wolverine

Longshot
Lost in Space

Marvel Team Up
Micronauts

The Nam (complete run, 2 issues of each)
Namor The Sub Mariner
New Mutants
Next Men (John Byrne)
Nightcrawler

OMAC (one man army corps)
The Oz Wonderland Wars (just remembered that one)

the Sandman

Quantom Leap
Quicksliver
The Question (good series)

Racer-X
Radioactive Man #1!
The Realm
Robin
Rogue
Rom

Secret Wars (Marvel Superheroes, 4 or 5 copies of that)
Shade the Changing Man
Scorpio Rose
Shatter (first computer graphic comic, off of a Mac no less)
Sin City
Six From Serius
Spawn
Spider-Man 2099
Starfire
Star Trek (some)
Steel
Storm
Superman (around when he died I got a bunch of titles)

2001: A space Odyssey (Marvel: Jack Kirby, yes the original one)
2000 A.D. Presents
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I didn't buy #1 because I thought it looked stupid, then it went for $600)
Terror, Inc
The Thing From Another World
Thor (some)
Uncanny X-Men (I think most of mine are this title, they have so many)
Usagi Yojimbo (fun comic, just rememered I have ton of them)

Vision and Scarlet Witch

Warlock 5
Warp
Watchmen
Weapon X
Web of Spiderman
What If?
Who's Who in the DC universe
Whisper
Wonder Woman (some)

X-Factor (Men and Force ;) )

Young All-Stars


-Scott

[wei yau]

Oh, forgot to mention Astro City. Kurt Busiek's comic about people (super and mundane) in a superhero world. It didn't last a long time but it was great.

Good title. I regret that I never collected the entire run. Perhaps you can tell me what was the secret shame of the Silver Agent. It was referred to several times, but I never got the fully story.

[Scotty]

The collector's boom pretty much knocked the bottom out of industry, IMO. Is that what you were referring to, when you mentioned your friend, Scotty?

Exactly.

-Scott

[Ymir's blood]

Oh, forgot to mention Astro City. Kurt Busiek's comic about people (super and mundane) in a superhero world. It didn't last a long time but it was great.

Good title. I regret that I never collected the entire run. Perhaps you can tell me what was the secret shame of the Silver Agent. It was referred to several times, but I never got the fully story.
I don't think it was actually ever addressed, which is a pity. The last issue seems to have come out several years ago. Amazon has all of them in four collections. I still need to get the last one, though I've read my brother's copies of the original comics.

[Zoot]

I heart The Authority.

I liked DK2, but it definitely has a different taste. Mainly I just loved Superman having the shit kicked out of him.

Also, Planetary is great.

And I am enjoying the new X-Men stuff.

[Adora]

I've never been into US comics a lot. Probably the one that sticks in my mind is a Star Wars one that I can't remember the name or artist of. Yeah, it was a few years ago now. It was done in these amazing watercolour/inks all in contrasting colours. The art just blew my mind. Oh, and Luke went over to the Dark Side proper, which I thought was cool, and they finally bumped off the Emporer. If you know the title, I'll give you a cookie.

Way back when I was a Matrixfan, I got my hands on a copy of Hardboiled, just for the luscious detail in the art. I really liked that one too. Transmetropolitan was alright. And I'm not sure if this counts, but if SNIKT! ever comes out in a compiled form, I'll probably buy it. Wolverine + Tsutomu Nihei (artist for a manga called BLAME! His shit is absolutely crazzyy) = love.

Oh, and you can't go past the Sandman. I own Dreamhunters.

Yeah yeah yeah. String me up, but I just don't find a lot of US comics to be that interesting, and the art styles put me off a lot. Y'know how people say "They all look the same" about manga? Well, I'm that way about a lot of US comics. Not all of them of course, just a lot of them. I don't deny there are some very very good artists out there though. They're just harder to find for someone like me who isn't into the scene.

If they were cheaper, I'd definitely buy comics by some amateur US artists like Bill Mudron and Clio Chiang. But obviously, postage/shipping costs and all kind of ruin that.

Comics are still pretty underground here in Australia. There's just not as big a market as the US, and yeah, we're still suffering the evils of Frederic Wertham.

[Scotty]

I want my cookie. Scanned from my collection, which just so happened to be open (one of the boxes not finished sorting for the past 2 years).

You all know of course that I would be glad to lick Adora's toes for an ounce of her artistic talent, so getting a cookie is :woohoo: !!

-Scott

[The Lone Ranger]

Dang, Scotty beat me to it! Dark Empire really was quite good. (I wish the Star Wars movies were half so good!)


The Dark Knight Returns is considered a classic for a reason -- it's a terrific read, and surprisingly complex. I don't hate Dark Knight II as much as a lot of people do, but I agree that it's a major letdown compared to the first.

And dangit! I do not accept that Dick Grayson turned out to be one of the bad guys! What was Miller thinking?

Sandman counts as fine literature, if you ask me. It's that good. But then, Neil Gaiman can do no wrong.


Does anyone remember the Animal Man series by Grant Morrison? That was a terrifically well-done series.

And let's not forget Watchmen! Sure, it's a bit dated in some ways now, but in other ways it's frighteningly apt.

Camelot 3000 wasn't the best-written comic series ever, but I quite enjoyed it.

For a while, DC Comics did a simply terrific Star Trek series (actually two: Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation). The stories were well-written, and the writers were obviously "Trek" geeks, because they simply nailed the personalities of the characters.

Cheers,

Michael

[Adora]

*pets and worships Scotty and feeds him many many cookies*

[Scotty]

*pets and worships Scotty and feeds him many many cookies*

Now, this is the life :relax:

...and, Adora :bow2:

-Scott

[beyelzu]

I heart The Authority.

I liked DK2, but it definitely has a different taste. Mainly I just loved Superman having the shit kicked out of him.

Also, Planetary is great.

And I am enjoying the new X-Men stuff.
both planetary and authority are fucking awesome. Planetary really is the shit. I love the whole take on the fantastic four in planetary. but then both titles are by ellis and he is a fucking god.


I am such a warren ellis fanboy.

[HarryLime]

Hey all, new to the forum obviously, but it looks kickass. Thanks to beyelzu for inviting me. There have definitely been a lot of badass titles thrown out already, but a few others that I'm currently reading are:

Hard Time - Sort of like "OZ" with powers. 15 year old kid gets locked away for a school shooting for 50 years. It's actually pretty insightful, even if it would probably work just as well without the powers.

Y The Last Man - Brian K Vaughn is quickly becoming one of the most literate, thought provoking writers in comics, and this is probably his flagship book. Follows the trials of the only surviving man and his monkey after an unspecified plague wipes out everything else with a Y chromosome on the planet. It's a bit leisurely paced, but fantastic shit.

Ex Machina - Another Brian K. Vaughn book, and this one's just as good. NYC's Mayor Hundred deals with issues like racism, art, terrorism, and the place of special abilities in day to day life. It's brilliant.

Other old favorites are Transmetropolitan, Preacher, The Sandman, Strangers in Paradise, Resurrection Man, Sin City, 300, Hitman, Aztek, Rising Stars, The Spectre v3, Invincible, The Walking Dead, Scars, Empire, Astro City, Planetary, Marvels, Kingdom Come, Black Hole, and V for Vendetta. Anyone else familliar with V, especially?

Will

[beyelzu]

Hey all, new to the forum obviously, but it looks kickass. Thanks to beyelzu for inviting me. There have definitely been a lot of badass titles thrown out already, but a few others that I'm currently reading are:

Hard Time - Sort of like "OZ" with powers. 15 year old kid gets locked away for a school shooting for 50 years. It's actually pretty insightful, even if it would probably work just as well without the powers.

Y The Last Man - Brian K Vaughn is quickly becoming one of the most literate, thought provoking writers in comics, and this is probably his flagship book. Follows the trials of the only surviving man and his monkey after an unspecified plague wipes out everything else with a Y chromosome on the planet. It's a bit leisurely paced, but fantastic shit.

Ex Machina - Another Brian K. Vaughn book, and this one's just as good. NYC's Mayor Hundred deals with issues like racism, art, terrorism, and the place of special abilities in day to day life. It's brilliant.

Other old favorites are Transmetropolitan, Preacher, The Sandman, Strangers in Paradise, Resurrection Man, Sin City, 300, Hitman, Aztek, Rising Stars, The Spectre v3, Invincible, The Walking Dead, Scars, Empire, Astro City, Planetary, Marvels, Kingdom Come, Black Hole, and V for Vendetta. Anyone else familliar with V, especially?

Will


will, you so forgot to mention supreme power and midnight nation.

what the fuck were you thinking and

welcome to ff.

[HarryLime]

Midnight Nation was indeed badass. I also forgot to mention Concrete, The Hood, Hate, Howard the Duck v2, and God knows how many others. And Supreme Power does kick all kinds of ass, but I think you actually like that one more than I do, much like your reaction to The Hood. Quality shit, though.

Will

[beyelzu]

will,

allow me to direct you to the beer thread (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=793&highlight=beer)

and the newly minted Drunkards corner (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=19885#post19885)

[HarryLime]

will,

allow me to direct you to the beer thread (http://http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=793&highlight=beer)

and the newly minted Drunkards corner (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=19885#post19885)

Quality. It's no great secret that getting drunk and reading is some fun. I've never enjoyed Hemmingway as much as when I had five or six Jack and Cokes in me. And the beer thread wouldn't display for me. I'll just look it up manually.

Will

[viscousmemories]

I don't have anything else to add to this thread but welcome to the FF, Will.

[HarryLime]

Many thanks viscousmemories. Your forum kicks ass. I really look forward to getting to know you all.

Will

[beyelzu]

Many thanks viscousmemories. Your forum kicks ass. I really look forward to getting to know you all.

Will
will,

you so suck for taking eucharist addict as a title, that is so badass

[HarryLime]

Many thanks viscousmemories. Your forum kicks ass. I really look forward to getting to know you all.

Will
will,

you so suck for taking eucharist addict as a title, that is so badass

Heheh. Yeah, isn't it, though? I was initially a bit torn between that and "Irish Vampire." I think I chose correctly. Slathering Beast isn't too bad, though.

Will

[livius drusus]

Dear God, bey has a symbiot. Or is it the other way around? Oh well, either way, welcome to FF, Will. :welcome2:

In slightly more topic-related news, is your avatar the same guy in Adam's avatar (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=17)? What's with the hole in his head anyway?

[HarryLime]

Dear God, bey has a symbiot. Or is it the other way around? Oh well, either way, welcome to FF, Will. :welcome2:

In slightly more topic-related news, is your avatar the same guy in Adam's avatar (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/member.php?u=17)? What's with the hole in his head anyway?

A symbiote? Jesus Christ, that would be... scary. I'd like to think I've one or two original/dissenting opinions from beyelzu, so perhaps my presence here won't be too redundant. :martini: In any case, thank you for your welcome, and as far as my av, it is the same guy from Adam's avatar. It's Spider Jerusalem, the main character from Transmetropolitan, which has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. It's actually not a hole in his head, but a spider tattoo. You can see it a bit more clearly here: http://www.rackham.dk/artikel/billeder/Ground%20Zero/Transmet_t.jpg

[beyelzu]

Getting back to the op.


comics as an art form.

Lots of us grew up reading comics and for years the comics just didnt fucking grow with us. Sure in the mid to late eighties you had v for vendetta and watchmen but for the most part the stories werent particularly well written. Work like year one or dark knight by miller were the exception and not the rule. Image broke away and produced cool looking comics with shitty stories. At some point, due to flagging sales the comic industry seemed to wake up and realize that the fucking writing matters and writers began making their own comics. Owning the characters and the art allowed writers to do what the fuck they wanted and took the medium to a different level. Preacher is a great fucking comic by Gart Enis and not a single caped dipshit is to be found there. Dont get me wrong, I like superheroes as much as the next geek but by only having super heroes comics stagnated and went on endless cycles of hero loses powers/regains powers and dies/comes back to life, it was all so fucking formulaic and now I read comic books where I dont know how the fuck it is going to end and that is what makes the modern comic industry so fucking badass.

[Scotty]

Getting back to the op.


comics as an art form.

Lots of us grew up reading comics and for years the comics just didnt fucking grow with us. Sure in the mid to late eighties you had v for vendetta and watchmen but for the most part the stories werent particularly well written. Work like year one or dark knight by miller were the exception and not the rule. Image broke away and produced cool looking comics with shitty stories. At some point, due to flagging sales the comic industry seemed to wake up and realize that the fucking writing matters and writers began making their own comics. Owning the characters and the art allowed writers to do what the fuck they wanted and took the medium to a different level. Preacher is a great fucking comic by Gart Enis and not a single caped dipshit is to be found there. Dont get me wrong, I like superheroes as much as the next geek but by only having super heroes comics stagnated and went on endless cycles of hero loses powers/regains powers and dies/comes back to life, it was all so fucking formulaic and now I read comic books where I dont know how the fuck it is going to end and that is what makes the modern comic industry so fucking badass.

You make me want to collect again. But, I don't think my wife will go for it, they take up so much room as it is. ;)

-Scott

[beyelzu]

Getting back to the op.


comics as an art form.

Lots of us grew up reading comics and for years the comics just didnt fucking grow with us. Sure in the mid to late eighties you had v for vendetta and watchmen but for the most part the stories werent particularly well written. Work like year one or dark knight by miller were the exception and not the rule. Image broke away and produced cool looking comics with shitty stories. At some point, due to flagging sales the comic industry seemed to wake up and realize that the fucking writing matters and writers began making their own comics. Owning the characters and the art allowed writers to do what the fuck they wanted and took the medium to a different level. Preacher is a great fucking comic by Gart Enis and not a single caped dipshit is to be found there. Dont get me wrong, I like superheroes as much as the next geek but by only having super heroes comics stagnated and went on endless cycles of hero loses powers/regains powers and dies/comes back to life, it was all so fucking formulaic and now I read comic books where I dont know how the fuck it is going to end and that is what makes the modern comic industry so fucking badass.

You make me want to collect again. But, I don't think my wife will go for it, they take up so much room as it is. ;)

-Scott


you could always pick up some trade paperbacks, most good comics get released as trades now and while they probably wont appreciate in value, you could at least read the comics :yup:

or you could find some digital action, I posted some info on where to get the comics online so you could then find which ones you wanted to purchase in order to hold costs down.

[Adora]

I read comic books where I dont know how the fuck it is going to end

At least you know (or hope) that it will end. I hate series in books, or TV shows, or manga, or comics, that don't end. It just really really shits me, because it's just bad writing. I don't care how pretty the characters... I mean art is.

[livius drusus]

A symbiote? Jesus Christ, that would be... scary. I'd like to think I've one or two original/dissenting opinions from beyelzu, so perhaps my presence here won't be too redundant. :martini:

Mr. Lime, sir, the mere fact that you use capitals ensures that your presence here won't be at all reduntant.

In any case, thank you for your welcome, and as far as my av, it is the same guy from Adam's avatar. It's Spider Jerusalem, the main character from Transmetropolitan, which has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread. It's actually not a hole in his head, but a spider tattoo. You can see it a bit more clearly here: http://www.rackham.dk/artikel/billeder/Ground%20Zero/Transmet_t.jpg

Even though I've only gotten back to you now that you've changed your av (and it was so colorful and pretty, too), I still very much appreciate the link. I had no idea that was a spider. That's one of the problems with avatar art: shrinkage.

[beyelzu]

Thats just cold, liv,

I do you capital letters sometimes. I capitalize I now for instance. :shakefist::

[livius drusus]

I do you ... sometimes.

You wish. :giggle:

[beyelzu]

I do you ... sometimes.

You wish. :giggle:
damn, freudian typos.


:D

[HarryLime]

Getting back to the op.


comics as an art form.

Lots of us grew up reading comics and for years the comics just didnt fucking grow with us. Sure in the mid to late eighties you had v for vendetta and watchmen but for the most part the stories werent particularly well written. Work like year one or dark knight by miller were the exception and not the rule. Image broke away and produced cool looking comics with shitty stories. At some point, due to flagging sales the comic industry seemed to wake up and realize that the fucking writing matters and writers began making their own comics. Owning the characters and the art allowed writers to do what the fuck they wanted and took the medium to a different level. Preacher is a great fucking comic by Gart Enis and not a single caped dipshit is to be found there. Dont get me wrong, I like superheroes as much as the next geek but by only having super heroes comics stagnated and went on endless cycles of hero loses powers/regains powers and dies/comes back to life, it was all so fucking formulaic and now I read comic books where I dont know how the fuck it is going to end and that is what makes the modern comic industry so fucking badass.

You make me want to collect again. But, I don't think my wife will go for it, they take up so much room as it is. ;)

-Scott

I'd suggest selling off the old, crappy ones, and replacing them with quality work by real writers. That's the beauty: good comics are exactly the same length and width as shitty comics, and take up no more room. But they're infinitely deeper. And reading V for Vendetta will be all the sweeter knowing it was financed by garbage. Trading up feels good.

Will

[Godfather]

I'm a comics sympathiser. I've always liked them, but I'm too lazy to be a committed fan or collector. I don't own much of anything, in fact, except the Preacher TPBs and a pretty sizable box of Hellblazer. I'm not too enthusastic about books like Watchmen and The Authority, that deconstruct the superhero genre. I don't mean they're not excellent reading material, but it's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. I love anything by Garth Ennis. The last thing I read was the first issue of his 6-issue series 303. It's pretty promising so far.

I've been to the odd local comic convention in my time, but I never know who anyone is. This year at Armaggedon some bald guy complimented me on a self-published children's book I had written, and I didn't know to be excited until a friend told me it was Brian Michael Bendis (and then explained who Brian Michael Bendis is).

[livius drusus]

I'm afraid I don't know who Brian Michael Bendis is either, but I think it's pretty damn cool that you published your own children's book. Welcome to FF, btw. :wave:

[beyelzu]

I'm a comics sympathiser. I've always liked them, but I'm too lazy to be a committed fan or collector. I don't own much of anything, in fact, except the Preacher TPBs and a pretty sizable box of Hellblazer. I'm not too enthusastic about books like Watchmen and The Authority, that deconstruct the superhero genre. I don't mean they're not excellent reading material, but it's a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. I love anything by Garth Ennis. The last thing I read was the first issue of his 6-issue series 303. It's pretty promising so far.

I've been to the odd local comic convention in my time, but I never know who anyone is. This year at Armaggedon some bald guy complimented me on a self-published children's book I had written, and I didn't know to be excited until a friend told me it was Brian Michael Bendis (and then explained who Brian Michael Bendis is).
Bendis is a god, it is cool that you met him and that he liked your work.

you should really check out Alias and/or Powers by Bendis.

and will will tell you to check out ultimate spiderman and he will be right about that.

Preacher is my third favorite comic after transmet and sin city. I absolutely love garth enis's work.

[livius drusus]

My order of 300 has shipped from tfaw.com! It should be here tomorrow. :bgirl:

[Adam]

Ah, jesus, where to start. Thanks for pointing this out to me, liv.

I tend to like the quirkier stuff, rather than typical superhero fare, although I have to admit to being a fan of that genre, too...it's just too commoditized. You just don't haver decent stories or significant development when all the characters are owned by a huge corporation that needs those characters to be esseitnally the same five years from now as they are now in order to maintain its brand image. I was a big X-Men fan when Chris Claremont was writing them, for instance, but they got too popular, and now they're simply a money making vehicle. I still drool like a rabid fanboy over the movies, though...

I used to read a lot more than I do now, before, as some have noted,m the collectors' market blew the industry up out of proportion and quality became less important tyhan shiny holographic covers and crossover appearences. My all time favorite series is probably either Ellis' Transmetropolitan or Gaiman's The Sandman, each of which is amazing for completely different reasons. Gaiman's work is lyrical, and personal, and sad, and deals with myth and dreams and identity. Ellis' is hard edged, angry, high on more controlled substances than I can name, and deals with politics, society, and our place in it and ability to live with it or even change it. I have a favorite Transment quite to match bey's:

You want to know about voting. I'm here to tell you about voting. Imagine you're locked in a huge underground nightclub filled with sinners, whores, freaks, and unnamable things that rape pitbulls for fun. And you ain't allowed out until you all vote on what you're going to do tonight. You like to put your feet up and watch "Republican Party Reservation" [a TV show in the world of Transmet]. They like to have sex with normal people using knives, guns, and brand new sexual organs that you did not know existed. So you vote for television, and everyone else, as far as your eye can see, votes to fuck you with switchblades. That's voting. You're welcome.

This feedsite adsopt paid for by INFORM. Helping young people understand politics.

I'm not reading much right now, except The Red Star, a sort of fantasy/sci-fi thing about a group of rebels in an alternate world nation sthat's obviously a counteprart of our Soveit Union, and The Books of Magic: Life in Wartime, which is simply the latest Books of Magic series. Hopefully, this one won't stop printing as soon as I discover it like the last two did. Neil Gaiman is apparently involved in this one again, so I'm hopeful. I also recently read Superman: Red Son, a nifty three parter where baby Kal-El lands in the Soviet Union instead of the United States, and becomes Stalin's enforcer and, later, successor, as well as a TPB of Grant Morrison's The Filth, which I don't think I completely understood, but that's Grant Morrison.

I'm sort of surprised to hear that we're apparently living in a great time for comics, since I walk into my local comicshop and am struck by how much utter crap is being published. Maybe I just have to look harder. Or wait for the good stuff to hit the TPB market.

[livius drusus]

I also recently read Superman: Red Son, a nifty three parter where baby Kal-El lands in the Soviet Union instead of the United States, and becomes Stalin's enforcer and, later, successor...

That sounds awesome. I'm really liking the historical angle comics. Do y'all have any more suggestions along those lines?

[beyelzu]

My order of 300 has shipped from tfaw.com! It should be here tomorrow. :bgirl:
let me know what you think of it when you read it.

[beyelzu]

Ah, jesus, where to start. Thanks for pointing this out to me, liv.

I tend to like the quirkier stuff, rather than typical superhero fare, although I have to admit to being a fan of that genre, too...it's just too commoditized. You just don't haver decent stories or significant development when all the characters are owned by a huge corporation that needs those characters to be esseitnally the same five years from now as they are now in order to maintain its brand image. I was a big X-Men fan when Chris Claremont was writing them, for instance, but they got too popular, and now they're simply a money making vehicle. I still drool like a rabid fanboy over the movies, though...
I forgot to mention that I just love all the quality movies based on comics, even the worst among them, the Hulk, is much better than the shitty version of the eighties. The success of the comic movies gives me hope that comic circulations will grow instead of fall.


I used to read a lot more than I do now, before, as some have noted,m the collectors' market blew the industry up out of proportion and quality became less important tyhan shiny holographic covers and crossover appearences. My all time favorite series is probably either Ellis' Transmetropolitan or Gaiman's The Sandman, each of which is amazing for completely different reasons. Gaiman's work is lyrical, and personal, and sad, and deals with myth and dreams and identity. Ellis' is hard edged, angry, high on more controlled substances than I can name, and deals with politics, society, and our place in it and ability to live with it or even change it. I have a favorite Transment quite to match bey's:

You want to know about voting. I'm here to tell you about voting. Imagine you're locked in a huge underground nightclub filled with sinners, whores, freaks, and unnamable things that rape pitbulls for fun. And you ain't allowed out until you all vote on what you're going to do tonight. You like to put your feet up and watch "Republican Party Reservation" [a TV show in the world of Transmet]. They like to have sex with normal people using knives, guns, and brand new sexual organs that you did not know existed. So you vote for television, and everyone else, as far as your eye can see, votes to fuck you with switchblades. That's voting. You're welcome.

This feedsite adsopt paid for by INFORM. Helping young people understand politics.

I'm not reading much right now, except The Red Star, a sort of fantasy/sci-fi thing about a group of rebels in an alternate world nation sthat's obviously a counteprart of our Soveit Union, and The Books of Magic: Life in Wartime, which is simply the latest Books of Magic series. Hopefully, this one won't stop printing as soon as I discover it like the last two did. Neil Gaiman is apparently involved in this one again, so I'm hopeful. I also recently read Superman: Red Son, a nifty three parter where baby Kal-El lands in the Soviet Union instead of the United States, and becomes Stalin's enforcer and, later, successor, as well as a TPB of Grant Morrison's The Filth, which I don't think I completely understood, but that's Grant Morrison.
I dont really like grant morrison, I find his work to be kind of pointless. but I will be checking out red son and if I like it I will buy a trade of it.

I'm sort of surprised to hear that we're apparently living in a great time for comics, since I walk into my local comicshop and am struck by how much utter crap is being published. Maybe I just have to look harder. Or wait for the good stuff to hit the TPB market.
name truly great comics from the eighties. you can count them on one hand. in the new millenium, we have had dozens of great titles and probably more than a dozen original writers. Plus, people like kevin smith and meltzer and j michael straczynski, mainstream artists, are working in the comic industry and raising the bar as far as story telling. In addition, you have established writers like miller, ellis and enis who can write pretty much what they want even on more mainstream books because they have a huge fucking following.


edited to add, I love your transmet quote.

[beyelzu]

I just read red son, pretty good. I like alot of the elseworlds, they are generally much better than marvel's what ifs.

I also generally like millar's work, although imho he really isnt as good as most of the other writers I have mentioned.

you got any other suggestions, adam?

[Adora]

Graaa, Why do all the shit I like have to be so expensive? I saw a copy of Flight on the store shelf the other day. Unfortunately, it costs about 50 Aus dollaros, which I don't have at present. *deds*

[beyelzu]

Liv, check out Maus


the story of a writer coming to terms with his father, a holocaust survivor and the story of the nazi germany.


it is pretty cool comic, although you may never look at a cat in quite the same way.


and of course, From Hell was originally a comic book with a cool take on Jack the Ripper. I really dont dig the art in the book, too messy for my taste. But the comic is more from the perspective of the killer than the movie was, but still an excellent comic as far as story goes.

[livius drusus]

I've actually got Maus, bey. Maus II, too. :yup: Thanks for the From Hell reminder too. I've been meaning to check that out since I saw the movie.

[beyelzu]

I've actually got Maus, bey. Maus II, too. :yup: Thanks for the From Hell reminder too. I've been meaning to check that out since I saw the movie.
no problem I am on a roll tonight

I just remembered Road to Perdition was based on a comic by the same name.

I havent read it yet, I will let you know if it is any good in a couple of hous, after I have downloaded and read it. It will be about a 2.5 hrs to get it and another hour to read it, the reviews look fucking great though.


I have a strict read it before I buy it policy these days.

[HarryLime]

So, I'm incredibly amazed that beyelzu's not mentioned this (and if you have, my apologies): the Sin City movie. Not only does this look to be the best comic movie ever, judging by the trailer, but it also looks as though it could be the darkest, most beautifully conceived noir in decades. Frank Miller's co-directing, and I know for a fact that I'm going to see it at least three times in the theater when it comes out. Has anyone seen the trailer here? Wish I had a link I could post.

Will

[HarryLime]

And I suppose since it's my favorite comic ever, I should post a Transmet quote as well: “Hi. I’m Spider Jerusalem. I smoke. I take drugs. I drink. I wash every six weeks. I masturbate constantly and fling my steaming poison semen down from my window into your hair and food. I’m a rich and respected columnist for a major metropolitan newspaper. I live with two beautiful women in the city’s most expensive and select community. Being a bastard works.”

Will

[beyelzu]

So, I'm incredibly amazed that beyelzu's not mentioned this (and if you have, my apologies): the Sin City movie. Not only does this look to be the best comic movie ever, judging by the trailer, but it also looks as though it could be the darkest, most beautifully conceived noir in decades. Frank Miller's co-directing, and I know for a fact that I'm going to see it at least three times in the theater when it comes out. Has anyone seen the trailer here? Wish I had a link I could post.

Will
shit, I seem to have forgotten to mention sin city the movie, I have no fucking idea how the fuck that happened.


I will be seeing sin city the day it comes out as well.

[livius drusus]

And I suppose since it's my favorite comic ever, I should post a Transmet quote as well: “Hi. I’m Spider Jerusalem. I smoke. I take drugs. I drink. I wash every six weeks. I masturbate constantly and fling my steaming poison semen down from my window into your hair and food. I’m a rich and respected columnist for a major metropolitan newspaper. I live with two beautiful women in the city’s most expensive and select community. Being a bastard works.”

How does his window have a direct line to the city food supply? Or do people just, like, eat while they walk a lot in Transmet world?

[HarryLime]

It helps to think of Spider Jerusalem as a bit of a futuristic Hunter S. Thompson. He exaggerates a great deal and is prone get caught up in the heat of a rant. That said, I'm going with the "people eat while they walk a lot" choice. :popcorn:

Will

[livius drusus]

:giggle:

[reideen1313]

As a newb, I thought I'd just jump in with both feet here.

The comic industry right now is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance mainly due to the shift from a focus on just art, to a focus on the writing. Unfortunately, it may be too little, too late, as many comic shops are seeing a decline in revenue because kids just aren't reading comics anymore. With the internet, Playstation/Xbox, DVD's - all the electronic media in general that kids are bombarded with today, that should come as no suprise.

That said, the books that I've seen listed earlier in this thread are excellent reads. Watchmen, and DKR being some consistent favs from the "dark" period and Sandman, which I believe started the industry down the path of being focused on the story and the writer, moreso than the artist. For those not familiar with that series, the one constant was Neil Gaiman as the writer. The artist on the book changed from arc to arc - some IMO were better than others, but it was the story that always drew me to the book. Another good read from that period was Sandman Mystery Theater by Matt Wagner. That said, I would highly recommend anything that has Matt Wagner's name attached to it! As an artist/writer he can and has done it all.

Current writers that are consistently at the top of my read pile are Kurt Busiek's Conan series from Darkhorse, Geoff Johns work on JSA and the Flash, Andy Hartnell's work on Army of Darkness has really captured the feel of the movie IMO, Brian K Vaughn has done some excellent work on Ex Machina from Wildstorm (along with his already mentioned Y the Last Man), anything Bendis works on gets a look from me, and for a different look at the world of super heroes you might try Troy Hickman's Common Grounds from Image. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are a consistent team that are adding depth to some well loved characters like Batman, Superman, the Hulk, and Daredevil.

[livius drusus]

Those are some mighty fine feet you've got there, reideen1313. Thanks for getting them wet in such an informative manner.

Welcome to FF. :welcome:

[beyelzu]

As a newb, I thought I'd just jump in with both feet here.

first off, welcome to ff.

The comic industry right now is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance mainly due to the shift from a focus on just art, to a focus on the writing. Unfortunately, it may be too little, too late, as many comic shops are seeing a decline in revenue because kids just aren't reading comics anymore. With the internet, Playstation/Xbox, DVD's - all the electronic media in general that kids are bombarded with today, that should come as no suprise. I am hoping that movies will draw new readers which is one of the reasons that I have such hope for the Sin City movie. I hope that it will draw more readers to less mainstream works.

That said, the books that I've seen listed earlier in this thread are excellent reads. Watchmen, and DKR being some consistent favs from the "dark" period and Sandman, which I believe started the industry down the path of being focused on the story and the writer, moreso than the artist. For those not familiar with that series, the one constant was Neil Gaiman as the writer. The artist on the book changed from arc to arc - some IMO were better than others, but it was the story that always drew me to the book. Another good read from that period was Sandman Mystery Theater by Matt Wagner. That said, I would highly recommend anything that has Matt Wagner's name attached to it! As an artist/writer he can and has done it all.

Current writers that are consistently at the top of my read pile are Kurt Busiek's Conan series from Darkhorse, Geoff Johns work on JSA and the Flash, Andy Hartnell's work on Army of Darkness has really captured the feel of the movie IMO, Brian K Vaughn has done some excellent work on Ex Machina from Wildstorm (along with his already mentioned Y the Last Man), anything Bendis works on gets a look from me, and for a different look at the world of super heroes you might try Troy Hickman's Common Grounds from Image. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are a consistent team that are adding depth to some well loved characters like Batman, Superman, the Hulk, and Daredevil.
I will have to check Hartnell and Busiek.

[Adam]

That sounds awesome. I'm really liking the historical angle comics. Do y'all have any more suggestions along those lines?

Unfortunately, no. Other than aforementioned Maus (which I've read) and 300 (which I haven't) nothing is leaping to my mind as beingparticularly historically based. A number of comics flirt with historical settings or deal with historical themes (Transmet, for example, is largely about futurism, which is history projected), but I can't think of any others that are explicitly hostorical in nature. Well, bey mentioned From Hell, so I gues I can think of that one.

[Adam]

I dont really like grant morrison, I find his work to be kind of pointless.

I'm not too impressed by a lot of it. Sometimes I get the feeling he's being weird for the sake of being weird. I know that a lot of people rave about The Invisibles, but I read the first three issues way back in 1995 or whenever and was bored enough to not ever pick up any more. The Filth does have a point, which I can't really explain without spoiling the story, but he;s all over the place in getting there, which I thin dilutes the story. Of course, it's quite possible that there's more to it that I don't get, and that I'm mistaking that for 'all over the place", but I don't think so. Also, he does a good job of making the main character weirdly sympathetic (not to mention pathetic).

[reideen1313]

I will have to check Hartnell and Busiek.

If you do pick up the Conan series, search for the zero issue. Not only did the zero issue win an Eisner award this year, it was It's a nice little prelude that shows why we are seeing stories about Conan's origin, instead of jumping straight into the established mythos that we've seen from the novels, movies and other comic runs. Since it was originally .25, the most you should have to pay is probably around $1.50. I've been consistently impressed with each and every issue, especially since I'm not a huge Conan fan. The Lisner painted covers are a nice touch- even though we're talking about the writing, not the art. ;D They're up to issue 9 so far, with issue 10 set to come out .... next week I think. Here's a link to Dark Horse's Conan page. http://www.darkhorse.com/zones/conan/index.php

As far as the Army of Darkness book - it's only 2 issues in so far. A suggestion - don't worry about which cover is the best to get - they are shipped in equal amounts (except for the retailer incentives - you'll know those by the price tag :D) with different artists, or photos from the movie, so just get the one you like best. The first issue does a good job of letting readers know what happened in the movie, without dragging those of us that are familiar with the history thru a long drawn out back story.

[reideen1313]

I dont really like grant morrison, I find his work to be kind of pointless.

I'm not too impressed by a lot of it. Sometimes I get the feeling he's being weird for the sake of being weird. I know that a lot of people rave about The Invisibles, but I read the first three issues way back in 1995 or whenever and was bored enough to not ever pick up any more. The Filth does have a point, which I can't really explain without spoiling the story, but he;s all over the place in getting there, which I thin dilutes the story. Of course, it's quite possible that there's more to it that I don't get, and that I'm mistaking that for 'all over the place", but I don't think so. Also, he does a good job of making the main character weirdly sympathetic (not to mention pathetic).

That is so true. I couldn't even finish the first issue of Seaguy, let alone think about picking up issues 2 or 3 to find out how it ends. Since my shop bags and boards anything with even a hint of profanity, it was a blind purchase unfortunately for me. He did a good job of bringing back the JLA and kept fans guessing on his Xmen run, but other than that I haven't been impressed by much that he's done.

[HarryLime]

You're exactly right. Seaguy was a huge pile. I read the first issue, and was infuriated at the smarmy faux-retro "charm." Look! A bearded lady! That Morrison's so quirky! Blah. That being said, while I do generally dislike Morrison a great deal, he did a ten issue run on a book called Aztek back in the 90's, that was amazing. Exactly how superheroes should be done. Also, he's doing a 3 issue miniseries for Vertigo called We3, which is really interesting stuff. It's this incredibly violent story about three animals who've been turned into cyborgs for defense purposes. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but the brutality of the story, and the way he's written the animal's instincts is really fascinating. It's stuck with me after reading the first two issues, and I can't wait for the third.

Will

[reideen1313]

You're exactly right. Seaguy was a huge pile. I read the first issue, and was infuriated at the smarmy faux-retro "charm." Look! A bearded lady! That Morrison's so quirky! Blah. That being said, while I do generally dislike Morrison a great deal, he did a ten issue run on a book called Aztek back in the 90's, that was amazing. Exactly how superheroes should be done. Also, he's doing a 3 issue miniseries for Vertigo called We3, which is really interesting stuff. It's this incredibly violent story about three animals who've been turned into cyborgs for defense purposes. It sounds incredibly cheesy, but the brutality of the story, and the way he's written the animal's instincts is really fascinating. It's stuck with me after reading the first two issues, and I can't wait for the third.

Will

LOL! I remember Aztek! He made a cameo appearance in the first ep of JLU this season! :D Between him and Vibe, those are 2 characters I never thought I would see on the show!

Funny, I avoided We3 simply because I figured it would be more of his oddball stuff. I'll have to take a look at it! Thanks!

[HarryLime]

I meant to welcome you earlier, so I hope you'll accept that belatedly. And I freaked the fuck out when I saw Aztek on JLU. :) They'd damn well better actually give him a speaking role during that show. Aztek is the shit. And while We3 is a little oddball, there's really something amazing about the way he's written the animals. Let me know what you think when you check it out.

Will

[reideen1313]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome actually - how rude of me.

I certainly will let you know what I think - I'm stopping to pick up my bag o' stuff today. :D

Another good read is only available in graphic novel form. It's Union Station by Ande Parks & Eduardo Barretto. Ande Parks (who takes on the writing duties here) is known from his inking work on Green Arrow and Eduardo Barretto is an artist that I've honestly never heard of before - I think he has a style that is reminiscent of Neal Adams.

http://www.onipress.com/graphicnovels/gn.php?id=72

http://www.icomics.com/rev_110503_unionstation.shtml

Set in KC it tells about the mob shooting at (duh) Union Station. If you liked Road to Perdition, Mobsters, Good Fellas or any other "mob" type movie or story, you should enjoy this book.

[beyelzu]

v for vendetta is being made into a movie and has a director attached to the project.


V for vendetta, for those of you who dont read comics is the shit. Perhpas, Allan Moore's best fucking work.

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18843

v for vendetta on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0930289528/103-8217524-2493433?v=glance)

If it and sin city both do well, it can only mean increased interest in the comics that actually have good fucking stories.


a fucking golden age.

[wei yau]

v for vendetta is being made into a movie and has a director attached to the project.

I wish I shared your enthuiasm. But, the director as described in that article doesn't seem very promising.

Also, V for Vendetta is a little dated and veddy, veddy British. If we are talking about a Hollywood production, then be prepared for it to get Americanized...witness the abomination that is called "Constantine".

Still, the book is great and I'd love to see it adapted faithfully.

(...which makes me wonder how come we don't see more animated adapations of comic books...you'd think it'd be natural, no?)

[beyelzu]

v for vendetta is being made into a movie and has a director attached to the project.

I wish I shared your enthuiasm. But, the director as described in that article doesn't seem very promising.

Also, V for Vendetta is a little dated and veddy, veddy British. If we are talking about a Hollywood production, then be prepared for it to get Americanized...witness the abomination that is called "Constantine".

Still, the book is great and I'd love to see it adapted faithfully.

(...which makes me wonder how come we don't see more animated adapations of comic books...you'd think it'd be natural, no?)

I can handle the americanization so long as the movie remains true to the book and
v dies and doesnt reveal his face in the movie, and if he is bloodthirsty and blows alot of shit up

I think we dont see animated movies about comics because cartoons are seen as being even more for children then comics are.

[wei yau]

I can handle the americanization so long as the movie remains true to the book and

I need to reread the book. I read a borrowed copy years ago, I really need to own this title. Guess I'm going to the bookstore this weekend.

I think we dont see animated movies about comics because cartoons are seen as being even more for children then comics are.

You're probably right, more the shame. You'd think that with all the Pixar blockbusters being touted as good for adults and children would do something to change that ridiculous notion.

[reideen1313]

I think we dont see animated movies about comics because cartoons are seen as being even more for children then comics are.

Sadly, here in the US, that's true. Overseas in Europe and Asia, comics and cartoons are a much more mainstream art form, accepted by both children and adults.

[The Lone Ranger]

I think we dont see animated movies about comics because cartoons are seen as being even more for children then comics are.

That's very true, sadly.

I talked Sarah into seeing The Iron Giant a couple of weeks ago, but it took some doing. She insisted that she had no interest in seeing some "kiddie cartoon," but wound up loving it.

A lot of people don't understand that many "cartoons" are written as much for (or in some cases, more for) adults as children.

Cheers,

Michael

[beyelzu]

I think we dont see animated movies about comics because cartoons are seen as being even more for children then comics are.

That's very true, sadly.

I talked Sarah into seeing The Iron Giant a couple of weeks ago, but it took some doing. She insisted that she had no interest in seeing some "kiddie cartoon," but wound up loving it.

A lot of people don't understand that many "cartoons" are written as much for (or in some cases, more for) adults as children.

Cheers,

Michael
speaking of the iron giant, will suggested I see that movie and I havent because I just cant get it out of my head that its a kid movie. probably because of the way it was marketed, but still considering the quality of his recommendations one would think that I would have seen it by now.

[HarryLime]

I think we dont see animated movies about comics because cartoons are seen as being even more for children then comics are.

That's very true, sadly.

I talked Sarah into seeing The Iron Giant a couple of weeks ago, but it took some doing. She insisted that she had no interest in seeing some "kiddie cartoon," but wound up loving it.

A lot of people don't understand that many "cartoons" are written as much for (or in some cases, more for) adults as children.

Cheers,

Michael
speaking of the iron giant, will suggested I see that movie and I havent because I just cant get it out of my head that its a kid movie. probably because of the way it was marketed, but still considering the quality of his recommendations one would think that I would have seen it by now.

The Iron Giant is the shit. Be forewarned that when you come to visit, you'll be seeing it. So you should probably bring up a few movies to inflict on me in return. And getting back to the comics, the new issue of Rising Stars finally came out, and it's superb. I hope to God that there's not such a long gap between this and the next issue. Also, the Warren Ellis relaunch of Iron Man is fantastic. It deals a lot with a few of his favorite obsessions: technology and morality. It's already the best Iron Man I've ever read.

Will

[Godfather]

Also, V for Vendetta is a little dated and veddy, veddy British. If we are talking about a Hollywood production, then be prepared for it to get Americanized...witness the abomination that is called "Constantine".


If I could choose, I would rather see a good Americanised movie than a bad faithful rendition. It would make more sense today, anyway - Britain got over Thatcher, but America could use a good hard look in the mirror of fascism. Of course, what is most likely is an abysmal piece of crap which misses the point entirely.

PS. I would sooner burn my Hellblazer #1 than watch that ludicrous Keanu idiotfest.

[HarryLime]

Also, V for Vendetta is a little dated and veddy, veddy British. If we are talking about a Hollywood production, then be prepared for it to get Americanized...witness the abomination that is called "Constantine".


If I could choose, I would rather see a good Americanised movie than a bad faithful rendition. It would make more sense today, anyway - Britain got over Thatcher, but America could use a good hard look in the mirror of fascism. Of course, what is most likely is an abysmal piece of crap which misses the point entirely.

PS. I would sooner burn my Hellblazer #1 than watch that ludicrous Keanu idiotfest.

You know who I would have loved to see as Constantine? Gabriel Byrne. I really think he could have pulled that one off. And yeah, whoever thought to cast Keanu is a fucking idiot.

Will

[Godfather]

You know who I would have loved to see as Constantine? Gabriel Byrne. I really think he could have pulled that one off. And yeah, whoever thought to cast Keanu is a fucking idiot.

This is the Buffy fan in me talking, but I think Anthony Stewart Head would have been ideal.

[Farren]

Not much of a comic geek. I read 'em a lot as a kid and young adult but I didn't take note of artists, writers etc.

I did want to ask: Has anyone here read a comic called Revolver? It was produced by the same company as 2000AD and had some really interesting and trippy stories and artwork in every imaginable style.

Also there was an unforgettable 2000AD series called "The Ballad of Halo Jones". Apart from the fact that I thought it was unforgettable, I can't remember a damn thing about it. Can anyone help me out?