I admit with much shame and disgrace that I didn’t get into comics/GNs (is that an abbreviation people use, or did I just invent it? ) until recently.
I grew up reading these strange comics with all words and no pictures… I think they were called books.
Anyway, that all changed when I ran across Dune: The Graphic Novel at Hatchard’s in London last summer (oldest bookstore in the UK!) and thought OOH PRETTY.
Since then I’ve been trying to open my eyes more to the world of comics etc. I read Understand Comics by Scott McCloud which I really enjoyed, highly recommend if like me you’re new to comics and don’t totally * get * the form.
I tried Walking Dead Vol 1… felt a bit too much like a zombie soap opera for me.
I also possess a comic written by our own @Gio Benedetti, if y’all don’t know Gio is an amazing artist!
Loved the entire Knightfall saga and later Contagion and No Man’s Land. Oh, and Hush was an excellent mini-saga too! Some of these things have made their way into the various films in the past decade or so. I still have a few boxes in my loft that I haven’t read in many years.
Graphic novels? The Babymetal Apocalypse! Just joking, though there is one.
In graphic novel adjacent, I do read some light novels, doing So I’m a Spider, So What? at the moment. Really just popcorn stuff, they really are light.
I had only gotten into a few offbeat ones.
My absolute favorite - The Tick - fantastic
I also read Spawn - was great then got meh
And of course, the KISS comic #1
But after that, never really read them.
If I did I would go straight to Batman I think though.
Unfortunately, a lot (most?) comics become soap opras at some point. Great writers and great artists come and go and long running comics tend to drift in and out of soap opera mode depending on who is setting direction.
If you like science fiction and western comic stylings, Paper Girls is amazing.
East of West is also incredible.
If you like science fiction and you like Japanese stylings, Battle Angel Alita is incredible. Dragonball is super fun and the art is so simple and perfect.
One Punch Man is hilarious and has unbelievable art.
I love that sword and sorcery stuff, so I’m a huge fan of Head Lopper and Coda - also Once and Future.
I also have copies of all these for you to borrow.
Can’t wait to hook you up!!!
When I was growing up, there were no graphic novels, so to speak (…unless you count that KISS one). Rather the comic books were installments into what I might call Novellas. Many of these, like Iron Man, later were developed into movies (albiet with some changes). Interestingly enough, in the case of Iron Man, Tony Stark’s drinking problem was developed in great detail and with great consequences over some 60 issues or so, so I really liked the detail of the old comic book format of the 70’s and 80’s.
Beat me to Sandman.
I read these a long time ago and have just bought some re-issues I have lined up to read when I am finished the current book (the Deathworlders from r/HFY).
You can get lost in Sandman, the stories, the art, the language, it is a lot like Lovecraft, thinking specifically of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath).
Anything Neil Gaiman touches is pretty good.
I have only read three graphic novels. They are hard for me. As much as I love the art, I just want to read the story.
First one was The Crow, I read that in junior high 1996 probably. I really liked it and the movie and the soundtrack.
Second was The Killing Joke. My wife bought it for me like 13 years ago. I enjoyed it, but again, read it too fast and didn’t enjoy it correctly probably.
And right now I’m reading The Last Ronin. If you were in to TMNT at all you should get this one. I’m taking my time with this one and trying to appreciate the art as much as the words. I am really enjoying this one.
@Gio - if you want, you might want to see if you can track down an English translation of the Young Adult manga “Boku no Chikyuu wo mamotte” - English title should be something like “Please Save My Earth”.
Basic plot is a schoolkid starts dreaming about memories of being an alien on the Moon, observing the Earth back in the Jurassic period. Then it turns out her classmates are too, and it’s them all living out past lives in dreams, playing out the drama that led up to their end. And then both plots start evolving in each timeline, with the events in the dreams affecting their real life interrelationships. It’s really well done.
It got so popular here that there were fans that ended up convinced they were past moon people too.
The anime version is… ok. It was supposed to be a full series but they ran out of money and so clamped it at 6, so the ending is way messed up.
) until recently.
