Comics

Discussion in 'Discussions' started by deek, Apr 18, 2012.

  1. deek

    deek Controller of Bits Staff Member

    So I went to my first comic con a few weeks back and I'm amazed I never got in them before. I got Y: the Last Man from my sister enjoyed that quite a bit. I discovered Chew at the comic con and really like that as well.

    Does anyone have any advice for a comic newbie like myself as far as starting a collection? Preferred methods/products for storage, things to avoid, and general comments are most welcome!
     
  2. TheKirkUnited

    TheKirkUnited Member

    I'm not much of a comic book reader myself, but I have many friends who are. I can make a few suggestions.

    Alan Moore has written some excellent stuff. If theaters haven't ruined his works for you yet, read V for Vendetta and Watchmen. Neil Gaiman's Sandman is excellent as well. V and Watchmen you purchase in one single book collection. Sandman is more extensive and comes in small collections and absurdly sized Tomes depending on how you want to go about it.

    If you want something lighter and fluffier, you should try Fables. It's an ongoing story about all of your favorite fairy tale characters with a narrative that's one cup tongue in cheek humor two cups narrative excellence. Written with style by Bill Willingham. I believe Lorrelian has mentioned it on the forums before. He's the one who got me hooked on it.
     
  3. Loerwyn

    Loerwyn Member

    You could go for Hellboy and B.P.R.D. (which starts after Volume 5 of Hellboy). Dark Horse are currently reissuing B.P.R.D.'s initial storyline in hardcover omnibus editions, with the last one coming hopefully this December.

    I don't really have a collection of comics, more a shelf and a bit of trade/hardcovers and a box with various comics (including the last 5/6 issues of X-23). Bags and cards are generally all you need.

    Oh, and get your Dredmor-delving butt to your local comic shop on Saturday. FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! <3
     
  4. deek

    deek Controller of Bits Staff Member


    Already planned to, might even wake up before noon to do so.
     
  5. onesandzeroes

    onesandzeroes Member

    I'm definitely more of a reader than a collector, but my advice is to just go for the trades instead of buying individual issues. I just started buying single issues recently, and I'm going to go back to trades as soon as I can figure out where the breaks in the storylines are for the comics I'm reading. Single issues are 28-32 pages of content sandwiched between way too many ads targeted at 16 year old geeks, and being a fast reader I tend to blow through them in 5-10 minutes.

    As far as specific recommendations, I'm really liking Jeff Lemire at the moment- he's currently doing Sweet Tooth and Animal Man. If you like Animal Man, you should also check out Swamp Thing, since there's some criss-crossing storylines going on. The original Grant Morrison run of Animal Man from the 80's is definitely worth looking for, as is Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing.
     
  6. DavidB1111

    DavidB1111 Member

    I fully recommend the trades as well.
    This is coming from someone who actually tracked down two issues of Action comics from the mid 60s.
    The Superman Guilty of Homicide storyline. Totally worth it. :)

    Oh, and a very interesting comic series, if you don't mind blood, violence, and boobs, :) , is the Lucifer series from Mike Carey based on the awesome Neil Gaiman's first introduction of Lucifer.
    Worth the read, even if it makes Lucifer seem like a "nice guy." After all, he initiated Stellar fusion with the power of his mind as God's Lamp Lighter.

    Also, [​IMG] Does this really look like a bad guy to you? He looks like he just wants you to sit down and share a drink. :)
     
  7. TheKirkUnited

    TheKirkUnited Member

    Nevermind all those squiddly bits. Squiddly bits aren't terrifying at all.
     
  8. Loerwyn

    Loerwyn Member

    It'll be an early morning for me, I can say that much :p
     
  9. Kazeto

    Kazeto Member

    Would you believe me if I said that my first impression of it was "that person definitely can't be good"?
    Because his facial expression, especially with him having blonde hair, makes it pretty easy to declare him as "evil".
     
  10. DavidB1111

    DavidB1111 Member

    They're snakes. :)
    He didn't shoot himself with a squid bolt from Dungeons of Dredmor..

    Kazeto, I guess he does kind of look a bit on the not so nice side, but he's more of an anti-hero than a villain. It's a good series. I must admit when I first heard that a Lucifer comic existed, I was like, "wut." but still, after reading it, it's a pretty cool series.

    Plus, he exists in the same universe as Superman, and most of his powers are from manipulation of solar energy. He could really help Superman out, if he really felt like supercharging Superman.
     
    Kazeto likes this.
  11. Haldurson

    Haldurson Member

    Are we going to start with the blonde jokes now lol?
    There was a Michael Moorcock novel, The Warhound and the World's Pain which definitely gives a somewhat sympathetic viewpoint on the devil. I read that before I discovered Sandman. Plus my religious education was primarily from a Jewish perspective, and the devil does not figure as prominently as a symbol of evil in Judaism as in other western religions. So most of my so-called knowledge of him comes from the little that he is mentioned in Judaism (where it is mere speculation that this angel from story A or that angel from story B is the Christian devil), and from pop culture, which generally does depict him as totally evil. If he is a fallen angel then it stands to reason that whatever qualities make one 'angellic', he ought to have all of them. And that's basically where Michael Moorcock's (and Neil Gaiman's) depiction stems from. The tail and pitchfork depiction of him probably is more of a revisionist view. But I'm not really an expert on religion so I can't say that for sure.
     
  12. DavidB1111

    DavidB1111 Member

    You hit the nail on the head.
    He should have the same angelic features he had before the fall.
    If I remember correctly, God made it that way as to punish him, so he would always be reminded of what he lost.

    Also, depictions of Angels are weird. Just Google some. We have normal looking angels, and then we have six winged 4 headed angels.
     
  13. jadkni

    jadkni Member

    I'm far from an avid comic book reader but I thought Lucifer was pretty freakin' awesome.
     
  14. DavidB1111

    DavidB1111 Member

    Always nice to find more people who read it. I'm only up to book 9 in the series, so, a little over halfway, so don't spoil anything. :)
     
  15. Loerwyn

    Loerwyn Member

    Falcon Kick *Boots this topic back to the present*

    Right, so anyway... comics.

    Well, what am I a fan of? Certainly not Idolized. Nope. My collection of Idolized comics proves it.
    [​IMG]

    Oh, coming out next Wednesday is a (hopefully) excellent comic that goes some of the way to addressing the issue with Red Sonja (i.e. her clothing, or lack thereof), and it's penned by bestselling author Peter V. Brett:
    [​IMG]

    Other comics I'm reading:
    Sandman Mystery Theatre - Excellently written series set in the 1930s, with a great cast of characters and a brilliant plot. It's kind of an anti-superhero comic in that The Sandman isn't much of a hero, but more a masked investigator who uses a strange gas to extract information from people whilst at the same time tackling corruption, solving murders and so on.

    Bandette - Each issue is $1 and digital only (via ComiXology), and I love reading it. It's French-themed and really quirky.

    2000AD - I buy it more than I read it, but it's pretty much the only major British comic now (aside from Commando and maybe one or two like The Beano), so supporting it is more important than it ever has been before. I prefer the shorter stories to the longer ones, and I'm really only into Dredd right now, so it seems a bit of a waste. But, y'know, sometimes it's important to do the right thing. And supporting 2000AD, to me, is the right thing. Oh, and I buy the Judge Anderson collections, because Cassie is awesome.

    Morning Glories - Admittedly I trade-wait this, and for good reason. It's complex, it's deep, it's... bizarre. But I can enjoy it, though often I find myself more confused than I was before. The fourth collection is out soon, and I think that's when it'll be breaking point for me. If it doesn't improve, I'm out. Which is a shame, really, because I think there is something to genuinely enjoy there.

    Stephen King's The Dark Tower - Got all the books, and so far all of the hardcover collections. Just waiting for the next. The art hasn't been quite as good since Jae Lee left, but the writing is still good. I particularly liked the eighth collection, The Battle of Tull.