Comic Books...

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David

David

I want to get into them. The only ones I've ever owned were some old Spiderman issues from the 70's and Pokemon manga.

Are there any particular recommendations? Any specific collection I should start with? Or do I just go find some place that sells them (the old comics store shut down), pick an issue and go nuts?
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

(Was there any doubt I was going to post here? :D)

Just walkin' into a shop and looking around? That might be the best way to go. It's hard to throw recommendations out without knowing your tastes or what kinda comic you're looking for.

Personally, I would steer clear of the majority of "big" titles these days. A lot of them are event-driven drivel with continuity so loose, you wonder if they just gave birth. Most of the things I tend to read and recommend are either self-contained (one ongoing series) or more specifically, a single creator's run.

As far as general, blanket recommendations? Here's a list, off the top of my head. Wiki some of them and see if they might be your cup of tea. Lemme see if I can put them in some categories:

Superhero
Invincible
Atomic Robo
All Star Superman
Ultimate Spider-Man
Starman
Irredemable (and its sister title, Incorruptible)
Tom Strong
Astro City
Captain America (specifically writer Ed Brubaker's run)
Planet Hulk
Firebreather

Horror
Hack/Slash
Swamp Thing (specifically Alan Moore's run)
The Walking Dead
Beasts of Burden (it's like Hellboy meets Homeward Bound)
Sleeper (Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips; it's superhero/espionage stuff)

Comedy
Chew
Atomic Robo (listed twice because 1) It's awesome and 2) It's hilarious.)
Scott Pilgrim
The Goon

Sci-Fi
Ex Machina (partly political, as well, but speaking as someone who HATES politics, this is a great book)
Elephantmen
Y: The Last Man (sort of; it's hard to categorize this)
Sweet Tooth (ditto)
Sentinel (Marvel)

Fantasy
Fables (fairy tale characters living together in the modern world)
Mouse Guard
Bone
Amulet
Northlanders (Vikings!)
The Unwritten

Crime (my favourite stuff)
Whiteout
Criminal (probably one of THE best books out there right now)
Gothan Central (focus on cops in Gotham City)
Sandman Mystery Theatre
Parker: The Hunter (and its sequel, The Outfit)
Queen & Country (British Intelligence)
Sin City
DMZ (sort of; alternate reality where civil war broke out in the US and Manhattan has become a demilitarized zone)

I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing, but that'll keep ya busy. Part of me wants to say Watchmen and/or Sandman, but that would be like recommending The Godfather or Citizen Kane. They're great, but maybe not to start out with.

Also, since you're a budding artist and very likely wanting to do something involving comic books, I would highly recommend Scott McLeod's graphic novel essays on the medium. In order, they're Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics and Making Comics.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Didn't we have a topic a long time ago about people' top picks for comics? Seriously, just go look there. We had TONS of great picks in it.
 
North_Ranger

North_Ranger

Staff member
I'm wondering if I should get into the Walking Dead. I was a little surprised to find my local nerd shop (comics, pen & paper roleplay, geeky games, card games, miniatures) having a nice collection of 'em. The series was good enough to warrant some manner of curiosity...
 
J

Jiarn

Short answer: Yes

Feeling a little lazy, and being the thread hjiacker that I am, was there ever a "collected works" hardcover of the Infinity Gauntlet series? I loved the hell out of that.

Also wondering about the "Phalanx" series that spread through the X-men trades years back too.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

The Phalanx story is actually all collected together in The Origin of Generation X trade. Not sure if it's still in print, though.

I don't know about a collected works, as far as having a big omnibus of Infinity Gauntlet and all the important tie-in issues. There might be, since Marvel does like doing those (there's one for Secret Wars and I think Civil War, for example). You'd probably be okay with just the trade, truth be told. There's four trades in total, if you want to go all out. There's IG, its sequel Infinity War and then two trades for Infinity...Quest, I think? Infinity something, anyway.

As for Walking Dead, Ranger? I say go for it. The trades are pretty affordable. If you want to save some money in the long-term, there's a really great book called The Walking Dead Compendium, which collects roughly the first 50 or so issues into one. I bought it a few months back and it's quite nice. Fits on the shelf well with other trades, since it's the same dimensions, aside from massive thickness.
 
K

kaykordeath

There was, at some point in the past, posted to one of the earlier incarnations of the forum, a picture file (but of just text) of a list of Suggested Comic Reading broken down by publisher.

Anyone still have that or know at all what I'm talking about?
 
J

Jiarn

Big thanks for the links of those Trades btw.

Couple of my favorite novels would be:

The Killing Joke (Batman)
Watchmen
The Warcraft Manga are pretty great if you like the series.
Suikoden 3 was a fantastic manga if you played the game.
Trinity Blood, Trigun and Hellsing are a few other manga I would recommend.

I'll admit I've read more manga than comics in the past few years so unfortunately I can't give alot of advice there.
 
North_Ranger

North_Ranger

Staff member
Checked the local nerd store.

Walked home with The Walking Dead Compendium and Collections #9-13. For a decent price, too.
 
David

David

An update: finally got around to going down to the nearest comic book store (45 minute drive away) and picked out



Ultimate Spiderman 150, a nice, round number. There was also an Orange Julius next to the comic book store. Today was a good morning.
 
K

kaykordeath

kaykordeath said:
There was, at some point in the past, posted to one of the earlier incarnations of the forum, a picture file (but of just text) of a list of Suggested Comic Reading broken down by publisher.

Anyone still have that or know at all what I'm talking about?
Click to expand...
Found it...in case any one was interested...
comic list.png
 
Covar

Covar

About a month ago Image started putting out the Walking Dead Weekly. It's each issue of the comic reprinted (new cover maybe? not sure)to give readers a way to get caught up with the book.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Holy crap, Kakor. That's an awesome list. Surprised I hadn't seen it before.

Though, Image/ICON is missing David Mack's Kabuki. Hard to blame ya, since I got into that only a month ago. :D
 
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