Graphic novels worth reading

Because some of us can read.
j$
Beat It
Posts: 5348
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:33 am
Instruments: Bass, keyboards, singin', guitar
Submitting as: Johnny Cashpoint
Location: London, Engerllaaannnddd
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by j$ »

Just wanted to say I just finished "Woody Guthrie & the Dust Bowl Ballads" (by Nick Hayes) and it's a little sentimental (as we all are when we talk about WG I guess) but well worth a read. The two-tone colouring is beautiful and had me researching the Dust Bowl on t'internet, which should be taken as a compliment.

I am also 1/2 way through Darryl Cunningham's "Supercrash - how to hijack the global economy" and so far, it's great - clever without so far falling into polemic. Just to see someone ripping apart the myth of Ayn Rand with well-researched facts would be good enough for me but damn, that man can tell a story. I'll report back on the rest of it later, if people are interested.

j$
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11028
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by fluffy »

I'm very slowly making my way through the entirety of Digger, which is a webcomic that's also available in (extremely thick) dead-tree form.
User avatar
josh
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 329
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 4:43 pm
Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Kazoo, Vocals, Keys
Recording Method: Reaper, 4-Track Cassette
Submitting as: Zack Facco
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by josh »

Well, since this thread is now resurrected... have you ever checked out Persepolis?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis_%28comics%29

It's pretty interesting.

Also, Unlikely (Jeffrey Brown):

http://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Jeffrey- ... 1891830414

That one is insanely confessional... and navel gazy... uncomfortably so, but somehow I liked reading it.
User avatar
iVeg
Mean Street
Posts: 531
Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 10:06 pm
Submitting as: inflatable vegetables

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by iVeg »

Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio, Akira, Maus, Bad Machinery and Scary Go Round by John Allison, Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang, Resistance by Carla Jablonski, Bad Island and Ghostworld by Doug TenNapel,
facebook.com/ivegband
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11028
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by fluffy »

Oh, yeah, I'm slowly making my way through Persepolis too. :)
User avatar
Jerkatorium
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 321
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:48 pm
Instruments: Guitar, bass, keyboards
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Jerkatorium, Matchy Matchy, Hanky Code, All the Robots
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by Jerkatorium »

I haven't picked up a graphic novel since a binge about 25 years ago (Dark Knight, Watchmen, Elektra, etc), but I remember that Kyle Baker's "The Cowboy Wally Show" was one of the funniest things I'd ever read.
"Yes, I am a Muppet with B.O.; this song speaks to me." - Manhattan Glutton
j$
Beat It
Posts: 5348
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:33 am
Instruments: Bass, keyboards, singin', guitar
Submitting as: Johnny Cashpoint
Location: London, Engerllaaannnddd
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by j$ »

a) Anything by Kyle Baker is guaranteed to frost my nips. Even his run on the Shadow was eye-wateringly beautiful (and you can see his influence in things like 'Gotham By Midnight' - which I am also enjoying at the moment, along with "Dead Boy Detectives" and a few other things).

b) UPDATE: Finished "Supercrash" by Darryl Cunningham - wow, what an amazing book! Halfway between the best economics lecture you ever stumbled into, thinking it was something else, and a long, slow, defiant howl at the state of the world. Really can not sing its praises highly enough.

c) Also whatever you think of Grant Morrison (if anything) and his currrent Multiversity run (if anything) please be checking out issue #5 - Thunderworld Adventures. It's the best single comic I have read in years and it's so great to enjoy a self-contained 'fun' comic that is as smart as it is adorable. Truly wonderful, and a nice retort to the "it can't be for adults unless it's grim, dark and nasty" attitude that has been foisted upon us since "Watchmen".

Yes, I am a comics nerd.
User avatar
Niveous
Beat It
Posts: 7177
Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 6:45 am
Instruments: vocals, songwriting, guitar
Submitting as: Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost
Pronouns: He/him
Location: Staten Island, NY
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by Niveous »

Wow. How have I missed this thread?

The holidays were very nice to me this year when it comes to graphic novels. I have enjoyed them all:

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction
Tales of the Avenger without the superpowers and his protege dealing with street level crimes.

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
Lovers from different sides of an interplanetary war have a child and go on the run to ensure its survival.

Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
A Muslim teen from Jersey City gets super powers.

Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris
Superhero Mitchell Hundred retires and becomes mayor of post 9/11 New York City

X-Factor by Peter David
X-Factor is a detective agency for mutants, led by Jamie Madrox who has the power to make duplicates of himself but is struggling with how it is fracturing his psyche.
"I'd like to see 1984 redubbed with this in the soundtrack."- Furrypedro.
NUR EIN!
X-Tokyo
Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost
j$
Beat It
Posts: 5348
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:33 am
Instruments: Bass, keyboards, singin', guitar
Submitting as: Johnny Cashpoint
Location: London, Engerllaaannnddd
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by j$ »

Just to add to the list of 'Recommended Reading", how could I forget Grandville ? I won't even begin trying to describe it, except to say it's *very* European, alternative universe talking animal genius by the always read and look worthy Bryan Talbot. If thinly disguised cameos of Lucky Luke and Spirou (amongst others) means nothing to you, you can still enjoy the mad genius of political comment made through the snout of a tough-talking Badger Inspector Abberline type. See, if I describe it you it sounds rubbish! Trust me, it's fab.

Also yeah for Scary Go Round / Bad Machinery, constantly inspiring stuff! Also really like Wonderella, Two Guys and Guy and a few sadly lost-to-hiatus webcomics such as the Adventures of Beaver and Steve and Antics. All worth checking out ...

And I read the Faction Hawkeye for the first six issues or so, which were great. I feel it kind of lost its way after that, weighed down by its own "no superpowers 60s spy" take on the character. Those first issues, though - wow.

j$
User avatar
fluffy
Eruption
Posts: 11028
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:56 am
Instruments: sometimes
Recording Method: Logic Pro X
Submitting as: Sockpuppet
Pronouns: she/they
Location: Seattle-ish
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by fluffy »

Okay are we talking about webcomics now? I think we're talking about webcomics now.

http://ohumanstar.com/
http://oglaf.com/ (NSFW)
http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/
http://radiowavecommunication.com/
http://www.adventuresofsuperherogirl.com/
http://starpunchgirl.smackjeeves.com

and of course I think a lot of you don't realize that I draw shitty webcomics too: http://beesbuzz.biz/d/
User avatar
johndisk0
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Posts: 150
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2015 9:55 am
Instruments: Drums, Bass, Singing
Recording Method: Goldwave and the Pro Metronome app
Submitting as: johndisk0
Location: East Coast
Contact:

Re: Graphic novels worth reading

Post by johndisk0 »

Sunstone. Trust me. Sunstone.

The author is a comic artist professionally and he started doing a comic on his own called Sunstone on his deviantart page. Ink, trace, color, all of it. It blew up and now he publishes it as a TPB under the Image/Top Cow label.

Warning, though. If you haven't heard of it, it has BDSM and fem-fem relationships in it. But that's not the story; it enhances it. He has created the richest character development I have ever read, and believe me, major reviewers think so, too. Phenomenal work for a single person to perform. Highly recommended.

-jd0
Post Reply