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Author Topic: Looking for Comics recommendations  (Read 27357 times)
ShenMolo
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on: December 23, 2010, 07:20:55 AM

Hello all,

I am looking for some recommendations for new comics. I collected and read them in the 80's and have become curious about what might be out there nowadays. The closest comic shop is about an hour away, so before I go there to peruse the racks I thought I would ask for some opinions.

I recently bought The Walking Dead series paperbacks after watching the series on AMC, and have enjoyed them.

When I was younger, the series I followed (and still own) were mostly non-superhero titles like:

Usagi Yojimbo
The Nam
The Realm
Conan the Barbarian
Lone Wolf & Cub
The Adventurers
AD&D
The Punisher
Batman & Robin / The Dark Knight
Groo
The Watchmen

So I am interested in mainly fantasy/medieval/samurai/post-apocalyptic etc etc, but am also open to new things. I'm sure there is a lot of interesting stuff that has come out since 30 years ago.

Thanks
Mazakiel
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Reply #1 on: December 23, 2010, 09:04:32 AM

In general, I'd recommend giving Sandman a shot.  It's one of my favorite series though, so I'm biased in that. 

More specific as to your listed interests, I would recommend giving Northlanders a shot.  It's about vikings, and there's no one ongoing story, it's more of an ongoing series of short stories.  So, you could jump in to pretty recent issues without a problem, but if you can, I'd recommend picking up the first trade.  The story in that one is Sven the Immortal, and it's probably my favorite of them all so far.  For the most part, the whole series is pretty good though. 

It's not a sword and sorcery type fantasy series, but you might want to take a look at Fables as well.  Premise is fariy tale characters in modern times, taking refuge from their original worlds.  I've fallen out of reading it, but a friend of mine still reads it and loves it. 

For more superhero oriented stuff, I read and enjoy:

Invincible - Kid in high school gains powers much like his Dad's, who is a Superman expy type character.  The series covers both his heroic life and his personal one, and they both get full of drama before long.  It's by Robert Kirkman, who does Walking Dead, so you may enjoy it as well. 

Irredeemable and Incorruptible - Two series by Mark Waid taking place in the same setting.  Irredeemable is about a Superman type character named the Plutonian who's gone insane and turned villain.  Basic premise is what would happen if a person with super powers wasn't really suited to have that power.  Incorruptible is sort of a sister title, about a villain in the setting who witnesses the Plutonian's turn, and decided to become a hero because of it.   
Velorath
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Reply #2 on: December 23, 2010, 12:26:37 PM

Usagi Yojimbo is still going strong.  I'd recommend picking up some of the stuff that's come out since you stopped reading.
ShenMolo
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Reply #3 on: December 23, 2010, 01:14:29 PM

Thanks for the info! I'm going to check out Northlanders and pick up a copy of Usagi Yojimbo as well.

I also just read that one of my favorites back in the day, Alien Legion, is being remade by Dark Horse Comics.
LK
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Reply #4 on: December 23, 2010, 02:22:08 PM

Punisher: MAX #1 all the way through Garth Ennis's run. I'm not sure how the series faired after he left.

Berserk: The Manga. Trust me on this one. Read the whole damn thing. :)

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CmdrSlack
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Reply #5 on: December 23, 2010, 02:37:39 PM

I'm really enjoying DMZ.

You might like Transmetropolitan as well.

Wasteland seems ok, but I'm about two or three TPBs into it right now and I am starting to lose interest, especially when compared to DMZ.

I traded in my fun blog for several legal blogs. Or, "blawgs," as the cutesy attorney blawgosphere likes to call 'em.
stu
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Reply #6 on: December 24, 2010, 02:37:30 AM

If you liked The 'Nam & Punisher, there's another awesome Ennis mini-series called Punisher: Born, about Frank Castle's final days in Vietnam. It's from around 2004.

I'll second DMZ. DMZ rocks. I think I stopped reading Transmetropolitan around issue 30 or so. Wow, that was back in the late 90's.

Have you read Preacher? I liked all of those and the offshoots.

Brian Azzarello Hellblazers are good.

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Khaldun
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Reply #7 on: December 25, 2010, 07:51:36 PM

The third trade paperback of Garth Ennis' Hitman has just been republished...whole series is worth collecting.
stu
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Reply #8 on: December 28, 2010, 11:52:35 PM

I enjoyed Fables and it's offshoot, Jack of Fables. The James Jean covers alone are fantastic.

For something a little different, Ex Machina was pretty good. It's about a retired superhero who decides to run for NYC mayor prior to 9-11.

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Jackpot!
Special J
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Reply #9 on: December 30, 2010, 11:48:17 AM

Y: The Last Man.  I'm on the 8th of 10 trades.  Good stuff.  Every male on earth (human or animal) dies in a horrific plague.  Except for one man and his monkey. 

Same guy who did the aforementioned Ex Machina.  Which I want to check out at some point.
« Last Edit: December 30, 2010, 11:56:56 AM by Special J »
schild
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Reply #10 on: December 31, 2010, 06:14:16 AM

Ctrl+f "transmetropolitan"

It seems my work here has already been done.
Kalle
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Reply #11 on: January 12, 2011, 01:24:48 AM

I first got introduced to Ed Brubaker with the series Sleeper he did for Wildstorm, back when Wildstorm was a perfect storm of talen, which eventually turned into crap but that's not relevant to the matter at hand. Super hero stuck working undercover in a supervillain organisation with no exit in sight and divided loyalties, betrayed trusts, and high-level scheming everywhere. Series in two parts that is actually resolved at the end.

If you want a less Super take on things Brubaker's also done the series Criminal which is a very noir-inspired tale of career criminals.

NowhereMan
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Reply #12 on: January 13, 2011, 03:32:34 AM

  • Top 10,Frank Miller Alan Moore series following a police dept. in a city full of super powered types.
  • Planetary is a pretty good series, follows a man picked out by a secretive organisation that investigates weird things. It's got a full arc with an end, it's especially good if you're in any way a comic nerd because there's a load of references, homages and other crap to stuff going on in comics. Still good if you're not.
  • Atomic Robo is a great comedy series.
  • If you want to look at ongoing titles I could recommend the Marvel Cosmic stuff. Check out the Annihilation war event and some of the stuff that came out of that (Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova). If you enjoy space opera stuff they're entertaining.


Also seconding Irredeemable and Incorruptible as good series.

Edit: Oh God, for some reason I repeatedly confuse those two, very, very different writers when thinking about comics. Not even in a misattribute credit but actually just swap their names round.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2011, 04:15:16 PM by NowhereMan »

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Khaldun
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Reply #13 on: January 13, 2011, 08:00:19 AM

Top 10 is awesome but it's absolutely not Frank Miller. It's Alan Moore all the way. Well, eventually the artist for the series did a follow-up story himself but it was pretty poor compared to the Moore issues.

Planetary's first TP is great fun as an homage/mash-up of a lot of important SF, pulp and comics characters and genres, a bit self-referential. Then it takes off with a story arc that carries to the end that's also pretty involving.

Completely agree with the Atomic Robo recommendation. A series that gets the tone just right.
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Reply #14 on: February 11, 2011, 06:22:52 AM

I just discovered Atomic Robo recently. It's darn good, so I guess I'll third that suggestion.

Robot-themed, but only vaguely similar (yet awesome) is SCUD The Disposable Assassin. SCUD is more Bob The Angry Flower meets Deadpool-esque, I guess.

I traded in my fun blog for several legal blogs. Or, "blawgs," as the cutesy attorney blawgosphere likes to call 'em.
Velorath
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Reply #15 on: October 27, 2011, 04:44:00 PM

Warren Ellis is currently doing some issues of Secret Avengers (starting with issue 16, and is currently up to 18).  Each issue is self contained with a rotating cast, with Steve Rogers so far being the only constant, and some combination of Moon Knight, Valkyrie, Beast, War Machine, Sharon Carter, Shang-Chi, and Black Widow making up the rest of the group.  It reads almost like a straight take on Nextwave with the Secret Avengers trying to stop these outrageous doomsday devices and such, typically fighting against some group called the Shadow Council (who have apparently been the recurring villains in Secret Avengers throughout the series).
Khaldun
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Reply #16 on: October 28, 2011, 12:28:34 PM

At least Ellis is taking the "Secret" idea seriously as well. I couldn't see the conceptual hook of the book at all even when Brubaker was writing it.

Typically fun Ellis, at any rate. Which reminds: no one has actually officially recommended Nextwave here yet, right? Easily in my own Top Ten of all time. Maybe not quite as much fun if you're new to comics but even then I think it would work pretty well.
HaemishM
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Reply #17 on: October 28, 2011, 01:31:10 PM

Nextwave was fucking awesome.

Evildrider
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Reply #18 on: October 28, 2011, 04:57:36 PM

I finally caught up on the Walking Dead series.  If that genre is your thing, its a good read.
cironian
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Reply #19 on: November 09, 2011, 03:52:20 AM

Samwise
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Reply #20 on: November 10, 2011, 12:02:55 PM

I'm pretty sure I read Nextwave because somebody here recommended it, long ago.  Actually, that's true of most of the comics I buy.   Heart

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Maledict
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Reply #21 on: November 19, 2011, 06:14:46 AM

I really enjoyed the Lucifer books, to the point where they (and Sandman) are the only comic series I've collected. But I never hear them mentioned *anywhere* so I have a dreadful feeling they are considered dreadful or something by the comic community.
stu
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Reply #22 on: November 19, 2011, 11:07:49 AM

Boy, there were a bunch of Vertigo titles I used to read, the early Lucifer comics being one of them. I'm gonna have to revisit them sometime because it's been ages since I read them. I was a huge fan of John Ney Rieber's work on The Books of Magic too. And Midnight Mass.

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jth
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Reply #23 on: July 21, 2012, 11:16:59 AM

I come to this thread a little late, but I'll also recommend Lucifer, it's my all time favourite. I probably never would have found it myself, but several years ago I bought all the Sandman TPB's and mentioned this to a friend of mine, who then introduced me to Lucifer, Hellblazer and Preacher. Those four, plus The Walking Dead, still remain as my top 5 favourite series.

Other ones I can recommend are Rising Stars (at least the main series) and Hellboy, and of the newer stuff, Northlanders and The Boys. You'll want to preview The Boys before buying it though as it's not for everyone, but if you like stuff by Garth Ennis (especially Preacher) you'll probably enjoy it.

Brian Azzarello Hellblazers are good.

Err no, Azzarello's run was horrible  ACK!  I try to pretend it never even existed.
Minvaren
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Reply #24 on: July 21, 2012, 12:56:48 PM

Irredeemable and Incorruptible - Two series by Mark Waid taking place in the same setting.

Stumbled on the first 2 volumes of Irredeemable at Half-Price Books recently, blindsided me with how good it was.  Working on finding the rest.


Other recent Half-Price Books finds that surprised me:

- One Month to Live, now in my top 10 of TPBs.

- Old Man Logan, especially as I'm not a huge Wolverine fan.

- Bit older, but the Space Ghost origin series was surprisingly good too.

"There are many things of which a wise man might wish to remain ignorant." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Morfiend
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Reply #25 on: July 29, 2012, 09:11:35 PM

So I recently got back in to comics. I havent have the heart to really buy comics since fire in 1994 my house burnt down where I lost over 4000 comics.

I have been kind of dabbling with the help of the local crazy comic book guy.

So far I have been reading AvX, and found it very childish, and more like a kids comic. I was hoping for a more adult X-Men comic. No luck. I have also been reading the Invincible Iron Man graphics novels and they are decent, if not great.

So far my favorite has been a new release by Image Comics called "Saga", it reminds me of Heavy Metal a bit. I also enjoyed the first in "Planitoid". Good stuff.

Does any one have any recommendations for other series to pick up? I used to enjoy X-Men a lot when it wasnt bad. I also liked the Wolverine stuff when it was a tad more mature. Also, the first 20 or 30 Spawn comics I loved. Moon Knight was another favorite. I picked up one of the new Moon Knight and it was not bad.

So recommendations?
Khaldun
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Reply #26 on: July 30, 2012, 08:12:43 AM

Saga is interesting. I don't know whether I love it or not yet.

AvX is really pretty dumb, yes.

You might enjoy Ed Brubaker's Marvel work--his Captain America up to the Fear Itself crossover was pretty great, and is in trade paperbacks. His initial story arc on The Immortal Iron Fist was also very good.

I enjoy Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four but it is rather cerebral and cosmic much of the time--his big arc over many issues has concerned time travel, multiple Reed Richards' from many dimensions, insane space gods and so on. Also in TPB.

Mark Waid's current run on Daredevil has been just great, particularly with Marcos Martin's art. Really gets the character out of the grim space that Brubaker and Bendis wrote him into.

I actually liked Wolverine and the X-Men before it got caught up in this AvX shit--the Schism storyline that led to it wasn't bad.

Avengers Academy has been really solid old-school superheroics. It's the most 'traditional' book in the Marvel line in some ways, and it's very clear that Christos Gage is not wild about the Bendis-style of storytelling.

Thunderbolts by Jeff Parker has been good anti-hero stuff, though he gets fucked with a lot by dumb crossovers. The current storyline is pretty incomprehensible, though--you want to go back to when it rebooted with Luke Cage heading a team of supervillains who had to work out of the Raft, a prison, up to the time that the Fear Itself crossover started (fucking horrible, makes AvX look like Shakespeare)

Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force is super-violent, weird, very adult in its feeling, some wild ideas. Go back to the TPBs of the current run, which is numbered to #28.

Of the indy titles out there, nothing is more fun than Atomic Robo, which you should read everything from. It's also potentially worth reading the last 2-3 years of Hellboy and BPRD if you ever liked those titles/characters--very gutsy, grim turn in the overall storyline, without any of the usual comic-booky "and then they all woke up" going on.

Marvel is about to renumber all their books (again) so it'll get more confusing to figure out what's what pretty soon.

Over at the nu52 at DC, there isn't much I can recommend. I like Demon Knights. Mieville's Dial H for Hero is pretty trippy. Snyder's Batman isn't as good as what he was writing before the reboot but it's been kind of interesting and has added some new elements to the Batman mythos that are likely to stick. Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated was better before the reboot--it doesn't really fit post-reboot--but I like it. Mileage will vary depending on whether you like Morrison. Wonder Woman has taken an interesting direction but I'm not liking it very much any more--some good ideas but as is usual with Azzarello also some ideas that are needlessly "dark" just for the hell of it, and he's starting to lose the coherency of his storyline. I liked All-Star Western but it's meandering now--story is just way too decompressed.
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Reply #27 on: July 31, 2012, 06:34:28 PM

Thief of thieves is a good indie. I am also digging Rachel Rising and Manhattan Project.

Supercrooks is also not too shabby. The new Hit Girl series is kinda meh.

I am liking Ultimate Spiderman. There is a new Ultimate universe event that seems stupid, but we shall see.

For my money, the new Daredevil is awesome. A plus, five stars, etc.

I am not hating Batman, Batman, inc., and Dark Knight.

Fables is a bit stagnant right now, but th initial run of trades is worthwhile.

The New Deadwardians is, so far, 4 issues seeking a point.

I traded in my fun blog for several legal blogs. Or, "blawgs," as the cutesy attorney blawgosphere likes to call 'em.
Khaldun
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Reply #28 on: July 31, 2012, 08:31:47 PM

Fables has gone into the weeds, but I can't hate it or anything.

Totally agree on Manhattan Project (fun, interesting) and Thief of Thieves.

Ultimate Universe has been pretty dead to me since Jeph Loeb raped it.
Morfiend
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Reply #29 on: July 31, 2012, 10:36:39 PM

Just picked up the 2nd Planetoid and pretty amped for it. Also some new book, Bloodshot, the comic guy told me I should read it.
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Reply #30 on: August 02, 2012, 01:33:10 PM

Read the new Hawkeye book yesterday.

I liked the art. The story was interesting, if only because it's an Avenger doing more mundane hero shit than it is another Avengers book where we get to see all of the B and C list Avengers.

We'll see how #2 goes before I get all excited about it.

I traded in my fun blog for several legal blogs. Or, "blawgs," as the cutesy attorney blawgosphere likes to call 'em.
Khaldun
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Reply #31 on: August 02, 2012, 08:59:38 PM

It was very very Brubaker-channelling by Fraction, right down to the Aja art. Also to be honest very Green Arrow channelling in a way. Hawkeye has always been a very colorful, flamboyant superheroish character. Even his early venture into villainy has been played largely for laughs. The angle of him being the normal guy among gods and monsters though is pretty old, so I think they can keep working that to good effect. But this basically screams "we are trying to make our guys seem more like the movie versions". Which sometimes helps established comics characters and sometimes hurts. Or is indifferent: Alfred in the very old Batman comics went from being a portly stereotypical Jeeves sort to being the more 'normal' older austere, thin person to align him with an early movie serial portrayal--not really an improvement or not, just a change that ended up being important to the comics as a whole.
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Reply #32 on: August 02, 2012, 10:39:39 PM

The best "current" reboots right now are Daredevil and Batman (the court of owls stuff).

Incredible Hulk and the "stay angry" plot was awesome (RUSSIAN SPACE BEARS) and is now meh-ish. We'll see what happens post-Kraven.

I spend between 20 and 40 bucks on comics a week. I may be sick. I keep looking to carve it down to ten titles. Just not happening. I am hoping to see more issues of America's Got Powers, for example.

I traded in my fun blog for several legal blogs. Or, "blawgs," as the cutesy attorney blawgosphere likes to call 'em.
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