Comic Books

[TimmyBoston]

Okay, I'm a geek, I like comic books. Do we have any other fans here?

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons a graphic novel released in the 80s is one of my favorite books of all time. It's unbelievably good.

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller is also a terrific book.

 

[The Snark Hunter]

Watchmen is simply awesome. Rorschach and The Comedian are two of the most convincing anti-heroes in comic or any literature. My favorite comic without a doubt is Cerebus. Fantastic and groundbreaking in terms of art, lettering as well as it's take on all sorts of social issues. To anyone familiar with the book, I'm not an unabashed Dave Sim fan and know he can seem pretty loony. But I think his work as a whole rises above his personal feelings and is a genuine work of art.

 

[Dr. Mike]

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for comic books. But I was thinking some of the more mainstream ones. From about '84-'88, I was heavily into comic books. My favorites were Spider-Man (all the different ones at the time), Iron Man, Green Lantern, Daredevil. I was definitely more into Marvel than D.C.

 

[modern man]

 

[scorpion]

Okay, I'm a geek, I like comic books. Do we have any other fans here?

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons a graphic novel released in the 80s is one of my favorite books of all time. It's unbelievably good.

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller is also a terrific book.

Loved both the ones you mentioned. V is for Vendetta is also magnificent. Two other faves are Preacher (pretty graphic - not for the faint of heart and definitely not for young children) and of course the whole Sandman series. I've heard someone say someone is planning a movie of The Watchmen.

 

[ratcheer]

I grew up on comic books in the late 50's and early 60's, but I lost interest somewhere along the way. I like to thumb through a couple of them when I'm in a bookstore, but I can't remember the last time I had one.

Tim

 

[patrisVII]

I really dug Watchmen as well!

My fave was Daredevil in the early 80's - that was Frank Millers start in comics.

I will say that artwork in comics has gotten crazy good over the last 10 years -even the regular title stuff is fantastic comparatively speaking. There was some really outstanding stuff in the late 60's (Kirby's best Fantastic Four efforts) and 70's (John Bryne's Xmen and Neal Adams' Batman) but overall nothing compares to what's coming out nowadays.

I really liked some of the recent Superman re-tellings- Birthright and A Superman for All Seasons and I loved the quasi-JLA Kingdom Come.

 

[Zeni]

Cerebus

 

[DwarvenChef]

Whisper
Early Evil Ernie and Chaos comics
70's Ghost Rider
Scud The disposable assasin
So many more...

I used to own a comic and gaming store in the early 90's and was able to get some really off the wall kind of stuff. I didn't like the mainstream stuff. After I sold the place I got out of comics and put everything in storage. I haven't seen the stuff in years...

 

[berzerkeleyan]

Watchmen movie link here. The casting is nothing short of inspired. All the leads are accomplished actors and, with the exception of Billy Crudup, really look the part (particularly Rorschach and The Comedian). I am really looking forward to its release.

I haven't collected comics in almost fifteen years, so all I know are the "classics":

• Sandman
• Hellblazer
• Anything Frank Miller -- Batman, Daredevil, Electra, Sin City
• Maus
• Cerebus
• Marshall Law
• Lobo
• Akira
• any art by Dave McKean
• any art by Bill Sienkiewicz
• any art by Alex Ross

I'm sure there's been a lot of tremendous work that's been released since my heyday, so if anyone wants to enlighten me, I'm all eyes.

 

[TimmyBoston]

I really hope they do Watchmen right, it could be a great film. The cast certainly looks good.

 

[scorpion]

Watchmen movie link here.
I'm sure there's been a lot of tremendous work that's been released since my heyday, so if anyone wants to enlighten me, I'm all eyes.

Preacher. Absolutely inspired writing and fantastic art. Like I said at the top though - not for the faint of heat. So if you're likely to be offended by nudity (not a main theme or anything, but often enough) or less than reverent religious themes, yo should avoid it. None of that bothers me and I loved every issue. Truly wacky staff... and there's a vampire, which is nice. Great plot.

 

[michaelskar]

I really really enjoy the early(ish) stuff...

Anything drawn by Steve Ditko is just amazing to me...I just really love the style of his earlier work. The early Dr. Strange comics can't be beat. Same goes for early Spider-man.

My friend who's into the newer comics (graphic novels) mocks the ditko stuff (says it looks childish)...but I just have to disagree.

 

[Newfie]

I've never been a collector, but when I think of all the comic books and hockey cards I had in the mid-late 60's, and the value of those today, I could cry.

 

[CyclicSheep]

For those inclined towards blasphemy: Lucifer by Mike Carey.

It's a spin off from the Lucifer character, who abdicates his post, in Sandman. Very interesting "meta-mythology," and then some.

 

[jramire2]

I am, and was even before all the movies, been a huge Spiderman fan. Those big white boxes that comic book stores keep comics in, I've got 5-6 of them. They're not all Spiderman, lots of other stuff too. But I'd say at least 1/2 are Spiderman.

I haven't kept up that much w/the whole Civil War thing, and I personally think the whole clone saga(and artwork for that matter) during the 90's was really bad. But a LOT of that was driven by the industry and the schmucks that owned/ran Marvel at the time. Ultimate Spiderman is the only comic I currently have a subscription of at the moment.

I agree wholeheartedly on the artwork, and the quality of printing in general, no more orange dots like the old days. They've realy made some strides. I didn't like his work before, but Todd McFarlanes artwork is very nice. Of course it doesn't hurt my opinion of him that he for the most part started w/Spiderman.

 

[DirtyDave]

In the 60's I read mostly DC comics and mostly at Hamblin's drug store until we were kicked out with the usually line: "we are not a library, so either buy the comic or put it down and get out." So I put it down and left.

I read Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Flash, Martian Man Hunter, the Atom, Hawkman and whatever else DC published then. The only comic my mom deemed suitable was Mad Magazine, and Mad was hardly a comic to me. More like an introduction to adult humor.

 

[Tinzien]

The Authority

 

[Chase-p]

The Watchmen, of course, and Kingdom Come, but my favorite was Transmetropolitan. I love Warren Ellis' writing, and the art was very good.

 

[norman931]

In the 60's I read mostly DC comics and mostly at Hamblin's drug store until we were kicked out with the usually line: "we are not a library, so either buy the comic or put it down and get out." So I put it down and left.

I miss those drug stores. The Rexall in my town put the new comics out every Tuesday afternoon. The ladies who worked up front knew I would be there punctually at 3:15. For a couple bucks, you could carry home a sackful. That's how I learned to read. This was what they call the "Silver Age" (60s - early 70s). Marvel, DC, Gold Key, Archie, Harvey, even Charlton. It was all good. The stuff they put out now is nightmarish in comparison.

Norm