Powers, Alias, and 100 Bullets are all good. And if you’ve only read the first Sandman collection you should definitely continue. Gaiman didn’t really hit his full stride in the first few issues.
This better be good. That’s one of the things I liked about the original mini-series and the (too short) regular series. They only mentioned Silver Agent a little here and there. I hope Busiek has thought this out well. It could tarnish the title (imho, of course).
Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
Hellboy: Wake the Devil
Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others
all by Mike Mignola (the first was written by John Byrne). All brilliant. All the time.
I wanna lik Tulip when I grow up, too.
We have a winner. Start at the beginning, though, “Monkey Tales” will lose you if you’re not a convert already. Winick also wrote about Pedro and Me about a friend’s death, and it will make you cry like a little bitch.
Add a random Groo or Usagi Yojimbo collection to your list, too.
And right back at ya!
Groo is hilarious, though the early issues were better. And Usagi Yojimbo is the best-written comic in the industry, hands down.
Usagi Yojimbo gets another recommendation from me; it’s the only series (so far) that I have entirely in TPBs. Well, except for Space Usagi, which I thought wasn’t as good as the regular stuff.
If you do go for a UY collection, try one of the self-contained story arcs, as I think they’re a better introduction to the series – “The Dragon Bellow Conspiracy,” “Grasscutter,” and “Grasscutter II.” I’d recommend “Dragon Bellow” myself, since the Grasscutters delve a bit more into Japanese mythology, whereas TDBC is a straightforward story of political intrigue and subterfuge.
I’m so pleased to see all the Transmet lovin’ on this thread! It’s a natural fit for Preacher fans, and so very, very good.
The six volumes of Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing are incredible. Banish any hazy memories of a man in a cheesy rubber suit; it’s a genuinely mature horror comic. Despite the occasional editorial dictated bone-headed crossover, it’s filled with some amazing material. Even after multiple reads, The Anatomy Lesson (volume 1), The Curse and Still Waters (both in volume 3) still cause shivers to run up and down my spine.
The three volumes of Uzumaki comprise a great little horror title.
Worth the walk off the beaten path, there’s Finder, a terrific small press series that’s not well known. It’s an ongoing, but each TPB volume is self-contained (except the two volume Sin Eater story) so you’re not left on a cliffhanger.
If you’re in the mood for some espionage, how about Oni Press’ excellent Queen & Country?
Okay, so I finally picked up Watchmen and am currently working my way through the story. It’s undoubtably quality, but somehow it doesn’t give me that thrill I’ve come to expect from comics.
David Mack’s Kabuki has caught my attention. Anyone read it? Good or bad?
Another nomination for Transmetropolitan. I’ve been buying the TPB’s for the last few months and pimping them to my frinds, all of whom are as addicted as I. It’s almost the best thing in my bookshelf. I’d also recommend Lucifer. The first six TPB’s are out, plus a small spin-off story. It’s a Sandman spin-off, and one of the better ones available. As another poster mentioned, Sandman gets better and better, and is really worth reading. I have all the comics - keep meaning to upgrade to the TPB’s so I can lend them, but there are too many new things to buy.
Tentatively I’d also recommend Top Ten, written by Alan Moore. I say tentatively because I’ve actually only read half the first TPB, but what I read was pretty cool, and I think there’s two books out. Watchmen and V for Vendetta, also by Alan Moore, are total classics. I liked V more than Watchmen, but YMMV.
Dylan Horricks’ Hicksville is also excellent. I don’t know if it came in comic form, as I’ve only seen it collected in one volume. I don’t know how available it is overseas, but if you can get your hands on it, it’s worth buying - it’s a weird, quiet comic.
The first Books of Magic TPB, written by Neil Gaiman is very cool. It was about the first graphic novel I ever read, and I remember it fondly. John Ney Reiber took over the series, I think, and they’ve got a little weird. Off-topic, where has that series gone? My brother picked up the seventh TPB a couple of years ago, it seen I haven’t seen anything more. Molly is one of my favourite characters, and given the last I remember reading of her had her in a fairly tight spot, I’d like a little closure…
Pedant: Gorilla Warfare will lose you. Monkey Tales is brilliant, and introduces my favourite character in the whole series.
(More Ween promised soon! :D)
If you’re not reading Lucifer, you should have your penis cut off with a rusty hacksaw. If you do not have a penis, one will be provided. This goes double for the people who have read Sandman - so that’ll be two severed penises for each of you.
Cerebus also deserves mention, but only diehard fans should proceed past Rick’s Story where the plot has a natural close.
Also seconding Y.
So, what is this Cerebus you mention? I was planning on starting a similar thread, but I’ll jus scam ideas out of this one
The BoM reprint decisions haven’t been quite as inexplicable as those made for “Hellblazer” (which will forever be the benchmark for “What were they thinking?”), but not too far from it.
Peter Gross took over as both writer and penciler right after the point where BoM vol 7. ends, and IMHO it took him quite a while to get his feet under him on the series. Had pretty decent closure, though it took far too long to get there. D.C. has not reprinted any of his 25ish issues.
They have reprinted two of the Books of Faerie miniseries, but did not reprint “Molly’s Story,” which I thought was a pretty terrible mini but did explain how Molly … well, I won’t go into spoilers unless you want 'em.
The BoM was followed by a five issue Names of Magic miniseries, which DC did reprint. I personally didn’t care for it, and it seems that many people agree with my assessment.
That miniseries was followed by a 25 issue “Hunter, the Age of Magic” regular series, created by the same people responsible for NoM, that had its run aborted due to poor sales. None of these issues have been reprinted in TPBs. I didn’t care for this series at all - teenage Tim Hunter’s at a school for magic in a medieval fantasy setting - except for a few points addressed very near the end.
Does that help?
That’s was very informative, thanks Selkie! Please spoil ‘Molly’s Story’ for me - There’s no way I’ll be buying an of the TPB’s… maybe the Gaiman one, but I’ll just file the rest under ‘meh’
OK, here’s the very high-level overview. I’ve blocked most of the details of “Molly’s Story” from my memory, but:
Through some magical machinations in the miniseries, Molly’s curse is lifted so she’s able to eat normal food and touch the ground again. Later, in AoM, she winds up in art school with a snotty French boyfriend. Said snotty boyfriend reveals to Tim that part of Molly’s adamant rejection of him stems from her fear of the mental illness that runs in her family. She does later sort-of reconcile with Tim, but (fortunately, IMHO) they don’t wind up in each other’s arms.
What/where is the small spinoff story? (And why does Amazon still insist that Mansions of the Silence has not been published yet, when I saw it in a store over a week ago?)
I’d like to throw in a plug for Alan Moore’s Promethea–sort of a Wonder Woman for grown-ups.
Amazon consistently receives their GNs several weeks after they appear on the direct market. A month is not an uncommon lag time, sometimes even longer.
It’s hard to describe. It starts out as a stock Conan-spoof, mutates into a socio-political parody with a serious side, dips into religion and metaphysics for a while, then spends some time being pastoral in an urban kind of way before crashing back into religion again. Everyone has their stopping point, but everyone should read High Society and Church And State because they’re absolutely superb.
Mississipienne, hie thee up to Towson – specifically, Legends comic shop – and get you some Transmetropolitan before the election season reaches its full froth. And don’t worry about how Watchmen isn’t quite grabbing you yet. The thrill is in the chase. You’ll be reading it, and reading it, and reading it, and then the twists start hitting extra hard.
As a bonus, check out chapter V, “Fearful Symmetry.” Lay the book flat on the table so you’re looking straight down at it. Lift all the pages in the chapter so they form a wall between the first and last pages of the chapter. Now look straight down at the page layouts. Drop one page from the front of the chapter and one from the back. Look again. Lather, rinse, repeat. And then ask yourself who is the central character to the chapter…
Too broke to buy Transmetropolitan just now? I visit a Doper friend in B’more pretty often to swap comics and watch 80s movies and basically just to hang out a lot. I could loan you my set if you promised to treat 'em nice.