Good Graphic Novels

Cafe Society
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A really nice guy? Seriously, I met Terry Moore (writer/artist/publisher for SiP) once, and he’s incredibly nice. Strangers in Paradise is one of the best graphic novels I’ve read. The first one, a collection of three stories, is good… but the second one, collecting nine issues of the comic, is amazing. That hooked me. I don’t think it’s creepy at all. In fact, in a medium dominated by female characters with breasts larger than my head, waists no bigger round than my wrist, and ankles as thin as a pencil, Strangers in Paradise is a refreshingly realistic look at more realistic women… physically and emotionally.

Anyway, yeah, highly recommended.

Several people have already mentioned Sandman… I second, third, and fourth that motion. If you’re curious but don’t want to commit to a long story, try the “Dream Country” collection. It compiles four issues that are each a self-contained story (most of Sandman is made up of long story “arcs.”), and each one is excellent. “Dream of a Thousand Cats” is my personal favorite stand-alone story in the whole series, and “Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the only comic to win the World Fantasy Award for best short story. The rules have since been changed so that no comic will ever win again, too, so that’s saying something. Anyway, if “Dream Country” doesn’t hook you onto Sandman, nothing will.

Also, though it came out after the official end of the Sandman series, and is more like a profusely (and beautifully) illustrated book, “Sandman: The Dream Hunters” is an absolute marvel. Beautifully written and gorgeously painted, it is a true masterpiece. But then, most of the Sandman series is, really.

Looks like everyone else beat me to the punch on most of my other favorites. Watchmen, Elektra: Assassin, V for Vendetta, From Hell, Cerebus, Batman: The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns, Gotham by Gaslight (great Mike Mignola art), The Maxx, and the amazing Maus books. All highly recommended.

I’ve a couple to add… Garth Ennis’ run on Hellblazer was what got him noticed and enabled him to do Preacher. Though I’d recommend any of Ennis’ Hellblazer stories, his first one “Dangerous Habits” is a twisted masterpiece. Very dark and moody. I’ve heard that Nicholas Cage is possibly slated to be John Constantine in an upcoming movie, which is a deep disappointment. I like Cage, but he’s no Constantine. Anyway… “Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits” Check that out.

Another Batman book worth checking out is Arkham Asylum… a convoluted Grant Morrison plot and stunning Dave McKean art make for a great book. This was my first exposure to McKean, and though he is somewhat unhappy with his work for it (it’s his least favorite work, suppposedly), I find that his take on all the traditional Batman characters is visionary and unique. “Arkham Asylum” set a new standard for Batman stories.

Speaking of Dave McKean, his solo series Cages is now collected into a graphic novel. It’s expensive and hard-to-find, but worth it if you’re into his work.

Someone mentioned Neil Gaiman graphic novels, and I agree… I like most of his work. “Mr. Punch” and “Violent Cases” are quite good, “Black Orchid” is really cool, but my favorite has to be “Signal to Noise.” It’s a simple story, but told very elegantly. Also, Gaiman’s The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish (which is actually a children’s book, but who’s counting) is a great read. My girls love it, and I love reading it to them.

Whew… I think that’s it. Might have to go dig in my collection and see if I forgot any. grin

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The two I have are Sandman and Preacher: Until the End of the World.

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I always tell people that Sandman should be required reading. It’s a story about stories about stories about stories–a masterpiece of storytelling. :smiley: I like Preludes and Nocturnes, especially the segment with John Constantine of Hellblazer.

Invisibles is wonderful; it’s what the movie The Matrix was, unofficially, based on.

Both of these series are good for repeated readings and after you’ve read them several times, you can always look for the annotations online, as they’re chock-ful of allusions.

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If you want to look into Sandman I advise you to pick up Fables & Reflections and read the last story, “Ramadan.” Fantastic art and writing, with Gaiman’s trademark theme of stories-about-why-we-tell-stories. I think that one issue sums up Sandman better than any other. (Or, well, maybe Men of Good Fortune, or Midsummer Night’s Dream, or The Sound of Her Wings, or…)

(By the way, I picked up The Dark Knight Returns for the first time a few days ago and was massively underwhelmed. But that’s probably just me.)

Pretty good page of graphic novel reviews here.

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I second the Maus books as well. Very deep, very emotional reading.

100 Bullets is more than just shoot-em-up stories, which I thought it would be. The stories take place in small towns as well as big cities, and touch on a global conspiracy as well. You won’t be satisified with just reading the first collection.

I also recommend Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson. The entire run lasted about 19 issues I think, before Robinson had to wrap things up and make the last issue an epilogue. Everything’s collected in a phone book-sized paperback (except for the fringe features and the special color issue). A core group of about 6-8 serve as the main characters. Their various sordid lives are detailed, as well as an underlying plot exploring the sinister goings-on in the comics industry. Very rereadable.

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I wasn’t at all clear about Strangers in Paradise, was I?:o

I really enjoy the series. When I went to The Comics Journal message board I read a thread (which seems to have dissapeared) where most of the posters thought Terry Moore was one of those men who pretend to be sensitive in order to be the “Sensitive Male.” I think that’s the gist of it. I can’t really remember now. (Boy, I sure do wish I could find that thread.)

My reaction to “SiP is creepy” was like my reaction to “Star Wars is racist.” I had no idea what they were talking about and I didn’t agree with them once I got their point.

At any rate I think that it’s a wonderful series.

I apologize for the vagueness of my posts. Once I become a full fledged Doper, my posts will always be crystal clear.

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(This is my second try on this post - I hope it doesn’t appear twice.)

Count me as another “Sandman” fan, and I second the motion on “Black Orchid.” It was originally published in three pieces, IIRC, but has been reprinted in a single volume. It’s MUCH better than the monthly series which followed a year or two later.

But my current favorite is “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1,” by Alan Moore. It was originally published as six individual comics, and if you can find (and afford) them, they have the advantage that they include period advertisements (some possibly genuine, others definitely faked), a seriallized text story, and letters pages unlike any others I have ever read. There are “Bumper Compendium” editions of issues 1 and 2, and issues 3 and 4 (or is that 1-4?), but they don’t include the ads, the text story, or the letters. There is a hardcover edition which contains all 6 issues with the complete text story and all the cover art, but no ads or letters. I believe a softcover edition is coming, which will presumably have the same contents as the hardcover.

By the way, the first issue of “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2” is due out July 24.

WSLer, I am a big Swamp Thing fan, especially of the Alan Moore issues. Everyone has different tastes.

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I only caught the last bit of it (And the rest is incredibly hard to find), but Albedo is still one of the best sci-fi storyline’s I’ve read. Pretty good hard-science story, though it keeps more to the personal and at times ethical/moral stuff than going into excessive technobabble. It’s also the best presentation of space combat that I’ve read yet (Which isn’t really a whole lot). I just wish I could find more of it cheeply…

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I haven’t read it myself but I have heard good things about Nausicaa by Miyazaki. The anime on which it is based was decent (though not as good as Mononoke IMO) so I would expect that the comic is also good.

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Batman: Arkham

the Maxx

the Tick (the cartoon series was based on this, I think. Different, but still very funny)

thogh I haven’t seen it yet, my brother raves about Lone Wolf and Cub

just for the artwork, pick up any Spawn

www.darkhorse.com is a great place to explore the whole trade paperback thing

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Hellboy by Mike Mignola is the best comic book series, ever. And it’s meant to be read in graphic novel format; I buy the individual issues just because I’m impatient, but I always get the TPB as well to re-read the story all at once. The first in the collection is Seed of Destruction, and it’s a good starting point, but my favorite is The Chained Coffin and Others.

Mike Mignola’s art style is the most distinctive thing about the book, but I don’t think he gets nearly enough credit for his writing; all the Hellboy stories are weighty, creepy, literate, goofy, and hilarious all at once. Reading stuff by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, I always get the impression that they’re imaginative storytellers but they tend to be pretentious, and their humor is a little on the obvious side. Mignola does all the research, but doesn’t pound you over the head with it, and has just the right sense of the delicate balance between “goofy” and “subtle”.

My favorite graphic novel ever is Batman: Year One. I read it on a plane trip and was just blown away by it – it takes a story just about everybody knows in and out and tells it in a way that makes it seem original and just gives it so much more depth and weight than 1000’s of other retellings have been able to. And I’m not a fan of Frank Miller otherwise; The Dark Knight Returns always gets a lot more praise but left me underwhelmed.

Another favorite is Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits, which you’ll probably like if you’ve been reading Preacher. I was a huge fan of the series even before Garth Ennis took over, and when he did, I liked it even more.

Lone Wolf and Cub and The Sandman are consistently good, as other people have mentioned. I also liked Tom Strong a lot. I also want to second the recommendations for Why I Hate Saturn and King David by Kyle Baker, and Mage by Matt Wagner.

Personally, I hate Cerebus – I think it’s pretentious, hateful, and just plain self-indulgent – but lots of other people rave about it so YMMV. And I couldn’t finish Maus; I thought it was well-done but just too depressing.

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Speaking of Frank Miller, pick up 300, his telling of the Spartans who fought off the Persians. Stirring stuff.

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League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 2 will be in serial format first, yes?

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The cover feature of the current issue of Wizard is “The 100 Greatest Stories Ever”. It should still be on the newsstands. These were the top 10:

  1. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
  2. Watchmen
  3. Batman: Dark Knight Returns
  4. Sandman #4: Season Of Mists
  5. Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1
  6. Batman: Year One
  7. Daredevil: Born Again
  8. Marvels
  9. Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?
  10. X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga

Almost all of the GNs others have mentioned are in there too. Very handy guide, even if you don’t agree with their rankings (Kingdom Come was at #40, which is insane IMO) since they give plot synopses and trivia.

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A couple not mentioned yet:

Ronin by Frank Miller. Cartoon Network’s Samuri Jack is a very poor rip off of this novel. This is my favorite graphic novel, and one of my favorite stories period.

Give Me Liberty, also by Miller. I mainly recommend the first story arcs; the later stories didn’t impress me as much.

Batman: The Killing Joke. Wonder how Batgirl got confined to a wheelchair? This is a pretty good read.

Batman: The Cult. It’s fun seeing Batman completely broken, and how he recovers.

Also, if you can find it, get the collected first story arc of The Elementals. A very cool take on the superhero genre.

That’s all I can think of for right now.

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Kingdom Come
and
Gon

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Hi, just a question. I’m not really a fan of graphic novels, but I found this one in Borders a few months back, and I fell in love with it on first read.

The problem is that I can’t seem to remember the exact title (Something with “Berlin”) or the author, and now I can’t find the book.

It deals with the stories of several people in Berlin during Hitler’s rise in the 30’s. Among the characters:
–A woman who moves to Berlin. She’s an aspiring artist who draws pictures on lined paper and writes her diary on unlined paper.
–The journalist she meets in the train, who eventually becomes her lover.
–A group of art students, including one who pretends to be an American … His name is Heinrich, but he likes to be called “Hank”
–A communist woman who poses nude for the art students. The novel ends with her getting shot to death during a demonstration.

If anyone could help me out with this one, I’d be much obliged. Thanks.

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Ultimate Spider-Man : Man, the Spider Man movie was good. This is, like, eleventy-billion times better. That’s how good it is. There are actually two trades, one with the first three issues, and one with the first seven. Pick up the one with the first seven, sit back, and enjoy. You won’t find a finer origin story out there.

Starman : Can’t say I recommend anything past issue 30 or so, but the first dozen issues are FANTASTIC. Really, some of the best writing and gorgeous artwork. Can’t say enough about it. Stopped reading after 30 issues or so for reasons I won’t go into, mostly plot related, and I have no wish to spoil anything. Just read it.

Top 10 : One of Alan Moore’s ABC books. It’s Justice League-meets-NYPD Blue. I’m disappointed that the “second season” won’t be out for a little while, but damn this is a fine read. The “first season” trade paperback is out, and you should even be able to find it at Barnes & Noble. Probably my second favorite currently-published series, behind (go figure) Ultimate Spider Man.

I also have to second the choice of “Astro City.” A real shame that Busiek has all but forgotten about this series.

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A second (or third) vote for Lone Wolf and Cub - Dark Horse has recently released them in the orginal format, but translated into English. I’m pretty sure there are stories in there that may not have made it into the first English translations.

I’m another Sandman fan, and you may want to take a look at the Death books as well. I believe the first one of that series is Death: Time of Your Life, though I could be mistaken.

A friend has strongly recommended Battle Pope, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. And for something completely different, A Distant Soil is fun fluff :slight_smile:

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If you want graphic novel and trade paperback recommendations, a fantabulous site at which to get them is Artbomb.net. Really well laid-out and designed, with good reviews, and indexed both by author and genre.

I’ll also take this opportunity to proclaim my love for Kyle Baker, Transmetropolitan, The Invisibles (which concerns itself with so much more than politics) and really anything by Morrison, and also all things Eddie Campbell.

Other bookshelf-worthy comics I love:

Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware. A simply but beautifully drawn and colored, heartbreaking story about three generations of Corrigan men, and how they fail each other. The dust jacket alone blew my mind.

Planetary, by Warren Ellis, John Cassaday (art), and Laura DePuy (color). Ellis’s love letter to 20th-century genre fiction. One of the few comics about which I get really, really excited every time a new issue comes out. There are two collections so far, comprising the first, um, 12 issues, I think.

Metabarons, by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Juan Giminez. The art. Sweet Baby Jesus, the art is beautiful. And Jodorowsky’s writing is just bugfuck space-opera crazy, but in a very good way.

Finder, by Carla Speed McNeil. Like, socio-anthropological SF. Or something. I can’t really do it justice in two sentences, so read the far better reviews on Artbomb.

Hopeless Savages, by Jen Van Meter, with art by Christine Norrie and Chynna Clugston-Major. The story of Dirk and Nikki Hopeless-Savage and their kids Rat, Twitch, Arsenal, and Skank Zero. Punk rock family values. Published by Oni Press, and actually I’ve never read an Oni book I haven’t enjoyed, so their whole library is worth looking into.

Okay, I’ll stop now.