Good Graphic Novels

Cafe Society
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Have any of you ever read Blade of the Immortal? If so, what did you think of it?

42

quarx

Looking around the link provided by Lux Fiat, I found a book called Berlin: City of Stones. Perhaps that is what you are looking for?

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Can’t say that I have.

44

That’s the one, qs, thanks!!

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I highly recommend picking up a copy of the catalog Previews every month. Lots of mouth-watering stuff in there, and a good way to see what you’d like to sample.

46

I bought the first collection recently, and I hate it. Like, so much that I don’t even like having it in my house. I got it because I’ve always been a sucker for stuff set in medieval/early modern Japan, and the story sounded interesting. But I was really disgusted by it; it’s just thinly-disguised pornography and completely mean-spirited violence. And the story & characters are so shallow that it just seems like wasted potential.

All just IMO, of course, but I usually have a pretty high tolerance for trashy comic books! I’d suggest (again) Lone Wolf and Cub if you’re looking for that type of thing – it’s got plenty of over-the-top violence as well, but it all serves the story and characters you actually give a rat’s ass about.

47

I was just reminded of another graphic novel I really enjoy… Barry Windsor-Smith’s amazing Weapon X, a rough “origin” of Wolverine (of the X-Men). It’s a far cry from the typical Wolverine story… it has excellent art and minimal dialogue. Well worth reading.

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Nausicaa the anime is a very rough work that shows its age, and is more important for the ecological ideas it espouses and the approach to science fiction–something like that was missing from Japanese animation. The manga (comic) is an extremely good and engaging read and goes into far greater detail than the anime, dealing with politics and perception in an almost Dune-like way.

I recommend the graphic novel Blood: A Tale, which has to be the most interesting and original treatment of the vampire story I have seen to date–and I normally can’t stand the vampire genre because I think it is tired and unimaginative.