[Probus]

i know there�s another topic but this one is mostly for comics.

i�m am a complete newbee to comics and books in general, i�m just reading my first Spawn and Dangergirl bundles. i think i�m gonna buy some more of em, maybe some artbooks too, i like Luis Royo�s work alot.

so what kind of comics/books do you recommend me?

And all you spawn lovers, which episode of spawn do you think i sh�uld have?

[balistic]

Battle Angel Alita
Ashen Victor
Aqua Knights

All by Yukito Kishiro. He is, in my opinion, the best living comic artist and writer. You should be able to find all of those in trade paperback format at most bigger bookstores.

I also like "Rebel Sword", by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and Frank Miller's "300".

[Ahcri]

If you like Spawn, also check out "Hell Spawn". It's drawn by Ashley Wood, who had also contributed to some Sam & Twitch cover art. The storyline is full of riddle and hidden meanings, and the artwork is morbid. In my opinion, the art is much better suited with the Spawn universe.

And here are also the ones that I read: Daredevil Yellow, Black Widow (both are painted stylishly in watercolour), Daredevil, and Daredevil: Ninja (for the storyline).

[maceface]

the new(ist) punisher series...anything that tim bradstreet has worked on <--- pick up his art book (maximum black) and also check out brom he has an art book out also called "darkwerks" something like that im to lazy to check.

i dont really read the "big" comic companies books cuz well they suck and i dont like the art and story lines...granted there are a few good ones but i tend to stick to not so popular or well known titles...which brings me too the awesome collection of cerebrus comics by dave sims...great stuff...if you have spwan #8 (i think) dave sims co-wrote that issue and his character appears in it.

[Lunatique]

If you want mature works with substance instead of shallow flash, here are some suggestions.

Love and Rockets
Sandman (or anything written by Neil Gaiman)
Watchmen
Cerebus
From Hell
Marvels(painted by Alex Ross)

Mangas:
Sanctuary
Appleseed
Ghost In the Shell
Promise(or anything by Nishi Keiko)

There are more, but I'm sleepy.

If you just want great art, then look for comics drawn/painted by the following people:

Adam Hughes
Dave McKean
Jon J Muth
Kent Williams
Mike Mignola
Steve Rude
Jaime Hernandez
Alex Ross
Early Jim Lee(Pre-IMAGE days)
Travis Charest

There are many more. I really need to sleep.

[christian cox]

I enjoy Spawn, X-men, Batman (Frank Miller), and even Superman. I really like Yoshitaka Amano's artwork in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series (which was mentioned above). I haven't really bought any comics in several years, so I'm pretty far behind the times.

[Probus]

damn that�s alot. don�t think i�ll be able to buy all that. thanks, you guys are a great help!

[Glondus]

Humm... I like...

Hellboy. The mood in Mignolas work is amazing.

The Authority. Just about only superhero group that actually tries to solve problems... I dont really like superhero comics usually.

Sandman and Sandman related stuff. Anything by Gaiman, too.

Just about anything by Alan Moore. Great writer.

Anything by Adam Hughes and Travis Charest.

I like Steampunk, even though the writing is rather bad and the pages are so full of art you can hardly catch the half of it...

[Socar MYLES]

Sin City...Frank Miller is the MAN!
Preacher...gore and goo, and very funny.
Maus...just read it.
V for Vendetta...interesting story.
Cerebus--don't miss it!

[worthless_meat_sack]

This is a great thread! Thanks for all the experts opinions. I know nothing about comics, but that's going to change.

What is the best way to get ahold of these works of art? I am in the middle of the pacific ocean. i knew there would be drawbacks

[frostfyre]

I love this topic! Here are some rarer bits-

BONE by Jeff Smith is absolutely amazing. Pogo style rendering with an epic storyline and a LOT of heart. Check it out!

Not really current, but the series in itself is worth checking out- Elfquest by Wendy and Richard Pini. Manga inspired, often called "fantasy with teeth." Had quite the following in the 70's-80's, and is currently published in graphic novel form.

Hero Bear and the Kid is a fantastic new book from a former Disney animator.

In fact, all of the books listed above are creator owned and published stories by former animators. What can I say, I'm biased I'm also crazy about all the books mentioned in the previous posts, especially Kishiro's works. Also Miyazaki's "Naussica" (sp?) series is an amazing Manga. another epic, driven by animator.

Have fun all!

[Scorp]

I really like Battle Chasers. It's not at all serious, and it's kind of goofy. A very fun book when you really don't want to do a whole lot of thinking.

[Glondus]

Craig - No local comic shops around you? I should suggest the internet, then...

I like some of Millers stuff, but definitly not all of it. I think Ronin and 300 are better than Sin City.
Preacher, and also the new Punisher, also by Garth Ennis are great.
Maus is great, yes...
Ive heard lots of good about Cerberus, but never picked it up... Cant find any trades, and single issues are so damned expensive over here...

Bone is really nice. Allthough Ive not read too much of it.
My sister is a big fan of Elfquest, basically the only comic book she likes. I dont really like it, I think the elves look pretty stupid...

I like Battle Chasers in some ways. Its got great coloring, and pretty nice pencils, allthough I think Madureira is pretty overrated...
The story is crap though, and it hardly ever comes out, so...

[Lunatique]

Craig- You are in Hawaii, right? Well, as far as I know, if you are in an american state, there HAS to be a comic book shop SOMEWHERE. It's the law(because I said so). Check the yellow pages.

[Gandalf-]

Here ya go, Craig:
--------------------------------------------

Aiea

Jelly's The Original:
98-023 Hekaha St., Aiea, HI, 96701
Ph: (808) 484-4413 Fx: (808) 484-4415

Honolulu

Gecko Books & Comics:
3613 Waialae Ave., Honolulu, HI, 96816
Ph: (808) 732-1292

Other Realms LTD The Comic:
1050 Ala Moana Blvd. Floor 2, Honolulu, HI, 96814
Ph: (808) 596-8236

Kailua

Gecko Books & Comics:
1247 Kailua Rd. #G, Kailua, HI, 96734
Ph: (808) 263-2004

Kaneohe

JJ's Comic Shop LTD:
46-028 Kawa St., Kaneohe, HI, 96744
Ph: (808) 236-2669

Kapaa

Lazerus Books:
4-1353 Kuhio Hwy., Kapaa, HI, 96746
Ph: (808) 822-4420

Wahiawa

Little Comic Book Shop:
60 Wilikina Dr., Wahiawa, HI, 96786
Ph: (808) 621-8811

Wailuku

Compleat Comics Company:
1728-E Kaahumanu Ave., Wailuku, HI, 96793
Ph: (808) 242-5875

[maceface]

what i have to say about battle chasers and those similar comics...

im tired of them...im tired of 90% of the newest comics out there...the coloring techniques are stupid and the way they just cut corners! eg. using a blur instead of drawing speed lines!

It could just be me, but i cant stand how everyone flocks to battlechasers...its my opinion nothing more so dont take offense!

btw anime used to be really cool untill you couldnt turn a street corner without running into a DBZ t-shirt. arg. sigh...i need to go read some maus.

[Red Leader]

**Shameless plug**

Buy the "Star Wars" ongoing series. The writing and art are getting consistently better...the newest story arc (starting with issue 36) is prety good. Plus the interior color on the series, and painted covers for #'s 37&38 are done by some talented Canadian *grin*

*End shameles plug*

Also, check out my buddy Troy Nixey's work on "Trout", published by Oni...he puts together an awesome story.

Other stuff I'd recommend, (some mentioned already)

Acme Novelty Library (Buy the hardcover book, it's cheap!)
Akira
Watchmen
Sandman (I worked on "The Wake" Story arc)
Green Lantern:Willworld (Seth Fisher rocks)
Blab #10 (if you can find it, just for the story by Al Columbia....he's a messed up mo-fo.)
Maus

I'll add others if I can think of them.

[egerie]

-Maus both novels were great.
-Battle Angel Alita is also known as Gunnm.
And since we're not completely in the "traditional" comic books field I'll pitch in
-La Caste Des M�tabarons (Jodorovsky and Gimenez - story and art to die for)
-The Nicopol Trylogy by Enki Bilal
-HK serie published at Gl�nat

AMERICAN COMICS :

-Anything by Frank Miller
-Wildcats/Xmen crossover by Travis Charest *droll*
-Steampunk - Manimatron not the best but niiiice and I love anything steampunk !
-Crimson Drawn by Umberto Ramos
-The early Wetworks by Portacio
-Darkness and WitchBlade (whom I stopped but it was nice.. for a while)
-Calvin and Hobbes

Eeehehe have fun

[Steelwind]

Dawn, by Joseph Michael Linsner. The man is an amazing artist, and his stories are very deep. I reccomend the 'Lucifer's Halo' graphic novel.

[the_monkey]

i really liked kingdom come.

[Gandalf-]

Whoa.. I love Liquid!'s style of colouring. Maybe I'm trendy, but I still think that it does a much better job than any of the "oldschool" techniques with bringing much needed action to the panels.

I also really like Mad's art. I really don't think that he is much like any artist. However, I do think that a LOT of new artists are trying to be a LOT like him, which does make for over-saturation of that style. It sucks for him, in my opinion.

Kinda like it sucks for Craig having so many people trying to imitate his technique.

[MoleculeMan]

Big Guy and Rusty, by Miller and Darrow?

ELfquest is really good, they still put out comics by the way. Immersive!

Bone is great, seriously!

Knights of the Dinner Table (best rpg comic ever) by Jolly Roger Blackburn

Filler Bunny

Mangas:

Ghost in the Shell

Akira (they are reprinting the mangas, 3000+ pages of awesomeness! )

Jake

[soilborn]

strangers in paradise
sin city
sandman
preacher
sam and twitch
hellboy
churchill
the wicked (#1-#5)
witchblade (old ones #1-#7 only)

[egerie]

frostfyre : Elfquest's what started me drawing at age 13 Too bad most of the hard covers are out of print
Totally unrelated ; there's another comic done by a Disney dude that is absolutely worth checking out : Blacksad.

MoleculeMan : Yes but the original serie by Wendy's the best

</infoclut>

[klaivu]

Try Enki Bilal or Hugo Pratt. I love them both.
Someone mentioned maus ! Oh, I really like that one ..

Heh - There's an album titled " Rusty the robot boy and Big Guy " or something - It's so bloody hilarious you have to get it.

I hear gages by Dave Mckean is excellent. I've flipped through it a little, and liked what i saw way more than anything he and Gaiman did together. Near impossible to get a copy though.

[maceface]

i forget the title but darrow and miller did another comic together and that one rocks...i *think* its called hardboiled? or something along those lines...

[frostfyre]

glondus:
to each their own, I like Miller's old Daredevil and his Elektra stuff a lot

egerie:
Me too , I think I was around 11 when I found Elfquest issue 4 in the local comic book shop. Instantly hooked! Something about Wendy's style. My first exposure to anime influenced western comics. I was of course, also a big AD&D player and fantasy geek in general. I'm glad it got me drawing though!

the_monkey: Alex Ross is AWESOME! I love the way he made the heroes truly heroes, and could show the difference realistically between them and the "normal" people.

[janne]

klaivu: it's "cages" by dave mckean and, yes it's the single best comic book i have ever stumbled upon. i heard they were going to print a new edition and it should have been out in (last) summer...

from hell is awesome(heh, they even made a movie from it. anyone seen it?)

from the gaima+mckean albums i like "mr. punch" best.

no one mentioned moebius? pratt and bilal are great too.

(if i could write bill sienkiewicz correctly i should recommend his stuff too...)


j

[Mr. T]

My personal favorite is Danijel Zezelj, but he's not famous I'll put some scans online just to show you.

Also, anything Edvin Biukovic did. He worked on Grendel and Star Wars... amazing artwork.

[wayfinder]

ok, while there are still some comic people reading this, here's my question: I recently read a bunch of spawn comics (#s 1 to 26 or so) - why the fuck is 80% of the space a retelling of what has happened so far? there are whole issues with nothing but flashbacks. that sucked donkey balls, in my opinion. the art wasn't good enough to make me keep reading after a while. the story progresses so slowly, it drags and drags... the eyecandy is not up to that IMO. call me a heretic, but i never liked mcfarlane's style a lot, and with that kind of storytelling - how did spawn become such an item? i wonder...