THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: FuseUnison on 11 Apr 2011, 00:46
-
Just thought it would be interesting to see what kinds of graphic novels QC fans might try to recommend to one another. Since we obviously all share similar tastes made evident by our mutual QC fanaticism.
One that I can DEFINITELY recommend is a graphic novel called "Blankets" by Craig Thompson. It truly is a wonderful piece of work. Kinda long, but very engrossing(I read it all in one sitting!). I look forward to other QC readers posting their favorites.
Anyway, be sure to check it out if you ever get the chance. Here's the wiki for anyone that's interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blankets_(graphic_novel)
-
Thompson's Good-bye, Chunky Rice is enjoyable too. It would make a good gift for a friend starting a journey (literal or metaphorical).
The graphic novel genre has been largely about men and boys, but I'm more interested in stories by and about women, and feminist stories. Here are some along those lines that I've enjoyed:
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, tells the story of a young Iranian girl growing up during the revolution. She begins comes of age during this turbulent time and deals with personal, social, and political issues. It's a loss-of-innocence story, and it's beautifully drawn and well-written.
Amy Unbounded: Belondweg Blossoming, by Rachel Hartman, is another coming-of-age story, this time in a fantastical setting. It's about the expectations we set for ourselves as we become more conscious of our personhood, from the point of view of an adolescent girl. This book has a great and playful energy.
One! Hundred! Demons!, by Lynda Barry, is a memoir of the trials of childhood and adolescence, told in serialized comics and collected in this self-described "autobifictionalography" - it poses the questions: "Is it autobiography if parts of it are not true? Is it fiction if parts of it are?" These questions carve out a space for reading and appreciating this book, because it asks you to be comfortable with the transience of memory. Remember the fears of your childhood? Your first kiss? Someone you hurt when you were young, and for whom you still carry shame and regret? The age when you became self-conscious of your dancing? Lynda Barry's book is about facing the demons that live in our past and occasionally rise up in our present. It is beautiful and ugly at the same time. It's poignantly and powerfully written. This is a book for people with a desire to better understand themselves.
-
Neil Gaiman's Murder Mysteries was pretty good. I'll post more when I think of them later, but that series was great (and I'm pretty sure they're collected in a single volume now, both plain vanilla text and graphic novel).
-
I liked "American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang. found the first couple volumes of "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" entertaining in a twisted way (forget the movie) and am enjoying the current comic adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Edgington and Culbard. Brian Fies's "Mom's Cancer" was a well-told story, I thought ("enjoyed" is not the right word for the subject matter).
-
Definitely looking forward to trying out everyone's recommendations. Also, sorry about posting this in the wrong forum, if indeed that is the case. If I have posted in the wrong forum, would a moderator please move this thread to it's proper location.....and please don't hit me, lol. :-P
-
I'll reply here so that the reply can stay with the thread if/when it is moved.
Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise is very engrossing, and is a story in some ways similar to QC. Specifically, it's a whole lot of stuff going on around, about, because of, and in reaction to the relationship events in the lives of a small group of very interesting people.
Of course, Sandman, Top Ten, Miracle Man, and Lone Wolf and Cub are all automatic suggestions for graphic novels. SiP happens to be the closest to QC that I would recommend.
-
Black Hole by Charles Burns.
Includes teenagers growing up in the 70s and a horrible virus that turns people into monsters.
-
Maus by Art Spiegelman is probably the most important graphic novel to read. It geniunely strikes at the heart of just how much can be portrayed with such simplicity. I realise that it's tremendously cliched to suggest it, but its one of those things that bears repeating.
Other novels to get my vote are:
Exit Wounds - Ruta Modan
Kick Ass - Mark Millar (better than the film in so many ways)
Air - G Willow Wilson
Palestine - Joe Sacco
Watchmen - Alan Moore
Elephantmen - Richard Starkings
Strangehaven - Gary Spencer Millidge (warning, despite several years of promising to finish the series, GSM remains resolutely slack in his endeavours)
Anything by Brian Wood, he can do no wrong.
I think that each of those suggestions offers something unique and brilliant to graphic novels and all should in some sense stand the tests of time and criticism. Certainly the storytelling is always compellingly brilliant. Should I add Y: The Last Man to the list? It's hard to say, I loved it but find it hard to reccomend.
-
Eh I found Kick Ass pretty lame regardless.
-
Red Son (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Red-Son-Mark-Millar/dp/1401201911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302792814&sr=8-1) is pretty much one of the best Elseworlds graphic novels, ever (What if Superman's rocket landed in the rural USSR instead of the rural US?!).
Kingdom Come and "Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher" (the one where Frank is trying to survive a zombie apocalypse) are pretty good, too.
-
Oh, yeah, so seconding Red Son. Definitely.
Also:
V for vendetta; the original of the film is rather more detailed in parts, and clarifies a bunch of the questions the movie left hanging.
Y: the Last Man is sort of difficult to get hold of but worth it I think. Goes a bit Whedon at the end but that's a good thing to a lot of people.
And, finally: Nausicaa of the valley of the wind. The original source the movie is taken from.
-
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. I try to lend it to as many people as possible because oh my god so so good.
If you want to be depressed for the rest of your life, try Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. It is a really good read but probably one of The Saddest Things I Have Ever Read.
-
Essex County by Jeff Lemire, it's a fictionalised account of his home town. His style is very rough but it's incredibly expressive.
Young Liars by David Lapham, this series is unforgettably crazy. At it's core are two characters, a love-sick wannabe rock star and his band's violently impulsive vocalist. Lots of violence, crime and rock music.
-
Definitely have to read Bone by Jeff Smith, man. Bone is great. LoveJaneAusten was correct in recommending Persepolis. Of course you should read Scott Pilgrim if you enjoy or ever have enjoyed videogames and would get all the references. Sin City of course. Also if you are one for manga might I suggest Battle Royale. Also you absolutely must read Maus by Art Spiegelman.
I actually found the comic version of Kick-Ass to be kind of racist. Made me a little weirded out.
-
Millar's name alone is enough to get me to avoid a book.
-
I enjoyed the movie a lot more. It had more heart, weirdly enough.
-
Just started reading Kick Ass 2. The writing is absolutely terrible.
My contributions:
Anything by Enki Bilal. Or anything Enki Bilal has done with Pierre Christin.
Planetary/Transmetropolitan/Red/Desolation Jones/Black Gas/Global Frequency/Crecy. Ahh fuck it I have a major hard on for Warren Ellis. Just read anything of his really.
Locke & Key by Joe Hill. Gabriel Rodriguez amazes me every issue and Joe Hill is a great at keeping an atmosphere as well as throwing shit upon shit on his characters.
The Invisibles by Grant Morrison. Also check out We3 and All-Star Superman.
Starman (vol. 2) by James Robinson.
Check out the Hellboy and BPRD collections. If you've ever only seen the movies the comics are such a tonal shift it's actually impressive how different they are.
A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner. Classic. Also Comics and Sequential Art/Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative are really great analytical books on the medium.
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud is another great look at comics.
There's a shit ton more I'm forgetting but I'll probably add when I can go through what I have.
-
Lost at Sea is the first graphic novel by Bryan Lee O'Malley, who also wrote Scott Pilgrim (which if you haven't read, we're not friends), and it's pretty great.
-
The Walking Dead
DMZ
-
DMZ is almost finished too, by the time you get close to the end they'll be in trades.
-
Kick Ass is bad and Mark Millar should feel bad.
-
I want to reiterate scarred's comment: Lost at Sea is pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed it - it has the same sort of slow feel you get from Blankets, but with a bit of the hipster angst you get in Scott Pilgrim.
V for Vendetta, Sandman, Watchmen - all classics.
If you want a really awesome series, get into Y: The Last Man. That's more of a series than a graphic novel in one piece, though. But it's quite good - all of the men on earth die, except for one pseudo-unemployed magician and his monkey. He tries to travel to Australia to find his girlfriend - anyway, just read it, if you have the time.
-
Bone by Jeff Smith. It's like Calvin and Hobbes meets Lord of the Rings. Best of both worlds, and none of the bad, and it matches perfectly.
God, Bone was so, so good.
-
Most stuff by Adrian Tomine is pretty good and kind of along the same lines as QC. Love and Rockets is a good series, and also Asterios Polyp.
-
I just bought Sixteen Miles to Merricks and Other Works and it is pretty great. You can read the sixteen miles part here (http://somefield.com/merricks_online/index.html)
-
I just finished Salem Brownstone. Does anyone else here know it? Have opinions?
-
I used to collect Graphic Novels, now they're dusting down at my old house :(
Either way, there's one called "Harlequin Valentine" by Neil Gaiman and an artist called John Bolton that for some reason have struck me in a way that whenever I feel like I miss my old collection, those are the images that comes up. Its more art then anything really.
For something longer and lighter, try Preacher by Ennis/Dillon - Same guys who did Punisher and Hellboy. Personally my favorite works of the pair. Books to get lost in under the blanket with a flashlight.
-
I second the Walking Dead, although that could be argued to be more of a comic.
-
Necro!
Locke & Key by Joe Hill. Gabriel Rodriguez amazes me every issue and Joe Hill is a great at keeping an atmosphere as well as throwing shit upon shit on his characters.
I came in this thread to post this. It's such a fantastic story, that I read the first volume and the second volume in a day, then re-read the second one a day later.