Comics and graphic novels

[tiny_tove]

Talking with Pekka I think we need this.

My first job as an adult was script writing for a commercial series. I had to drop out for several reason, but I am still morbidly obsessed by this medium and I am spending most of my money in sequential art related books.

So what are your favourite ones?

[tisbor]

not very original list i guess ..

italian stuff from frigidaire era :
ranxerox - tamburini/liberatore
snake agent - tamburini
ramarro - palumbo
sturmtruppen - bonvi
necron - magnus

rest of the world :
suehiro maruo
jun hayami
preacher
lobo (bisley era)
from hell

[Jaakko V.]

Know practically nothing about comics, but always enjoyed Jodorowsky's comics a lot. Not only the sci-fi stuff but also Son of the Gun.

[Ganesha23]

Marco, I'll be mailing you soon...........

Anyways:

Alan Moore - everything, he never fails
Grant Morrison - Invisibles is a must and Doom Patrol and Arkham Asylum are very good too. Animal Man and Filth are worth taking a look at as well, although the "meta-comic" stuff in them can be a bit hard to digest (at least for me it is)
Garth Ennis - I'll second Preacher that Tisbor mentioned and add The Boys and Punisher. Haven't checked out his war comics yet but will do.
Warren Ellis - first half of Transmetropolitan series is pure genius, but then it starts to repeat itself too much, I think. Also see City Of Silence and Desolation Jones
Ahh, there's so much good stuff... The Walking Dead, DMZ, Fables, The Goon, Hellblazer, Greek Street, Hellboy and its spinoffs.... and Fletcher Hanks!!!

[tiny_tove]

I'll start quoting anything Pekka said.
More to follow later.

[Strömkarlen]

A friend of mine runs a webcomic that I follow. http://www.rockmanlyfist.com/

[ConcreteMascara]

I used to read comics voraciously when I was a kid. Some of them still hold water too.

Masamune Shirow - Ghost in the Shell (get the collected "director's cut" edition. There are many side notes and little explanations squeezed between the frames by the author himself) Anything else by Shirow is generally excellent.

Boom! Studios put out a limited run comic version of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Phillip K Dick that is essential! All of the text from the book is intact. Sadly I don't even have the complete series. :(

Menton J. Matthews III - Ars Memoria - The Art of Memory. Another good independent comic.

The first couple years of Spawn by Todd McFarlane. Seriously grim and violent shit all about street violence, the poor, and corruption. This might appeal to you Marco.

and as mentioned in the Neil Gaiman topic, SANDMAN

[Tommy Carlsson]

I don't know what I can offer to the discussion really. Most of the titles mentioned so far are stuff that I don't care the least bit for. Granted, I liked comics more before I worked professionally in comic book stores...

I never cared for Sandman, or most of the other Vertigo titles, although Shade the Changing Man was really good -- I only read the first 20 issues or so, but they were really cool and tripped-out in a clever way. I see now that these issues are finally being collected in trade paperbacks (20 years after they were published, about time), so I need to pick them up and do some re-reading.

Spawn? Seriously? I fail to see any qualities whatsoever in that one. Didn't McFarlane say in some interview something to the effect that his goal was to make the reader go "woah!!!" every time he (yeah, definitely he) flipped the page.

Also, Frank Miller is a fucking hack, and Love & Rockets is overrated soap opera. Oh, and Masamune Shirow knows his T&A, but I found Ghost in the Shell wrist-slittingly boring.

[ARKHE]

@TommyC: then do you like anything?

[Tommy Carlsson]

@TommyC: then do you like anything?

Let me think. I'll get back to you on that! ;)

[ConcreteMascara]

Just to argue the point about Spawn, I'm not saying it's excellent literature, philosophically deep or even mature. It's classic US comic stuff with zero attempt at highbrow. Todd McFarlane's whole focus was on the art, the Image, hints the company Image Comics behind it. Even the art isn't amazing but what I like about it is that it's dedicated to being violent and trashy. I enjoyed it when I was a kid, I enjoy it now. It's like the stuff of '70s exploitation and slasher cinema but with glossier colours and heightened ridiculousness. Works for me!

Edit:

and I forgot to mention before, Lore by Ashley Wood and T.P. Louise.

[Strömkarlen]

@TommyC: then do you like anything?

Let me think. I'll get back to you on that! ;)

Sailormoon.

[tisbor]

oh yes , obviously :

Otomo's Akira
Shintaro Kago

i sincerely recommend Jun Hayami's "Hentai Shounen" to anybody here , as it's definitely of "special interest"
i don't think it was ever officially translated but you can download it pretty easily .

[andy vomit]

i'll read pretty much anything written by garth ennis, alan moore or grant morrison.

but, the best of the best... PREACHER

[tisbor]

a little tribute to Hanatarash i did for an italian zine last year :