Comics, Graphic Novels and Manga

[gladius]

I started reading the manga Franken Fran. Morbid, ironic, funny, disturbing and brilliant.

[Kosciuszko]

^

I love Franken Fran. Its one of those manga that I just read the first ten chapters or so of and had to put down due to other stuff coming up, but it never disappointed. Maybe I should pick it up again this Christmas break...

[Roland_85]

Finished Volume 13 of The Walking Dead (review on my blog) and now I think I'll continue with the Marvel catching up. Almost done with Secret Invasion, then on to the rest of Young Avengers (the Presents, Secret Invasion and Dark Reign tpbs), followed by Siege and the newer X-men. I'll probably loose interest halfway through, but it's till nice ambition to have ^_^

[haLobEnder]

Anyone have picks for essential 2010 reading?

I think my favourite thing this year has been Morning Glories. Anyone else reading it?

[Calibandar]

I was reading SFsite and they have a bi-weekly comics column as well. They just did their top 10:

http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica334.htm

http://www.sfsite.com/columns/graphica333.htm

What I personally liked this year:

Northlanders vol. 3 & 4- Wood

Sweet Tooth vol. 1 & 2- Lemire

Blacksad

Stuff of Legend- Raicht

Thor vol. 2- JMS

Marvelous Land of Oz- Shanower

[red snow]

Anyone have picks for essential 2010 reading?

I think my favourite thing this year has been Morning Glories. Anyone else reading it?

Essential is hard to think of but Walkling Dead got back on track this year and Fables and its Cinderella spin off were both very good too.

Superhero wise i'd say the Green Lantern books are consistent (not amazing though) and I've been enjoying "brightest day" as it's been fairly self-contained and made characters i didn't care about seem fairly interesting.

I need to start reading more trades of DMZ, Scalped and the like in the new year.

[haLobEnder]

Essential is hard to think of but Walkling Dead got back on track this year and Fables and its Cinderella spin off were both very good too.

I'll be honest, I think Walking Dead was a bit too slow this year. Consistently good, but slow. I didn't feel it went to as great as heights as past storylines have. (Though by all appearances that could be changing with this past issue)

I need to start reading more trades of DMZ, Scalped and the like in the new year.

I'm with you there. I've only read the first three trades of Scalped so far. DMZ I've been holding out on hoping that they'll eventually release a deluxe hardcover edition.

[red snow]

I'll be honest, I think Walking Dead was a bit too slow this year. Consistently good, but slow. I didn't feel it went to as great as heights as past storylines have. (Though by all appearances that could be changing with this past issue)

I'm with you there. I've only read the first three trades of Scalped so far. DMZ I've been holding out on hoping that they'll eventually release a deluxe hardcover edition.

In the form of trades it didn't feel so bad. It could just be that I'm enjoying this storyline a lot more than the aimless wandering post prison arc.

I managed the first trade of scalped (thought the concept was great) but wonder if it's better to pig out on the whole series - which is what i wish i'd done with 100 bullets. Which reminds me i need to read all of that through now that i have the last 4 trades - I'm hoping it's easier tp piece together that way.

[delete this account pls]

My comic reading is pretty sparse these days and I mainly stick to trades, but nearly everything I read, I liked. The Unwritten is great, Chew is awesome, and I only just discovered Y The Last Man, which is pretty damn good (though it slows down a lot in the 4th Deluxe volume, which is the most recent one).

But the best of the lot has to be Scalped. It's The Wire meets Breaking Bad meets The Departed on an Indian Reservation. Fucked up borderline sociopath protagonists, conflicted crime bosses, closeted gay hitmen, vengeful and corrupt Feds, and a pretty interesting look into Native Amerivan culture and history. Oh, and lots of shootin' and asplosions for good measure.

[red snow]

My comic reading is pretty sparse these days and I mainly stick to trades, but nearly everything I read, I liked. The Unwritten is great, Chew is awesome, and I only just discovered Y The Last Man, which is pretty damn good (though it slows down a lot in the 4th Deluxe volume, which is the most recent one).

But the best of the lot has to be Scalped. It's The Wire meets Breaking Bad meets The Departed on an Indian Reservation. Fucked up borderline sociopath protagonists, conflicted crime bosses, closeted gay hitmen, vengeful and corrupt Feds, and a pretty interesting look into Native Amerivan culture and history. Oh, and lots of shootin' and asplosions for good measure.

That's exactly the impression i got reading the first trade of "scalped". It woould make an excellent HBO/AMC show. I'm sure it's been looked into as native american culture in today's world. I'm going to see if any bargains turn up for the trades during xmas.

Chew is probably worth a try too. I've notice that Image is slowly turning into a pretty good home for well-written stories and not just eye-candy. I noticed there was a teaser campaign for some new books by them next year that seemed interesting but haven't heard what they are yet.

[Nephrite]

Daytripper is beautiful. The Unwritten is going good. DV8 - Gods and Monsters started off great but in the end it just fizzled. It felt like not a miniseries but rather a set-up for an ongoing that's never gonna happen cause Wildstorm is dead. Morrison's Batman is my favorite, but it's not everybody's cup of tea.

Other than that, I'm kinda burned out on comics, it seems like everything that Big 2 are doing these days is so bland and lifeless. Like every writer is in the same auto-pilot mode and nobody just seems to give a f#$% and is happy with just going through the motions. Everytime I read a Geoff Johns comicbook that seems to spin out of a previous event and leads into another event because Johns is incapable of typing "the end" a piece of my soul dies cause I know I could've been doing something purposeful with my life like getting drunk and hitting on girls and then puking my guts.

[Ouroboros]

The new Dungeons and Dragons comic from IDW is quite entertaining. It has its tongue planted firmly in cheek. Almost a fantasy Futurama more then a straight sword and sorcery series.

[Spastic Plastic]

A manga spin-off to Battle Royale is coming out.

Looks like Koushun Takami, the author of the original Battle Royale, has finally sat down his ass and gotten to work.

He's finally written a sequel. It's called "Battle Royale: Angels' Border" and will be released in less than a month from now.

[haLobEnder]

Chew is probably worth a try too. I've notice that Image is slowly turning into a pretty good home for well-written stories and not just eye-candy. I noticed there was a teaser campaign for some new books by them next year that seemed interesting but haven't heard what they are yet.

I'd say Image has been in that camp for some time now. It's right up there with Vertigo for interesting, intelligent, non-superhero fare; Too bad most the good stuff is still over-shadowed by the likes of Spawn and Witchblade.

Daytripper is beautiful. The Unwritten is going good. DV8 - Gods and Monsters started off great but in the end it just fizzled. It felt like not a miniseries but rather a set-up for an ongoing that's never gonna happen cause Wildstorm is dead. Morrison's Batman is my favorite, but it's not everybody's cup of tea.

Yeah, Gods and Monsters was what got me back into a comic shop for the first time in years. I figured if I bought it in issues it may have a better chance of becoming an ongoing series. With the news of the Wildstorm's closure I figured there wasn't really a point in continuing reading the series. It's my passive-aggressive way of protesting Wildstorm's closure even though I was really digging Wood's story and Rebekah Isaacs art.

Terrorist Fist Jab - Do you know if that's a sequel to the novel or the manga version of Battle Royale? I realize it's the same author on both but I'm not sure how similar they are in content.

I ask because I got the novel sitting on my shelf waiting to be read but I'm not willing to pay the hundreds of dollars it will take me to collect all the manga tomes :P

[Spastic Plastic]

You can read the manga for free, right here. Use the arrow keys to flip pages.

[Gigei]

Just finished Preacher. I got so bored before the end. I was rapidly flipping through it after

he fell off the plane.

I did not like the series at all because it was very juvenile, the pacing was off, characters lacked depth, the plot was terribly predictable and stupid

shut the freaking door, you are on an airplane, ffs!

and the dialogue was just so bad it made me cringe.

The romance/relationship parts were especially bad. I can't get over how stupid it was that he didn't tell her why he left straight off instead of drawing it out unnecessarily when he had no real reason to do so and every reason to since

you would think a girl would need to be warned that her life was in danger.

Not to mention the horrible romance-novel staple of

seeing two people "together" and totally misinterpreting it. Dick move, he could have at least checked if she was alright.

Basically, the characters acted way too juvenile, IMO.

I also didn't like the ugly art work but I do realize that was deliberate.

It's not all bad though, there were several times when really laughed but overall I was not impressed.

[red snow]

Preacher clearly wasn't to your liking. While it did fall off a bit towards the end i still think a lot of the characters did have depth. Jesse's background, particularly in the volume where he "revisits" his family explains a lot of his behaviour in the series and why he became a preacher. I also thought Cassidy's characterization was pretty good too

eg I was fairly convinced about his friendship with Jesse but still got why he betrayed him

. It's been a while since i've read it though so I may not be as kind now I'm not of the juvenile age where the humour was rewarding and the fact i can't recall much about the female cast suggests they were probably short-changed.

On a totally different point (although he did edit Preacher). Just read that Axel Alonso has been made Editor-in-chief at Marvel. Now I'm not so sure how much control that will give him seeming that a new higher position has been made for Joe Quesada but I think it could be a good thing for Marvel as Axel's books have tended to be the more interesting ones from Marvel over the last few years. He used to have a knack for bringing in some outside/indie talent to his books so it could usher in some new voices over at Marvel. Tough break for Breevort though but while i think he's very good at what he does he usually feels like the "nostalgic/safe" voice of Marvel.

[Ran]

I find it funny that Bleeding Cool last week shared a video from a guy who stood up at a con and demanded Quesada resign as EiC, to much catcalling ... and now, hey, Quesada has moved out of EiC (but, he's moved up, not out, heh).

I think this is probably a good move from Marvel's POV, and all around. Quesada has had a tempestuous relationship with certain segments of fans of late, and this move helps put the EiC in a more favorable PR position while leaving Joey Q free to do pretty much what he's always done, which is figure out how to maximize Marvel's market share. The only real danger is if he keeps doubling down on mega-events and it eventually backfires, but so far it's doing okay. Reports that sales were way down in November were due to an error from Diamond and it looks like so far things are pretty steady.

[Gormenghast]

Finished Volume 13 of The Walking Dead (review on my blog) and now I think I'll continue with the Marvel catching up. Almost done with Secret Invasion, then on to the rest of Young Avengers (the Presents, Secret Invasion and Dark Reign tpbs), followed by Siege and the newer X-men. I'll probably loose interest halfway through, but it's till nice ambition to have ^_^

Hope you didn't miss the block that goes from Avengers Disassembled up to Civil War. Imho, the best Marvel stuff ever.

[Garlan the Gallant]

Some recent series that I would highly recommend:

For Steampunk Fans:

Warren Ellis' Captain Swing (Avatar Press)

For Horror Fans:

Joe Hill's Locke and Key (IDW Publishing)

Alan Moore's Neonomicon (Avatar Press)

Nick Spencer's Morning Glories (Image Comics)

Scott Snyder's American Vampire (Vertigo Imprint)

For Fantasy Fans:

Jim Zubkavich's Skullkickers (Image Comics) (more of a comedy/spoof)

Cullen Bunn's Sixth GUN (Oni Press)

James Stokoe's Orc Stain (Image Comics) (I cannot suggest this enough)

Mike Carey's The Unwritten (Vertigo Imprint)

For Sci-Fi Fans:

John Layman's Chew (Image Comics)

Brandon Graham's King City (Image Comics)

Antony Johnston's Wasteland (Oni Press)

Brian Clevinger's Atomic Robo (Red 5 Comics) (this is awesome)

AJ Lieberman's Cowboy Ninja Viking (Image Comics)

Ben McCool's Choker (Image Comics) (for fans of Warren Ellis' Fell)

Warren Ellis' Freakangels (Avatar Press)

Jeff Smith's RASL (Cartoon Books)

For Superhero Fans:

Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors (Marvel Comics)

Jonathan Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel Comics)

Matt Fraction's run on Thor (Marvel Comics)

Jason Aaron's Punishermax (Marvel Comics)

Roger Langridge's Thor: The Mighty Avenger (Marvel Comics)

For Indy Fans:

Brian Maruca's Afrodisiac (AdHouse Books)

Adam Hines' Duncan the Wonder Dog (AdHouse Books)

Jim McCann's Retrun of the Dapper Men (Arcahia Entertainment)

Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library 20 "Lint" (Drawn and Quaterly)

Anders Nilsen's Big Questions (Drawn and Quarterly) (soon to be collected)

Vanessa Davis' Make Me a Woman (Drawn and Quarterly)

James Sturm's Market Day (Drawn and Quarterly)

Daniel Clowes' Wilson (Drawn and Quaterly)

Jacques Tardi's It Was A War Of The Trenches (Fantagraphics)

Drew Weing's Set to Sea (Fantagraphics)

Joyce Farmer's Special Exits (Fantagraphics)

Jim Woodring's Weathercraft (Fantagraphics)

Dash Shaw's Bodyworld (Pantheon Books)

Charles Burns' X'ed Out (Pantheon Books)

Renee French's H Day (Picturebox, Inc.)

Some Upcoming Series/Releases to Keep Your Eyes Out For:

Joe Casey's Butcher Baker, The Richteous Maker (Image Comics)

Hoan Nguyen, Khari Evans, Paul Gardner, and Mike Kennedy's Carbon Grey (Image Comics)

Kurtis J. Wiebe's Rat Bastards (Image Comics)

Kennedy Xu's Daomu (Image Comics)

Nick Spencer's The Infinite Vacation (Image Comics)

Ben McCool's Memoir (Image Comics)

Joe Hill's The Cape (IDW Publishing)

Joe Hoeber and Erich Hoeber's The Mission (Image Comics)

Nathan Edmondson's Who is Jake Ellis? (Image Comics)

Garth Ennis' Jennifer Blood (Dynamite Entertainment)

David Lapham's Caligula (Avatar Press)

Collection of Grant Morrison's Flex Mentallo (Vertigo Imprint)

Craig Thompson's Habibi (Pantheon Books)