Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Comic Books >

What should I be getting these days?

08:33 / 02.11.04

I got quite a shock last week when I called page45 to get my usual comic fix sent up. Now I've ditched XMen, Cerebus has finished and I'm sick of Hellblazer, the few comics that were keeping my reservation pile big are no longer there, and I only had about 3 comics to show for 2 months' anticipation (and 2 of those were We3).
So, what I'm looking for are good strong recommendations (one or two each, please, I don't want a my comics bag thread) for monthlies that are worth getting. I think I still have standing orders for anything by Moore, Morrison, Paul Grist, Edde Campbell and Nabiel Kanan.
I thankew.

08:44 / 02.11.04

I'm still getting great comics joy from Human Target - and if you haven't read Persepolis yet you are missing out... and despite a not very good cover I found Joe Sacco's The Fixera compelling read - and his sense of page design and pacing appears to have improved.

08:55 / 02.11.04

Here's what I read every month.

Daredevil: Easily the best superhero comic being published, it's better than what Frank Miller ever attempted with the book. Every storyarc has a memorable moment, big things happen quite often and knowing that Bendis doesn't own the character he cleans up his own "messes" in a respectable way, and for me the book will be finished once Bendis leaves. This is the definitive run, bar none on DD. And Maleev's art makes it the most distinguishable and beautiful comic on the market. High quality production this.

Ex Machina: It took a while to grow on me but by the end of the first arc in the most recent issue (5), the characterisation is finally leaping out at me, and despite Vaughan's shortcomigns as a writer, there is a sense of wonder and novelty combined by a very American sensbility. Lite politics, lite superheroing, interesting commentary on "real world superhero" in a post 9/11 world, there is a freshness here. January will give us a collection of the first arc (plus bonus material) under a tenner. Great deal.

Y the Last Man: Though it seems like an endless handjob at times, the last few issues have reignited my interest in the book and after reading the trades, I think is suffering from 22page serialisation. If you tried it, weren't that impressed, give the trades a go.

They're more like annuals, but I recommend Strangehaven (go buy book 1 Arcadia, if you haven't read the comic), Optic Nerve, Eightball, Stray Bullets to anyone not opposed to reading things besides superhero comics.

09:02 / 02.11.04

Of course two of those are original graphic novels... increasingly I'm finding myself picking up various collections and graphic novels on my regular trips to the comic shop instead of single issues... - I would also recommend Berlin by Jason Lutes but his comic comes out so infrequently (one issue in the last 2 years...) that you probably better off waiting for the collections.

09:05 / 02.11.04

I agree.

Human Target is consistently joycore, but like Ex Machina, I fail to what the ravings are all about. It's not the best thing since Doom Patrol or anything, it's just a good entertaining book that more people should be checking out.

I'm glad I did check out the ongoing and the mini, because the Final Cut graphic novel was a waste of time for me.

09:11 / 02.11.04

Persepolis I and Fixer were great reads, Persepolis was much more accomplished and better told story of the two I think, despite Satrapi being a "newcomer."

Have yet to read Persepolis II or the rest of Sacco's work. Do plan to.

Berlin when I read the trade two years read like the best and brightest of comics. It still reads like it but I'm a bit pissed at the speed it's coming out. Lutes seems to have fallen off the planet and I hope he comes back, the industry needs more artcomics like these.

I'll chime in more as I remember.

The new Punisher book is pretty good. The old approach read like an unfunny version of Hitman, and I'm glad he's taking the character back to the basics and holding nothing back. The first arc (along with Punisher the end) is the best of Ennis' work in recent memory. The second arc left me a bit indifferent by the end. New storyarc stars this month.

20:46 / 02.11.04

I wouldn't call Human Target joycore, but it's my favorite monthly book. Buy it! Buy it!

21:17 / 02.11.04

OK, so Human Target makes the list. Sacco and Satrapi (along with Spiegelman, Ware and Rall) are all taken care of as I have scoured them for stuff on my dissertation. Books I don't need on the list as I can prolly still get them cheap-ish. It's ongoing series that are worth sticking with that I need.

Mister Six, whom all the girls

21:23 / 02.11.04

If you feel in the need of a superhero fix, I would second the Daredevil nomination along with Identity Crisis and New Frontier for miniseries. Marvel has been spotty lately with only Fantastic Four, Marvel Knights 4, and Marvel Knights Spider-Man gaining my interest though District X had a decent first issue. I'm of the minority who hate Astonishing X-Men, but it's terribly popular.

For DC, JSA is fun in a way similar to the Justice League cartoon and Flash and Hawkman were both good when Geoff Johns was at the helm. Oh and the new Busoek issue of JLA... didn't suck! I recommend it! I'm definitely checking out Veitch's the Question.

For non-super-hero, I recommend Hellblazer, Lucifer, Y the Last Man, anything by Humanoids Press, the soon-to-be-cancelled Kinetic and Fraction, Nantucket Brown Roasters!, the Walking Dead, and Bug Boy (manga).

21:50 / 02.11.04

Planetary
Anything spun off from the Justice League cartoon
Ultimate Nightmare looks like an enjoyable 'The Ultimate X-Avengers visit Nightmare On Independence Day Street' thing
The Losers is supposed to be decent modern pulpy type crime/mercenary action.
Invincible by Kirkman is still shaping up to be fun at issue 17 or so, altho I think it's slightly dipped since the hero's dad turned out to be Evil Dad and fucked off into deep space.

Umm, not much else I look at is actually any good.

20:00 / 07.11.04

I recommend two recent series:

Street Angel - super radical, joycore B&W comic about a homeless teenaged skater girl who fights ninjas, land sharks, the devil, and squids. it really reminds me of early "indy" comics.. Great fun. In the last issue, she teamed up with Jesus.

The Intimates -just read the first issue, and it's good in that American Flagg kind of super-compressed way, but it's teen superheroes instead of straight sci-fi adventure. It took me way longer to read than a typical super-comic usually does, which I appreciate.

twomenwalkingabreast

08:47 / 08.11.04

Much more TRUTH! I want balls-to-the-walls honesty even if it hurts! I want courage, and clarity, and integrity, I want a hero who shakes in his own shoes wondering if he has what it takes to be a hero. I want a normal man facing tasks he fears, tasks much larger than him, I want him to run, and to fall, and to fail! But in the end, I want him to get his ass back in there because no one else is capable of doing the job.

If that scares ya, then just bring me TRUTH. Let's begin there shall we.

I have my truth locked and loaded. The command to fire is mine alone.

11:14 / 08.11.04

i quite enjoyed killer gnomes #1, out on avatar. but i'm a sick twisted bastard.

11:21 / 08.11.04

this week, i will mostly be reading bill willingham's fables.

12:30 / 17.11.04

Get Or Else #1.

It's a new book from D&Q which they're billing as the next Optic Nerve. It really isn't, it's a series of quiet and well produced shorts. First issue came out last month.

I've been rummaging through the dollar bins for Shade the Changing Man and other Milligan stuff.

The man is beyond brilliant. Shade the Changing Man deserves the level of reputation and following Sandman and Invisibles has. It's rather shameful that a collection of only six issues took thirteen years to come out.

It's been said Milligan went to write for television for a while. IMDB only has a couple of things posted, does anyone know how I can get more info on the man outside the three interviews online?

13:54 / 17.11.04

It's been said Milligan went to write for television for a while.

As ludicrous as it sounds, he actually wrote scripts for the revived version of hotel based UK soap opera "Crossroads", which is a bit like Grant Morrison writing Coronation Street or something. I never saw any of the episodes, so I don't know whether Milligan explored the repressed subtext of Benny's yearning for Miss Diane.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

14:24 / 17.11.04

Hm, not too much new to add. I'd second nearly everything up above this post (except Identity Crisis, which fell off of a very high cliff after its servicable first issue) and Marvel Knights 4, which has lost its original artist and, thus, most of its impetus to be read.

I'd add The Walking Dead which, in a medium clogged with Nilesian horror books that hold zero interest to me, Kirkman and Adlard absolutely nail everything that I've always liked about horror and jettisonned everything else that was flabby and useless. Like color, for example.

Catch up on 100 Bullets and then start buying it. There's nothing in the crime genre that even comes close.

For a nice read after you've swept through Ex Machina, pick up the tiny and cheap Runaways collections for true joycore comics at its most youth oriented.

As far as stand alone collections go, the work of Bryan Lee O'Malley has never disappointed. Lost At Sea and Scott Pilgrim's Simple Little Life are available right now from Oni. A little bit manga, a little bit rock and roll. Kind of like if Doug Martsch wrote and illustrated FLCL with the power of his music.

15:29 / 17.11.04

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say the new Swamp Thing revamp is... not too bad. I'm not sure who's writing or drawing it, but after five or six issues trying to drag the character back to it's EC-style *roots* with an overdone storyline that didn't really make sense, plus a couple of fill-ins, this month they seem to be heading off somewhere fairly interesting. If nothing else, the artwork hasn't been quite as upsetting since very early on in Alan Moore's run. Which probably isn't a coincidence given the storyline, but still, might be worth a shot.

16:01 / 17.11.04

I just want to put in my 2 cents for the new ADAM STRANGE mini, which is simply pure sci-fi explodo goodness, without the need for "realism", "relevancy", or any non-joycore agenda.

16:16 / 17.11.04

Indeed, ADAM STRANGE is gonzo science-pulp goodness. If you like Sky Captain or the Rocketeer you need to be getting it.

NEED.

Also, anyone who frequents here but isn't getting JLA: Classified... Wake the hell up! It's easily the best pop comic out there right now. Joyjoycore goodness from George himself. And the Barb analysis is the greatest.

Nicklas and context be damned

17:51 / 19.11.04

I'll second Street Angel recommendation -- even though it will perhaps only be 5-6 more issues of Street Angel according to Brian Maruca. Best thing out there right now, even though it is a quaterly.

Other than that Dead@17 from Viper Comics. The third miniseries called Revolution has just started, and the previous two are already collected in these nice trade paperbacks that smells neat when one opens them for the first time. Resurrected people who fight against demons or for demons depending on which side gets there first.

07:59 / 23.11.04

I'll second Alex's Swamp Thing recommendation, though the plot 'twist' at the end of the first issue of the new story arc seems pretty hackneyed.

As for some I'd recommend, Arsenic Lullaby is completely disgusting and offensive; 100 Bullets is a pretty passable noir book (current storyline has been going for way too long, tho), and Blue Monday whenever it comes out.

10:17 / 15.12.04

Thanks for the Human Target recommendations. I liiiike. Tried Y:Last Man, but it doesn't float my boat much. I think I'd like to try 100 Bullets next, but there's a LOT to catch up on.

14:34 / 15.12.04

I've quite surprised myself by enjoying the new Books of Magic (Magick?) series, Life During Wartime. I'd sworn off any more diluted Vertigo spin-offs, but it's not half bad - spiky artwork from Dean Ormston - although I think I must have missed something, not having read any Tim Hunter since the first series, as I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

And it's not new, but Bill Willingham's Pantheon is worth seeking out. Not sure if there's a collection, but there should be.

15:03 / 15.12.04

i'm also liking the new Books of Magic.

oh, it's also worth mentioning Ocean, Warren Ellis' near-future space exploration mini. it's really quite fucking cool, actually.

22:11 / 15.12.04

Is Dylan Horrocks still writing the Books of Magic stuff? If you like his stuff, may I recommend Hicksville?

02:20 / 16.12.04

Hicksville: Pure Genius.

21:18 / 23.12.04

Liking Life During the Wartime, although have no previous knowledge of the universe so am pretty clueless to what is happening sometimes.
Powers.
Wanted seems to be kick ass and I'm interested to see where its going after 4/5's events.