The Indie thread is back!
The holidays have passed, and you’ve gone out and redeemed your gift certificates and store credits, and presumably, you’ve picked up some new books. We’ve all talked Civil War and 52 to death, so what the hell else is new to your bookshelves?
The only rule is no Marvel or DC!
I just finished reading Lost Girls, and you can expect a review of that on the show at some point. Basically, I respect its merits and intentions, if not really finding it all that engaging in a narrative sense. But it was certainly clever, in terms of the milieu. I find it interesting that frank discussions of sexuality are so taboo, and he has decided to utterly crack open every one of these he can think of. It was certainly bold. It’s definitely worth a read at least once. I don’t know if I’d recommend it at the current market price though.
So, the next time I’ve got a light week, what should I look for on the shelves? What have you found? And most importantly, what isn’t worth my trade paperback dollars?
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This week 50% off all trades in my store, so I’m going crazy and spending like 100 dollars, unless the Absolute Sandman hardcover is also off then I’m spending 150!!!!!
I kinda dug Pop Gun War by Farel Dalrymple
I just read torso last night which was realy good im going to read jinx next
Oh god, did I love reading Torso. I read it on a plane, and go to that point where the panels are arranged in a spiral and I was turning the book in circles to read it. That was funny.
Word of note, Goldfish comes before Jinx in the read order, but it’s not quite as good, at least for me. You can read either separately. But if you’re into that kinda thing, you might wanna know that.
Josh, I’m with you on Lost Girls. The narrative doesn’t really jump out and grab you but what he’s trying to do is so unique that it’s still worth the read. I’ve only time to get through the first two of the three books but they were really good. I also found it interesting that in an interview he mentioned that they were specifically going for that Victorian era children’s illustrated book look with the art. That for some reason just made it that much more bizarre.
As far as what I like to read that’s independent, I just finished with Whiteout and Whiteout Melt. They were awesome! I can’t wait to read Queen and Country. It’s also gotten me to read some of Rucka’s prose work. Right now I’m finishing up Finder and it’s hard to put this book down when the lunch hour is over.
I just read torso last night which was realy good im going to read jinx next
I didn’t like Jinx nearly as much as Torso. There wasn’t anyone to root for.
Everybody HAS to read Girls. I think the title and the clean logo deceive people into thinking it’s some kind of soapy melodrama, but when it’s actually a sci-fi/horror story. It’s pretty comparable to Walking Dead in terms of feel and quality. I read the 3 tradesthat are out right now and I’m absolutely hooked. I may have to go out and buy the individual issues to catch up because I can’t wait for the next volume to come out.
I’m ambivalent about Lost Girls. I’ll probably skip it and use the cash to catch up on Invincible. I didn’t love the first trade but you guys were right about Jonah Hex and Girls, so you have to be right about Invincible.
I’ve recently been loving Jason, a Norwegian cartoonist who has a lot of stuff out at Fantagraphics. Allof his characters are animals, kind of like Maus but without any reason. So far i’ve read The Left Bank Gang and Hey, Wait. Both are fantastic in their own respects.
I’ve started this book called Glacial Period by a french fellow whose name escapes me. It’s about archiologists (sp) in the future finding the lource under a glacier. pretty cool and pretty.
The current Sock Monkey mini is all sorts of awesome.
I’ve recently been loving Jason, a Norwegian cartoonist who has a lot of stuff out at Fantagraphics.
Hey! It’s Adam and Eve not David and Jason!
I picked up University Squared:The Angry Years By Frank Cho. For those that don’t know, it’s a strip that Cho did for his college newspaper, but also the origins of Liberty Meadows. It’s cool to see how far his artwork has come since then and also proved(to me at least) the dude is a capable and talented writer.
The only indie comic I really read is Ninja Turtles and the whole series is on hiatus currently…
Ninja Turtles
I haven’t been to a con in about 3 years. Do Eastman and Julie Strain still make the rounds? Is Eastman still in the biz? I don’t know if Heavy Metal is still being published.
Kevin Eastman is still making the rounds at cons.
It would be cool to hit the jackpot and then be able to work because you want and not out of necessity. I couldn’t imagine how much he made from Turtles.
I pulled this off of wikipedia. Yikes!
Eastman also founded the publishing company Tundra Comics. Tundra was notable for publishing works by a large number of critically acclaimed creators with high production values. Most observers conclude, however, that Tundra expanded too quickly. It closed its doors after three years with a loss to Eastman of over $14,000,000.00.
Let’s see, I have several indies I’ve been reading…
I just got the last trade of the Rex Mundi Image series that Dark Horse is reprinting. I really really like it. Kind of like Da Vinci Code but with a supernatural twist. I like the art too. Dark Horse is doing a new Rex Mundi series that is currently on issue #3 by the way.
X-Isle (Boom! Studios) is about a group of people shipwrecked on an island full of monsters. Not as good as I was hoping for, but still decent. It’s a 5 issue mini on issue 4 currently.
Enigma Cipher (Boom!) is a 2-part story (I think) about a college professor that finds an enigma cipher machine (used to encode Nazi communications in WWII) and shows it to some of his students. Some govt agency starts killing them off and I don’t know why yet. Only 1 issue is out so far and I don’t know if I like it yet. The first issue didn’t grab me like I had hoped.
Local (Oni Press) is awesome and everyone here probably already knows about it. Slice-of-life book that follows one woman around as she moves around North America. 12 issue mini on issue 7 now I think. Unfortunately it only comes out 3 or 4 times a year.
Wasteland (Oni) is also great and has been discussed here before. It’s a post-apocalyptic story featuring very interesting characters. The mythology is intriguing. I love it. It’s an ongoing and is on issue 4 or 5 right now.
The Damned (Oni) is a mafia story set loosely in the 30’s/40’s, but the mob bosses are demons, not humans, and there is a supernatural vibe. It is very cool – I like it a lot. I think it is a 5 issue mini and there are up to issue 3 now.
Finally (for now), I am reading Nightly News from Image. This book kicks all kinds of ass. It has been discussed here before, but let me just say it is one of my favorite things coming out right now. Very different art style, more like graphic design than comic art. The story is interesting and the facts about our mass media culture that Hickman peppers throughout the book are fascinating. 6 issue mini and 3 issues are out now. Read it!
I just re-read Josh’s thread description and realized he was looking for trades, not monthlies. Whoops. Oh well, everything I said still stands, even if it is off-topic.
Peter Laird is still writing the TMNT series but Lawson is drawing them, is an executive producers on the new movie (or something, he has final say) and the new cartoon.
Eastman is still doing Heavy Metal I believe. But he now has nothing to do with the turtles. Which is a shame because Laird has gone insane.
But I believe Laird said something like “I don’t like what has happened to the turtles, but I do like what it has allowed me to do.”
But the turtles are the reason I got into comics in the first place.
Can we talk about Icon or Vertigo? If not, the only indie trade/s I want to talk about is the upcoming Mouse Guard collection.
No Icon or Vertigo, that’s defacto Marvel and DC.
Give Battle Hymn from Image a try. It’s the secret story of an Avengers-type group being formed during WW2 in which everything that can go wrong does. It’s a little hard to find, but it’s pretty good.
Recent indie stuff that I’ve liked.
‘Walk-in’ by Jeff Parker at virgin comics.
‘Okko’ from Archaia studios.
Sorry. I don’t know how that got on there twice.
Yeah, we talk plenty about Vertigo and Icon. I want to spend some time on the other books that don’t come up very much.
And don’t worry about it Derek. That was certainly in the right spirit of this experiment. I must say, I’m quite excited to pick up Nightly News, and I wish I hadn’t skipped the first one. A trade is hopefully imminent.
Here’s another, if you’re a history buff. Check out Journey into Mohawk Country.
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Mohawk-Country-George-OConnor/dp/1596431067/sr=8-1/qid=1168894882/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4389693-2813667?ie=UTF8&s=books
It’s an illustration taken directly from the journal of a dutch trader travelling north in New York State in winter during the late 1600’s. I’m not sure that it’s the best thing I’ve ever read, but it’s quite interesting, and informative about life and attitudes from the time.
From the same publisher is Vampire Loves, which is a cute-ish story of a vampire’s love life. It’s foreign, and actually quite interesting. It’s one of those things that seems like it’s for kids, but then clearly isn’t. Good for folks who really like something along the lines of Nightmare before Christmas.
http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Loves-Joann-Sfar/dp/1596430931/sr=1-1/qid=1168895036/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4389693-2813667?ie=UTF8&s=books
thanx for the info on jinx goldfish im still going to read jinx next though. Im probley going to try reading whiteout soon to.
My girlfriend’s mother is the best; she gave me $100 from amazon, so right after christmas, I went wild on mainly indie books.
Five Fists of Science by Fraction was great stuff. I got a kick out of the historical fiction aspect of it and it had an older comic feel to go along with it. It was action-y but still light-hearted and amusing.
I finished up Bone and can see how Jeff Smith is considered one of the great cartoonists. It makes me want to dig up my Calvin and Hobbes collections and pick up Lord of the Rings again at the the same time. It was a little much to read all at once, but going back and just looking at it, you can see some great things he does with the format.
Strangers in Paradise’s first pocket book just makes me want to pick up more. Yall said it best in your previous PoW.
And I got the second trade of Queen and Country, which was sort of surprising because Tara is not in the main story, which gave me more of an appreciation for the other characters. But I really like the realism of the book in that Tara is seriously disturbed over killing a person, and the tension involved in the agents infiltrating Afghanistan is definitely there. I’ll have to keep on picking these up when I can; it’s a welcome change from the superhero books.
And I have to second Derek’s comments on Nightly News. It would have been my pick last week, if only for those first few pages on public schools. The style is really out there and interesting to read, and each issue has been consistently powerful and provocative.
I seem to recall you guys talking about not reading Cerebus. You should start that.
Nightly News is quite good. So is Strange Girl. Love that book. I’ve also been reading this mini from publisher I can’t remember called The Killer that’s really good. Also from Boom I believe, another mini called Adrenaline that has been pretty good. Dead@17 from Viper Comics is through 2 issues I believe of its relaunched ongoing. Also Sidekick from Paul Jenkins has 4 of its 5 issues out from Image and its a really funny superhero spoof type of a thing. Still loving Invincible and The Walking Dead
Nortwest Passage (Oni Press). Historical fiction from the time of fur-traders and French-English-Native American rivalries. Well-researched period piece combined with ‘ol fashioned storytelling, good doses of both action and character. The author and artist Scott Chantler has a classic cartoonist’s style: if you like Darwyn Cooke, you would probably like this as well. The complete story is available in three digest-sized volumes. Highly recommended.
That sounds good PV.
I’ve also been reading this mini from publisher I can’t remember called The Killer that’s really good.
I second that. It is from Archaia Studio Press (who also put out Mouse Guard, Artesia, and Okko, all quality reads). It is actually a reprint of a French series from a couple of years ago. Only 2 issues have come out here so far but I really like it. At first it takes you inside the mind of a hitman as he waits for his target to appear, but I believe it expands into much more before the series concludes. I think it is 10 issues long.
I seem to recall you guys talking about not reading Cerebus. You should start that.
You really should read the first volumes, Cerebus, High Society, Church & State I & II, and maybe Jaka’s Story, but I emplore you to go no further. The first book, Cerebus, is a crudely drawn parody in the beginning, but evolves into something really clever by the end. High Society and Church and State are smart and hold up really well even by today’s standards.
Trust me when I tell you that anything past that is a waste. Cerebus becomes a seconday (even tertiary) character and the book becomes more about Sim’s obsession with F Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde, and anti-feminism than anything else. It doesn’t make sense most of the time, and the latter volumes are filled with dense annotated footnootes that put From Hell to shame. I read them and couldn’t tell you what happened if you put a gun to my head. Read them at your peril! Just read the first four books then go on the net to see what happens in the rest.
Got this off of wikipedia. Ron will appreciate this.
In Marvel Comics’ The Uncanny X-Men, Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson created a demonic character named S’ym, a large muscular creature but with a tail, pointed ears, clawed toes, snout, and black vest similar to Cerebus’, and who similarly refers to himself in the third person.
Hey! Someone put one of my favorite Cerebus pages of all time on the web…
http://www.scottdstrader.com/blog/resources/cerebus.93.8.jpg
This is an example of the tone of the series before Sim went bonkers.
Who else here read comics by candlelight last night? It was 50 degrees F in my apartment when I got up this morning. And I may not get power back for a few weeks. So, without power, I built a little reading station out of a step later, several yards of foil and a handful of candles. Ahh, eighteenth century living. It’s a good thing.
Right now I’ve kinda been on an indie binge. I just finished Kevin Huizenga’s “Curses” collection a few days ago. I have a bunch of stuff in the mail right now, including some stuff from Jordan Crane (www.reddingk.com), Fantagraphics (Kevin H’s Ganges book from the Ignatz series and an issue of Mome, which UPS won’t deliver to my office across the street), USS Catastrophe (other Kevin H books) and Comic Hole (mainstream odds and ends and the first Runaways digest)–who I had deliver my stuff via Priority a week ago and have not seen it yet. C’mon, I didn’t pay $6 in shipping to wait a week.
I also bought “In the Studio” last week with my Borders Rewards and a gift certificate last week, which features samples, sketches, inspirations and interviews of a handful of indie artists (Clowes, Ware, Brunetti, Jamie, Seth, Charles Burns, a few others), which looks very cool. A note to Borders: do not put an effing sticky plastic barcode thing in the middle of a paragraph about my current favorite cartoonist (Seth – look up George Sprott on the NY Times site).
I’ve always been reading the first Comics Journal Special Edition that came out a few years ago. It has a big interview with Joe Sacco, who is awesome, and a lot of fun one-to-three-pagers on the topic of “Cartoonists on Cartooning.”
Anyway, that’s about it. Now it’s time to leave the warm, lighted office and walk across the street to the cold, dark apartment. Seriously, right across the street. What gives?
This isn’t a true indie book, but I just wanted to give another shout out to Brubaker’s “Sleeper.” I don’t remember which of you iFanboys recommened it (was it Ron or just the one who sounds like Ron?), but it rules. Thanks again, fellas.
No Marvel or DC books!!! 🙂
(Though Sleeper does indeed rock)
S’ym! That takes me back. Personally, I would recommend skipping the first Cerebus collection, not because I’ve read the rest of ’em but because the first one never really revved my engine.
Pride of Baghdad is next on my list, but it’s been so built up I’m actually afraid to read it. Wait! Is that a Vertigo? I can’t tell the players without a program sometimes.
I just hooked some friends on Scott Pilgrim; that is like the gateway drug. They’re actually sort of pissed that I hooked them before #4 was done.
My big indie book this week was Bendis’ Fortune and Glory, which I bought years ago when I was dipping my toe back into comics waters and decided to revisit. When you read this very personal story by a young pre-Marvel Bendis, before anything had really “happened” for him, it’s sort of amazing. It’s like he’s a completely different person six years later.
I loved Fortune & Glory but thought Pride of Baghdad was vastly overrated.
I’d recommend any of the Ellis Stormwatch trades.
Stormwatch is good but is far from being an indie book (Wildstorm).
Pride of Baghdad isn’t indie either (Vertigo), but it is totally worth it. I couldn’t disagree more about it being overrated. I can’t recommend it enough.
No Marvel or DC books!!! 🙂
That means no Vertigo or Wildstorm or Icon. We’re trying to expand the horizons here, folks.
Mouse Guard is the best indy I have ever seen. It wraps, according to the artist/writer next week (jan. 24). This has been a comic that my whole family has loved.
Cool art, good story. Evidently, a trade with bonus pages is scheduled for the spring.
Pride of Baghdad isn’t indie either (Vertigo), but it is totally worth it. I couldn’t disagree more about it being overrated. I can’t recommend it enough.
It’s certainly no Watership Down.
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but check out the Marshall Law trades with art by Kevin O’Neill. I’d also recommend these from Rick Veitch, Maximortal, The One, or Bratpack, all of which were part of what he called the “The King Hell Heroica”. Veitch did post-modern superheroes before it became vogue and then passe.
Phil Hester did an interesting b&w called The Coffin about an exo-suit that can house a human soul a few years back.
Horatio, the Ifanboys are right about Invincible. I felt the same way after the first trade. I was kinda ambivalent. But then I picked up the second and third trades and read them and it all starts to take on a whole different feel. There are some pretty major things that happen in both the second and third trade that really shape, I would imagine, the whole rest of the series. So far, that’s as far as I’ve gotten.
Indies… Its been ages since I read and Indie title.. I know its sad i’m sorry.. There was a time when it was all about Marvel.. Now its all about DC.. i used to squeeze in an indie here and there but I don’t know what’s good any more.. Help!
The Coffin was really good. From Oni.
Stormwatch was technically indie when it came out, because it was before DC acquired Wildstorm.
I always wanted to read The Coffin but I’ve had a hard time finding it…thanks for the reminder to look again.
What ever ended up happening with The Atheist? I liked it, but it came out too sporadically and I lost track of it.
USAGI YOJIMBO!
anyone ever read superf*ckers?
Anyone here read Local?
I just started the Complete one volume edition of Bone. So far it’s fantastic, but I’m only 1/5 of the way done. Also reading Supermarket.
Bone was so good. I didn’t really expect to like it that much, since it was a little cartoony and all. But that guy knows how to make comics.
Did anyone have the good fortune to read any of the Sugar Buzz stuff? It was so awesome – it was a bunch of shorts all starring Hannah Barbera style cartoon heroes. They were so colourful and imaginative – like Valenteen, the teen hero of love, and Pants Ant, the insect crimefighter who specialises in trouser related cases. I’m melting into a puddle of childish glee just thinking about it.
There is a trade called ‘Your Ticket to Happiness’ still available if anyone is interested.
Bone is the reason I still read comics to this day. I am rendered speechless when I hear people say they don’t like it.
I have always enjoyed “The Tick” trades…They can be a non-taxing fun read..
I started reading “Palestine” by Joe Sacco over the weekend. It is compelling, but I was ill over the weekend so I have only just begun it. Next up I am going to be reading “Five Fists of Science” by Matt Fraction and Steve Sanders.
Every time I see one of those complete collections of Bone I am very tempted to buy it. I haven’t because I am not sure if I will enjoy it. I’ve heard people I trust say it is good, but they never give a reason why. At this point I will probably buy it the next time I see it at a Con.
I’ve given up on talking about the Nightly News. It is a fantastic comic, but I can’t find the proper words to explain the style and every time I try it comes out wrong. It is very very good though.
Why is Bone good? That’s a good question. I’m going to give it a shot.
It’s one of those big expansive stories where you get the feeling that the author knows how it’s going to end from the moment it starts, but there’s a slow reveal to the parts of the story we need to know, and he accomplishes that in a very compelling way, over time, as you gain affection for the characters, you learn more about what it happening to them, and it’s done in a very skilled, classic way. By the time you get to end of the story, you’re ravenous to know what is happening.
It’s funny, but in a very innocent way. That isn’t to say childish, but rather very simple in a good way. One would go so far as to call it pure. It’s very rare that you can read something so devoid of mature themes and modern ironic detachment, and still enjoy it on a pure storytelling level.
The art is so clean and so skillful that it’s really something impressive. This guy is a cartoonist of the highest order. He could be doing 3 panel strips, but he decided to do something big instead, which is an acheivement in and of itself.
It ends. It’s one big story, with a beginning middle and end. You don’t have to catch up to the issues. You just read it. In one book.
I hope Palestine goes well for you. It certainly isn’t a read requiring no effort.
I love Bone. It’s just a well constructed good G rated story with some great characters and some wonderful and touching character moments. Just some good stuff.
Recently I read Lost by Bryan Lee O’Malley from Oni. He’s famous for Scott Pilgrim, but I almost liked this one more than that. It’s about a girl who’s just kind of disconnected from life and her and some people on a roadtrip. It’s worth picking up, for sure.
Other indie books: I’m looking forward to Mouseguard when it’s traded. I have read a bunch of Oni stuff. The Tomb and Sidekicks, both Oni. Both pretty ok.
I actually just read the Alan Moore Top 10 books (Vol. 1 and 2) when I went home and really really enjoyed those. Moore is really good with developing good characters, and this is no exception. I’ve ordered Top 10 49ers and the Smax trade as well, so I’m looking forward to those…
Top Ten, while excellent, doesn’t count!
🙂
(I am enjoying my role as “No Marvel or DC!” school marm)
If you can, find a trade of Moore’s Youngblood issues.
I just picked up Lost Girls on Amazon for a special-gold-box price of $41.33. I thought that was a pretty good deal.
Oh, I clicked on the Amazon advert on I ifanboy first.
Also Moore’s Supreme issues are very good. He takes the Superman archetype in some very excellent directions. Shows you what the character is capable of when DC continuity isn’t an issue.
I liked Moore’s Supreme run, but it was a bit too retro for me. I loved the humor in his Youngblood run and Skroce’s art was great. I don’t think a trade is available but I believe one was published. You can get a TPB of his Liefeld-character crossover, Judgement Day.
USAGI YOJIMBO!
I’ve heard about the creator and how great he is, but what is the book itself about?
Moore’s Supreme did feel Silver Age-like, but I liked that because it let him play with things like time travel and evil clones. I don’t think those stories get used with enough in the modern superhero comics. I haven’t read All Star Superman, but my guess is if you like that comic you would probably enjoy Moore’s Supreme run.
Holy crap. I didn’t know America’s Best Comics was owned by DC. Moore can’t escape them, even if he tries.
I tried to read Supreme a couple times and it didn’t catch me. And I did read the Judgement day trade. I didn’t care about one of those characters or have any background on the story at all. Just picked it up cause it said Alan Moore. Just didn’t like it.
I think Supreme is better than ASS (the book, not actual ass). Supreme had a great supporting cast that included the dog (forgot its name) and Suprema. Any panel with those two in it were hilarious.
Yeah, Supreme definitely dialed down the realism, yet I still felt like I read something with weight to it. Especially in the issue where Supreme encounters the God/Kirby character. I was touched by their exchange.
Bone is an epic that sneaks up on you. You see these little cartoon characters and cow races and think you’re going to read this meandering goof, and 1000 pages later you’re knee-deep in the bloody battle for the fate of the world. When I bought it, I thought, “I’ll never manage to finish something this size. I’ll be reading this damn thing for years,” and then I devoured it nonstop until it was done; I almost took a leave of absence from work.
I liked The Amazing Joy Buzzards, though ultimately not enough to stick with it.
I didn’t get Street Angel at aaaaall.
I can recommend Supreme, but I’m not sure how much I enjoyed it. At first, I was really digging it, but it got to be a bit of a slog for me. It’s a beautiful book though, and definitely worth at least a read.
I was just talking about The Maximortal and when I came here just now there was an Amazon ad for it on ifanboy. I hadn’t even thought of Maximortal for years. Weird. Anyway, they’re selling it for $7.65 so someone out there might want to give it a try.
The two indies I have been digging are Casanova and the Damned. Both are really intersting in that they celebrate and subvert the genres they exist in. Casanova is a really cool twist on the spy thriller, while the Damned has been one of my favorite recent “gangster crime” books.
I’m collecting the new editions of bone (the new color volumes)
It really got my little sister and my nephew interested in comics.
loving the series.
I read American Born Chinese, because of the Ifanboy recommendation and it was really good. I passed it along to some friends who aren’t that in to comics and they really enjoyed it as well.
I know Vertigo is owned by DC, so I’m not sure if it counts but I picked up 100 Bullets: Decayed. I haven’t read yet.
Bone is really good. I have the huge one book complete volume, and I agree that Jeff Smith really knows how to make comics, I enjoyed the cartoony art and the story telling good, howerer I thought something was lacking. cerebus on the other hand is amazing. The art, story telling, lettering, and dialouge are amazing. I have read all the phone books at least three times straight through. I remember it being discussed on the podcast and it being refered to as THEE indie book, then you all admited to not reading it. If you get past the first book, which is the worst, it just gets better, and better. Dave Sim truley has no peer in the art of making comics.
Hey, one of you guys got Iron West for Christmas, what’d you think?
For X-mas I recieved and breezed through the two Invincible hard covers based on the recomendations from ifanboy. They were deffinately worth it, I now am stuck waitng for the next one.
Just started on Powers with the Powers number 1 trade from image.
“I just hooked some friends on Scott Pilgrim; that is like the gateway drug. They’re actually sort of pissed that I hooked them before #4 was done.”
I think it must be the gateway drug for teens, because I didnt’ get it, but my girlfriend’s little sister read it in one sitting and wants the next one.
Oh shit… I’m going to jaid for writing “gateway drug for teens” on the internet.
I liked Pop Gun War.
Anybody read The Coffin by Phil Hester?
Is it good?
I believe you’ll see some praise for the Coffin up a little higher in the thread.
Oddly enough, the only Cerebus I’ve read was the first one, and I found it pretty funny. That’s one of those things I keep meaning to follow up on. It’s just so damned daunting.
Hey, one of you guys got Iron West for Christmas, what’d you think?
I got it. Iron West is damn funny. It went in a totally wacky direction that I did not see coming AT ALL.
I read “Goodbye Chunky Rice” from Craig Thompson last year. One of the best books I’ve read. Its published by Top Shelf. More info can be found here http://www.amazon.com/Good-bye-Chunky-Rice-Craig-Thompson/dp/0375714766/sr=8-1/qid=1169026201/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3927940-9394539?ie=UTF8&s=books
I’ll just add someone elses review from the amazon site. He can write better than me.
Review
Other people mentioned it, but SCOTT PILGRIM is indeed awesome. Although I have heard from many that it is indeed age specific. I read it not knowing what to expect and it rocked my socks. It tapped into my love of old school video games and such.
As someone mentioned BATLLE HYMN was very good. It is not just a secret Avengers team, but a direct translation of all of Marvel’s Invaders characters to a more “gritty” real-world setting. The personalities of the characters are different, but the powers are the same. Its got a Captain America, a Union Jack, a Namor, an original Human Torch, and even a Whizzer.
I really dig all of Tomine’s work such as SLEEPWALK and SUMMER BLONDE. His painfully real vignettes really work for me.
STREET ANGEL is pretty funny but incredibly zany. It has Irish Space Rangers, ninjas playing basketball, and a one-armed guy on a skateboard named Bald Eagle, and other sutff in that vein.
TEMPORARY by Damon Hurd is a good trade. It is about how crazy everyone is, especially in the workplace.
SEA OF RED’s trades are pretty good but its an ongoing. It combines pirates and vampires. I heard that and thought it would be way too reliant on genre with a crap story, but its not. The story is really good.
BLANKETS was amazing, so was BOX OFFICE POISON. Real relationship drama. Blankets looks deep into first love and long distance romance. Box Office poison is essentially an insight into the lives of several slightly geeky individuals. TRICKED by Robinson who did Box OFfice is also fairly good.
BLACK HOLE was amazingly engrossing. It has the emotional angst of Blankets combined with the horror of say GIRLS or WALKING DEAD.
Oh and if you want to try to find it Moore’s MIRACLEMAN was very cool. A little out there in parts but it worked with the story. A definite transition from Captain Britain Moore to Watchmen Moore.
STUCK RUBBER BABY is a good book. A lot of emotional angst and identity/sexuality issues for the main character set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement of the sixites.
ARSENIC LULLABY is hilarious in a sick twisted way. For a barometer on its subject matter, an everday guy who is also a witch doctor using zombie aborted fetuses.
I love Chris Ware so obviosuly JIMMY CORRIGAN.
And wow..its…late…
Conor: Iron West is pretty crazy. Have you read any of TenNapel’s other stuff? Earthboy Jacobus is great. He has just about the weirdest imagination of anyone I know.
Usagi Yojimbo – Sakai has this wonderful knack of telling single issue stories that still somehow weave together. You can pick up on the series at any time and not miss a beat, but it is still very rewarding for the readers who go month to month. It has a serial feel – but it sticks with you when you’re done.
When you finish an issue, you feel calm, at peace. I’m not joking. I am sure that this is by design.
Well, now we’re talkin.
I HIGHLY recommend Blankets by Craig Thompson. Actually I recommend all three of his published books, but Blankets 1st and foremost. His others are Goodbye Chunky Rice and Carnet De Voyage which is his travel journal while touring Europe. Great stuffs.
There are all three (so far) of the Scott Pilgrim books, but its no secret how good those are. So wacky and funny and good. There’s also O’Malley’s first book Lost at Sea which is really good but a bit sappy, melancholy maybe. But good.
Optic Nerve by Adrian Tomine. There are only like 10 issues out and he’s been working on the series for about ten years. But there is a collection of the first 6 or 7 issues called Summer Blonde. Also his book of early stuff called 32 Stories.
One more, American Elf by James Kolchalka, which is his daily strips collected into one giant book. Super funny stuff, as is his Super F#@%ers series. Hilarious.
My girl brought home an advanced reader’s copy of this houdini graphic novel and it looks fucking awesome.
http://www.nickbertozzi.com/comics/houdini/houdini.htm
Granted, it’s not entirely indie, and I think they stopped it after 3 issues or something, but Sam Noir: Samurai Detective from Dark Horse was fun (at least in my opinion)
Sam Noir was awesome. They are going to do a second series later in the year.