Where's the love for comics?

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   girlincapeposted 12 years ago

   Seriously, only one thread in here that hasn't had a post in 2 months? Come on. Let's talk comics.
   
   Of course I'm a fan of the Alan Moore stuff, Watchmen especially. I liked the V for Vendetta movie more than the comic though. My favorite comic of all time has to be Nextwave, a two volume series by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen. It's hilarious and full of awesomeness.
   
   I recently read the original Runaways series by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona and found it to be an exciting concept that sort of fell into stereotypes and cliches. It made me sad.
   
   Any thoughts? What are your favorite comics?

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      Len Cannonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I can assure you I talk PLENTY about comics.  I think From Hell was Moore's best book.
      
      My favorite books on the stand right now are-
      
      Unwritten: What if writers shaped the world and we never knew it? Follow along an analog for Harry Potter as he finds out the books his father wrote "starring" him are more real than he thought.
      
      The Incredible Hercules/Prince of Power: Hercules is on hiatus for a few months, replaced by a series starring his co-star, Amadeus Cho.  Cho is the seventh smartest person in the world and one of the best new comic characters in a decade.
      
      Batgirl: I'm a sucker for the character, and it is a fun alternative to the darker Batman comics running.  I'd give Batwoman the nod, but her detective comics run is up and her own series is a few months away from starting.
      
      Secret Six: Holy crap this book is intense. A mix of villains and anti-heroes taking mercenary jobs in the world of high stakes superhero crime.

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      Jeff Berndtposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I may be a bit biased, but my favorite is the one I co-wrote.
      
      
      Aside from that, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is also a favorite. And the Books of Magic. And Hellblazer. And others.
      
      Cheers,
      JB

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         humanoidposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         you are the first to mention Neil Gaiman here that I have noticed anyway, so far - I LOVE/HATE him....

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      Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      idk, i think the problem with comic books isn't so much the stories themselves, but i don't think they're marketed correctly.  Which is kind of funny considering you'd think they would be marketed better with all these superhero films coming out these days.  Plus, it seems like every comic book shop that i know of is located in places that are kind of in the bad parts of town if you know what i mean. 
      
      i mean, i still don't get why Disney/Marvel and Warner/DC doesn't try to broker deals where they're selling comics through places like gamestop or at movie theaters, as i think that would be a great way to market the product as there would be no end to the possibilities there.  one, if there's like a premiere for a film like say "Iron Man 2" and the theater happens to sell comic books too, then they could have a special deal go on like get a free movie ticket if you buy issue number 60 or whatever of "Iron Man." 
      
      Or if you have them marketed and sold through places like gamestop, then that would also be great.  as most of the people who play video games are often some of the same folks that buy comics.  so it would be a win win situation there.  not trying to stereotype anyone here, but just stating an observation.  anyway, that's what i think is why comic books aren't as popular these days, as they don't get promoted correctly.

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         girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Some good ideas in there. You should work for corporate marketing!

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            Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            wow, you really think so?  i never thought about that before, but i'll definitely keep it in mind. thanks for the tip. 

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   blondepoetposted 12 years ago

   I love Archie and Veronica comics. I see myself as a Betty.
   
   

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   girlincapeposted 12 years ago

   I've heard that From Hell is the best from multiple sources now, I'll definitely have to read it. Unwritten sounds way cool too.
   
   Your mention of Secret Six reminded me of an awesome comic called The Boys that I'm a little obsessed with. It's got horribly dark humor, but I'm totally head over heels for the characters.
   
   I used to read Archie comics a while back, Betty and Jughead were my favorite. I named my cat after Archie though.

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      animekidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have switched my tastes over the last year and a half. One of the better trade editions that I own at the moment is " Wanted " written by Mark Millar and art provided by J.G. Jones. It's a story about a guy who happens to be a " Dilbert " cubicle type who's life is boring and mundane ( and that's being nice ) who suddenly finds himself being recruited into a super villain organization called the Fraternity who just happen to rule the world...in order to replace his father, who said recruit was not even aware that his father was a super villain! It's great reading, and of course there was that movie featuring one Angelina Jolee. It's worth a read, and another new series that I'm pretty excited about at the moment is Nemesis, also coincidentally written by Millar

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         girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I've seen the movie. I liked it a lot the first time as it was a very excited midnight movie setting with lots of young people overreacting to everything, but when it got to DVD and I saw it again I had second thoughts about it. But knowing the differences between comic books and movies that says very little about the comic. I'll have to check it out sometime.

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            animekidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I'll be putting my copy up for sale in my ebay store sometime today.

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   sabrebIadeposted 12 years ago

   I'm stuck in the 60s, 70s and 80s as far as comics go.
   LOL
   Simpler times when the heroes weren't all mentally ill, drug addicts or amoral.
   The bad guys were.
   It even made the anti heroes cooler when they showed up, because not everyone and their brother was like that.
   It made characters like Punisher and Wolverine unique.
   Now they're just one of many.

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      girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, I wish I could've been around and reading comics in those days. Seems like simpler times. Less of a struggle to make characters controversial and therefore interesting. It's so impossible to keep up with the craziness of the characters in ongoing series now, I pretty much only read short series. Makes things a little easier to manage.
      
      Antiheroes are fun but I personally always fall for misfit, incompetent heroes. It's a hard job and somebody's got to do it wrong! I guess that applies to the antiheroes too...

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      animekidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have to agree. And as far as characters being unique...well when you have like 80 X-Men titles and all of their spin offs, it's kinda hard to be unique any longer

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   LeanManposted 12 years ago

   Still prefer the Beano and the Dandy, still have copies which cost the grand sum of 1d... remember old money??
   
   I have hundreds of old comics stores in the loft of my mum's old house, keep meaning to go through them and see if any are worth anything.... All from late 60s through to the 80s..

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      animekidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Today's comics are starting to get way out of line as far as cost. Superman & Batman #s 700...had to pass them up as they were at the $4.99 mark, and even writing about them and trying to earn a living through writing about them just does not justify the high price tag.I was at my local comics watering hole just the other day and I had a few comics that were at the $3.99 mark and decided that I had to put them back on the shelves. New economy...new spending rules! As far as the stack in your mum's house just remember...condition is everything.

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         LeanManposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         All dry and wrapped in old black bin bags, last I checked they were all ok..
         
         Does this mean my old 1970's DC comics and the like might be worth a few quid or dollars.... I have not checked anything for years.. Have quite a few number 1's of various comics launched in the UK from years ago, things like 2000AD and Starlord which later merged with 2000AD amongst many others..
         I think I even have quite a few of the old hardback annuals that always got released just before christmas..
         
         Guess I best pop home sometime and checkout what I still have..

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   girlincapeposted 12 years ago

   Yeah comics are crazy expensive now. I try to buy the volumes when they come out but they don't really save you much compared to the individual issues.

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   C. Ramsdellposted 12 years ago

   Yeah, let me just say: Calvin & Hobbes. Maybe not what you were looking for, but I live for these.

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      girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I feel you. Those are classic and hysterical. I love the running gags like with the snowmen. xD

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   Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

   I enjoyed Elf Quest, Conan the Barbarian and Far Side theres a online comic strip creator thingy too.

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   Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

   or market with rebate coupons in comics for movie tickets or dvd/blu-ray movies great points, Stevennix2001

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      Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      thanks dame scribe.  i like your point too about the rebate coupons.  its a shame Disney isn't already on the ball with some of these ideas, as you think they would be since they even said they want to make as much money off marvel as humanly possible.  therefore, it would make sense if they tried to market the comic books better for them.

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    Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

    I think they get so full of themselves with being associated with the glamour of such a big account like Disney they forget the real world of marketing maybe we should email Disney direct

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       Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       yeah, that's a great idea.  although i don't know they're e-mail address.  lol.  do you know it?

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    Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

    Maybe we should start our own marketing partnership biz first sorry, dont know Disney email but sure we can find it , lol

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       Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       yeah that is a great idea.  we should start a marketing company so that way we too can reap the awards for our ideas.  besides, it's like the Joker said in "The Dark Knight", "if you good at something, you never do it for free."  lol.  that's a great idea.  now all we need to do is figure out a way to get started. 

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    Stephan Baylessposted 12 years ago

    They're pretty offbeat, but I like anything published by AdHouse Books in Richmond. Things like Johnny Hiro are hilarious (which also reminds me that Chew is a really funny comic too) The Aviary,Skyscrapers of the Midwest... all good ones.
    
    As far as superhero books go, Peter David's X-Factor is consistently good, Ed Brubaker's Captain America is pretty sweet. Anything Abnett and Lanning touch is golden, so Guardians of the Galaxy and currently the Thanos Imperative (provided you like cosmic stuff, unlike Jack Flag).
    
    On the DC side, Booster Gold is one of the best comics around. It's actually a compelling story,given that everyone thinks Booster Gold is a joke, yet he saves the multiverse on an hourly basis. And if you're not reading Grant Morrison's Batman and Robin you are insane.
    
    Personally, I think Alan Moore is overrated and his comics need to stop being made into movies.

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       girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       This just goes to show how little experience I've had in the world of comics. Thanks for all of the recommendations. I really need to get out there and start reading some of this stuff!

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    Dame Scribeposted 12 years ago

    Should we start with our own emails lol

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       Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       good idea.

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    waynetposted 12 years ago

    I'm a great fan of image comics, with Savage Dragon and Spawn still being my favourites, with Witchblade and The Darkness too.
    
    But I still collect Marvel comics, aswell as some DC titles and Sin City I have all the comic series.
    
    With over 15,000 comics in my collection, I just have to do some reviews....!!!!

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       girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I'd love to read some reviews from you! I love Sin City and Spawn seems like a great series too, I'd love to know more about it!

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    Alasterposted 12 years ago

    The Sandman are my favorite graphic novels. The story of beings with that kind of power is very unique.

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    torimariposted 12 years ago

    I love Gaiman's Sandman too. Great story, characters, art and ambiance.

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       girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I've read the first book of Sandman and I will definitely be pursuing it further. Great stuff.

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    Flightkeeperposted 12 years ago

    I saw the movie based on the comics -- Kickass! Great movie and also inspired Obama to try and do the same thing. And as usual fail so miserably.

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       girlincapeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I really enjoyed that movie too. It's one of the better comic book adaptations. I haven't read the comics though...

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    Greek Oneposted 12 years ago

    the greatest Super Hero of all was clearly...
    
    

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    mega1posted 12 years ago

    I have some of that love for comics right here - I love Pogo, Elmer, Wiley Coyote and on and on - I know less about them but love all the superheros and also appreciate Japanese Anime
    
    However, my all time favorite used to be Woody Woodpecker and I would hurry home from school every afternoon so I could catch a half hour of Woody being so delightful!

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    Jagodkaposted 11 years ago

    I love Watchmen and Kickass but my favorite comics/graphic novels have to be Persepolis and Maus. If you think comics are just for kids and geeky adults then I suggest you read those two.

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    iviskeiposted 11 years ago

    I'm more of a manga fan myself, but they are essentially comic books too. Lately, I've been reading Gravitation, Skip Beat, Durarara!, and Kizuna~
    
    I especially love Durarara! The there are a massive amount of characters, and it's interesting to see how they interact and how their separate stories tie into one larger story. It's wonderful~~

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