Graphic Novels

[Not Scicky]

So there's already a comics thread of course, but what about comics of the longer, less humorous variety? There's got to be some people here who have more than a passing interest in comics.

A little while ago I picked up MW by Osamu Tezuka, under the misconception that it was written by the guy who wrote Monster, Naoki Urasawa, then I got home and opened it up and it was pretty obvious the art style wasn't Naoki's. Fortunately, despite being written by the creator of Astro Boy, MW turned out to be every bit as haunting and unsettling as I hoped. Turns out it also heavily influenced Monster, so I guess I got what I wanted, it also turned me to more of Osamu Tezuka's works, Black Jack in particular is pretty fantastic.

Anyone been reading anything good lately?

(So I'm pretty sure there's already a manga thread, I'd rather keep the discussions in this thread related to shorter, non-serialized works, not that I have any authority, but yeah, if you can, please avoid talking about the latest chapter of One Piece or Naruto or Bakuman or anything like that)

 

[Tobes]

This is, in my opinion, the greatest graphic novel ever produced. The basic premise is that far in the future, a thousand years after the Seven Days of Fire (a war utilizing gigantic automatons called God Warriors that left the world charred and barely populated), the Sea of Corruption, a continetal forest of toxic fungi and enormous insects, such as the iconic Ohm, covers most of the earth, and what's left of humanity has broken off into colonies occupying the liveable space near the borders of the Sea of Corruption. Their societies are a stew of anachronisms, as while their own technology is rather unadvanced, they have managed to scavenge plenty of "old", advanced technology from the ravages of the old world. The story follows Nausicaa, a princess of the Valley of the Wind who holds special powers, and her conscription into the Tolmekian Army, which is at war with the Dorok empire, which has unearthed some of the most dangerous technology from the old ages.

The plot if powerful and meaningful, the characters are diverse and wonderfully unique (my favorites being Namulith, Yupa, and Kurotowa), and the artwork is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. It is a complete work of art, through and through. The last quarter of the series is especially powerful and really just a remarkable piece of storytelling, and the artwork does everything it can to support it. Besides being entertaining as all hell (it wouldn't be a Miyazaki work if he didn't slip in some of his whimsy every once in a while), it really makes you think, and is one of the most unique stories I have ever seen. I cannot recommend this series enough.

 

[Lemonade]

Akira, the manga the movie is based off of, is enormous and gets like 10x more complicated the movie. And the movie was pretty awesome.

 

[Not Scicky]

Nice. I didn't even know Nausicaa was originally a manga. I found the movie a little underwhelming compared to some of the other Miyazaki films out there, but it's always worth it to check out the source material, and despite the plot, Miyazaki's art is wonderful.

Akira is great. Haven't read all of it, but every time I go to chapters I read a little bit. Planning on picking up the whole thing when I get some money. It's what, 6-7 volumes?

 

[More Cowbell]

Just finished reading the Battle Royale manga, and I must say, it was pretty good, though kind of disgusting and tasteless every now and then. A big plus, though, is that the manga delves deeper into characters that never really got their place in the spotlight before. The book mainly followed a few select characters, the manga manages to spread it out better. I still prefer the book, but this wasn't bad at all. Anyone who's interested in teenagers killing each other, and all the psychological stuff and gore that comes with it, I highly suggest Battle Royale. It sounds pretty tasteless, but it's pretty good, character development is quite interesting.

 

[Mafeking]

Finally a thread where I get to talk about one of my favorite anything evers. I picked up this book almost two years ago after getting linked to it by a blog from someone who was reading it alongside my favorite author, which was an instant click in my head. And I am absolutely thrilled to have done so.

The characters, story, and illustrations are all incredibly moving and really draw you in. It's a quick read; quite easily manageable in an hour or so, but it's the re-reading factor that really drew me in. Many people don't like to re-read books because they already know what's going to happen, but Asterios Polyp just isn't like that.

Just two or three pages in, anybody who has read it before will recognize things that didn't make sense before. Asterios starts the book laying in bed, watching something unseen on TV, which from the noises that the TV is making seems to be something inappropriate, but later on you realize it's actually just the video he has of the time that he and his wife cooked for each other.

The plot is incredibly moving and one of the best things about this graphic novel is that the character, while intensely brilliant above all else, is so easily related to normal people through his predicament. He's looking to re-ignite the lost passions of his life and this is his journey to do that. I would definitely recommend this to any fan of graphic novels or stories about people finding themselves, even when they're old enough to have already found themselves.

Plus the art is absolutely stunning and, while not overly polished, does exactly what it needs to do.

 

[Doomsday]

I recommend Transmetropolitan to everyone, this book is hilarious.

 

[Not Scicky]

I saw Asterios Polyp at the comic store earlier today and took a peek since I remembered someone mentioning it here and dear god, I didn't read enough to get a grasp of the story, but the art was absolutely phenomenal. I'm mostly just posting here to remind myself to check it out.

 

[Danmire]

I want to buy this so bad.

 

[Shinryu]

Watchmen anyone? Or Alan Moore's work in general is pretty good.

Scott Pilgrim is always good for laughs too.

 

[Zacchaeus]

Watchmen anyone? Or Alan Moore's work in general is pretty good.

Scott Pilgrim is always good for laughs too.

Yesss. I've said it before and I'll gladly say it again, Watchmen is an amazing graphic novel

 

[BattleStar]

I am a really big fan of all things The Walking Dead including the series. I only read 55 issues of the hundred of so but I really enjoy them. The plots awesome and always keeps you on your toes. It really live up to the message that "no one is safe".

 

[Echo.]

I am a really big fan of all things The Walking Dead including the series. I only read 55 issues of the hundred of so but I really enjoy them. The plots awesome and always keeps you on your toes. It really live up to the message that "no one is safe".

Haven't read all of it yet, but the Walking Dead is absolutely fantastic. Being a lover of superheroes, Watchmen is probably my favorite graphic novel of all time, though.

Can't forget one of the classics, either:

 

[CommanderTow]

Classic.

 

[Codraroll]

Don't know if it counts, but it's certainly epic. I had read the Donald comics for ten years when I first read this. So great to see a character's back story like that, and the incredible attention to detail. Scrooge is easily the most complex character in the entire Donald universe, and this piece shows why.