Graphic novels/comic books - give a noob some recommendation

[agentwiggles]

So, I recently started reading the Walking Dead graphic novels, after being given a large collection by a friend. I became hopelessly addicted and have read through 90 issues in the last 3-4 days. Now at the end of my supply of these, I've been itching to read some more of this kind of thing. One of the TWD comics had an issue #0 of Witch Doctor on its flipside, so I checked out the first few of those too, and really liked them as well.

Also read Watchmen a while back when the movie came out and I liked that quite a bit too, but that's about the extent of my experience.

I like sci-fi, horror/Lovecraftian stuff, futuristic/dystopian things... stuff along those lines, though I'm willing to check out pretty much anything. I feel like I'm missing out on a massive section of entertainment that I'd potentially like very much, so I thought I'd see if the community has any recommendations. Would be willing to check out some more traditional superhero comics too, but I've never known where to start with that kind of thing, since the continuities for DC and Marvel are so huge and convoluted. Anyway, if you've got anything good, lemme know here.

[Caboose]

IDW's current Transformers Ongoings, More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise are both a blast, I'd highly recommend both. MtMtE is a pathos-filled, character driven story about a crew on a quest to find the Knights of Cybertron, while RiD deals with Post-War Cybertron and trying to rebuild their society between the contending desires of Autobots, Decepticons, and Civilians. I'd suggest you read The Death of Optimus Prime and the two issues of Chaos Theory too, the first which helps set up and explain the current situation in IDW continuity, and the second fills out some background used in MtMtE.

Both are current and easily obtainable on Comixology/other online retailers or at your local comic shop.

The Last Stand of the Wreckers is also a great Miniseries that you should be able to get a hold of one of the volumes easily enough.

EDIT: Spotlight: Trailbreaker/Cutter is really enjoyable and fleshes out a secondary character well, and is set between issues #5 and #6 of MtMtE.

[Xeo]

Some of my favorites are by Brian Vaughn. Y: The last man takes place in a dystopic future where all the men except the protagonist have mysteriously disappeared, the premise sounds cheesy but it's actually an excellent series. Ex Machina is a dark superhero tale of a man who can talk to and control machines. He also has a newer series Saga which is a bizarre space opera-esque tale strangely alluding to Romeo and Juliet. If you liked Watchmen you would probably like these as they share the same dark and unconventional themes.

Also one of my favorite stand-alone graphic novels is Logicomix, although if the concept of math-history makes you roll your eyes you should probably avoid it. It follows the life of Bertrand Russell in the 20th century era of Mathematical foundations and includes other famous logicians like Kurt Godel and Ludwig Witgenstein. Despite the premises it's a very compelling story and I would definitely recommend it to people who feel compelled by logic and mathematical philosophy.

[Thyrllann]

Not so much a graphic novel as a webcomic (but it's published in paperback form, honest!)

Schlock Mercenary, by Howard Tayler. Humorous sic-fi mercenaries romping around the galaxy. It's also completely clean :)
He's been posting one strip a day for 12 years or so (can't quite remember), with extra-long strips on Sundays, without fail. As in, I cannot honestly remember if he's ever missed a day. Linky This'll go to the very first strip. Yes, the drawing's bad. But it gets better!

[Wafflewaffle]

I have always heard good things about the Fables series. Think "Once Upon a Time" the tv show but you know... good. Gritty, mature versions of popular characters from our youth (you the tree little pigs, Aladin and whatnot) are exiled to our world because of a mysterious enemy. Thats the gist of it.

Other then that you can go the more traditional route when it comes to comics. DC and Marvel have an extensive library of comics if you are just coming in. DC just had a the reboot last year so you wont take long to catch up. If i may suggest you a couple of books from the New 52 get Wonder woman and Batwoman, both really awesome adventure type books that don't make you go past all the origins form both heroes to get to the good stuff. And also Batman by Greg Cupullo and Scott Snyder which is fucking awesome!!! The joker rips his own face off in issue number one so you know its fucking awesome!!!

[Foxy Boxes]

For comics: Deadpool.
For books: any of the Doctor Who novels seem to fit.
I'm sure there's more (I'm sure I thought of more too), but alas I cannot remember them.

[MoRmEnGiL]

Y: The last man

snip

Logicomix

I like you already.

Logicomix might sound not interesting, but boy did I have a blast with that one. It definitely is for thinkers though, it spurred me into many and long philosophical debates.
Also I kinda know the guy who was the driving force behind it, and have a huge respect for him

I will drop a name, and tell you to get what you find from him: Alan Moore

The guy's a genius. Brilliant and extremely talented. Read anything you can get your hands on from him.

You can start with:

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (ignore the movie, it had nothing to do with the comic)

V for Vendetta (a bit better as a movie but still missed the point by such a long shot it's not even funny.)

Batman: The Killing Joke (controversial but still brilliant)


I can also easily recommend The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, even if you are not a big batman fan, it's that good.

Also by Miller, Sin City is exquisitely decadent and romantic at the same time, heroic and lost in a world of treachery and corruption.

Miller also had an awesome run at Marvel's Daredevil if you are into that.

Moving on:

Into the more supernatural meets witty satire, is Preacher from Garth Ennis.

Turning more to cyberpunk is Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis.

If you like something more towards dark fantasy, you cannot go amiss with Berserk, by Kentaro Miura.

Last but certainly not least, if samurai/historical sounds good, Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima is simply the best manga (japanese comics) I've ever read, period. Words cannot describe how awesome that series is, extremely deep, visceral and detailed, while the plot is so thick you literally cannot stop reading.


I can go on all night, but too many recommendations tend to be more of a hassle than they are worth, plus they tend to lose people's attention fast :P

[agentwiggles]

Just popping in to thank everyone for the recs, can't say much about anything as of yet since I'm waiting to finish a book I just started but I'm watching the topic and checking stuff out!

[Breathesleep]

There's alot of good webcomic graphic novels out there. I'd recommend, off hand, Riceboy, for weird fantasy, Dresden Codak, for trans-human sciency- on that note, my fiance is a big fan of Girl Genius, if you're a fan of steampunk. As far as the superhero genera goes, I'm not a huge fan, but Superman: Red Son has a special place in my heart. Its a lovely re-imagining of superman as he might have been if he'd landed in the soviet union, rather than america.
Remember that movie about curving bullets from five or so years back? had Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie? Called Wanted- it was an alright movie, but it was based off a graphic novel of the same name- and boy howdy, did they ever take artistic license with the story. That said, the comic is amazing, though it's pretty crazy violent, if that's not your cup of tea. Casts the main character as Eminem, weirdly enough.
Anyway, I also recommend anything by Gaiman. Hope that helps!

[Caboose]

There's alot of good webcomic graphic novels out there. I'd recommend, off hand, Riceboy, for weird fantasy, Dresden Codak, for trans-human sciency- on that note, my fiance is a big fan of Girl Genius, if you're a fan of steampunk. As far as the superhero genera goes, I'm not a huge fan, but Superman: Red Son has a special place in my heart. Its a lovely re-imagining of superman as he might have been if he'd landed in the soviet union, rather than america.
Remember that movie about curving bullets from five or so years back? had Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie? Called Wanted- it was an alright movie, but it was based off a graphic novel of the same name- and boy howdy, did they ever take artistic license with the story. That said, the comic is amazing, though it's pretty crazy violent, if that's not your cup of tea. Casts the main character as Eminem, weirdly enough.
Anyway, I also recommend anything by Gaiman. Hope that helps!

I'd like to thank you personally for reminding me Rice Boy exists. I love that comic and the other stuff its author has written is great too.

[MoRmEnGiL]

How did I forget Neil Gaiman? He is for sure on the must check list of recommendations ;]

[agentwiggles]

Funny that Neil Gaiman came up, as I'm reading American Gods currently (my first book by him) and enjoying it thoroughly.

More on topic, I am now current on the Walking Dead (and about 30 bucks less rich... expensive hobbies ftw? :/), which has been excellent, better than the tv show for sure.

I also read V for Vendetta over the weekend, borrowing that and a few other things from my comic-loving friend from back home. V for Vendetta was fantastic, and though the movie follows it fairly closely it's definitely far better in its original form.

Another thing I borrowed from my buddy was the first 5 volumes of Locke & Key, which I'm loving so far. He also gave me some digital copies (probably illegal...) of Y: The Last Man, but I haven't started that yet. He informs me that comics are about as easy to get for free online as anything else, but I'm avoiding doing this, even though it sucks to have to wait for another paycheck to catch up. I've been trying to go legal with my entertainment consumption lately and so far it's worked out pretty well, and it seems like comics can be obtained even more easily legally... looks like Comixology is going to start getting a portion of my disposable cash.

[Xeo]

Yeah comics/graphic novels are expensive. They're just as expensive as normal books and you read them in 2 hours. Libraries are a good resource though if you don't care about building a collection and are reading more common ones.

[Zhil]

Excuse me while I hug my hardcover of Marvels. Still think that was the finest piece of comic art I ever read. The art is by the same guy that did the awesome Universe X covers IIRC.