Need... Recommendations...

[pabcool]

I'll spare the introduction, and cut to the chase.

Basically, I'm looking for comic recommendations.

I like indies and weird, freaky comics, manga and generally avoid superhero comics. My preference of format: TPB's and graphic novels.

Also, content wise, I'm underage, so don't go giving me anything too explicit.

Lately I've been big on comic strip collections and I've also read a couple of pages of Geisha, Bone, (I've started collecting) and SQUEE!!! (Twisted but fun nevertheless)

As a final word, I would like to say the following: Redrum! Redrum!

[Bubblegum Girl]

Let's see....

• One Piece-I've just bought the first book and it's very cool! I recommend this book to those who love reading stuff about pirates.
• Meridian-A very cool fairy tale fantasy of girl trying to find her way back home.
• Marvel Mangaverse-It's Marvel! In Manga form!
• Lenore-A very eerie book about a little dead girl.
• SQUEE!-I love this book. Jhonen's art was very spooky and cool. :anime:

I'm still trying to obtain more dark humor/strange & twisted comics.

[RKillian]

If they're still publishing it, you might try "The Nodwick Chronicles". It's a humorous look at a short henchman and his adventuring employers set in a spoof of the DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) world.

Another one I've found pretty good lately was "TransFormers: Generation 1 Volume 2" which continues, much more competently, the TF Universe as detailed in the original miniseries from last year

Other than that, any of the early "Batman Beyond" comics or "Futurama" are worth at least a look. And "The Tick", particularly the first dozen colorized issues.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I can definitely recommend Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things by Ted Naifeh. No capes or spandex in sight and some truly gorgeous black-and-white artwork that is mindblowingly beautiful. Think of Harry Potter's much more sarcastic and cynical younger sister. The sequel, Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics, is also getting collected for release in September, I think, and the first trade is easily found at your Friendly Neighborhood Borders.

You may also want to take a look at Paul Dini & J. Bone's Mutant Texas: Tales of Sheriff Ida Red. It skews a bit young, but it's a lot of fun and has been recently collected in TPB form.

Will Eisner's A Life Force is truly amazing, and one of his best works. After reading it, I understood why they named the awards after him and why so many comic people worship him.

If you have some cash to spend, I heartily recommend Paul Chadwick's Concrete comics. There are 3 oversized paperbacks, reprinting the original 11-issue run and the short stories published in the Dark Horse Presents anthology comics, plus 4 more TPBs of mini-series. While it may have some of the trappings of a superhero comic (shy man's brain is transplanted into a hugely strong, nearly indestructible body), it proceeds in wildly unexpected directions, as Concrete tries swimming across the Atlantic Ocean, climbing Mount Everest himself, serving as security for a slightly wacky rock star, being a reluctant force for radical environmentalists, and being a one-man effects crew for a movie based on a line of toys. One of the best indie comics of the 80's, bar none.

I personally recommend Kurt Busiek's Astro City to almost everybody, although it's very much a superhero comic. But it is to superhero comics what Batman: The Animated Series was to cartoons, so I say take a look anyway. Confession is my favorite TPB, but all of them are good.

I have more ideas, but exactly how underage is underage and how much cash have you got to play with?

-- Ed/Ace

[whitmore_sean]

Well, you say underage, but you also like Squee!, so I don't know what to think. I guess anything short of a bi-sexual full-penetration comic is acceptable?

There's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, sort of a gran'pa to Squee's book. The whole series is collected in both a fancy hardcover and handy softcover.

Also, a short (2 issue) mini series called I Feel Sick by the same writer. You'll have to hunt these two down, though.

Hellblazer is always a fun read, about a foul-mouthed, drunken, chain-smoking con man who lives in a world of magic and demons. This series has been around a long time, but the best story arcs are collected into seven or eight trade paperbacks. "Dangerous Habits" by Garth Ennis gets my highest recommendation. There's swearing and bodily fluids, but nothing worse than Squee.

A more pg-rated Ennis series is Hitman, which is set in the world of DC super heroes, but rarely features any of them. It's about a really likeable assassin who targets super-powered people, and the band of rejects and misfits he surrounds himself with, such as a drunken midget vigilante and a mafia boss who conducts his business from the toilet. The first half of the series is in TPB form already. There is lots of violence, but it's the over-the-top funny kind.

The best issues of Swamp Thing have all been collected as well. "Dark Genesis" collects the early issues, which can simply be explained as Frankenstein-ish in nature. The rest of the trades reprint Alan Moore's run, starting with "Saga of the Swamp Thing", where the book takes on a very supernatural, horrific turn. Also PG-rated.

The early issues of Books of Magic were very good, if you can ignore the fact that it's basically an R-rated Harry Potter. (Actually, this comic came first) It's about a young British kid who suddenly discovers he has magical powers. But instead of going to wizard summer camp, he's immediately attacked by every demon, wizard, and god out there. There's swearing, but no sex or gore.

Matt Wagner's Mage series is another fun-but-dark deconstruction of magic and wizardry about the reincarnation of Arthur Pendragon and his magical baseball bat. There are three overall arcs to the story, beginning with "The Hero Discovered" (which in itself is collected in three different oversized trades). PG-13, if that.

The Tenchi Muyo, Ranma, and Love Hina collections are fun if you like the cliched, manga love story approach. Any nudity is the cutsey, Barbie-doll cartoon type.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a great series that mixes psychology, religion, and giant robots. If you've already seen the cartoon, the book deviates in enough key ways to keep it interesting. Lots of blood, but it all belongs to giant monsters.

Brian Michael Bendis has a number of great crime comics, like Goldfish, Jinx, and Torso. Violence and language-wise, these books rival a Tarantino movie, so judge for yourself. Each of these series has been collected.

Planetary is a fantastic series that has super heroes, but is not about them. A team of archaeologists investigate the average "comic book" world, filled with super heroes, time travelers, aliens, demons, monsters, robots, super spies, and every other comic cliche. No cursing or sex, but lots of bloody violence. The first half of the series is available in both softcover and hardcover.

If you're a Transformers fan, there are plenty of good trades available. The UK collections such as "Target 2006" and "Fallen Angel" are, to my opinions, better than the American ones. But even some of the good ol US ones are good too, like "All Fall Down" and "End of the Road".

Likewise, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series was pretty good as well. Much more Frank Miller than Saturday morning. There have been numerous collections of the series, but they're so old, you;d have to look for them online or something.

My two highest recommendations, however, are WAY over on the deeper side of the rated R fence (i.e.: full-penetration, as stated above ). But I'll mention them so you can run out and buy them the second you're legal:

Akira is the longest story I've ever read. One story is spread out of 6 humongous trade paperbacks. You've had to have at least heard of the movie, and good as it is, the book is about a thousand times better.

Preacher is a series in 8 volumes (9 if you count one trade full of tie-ins). It's beyond my ability to explain the plot in any way that does justice to it, but let's just say that it's about a drunken Irish vampire, an inbred descendant of Jesus Christ, sexual investigators, the fattest man in the world, a boy with the face of an anus, a man with the head of a penus, coke-snorting angels, the ghost of John Wayne, the child of an angel and a demon, an atom bomb, and God Himself, and how they all tie into a disillusioned preacher from Texas with the sensibilities of an oldtime cowboy. Personally my favorite comic series ever, including the super hero books.

Now go out and buy every single one of those. Right now. I'll wait. Then read them all and give me a 10 page report on them.


SEAN

[Cogliostro]

30 Days of Night TPB - It's got vampires, blood, creepy feel to it and a GREAT story to it! Well worth picking up. Also the sequel mini-series to this mini-series has started and is also just as great...

[Rand]

Midnight Nation by JMS from Top Cow.

Do you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer? If you do, you might like Route 666 from CrossGen.

[pabcool]

Thanks for everything. I'll check out Astro City and Mage sometime, definitely.

After sampling SQUEE, I think I may buy sometime as well. Although it's still very twisted, it IS the mildest Jhonen comic...

I'll take a little looksee at Lenore next time I'm in an indie comic store.

While not recommended, Nausicaa and Skeleton Key are also two series I've been looking for.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go corrupt my mind some more with SQUEE.

[GL2k2]

Hellboy (start with Seed of Destruction)

Bone (volume 1)

Sin City (First three volumes)

and Savage Dragon (Volume 1 with Dragon shooting at cover with guns blazing with white background).

[fEaR]

Watchmen. Seriously, if you value comics, pick this up now. And the newest Hulk TPB ain't too shabby..so is The Punisher:Welcome Back, Frank.

[Turbo]

Watchmen. Seriously, if you value comics, pick this up now. And the newest Hulk TPB ain't too shabby..so is The Punisher:Welcome Back, Frank.

diddo on the "WATCHMEN", simply one of the greatest comic stories of all time. If you haven't read it, you should. When I picked it up, I didn't really like the style of the art that it was drawn in, very 80's and not as polished as the stuff today. But I kept reading, and then by the end of the second chapter (book) I was hooked.

"Maus" is another great example of the medium, perfect blend of an amazing story (the author's father was in a concentration camp, so it follows his father's story and the subsequent relationship with his son... it's amazing)
And it's far far away from any superheroes.

The "Kingdom Come" TPB is great as well, but if you're not looking for superhero books, you might not like it. Pick it up and flip through it, the art alone is worth buying it IMO.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" - This is the book that started the whole gritty, in your face batman that exists today.

Batman: The Long Halloween" - One of the best, well thought out Batman stories of all time. This isn't a bunch of superheroes running all over town making wisecracks and smiling, it's a murder mystery that is more engaging than 99% of the crap that's coming out in Theaters.

I picked up a TPB called "Blankets" yesterday, and it's probably the best thing I've read in a long long time. Once again, no superheroes or anything close to it, just the story of a teenage kid with a horrible childhood trying to figure out his life, sounds like a movie of the week, but it's impressive in its scope and simplicity. The guy draws in a style that blends reality with the surreal world of his imagination. Kind of hard to explain, but if you appreciate good art and style and compostion, this guy's a genius.

Will Eisner's "A Contract with God" - Eisner's the granddaddy of the Graphic Novel, and pretty much set the bar with this collection of semi-related short stories, about the various people living in a tenement building.

Others that are pretty good, are The first two TPB's of "The Authority", Frank Miller's "Sin City" series are all worth picking up, as well as "300," the list goes on and on, all depends on what you're looking for.

Good luck,

T