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team overhead smash
Sep 2, 2006

Team-Forest-Tree-Dog:
Smashing your way into our hearts one skylight at a time

Y: The Last Man



Y: The Last man is an award winning 60 issue series that is now fully collected in various graphic novels. It tells the story of a world where every single mammal carrying a Y chromosome suddenly dies just as Yorick brown proposes to his fiance with a ring he bought from a store of magic trick, just as a doctor gives birth to the first human clone and just as a government agent flies out of Jordanian airspace with an ancient artefact.








There is one exception:



Yorick, a unemployed Eng Lit graduate, and his pet monkey Ampersand are the sole males on the fact of the planet. In a world where half the population, 85% of government representatives and 99% of electricians, construction workers and mechanics are now dead, he journeys with a government assigned secret agent and a doctor specialising in cloning to try and figure out what happened to half human race and if it can be saved - as well as reuniting Yorick with his estranged girlfriend who he was trying to propose to by phone as the plague that wiped out mankind hit.

Like the best zombie films where the zombies are a stand-in for any catastrophe which pushes tension and relationships to breaking point (but with lots of gore and throats getting ripped out), the breakdown and reconstruction of the world is more of a backdrop for the travels of a small group of people through this dystopian earth and importantly with a character based plot, it's well written (Plus there are wild bands of amazon warriors trying to destroy every last trace of the patriarchy). The character are flawed yet likeable and develop well over the series with.



While it isn't rooted completely in reality (with secret spy rings, a ninja antagonist and the aforementioned mystery plague) it does have realistic characters that will grow on you as you read through the series. If you get to the last issue and you don't tear up, frankly you're a monster who should be shot.

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Yes_Cantaloupe
Feb 28, 2005
Y: The Last Man is really good (it's the work that got me back to some extent into western comics after my Marvel superhero childhood gave way to manga) and that is a solid writeup for it. It's worth noting that it and Saga share the same writer. Author? Is the person who writes a comic book an author?

Davincie
Jul 7, 2008

y the last man is the ultimate harem comic

DoubleDonut
Oct 22, 2010


Fallen Rib
I want to talk about a superhero comic that no one read.

Scarlet Spider


Scarlet Spider (vol. 2) by Christopher Yost follows Kaine, edgy 90s clone of Peter Parker, as he creates a new identity in Houston and becomes its only resident superhero. Despite having the deck stacked against it from the beginning - that "none of the responsibility" tagline, a very prominent, very 90s character for a protagonist, being born of one of the most notorious arcs in comics history - Scarlet Spider manages to tell a cohesive story about a man trying to get on with his life without ever getting bogged down in trying to be cool or dark.



Of course, Kaine is still an anti-hero, he just doesn't have any pouches on his leg and he doesn't carry any guns. He's extremely blunt and his social skills could be described as "stunted" at the best of times, but he's earnest about trying to atone for his past.

Part of what sets this apart from other superhero comics is that there's only two superhumans in the main cast. The drama primarily comes from Kaine's relationships with the people he meets in Houston as opposed to his ~dark past~, and it captures the whole "Spider-Man is outnumbered and outgunned at all times" thing with a character who handles situations completely differently. It didn't last especially long because, as I said, it wasn't especially popular, but I think it's definitely worth a read.

If you're worried about not knowing about the Clone Saga, don't worry, because I don't know poo poo about it either! All you really need to know as far as I can tell is this: Kaine is a clone of Spider-Man who used to be evil. That's it!

DoubleDonut fucked around with this message at 11:52 on Mar 10, 2015

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Doctor Spaceman posted:

The Zatanna sections of Seven Soldiers have a bunch but it's superhero as gently caress and so probably not appropriate for this thread. Also Pax Americana, but the same applies.

Both are some of the best stuff DC has put out in years though.

Seven Soldiers is probably one of the best cape comics ever written, so it's appropriate for this thread IMO.

Benny the Snake
Apr 11, 2012

GUM CHEWING INTENSIFIES

Davincie posted:

y the last man is the ultimate harem comic
:fuckoff:

Dick Spacious CPA
Oct 10, 2012

SalTheBard posted:

To once again pimp Saga this is a scene from issue #14. This is a spoiler but not a huge spoiler.

To set the scene Sophie is a 6 year old sex slave from the planet Sextillion. The Will (a mercenary) was on vacation to Sextillion when he saw this child prostitute who was sold into slavery by her dad IIRC. She was rescued by The Will and Lying Cat and in this scene they are on a planet taking a break.



This is just an example of how amazingly poignant this comic is.

this is epic!!!

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This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

Dick Spacious CPA
Oct 10, 2012

cattes for the freaking win!!!

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This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

Dick Spacious CPA
Oct 10, 2012

does that comic have any issues where they show the adventures of the mercenary on his vacation to the sex planet? that sounds interesting.

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This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

K. Flaps
Dec 7, 2012

by Athanatos
You find a monkey paw and wish to have the ultimate harem, but you regret it instantly when you realize the twist: you are now trapped in a garbage comic book and all the women are drawn by western hack comic book artists.

White Light
Dec 19, 2012

achillesforever6 posted:

I'm surprised no one has brought up The Sandman yet, its really good and still holds up even though the ending is boring because Neil Gaiman is not good at writing endings.

Has my favorite version of Death and my favorite story of a character that just decides to become immortal when given the chance.

Oh and there is a story about Emperor Norton II which is great.

I'm bad at doing write ups for series, can someone do one for The Sandman?

This. Right here.

You know how 95% of Marvel/DC comics keep wanking off the same setting? "Oh it's Batman/Superman/Wolverine, only as a caveman/soviet puppet/set in a post-apocalyptic future!" bullshit that paints the entire american industry black? Sandman doesn't have that. It is "here's chapter 1, go"

It has a clear beginning, middle, and end. It is completely independent of the superhero genre. It is a Saga in every sense of the word, and really showed what could be done with comics as a medium.

All that cross-continuity bullshit that plagues 'mainstream' superhero comics is crushed by an almighty fist here. If what is considered mainstream western comics were treated this way (independent from one another, not some shared universe or whatever) I can guarantee NA comics would make a big comeback.

But this isn't a perfect world, so we have series like this to tide us over. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Parrotine posted:

This. Right here.

You know how 95% of Marvel/DC comics keep wanking off the same setting? "Oh it's Batman/Superman/Wolverine, only as a caveman/soviet puppet/set in a post-apocalyptic future!" bullshit that paints the entire american industry black? Sandman doesn't have that. It is "here's chapter 1, go"

It has a clear beginning, middle, and end. It is completely independent of the superhero genre. It is a Saga in every sense of the word, and really showed what could be done with comics as a medium.

All that cross-continuity bullshit that plagues 'mainstream' superhero comics is crushed by an almighty fist here. If what is considered mainstream western comics were treated this way (independent from one another, not some shared universe or whatever) I can guarantee NA comics would make a big comeback.

But this isn't a perfect world, so we have series like this to tide us over. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Not really, no. I can understand ignoring vol. 1 and vols. 10 and 11, but they still exist. Not to mention issues like Golden Boy.

DoubleDonut
Oct 22, 2010


Fallen Rib

Parrotine posted:

This. Right here.

You know how 95% of Marvel/DC comics keep wanking off the same setting? "Oh it's Batman/Superman/Wolverine, only as a caveman/soviet puppet/set in a post-apocalyptic future!" bullshit that paints the entire american industry black? Sandman doesn't have that. It is "here's chapter 1, go"

It has a clear beginning, middle, and end. It is completely independent of the superhero genre. It is a Saga in every sense of the word, and really showed what could be done with comics as a medium.

All that cross-continuity bullshit that plagues 'mainstream' superhero comics is crushed by an almighty fist here. If what is considered mainstream western comics were treated this way (independent from one another, not some shared universe or whatever) I can guarantee NA comics would make a big comeback.

But this isn't a perfect world, so we have series like this to tide us over. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Do you even read modern superhero comics? They've got a lot of problems but they don't really include "too many stories about caveman Wolverine" or "characters interact with each other too much"

Also I'm gonna be the guy that points out that Mr. Miracle and Martian Manhunter and a few Batman villains and John Constantine and the superhero Sandman and a character from Swamp Thing are all featured at various points, the last one showing up quite a bit.

WickedHate
Aug 1, 2013

by Lowtax

DoubleDonut posted:

Also I'm gonna be the guy that points out that Mr. Miracle and Martian Manhunter and a few Batman villains and John Constantine and the superhero Sandman and a character from Swamp Thing are all featured at various points, the last one showing up quite a bit.

Dream himself eventually ends up being the son of Doctor Fate and grandson of the Golden Age Hawkman, too. Then he showed up in an arc of Justice League.

Sandman is really, really good though and I reccomend it also.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Less than 24 hours to go on the latest Humble Book Bundle, so grab it if you've not yet. It's a fantastic deal. Even dropping a dollar on it for the basic version to try it out is worth it.

White Light
Dec 19, 2012

DoubleDonut posted:

Do you even read modern superhero comics? They've got a lot of problems but they don't really include "too many stories about caveman Wolverine" or "characters interact with each other too much"

Also I'm gonna be the guy that points out that Mr. Miracle and Martian Manhunter and a few Batman villains and John Constantine and the superhero Sandman and a character from Swamp Thing are all featured at various points, the last one showing up quite a bit.

Trust me, I've read more than my share of superhero comics, both old and new. Even went out and took a few classes on comic book history, mapping everything from the golden age beginnings to its present day state. You literally need spreadsheets to keep track of the modern storylines just to navigate the basic bread-and-butter plot arc, it's absurd.

Just to make sure I keep my opinions in check so I don't go off the deep end on a anti-superhero tyrade, my best friend, the man I'd take a bullet for, is a die-hard Marvel fan. We're talking all sorts of memorabilia in his house, shelves of cartoons on his DVD rack. He has an entire room of action figures and poses them in diorama battle scenes, having wolverine climbing on a large Sentinel figure with Spiderman hanging from the ceiling from makeshift webbing he cobbled together. His job is to make sure I keep my arguments valid and educates me on whenever I slip up and make faulty assumptions on the genre.


The difference is that he knows how to turn that side of him off and look at things from a fresh, outsider perspective, and he pretty much agrees with me point for point. He states that the best stories come from the independent comics, bar none. The best storylines in superhero comics are always the ones that go back to their independent roots, before everything got hosed over with crossovers. He aches for things to go back to how they were, because those messy big event comics retroactively cheapen once pivot plot points, and also suck most of the tension from post-event series because their struggles seem meaningless in comparison.

I know all about those appearances: Martian Manhunter, Mr. Miracle, Constantine. I simply did not bring it up because

A) the moment someone who doesn't care for superhero comics hear this, they will pass up Sandman strictly on those merits, and

B) it spoils the plot you dolt. This isn't a Sandman chat thread, it's a recommendation one. Why would I ruin the plot for someone? That's stupid

The difference with these cameos is that they're there just for Morpheus to ask a question and be done with it. They are woven into the narrative smartly so that it doesn't break your immersion; there's always a rhyme and reason to it. It's Gaiman making the best of the crossover nature and moving forward. They also sneak it into the plot, you have no idea that it's coming; instead of starting with the notion that it'll be 'just another superhero comic but' assumption right out the gate before you start chapter 1, it comes off as 'Fresh, original independent series with a few hero cameo speed bumps' that are expertly handled in and out of the plot.

This is why Sandman is, by and large, allowed to be its own thing. It's part of the 'shared universe' in name only, and once the story is done it's done; any cameos in other series are due to other writers at DC, not the intent of Gaiman.

So yes, I actually read superhero comics. And they still suck. Did we really need caveman Batman? Old man logan fighting an army of inbred hulks? No. No we didn't. Nobody did, except for the five people who thought those were winning ideas in order to make a quick buck.

There are great things the western comic book scene is making, it's just buried under a mountain of superhero bullshit, and it's incredibly depressing to see. It's basically held the medium down from ever truly evolving into the genre maturity luxury that eastern comics take for granted. Superheroes are basically the reason why the North American comic scene is treated as the red-headed stepchild of the medium world at best, and largely indifferent towards at worst. It's the equivalent of ongoing Simpsons episodes; desperately struggling for any cultural relevance by doing whatever it can to capture the media's dwindling attention instead of taking a step back and actively trying to fix the problem.

It's incredibly frustrating, and there's nothing else we can really do about it but watch this husk of a once great corpse lurch forward and weep.

White Light fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Mar 10, 2015

Sharkopath
May 27, 2009

I'm laughing really hard at Comic Book History Classes.

DoubleDonut
Oct 22, 2010


Fallen Rib
That sure is a lot of words for "I don't like superhero comics!" Maybe you should try reading something good instead of assuming something is bad because it's about superheroes. Maybe instead of complaining about how superhero comics are smothering everything else you could just buy good things? I guess being That Nerd Who Buys The Books He Hates is a lot easier, though.

Also one of the most successful films of all time is about a bunch of Marvel characters from different films forming a team so uh, somehow I don't think being about superheroes is the main problem with regards to cultural relevancy. There's plenty of garbage out there that isn't about superheroes, it's just either in webcomic form or no one talks about it.

Edit: And finally if "an early antagonist is a Batman villain" is a plot spoiler than every single conversation anyone has had about any piece of fiction is a spoiler; that's an incredibly vague piece of information that happens in like the third fuckin' issue.

DoubleDonut fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Mar 10, 2015

Davincie
Jul 7, 2008

let's make it clear that despite its success the avengers film is garbage

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Parrotine posted:

Trust me, I've read more than my share of superhero comics, both old and new. Even went out and took a few classes on comic book history, mapping everything from the golden age beginnings to its present day state. You literally need spreadsheets to keep track of the modern storylines just to navigate the basic bread-and-butter plot arc, it's absurd.

Just to make sure I keep my opinions in check so I don't go off the deep end on a anti-superhero tyrade, my best friend, the man I'd take a bullet for, is a die-hard Marvel fan. We're talking all sorts of memorabilia in his house, shelves of cartoons on his DVD rack. He has an entire room of action figures and poses them in diorama battle scenes, having wolverine climbing on a large Sentinel figure with Spiderman hanging from the ceiling from makeshift webbing he cobbled together. His job is to make sure I keep my arguments valid and educates me on whenever I slip up and make faulty assumptions on the genre.


The difference is that he knows how to turn that side of him off and look at things from a fresh, outsider perspective, and he pretty much agrees with me point for point. He states that the best stories come from the independent comics, bar none. The best storylines in superhero comics are always the ones that go back to their independent roots, before everything got hosed over with crossovers. He aches for things to go back to how they were, because those messy big event comics retroactively cheapen once pivot plot points, and also suck most of the tension from post-event series because their struggles seem meaningless in comparison.

I know all about those appearances: Martian Manhunter, Mr. Miracle, Constantine. I simply did not bring it up because

A) the moment someone who doesn't care for superhero comics hear this, they will pass up Sandman strictly on those merits, and

B) it spoils the plot you dolt. This isn't a Sandman chat thread, it's a recommendation one. Why would I ruin the plot for someone? That's stupid

The difference with these cameos is that they're there just for Morpheus to ask a question and be done with it. They are woven into the narrative smartly so that it doesn't break your immersion; there's always a rhyme and reason to it. It's Gaiman making the best of the crossover nature and moving forward. They also sneak it into the plot, you have no idea that it's coming; instead of starting with the notion that it'll be 'just another superhero comic but' assumption right out the gate before you start chapter 1, it comes off as 'Fresh, original independent series with a few hero cameo speed bumps' that are expertly handled in and out of the plot.

This is why Sandman is, by and large, allowed to be its own thing. It's part of the 'shared universe' in name only, and once the story is done it's done; any cameos in other series are due to other writers at DC, not the intent of Gaiman.

So yes, I actually read superhero comics. And they still suck. Did we really need caveman Batman? Old man logan fighting an army of inbred hulks? No. No we didn't. Nobody did, except for the five people who thought those were winning ideas in order to make a quick buck.

There are great things the western comic book scene is making, it's just buried under a mountain of superhero bullshit, and it's incredibly depressing to see. It's basically held the medium down from ever truly evolving into the genre maturity luxury that eastern comics take for granted. Superheroes are basically the reason why the North American comic scene is treated as the red-headed stepchild of the medium world at best, and largely indifferent towards at worst. It's the equivalent of ongoing Simpsons episodes; desperately struggling for any cultural relevance by doing whatever it can to capture the media's dwindling attention instead of taking a step back and actively trying to fix the problem.

It's incredibly frustrating, and there's nothing else we can really do about it but watch this husk of a once great corpse lurch forward and weep.

Okay, I'm lolling at the part where you think that Sandman was plotted out rigorously, but also at the part where someone would pick up volume one and think it was anything other than an offbeat, horror-inspired cape comic. I'm lmaoing at the part where the way to fix Amecomi is to kill superheroes. I'm rofling, and cryeing, at the conception that the real problem is that superhero comics take place in a shared idea-space, and that Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and the rest of the Marvel Bullpen's starter lineup doomed comics forever. Your classes on funnybook history were not money well spent, it seems, but thank you for the funny post.

e: Just took another look back, and now I'm howling about the part where you talk about spoilers. Morpheus dies, Lucifer abandons Hell, the Witch of Thessaly lets the Cuckoo go free. The only powers greater than Dream are Death and possibly Destiny.

Effectronica fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Mar 10, 2015

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

I might be wrong but as far as I can tell that success has had a difficult time transferring over to the comic books themselves? Like despite constantly setting records at the box office it seems like the people watching those movies either aren't interested or find reading the comic book versions of their favorite characters to be a huge hassle.

And I can't blame them, I used to keep up on superhero stuff but dang, that gets draining really fast.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Srice posted:

I might be wrong but as far as I can tell that success has had a difficult time transferring over to the comic books themselves? Like despite constantly setting records at the box office it seems like the people watching those movies either aren't interested or find reading the comic book versions of their favorite characters to be a huge hassle.

And I can't blame them, I used to keep up on superhero stuff but dang, that gets draining really fast.

Really, why would you blame superheroes when it was the CCA and Diamond that produced much of the current state of Amecomi, including the fact that nobody buys it.

DoubleDonut
Oct 22, 2010


Fallen Rib

Davincie posted:

let's make it clear that despite its success the avengers film is garbage

Well, yeah, but my point is that the irrelevance of comics probably isn't due to all of the things they have in common with wildly popular films

Srice posted:

I might be wrong but as far as I can tell that success has had a difficult time transferring over to the comic books themselves? Like despite constantly setting records at the box office it seems like the people watching those movies either aren't interested or find reading the comic book versions of their favorite characters to be a huge hassle.

And I can't blame them, I used to keep up on superhero stuff but dang, that gets draining really fast.

Yeah, definitely. I just think there's a spot between kowtowing to the guy who knows specific details that happened in thirty year old issues of Green Lantern and having no continuity and no shared universe and everything has to be its own totally self-contained product. The fact that there's pretty much always some WORLD-CHANGING EVENT AND THE DC/MARVEL UNIVERSE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME going on at all times that is told over eight different books is also pretty bad, I just don't think the solution to that is "okay, nothing does crossovers anymore."

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

Effectronica posted:

Really, why would you blame superheroes when it was the CCA and Diamond that produced much of the current state of Amecomi, including the fact that nobody buys it.

Yeah also true, it's crazy to think of how comics used to sell way more and these days other entertainment keeps breaking records while most of them are left in the dust. Really tough to get rid of that poison.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib
Okay, so I've been talking it up, and apparently you're supposed to do bigass posts with lots of panels and bolded words when you want to rec something.

Seven Soldiers is a lot of things. It's an experimental approach to storytelling yadda yadda yadda, it has blah blah references to blah blah historical importance blah.

Okay. So, the thing which makes it something worth recommending is that it's one of the few superhero comics that works on a number of levels. First of all, you have a great story, with a neat blend of the lighthearted and comedic with sturm und drang. Second of all, that story doesn't rely entirely on your knowledge of superheroes to function. In fact, though I can't really test it (unless someone wants to step up to the plate) I suspect that someone without more than background knowledge of superheroes could read the story, and while getting that there were references to other stories, still understand what was going on. Thirdly, the story itself is intricately constructed and plotted and leaves things up to the reader to put together for themselves. Fourthly, there are a great many fun allusions and references you can find as you read the story. Fifthly, there are also a bunch of references to superhero poo poo, but you can look those up whenever.



If you're going to read it, sadly, the best way to do so is by buying the individual issues (digitally) rather than the collected editions, because the story is structured like this: an opener and closer issue, and then seven four-issue miniseries' for a total of 30 issues. The idea is that you could read each set of issues in whatever order- finishing each story and moving on to the next, reading all the 1s, then the 2s, and so on, or reading them in chronological order of release, etc.

The collected editions necessarily impose a particular order on the story, which weakens the effect, in my opinion. Each mini also has a different genre and art style to go with it.



The basic story, for those of you that want to know, is this:
The Earth is being invaded, by a people called the Sheeda. Many times have the Sheeda come, pillaging and carrying off Earth's civilizations. They brought down Camelot. They destroyed the Neanderthals. And now they're coming for us. The Sheeda know that one day they will be defeated completely by a team of seven- seven soldiers. So in this age of superheroes, they have already targeted all the superteams with seven members. But seven soldiers are assembling, unknown to the Sheeda- or to themselves.

The minis:



Shining Knight: The last Knight of the Round Table, Sir Ystin, has been thrown through time to the modern day. Can he cope with this strange new world and prepare it for the assault of the Sheeda? Moody, psychological, beautiful art with heavy use of shadows.



The Manhattan Guardian: Jake Jordan shot a kid to death. He thought the boy had shot his partner. He left the NYPD, and sank into a depression. Then one day his fiancee's father told him about a job. The local tabloid, the Manhattan Guardian, was looking for someone with his skills. Straightforward superhero action that provides the meat of the exposition for the rest of the stories. Clean, classically superheroic art.



Zatanna: Zatanna Zatara is the greatest magician in the world, not least because she's got the real thing. Tours, books, have all made her a celebrity even as she defends humanity from the horrors of the occult. Then one day a horrible tragedy struck. She's retired from touring, going to group therapy, psychologically blocked off from magic, when she meets a mysterious kid who wants to be her apprentice. Deliberately mystical, most comedic of the books, plays heavily with panel layout and structure.



Klarion the Witch Boy: Klarion is a young man of the Witch-Folk of Limbo Town, a hidden village of people who came to escape the land of "Blue Rafters" long ago. His father long missing, Klarion yearns to see what lies beyond their realm of Witch-Men and Witch-Women and their undead servants and laborers. Dark fantasy, on the verge of horror at points, with an emphasis on chiaroscuro- light and shadow.



Mister Miracle: Shilo Norman is the world's best escape artist. One day, he had an encounter he couldn't explain when he was escaping from the event horizon of a black hole, and now his life seems to be falling apart, and the world with it. Can he pull off his greatest escape yet? Uplifting and beautiful, with some unfortunate art errors that none of you will notice or care about.



Bulleteer: Alix Harrower thought she had it all. A loving marriage with a wonderful husband, a job where she could do some good in the world, free time spent helping her husband with his experiments in "smartskin". Then it fell apart, piece by piece. Can she put her life back together and come to terms with everything that's happened to her? The farthest away from conventional comic genres, but a fairly straightforward drama with sci-fi and fantasy aspects.



Frankenstein: Frankenstein's monster took his maker's name after killing him, and wandered the world, eventually coming into conflict with injustice. Against the evil of the man known only as Melmoth and his Circus of Maggots, Frankenstein finally triumphed, but then slumbered for long decades below the small American town that grew up around the site of their battle. Something survived, however. Something always survives. The time is approaching when Frankenstein will walk the Earth again! Outright horror turning into action with deliciously gruesome art. Has some of the best lines in the whole series.

I loving love Seven Soldiers and would gladly go on about it to anyone that has questions or cares to listen.

BravestOfTheLamps
Oct 12, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Lipstick Apathy
Moomins by Tove and Lars Jansson



The Moomin stories are about a family of Finnish trolls, and they've starred in books, movies, anime, and comic strips. Their comic strip incarnation features the Moomins on weird, disjointed, and satirical adventures.

The comics have light-hearted adventure:



And thrilling action:




They're full of valuable lessons:







And unforgettable characters:

BravestOfTheLamps fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Mar 11, 2015

Ccs
Feb 25, 2011


Moomin is great. It's also very anime related because there's been multiple anime series of it, one which heavily involved Miyazaki's mentor, Yasuo Otsuka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv1rH0Oz3-k

Zero_Tactility
Nov 25, 2007

Look into my eyes.
My first real exposure to Moomin was in the BSS newspaper comic thread, and it's really wonderful. Moominpappa is my spirit animal.

-------

Bone by Jeff Smith

Pretty much what you'd get if Walt Kelly's Pogo and an epic fantasy series crashed into each other and got all tangled together. Bone follows the abstractly cartoonish Bone cousins (Fone, Phoney, and Smiley) as they are chased out of their hometown and stumble into a valley where some serious poo poo is about to go down (including dragons, cults, and possibly the end of the world).

Generally light in tone,

it still manages to really sell its serious moments.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Bone is incredible. I have the all-in-one collection they released a while back, and I plan on buying the full color version eventually. anyone have it and can report on the quality of it?

That whole section with the lightning you posted is one of my favorite parts, really amazing how intense it gets at times.

BENGHAZI 2
Oct 13, 2007

by Cyrano4747

Doctor Spaceman posted:

The Zatanna sections of Seven Soldiers have a bunch but it's superhero as gently caress and so probably not appropriate for this thread. Also Pax Americana, but the same applies.

Both are some of the best stuff DC has put out in years though.

The idea that because it has superheroes it can't be good and thus talked about here is loving moronic, hth. Seven Soldiers is loving fantastic and features hobo pirates riding magic subway trains and their captains are analogs for Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.

BENGHAZI 2
Oct 13, 2007

by Cyrano4747

Parrotine posted:

\All that cross-continuity bullshit that plagues 'mainstream' superhero comics is crushed by an almighty fist here. If what is considered mainstream western comics were treated this way (independent from one another, not some shared universe or whatever) I can guarantee NA comics would make a big comeback.

I agree if the entier comics industry was restructured to work in a way that it hasn't worked since The Brave and the Bold #28 it would only have positive effects now let me stroke my dick acting like comics haven't gotten away from that stupid "see issue 96 for details of what kind of pie Mary Jane made, true believers!" poo poo in the last ten years and we're mostly in a place where all you actually need to read is what you want to read.

Sharkopath
May 27, 2009


:mrgw:

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Literally The Worst posted:

The idea that because it has superheroes it can't be good and thus talked about here is loving moronic, hth. Seven Soldiers is loving fantastic and features hobo pirates riding magic subway trains and their captains are analogs for Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.

Never mind, Seven Soldiers isn't that good anymore.


Plutonis
Mar 25, 2011

Seven Soldiers was bad and Grant Morrison is hasn't done a good comic since the Invisibles

Plutonis
Mar 25, 2011

Davincie posted:

let's make it clear that despite its success the avengers film is garbage

i liked it because i like fun things

WickedHate
Aug 1, 2013

by Lowtax
Speaking of Grant Morrison, read All Star Superman. It is hands down one of, if not THE, greatest Superman stories on the planet.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

TheLovablePlutonis posted:

Seven Soldiers was bad and Grant Morrison is hasn't done a good comic since the Invisibles

*in a contrarian voice* We3 sucked!! Seaguy was rear end!!!

fatherboxx
Mar 25, 2013

lol at the guy championing Sandman
that comic did as much harm to American comics as did the bad cape comics of the 90s: it celebrated the cult of the writer and pigeonholed vertigo into "wack poo poo for goths and wiccans" for years until Preacher and Transmetropolitan and 100 Bullets hit big (Shade, Hellblazer and Enigma own tho).

Effectronica posted:

In fact, though I can't really test it (unless someone wants to step up to the plate) I suspect that someone without more than background knowledge of superheroes could read the story, and while getting that there were references to other stories, still understand what was going on.

I read Seven Soldiers waay back when I only started reading superhero comics and understood maybe 3/4 of all stories - Mister Miracle and Bulleteer heavily rely on the background knowledge. It is a generally weird, but pretty comic, so you can just jump along for the ride among transgender knights and man-eating fairies from Earth future

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

WickedHate posted:

Speaking of Grant Morrison, read All Star Superman. It is hands down one of, if not THE, greatest Superman stories on the planet.

Okay, never mind. Plutonis, you are absolutely right.


fatherboxx posted:

lol at the guy championing Sandman
that comic did as much harm to American comics as did the bad cape comics of the 90s: it celebrate the cult of the writer and it pigeonholed vertigo into "wack poo poo for goths and wiccans" for years until Preacher and Transmetropolitan and 100 Bullets hit big.


I read Seven Soldiers waay back when I only started reading superhero comics and understood maybe 3/4 of all stories - Mister Miracle and Bulleteer heavily rely on the background knowledge. It is a generally weird, but pretty comic, so you can just jump along for the ride among transgender knights and man-eating fairies from Earth future

I can get Mister Miracle, but Bulleteer? I guess the stuff with the Iron Hand and the Vigilante.

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fatherboxx
Mar 25, 2013

Effectronica posted:

I can get Mister Miracle, but Bulleteer? I guess the stuff with the Iron Hand and the Vigilante.

Bulleteer on its own looks and works like a generic cape comic, one should get that it deliberately satirises the depiction of big booty superheroines and the creepy fans/artists behind them.

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