What (comics) are you reading right now?

[tommers]

Anybody read comics / graphic novels / manga?

I've been going through stock lists from distributors and I've learned two things. One, spreadsheets make comics really really boring and two, I have never heard of about half of the titles.

Manga is absolutely mad. There are thousands of them and they all have about 40 volumes. Half of them are about gay relationships with a twist (for example a nerdy man can suddenly read thoughts and realises the office hottie fancies himl, or girls and their cats or like some weird faux medieval thing about a disgraced princess, and the other half are called things like "Blame!" or "Soul Eater!" and are about spacemen. Oh and demons. Three halves.

Lots of comics are the same as they ever were. People in tights in ridiculous situations. Lots of horror stuff. Lots of adaptations of novels, and a fair bit of indie stuff. There's just a whole lot of it all.

So... what are you reading at the moment? And what's good?

 

[tommers]

I'll start with the adaptation of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by the Rickard Sisters. It's really nice. I like the novel anyway but this makes it clearer and a bit livelier. They've done more stuff too in the same vein, so I'll probably read that soon.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

I may have read one or two....

Planning on trying to do a giant list for the book thread.
Mostly been reading "Oh, Our General Myao" today. It is s comedy manga about a North Korean style state with hereditary leadership whose latest leader is the young daughter of the previous leader.



Read online here

Oh, Our General Myao Chapter 2: In Which Myao Visits A Factory - Manganato

Read Oh, Our General Myao Chapter 2: In Which Myao Visits A Factory : The Socialist Republic of Coldona. A socialist nation that broke all diplomatic relations with other countries, asserting its tough stance. But the tough leader of the nation suddenly died. Following its heredi

chapmanganato.to

I'm linking to chapter 2 as it does a better job of giving you a feel of the manga than chapter 1.

 

[tommers]

I may have read one or two....

Planning on trying to do a giant list for the book thread.
Mostly been reading "Oh, Our General Myao" today. It is s comedy manga about a North Korean style state with hereditary leadership whose latest leader is the young daughter of the previous leader.

View attachment 454496

Read online here

Oh, Our General Myao Chapter 2: In Which Myao Visits A Factory - Manganato

Read Oh, Our General Myao Chapter 2: In Which Myao Visits A Factory : The Socialist Republic of Coldona. A socialist nation that broke all diplomatic relations with other countries, asserting its tough stance. But the tough leader of the nation suddenly died. Following its heredi

chapmanganato.to

I'm linking to chapter 2 as it does a better job of giving you a feel of the manga than chapter 1.

Yeah I didn't want to tag you.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Manga is a lot cheaper in Japan, so masses of volumes is less of an issue, and offen a fairly throwaway / casual reading affair. I find it all pretty boring these days, following a familiar formula. I also tire of it all getting a bit saucy/fan service. Haven't read a new one for ages. It all seemed really exciting when I first discovered manga after reading only western comics. . . But I've never really been hooked on much more than Takahashi Rumiko's earlier works. I do have a soft spot for pulp 70s and 80s trash though.
I haven't read much in the way of new English comics of late either. The last I bought was probably Alan Moores last.

I did recently become a bit obsessed with early 2000ad after reading a couple of editors autobiographies, and morning the recent deaths of the big artists like Kevin O'Neill, Carlos Ezquerra and Ian Gibson etc. . . . But that was ultimately just getting old progs out of the attic. . . And finding most stories to be rather poor after you look beyond tge nostalgia.

Oh . . I was reading Forming 1&2 recently though.

https://www.amazon.com/Forming-Jesse-Moynihan/dp/1907704132

 

[tommers]

I'd not heard of Forming but that looks good. I'll make a note.

Next on my list are this: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-road/cormac-mccarthy/manu-larcenet/9781419776779

And BirdKing Birdking — CROM IllUSTRATION

 

[mx wcfc]

I’ll keep an eye on this thread. I used to be obsessed with 2000AD, but have only read a couple of graphic novels apart from Watchmen, so some tips wouldn’t hurt.

 

[tommers]

I also really like this ANTICUCHO: from the Andes to the Amazon, learn about Peruvian Cyberpunk with Gustaffo Vargas which is self published. He is also doing Nullhunters atm and he uses panelling and layout to really good effect. One of the stories is just one long chase scene, no dialogue really, just a chase through a slum and he uses the shape of the panels to convey the chaos and speed of what's happening. It's great.

 

[souljacker]

I'm on vol 4 of Ed Brubaker's excellent Criminal series. I hear there is an Amazon TV show in the offing.

 

[A380]

I’m not an expert coming late to the party. Once I started using kindle for my reading I started buying graphic novels to get my ‘real book’ fix.

Garth Ennis obviously. I like the Rivers of London spin offs but now they are getting other writers in they are going off the boil. I did like ‘The Boys’ but I prefer Indy stuff. Ducks was pretty good.

More to follow and I’ll be watching this thread for recommendations.

 

[krtek a houby]

At the moment; Pogo by
Walt Kelly, Winsor McCay's Little Nemo, Segar's Popeye, Frank King's Gasoline Alley.

I have been into comics and cartoons for 50 years or so. Love the genre, but it's an expensive habit to keep. Rarely get new releases.

 

[tommers]

At the moment; Pogo by
Walt Kelly, Winsor McCay's Little Nemo, Segar's Popeye, Frank King's Gasoline Alley.

I have been into comics and cartoons for 50 years or so. Love the genre, but it's an expensive habit to keep. Rarely get new releases.

At first I didn't recognise the names and then it clicked. Have you always read stuff like this? Or is this a recent thing?

 

[tommers]

I’m not an expert coming late to the party. Once I started using kindle for my reading I started buying graphic novels to get my ‘real book’ fix.

Yeah, same. I get 2000AD digitally, just cos I don't want hundreds of issues piling up, but GNs are better in your hands.

 

[heinous seamus]

I read this not long ago. Interesting, but I would've liked it to be longer.

 

[krtek a houby]

At first I didn't recognise the names and then it clicked. Have you always read stuff like this? Or is this a recent thing?

On and off over the years, but my interest in old strips was rekindled when I went to a Peanuts museum and they had some Walt Kelly strips among all the Charles M. Schultz displays.

Had a load of Marvel titles and a few DC in the 70s, gradually got into 2000AD and eventually the comics renaissance in the mid 80s.

Got a bit weary of the saturation of titles in the 90s and now tend to focus on older stuff. That said, if I could afford it, I'd buy a load of graphic novels...

Love and Rockets and Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth are a couple of my later faves, and I'd recommend Joe Sacco's Palestine and Daniel Clowes output.


But even these are well old at this stage. I'm sure there's plenty of new stuff that others could recommend.

 

[krtek a houby]

Yeah, same. I get 2000AD digitally, just cos I don't want hundreds of issues piling up, but GNs are better in your hands.

To really appreciate the artwork, always the real deal. I did get a bunch of one of the special offers online (loads of old Slaine) but reading them on the phone isn't working for me.

 

[Spandex]

I'm on vol 4 of Ed Brubaker's excellent Criminal series. I hear there is an Amazon TV show in the offing.

Ed Brubaker is my favourite comic book writer at the moment. Usually with Sean Phillips doing art, but not always.

Criminal is excellent with it's vaguely connected series of crime stories and is the best introduction to what Brubaker and Phillips do.

My favourite of theirs is The Fade Out, a complex murder mystery set in 40s Hollywood.

Another good one they've done is Kill or be Killed - a man tries to kill himself, regrets it as he falls to his death, but is saved by a demon who tells him he must kill someone who deserves to die every month or the demon will be back to claim him. Then this regular bloke has to figure out how to practically do this, getting into trouble with russian gangsters along the way and facing the question of is the demon real or is he having delusions?

The Reckless series is great at best, although some are better than others: a (definitely not a) private eye in 80s LA.

Pulp is an enjoyable short one - cowboys vs nazis in a 30s gangster setting, which makes it sound more throwaway than it is.

Where the Body Is is also worthwhile - a body is found in a suburban cul-de-sack; whodunit? The cop having an affair? The druggies at the end of the street? Someone else?

For Brubaker without Phillips I loved Friday - it starts off with a young woman returning home from college for Christmas; she used to have young adult literature style adventures as a kid solving supernatural crimes with her best friend. Then she gets sucked into one last adventure that jumps genres with abandon.

Sean Phillips' son Jacob Phillips has been doing some similar stuff. He's illustrated Chris Condon's That Texas Blood, a neo-western following cases of aging small town cop Sheriff Joe Bob Coates (who is an excellently written character). Then they did the western spin off The Enfield Gang Massacre, based on one throw away sentence in That Texas Blood.

Jacob Phillips has also done Newburn with Chip Zdarsky, following a private investigator who solves cases for the New York crime families to maintain the peace between them. It starts off episodic before things start to spin out of control for Newburn.

Brubaker & Phillips also did some Gotham Central, alternating writing with Greg Rucker - a police procedural set in Gotham City as the cops deal with the fallout of Gotham's famous supervillians, a certain caped crusader lurking in the background.

Greg Rucker's Whiteout is also excellent- a murder mystery set in the antarctic, racing against time as things wind down for the long night.

 

[Spandex]

Something is Killing the Children is an enjoyable Stranger Things style monsters in a small town comic that builds up nicely. I stopped at #15 (first 3 TPBs, vol 1 hardback collection) as the story was supposed to end there, but because it was popular it kept on going and loads of spin offs have been produced.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I'd not heard of Forming but that looks good. I'll make a note.

Next on my list are this: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-road/cormac-mccarthy/manu-larcenet/9781419776779

And BirdKing Birdking — CROM IllUSTRATION

I bought it because of this animation short he worked on.

 

[Spandex]

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V - death is called into her boss' office and told she's fired as someone has been born who will invent immortality. She is made mortal, but conspires to go to earth & kill the inventor of immortality. Over a number of unfortunate accidents across the years their lives become entwined. Weird and strangely heartwarming.

 

[Dystopiary]

I'll start with the adaptation of the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by the Rickard Sisters. It's really nice. I like the novel anyway but this makes it clearer and a bit livelier. They've done more stuff too in the same vein, so I'll probably read that soon. View attachment 454495

That's on my to-buy list!

 

[tommers]

Sean Phillips' son Jacob Phillips has been doing some similar stuff. He's illustrated Chris Condon's That Texas Blood, a neo-western following cases of aging small town cop Sheriff Joe Bob Coates (who is an excellently written character). Then they did the western spin off The Enfield Gang Massacre, based on one throw away sentence in That Texas Blood.

Yeah I read Enfield Gang Massacre. That was really good. Want to get hold of Texas Blood.

 

[tommers]

That's on my to-buy list!

I really liked it. They've got a great art style that really fits the story. Definitely recommend it.

 

[weltweit]

If there are so many comics and manga, do any of the authors make any money?

 

[tommers]

If there are so many comics and manga, do any of the authors make any money?

Same as anything else. Some will. Most won't. Marvel and DC have historically treated people like shit, same as most other big companies. Stan Lee is popularly considered to have fucked over lots of people who were as instrumental as him in creating those characters. Alan Moore is notoriously fucked off with DC (despite presumably making an absolute shed load of money).

Look at Kickstarter. There's an anthology that just funded that went for like £5k, with ten short stories or something. Kickstarter take a cut of that, for a start, then you've got printing costs etc, doesn't leave much.

But then Absolute Batman sells hundred of thousands of copies every month. You'd hope the writer and artists and letterers and colourists are all getting a bit of that.

 

[Spandex]

Travelling to Mars by Mark Russell & Roberto Meli

With the world facing an escalating energy crisis and increasing rioting, a Mars Rover reports the discovery of huge gas reserves on Mars. To win the race to get there first and claim the drilling rights Eazy Beef Co select a man with terminal cancer for a one way trip to be the first man on Mars (and make the Florida meat company the richest people in the world). Enter Roy, manager of the third largest pet store in southern Alabama, an easy-going everyday man whose life hasn't worked out for him, our unlikely space explorer.

A bittersweet tragi-comic space not-particuarly-adventure as Roy modestly goes where no man has gone before, reflecting on his life's regrets.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

If there are so many comics and manga, do any of the authors make any money?

Some of them do.....

I don't know the detail but you hope the tent pole franchises fund the niche projects

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

I will say when I search for other manga by the author pickings are slim. Probably because the other series they worked on weren't long enough to bother to translate but it tells a story

 

[tommers]

Travelling to Mars by Mark Russell & Roberto Meli

With the world facing an escalating energy crisis and increasing rioting, a Mars Rover reports the discovery of huge gas reserves on Mars. To win the race to get there first and claim the drilling rights Eazy Beef Co select a man with terminal cancer for a one way trip to be the first man on Mars (and make the Florida meat company the richest people in the world). Enter Roy, manager of the third largest pet store in southern Alabama, an easy-going everyday man whose life hasn't worked out for him, our unlikely space explorer.

A bittersweet tragi-comic space not-particuarly-adventure as Roy modestly goes where no man has gone before, reflecting on his life's regrets.

That sounds good.

 

[Spandex]

That sounds good.

It's not got showy art, it's not got a tight and intricate plot, but sometimes a comic just works and keeps me reading and wanting to know where it's going and then I keep thinking about it afterwards. This is one of them.