Hi, I’m looking around in ComiXology for a good read. Can anyone recommend me an awesome or “must-read” comic book or series? Don’t care if old or new, or which topic… any recommendations, are welcome.
I hope it’s ok to have this topic here. Did not want to open another specific “comic book thread”. But if too many objections, I will.
Punisher Max, the Ennis stuff at least was unmissable.
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Cool, thanks. Good to know. I’m look it up!
I am a huge fan of Squirrel Girl, but that’s probably largely because it seems like such a marvelous series for my daughter (and Ryan North’s writing suits me well). The recent Darth Vader series was very Star Wars-y, and introduced probably my favorite character: BT-1.
Wait, no—K2-SO probably has BT-1 beat. Still, though.
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Chew and Sex Criminals have been my only two recent regular reads. Locke & Key is utterly fantastic if you want something a little older.
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Reading North Water by Ian McGuire. About 10% of the way through and pretty hooked. Not 100% yet on the time it takes place. It’s a whaling novel, but it’s the right whale trade, which I thought was pretty played about by the latter half of the 19th century, and yet there was mention of a steam tug. Possibly all will become clear in time. My (perhaps overly) pithy summation thus far is, “Cormac McCarthy’s Moby-Dick”.
Brief takes on what I’m reading at the moment.
Book book:
Earth by David Brin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96471.Earth
A few clever people attempt to save the world from itself.
Comic books(graphic novels, whatever you know what I mean):
East of West https://www.goodreads.com/series/102346-east-of-west-collected-editions
Death is life’s only hope. (A properly done sci-fi western)
Prophet https://www.goodreads.com/series/107178-prophet
There’s a lotta John’s in space. (The epic space saga of clones rebelling against their psychic overlord mothers)
Orc Stain https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8275167-orc-stain-vol-1
Don’t ask for change when buying things from Orcs.
The Incal https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10842223-the-incal
If the fifth element had taken it a bit further, maybe too far. (Moebius is an amazing artist, but Jodorowsky has just done far too many drugs)
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I like Jodo’s movies, but I could never really get into the Incal, and I tried several times. I did enjoy the Metabarons series, though. It’s like if Dune was a little…ok a lot less sexually antiseptic.
I’m reading a fairly light book right now. Misfortune Cookie, the 6th in the Esther Diamond series of fantasy novels by Laura Resnick about fighting Evil (yes, the capital letter is intentional) in New York City.
Esther is a struggling actress in New York who often works when she’s between gigs at an Italian restaurant that allegedly launders mob money for the Gambello family. She’s befriended a centuries-old bookseller named Max who is actually a member of an ancient organization dedicated to fighting Evil.
She’s in an on-again/off-again interest (it’s probably not at the “relationship” level yet) with a New York City Police detective named Lopez who doesn’t believe any of this stuff and thinks Max is kooky and kind of dangerous, and that Esther too easily believes in all that magic stuff.
It’s really a hilarious series and I love it. It’s not deep at all, but I find myself laughing throughout most of the books, and I can often read them very quickly.
The other 5 books, in order, are:
Disappearing Nightly
Doppelgangster
Unsympathetic Magic
Vamparazzi
Polterheist
Strange Weather. I’m not much of a fan of Joe Hill after The Fireman was such a big miss for me, but this collection ticked along nicely and mostly hit the right notes at the right times.
Vagabond, Takehiko Inoue. A manga series I was interested in but didn’t want to get started on just yet, until I discovered Viz were doing three-in-one volumes, so it ends up being quite efficient (that’s what I scream at my wallet, anyway). Some very nice art indeed, and one thing I’ve particularly come to appreciate: the work is almost always the creation of the original team.
Finished up North Water. Held my interest through to the end. Not as poetic as McCarthy, it turns out, but good. I didn’t actually like the ending very much, but I’m definitely not sorry I read it. Only question is, do I read Moby-Dick or Against the Day next? I am indeed a glutton for punishment.
My memory of Moby-Dick is that the first and last thirds of the book make for a decent story, but the middle part is basically a bunch of reference material about whales. I was a jaded high school junior when I read it, though, so I could be wrong.
What I’ll never forget is my crazy Moby-Dick obsessed English teacher bringing his pewter figurines, bottle of whale oil, and toggle-head harpoon to class to “improve” the experience of reading the book. What a nut.
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I just finished Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer and have moved on to Authority. I saw the trailer for the movie and thought the premise was interesting but after having read the book and then re-watched the trailer, the movie and book seem to have little in common other than the rough plot.
I did like the book and thought Vandeeer’s prose was better than many other fantasy authors, but the book left far too many questions unanswered for my tastes. The book was also far more introspective than I thought and really dealt with the main character’s internal processes. Good book, not great, but also only the first part of the trilogy, so I’ll update or post when I’ve finished it all.
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Was thinking of starting this one based solely on seeing the trailer.
King Arthur’s Wars, by Jim Storr. Found this in a roundabout way by following up on @OhBollox’s recommendation of the King’s College war studies podcast,
It’s interesting if provocative thus far. Despite the name, it’s more directed to trying to infer the history of Dark Age England’s little wars and petty kingdoms from the landscape. The first chapter puts a vigorous boot into popular - and academic - historians for basing detailed stories on flimsy evidence, and succeeding chapters then come dangerously close to doing exactly the same. Providing actual primary-evidence citations for some assertions would be nice. Also, despite saying that the legend of King Arthur is a mediaeval fabrication, he then is quite happy to assert where Camelot was and who Guinevere was.
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Years ago when I finally got around to reading “Neuromancer” by William Gibson I was left scratching my head wondering what in the world I had just read. I give him all the credit in the world for being decades ahead of his time and envisioning a cyber world thatwould not exist for years and years…but I thought the narrative was pretty awful and convoluted and vague. I eventually had to go online to find out what the ending of the book even meant.
That preface brings me around to the Southern Reach trilogy, which we have talked about and I’ve just finished. I feel very much the same way I felt about “Neuromancer” minus any appreciation for the author’s creativity and forward-thinking vision. Seriously, what just happened? I liked bits and pieces of the story and the premise was interesting but also needlessly obtuse. I also couldn’t stand the lack of answers. Not my favorite set of books, that’s for sure.
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I had some of that same “What did I just read?” reaction. It may grow on you.
Kings of the Wyld. A group of old, decrepit mercs get their (war)band back together for one last job. A fantasy world full of every one of the usual races and creatures, and more besides, combined with lots of knowing jokes. It’s not very well written, but I find myself reading it regardless. Knockabout fun, enjoyable, carried by its sense of humour.
I actually think I would have preferred stopping after the first book. It certainly would have been a very different experience.