Nicholas ([info]nhw) wrote,
@ 2007-02-14 20:25:00
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Entry tags:comics

"25^H^H 20 comics that can change your life"
Nerve.com lists the following "25 20 comics that can change your life" - I would like views from my all-knowing f-list as to which are really worth pursuing.

Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos
Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon (which I am reading, got to #3)
"Bomb Scare," Optic Nerve #8 by Adriane Tomine
Hate by Peter Bagge
Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis
Heavy Liquid/100% by Paul Pope
Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (I loved this)
Blue Monday by Chynna Clugston
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (already recommended to me by [info]pocketnaomi)
Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by Daniel Clowes (I was disappointed by this though I very much like some of his other work)
Fortune and Glory by Brian Michael Bendis
Kabuki by David Mack
Love and Rockets by Los Bros Hernandez (I remember reading, and enjoying, [info]mylescorcoran's copies of these, years ago)
Sandman by Neil Gaiman, et. al. (but of course!)
Miracleman by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman
Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith
Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
Fantastic Four Issues #1-#102 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Planetary by Warren Ellis

So, what should I get next?

ETA: Thanks to [info]slovobooks for pointing out that I can't count!


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[info]mizkit
2007-02-14 04:48 pm UTC (link)
Transmetropolitan and Planetary are both well worth it. However, in Planetary's case, the by Warren Ellis part is damned important. Other people eventually came in on Authority, and it ceased being worth reading. I can't recall for certain if the same happened with Planetary.

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[info]londonkds
2007-02-14 06:43 pm UTC (link)
As far as I know, it's all Ellis. Agree with you about the crappiness of Millar's Authority.

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[info]slovobooks
2007-02-14 09:00 pm UTC (link)
Yup, Planetary is all Warren Ellis's own work. Shame about The Authority, which, for a brief shining moment, was the best comic in the whole damn world.

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[info]mizkit
2007-02-14 09:14 pm UTC (link)
What truly, truly aggravates me about Authority is that it was *so* *goddamned* *good* under Ellis, and it became something ... unrecognizeable under Morrison. Granted, I feel that way pretty much across the board about anything Morrison gets his hands on that is not his own original material (I don't like his original material, either, but at least he's not utterly buggering somebody else's in that case), and it just makes my head spin. When I think of the cool shit that *could* have been done with Authority... argh!

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[info]raycun
2007-02-15 10:27 am UTC (link)
Millar, and yes, he is really annoying.

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[info]londonkds
2007-02-15 07:58 pm UTC (link)
Morrison's writing a (from what I gather) slightly-rebooted Authority comic that's just had its first issue come out.

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[info]inuitmonster
2007-02-18 07:59 pm UTC (link)
People speak highly of his work on The Ultimates, though. It certainly looks like fun.

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[info]inuitmonster
2007-02-18 07:56 pm UTC (link)
Ellis wrote all of Planetary. Some might say that the real star of Planetary is yer man Cassady, who drew almost all of it.

I'm not really that convinced by The Authority, no matter who writes it. The self-importance and self-righteousness of the characters is a bit annoying, particularly when they are not being presented satirically. I have found this with both the Millar and Ellis written stories, although I agree that the Mark Millar run is far worse.

I think the only Authority run I have straightforwardly enjoyed is that filler story about the evil Authority... that was great fun.

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[info]blue_condition
2007-02-14 04:56 pm UTC (link)
I like Transmetropolitan. Not so keen on Planetary. ADORED Ministry of Space.

Don't really care for Clowes.

Early Love & Rockets was OK.

Preacher - excellent.

In terms of comics that actually changed the way I think I would say Charley's War has to be in there. Sheer genius and still impressive today.

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[info]jackthomas
2007-02-14 09:01 pm UTC (link)
Amen. Ministry of Space is awesome.

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[info]blue_condition
2007-02-14 05:00 pm UTC (link)
I'd have to say some of the obvious, too. For me, 'classic era' Dredd, Strontium Dog, ABC Warriors - bloody good hard SF... although I was already a fan of Ezquerra's art right back to Major Eazy. Then again he was essentially a WW2 Johnny Alpha anyway ;)

The last mindblowing stories I recall from 2000AD were Button Man and Silo.

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[info]purplepooka
2007-02-14 05:06 pm UTC (link)
Another vote for Transmet - if foul-mouthed political commentary and bowel disruptor weapons don't do it for you, there's always a three-eyed mutant smoking cat. It doesn't get much better than that, really.

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[info]korvac
2007-02-14 05:07 pm UTC (link)
Disclaimer: These comics may or may not actually change your life.

I can vouch for Transmet, Sandman, Miracleman and Planetary. FF is just classic, but I would not call it lifechanging.

I would, however, add James Robinson's Starman and Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, both of which actually DID change my life.

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[info]snowking
2007-02-14 05:27 pm UTC (link)
Alias is good stuff. A burned-out superheroine PI. One of Marvel's first comics for Mature Readers and the only one that could actually be considered mature.

Transmet is good but tails off at the end. Track down either the original first volume which contains the first three issues or the new one coming out soon that collects the first twelve. Hunter S Thompson in a post-cyberpunk world, basically. [info]coalescent hated it, I recall. Instant_fanzine discussion!

Planetary is an examination of the influences on comics and how superheroes killed any progression in the 60s. But wrapped in fun superhero clothes. Lovely lovely John Cassiday art. You have the benefit of coming to it late as reading it monthly has been a killer. It launched in April 99 and #27, the final "epilogue" issue isn't out yet. I have the Absolute hardback, collecting the first 12 issues and it's SO LOVELY.

I really want to read Miracleman but it's bound in up so much legal hassles that reprinting will only happen sometime after world peace and solving poverty.

Blue Monday is a fun manga but I'd be really surprised at it changing anyone's life. Other than Clugston-Major's.

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I would add
[info]applez
2007-02-14 05:28 pm UTC (link)
(though you may disagree)

Safe Area Gorazde and Palestine by Joe Sacco

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Re: I would add
[info]nhw
2007-02-17 04:05 pm UTC (link)
Not only have I read the former, but you commented on it!

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Re: I would add
[info]applez
2007-02-17 05:19 pm UTC (link)
Ah! I am forgetful! :-)

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[info]girfan
2007-02-14 05:38 pm UTC (link)
Yummy Fur by Chester Brown

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Are we counting manga?
[info]treize64
2007-02-14 05:46 pm UTC (link)
I second Safe Area Gorazde, but am surprised that Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal series and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira didn't make the list. I couldn't recommend those enough.

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[info]mscongeniality
2007-02-14 05:47 pm UTC (link)
Miracleman really is one of the best comic series I have ever read. It was one of the earliest and greatest 're-imaginings' of the Silver Age and, to my mind, has stood up very well over the years.

I wish you the best of luck in finding a copy of it to read as it has been out of print and tied up in copyright hell for something like the past 15 years. In the meantime, if you'd like a 'taste' of what it was like, there are scans of some of the issues available here.

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[info]stegoking
2007-02-14 06:09 pm UTC (link)
Not just Bomb Scare, but ANYthing by Adrian Tomine. Summer Blonde is my favorite collection of his.

Transmetropolitan is required reading for any fan of science fiction or comics.

Persepolis was very, very good.

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[info]despotliz
2007-02-14 06:41 pm UTC (link)
I love Transmet dearly, but it is definitely an acquired taste. The same with Preacher, I love it to bits but it isn't for everyone. I haven't read all of Planetary due to it taking fucking ages to come out, but what I have read has some of the loveliest art ever.

I think Sandman is good, but I wasn't bowled over by it, nor have I been by the Daniel Clowes I've read. Someone upthread recommends The Invisibles, of which I have read the second and third volumes and is just too utterly bonkers for my liking.

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[info]korvac
2007-02-14 06:45 pm UTC (link)
The first volume would have helped a bit, but the story's still a bit "bonkers". :)

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[info]londonkds
2007-02-14 06:41 pm UTC (link)
Preacher - somewhat juvenile in its extreme and graphic violence, swearing, Philip Pullman style anti-Christianity, and bizarre belief that you show solidarity with gay men by making outrageously homophobic jokes in an ironic way. Unlike most of Ennis's later work, however, the characterisation and fairly adult emotional depth redeem it. If the first volume just grosses you out, don't bother with any of the rest.

Planetary is one of the better superhero metafictions about the history and ideology of the superhero genre, but if you find that particular subgenre generally too insular and up itself don't bother.

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[info]juleske
2007-02-14 07:08 pm UTC (link)
the color issues of kabuki (not sure they were printed in paperback) are amongst the most beautiful and intelligent things in comics

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[info]prosewitch
2007-02-14 07:41 pm UTC (link)
I second recommendations for The Invisibles and Blade of the Immortal. Both ethically murky and delicious.

I also adore Kabuki--gorgeous art, reflective story, philosophical points.

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[info]alese
2007-02-14 07:46 pm UTC (link)
I have adored Zippy the Pinhead for decades now, though on a day to day basis, it can disappoint.

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Liff?*
[info]ajshepherd
2007-02-14 08:32 pm UTC (link)
Preacher: wonderful, both gripping AND funny.
Transmetropolitan: Yes, ostensibly it IS Hunter S. Thompson in the Future, but it's a damn good read from the first drop to the last, and is sometimes eerily prescient.
Planetary: Very good, kind of links in with Ellis' work on The Authority which is why I ended up reading all his run on that series.

Kabuki: I've not read this for a while and this has reminded me I must dig out the collections I've got and try and figure out what I'm missing so I can buy more. It is wonderfully artistic.
Yeah. Anything by Adrian Tomine, definitely. Buy the collections.
Blue Monday: Sort of OK, quite fun, but not as good as her Scooter Girl. Highly manga-influenced.

Right, couple of my personal recommendations:

It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken by Seth, in which a Canadian cartoonist finds an old New Yorker cartoon that leads him on a search for a long forgotten cartoonist and a nostalgic trip to his own past. Sort of. One of my favourites and it's where this icon comes from.

Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks. Journalist Leonard Batts makes a trip to the remote New Zealand town of Hicksville in search of information on the early days of comics king Dick Burger. However, when he mentions this to the locals, they react badly. What did Burger do to earn the scorn? As we learn more about Hicksville and the people who live there, we learn more about why they won't hear of Dick Burger.

Pyongyang by Guy Delisle - French Canadian cartoonist goes to North Korea to oversee production of animation, and writes a travelogue in comic form about his visit there and the things he learnt. He's also got a similar book, Shenzen about a similar trip to China, but this one is the better of the two.


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[info]slovobooks
2007-02-14 08:40 pm UTC (link)
Of the 20 comics you list (although you erroneously name is as "25 comics that can change your life"), here's m opinion, for what it's worth:

Alias Definitely worth reading. Bendis largely can do no wrong in my book, anyway.

Preacher Indispensable, although I gave up reading Garth's later stuff long since.

"Bomb Scare" Optic Nerve #8. No idea, as I've never read it, and I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

Hate perhaps an acquired taste, but I loved it.

Transmetropolitan I'm going to disagree with everyone else, and say that I really amn't that enamoured of this. It's Warren Ellis showing off, which does him no credit.

Heavy Liquid/100% Haven't read any of these, either, mostly I think because the collections are so damned expensive.

Diary of a Teenage Girl Ditto unread...

Persepolis Great stuff, although the second volume was a good deal more sombre.

Blue Monday Lightweight stuff. I've a feeling I've read it, but it doesn't seem to have left any impression, so it didn't change my life, anyway.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic There's a copy of this on the bookshelf beside the bed, waiting for me to finish reading it. I think the blurbs make it seem better than it actually is. However, I'll get back to it soon, and may have a more definitive opinion for you then.

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron I loved this, but then I've got an awful lot of books by Clowes. It's odd stuff, mind you.

Fortune and Glory Well, I wrote a very enthusiastic review of this when it came out, so I'm definitely in favour of your reading this one!

Kabuki Well, another book I reviewed. Lovely to look at, even though the actual storytelling isn't necessarily it's strongest asset.

Love and Rockets Some of the most beautiful comics in the world. Beyond my humble abilities to laud...

Sandman Part of the basis of any serious GN collection. Neil changed a lot of stuff about comics, and who reads them.

Miracleman Some of the most important comics ever written. As it happens, I have all five volumes, so, if you reckon you can read them in the time allowed, I can lend them to you when you're over in March for P-CON.

Zippy the Pinhead No opinion on this, I'm afraid.

Usagi Yojimbo I've loved all the UY I've read. Well written, well drawn, well researched, and completely lovely in all sorts of ways, as only a comic about a samurai rabbit can be.

Fantastic Four Issues #1-#102 Quite possibly life-changing, but I'm no expert on this.

Planetary When WE is good, mind you, he very good indeed, and this is him at his very best. And John Cassaday's art is truly sumptuous. I envy you being able to sit down and read it all in one go, rather than waiting for it to appear in dribs and drabs, as I had to.

Of the stop others recommended: Yes to WE's run on Authority, The Ministry of Space, Starman (just got vols 9 & 10 in the post, so now can sit down and reread it the whole way through...)

Definitely no to The Invisibles, which is more incomprehensible twaddle from Grant Morrison. Mind you, you should have a look out for his Animal Man and the gorgeous WE3.

Have you read Lucifer, BTW? If not, go read!

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[info]mizkit
2007-02-14 09:21 pm UTC (link)
Transmetropolitan I'm going to disagree with everyone else, and say that I really amn't that enamoured of this. It's Warren Ellis showing off, which does him no credit.

While I'll agree it's Ellis showing off, I disagree with it doing no credit. It's crude and gratuitous, often beyond the point of, er, making its point, but on the other hand, I think the Mary issue (#5, I think) is the single best comic story I've ever read. Ellis when he's on--and he was on a lot in Transmet--is just awfully damned good.

I do, however, wonder if some of Transmet's appeal is ... ok, Ellis is British, so this is perhaps a stretch, but to me Transmet is hugely resonant as a reflection of American society, and I wonder if it's a more effective story to American readers.

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(Anonymous)
2007-02-15 12:23 am UTC (link)
LiceJournal is not letting me log in... no comments for you.

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[info]matgb
2007-02-15 02:54 am UTC (link)
Love and Rockets was reprinted a bit in Deadline, I had no idea it was a much bigger comic. I think I may need to seek it out, IIRC it was great. Actually, everything in Deadline was great, at the time, but I were a lad, and anarchist comics appealed at the time.

Beyond that, I've read PReacher, which I loved, and the first issue of Transmet, which I loved, and mean to get more of. And much much Sandman/Death stuff.

Haven't even encountered the rest; may have to. Most of my comic reading is 2000AD these days, to the exclusion of most else; before that it was mostly Marvel heroes stuff, but I got bored.

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[info]raycun
2007-02-15 10:22 am UTC (link)
Transmet and Planetary start well, but go into decline. Ellis has limitations as a writer, and I'm not sure he's capable of producing a good extended run.
Preacher was good on a first read, but god-awful on a second, when you're not being pulled through by the pace of the story.
Miracleman is great - The Golden Age is probably my favourite Gaiman - but basically unavailable.

Not on the list -
Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing is a must-read, (and, you know, everything else Alan Moore has ever written)
I very much enjoyed Lucifer, Mike Carey's Sandman spin-off,
Fun with Milk and Cheese (Dairy Products Gone Bad!) is hilarious,
I haven't read Usagi Yojimbo but find it hard to believe it's a better samurai story than Lone Wolf and Cub
Akira needs no introduction,
Elektra Assassin, just for the art,
you've already read Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth, haven't you?
were you a 2000AD reader as a kid? you should get the Nemesis reprints, if nothing else
I'll second the Joe Sacco recommendations, and surely Safe Area Goradze is a no-brainer for you?
oh, and you have to read Eddie Campbell - How to be an Artist, The King Canute Crowd, After the Snooter...

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[info]talvalin
2007-02-15 04:54 pm UTC (link)
Usagi Yojimbo is very different to Lone Wolf and Cub (what I've read of the latter). It encompasses Japanese myths, culture and history in an episodic format that ranges across different genres. It's difficult to pin down its appeal, simply because it is so varied.

Kabuki has gorgeous art and it is indeed a joy to read, but Mack's insistence on circular plotting means that it feels like you're reading the same basic story over and over again, just told in a subtly different way. I'm in it for the eye-candy and the philosophical musings - the story not so much.

I'd second Elektra Assassin for Sienkiewicz's singular art, and the story (when Miller was still on form).

Preacher was still awesome second time around, but yeah, apart from his Punisher work recent Ennis has been a bit rubbish.

100% was very good. The SF background is rather superfluous, but Pope says as much in his afterword. He likes playing around with SF tropes, but the real meat of the story is the people and their relationships. Reading this was reminiscent of Necroville or River Of Gods, but without the Big Event. His art is also distinctive and I'm interested enough to chase down Heavy Liquid and his more recent Batman 100.

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[info]nhw
2007-02-17 04:07 pm UTC (link)
Yep, have read Safe Area Goražde, and also Jimmy Corrigan.

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[info]applez
2007-02-15 08:37 pm UTC (link)
Speaking of Warren Ellis, he's apparently become quite a fan of the photos of someone on my FL, Gareth, currently living & working in China.

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[info]applez
2007-02-15 08:39 pm UTC (link)
Warren Ellis, who's birthday is tomorrow, apparently.

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[info]inuitmonster
2007-02-15 11:14 pm UTC (link)
OK, let's try this again. Bear in mind I wrote these comments yesterday evening after a few sherries.

I'm not sure if any of these comics will actually change your life, but nevertheless:

Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos

not read it. Get the impression Bendis is overrated. Is this the book where the heroine begs for bum sex? I'd buy that for a dollar.

Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon

The fundamental problem with Preacher is the way the central premise is the least interesting thing about it. The macho bullshit and incipient homophobia is also a bit problematic.

'Bomb Scare', Optic Nerve #8 by Adriane Tomine

Not read it. Adrian Tomine is essentially Division Two Dan Clowes.

Hate by Peter Bagge

The Seattle stuff is genius, but maybe you would not get so much out of this as you already know Eoghan Barry.

Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis

not read it.

Heavy Liquid/100% by Paul Pope

Paul Pope can't draw.

Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner

Not read it, but suspect the words "teenage girl" are included in the title to attract the core comic buying demographic.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

this is good, but it is a vision of Iran designed to appeal to white middle-class non-Muslim non-Iranians. Put another way, in telling the story of Satrapi's childhood as a scion of some middle class intellectual Iranian family she does rather obscure the lives of the great majority of Iranians who are not in any way middle class or intellectual.

Blue Monday by Chynna Clugston

Appeals to the core New Order fan demographic.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Never heard of it.

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron by Daniel Clowes

My views on this are well known.

Fortune and Glory by Brian Michael Bendis

see above.

Kabuki by David Mack

Pretentious, not actually as good as it thinks it is.

Love and Rockets by Los Bros Hernandez

The first book is not very good, discouraging further investigation.

Sandman by Neil Gaiman, et. al.

Deadly stuff, but stay away from the last book, THE WAKE, as it is self indulgent twaddle.

Miracleman by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman

They call it Marvelman where I come from. The Alan Moore written stuff is ponderous, boring, and whingey, with some good ideas marred by how seriously he takes everything. The Neil Gaiman written stuff is deadly.

Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith
Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai

Never read em.

Fantastic Four Issues #1-#102 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Planetary by Warren Ellis

The roffle-factor of pairing these comes from who the main villains are in Planetary. Lee-Kirby comics are complete genius, essentially the 2000AD of the 1960s. Planetary is worth buying in issues, as it works very well in bite sized formats. I recommend it highly over-all, with a couple of caveats: i) if you don't really like other comics and pulp culture generally you might not get so much out of it ii) the last issue is rubbish (do not build up villains as near deities and then have them defeatable by transparent trickey). but the art is gorgeous, and some of the ideas are fascinatingly bonkers.

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[info]elmyra
2008-01-01 08:26 pm UTC (link)
I appear to have missed this post originally...

There's a few things to add: "Y - The Last Man" (still ongoing, currently on the 9th volume of trade paperbacks and I reckon it's got anywhere between 1 and 3 more to go) is brilliant. I think it's up for a Tiptree this year. Last I heard the judges were trying to get copies...

The list up there has a gaping hole in it which may be the "elephant in the room" syndrom - Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" and "The Watchmen".

J. Michael Straczynski (as in Great Maker of Babylon 5) is doing comics these days. I think currently he's mostly writing for Marvel and I really can't cope with Marvel, but he did two series for Image/Top Cow before that, both of which are excellent. They are called "Midnight Nation" and "Rising Stars".

And another Warren Ellis one, which is not so much earth-shattering as just very good entertianment, is "Global Frequency".

I also second the recommendation for Mike Carey's "Lucifer", but only after you've read Sandman.

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