Forum - View topicThe Western Comics
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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With Hollywood's recent obsession with optioning every possibly comic book out there, its as good a time as ever to start this. Basically, post anything and everything pertaining to western comics here: American, French, OEL, superheros, whatever. Talk about your favorites, write about what your reading right now, ask for recommendations, etc.
And for manga fans who haven't ever read/don't think they would like western comics: ask for recommendations. Contrary to popular belief there are plenty of girl-friendly comics out there (most of them beyond the capes-and-cowls genre of course) that are ripe for the picking. And now for a couple of my recent reads: Where Demented Wented-This aptly titled book is a collection of Rory Hayes, one of the fringe members of the original underground comic explosion of the 60's. To be blunt, Hayes' work is some of the most extremely bizarre and disturbing stuff I've ever come across. As the essays included in the book stress, there was simply no filter on his creative input; he simply drew what was on his mind, and very likely what was lurking in his subconscious. None of these stories are all that coherent plot-wise; its Hayes' deranged, drug-fueled imagination that makes this stuff compelling. The Immortal Iron Fist-A recent revival of Marvel's kung-fu action hero, written by Ed Brubaker and that lovable wise ass Matt Fraction. As the quality of the creative team suggests, this is a hell of a fun read. Nothing groundbreaking or even all that clever, but an extremely well-written action comic with flair and attitude. Even those who are unfamiliar with the character (such as myself) should find something here to appropriate. The Klassic Komics Klub-The latest collection of strips from the ever-charming Johnny Ryan. This time he offers one-page adaptations of 100 of the world literature's greatest novels. If you've never read Ryan's work, just imagine the most juvenile and offensive episode of South Park and multiply it by a hundred (note the acronym in the title). I cannot stress how morally bankrupt and utterly base these stories are. They're also pretty hilarious if your into that kind of thing. Not for everyone (or most people for that matter) but even if his brand of repugnant absurdity isn't your cup of tea he's an impressive cartoonist. Best enjoyed a strip or two at a time and only if your in the right mood, otherwise it quickly becomes repetitive. The Book of Genesis and Oedipus Rex strips are particularly impressive/tasteless. |
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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As a huge Comics reader I can say without a doubt that the The best comics on the stands today are Jack Staff (Image), Fables (DC/Vertigo), and 2000AD (Rebellion)
Jack Staff is Britain's Greatest Hero, 20 years ago he vanished and everyone promptly forgot about him. Now he's back and otherworldly mystery isn't far behind. I love Jack Staff, not so much for it's title character (who is great) for its expansive extended cast. Castletown's Cast Iron Champion, Tom Tom the Robot Man. The enigmatic leader of Q, Helen Morgan. Becky Burdock: Vampire Reporter. Self styled old school copper, Detective Inspector Maveryk. Bramble & Son Vampire Hunters... I could go on listing all the great characters of Jack Staff. Its just such a fun series. 
Fables is a story about the beloved characters of faerie tales, exiled to live on our Mundane World due to a massive war ripping their homelands apart at the seams. At 76 issues and counting its a sprawling epic with a diverse cast. 
2000AD is the UK's premier sci-fi anthology. Every issue is packed with action/adventure goodness. The future cop action of Judge Dredd, the over the top adventures in future Russia of Nikolai Dante, the gun play of Sinister-Dexter, the noir stylings of Button Man, the robot action of The ABC Warriors, again, I could go on. 2000AD has 30 years of classic and new series it draws on every week. That's right, its a WEEKLY comic. Every week you get 30 page slam packed with the best traditional action/adventure anywhere on the planet. 
Some of my other favorite titles of the last few years include: DC: The New Frontier, Invincible, The Walking Dead, Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thieves & Kings, RASL, and Daisy Kutter: The Last Train Western comics aren't all superheroes any more (of course its still the majority, but remember Asian Manga has its genres they like to beat into the ground too), there's all kinds of diverse stuff from all genres out there. Marvel and DC are currently in the midst of running their legacy super-heroes into the ground with the most insipid stories, but companies like Image, Dark Horse, and other independent publishers regularly bring all kinds of top notch genre fiction these days. |
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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Recent reads:
Too Cool To Be Forgotten by Alex Robinson Ostensibly a story about giving up smoking, this is an evocative and touching story about revisiting the past, reliving adolescent awkwardness and dealing with the loss and grief that we bury as deeply as possible but which, no matter how many years pass, is always lurking just below the conscious surface. The art’s solid, the dialogue is admirably authentic and there’s some effective humour along the way. On the downside, the book’s 125 page length didn’t feel quite right (though I still can’t decide whether it was too long or too short). Fun Home by Alison Bechdel I’ve been meaning to pick this up for ages and I’m certainly glad that I finally did – it’s easy to see why it picked up so much critical acclaim. It’s an autobiographical account of Bechdel’s childhood and early adulthood in a small Pennsylvania town, her difficult relationship with her father and her coming to terms, in short succession, with her own sexuality, the discovery that her father was himself a closeted homosexual and her father’s (possibly self-inflicted) death. It’s a very intelligent, very sincere book and whilst it’s a little self-conscious and stiff in places, Bechdel seems to have had a rather self-conscious and stiff upbringing. Recent re-reads: Safe Area Goražde by Joe Sacco A staggeringly good example of Sacco’s patented comics reportage format and probably one of the best works about the civil war in Bosnia in any medium. Not only does Sacco do a masterful job of illuminating a complicated situation that was (and still is) grossly simplified by the mainstream media but he does so in a way that skilfully exposes the problems and awkwardness inherent in being a spectator at someone else’s humanitarian disaster. It’s raw, moving stuff and, since it’s by Sacco, it almost goes without saying that the art is minutely detailed and utterly convincing. Along with Palestine, this should be on everybody’s shelf. Buddy Does Seattle / Buddy Does Jersey by Peter Bagge All the Buddy Bradley stories from the Hate comics collected into two big omnibus volumes. And what more could you want than to spend a while reliving the back-to-back failures that make up Buddy’s life and the lives of pretty much everybody else he knows? The thing that makes the Buddy stories work is that shining from underneath all the cynicism, misanthropy and jaded cultural commentary is Bagge’s very obvious affection for and identification with his loser characters and it’s hard not to share his feelings. You laugh at Buddy, you pity him, you get infuriated with his slacker apathy but you ultimately end up having to admit that you identify with him just a little bit… |
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BlahBloke
Posts: 19 |
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i hated all those big muscle superhero and super villains, they are good in a action movie with special effects and stuff, but when it comes in book, with all those bang, bing, pong and gasp... its totally retard, so retarded even the americans think so.
but even that, its 10000000 times better than british comic, they been throwing pie in peoples face, chasing up some brainless ugly faggot, add jelly powder into swimming pool, and using all those boring puns for 100 years! jesus! give it a break! (apparently the only good british comic is Bee and the original version of Sean The Sheep... and the cartoon jus f***ed everything up! however, some of the new western comic is pretty good, im loved that one called "I luv halloween", specially the drawing, so unique and scaryly cute! |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11449 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Sorry, but this is a Japanese manga forum. As big a following as western comics still have, I think you'd probably get more acclaim and criticism amongst a site of corresponding fans. Or, you could become subscribers and make a thread in the Community forum. But yeah, a little too off topic for ANN. If I make an exception here, then I'd have to do the same for the anime forum. Then before you know it, I've got Simpsons, Family Guy, Williams Street, Boondocks, and Avatar threads popping up.
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