Let's see if we can breathe life back into this thread! Here's what I've been reading:
I've been reading the John Stanley Library books which Drawn and Quarterly have been putting out, and though they have all been beautifully put together and fun reads, this one is the best so far! Stanley was aiming for an older audience with this one - it's funnier (laugh out loud funny, which is pretty rare for this kind of book) and the characters are interesting and more well rounded. (Well, the main characters are, most of the boys that come through are less so, but it's not about them). Highly recommended!
A collection of comics from the fifties of a strip I have never heard of before. I've been really getting into the whole newspaper-strip-reprint thing that is happening at the moment and I have discovered a few gems that I wasn't into before, but King Aroo is my favourite so far! The art is so wonderful and cartoony, the jokes are silly, but funny but the writing is cleverer than it appears. To be honest, it kind of seems dad-jokey, but a particularly clever dad. I really enjoyed it and am on board for the rest of the series. Again, highly recommended!
For those not in the know, Dungeon is a massively ambitious series out of France penned by two of France's greatest cartoonists, Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar (two of my biggest influences). The series is told in branches, Zenith being the "main" storyline, starting at issue 1, The Early Years being the prequels (starting at -99) and Twilight telling stories in the future (starting at 101). As well as this, there are two other branches telling stories of the minor characters (Monstres) and jokey stories bridging book one and two (Parade). It is a fantasy/adventure series, and it borders parody, but doesn't quite cross the line. The characters are fun, the art is amazing (they have drawn some of the books themselves, but they also enlist the best cartoonists in France - so truly incredible work!). So, what I am saying is, I really love this series.
The English reprints each contain two of the French books, this book (the most recently translated here) has both one of my least favourite and one of my favourite books from the series. The first is really more of a bridging story, and just isn't really a very fun read. There is one particularly heinous plot point which happens, is pointless and then is quickly forgotten about. Quite a let down over all. But then the second book is fantastic! Literally - the idea for the world they end up on is such a great and fun idea... I don't recommend starting with this book, but I do highly recommend the series!
I generally enjoy Hellblazer. Not enough to collect the books, but a friend of mine buys them and I am happy to read them when he passes them on to me. This book was pretty bad. Three short stories (which generally doesn't work as well with Hellblazer as a book length story IMO.) All three stories seem to clear up all too easily and quickly, you never feel like Constantine is all that threatened, and they kind of feel like they are covering ground that has been well covered in previous books. The short story at the end of the book has some of the worst art I've seen published by a mainstream company. Not recommended at all.
Any one reading any of that stuff, or any other comics lately?
Topic: Comic Book Thread (Read 148826 times)
