Graphic Novel recommendations

  • Thread starter Thread starter MarcoPolo
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Also I found this website with a bunch of the most popular graphic novels. Maybe it will remind someone of another good one that they read?

Also, you Daredevil fans…which specific graphic novel do you recommend? Maybe I should start with an “origins” novel since I vaguely remember a TV show on it in my youth.
 
Also, I admit I have liked a lot of Marvel’s stuff. Anyone recommend any good Spider-man or Hulk graphic novel storylines?
 
MarcoPolo said:
I’d like to hear more about Sandman…what is the premise?
Click to expand...
The titular character is one of eight (I think) immortal beings called the Endless, who represent concepts like death, destiny, and desire. The Sandman is Dream; at the beginning of the first story arc he’s magically enslaved by a group of sorcerers, and after being freed spends some time restoring order to his kingdom and regaining his former power. From there the series goes on to detail the exploits of the Endless, who interact with fairies, gods, angels, demons, nightmare beings- pretty much anything, really. One of the really great things about the series is that all these disparate elements are synthesized so well.
 
Pardon me MarcoPolo! Nope, Neil isn’t a Catholic convert -but Gene Wolfe is one, very much so! I was wondering about changing that sentence originally when I wrote it, for the sake of clarity (it is a little convoluted :o ) And just in that context, Wolfe’s works are fasinating, though they are nothing if not layered in an onion-like fashion. Hope that helped clear my vaguery!
 
JimmyJazz said:
The titular character is one of eight (I think) immortal beings called the Endless, who represent concepts like death, destiny, and desire. The Sandman is Dream; at the beginning of the first story arc he’s magically enslaved by a group of sorcerers, and after being freed spends some time restoring order to his kingdom and regaining his former power. From there the series goes on to detail the exploits of the Endless, who interact with fairies, gods, angels, demons, nightmare beings- pretty much anything, really. One of the really great things about the series is that all these disparate elements are synthesized so well.
Click to expand...
What would be the starting novel for this?
 
Nepenthe said:
Pardon me MarcoPolo! Nope, Neil isn’t a Catholic convert -but Gene Wolfe is one, very much so! I was wondering about changing that sentence originally when I wrote it, for the sake of clarity (it is a little convoluted :o ) And just in that context, Wolfe’s works are fasinating, though they are nothing if not layered in an onion-like fashion. Hope that helped clear my vaguery!
Click to expand...
Oh! So has Gene done any good graphic novels or just the Sandman intro?
 
Not so much graphic novels no, but woah, his novels themselves are sensorily and intellectually pyrotechnic enough, I assure you. He is one of the best living writers in the US, possibly the world, regardless of genre or lack thereof (after all, Kurt Vonnegut and Johnathan Lethem also started as ‘genre’ SF writers too and never entirely left, regardless of their publishers’ opinions 😉 ).

While remaining prominent in SF/Fantasy, Wolfe also does some very interesting, (and typically ambiguously puzzling and mysterious) takes on seemingly realistic fiction. Peace comes to mind, in which our narrator may, or may not be a serial killer, and yet it is a very smalltown and comforable-family setting…all the more unsettling for that. I urge him on every and anyone, but a Catholic readership would have an utter joyfest with his vast imagination, learning and prose, I am certain.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
How do you like it so far? It’s on my must-read list (just finished Odd Hours).
Click to expand...
Just started it last night, it looks good so far. It starts with the report of a child killer on the loose, a boy (ghost apparently) viewing the report of his own murder in a stack of newspapers. Then we’re introduced to Odd, who narrates the story, with the usual Koontz humor. There’s a funny scene where he sees the ghost of Lyndon Johnson mooning him (censored of course). And the ghost of Elvis follows Odd around as usual.

The only thing is, the illustrations are in black and white but that’s not a big deal. The story looks interesting and is off to a good start.
 
Oh, and pardon me, I’ll keep this short as possible, since I just mentioned it in the Anime/Manga thread (snob that I am, I felt it needed a little less squeeing over stuff like Yu-Gi-Oh and YuYu Hakusho…) so here’s my full-out recommend for Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal, aka Mugen no Junin. It’s sheer class, and I cannot go without mentioning it to the others in this thread. It is truly artwork, done in and exquisite pencil-style worth the price of admission alone.

And of course, there’s the granddaddy of them all, Lone Wolf and Cub, gorgeously reprinted by DarkHorse. There’s tons of it, but it is the real hardcore, if you’re in the mood. It’ll make you want to get out those cigars and a bottle of whiskey. 😉 I think the moe-chibi-shoujo crowd might have a little trouble digging it, though, heh.
 
Ah, almost forgot, MarcoPolo, Neil’s Jewish…I think he may have married a Catholic (name of Mary McGrath, so what’re the odds, hey?) and very happily as well. They have a passel of kids - four or five I think - and somehow he manages to both fly allover the world on business, write and create like a driven madman, and yet be a marvelous parent and husband…and even a genuinely nice guy, as anyone who’s met him knows.

Just thought I’d answer that question. He’s quite an heroic and kindly figure of a human being.
 
MarcoPolo said:
What would be the starting novel for this?
Click to expand...
The first trade paperback is Preludes and Nocturnes, which covers Dream’s capture, escape, and return to power.

Jharek: I liked the portrayal of Lucifer as well. Have you read the spin-off series about him?

And has anyone read Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth? After repeat viewings of The Dark Knight I experienced a renewed interest in Batman and I thought this looked interesting.
 
Ok, I finished reading the Sandman first book “Preludes and Nocturnals” or something like that…that book was very, very different, no doubt about it…but a little weird and psychedelic for my taste… 😃 I probably will not continue in that series.
 
I can’t say it’s very Catholic friendly, but The Crow is one of the best graphic novels ever. It was made into a great movie too, but by far the novel blows it out of the water. I haven’t read The Watchmen yet, but I want to, now that the movie is coming out.
 
Shannon9791 said:
I can’t say it’s very Catholic friendly, but The Crow is one of the best graphic novels ever. It was made into a great movie too, but by far the novel blows it out of the water. I haven’t read The Watchmen yet, but I want to, now that the movie is coming out.
Click to expand...
You can see my “review” of Watchmen in post 23. You’ll have to let us know what you think if you read it!!
 
I finally bought this…wasn’t easy to find cheap! But I’ll be reading it soon.
 
JimmyJazz, you may want to give Sandman another chance - it does become more ‘Catholic -friendly’ (although I’m not sure what YOU mean by the term) as it goes on. It explores many traditions of myth, religion and psychology, and Christianity very much so. The author doesn’t really even find his ‘voice’ until the very end of Preludes&Nocturnes, when Dream’s moping and feeding the pigeons with his older sister, the friendly and pragmatic (no mopeygoth she!) Death. After that, the series takes off like a shot.

Myself, I liked the treatment of Cain and Abel even better than I did of Lucifer. While residents in the Dreaming, they also have independent contracts and their own houses outside the castle, where they are charged with keeping mysteries and secrets, respectively, as well as being the Murderer and Victim Archetypes. Gaiman really humanizes them with all sorts of little touches, even using them as comic relief now and then - and also shows how much the two brothers really do love each other, for all their failings and foibles.

Oh right, and I almost forgot - GK Chesterton (or his spirit anyway) is a fairly major, and extremely loveable character in the series as well - not under that name, but that’s him all righty!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top