I can remember reading Elektra:Assassin back when it was first out and hating it. But I was also very young. Over the years Sienkiewicz has become one of my favorite artist. And EA is in my top 15 comics of all time.
I think that a lot of people had the same reaction to Kirby (I know I did) as you did to Sienkiewicz. The art was so jarring and different from what we are used to and from real life itself that it causes a sort of conflict. Then you start to see what they are trying to do and then the clouds part and a light shines down in epiphany.
For years I hated Kirby's artwork. But as I got older I came to like it. But even now as far as Silver Age Marvel artist I find Steve Ditko to be way better than Kirby. An opinon that any time I mention it gets me lots of flack.
It seems that among most people that have read Preacher this storyline is their least favorite. I love it so much,it allowed Ennis to write a "western" of sorts. Plus is there a better villian than the Meatman. And the scene of Jesse walking out and pissing on the burning cross is one of my top 10 funniest scenes in comic book history. Also when Jesse fights off the Klan is another great scene. Having spent most of my life in Mississippi I have sadly had many run ins with the KKK and seeing Jesse beat the crap outta some inbred crackers made my day.
Without a shadow of a doubt, 'Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot' by Jacques Tardi and jean-Patrick Marchette, from Fantagraphics.
I've not read anything by Tardi before, nor purchased anything from Fantagraphics, but having read this, both of these facts will change in the near future. The artwork is stunning in its - I hesitate to use the word simplicity, but when compared to the amount of rendering that goes into a lot of artwork that I've read I can't think of any other word to describe it, and it complements the narrative to tell the story in a manner that I found compelling. Recommended reading.
I picked up the first two volumes at Oakland's Image Expo last Funerary. Prior to my purchase, I hadn't read a single issue, so the acquisition was somewhat of a gamble. After having now read the first volume, I'm confident I made the right call.
I just finished Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow OGN written by Denny O'Neil, Michael Netzer on pencils & Joe Rubinstein on inks. This 64 page read is full of adventure & a teamup of heroes who sees things differently. This time w/ Dinah's life & Gotham City both at risk from a scheme by Poison Ivy it is a race to find answers in time. This is not your garden variety Batman adventure the story is notches above one usually suspects, the art as a whole & even certain pages of Ivy are captivating to look at. This has not been reprinted to my knowledge so you will have to go convention hunting or on ebay. I can't recommend this highly enough 4.5 stars out of 5 stars rating.
Loved it. A great return to the Young Avengers for their creators and even though the ending felt a little flat I understand the book was used as a return for the Scarlet Witch back into the Marvel Universe. Jim Cheung's art was just :-O as always.
Ichiro. Simply stunning art and a great story. This is way under the radar but really should have been on everyone's list.
Okay, since I had to get a book for class and found a used one at a good price, and based on your personal recommendation, I have Ichiro on order from Amazon. Should be here Wednesday. I'll let you know.
Also, I got the fifth trade for The Unwritten a couple of weeks ago and decided to start all over with the series. I just re-read the first trade and it was still as good as I remember! I'm looking forward to the rest.
Can't wait to hear what people think on Ichiro. I have a background in some Japanese culture so some of the mythology might be a tiny bit dense but it is wonderful IMO. The art is exquisite, I've pawed through this book at least 8 times now and have it shelved with my art books.
Finished Young Avengers: Children's Crusade this weekend. Awesome. Best event Marvel has had in the last few years. And it was all done without a crossover, supplemental mini or anything... of course it also got 1/20th of the hype of SIEGE. Moral of the story: Pair a great artist with a writer who can do dialogue and who has a solid idea and let them do their thing, what you get in the end outpaces any Marvel retreat circle jerk in the last 5 years...
Finished Brandon Graham's King City: By finished I mean I read the words and looked at the pictures. Im gonna need to read this book 2-3 more times before I catch about 1/2 of Brandon's puns, jokes, visual jokes, funny graffiti, innuendo, suggestive building designs and remaining awesomeness. This book was a deal at $20 (retail) for 12 issues, a ton of backup material and a great package. The fact that it is gonna be amazingly re-readable makes it the deal of the decade...
Finished Brandon Graham's King City: By finished I mean I read the words and looked at the pictures. Im gonna need to read this book 2-3 more times before I catch about 1/2 of Brandon's puns, jokes, visual jokes, funny graffiti, innuendo, suggestive building designs and remaining awesomeness. This book was a deal at $20 (retail) for 12 issues, a ton of backup material and a great package. The fact that it is gonna be amazingly re-readable makes it the deal of the decade...
Thanks for your insight. After your comment and recommendations from the Inkstuds and many other sites throughout the interwebs, I will now order King City. I like the more challenging books.
Just plowed through Terry Moore's Echo like a ravenous beast. As much as I enjoyed SiP, it was cool to see him give me a sci-fi epic and do it well. Characters you give a crap about, each with a history behind them, and a "no one is safe" attitude made for such a compelling read I was willing to forgive Moore's occasional bad grammar and typo. Hey, as a fellow DIY-er, I hate 'em as much as the next guy... :)
Finished Brandon Graham's King City: By finished I mean I read the words and looked at the pictures. Im gonna need to read this book 2-3 more times before I catch about 1/2 of Brandon's puns, jokes, visual jokes, funny graffiti, innuendo, suggestive building designs and remaining awesomeness. This book was a deal at $20 (retail) for 12 issues, a ton of backup material and a great package. The fact that it is gonna be amazingly re-readable makes it the deal of the decade...
Thanks for your insight. After your comment and recommendations from the Inkstuds and many other sites throughout the interwebs, I will now order King City. I like the more challenging books.
If you end up liking Brandon Graham I'd suggest James Stokoe's Wonton Soup which has a similar vibe, and has similar chock-full-o-goodness detailed art. If you like that one you can check out Stokoe's Orc Stain, also great, but more fantasy than sci-fi-ish.
I love Orc Stain, Wonton Soup didn't do as much for me and I am a foodie even. Anthony Bourdain is co-writing a new upcoming GN/book Jiro (I can't remember the entire title ATM) which seemed to have a similar vibe. King City is a book I have had in my cart and back out at least a dozen times. I may eventually read it but for some reason I never pull the trigger.
I love Orc Stain, Wonton Soup didn't do as much for me and I am a foodie even. Anthony Bourdain is co-writing a new upcoming GN/book Jiro (I can't remember the entire title ATM) which seemed to have a similar vibe. King City is a book I have had in my cart and back out at least a dozen times. I may eventually read it but for some reason I never pull the trigger.
Volume 1 of Wonton soup was fun, I thought Volume two devolved into a little to much high/pot humor "heh heh.. yeah" stuff for my liking... still better than reading Red Hood and the Outlaws (IMHO)
Lots of great Golden age and Silver age stories in this collection. But the stand out to me is the Superman/Swamp Thing team up from DC comics Presents. I can remember reading this issue when it first came out and it made me into a the huge Alan Moore fan I am now. Plus I got this book super cheap. Found it at a con a few years back for $5.
Dave Gibbons and Belardinelli art. A trip back to the 'jive'talking 70's comics. An all-black Harlem Heroes Aeroball team takes on the world! (I think this might be the first strip where a team of African Americans are the sole heroes from that time period).
Fantastc artwork. The story is decent until the last 3 chapters or so of the 'Inferno' strip. Sweet Jeebus! What a bummer way to end the series. The bad guys win!!!(sorry spoilers, but I don't think you guys read this good stuff!)
But that's 2000ad for ya. Always a surprise and not what you'd expect.
I read Final Crisis this week. It was bad. I do not like Morrison
What other Morrison stuff have you read. Cause in my eyes there is two types of Morrison comics. There is the creator owned or b-level or lower super hero stuff.That is the Morrison I like. Then you have his work on A-level heroes,IE ASS,his Batman run,etc. That is the Morrison I don't like. The only A-level story that Morrison has written that I like is "Arkham Asylum".
Just finished the Avengers:Brian Michael Bendis Vanity OHC. (isnt that what its called?). This has the first 6 issues of Avengers, New Avengers (the reboot after Siege) and the Avengers Prime miniseries.
If you like Bendis's writing style you get lots of it. Quips, jabs, lots of back and forths... no stupid "interviews" trope that he falls back on...
The real star of this collection (and its funny since they dont get billing on the book spine, just BMB) are the three artists: Alan Davins, JRJR and Stuart Immonen. Three vvveeeeerrrryyyy different styles of art, but all three awesome in their own way. I love it cause its a great example of Marvel's continuing approach with artists to let them maintain their own style and not go "house style" like DC does (for the most part, there are some examples).
Alan Davis is as dramatic and fluid as ever. JRJR is as romita-y as ever, and Immonen (my favorite of the three) packs so much punch into his art with every line...
A great pick up especially if you didnt get the other 18 ways this material has been released and collected in the last 2 years. And its oversized, as any good book should be...
For @zhurrie, yeah, Ichiro was rad. Read it in a day and will probably take a second look in a couple of weeks. I'll have to read it to my son sometime too. Thanks for the recommend.
I read Invincible #1 & #2 HC's from the library. I liked them quite a bit. I wound up skipping through some of the issues in the second book since they were basically recaps of what had happened before.
@fredzilla GREAT! So glad, I have a background in Japanese/Asian culture so I was hoping it wasn't just that that was making me slightly biased... but to me the art is on par with anything from like Craig Thompson or other artists in that style *plus* the added bonus of the sections done in the old Japanese woodblock style on top of that... ahh, that book makes me seriously happy and I have not see it get even passing mention anywhere. Glad at least one other person could experience it!
@zhurrie - I think you hit it right, the art is very similar to Craig Thompson. I must have missed the woodblock style as I thought it was watercolor. I would be surprised if this isn't up for some awards the next go around. I was afraid, after your comments about its connection to Japanese mythology, that the story would be too distant for American audiences, but I found it totally accessible and easy to follow. I don't know if I'll love it as much as you, but its definitely going in my classroom and I'll recommend it to anyone interested.
After seeing @dukealoops post about Astro City:Life in teh Big city, I dug out my hardcover of this storyline. It is a fun story about a former super villian trying to redeem himself. I read this when it was coming out in issues,but want to say near the end there was huge gaps between issues. Some of them being close to 6 months long.I love how the main villian is based on Robert Mitchum. And we get to meet all kinds of great villians like the Mock Turtle. I have always loved stories about villians trying to redeem themselves and this is one of the best written stories of that type. Since I already had the issues I would have never bought the Hardcover. But I won this a few years back for Stumping the Rios. Actually since I stumped him 2 times I won this plus a CGS shirt. Sadly I have now gained too much weight to wear the shirt.
Haven't read it yet, but got Guy Delisle's Jerusalem this week. I've been looking forward to it for months.
I think Pyongyang was his highpoint. His other books haven't done much for me since he has the same philosophy with travel and new experiences/cultures continually.
Comments
It seems that among most people that have read Preacher this storyline is their least favorite. I love it so much,it allowed Ennis to write a "western" of sorts. Plus is there a better villian than the Meatman. And the scene of Jesse walking out and pissing on the burning cross is one of my top 10 funniest scenes in comic book history. Also when Jesse fights off the Klan is another great scene. Having spent most of my life in Mississippi I have sadly had many run ins with the KKK and seeing Jesse beat the crap outta some inbred crackers made my day.
I've not read anything by Tardi before, nor purchased anything from Fantagraphics, but having read this, both of these facts will change in the near future. The artwork is stunning in its - I hesitate to use the word simplicity, but when compared to the amount of rendering that goes into a lot of artwork that I've read I can't think of any other word to describe it, and it complements the narrative to tell the story in a manner that I found compelling. Recommended reading.
I picked up the first two volumes at Oakland's Image Expo last Funerary. Prior to my purchase, I hadn't read a single issue, so the acquisition was somewhat of a gamble. After having now read the first volume, I'm confident I made the right call.
Matthew
Loved it. A great return to the Young Avengers for their creators and even though the ending felt a little flat I understand the book was used as a return for the Scarlet Witch back into the Marvel Universe. Jim Cheung's art was just :-O as always.
Grade A
Also, I got the fifth trade for The Unwritten a couple of weeks ago and decided to start all over with the series. I just re-read the first trade and it was still as good as I remember! I'm looking forward to the rest.
Finished Brandon Graham's King City: By finished I mean I read the words and looked at the pictures. Im gonna need to read this book 2-3 more times before I catch about 1/2 of Brandon's puns, jokes, visual jokes, funny graffiti, innuendo, suggestive building designs and remaining awesomeness. This book was a deal at $20 (retail) for 12 issues, a ton of backup material and a great package. The fact that it is gonna be amazingly re-readable makes it the deal of the decade...
Lots of great Golden age and Silver age stories in this collection. But the stand out to me is the Superman/Swamp Thing team up from DC comics Presents. I can remember reading this issue when it first came out and it made me into a the huge Alan Moore fan I am now. Plus I got this book super cheap. Found it at a con a few years back for $5.
Dave Gibbons and Belardinelli art. A trip back to the 'jive'talking 70's comics. An all-black Harlem Heroes Aeroball team takes on the world! (I think this might be the first strip where a team of African Americans are the sole heroes from that time period).
Fantastc artwork. The story is decent until the last 3 chapters or so of the 'Inferno' strip. Sweet Jeebus! What a bummer way to end the series. The bad guys win!!!(sorry spoilers, but I don't think you guys read this good stuff!)
But that's 2000ad for ya. Always a surprise and not what you'd expect.
This has the first 6 issues of Avengers, New Avengers (the reboot after Siege) and the Avengers Prime miniseries.
If you like Bendis's writing style you get lots of it. Quips, jabs, lots of back and forths... no stupid "interviews" trope that he falls back on...
The real star of this collection (and its funny since they dont get billing on the book spine, just BMB) are the three artists: Alan Davins, JRJR and Stuart Immonen. Three vvveeeeerrrryyyy different styles of art, but all three awesome in their own way. I love it cause its a great example of Marvel's continuing approach with artists to let them maintain their own style and not go "house style" like DC does (for the most part, there are some examples).
Alan Davis is as dramatic and fluid as ever. JRJR is as romita-y as ever, and Immonen (my favorite of the three) packs so much punch into his art with every line...
A great pick up especially if you didnt get the other 18 ways this material has been released and collected in the last 2 years. And its oversized, as any good book should be...
Easily one of may favorite trades that I have ever read. Makes me wish Busiek would get more out
After seeing @dukealoops post about Astro City:Life in teh Big city, I dug out my hardcover of this storyline. It is a fun story about a former super villian trying to redeem himself. I read this when it was coming out in issues,but want to say near the end there was huge gaps between issues. Some of them being close to 6 months long.I love how the main villian is based on Robert Mitchum. And we get to meet all kinds of great villians like the Mock Turtle. I have always loved stories about villians trying to redeem themselves and this is one of the best written stories of that type. Since I already had the issues I would have never bought the Hardcover. But I won this a few years back for Stumping the Rios. Actually since I stumped him 2 times I won this plus a CGS shirt. Sadly I have now gained too much weight to wear the shirt.