Day 7 - Comfort book - this is Justice League. A book I'll always read if for no other reason then to keep in touch with the DCU, where ever it may go in the coming years.
Day Seven Comfort Comic: I could easily go with Rom again, but I am pleasantly surprised by how much love he has gotten in this thread so far so I think I will go another direction and choose some books I have read over and over which are Who's Who and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. This are the books I always seem to get sucked into whenever I come across them. So much information and nostalgia packed into the pages of these comics.
Day One: Your Favorite Comic The 1976 epic, cross-company publication of Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century. Between Ross Andru (and others') artwork, and the mere spectacle of seeing two of comicdom's titans facing off and eventually teaming up, I don't think it got much better than that for me. Read it and re-read it and re-read it.
Day Two: A comic you would recommend to anyone 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman A brilliant biography of Vladek Spiegelman, the author’s father, who lived through the Holocaust as a Polish Jew. A terrifying story made accessible through Spiegelman’s illustrations, where the Jews are mice and the Nazis are Cats. It is touching and disturbing - a must-read.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work Star Wars Marvel Comics Totally agree with @SolitaireRose and @AxelBrass on this one. My Star Wars treasury editions were worn out from being SO well-read. Truly awesome adaptation, flaws and all. Honorable mentions to Jim Steranko's 'Outland' (Heavy Metal), Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's 'Alien' also via Heavy Metal magazine, and Marvel's Blade Runner adaptation, and even Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia's '2001: A Space Odyssey' from Marvel Comics. All worth your time.
Day Four: The First Comic You Seriously Pursued I actually first seriously pursued the b&w magazine Savage Sword of Conan with issue #74 (1981) being my first issue, and I kept going back to that same store once a month to get the latest copy. Then later on I chased down copies of Uncanny X-Men in the mid-80's as well as the Avengers and The 'Nam. Preceding all of that was my fondness for Amazing Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, but I was just picking them up whenever they appeared on a spinner rack that happened to be wherever I was at the time; drug store, grocery, mall, etc.
Day Five: Best Love Story Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters, a blind woman who can’t see his monstrous exterior, but knows that underneath the rocky shell is the heart of a good, good man. Honorable mentions: Peter Parker & Mary Jane Watson, and Jean Grey and Scott Summers.
Day Six: Best Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction American Splendor by Harvey Pekar. This book has more profound things to say about the topic of life than most "non-funny" books. Read it, you owe it to yourself.
Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic (tie) Marvel Two-In-One and Marvel Team-Up If we're talking in general, probably any bronze-age Avengers in the 170-220 range. But I could even list some of my old Killraven / Amazing Adventures as comfort comics, especially #32 (found here). Even old Little Archie comics or any of the Harvey toon titles when I was smaller. But like Jamie D used to say, these titles (MTU & MTIO) got you "more bang for your buck!" I used to read and re-read these issues, and I've finally almost got a complete run of each. I'm at around 90+% on each.
Day Seven Comfort Comic: I could easily go with Rom again, but I am pleasantly surprised by how much love he has gotten in this thread so far so I think I will go another direction and choose some books I have read over and over which are Who's Who and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. This are the books I always seem to get sucked into whenever I come across them. So much information and nostalgia packed into the pages of these comics.
It IS nice seeing the Rom (and Micronauts) love. I really wish that the rights issues with those books would get sorted out so that we could see some omnibus editions.
It IS nice seeing the Rom (and Micronauts) love. I really wish that the rights issues with those books would get sorted out so that we could see some omnibus editions.
Day 7 - Comfort book - this is Justice League. A book I'll always read if for no other reason then to keep in touch with the DCU, where ever it may go in the coming years.
I want to amend my Day 7 choice. Although I'll always get Justice League, I've been thinking and I'd rather have the Marvel Epic collections in for this date. I've got the first Iron Man and first couple Avengers that have come out. I absolutely love them. Jam packed with great classic stories. I love reading these and getting to know the Marvel U as it used to be.
It IS nice seeing the Rom (and Micronauts) love. I really wish that the rights issues with those books would get sorted out so that we could see some omnibus editions.
Could not agree more!
Rom is easy and a no brainer. Hasbro owns those rights to Rom straight up, no entanglements. The characters that Bill and Sal created are owned by Marvel. Hasbro and Marvel have a pretty good long standing relationship, the only thing preventing Rom from seeing a reprint is them talking it over. Even if Marvel did not want to do a reprint, I know IDW would, and I'm highly confident that the three companies could get it worked out to where all sides benefit from it. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a percentage of the proceeds go to Bill's healthcare.
It IS nice seeing the Rom (and Micronauts) love. I really wish that the rights issues with those books would get sorted out so that we could see some omnibus editions.
Could not agree more!
Rom is easy and a no brainer. Hasbro owns those rights to Rom straight up, no entanglements. The characters that Bill and Sal created are owned by Marvel. Hasbro and Marvel have a pretty good long standing relationship, the only thing preventing Rom from seeing a reprint is them talking it over. Even if Marvel did not want to do a reprint, I know IDW would, and I'm highly confident that the three companies could get it worked out to where all sides benefit from it. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a percentage of the proceeds go to Bill's healthcare.
It IS nice seeing the Rom (and Micronauts) love. I really wish that the rights issues with those books would get sorted out so that we could see some omnibus editions.
Could not agree more!
Rom is easy and a no brainer. Hasbro owns those rights to Rom straight up, no entanglements. The characters that Bill and Sal created are owned by Marvel. Hasbro and Marvel have a pretty good long standing relationship, the only thing preventing Rom from seeing a reprint is them talking it over. Even if Marvel did not want to do a reprint, I know IDW would, and I'm highly confident that the three companies could get it worked out to where all sides benefit from it. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a percentage of the proceeds go to Bill's healthcare.
From your post to IDW, Marvel, and Hasbro's marketing department my friend. Those ROM Marvel Mighty Muggs are still out there and for sale...
Day Six Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction- Mausby Art Spiegelman. A number of personal memoir sorts of comics came to mind, like works by Alison Bechdel, Guy Delislie, Jeffrey Brown, and Harvey Pekar. But like most memoirs, those sort of straddle the line between nonfiction and literature. (And memoir might even be a later category? I haven't looked ahead.) But I think, even though the Maus books are also very personal and about Spiegelman's father, they are also an artistic take on a larger history. So they feel more like nonfiction than some other things that came to my mind.
Day Seven Your Comfort Comic- There isn't anything that I have always read. If quality work isn't being made about a character I enjoy, I will drop it. Even some nostalgic favorites, like Batman, G.I. Joe and the X-Men have come and gone for me over the years.
So I can't narrow down to any one title that is always a comfort. But I guess the closest thing I can get to that is The Marvel Universe itself. It is the fictional real estate I have spent the most time in, and there is a comfort food aspect of reading any Marvel Universe comic for me.
Day Eight A Gorgeous Comic-
Any of Darwyn Cooke's Parker adaptations. There is such a great style and complete aesthetic to those, as well as dazzling storytelling. It is a treat every time one of those comes out, and I find that they completely immerse you in a world. Gorgeous.
Hmmm. Pretty easy to narrow this one down to two, one that is genuinely gorgeous and one that just leaves me fascinated to look at but probably qualifies more as grotesque. First pick: Pretty much anything by JH Williams III, but for the sake of this, I'll go with the first Batwoman arc from Detective Comics (issues 854-857). If pressed to choose a single issue, I'm going to have to go with 854 since that was his first Batwoman issue and it took my breath away. My more grotesque choice would be pretty much anything by Dan Brereton, but for the sake of this, I'd go with his DC prestige mini-series Psycho. Psycho is a pretty clear direct antecedent to his work with the Nocturnals. Good book, amazing art.
Day One: Your Favorite Comic Manhunter: The legendary Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson run. I just got the Artist's Edition of this--40 Years down the road, I still consider this to be state-of-the art comic-booking. Day Two: A comic you would recommend to anyone. Astro City For twenty years now, Busiek & company have been spinning one great yarn after another, and churning out more interesting new characters than Marvel and DC combined. While so many creators continue to wallow in the muck churned up by and endless parade of Dark Knight and Watchmen/Marvelman imitators, Astro City has been how wonderful a setting for all type of stories about all sorts of characters a world populated by superheroes can be.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work Classics Illustrated: Pick one at random Yes, these books are very dated, but they were hugely influential on me. Hugely.
Day Four: The First Comic You Seriously Pursued Manhunter: The legendary Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson run. I didn't get to read the first chapter until the DC Explosion gave us one issue of Dynamic Classics, which was supposed to have reprinted the entire saga.
Day Five: A Great Love Story Wesley Dodds & Dina Belmont: Sandman Mystery Theater. Incredibly complex and believable relationship between to incredibly well-realized, complex, utterly-human characters.
Day Six: Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction Understanding Comics It's a friggin' masterpiece.
Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic Currently: Silver Surfer. Slott and Allred are puking up giant bucketsful of Pure Comic-y Goodness every issue.
Day Eight: A Gorgeous Comic New Frontier The only book I ever bought an Absolute Edition of.
Re @WetRats Understanding Comics was definitely my runner-up for Day Six. I think that is it also a great one for sharing with people that don't do nonfiction as it can even help a reader appreciate the language of all comics, including their usual fiction or genre ones.
Day One: Your Favorite Comic Manhunter: The legendary Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson run. I just got the Artist's Edition of this--40 Years down the road, I still consider this to be state-of-the art comic-booking. Day Two: A comic you would recommend to anyone. Astro City For twenty years now, Busiek & company have been spinning one great yarn after another, and churning out more interesting new characters than Marvel and DC combined. While so many creators continue to wallow in the muck churned up by and endless parade of Dark Knight and Watchmen/Marvelman imitators, Astro City has been how wonderful a setting for all type of stories about all sorts of characters a world populated by superheroes can be.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work Classics Illustrated: Pick one at random Yes, these books are very dated, but they were hugely influential on me. Hugely.
Day Four: The First Comic You Seriously Pursued Manhunter: The legendary Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson run. I didn't get to read the first chapter until the DC Explosion gave us one issue of Dynamic Classics, which was supposed to have reprinted the entire saga.
Day Five: A Great Love Story Wesley Dodds & Dina Belmont: Sandman Mystery Theater. Incredibly complex and believable relationship between to incredibly well-realized, complex, utterly-human characters.
Day Six: Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction Understanding Comics It's a friggin' masterpiece.
Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic Currently: Silver Surfer. Slott and Allred are puking up giant bucketsful of Pure Comic-y Goodness every issue.
Day Eight: A Gorgeous Comic New Frontier The only book I ever bought an Absolute Edition of.
Great list!
I remember listening to the Manhunter episode of CGS Book of the Month but have yet to read that series. Will see about correcting that.
I completely forgot about Classics Illustrated, though they were a huge part of my childhood as well. I distinctly remember when First picked them up in the late 80's. I'm pretty sure that I bought and read them all (I think that I enjoyed Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary the most) and tucked them away for when I had kids... I've got kids now and am not sure where I tucked them.
Sandman Mystery Theater is also on my read pile. I recall buying the first few issues off of the stands, but don't recall having read any of them.
Also completely forgot about Understanding Comics, which is really embarassing given that it was probably our number one most requested OGN title when I was slinging funny books.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work Classics Illustrated: Pick one at random Yes, these books are very dated, but they were hugely influential on me. Hugely.
I completely forgot about Classics Illustrated, though they were a huge part of my childhood as well. I distinctly remember when First picked them up in the late 80's. I'm pretty sure that I bought and read them all (I think that I enjoyed Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary the most) and tucked them away for when I had kids... I've got kids now and am not sure where I tucked them.
The First Comics were gorgeous.
My favorites were the ones Rick Geary did. David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights, I believe.
I completely forgot about Classics Illustrated, though they were a huge part of my childhood as well. I distinctly remember when First picked them up in the late 80's. I'm pretty sure that I bought and read them all (I think that I enjoyed Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary the most) and tucked them away for when I had kids... I've got kids now and am not sure where I tucked them.
The First Comics were gorgeous.
My favorites were the ones Rick Geary did. David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights, I believe.
Day One: Your Favorite Comic The Wolfman/Perez era Teen Titans. I'd read comics before but this was the baby that brought me in and I never looked back. It made me cheer, had me racing to get the next issue, broke my heart, and gave me great writing and stellar artwork.
Day Two: A comic you would recommend to anyone. Yotsuba@! - For adults it's a strong reminder of what it meant to be five years old. For kids it's the fun adventures of a precocious little kid who loves everything. I want to live in the world Yotsuba does.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work Pluto: Tezuka X Urasawa - a modern retelling of Osamu Tezuka's "The Greatest Robot On Earth" story, which for anyone who doesn't know is the origin of Astro Boy. Naoki Urasawa gives us a darker tale with his unique artistic style. Great for both the nostalgia factor and just that it's an amazing story all around. Day Four: The First Comic You Seriously Pursued Micronauts - primarily because it was the first book that went from regular to direct market publishing (or at least the first one that I actively read/collected) so I could no longer rely on my trusty convenience store to pick it up for me. I had to find a local comic book store (what were those?!?) and get it there or subscribe.
Day Five: A Great Love Story Densha Otoko aka. Train Man - available from three different publishers, this book follows the allegedly true story of a nerd who stood up to a harassing drunk on a train, met a girl in the process, and relied on the internet to help him successfully court her. Brilliant story whether it's true or not. A movie version exists as well, and it's equally good. I showed it to some non-Japanophile friends of mine and they were almost crying at the final scene (in a good way! :) )
Day Six Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction Any of the Paradox Press (an offshoot of DC) Big Book series. Some of comics best writers and artists collaborating on short looks at our crazy world. The Big Book of Conspiracies, The Big Book of Weirdos, and the Big Book of Death are all highly recommended. You gotta find 'em though. They're long out of print. Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic Anything with Batman in it. That sounds simplistic but it's true. I don't collect every single thing that has a "Bat" at the beginning of it, but if we're talking the book that I can count on to entertain me no matter my mood, who's writing or drawing it, or what's going on in my life at the moment - anything with the Dark Knight is a solid go-to book for me (including things like Outsiders, Justice League, etc.)
Day Eight: A Gorgeous Comic One I just discovered this year - because I'm an idiot : Elfquest! Even in black and white this book is absolutely a reminder of how not to phone in your work. I'm in anxious anticipation of volume 2 sometime this year!
Day Eight: Gorgeous Comic So much to choose from, and so many good responses so far... I suppose that I'm still very fond of Alan Davis's early run on Excalibur. So many pristine and beautiful layouts. It's really top shelf work. If you pick any issues up, the first 29 are great, with most of the writing by Chris Claremont. Alan Davis left for a while, then returned with issue 42 to handle writing and art chores. He's a master craftsman.
It IS nice seeing the Rom (and Micronauts) love. I really wish that the rights issues with those books would get sorted out so that we could see some omnibus editions.
Could not agree more!
Rom is easy and a no brainer. Hasbro owns those rights to Rom straight up, no entanglements. The characters that Bill and Sal created are owned by Marvel. Hasbro and Marvel have a pretty good long standing relationship, the only thing preventing Rom from seeing a reprint is them talking it over. Even if Marvel did not want to do a reprint, I know IDW would, and I'm highly confident that the three companies could get it worked out to where all sides benefit from it. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a percentage of the proceeds go to Bill's healthcare.
From your post to IDW, Marvel, and Hasbro's marketing department my friend. Those ROM Marvel Mighty Muggs are still out there and for sale...
I got my Mighty Mugg at SDCC this last year and it is proudly on display in my comic room. And this is the double page spread to my Rom sketch book I am starting this convention season
Day Eight: A Gorgeous Comic: Another easy one for me. My favorite comic artist of all time and his first creator owned work. Fathom by Michael Turner. The line work, the panel layouts, the colors .... it never ceases to amaze me how beautiful and dynamic it is.
Tomorrow is a busy one so I figured I should post this now...
Day 9 - Comic that totally blew your mind
Mind-blowing comics.... hmmm, mind blown in a good way - I'm going to fall back on Detective Comics 854 again. purely based on how amazed I was with the page composition. Was a body of work, I'd put Watchmen in this category as well.
Mind blown in a way I'm still not clear on... Stray Toasters. I bought it, I read it, I'm still not entirely sure what it was or what happened in it. Unfortunately, I sold my copies so I'm not in a position to go back and reread it.
Mind blown in a less than positive way... I've definitely got some contenders, but am going to try to keep this positive!
The New Mutants. I most enjoy the Claremont run on this title but Simonson still did a fantastic job as his successor. Both writers were able to write very adult stories while still writing relatable teenage characters. And while Sienkiewicz certainly deserves the attention he's received from his work on the series, I think Bret Blevins is sorely underrated for his contributions and the short-lived Buscema/McLeod collaboration in the early issues produced some beautiful pages.
Bone. This to me is the perfect definition of an all ages comic. I myself fell in love with it at a very young age when it was being printed in Disney Adventures and reading it as an adult simply has allowed me to appreciate it even more through a new pair of eyes.
Day Three: Great Adaptation Or Remake Of Another Work
Gold Key's Star Trek series. This choice is strictly personal to me. I haven't read much in the way of licensed or adapted work but I remember finding these gems collected in trades in my school library of all places when I was younger and instantly falling in love with them. They stray severely from the source material and some of the characterizations are wildly inaccurate but I still revisit them often for their charm and imagination.
Comments
I could easily go with Rom again, but I am pleasantly surprised by how much love he has gotten in this thread so far so I think I will go another direction and choose some books I have read over and over which are Who's Who and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. This are the books I always seem to get sucked into whenever I come across them. So much information and nostalgia packed into the pages of these comics.
Agreed. Good choice.
Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic
(tie) Marvel Two-In-One and Marvel Team-Up
If we're talking in general, probably any bronze-age Avengers in the 170-220 range. But I could even list some of my old Killraven / Amazing Adventures as comfort comics, especially #32 (found here). Even old Little Archie comics or any of the Harvey toon titles when I was smaller. But like Jamie D used to say, these titles (MTU & MTIO) got you "more bang for your buck!" I used to read and re-read these issues, and I've finally almost got a complete run of each. I'm at around 90+% on each.
Day Six Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction-
Mausby Art Spiegelman. A number of personal memoir sorts of comics came to mind, like works by Alison Bechdel, Guy Delislie, Jeffrey Brown, and Harvey Pekar. But like most memoirs, those sort of straddle the line between nonfiction and literature. (And memoir might even be a later category? I haven't looked ahead.) But I think, even though the Maus books are also very personal and about Spiegelman's father, they are also an artistic take on a larger history. So they feel more like nonfiction than some other things that came to my mind.
Day Seven Your Comfort Comic-
There isn't anything that I have always read. If quality work isn't being made about a character I enjoy, I will drop it. Even some nostalgic favorites, like Batman, G.I. Joe and the X-Men have come and gone for me over the years.
So I can't narrow down to any one title that is always a comfort. But I guess the closest thing I can get to that is The Marvel Universe itself. It is the fictional real estate I have spent the most time in, and there is a comfort food aspect of reading any Marvel Universe comic for me.
Day Eight A Gorgeous Comic-
Any of Darwyn Cooke's Parker adaptations. There is such a great style and complete aesthetic to those, as well as dazzling storytelling. It is a treat every time one of those comes out, and I find that they completely immerse you in a world. Gorgeous.
Hmmm. Pretty easy to narrow this one down to two, one that is genuinely gorgeous and one that just leaves me fascinated to look at but probably qualifies more as grotesque. First pick: Pretty much anything by JH Williams III, but for the sake of this, I'll go with the first Batwoman arc from Detective Comics (issues 854-857). If pressed to choose a single issue, I'm going to have to go with 854 since that was his first Batwoman issue and it took my breath away. My more grotesque choice would be pretty much anything by Dan Brereton, but for the sake of this, I'd go with his DC prestige mini-series Psycho. Psycho is a pretty clear direct antecedent to his work with the Nocturnals. Good book, amazing art.
Manhunter: The legendary Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson run.
I just got the Artist's Edition of this--40 Years down the road, I still consider this to be state-of-the art comic-booking.
Day Two: A comic you would recommend to anyone.
Astro City
For twenty years now, Busiek & company have been spinning one great yarn after another, and churning out more interesting new characters than Marvel and DC combined. While so many creators continue to wallow in the muck churned up by and endless parade of Dark Knight and Watchmen/Marvelman imitators, Astro City has been how wonderful a setting for all type of stories about all sorts of characters a world populated by superheroes can be.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work
Classics Illustrated: Pick one at random
Yes, these books are very dated, but they were hugely influential on me. Hugely.
Day Four: The First Comic You Seriously Pursued
Manhunter: The legendary Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson run. I didn't get to read the first chapter until the DC Explosion gave us one issue of Dynamic Classics, which was supposed to have reprinted the entire saga.
Day Five: A Great Love Story
Wesley Dodds & Dina Belmont: Sandman Mystery Theater.
Incredibly complex and believable relationship between to incredibly well-realized, complex, utterly-human characters.
Day Six: Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction
Understanding Comics
It's a friggin' masterpiece.
Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic
Currently: Silver Surfer.
Slott and Allred are puking up giant bucketsful of Pure Comic-y Goodness every issue.
Day Eight: A Gorgeous Comic
New Frontier
The only book I ever bought an Absolute Edition of.
Great list!
I remember listening to the Manhunter episode of CGS Book of the Month but have yet to read that series. Will see about correcting that.
I completely forgot about Classics Illustrated, though they were a huge part of my childhood as well. I distinctly remember when First picked them up in the late 80's. I'm pretty sure that I bought and read them all (I think that I enjoyed Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary the most) and tucked them away for when I had kids... I've got kids now and am not sure where I tucked them.
Sandman Mystery Theater is also on my read pile. I recall buying the first few issues off of the stands, but don't recall having read any of them.
Also completely forgot about Understanding Comics, which is really embarassing given that it was probably our number one most requested OGN title when I was slinging funny books.
Just about the whole of Sandman but issue 50 the Ramadan story illustrated by P Craig Russell in particular
My favorites were the ones Rick Geary did. David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights, I believe.
Not Grate Expectations by Edmund Wells.
The Wolfman/Perez era Teen Titans. I'd read comics before but this was the baby that brought me in and I never looked back. It made me cheer, had me racing to get the next issue, broke my heart, and gave me great writing and stellar artwork.
Day Two: A comic you would recommend to anyone.
Yotsuba@! - For adults it's a strong reminder of what it meant to be five years old. For kids it's the fun adventures of a precocious little kid who loves everything. I want to live in the world Yotsuba does.
Day Three: Great Adaption or Remake of Another Work
Pluto: Tezuka X Urasawa - a modern retelling of Osamu Tezuka's "The Greatest Robot On Earth" story, which for anyone who doesn't know is the origin of Astro Boy. Naoki Urasawa gives us a darker tale with his unique artistic style. Great for both the nostalgia factor and just that it's an amazing story all around.
Day Four: The First Comic You Seriously Pursued
Micronauts - primarily because it was the first book that went from regular to direct market publishing (or at least the first one that I actively read/collected) so I could no longer rely on my trusty convenience store to pick it up for me. I had to find a local comic book store (what were those?!?) and get it there or subscribe.
Day Five: A Great Love Story
Densha Otoko aka. Train Man - available from three different publishers, this book follows the allegedly true story of a nerd who stood up to a harassing drunk on a train, met a girl in the process, and relied on the internet to help him successfully court her. Brilliant story whether it's true or not. A movie version exists as well, and it's equally good. I showed it to some non-Japanophile friends of mine and they were almost crying at the final scene (in a good way! :) )
Day Six Nonfiction Comic You’d Recommend to People Who Don’t Do Nonfiction
Any of the Paradox Press (an offshoot of DC) Big Book series. Some of comics best writers and artists collaborating on short looks at our crazy world. The Big Book of Conspiracies, The Big Book of Weirdos, and the Big Book of Death are all highly recommended. You gotta find 'em though. They're long out of print.
Day Seven: Your Comfort Comic
Anything with Batman in it. That sounds simplistic but it's true. I don't collect every single thing that has a "Bat" at the beginning of it, but if we're talking the book that I can count on to entertain me no matter my mood, who's writing or drawing it, or what's going on in my life at the moment - anything with the Dark Knight is a solid go-to book for me (including things like Outsiders, Justice League, etc.)
Day Eight: A Gorgeous Comic
One I just discovered this year - because I'm an idiot : Elfquest! Even in black and white this book is absolutely a reminder of how not to phone in your work. I'm in anxious anticipation of volume 2 sometime this year!
So much to choose from, and so many good responses so far... I suppose that I'm still very fond of Alan Davis's early run on Excalibur. So many pristine and beautiful layouts. It's really top shelf work. If you pick any issues up, the first 29 are great, with most of the writing by Chris Claremont. Alan Davis left for a while, then returned with issue 42 to handle writing and art chores. He's a master craftsman.
yes.
Day 9 - Comic that totally blew your mind
Mind-blowing comics.... hmmm, mind blown in a good way - I'm going to fall back on Detective Comics 854 again. purely based on how amazed I was with the page composition. Was a body of work, I'd put Watchmen in this category as well.
Mind blown in a way I'm still not clear on... Stray Toasters. I bought it, I read it, I'm still not entirely sure what it was or what happened in it. Unfortunately, I sold my copies so I'm not in a position to go back and reread it.
Mind blown in a less than positive way... I've definitely got some contenders, but am going to try to keep this positive!
The New Mutants. I most enjoy the Claremont run on this title but Simonson still did a fantastic job as his successor. Both writers were able to write very adult stories while still writing relatable teenage characters. And while Sienkiewicz certainly deserves the attention he's received from his work on the series, I think Bret Blevins is sorely underrated for his contributions and the short-lived Buscema/McLeod collaboration in the early issues produced some beautiful pages.
Bone. This to me is the perfect definition of an all ages comic. I myself fell in love with it at a very young age when it was being printed in Disney Adventures and reading it as an adult simply has allowed me to appreciate it even more through a new pair of eyes.
Gold Key's Star Trek series. This choice is strictly personal to me. I haven't read much in the way of licensed or adapted work but I remember finding these gems collected in trades in my school library of all places when I was younger and instantly falling in love with them. They stray severely from the source material and some of the characterizations are wildly inaccurate but I still revisit them often for their charm and imagination.