worked my way thru most of Moore

Oo! Oo! Way back when on Mefi there was a long thread about the Impossibles (and how it may or may not have had Objectivist undertones) where I strongly encouraged you to read Watchmen. Assuming it was one of the Moore titles you read, what did you think of it?

hi amber, I want to suggest some really great french comics --errr, graphic novels. My personal favorites are works by Bilal, Christin and Burgeon. The problem is that I used to buy them in Greece translated. I just do not know where to find them here! If you do, let me know also.

oh! and one my favorites: Katsuro Otomo's Memories (epic comics)

And, and, the Death series by Neil Gaiman (DC Vertigo)

PST: i haven't gotten to Watchmen yet (i remember that thread very well)...i'll let you know. So far, i've only read V, Lost Girls (dirty! but cool), Top Ten, and SMAX

carmina, those look good! (Esp that Bilal future one, and the Lone Sloane) i'll look around for them and let you know, but i've been only doing torrents lately (lost some annuals work at work, so have to cut back purchases)

I stopped reading the Moores to read Transmet--i'm loving it--it's so full (like Moore's stuff).

: >

and of course as I was saying this I realized: duh!
I suggest "The town that didn't exist" and "The black order brigade".

Cool! Also, of course I meant The Incredibles above, not The Impossibles. There is absolutely no doubt that The Impossibles had Randian undertones.

The neat thing about Alan Moore is that he wrote a lot of good stuff, some of which hardly seems like it was written by the same guy. I love Promethea, but I don't really associate it with V for Vendetta.

My favorite comics:
Lone Wolf and Cub- Just perfect little samurai stories.
2001 Nights - Old school gekiga that reminds me of older american SF novels in a good way.
Promethea - Fun metaphysical explorations, great art.
The Rabbi's Cat - Joanne Sfar. Oh, and also his Little Vampire books for kids. His demented art style makes me so happy.

Oh, and anything by Joe Sacco. But particularly his Bosnia stuff: brilliant.

Yeah. I like a lot of comics, but that's my pure joy list.

You didn't get this link from me:

http://trackerb.zcultfm.com:6969/

thanks!

i wishlisted those, carmina...now off to check out self's list (it's really like discovering a whole new area of literature, kinda) : >

but what about Transmet? any guesses as to when?

ooo---thanks sig!

oh, and i've read Shocking Futures and Twisted Times by him--cute but not as good as V or the others.

(boy, i have tons of googling to do)

Y'r welcome, amberglow.
DirectConnect is also amazing for comics:

sheilarad.no-ip.info
zkoobgpr.no-ip.org:4111
thesecretgarden.homeip.net
doyaselfafavour.no-ip.info
newtransformers.dynip.com

or just search for "comics" in the server list.

Lastly, I have a shitload of comics, maybe we can set up some sort of p2p thingie?

that would rock, signal, or maybe we should all ysi? i only have a tiny amount--the moore and transmet (and Futuramas! and Hitchhiker's Guide, which i haven't read yet)

...what do you recommend that's not an old-fashioned hero person (i wanna avoid anything i might have read as a kid, even if it has been made better and updated--no spiderman, superman, batman, etc.... and nothing too violent or gory--some of Transmet gave me nightmares already--the bashed faces oozing stuff, etc--i'm a total lightweight)

How about Planetary? It's written by the same guy as Transmet and is a great read. Although every character you encounter except the main three are pastiches of well-known comic book characters the stories are very entertaining even if you don't get the references. The whole series is pretty layered in that respect, but not being aware of all of them doesn't detract from the experience, IMHO.

I'd also recommend Ex Machina. Political comic about an Ex-superhero who becomes Mayor of NY. Great stuff! Although one story arc in the second trade is pretty violent, as a heads up. There's a huge reveal in the first issue that will make or break this series for you, but I ain't telling what it is. ;>

Let's see other American titles...Y The Last Man, and there was another title but I forgot. >_O

As far as manga goes, my main addictions at the moment are The Wallflower and Fruits Basket. The former is a hilarious and cracked-out comedy, and the latter is great is you don't mind the way the series bounces between cute and silly to dark and angsty on a dime. Which it does a lot. Still, it's a great series. The artist is incredibly skilled when it comes to page layouts.

And I know you said that you say no Superman, but you should at least give Superman: Red Son a shot. It's what got me back into American comics since I stopped reading them as a kid.

(Sorry if there are lots of weird typos, I'm supposed to be writing an essay draft for tomorrow but I have the worst case of writers block. I'm writing about my feeling s on the lead-up to the Iraq war, so you'd think it would be coming along quickly.)

Also, thanks for the zcult link signal. They have a torrent of all the Sailor Moon comics! Fuck yeah. Too bad no one is seeding it. I'll try again tomorrow.

If you like Warren Ellis [he has a bunch of new things coming out now that look promising, by the way; I'm enjoying Desolation Jones the most so far], you may want to check out Grant Morrison. His Invisibles [a full-length series] reads something like Transmet & Moore's Promethea mixed with the Illuminati Trilogy, and many of this other things are just as strange. [He did a very cool stint in Animal Man, playing with the relationship of comic book character and comic book author, some truly insane [or dada] Doom Patrol issues, and so on.]

The mad genius that is Alan Moore:

≡ Click to see image ≡

And the wonderful wack-job Grant Morrison:

≡ Click to see image ≡

They're both into ritual magic, by the way. Not poseurs at all, though, they both strike me as sincere as having a heart attack while watching Monty Python reruns. Check out Morrison's site.

Personally, I'd love to see Jamie Delano write more, or maybe even return Hellblazer to the glory of his original run. I'd like to see Peter Milligan do some non-superhero stuff too.

Delano is a fave of mine. Here is his life-story from his website:

1954: Born Northampton, UK.

1967-72: Learned to get stoned. Left school to work in local library. Read most of the books. Got Bored.

1973: Left library to work for high-street bookstore. Got stoned. Stole most of the books. Got bored.

1974: Got unemployed. Got stoned. Got bored.

1975: Drove crane and butchered trees in timber yard. Got stoned. Got annoyed with boss. Got fired.

1976: Sold paperback books to newsagents from van. Got very bored.

1978: Got unemployed again. Remembered long-standing intention to become a writer. Got bored.

1979: Got arrested for getting stoned. Got off.

1979-84: Worked in the taxi business. Got weird and became nocturnal.

1984: Got lucky. Got introduction to a comic company editor. Combined writing comics with driving cabs.

1986: Got luckier. Got partner and three step-children to keep me in touch with reality.

1987-99: Wrote a bunch of strange comic-book fiction from a smoke-filled room in rural British midlands. Enjoyed doing it, mostly.

1999: Became a grandparent. Got stoned.

1999-2003: Interspersed sporadic comic work with screenplay writing. Got very stoned in futile attempt to maintain perspective in a world where increasingly "Nothing is true (and therefore) everything is permitted".

amberglow, definitely also go buy the first three Tank Girl collections from Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz) and Alan Martin for some mad fun.

Love & Rockets!
Love & Rockets!

Absolute Watchmen (which just came out a few months ago) is worth owning even if you already have the previous trade paperback of Watchmen. The re-coloring makes a world of difference, and it's easier to make out the details of the art in the Absolute edition's larger size.

Other recommendations: Black Hole, by Charles Burns (though perhaps not amberglow's cup of tea--it isn't violent or gory, but it is sublimely creepy. You're seriously missing out if you let that stop you, though). And Chris Ware hasn't been mentioned yet, either: The Acme Novelty Library or Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth.

I like Skeleton Key. I read some of Lynda Barry's One Hundred Demons at the bookstore and it was really good. If you can find it, Sam and Max is good too.

I'll second Planetary and the entire Sandman series. And in case noone else mentioned it, Top 10.

What's that series about female superheroes, told from a sort of Millie the Model perspective, about their lovelife, how they get screwed over, etc.?

signal: I don't know, but it sounds amazing. I hope someone chimes in on this one.

amberglow: I'll say it once, and you better listen hard: Finder by Carla Speed McNeil. Epic world-building in a place that's both near and far from our own. She's also a personal friend of mine and the EIC for the porn anthology.

Absolute Watchmen (which just came out a few months ago) is worth owning even if you already have the previous trade paperback of Watchmen.

I need to have a graohic novel of Watchmen. As it is, all I have is all of the first printings of the original issues.
:-)

Same thing for V for Vendetta.
:-)

Oh, and to answer your question, I hope it's very far off in the future. I don't think I could take a world in which there was all that constant pissing, shitting and whatnot going on right in front of my eyes.

thanks all! keep em coming--i'm making lists : >

Trisha, that doesn't bother me at all--it's the nano stuff and smart clouds in the air and people that become clouds, and that no flying cars but machines in kitchens that make food and things and everything but there are still tons of hungry homeless people, etc...

we had a poster on the wall in our room when i was little of something similar that ran from Boston thru to DC--all one big city--that's how i see the city in that. (i wonder if it's online anywhere? it might have been from Mad or something)

female superheroes, told from a sort of Millie the Model perspective,

Ooh, I remembered: Ultra, by the Luna Brothers. Quite amusing.

I am also a fan of Moore and Morrison, etc. but they've been well covered so moving into some slightly different comics territory, David B's Epileptic is still one of my number one recommendations, I covered a bit here. The artwork of M. Satrapi's Persepolis (also recommended) is influenced by David B to some extent. and I posted this on metachat before, but I think you might enjoy browsing this section of read yourself raw. And, it's no secret that I'm a fan of Charles Burns, or Gary Panter, who is more of an acquired taste (but if you are interested I would recommend Jimbo in Purgatory).

thanks!

i just saw a mention for Fables at the end of a TransMet issue--that one i definitely need to find too--i had read something about it ages ago.