Help! I'm in love with a comics-lover!
Joy
one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
fascination, either.
So I'm thinking maybe this is like football, which I hated until a
friend took some time to explain to me kinda what to look for when
you're watching, to make it interesting. Any of you good comic-loving
people have any suggestions as to things I could read or perspectives
to come at this so I might kinda be able to ...er, develop my
appreciation of the genre?
Thanks much in advance...
HollandCL
among women.
coondawg
"Joy" <horsen...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c728d613.02081...@posting.google.com...
well, there is a book called Understanding Comics
by Scott McCloud (
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006097625X/qid=1029276796/sr=8
-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-0132168-7125409?s=books&n=507846
) that explains the history, mechanics and artistic merit of comics, but the
best way to undersand the medium is to read it yourself.
what type of books or movies do you like? crime fiction? spy thrillers?
quirky 20-somthing romance? majik and myth? political intrigue? historic
novelization? there are books out there that match all that.
so i guess the recomendations would stem from your answer to that.
~consul
> So I'm in love with this absolutely great guy, and there's only this
> one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
> Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
> fascination, either.
" ... Dear Penthouse, So I'm in love ..." :)
--
"american girls . . . if I made you cry, please tell me why
Cause I'll try again if you let me try . . ."
Jameson Stalanthas Yu
(remove the 'x's for e-mail) xdedes...@dolphins-cove.com
http://www.dolphins-cove.com
Vince Yim
For all prospective readers, I recommend Scott McLeod's "Understanding
Comics". While very technical and deconstructive, it breaks down the medium
in a study-worthy format. Told in comic book storytelling style, Scott
McLeod narrates the entire art form, detailing its history and evolution to
the present day. But then, it may be a bit too academic for some tastes.
For girlfriends of comic book readers, one cannot usually go wrong with
"Strangers in Paradise" or "Bone". Comic book reader girlfriends may be
more receptive to black & white independents, which tackle significantly
different subject matter than superhero books (although this is not to say
which one is better...just because it's independent doesn't necessarily mean
it's good, just because it comes from Marvel/DC/Image doesn't mean it's
bad). Oni Press also puts out a lot of really good black and whites.
Not just any black & white book, though...I hesitate to recommend books like
"Johnny the Homicidal Maniac", "Squee", and "Lenore" -- which mind you, do
have a female fanbase -- may turn you off, due to some of the off-the-wall
subject matter (although I've seen the animated adaptations of Lenore on
www.screenblast.com and think they're pretty frickin' hilarious).
In terms of superhero books, I recommend picking up TPBs (short hand for
"trade paperback", usually a compilation of a storyline or miniseries that
ran over the course of several months). A few good books: "Daredevil: The
Man Without Fear" (Story: Frank Miller, Art: John Romita Jr.); "V is for
Vendetta" (Story by Alan Moore), Daredevil Visionaries: Kevin Smith;
"Kingdom Come" by Mark Waid/Alex Ross; and if you can find it, Justice
League by Keith Giffen/Kevin McGuire.
Others will likely recommend Frank Miller's "Batman: The Dark Knight
Returns" (didn't care for this one that much myself); Alan Moore's "The
Watchmen" (have yet to read this one myself); Art Spiegelman's "Maus" (while
an important book, not to my tastes).
Peace,
Vince Yim
Paul O'Brien
<horsen...@yahoo.com> writes
>So I'm in love with this absolutely great guy, and there's only this
>one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
>Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
>fascination, either.
Well, if your aim here is to understand him, what books does he read?
Are you asking us what the appeal is of superhero comics, or of comics
generally?
Understanding Comics is an excellent book, by the way, but it's an
examination of storytelling technique and theory. I suspect that's not
really what you're looking for. It'd be like picking up a
cinematography textbook to find out why your boyfriend liked horror
movies.
--
Paul O'Brien
THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
ARTICLE 10 - http://www.ninthart.com
NTL - even worse than I'd heard.
Peter Likidis
<horsen...@yahoo.com> wrote:
My girlfriend was in the same situation as I am. Quite frankly you
don't have to love comics to be in love with a comic nerd. My gf just
lets me indulge in my comics and pretends to have an interest. She did
try the whole "reading thing so i can love them too thing". But the
only thing she ever found she liked was Strangers in Paradise.
Basically if you have no interest in comics you probably never will.
But if you want read Strangers in Paradise or Bone. They are nice,
light and intelligent. But then again it really comes down to what
you're into.
Ian Salsbury
David
> In message <c728d613.02081...@posting.google.com>, Joy
> <horsen...@yahoo.com> writes
> >So I'm in love with this absolutely great guy, and there's only this
> >one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
> >Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
> >fascination, either.
>
> Well, if your aim here is to understand him, what books does he read?
> Are you asking us what the appeal is of superhero comics, or of comics
> generally?
>
> Understanding Comics is an excellent book, by the way, but it's an
> examination of storytelling technique and theory. I suspect that's not
> really what you're looking for. It'd be like picking up a
> cinematography textbook to find out why your boyfriend liked horror
> movies.
You could try "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," by
Michael Chabon. It puts comics in a historical and emotional context.
Plus, it's just a great book.
David
Mikel Midnight
> So I'm thinking maybe this is like football, which I hated until a
> friend took some time to explain to me kinda what to look for when
> you're watching, to make it interesting. Any of you good comic-loving
> people have any suggestions as to things I could read or perspectives
> to come at this so I might kinda be able to ...er, develop my
> appreciation of the genre?
Well, people like different kinds of comics. Let's start with the
basics first: what sorts of films do you like? what sorts of books do
you like? we can go from there.
--
_______________________________________________________________________________
"She always had a terrific sense of humor" Mikel Midnight
(Valerie Solonas, as described by her mother)
blak...@blaklion.best.vwh.net
_______________________________________http://blaklion.best.vwh.net/comics.html
Mikel Midnight
Likidis <uce_fro...@chatomatic.net> wrote:
> Basically if you have no interest in comics you probably never will.
> But if you want read Strangers in Paradise or Bone. They are nice,
> light and intelligent. But then again it really comes down to what
> you're into.
I find both rather dull personally. My girlfriend's favorite comic
series so far is "Omaha the Cat Dancer."
Michael Alan Chary
>one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
>Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
>fascination, either.
Comics are a medium for story telling. They come for free in the newspaper
every day. They are sold in bookstores and in comics shops.
>So I'm thinking maybe this is like football, which I hated until a
>friend took some time to explain to me kinda what to look for when
>you're watching, to make it interesting. Any of you good comic-loving
>people have any suggestions as to things I could read or perspectives
>to come at this so I might kinda be able to ...er, develop my
>appreciation of the genre?
I was on track to being a Div I offensive tackle, and I hate football :)
If I might offer one small piece of advice: you don't have to share all of
someone's interests. If you want to try a comic book, I suggest Black
Panther.
--
"There's only one god / He is the sun god / Ra! - Ra! - Ra!"
--ancient Egyptian religious chant, attrib. to Robert Anton Wilson
"Woah. Edsger Dijkstra died. GOTO a better place, Eddie."
- Geoffrey Kinnel
coondawg
"Michael Alan Chary" <mch...@panix.com> wrote in message
news:ajdr54$ab8$1...@panix2.panix.com...
> In article <c728d613.02081...@posting.google.com>,
> Joy <horsen...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >So I'm in love with this absolutely great guy, and there's only this
> >one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
> >Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
> >fascination, either.
>
> Comics are a medium for story telling. They come for free in the newspaper
> every day. They are sold in bookstores and in comics shops.
>
> >So I'm thinking maybe this is like football, which I hated until a
> >friend took some time to explain to me kinda what to look for when
> >you're watching, to make it interesting. Any of you good comic-loving
> >people have any suggestions as to things I could read or perspectives
> >to come at this so I might kinda be able to ...er, develop my
> >appreciation of the genre?
>
> I was on track to being a Div I offensive tackle, and I hate football :)
>
> If I might offer one small piece of advice: you don't have to share all of
> someone's interests. If you want to try a comic book, I suggest Black
> Panther.
>
long time. but now she just accepts it and is just glad i don't have shelves
of action figures set up in the living room.
i don't go to candle parties or pampered chef she dosn't go to the comic
store.
W. Blaine Dowler
> Well, people like different kinds of comics. Let's start with the
> basics first: what sorts of films do you like? what sorts of books do
> you like? we can go from there.
Are you still out there, Joy? I think this was the best suggestion in this
thread so far.
--
- Blaine
http://www.bureau42.com
ICQ: 24893016
XFW # 299792458, WM, SW, WNS, NRMTPB, FPSSG
Koopa TROoPA #42
SVS# 0.00729735308002..., CoC #36
Leaping Larry Jojo
> So I'm in love with this absolutely great guy, and there's only this
> one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
> Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
> fascination, either.
You don't have to like everything he likes to be compatible with him.
What kind of genres do you like? If you could tell us what kind of
movies you like, maybe we can help you out more.
It'd be funny if the guy was actually a regular poster here under a
different name...^_^
Jojo
The Operative
making her way through the subsequent pamphlets now, cursing and
saying there should be more collections. I got her started on SIP,
segued her into Promethea and an occassional JLA, now she's picked up
Sheba on her own, Noble Causes, and more.
My wife _loathed_ comics when we met. Time and convenience just wore
her down -- she picked up JLA: Superpower, which I'd been reading in
the bathroom, and liked it, started quietly picking up random issues
lying around. Now she has "her comics" set up in a special place on
the bookshelves, in perfect order and all. Every Wednesday, "did
anything come for me?" I think it's great.
-Hannibal Tabu
The Operative Network
http://www.operative.net/
Submissions Editor for Funky Comics
http://www.funkycomics.com
mch...@panix.com (Michael Alan Chary) wrote in message news:<ajdr54$ab8$1...@panix2.panix.com>...
Grant Enfield
> So I'm in love with this absolutely great guy, and there's only this
> one problem. He really loves comics, and I just (shhhh!) don't get it.
> Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 'em, but ... I can't honestly see the
> fascination, either.
As Mr. Chary has pointed out, "comics" is a medium not a certain kind of
subject matter. So saying "I don't get comics" is lots like saying "I just
don't get movies" or "novels" or "sound recordings" or "sports on TV." And
while there are people who generally don't care for things at that level (my
mother really doesn't seem to enjoy movies generally, and a college roommate
of mine never watched sports because they're something to be *played* not
*watched*), often people like some movies but not others.
> So I'm thinking maybe this is like football, which I hated until a
> friend took some time to explain to me kinda what to look for when
> you're watching, to make it interesting.
Comics can be pretty accessible things. Again, as Mr. Chary pointed out,
there are lots of them in many newspapers daily.
I've found though that the coloring and layouts of many current comic books
from the big publishers make those books difficult to read for some
inexperienced readers.
Try flipping through books in the store to see what looks appealing. Ask for
recommendations based on the genres you like (romance, adventure,
superheroics, science fiction, fantasy, and so forth). Johanna Draper
Carlson has a list of recommendations that favors things besides what's put
out by the big publishers at http://www.comicsworthreading.com. You might
find things there that sound interesting.
grant
Johanna Draper Carlson
> I find both rather dull personally. My girlfriend's favorite comic
> series so far is "Omaha the Cat Dancer."
Every guy who's familiar with the series just became jealous. :)
--
Johanna Draper Carlson joh...@comicsworthreading.com
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading -- http://www.comicsworthreading.com
Newly updated: Reviews of Anthologies, Archie Comics, upcoming books
including JLA, Panther, Fables, GL, Stormwatch, Ultimates, X-Factor
Carl Fink
Ask your lover. He should know you better than we, total strangers.
He will know, for instance, whether you like adventure stories, or
romances, or mysteries, or what. Then he can recommend comics to
match.
(The Paradox BIG BOOK OF DEATH and BIG BOOK OF HOAXES are really
good, though, and don't require you to know anything about
super-heroes.)
--
Carl Fink ca...@fink.to
I-Con's Science and Technology Programming
<http://www.iconsf.org/>
Rob Hansen
<joh...@comicsworthreading.com> wrote:
> Mikel Midnight <blak...@best.outdamnspam.com> wrote:
>
>> I find both rather dull personally. My girlfriend's favorite comic
>> series so far is "Omaha the Cat Dancer."
>
>Every guy who's familiar with the series just became jealous. :)
Back in 1989, I visited Minneapolis and the local SF pro/fan community
that were Worley and Waller's friends and peers (though I didn't get
to meet W & W as they were out of town at the time). Among them was a
woman who was as much a dead ringer for Omaha as an actual
flesh-and-blood human being could be. I commented on this and she
laughed and said "Everyone says that!" I assumed she was the model for
Omaha but apparently the resemblance was pure coincidence. Kinda
weird, though.
--
Rob Hansen
=============================================
Home Page: http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/rob/
RE-ELECT GORE IN 2004.
Joy
suggestions, and I intend to follow up on every single one.
> well, there is a book called Understanding Comics"
I'll go directly from here to ordering that (and the other titles
people mentioned here. Thanks.
" what type of books or movies do you like? crime fiction? spy
thrillers?
> quirky 20-somthing romance? majik and myth? political intrigue? historic
> novelization? there are books out there that match all that.
>
> so i guess the recomendations would stem from your answer to that."
I like humor, science fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, and er . . . well,
most stuff, actually. (I'm almost a compulsive reader, going through
as many books as I can carry out of the library in one trip a week.)
The only thing I *don't* like, really, is horror and extreme violence
- my problem is everything I read is too real to me, so that kind of
thing really bothers me.
"Adult" themes and language are fine- though I do grow weary of all
the wall-to-wall scantitly-clad gals with the boobies that ate
Manhattan, which seems to be a trend in these things. I mean, boobies
are fine, I actually have some myself, but somehow for me the
entertainment value of them is kinda minimal. Maybe if they offered up
a nice balanced selection of beefcake instead. (Or even in addition -
I want to be fair here, fellas, but don't you think it's time you
returned the favor? ;-)
So I guess basically my ideal comic would be something funny and
imaginative but not too dark or gratuitously violent. Perhaps in which
some evil villain has vaporized all men's clothing. =)
Oh, okay, the guys can have clothes if they must. But . . .fun stuff,
not too dark, I guess. Much points for funny and abscence of gore.
And again...thanks. You're a fun, knowledgeable and helpful bunch.
I'm impressed.
Joy
W. Blaine Dowler
> So I guess basically my ideal comic would be something funny and
> imaginative but not too dark or gratuitously violent. Perhaps in which
> some evil villain has vaporized all men's clothing. =)
>
> Oh, okay, the guys can have clothes if they must. But . . .fun stuff,
> not too dark, I guess. Much points for funny and abscence of gore.
>
> And again...thanks. You're a fun, knowledgeable and helpful bunch.
> I'm impressed.
Have you seen either version of "The Tick" on TV? The cartoon can be found
in syndication, but the live-action version is probably not going to be
broadcast again soon.
The original incarnation of "The Tick" was a comic book with a twisted
sense of humour. It might be worth tracking down.
The Napoleon of Crime
> most stuff, actually. (I'm almost a compulsive reader, going through
> as many books as I can carry out of the library in one trip a week.)
I wish I had more humor books to recommend to you; in many ways, it's
my favorite genre of comics, but good series in this flavor tend to be
few and far between. The various BARRY WEEN books from Oni, while
having some scatalogical humor (and some VERY impressive cursing) are
hilarious. Combining science fiction and humor, the BUCK GODOT books
by Phil Foglio are also good (particularly the two earliest TPBs). I
also liked RAGMOP quite a bit; and by all means pick up Kyle Baker's
WHY I HATE SATURN book -- it's the best thing he's done, and is very
funny. (His THE COWBOY WALLY SHOW has more guffaws, but I think
SATURN the better work.)
Oh, and if you can find copies of THE EYE OF MONGOMBO from
Fantagraphics around, grab one. THey're rare (but cheap). However,
some would say that I've got a fixation on them.
Science fiction books also require some searching (as you correctly
surmised, if it ain't superheroes, you're going to have to comb the
grass looking for it). If you can find any of Matt Howarth's KEIF
LLAMA books, I highly recommend those. Also, while I haven't read
them (yet), the FINDER series by Carla Speed McNeil has gotten good
recommendations from a number of sources (they're collected in TPBs).
Nonfiction? Almost non-existant, with the exception of autobiography
books like Harvey Pekar's works (though I should have mentioned
earlier, I'm a lot less familiar with the alternative comix scene, and
they almost certainly cover these genres more than the big
publishers.) There's an older series, based on the experiences of a
Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, called TALES FROM THE HEART -- always
liked that very well.
> The only thing I *don't* like, really, is horror and extreme violence
> - my problem is everything I read is too real to me, so that kind of
> thing really bothers me.
The Vertigo line comes to mind for that.
> Maybe if they offered up
> a nice balanced selection of beefcake instead. (Or even in addition -
> I want to be fair here, fellas, but don't you think it's time you
> returned the favor? ;-)
Arguing that comics aren't awash with scantily-clad women would be a
task for the blind and idiotic, and I'm sure I'm not the former.
However, I would point out that most of the men are in skin-tight
suits...
My partner has no problem with comics per se, but has seen very, very
little that she likes from what I get. She had started reading RUSE a
few months ago, but Mark Waid just left as writer, and the first issue
without him disappointed both of us very much. It was light and
witty, and whatever darkness was alleviated by a good deal of inspired
banter.
But, we each have our own interests; a lot of them intersect, but
comics is an exception. However, two voracious readers rarely have a
problem finding things to discuss (Laurie King and the "His Dark
Materials" trilogy, of late.)
"He's at the Yankee game
right now."
"Local news covered
it. He said this is how
ordinary Americans get
their entertainment."
"I've been to four hundred
and forty one baseball
games at Yankee
Stadium. There's not a
single person there who's
ordinary."
-- Toby & Sam, THE WEST WING
Jeff Meyer, N.C., N.Q.D.Y.
[Not Quite Dead Yet]
Bala Menon
news:e5309aae.02081...@posting.google.com...
> from Fantagraphics around, grab one. THey're rare (but cheap).
> However, some would say that I've got a fixation on them.
I assume the blasted thing never did finish ? I have the first
seven issues ...
> Science fiction books also require some searching (as you
> correctly surmised, if it ain't superheroes, you're going to have
> to comb the grass looking for it). If you can find any of Matt
> Howarth's KEIF LLAMA books, I highly recommend those.
Also THOSE ANNOYING POST BROS., though this may
need a more specific mindset to enjoy.
--
Bala Menon (bala...@panix.com)
Dale Hicks
mori...@tc.fluke.com says...
> horsen...@yahoo.com (Joy) wrote in message news:<c728d613.02081...@posting.google.com>...
> > I like humor, science fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, and er . . . well,
> > most stuff, actually. (I'm almost a compulsive reader, going through
> > as many books as I can carry out of the library in one trip a week.)
>
> I wish I had more humor books to recommend to you; in many ways, it's
> my favorite genre of comics, but good series in this flavor tend to be
> few and far between.
My favorite was YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE, but I think most of the jokes were
in-jokes. AMBUSH BUG has some good humor.
> Science fiction books also require some searching
The LEGION OF SUPER HEROES is soft sci-fi, but if you've got an allergic
reaction to heroes in tights, ...
> Nonfiction? Almost non-existant,
It's in the context of a story, but CLAN APIS teaches you quite a bit
about bees -- it's close to nonfiction, in that regard.
> > The only thing I *don't* like, really, is horror and extreme violence
> > - my problem is everything I read is too real to me, so that kind of
> > thing really bothers me.
>
> The Vertigo line comes to mind for that.
Right, SANDMAN is the classic example of great comics literature.
There's a tad bit of horror in the first TPB, however. If you can't get
past it, I think there's enough summary in the rest of the series to
catch you up.
--
Cranial Crusader dgh...@bellsouth.net
Johanna Draper Carlson
> I wish I had more humor books to recommend to you; in many ways, it's
> my favorite genre of comics, but good series in this flavor tend to be
> few and far between.
DORK is good, and there's a trade of the early issues. Most humor comics
(oddly, given the medium's name) currently are humor-and.
Humor-and-superheroes. Humor-and-SF. Etc.
> Nonfiction? Almost non-existant, with the exception of autobiography
> books like Harvey Pekar's works
There are also Jim Ottaviani's books -- FALLOUT, DIGNIFYING SCIENCE, and
TWO-FISTED SCIENCE. Aside from being non-fiction tales of scientists,
they also are illustrated by some of the best artists working today.
> However, I would point out that most of the men are in skin-tight
> suits...
With no genitals. Not exactly great fantasy figures. :)
--
Johanna Draper Carlson joh...@comicsworthreading.com
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading -- http://www.comicsworthreading.com
Newly updated: Akiko, Scary Godmother, K Chronicles, Reviews of Batman,
Justice League Adventures,Quicken Forbidden,Supernatural Law,more
Carl Henderson
news:e5309aae.02081...@posting.google.com:
> Nonfiction? Almost non-existant, with the exception of autobiography
> books like Harvey Pekar's works (though I should have mentioned
> earlier, I'm a lot less familiar with the alternative comix scene, and
> they almost certainly cover these genres more than the big
> publishers.)
There's also Larry Gonick's CARTOON HISTORY OF THE WORLD (vol 1 & 2) and a
number of the Paradox Press BIG BOOK OF... series.
--
Carl Henderson carl.he...@airmail.net
RAC/RACM FAQ http://www.enteract.com/~katew/faqs/miscfaq.htm
The Napoleon of Crime
> "The Napoleon of Crime" <mori...@tc.fluke.com> wrote in message
> news:e5309aae.02081...@posting.google.com...
> > horsen...@yahoo.com (Joy) wrote in message
> news:<c728d613.02081...@posting.google.com>...
> > Oh, and if you can find copies of THE EYE OF MONGOMBO
> > from Fantagraphics around, grab one. THey're rare (but cheap).
> > However, some would say that I've got a fixation on them.
>
> I assume the blasted thing never did finish ? I have the first
> seven issues ...
You are correct -- only seven issues made it out the gate before it
got canned (though I'm unsure as to whether the author or the
publisher killed it.)
> > Science fiction books also require some searching (as you
> > correctly surmised, if it ain't superheroes, you're going to have
> > to comb the grass looking for it). If you can find any of Matt
> > Howarth's KEIF LLAMA books, I highly recommend those.
>
> Also THOSE ANNOYING POST BROS., though this may
> need a more specific mindset to enjoy.
I *love* the Post Bros., but Joy mentioned that she was firmly
avoiding extreme violence, and I figured the Post Bros. would fall
into that category. (It's way over-the-top, though.)
"I got everybody to pay up
front...then I blew up
their planet."
"Now why didn't I think
of that?"
The Napoleon of Crime
> mori...@tc.fluke.com (The Napoleon of Crime) wrote in
> news:e5309aae.02081...@posting.google.com:
>
> > Nonfiction? Almost non-existant, with the exception of autobiography
> > books like Harvey Pekar's works (though I should have mentioned
> > earlier, I'm a lot less familiar with the alternative comix scene, and
> > they almost certainly cover these genres more than the big
> > publishers.)
>
> There's also Larry Gonick's CARTOON HISTORY OF THE WORLD (vol 1 & 2) and a
> number of the Paradox Press BIG BOOK OF... series.
Thanks -- I'd completely forgotten the Gonick books. I'd definitely
recommend the Gonick series (including his books on genetics and
computer science, though they're not as good as the HISTORY OF THE
WORLD books, I think.) The BIG BOOK series is a lot more hit-and-miss
(it's the equivalent of a big anthology comic, so this is to be
expected.)
"Rex Dart pops the clutch
And tells the thugs to EAT HIS DUST!"
-- Crow
The Napoleon of Crime
> mori...@tc.fluke.com (The Napoleon of Crime) wrote:
>
> > I wish I had more humor books to recommend to you; in many ways, it's
> > my favorite genre of comics, but good series in this flavor tend to be
> > few and far between.
>
> DORK is good, and there's a trade of the early issues. Most humor comics
> (oddly, given the medium's name) currently are humor-and.
> Humor-and-superheroes. Humor-and-SF. Etc.
I love Evan Dorkin's work, but I've found DORK to be, of late, pretty
variable. The earlier stuff is great, though. Any you're spot-on re:
how humor is usually mixed with other genres in comics.
Oh -- just remembered -- INSTANT PIANO from Dark Horse. Anthology
series; so-so, but with some very bright spots.
"Sure it's phallic! Why shouldn't it be?"
-- MST3K
Philip M. Cohen
>
> horsen...@yahoo.com (Joy) wrote in message news:<c728d613.02081...@posting.google.com>...
> > I like humor, science fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, and er . . . well,
> > most stuff, actually. (I'm almost a compulsive reader, going through
> > as many books as I can carry out of the library in one trip a week.)
>
> I wish I had more humor books to recommend to you; in many ways, it's
> my favorite genre of comics, but good series in this flavor tend to be
> few and far between. The various BARRY WEEN books from Oni, while
> having some scatalogical humor (and some VERY impressive cursing) are
> hilarious. Combining science fiction and humor, the BUCK GODOT books
> by Phil Foglio are also good (particularly the two earliest TPBs). I
Likewise Phil and Kaja Foglio's current *Girl Genius* series, humorous
science-fantasy adventure. You can go to http://www.studiofoglio.com and
read an eight-page story from the current tpb (chronologically way ahead
of the current storyline).
> also liked RAGMOP quite a bit; and by all means pick up Kyle Baker's
> WHY I HATE SATURN book -- it's the best thing he's done, and is very
> funny. (His THE COWBOY WALLY SHOW has more guffaws, but I think
> SATURN the better work.)
>
> Oh, and if you can find copies of THE EYE OF MONGOMBO from
> Fantagraphics around, grab one. THey're rare (but cheap). However,
> some would say that I've got a fixation on them.
I second the recommendations of *Ragmop* and *Mongombo*; haven't read
the Bakers yet, though I really like his work in *Instant Piano* and
*New York* magazine. In the former, Dave Gray seemed to be getting a bit
tired of doing comics for peanuts and went all self-referential in
issues 6-7; still good, and I'd recommend 1-5 unqualifiedly. But be
aware that it ended before they even got near the Eye of Mongombo.
I'm also a big fan of Roger Langridge, who is wonderfully odd and not to
everyone's taste: *Art d'Ecco*, *Knuckles the Malevolent Nun*, etc. 'I
do not drink orange juice. It makes me carefree. Do you have any brine?'
His current series is *Fred the Clown*, and a tpb of his *Zoot!* comics,
*Zoot Suite*, is available for a laughably cheap $5 from the publisher:
http://www.fantagraphics.com .
And in honor of the Napoleon of Crime's review series, I will point to
*Not Quite Dead*, by Gilbert 'Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers' Shelton and
(French cartoonist) Pic, four issues to date from Rip Off Press. It's
the misadventures of a second-rate rock band and funny even to an
anti-rock guy like me.
> Science fiction books also require some searching (as you correctly
> surmised, if it ain't superheroes, you're going to have to comb the
> grass looking for it). If you can find any of Matt Howarth's KEIF
> LLAMA books, I highly recommend those. Also, while I haven't read
> them (yet), the FINDER series by Carla Speed McNeil has gotten good
> recommendations from a number of sources (they're collected in TPBs).
Again, ditto. I'm one of those who consider *Finder* the best SF series
going, probably best ever. This is another one you can sample online:
http://www.lightspeedpress.com/ . My favorite of the three issues put
online is the 'Talisman' one. Second-best SF is *Alien Fire* from
Kitchen Sink, three great issues before dying, generally quite cheap if
you can find them at all. Later stories in Tundra publications,
collected in tpb *Alien Fire: Pass in Thunder*, were disappointing by
comparison.
--
Always carry a grapefruit, Treesong