Indie Comic Discussion & Recommendation - The Image/Dark Horse/Avatar et al thread.

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > BSS: Bisexual Super Son > Indie Comic Discussion & Recommendation - The Image/Dark Horse/Avatar et al thread.

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bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Qwo posted:

Am I the only person in the world who doesn't completely love Orc Stain? Ages ago I read the first 2 or 3 issues, and loved it so much that I recommended it to countless friends, but just recently I sat down and read the TPB, and I got as far as issue 5 before the boredom became excruciating and I had to put it down. Stokoe is one of my favorite artists, and I cannot express how much I love the setting, premise, and world he's created (hence my appreciation of the first few issues), but I just don't care about any of his characters, the writing is flat - none of the characters have powerful voices to differentiate themselves - and I found myself unengaged by the storyline. Am I completely wrong? Tell me I am, I love Stokoe too much to dislike his work.

I did catch up on Saga and read Old City Blues recently and creamed my pants over both, however.

I'm always in for Stokoe for his art first and foremost. I think the most enjoyable thing he's done, for me at least, has been Half Century War, but Orc Stain certainly kept me entertained. I would really love to see how he works with other people who aren't asshats like Mark Andrew Smith.

Also, is nobody talking about Boom buying Archaia yet? Because holy poo poo, that had to be paid for with Adventure Time money.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2013 02:40

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 06:38

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Wachter posted:

Prophet's not in danger of being cancelled, is it? I'm catching up through trades and I don't want this to ever, ever end.

I don't expect so, but Graham has said that he has an end point that's maybe 12 issues down the line from where we are now, give or take a few?

# ¿ Jul 1, 2013 22:57

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Len posted:

Why was King City only 12 issues? I finished it and want to read more damnit.

Go read Multiple Warheads and Escalator? Then determine whether you want to delve into Graham's porn comics?

I would've liked more King City and Graham has said he's got a couple other stories he'd like to tell, but there are rights issues. Because Tokyopop.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 02:07

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

root posted:

Also if you're jonesing for more Brandon Graham don't forget to pick up his new artbook (full of drawings and sketchbook comics) WALRUS from Picturebox.

I loving got that in the mail today and forgot to mention it. Wonderful, though I wish it were bigger, like King City size in dimensions (or length; I'd buy a 400 page sketchbook of his...).

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 08:21

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

LordPants posted:

And Prophet! Unless you have read prophet. People should read Prophet!

Right, I hesitated on Prophet just because a great deal of the appeal of King City isn't really there, though it's still spectacular.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2013 17:04

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Lurdiak posted:

That comic is pretty rad, you guys. It's not perfect and the art can get mediocre, but it's got heart, and it manages to be charming, funny, badass and entertaining.

Agreed. Definitely one of my favorites to read each month.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2013 01:50

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Hakkesshu posted:

Was an awesome run, yes, you're right.

drat straight. Mighty Mutanimals and all.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2013 17:26

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:

I caught myself up on Prophet after reading about it in this thread and (I think) in the Comic recommendation thread, and I am loving the hell out of this comic. It's bat-poo poo crazy.

One particular quirk of Brandon Graham that I'm noticing after also reading Multiple Warheads is that he really likes throwing in lots of world-building, particularly through the use of asides, inserts, and infographics. I feel like normally this kind of thing would annoy me, but when Graham does it, it doesn't feel masturbatory. Instead of stroking his own ego saying, "Heh, check out this crazy poo poo I came up with. ," I feel like he's jumping up and down like a little kid saying, "Check this out! Check this out! It's a Crazy Goofy Scary THING!!" and is just letting you into his clubhouse because he's the nice but weird kid that wants friends with which to share.

Have you read King City? World building all over that place.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 20:17

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Baron Fuzzlewhack posted:

I skipped it during the sale Comixology had because it looked like something I might want in a physical TPB. It's definitely on my to-read list.

I would definitely get it physically, if only because it's actually larger than your average comic and the book benefits greatly from it. It's MSRP is $20, but you can get it on Amazon for a lot less, too.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 22:54

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

irlZaphod posted:

I can't wait until every review of Seconds is summed up by "It's alright but it's no Scott Pilgrim", and O'Malley has a meltdown.

Although I think he's already been making jokes about that for about 2 years anyway.

I think he's probably accepted it as an inevitability at this point, but it would be kind of rad if it actually were better than Pilgrim.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2013 17:22

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Lurdiak posted:

Not a very high bar to clear.

Is it cool to hate Scott Pilgrim now? Like, the series did have some flaws, but I thought most people liked it. I know I've been really enjoying revisiting the series as the colored editions come out.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2013 18:14

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Waterhaul posted:

Was going through my stack and got Genesis by Alison Sampson and Nathan Edmonson which was really good. Sampson's style reminds me a lot of Travel Foreman and just does such great work with the architecture of the page. She has some preview pages up on her tumblr but the stuff in the book manages to be even better.

It's a done in one story about a guy who gets the power to create whatever he wants and plays out as an interesting fable. Edmondson manages to be just what it should and keeps things dream like enough but also explains just the right amount that you want from the book, really good stuff.

This is worth buying for the art alone, and that's coming from someone who was not at all a fan of Edmonson's writing. Shell out the $7, look at Sampson's incredible work, and I guess read the words if you want to.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2014 21:09

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Did I miss folks talking about Shutter? You should be talking about Shutter. It's drat good.

# ¿ May 11, 2014 18:14

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

I picked up some stuff from Jack Gross at CAKE, and I have to say that she impressed me immensely. Great style that feels right in line with a show like Gravity Falls or a comic like Lumberjanes, a wonderful sense of humor, and just a pretty nice young cartoonist. There were some other great folks there, but if you like fun, you should definitely dig into Jack Gross's comics.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2014 04:41

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Senor Candle posted:

I liked the Dr. Strange one. It had Emma Rios art.

The writing was pretty blah, but yeah, that art was killer.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2014 20:27

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Endless Mike posted:

I read through Bryan Lee O'Malley's Seconds last night and really enjoyed it. It was definitely scripted a lot tighter than Scott Pilgrim, and was a very different style.

It feels like Scott Pilgrim was this giant exercise in improving his storytelling and building a readership so that he could write a followup to Lost at Sea. Seconds is wonderful, but I'm really glad that it seems to go in a very different direction than Scott Pilgrim.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2014 23:05

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

So, Liz Prince has been doing the indie comics thing for a while now, but she's never really had a full length graphic novel... UNTIL NOW. Tomboy comes out September 2nd, and it's a really wonderful look at a struggle with gender identity in a world where girls like girl things and boys like boy things and that's it.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2014 05:48

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Mahler posted:

Comics and Cola is a pretty good blog. The comics journal is good as well (heavy Fantagraphics bias because that's where it's based).

Not quite sure where you're seeing a heavy fantagraphics bias there. TCJ is cynical as poo poo about superhero comics, but when they cover new releases each week, anything from fanta gets thrown under their "conflict of interest reservoir." Just read Comics of the Weak and you should be good. The Comics Reporter is also pretty good for covering basically everything, but it's easy to miss things since, well, Spurgeon covers drat near everything.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2014 17:05

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

fatherboxx posted:

Brian Wood is bad writer who is yet to find a decent concept that he can't turn into gray mess. Demo and Local are alright.
He should be run out of industry for his comic-con casanova escapades anyway and it has nothing to do with his talent.

Tucker had a baby and got a job at Nobrow (I think), so there weren't any new Comics of the Weak for a year now. Good for him, he has been finding new ways to snark about bad mainstream comics for years, that poo poo can rot your brain. On the other hand, his best bud Abhay is a big baby fond of tumblr slapfights and is nowhere as interesting to read.

I second Comics and Cola, best blog to discover new small-press/imported comics.

My bad, I meant This Week in Comics. Comics of the Weak was aight, but Tucker's doing good work at Nobrow now, shipping review copies to folks like me and making us excited to get mail again.

krakagar posted:

I haven't heard of this, bit I'm also a Carey sucker, what's it about?

Me too, but man, I couldn't make it past the first 2-3 issues. Did it get good after that?

# ¿ Sep 1, 2014 23:52

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

redbackground posted:

Ross Campbell is drawing a new Jem and the Holograms series, and it already looks pretty great.

Ross Campbell is one of the best. I wish he drew a bit faster so they could keep him on TMNT all the time, but I'm okay with picking up Jem and just staring at his art.

# ¿ Dec 4, 2014 21:24

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Campbell posted:

That's great news, I'd totally written it off like everyone else. Hopefully he's kind of taken the time to figure out a workflow that can punch out some issues regularly.

I think one of the biggest problems was that he got into a bike accident that kept him from working for quite some time. I don't expect it to come out monthly, as I'm pretty sure comics is still just a side thing for him, but every 2 or 3 months would be rad.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 20:10

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Mahler posted:

New issues of Orc Stain or Multiple Warheads are my holy grail.

Multiple Warheads is chugging along. Graham's posted a fair number of pages on his Tumblr over the last few months. Think he's approaching it like he did the last one, where he has most/all of it in the can before going to print.

# ¿ Dec 16, 2014 17:57

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Campbell posted:

Oh wow, for some reason I thought it was just that he'd underestimated what it took to be a one man show while treating it like a hobby.

Not sure where you got that idea from, but he's been pretty clear about Multiple Warheads from the moment Image put out the book. He'd probably do about one mini every year or so among other projects.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2014 03:42

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Unmature posted:

Holy crap thank you for recommending Nonplayer. I thought I was done with MMO scifi books but I'm totally sold after that first issue. And it's GORGEOUS. I'm gonna have to reread Ready Player One while I wait for issue 2.

I haven't read it yet, but the Cory Doctorow/Jen Wang IRL is supposed to be pretty good too while exploring some similar ideas (albeit in a different way)

# ¿ Dec 17, 2014 22:10

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

StumblyWumbly posted:

"You don't want to order that"is over the top, but shops should feel free to tell people getting into Crossed "Do you know what you're getting into?"

And sadly many comic shop employees lack anything resembling tact.

chime_on posted:

See, that's hosed up to me. If I want to read Lost Girls (and indeed, I kind of do), I don't need someone projecting THEIR hangups about art or sexuality or whatever onto me.

Also, as someone who owns Lost Girls and is mildly embarrassed by explaining to people what it is when they ask about the purple slipcase next to my absolutes, the story is basically poo poo, but Melinda Gebbie's art is really beautiful. But I also haven't cared for Moore's writing in a long time, so, you know, you might love it! Who knows!

# ¿ Dec 21, 2014 20:42

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Martello posted:

Somebody please defend Lost Girls because I think it's a pretty loving odious book with all the child sex and all-ages incest.

edit: yes I have looked at it, in fact I bought it without researching because I figured, Alan Moore can do no wrong, right? Wrong. Let my wife look through it to satisfy her morbid curiosity and then resold it on Amazon.

I mean, I kind of defended it? The art at least. And the conceit is an interesting one, that these three women's stories are all a way to look at their sexual coming of age. The framing technique of it being a group of old ladies reminiscing felt in tune with a lot of classic "story within a story" narratives, too. But it just wasn't very good.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2014 21:59

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

A Gnarlacious Bro posted:

Yeah!! And I didn't mean for that post to be so accusatory but I really have come to really really dislike that gatekeeping "let me fill you in here" mentality. Like being a shop owner entitles you to nerd-intimidate people about poo poo they want to buy.

As someone who worked in a shop for 3 years, there's a nuance to warning people about comics, and the nuance to Lost Girls is literally just telling them the premise and letting them figure it out for themselves. The nuance to Sex Criminals is saying "no, no, ignore the name, it's sweet and funny and they stop time when they orgasm and start robbing banks."

I think there's a fear that if a reader buys something they don't like, that they'll never return, and while that's possible, I would frequently find myself steering someone away from Dark Knight Strikes Again or ASBAR to Batman: Year One after they'd read Dark Knight Returns instead of just going "ugh, you don't want to read Frank Miller's lovely era until you've got nothing else left of his and even then..." Because then they leave with a good comic and an impression that maybe you give a poo poo about what they're spending their money on and have their interests at heart.

I really loving hate that so many comic shops are staffed by tactless idiots who drive folks away and then wonder why their shop suffers.

# ¿ Dec 22, 2014 19:17

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Hey, am I crazy or did Boom say that the Boom! Box mixtape was going to come out in December. Did I miss it or was it delayed? Hungering for more Teen Dog/Lumberjanes.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2015 22:23

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

SomeJazzyRat posted:

As far as I know, it's in release limbo.

The official Boom website says it's avalable for preorder.

According to Previews, it's out on the 14th.

Oh weird, I didn't know that Previews had something that was convenient and online for readers rather than just shop owners. Thanks!

# ¿ Jan 4, 2015 03:52

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

moot the hopple posted:

Reminder that the first volume of Corto Maltese is being released this week. I'm personally waiting for Ballad of the Salt Sea to come out before plunging into it, but my completionist urge is tempting me to get this right away. Does anyone who's read this series before know if these early stories set up a lot of important things?

If anyone has been waiting for it, this is already out at finer comic shops near you. Or at least finer ones near me. Has been for a few weeks.

# ¿ Jan 5, 2015 00:54

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Inkspot posted:

The first two issues of They're Not Like Us are the most enjoyable X-Men comics I've read in a while.

Really loved the art in the first issue, but I ditched it because I wasn't into the writing at all.

# ¿ Feb 11, 2015 12:44

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Just Offscreen posted:

Does anyone have any indie comic blogs that are worth following? I'm already loving the hell out of Comics and Cola- something like that would be great!

Women Writing About Comics has some of the best writing and coverage I've read online. It covers everything from indie to super mainstream.

# ¿ Feb 17, 2015 22:01

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

So, Fantasy Sports #1 by Sam Bosma is coming out from Nobrow this spring. It's a bit expensive, but it's a ton of fun and definitely worth picking up if you like fantasy/adventure stores/teen coming of age stories/sports.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2015 01:42

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

moot the hopple posted:

I grabbed Fantasy Basketball off his site back when he was offering it digitally for ~$2 and had fun with it. Bosma's new coloring and added pages in Fantasy Sports look slick but I'm personally going to wait on the next installment if he's planning it as a continuing series.

EDIT: Looks like the digital copy of FB is still on sale if you guys wanted to check it out

Huh, I somehow missed this. I think the new colors do add a ton to it, and I'm definitely excited to see where it's headed next, but check out that digital copy if you're wary.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2015 07:46

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 06:38

bairfanx: Jan 20, 2006; I look like this IRL,
but, you know,
more Greg Land-y.

Sigma-X posted:

The entire appeal of Invincible to me was the mashup of super strength + violent application of that strength.

I like a lot of other elements too (although I stopped reading around the time the T-Rex Terrorist and Invincible started teaming up) and I don't get why people are put off by the violence or act as if it wasn't always there.

I mean the first arc, as you mentioned, involves that spoiler. That sets it apart from Teen Superman Sitcom pretty clearly.

So far, you are the only person I've heard of who wasn't surprised by the massive and continuous escalation in violence and gore of that series.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2015 06:42

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > BSS: Bisexual Super Son > Indie Comic Discussion & Recommendation - The Image/Dark Horse/Avatar et al thread.

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