anyone into graphic novels

[rest0re]

i read these
playboy stories chester brown
i never liked you chester brown
unlikely jeffrey brown
blankets craig thompson
persepolis marianne satrapi
maus art spiegelman
from out of my head...
anything, anything else worth reading please help me ...
dont recommend me any superhero/manga stuff

 

[Harsky]

Transmetropolitan

 

[andrew505]

what do you define as a "graphic novel". I mean for example Maus was a daily/weekly comic strip,t hat was then published into a compilation book, which you have now read. "graphic novel" , in today's sense is just a fancy word for collected comic book, and 95% are just series being released in volumes (for the most part). There still are writers who release the traditional idea of a graphic novel; I'd suggest anything by Drawn and Quarterly, http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/ , they have a lot of great writers. And probably closer to the style you are looking for. Ghost World, is one of my favourite graphic novel's, it also had a movie adaptation which wasn't half bad. Transmetropolitian whhich was jsut reccomended, was a Vertigo monthly comic book, which is now collected in volumes , which probably won't be ur cup of tea.

 

[rest0re]

what do you define as a "graphic novel". I mean for example Maus was a daily/weekly comic strip,t hat was then published into a compilation book, which you have now read. "graphic novel" , in today's sense is just a fancy word for collected comic book, and 95% are just series being released in volumes (for the most part). There still are writers who release the traditional idea of a graphic novel; I'd suggest anything by Drawn and Quarterly, http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/ , they have a lot of great writers. And probably closer to the style you are looking for. Ghost World, is one of my favourite graphic novel's, it also had a movie adaptation which wasn't half bad. Transmetropolitian whhich was jsut reccomended, was a Vertigo monthly comic book, which is now collected in volumes , which probably won't be ur cup of tea.

thanks i know ghostworld... d&q has lots of titles which of them in your opinion are worth of reading?

 

[Veho]

Alan Ford!
(Don't know if it's available, though.)

 

[andrew505]

Anders Nilsen is my favourite author on Drawn and quarterly, he's got a series called Big Questions, very cool stuff. I'd suggest checking out the collected volumes, that compilie a bunch of great stuff. check out Sandman, by Neil Gaiman, it was a montly dc/vertigo title in the late 80's and early 90's. although it was a dc title, don't think super heroes. It's the only comic to date to ever win the World Fantasy award for one of it's issues. and it was even studied in my cartoons and comics class at university alongside other great books like Maus.

 

[shadowboy]

Sin City for sure.

And what do you have against manga anyway? Alot of them (lovehina and trigun specificly) are damn good, better than most american graphic novels infact.
I hope it isn't racism or something like that preventing you from wanting manga, cause you will miss some truly amazing shit that way.

 

[Orc]

Sin City for sure.

And what do you have against manga anyway? Alot of them (lovehina and trigun specificly) are damn good, better than most american graphic novels infact.
I hope it isn't racism or something like that preventing you from wanting manga, cause you will miss some truly amazing shit that way.

I don't think he has anything against them, he just said not to recommend them. I think he is either looking for original graphic novels (anything not collected/compile before being published I think?) or stuff with a more mature edge (hence no stereotypical superheroes or stereotypical manga.)

[If the latter is the case: Manga is debatable though since some of the more serious stuff with great storytelling I've seen come from manga (Urasawa Naoki's Monster and 20th Century Boys, Shamo, Homonculus among other things.)
Same with superhero stuff (mmm I need me some Absolute Watchmen) which is also debatable.]

 

[shadowboy]

Sin City for sure.

And what do you have against manga anyway?  Alot of them (lovehina and trigun specificly) are damn good, better than most american graphic novels infact.
I hope it isn't racism or something like that preventing you from wanting manga, cause you will miss some truly amazing shit that way.


I don't think he has anything against them, he just said not to recommend them. I think he is either looking for original graphic novels (anything not collected/compile before being published I think?) or stuff with a more mature edge (hence no stereotypical superheroes or stereotypical manga.)

[If the latter is the case: Manga is debatable though since some of the more serious stuff with great storytelling I've seen come from manga (Urasawa Naoki's Monster and 20th Century Boys, Shamo, Homonculus among other things.)
Same with superhero stuff (mmm I need me some Absolute Watchmen) which is also debatable.]

Rereading his list I have to agree with what you said.
And I must say, I do understand where you are coming from, but rest0re, give some of the manga orc posted a chance, I recommend most of them as being really good. Really good. Really really good. Just not as good as love hina or trigun.

(joke)

 

[2cb2ct7]

I'd have to agree with the original topic, a lot of manga is "trashy". Let me be a little more clear here. By trashy I just mean of no serious recognisable literary value (comparable to pulp/pop fiction). That said, and in spite of the fact that I recognise it to be trashy, I love manga!!

Just something about the various art styles and themes/plots that you won't find in western comics...

I will not suggest any of the "stereotypical manga" I refer to above, but as absolutely outstanding works of art/storytelling in their own right (that are also classed as "manga", though more correctly "gegika"):

Oldboy
Buddha (Osamu Tezuka)
Ode to Kirihito (Osamu Tezuka)
The Push Man and Other Stories
Eden (Hiroki Endo)

And in the non-mangaesque category I would suggest:

V for Vendetta
Sin City
Why Are You Doing This? (or anything by this same author, forget his name sorry)
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
Bone (more for kids but still enjoyable)

I'll add more when I get home and can double check my book shelf!

 

[Veho]

Manga is debatable though since some of the more serious stuff with great storytelling I've seen come from manga (20th Century Boys)

I love the story... but the cliffhangers are killing meeeee... I've hit the wall, and now I have to wait for months for a new chapter and then a fan translation

 

[rest0re]

Sin City for sure.

And what do you have against manga anyway? Alot of them (lovehina and trigun specificly) are damn good, better than most american graphic novels infact.
I hope it isn't racism or something like that preventing you from wanting manga, cause you will miss some truly amazing shit that way.

well its not racism but i found it extremely childlish. i like "serious" mangas like adolf by osamu tezuka, barefoot gen etc.. gekiga actually...

 

[rest0re]

iam really fed up with typical manga/superhero stuff. i read something and i found it extremely shallow. but there are ofcourse good manga or gekiga.. but i think most of it is not translated to english.

 

[flashermac]

Transmetropolitan is outstanding, definitely recommended.
I read a graphic novel called Epilepsy a while ago, but can't remember the author's name - it's pretty much an autobiography about him growing up with an epileptic brother, emotional stuff.

|fmc|

 

[Veho]

iam really fed up with typical manga/superhero stuff. i read something and i found it extremely shallow. but there are ofcourse good manga or gekiga.. but i think most of it is not translated to english.

Yes, the only manga translated to English are the kiddie superhero / pretty princess stuff, usually backed up with the currently airing anime (again, kiddie stuff). Publishers don't want to invest moneyz into translating serious manga, because that would limit the target audience, and wouldn't be a guaranteed success, only a possible success, and that's not a guaranteed money back. So they don't do it.

 

[Harsky]

iam really fed up with typical manga/superhero stuff. i read something and i found it extremely shallow. but there are ofcourse good manga or gekiga.. but i think most of it is not translated to english.Yes, the only manga translated to English are the kiddie superhero / pretty princess stuff, usually backed up with the currently airing anime (again, kiddie stuff). Publishers don't want to invest moneyz into translating serious manga, because that would limit the target audience, and wouldn't be a guaranteed success, only a possible success, and that's not a guaranteed money back. So they don't do it.

Not exactly. There are some titles like Cromartie High School, Genshiken and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure that are being translated and published where kids won't like them.

 

[rest0re]

iam really fed up with typical manga/superhero stuff. i read something and i found it extremely shallow. but there are ofcourse good manga or gekiga.. but i think most of it is not translated to english.Yes, the only manga translated to English are the kiddie superhero / pretty princess stuff, usually backed up with the currently airing anime (again, kiddie stuff). Publishers don't want to invest moneyz into translating serious manga, because that would limit the target audience, and wouldn't be a guaranteed success, only a possible success, and that's not a guaranteed money back. So they don't do it.

Not exactly. There are some titles like Cromartie High School, Genshiken and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure that are being translated and published where kids won't like them.

i dont know those titles but i think best japanese stuff i read is barefoot gen.. its really really touching.
edit: i give wikipedia links
adolf osamu tezuka
barefoot gen

 

[Perplexer]

check out Sandman, by Neil Gaiman, it was a montly dc/vertigo title in the late 80's and early 90's. although it was a dc title, don't think super heroes. It's the only comic to date to ever win the World Fantasy award for one of it's issues. and it was even studied in my cartoons and comics class at university alongside other great books like Maus.

You just mentioned my favorite! THIS was my Christmas present to myself

 

[Mewgia]

Yeah, Sandman's pretty awesome, I read most of the first volume. My dad owns a about a bajillion comic books, and that was one of the many that I read. The rest of these that I shall now recommend were also pulled from his collection.

All of my recommendations could technically be called "Superhero" graphic novels, which is really because the are, but they are a lot more mature feeling and just have better storytelling than your everyday comic book. So I'd say:
V for Vendetta
Watchmen
Top 10 (all of the different volumes and series, though some can be a pain to track down...I Still haven't read Top 10: 49'ers...)
Astro City
Almost anything by Alan Moore...

Some of those are very centered around Superheroes (mainly Top 10 and Astro City, Watchmen and V for Vendetta center around more of "superheroes" rather than flat-out superheroes, if ya know what I mean) but aren't shallow at all with very engrossing stories.