Comics - what are you reading?, your thoughts Options

[maian]

I might get The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen too, because I've been wanting to read it for a while now. That's two books, isn't it?

Two and a bit. There's the first two volumes, then The Black Dossier, which fills in background information linking those to the third book, Century, which consists of three comics, only the first of which has so far been released.

This post has been edited by maian: Feb 24 2011, 06:56 PM

[Hobbes]

Alan Moore's run on Saga of the Swamp Thing is also excellent. Think there are four TPBs out there (someone knowledgeable ie Sostie confirm this). I've got and read the first two and they're ace. When I get some money (if this ever occurs) I'm definitely investing in the other volumes, it's good stuff.

[Sostie]

Alan Moore's run on Saga of the Swamp Thing is also excellent. Think there are four TPBs out there (someone knowledgeable ie Sostie confirm this). I've got and read the first two and they're ace. When I get some money (if this ever occurs) I'm definitely investing in the other volumes, it's good stuff.

Not sure how many volumes in TPB form there are (I have the actual comics rather than te books). Four sounds about right. I do know Moore's run covered issues 21-64.

And God bless you sir for calling them TPBs and not graphic novels.

[Hobbes]

And God bless you sir for calling them TPBs and not graphic novels.

I learned from the master. Also Stress Wolf & Chutney Ferret will surely get collected into TPBs someday in the future?

[Everlong]

And God bless you sir for calling them TPBs and not graphic novels.

See, even though I'm not an expert on TPBs and the terminology, ages ago a friend reckoned that I was wrong to refer to my Watchmen copy as a 'Trade Paperback'.

Am I differentiating the two terms right? I thought Watchmen and other instances where books are a collection of issues was a TPB, and a Graphic Novel was a one-off (like Sin City stories). I've slipped and referred to different things as graphic novels before though, oops. I get terms wrong. I'm the first to admit I'm no expert on comics.

Speaking of which, I reckon I might buy the Walking dead compendium Vol. 1 tomorrow. I only tend to read them at home so size is no issue.

[maian]

I've always held that a graphic novel is a self-contained story that has a beginning, middle and end that was conceived as such, so even if it was released as separate issues then collected, it is still a single work and would be considered a graphic novel. Trade paperbacks, therefore, would be collections of issues in an ongoing series that has no such defined arc.

[Sostie]

See, even though I'm not an expert on TPBs and the terminology, ages ago a friend reckoned that I was wrong to refer to my Watchmen copy as a 'Trade Paperback'.

I've always held that a graphic novel is a self-contained story that has a beginning, middle and end that was conceived as such, so even if it was released as separate issues then collected, it is still a single work and would be considered a graphic novel. Trade paperbacks, therefore, would be collections of issues in an ongoing series that has no such defined arc.

Not in my world sonny. When I were a lad I waited over a year and a half for that bloody comic to finish

Even TPBs have story arcs. Most collections contain a continuing story within a series. For example, Batman: Year One is 4 issues within the ongoing Batman series.

Watchmen certainly wasn't intended to be read as one volume . The symmetry of issue 5 shows that - something that works brilliantly in a single comic but not so well as a chapter in a book. Moore was always a few issues behind schedule and in the early stages doubted he had enough material for 12 comics - he was sort of making it up as he went along. Also at the time the graphic novel wasn't that well established and not seen at the time by publishers as profitible as comics

Graphic Novel was a lazy term used mainly by the media and retailers to promote and profit from the comic boom which was in part kicked off by the reception of the Watchmen the COMIC, (not the book/TPB/Graphic Novel or what have you).

[monkeyman]

Really interesting interview with Alan Moore
He's busy!

[GundamGuy_UK]

So is anyone reading any of DC's New 52?

I've tried out Action Comics, Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight, Detective Comics, and Justice League. After a couple of issues I decided to drop Dark Knight and Detective Comics, because following three Batman stories at once was getting confusing and they weren't quite as good as Batman.

Action Comics is definitely the stand-out title for me. Grant Morrison bringing Superman back to his roots in a contemporary setting. I tended to not like Superman because he's invulnerable to everything but Kryptonite. Morrison's Superman can take a mighty pounding, but he still gets hurt. He bleeds, he gets shocked, he is visibly injured by all the stuff thrown at him, and that just makes it more interesting. It's gorgeous to look at, too.

I've not seen any comics in stores, but the DC Comics app on iOS is very good for reading them on, and is updated pretty much as soon as new issues come out.



This post has been edited by GundamGuy_UK: Nov 4 2011, 08:47 PM

[gulfcoast_highwa...]

I enjoyed Batwoman, and Justice League. Wether they will keep my attention depends.

I adored Legion: Origins. It's proper old skool LSH.

[monkeyman]

So is anyone reading any of DC's New 52?

I've tried out Action Comics, Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight, Detective Comics, and Justice League. After a couple of issues I decided to drop Dark Knight and Detective Comics, because following three Batman stories at once was getting confusing and they weren't quite as good as Batman.

Action Comics is definitely the stand-out title for me. Grant Morrison bringing Superman back to his roots in a contemporary setting. I tended to not like Superman because he's invulnerable to everything but Kryptonite. Morrison's Superman can take a mighty pounding, but he still gets hurt. He bleeds, he gets shocked, he is visibly injured by all the stuff thrown at him, and that just makes it more interesting. It's gorgeous to look at, too.

I've not seen any comics in stores, but the DC Comics app on iOS is very good for reading them on, and is updated pretty much as soon as new issues come out.

It's been so long since I've actually purchased comics. I'd be interested, but the price came as a bit of a shock £2.49 for a single digital issue? I know it's not much really, but it is too much for me.
Superman seems really interesting, but the writing in the Batman sneak peak I read was atrocious.

Also, what happens if you stop using ios devices in. The future? Is the DC app cross platform?

This post has been edited by monkeyman: Nov 5 2011, 06:47 PM

[GundamGuy_UK]

It works with Comixology or whatever it's called, which is on iOS, PC, and Android.

[monkeyman]

Oh cool then.

They really should price all comics at .99p. They'd sell shitloads

[GundamGuy_UK]

If they did that, nobody but serious collectors would buy the paper comics.

[Silky]

If they did that, nobody but serious collectors would buy the paper comics.

But they wouldn't need to spend as much on production.