Be Excellent To Each Other

I decided this week to read my first ever comic/graphic novel, as I've seen various adaptations of the more popular comics at the cinema, and decided to read Watchmen.

I've done the first two Chapters so far, (so no spoilers please), in which we find an unidentified person going round killing off masked superheroes, but it's really rather spiffing isn't it?

Watchmen is excellent.

Funnily enough-ish, Your Sinclair got me into Watchmen. One of the first ever issues I read, it had some kind of review in it (back when they'd frequently do movie reviews and stuff in the news section...er... 40-50ish, I think) So well done to them, for truly, it is mighty. The wonderful thing about Watchmen is that it actually improves with multiple reads, there's so much depth to it.

I don't really read many, but I feel safe in recommending other Alan Moore-written stuff to you. V For Vendetta for example. Lots better than the film (which I enjoyed, and have on DVD) and quite a different experience.

Yes, other excellent Alan Moore reads:

The Ballard of Halo Jones:

Alan Moore's strongest central character, and a storyline that seems delightfully scattered at the outset, but soon coalesces into something darker and deeper. It's set in the far future, and involves a young woman who wants to escape her dead-end life on the floating island of the unemployable.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen:

Not only is this bawdy, violent tale thrillingly written and beautifully illustrated, but it has more literature in-jokes and references than you can shake a swordstick at. Plus! It never once feels cliquey or exclusive. Immeasurably better than the film, and one wonders why they didn't just film the incredibly filmable film-like plot with its fine filmic pacing, than come up with a fatally flawed one themselves.

V for Vendetta:

Less plausible plot than the film, but better by a fair ways. The characters are more realistic and well rounded, and the Voice of Fate works in the comic, unlike the complete failure in the movie.

From Hell:

Arguably the greatest comic book ever. From Hell is ostensibly about Jack the Ripper, but it's also about the rise of the tabloid press, the changing character of Britain, the end of utopia, the bloody birth of the 20th century, synchronicity, madness, ritual, sex and ghosts. Has the single greatest two frames in comic book history - featuring two terrified men and Sgt. Bilko. Also Eddie Campbell brings the best comic book art to my mind I've ever seen.

Tom Strong:

An endlessly entertaining anthology of stories revolving around Moore's ultimate superhero. Tom Strong is better than Superman, because he's funnier, more vulnerable and can't solve everything. He also has better baddies and companions. Each story frequently leaps into glorious pulp-sci-fi territory, with novel concepts tossed about with gleeful abandon. Certainly the most fun of the Alan Moore books, after perhaps League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Promethea:

This starts out as a fine superheroine tale. I won't say feminist, as this is merely how super-women SHOULD be done but aren't. Starts off with fun but standard fair, before exploding with riffs on the nature of storytelling, creation, religion, tarot and um - everything.

Top Ten:

See Tom Strong, but with Homicide: Life on the Street meets superheroes. In the future. The Forty-Niners is an excellent single book prequel.

The Birth Caul/Snakes & Ladders

From the From Hell team, Eddie Campbell and Alan Moore study big concepts in a sort of illustrated beat seance poem. Also available on audio CD with Tim Perkins doing the music, which is brilliant. The Highbury Working is the highlight of the audio CD series, covering every great man who ever lived and didn't live in the forgotten London suburb. From Joe Meek and Diary of a Nobody through to Alistair Crowley and a Skeleton Horse.


And his 2000AD stuff is well worth a read too, natch.

I read Watchmen for the first time on Boxing Day last year -- I finished the entire thing in one sitting, literally unable to put it down. I had to keep making myself read more slowly because I wasn't absorbing the art, so eager was I to find out what was going on. It really is excellent. I've since leant my copy to anyone that will promise to read it.

I wonder about the film. The novel is, by Moore's open admission, an attempt to do something that cannot be done in a text novel or in a film. It has a lot of subtle repeated imagery and background details that rely on the reader's ability to think "hey, wait a minute..." and flip back a few pages to spot some seemingly-innocent detail. I really want the film to work out though, fingers crossed etc.

I've got Top Ten to go through next as well actually. Looks like I'm in for some treats then.

Excellent! By the way, I edited and added Promethea in after slapping my forehead injurously over her omission. So Top Ten is nowt like Promethea, and more like Tom Strong.

That's excellent work Pete. You're awesome.

I wouldn't actually recommend Watchmen to be your first graphic novel, because it's a reflection of what comics are so it needs you to be quite referenced in what they are like already - though saying that I think there's enough 'cultural awareness' of comics these days, that reading that many isn't needed.

Aside: For seamingly low grade fluff, that's actually really good I would also really recommending watching the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. It's great fun. And there is a brilliant version of Alan Moore's Superman story "For the Man who has everything." Which is easily the best adaption of Moores work.

Top Ten is incredibly rooted in comic tropes in the same way as Watchmen, so it's probably a bad choice for a second comic. It's unbelievably bloody wonderful, though, so maybe it isn't a bad choice. Except that it'll spoil all other comics for you, ever.

And shame, shame, SHAME on you for not mentioning Swamp Thing, Pete.

I picked up Watchmen in Hilo - wasn't intending to, just that at $19.99 it was irresistible, and I did get LxG: The Black Dossier at the same time.

I am no fan of comics, especially the superhero genre - "And with one leap of his <hitherto unknown superpower> he was free" rubbish. But by God, Watchmen was incredible. Must have gone through it in double quick time, and look forward to savouring it again and again.

I must get Watchmen.

Must.

Oops! Sorry!

Yeah, I don't have much Swamp Thing, only the one book, so I didn't feel qualified to talk it about.

Hmm, I don't think Top Ten will spoil other comics to be honest. It's a fun read superficially as well, and the troping don't impede the fun of other comics in my opinion.

I have done gone and got FROM HELL, Batman: Year Zero and Batman: Knightfall (part one).

Yes. I thought you all needed to know right away!

Knightfall

Oh. I'm so sorry. The best bit about DC's collection of Knightfall is that they've never collected KnightQuest, which leaves you wondering . A perfect example of early-90s superheroics, which is not to say that it's any good...

I recently read my first comic/graphic novel as well.

It was called The Boys and it was excellent.

I'm enjoying it lots. Perhaps it helps that I have never really read any superheroics, early-90s or otherwise.

edit: right, that's part one finished. I enjoyed that. Year One was good also. From Hell next, which is the size of a baby.

I really hope more people follow Mr Russ's example. It's a crying shame that the Western comics industry is in such dire straits right now, and this is especially stupid when you consider how many people are flocking to comic-book movies. If one in every hundred Brits who did this picked up 2000 AD, Rebellion's comic would be in a much healthier place subscription-wise. If one in every hundred Americans picked up something by Image or Dark Horse, the US comics industry would be transformed. Sadly, though, it now seems OK for most people to go and watch Spider-Man, and then, without a hint of irony, condemn comics-readers to be geeks, even if said geeks are reading, say, Maus.

Anyway, some recommendations for newcomers that aren't by Alan Moore.

We3: Incredibly slight but very powerful mini-series by Grant Morrison, described as a Western Manga, following the plight of three prototype animal 'weapons'. Note: if you buy this, DO NOT read ANY pages about it, because chances are that it'll be spoiled. Just buy it blind.

Hellboy/BPRD: Fantastic series (and spin-off) by Mike Mignola, one of the modern greats in the field. Hellboy is essentially a vehicle for Mike to make comic adaptations of bizarre and creepy ancient myths and legends, although BPRD is more overtly in the direction of a Lovecraftian-inspired Hollywood blockbuster.

Usagi Yojimbo: Yes, it's animal stories (usagi being a bunny samurai), but this is as far removed from Disney as it's possible to be. A fantastic ongoing story about a ronin rabbit, this mixes myth, legend and authenticity in a way very rare in the comics world.

Judge Dredd: Britain's top comics character, with all chances of worldwide appeal wrecked by one of the worst comic-book adaptations in history. Still, the original comic continues to thrive, and there are a pile of collections available. Good places to start are The Art of Kenny Who? (a fat collection all illustrated by veteran Dredd artist Cam Kennedy), America (one of the more overtly political and serious Dredd epics), and the chunky phone-book-style Case Files (4 through 7 being classic volumes; early Dredd stuff is a bit crap, though).

Strontium Dog: Another 2000 AD effort, and my personal favourite. This is sort of a British X-Men, but far more gritty, in typical 2000 AD style. It essentially charts the life of John Alpha, a mutant born to a hatemongering British politician in the future who's outlawed mutant rights. It follows Alpha's life through uprisings, becoming a bounty hunter (the only job mutants are allowed), and battling for the rights of his people. Four chunky volumes and the forthcoming Final Solution cover every Strontium Dog story published in the original run.

The Complete Maus: Heavy going, but compelling story about surviving in Hitler's Europe. By using animals to represent each race, the book somehow becomes starker and more real than it would have been with human figures.

Sandman: Somewhat derided for its goth leanings, I still rate Sandman as an intelligent and engrossing epic. Blending myth and fantasy, the series largely follows the King of Dreams, who rules the world of dreams. Just ignore the rather dodgy attempt to tie Sandman into DC Comics continuity in the first volume.

Lucifer: A spin-off from Sandman, this follows fallen angel Lucifer Morningstar on Earth and various other places. The run of graphic novels collects the entire 75-issue series, which I found compelling from start to finish.

Following Mr. Grannell's example:

Kurt Busiek's traditional superhero stuff is generally romping good fun but nothing massively special. His Astro City comics, on the other hand, are brilliant. Thoughtful, affecting stories and absolutely beautiful art.

Preacher (Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon) is like a Quentin Tarantino film on a page. Lots of swearing, lots of assorted bodily fluids, lots and lots of fun. Much like Tarantino, Ennis is a bit of a one-trick pony, but Preacher is his Pulp Fiction.

Warren Ellis writes comic dialogue better than absolutely anyone outside of Northampton. I highly recommend Transmetropolitan (a sort of more intelligent, more angry sci-fi Preacher), and all his work on the otherwise-generally-forgettable Ultimates titles - Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate Galactus. Other people rave about his Stormwatch and The Authority stories, but to be honest they didn't move me much.

Other excellent traditional superhero stuff - pretty much anything by Peter David (The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor, Young Justice), Mark Waid's The Brave And The Bold, and Frank Miller's Batman stories before he went shit - The Dark Knight Returns is everyone's favourite, but I marginally prefer Batman: Year One.

Talking of Batman, Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum is roughly the best-looking comic ever written. Talking of traditional superhero stories, Grant Morrison's runs on JLA and New X-Men are both fantastic. Talking of Grant Morrison, The Invisibles is one of my favourite comics series ever, although it's maybe a bit out-there for some people's taste, particularly later in its run.

Invisibles is a HELL of a lot of work, but the first arc (the Yeowell-illustrated one) is damn near perfect. Frankly, though, when you need an explanation for some of the stuff that happens later, I think the production is lacking. Invisibles would have been fine had Frank Quietly illustrated the entire third volume—as it is, half the points Morrison was trying to make are lost inside the dreadful artwork. Along similar lines, but with better art, is The Filth, although I again wouldn't suggest anyone starts reading that as a 'first' comic.

Transmetropolitan is superb. DC have put the first issue up as a free download Here (pdf link). It's the best thing you will read today. It's just Ellis ranting about stuff he hates whilst pretending to be Hunter S Thompson. Sure he may be a one trick pony to some, but this is a damn good trick.

He also has a free, weekly, web-comic thing going called FreakAngels - which is a 'proper' book as it were. Well worth the 0 pence it costs to read.

I need to add some comic awesomeness to an Amazon order to take it into the realsm of free delivery.

Which one should I get (must be available from Amazon, must not be 'Watchmen' as I have read it and loved it)?

Preacher from me too. Excellent series and incredibly cheap to buy today, it seems.

I still get a kick from Nemesis The Warlock and Slaine.

Like your zombies? Walking Dead all the way. I've subscribed since issue 6 and it's fantastic.

I'm lucky that my local discount bookshop very often buys a bulkload of trade paperbacks in and flogs them at 3-4 quid each.

You should avoid buying these paperbacks, or things from German eBay sellers, and get a new frikkin' router!

The only thing about stuff like 200AD is a) I never see it in the newsies, if I did I might pick one up and try it out and b) having only ever read one back when I was like 7, I have no idea who anyone is, or what's happening or why. How often do "new" stories start, otherwise the first few would probably make little to no sense?

Anything with Deadpool in. Well, except Ultimate Deadpool, cos he's shit.

If someone here wants the complete run, make me an offer. I'm not a massive fan, and would be happy to offload my Preacher books.


Nemesis is now available in three chunky volumes that reprint almost everything. (I think maybe one minor one-episode story was missed.)


2000 AD's available in two places in Fleet (pop: 25000ish), and so it must be fairly widely available. Generally, there are 'hopping aboard' issues about twice each year, and extensive reprints cover most series. The next all-new issue is 1589, on sale June 4, which contains:

Judge Dredd: The Edgar Case
Dredd's usually fairly accessible, even in stories like this that link into series that ran years back. It probably helps that John Wagner is one of the best writers in comics (although, sadly, he's also one of the most under-rated).

Defoe: Brethren of the Light
The second series for the zombie hunter. Frankly, I don't think you'll find this one hard to get into.

Nikolai Dante: Amerika
Nikolai Dante is one of 2000 AD's finest creations, and the one character from the modern era that can stand alongside the likes of Dredd and Strontium Dog. However, it has a shit-load of somewhat complex back-story. The vast majority of the story to date has been collected, but you might struggle with this one as a newcomer.

The Vort
Totally new, and as this has art by the wonderful D'Israeli, I'm seriously looking forward to this.

Sinister Dexter: Yer Ass from Yer Elbow
2000 AD's answer to Pulp Fiction, Sin/Dex has been running for years, but as it's such a lightweight strip, it's not worth hunting down reprint. Essentially, these guys are futuristic hit-men who now find themselves in the middle of a citywide gang war.

Note also that 2000 AD is an anthology, and, as such, the quality varies immensely. It's been going through a really good run this past year (although the last couple of months were a bit iffy), but chances are if the current crop of stuff doesn't strike a chord, something will soon be along that will. Also, I usually champion it because 1) it's the last British comic worth a damn, and; 2) it tends to try a lot harder than US comics—you have to grab the reader within six pages, not 22.

Your most excellently detailed post has persuaded me to pick up a copy of the June 4th issue. Would somewhere like WHSmiths stock it, perchance? I have a big one near me. I see the minimum sub on the website is a year, and I don't want to make that sort of investment in it just yet.

Smiths definitely do in Lichfield.

Probably. The one in Fleet does, as do the ones in Camberley, Reading and Basingstoke. Most largish newsagents stock it, too, along with most comic-book/hobby stores, and the odd supermarket.

And, yeah, the sub's a year or nowt (bar the digital version), but if you do decide to subscribe, the subs people are the nicest ever. I recall someone posting on the 2000 AD forum (not to the subs people) that they'd not received an issue in about two months, but were being charged. Within a few hours, the subs person had posted a quick query on the forum. A few hours later, the same subs person posted an apology, detailed why the mistake had happened, and said the person (an overseas subscriber) was now being sent a pile of back issues and a load of extras via airmail. When things go right that says nothing, but you find out about a company when things go wrong, and the subs team (which, IIRC, is basically FPI) handled things brilliantly.

Also, if you enjoy 2000 AD, start checking out the trades. Along with those already mentioned, I recommend Bad Company 'Goodbye, Krool World', Button Man 'The Killing Game', Caballistics, Inc., The Complete Indigo Prime, Judge Dredd 'The Complete P.J. Maybe' and 'Mandroid', Leviathan, the entire Nikolai Dante run, Red Seas, Robo-Hunter 'Verdus', Sláine 'Warrior's Dawn', and the wonderfully barmy XTNCT.

I want those Nemesis collections now, then I'll be wanting ABC warriors... Slaine... Strontium Dog... Rogue Trooper...

WHY ARENT COMICS FREE LIKE MUSIC IS?! ITS LIKE THE FRICKIN DARK AGES

2000AD is Sale or Return. So ask your local newsagents to order you a copy to be saved behind the the counter.

Then, if you don't pick it up, it can be sent back at no charge to the newsagent. Just, be nice, and let them know that sometimes you won't pick it up.

Well, I added on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen to my Amazon order.

I'll let you know how I get on with it.

The Rogue Trooper ones are acebest. They look so sparkly on my bookshelf

vol 2 of the league is RIDICULOUSLY cheap last time I looked on Amazon. four quid or something for something that good? GET OUT OF MY TOWN.

My local newsies suck balls, nothing I've ever "subbed" with them ever had all the issues or parts, ever ever ever. My little sister works at said Smiths, so I'll ask her to grab me a copy before it goes on the shelf.

A note of caution about Ellis - don't try and read everything he's done, or you will get jaded very quickly. Especially about goth-looking girls with an attitude. But Transmet is pretty good (though tails off a bit towards the end).

As others have mentioned, almost anything by Grant Morrison is worth your time. JLA/Invisibles are fantastic, and I'll point out that all of Animal Man and Doom Patrol is available in paperback now. Buy and meet Mr. Nobody and his Brotherhood of Dada! The first collection of All-Star Superman is also a must. I'd suggest Final Crisis (out soon!), but it might be a little too continuity-heavy for newcomers.

Also: Zenith. Except you can't read that due to Morrison/Rebellion shenenigans. But it is out there on the internet.

Scott Pilgrim! It's like a magic realist version of Spaced set in Canada. And is awesome. Also, Blue Monday is a wonderful teen series in the old John Hughes style.

If you can get your hands on the Christopher Priest (not the sci-fi author) trades of Black Panther, collecting 1-12 of his series, buy buy buy! It's like The West Wing. But with superheroes and the king of a small African nation. (Does anybody remember the Spider-Man/Iron Man 2020 backup strip in Transformers UK? Written by Priest under a pen name, with an ending more haunting than any of that Inhumanoids rubbish!)

I'd also suggest giving it a little time. If you don't like 2000 AD after four or five issues, fair dos, but with an anthology with six-page episodes, one issue might not be enough to form a reasoned decision.

In other news, I've added a graphic novels stream to Revert to Saved, and so if you want opinions on new 2000 AD books (and older ones, if I get time to write reviews), stop by!

For 2000 AD newcomers, Matt Brooker's uploaded some sketches of his forthcoming series. Looks lovely.

I should have asked before, how much is it per issue now? As long as I find *something* I like in it, I'll give it a run or maybe 6 or 7 issues to see if it's really worth my while. If I'm still buying it and enjoying it by then I'll probably sub up.

Also - I'll do *just that*.

2000 AD's £1.90 at the moment, although I'll be amazed if it doesn't hit £2 soon. (Having said that, Rebellion's been pretty good at staving off price rises on the magazine, and they've been coming very infrequently.) Old-timers might look and that with sheer horror, but in my experience most US titles go for three quid in the UK, which gets you 22 pages of so-so meandering storyline, with half an eye on a graphic novel collection (exceptions: anything where Mignola has a hand in, and a few other titles), whereas 2000 AD usually has 28 pages of fast-paced strip, although 2000 AD's cost is weekly, rather than monthly, obv.

Certainly cheap enough that I can afford to pick up a few, anyway, which was my main concern. Get paid monthly, y'see. I'd be pissed if I was enjoying a storyline then suddenly couldn't afford one or two.

Quite looking forward to seeing what it's like, now.

EGADS! more images from the Watchmen movie set (by the guy who did 300).

It's of the 1940's Minutemen. Click at your own spoiler risk.


It's terrible. But it's terrible in the way it was meant to be terrible.

I think.

I agree. That looks ace. If they made them up to look modern in the 40s, it would be superdumb.

It looks like the panel from the comic come to life. A couple of them seem more like kids' party costumes than anything anyone could actually wear, but that's really picking the proverbial blood-sucking parasite.

To be honest, all the visual stuff I've seen from the film looks excellent, other than the Godawful costume they've saddled the Silk Spectre with.

That looks smashin', and fills me with hope. As does the news that

Well, there's a first time for everything, although it's a shame three Alan Moore projects have already been wrecked to varying extents on-screen (four, if you count Constantine). I'm still not that excited about Watchmen, though. To be perfectly honest, the comic didn't really resonate with me (I much preferred V, From Hell, and, in fact, pretty much anything else Moore's written, including Chronocops), but it also seems very strictly a comic in the true sense, which is going to be very hard to adapt.

The one I'm stoked about is Hellboy II, which is looking fucking awesome. Pity that Hellboy III is now looking distinctly unlikely—at least for a number of years.

Hello. I remember that.

And Inhumanoids.

Hello Stranger.

I remember Ironman 2020, yes. And the various others. They were all better than Inhumanoids, although, I do kind of miss that. Could have been interesting. There was a limited TV show of it for a bit.

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but there was another Iron Man backup story in Transformers that I'm 75% sure wasn't the 2020 vintage. He was fighting Doctor Octopus and there was one panel in particular that showed the Doc yanking Iron Man's breastplate off with his tentacles that has thoroughly traumatised me as a child. I know nothing else about it. Does anyone else recall this / have any details about it?

Hey Mr Cochese! Nice to see you again!