I've read at least one volume of the Scott Pilgrim series and watched the movie and to me it was all just a big pop culture joke.

I really haven't read a lot of comics in my lifetime but I do enjoy reading the original Crow. Lately, I've been setting my eyes on the Dark Tower prequel comics.

Ive collected comics since before I could read, dont buy them anymore, but thats only because I dont have a comic book shop near me. I moved away from super hero titles a few year ago, still picked up the odd Batman though. There is some great books out there, not sure about new stuff though, Life During War Time was good, not sure if its still running, its a Vertigo book. I was buying a lot of Vertigo graphic novels, mostly Niel Gaiman stuff, for the stories, much better written, much better subject matter and content... Or just about anything Alan Moore.... 100 bullets also is good, also Vertigo. Or anything by Ben Templesmith.

I didn't vote because I didn't agree with any of the options. I enjoy underground comics and manga(which I don't have huge collection of thanks to no comic shops around here and having to drive an hour to get to one), but I gave up on Marvel and DC a long time ago; too many damn retcons and some writers fucking up my favorites characters. I still enjoy the cartoon adaptions since they are actually consistent(in other words: no fucking retcons!). Also, I enjoy a series that knows when to freaking end; not keep going on and on while getting more and more stale.

The only comics I ever read was the Dylan Dog horror series. The main character(Dylan Dog) calls himself a nightmare investigator and he is investigating all sorts of supernatural activity. I had around 100+ comics from that series. I stopped reading it before like 6-7 years and since then I haven't read a single comic, so I wont vote.

I also didnt vote, as my answer didnt fit into the options..

Wish I could edit new answers into it lol!

I think the present day comics are a lot better than they used to be. I'm referring both to the themes and the awesome sexiness found in comics like WitchBlade, Fathom, etc.

I really hate the Marvel Comic books, they are so cheesy.

There are many undiscovered gems out there.

I highly recommend Midnight Nation , Bad Kitty, F.V.Z.A and IZombie.
There is also a 4 issue comic called Transhuman. It had an immense affect on me. It explains the futility of the trans-humanist movement.

There are also there comics : Chastity , BloodRayne and Durham Red. Very well done, but I can't figure out why they look the same. All three characters have red hair, fangs, awesome figure , and vampiric traits. The only thing different is the timeline.

Also there is Transmetropolitan, a cyber-punk spin off to that movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Comic books truly came a long way. Now they explore subjects other than superhero versus bad guy stuff. If this was the Silver Age or Golden Age of comic books, I probably wouldn't be a fan.

God, I've got catching up to do. I still haven't read any of those yet.



Marvel was great during the '90s, but by the Double-Ought years the "House of Ideas" had run out of ideas. Civil War? Yeah, that story's been brewing since the '70s. Know why they did it? Because they ran out of other ideas. If they hadn't, they'd have been dragging that story out longer or putting it off more. Comic companies only pull out all the stops because they've got nothing better to do story-wise and they're losing readers by the buckets.



That one especially intrigues me. I've been fascinated by the transhumanist movement, but I never could see the logic in it. Everybody incorporates technology into their bodies. Nuclear war happens. An EMP goes off. Suddenly, we have a planet filled with lifeless, rotting cyborgs. Nice job, transhumanists.



That description alone makes me want to read these. Wasn't Chastity put out by the same guys who did Lady Death?



Downloaded that recently with the intent to read. I've heard much good about Spider Jerusalem's journalistic antics.



I don't mind the superhero stuff, as long as it's done well. For me, the greatest examples of a superhero done right would be Golden Age Batman and Silver Age Spider-Man.

Golden Age Batman (circa 1930s-1940s) began as the Dark Knight we saw in the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight: a vengeful "living wraith" who preyed upon the criminals. Operating in Depression Era Gotham City (a pastiche of New York and Chicago), he was the ultimate metaphor for an urban populace who were growing increasingly restless and desperate during a time when food was scarce and a good paying job (that wasn't illegal) was hard to come by. As the Great Depression had made some so desperate they turned to crime or joined the Mob, a voiceless populace - especially young males, who wanted to take their place in society while they were simultaneously disgusted by its injustices and frustrated by their lack of ability to do anything about it - flocked to a fictional hero who embodied their own struggle to fight that injustice. Sure, Batman was wealthy, but the tragic death of his parents made him sympathetic: during the Great Depression all individuals were hit hard by economic hardships and the resulting high crime rate, and not even the rich were spared. Even his villains, goofy Dick Tracey rejects that they were, all served as metaphors: the Penguin, a crime boss representative of the Mafia's hold on the masses, growing ever fatter off of society's misery and desperation, a stereotypical "stuffed suit" (penguin suit, one would say) who cared more about his wealth and his upper-class appearance and less about those his goons terrorized; Catwoman, a cat burglar who took her name a little too literally, serving as both villain and heroine - a villain at times, for many readers had been victimized by burglars seeking something to pawn off for money, and a heroine to those who wanted to play Robin Hood and "rob from the rich", as she did; and the Joker, a sadistic murderer with a comedy fetish, a man who laughed at others' misery and served as a metaphor for the chaos brought by organized (and in his case, disorganized) crime.

We look at Batman today, and we see silly, goofy comic book shlock being re-imagined as "darker" and "grittier" to lure in new readers. This is because we are seventy years removed from the metaphors the story was meant to manifest. Batman was always dark and gritty. Marketing gurus made him cheesy later on ("Holy Adam West, Batman!"), and that's a mistake the comics industry is still trying to overcome. Regardless, when you look at Golden Age Batman (and the modern efforts by comic writers like Jeph Loeb, Frank Miller, Alan Grant and Grant Morrison to return the character to his Golden Age roots), you see a superhero done right.

Silver Age Spider-Man (circa 1960s-1970s) was the hero we're all familiar with: a down-on-his-luck, depressingly geeky loner teen who is suddenly granted powers that not only give him everything he ever wanted - great strength, speed and agility (to beat back the bullies with and beat 'em all at sports) and the body of an Adonis (which, in the adolescent male's mind, would help "get the chicks") - but were wicked cool as well. (C'mon, a spider! I'm an arachnophobe, and I'll admit spiders are cool!) He gets these powers, tries to make money with them (and is it wrong to make money off of your God-given skills?), gets greedy and loses his uncle in the process because he fails to use his skills responsibly. His story taught an important lesson, and the character served as an embodiment of the teenage frustrations of all his readers: the drive to use their skills to succeed in life and finally be free of the shackles of youth as society places the wearying shackles of adulthood in their place instead, the desire to achieve our dreams (beat the bully, get the girl, see your name in lights) versus the day-to-day responsibilities we all face (family problems, taking care of aging parents, paying the bills, getting a real job).

Marvel's problem with Spider-Man is that they wouldn't let him change much past that. The concept is great, but they keep trying to lock him into the "teenage/young adult" mode by getting rid of any serious love interest so he can get into one ill-fated relationship after another. (In other words: they gave up on a great dramatic story - the responsibility of being married and starting a family - in favor of shlocky teen/young adult drama, like all the other "90210"/"The O.C." style dreck out there.) When they do change an aspect, it's for marketing purposes: having him join superteams so they can sell action figures and get tossed into one fantastic situation (working for Tony Stark?) after another (joining the Fantastic Four??) instead of keeping him grounded in the day-to-day (focusing on, oh, I don't know, being a good high school teacher, a plot point J. Michael Straczynski introduced that Marvel never did anything with after - or even during - his run on Amazing Spider-Man) and telling good stories. Modern Spidey? They screwed him up in the mid-'90s. (The abysmal Clone Saga was the end of him.) Spidey during the Silver Age? That was a superhero done right.

We need more living metaphors like that in our stories, but the industry is too busy churning out whatever dreck the company suits think will turn a profit to actually bother with quality work.

Yes @Agent Bat, Chastity was created by the guys from Chaos! Comics who made Lady Death and Evil Ernie.

I like you in depth posts. You certainly know your comic books.

I recently finished reading the Marvel Zombie series. Seeing the Fantastic 4, Spiderman-Man, Wolverine and all the marvel superheroes in the position of flesh eating zombies devouring entire cities was a breath of fresh air. I didn't think Marvel was capable of this.

And as for Batman, I like the fact that he has no super power, but has one power that renders him superior to all others : moneyyy !

You are right, there are metaphors in these superheroes, but I usually ignore that, and focus on the action.

I think the coolest metaphor is Superman. I hate him as a character, but I share Bill's opinion. That is Bill from Kill Bill vol.2. :

"As you know, l'm quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the mythology... The mythology is not only great, it's unique.
Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."

I hate to say it, but there are days I agree with Bill.

I voted for 'getting better'... but wasn't thinking in terms of Supers, which I'm not such a fan of... more along the lines of the great journalistic and semi/quasi-autobiographical comics that are out there now.
Also older stuff that led the way... like Love & Rockets, Yummy Fur, Dirty Plotte, Palookaville... and Maus.
Artists such as Daniel Clowes, Julie Doucet, Chester Brown, The Hernandez Bros., the whole Drawn & Quarterly crowd... Jessica Abel, Charles Burns, Joe Sacco...

Comics these days are better than ever.

I have to agree there, especially since you mentioned Maus. I <3 Maus!

Maus is the only graphic novel that really got to me. Its an unsettling classic.

To be honest, this is why I never got into comics as a kid. The superhero genre just plain didn't make any sense.

That said, modern publications like Mouse Guard are infinitely charming works which I will, have and regularly do pay real money to have. I never read Transmetroplolitan but the same people are behind Freakangels and that's been pretty fun.

I guess I was blessed to have access to comic book shops that had lots of different types of comics... not just superheros... and an uncle who regularly funneled me old underground stuff when my parents weren't looking (he did the same thing for me with music... gave me my first mix tapes of L.A. punk bands).