I love weeks when a bunch of my favorite books come out, but then they leave me with weeks like this, when there’s only one book in my pile. That’s just a wee bit depressing, so I figured I’d ask you lovely ‘Rama readers what I should be reading. I’ve been telling you what you should be reading for years now, with varying success (ahem, Nextwave), so this is your chance to give me your pitch.
It’d be cool if it was something coming out this week, but you can lecture me about graphic novels or collections or something that I’m likely to find at my local comic shop later this afternoon. (They’re pretty well stocked on the necessities.)
So that you can better guess what to recommend me, here’s a bit of insight into my taste.
The Sandman will always be my favorite all-time comic, followed very closely by Transmetropolitan (Spider Jerusalem is the reason I’m in j-school) and Preacher. I have a comic-crush on John Constantine and Lucifer. The best comic of the last five years or so, in my eyes, has been Local. Nextwave made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe on several occasions. If I’m going to pick a favorite superhero, it’s totally Batman. And I think Scalped may be the best book on the stands right now.
So come on. If there’s one thing I know about comics fans, it’s that we love to tell other people what to read.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
i’m loving the Terra and Vixen books right now (both come out today). they’re each at issue #3 in their respective 4-issue minis, but they’re totally worth picking up. the art is stunning in both titles – Cafu (Vixen) has grown leaps and bounds since his/her work on Black Panther, and Amanda Conner’s stuff in Terra is absolutely awesome. of course, the stories are great or i wouldn’t be proselytizing about these books to begin with.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:37 am
The only thing on my list this week is Batman. And as much as I am still enjoying it, I know that by now you have either dismissed all things Morrison or will stick with his work till the creek runs dry. But warts and all, between his run and Dini’s run, there probably hasn’t been a more unpredictable time to read Batman’s adventures.
December 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I assume the one book in your pile was Sandman Dream Hunters #2. The only other book on my list this week is Hellboy Wild Hunt #1. I kind of assumed from your list that you’d be a Hellboy fan.
Oh, and glad to know I wasn’t the only one with Nextwave incontinence!
December 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
You seem to be more of a fan of characters than creators, but you may want to try some other work by the writers listed there.
Garth Ennis (Preacher) has Crossed coming out this week. Warren Ellis ( Transmetropolitan and Nextwave ) has a couple No Hero reprints, Jason AAron (Scalped) has a Punisher Max christmas special that the canadians I know loved.
December 4th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Assuming you purchased Dream Hunters…
Criminal is always good (if a bit predictable); not a perfect book, and some of the archetypes that can make a noir story, um, “noir,” is a played out a bit too “purely,” its influences show through a bit too strongly (wishing they’d bring some new perspective to what constitutes a noir story), but is still a very satisfying read, even in singles form (adore Sean Philips’ art).
Skip this week’s issue of Morrison’s Batman.
Totally skippable.
Has anyone read Haunted Tank yet?
I been thinking about giving that one a flip through.
December 4th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Have you tried the Luna Bros’ book “Sword”? Issue 13 comes out today, and it seems like it might be something you would enjoy.
Also, since you like Scalped, I’d highly recommend Ed Brubaker’s “Criminal,” which has been excellent so far, and has an issue coming out this week.
Finally, if you liked Preacher, you might want to consider Garth Ennis’ new ongoing series, “Boys,” whose 25th issue comes out today.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Did you end up getting anything else?