So, I'm Reading The Watchmen, Which Is Totally Awesome. Recommend Some Other Graphic Novels

[Yavin4]

BTW, after reading about half of this, I am having serious doubts about the movie. It does not lend itself to be your typical Hollywood-Superhero big budget kind of movie.

What other graphic novels should I read next?

[Critters2]

1. Is that the one the Jehovah's Witnesses leave in your door?

Cuz I read that, and frankly, I wasn't impressed.

[Yavin4]

2. Close

But not quite.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. I thought that was The Watch Tower...either way -- NOT

impressive. :fistbump:

[keroro gunsou]

4. x-men: god loves, man kills.

oldie but a goodie.

on edit:

THIS is the x-men story i'd have killed to see on the big screen for the bad-ass-ery factor. when you've got gentle kurt wagner playing up the fact he looks like a demon to terrorize someone, you know the shit's hitting the fan. plus, it's the birth of wolverine's 1, 2, 3 trick. it was also nice to see magneto being a nominal good guy, and scott summers not being a doucherocket for a change. all that and cute kitty pride too... plus a nice, though obvious, morality lesson.

chris claremont at his best.

excelsior!

[Danger Mouse]

6. yeah, that's a really good one, too.

[ThomCat]

27. I also recommend this. One of my favorite graphic novels of all time.

[Danger Mouse]

5. If you like Spiderman, read 'Kraven's Last Hunt'...

easily the best Spiderman story ever.
Also HIGHLY recommended:
Daredevil 'Guardian Devil'
Batman 'Year One'
Batman 'The Dark Knight Returns'
Batman 'Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth' (not for the easily freaked out, this one :P)

[keroro gunsou]

7. not a graphic novel

but i'd personally hunt down and kill the person or persons for the madman that can produce the films of my all time favorite x-stories: mutant massacre and x-tinction agenda. sad to say it, but heath ledger would have OWNED cameron hodge in x-tinction agenda.

[Zomby Woof]

8. Great!

Then you will get my avatar. It's quite an alternate history/reality Alan Moore constructed. Every little detail in every panel matters. You will notice something new each time you read it.

If you haven't already, try Moore's "V For Vendetta".


I admit I have a lot of apprehension about the movie. I could see a miniseries, perhaps, to allow the story some breathing room. Moore is admittedly scornful of the project and automatically disavows anything of his made into a film. I suppose because special effects/CGI have caught up with comics (for the most part), they feel justified into making a movie out of it. Still, I will see it.

[DarkTirade]

9. I tend to read the quirky weird ones.

I.E., not necessarily the regular superhero ones. :) And from what I've gathered, Watchmen is not a regular superhero one, so I intend to get around to reading that one at some point.

For some interesting takes on the superhero universe genre, I'd recommend The Authority and Planetary. They kind of go together in one universe. The Authority are the superhero team, Planetary is a behind-the-scenes group. They had at least one crossover that I know of, and there were several mentions of characters and events from one in the other.

For some non-superhero ones, I recommend Wormwood and Transmetropolitan. Wormwood is a 'what if' story dealing with religion. In this case, what if Christ and the Anti-Christ decided to tell their dads to (*&% off, and ended up becoming best friends. Transmetropolitan is a story about a Hunter S. Thompson style insane/drug-addled writer/reporter in a weird cyberpunk setting.

[cemaphonic]

23. Well, Watchmen is still a superhero comic.

It's a total deconstruction of the genre, but it's not like Ghost World or Bone, or even Sandman. As much as Moore professes to dislike superhero comics, he's done a bunch of landmark ones over the years.

But it is well worth reading.

[DarkTirade]

31. Yeah, the Authority is a lot like that.

[Duer 157099]

10. The ones I loved the most were The Preacher series

sort of reminds me of the current HBO series "True Blood" in some ways.

It's twisted and deviant, though, so beware.

But outstanding artwork. imho.

[MilesColtrane]

11. I second the recommendation of more Alan Moore.

"V For Vendetta", "Miracleman", his "Swamp Thing", and "Batman: The Killing Joke" were all genius.

Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series is also very good.

[cemaphonic]

24. And "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"

Moore really nails (often to an uncomfortable degree) the sensibilities of Victorian era society and literature.

[Connonym]

12. Can't forget to mention Maus

[RoseMead]

15. That is an amazing work

There are two Maus volumes, if I remember correctly?

I still crack up when I think of the Simpsons episode where the new comic store in town is having a book signing: There's the author signing Maus, Alan Moore signing Lost Girls (!) and one other comic I didn't recognize (but which probably fits in with the other two). I bet 95% of the people who watched that episode had no idea what those books were about! lol

[RoseMead]

13. Camelot 3000

is a fun read, especially for fans of the King Arthur legends.

Also, not a graphic novel, but a comic series with a clear beginning and end: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Like Watchmen, it won an award that was usually only given for "real" literature, ie books.

Re: Translating the Watchmen to film, according to word on the tubes, atleast one big change has been made to the story. I don't like the change, but we'll see how it translates in the film. One good thing: everything I've seen so far in the previews looks like it was taken *straight* from the comic.

On a personal note, I was a big fan of the series "Hellblazer," and thought the movie "Constantine" was an abomination. Watchmen is another huge favorite of mine, so they better not screw it up! lol


edited for typo

[NJmaverick]

14. The Dark Knight Returns

One of the best I ever read

[Broken_Hero]

36. ditto on this recommendation,

I just finishd Watchmen this past november or so, and it was very good, I can't believe I went all these mortal years, without reading it before, I plan on reading it again before the flick comes out...and the ending, you won't see it coming

I also liked the story in the story, what the little black kid is reading at the news stand, the story of the pirates/guy lost at sea.

[bicentennial_baby]

16. The Preacher series, The Invisibles, Sandman, Fables

Off the top of my head. :)

[seemunkee]

17. I'm reading Fables:War & Pieces now

I always liked Willinghams work.

I'll second the Sandman books and Batman The Killing Joke.
Grendel is one of my favorite series, especially the God and the Devil story
I would also add any of the Love and Rockets/Luba stories (anything by the Hernandez bros.)
If you like Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery Mouse Guard is a good series with beautiful artwork.

[sasquatch]

32. I'm reading the Sandman right now

[bicentennial_baby]

34. Which volume?

They're all just so good. I own the whole set. I reread them often.

[sasquatch]

35. Absolute Sandman volume 1

[TK421]

18. Transmetropolitan....

http://www.sequart.com/transmet.htm

[dropkickpa]

19. The Love & Rockets comics

Awesome, wonderful, life changing. I grew up reading them, they reaslly had an impact on me, let me tell ya.

[BOSSHOG]

20. THE TERROR by Dan Simmons

will give you all the "graphic" you want. Based on a true story of British Ships exploring the Arctic in the mid 19th Century with a nice helping of scare the crap out of you fiction.

If ya want a short read, check out Jack London's "To Build a Fire." Very scary!

[semillama]

21. Moore's From Hell is one of the most mind-blowing pieces of work you'll read in the GN format

Really. It's unabashedly graphic and very weird, but ultimately one of the best treatments of the Jack the Ripper story you're ever going to read.

I also recommend Jeff Smith's Bone, and Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo series for a change of pace.

Also, if you liked the alternative twist on heroes in Watchmen, you should look at Moore's Top Ten and Bendis' Powers. Both are fantastic.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

22. I just finished that yesterday

Absolutely loved it.

I was a bit of a Ripper-phile when I was a kid (so I knew most of the history), and I really liked Moore's take on it. Very gripping, and the artwork was great.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. Bone.

[Dr. Strange]

26. I've always been fond of the Crow.

[Forkboy]

28. Epileptic by David B.

No superheroes, just a story of a kid growing up with an epileptic brother. One of the best I've read (graphic novel or otherwise), and the artwork is top notch.



The book tells the story of the artist's early childhood and adolescence, focusing on his relationship with his brother and sister. His brother develops severe and intractable epilepsy, causing the family to seek a variety of solutions from alternative medicine, most dramatically by moving to a commune based on macrobiotic principles. As the epileptic brother loses control of his own life, the artist develops solitary obsessions with cartoons, mythology and war. The book's graphic style becomes increasingly elaborate as the children's fantasy life takes over, with their dreams and fears (including epilepsy itself) appearing as living creatures. In brief interludes, the children appear as adults when the artist begins the process of writing the story.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

29. Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns."

It has nothing to do with the movie, but it takes place when Batman is about 60 years old, during the Reagan years.

He has to fight Joker, Two-Face and Superman as well. Very dark, but totally worth it.

[Yavin4]

38. I Have That And I'm Reading That Next

Thanks.

[TK421]

40. Read it....fantastic work!

[Orrex]

44. Can't recommend 'The Dark Knight Returns' highly enought, but...

By all means skip DK2: The Dark Knight Strikes Again.


For all his self-congratulation about his self-described iconoclastic genius, Frank will waffle as quickly as anyone if the price is right.

Apparently the price was right, and more's the pity.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. Vintage Grant Morrison is fer ya:

Animal Man:
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Man-Book/dp/1563890054/
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Man-Book-Origin-Species/dp/156389890X/
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Man-Book-Deus-Machina/dp/156389968X/

Doom Patrol:
http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Patrol-Book-Crawling-Wreckage/dp/1563890348/
http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Patrol-Book-Painting-Paris/dp/1401203426/
http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Patrol-Book-Down-Paradise/dp/140120726X/
http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Patrol-Book-4-Musclebound/dp/1401209998/
http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Patrol-Book-Magic-Bus/dp/1401212026/
http://www.amazon.com/Doom-Patrol-Planet-Love-6/dp/1401216242/

Most mindblowing comic books EVAH.

[sasquatch]

33. DC Universe the stories of Alan Moore

[Orsino]

37. Sandman

I wasn't a huge fan of comics in my youth. Sandman is what made me one today.

Lucifer had its origins in Sandman, but is great on its own. Fables is pretty magnificent, too.

[bicentennial_baby]

39. I adore Fables...

I need the latest one. I should pick that up soon.

[Orsino]

41. If you mean the latest trade, yes you certainly do.

Big-time resolution of the major story arc. The good news is that the author is promising us much more to come.

I don't follow single issues--it's one way I justify the expense of the trades--so I am not quite current.

[bicentennial_baby]

47. Yes, that one

I've been...well, busy, and totally forgot about it. WANT.

Hmmm, maybe I'll stroll down to the comic shop tomorrow. :D

[sasquatch]

46. Alan Moore's "V for Vendetta" made me a big fan of them

[MrScorpio]

42. Wanted

I've got so many graphic novels, you'd spend a month reading them

[BlueIris]

43. "Blankets," by Craig Thompson. nt

[ghostsofgiants]

45. Way different from Watchment, but I really like Ghost World.