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"Fun" Graphic Novels

post #1 of 36
3/3/09 at 3:31am
Thread Starter 
I was hoping to get some recommendations on some graphic novels which you would consider "fun". Meaning not serious/dark/dismal. (Seems most great GN's are in this vein, and I've read most of them)

Like the ever-excellent Scott Pilgrim perhaps? When I was younger I read many of the manga it seems to parody/riff on, like DragonBall, etc. They have a light hearted tone underneath it all. I can't seem to find too many that fit this description anymore.
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post #2 of 36
3/3/09 at 3:35am
Bone.
Bone Bone Bone Bone Bone.


Bone.
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post #3 of 36
3/3/09 at 4:36am
True Story Swear To God.
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post #4 of 36
3/3/09 at 9:13am
I thought Alan Moore's TOP TEN was a hoot.
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post #5 of 36
3/3/09 at 9:14am
Tony Millionaire's Billy Hazelnuts is fun. Sure, it has some measure of pathos and all that jazz, but still...any book featuring a small gingerbread homunculus driven mad by flies inside his head...well, that's FUN.
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post #6 of 36
3/3/09 at 9:18am
Creature Tech
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post #7 of 36
3/3/09 at 9:31am
I really enjoyed Kyle Baker's "You are Here", and also the Madman books by Michael Allred are a zippy, swingin' read.

Edit: Oh, and per my avatar, The Middleman series is great. The show was a tremendous amount of fun too. Author is Javier Grillo-Marxauch.
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post #8 of 36
3/3/09 at 10:01am
I remember Lobo being pretty fun too.
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post #9 of 36
3/3/09 at 10:03am
'Goddess' by Garth Ennis was a pretty fun read.
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post #10 of 36
3/3/09 at 10:54am
Evan Dorkin's "Hectic Planet." Vol. 2 of the collections is where it really starts to come into its own.
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post #11 of 36
3/3/09 at 10:56am
SamTanry, The Tick-Golden Age featuring the defenders of...The City, The Nigh Invurnerable Tick and his mothman sidekick Arthur, in a parody of the Golden Age of Comics. SPOON! (for the uninitiated...Spoon is the battle cry of...The Tick.)
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post #12 of 36
3/3/09 at 11:09am
Good call, duke.

Also: Zot, Akiko, and Ill repeat Gabe: BONE.
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post #13 of 36
3/3/09 at 11:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
Creature Tech
Good call. I'm a fan of Doug TenNapel's writing, not so much of the guy's politics.
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post #14 of 36
3/3/09 at 12:40pm
Chynna Clugston-Major's Blue Monday series. I'm surprised that this hasn't seen a surge in popularity since Scott Pilgrim broke out, as it pushes many of the same "hyper-pop literate youth culture" buttons that O'Malley's stuff does.

The first volume, The Kids Are Alright, is really fun.
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post #15 of 36
3/3/09 at 2:32pm
Jeff Nicholson's Colonia. Informative and fun. He writes it part-time and when he gets the time. Only 2 books in 7 years but they're really great.

Ryan Yount and Andrew Boyd's Scurvy Dogs.

Ken Knudtsen's My monkey's name is Jennifer.

A lot of Onipress's material. Barry Ween, Off-road, Banana Sunday.....

The Goon!
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post #16 of 36
3/3/09 at 2:35pm
Mother of shit, I forgot Barry Ween. That's Winick's best stuff.


And The Goon....damn me.
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post #17 of 36
3/3/09 at 3:56pm
Speaking of Bone, Jeff Smith's Shazam is also a hell of a lot of fun.

And yes, definitely The Goon.
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post #18 of 36
3/3/09 at 4:00pm
Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright is technically a straight-up superhero comic, but it's also very fun. Superheroes=fun? Who knew?
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post #19 of 36
3/3/09 at 4:18pm
Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (for Darrow's work, less for Miller's) is a quick little blast of fun.

Sam & Max has always been a favorite.

All of the other recommendations are great, though, and Bone is absolutely essential.
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post #20 of 36
3/3/09 at 4:26pm
Thread Starter 
Just popping in to say thanks for all the recommendations so far. I have read about half of Bone years ago and somehow forgot about it. I'll have to rectify that, it was indeed great. Most of the other recommendations I haven't heard of(minus the original Tick and Sam and Max, which are also fabulous), so I'm definitely going to be looking into these.
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post #21 of 36
3/3/09 at 4:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Supremo View Post
Speaking of Bone, Jeff Smith's Shazam is also a hell of a lot of fun.

And yes, definitely The Goon.
I really enjoyed his Shazam as well. Have any of you read his new book RASL? I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.
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post #22 of 36
3/3/09 at 5:33pm
The just-ended Blue Beetle series (there's 4 trades out now) is lots of fun.

Azzarello's Dr. 13: Architecture & Morality was great, and a surprisingly bright departure for him.

Empowered from Adam Warren.
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post #23 of 36
3/3/09 at 5:48pm
I'll back up Top Ten, Barry Ween, Zot, and I'm gonna look into the rest of them myself. I'll also add that other fun Alan Moore comic - Tom Strong.
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post #24 of 36
3/3/09 at 6:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lurker monkey View Post
I really enjoyed his Shazam as well. Have any of you read his new book RASL? I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.
I haven't read RASL, but you just reminded me that I need to check it out.
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post #25 of 36
3/3/09 at 6:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Supremo View Post
I haven't read RASL, but you just reminded me that I need to check it out.
Yup. To the public library search page!
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post #26 of 36
3/3/09 at 7:01pm
Might not find it yet. There have only been 3 or 4 issues released, I think.
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post #27 of 36
3/3/09 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Troy n View Post
As well anything by Craig Thompson or Scott Morse is a sure thing.
Mr. Morse's MAGIC PICKLE is a fun, youth-oriented read.

(not slang)
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post #28 of 36
3/3/09 at 7:36pm
RASL's a very different animal from Bone (good thing, much as I loved Bone): it's about a dimension-hopping art thief with a drinking problem, told in a less linear fashion than was Bone. It takes a couple issues to get going, but by #3 the mystery plot starts to gel, and there's some nifty sci-fi stuff. It gets to its dark and brutal places much faster than Bone did, and I'll be surprised if it winds up feeling "fun" in the same way.

The art is a rougher ride, since I have the impression that Smith is trying to craft something that doesn't look exactly like Bone, and only getting it about half the time. All that means, though, is that the art is a bit inconsistent: it's never less than beautiful, and often quite exciting.

The first trade came out late last year, and I think it's around ten bucks at most online places. Well worth it.

I'd recommend Ted Naifeh's "Courtney Crumrin" books (Emily the Strange reimagined as Nancy Drew), and if you know any young kids looking for "fun" comics, Andy Runton's "Owly" is pure goodness.
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post #29 of 36
3/3/09 at 9:18pm
Bone, Goon, Sam & Max, etc

I also like Liberty Meadows and PVP in the strip-vein.
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post #30 of 36
3/22/10 at 6:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chunkstyle View Post
Empowered from Adam Warren.
Yep. One of the better pure fun books out there.

If there's a movie version, I vote Amanda Seyfried as Emp.
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post #31 of 36
3/22/10 at 6:15pm
From across the interwebz Millette's avatar calls to me, saying but one thing: Nextwave.
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post #32 of 36
3/22/10 at 10:30pm
Personally I'd recommend Brooklyn Dreams by J.M. DeMatteis. It's equal parts funny and touching and quite wonderful. It's also illustrated by Detroit alternative artist Glenn Barr.

One of my absolute favourites.
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post #33 of 36
3/23/10 at 1:17am
Greg Pak's "Incredible Herc" series has been a hoot since day one; hell, how can you go wrong with a series that features this panel?



Yes, the Purple Nurple is an accepted move in Godly Duels.

"Street Angel" is pretty damn fun, and "Living with Zombies" was a hoot (haven't seen any new issues, dammit!)
"Nextwave" remains the perfect mi of awesome and hilarious.
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post #34 of 36
3/23/10 at 1:23am
Richard Moore's Boneyard. A modern and adult take on the monster comedy shows that came out of the 60's. Great characterisations with wonderful art. Funny, charming and quite sexy too. Love it.
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post #35 of 36
3/24/10 at 11:12am
I'm so happy to see this much Jeff Smith love here, and the beauty of Bone is that it gets a lot more serious without ever losing that "fun" factor of the earlier chapters. I wish more writers could do that as effortlessly as Smith does. His other stuff is great too (Shazam is particularly notable for actually making me give a crap about Captain Marvel), but Bone remains his crowning achievement.

The Goon is definitely a freaking blast 99% of the time, and Scott Pilgrim arguably qualifies for just how crazy and awesome the action scenes get. All-Star Superman is pretty fun as well, although I'm not quite as in love with it as some people are. That's about all I can think of for the moment.
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post #36 of 36
3/24/10 at 11:28am
Can't go wrong with Scud: The Disposable Assassin. It's got action, humor, romance, kinetic artwork, and it's just packed to the brim with fun.

I'll also echo Bone and Scott Pilgrim.
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