Recommend a Comic!

Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
Brubaker may have made his name with superhero stuff, but this is where his heart lies, and when teamed with Phillips, nobody currently does better hard-boiled noir.

Scalped. Best thing I have gotten hooked on lately. Really, pick it up.

The Goon. When it comes out, it's a humor/horror blend that would have given Dr. Wertham nightmares. And Eric Powell's one of the best artists working today.

Plus all the books suggested above.

I picked up the Gotham Central trades and I'm loving it all. I haven't hit a lame arc so far. I also love the Punisher that Garth Ennis did (I used to HATE the Punisher, too...).

Those are my sole recommendations for now.

Matt, You need to add an "s" there. The Chabon-based comic stuff is pretty confusing. There were squarebound issues called The Escapist, and then there was the floppy miniseries called The Escapists. That's the Vaughan series. Adding to the confusion, the BKV plural series actually started in the squarebound, singular series, but was reprinted as a floppy #1. *head explode*

Coincidentally, I JUST elaborated on this whole situation to a guy in Oxford comics last night. He said it was helpful, he thought.

Also, I can loan you my CRIMINAL originals sometime, if you like. Then you get the bonus back pages that aren't in the TPBs. Patton Oswalt!

The Modesty Blaise comic strips by Peter O' Donnell and artist Jim Holdaway. Vols. 1-6 of the Titan reprints cover the Holdaway years (1963-70).

Seconding SCALPED and CRIMINAL, and thanks for the heads-up on ESCAPISTS. Good thread!

MAGE ....I've seen the first story collected into hardcover form in B&N recently. Very nice. "Magic is Green". Arthurian myths in a modern urban setting. The art in this first series was spectacular.

'BREED by Jim Starlin. It may be coming out in hardcover soon. I hope he'll finally get around to finishing the series. Each issue is a morsel of story, but it's so kinetic and energetic, and Starlin loves to draw the fiddly architecture of "Elsewhere". Plus, the protagonist looks so badass with his trenchoat and arsenal of hack and slash blades. He looks like a gorilla with rams horns, and he chops demons, lovingly drawn in all their unique fiddly detail, to bits. It's totally worth it to try and collect the original series ('Breed, 'Breed II) and it's not hard to find, or very expensive.

To follow on someone else's comment (sorry, forgot who), if you're going to SDCC, see if you can scrounge around and pick up the rest of Criminal in the regular comics form, as you'll get some fun stuff that's not in the trade editions.

If you like Brubaker then check out Incognito. Everything that's been already mentioned is pretty good as well, it just depends on what genres you're into. And now that it's all wrapped-up, if you haven't had any experience with 100 Bullets it's a pretty fun read. Planetary as well, in the spirit of #27.

Fantastic recommendation.

For a current title, I'll suggest Unknown Soldier. I'll lamely use a movie analogy: Think The Bourne Identity meets Hotel Rwanda. The premise is, a world-class immigrant surgeon from the States moves back to Uganda ostensibly to help with a relief organization in the country's recovery from civil war. Slowly, however, he realizes he has another skillset, that of a Delta Force operator, which he has no memory of acquiring. The comic is uncompromising in its depiction of the civil war in Uganda. Probably the best Vertigo title out there right now.

Does everyone know that Jeff Smith (of BONE) has a new comic out called "The Drift"? First book is out now, in the graphic novel section. Blew me away.

Yeah, it's volume 1 of his new series "RASL." I believe that we have a review of the latest issue coming in this week's Thor column.

I recently re-read Mike Allred's Madman series, and can whole-heartedly recommend it.

Yeah, they have not really appreciated in price-- you can probably get them for cover if you look.

There's also a giant, hardback CRIMINAL volume coming soon, but I don't think it will have the back page texts.

Apart from some standard Ennis weirdness I have enjoyed what I've read of THE BOYS so far.

You may or may not have read some of these series, but here are some ones you may like:

Planetary - this one is wrapping up soon, apparently, but is amazing. Read the summary here, but don't go any further
The Unwritten - brand-new series, continues to be fantastic. You have to read this and let yourself be surprised by the simple yet awesome hook used as a basis for the story.
Incognito - about a super villian who's trying to stop, only he keeps on getting pulled back in
Ressurection - what happens after aliens who have invaded and occupied Earth for 10 years suddenly leave
Storming Paradise - a WWII tale set in and around Japan, just great writing and if you are a fan of Saving private Ryan you should check this one out
Ignition City - humans figure out star travel before WW1, then decide no one is allowed to pilot starcraft. It's primarily a murder mystery story so far, but the settings is really rich and the artwork reminds me of Mobius' Airtight Garage series.
RASL - I second this recommendation, as the series is only in issue #5 so far, and the 5th is the best yet. Some of the art is absolutely inspiring here, and Jeff Smith knows how to tell a great story.
Echo - I am very biased towards this series as I am a huge fan of Terry moore and his Strangers In Paradise series. It's a classic super-hero tale with quite an emphasis on character and relationships VS all-out action, though there is plenty of that too.

I've still never read Strangers In Paradise. Time to add it to the pile of failure and procrastination, also known as my TO READ box.

It starts off very strongly. Somewhere around the 2/3 point, it feels as though the story really starts to spin its wheels, but the amazing art carries even the weaker issues. And it really goes out on a very satisfying note.

Honestly, I could just enjoy an entire book of nothing but Moore's depiction of different facial expressions; half the time it feels as though the words don't really add much to what the characters are already telling us in their faces.

JONAH HEX needs more readers. Especially people that appreciate good art, Jordi Bernet is awesome, done in one stories, and a lack of tie-ins to superhero crossover "events".

Tales Designed To Thrizzle, available at finer bookstores everywhere.

The new HOUSE OF MYSTERY is swell. Don't be intimidated if you don't like anthologies; it's actually more of a continuing narrative now with short stories sprinkled in as asides.

I picked up the new Madame Xanadu tpb, partly because it's a great value with 10 issues for less than $13, partly on reviews, and partly just because it's a Matt Wagner project. Looks good so far.

The Savage Dragon.

It's set in real time, so Dragon's 17 years older, starting to lose more and more fights, he has two kids that we've seen grow, the creator has written, pencilled and inked all the 150 issues so far... And it's just plain fun! Ask Nick, it's one of his faves, too.

100 Bullets..the last TPB was just released..I'll be honest it started to slip a little towards the end but it went out with a bang.Probably my favorite crime comic.

Still haven't bought the last trade of 100 Bullets. I'll be very nervous about starting it when i do.

Just read the latest DMZ and saw these two titles advertised which look pretty cool.

Filthy Rich(review) by Azzarello which has gotten the thumbs up from crime novelist/God, George Pelecanos.

“Filthy Rich is the real noir. It captures the genre’s psychosis and inner dark with intelligent writing and atmospheric art. A great performance from Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos.” —George Pelecanos, New York Times bestselling author. Link

and

Dark Entries. A John Constantine story by Ian Rankin. Didn't even know Rankin was having a dip in the comic world.

Calvin and Hobbes, my single favorite comic of all time

Can you guys recommend any graphic novels for women? My girlfriend is just getting into comics; so far she has read and loved Watchmen, Scott Pilgrim, Runaways and Ex Machina. Any suggestions for a budding girl nerd?

I loved "LXG" volumes I and II, mina murray is a strong female character, and the books are full of all sorts of cool references

SUPREME POWER started off fantastic, then...stopped. Like completely. So I guess I don't recommend reading it, unless you want to see a story you're enjoying come to an abrupt halt never to be resolved again ever.

Still, a great and often times funny looked at totally messed up DC heroes.

SCOTT PILGRIM is not only cheap, but just a fantastic story. Pick it up at once!

Have her try Joss Whedon's FRAY. It's awesome awesome. Fun female protagonist.

Maybe Y THE LAST MAN? I've only read the first few volumes, but I dig it.

Oh, and Bendis/Maleev's ALIAS from a few years ago. Not the one with Sydney Bristow.

Sandman.

Northlanders is pretty fucking awesome.

Some one shot comics I personally recommend would be Brooklyn Dreams by J.M.DeMatteis and art by the awesome Glenn Barr (a particular fave of mine), Katsuhiro Otomo's twisted suburban battle of the psychics Domu: A Childs Dream, everyone should read Art Spiegelmans MAUS: A Survivors Tale and I've recently been blown away by the first collected volume of Alan Moores run on Swamp Thing.

Chicks dig BONE.

My wife read all of Y the Last Man. That's the only one I've convinced her to read.

One of my personal favorites from recent years that can probably still be found in back-issue bins (only one trade was made, unfortunately of only the first four issues) was Ed Brubaker's short-lived Vertigo sci-fi series, DEADENDERS. Tragically, it was cut short just before the final issue, so the storyline was never fully resolved.

They all died at the end.

I think Cameron Stewart did some art for that.

Dark Horse reprints of Bonelli comics. Love these.

Dylan Dog (horror)
http://www.amazon.com/Dylan-Dog-Case...0622839&sr=1-1

Martin Mystery (adventure)
http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Mystery...0622967&sr=1-3

Nathan Never (sci-fi)
http://www.amazon.com/NATHAN-NEVER-C...0622745&sr=1-3

He was an inker on it. Warren Pleece was the penciler for the entire run, with Philip Bond on covers.

Speaking of Philip Bond, hunt down the extraordinarily fun miniseries he and Pete Milligan did for Vertigo, Vertigo Pop! - London., then move on to his mini with Grant Morrison, Vimanarama.

My wife sucked down Pride of Baghdad in its entirety in one sitting while I was looking around in Barnes & Noble.

Also the Mouse Guard graphic novels. She's a sucker for anthropomorphic animals.

Just read O'Malley's earlier book LOST AT SEA. Definitely recommend that. Plus, check out Sam Keith's work on ZERO GIRL, Jim Mahfood's GRRL SCOUTS and Judd Winick's FRUMPY THE CLOWN and BARRY WEEN: BOY GENIUS. Every girl I've gone out with has dug those.

Y the Last Man..It was a girl who gave me the first trade..great story

I just turned my GF on to Peter Bagge's Hate. She loved it.

A comic great for both genders? Love and Rockets

Start here for Gilbert's stories.
http://www.amazon.com/Heartbreak-Sou...640560&sr=8-12

And here for Jaime
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-HOPPERS-L...ref=pd_sim_b_2

Ditto the Love and Rockets. Also, forgot about Moore's Strangers in Paradise. I still read that on occasion.