Books / Lit Graphic Novels - What Are You Reading and General Discussion

[Crazy Jamie]

Vash saying he's reading Dr Strange in the other thread prompted me to make this one. So what does everyone read generally/what are you reading now?

I got into reading graphic novels only a few years ago, and typically have a reasonable sized collection that I've read very little of. I'm slowly changing that, though. I started reading the main stories and crossovers from Disassembled to get an idea of the general state of things on the Marvel side. I've done Avengers vs X-Men, and am now hitting the main stories and arcs from there to Secret Wars before I read Secret Wars itself, both on the 616 and Ultimate side of things. I've just finished the entire Ultimate Spiderman run, and will move onto Miles next.

I want to get into DC as well, and have got both DC Infinite and Marvel Unlimited subscriptions. I only found out recently that they've made it easy to read comics on your phone now through those apps, which is a massive game changer for how much I'll be reading. I've found a few decent lists of essential DC comics, and I'm going to start with No Man's Land (nothing like staring with something simple!) and work my way through from there, hitting the main 2000s arcs.

Away from both of those, I've read the entirety of the Walking Dead, but have quite a few other full series, including Invincible, Chew, Paper Girls, East of West, Y The Last Man, Saga, Sandman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So yeah, the backlog is real.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

This is most of my physical collection, for reference. But I’m not planning on increasing it much more now that I’ve got the online subscriptions. I don’t value these physical copies in the same way I do with video games, so happy to switch to digital for the most part.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

They’re here and they’re so pretty. @VashTheStampede

 

[Ben]

Wife got me the first few volumes of the One Piece manga, which I'm about half way through. It may be the beginning of a (very big) collection .



She also bought a Seven Deadly Sins manga for my 12 year old son, but when I told her it was kind of raunchy we decided not to give it to him. So I guess that's mine now too.

 

[Ben]

I realize "manga" isn't quite the same as "graphic novel" though, so perhaps I've committed a Jamie faux pas.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

I realize "manga" isn't quite the same as "graphic novel" though, so perhaps I've committed a Jamie faux pas.

It isn't, but I'm just happy that people are reading this stuff, whether graphic novels or manga. No judgement from me.

 

[Nae'blis]

I backed the kickstarter for the Good Omens (Pratchett/Gaiman story) graphic novel, which I have high hopes for! Pretty much the first graphic novel for me! I just waiting for it to arrive, hopefully this Spring!

 

[VashTheStampede]

Need to merge the two comics/graphic novels threads we ended up with but that's a pain in the ass on mobile

 

[VashTheStampede]

Wife got me the first few volumes of the One Piece manga, which I'm about half way through. It may be the beginning of a (very big) collection .

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She also bought a Seven Deadly Sins manga for my 12 year old son, but when I told her it was kind of raunchy we decided not to give it to him. So I guess that's mine now too.

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Ooh when I get home I need to post an updated look at my Trigun collection, as they've been re-releasing it in omnibus format.

 

[VashTheStampede]

This is my current setup. Its my happy place.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

Absolutely love it, and makes me think I need to reverse course on just reading digital rather than buying more physical stuff.

So now that I've finished Rhythm of War it's given me brain space to pick up a graphic novel as well as shorter books (thankfully, basically every book is shorter than that). So I've started No Man's Land on DC Infinite, as the first step on what is hopefully quite a lengthy DC reading journey. It's the omnibus collection so a nice, round one hundred issues. Read the first five last night and it is nice and gritty, which I'm led to believe DC generally is compared to Marvel. But looking forward to discovering the differences between the brands myself.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

I am half way through No Man's Land, and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. Elements of the storylines are definitely dated and feel very 1999ish, but there are other elements that are much more gritty and mature than pretty much anything I've come across in Marvel so far, and I really like that. I also like that it's less an event and more a backdrop for a lot of different stories, so I'm reading about a lot of DC characters, both Batman related and otherwise, and that feels like a very good introduction to DC.

 

[VashTheStampede]

I am half way through No Man's Land, and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. Elements of the storylines are definitely dated and feel very 1999ish, but there are other elements that are much more gritty and mature than pretty much anything I've come across in Marvel so far, and I really like that. I also like that it's less an event and more a backdrop for a lot of different stories, so I'm reading about a lot of DC characters, both Batman related and otherwise, and that feels like a very good introduction to DC.

I'm excited to finally check this out, it's a massive Batman blindspot for me. I've got the Road To and the first omni, still chasing Part 2.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

I'm excited to finally check this out, it's a massive Batman blindspot for me. I've got the Road To and the first omni, still chasing Part 2.

I'd be interested to hear how your experience is as someone who has more experience reading DC, as opposed to someone who is using it as a jumping on point like I am. If anything, if you don't enjoy it as much as I have that'll make me more keen to read into DC and Batman specifically in more detail.

 

[VashTheStampede]

As I continue to make my way through the initial Claremont run of X-Men, I have arrived at the famous God Loves, Man Kills graphic novel.

Its a definite game changer. Because it was produced as a graphic novel and not a monthly floppy, they were able to be a bit more mature and also avoid most of the strict rules put in place by then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. And maybe duck the Comics Code Authority? Not sure on that point.

This shift in tone is IMMEDIATELY apparent, as there's no way a typical monthly Marvel would start with a hate crime murder of children.

Claremont really starts to go HARD into the racism allegory with Mutants here. While it's never been a perfect comparison, it feels much different than the previous tone of distrust of mutantkind, and is a much appreciated grounding of the content, especially coming off the heels of the ridiculous Brood War story. And this story still feels extremely timely with how the right wing of today treats most in the LGBTQ+ groups.

And even though it's especially infamous, Kitty Pryde dropping the N-word on Stevie Hunter is still shocking and incredibly inappropriate. Glad that Claremont has said that he regrets that move and would do it differently in a rewrite.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

Finished No Man's Land. I'm just about to go on holiday so can't type extensive thoughts. There are quite a few elements of it that are dated, including entire arcs, but as an introduction to DC (and Batman in particular) I really enjoyed this. As I said before, the storylines are much more mature than Marvel, with some of the twists and action being far more explicit. The ending to this involves the Joker, and again, I felt like it gave me a really good insight into him as a villain. Even though I don't recall this being mentioned in his most notable story arcs, the ending hit really hard for me. It's a 4/5 overall, with me acknowledging that my inexperience in being new to DC and me actively forgiving some of the dated arcs as a result probably bump that up by a mark or so compared to those who are more familiar with DC. But it has very much left me wanting more.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

So I went on holiday and didn't read anything when I was away due to starting Wind and Truth, which obviously is quite a commitment in book terms. Want to get back into graphic novels now that I'm nearish to the end of that though. I'm eyeing up Birthright next to give me a Superman introduction. Not sure on the Marvel side. So much to choose from.