Then as I went into my teens and early 20's I liked the superhero comics that showed a little more realistic side to their stories. I liked the comic book titles that had characters that had internal conflicts that affected their external world.
But pretty quickly I got tired of all superhero comic books because of shit like this:
When independent comic book companies finally broke the grip of DC and Marvel in the independent comic book shops across the country some gave us really interesting titles. But most gave us variations on the same shit that Marvel and DC had been doing to death for years, such as the title above for instance. The premise of that title is that the chick in the skimpy outfit is an immortal being who just happens to decide to go to work for the US Government and in the course of that work she runs afoul of evil people in the government who want to use her for their nefarious purposes.I know what you're saying. You're saying, "Wow, really? That premise sounds like shit." And you're right. Basically this comic book series was a masturbatory fantasy. I'm a straight guy who likes to look at women in skimpy clothes but come the hell on, what's up with this:
It's just gratuitous. And the story sucked too. And yet, shit like this rules the comic book world.Thankfully however since the rise of the independents there have been some good titles and stories out there. And this is one of them:
I know what you're saying, "That chick is in skimpy clothes too. That's just as gratuitous as as the other one." Nope. In this case the story is a noir tale full of twists, turns, betrayals, and a femme fatale. All the characters in this graphic novel are grounded in reality and are variations on criminal archetypes.I don't buy comics much anymore, except for bargain stuff, but I do still read some graphic novels that I get from my local library. It's a good to see that even though the shelves of the comic book shop are still filled with shitty titles, there are still some good books being made. I highly recommend the A Criminal series of graphic novels. They tell grown up stories that are engaging and interesting.
4 comments:
I too have an unabashed love for comic books and have over 12000 in my personal connection. You are so totally right in your assessment of the current state of affairs in the industry. I can't stand those T&A comics that are usually poorly drawn (see Rob Leifeld) and poorly written (see Jeff Loab). There is no excuse for that kind of crap. It insults the intelligence of the reader who I argue really hate that stuff in numbers greater than those who flock to it. The only thing good that came out of the dark times that were the 90s was the rise of the independant creators and companies like Darkhorse and now finally Image.
Some of the best stuff ever made is being made right now. Anything by Bruebaker is going to be fantastic as is stuff from Warren Ellis (Planetary) and Kirkman (Invincible/Walking Dead). They are comics I would actually pay for if they weren't so easy to download off the net. Some others you need to check out are
Blacksad
Fables
Elephantmen
Guardians of the Galaxy
Irredeemable
I was a comic book fan for many years myself, but the last fifteen or so... I dunno. I became disenchanted with the whole thing. Who is gonna die next? And how quick til we revive em?
Meh. Better things to do with my time, I guess.
The green guy in the top pic reminds me of guys you run into in Internet dating.
As a kid I liked Archie comics. Then I started smoking weed and turned to R.Crumb comics.
Now I am an old fart and I like New Yorker comics, except I find the articles too long and stuffy so I rarely read it.
:(
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