Eight comic books you need to read before you die

I've never been a comics fan, so I'll pass on reading these. But I figure some of you will be interested in the list. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Comments

[elchampino]

Well, I've read half of those. Where does that put me on the nerd-o-meter?

[Dbl J]

It should be, eight things to do to get laid before you die.

[jupiterjim]

elchamp is a slacker. I read 6 of these.

[The_Overdog]

i like comic books ok i guess, and by that i mean i read alot of them when i was a kid. but i really can't stand Frank Miller's cheeseball work, so i've read none of these. In a quick perusal, he was author of at least 2.

[Cherie]

Never read a comic book in my life. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like a "guy thing". I have seen plenty of movies based off comic books and liked them however.

[G-Man]

When I used to collect baseball cards I would buy comics sometimes hoping they'd be worth something one day. Never read one of them. I'm sure they're still worth whatever I bought them for too.

[Lois Lane]

Cherie, I've never read a comic book either.

[elchampino]

Guilty as charged, jupiterjim :)

Cherie - You might want to try some of the independent/alternative comics, which are more about real life than costumes and capes. 'Persepolis' is supposed to be great, and has a female author.

But you're right - most comic book shops and are sausage-fests.

[jupiterjim]

el champ is correct. Nothing more annoying than taking your spouse/girlfriend to a comic book shop and having its workers pause and having a wave of silence overcome the store. The next thing that would most likely happen would be someone muttering "boobies" and they all start to giggle

[Dee]

I think I've read 4 of them (I've read some Sandman, but I don't know if I read that volume or not). And I'm female.

I would agree about independents; they aren't all "tights & capes;" a lot of them have strong fantasy elements (Aria, Elfquest, Castle Waiting are 3 of my favs); and some are serious. Persepolis is an auto-biographical tale (being made into a movie, I think), and Maus I & II is a moving tale of survival in the Holocaust as depicted by the man's son.

[Dee]

move into the big city, JJ & el champ. :-P The only people staring at me are 10 year old boys who have just all the coolness sucked out of reading comics. And while I was in a distinct minority at the last con I went to, I certainly wasn't gawked at!
Or maybe I just know the better comic shops...

[lawdog]

No spiderman? C'mon, he's the best super hereo ever.

[vksjk]

Harvey Pekar all the way.

[jupiterjim]

I wish we had good shops around here. Until Hurricane Francis gave our roof a haircut I used an online service that rocked. Great service, good discounts and you got what you ordered. The shops here in FL (as well as CT) use what I call "lets use your order list to speculate" where you order something three months in advance, it arrives at the shop and the owner puts your copy on the shelf marked up 100% plus. and you never get yours because they didnt order enough of a hot item. The nearest shop to me actually charges kids for comics on free comic day. My online service sent me a boat load for free and I gave them out at Halloween. I can't really see comics lasting much longer. Too pricey and they really dont aim for kids. That and the last few comic based movies have really been eh....

[elchampino]

I agree about the changing industry, jupiterjim. As it I don't buy comics anymore, individual issues are too expensive (and I'm a grown up with a salary) - a few times a year, I'll buy a couple of the best graphic novels I can find, but that's about it.

As for the stores - I like going to stores. Most of the workers/other patrons there are more than willing to geek out with you about the typical fanboy debates - Moore or Miller? DC or Marvel? Etc.

But the prospect of finding a date at one of these stores is slim to none, at least at the stores I've been to.

Hey Dee, do you have any hot, comic book reading gal pals in the DC area?

[Dave]

I didn't read the article. Why only these eight?
Some great stuff there, but kind of a mainstream slant. Some of the selections also, while wonderfully written, are marred by pedestrian artwork. Good to see Dave Mazuchelli on the list, by the way, but I prefer his self-published Rubber Blanket.
If we're talking essential stuff, I personally would lean more towards the independent stuff. Jim Woodring's work (Frank, Jim, Tantalizing Stories) should be at the top of the list. Also Daniel Clowes' Eightball (from whence Ghost World and Art School Confidential came) and Chester Brown's Yummy Fur (soon to be a film) should be on the essential reading list.

[Howie Feltersnatch]

I skimmed the list, and when I didn't see "We3" on it, I knew it was a load of bollocks.

[Dave]

Also, if we're talking Alan Moore, I would've chosen From Hell over Watchmen or Swamp Thing.

[nellagain]

What is this crap?
The 8 comic books you *should* read are

1) HOWARD THE DUCK (forget the abomination that George Lucas perpetrated, read the comic book)
2)REID FLEMING, WORLD'S TOUGHEST MILKMAN!
3) Anything whatever you can find by Vaughn Bode (you'll have to buy a ton of ancient NatLamps 1971 and 1975 to get the Cheech Wizard series). No knock on his kid Mark, but Vaughn was the one true genius.
4) Idyll by Jeff Jones
5) "I paint what I see, child" Gahan Wilson
6) Trots and Bonnie by Shary Flenniken
7) The Cartoon History of the Universe by Larry Gonick (and everything else he ever wrote)
8) Little Annie Fanny by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder (other artist contributed)--call me old fasioned I like naked ladies in satire.

[nellagain]

And EDMUND GOREY (Anything whatever, but perhaps the "The Curious Sofa" and "The Gashleycrumb Tinyies" if you are short on time.

[LooseyGoosey]

I've only read three. I'm boycotting the list, they did not include Hellblazer.

*miffed*

[LooseyGoosey]

Cherie - not just a guy thing. I hated them because I don't do "super heroes"... until a friend turned me on to Gaiman's Sandman. Then I found Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Watchmen... and a host of other wonderful 'anti-hero' books in the Vertigo line. There is some really good literature, although it's a bit hard to switch to reading the picture & text format.

I'm not currently reading comics, but I'll make sure my son reads them as he grows up - Small Boy Friendly ones at first, then I'll introduce him to Mama's favorite darker titles.

[Nicole]

vksjk

Harvey Pekar - I saw him on television the other day.

[Dave]

NellAgain, I've already proposed to Soo. But I've changed my mind. Would you consider...?

[Phranqlin]

I read "Sandman," "Daredevil," "Watchmen," and "Dark Knight," so I guess that makes me 5/8 of a geek.

I also wondered why "Persepolis" didn't make the "Must read" list. It's fantastic and a lot more female-friendly than the other graphic novels on the list.

"Maus" also should have been on the list.

[Dave]

And speaking of Neil Gaiman, is Good Omens ever going to make it to film or what?!
And speaking again of Neil Gaiman, did anyone ever read Books of Magic? It weren't half bad. But the thing is, it predates Harry Potter. And as much as I love Rowling's series, I couldn't help but notice some striking similarities.

[boynamedsue]

"I skimmed the list, and when I didn't see "We3" on it, I knew it was a load of bollocks."

we 3 is a cool concept, and well written, but its no watchmen.

[elchampino]

Re: Moore - My favorite Moore work was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It was like my inner literature geek and my inner comic book geek got drunk and high one night had an incestuous love child. (I do understand though why Watchmen is consistently named the best of Moore's work, or simply the best, period)

Any Vaughan fans out there?

[Sean, Torrington CT]

I wonder if my Transformers comics are worth anything. They're more than meets the eye, you know.

[kadybrownell]

No Archie,Veronica or Jughead!!!

[Dave]

Vaughn Bode, champy? Or is this somebody else you're talking about?
I nearly got a tattoo from Mark Bode, Vaughn's son. He used to work at the same tattoo shop as my tattooist. When he saw that I was a big Mike Mignola fan, he didn't have very nice things to say about Mignola, LOL

[Jim Romenesko]

I did read Harvey Pekar .... and thumbed through "Ghost World" after seeing the movie.

[elchampino]

Sorry, should have clarified. I meant Brian Vaughn, from the list. He wrote two series with really creative premises -

Y: The Last Man: A virus wipes out every other male mammal on earth except one man and his pet monkey. Sounds ridiculous but the writing and character development are strong.

Ex Machina: guy develops a mysterious super power to communicate with/control machines. But he puts away the super hero outfit and decides he can do more good by being mayor of NYC. There's plenty of action, but the toughest jams are all political/social/interpersonal.

[jupiterjim]

No Sean But your GI Joe's could be worth some coin. They are real american heroes.

[Howie Feltersnatch]

boynamedsue: I didn't care for Watchmen. The story is based on an Outer Limits episode, and it completely misses the point of the episode. In the OL, scientists create an "alien" to scare Earth people under the assumption that working together to fight a common enemy will bring us together. This concept was already a sci-fi cliche when OL got its hands on it. Needless to say, by the time of Watchmen it was really overused. But in the OL limits episode, the plan fails miserably. Fear is a poor way to bring unity.

Watchmen would have been better if Osymandius' plan had failed. The ending would have been much more powerful.

We3's brilliance lies in telling a simple tale with compelling characters and hardly any dialogue, and doing it in just a few pages. I was sorry when We3 ended. I was relieved when Watchmen was over.

[jupiterjim]

Nellagain. I read National Lampoon in the 07's & 80's and this magazine was the perfect place to fing these strips.
Harvey Pekar is very good as far as storytelling. "Cancer Year" is a classic.
Glad to see so many folks on here with this interest. Everyone have a good weekend!

[Dave]

Oh, I'm just an idiot, champ. I didn't notice that. Vaughan's thing was the only one on the list I hadn't read, so my eyes kinda glazed over when I saw it there. Is it relatively new? It mighta came out after I quit comics (because of the expense, and because the alternative scene dried up).

[Dave]

jupiterjim, I have a two-panel cartoon on my fridge from Pekar's Our Cancer Year's artist Frank Stack. The first panel shows a dog sniffing another dog's butt. The second panel has the dog exclaiming, "I can't remember faces, but I never forget an asshole!" LOL

NellAgain, you're full of surprises, by he way. I am a Jeff Jones fan as well. I have two of his prints on my wall- Blind Narcissus, and Belling the Slayer.

[elchampino]

It is pretty new, started in 2003. I picked up the first collection because I thought "this looks ridiculous, I wonder how bad it is." Then I started reading it and was pleasantly surprised.

[A.V.]

Where the hell's Yucca??
I'd a thunk he'd be in this one.

Awww, he's prolly home readin' his 8 pager comics.

[twerp]

It's not "Edmund Gorey." It's Edward Gorey. Personally I like "The Beastly Baby."

[Cherie]

Ok, since I'm pretty much clueless about comics (thanks to those of you that have given me suggestions) What was the movie that Bruce Willis was in that was based on a comic. I really liked that. It was done in black and white I think.

[elchampino]

Frank Miller's Sin City

[twerp]

Cherie, it's "Unbreakable." I have the special edition DVD. It kicks keister.

[twerp]

Wait, black and white is Sin City...my bad. I should've read the whole posting.

[Wolf]

I agree with the “From Hell” nomination. I’d add Moore & Bolland’s one-shot “The Killing Joke” and Bill Sienkiewicz’s “Stray Toasters” miniseries. I haven’t read any of the eight in the article. Everybody says Gaiman’s a god, but I’ve never gotten around to checking any of his stuff out.

[Wolf]

Oh, and yes to "Maus" and anything Gorey. I just re-read "The Haunted Tea Cosy" not too long ago, and bought the Gorey "Dracula" theater-in-a-box kit.

[Dave]

Wolf, I don't think Gaiman is really god-like in his writing abilities. It's just that compared to most of the mainstream pap we were being regularly spoon-fed at the time, Sandman was a shock to the system. Read Good Omens if you want to get a taste of his prose, and you don't want to have to suffer through some dreadful artwork.

About Sin City. I like Miller, but I thought Sin City was awful. Maybe I just didn't "get" it. But I didn't understand the point of it. There didn't appear to be any irony. Rather, it was just straight-ahead T&A and graphic violence. I found it distasteful. It seemed to me...gratuitously gratuitous.

[nolo]

"Maus" and "V for Vendetta."

[steven.danger]

Howie:

Watchmen is much more than Ozymandias' plan. It's the character development, the cold war allegory, the different storytelling styles of each chapter, the visual/verbal interpolations, and so much more.

If all you see in Watchmen is the re-hashing of an Outer-Limits episode you're missing an ocean of literary depth.