Suggestions for Icy

[The Icy One]

I'm a newb in terms of comic books, as far as actually READING the comic book itself goes. I've read many backgrounds, bios, and comic information but I've only read a couple things. Now that I have money though.. I want to get into reading some.

So far my collection includes the three volumes of "The Walking Dead" graphic novels. Thats about it, I have more.. maybe.. somewhere, but I don't wanna dig through boxes. I also have some manga graphic novels, but those don't really count here.

Anyway.. I'm into comedy and drama type themes mixed with each other, action or all together. Also I prefer to buy graphic novels, I dislike buying actual comics.. cause I like having one big lump of stuff to read. So graphic novel form only please.

I know thats not much to go on, but I'm not asking for to much.. just some suggetions and maybe some info on what it's about. I'll do some research myself to see if it sounds good.. then I'll pick some to spend all my new money on.

[Gaia]

*begins list download* You asked for it. . .:

Astro City (Life in the Big City, Family Album, Confessional, Tarnished Angel)
Dark Knight Returns
Batman: Year One
Nightwing (vol. 1-6 basically the whole chuck Dixon run)
JSA (Starting with- And Justice for All)
Batman/Superman: Public Enemies
Avengers (Legends series)
Tom Strong (vol 1,2,3,4)
Tom Strong Terrific Tales
Top 10 vol. 1 and 2
The Ultimates (Vol. 1 and 2)
Teen Titans (current run bound into trades/Also The Terror of Trigon arc)
Outsiders (also bound into trades)
Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl
Watchmen
Squadron Supreme
Supreme (Story of the Year and also Supreme: The Return)
Mr. Majestic
Majestic: Strange Visitor
The Escapist (I suggest reading the novel The Adventures of Kavelier and Clay before reading this particular series so you understand where its coming from and why)
Life and Death of Captain Marvel (shows the evolution of a character)

[AfterglowNoMore]

I agree with everything that Gaia listed, but she forgot Local Heroes from the Astro City set. Also, depending on what types of characters you like, I'd reccomend the full run of Nightwing, Starman, and some good cheap reads are Marvel's Essential lines, I only own the Luke Cage and Howard the Duck Essentials, but they're like 30 or so comics for $15.

[coldcut]

Newbie comic book reader's guide for other n00bs.

Watchmen. Not just a great comic, but a great work of literature in itself. It's about a lot of things, but I always felt that it was primarily about unfairness. It's the comic that convinced me that comics were more than just superheroes (even if it was about superheroes)

Astro City. Pure superhero fun.

Y: The Last Man. Not a superhero comic. It's about a plague that kills every male animal on the planet except for one guy and his monkey. I have yet to read a description of this series that does it justice. It's funny, poignant, thoughtful, philosophical and irreverent all at the same time. Currently my favorite.

Maus. A son's story about his father's time in a German concentration camp. Not something that's going to cheer you up on a rainy day, but probably the most significant work the genre's ever put out.

Powers and Alias. The author of these two books is sometimes to good a writer for his own good, or at least that's the impression I get. He's prone to doing things that a good editor with a less superstar of a writer wouldn't let him get away with. But this is mostly detail stuff. He does amazing characters and his dialogue can be brilliant. Plotpoints are always fresh, which is very tough in the comic world.

100 Bullets. The first installment of this series was brilliant, the dialogue was impeccable and the art was exactly what comic art should be. In the second, the art didn't change, but the story got a little flat. (Maybe just the idea that there was a story was all it took to flatten things). In any case, check out the first graphic novel collection. The premise is that sometimes if somebody's screwed up your whole life, a very hard looking man will show carrying a briefcase with a pistol and 100 bullets and a suggestion about getting even. The pistol is essentially responsibility free, as any crime committed it with it or the bullets is beyond legal prosecution.

Kingdom Come. Mark Waid's reaction to the "dark and grimy" trend of comics in the 90's. It's really good. Portrays the world of DC about thirty years into the future. It's so good that it seems that a lot of people treat it as sort of continuity that hasn't happened yet rather than a What If scenario.

Preacher. Nobody will ever do disturbing like Garth Ennis. He's already done it all. They might as well fold up the card table and walk away. Preacher is disturbing, disgusting and screamingly funny all at the same time. But most importantly, all that disturbing stuff isn't done just for the point of "look how bad this is," but for real reasons: plot, character and satire. People like to think that it's a send up of religion, but I think it's more a sendup of social mythology, the way certain people and institutions are supposed to be beyond reproach and the kinds of faults they're supposed to have.

The Authority. This is a superhero comic that really seems to outscale everyone else on the block. Very simple ideas are invented and thrown away at breakneck speed. What's amazing is how much of it seems to be so visual in concept, which you don't generally see in comic books where the writer is just telling the artist what to do.

[Randomus]

I agree with most of Coldcut's suggestions.

The new arc of Captain America as written by Brubaker is pretty good. Ultimate Spider-Man is good. Only Ultimate title with any depth, in my opinion. I can't stand Mark Millar, so take my opinion there with a large grain of salt. Invincible is another really good drama/comedy series. Kirkman really shines in his indy titles, not so much in his current Marvel work. I think the New Avengers is amazing, but it's not really drama/comedy. It's a straight-up superhero team book, with witty dialog and great character interaction. Straczynski's run on Fantastic Four is shaping up quite nicely; Mister Fantastic finally gets to use his powers for more than "reaching over to get a tool or pull a switch" after 40 years of continuity. It'll be in trades pretty soon after the current arc finishes, I'm sure.

That's basically all I read. I like indy comics and I like some Marvel comics. I've never been into DC beyond the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, so if you're really big on the whole Costume Over Character style they've got going, you'll probably want to skip over my suggestions.

[Thunderbeast]

So, nobody reads Young Avengers here? *Cough* Losers *Cough* :P

I also read Ultimate Iron Man. Though, it takes a while for UIM to come out. Thats the only downside. It's great so far.

And yes, im a newb to comics too, so maybe you'll enjoy these.

[Randomus]

Young Avengers is good, but it's also not a drama/comedy. Though come to think of it, it does have a lot of drama going on.

[Meltman]

Just a few suggestions:

New Avengers: Breakout
She-Hulk: Single Green Female
She-Hulk: Superhuman Law

[Gaia]

So, nobody reads Young Avengers here? *Cough* Losers *Cough* :P

I read it but he's looking for trade paperbacks not single issues.

[The Icy One]

Powers and Y: The Last Man sound interesting, and I think I saw the Powers one at Barnes & Noble so I won't have to order it. I was also thinking of getting Ultimate Spiderman.. is it any good?

[AfterglowNoMore]

Powers and Y: The Last Man sound interesting, and I think I saw the Powers one at Barnes & Noble so I won't have to order it. I was also thinking of getting Ultimate Spiderman.. is it any good?
Ultimate Spiderman is in my opinion one of the best books out, with the exception of the arc where him and Wolverine changed bodies. You get great takes on old stories without being mired down by convuluted continuity concerns.

[Morcalivan7]

I would go hunt on eBay or at your local comic shop for entire series of older comics. That way you don't have to wait months for just a few pages at a time. That's how I read novels, just wait until the whole trilogy's finished then buy'em all and read'em all within the week. There's plenty of cheap comic bundles out there and since you live in the States (I think), then you shouldn't have to lose your shirt to pay customs either. I bought a mini-series, an annual and two batman duos for Spawn and even found the two missing issues. When I get enough money I'm gonna buy the rest to get up to date in the main series, but for now just waiting for the comics to reach me. Just read the Bloodfeud series yesterday too. Oh and a signed comic which came with the annual and batman one, apparently the guy I ordered from got it as a gift from his friend Terry, go figure. I'm sure if you type Paperback Comics or something similar you can get quite a few hits, and more importantly, cheaply.

[The Icy One]

I went to Barnes & Noble and got the Limited Edition Ultimate Spiderman Collection.. normally 50$.. 20% off, came to 35$. It's hardback and comes with Volumes 1, 2 and 3. Good deal?

[AfterglowNoMore]

Well since the paperbacks normally run about $13, yeah, that's a great deal.