Thursday, December 16, 2010

Graphic Novel Collection (at a glance)

I used to really be into comic books starting around the time I was 10 years old. Mostly because I was into art and it was easy to copy the artwork.

I liked comics that were a little on the gritty side. While I did like the traditional Marvel and DC comics, they just didn't do much for me. I liked what Vertigo and Image were doing, mainly because I was a big fan of Spawn. I'd have to say that Todd McFarlane was probably the reason why I got so interested in doing illustration art. His drawings of people were so detailed and had a realism to them that I hadn't seen before. I still have the first 30-40 issues of Spawn (up until Todd McFarlane stopped drawing them) and are probably still tucked away somewhere in my parent's garage each individually packed in their own sleeve.



It's a big difference coming from a world where Marvel and DC were dominating the comic industry. Most people's frame of reference when it comes to comics is either X-Men, Batman, Spiderman and so on... all comic staples. While I wont take anything from them, because I too was briefly into these, there is such a big world out there beyond them that is much more stunning intellectually and visually (an exception being Todd McFarlane's interpretation of Spiderman [pictured] and the various Batman one-off series).




I started getting into graphic novels a few years back. The randomness of the story lines and plots are what got me back into the comic medium. Some of the stories are just so out there, so to speak. A good example is something like Monsters by Ken Dahl. The whole story revolves around this guy who finds out he has herpes and his dealing with personal relationships because of it.  Most of his fears are neurotic. Overall a really good read, and the artwork is amazingly graphic in nature.


But I guess I would have to admit that most of the appeal to comics back then was the artwork. Unlike today, where I can get into a graphic novel without it having to neccessarily be excellent artwork. Case in point, something like Asterios Poly doesn't really have the most refined art, but the story is excellent. It deals with alot of meta physical themes. That's not to say that the art is bad by any means. I actually like the artistic style used. Maybe that's a bad example.



Black Hole by Charles Burns is another one of my favorites. It's about a group of teens in the 70's who are spreading around an STD. But in this case, the STD sometimes leaves disfiguring superficial marks on their bodies, marking them as outcasts. There's alot of social commentary beneath the surface and I high recommend it.





Currently though, my favorite graphic novel is 100 Bullets. It's really just a comic book series condensed from 100 comic issues into 13 books. The storyline is long and complicated, slow and tedious at one point, and fast and confusing at others. I haven't finished reading them all yet though, only the first 8 books so I guess I'll have to reserve my judgment til the end. It's sort of like a cross between noir and pulp. Very violent and unforgiving. A little hard to get into at first, but once you've read the first two books, it gets interesting.





Another collection of comics, although just a short series, is Local by Brian Wood. Here the artwork is much more traditional comic book style art. It's divided into 12 chapters, well, technically it would be the 12 issues of the comic. Each one takes place in a different location during a different year and you watch the main character grow up and progress as she struggles to find herself, so to speak.

There are few more I left out but can't seem to remember right now since I don't have them in front of me. That, and this post would be at least twice as long. Those are just a few of my favorite graphic novels/comics.

No comments:

Post a Comment