In a post earlier today, PinkDreamPoppies asked for comic book recommendations; in particular, he’s looking for comics aside from strips and aside from superheros. As it happens, I have some rather strong opinions on the subject. In an attempt to keep this list of reasonable length, I’m going to limit myself to recommending comics that are available as bound books. Also, my list is deficient because I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to manga and Eurocomics. And the recommendations aren’t given in any particular order.
- In the reader responses to PinkDreamPoppies’ request, folks recommended (among others) From Hell, Berlin, and Acme Novelty Library. I second (or third) those recommendations. (There are two Acme reprint collections available so far, one focusing on Jimmy Corrigan, one on Quimby the Mouse). However, I’ve gotta say that Acme Novelty Library, in particular, won’t be to everyone’s taste – it’s very much on the experimental and depressing side.
- PDP has already read two utterly essential comics, Understanding Comics and Maus. In addition…
- Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse. This coming-of-age story about a young gay man in the South during the 1960s civil rights struggles is the most criminally underread comic book of the last decade – one of the few comics that could sit next to Maus on your bookshelf and not be outclassed.
- Palestine by Joe Sacco. This nonfiction comic describes Sacco’s time spent in Palestine. Sacco’s depiction of the situation in Palestine is humanizing and spectacular, and it’s made palatable by his evident doubts about his own purpose in going to Palestine. (This is one of several non-fiction comics by Sacco, all of which are fantastic).
- Cages by Dave McKean. “McKean is also an accomplished cartoonist in his own right. This is his magnum opus to date: an immense, pulsing graphic novel that’s also a treatise on art, creativity and the uses and misuses of technique. Originally serialized between 1990 and 1996 (and collected in 1998), it’s been out of print for several years. The book’s plot is fairly rudimentary: a painter, a writer and a musician who live in the same apartment building find their lives intersecting. But the book’s gradual shift from literalism to fanciful allegories and stories-within-stories mostly serves as the springboard for a visual tour de force.”
- Paul Auster’s City of Glass. Usually, adaptations suck. This is the exception – an adaptation with as much wit and depth as the original. What makes it work is David Mazzucchelli’s cartooning, which is wildly playful in exploring the novel’s themes of identity and obsession.
So what’s it about? Umn, on the surface, it’s sort of a hard-boiled detective novel, except it’s really about an author of hard-boiled detective fiction who gets sucked in to pretending he’s an hard-boiled detective, and one of the false identities he takes on is Paul Auster, the author of the novel this comic is based on.
- The Frank Book by Jim Woodring. This is as wonderful as it’s indescribable. The Publishers Weekly description is okay: “Woodring, a modern master of hallucinatory cartoon fables, specializes in comics that look normal but aren’t. Woodring’s hallmarks are inventive, often bizarre creatures who inhabit otherworldly landscapes and dreamlike narratives. This book’s hero, Frank, is a catlike anthropomorph who lives in a surreal, exotic world.” But it fails to mention how horrifying and grotesque Woodring’s dream-world often is.
- Love and Rockets, the amazing comics of brothers Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez. The trouble is, there are so many reprints, it’s hard to know where to begin. If you can be a little spendy (or get it from the library), I highly recommend Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup stories. All of these stories are by Gilbert. Magical realism taking place (mostly) in a small village – I’m not sure if it’s in Mexico or Central America – but the stories are stunning, with some of the best-realized characters ever seen in comics.
The problem with Palomar is that it doesn’t give you any of Jamie’s stuff. I’m not sure where to recommend starting with Jamie; you could start with volume one of the reprints, but he hadn’t yet developed into the powerhouse he’d become, so maybe you’re better off starting with volume 3 or thereabouts. Anyhow, Jamie draws better than almost anyone in comics. His writing is terrific, too; part slice-of-life, part soap opera, focusing on twenty-something punk Mexican-American women living in L.A.. Totally absorbing.
- Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. They made a pretty good movie of this comic, but the original is much better (and tells a significantly different story). This book, about two teenage girls, charts out one of those friendships-that-will-last-forever that people have in high school, and why it doesn’t even last to college.
- Playboy by Chester Brown. An autobiographical comic about Brown’s experiences (and particularly adolescent experiences) with Playboy magazine. Intelligent, disturbing, asks more questions than it provides answers.
- It’s a Good Life, if You Don’t Weaken by Seth. An autobiographical (or is it?) comic about art and obsession, focusing on Seth’s search for an obscure 1940s cartoonist. “While trying to understand his dissatisfaction with the present, Seth discovers the life and work of Kalo, a forgotten New Yorker cartoonist from the 1940s. But his obsession blinds him to the needs of his lover and the quiet desperation of his family. Wry self-reflection and moody colours characterize Seth’s style in this tale about learning lessons from nostalgia.”
- Dykes to Watch Out For, by Alison Bechdel. I know you said no comic strips, but I think you’d really like this. Dykes is simply the best soap opera strip ever done, but because it takes place in a lesbian community, it’s been mostly ignored by the mainstream. Neurotic, funny, deepy human comic strips. One problem with this series is that it’s hard to know where to start; this is Bechdel’s life work, and she improves as she goes on. I’d recommend starting with volume 2, More Dykes To Watch Out For, which contains the beginning of the “Mo” storyline that dominates the rest of the series. (The only downside is that her drawing, while more than adequate in volume 2, gets ten times better in later volumes).
- Mr Punch, by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Gaiman’s famous for Sandman, but Mr Punch is a much better comic (and I should say, I like Sandman!). “Neil Gaiman has several recurring themes to which he revisits again and again like the swallows returning to Capostrano. Foremost among these is the persistence of memory, which is the theme of ‘The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch.’ … The tale revolves around a Punch n’ Judy show at a seaside carnival and how it acts as a trigger for a young boys memories of his family. As with much of Gaiman’s work, there are tales within tales here, and the real story he tells is more implied than elucidated upon.”
- The Complete Crumb Comics Vol 17. I know that starting with Vol 17 seems weird, but the comics collected here – short stories from the last few issues of Weirdo and from Hup – are among the best Crumb has ever done.
- Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks. “World-famous cartoonist Dick Burger has earned millions and become the most powerful man in the comics industry. However, behind his rapid rise to success, there lies a dark and terrible secret, as biographer Leonard Batts discovers when he visits Burger’s hometown in remote New Zealand.” A mix of extreme cleverness, good writing and genuine love of comics makes this graphic novel so much better than you’d expect it to be.
- Bone by Jeff Smith. This is a pure adventure comic, with good characters and great cartooning. If you can’t stand the fantasy genre, then you won’t like this, but otherwise it’s a classic. Just start with volume one and keep on reading.
- Beanworld deserves to be an all-time classic, but it’s marred because Larry Marder never completed it. Cerebus should have been an all-time classic, but unfortunately Dave Sim went mad with misogyny and ruined the story in the last quarter.
- I know PDP asked for no superheroes, but I can’t resist recommending Scott McCloud’s Zot!, which (especially in the black and white issues) was one of the best comics of the 1980s. And also, V for Vendetta, Alan Moore’s classic pro-terrorism superhero comic.
Well, that should be enough for a while…..
I’m in total, enthusiastic agreement with the inclusion of Horrocks’ “Hicksville” on this list. One of my very favorite graphic novels ever.
I think City of Glass was just re-released too. It was out of print for a while.
I sincerely hope that the comic of Ghost World tells a significantly different story from the movie because, frankly, the movie was terrible.
Man, I’m losing all of my arthouse cred lately. First I say I don’t like the Sandman series, and now this… Next I’ll end up revealing that I hate Pulp Fiction.
Oops.
Usagi Yojimbo – an adaptationm of Japanese semi-legendary figures, with characters represented as anthropid animals. Rather like reading a Kurosawa film. :)
You could, technically, count the Zot! Earth Stories (i.e., the late B&W stuff) as non-superhero, because Zot himself isn’t really the point in most of them. The one about Terry I read over and over, even today.
Most of the comics world is currently buzzing about Joe Kubert’s YOSSEL, but as I still can’t pick up any Holocaust-related literature after all these years, I’ll just recommend Marjane Satrapi’s PERSEPOLIS and a new antho I just got published by Dark Horse called AUTOBIOGRAFIX.
I’m also violating the no-superhero rule, but I must recommend Kurt Busiek’s Astro City. As the comments on Amazon describe, it’s a reinvention (and not a deconstruction) of the superhero genre. It does the best of any such work I’ve ever read at telling stories about real people, and setting forth what day-to-day life is like for someone who just happens to have super powers.
I haven’t read any of the three titles Elayne mentions (although I want to).
Usagi Yojimbo is a terrific comic, but to my mind not quite as good as the other stuff I’ve recommended here.
As for Astro City, the early issues were very good, but it seems to me that the more recent issues haven’t been as lively. It’s certainly better than most superhero fare, but I don’t think it’s in the same class as Watchmen or Zot!, let alone Maus or Stuck Rubber Baby.
First, another big cheer for Stuck Rubber Baby, and a recommendation to duck over to Howard Cruse’s website, where you can get a taste of it before plunking down your dollars for this masterpiece.
Cruse’s Barefootz are also out there, available (I believe) through Denis Kitchen of Kitchen Sink Press. Think of them as a gently twisted version of DC Comics’ Sugar and Spike.
While you’re at FanBoy Graficks getting your Los Bros. Hernandez fix, look for a title called Sinner, by Jose Munoz & Carlos Sampayo. They’ve got issues #4 and #5 right now, so you may have to hunt for the others. These guys are great–I haven’t gotten to see their Billie Holliday bio, but I want it.
One other item that is perhaps my favorite funny book ever: David Boswell’s hilarious, beautifully drawn Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman.
I didn’t like the Ghost World movie either.
Second on the Reid Fleming.
And I’ll raise you Ed the Happy Clown by Chet Brown.
If you’re at all into manga, Clover by CLAMP is less a fantastic story as an absolutely gorgeous graphic design, but definitely worth a look. All of it is translated by Tokyopop (but they actually did a semi-good job), as is Alien Nine which is just wierd as all get out. Neon Genesis Evangelion is rather an old standby, the translations are pretty good.
Hellsing just started being translated, and if you’re into insane vampiric religious infighting… it’s pretty fun.
As far as comics go, I don’t think it can get much better than Sam Keith, either Maxx or Four Women are great series. I also enjoy Strangers in Paradise but that’s a very, very large collection of graphic novels to start investing in. More than Sandman at this point, I think. Leave it to Chance is good adventure stuff with an old ‘Little Orphen Annie’ feel and…
Girl Genius, Studio Foglio. I can’t possibly reccommend this one enough, it’s totally awesome. The only problem is waiting for it to come out ^^;
The Red Star isn’t too bad, but somehow I keep getting the feeling I’ve seen it all before. Great art, though.
Sorry… forgot Nausiica and the Valley of the Wind. Big omission there.
Lots of good suggestions in both of these entries and the various comments.
Just want to give backup to Mr. Punch and Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. Nausicaa is one of my favorite comics of all time.
Just to offer an utterly different opinion here, I thought the “Ghost World” film was brilliant – but I don’t like Daniel Clowes’s comics. His drawing is good, but his “Ghost World” turned me off, and his “David Boring” was adequately described by the second world of the title.
For manga, “Nausicaa” is absolutely wonderful, “Clover” is more style than substance but worth reading if you’re into that kind of girly cyberpunk style (if you liked Stephenson’s “The Diamond Age”). “Four Shoujo Stories” has an excellent story by Keiko Nishi, more realistic than most manga. “Revolutionary Girl Utena” isn’t as stylistically gosh-wow as those are, but it’s the best attempt I’ve seen at a feminist manga; I spent two hours talking about how it related to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze once.
Frederick Schodt, whose name I’m probably misspelling, has two very worthwhile books on manga, “Manga! Manga!” and “Dreamland Japan.”
I’d have to vote for Nausica and Hicksville as my top two. Maybe add Graphitti Kitchen by E. Campbell. Although, there is also Bruno which forever shall lie in no man’s land between a story/character driven style and being told in a daily comic format (also in book form). But of course I’d say that, i draw it. :-)
I agree that “Revolutionary Girl Utena” is one interesting piece of work, however I think the anime pulls the concept off better than the manga. At 39 episodes with some serious repeating themes, it can be a bit of a drag at times, but is well worth the watch, and you’ll certainly have something to say about it when you’re through.
(Knows this is supposed to be a /comic-book/ thread but it really is a good anime, honest!)
Another “Reid Fleming” fan here. I’d heard rumors a few years ago they were trying to do a movie version and have been grateful that it never came to pass.
I know they’re not his best work, but I absolutely LOVE Crumb’s “Fat Freddy’s Cat” series. If you’ve had experience with drugs and/or sardonic cats, you’ll get a chuckle out of these.
A Reid Fleming Movie?!?! Yikes!!!
And a minor correction–“Fat Freddy’s Cat” is by Gilbert Shelton, a part of the “Fat Furry Freak Brothers” collection.
Or do you mean Crumb’s “Fritz the Cat”?
Both are good.
Yeah, the movie rumor included the tidbit that Jim Belushi was being cast as Reid. Yikes indeed.
Yeah, I do mean “Fat Freddy’s Cat”. Could’ve sworn it was Crumb, but it’s been about 20 years since my copies mildewed beyond salvation while I was living on a friend’s boat, so my memory is sketchy.
“Playboy” is great, and also IIRC it is collected in the same book as “Happy the Clown”, fantastically dark. I liked “Elfquest” a lot in my youth but I have no idea if it would stand up to my current tastes — it is by a husband and wife team, I think their last name is Sims, and has a Tolkien-y flavor to it.
Erm, I feel like the correcting everybody guy, but I have craploads of comics trivia in my head. Please don’t take offense anyone–I am not trying to be a smartass.
“Elfquest” is by Wendy and Richard Pini.
It’s cool, correcting-everybody-guy – I’ve got more-or-less the same comcis trivia stuck in my head, and you’re saving me from having to post those same corrections.
Jeremy, it was an innocent mistake but a funny one… if you’ve never read CEREBUS, you have no idea how weird and disturbing, yet also wistfully hopeful, is the notion of a fantasy comic done by a husband-and-wife team of “Sims.”
Hmmm… Great suggestions all, in this thread and the last, but I have to admit a certain degree of trepedation with getting anything that I’ve seen the movie/TV version of. For instance, I’ll hesitant to get Nausicaa because I didn’t much care for the movie and don’t think I’d be able to take an Evangelion manga because it is so firmly established in my head as an anime (and one of the best, at that).
So now that the conversation has turned in the direction of manga… Any good manga recommendations out there? I’m more interested in story than I am in spectacle, just to make things clear.
And hey, are they ever going to release the Boogiepop manga in the States? The anime was spectacular and I’d love to read more.
Influential Cleveland-born dyslexic anarchist Seth Tobocman deserves mention, especially for his Lower East Side documentary work, War in the Neighborhood, and rarities like Killer Cop Comics.
And Eric Drooker for “Blood Song”, “Flood”, and his illustration of Ginsberg’s, “Illuminated Poems”
Okay, okay, Pini not Sims — I have read Cerebus and I appreciate the humorousness of conflating the two… Another recommendation that occurred to me last night is Larry Gonick’s “The Cartoon History of the Universe” — fun to read and lotsa laughs, plus it’s educational and occasionally subversive.
Has anyone mentioned Brown’s Louis Riel yet? It was very recently collected into a beautifully-packaged hardcover by D+Q.
A sceond recommendation for Drooker’s stuff as well…it’s really interesting–scratchboard that looks like woodcuts, then hand-tinted… it is wordless, so I hope that’s not a problem.
Also Seth Tobocman. I’m not really into his stuff much; it seems kind of heavy-handed for my tastes, but he has the book with the world’s greatest title, You Don’t Have to Fuck People Over to Survive.
No recommendation, but a request: does anyone have an opinion on Ho Che Anderson’s Martin Luther King bio-comic? I think I’d think about buying it if I could find the English-language version here in Paris (the fact that it’s been translated into French is really positive in itself, but there is nothing more frustrating than having to try to figure out what were the American idiomatisms used in the original). However, I must admit that I was not really attracted by his graphic style at first sight, but I guess I’d get used to it.
“Fun” fact: before I saw Anderson’s portrait, I was pretty excited that a Chinese-American (i read it spontaneously He Zhe in pinyin transcription) had devoted such lengthy work to ML King.
Why, I do have a suggestion: Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese series. A romantic, cosmopolitan sailor wandering from one revolution to another. If it’s not been translated in English, it’s a huge lacune, I dare say.
As an aside, the spectrum of what is called “Eurocomics” in America seems too wide to be useful, to me: it’s not a genre (like superheroes) nor a specific form/structure (like manhua/manga); it’s just any comics made in Europe that is not servily plagiarized from a determined kind of non European comics. Please correct me if I got it wrong.
Addendum: Corto’s official site (at Belgian publisher Caterman’s, which explains why there’s so few to view, but those who never saw the art get at least a first feeling of it). In French, alas (clicking on the pictograms at the bottom right will open a smaller window).
I haven’t read the King bio, but I really like Ho Che Anderson’s work–take it for what it’s worth.
I’m not so hyped on a Reid Fleming movie–I want a David Boswell animated Laurel and Hardy!
I’d also appreciate it if someone could get Dave Sim on meds. What a brilliant artist! that I can’t read.
Wow — a kind of weird co-incidence — Dave Sims mentions Wendy and Richard Pini in his Hail and Farewell”, up now at Diamond Comics.
You sure know it already if you’re a webcomics regular: Same Difference and Other Stories by Derek Kirk Kim. I never saw the printed version, but I read all the stories online (I actually followed “Same Difference” panel by panel for two years or so), where they are still available for free. Some are darkly melancholic, other rageously funny, but all of them deal most subtly with time and identity (for what it’s worth, Scott McCloud did, and is still doing a lot to promote him).
And since you mentioned manga 漫画, I can’t resist saying Hyung Sun Kim’s new story, Glendale High Manga Club (at Crazykimchi, FKA KungFool!) seems quite promising so far (to be honest, I can stand the manga form only when used as self-parody).
[Hopefully, this fourth comment will be my last in this “thread”, but I do like to share what I enjoy, as long as I can talk about it.]
I would recommend anything by Bob Boze Bell, but especially his “Honkytonk Sue” series. I believe there were 4 volumes. He has a very interesting and distinct style of illustration.
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