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[jay-ell]

Pedro was just telling me about Y last night.  It sounds like a moderately interesting that could go really, really poorly in practice.  He hadn't actually read it, only heard of it. 

Is it really good? 

[Pedro Picasso]

I don't read any comics that are printed on pieces of paper that are bound together. And I live about five blocks from a comics store, so it's not lack of accessibility.  I just never have and wouldn't know where to start.

Wombat, I would recommend Watchmen.  It is not an intro to comic books per se.  It does make great use of existing conventions, character-types, and story form.  It is the best thing I've ever read in comic-book form.  It's self-contained -- like an actual novel -- so you don't have to worry about not knowing the characters or keeping up with an ongoing story.

There are different genres of comic books for all kinds of people, so don't think Watchmen is wholly representative of the medium.  But I would say that if you don't like Watchmen, you probably won't like most of what's out there.

Synopsis: What if masked heroes really existed?  Maybe one would be really powerful and upset the balance of power, thereby exacerbating the Cold War.    What would the world be like?  What if after many years of their retirement, someone started killing them off?  How would these aging, pudgy, ex-heroes adapt?  What happens when deeply flawed people try very hard to do what's right?

[jaydub]

What happens when deeply flawed people try very hard to do what's right?

I'm pretty sure they get impeached for lying to Congress about pecadillos with White House interns.

[jay-ell]

Wombat, I would recommend Watchmen.

This was the first graphic novel I read as an adult, because Pedro put it in my hands and said, "You must read this." 

It was his sneaky way of making me even geekier, all the better to breed geekiness into our kids. 

It has become, to me, the graphic novel by which all others shall be measured, and found wanting. 

[Ben-San]

Pedro was just telling me about Y last night.  It sounds like a moderately interesting that could go really, really poorly in practice.  He hadn't actually read it, only heard of it. 

Is it really good? 

It starts strong and then meanders off into not-so-great territory. At least it never quite goes bad in the ways you would expect it to go bad; it finds alternative fuck*ng-up options.

[smick]

I've only read the first volume of it.   They're still setting things up.  It's not as good as Runaways or Ex Machina.

[Doc]

And I liked the movie a lot. 

Really? I never read the comic (though I understand it's vastly different) but the movie just seemed to have so much potential that it just pissed away and the ending with the dodgy green screen fire background was serious MST3k territory. I still really enjoyed it but not because I thought it was... good, you know?
Except for Dorian Grey, he was pretty pimp.

Oh tying this thread to all the sexy threads in hidden hills has anyone read Moore's new book, the Lost Girls? Not exactly something you can read on a bus but I've heard broadly good things.

[Ben-San]

Oh tying this thread to all the sexy threads in hidden hills has anyone read Moore's new book, the Lost Girls? Not exactly something you can read on a bus but I've heard broadly good things.

Lost Girls is hell of not a new thing. He's been doing it on and off for years, hopping from publisher to publisher with new issues here and there. I dunno, I didn't find it all that interesting when I read it.

If you like it, the "Cobweb" stories in America's Best Comics are also Moore/Gebbie collaborations and in my opinion are generally better work.

[lprkn]

Sorry to resurrect a thread here, but I just picked up the first volume of Ex Machina, based on JL's recommendation. And it's great. One imaginary internet person has affected the life of another imaginary internet person.

I was Not Supposed to read comic books -- they were for boys, you see -- but I never got in trouble for it, per se.  Mom never would buy me new books, though -- I asked just about ever time I went to the grocery store with her and she always said no. 

See, this is basically the opposite of my experience. Dad loved comics as a kid and was a huge Marvel fan who had a lot of the seminal stuff from the 60's. His dad, however, didn't see the value in them and ended up selling them all for (literally) pennies. It's kind of cool to go into one of those comic shops with your dad where they have the really valuable old issues way high up on the walls, and he points up and says, "Ooh, I had that one, and that one..." Issues that had left our price range, but that he had originally bought for pennies.

What I'm saying is: This was a bonding experience.

[jay-ell]

I just purchased and devoured the second volume. 

So.  Nice.  I even finished it before I broke into the six back issues of Buffy I'd had on order.  Don't know how I got so far behind on that one.  I'm going to have to sign up for a subscription through Heavy Ink if I want to keep up.   It's just too hard to drag the kids to the comic shop every month at this age. 

[Pedro Picasso]

Dad loved comics as a kid and was a huge Marvel fan who had a lot of the seminal stuff from the 60's. His dad, however, didn't see the value in them and ended up selling them all for (literally) pennies. It's kind of cool to go into one of those comic shops with your dad where they have the really valuable old issues way high up on the walls, and he points up and says, "Ooh, I had that one, and that one..." Issues that had left our price range, but that he had originally bought for pennies.

What I'm saying is: This was a bonding experience.

I have a friend whose father sold his copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 because his wife was going to have my friend, and they really needed the money.  Spider-Man  may have lost his uncle, but he kept my buddy in bottles and diapers for a while.

[smick]

So.  Nice.  I even finished it before I broke into the six back issues of Buffy I'd had on order.  Don't know how I got so far behind on that one.  I'm going to have to sign up for a subscription through Heavy Ink if I want to keep up.   It's just too hard to drag the kids to the comic shop every month at this age. 

I was really affected by the whole Rubicon dialog between Yorick and Hero.

That's my brother and I... except I'm on the other side.  My parents have me up on a pedestal because I was always just so smart.  My brother had to work hard for everything he got.  It always bugs me when the conversation starts.   I'm doing pretty well, I have the house and the job that is pretty much like play to me, but I know in my heart I could have gone farther (I wouldn't trade my life for anything, just so you know).

My brother had problems learning and understanding numbers, and worked his ass off.  He's now an Air Traffic Controller.  I have to admire that far more than ... well:

To demonstrate,  I took weightlifting to graduate high school.

[lprkn]

I think that's something felt by quite a few people. I definitely wonder if I would have done better overall if I had actually had to work to get good grades. I'm definitely the most book smart of my siblings, but never had the best grades. My two younger brothers, although smart, may not categorize as gifted, but they have done quite well for themselves so far.

[jay-ell]

My brother's the smart one. 

[jaydub]

In birth order among my brothers and myself, the smarts ranks go 1,2,3.  The work-hard ranks go 3,1,2.  I'm the oldest...both my brothers will probably end up earning more than me, unless I get lucky in the IPO sweepstakes at a future start-up.  Brother #2 loved the comic books, although some of his more fabulous ones have gone the way of financing higher education.  Not a bad use for comics, IMO.  I was the D&D freak, although we all played.  I was DM for a long-running campaign my youngest brother and his friends played for a jew years after I got out of college (high school years for them).  They were starters and 2nd teamers on the football team, so let it never be said that D&D and jocks don't mix.