I was looking through my comics today and realized that out of my 120 or so graphic novels (which is to say hardcovers and trade paperbacks), over half are accounted for by five writers, those being:

Neil Gaiman
Alan Moore
Grant Morrison
Brian Michael Bendis
Warren Ellis

Mostly these are accounted for by ongoings - Powers (Bendis), Sandman (Neil), New X-Men (Morrison) and Transmetropolitan (Ellis). Moore is really the only one made up of such a broad range of shorter material... the most I have from one story is 4 (Top Ten, including the two volumes plus Smax and The Forty-Niners).

Anyway, I feel like in addition to encompassing most of my favorite ongoings, current or otherwise, that list pretty well describes my favorite writers. I'd toss in amongh those Robert Kirkman (I've got a mere 9 volumes of his), again with an ongoing (Invincible) and more recently Ed Brubaker for his work on Captain America and in Deadly Genesis.

So... who do y'all like?

i've got loads of alan moore and warren ellis.

moore - v for vendetta, watchmen, from hell, promethea, tom strong, top 10, league, and assorted other randoms.

ellis - transmetropolitan, planetary, lazarus, fell, desolation jones, and loads of individual issue things.

i like some of brian wood's stuff - his DMZ, channel zero, jennie one, and supermarket. local and demo seem ok, though not read enough. couriers didn't do it for me though.

i should pick up more bendis, or more of his recent stuff at least - got stuff like torso, jinx, fire and other bits and pieces.

david mack's kabuki is must read. must.

um. my brain isn't working right now. peter milligan. joe casey. um. i'll be back!

I will sadly admit that I really don't know much. I got into graphic novels via Sandman and really have only read:

Sandman (and all others by Neil)
Marvel Zombies
Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness
The Watchmen
V for Vendetta
Battle Pope.

everyone and their uncle has told me to get into Transmet, Lucifer, and a bunch of others. i'm sorry, i have failed you

but i liked them all. i think V is probably one of my favourites. and marvel zombies was friggin' hilarious but no great writing

brian azzarello - 100 bullets, and his run on hellblazer.

brian k vaughn - primarily his y the last man.

paul pope - 100%, heavy liguid, THB, batman 100.

I do love Azzarello... I don't have 100 Bullets because I used to live with my bro and he had them, and when we parted ways Transmet was more a priority for me. I've also got the first volume of his new western Loveless and at some point will pick up the second.

The Liz-mentioned Marvel Zombies and Battle Pope were both written by Robert Kirkman, writer of one of my favorite current ongoings (Invincible)... he's good for just solid fun stuff... generally not as much deep literary action as Moore or Gaiman, or the hardline political edge of Ellis, but quality escapist fare.

Vaughn I've actually read very little of. Never got around to reading my bro's Y collection. I've got one thing by him that I like, which is Doctor Strange: The Oath. Not a particularly fascinating story, but a great look and the characters and relationship between Strange and Wong.

I've still just got the first volume of DMZ... really need to grab some more. I'll also at some point up my Moore selection by filling out the ABC stuff, as I only have volumes one of Tom Strong and Promethea. (partly because I can only ever find volume 5 and nothing prior to it, excepting one store in London which, by virtue of being London, was unnecessarily expensive)

So I'm going to Forbidden Planet tomorrow, what should I buy?

quote:

Originally posted by silly punk:
So I'm going to Forbidden Planet tomorrow, what should I buy?

what kind of stuff are you after?

quote:

Originally posted by supersnazz:
Vaughn I've actually read very little of.

"y the last man" is good, one of those series i occasionally have doubts on, and think i'll give up, then he twists it and i have to see what happens next. i think he is working on lost these days.

quote:

Originally posted by supersnazz:
I've still just got the first volume of DMZ...

i am very bad, i've always read individual issues, which take up too much space, and are just a pain. but provide the monthly fix. i was buying "y" that way, till i was out of work for a bit and had to cut back, so picked up trades once they caught up to what i missed. DMZ i had been reading singles, but got to a break point and decided to make the break. books are easier to read, to store, to re-read, and DMZ books have been coming out regularly enough that i've made the choice to switch this time.

quote:

Originally posted by supersnazz:
I do love Azzarello... I don't have 100 Bullets

obviously with 100 bullets its the whole team that makes it interesting. but thats a big thing with comics, its more than the writer or the artist. 100 bullets and transmet, are ironically titles i didn't think i would like originally so didn't get issues, then later picked up in book form from scratch.

(transmet was part of another DC print called helix - where they launched about 8 titles at once - all science fiction, and ellis was still establishing himself, and other titles looked more interesting. ironically, the line collapsed and transmet switched to vertigo and kept going. funny that.)

quote:

what kind of stuff are you after?

neat stuff?

aha. that narrows it down!
i'll do a cop out and recommend some random warren ellis:
transmetropolitan book 1
planetary book 1
desolation jones book 1
fell book 1.

- one of those should keep you happy.

Jhonen Vasquez kinda rocks. Can't talk about this category and not mention Will Eisner. Walt Kelly produced some very clever and at times poignant graphic collections of more than just comic strips. I don't know if you'd call them "graphic novels," but only because that's a recently coined term.

I like quite a few but some of my tops are:

Neil Gaimon
Garth Ennis
Peter David
Terry Moore
Jamie Delano
Alan Moore
Marv Wolfman
Howard Chaykin
Mike Grell
Steven Grant

I probally would keep going but I will stop now

Alan Moore (I am so looking forward to Black Dossier!)
Mike Mignola
Craig Thompson
Chris Ware

Warren Ellis' Stormwatch TPBs remain some of my favorite superhero comics. JMS' first two Supreme Power TPBs are also good, but it's kinda peetered off since then (much like I felt Rising Stars did).

Yeah, Rising Stars Volume 1 was so damn good... volume 2 was such that I've yet to be inspired to buy volume 3 (much like my feelings on the Matrix trilogy)

I've been a big fan of Mark Waid for some time. I'm glad he's back to writing Flash.

Other writers I enjoy reading:

Roy Thomas
Stan Lee
Mark Gruenwald
Steve Englehart
Jim Starlin
Jim Shooter
Geoff Johns

After making fun of Jocelyn's obsession with entering every single book we have on LibraryThing, I have found a use. I have accessed her info on my Graphic Novels Bookshelf, and have the following recommendations for the silly one:

Batman: Dark Knight Returns (NOT THE SEQUEL! NOT THE SEQUEL!) by Frank Miller
Empire by Mark Waid (High recommedation)
Fables Vol. 1 by Bill Willingham (there's a thread somewhere where it got mixed reviews)
Grendel: Devil by Deed by Matt Wagner
Invincible Book 1 by Robert Kirkman
Jaka's Story by Dave Sim (the best of the Cerebus phonebooks, IMO)
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez (This one's fun. Actually, I think I like Lenore better, but I don't own any.)
Justice League: A New Beginning by Mark Waid (THE GREATEST RUN OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE EVER. Wait - I thought this run was by Giffen/DeMatteis? I think LibraryThing's wrong on the author. BUT IT'S THE GREATEST JUSTICE LEAGUE RUN EVER.)
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid (slightly disappointing ending)
Mage Vol. 1 by Matt Wagner
Midnight Nation by JMS
Scud the Disposable Assassin Vol.l by Rob Schrab (Scud Books 1 and 2 were great, the rest kinda sucked)
Supreme Power Vol. 1 by JMS (as mentioned above, 1 and 2 were good, 3 kinda sucked)
Tom Strong Book 1 by Alan Moore

. . . Huh. There's a lot of stuff missing, like my Authority and Stormwatch and Planetary stuff. Looks like the bookshelf list is not complete. Well, get those too. And Top 10. Smax is good, that's on the upstairs bookshelf and not listed.

quote:

Originally posted by Tongster:
After making fun of Jocelyn's obsession with entering every single book we have on LibraryThing, I have found a use. I have accessed her info on my Graphic Novels Bookshelf, and have the following recommendations for the silly one:


Empire by Mark Waid (High recommedation)

I have not read that Tongster. Is that a super hero book? I tried looking it up on Amazon and all I got so far were individual issues.

Another recommendation for Silly String Person,

Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid
This is an awesome modern day origin of Supes. Even if he isn't your favorite hero, it's an all too likeable story.

I still have one and a half bookshelves to LibraryThing, and all the graphic novels and books that are floating around the house without a home.

(I should tag all your gaming books, too.)

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Chadtastic:

I have not read that Tongster. Is that a super hero book? I tried looking it up on Amazon and all I got so far were individual issues.

I think it's a Super Mini-Series; definitely not superheroes, though. The Supervillain has conquered the world. Very, very good. I found it in Borders, I think; I don't think I've seen it in a comic book store, ever.

Oh, I forgot Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb.

cool, I'll have to look that up. Thanks Tongster.

Another recommendation is Daredevil:Born Again by Frank Miller.

What an incredible story. It's probably the one I re-read the most.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mr. Chadtastic,