Comics

This post is for me more than you. I'm using it to track my reading history and to read list. You might get some recommendations out of it. You might give me some recommendations, too.

If I write about any of these comics, I'll link them here. I might otherwise put in a little blurb, quick thoughts.

I didn't think I was a big comic reader but I guess I am. 

Comics I have read, in roughly autobiographical order

Bionicle. Can't be any good but at least it's an impressively fantastic world.

Tintin. Haven't reread it but I bet it holds up.

Mad Magazine, most issues from the mid 60s to the mid 70s. My father had a stack of these a foot high that he gave to me. Fuckin fantastic back in the day, nowadays probably too goofy.

Ultimate Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men. The superhero comics of my childhood. I sprinkled in some other stuff when it was available at the library -- selected Marvel Zombies and Civil War. That was not nearly as good as the Ultimate stuff. I also read, and loved, these big guides to comicbook characters. They were full of great art. They were also explicit that each character had undergone different interpretations by different artists, and that there was no one Superman/Hulk/whatever, just a bunch of stories. So I was always prepared for a new interpretation. (This is worth noting because apparently previous guides tried to smooth over the multiple conflicting interpretations and give hard facts about characters. Seems like an odd choice. Maybe related to people asking silly questions about "who would really win" in a fight between two random superheroes.)

Bone. I didn't get the hype, then or now. 

Sandman vols 1--5. Triggered an unhealthy interest in serial killers and eating eyeballs. The diner issue is burned into my mind. By here we're in 6th grade.

Calvin and Hobbes. Fantastic. 

Watchmen. It's pretty good.

V for Vendetta. Pretty good.

Hellboy. Love the issue where he first eats pancakes.

The Walking Dead. Didn't finish it; I stopped when the bookstore ran out of books. 

I kept up with the Ultimate Marvel and Hellboy through middle school, reading the trade paperbacks at the library or Barnes and Noble, without buying any.

In college I talked to people who read Japanese comics, alias "manga". I'm not going to use that word because I think it creates a useless distinction.

Berserk. Flawed but fantastic.

One Punch Man. I gave it up after the monster association fight, too sprawling, but very funny.

Mob Psycho 100. Really excellent.

Akira. It's fine.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, all the way through to the beginning chapters of JoJoLands. Why did I do this. It's "important culturally", sure, but it just isn't much good.

Most things by Junji Ito. Hit and miss. A lot of his faces are samey. Sometimes he gets great, creepy ideas, and sometimes he drags on for ages about something boring.

Stray Toasters. Recommended reading for Demon City, back when I was following that game's development. Not very good.

Persepolis. Very good.

Fun Home. I only remember a little bit. What I remember I like.

Mr Arashi's Amazing Freak Show. It's nasty but what's the point?

The Strange Tale of Panorama Island. Gorgeous art, not particularly scary.

PTSD Radio. Great name. Hit and miss. "God of Hair" is a great concept.

Panorama of Hell, Hideshi Hino. What was the point? 

Anamorphosis: Hell Beast, Shintaro Kago. Ehh.

Fraction, Shintaro Kago. Boring.

The Drifting Classroom.

Cat Eyed Boy. Didn't finish.

Various "important" Batman stuff: The Dark Knight Returns, Arkham Asylum, the one where Joker paralyzes Batgirl, the one from the point of view of a henchman who's following Joker around, the one where you see Batman's dick.

Batman: Year One. 

Everything Shuzo Oshimi has written. Inside Mari was personally life-changing. 

Planetes. Pretty good. 

Providence. Also the two other shorter works connected to it. The human stories are fantastic, the cosmic shit is boring.

Marshall Law.

All-Star Superman.

Foolkiller.

The Question.

Some of The Phantom dailies, dunno how much, a couple years' worth maybe?

The Spirit, a few years worth anyway. 

ElfQuest.

A couple early Batman and Superman comics, like maybe the first 5 issues of each. 

A Contract with God.

The Amazing Spider-Man. I'm as far as issue 53 at the time of writing.

Maus.

Cerebus the Barbarian. I'm nearly done with High Society.

Doom Patrol. 2/3 done.

To read

Amazing Spider-Man 1--101

Fantastic Four Lee run

Captain America Secret Empire

Green Lantern/Green Arrow

Luke Cage year 1

Black Panther Panther's Rage

Whatever is good in Daredevil

Whatever is good in X-Men

Man-Thing

Allan Moore Swamp Thing

Whatever is good in Dr Strange

Thor

Judge Dredd

Strontium Dog

Nemesis the Warlock

Love and Rockets

Mobius?

Asterix?

Prince Valiant?

More horror comics?

Dylan Dog

Omaha the Cat Dancer

Grendel?

Recs from others: Bilal and Jodorowsky, Great Lakes Avengers, Luciver, Valerian & Laureline, Wonder Woman Pérez run after Crisis, Superman Byrne run after Crisis, XXXenophile, Mage Wagner's run first arc only.

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