My reading time at present is sliced into micrometers — book due, working on a comic, working on an outline, making meals, and of course, that tiny little person running around the house. As such, my current reading time being limited, I get a lot of mileage out of comics. (And it doesn’t hurt that I’m working on a comic, too, in the process.) Been digesting a lot of Marvel, of which I’m not very well-versed, and it’s been nice to see what runs of what characters/storylines/writers work and which ones don’t.
Regardless, focusing away from the big Marvel/DC —
Let’s focus on independent, creator-owned comics.
What do you like to read in that department?
What writers?
What comics?
What artists?
Wuzza wooza?
plugav says:
Most of what I currently read has already been mentioned several times (Saga, The Wicked + The Divine, Sex Criminals, Pretty Deadly), so I’m here to recommend the stylish Nowhere Men, which is Fantastc Four as sci-fi thriller in a world of superstar scientists. Unfortunately, the series seems to have been discontinued, but at least you can read it all in a single neat trade.
And if we’re talking classics, I believe Morrison’s The Invisibles shouldn’t go unmentioned. This series will change your life if you let it. It is to comics what Mage: The Ascension is to RPGs, to use a pretentious yet shamelessly geeky comparison.
When it comes to creators, I tend to follow writers (Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, Kieron Gillen) rather than artists, but I’ll always try the new thing by JH Williams III (which currently means Sandman Overture with Neil Gaiman – double win).
August 26, 2014 — 4:34 PM
BDG says:
Hellboy (who I’m sure you’ve heard off, Mike Mignola is probably one the most important comic artists of all time) at the moment, but I read many, many indie comics–sometimes because of the writer (like Warren Ellis or Ed Brubaker) but mostly because indie comics offer a wider range of art.
August 26, 2014 — 8:03 PM
Tiago Andrade says:
Don’t know if it counts, since they were bought and incorporated by DC Comics, but I am a big fan of the late Wildstorm titles.
A personal favorite is Brian K. Vaughn’s Ex Machina. The main character is a superhero who becomes Mayor of NYC after saving one of the Twin Towers in the 9/11 attacks. It’s basically West Wing meets superheroes, as awesome as it sounds.
Vaughn also wrote Y – The Last Man, the story of the last human male survivor on Earth after a mysterious plague wipes out all the men. It has tons of pop culture references, crazy feminist groups, sex, violence and monkey poo.
Also, you can’t miss Warren Ellis’ Authority (the ultimate no-nonsense superhero team) and Planetary (an intrincate, passionate tribute to everything pop culture told through a team of “spacetime archeologists”).
August 27, 2014 — 1:08 AM
sargatanas says:
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. I can’t really describe how good this is.
Almost anything by writer Grant Morrison.
Most of the Hellblazer run under the DC Vertigo imprint.
DC’s Doom Patrol after issue #19.
Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing.
Anything by artist/writer David Mack.
Artist Bill Sienkiewicz, well known for work on the Electra mini-series.
Artist Alex Maleev, most known for his work on Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis.
Artist Mark Texiera, mostly Ghost Rider.
Frank Miller’s Ronin.
I should state that I’m not a comic nerd..anymore.
August 27, 2014 — 5:05 PM
akismet-6f5945515f47701beb796962cedda3df says:
I was bad at reading regular comics growing up – I spent my time online reading webcomics.
John Allison’s stuff is excellent. I love Bad Machinery – British youth solve mysteries in a surreal town. Also FreakAngels was pretty alright.
Oh, since you’re you, you would probably like Devil Inside – Todd Stashwick writes that with Denis Calero. Now he’s writing the new Star Wars game with Amy Hennig.
That’s all I can think of that’s (probably) creator-owned right now.
August 29, 2014 — 10:36 PM
thombrannan says:
All of these webcomics, and nobody says THE ADVENTURES OF DR. McNINJA. For shaaame, internets. Chris Hastings is hilarious.
I’m a fool for Marvel (especially cosmic Marvel now) but I enjoy some independents, like INVINCIBLE and Marc Hansen’s RALPH SNART. And of course, anything Matt Wagner does (GRENDEL and MAGE, especially).
September 14, 2014 — 4:06 PM