Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion
General Discussions
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Introduction: Newbies say hello and introduce yourself here
Gwen wrote: "Hello! My name is Gwen, I've been reading comic books since I was a kid. I read the Grant Morrison run of Doom Patrol when I was much too young and it gave me nightmares - to this day it's still ..."
John wrote: "Hey everyone. My name is John, and I have been a fan of comics since childhood...which was a long, long time ago. My favorites mostly come from the seventies, such as Conan the Barbarian, Werewolf ..."
Sandra wrote: "Hi,
My name is Sandra and i'm from Lisbon, Portugal, i've been reading comics since pretty much i could read.
I started with mostly Disney and other children's comics and made my intro into super-..."
Welcome Gwen, Sandra and John!
I've been really getting into the X-comics actually as of late, from all eras as I've connected a lot to many of the characters and there is a lot to like about Marjorie Liu, Jason Aaron, and Cullen Bunn who are writing great stuff in the comics at the time. John, have you read Aaron's Ghost Rider run? It's really a lot of fun, though some of the art is not my favorite. Definitely second the Black Orchid love, it is amazing. Renee French is super awesome.
NYKen wrote: "Welcome to the group Gwen and John. Enjoy your time here. There are two books currentlty in discussion for this month The Nightly News which is our July book discussion, and Asterios Polyp which is..."Thanks for the welcome!
Hmmm, favorite batman villain . . . that is a very hard question. I like a lot of them for different reasons. The Joker, of course, just because he has so many levels of crazy, keeps evolving in a meaningful way (usually), and really gets under Batman's skin. Professor Pyg is one of the most disturbing (Grant Morrison writes such wonderfully weird and demented characters) with his Circus of the Strange. But I think my favorite Batman villain is Scarecrow. His MO may be a little cliche and simple at this point, but I still think he's a classic villain with a good, relatable backstory that's fun to see played out in all his incarnations. Plus his costume in the Arkham Asylym video game is amazing!
Hello, thanks for inviting me into this group. I'm a big reader of all types of books, classic literature (mainly fiction) being my favorite. But lately I have been strongly into graphic novels. My interests include a wide range. From the mainstream X-Men stuff to the Dark Horse Archive collections of classic sci-fi and horror stuff to Jason and Daniel Clowes.
Hi, I'm Kenta and i love to read, especially graphic novels and manga. I live in NY and i am in middle school. i am currently reading not simple (http://manga.about.com/od/vizmedia/gr...) and the girl with the dragon tattoo.
Hey, I'm Jamie. My obsession with comics/graphic novels goes back to the 1990s X-Men Saturday morning cartoon. I've loved those characters ever since, and in my mid/late teens I started reading a random X-Men comic here or there. Eventually a friend recommended I pick up Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon (had no idea who that was at the time. Now I'm a devout Whedonite) and John Cassaday. I can remember exactly the date I first started going to a comic shop regularly (February 22, 2006) because I had just finished the second volume of Astonishing X-Men and was disappointed to find that it had gone on hiatus for a year while Marvel published House of M. In fact the next issue, #13, had just been released that day. Well, no way I was waiting for the collected edition, so I got in my car, drove the shop, and I've had a pull list at my local comic shop ever since.I remember the cover to DMZ #5 staring me in the face from the shelf of that comic shop, and in that moment I fell instantly in love with Brian Wood's work. Later, upon researching more graphic novels to read, I came to Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which blew my mind and destroyed any small conception I had of what a comic could be about. It is now my favorite comic of all time, and Gaiman one of my favorite writers in any medium, be it comics, prose, or Doctor Who. These influences all
Since then I have absolutely loved comics of all shapes and sizes, to the point where my friends think it may be a sickness (friends that I have since turned on, or at least turned back on, to comics). I've been looking around for a graphic novel group like this for a long time, and judging by what you've read already, you all have pretty good taste :)
Besides Gaiman, Wood and Whedon, some of my favorite writers are Grant Morrison, Jonathan Hickman and Brian K. Vaughan, and besides Cassady, some of my favorite artists are Chris Bachalo, J.H. Williams III and Frank Quitely. Favorite cartoonists would probably be Alex Robinson, Craig Thompson, Jeff Smith, and Terry Moore. And I also have an unhealthy love of Chris Claremont's original Uncanny X-Men run, and Jack Kirby was a god in flesh. :)
@Ryan You may be interested in this: The Graphic Canon, Vol. 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons. Usually I can't get myself interested in comic adaptations of other stories, but I've flipped through that in a book store recently and it looks very good and comes highly recommended from around the web.
Sérgio wrote: "Welcome Alekh and Patrick."Thank you!
NYKen wrote: "Welcome to the group Danalia, Alekh, Patrick, Ryan, and Kenta."Thanks for the welcome!
Hi my name's Andrew from the UK and I only recently learnt about Graphic Novels. So glad I did as it has opened a whole new sub-set of literature to me. :)
Thanks for the welcome guys, and a warm cheers to all those who joined later.@NYKen - Well, kinda more interested in alternate/non-mainstream GNs rather than the usual ones. My recommendation would be to read at least "The Burma Chronicles", "Fart Party 1 & 2" (sounds ridiculous, but isn't ! Or is it ? ;)) & "Embroideries". All of them are funny but touching memoirs of the individual artist's life and are brillianty portrayed !
For me, Craig Thompson comes after these 3 (Blankets/Habibi). Also go through "From Hell" if you get the time.
Among the mainstream ones, "Bone" is one of my favourites. I know it's more of a teen GN than an adult one, but it is kind of a nice detour from the dark world all the superheros live in.
You can also go through my "read" list for more alternate GNs. Do let me know if you need a short review on them.
Cheers ! :D
Jamie wrote: "@Ryan You may be interested in this: The Graphic Canon, Vol. 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons. Usually I can't get myself interested in comic adaptations of other ..."sounds like we might be on the same wavelength Jamie, I just picked up volume one and am looking forward to volume two. I don't usually like these adaptations either, but this one has some really nice talent, including R. Crumb and Will Eisner. Unfortunately, I tend to buy this stuff much faster than I can read it, so it may be a while before I can post a review...
Lichen wrote: "Hi my name's Andrew from the UK and I only recently learnt about Graphic Novels. So glad I did as it has opened a whole new sub-set of literature to me. :)"Welcome to the group Lichen
Hello, I have joined this group after an invitation from Sergio (thank you). I have been reading BDs, bandes dessinés,(French for comic books) and mangas since my childhood, comics books (of which graphic novels) were a later, and pleasant, discovery. I really enjoyed Watchmen and V for Vendetta. I guess some of the BD that I really liked would also be considered graphic novels like Persepolis or La Trilogie Nikopole from Enki Bilal...
Hello Corinna.Welcome to the group.
I'm a fan of the Nikopol Trilogy too. :)
Hello EveryoneMy name is Ijeoma and I live in London.
I have suddenly realised that I don't know any one else who reads graphic novels apart from my son who reads manga. In any case this hasn't stopped me.
Some of my favorites are Fables, Grim Jack, Chew, Jack of Fables, Echo and Fathom. I also read a lot of urban fantasy/paranormal books and it is really great to see some of these books in comic/graphic novel form. I am enjoying the Anita Blake graphic novel series and also the Dresden Files and Mercy Thompson.
I am looking forward to discovering new titles to read through the group.
Hi all,My names Joe, I'm Irish and live in Limerick. I've been reading comics since I was a kid, I started on the old Fleetway classics like the Dandy, Beano, Topper and Whizzer, moved onto war comics like Warlord, Victor, and Battle/Action Force, and also 2000AD. I moved onto DC/Marvel mainstream - Batman and XMen, mostly - when I was in my early teens, and came across Watchmen and Sandman when I went to college. That really got me into 'alternative' and 'indie' comics, and I've been reading all manner of stuff ever since. I tend to follow authors rather than series, so if I come a cross a good new book I will usually pick up everything that author has done. Faves are Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis, with a nod to Alan Moore also.
Hello,My name is Amanda and I’m half English half Brazilian. My story is a little complicated but here it is in a nutshell..
I was born and raised in London where I developed my endless thirst for reading and just like many of you, my obsession with comics/graphic novels goes back to my early childhood. I too have spent my childhood watching cartoons of the traditional superheroes and some of the more alternative ones too. When I was younger, I used to go to my sisters house over the holiday, and well, I have a great brother-in-law who has an amazing collection of comics/graphic novels, which I didn’t hesitate to go through. In sum, I was introduced to The Sandman series, Watchmen, and so forth from quite a young age.
My teenage years were spent somewhere in the middle of Brittany, France. (Although very picturesque and dear to my heart, this region is an absolute nightmare for any teenager.) It was in Brittany that I expanded my readings to Manga/ Anime and thus opened up a whole new perspective of the animated world. Now I live in São Paulo, Brazil, which has stunted my shopping for printed copies. I love the smell of the paper version but it’s just such a hassle to get hold of them here that I end up reading them on-line.
Why do I like Comics/Graphic Novels/Manga/Anime? Well, I guess that it’s because I like to get lost in different worlds, realities or times.
My name is Philip, and I am an aspiring librarian/author from Colorado. I have sold comics, bought comics, read them, studied them, and written term papers about them. I am always on the lookout for something new.
Hi there :) I'm Daniel, 22 years old, and have only fell in love with the magic of comics over the past year or so. I've been a member of this group for a little while, but have yet to participate in any of the group reads. I'm going to change that by joining in with the 2 Batman books next month. I look forward to discussing them with you all.
Hey, I'm Lindsey. I just started getting into the graphic novel game, and I'm fairly excited about reading them. There's just something about the way comics are drawn that is so attractive.
Hi, I'm Mike. I'm just starting to look at the various groups on Goodreads and this one caught my eye as I've been reading graphic novels all my life and am always looking for new recommendations and people to chat about them with.
Hey everyone, Hector here. Los Angeles born and bred. Into noir, gritty, darker stories books such as Preacher, Sin City, Watchmen, Sandman, Joker and Crossed. Also into lighter comic books such as Deadpool, and N.E.X.T.wave.
Hector wrote: "Hey everyone, Hector here. Los Angeles born and bred. Into noir, gritty, darker stories books such as Preacher, Sin City, Watchmen, Sandman, Joker and Crossed. Also into lighter comic books such as..."have you read Deadpool Pulp?
Hi, I'm Lulu. I'm spanish but I'm currently living in United Kingdom.
I've been slow discovering graphic novels, I'm afraid. I just know the most famous ones, but I'm looking forward to discover new ones. I started with Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and loving "Maus" by Art Spiegelmann. From there I've been moving to some by Alan Moore (I love "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" but not so much a fan of "Watchmen") and I loved "Blankets" and practically anything by Marjane Satrapi. Last one I read is "1602" by Gaiman. I quite liked it but I'm not that thrilled about Marvel, though I love X-Men.
I'm currently reading "The walking dead" series and I'm about to start Polina
Apart of reading, I love travelling, studying foreign languages and cinema.
I've been slow discovering graphic novels, I'm afraid. I just know the most famous ones, but I'm looking forward to discover new ones. I started with Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and loving "Maus" by Art Spiegelmann. From there I've been moving to some by Alan Moore (I love "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" but not so much a fan of "Watchmen") and I loved "Blankets" and practically anything by Marjane Satrapi. Last one I read is "1602" by Gaiman. I quite liked it but I'm not that thrilled about Marvel, though I love X-Men.
I'm currently reading "The walking dead" series and I'm about to start Polina
Apart of reading, I love travelling, studying foreign languages and cinema.
Hey, I'm Raven. I'm a senior in high school from the southeast U.S. I guess my interest in comics began when I was introduced to manga in middle school. As my obsession with that began to fade, I discovered webcomics. For a couple of years I have been reading more graphic novels and just in the past few months I really started devouring them. I've always been interested in art and illustration, so the storytelling format of graphic novels is really fun and interesting for me. I've always wanted to join a book club of some kind, and this group is the perfect opportunity to expand my library of graphic novels. My favorite comic that I'm reading right now is Brian K. Vaughan's new series Saga. I'm also playing catch-up on a lot of series like Fables, Y: The Last Man, and a few Marvel comics. Other favorites include Persepolis, Habibi, and Anya's Ghost.
@NYKen You're welcome. And yes, I agree, BONE is really riveting. I literally burnt through it in no time. Searching for the LE stocks at cheap prices. :P
Joining my first Goodreads group! Been reading sequential art forever. I live in Alberta, Canada. I was super lucky to find Asterix and Tintin at the public library. I took German in school, and read Mickey Maus comics gifted by visiting relatives. My first regular comic book purchase was Excalibur. I have all but six issues of the original run and love it to pieces, especially Warren Ellis and Chris Claremont's work.
I read a ton of manga. Mostly shojo and sci fi stuff. Shojo is "girl's manga" but basically means the story isn't about leveling up to fight the next round of bad guys. Dengeki Daisy and the re-released Sailor Moon are my faves at the moment.
I read a lot of webcomics too. The Dreamland Chronicles is a great all ages story. Hemlock at smackjeeves is beautiful to look at and full of scandinavian-inspired magic. Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant is awesome.
Hello everyone. My name is Aaron and I am new to goodreads. I found website and app both informative and insightful. I have been reading comics/graphic novels since I was 13 and am now 34. My favorite writers range from greg rucka to.jms to geoff johns to kirkman and bendis. Mostly i read dc and marvel but have read kirkmans walking dead and invincible. I can no longer afford the.expense of monthly comics.and have found myself waiting for the trade at my local library. I did read batman court of owls recently and found very good. Anyway just wanted to put in my 2 cents. Thanks for listening!
Hello everyone. My name is Brian. I am also new to Good Reads. I haven't been on much, but I am hoping to explore more, and read more, as my schedule smooths out. What made me look, for the group (other than being a comics fan), is I actually won a contest. " Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel" will be sent to me in six to eight weeks. I can't believe it. So I will review it, and I'll be interested to hear what other people think of it, when they read it. I read most of "100 Bullets", in graphic novel form. That is also how I follow Hellboy and BPRD. I read a large variety of stuff. The "Kith" and "Kin" books most recently. (written by Holly Black illustrated by Ted Naifeh)
Well, hello, my name is Pete.I've only recently gotten into comics, graphic novels, whatever you want to call them. Its kind of funny because I'm 42, and I've never had any interest in them whatsoever my entire life, and now I'm obsessed! Don't most people start when they're kids?!?
I admit it. I had preconceptions about comics. There seems to be a stigma attached to them. I had the preconception that they were all juvenile, simplistic stories, about super-heroes where everything is told in black-and-white terms.
What changed my view was I had a copy of Watchmen on my bookshelf that my brother-in-law had lent me. It sat on my shelf for a couple of years before one day I just got curious and decided to pick it up and see what it was all about. I was blown away. It wasn't even necessarily the story itself, but it opened my eyes to the possibilities of this format. It dealt with complex philosophical issues, and very mature subject matter, which was surprising. But most of all I was in awe of the story telling techniques that were possible in this medium. The way that the words and pictures were juxtaposed, to create humor, suspense, mystery, etc. I realized that I'd been missing out on a whole world of stories of all kinds that were possible in "graphic novels".
Anyway, I immediately went looking for everything I could get my hands on. I ripped through the entire series of Y: The Last Man, which I found thoroughly entertaining. Then moved on to some of the batman books, Year One, Killing Joke, Long Halloween and others. Then I read all of Sweet Tooth, and American Vampire (both of which I'm now keeping up with the monthly issues). I got into some other independent comics that are currently running. I'm really digging the mini-series Smoke and Mirrors. Also, Saga, from Brian K. Vaughan.
I read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics which was fantastic! A fascinating analysis of the medium.
I realized that saying I don't like "graphic novels" is like saying "I don't like novel's", or "music", or "movies". It is just a medium to tell any type of story possible, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, horror, western, science-fiction, fantasy, or anything else.
Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself, and I look forward to discussing the books with the group here and getting new recommendations from everyone. Tell me what books you loved!
I see that one of the next books might be The Underwater Welder, which was one that I'd been looking forward to reading.
--Pete
Welcome Catherine, Aaron, Brian and PeterPeter wrote: "I realized that saying I don't like "graphic novels" is like saying "I don't like novel's", or "music", or "movies". It is just a medium to tell any type of story possible, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, horror, western, science-fiction, fantasy, or anything else."
I completely agree. :)
Hello All. I'm Andrew. I just found this group through searching. I'm a big fan of the graphic novel format.
Top of the day to all you lords and ladies. I'm Aaron and while I have read mostly manga, a great friend of mine has got me hooked on comic books. She introduced me to Gail Simone through Birds of Prey and Secret Six. Since then I have been slowly falling further and further down this rabbit hole. Of which I have no problem with.I love going to used book stores. I was able to start my personal library when they had four full carts of $1 manga books. That was heaven for a long time. I enjoy comedies mostly but more serious toned books are always enjoyed as well.
Not exactly sure what to expect by joining this book club but I know that being around like minded bibliophiles can't hurt. I wish you all well and hope to be another valued member. Cheers.
Hi Aaron, welcome!Aaron wrote: "I love going to used book stores. I was able to start my personal library when they had four full carts of $1 manga books. That was heaven for a long time. "
Me too! I'm all for cheap used comics and it can be a thrilling experience walking into a used book store without knowing what you'll come upon and actually finding something great and rare.
Hi, I'm Margreet from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. I live and breathe comics - have worked in a comic store (Lambiek, where I worked on the Comiclopedia), started making comics myself in 2000, became fulltime artist in 2005. I love short funnies as much as lengthier graphic novels. My special interest is autobiographical comics. My latest purchase is 'Are You My Mother?' by Alison Bechdel. Very impressed - the first truly psychological graphic novel, in my humble opinion.
Hi Margreet. Welcome!It's great to have creators joining the group. :)
I've heard of Lambiek. It's one of the oldest comic stores in the world, right?
Hi Sérgio - that's right, it was founded in 1968. I think earlier that same year a comic store opened in California, but that one doesn't exist anymore... Kees Kousemaker, the owner of Lambiek, was one of the first to treat comics as art , instead of just entertainment for kids - many exhibitions have been hosted in the Lambiek Galerie over the years. It's a great place, still feels like home to me.
Margreet wrote: "Hi Sérgio - that's right, it was founded in 1968. I think earlier that same year a comic store opened in California, but that one doesn't exist anymore... Kees Kousemaker, the owner of Lambiek, w..."
That's really great. That place must be filled with comics history.
I actually just realized that I already visited the comiclopedia hundreds of times. It's a great site, you must be proud of it. :)
Thanks! Well, it's a team effort - we worked on it with at least ten people over the years. I was there from 2000-2005. I remember Kees saying he thought the Comiclopedia would probably be full after 2000 entries. It's over 12.000 now!What a great group is this, by the way, I took a look around. Like the idea of reading books as a group - think I will join the Buddha thread.
Hello everyone. My name is Sam. I am just an average graphic novel and Manga reader. I happened to come across the group and thought that it would be a good idea to join. Right now i am reading The Thanos Imperative.
Graphic Novel Reading Group
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I'm Patrick out of the Washington DC area. Big time comics fan and lover of graphic novels! Thanks for the invite and I look forward to taking part in the conversations on the boards.