The official ProgArchives comic book thread

Decided to start a new one because, let's face it, the last one died back in December.

In the meantime since then, I've finally finished reaching Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Rizzo's insanely ambitious crime/espionage series 100 Bullets. On a narrative level it's so convoluted it's something of a miracle the whole storyline doesn't collapse under its own weight, and compared to something like Garth Ennis' Preacher (which I still do like warts and all) or the later X-Files seasons it really demonstrates the importance of planning everything ahead when writing this type of long-term story arcs. That said, there are quite a few of the characters introduced later on in the comic's run whose development arc I'm not completely satisfied with since they come across as underwritten or awkwardly handled.

I've also been reading up on the backlog of the late Rune T. Kidde, a Danish satirical underground cartoonist who's pretty unknown outside Scandinavia perhaps because much of his humour is very culturally specific. He did write in English on occasion, collaborating with either Robert Crumb or Gilbert Shelton. (can't remember which one) Especially early on, before his eyesight got too bad, he had a very intriguing style that's really crude and childish but also shows an amazing attention to detail. Likewise, there's a certain sentimentality and heart underneath all the equally tasteless and crass sense of humour which really adds to the je ne sais quois appeal of his work.

Last comic book I read was Arzach the Surveyor, first in an unfinished trilogy begun by Jean "Moebius" Giraud shortly before his death in which he tries to explain the universe and setting of his most famous creation - a wandering pterodactyl-riding warrior in a surrealistic fantasy world. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but he creates an interesting and somewhat complex story that seamlessly merges spaghetti westerns with space opera and sword-and-sorcery. The artwork is also as usual fantastic... a pity he didn't get to complete it, because there are so many story threads left dangling at the end.

At very least it's motivated me to re-read his 1970s and 1980s work, perhaps including the blind spots I've got in the man's vast back catalog!

About to dig out a bunch of Moebius' anthologies compiling his shorter one-shot science-fiction/fantasy comics including The Long Tomorrow which Ridley Scott supposedly based Blade Runner's visual aesthetic upon. Was also my plan to re-read The Hermetic Garage in Spring Break but I was too busy with other things.

Other recommendations for 1960s/1970s/1980s Continental European SF/F preferably of a new-wavey variety? I'm thinking of looking into Paolo Serpieri's Morbus Gravis and at some point finishing Enki Bilal's Le Sommeil du Monstre trilogy I have lying around in the original French.

Huge Watchmen fan

Currently reading Walking Dead, Saga, and Sandman

Speaking of Lone Wolf and Cub, I have found a lengthy article series on PopMatters analyzing that work explaining why it has a poignance and epic pathos to it that most other action-adventure comics don't even aspire towards.

1. History and Influences
2. Revenge in the Epic Narrative Tradition
3. Artwork and Swordplay
4. Ogami Itto and the Rejection of Bushido
5. Half Mat, One Mat and a Fistful of Rice
6. Cloud Dragon, Wind Tiger
7. A Wall of Swords

Concerning less serious comics, I've also been revisiting the Norwegian comic strip Nemi about the daily life of an extremely eccentric goth woman in her mid-20s. It's so entertaining because it basically functions as a "soul radar" of its creator Lise Myhre, though she insists the main character isn't based entirely upon herself, without ever getting too obnoxious about it.

Apparently it's also ran in some British publications, I'm curious to know how it's been received there since much of the humour might not travel well outside Scandinavia.

Thread resurrection time!

I've been reading Dear Billy and now War Stories Volume 2 by Garth Ennis. Gotta say I find the man's WW2 historical stuff is way, way better than things like The Boys and Preacher that he's more famous for, because having to stick to real historical events bring out his strengths as a writer while keeping the trademark goofy shock humour I often find unnecessary or even downright distracting to a minimum. Here he's good at humanizing people who have either been rendered rather unpleasant or even monstrous by either their circumstances or their ideological convictions if not a combination of both, in the process of exploring the hows and whys of man's inhumanity to man.

Both volumes balance good storytelling and complex characterization with some absolutely painstaking research into history, showcasing quite a few underhanded or morally questionable things done by non-USSR Allies. Then there's Dear Billy also impressing me quite a bit by being probably the first Garth Ennis comic I've read that's written entirely from a female point of view, something I hadn't expected him to pull of anywhere this well because of the "rated R for manly" sensibility he writes from most of the time.

I kind of wish the WS would have included more about the Pacific War which I've been reading a lot about recently, like Dear Billy does focus on, but it does compensate for that by having a story about the Spanish Civil War. Technically not WW2, but certainly a prelude to the conflict as it saw future Allied and Axis powers clash.

CPicard wrote: This thread is so rarely activated that I thought it was a thread about Prog Archives Comics - end of the sentence. It reminds me that I've started to read Civil Wars (volume 3 of the French edition, the death of Captain America). I'm not sure I really enjoy it (at least, it's better that these horrible Ultimatum things). Anyway, I'm about to start Fables (volume 20 of the French edition - volume 17 in the USA, the "Inherit the Wind" arc, running from issue 108 to 113).

I have the entire series...waiting for the newest 'collected issues' to come out. I have really enjoyed that one. Currently starting Hellblazer; vol1;  Constantine (read a later series about this a while back),  ....since the series is coming on American television soon. Thought the movie was just ok with Keanu Reeves but they changed so much of the original story it didn't embody much of the same feel.

Edited by dr wu23 - September 30 2014 at 09:20

I love Jiro Taniguchi's graphic novels.

Dutchman Dick Matena is pretty good too, making graphic novels out of world/Dutch literature. Great style, good taste.

i like Will Eisner too, and Hugo Pratt.

I'm reading a bunch of Frank Miller's Sin City stuff, which I think I understand better now that I'm more familiar with pulp crime fiction and film noir of which that series is a pastiche. It's still style-above-substance, but the stories actually owe as much to old horror and 1970s action films as to classic noir perhaps being better appreciated in that light since it abandons the customary realism of that stuff for grotesque expressionism set in some kind of nightmare world. (sometimes with a capital E thanks to the art style)

Has Diefenbach been translated into any other languages yet? The art style certainly looks interesting, like it's inspired by the author's late countryman Zdzislaw "The H. R. Giger of Eastern Europe" Beksinski.

It is indeed.