Thursday, December 18, 2008

My Recommendations for the person who wants to start reading Comics

OK, I'm in the mood to give out my 2 cents to people who want to start reading comics.

First, you gotta ask yourself. Are you going in this to collect? to have a good read? or both?

I fall on the both. I like reading a good story and collecting just followed after.

If you want to start, I suggest you buy a Trade Paperback or a "Graphic Novel". Why did I put that in quotations? Because I believe that a Graphic Novel is a stand alone, THICK comic book. While a Trade Paperback is a collected book of a story arc from a particular title.

Ok, without prolonging, here are my recommendations.

For a person who wants to get into the Superhero Genre.

1. Ultimate Spider-Man vol.1 Hardcover by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. (Marvel)

Folks, this is the revamped continuity free version of the greatest superhero of all time. Before the Superman and Batman fans start throwing tomatoes at me, you gotta check this book out. Spidey is the best character in comics you can relate to. Bendis executes the mythos for the new generation perfectly with his witty dialogue and twists. Bagley's art is just stunning! 13 issues in the Hardcover format, absolutely worth it!

2. Invincible by Robert Kirkman. (Image)

Robert Kirkman put Superman and Spidey together. But the story is insanely amazing!!! It's totally different!!!

3. The Immortal Iron Fist by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction and David Aja (Marvel)

Bru and Fraction brought KUNG-FU back!!! Didn't think that I would like this book. It turned out to be my best book of 2007. Had no clue who Danny Rand was except for the fact that I knew that he was Iron Fist. This book blew me away. The way they developed the new characters and their names was sheer f'n genius. MUST READ!!! Vol.1 - The Last Iron Fist Story and Vol. 2 - The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven.

For great reading...

1. Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. (DC/Vertigo)

BKV's masterpiece!!! I lent vol. 1 to friends and even my bosses. All asked for vol. 2 and the rest... This book is just f'n AWESOME!!! Yorick Brown is probably the greatest character created in recent year... YOU. MUST. READ. THIS. BOOK.

2. Blankets by Craig Thompson (Independent)

Thompson's award-winning autobiography in graphic novel form. This is probably the thickest book in my collection. It's the best love story in comics history. Made me cry...

3. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (Image)

Zombies? Really? Yeap! But not the stereotypical Zombie flick. The Walking Dead provides so much excitement and deeeeeeeep and I mean deep character development. Isn't that what we all want in a great story? Believe me on this. The Walking Dead will knock you down and eat your brains! It's THAT GOOD!

For Fantasy reading.

1. Bone by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)

Think of Lord of The Rings but in cute format. Bone is one of the most amazing fantasy books I've ever read. Be sure to get the colored versions recently printed by Scholastic. 8 out of 9 books have been released already. This is Smith's award winning creation and over a million Bone books have been sold!!! Fone Bone. Phoney Bone. Smiley Bone. 3 cousins caught up in a hullabaloo of epic proportions.

2. The Sword by The Luna Brothers (Image)

Filipinos REPRESENT! Jonathan and Joshua Luna gives us Dara Brighton, a crippled teenage girl who cannot walk. One night, 3 mystical beings invade her house and kills her family. Dara's dad hold's a secret. He has been protecting an ancient weapon... The Sword. As Dara escapes the murder, she falls into her basement and discovers The Sword. She can now walk and holds a lot of power. She's out to find the 3 people responsible for ruining her life... Totally awesome reading! Vol. 1 already out!!!

That's all for now...

Happy Holidays!!!

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