Comic Books

[Spaced]

I used to be a big comic book fan when I was younger and I find that recently that interest is coming back. When I was a kid my favourite things to read about were mythology and superheroes. I would read about Perseus saving Andromeda from a sea monster and then read about Spider-Man saving Mary Jane from Doctor Octopus. From a young age I saw the connection between the two types of media, they shared many themes, though the stories may change. I think this type of storytelling is very beneficial because it allows us to bend our concepts of reality. I've been finding that a lot of the metaphysical concepts related to the Law of One are often just taken for granted in the universe of superheroes.

Anyhoo, sorry for the long intro, I just wanted to talk about some of the comics I've been reading recently

Has anyone else been following Avengers vs. X-Men? I find a lot of interesting themes showing up in the story, the world's two most powerful teams facing off about what to do about the return of the Phoenix force, a cosmic force of death and rebirth. The Avengers fear the phoenix and and try to fight it off whereas the X-Men believe that the phoenix is coming to help the mutants of the Earth. The last issue came out this week and I think the end was very inspiring, despite the harrowing end of the world confrontation with the Dark Phoenix. Tony Stark, the billionaire industrialist finds faith, and the 'mutant messiah' Hope finally lives up to her destiny.

I've also been really interested in Daken: Dark Wolverine. I find the character really intriguing in a somewhat frightening kind of a way. It's interesting to peer into the mind of someone actively polarizing negatively and see what twists their nihilistic quest takes. Not for the faint of heart though.

[hogey11]

I knew a guy through my mom's friend who was much older than me and had broken his neck in a rugby accident. He had PILES of comics, and he needed help every few years in sorting them and packing them away all protected and such. So I got to spend 2 weekends just poring over all these comic books; i've loved them ever since. Unfortunately, my love for trading cards seemed to take precedent and I rarely bought any comics myself, but I still love comics when I do come across them (and at this point i'd much rather have the comics! c'est la vie)

I definitely agree on the themes too. Japanese anime is similar as well where I find there is much more depth than what you can find in Western media; i'm shocked how often Law of One concepts are broached in all sorts of anime series. I've always been a huge sucker for anything imaginative and creative. I'll look into the Avengers vs Xmen books; sounds like a fun series to read

[Spaced]

I've been reading this one this weekend


I was surprised by the similarities between Ibis and Ra, both in doth in depiction and teachings.

[Meerie]

I used to love the Asterix comic books as a kid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix
It's about a little village in Gaul (now France) and its indomitable population who resist the Roman conquest with the help of a magical potion.
They contain lots of humor and puns, for example the bard is called "Cacofonix".
This guys sums it up quite nicely in his blog:
http://www.rajeevmahajan.com/2012/07/by-...terix.html

[Patrick]

The Asterix series is very well known here in Québec. The french Asterix animes are so funny.

[Spaced]

Yeah, I grew up on Asterix and Tin Tin

[reeay]

Me too, I loved Asterix and Tin Tin! And a lot of manga stuff...

[Meerie]

oops, lol...
I thought it was more an european thing and that you guys across the big pond had never heard of Asterix.

[βαθμιαίος]

Asterix yes, but I've never seen Suske en Wiske here.

[reeay]

and even those over the big pond and over another big pond, too lol

[Spaced]

The other comic that I grew up with and which shaped my childhood pretty heavily is Calvin & Hobbes.

I always related to Spaceman Spiff, naturally

[reeay]

Shut the front door! Clark Kent quits his day job lol

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20050483

[native]

Figured I'd search to see if there were any comic threads before making one, and here we are!

So I read a few comics as a kid, but was mostly interested in the art. I have to say, I really wish I kept at it because I started to read comics again and it's such a fantastic medium.

I picked up The Wake, which was a 10-issue series. It's about a mysterious sound coming from a creature deep within the ocean. The writing instantly draws you in and the comic deals with spiritual symbolism. It was highly synchronistic, as a central aspect of the comic deals with water which is something I've been thinking about lately. Every other page seems to have a WHOA moment, and the art is lovely. I absolutely loved this comic, and highly recommend others pick it up.

Then there's Chew, a comic about a detective that lives in a world where chicken is outlawed and sold on the black market, he can gain psychic impressions of food by taking bites out of them (he starts taking bites out of crime scene victims), and there are aliens involved! It's a hilarious comic that makes me laugh out loud.

I just started reading Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run, and I can tell it's going to be a good one. Even though he's not a superhero character, I never would have thought I could be drawn into a comic as an adult that deals with a superhero-like fantasy character like Swamp Thing. But when I read reviews about how the comic is a metaphor between man and its relationship to nature, and trying to find itself, I knew it had to be great.

Getting through Y: The Last Man vol 1. was a struggle so I stopped after that, and I stopped reading The Walking Dead after a few issues. For that reason I won't bother with Saga.

I do remember you recommending Morrison's Invisibles Spaced, so I plan on picking that up after I read Watchmen. I'll eventually get to Sandman as well. I'm really seeing how cool comics can be. Like there is Superman: Red Son. The premise is what if Superman landed in Russia instead of the US, and is used by the Russians as a weapon? That idea is just cool a s***.

Any other recommendations from anyone?

[AnthroHeart]

I think it was a comic, but The Maxx was also a great cartoon they had on MTV's Oddities. Didn't see the comic though. He's in 2 worlds, I think one is the Outback. And it has weird creatures. He called the woman he loved his jungle queen if I recall correctly.

[native]

Heh..The Maxx is actually one of the ones I have from when I was a kid.

[Spaced]

Figured I'd search to see if there were any comic threads before making one, and here we are!

So I read a few comics as a kid, but was mostly interested in the art. I have to say, I really wish I kept at it because I started to read comics again and it's such a fantastic medium.

I picked up The Wake, which was a 10-issue series. It's about a mysterious sound coming from a creature deep within the ocean. The writing instantly draws you in and the comic deals with spiritual symbolism. It was highly synchronistic, as a central aspect of the comic deals with water which is something I've been thinking about lately. Every other page seems to have a WHOA moment, and the art is lovely. I absolutely loved this comic, and highly recommend others pick it up.

Then there's Chew, a comic about a detective that lives in a world where chicken is outlawed and sold on the black market, he can gain psychic impressions of food by taking bites out of them (he starts taking bites out of crime scene victims), and there are aliens involved! It's a hilarious comic that makes me laugh out loud.

I just started reading Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run, and I can tell it's going to be a good one. Even though he's not a superhero character, I never would have thought I could be drawn into a comic as an adult that deals with a superhero-like fantasy character like Swamp Thing. But when I read reviews about how the comic is a metaphor between man and its relationship to nature, and trying to find itself, I knew it had to be great.

Getting through Y: The Last Man vol 1. was a struggle so I stopped after that, and I stopped reading The Walking Dead after a few issues. For that reason I won't bother with Saga.

I do remember you recommending Morrison's Invisibles Spaced, so I plan on picking that up after I read Watchmen. I'll eventually get to Sandman as well. I'm really seeing how cool comics can be. Like there is Superman: Red Son. The premise is what if Superman landed in Russia instead of the US, and is used by the Russians as a weapon? That idea is just cool a s***.

Any other recommendations from anyone?

Chew is great  and Red Sun is one of my favourite Superman stories also I actually love Saga, one of my all time faves. 

Something that I read recently was Alejandro Jodorowsky's Technopriests, which I think I saw blatzaddict posting about somewhere. Definitely worth the read, makes me want to pick up some of his other stuff. Other than that I've been enjoying a comic called Low, which is about a scientist with a philosophy similar to the Law of One in a dystopian world where humanity is dying and she's the only one with hope for it's survival. I think it's called Low because that's how you feel at the end of most issues, but it's all about facing harsh catalyst and turning it into a positive experience. I've also been reading Grant Morrison's Nameless, which is basically a metaphysical horror story.

I'll have to check out the Wake, thanks for the recommendation.

[native]

I've only read vol. 1 of Chew so far. Does it continue to hold up and have a firm narrative over all the issues? Low and Nameless both sound pretty good.