What I want to do in this entry is provide some options that might appeal to each of my friends. My purpose is to pick the one great comic that will most likely appeal to the people listed here that they have not read, as well as a few runner ups that I was also considering. Now I can't be positive but I'll also mention what I based my decision on and let you decide. And sure, you probably don't want to spend money on something that's just been recommended to you, but most of these probably ain't to hard to download off the Interweb just as Nathan did.
Aiden: Conan: Yes, that Conan. The barbarian one. But try not to think about the movie. This is much better. Basically it follows the history of Conan, a warrior living in a time on Earth known only as the Hyborian Age (think pre-Babylonian, but much more advanced), who tries to sate his wanderlust and ends up with a greater destiny. The thing I like about Conan is that he's not off on some great quest and he's not a chivalrous selfless hero. He's not really a hero at all, just a guy who wants to find what wonders and opportunities lay over the next horizon. Oh, and gold, food and fine pieces of ass are motivating factors too. Though the series starts with him leaving his home for the first time, the series is essentially the cradle to grave story of Conan who grows and changes as a person with each story. I think Aiden would like this not only because I know he's a fantasy fan, but also because the series is essentially Ultimate Conan. It retells all the classic tales of Conan in a more organic fashion than before (the original pulp books take place in various random points in Conan's life), but still keeps the violent and exciting flavour of Conan's world. The writing by Kurt Busiek (Marvels, Astro City) deviates from his usual style of classic style super-hero books and slice of life super-hero books and really shows that he gets the character and doesn't shy away from some of the nastier aspects of Conan's world. The art by Cary Nord (whom I had not heard of before this book) is absolutely wonderful, assisted by the luscious colours of Dave Stewart. A damned fine book.
Runners Up:
Runaways: A fun teen-action series written by Brian K. Vaughan (Y - The Last Man) that takes a Breakfast Club-like group of kids and forces them to use their newfound power to stop one of the most dangerous super-villain teams ever: their parents.
Astonishing X-Men: Written by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) and penciled by the always amazing John Cassady (Planetary) bring one of the best X-Titles in a long while. Whedon brings the comedy, the plot twists and the character development and Cassady brings the bad ass fight scenes and awe-inspiring visuals
Street Angel: Seeing how much Aiden liked Dr. McNinja (or whatever it's called) I'm positive Aiden would like this series about a homeless 14-year-old ninja on a skateboard. Funnier and weirder than it sounds. Also featuring former black exploitation hero Afrodisiac and CosMick the Irish astronaut.
Jordan: Bone: One of my personal all time favourites. It's the tale of the Bone cousins, three white smurf-looking creatures from Boneville (where everyone looks like that I can imagine) who get kicked out of town after a mayoral election gone awry. Fone Bone is de facto leader and easily the most sensible of the three, Phoney Bone is greedy, cheap and short-tempered and Smiley Bone, though seemingly stupid is just eccentric and is actually quite quick-witted (he's sort of like Hobbes to Phoney's Calvin). While wandering through the desert they all get lost in a huge swarm of locusts and all end up in a huge valley, populated by humans and various talking animals. After spending most of the winter lost in the woods (though making very good friends with the animals) and occasionally chased around by fearsome rat creatures (who aren't really very good monsters, as a real monster tries to make you into a stew, not a quiche), Fone meets up with the beautiful human Thorne and her hearty Grandma Ben. He also finds his brothers in the nearby town of Barrelhaven washing dishes at a bar for a rough and tumble bartender. Everything seems fine at first but soon Fone notices strange things. Why does Grandma Ben refuse to believe in the dragon Fone claims to have seen? Why does it seem that she and the bartender know more than their letting on? And who or what is the Hooded One?
I figured this was a good choice for Jordan since it is a fantasy epic (which I understand Jordan likes) with a good sense of humour and an immensely likeable cast. Though it's full of classic fantasy conventions it doesn't feel hampered by cliches and writer/artist Jeff Smith storytelling keeps the reader on his toes. And, most importantly its just fun.
Runners Up: Hellboy: A very popular book and with good reason. A really unique art style, a very likeable main character (a sort of blue collar paranormal investigator who would rather be drinking brews than facing Lovecraftian horrors from beyond) and an interesting continuity. It should be noted, however, that the first book is plagued with serious pacing problems and doesn't hold up nearly as well as further volumes.
Fallen Angel: Generic title aside this is a strange, witty book by long time Star Trek novel and Hulk comic writer Peter David. In the city of Bete Noir, one of those "city of lost souls" cliches, a young woman, Lee, acts as a hired detective for anyone who will pay and contends with the man who runs the town Dr. Juris. But keeping with the "everything is not what it seems" cliche, Juris and Lee are lovers as well as arch-enemies. Despite everything making it sound cliche, Fallen Angel is a fun quirky series with David's trademark humour and strange, intriguing characters (Ricmond would love the criminal named Asia Minor).
Top Ten: An NYPD Blue-esque series about the cops who work the beat in Neopolis, a city who population is composed of superheroes, supervillains, aliens, robots, monsters, gods and any other things one might find in a comic book. While there is certainly humour, the actual plots and subplots are gripping. Sure, there's comedy (a shape-shifting ass-grabber is plaguing the city, a Godzilla-like drunken dad causes trouble when he tries to break his son out of jail) but there is also some great drama (a cop realizes he's responsible for a prostitute getting murdered, the team faces death and destruction at the hands of one of their own).
Darcy: The Mystery Play: This one-shot from the bizarre mind of Grant Morrison (We3, Seaguy) and with beautiful painted art by J. Jon Muth (MoonShadow) comes this eerie story of a town that holds mystery plays (a very old kind of play in which biblical stories are re-enacted). When the actor who plays God is murdered, a detective named Carpenter arrives to try and solve the mystery. But this story isn't a mystery: it's an enigma. While it's plainly obvious from the premise that this story focuses on religion and the nature of God, it also focuses on madness and humanity. The story is short but is full of haunting images and strange discomforting dialogue. Though Grant Morrison is known for being very weird, this is actually a very toned down work for the writer. It's still quite weird but it's not quite as over the top. This will appeal to Darcy for it's cinematic imagery and it's cryptic story that raises many questions but answer little despite having a satisfying ending.
Runners Up:
Doom Patrol: Also by Grant Morrison. This is a deliciously crazy mix of David Lynch, David Cronenburg and super-heroes. This is Grant Morrison at his craziest giving us sentient transvestite streets, the Brotherhood of Dada, the ghost of imaginary friends, and Crazy Jane, who has 64 separate personalities... and a super-power for each one.
Transmetropolitan: I guess calling this series Hunter S. Thompson in the future is accurate, but I get the feeling that it sells it a bit short. Warren Ellis' most personal work focuses on the media and the nature of truth in a future that's a lot like today... only stranger.
Four Women: A powerful thriller in the vein of Straw Dogs. But while Straw Dogs was about masculinity, this series is about different kinds of femininity. But it's still about survival and what people are capable of... and what they wish they were capable of.
The Twins: Fell: Snowtown is a feral city, no longer fit for civilized people. But people still live there, shop there, eat there and work there. Detective Richard Fell has entered Snowtown to clean it up but it won't be easy considering the precinct is understaffed, the town is superstitious and even his friends and allies aren't quite sane. Warren Ellis created this series in an attempt to make a book that's cheaper than others, for those who can't afford normal monthly comics, but still has a full story. Each issue is a self-contained story so the target audience doesn't have to worry about having to buy it every single month if they can't afford it. Even though the page count for each comic is about 8 less than the average each issue is satisfying like a good meal. And at the end of each issue there's four pages of bonus material including reader mail, commentary and a page from the original script. The reason I chose it for the twins is that it each issue is usually inspired by the strange sort of information and trivia that the twins seem to know and love. Said information and trivia serves the story well, however, and shows the reader how nightmarish Snowtown can be.
Runners Up: Louis Riel: It's the life story of Louis Riel, in comic form. It's much better than it sounds and is probably the best biography I've ever read. Though the writer admits that some of the details are fictionalized (such as the dialogue and the characters motivations, which we could never truly know), the book is painstakingly researched and it shows. I've always known of Riel, but I never really knew how interesting (and nuts) he was until I read this book.
Switchblade Honey: A fun one-shot by Warren Ellis (writer of That Other Stuff I Mentioned By Him) created to be sort of an anti-Star Trek, featuring a crew of treasonists (they all had good reasons) given a ship to engage in guerrilla combat in a war that humanity is losing. Clever and fun, it's to bad it never became a series.
X-Statix: This probably the only X-Title I could get the twins to read, but I'm sure they'd find it amusing. The X-Statix call themselves a super-hero team but the fact is they're really flamboyant celebrity mercenaries. With a high mortality rate, the group is constantly changing members, but most shocking is the new leader the team gets after the last one got fragged. Not only is he inexperienced but he has a moral compass.
Nathan: 100 Bullets: His name is Agent Graves and he gives people a chance to change things. He gives them an attache briefcase containing 100 untraceable bullets, a gun, carte blanche to do what you wish with the bullets and irrefutable evidence that you have been irrevocably wronged. He gives consequence-free revenge. But then, when is anything consequence-free. This epic crime book explores the secret history of America while exploring the human drama of those who are given the briefcase. The great thing about this series is how everything seems to fit together so perfectly. The readers are given hints at the big picture and with each little hint it forces the readers to reconsider all that they've seen before. I figured this is the kind of thing that would interest Nathan simply because it has style character and manages to create a cool noir mood without becoming a cheesy noir pastiche.
Runners Up: Powers: A dark violent police drama about two homicide detectives who specialize in murdered super-humans. Great story and dialogue by Bendis and great animated style art by Michael Avon Oeming add up to a great book. Great. Sorry, I'm tired and my brain thesaurus ain't working.
Preacher: Great. I mean, er-- a violent Western about a Reverend possessed by the son of God and a demon. Now the Rev, his gun-toting girlfriend and his vampire drinking buddy are hunting god to hold him responsible. It might feature a lot of religion but what this series is really about is friendship, loyalty and cowboy justice.
The Walking Dead: What if Dawn of the Dead didn't end? This series is a lot like your average zombie movie, except it keeps going month after month. A small town sheriff wakes from a coma to discover the dead have risen. After finding his family, our hero and his new friends try to find sanctuary and remain sane but things look grim.
Just some suggestions. What do you think?
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