Young Writers Society

So comics are pretty cool, and they're a broad enough field that I thought a thread for discussing them could be fun. They're also much closer to this site's purpose than video games, haha.
I'm kind of hoping for a lot of comic book activity here, 'cause I'd love recommendations for new comic books to read, but feel free to chat about any of your favorite variations (comic books, web comics, comic strips, comic characters, manga I guess, etc.)

Unfortunately, this doesn't include stand-up comics, but that's fine with everybody, right?



So yeah, comic-type media is all good here. I will ask that you avoid talking about comic-related movies and TV shows, as this is more meant for printed/web comics and not cinematic adaptions of the characters and stories from them, but a little mention here or there that relates to your overall post is fine.

Same thing with spoilers goes here, as with the Vid Game Chit-Chat thread.

Code: Select all

[spoiler] because no one likes to be spoiled[/spoiler]

--

Personally, I've had a bit more experience with web-comic strips? Cyanide & Happiness, Deathbulge, etc. But I also used to read a few web comic stories on Line Webtoon or whatever it's called nowadays. Don't ask me which, though, because I forget most of the names! and the names I do recall, I don't want to share! lel

As for comic books, I'm still very new to them. I've been slowly reading through the New 52 run of The Flash, but I'm stuck around volume 3 (don't know what issues that volume encompasses).
I did read the entirety of Red Son by Mark Millar, which features Superman landing in the Soviet Union, rather than 'MURICA, and that was a neat concept. He was still very much Superman, (which I guess I wasn't expecting?) though a couple of his ideals were twisted.

I also read a number of Ms. Marvel volumes, but I'm far from caught up on that, and I read one volume of a Guardians of the Galaxy run, but those are the extent of my Marvel comic spelunking.

*Also, when I say volume I mean, like, collected issues of comics. Not a single actual comic book, haha. Those are way small. I do have a few of those as well, though!

--

Anyway, this introduction post might be a bit choppy right now and I may come back to revise it, but the basic gist of the thread is all here. Knock yourselves out!

SO, I too enjoy the odd webcomic- though, I'm not into many. Pretty much the only one I go back to is the Oatmeal, because I'm not sure why- sometimes I like his humour, and sometimes I do not. But there's usually enough there that you can wade through what you dislike to stuf that you DO like. >.> If that makes sense.

And I'm not really into comic books exactly, but recently I read a graphic novel (Coco Be Good- I wouldn't really recommend it, I found it kinda boring personallyyyyy) and I am really fascinated with that medium! (do graphic novels count?)

Also another thing I like that is sortaaaaa comic related, although it's more like... about the art and almost poetic and oddly placed dialogue... I believe it's called Cosmic Wolf and Bunny Girl. The art can be just really interesting and the concepts are also usually really interesting. Here's an example:
In a spoiler but I don't think it's a spoiler because I don't think it's a cohesive story-line that this artist does with these things



I will warn though, a lot of the that sort of comic thing the bunny girl is nude- but not like in detail at all, and is often covered up. But just beware. The ones I chose for here are not showing anything of course.

@Holysocks oh, yes! Graphic novels count as well. They didn't occur to me as a separate thing 'cause I think of them as a variation of comic books (the words in 'graphic novel' are basically synonyms for comic book, lel). So yeah, those count.

The Oatmeal is also on my list of web comics I've read through before. Haven't checked back in a while, but I get what you're saying about going through his stuff and finding something you like. I'm not a fan of all of his humor. Hecking, one of his comics ruined mayonnaise for me, which is quite a feat considering mayonnaise are gross to begin with.

Cosmic Wolf and Bunny Girl has some nice art! Reminds me of a web comic I started, but I can't recall the name so oh no--

Thanks for posting! I'd try to offer more in my response but I'm waaay tired right now. I'll try to say more later.

I'd like to consider myself a connoisseur of webcomics. While I'm sure that many people have me beat, I do read a lot of webcomics-- particularly LGBT webcomics. Before I start listing my very favorites, I'll say that I really like Smackjeeves for webcomics. There are a lot of really high-quality webcomics hosted by the site. I also use Webtoon, but I don't like it as much. To me, it's difficult to navigate and find the type of webcomics I want to read because there's no search option as far as I can tell. (If there is a search option, please please please tell me because I couldn't find it). Tapas is trash. I hate it. Those are the main three that I've used, and the rest of my favorite webcomics have their own websites.

My absolute favorite webcomic about a trans person is Rain. This one is on Smackjeeves, and it has a majority LGBT cast. It deals a lot with LGBT issues, but the characters aren't boiled down to their identities (which makes sense considering a trans woman writes and draws it). If you're looking for a beautifully drawn comic, then I wouldn't recommend it. The art style is very rudimentary. If you're looking for a very inclusive, well-written story about LGBT teenagers, then you're in luck. Also, Rain is just a sweetie, so you should go read it based on that alone. http://www.smackjeeves.com/comicprofile.php?id=90588

There are 2 webcomics I love that have some of the healthiest relationships I've ever read anywhere. Healthy, balanced relationships can sometimes be hard to come by, especially in LGBT media. ESPECIALLY when it's a relationship between two men, which both of these comics center around. Neither one is boring, and the couples do have their issues, but they're dealt with in a healthy, safe manner.

The first comic is Check Please. I love this comic so much. @Evander showed it to me, and I've been in love ever since. It takes a long time for any romance to happen (spoiler?) but when it does, it's one of the best, healthiest relationships I've read. The art style is really cute, and all of the characters are so darn lovable. It's about hockey, and the team is really just a weird (super weird, actually) family. http://checkpleasecomic.com/comic/01-01-01

The second comic that has a super healthy relationship is Tripping Over You. This comic centers around a couple that's navigating burgeoning adulthood. Liam and Milo have a great, balanced relationship, and for the most part, their relationship isn't most of the conflict. There are a few arcs (including the current one) where it's the focus, but it's mainly about adjusting to being full-fledged adults and finding your place in the real world. The art style in this comic is probably one of my favorites ever. I love the balance between realistic and cartoony, and the pallette uses these wonderful rich tones with just the right amount of saturation (but be warned, the first few chapters aren't really colored and are just blue tinted). Another warning, this one has some sex scenes in it, so if you're not into seeing that at all, then you might want to avoid it. There are only one or two of them, and they're really small and unexplicit, so if you want to read it but you don't want something explicit, don't let that keep you from reading the comic.
http://trippingoveryou.com/comic/wiggle-room/

Check Please is definitely one of my favorite webcomics. It has a slowish updating schedule, but it's totally worth it for the quality. I actually stumbled upon it by chance when browsing through my tumblr feed, and I am so happy that I did. Fundamentally, the story is about healthy communication in relationships and friendships. It's so refreshing to see a story with a gay protagonist where I know it won't end in heartbreak.

I've read Maus. It's a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman wherein he interviews his father about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. The art was pretty good, and there's a ton to dissect about the purposeful layout of the panels in the first few pages alone. Once I picked it up, it was incredibly hard to put it down. But, given that it is about the Holocaust, I'm going to give a warning saying that it gets emotionally heavy.

Like Hatt, I read Red Son. It was recommended to me by my sister-in-law, and my library had it, so I decided to give it a read. It's probably one of my favorite Superman comics? It was incredibly thought provoking and I managed to read it all within one afternoon. If you're bored, then I'd recommend giving it a try; it definitely left me something to think about.

Hmm, uhh, I also tried to read Loki: Agent of Asgard back in late January. The first volume was pretty good, but the second volume was paced poorly and written in a confusing fashion. It's a shame, though, because I was really interested in the storyline.

So, I guess it's time for the obligatory question. Marvel or DC? (Or webcomics or graphic novels or...)

@inktopus - Thanks for sharing! You've got quite a list there, haha. Not really my cup of tea, with all the romance-type stuff, but healthy relationships are always great to find in media. Glad you've found such a good corner of web-comics!


@Evander - I see Maus almost every time I go to the bookstore, but all I could ever discern from flipping the pages was that it was a mouse world holocaust story. I had no idea it was based on an interview with the writer/artist's father!(I guess I never bothered to read the synopsis, I'm now realizing) That's pretty neat, though, and the panel placement thing you mention sounds intriguing on its own. Maybe I'll have to check it out.

I also forgooot to credit you for recommending Red Son to me-- as well as Ms. Marvel, haha. Could've lured you here sooner!


Comic-wise, I've read slightly more from Marvel than DC, so I guess I'll have to lean towards Marvel here. I tried Nightwing Rebirth and it was boring, trying Flash New 52 but it's been kind of slow-going (although I'm pretty slow at comics as it is).

I was going to end this by saying that I prefer how Marvel does comics, as far as my very short grasp of them has taken me in the comic world, then saying that I prefer DC superheroes themselves-- but now I'm realizing that one of the reasons I haven't read a bunch of DC comics is because I don't care for a ton of their heroes, so, whoops.

--

On a different note, I kind of want to read the Flintstones comics. I've read a lot about them, but haven't picked any up yet. Has anybody else read them?

@Lareine has read the Flintstones comics!

@Hattable they are FANTASTIC. It's a beautiful analysis of society through the lens of the fictional stone age, everything from racial wars to political leaders to a gorgeous reconciliation of atheism and religion. There's only two 6-comic volumes and I so wish it was ongoing. Hands down amazing.

Other than that, I just picked up and read the first volume of Monstress. I love everything about it. Gorgeous art and worldbuilding, definitely a great read.

@Lareine - yeah! I've read a few things on the Flintstones comics and how they deal with real-world problems and they sound pretty darn good. It's definitely a change of pace from the original source, at least as far as I can recall, haha. But yeah, I guess I'll slap that on my to-read list.

I just looked through some image results of Monstress and I have to agree that the art looks fantastic. I love world-building so that's pretty intriguing as well.

Lot of great comics to look into, alreadyyy!

I haven't read many physical comics, but I recently started getting back into web comics. I've been rereading/trying to catch up on one that might interest the more classic comic fans. It's called I Don't Want This Kind of Hero and it's a really interesting take on the classic superhero story. It was originally meant to be a comedy about a teen named Naga who joins his country's hero organization, Spoon, to fight against a group of villains known as Knife. Now a little more than two hundred episodes in, it's evolved something much more thought provoking. There's some interesting conversations about racism through the lenses of the hybrids vs. normal humans debate, as well as what it actually means to be a hero. One of the heroes also happens to be in a wheelchair, and it's really cool seeing the creator account for that in the story - in some situations, she's not able to go inside because it's not wheelchair accessible. I just really love it and I think it's one of those stories any superhero fan should definitely read.

@saentiel - that sounds pretty cool, and kind of reminds me of a couple web-comics I wandered into, though they definitely weren't as full of representation. One was called The Masked Henchman, and the other was called Switch, I believe. I read very little of them, as they were relatively new when I started, and I haven't gotten back to them, but yeah--

The Masked Henchman was a fun kind of concept. It's about a world that's sort of similar to MHA in that heroes are plentiful (there's also hero agencies that employ heroes and sponsor them and whatnot, and I think that's a thing in MHA). The main character has spent a lot of his adult life working as a henchman for various villain organizations, but not long after he gets a job, the organizations are always shut down.
Someone ends up convincing him that his power is getting organizations shut down, or something like that, and he goes "oh snap" and signs up for a hero agency, then just continues his usual business of getting hired into villain groups. Only now his goal is to be there so that they do get taken out?
It's kinda funny and it was an interesting concept. The organization of heroes in actual agencies was neat, until I was introduced to MHA and-- definitely prefer that.

But! Oops. Rambled.

Your comic sounds really cool and the representation of a disabled hero is definitely awesome.

I read a mixture of comics. However, I mostly read physical copies unlike you @saential and, well, most of you! As much as I love web comics I find it easier and more enthralling when I can get lost between pages of a book and not on a screen. This makes me think of the whole digital/kindle verses paperback discussion but I suppose that's a different topic.

The first comics I ever read was the Beano. (A kids comic magazine that's now digital but still prints the occasional story about kids throwing water bombs at police men.)
A friend of mine then pointed me in the direction of the Marvel comics and I have been in love with them since then.
Super hero comics can often be seen as a very geeky thing to be obsessed with but I can proudly say that I am that geeky nerd who travels an hour and a half by train just to visit a mediocre comic shop.
The super heros and their adventures inspired me in ways that a lot of real life things couldn't.

In terms of webcomics the only one that I often read regularly is the oatmeal (similar to @Holysocks).

And this one:
https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/ora ... itle_no=97
this comic was recommended to a bunch of folks by @saetiel and it reminds me so much of my own experiences as a transgender person and having to hide who I am. The story itself doesn't feature any LGBT+ representation but that's not the point. It was the first web comic I read all the way through and I honestly love it so much! I think I'll probably stick to graphic novels and paperback comics though. XD

My favourite comic series of all time is definitely Avengers Academy. I picked up #3 when I found it left on a seat in a bus. I suppose it was my first introduction to "real comics". I now have 17 different issues and about 40 different marvel comics in total. Including an original copy of Thanos quest (1990) I found a few years back in the comic shop.

I just wish that some of the comics were less expensive! I mean, the new ones can only cost a few uk pounds but reprints can cost wayyyy more than a normal hardback novel and originals are like gold!

Sorry for rambling.

I'm definitely going to check out @saentiel 's recommendation (I don't want this kind of hero) because that comic sounds really interesting!

I read a fair few webcomics and one of my new favorites is The Pigeon Gazette.
I've sent a few of these to @Evander.
They're not exactly mature, but it has some swearing here and there.
It's mainly funny and relatable.

Cheap Thrills Cuisine is a sort of weird one? Like weirder than the standard web comic?
From what I've read it doesn't have like a plot but instead it's more just cartoon recipes, and I find that to be a pretty interesting format.

As far as widely distributed, in-print, newspaper comics, my favorite is Pearls Before Swine.
It's kinda like King of the Hill tbh, they're always drinking beer and the standard gang has each representation of like stereotype dude.
This is my favorite one: