What is with IDW?

[James Cole]

I can understand people's skepticism towards comic books, but there is definitely a lot here worth checking out.

If you've never read a Star Trek comic series before, check out the Star Trek: Early Voyages series omnibus featuring Pike and crew. The general consensus has always been that this series is amazing. Less than $10 on Amazon from a third-party.

Just skip the last two issues since they end on a still unresolved cliffhanger, which is the only drawback to the series.

If you are a NF fan, check out this series by PAD, which takes place between Missing in Action and Treason.

 

[BillJ]

He can also pick up the comic CD with all the issues from 1966-2003.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

The Countdown and Nero comics took me from being apathetic toward ST09 to appreciating it.

I didn't, however, find the Kahn or Captain's Log comics worth the money. Art was okay but the lack of content made me wish I'd bought a book for what they charged.

 

[Stevil2001]

What is it about comics and graphic novels that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

What is it about novels and short stories that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

 

[BrotherBenny]

What is it about comics and graphic novels that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

What is it about novels and short stories that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

Without the sarcasm, please.

 

[Mysterion]

He can also pick up the comic CD with all the issues from 1966-2003.

Just saw a stack of these at the local Half-Price Books for about $10 a pop.

 

[Christopher]

What is it about comics and graphic novels that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

What is it about novels and short stories that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

Without the sarcasm, please.

The point is that category is not content. The quality of a story isn't a factor of what type of story it is. There are great comics and lousy comics, just as there are great novels and lousy novels. Quality is an individual thing, not a category thing.

 

[JD]

I don't read comics because in my opinion they're for kids and teens and geeks, and I'm not quite that geeky. Also, the idea that a comic book can tell a decent story seems ridiculous because of the format...like saying a kid's cartoon can be deep and meaningful.

Honestly and without slamming, that one of the most ill-informed posts I've seen in a while, I'll give you a slight pass in that you live in a country where comic books and graphic novels aren't taken seriously and are dominated by DC/Marvel and their lowest common dominator trash.

I take no offense, and freely admit that I'm ill-informed when it comes to comics. What is it about comics and graphic novels that's so appealing? I don't understand the lure. Perhaps if I did, I would change my mind.

They can tell well written, interesting stories with memorable characters.

 

[Thrawn]

Right. It's just a storytelling medium, with its own strengths and weaknesses, like any other.

If you want to see, all at once, what comics can do, I recommend Watchmen. It's dense, deep, and absolutely a comic; as you would've seen if you saw the movie adaptation (which I hope you didn't), it didn't work as a movie at all. But as a comic, it's powerful and remarkable, and the overlapping of scenes and themes through the artwork is an essential part of what makes it that way.

I had never read comics either until about two years ago, and I got Watchmen, and it prompted four roughly-$500 Amazon orders of comics in the next ten weeks (less than a quarter of which, for the record, came from Marvel or DC's standard continuities, and those I did buy tended to be the most disappointing). I hadn't "understood the lure" either, but by denying an entire medium, you're missing out on a lot of phenomenal stories just from a cultural misunderstanding.

You're probably imagining comics are like the Hollywood movie adaptations of the most famous Marvel / DC comics characters. But that's like judging movies, as a storytelling medium, by only those same films. You'd call that pretty unfair, right?

 

[Stevil2001]

Exactly.

I am reading Y: The Last Man right now, and it is pretty rad. I even got my wife to read it... and she's got no interest in my superhero nonsense.

The thing I really like about comics (as opposed to graphic novels) is their long-form nature, that when something comes out once per month for sixty months, you get something with a number of small stories that add up to a big story, with elements that appear and disappear as needed. So many "literary" comics are really graphic novels, which are fine, but not the same.

 

[JD]

That's actually one of the series I plan on reading in the near future. I think it and Fables are probably the two non-superhero comics I'm really excited to read.

 

[Biffette]

I'm currently hooked on Archie: The Married Life myself. Dramatic storytelling, adult (but family-friendly!) situations. A true all-ages comic.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Right. It's just a storytelling medium, with its own strengths and weaknesses, like any other.

If you want to see, all at once, what comics can do, I recommend Watchmen. It's dense, deep, and absolutely a comic; as you would've seen if you saw the movie adaptation (which I hope you didn't), it didn't work as a movie at all. But as a comic, it's powerful and remarkable, and the overlapping of scenes and themes through the artwork is an essential part of what makes it that way.

I had never read comics either until about two years ago, and I got Watchmen, and it prompted four roughly-$500 Amazon orders of comics in the next ten weeks (less than a quarter of which, for the record, came from Marvel or DC's standard continuities, and those I did buy tended to be the most disappointing). I hadn't "understood the lure" either, but by denying an entire medium, you're missing out on a lot of phenomenal stories just from a cultural misunderstanding.

You're probably imagining comics are like the Hollywood movie adaptations of the most famous Marvel / DC comics characters. But that's like judging movies, as a storytelling medium, by only those same films. You'd call that pretty unfair, right?

I did see the Watchmen movie and my father read the GN it was based on. I'm not imagining comics are like Hollywood drek, I was imagining comics as kids/teens drivel. I tried reading the Watchmen GN but could never get fully into it, and thought it was maybe because I prefer to create the scene in my head rather than having it laid out for me. It could just be an imagination thing, but at the moment I cannot risk money on something I may not like when I'm so strapped for cash - and my wife is moaning at me as it is for getting the Star Trek books.

Perhaps in the future I will give comics a try, but for now I'll stick with novels. But I will say thanks for correcting me on my misconceptions.

 

[Thrawn]

Yeah, if you've seen the movie, you're not going to enjoy the graphic novel. Or at least, that seems to be the case from the friends of mine that've done them in that order; both of them said that they found it hard to get into it, not for the reason you gave, but I wonder if it isn't related.

And fair enough on the budgetary questions. Comics are expensive, and I wouldn't have been able to afford all those orders at this point either.

If you are ever interested, even given that Watchmen didn't work out for you, my recommendation would be a series called "Planetary". It's this crazy, pseudo-archaeological set of stories that assumes that most of the popular myths of pulp sci-fi/mystery actually happened (Sherlock Holmes was real, Dracula was real, Godzilla was real, Jules Verne's trip to the moon was real, etc) and follows a group of people uncovering those secrets, eventually linking up into a huge all-encompassing conflict. It's mind-blowing, and each separate issue (39 in all, collected in 4 books) is a separate story, very unusual in comics these days, so it covers a lot of ground. It's a brilliant reinterpretation of pulp tropes, with stunning artwork and sharp writing.

Keep it in mind; I think you might be surprised.

 

[BrotherBenny]

Yeah, if you've seen the movie, you're not going to enjoy the graphic novel. Or at least, that seems to be the case from the friends of mine that've done them in that order; both of them said that they found it hard to get into it, not for the reason you gave, but I wonder if it isn't related.

And fair enough on the budgetary questions. Comics are expensive, and I wouldn't have been able to afford all those orders at this point either.

If you are ever interested, even given that Watchmen didn't work out for you, my recommendation would be a series called "Planetary". It's this crazy, pseudo-archaeological set of stories that assumes that most of the popular myths of pulp sci-fi/mystery actually happened (Sherlock Holmes was real, Dracula was real, Godzilla was real, Jules Verne's trip to the moon was real, etc) and follows a group of people uncovering those secrets, eventually linking up into a huge all-encompassing conflict. It's mind-blowing, and each separate issue (39 in all, collected in 4 books) is a separate story, very unusual in comics these days, so it covers a lot of ground. It's a brilliant reinterpretation of pulp tropes, with stunning artwork and sharp writing.

Keep it in mind; I think you might be surprised.

I will, and thanks.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Yeah, if you've seen the movie, you're not going to enjoy the graphic novel.

I was aware of "Watchmen" when it came out as single issues, but didn't buy the graphic novel omnibus until the film was due. It took ages to read, and I'd only just gotten a bit of a way beyond Dr Manhattan's creation when I attended the movie. Turned out to be great timing, since the two projects began to diverge a bit from there.

"Watchmen" - both book and film: unique, intelligent, innovative and wonderful storytelling.

But I already had an appreciation of comics, growing up on an annual supermarket bag of hand-me down comics from a cousin (Disney, Harvey, and a few "Batman", "Superman" and "Teen Titans").

 

[Doom Shepherd]

All someone who thinks comics are "just for kids" really needs to do is read "Sandman."

If that doesn't erase that opinion once and for all from your brain, then there's something worse wrong with it.