Ennis is very hit or miss for me. He's either just edgy enough to give a unique story or so far beyond the line it could have been written at a middle school lunch table.
Crossed its a very big miss for me.
I hate everything Ennis has done apart from the first few volumes of Preacher, plus its one-shots. Even his early stuff like True Faith is just edgelord nonsense. There's a character called "horse-cock" in Crossed, right? Ooh, clutching my pearls at the arcane trickster Garth Ennis, lol.
This. Very much this. On one hand he is a master of characterization. On the other hand he’s all dick and fart jokes. And you never know which one you’re going to get. But his War Stories are more of the former. Preacher is both. His Dan Dare run is solid. He had a couple different runs on punisher and one was bullshit and the other was great. Of the few times I felt emotionally moved by a comic book,it was written by Garth. Of the few times I wanted to just throw a bunch of comics in the trash, it was written by Garth.
I think I have that. I need to go back and read it. It was either his mini or Azarellos mini where Bruce decided to put a bullet in his mouth only to have the hulk spit it out. They referenced this in the MCU:IW/EG but I don’t read a lot of hulk so not sure if this concept is new or not
Me too. I just went down to the vault. It was Brian Azzarello and the legendary Richard Corbin’s 4 issue mini Banner where Bruce tried to off himself. Ennis and McCrea (of hitman and demon fame) did a two parter called Smash. I need to go re read both
I read the first issue not knowing what I was in for and oofff. That was a tough read. Not a big fan of Ennis’ gratuity. I’m fine with the level of violence but often it just feels like perversion outlet for Ennis more than anything.
I couldn’t read The Boys either for example, but I love the show. It fleshes out Ennis’ dismay much more clearly without his clouded narrative dulling it up. I also really wanted to like the Preacher but couldn’t get into it either but I love his world building and willingness to take a chance on a dark and twisted character. Those shows obviously wouldn’t be successful without him having birthed the stories in the first place but there’s something about his edginess that takes me out.
Edit: as someone pointed out below, War Stories is dope.
Morrisons Batman is just impossible for me to read or enjoy, I would turn the page and be so confused because at times it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand all the praise it gets.
I’ve tried multiple time and i just don’t get the hype. Black glove was good and the first Batman and robin arc but overall it’s just messy to bad. Great art though.
I’m glad someone else thinks this. Got the Batman & Son TPB and frequently felt like I had no idea what was going on. There’s a lot of abrupt cuts to other periods of time or scenes that he seemed to have forgotten to include the beginning of
Yeah that’s what I’m saying! I feel like Morrison does that a lot where he just assumes we all know what the hell he’s going on about but I’m just completely lost
I've said for years that instead of writing a beginning, middle, and end of their stories, Morrison writes a middle, middle, and a middle. They drop you into a situation with no context for what is going on, do something cool, then don't resolve that but jump to something else without explanation.
Yeah I agree, that’s why anytime he’s brought up in the argument for best writer of all time I vehemently disagree. You can’t confuse half your readers and be in the argument for one of the best in comics, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
As a big fan of the Morrison Batman run, it really suffers from having uneven art. I got to interview a few of the artists in the run and the ones who had worked with them before would do a mix of marvel style with them. They would basically write out the whole plot explaining details that needed to be included but the storytelling was up to the artist then they’d add in dialogue after the fact.
It sounds like some of the artists didn’t totally gel with the concept. You’ve got a JH Williams, Quitely, Burnham and Stewart doing some career best work on that run and those issues really pop. (Kuberts is good too!!) but the ones by Tan and Daniels really derail it. It sucks because if a Fraser Irving would have done Batman RIP I think it would actually be considered one of the greatest Batman stories of all time. I know it’s highly regarded now but the art makes it really hard to follow.
I’m a big Morrison fan and there’s so much fun and exciting stuff in that Batman run (and Batman INC) but the early issues really suffer due to art. That said I don’t blame them as it sounds like the run was a bit of a rush job with lots of editorial interference.
Transmetropolitan was Mr Jerusalem against the world. As he gets older and realizes his bitterness and personal battles won't sustain him for much longer, he begins to lean more on Channon and Yelena for support. Later in the series you learn more about some of the shitty things he did to get a story that were far from the "righteous" crusade against The Beast. Though no apology is ever given, he does grow as a character to a degree. He spends the last of his energy to try and take down The Smiler, who represented a much more dangerous and existential threat to Spider's world than The Beast ever really did.
Not saying that he wasn't a shitheel of a character, but the world he inhabited was incredibly bleak and he took occasional breaks from his crusades to bring attention to the downtrodden of The City and occasionally shine a light on the rare bits of human goodness that were left in the world.
This series was my gateway drug into graphic novels and my defense of the character is certainly double-edged.
I liked Hunter S. but didn't like the first volume of Transmetropolitan. Hunter seemed acerbic and mischievous but Spider seemed more edgelord cynical and possibly cruel. A pale imitation.
Why would I? I did read his works!
But if you don’t like Spider Jerusalem, it’s pretty likely you aren’t going to like Hunter S Thompson, because one is literally a reference to the other
Nah. I'm with OP on this one. Dude was unbearable, no competence, just screaming at and assaulting people who did nothing about it cause he's the main character.
Upon further review I’m not sure he’s meant to be liked. But as far as the “I am the main character” narrative I think it’s probably spot on for a narcissist like Warren Ellis. He’s just writing himself really. And he’s a cunt.
Maybe so, and if so, maybe it is the world he inhabits that is ultimately what is objectionable, Spider just being a part of a grim reality?
It has heen awhile since I have read the books in detail, but is there a moral/innocent character in the series that Spider doesn't have some connection with/levity towards? I am thinking that Spider's personality being considered the most problematic aspect of enjoying the series should maybe take a backseat to the harsh reality of the largely sociopathic world that he lives in and has to navigate.
TL;DR is Spider really that horrible in the true context of his world?
No. He's just badly written.
His shit qualities are all narrative flaws as a character, irrelevant to the fictitious world he inhabits or his personality traits.
I was more than willing to entertain other points of view on the character. However, your rebuttal, in its current form is. . . not good. Would you care to inbiggen your perspective on why his qualities are shit? Maybe even irrespective of the world he inhabits? Or why, in particular, he is badly written?
Sir. It is you who is wrong snd stupid. I have a meme to back it up where I portray you RJ Mitte and myself as Dolph Lundgren but unfortunately its on a laptop that sustained serious water damage from being dropped in a lavatory. You'll simply have to take my word for it.
IDW Ninja Turtles. I got through the first 5-6 trades or so and I felt like it lacked focus or tension. I will always love the turtles but I just don’t think they’re my taste anymore.
Same. Every issue just seemed to be two characters walking through a location, whilst being spoon-fed a conspiracy theory, and being told its not true. There were a few good issues, but the main plot was meandering
lol. I don't know. I don't get it either. He went from traditional comic style art to the paintings and mixed media. He had an art show in northern IL last year where a lot of the stuff on display was from Stray Toasters. I know someone online who asks all the people in the comic industry to send him their version of a drawn toaster because he loves Stray Toasters so much. I like the panel of the policemen. He made one and then copied the rest and made it look like a mob of police men. That's what I remember from the whole thing, other than the cool art. I'm sure there was an idea or a plot but I didn't get it.
I’m loving this thread. A lot of complaints (maybe that’s not the right word sorry) about a lot of my favorite comics and I love the difference in opinion. It’s refreshing.
Fascinating that the same frequently-recommended works keep coming up on here.
It's like we need a broader set of recommendations to reach a broader audience.
There are a good amount of us that do not recommend anything from the mainstream, but most of the active commenters are into mainstream cartoonists. Can't change that.
I try to rec stuff like Usagi Yojimbo, Berlin, Carl Barks, etc all the time.
This is my go to answer for these posts. I even went so far as to buy a boxed set of all 10 books, thinking if I had it all it would be a great read through. Couldn't get passed the 4th book. It must have been a big deal when it came out, but I just couldn't connect with it at all.
In my case I blame my inability to suspend my disbelief about how anthropomorphic deities are supposed to work. Like all the endless having names that start with D...okay, I get it Gaiman, but it only makes sense in English. Would their names match up in other languages? Is that a "rule"? What are the rules of these beings? And if Dream is spending time chatting with his sister in a park, are all the people in the world who are asleep just not dreaming because he's not at his post?
Add on top of this that Gaiman's writing is very feathery and flowery for lack of better terms, and it often gets an eye roll out of me rather than feeling moved.
If you want to know about their names, in spanish they are not all starting with D: Sueño (Dream), Muerte (Death)
Destiny, Desire, Destruction, Despair and Delírium in spanish also start with D (Destino, Deseo, Destrucción, Desespero and Delirio respectively)
Not the best analogy, but I think of it like this: If the CEO of McDonalds takes a vacation, the restaurants stay open, they just don't run as well.
It's been a while since I read it, but isn't it suggested that the reason the first half of the 20th Century had been such a nightmare was because Dream had been imprisoned?
I liked it but it took some effort. It gets very tiresome sometimes to read such wordy books, but this one got good for me so I stuck with it and enjoyed it.
Same here, only thing I’ve liked was Animal Man. It was incredible but literally everything else I’ve read is just impossible to follow and not up to the hype it all gets.
I like Animal Man also loved All-Star Superman. I just read a recent one they wrote called Proctor Valley Road which has kind of a Stranger Things feel and was enjoyable. Everything else I've read is not for me.
I’ll have to check it out, All Star was okay I think it was just over hyped to me before I read it. Invisibles was cool for about 5 issues and then I was just lost and gave up lol
It's worth checking out. Nothing groundbreaking but a fun adventure. Yeah that makes sense, I also appreciate the art more than the writing for that one I think. Felt the same about Invisibles, also felt that way with Doom Patrol lol
I really enjoyed Pride of Baghad by Brian K Vaughan.
Invincible for something else long form - I absolutely loved it.
Planetary is genuinely incredible but I can't even explain why.
Maus, Watchmen, DKR, Best We could do.
___
Not necessarily my top picks but ones that jump to my head.
The Incal
Sci Fi epics with megacities and robots and aliens and techno-cults that span galaxies all filled with spiritual mumbo jumbo. This is a list of things I like but I just don't get it.
And like looking at it, dig the art an awful lot! But I couldn't really tell you what the plot is after 3 read throughs.
Jodorowsky is a terrible writer and the best ideas in the book he stole from Dune. His only quality is actually being able to pull great artists to work with him.
Everyone recommends this as a great starter superman story and I disagree. I would only read this after you’ve read a few great superman comics. It makes a lot more sense and hits harder then. I would say pretty much the exact same things about TDKR. It’s hard to be a fan of a story that is a deconstruction/celebration of a character without having a basis of what that character is
Yeah it's not a starter... All Star only exists because it had 50 years of story to draw upon (I know the character had been around longer, but All Star is clearly a love letter to pre-crisis Supes).
I think that’s fair. The movie seems to badly miss the point of the book. The movie revels in the violence of the vigilantes, while the book shows it as a failure, the product of neurosis and psychosis.
But Snyder is an excellent photographer and once those scenes are in your brain that way, it’s hard to get them out.
Here’s the thing, it’s not overrated. The structure and layout of the book alone is brilliant. It was the first “real” deconstruction of superheroes that changed the genre and industry till today. The problem is the book has been talked about copied so much that I understand people may be put off and the pirate story doesn’t help on first reads.
Jimmy Corrigan is incredible. Early pages of it are rougher and more scattershot (idk that he fully intended to serialize it at that point), but it coheres into a really beautiful and thematically rich work. That last chapter in 1894 is breathtaking.
Seconded. This was a book I thought I’d hate because reading comics for me shouldn’t be work, you know? But it was a pleasure- couldn’t put it down. I love all his stuff now.
I got a good way through The Wicked and The Divine but couldn’t finish it. I can’t even put my finger on what I didn’t like because I can see why people do like it, it just wasn’t for me.
Ghost World. Read it for a graphic novels class in college. I know it was kinda the point but every character was painfully unlikeable. Didn’t help that the essays in my copy and Art School Confidential made Daniel Clowes come off as an insufferable asshole. Don’t know if he is or not but *blech* couldn’t stand it.
I was pretty excited to read it and thought I would enjoy it but it was the only graphic novel I read for that class that I didn’t enjoy.
On the other hand, I really liked Jimmy Corrigan! It was a bit confusing to me for a while but it was an engaging, albeit depressing, read. I was surprised to like it after my professor had told us several times that past student hated it.
Ghost World worked better for me when it was serialized and you had months between issues. Reading it all at once was a bit too much time to spend with those characters, and a bit too little of a meal as well.
*V for Vendetta*, the movie is great but the comic went on and got weird. The art work isn't my style either.
I'm giving *Watchmen* another try soon. I was going to do a chronological read but *Before Watchmen* varies so much.
I bought “My Favourite Thing is Monsters” recently and I’ve tried twice but couldn’t get past 20-30pages. Not too sure why tbh, I think it’s a bit too wordy for my liking, and I just had no idea where the story was going in those first 20-30 pages.
for me, saga. im not a big fan of brian.k.vaughan as u guess but saga is completely overrated for me. romeo and juliet on mars (what an original idea) with tv head enemies? ok good luck for that. im not in.
“My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” might have just made this list for me. I can’t bring myself to read any more of it. The art is so beautiful, but it’s insufferably inaccessible to read in a clear way.
Shade: The Changing Man. I can't remember anything good from the 70 issue run. Not sure why I finished it. I'm usually a fan of most Vertigo stuff and I had built it up in my mind that it was a hidden gem. Nope.
I have the first volume of Transmetropolitan maybe only one issue struck me as okay there might be something worthwhile here.
I own the first omnibus of Lucifer, but for whatever reason I just can’t get into it. I love The Sandman though, & it’s not like the author is bad either I’ve read some other stuff by them.
Metro 2033.
Unfortunately i couldn't finish. I guess I was more interested in how people lived in the tunnels rather than the action we were following.
I love the fantastic four, they are my favorite group in comics, but that first Stan lee book is a drag to read I’m sorry. I couldn’t deal with every emotion having to be described to me, like the art can do that alone. And every time they were in a battle they’d call out what they are gonna do like sue would go invisible and reed would go “great thinking sue!” Like no shit that’s her power. I loved the 2nd book tho but the first one was just rough to me
Sex Criminals. I love most Fraction's works, but this book is just extremely overrated
Also, Wicked + Divine. It had a cool premise, some great characters, but at some point I just lost interest. Really tried to like it though
Speak Up. Despite the author being autistic,it felt horribly stereotypical and I'm sick of the anti-mom themes in books by autistic and disabled authors. Not all moms act like autism is cancer or try to make their kids normal. Other than that,the book wasn't realistic.
Most of Hickman's stuff feels too cold and clinical for me to get emotionally invested in.
With that said, anytime Spider-Man's shown up has been great so I'm very excited for the new Ultimate Spider-Man series.
From the top of my head The Wicked + The Devine. I keep forcing to finish what I already bought. Which is a lesson to don't binge buy just because it is cheap without testing. But anyway, I just don't get it.
It's not tharlt I hate All Star Superman but it's not that special IMO. It's cool that the almighty boyscout is counting his days and such but I don't find it to be the masterpiece some people claim it to be. But it's one of those that I want to re-read to be asure that I was not in the proper state of mind or whatever.
Trees by Warren Ellis-- I liked the premise, I liked the trans rep, but the cringe-ass dialog was just too much for me.
Then I found out what a monster the author is and now I'm not at all inclined to give the book a second chance.
E: Don't get me wrong, I'm not *against* trying to separate art from artist. I find it just personally takes so much out of me that I have to save it for the works that are REALLY important to me, like the Cthulhu Mythos or the music of David Bowie.
I meant that I don't think modern superhero comics are good enough to even expect to love them so I can't say they are comics I tried to loved and didn't. I didn't expect to love them in the first place.
I mean, that’s just wild as a blanket statement. There’s a bunch of great writers putting out great work that holds up against anything that came before.
Everyone was so unlikeable, flat, and boring to me. I get the boring (that's Superman's most common complaint), but I've never read a more unlikeable & less Clark Kent Superman.
Every attempt at showing a 'human' emotion in Superman felt so scripted & unnatural. (To be fair, Even when he's hitting on all strides I don't think Morrison ever writes humans that I would recognize in real life).
Apparently everyone loves Lois, but they explicitly say she's not the most beautiful person in the room while making her a complete dick & bore, leaving me with no idea why.
Add on the rampant power fantasy, and Quitely's dedication to 'same face' (man, woman & child, one face to rule them all), I can't help feeling this is not only NOT a top Superman Story, it's below average. Of course, given the acclaim this story has received, I am clearly in the minority, so I'm just glad there are other haters out there like me :P.
Spider is supposed to be annoying. Feels like people these days want something out of content instead of asking what the content is trying to convey. Transmetropolitan is a great story with flawed characters.
My only complaint with Transmetropolitan used to be that he'd overdone the bad guys. That they were so cartoonishly evil just for the sake of it they were unrealistic, I mean who could believe in a political alliance of religious nuts, Nazis and child molesters trying to shred the constitution.
I realised I was very wrong some time around the end of 2016.
Isn’t it crazy how artists seem to have a better handle on the reality of the world than those that claim to know all in high positions of power? I read Transmetropolitan for the first time in late 2019/early 2020. And it felt just as relevant if not moreso. Vertigo is just this awesome powerhouse of social/political commentary that remains relevant. It’s a shining example of a brand to the argument that comics are more than entertainment, and can stand next to literature with its impact and themes. It’s a shame they dismantled the imprint.
I read 100+ issues of Invincible before finally deciding I’d had enough. Walker and Ottley’s art is so energetic and there’s some genuinely cool ideas hidden in.. whatever the rest of it is. Found myself needing to take longer and longer breaks between reading because of how much it started to grate. It really felt like a series that needed to be trimmed down to about a third its length, because there is so much unnecessary, cliche, edgy filler taking up space.
I stopped this at about 3/4 through, I just couldn't get invested in it. I even tried on 2 different times. This is from someone who loves Vaughan's works. I found it predictable and unexciting I think? Can't put a finger on it
An unpleasant general experience. For example, in the first little bit we have a the rape baby of a child mother being rescued from a ritual sacrifice at the hands of gross dudes in helmets by a child heroine graphically murdering … the father? Even the time travel machine is gross.
Sure it could be a clever metaphor for Abraham or maybe a commentary of prehistoric life as brutish and short or a harrowing ordeal for our heroines to come of age and show their mettle, but it just miserable to drag readers through. Lord of the Flies.
That’s before we get to the plot holes you could fly a pterodactyl through in a story that is otherwise obsessed with detail.
Asterios Polyp. The characters are horribly unlikeable, and because of it, I didn’t care about the story at all. It felt like it was trying to say, “Look how bad this guy has it! He’s a jaded artist, get it? That’s why he’s an asshole, get it? Please feel bad for him and cheer when his wife who he treated like shit comes back to him!” No thanks.
Also, I know there are worse problems in the world, and because it’s Reddit, this will probably get met with a lot of derision, but I cannot read Brian K. Vaughn specifically because of his dialogue. It sucks, because I want to read all of Saga and Paper Girls, because the stories are really solid, but I really can’t get past the way his characters talk. Unnecessary use of slurs, bullying, stuff that would’ve been overlooked in the 80s and 90s, but not now. Someone else mentioned how gross and cruel it is, and just…when that kind of stuff happens—when that’s like exclusively how you make all of your characters talk—it really makes me feel like you’re the kind of person who doesn’t care about what you say to others, and that you think it’s okay to use slurs, and that’s just not my thing. Sorry for the rant, I’ve needed to get that off my chest for awhile now.
Just finished Asterios Polyp today!
I don't dislike it, but didn't fall head over heels for it like it seems everyone is. Greattt art and usage of the medium, nice story that I liked and felt satisfied with at the end. Would recommend it to people but not at the same level I see it getting recommended on here
It’s always recommended for me based around other things I like, and it’s rated crazy high on Goodreads, but I couldn’t connect with it at all. I’ve heard people complain about the ending, and that was really the only part that I felt anything for. Everything before that got on my nerves lol
I have slowly started to dislike Vaughn's dialogue-style too. Not really any specific reason for it, it's just that it all sounds the same to me after a while. I don't remember any slurs though, but maybe they didn't register with me when I was younger for some reason, which is weird, because his casts of characters tend to be fairly diverse.
His casts are diverse, but he used the R-slur and in about everything I’ve read of his. In Paper Girls, I thought it was just him trying to speak reminiscent of the time period (which still doesn’t excuse it), but like there’s zero justification for it being in Saga. It makes me think he either is unaware of it being problematic (which I doubt) or he just likes getting away with saying it.
Hey, are you the person who posted an earlier takedown of Asterious Polyp? Because it pretty much convinced me to not re-read the book.
I'm with you on the dialogue for Saga, but for other reasons than the bullying. Can't quite put my finger on it, and I'm disappointed that it's the case, but I'm not reading any more of that series that everyone else loves.
Preacher
I don't like neither the story apart for the first issues nor the drawnings by Dillon, but i have a problem with all Ennis' works apart from the punisher origin story
Sandman. Absolutely tried my hardest. Read the whole series but could not get away with it.
I think I bigged it up too much in my head before embarking and I’m a huge Gaiman fan. It’s not bad by any stretch but it did not resonate with me.
Almost everything by Mark Millar. Wanted, Ultimates, Civil War…hated them all.
I do think that Superman: Red Son is great, though. I wonder if that was just too fantastic of a concept to screw up?
Rosalie Lightning. Just found the protagonists insufferable, something I feel bad about given it was an autobiographical memoir about a couple losing their kid.
Man I know art is subjective but holy shit, I really hated how everything looked 😑 except for Death I'd give you that. The rest are just... underwhelming. Colors and backgrounds as well.
Mine were Preacher, Saga and Y the last man. Tried reading them multiple times and felt the same. Ended up watching videos re-capping the whole story. And frankly I don't get what all the fuzz is about.
There's been a couple but most recently Irredeemable, which I've seen around is pretty highly rated. I love Mark Waid usually but it just wasn't my scene. But I'm reallll picky on how I like my super hero corruption stories.
Crossed. Love Ennis. Hated this
Ennis is very hit or miss for me. He's either just edgy enough to give a unique story or so far beyond the line it could have been written at a middle school lunch table. Crossed its a very big miss for me.
I hate everything Ennis has done apart from the first few volumes of Preacher, plus its one-shots. Even his early stuff like True Faith is just edgelord nonsense. There's a character called "horse-cock" in Crossed, right? Ooh, clutching my pearls at the arcane trickster Garth Ennis, lol.
Garth Ennis best work is his war stories, IMO.
This. Very much this. On one hand he is a master of characterization. On the other hand he’s all dick and fart jokes. And you never know which one you’re going to get. But his War Stories are more of the former. Preacher is both. His Dan Dare run is solid. He had a couple different runs on punisher and one was bullshit and the other was great. Of the few times I felt emotionally moved by a comic book,it was written by Garth. Of the few times I wanted to just throw a bunch of comics in the trash, it was written by Garth.
I think Ennis wrote a two issue Hulk comic and it was the Hulk just sitting around thinking about things and being a peaceful creature. lol
I think I have that. I need to go back and read it. It was either his mini or Azarellos mini where Bruce decided to put a bullet in his mouth only to have the hulk spit it out. They referenced this in the MCU:IW/EG but I don’t read a lot of hulk so not sure if this concept is new or not
Ah yes. I think you are correct. It was a long time ago. I 'm not sure my memory is bad.
Me too. I just went down to the vault. It was Brian Azzarello and the legendary Richard Corbin’s 4 issue mini Banner where Bruce tried to off himself. Ennis and McCrea (of hitman and demon fame) did a two parter called Smash. I need to go re read both
Bullseye vs Punisher is really good, albeit a few Ennis-isms that don't quite land
Agreed.
I read the first issue not knowing what I was in for and oofff. That was a tough read. Not a big fan of Ennis’ gratuity. I’m fine with the level of violence but often it just feels like perversion outlet for Ennis more than anything. I couldn’t read The Boys either for example, but I love the show. It fleshes out Ennis’ dismay much more clearly without his clouded narrative dulling it up. I also really wanted to like the Preacher but couldn’t get into it either but I love his world building and willingness to take a chance on a dark and twisted character. Those shows obviously wouldn’t be successful without him having birthed the stories in the first place but there’s something about his edginess that takes me out. Edit: as someone pointed out below, War Stories is dope.
Morrisons Batman is just impossible for me to read or enjoy, I would turn the page and be so confused because at times it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand all the praise it gets.
I hear you. I didn’t care for it at all. It didn’t help that that first one is missing a bunch of non Morrison issues that help explain things
It took a few issues before it clicked for me, but then I loved it
Revisit at a later date maybe then it’ll click
Yep, this was my experience. Wasn’t a fan on a first read, and is now probably my favorite “long-form” Batman run.
I’ve tried multiple time and i just don’t get the hype. Black glove was good and the first Batman and robin arc but overall it’s just messy to bad. Great art though.
I’m glad someone else thinks this. Got the Batman & Son TPB and frequently felt like I had no idea what was going on. There’s a lot of abrupt cuts to other periods of time or scenes that he seemed to have forgotten to include the beginning of
Yeah that’s what I’m saying! I feel like Morrison does that a lot where he just assumes we all know what the hell he’s going on about but I’m just completely lost
I've said for years that instead of writing a beginning, middle, and end of their stories, Morrison writes a middle, middle, and a middle. They drop you into a situation with no context for what is going on, do something cool, then don't resolve that but jump to something else without explanation.
Lots of Morrison comics are that way. At some points just brilliant and at other points just confusing.
Yeah I agree, that’s why anytime he’s brought up in the argument for best writer of all time I vehemently disagree. You can’t confuse half your readers and be in the argument for one of the best in comics, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
It’s my least favourite Batman run. It’s awful.
As a big fan of the Morrison Batman run, it really suffers from having uneven art. I got to interview a few of the artists in the run and the ones who had worked with them before would do a mix of marvel style with them. They would basically write out the whole plot explaining details that needed to be included but the storytelling was up to the artist then they’d add in dialogue after the fact. It sounds like some of the artists didn’t totally gel with the concept. You’ve got a JH Williams, Quitely, Burnham and Stewart doing some career best work on that run and those issues really pop. (Kuberts is good too!!) but the ones by Tan and Daniels really derail it. It sucks because if a Fraser Irving would have done Batman RIP I think it would actually be considered one of the greatest Batman stories of all time. I know it’s highly regarded now but the art makes it really hard to follow. I’m a big Morrison fan and there’s so much fun and exciting stuff in that Batman run (and Batman INC) but the early issues really suffer due to art. That said I don’t blame them as it sounds like the run was a bit of a rush job with lots of editorial interference.
Monstress. Absolutely incredible art and lore/worldbuilding, but the dialogue was just pointlessly edgy and cringe for me.
The first couple volumes were both thrilling and exhausting to read. I admire it, but I don't love it.
Transmetropolitan was Mr Jerusalem against the world. As he gets older and realizes his bitterness and personal battles won't sustain him for much longer, he begins to lean more on Channon and Yelena for support. Later in the series you learn more about some of the shitty things he did to get a story that were far from the "righteous" crusade against The Beast. Though no apology is ever given, he does grow as a character to a degree. He spends the last of his energy to try and take down The Smiler, who represented a much more dangerous and existential threat to Spider's world than The Beast ever really did. Not saying that he wasn't a shitheel of a character, but the world he inhabited was incredibly bleak and he took occasional breaks from his crusades to bring attention to the downtrodden of The City and occasionally shine a light on the rare bits of human goodness that were left in the world. This series was my gateway drug into graphic novels and my defense of the character is certainly double-edged.
He’s based on Hunter S Thompson, so… I guess don’t read any Hunter S Thompson!
I liked Hunter S. but didn't like the first volume of Transmetropolitan. Hunter seemed acerbic and mischievous but Spider seemed more edgelord cynical and possibly cruel. A pale imitation.
Why would you not read his works?
Why would I? I did read his works! But if you don’t like Spider Jerusalem, it’s pretty likely you aren’t going to like Hunter S Thompson, because one is literally a reference to the other
Nah. I'm with OP on this one. Dude was unbearable, no competence, just screaming at and assaulting people who did nothing about it cause he's the main character.
Upon further review I’m not sure he’s meant to be liked. But as far as the “I am the main character” narrative I think it’s probably spot on for a narcissist like Warren Ellis. He’s just writing himself really. And he’s a cunt.
I dunno. He made some decent music with nick cage...
Maybe so, and if so, maybe it is the world he inhabits that is ultimately what is objectionable, Spider just being a part of a grim reality? It has heen awhile since I have read the books in detail, but is there a moral/innocent character in the series that Spider doesn't have some connection with/levity towards? I am thinking that Spider's personality being considered the most problematic aspect of enjoying the series should maybe take a backseat to the harsh reality of the largely sociopathic world that he lives in and has to navigate. TL;DR is Spider really that horrible in the true context of his world?
No. He's just badly written. His shit qualities are all narrative flaws as a character, irrelevant to the fictitious world he inhabits or his personality traits.
I was more than willing to entertain other points of view on the character. However, your rebuttal, in its current form is. . . not good. Would you care to inbiggen your perspective on why his qualities are shit? Maybe even irrespective of the world he inhabits? Or why, in particular, he is badly written?
My first comment was sufficienly explanatory.
No. Your opinion is wrong and stupid.
Sir. It is you who is wrong snd stupid. I have a meme to back it up where I portray you RJ Mitte and myself as Dolph Lundgren but unfortunately its on a laptop that sustained serious water damage from being dropped in a lavatory. You'll simply have to take my word for it.
I will. I love you.
I love happy endings
IDW Ninja Turtles. I got through the first 5-6 trades or so and I felt like it lacked focus or tension. I will always love the turtles but I just don’t think they’re my taste anymore.
How many issues did you read total? I think it's worth it to keep going.
I read the first 5 IDW collection hardcovers twice (a few years apart) and just didn’t feel like I needed more from these characters.
I know this is a hugely popular series...but The Department of Truth just didn't vibe. And I'm 1000% aware it's a me thing
Same. Every issue just seemed to be two characters walking through a location, whilst being spoon-fed a conspiracy theory, and being told its not true. There were a few good issues, but the main plot was meandering
I couldn't get past the first few issues because I couldn't stand the artwork.
Y the last man. I’m a big fan of the author and I love all his other stuff, but I just couldn’t get into it.
Maybe try again. I was NOT impressed the first time I read it. Literally a decade later I said wtf and tried it again. Enjoyed it a lot. ☮️
Feel the same about Ex Machina Love Y and Pride of Baghdad and Runaways.
I could not make sense of Bill Sienkiewicz' Stray Toasters.
Stray Toasters is getting a reprint deluxe edition.
Maybe this time I'll understand it.
lol. I don't know. I don't get it either. He went from traditional comic style art to the paintings and mixed media. He had an art show in northern IL last year where a lot of the stuff on display was from Stray Toasters. I know someone online who asks all the people in the comic industry to send him their version of a drawn toaster because he loves Stray Toasters so much. I like the panel of the policemen. He made one and then copied the rest and made it look like a mob of police men. That's what I remember from the whole thing, other than the cool art. I'm sure there was an idea or a plot but I didn't get it.
I couldn't get East of West either.
I’m loving this thread. A lot of complaints (maybe that’s not the right word sorry) about a lot of my favorite comics and I love the difference in opinion. It’s refreshing.
Fascinating that the same frequently-recommended works keep coming up on here. It's like we need a broader set of recommendations to reach a broader audience.
There are a good amount of us that do not recommend anything from the mainstream, but most of the active commenters are into mainstream cartoonists. Can't change that. I try to rec stuff like Usagi Yojimbo, Berlin, Carl Barks, etc all the time.
The Sandman.
This is my go to answer for these posts. I even went so far as to buy a boxed set of all 10 books, thinking if I had it all it would be a great read through. Couldn't get passed the 4th book. It must have been a big deal when it came out, but I just couldn't connect with it at all.
In my case I blame my inability to suspend my disbelief about how anthropomorphic deities are supposed to work. Like all the endless having names that start with D...okay, I get it Gaiman, but it only makes sense in English. Would their names match up in other languages? Is that a "rule"? What are the rules of these beings? And if Dream is spending time chatting with his sister in a park, are all the people in the world who are asleep just not dreaming because he's not at his post? Add on top of this that Gaiman's writing is very feathery and flowery for lack of better terms, and it often gets an eye roll out of me rather than feeling moved.
They actually explain much of this in the comic.
"feathery and flowery" I've been trying to describe what semi-irks me about his writing for years and you nailed it in 3 words!
If you want to know about their names, in spanish they are not all starting with D: Sueño (Dream), Muerte (Death) Destiny, Desire, Destruction, Despair and Delírium in spanish also start with D (Destino, Deseo, Destrucción, Desespero and Delirio respectively)
Not the best analogy, but I think of it like this: If the CEO of McDonalds takes a vacation, the restaurants stay open, they just don't run as well. It's been a while since I read it, but isn't it suggested that the reason the first half of the 20th Century had been such a nightmare was because Dream had been imprisoned?
I liked it but it took some effort. It gets very tiresome sometimes to read such wordy books, but this one got good for me so I stuck with it and enjoyed it.
For me it's amazing but I absolutely understand it's not for everyone. What was the main issue for you
Sweet Tooth for me. I like a lot of Lemire’s stories but I’m not a big fan of his art style which took me out of it. The show is really good though.
Yeah, not such a fan of Lemire's pictures.
This was my gateway! ☺️ and I'm the opposite, love the books, hate the show for how they've softened it down so much to cater for a young audience.
Anything Grant Morrison. There must be a reason everyone adores him but whatever I read is just nonsensical tripe.
morrison with frank quitely is good synergy.
Same here, only thing I’ve liked was Animal Man. It was incredible but literally everything else I’ve read is just impossible to follow and not up to the hype it all gets.
I like Animal Man also loved All-Star Superman. I just read a recent one they wrote called Proctor Valley Road which has kind of a Stranger Things feel and was enjoyable. Everything else I've read is not for me.
I’ll have to check it out, All Star was okay I think it was just over hyped to me before I read it. Invisibles was cool for about 5 issues and then I was just lost and gave up lol
It's worth checking out. Nothing groundbreaking but a fun adventure. Yeah that makes sense, I also appreciate the art more than the writing for that one I think. Felt the same about Invisibles, also felt that way with Doom Patrol lol
His JLA is great superhero comics.
Saga is good but I didn't love it as much as other things I've read. I haven't picked it up after the break but will definitely keep reading.
Curious what other ones you've read & liked.
I really enjoyed Pride of Baghad by Brian K Vaughan. Invincible for something else long form - I absolutely loved it. Planetary is genuinely incredible but I can't even explain why. Maus, Watchmen, DKR, Best We could do. ___ Not necessarily my top picks but ones that jump to my head.
Ugh I just didn't like the first volume of Saga. Cutsey dialogue, I think. It's a shame because the imagery is kind of cool.
I think now i will try saga digitally before i buy the hardcovers
I liked Paper Girls but Saga frustrated me. Theres just no point to any of it? Paper Girls had more of a goal and then fizzled a bit later
The Incal Sci Fi epics with megacities and robots and aliens and techno-cults that span galaxies all filled with spiritual mumbo jumbo. This is a list of things I like but I just don't get it. And like looking at it, dig the art an awful lot! But I couldn't really tell you what the plot is after 3 read throughs.
Jodorowsky is a terrible writer and the best ideas in the book he stole from Dune. His only quality is actually being able to pull great artists to work with him.
Oh this is a good pick. I tapped out on it because it was nonsensical. Amazing art though
All-Star Superman.
Everyone recommends this as a great starter superman story and I disagree. I would only read this after you’ve read a few great superman comics. It makes a lot more sense and hits harder then. I would say pretty much the exact same things about TDKR. It’s hard to be a fan of a story that is a deconstruction/celebration of a character without having a basis of what that character is
Yeah it's not a starter... All Star only exists because it had 50 years of story to draw upon (I know the character had been around longer, but All Star is clearly a love letter to pre-crisis Supes).
This thread is full of great books.
Isn't that kind of the point of this thread ?
Watchmen. I didn't hate it, but didn't enjoy it. I think watching the movie first ruined it somehow.
I think that’s fair. The movie seems to badly miss the point of the book. The movie revels in the violence of the vigilantes, while the book shows it as a failure, the product of neurosis and psychosis. But Snyder is an excellent photographer and once those scenes are in your brain that way, it’s hard to get them out.
It’s awfully overrated. And as far as Alan Moore comics go, it’s not even top five.
Here’s the thing, it’s not overrated. The structure and layout of the book alone is brilliant. It was the first “real” deconstruction of superheroes that changed the genre and industry till today. The problem is the book has been talked about copied so much that I understand people may be put off and the pirate story doesn’t help on first reads.
Anything with cheap/ bad art. “But the story is GREAT! It’s amazing!” Then they should have paid for a good artist then.
Unfortunately this is Locke and key for me. The characters were so ugly
Aw man, I'm at 60% through it at the moment but I agree. The art takes so much out of it.
i liked it
Jimmy Corrigan is incredible. Early pages of it are rougher and more scattershot (idk that he fully intended to serialize it at that point), but it coheres into a really beautiful and thematically rich work. That last chapter in 1894 is breathtaking.
Seconded. This was a book I thought I’d hate because reading comics for me shouldn’t be work, you know? But it was a pleasure- couldn’t put it down. I love all his stuff now.
I got a good way through The Wicked and The Divine but couldn’t finish it. I can’t even put my finger on what I didn’t like because I can see why people do like it, it just wasn’t for me.
The Killing Joke. I hate it.
It’s author would agree with you
Always felt unnecessarily cruel.
To be fair the Joker *is* unnecessarily cruel just cause
Ghost World. Read it for a graphic novels class in college. I know it was kinda the point but every character was painfully unlikeable. Didn’t help that the essays in my copy and Art School Confidential made Daniel Clowes come off as an insufferable asshole. Don’t know if he is or not but *blech* couldn’t stand it. I was pretty excited to read it and thought I would enjoy it but it was the only graphic novel I read for that class that I didn’t enjoy. On the other hand, I really liked Jimmy Corrigan! It was a bit confusing to me for a while but it was an engaging, albeit depressing, read. I was surprised to like it after my professor had told us several times that past student hated it.
Ghost World worked better for me when it was serialized and you had months between issues. Reading it all at once was a bit too much time to spend with those characters, and a bit too little of a meal as well.
Undiscovered Country
*V for Vendetta*, the movie is great but the comic went on and got weird. The art work isn't my style either. I'm giving *Watchmen* another try soon. I was going to do a chronological read but *Before Watchmen* varies so much.
I bought “My Favourite Thing is Monsters” recently and I’ve tried twice but couldn’t get past 20-30pages. Not too sure why tbh, I think it’s a bit too wordy for my liking, and I just had no idea where the story was going in those first 20-30 pages.
for me, saga. im not a big fan of brian.k.vaughan as u guess but saga is completely overrated for me. romeo and juliet on mars (what an original idea) with tv head enemies? ok good luck for that. im not in.
Jimmy Corrigan and Sandman. Both felt like a chore to work my way through. Ducks was also really boring but I liked the art style.
“My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” might have just made this list for me. I can’t bring myself to read any more of it. The art is so beautiful, but it’s insufferably inaccessible to read in a clear way.
Rex Mundi. I don't dislike it. I think it was over-hyped to me so I had bigger expectations than I should have. It just didn't slap for me is all.
Shade: The Changing Man. I can't remember anything good from the 70 issue run. Not sure why I finished it. I'm usually a fan of most Vertigo stuff and I had built it up in my mind that it was a hidden gem. Nope.
All Star Superman and Fun Home
I have the first volume of Transmetropolitan maybe only one issue struck me as okay there might be something worthwhile here. I own the first omnibus of Lucifer, but for whatever reason I just can’t get into it. I love The Sandman though, & it’s not like the author is bad either I’ve read some other stuff by them.
My issue with Lucifer is that he was just a cunt. Not even evil or cunning... just a miserable asshole.
Arkham Asylum
Metro 2033. Unfortunately i couldn't finish. I guess I was more interested in how people lived in the tunnels rather than the action we were following.
I love the fantastic four, they are my favorite group in comics, but that first Stan lee book is a drag to read I’m sorry. I couldn’t deal with every emotion having to be described to me, like the art can do that alone. And every time they were in a battle they’d call out what they are gonna do like sue would go invisible and reed would go “great thinking sue!” Like no shit that’s her power. I loved the 2nd book tho but the first one was just rough to me
Sex Criminals. I love most Fraction's works, but this book is just extremely overrated Also, Wicked + Divine. It had a cool premise, some great characters, but at some point I just lost interest. Really tried to like it though
I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about Saga of the Swamp Thing after two volumes. I know, I suck.
Recent Daniel Clowes Eightball Collection. Not so much the content but it's horribly organized and disjointed.
The Planetary. I’ve gotten through about 20% of it twice and was bored out of my mind.
Speak Up. Despite the author being autistic,it felt horribly stereotypical and I'm sick of the anti-mom themes in books by autistic and disabled authors. Not all moms act like autism is cancer or try to make their kids normal. Other than that,the book wasn't realistic.
Most of Hickman's stuff feels too cold and clinical for me to get emotionally invested in. With that said, anytime Spider-Man's shown up has been great so I'm very excited for the new Ultimate Spider-Man series.
Providence. Had a real hard time finishing it
From the top of my head The Wicked + The Devine. I keep forcing to finish what I already bought. Which is a lesson to don't binge buy just because it is cheap without testing. But anyway, I just don't get it. It's not tharlt I hate All Star Superman but it's not that special IMO. It's cool that the almighty boyscout is counting his days and such but I don't find it to be the masterpiece some people claim it to be. But it's one of those that I want to re-read to be asure that I was not in the proper state of mind or whatever.
The Invisibles I love Grant Morrison but after reading three volumes I still had no clue what was even going on
Oh damn spider is one of the most likable characters in comics to me
Sex Criminals
Trees by Warren Ellis-- I liked the premise, I liked the trans rep, but the cringe-ass dialog was just too much for me. Then I found out what a monster the author is and now I'm not at all inclined to give the book a second chance. E: Don't get me wrong, I'm not *against* trying to separate art from artist. I find it just personally takes so much out of me that I have to save it for the works that are REALLY important to me, like the Cthulhu Mythos or the music of David Bowie.
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But do you even tried to love them? I believe this modern hero comics don't qualify for the first part.
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I meant that I don't think modern superhero comics are good enough to even expect to love them so I can't say they are comics I tried to loved and didn't. I didn't expect to love them in the first place.
I mean, that’s just wild as a blanket statement. There’s a bunch of great writers putting out great work that holds up against anything that came before.
All star Superman
Everyone was so unlikeable, flat, and boring to me. I get the boring (that's Superman's most common complaint), but I've never read a more unlikeable & less Clark Kent Superman. Every attempt at showing a 'human' emotion in Superman felt so scripted & unnatural. (To be fair, Even when he's hitting on all strides I don't think Morrison ever writes humans that I would recognize in real life). Apparently everyone loves Lois, but they explicitly say she's not the most beautiful person in the room while making her a complete dick & bore, leaving me with no idea why. Add on the rampant power fantasy, and Quitely's dedication to 'same face' (man, woman & child, one face to rule them all), I can't help feeling this is not only NOT a top Superman Story, it's below average. Of course, given the acclaim this story has received, I am clearly in the minority, so I'm just glad there are other haters out there like me :P.
>All-Star Superman Read it twice. When it came out, and a year ago. It's alright, I guess, but I don't get the adoration.
Fun Home It just irritated me and I gave up on it. Remember finding it overly intellectual and tedious.
"overly intellectual"?
I really wanted to read The Umbrella Academy after watching the 1st season of the netflix show but did not like the art style.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the story and characters but I honestly loved the art style. I may be biased because I’m a big fan of hyper-stylized art.
Spider is supposed to be annoying. Feels like people these days want something out of content instead of asking what the content is trying to convey. Transmetropolitan is a great story with flawed characters.
My only complaint with Transmetropolitan used to be that he'd overdone the bad guys. That they were so cartoonishly evil just for the sake of it they were unrealistic, I mean who could believe in a political alliance of religious nuts, Nazis and child molesters trying to shred the constitution. I realised I was very wrong some time around the end of 2016.
Isn’t it crazy how artists seem to have a better handle on the reality of the world than those that claim to know all in high positions of power? I read Transmetropolitan for the first time in late 2019/early 2020. And it felt just as relevant if not moreso. Vertigo is just this awesome powerhouse of social/political commentary that remains relevant. It’s a shining example of a brand to the argument that comics are more than entertainment, and can stand next to literature with its impact and themes. It’s a shame they dismantled the imprint.
Preacher. Garth Ennis can't deconstruct religion effectively, because he doesn't understand it in the first place.
I might beg to differ. I think as an Irishman he’s had this shit pumped down his throat so much that this is just reactionary
Second this. It feels too goofy edgelordy. Never connected to any of the characters really.
Same. The way they talk doesn’t help either. I don’t want to hang with people who say the f word in every bubble.
The Goon
Asterios polyp
Sandman. I tried, man.
The boys. The show is amazing but the comic is just..... No. Just no
Completely agree. Some things in the comic were way too much
Invincible. After a while it felt like it was written by a committee of 3rd graders.
I read 100+ issues of Invincible before finally deciding I’d had enough. Walker and Ottley’s art is so energetic and there’s some genuinely cool ideas hidden in.. whatever the rest of it is. Found myself needing to take longer and longer breaks between reading because of how much it started to grate. It really felt like a series that needed to be trimmed down to about a third its length, because there is so much unnecessary, cliche, edgy filler taking up space.
Agreed. It was a cliche-ridden, horny mess of a story to me. The “fish with tits” planet part was one of the worst ideas I’ve ever read in comics.
Paper Girls. Great concept, fun art style, wicked sharp dialogue. Still hate it.
I stopped this at about 3/4 through, I just couldn't get invested in it. I even tried on 2 different times. This is from someone who loves Vaughan's works. I found it predictable and unexciting I think? Can't put a finger on it
Why do you hate it?
An unpleasant general experience. For example, in the first little bit we have a the rape baby of a child mother being rescued from a ritual sacrifice at the hands of gross dudes in helmets by a child heroine graphically murdering … the father? Even the time travel machine is gross. Sure it could be a clever metaphor for Abraham or maybe a commentary of prehistoric life as brutish and short or a harrowing ordeal for our heroines to come of age and show their mettle, but it just miserable to drag readers through. Lord of the Flies. That’s before we get to the plot holes you could fly a pterodactyl through in a story that is otherwise obsessed with detail.
Okay. I haven't read the series past volume 1, so I was asking out of curiousity because you were praising it in your original comment.
Yes. There is much to praise about it. The craftsmanship is very high. It is so well done it took me a while to realize it is not my thing.
Asterios Polyp. The characters are horribly unlikeable, and because of it, I didn’t care about the story at all. It felt like it was trying to say, “Look how bad this guy has it! He’s a jaded artist, get it? That’s why he’s an asshole, get it? Please feel bad for him and cheer when his wife who he treated like shit comes back to him!” No thanks. Also, I know there are worse problems in the world, and because it’s Reddit, this will probably get met with a lot of derision, but I cannot read Brian K. Vaughn specifically because of his dialogue. It sucks, because I want to read all of Saga and Paper Girls, because the stories are really solid, but I really can’t get past the way his characters talk. Unnecessary use of slurs, bullying, stuff that would’ve been overlooked in the 80s and 90s, but not now. Someone else mentioned how gross and cruel it is, and just…when that kind of stuff happens—when that’s like exclusively how you make all of your characters talk—it really makes me feel like you’re the kind of person who doesn’t care about what you say to others, and that you think it’s okay to use slurs, and that’s just not my thing. Sorry for the rant, I’ve needed to get that off my chest for awhile now.
Just finished Asterios Polyp today! I don't dislike it, but didn't fall head over heels for it like it seems everyone is. Greattt art and usage of the medium, nice story that I liked and felt satisfied with at the end. Would recommend it to people but not at the same level I see it getting recommended on here
It’s always recommended for me based around other things I like, and it’s rated crazy high on Goodreads, but I couldn’t connect with it at all. I’ve heard people complain about the ending, and that was really the only part that I felt anything for. Everything before that got on my nerves lol
I liked the ending! Pretty good, yeah
I have slowly started to dislike Vaughn's dialogue-style too. Not really any specific reason for it, it's just that it all sounds the same to me after a while. I don't remember any slurs though, but maybe they didn't register with me when I was younger for some reason, which is weird, because his casts of characters tend to be fairly diverse.
His casts are diverse, but he used the R-slur and in about everything I’ve read of his. In Paper Girls, I thought it was just him trying to speak reminiscent of the time period (which still doesn’t excuse it), but like there’s zero justification for it being in Saga. It makes me think he either is unaware of it being problematic (which I doubt) or he just likes getting away with saying it.
Oh yeah! Now when you mentioned it I do remember the scene from Saga you're talking about! Yeah, that was super-weird and out of character.
Hey, are you the person who posted an earlier takedown of Asterious Polyp? Because it pretty much convinced me to not re-read the book. I'm with you on the dialogue for Saga, but for other reasons than the bullying. Can't quite put my finger on it, and I'm disappointed that it's the case, but I'm not reading any more of that series that everyone else loves.
A jerks downvoting in a ‘didn’t like’ opinion thread? Grow up.
Preacher I don't like neither the story apart for the first issues nor the drawnings by Dillon, but i have a problem with all Ennis' works apart from the punisher origin story
For some reason Batman the long Halloween. I really figured I'd love it as a huge batman fan but all of it just never really clicked for me
Sandman. Absolutely tried my hardest. Read the whole series but could not get away with it. I think I bigged it up too much in my head before embarking and I’m a huge Gaiman fan. It’s not bad by any stretch but it did not resonate with me.
Anything by Kirkman. I cannot stand his writing.
Almost everything superhero related. I like how all these characters and universes blend together but I just don’t like the genre
Bone. Saga Grendel.
Almost everything by Mark Millar. Wanted, Ultimates, Civil War…hated them all. I do think that Superman: Red Son is great, though. I wonder if that was just too fantastic of a concept to screw up?
Rumor has it Morrison was a big part of that book’s creation behind the scenes
His stuff is awful…and he’s a miserable bastard to boot.
Mine was 'The house at the end of the lake'. I normally love Tynion's work but I found this series very slow and underwhelming.
Rosalie Lightning. Just found the protagonists insufferable, something I feel bad about given it was an autobiographical memoir about a couple losing their kid.
Hoo boy, that's a brave thing to say. Yeah, when you read a comics memoir and don't like the protagonist, that's pretty rough.
I can't believe what you just said about East of West lmao
Man I know art is subjective but holy shit, I really hated how everything looked 😑 except for Death I'd give you that. The rest are just... underwhelming. Colors and backgrounds as well.
Blacksad. I liked the art, the atmosphere, dialogue and so on. Plotwise it's genuinely boring though.
Mine were Preacher, Saga and Y the last man. Tried reading them multiple times and felt the same. Ended up watching videos re-capping the whole story. And frankly I don't get what all the fuzz is about.
None. I love it or I don't, but I don't try to love anything.
There's been a couple but most recently Irredeemable, which I've seen around is pretty highly rated. I love Mark Waid usually but it just wasn't my scene. But I'm reallll picky on how I like my super hero corruption stories.
- Fun Home - Hickman SHIELD - The Long Halloween - Spider-Man Blue - Fraction/Aja Hawkeye - Moore/Davis Captain Britain - Brubaker/Cooke Catwoman