COMICS YOU SHOULD SEEK OUT
By Alex Ness
February 5, 2023
I am well aware that not every has the same taste. And, I am also aware that comic fans don't all write about their holy grail of collecting or favorite series that they are passionate about and share opinions regarding.
I might offer, in the near future, a collection of recommendations from intelligent long time comic book readers to give the readers here a taste of different minds, and the comics I might never have recommended. Depending upon their schedules, of course.
MY CHOICES for this edition:
THE MARQUIS
By Guy Davis
The art by Guy Davis was originally the draw for me, to anything he did. It is effective, deceptively intricate, and yet, from the outside, simple appearing. It stuns upon further and further inspection. The Marquis was a vigilante during the 1700s of a Roman Catholic nation similar to France, or even a bit Italy. The work seeks to right political and religious wrongs, at the same time the main character struggles with his own beliefs, and his own righteousness. I can't think of a better book for deep thinkers of a religious sort.
THE YURKOVERSE
By David Yurkovich
Rather than describe each work of David Yurkovich's productivity, I'll describe the themes and what makes him worth pursuing and reading. First off, David's sense of humor is incredibly dry, dark, and subtle. If you read his works with a serious mind, they do work that way, but if you take your time, you discover layers and layers of meaning, that are often hilarious and powerful, due to the softness in which they are spoken. His writing is well beyond the normal writer of comics. He has skills in dialogue that moves each story forward, rather than informing the reader that this is what you need to know. His skill in art is less developed as writing and in developing concepts, however, the creations of Yurkovich actually flourish under his simpler and idiosyncratic art, since it removes a layer of reader disbelief. It announces itself as being a comic, but then the writing expresses far more. I regret that David and I lost contact, but I've always been impressed by his work, and know it is far better than ardent critics of comic in general or fans of whatever is popular in the day might imagine.
SAVAGE DRAGON MEET UPS
By Erik Larsen and many more
I don't think most people in comics get how well Savage Dragon the main comic, not those mentioned soon here, is written, and while Larsen's art isn't always appreciated, it tells a story in the fashion of Jack Kirby, which is, fast moving, action oriented, and performed so that the reader gets a charge, a feeling of completion when finished, and looking forward to more. So, when Savage Dragon is teamed up, with Hellboy, Spawn, Marshal Law or anyone else, it is usually WAY better than the 1970s and 1980s team up stories, since the concept for it is so solid and recognized, you'd have an easier time doing it well than screwing it up. Larsen is generous as a creative talent, and intelligent, so whether he did the writing, art or concept, or just approved of it, these meet ups are all beyond fun, they are worth your money and time to read.
MICRONAUTS: BARON KARZA
By Jim Krueger, Steve Kurth and Barbara Schulz
I considered DDP's Micronaut run to be flawed, but fun. It changed talents too often to gain momentum, and sometimes that could be felt in the story runs. But I promise, when Steve Kurth did the pencil art and Barbara Schulz did the inks, it was not only a fun comic, but really really lovely to look at. The comic mentioned here was a tangent from the Micronauts run, based on villain Baron Karza. I deeply enjoy Jim Krueger's writing, it has a depth of concept, intelligent dialogue, and creates a work with the artists that goes well above the standard acceptable work, into something that enhanced the entire run of the Micronauts that followed. It had the motives and reasons for the actions of a deeply mysterious villain, and gave reasons, for some, to actually like the character. More than a Darth Vader or Doctor Doom, he was less evil as had great aspirations to greatness or power, and often was without morals to achieve it.
ASSORTED
By Bernie Wrightson, Joe Monks, Jamie Delano, Tom Mandrake, Grant Morrison, Paul Grist, Mike Fking Grell, and Josh Howard...
I recommend each of these books, for their stories and art. I think the world needs more stories that aren't exactly happy, aren't exactly easy to predict, and are beautiful in ways, that can't be described, only experienced. The five comics shown are each works that I picked up despite not having tons of money, and they opened the doorway to new ideas and great works.
REVIEW POLICY:
I
can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email
Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I do accept hard copies, so when you contact me/inquire at
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address. If you send
hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to
send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I
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for free to others.
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My Poetry Blog AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
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Published Works AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
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