This thread is winning the Internet.
Question:
Would reading the Fable series interfere with eventually playing The Wolf Among Us?
I was looking at the Sandman Collections on Amazon and I think it would actually be cheaper to get the digital collections instead (unless I did my math wrong).
@Brad
Yes, it is!
I have fun just looking up everything everyone mentions. Than I double check it in print versus digital. Than I groan at the prices! Than I read the next post!
I would pick up the first digital trade and see if you are into it. Normally when I try to get people into the Sandman, I throw them right in the middle with my dog eared copy of Seasons of the Mist. That is when the series really starts firing on all cylinders, with Gaiman trying to tie all the worlds great literature, mythology, and theology into one giant mono-myth. But, with the first arc only being 6 bucks, you can’t go wrong.
If you decide you like it, I would recommend just going straight for the Absolute Sandman editions. These are giant leather bound tomes with cleaned up art and colors. You are going to end up reading series this more than once.
I would recommend picking up V for Vendetta for 6 bucks over The Watchmen. The Watchmen is good, but way too meta for someone who is just getting into comics, and is very much an artifact of its time.
Would reading the Fable series interfere with eventually playing The Wolf Among Us?
Not entirely sure what you mean by interfere with. The game is set before the book, so there’s no direct crossover yet (kind of like the Walking Dead). Having said that, something happens in the first episode which would probably come across differently if I hadn’t already read the book.
I would recommend picking up V for Vendetta for 6 bucks over The Watchmen. The Watchmen is good, but way too meta for someone who is just getting into comics, and is very much an artifact of its time.
I think that’s crazy talk. Not least because Watchmen is now so integral to comics culture that you really need to know it to get the most out of other comics, kind of like the Bible or the Odyssey for English literature. Also, V for Vendetta is just as much a product of its time. It reeks of the early Thatcher years.
Lots of great recommendation in this thread. I’ll just second the suggestions for Planetary, Locke & Key, Fables, and Astro City, and throw into the pot Northlanders (Vikings!), Atomic Robo (Robots! Tesla! Talking dinosaurs! Action Science!) and a couple of great 1980s superhero comics, both available in collected editions today: Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing (Horror! Romance! Plants!) and Walt Simonson’s run on Thor (Thor!).
Atomic Robo, as well as being awesome, has the advantage that each TPB is a mostly self-contained storyline, so it’s easy to jump in and out. .
Although The Wolf Among Us obviously can’t assume that any given player has read the source material (and so they have a handy encyclopedia built into it), by the same token Fables has been around for over a decade at this point and they’d be pretty silly to design an experience that wouldn’t work for fans of the original material, especially since that’s going to be a key part of their audience.
I used to be into comics; for example I have read the Watchmen, Simenson’s Thor, Moore’s Swamp Thing (my favorite issue being the homage to Pogo if anyone remembers that one).
I guess I am looking for just a touch of comics at this point in my life as I miss the medium (nothing else like it). I have been filling that gap with web comics but want to sample Comic Books with good complete self contained stories, or story arcs of serials that are more affordable than a monthly reading habit (if that makes sense).
Having a big family and having had my job be topsy-turvy many times - one learns to prioritize what to spend money on.
My list of habits/hobbies would go like this:
Books
Games
Comic Strips
Comic Books
(I am thinking of adding Legos as mentioned above) :)
The kindle has greatly helped my Book budget since I can get a sample before buying and I will wait until a book I want goes to $7 dollars or below. Always have plenty to read. I travel a lot so having on ebook device is a great boon being able to carry many books with little weight. The addition of Amazon Prime giving books to borrow also helps keep the cost down.
Well, being a PC gamer I just need to mention Steam Sale and that makes my gaming hobby much cheaper than it used to be! Board games is where it is easy to spend money. Having moved to an area where there is a huge board game group locally, I can play games I like without owning them.
Web comics have been a great boon since they can be read for free. I collect certain traditional strips in book format such as Pogo, Charlie Brown, Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbes, Bloom County, Foottrot Flats and a few others (but I basically have everything over the years).
Comic Books are still expensive - I wish they only cost $1 an issue digitally - I do not want to collect them just read them.
Legos are just crazy considering the price for plastic. I appreciate the sets costing more… but really? 150 dollars for some things is way over the top. But I understand the attraction. I can probably get away with buying a few because they will become Christmas decorations and my wife thinks they are cute.
Well, I have to say I am enjoying this thread. :)
Lots of good recommendations here.
For me, basically anything by Alan Moore (particularly Top Ten, which hasn’t been mentioned yet, but I think is his best superhero work ever), Grant Morrison (ok, sometimes he seems incomprehensible on first reading, but that’s a byproduct of his stuff being so exciting you tend to miss important little plot points in the rush; actually his work really rewards repeated reading, and it all does make sense really), Warren Ellis or Brian K Vaughn. Those are IMHO the “rock gods” of comics, and any of their works are never less than entertaining and well knit.
Particular highpoints I think are Moore’s Top Ten and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Ellis’ Planetary (as has been mentioned several times here - grab it!), and his run on The Authority (which actually has a neat crossover with Planetary); special mention also to his underrated Global Frequency. Morrison’s run on Justice League, WE3, Seven Soldiers of Victory, his Superman, all are superb, but he’s done so much good stuff. Vaughn’s Ex Machina is just brilliant, and his Runaways brings teen fun back into comics.
Other than that, I’m very fond of Astro City; if you have a nostalgia for comics and superheros meant a lot to you as a kid, Astro City is very rewarding.
And a special shout out to Ultra by the Luna Brothers. Great artwork, characterization, story, and a meticulously rounded take on superheros that’s “realistic” in a fun way, i.e. without being weighted down by subtext (as Watchmen - still one of the greatest comics ever made - might be accused of being). Criminal shame the TV version was fucked up and never saw the light of day (judging by the abominable and deservedly unseen pilot, they totally lost the sexy sense of Sex in the City with superheroines that Ultra has, which is a pity since they had Lena Headey in the lead role sigh).
I second this, and! Locke & Key just completed, and is currently 1/2 off on Comixology (except for the last volume).
Geoff
I bought a couple of volumes (#1) to try them out during the sales on Comicology. I bought the first volumes because I do not think one first issue is enough to know if I will enjoy something or not.
The Invincible series has arrived from Amazon and I read the first issue. I think I will read through this slowly. I will not be able to read this in bed since the book is so thick and heavy; need to read it while I am sitting in my comfy chair.
The series I an sampling on Comicology are:
Fable
Like it but may have to wait for a sale. I like mysteries so will eventually buy the whole thing (even as the story moves on to another).
Lock & Key
Is scary and I do not do good with scary but it is very well done. I will finish the first volume while on vacation and see if I want to pick up the rest during the sale.
If there is a way I can move some of the credit card points to an iTunes card than maybe I can get some more stuff on Comicology. I prefer to read on my iPad which I carry as I travel around the country.
Hmmm. Fables doesn’t stay much of a mystery for long. It becomes more of a fantasy/adventure comic after the first arc, though to be fair it never stays particularly genre-bound.
And Locke & Key certainly isn’t easy going. Nasty shit happens in that comic.
I’d like to thank gdunbar and Warning for recommending this. I’ve taken advantage of the sale and downloaded the first two volumes. I’d read (and loved) Hill’s newest novel; Locke and Key is every bit as good if not better.
Some of my (kind of old, I guess) recommendations:
Top Ten – I just discovered this a couple months back. Really good if you grew up with superhero comics.
1602 – You have to be versed in the Marvel universe, but if you are, this is some good Gaiman.
Sandman – The best Gaiman, especially by the end of the run (the first volume is good, but uneven)
We3 – Excellent, but some of the pages get kind of fuzzy near the end.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Both the original volumes are great.
Conan – Specifically the Dark Horse version with the incredible Cary Nord as artist. They take and adapt Howard’s original stories and do a good job with it.
Watchmen – Yadda, yadda.
Kingdom Come – Nothing more to add on this either.
Planet Hulk – One of the best Conan stories ever. Don’t bother with the (many) worthless sequels.
Hellboy – Almost any will do. They get stale after a while, but one or two are worth reading to see the interesting way that Mignola does comic book pacing and mood.
Has anyone read Goon? The collections look a bit on the expensive side plus I would have to use Dark Horse’s app rather than keeping everything in one place on Comixology.
I got a little Christmas money from my inlaws that I will use to sample a few more books; so I did purchase the first volume of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I will most definetly purchase the second. Shame there are no others that I can see.
I also received Bone and I like it a lot especially being a huge Pogo fan and this appears to be a bit of a homage to it with Fone babysitting the possum childs. :)
Oh, there’s more League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (The Black Dossier, and a couple of others), but you may not want to read them. Just saying.
The Killer from Archaia comics is a brilliantly written series about the trials and tribulations of a French Hitman. Nothing is over sensationalised, just pure euro noir with fresh contemporary art.
Criminal by Brubaker is the best noir comic to hit the stands, period.
GI Joe Cobra by Mike Costa is an exceptional espionage comic that takes a surprisingly mature look at the fictional conflict between the Joe’s and Cobra.
Chew by John Layman is the funniest and most inventive book going. It also makes appreciate chicken like nothing else.
Anyone reading Valen the Outcast? I tried the first issue but not sure if it is worth continuing.
I also reread the first two volumes of Chew which I really enjoyed. Also enjoying Bone.
I bought the first issue of Fatale and will probably try Criminal.
Just finished the run of Locke & Key after seeing it recommended above. Goddamn, but that was good.
I think maybe it should have ended with the first half of the two ending books. The last one felt a bit cheesy and redemptive.