I definetly am into non super stuff, I love Sketchbook Diary by James Kolchalka, Big Head by Jefferey Brown, Ghost world , Blue monday, and others I cant recall at the moment.
I have been reading and collecting Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Ashley Wood and Japanese horrors like Junji Ito plus panoramic covers from Alex Ross. Did anyone see the collective short animations Fear(s) of the Dark? Loved it!!! http://www.primalinea.com/pdn/index.html
Am I the only one who HATES Ghostworld? I just always felt it was so contrived. Not trying to derail this into a hate-thread, sorry. There's a lot of non-superhero comics I like, Maus is one of my favorites and of course From Hell.
Did anyone here read Spiegelman's "In the Shadow of No Towers?" It's his time-warping take on 9/11. It starts with some very personal accounts and from there gradually and surrealistically goes off into an extended meditation that's not easy to describe (or follow for that matter.) Great stuff but very heady, much less linear than "Maus."
Comics vs. Toys is one area where people living outside of Japan really miss out. I used to read a pretty good amount of US comics (Charles Burns stuff, The Goon, Deadpool, the last run of Swamp Thing) but after being in Japan for a while I just gave up on it. Getting the books over here is too much of a pain, and my Japanese got the level where I could read most manga and from a financial standpoint manga in Japan totally kills comics in America. For example, incredibly awesome horror writer/illustrator Junji Ito? I think I have everything he has ever produced (a lot of it reprints, but hey, it reads the same) and it probably cost me under $70 all 20 or so books. You can find a ton of books by Go Nagai, the guy who did Mazinger Z and Devilman, for around $1 for what would be a TPB in the US. Even the crazy rare vintage stuff that hasn't been reprinted is usually between $30~40 (unless you're going for something super rare from like the '60s). And the best part? I can think of only one or two currently running manga series that don't absolutely and totally suck, so there's nothing to keep up with on a monthly/weekly basis!
i haven't read it, but i'm not surprised that it's awesome. The dude really knows how to capture the true human experience! I love Maus, except i've read my so many times that the bind is all torn up. I'll have to pick up a new copy of the set, and grab the "In the Shadow of No Towers" while i'm at it...
I still buy a lot of small press stuff...the MOCA festival here in NYC being my major fix every year...when I spend almost as much as I do in a month on Kaiju... people like Anders Nilsen, John Porcellino, Chris Ware, and Gilbert Hernandez are still doing great things...Porcellino's King Cat Comix still makes me very happy when a new issue comes out...and the quarterly MOME anthology is full of great stuff...and titles like Peepshow, Acme Novelty Library, and Palookaville are still great...though we're talking LONG breaks in between sometimes...it took Joe Matt like 5 years to put out a new issue of Peepshow... I still struggle with spending money on this stuff...but when I see something that was made by hand, drawn in a unique style, or appeals to me in some aesthetic way I can't help it...and good indie press stuff seems like a better place to put my money than the latest issue of Spiderman. Blech. My major problem is splitting my "disposable" income between the toys and the art books...my library is actually my first love (sorry everyone) and ends up costing me even more than Kaiju when I add up the reciepts at the end of the year...and now with all these great books coming along ABOUT toys...well I'm double effed. Think missing that RxH figure you want and having to buy it on the bay sucks? Try missing a good monograph by an artist and then buying it at a Rare Bookstore 2 years later...now that's real flipping...gotta buy it when it comes out...or you're screwed... edit: and speaking of good "art books" put out by bands...along the lines of the Belle and Sebastian or the Talking Heads books...the Melvins did one a few years ago with art by a TON of people...totally worth tracking down...and there's a great book put out by Eno and some artist I can't remember the name of called "More Dark Than Shark" that, if you can find a copy is totally worth what you'll pay for it...great art, and a must have if you like Eno.
I love Stan Sakai and his Usagi Yojimbo. Great book, with superb craftsmanship. My comic tastes are all over the place. I love Johnny Ryan,Mike Mignola, Katsuhiro Otomo, Brian K. Vaughn (Ex Machina and Y the Last Man), Kia Asamiya. In fact Asamiya's latest series Junk is very cool if you are into the old Kamen Rider superhero tokusatsu manga.
Anders Nilsen is one of the most brilliant comic writers to come along in years. His "Stories for the Coming Plague" i picked up at SDCC last y ear and i read the whole thing thru that night (much to the chagrin of colin turner, who i was bunking with, he was trying to sleep, i kept guffawing thru the night into the early hours) most highly recomm eneded! m3kcomp: right there with you,, my library seems to know no bounds, hmmmm one day, whenever i get around to whole collection shots, i should shoot my library too!
i actually haven't bought a toy all year, apart from one off a board member. been saving for my holiday in a week and some other stuff. its been refreshing.
and kidclam, i never even heard of fears of the dark, i'm gonna have to keep my eye peeled for that one since it loooks great and it's got richard mcguire. charles burns and mattotti? wow!
Walking Dead, I really like that series, although I stopped buying comics a couple of years ago. Too many interests!!! Love me some Zombies! I did, however, pick up the Marvel Zombies series, very clever, and very cool!
