Collecting Comics

I’ve recently found myself thinking what a diverse bunch of comic books I collect. I got tired of superhero comic books a long, long time ago, so I started reading some of the “other” stuff. The good stuff.

I’m looking at the titles I follow, trying to find a pattern, something in common. Something that assures me that I am not completely random. However, I do admit to having a very eclectic taste, and I usually like things that are complete opposites. Am I afflicted by some kind of mental illness? I don’t think so. I guess it’s just that I like pretty much everything. And still, by looking at these series, I think I can actually discern some patterns, some common elements: great stories and great artwork.

You could argue that’s very subjective, and you'll find no argument here. I like things most everyone hates, and I despise lots of things everyone else thinks are incredible. Am I weird, then? Well, I never tried to deny that.

These books have other things in common, though: humor, horror, and hotties –the three H’s. (Wouldn't that be a great title for a series?) And I guess that makes sense, since I like those three elements a lot. So let’s see what comic book series I am following, and why I love them.

Witchblade
Month after month I tell you about the best book on the shelves right now. Witchblade, written by Ron Marz and illustrated by Stjepan Sejic is the perfect marriage between great stories, phenomenal dialogue, and eye-popping artwork. Throw in mystery, the supernatural, monsters, and incredibly vivid and realistic relationships between the characters, and the result is mind-blowing. Not a lot of humor, though.

Empowered
Written and drawn by Adam Warren, Empowered cracks me up every time a new volume comes out. Warren’s artwork has really grown on me, and now I’m dying to find some of his original pages for sale somewhere. Lots of humor, terrific dialogue, fantastic plays on words and ludicrously great speeches, alliterations, and references show what an avid reader Warren is, and how much fun he has working on his creation. Plus, Emp and Ninjette are uberhot and scantily clad all the time. I just can’t recommend this book enough.

The Goon
Eric Powell’s brilliant book is a great mix of horror, drama, and humor, and his artwork is both gorgeous and disturbing. There are zombies, monsters, and other strange creatures, all living in a retro world that is both fascinating and impossibly compelling. The jokes and humor in this book hit you like an unexpected hammer and make you laugh at things only to leave you wondering what kind of despicable, twisted bastard would laugh at something like that. Pure genius.

World of Warcraft
I told you about this series recently, so I won’t talk too much about it. If you like fantasy, solid characters, and exciting adventures, you should buy WoW. And the artwork in the first seven issues is really cool. After that, not so much.

The Dark Tower
I’m not sure if I should consider this book a limited or an ongoing series, since it kind of is both. Each story arc starts with a new number 1, but the overall story follows closely from one series to the next, so it really is just an ongoing series broken into separate miniseries. The story, written by Peter David and Robin Furth, is based on Stephen King's series of novels, and it captures the strangeness, the weirdness, and the mindbending combination of elements King offers in his books perfectly. There is blood, horror, disturbing creatures, and an overall oppressive darkness that unsettles the reader, a feeling coming both from the words and the great artwork by Jae Lee and Richard Isanove. A really cool series. Not too much humor here, either.

Uncanny X-Men
I know I said I was sick of superhero books, but the current artistic team of Greg Land and Terry Dodson makes this book a no brainer. Plus, the new direction that kicked off with issue 500 really is interesting. Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction are doing a great job writing this series. Let’s see how long it lasts.

So there you have my schizophrenic choices, which don’t look all that different once examined. Let me know if you decide to give any of these books a try!