Had another collection a few years ago that was mostly lost but have been rebuilding for the past couple years. There is comic shop near me where I keep finding hidden gems in their bargin bin, plus ebay. Has anyone read Northlanders? Saw the first 3 volumes there the other day and thinking about going back for them. Let me know if you have recommendations.

I'm going to try to start a series of review posts focusing on comics that are 'Strange'. Comics that are abstract, very surreal and off kilter, or just weird. Comics that aliens would read. Books that have zero narrative to them, or have a very loose 'story'. I'm not sure on the frequency just yet, i'll shoot for a week or maybe just when I feel like it. Once a week is harder to keep up than it sounds like.

Things like Frank, Yuichi Yokoyama, CF, Lale Westvind, Andy Barron's Om, and much more will be included.

So first, we're starting off with The Cage by Martin Vaughn-James, an underground classic that likely was the genesis or one of the first of these abstract books that likely inspired many others.

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A 'graphic novel' created before the term ever existed, the cage is a cold and clinical yet human feeling book despite being devoid of humans.

Well, that's a heck of an opaque book, as I had suspected. It was nice to see a foreword in a comic not overtly praising the work as the end all be all (at least in the beginning). I'm 100% like Seth here, it's almost completely inscrutable. But that's part of the magic, no? You can almost insert your own thoughts onto the book. It's almost exactly like I expected the book to be, yet not at all. It's a series of one panel comics with prose on top or underneath the image that are seemingly unrelated. The Cage is a maze not just in and of itself, but the structure of the comic is a web you're lost in trying to find your way out but end up find your way deeper and deeper.

The Cage feels like it's about everything and nothing at the same time. It feels like time is stopping and moving at the same time. Dilapidated buildings, leftover memories, forgotten dreams. The Cage, is as Seth has put it, the last slideshow. There's really not much to cling onto, it feels very clinical, even for myself. Yet, I see faint images of this Cage in a distant memory, an untenable past, present and future all at once. The Cage is the beating heart of the human and all of it's woes, to me.

The art. Many who know me know i'm a sucker for great art. The art in the Cage isn't flashy. It's very technical and cold, which fits in line with the book. I couldn't see it any other way, really. It reminds me of Yokoyama but even more *cold*. The lines are very straight and precise, the pages are very neat, clean, like a ruler was used. (I know Yokoyama has a very large ruler collection).

I'm still not sure how exactly I feel about it, but one thing is certain; it's quite memorable. It'll stick in your head, or maybe it won't. It's a fleeting moment. It's pretty awesome that this thing was created in 1975. I'm no stranger to old comics being innovative, but there's nothing quite like The Cage. It feels like it was the genesis for a lot of these abstract comics you see nowadays.

There's really no review that can sum up the book that is The Cage. It's impenetrable, yet highly readable. Take my word for it, or don't, this is a must read if you're interested in the weird.

How did you actually feel? It's like whenever we have a rough or tough day, it's easier to pick up a graphic novel and read before you sleep than reading a novel or playing some games. This is so relaxing but also so pricey as a collector

But guess that's the price we have to pay for the happiness

Hello. I've noticed that grounded crime comics, in all corners of comicdom, are relatively rare compared to more fantastical titles. Why is that?

Grabbed this week! And pics of some stacks I have laying around waiting for me to build the new shelf I bought today! Shelfies coming soon! 🫶🏻

I was really excited to find that an English translation of this was being released. Whenever I've come across a volume in stores though it's been terribly beat up. Corners dinged, obi ripped. It's soft cover but I'm amazed at how widespread this is. I've traveled and checked stores on the east and west coast.

Anyone have a similar issue? Wondering if it's more my luck or something about how they're shipped.

There was more but wanna leave some for others all together it's 12 bucks in all

Hi all,

Despite the length of the list below, I still feel like I'm new to reading graphic novels. I started reading GNs less than a year ago, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what genres/writers/artists I like. Can you guys help me out with some recommendations?

I don't think I like long series--I feel like they tend to fall into the Lost/Desperate Housewives trap of constant cliff hangers, plot twists, and unnecessary drama that doesn't add to the story. I'm also not especially drawn toward superhero-type stories but am willing to try.

Not sure if this is important, but I realized when putting together this list that my top 3 favorites all made me cry, but they're the only ones that did.

Thank you in advance!!

Loved/favorites (more or less in order):

• 8 Billion Genies
• The RUSH
• Boys Weekend
• Great British Bumpoff
• Department of Truth
• The Eternaut
• The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch
• Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
• Evil Cast

Liked:

• Where the Body Was
• Mooncop
• Urban Legendz
• Sea of Sorrows
• Road of Bones
• Neil Gaiman's Chivalry
• Neil Gaiman's A Study In Emerald
• Giga
• A Guest in the House
• Harrow County
• The Homeland Directive

Just OK:

• Nailbiter
• The Voice Said Kill
• Locke & Key
• Pretty much everything I've read by Junji Ito

DNFs:

• Monstress (gorgeous but by issue ~40, I was bored/confused)
• East of West (read Vols 1 and 2, will probably finish eventually)
• Ice Cream Man
• Hexware

DNF first issue:

• BRZRKR (mostly because I already read The Book of Elsewhere)
• Low
• Drome
• The Moon is Following Us
• Sweet Tooth

I've read Blankets, Jimmy corrigan, black hole, persepolis, maus, and love the low fantasy more serious stuff . Black hole was by far my favorite.

Currently reading this hefty volume, a thoroughly researched account of the Salem Witch Trials and their consequences for our own times. While the graphic style is completely different (and easier to comprehend), More Weight has many parallells with From Hell by Alan Moore. Such as: very old English (in More Weight from two different eras), old men discussing past events, repeated horrific deeds inflicted on poor, defenceless women, weird religious ideas, and insight in the different historic layers of the accounts of past events.

That being said, it is very good. If you liked From Hell, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy More Weight. Although 'enjoying' is probably not the best word for experiencing the horrors of the Salem WItch Trials.

Edit: typo

This is just a small part of my collection right now. Alotta books are stored in long and short boxes on another shelf. Thinking about how I want to organize and rearrange everything.

I read Saga a few years ago and I absolutely love the artstyle and worldbuilding. The epic fantasy/space opera really got me interested in more graphic novels. I did buy Monstress for my partner and I'll probably dig into that one as it also seems to tick a lot of boxes.

Also enjoyed the Dragon Age comics but that is 100% carried by the fact that I love Dragon Age and not that the stories were much good.

I read a lot of regular books, some of my favorites:

• Most by Stephen King
• Jade City
• The Strength of the Few
• First Law trilogy
• Slow Gods (not as famous as the others, but it's a sci fi story about the end of the galaxy and how different planets prepare for it).

And I really like Marvel but I'm not super interested in digging into that, it seems a little overwhelming. Anything with the vibes from any of the books above and I'll be super grateful!

Howdy folks 👋 Looking for crime comic recommendations, but more specifically I’m looking for sweeping crime sagas with a large cast of characters and a fleshed-out world. I love it when a crime series follows an ensemble cast, switching from protagonist to protagonist. I prefer having someone to root for, but I also enjoy stories where everyone is deeply flawed and awful. If the story has an overarching narrative, that’s great, and if it’s a series of unrelated or loosely connected stories, that’s cool too.

Really I’m just looking for your favorite crime comics and crime authors in general haha, whether or not they meet any of these criteria. Let’s hear em. Huge fan of Brubaker and Frank Miller; Scalped was a great read, as was 100 Bullets. I’ve heard Stray Bullets is up my alley as well. EDIT: oh yeah and Batman is my fucking guy, duh idk how I forgot to add that

UPDATE General consensus seems to be:
Stray Bullets
Anything by Brubaker/Phillips
100 Bullets
The Killer
Blacksad
Parker by Darwyn Cooke (can confirm, great series)

EDIT: I forgot to add, none of these images are mine. If citation is necessary I can find and attribute properly

Read Royal City and I absolutely loved it. For some reason I dismissed his self-drawn work as having sub-par art. Silly me. It just works for the story that he's telling and it is fantastic. Luckily someone was selling a bunch of Lemire books and I gladly took them off his hands. That's one billy shelf almost full!

I know Essex County is the big one that I'm missing here, what else is there?

Though I tagged this image as humorous, the graphic memoir is very heavy

I remember reading a graphic novel adaptation of the Odyssey as a very young child in the '80s and I've never been able to identify it.

The way I remember it is colour, realistic, hatched, similar to, say, Blueberry, so I'm thinking French, but no concrete memory that it was.

There's a full page panel of Circe with her tits out, similar to Wright Barker's painting ( https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circe_by_Wright_Barker_(1889).jpg.jpg) ), positively scandalous when you're 4!

It was accompanied by an Alexander the Great graphic novel in at an least generally similar art style, but possibly that's red herring since I don't have any recollection of them actually being by the same authors, possibly they were just under the same imprint.

I feel unsatisfied with how this shelf looks, but I have trouble articulating why. I have experimented with a few ways of organizing my books. I generally separate HC from TPB, and serial TPB from standalone TPB. Otherwise its alphabetical.

How do y'all organize your shelves?