Comic books etc...

So growing up I was a huge comic book geek, collecting, reading etc. My first real job the first thing I bought was a Near Mint copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 at the time for 2500 dollars...now a days its worth around 40k and sitting someplace very, very safe along with quite a few other ones. Not bragging just to get the point across I was a geek, the type that went to comic conventions and stood and stood for a chance to get an autograph from anyone from Peter David to Romita Jr etc.

Eventually lost interest in buying anymore as I got older (cough 25 at the time) and other interest took over. So other day I stop into comic shop just to look around and on a whim bought some trade editions of Marvel's Ultimate universe...Spiderman and Xmen specifically along with some others that looked interesting. Big mistake I think because now all of a sudden I remember why I loved these things at age 36, I get a huge kick out of the revamp universe of Spiderman and the X-Men. I mean only so much you can do when characters have grown up, married and have kids now so the alternative universe stuff is pretty cool to reboot things and go for a more modern version of the characters.

One of the other things I picked up was TB of The Walking Dead, black and white horror/survival comic of undead taking over the world and the few survivors left. Not original in theory but way its done is fantastic as see the impact of oh no zombies have taken over the world have on people's frame of mind and their survival instinct. Anyway long winded as usual for me but my whole point was simple, anyone else a comic fan or use to be?

Was a huge comic book fan all the up to about the age of 19 when college life just didn't give me enough time or money to continue. About three years ago, when I was 32, I started getting back into it when I saw that some of my favorite titles were making a resugence, namely, Elfquest, X-Factor, and New Universe. Odd assortment but those were the most imfluential to my early creative days. Only X-Factor remains of those but I also got re-hooked on Daredevil and then drawn to Thunderbolts after the whole Civil War thing. I was also turned onto Runaways and Y:The Last Man.

I read the recent events in Spider Man and still don't know how i feel about the reset. But over all its a great time to get back into comics. They are shaking up both the Marvel Universe and the DC Universe in ways that have been really interesting. I'll probably stop reading the X-Men stuff once this Messiah thing is over but I can't wait for the next installment if the Gunslinger books.

Now my biggest problem is where to store all the mags. For the moment i have them all crammed into a large rubbermaid container taking up way too much space in my closet.

Used to be a 2000 AD fan but I only read Judge Dread and Rogue Trooper. The rest of the magazine was ok but the mentioned 2 strips had better graphics and the stories were epic .

Last comic I bought was about 12 years ago now ...

Now my biggest problem is where to store all the mags. For the moment i have them all crammed into a large rubbermaid container taking up way too much space in my closet.

Heh. Same here. Plus they become expensive to buy. I glance every now and then at the trades but I have some friends who fill me in on the Marvel universe.

i used to get all the aliens vs predator comics, well anything fighting the alien or predator. i got judge dredd vs predator, batman vs alien, tarzan vs predator. i doubt they would be worth anything.

I used to be a huge Spider-Man and Batman fan. I still have a Batman comic lying in my closet (the one where he defeats Bane) in the original plastic cover. Probably not worth much more than what I originally bought it for though.

Probably not worth much more than what I originally bought it for though.

You never know. :wink:

I mostly like stuff by Garth Ennis and Frank Miller.

Originally Posted by Racer X

I mostly like stuff by Garth Ennis and Frank Miller.

Yeah I loved all Miller's stuff, Daredevil, Batman, Sin City, 300 etc. Just finished reading Y The Last Man...man incredible series last book comes out this week (ran 60 issues from 2002). Really fun scifi where something wipes out all men on the planet but one. Definitely worth picking up for anyone interested.

I wasn't much of a fan of American comics (maybe because they're quite difficult to get your hands on here if you're younger and because they're pretty expensive as well, so I didn't really have an opportunity to get acquainted with them), but I definitely do have a great affinity for comic books..

I have all the Tintin albums, including the unfinished last one called 'Tintin and Alph-Art'. I'm a pretty big American Civil War buff (at least for a Dutchman), so I can't help but keep up with 'Les Tuniques Bleues', which is French for 'the Blueshirts', referring to the main characters: two Union soldiers. It's not exactly historically accurate nor incredibly funny, but it's usually a good read. (And it's been going on for quite a while now).

Other than that, I also can't help but laugh at Calvin and Hobbes.. I've had friends come over, see the comics and go: "you still have kid's comics?". So I lent them my books and they were sold. It's absolutely amazing! (it's too bad Bill Watterson stopped making them).

There's one comic book that impressed my friends in high school when I was making a presentation on comic books and how they are made. I still have it today and, while I'm not a big fan of the superhero in question, it's an amazing comic book: Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (it's towards the bottom of the page). It's wonderfully illustrated, there's an amazing storyline and it just feels like a rollercoaster ride. Not many comics in my collection have that..

Lastly, I have quite a few Dutch comics that are most likely unknown to most people here, but since I enjoyed them so much, I might as well list them in case anyone is curious: the comic books made by Jack Staller are pure works of art: every single picture looks like a painting in the style of Rembrandt! Gerrit de Jager's cartoons are hilarious, Peter de Wit and Hanco Kolk make some excellent comics, including the very funny take on the Dutch revolt through the eyes of a petty thief (the hero of the story), called Gilles de Geus. (The website is in Dutch, but that shouldn't keep you from looking at the pictures, right?). Lastly, but certainly not least is Franka, by Henk Kuijpers, a comic book about a female detective who gets into all sorts of trouble and solves all sorts of mysteries..

Well, those are my favorite comics. Sorry if I rambled on a bit there; I just get excited talking about them sometimes..

Originally Posted by jarnomiedema

I wasn't much of a fan of American comics (maybe because they're quite difficult to get your hands on here if you're younger and because they're pretty expensive as well, so I didn't really have an opportunity to get acquainted with them), but I definitely do have a great affinity for comic books..

You should try tracking down some of the trades for American comics cause missing out on some really good stuff. Not really the superhero stuff but the "other" stuff really fun to read.

Any particular favorites, Danzig? I don't have anything against American comics (and perhaps it's just my own lack of knowledge on the subject), but when I think about American comics, I tend to think of superhero stories..

A friend of mine was a huge fan of Spawn and lent me a few of his books. I liked the idea behind it (because it came across as very original) and I thought the graphics were great, but in general it didn't really sit as well with me as the comics that I'm used to.. Also, I remember reading the Spiderman comic that was made as a response to 9/11 and I have to say that did touch a nerve, although I sometimes got the feeling that it played on the emotions a little too much (which isn't entirely unsurprising ofcourse, considering what happened..)

The American comics that I know and would still like to read are 'V for Vendetta' and 'Sin City', but that's mainly because I liked the movies and would like to see what the original stories were..

Oh, there's one American comic that I forgot to mention earlier but that definitely made an impact on me: Maus by Art Spiegelman. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the best World War Two stories in existance. My history teacher knew of my fondness of comics and told me to read that.. (For some reason I think it helped inspire me to study history)..

Anyway, if you have any suggestions Danzig, I'd love to hear them!

Went to the US on holidays once and got these comic volumes called Elfquest.

Loved it

I have all the Tintin albums, including the unfinished last one called 'Tintin and Alph-Art'.

Something I had forgotten about - I think I read nearly every one of them!

BLISTERING BARNACLES!

I've been growing up on a solid dose of the classical European comics.
Which are a mixture of Lucky Luke, Asterix and Tintin. I also remember the Les Tuniques Bleues!
Later on I've discovered other European masterpieces such as Corto Maltese (love it through and through) and the works of Tardi.

Other works I like are Calvin and Hobbes (mandatory, this is so great) and Footrot Flats!!

I love Asterix and Footrot Flats too. Good times, a lot of nostalgia value too.

huge comic fan as you can see by my avatar

favourties: Italain ones , but my favourtie is Alan Ford

Classics mostly but there r loads of good new ones

There are Italian comics!?

I have a little tradition when I go on vacation.. I go out and buy a few comic books in the country I'm in, just so I have a few albums of the same comic in several different languages. (For instance: I have 'The Black Island' from TinTin in five languages: Dutch, English, French, German and Italian)..

Anyway, when I was in Rome a couple of years back, I had a lot of trouble trying to find any comics at all.. When I asked a few store clerks and some people on the streets they all said that comics aren't that popular in Italy, especially Asterix, which seems to be quite hated because of its depiction of Romans.. Anyway, I had to go through a lot of trouble to get a Calvin and Hobbes album and 'The Black Island'..

@Danzig: thanks for the recommendations! I'll definitely go and see if I can find some of those!

There are Italian comics!?