My sacred box of Heros

Well where to begin, i guess at the begining would work. When i was knee high to a grass hopper i was a quite retisent child who often prefered my own company to that of others, more often than not i would spend my time on my own playing with toy soldiers, making up elaborate stories of major battles and heros and villans, i guess i was about twelve when i bought my first comic, and there the love affair began, an affair which was to consume my life for a long time....

But to cut a long story short, a few years ago my collection of several thousand comics had to go, the nature of constantly moving house in my twenties ment that the forty odd boxes were a huge misson to relocate, and i never had room for them . So i had to go through the whole collection and decide which comics i would keep and fit in to one sacred box, and here is my little piece on the some of the comics and artists that made that heartbreaking cut.

Frank miller and bill Sienkiewicz: elektra assassin
My guess is most of you know who Frank Miller is, genius is a word used often in the comic world and one i'll use alot here. but Frank really is a genius,
Elektra assassin was i think the comic that really made his name as a creator of really intelligent and inventive stories. In EA he mixes a mystical world of Martial arts with satanism and an incitfull view of modern politics, Backed up with some of the most ground breaking art that had ever been seen in the world of graphic novels, Bill Sienkiewicz really broke the mold with his unique style, though amazing fantasy art was common place in the underground scene, he brought a fresh style by using evey medium you could imagine to single pages, if your only exposure to EA is the recent film, do yourself a favour and take a look at this, i promise you your mind will be blown.
http://hem.passagen.se/fm4/frank1.htm
http://www.billsienkiewicz.com/menu.html


Alan Moore (God) and Dave Gibbons: Watchmen.
How do you write a short review of the Watchmen, It's almost impossible.
Never before had a comic covered the simple matter of real life though the eyes of super heroes so brilliantly before. so i've been lazy and put up a link that gives a good over view of this masterpiece. Rorschach: by far my favorite character in watchmen, an ordinary man with no super powers and an extremly black and white view of justice. Theres often rumours of a film but personaly i doubt i would watch it , you just can't make a film of perfection.
http://www.angelfire.com/comics/moor.../watchmen.html


Tanino Liberatore: Rank Xerox.
Ok have to be carefull here because Liberatore pulls no punches, but i think it's ok because it's comic art not real life, Rank xerox is a robot, but not your R2D2, or Data (star trek) style nice guy created to make life easier, He's a plesure robot created for the sexual gratification of whoever owns him. However rank has rebelled, and imursed himself in a world of drugs sex and violence, these are not for the younger reader or the easily offended, so be warned. For me it's about the art, This guy can really draw skin.
http://www.jahsonic.com/TaninoLiberatore.html


Vaughn Bode: Deadbone/Cheech Wizard
It's not all about violence or being clever, and Bode is the best example of what comics for older readers should be. The humour is base and often influenced by Marajuana and sex, i make no apologise here as if you get offended by bode then you should'nt be reading comics in the first place,(imo) i don't need to tell you much as the official site is packed with this late masters work,
But i would like to add a little on the influence of bode. You may think you have no idea who he is, but it's very likley that you've seen his influence many times.
"Like Vaughn Bode i'm a Cheech Wizard" Sureshot :the Beastie Boys.
Vaughn Bode is THE artist as far as the world of grafitti is concerned, immitations of his work have adorned walls and trains the world over since the phenomenon first imerged out of New York in the early 80's, i could write a whole seperate piece on this and maybe i will one day but i'll leave you with this for now.
http://www.pha.jhu.edu/~jdavies/bode/


Simon Bisley; aka: The Biz
Just a quick mention for this guy, Why? well because this guy has alot of black pens and really knows how to use them. Special mentions for Slaine and ABC Warriors.
http://www.simonbisleyonline.com/


Hope you like this little piece, maybe you have something to add, please do as i could'nt cover the world of comics on my own.

I like Liberatore and respect Miller (how is it possible not to...), although my personal favotite is Enki Bilal with all his post Apocalyptic central european romanticism:






Very nice post Halie, I will need to visit it more than once....
you made your patron happy

How could you forget the greatest comic book hero of them all?

CHALKY

The Crow
This is the story of a young man named Eric who along with his fiance, Shelly is murdered on an abandoned road, by a gang of junkies, led by T-Bird. Due to the pain suffered by their souls, Eric is sent back to put the wrong things right. It is very dark and violent, it is recommend for mature readers. The movie was based off this comic book. This story was born out of James O'Barr's personal tradegy.

There is only one true hero!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1jJ5nAoaU...=the%20decider
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YnsmAPXrB...=the%20decider
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pz44Q3fY_...=the%20decider

The Decider!