[ToastyKen]

I've recently become interested in the comic form. I never really read comic books much as a kid, so I'm getting my first real exposure via the most critically acclaimed stuff, like, Watchmen, Dark Knight, Will Eisner stuff, Sandman, etc.

One thing I've noticed is that nearly all of this stuff is pretty, well, dark and depressing. Now, I'm not looking for fluffy happy good-guys-win type stuff, but as a long time written science fiction fan, I've read many novels that are complex yet not necessarily so dark and depressing.

So I was wondering.. Could someone recommend some top-notch serious/complex, but non-fatalistic graphic novels to me? I'm especially thinking about science fiction..

Thanks!

[A.Buttle]

Akira.

[ToastyKen]

Okay.. so I admit to only having watched the movie and not read the comic, but that's precisely what I'm NOT talking about. I don't mind dark and what not, but, well, not to spoil it, but the ending gets to be quite nasty and quite a downer.

Are there any good comics out there that aren't so damn dark?! I mean, in book and film, complex and good isn't synonomous with dark...

(I should add, btw, that I have nothing against dark stories. I quite like them when they're good, actually. It's just that I don't want to read only dark stories, is all.)

[ May 05, 2001: Message edited by: ToastyKen ]

[Spooky]

Alan Moore has a lot of great stuff...also if you consider compilations as graphic novels then you might want to consider:

1. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - a great group of classical characters treated well by an excellent writer. Great art as well.
2. Superman: A Man for All Seasons and Batman: The Long Halloween - both great works by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale - a nice graphic style similar to Frank Miller without being too close and great storytelling keeping the characters hearts and souls intact.
3. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs or Xenozoic Tales...Mark Schultz is a good friend and I always try to recommend his work when I can, not just for that fact, but also for his incredible award-winning artwork and wonderful story-telling!
4. Any Hellboy Compilation! Mike Mignola who may be more known to some recently as concept designer for Disney's Atlantis has created some of the coolest characters around...a bunch of paranormal investigators led by a boy from hell((!) and a fish-out-of-water named Abe! The artwork is astoundingly simple yet very detailed and moody at the same time. Also, the award-winning coloring is also incredible and lends well to the art. Though the stories can sometimes appear dark, they are usually quite uplifting with the addition of Hellboy's humor.
5. Kingdom Come with art by Alex Ross...fantastic! A great tribute to the DC Super Heroes
6. Marvels - again, art by Alex Ross and a great take on the Marvel Heroes.
7. Lone Wolf and Cub - any of the recently released collections by Dark Horse Comics show the influence they had on people like Miller. The stories can be a bit graphic, but if you like Samurai stuff, this is akin to Kurosawa in comic form.
8. Tom Strong - Alan Moore stuff again. He's pretty much a golden writer. This is a good tribute to the Super Heroes of old.
9. Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein - perhaps his best work. Lots of text of course, but an incredible collection of drawings to go with the story. Not so much a graphic novel, but a good story retold with excellent art.
10. Anything by Moebius. Unparalleled art with some fine storytelling.

Those are just a few to get you started...enjoy!

[wayfinder]

yeah, start looking into european comics, belgium, france.. there's a lot of good stuff to discover, and it's usually not in the typical spawn i pray for death style. i don't know how available they are in the us though.

[Grendel Khan]

There's a lot to choose from with a little bit of research.

For instance, I'd recomend you The Incal by Jodorowsky/Moebius, Corto Maltes by Hugo Pratt, Grendel Tales: Devils and Deaths by Macan/Biukovic, Adolf by Tezuka, Preacher (it's dark but it's way too fun not to read), ... well I could go on, these are only some examples that come to mind.

[PandaX52]

Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew!

I personally like the gritty-depressing comics and whatnot, they just seem to grip me more than, let's say, a marvel comic or graphic novel.

[roundeye]

the 'story of O' by guido crepax, not depressing at all haha=) anything by milo manara, heheh like 'little ego' or 'click'. but on a non pron tip, what about 'hard boiled' by frank miller and geoff darrow. fantasy wise, 'slaine' rules. a lot of the old 'heavy metal' artists have made some really nice fantasy/sci fi graphic novels.