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[Anjin M]

If you might be interested in crime fiction, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip's Criminal is a great series.

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Giant Bomb #26 | Ryckert's Island, NY

A Look Back at 2016 in the Giant Bomb GAF Community Threads

January

man, where is the new content. someone tell Dan to Periscope some random shit.

February

So they're so badly lacking in content that now we're getting clip shows?

March

Is it weird that I think Game Tapes is a strange thing to have as premium content? It's a strange thing to argue but I feel that the crew watching and commentating over something is more suited as "free" content while anything that's (effectively) LPs is more suited as premium content. Which is why I am continually surprised at Project Beast for being 'free' content. It's great that they have some super strong free content to show to people to encourage more premium subscriptions but it's just how I've categorized their premium/free stuff to myself.

April

Beastcast, Hitman QL, Film & 40s, Playdate, UPF. That's a whole lot of content.

May

The lack of content lately has been really lame.

June

Going to be 100% honest with you guys here

I've never liked any of the convention stuff. PAX, E3, whatever else where they put out a bunch of content with a ton of people on it? Just too chaotic for me. It's pretty the one time where I barely watch any of their content.

July

yay content!

August

PAX used to be great content but gets worse every year and there are too many of them.

Plus it kills content which is already slow to roll out.

September

Vinny lost his mind!

This is the best kind of quality content.

October

How much more content was there when Austin was there? 1-2 QLs a week in the middle of the fall release schedule is really light to me.

November

The content gods smile on us today.

December

For once there is actually a lot of GB content so we need something else to be snarky about. Don't blame us, blame GB

Welcome to the twenty-sixth NeoGAF thread for GIANT BOMB.

WHAT YOU NEED TO GET THE BEST OF GIANT BOMB:

• Giant Bomb Homepage - If somehow you found this thread before you found Giant Bomb, you really should go here instead. Otherwise none of this will make a lick of sense.
• Premium Membership - Become a Premium member today!
• QLCrew: Giant Bomb Video Playlist - The best way to search for GB videos, with lots of options
• Myggen's Premium Content List - Myggen's frequently updated list of (some of) the best premium content to watch or listen to
• The Giant Bomb Unarchived Youtube channel - If any content involving Giant Bomb members or "friends of the site" isn't archived on the site, you'll find it here - big thanks to fellow GAF members alr1ght and Zaph for keeping this channel updated!

Giant Bomb Prime's Mailing Address:

• Giant Bomb
  CBS Interactive
  235 2nd Street, 1st Floor
  San Francisco, CA 94105
  United States

Giant Bomb East's Mailing Address:

• Giant Bomb
  CBS Interactive
  28 East 28th St, 10th Floor
  New York, NY 10016
  United States

Thread Title History:

• 12/30/2016 - current - Giant Bomb #26 | Ryckert's Island, NY

Most Likely Titles for Thread 26:

• Nothing yet.....

SPECIAL THANKS

To everyone who posted an official thread from which this one is blatantly stolen:

• Zaph
• BUNTING1243
• Myggen
• Jimmyfenix
• SteveWinwood
• Patryn
• Hot Coldman
• randomlyrossy

Gone, but never forgotten.

 

[B33]

We3

 

[wihio]

Lots of great stuff mentioned above! I will add a couple that I have thoroughly enjoyed that aren't mentioned yet:

Peter Pan -- a very different perspective!

Ignition City

The Underwater Welder

 

[Zackat]

Not only is it a beautifully written and engaging work, the level of care Don Rosa put into building Scrooge's history from assorted lines written across decades of comics is amazingly impressive for what could have easily have been a slapdash project.

Is there anywhere you can get this that isn't super expensive? Or a newer edition or something?

 

[Dalek]

Read this and have your soul ripped from you.

 

[Bane]

Most of mine have been mentioned but:

Y the Last Man
Sandman
Irredeemable
JMS' Thor run (he left eh book suddenly so it flows into the next run)
The Killing Joke
Kingdom Come
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Man Without Fear (though if you watched the Netflix series, this covers very similar ground)
Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run (super long. has been collected in three omnibuses and you're looking at around $180 to get all three from Amazon)
Superman: For all Seasons
All Star Superman
Sandman
Promethea (possibly my favorite Alan Moore work)

EDIT: Oh, I also recently finished Hickman's Fantastic Four and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately the first Omnibus is now out of print and pricey but you could get the various trades for it, or just use Marvel Unlimited if possible. It and Mark Waid's FF are the only versions I've ever cared for.

 

[B33]

Paper Girls

 

[bigboss370]

Irredeemable

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irredeemable

THIS!!! so much freaking this. One of my all time favorites

 

[mdubs]

 

[FStop7]

The one that started it all.

 

[Einchy]

These are some good ones from my shelf.

 

[BigBossVanzetti]

Boxers and Saints. American Born Chinese. Books of Magic. I Kill Giants. Ghost World. V for Vendetta. Maus. Pride of Baghdad.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

I'm just gonna go ahead and recommend all the superhero stuff I can think of right now. Everyone else usually brings the non-cape goods.

Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller
Daredevil: Yellow by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb
Spider-Man: Blue by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb
Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt
Punisher (MAX) by Ennis
Alias (MAX) by Bendis
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine
All Star Superman by Grant Morrison
Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid
Superman for All Seasons by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb
Batman: The Long Halloween by Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

I really like Paul Jenkins Inhumans. I don't consider it one of the greatest overall, but I think it is one of the best short super hero related stories.

 

[xXBetter Off DadXx]

Read this and have your soul ripped from you.

So happy to see so much love for Y in this thread!

If you're looking for a sci-fi story about what would happen (i.e. the implications of such a world) if all the men died, then dig into Y. One of my, if not my favorite.

If you're looking for a superhero book that's not so much about traditional super-heroics, then check out All Star Superman. Often I hear people say they don't care for Superman, or, "How do you make him interesting? He's OP." I tell those folks to read ASS.

If you're looking for a noir-detective type story, check out Blacksad. Great writing, pacing, and some of the best water-colored art I've ever seen.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

The Goon

Of course if you start here, you're going to infuriate a lot of existing Goon fans. Everything leads up to this volume in the series, that is otherwise not told in chronological order. Best to just get the collected hardcovers in order.

Concrete

I will always stick up for this book because it's up there with the best output by Gaiman, Morrison, Moore, etc.

 

[Messofanego]

Arkham Asylum

Preacher

Transmetropolitan

Maus

American Splendor (great movie, too)

Here Comes Kitty

Black Hole

The Compleat Moonshadow

DMZ

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Planetary.

 

[inm8num2]

Just an utterly engrossing work with an impressive amount of research weaved into the narrative.

 

[Sojgat]

 

[Ghostmaster]

Well it depends on what you want really, based on your two picks I say definitely read Kingdom Comes as it is thematically similar to those two and yet very different.

It also features arguably the best art ever put into a superhero comic

If you like cool and insane stuff with amazing art to boot, then definitely pick up Saga:

And if you like Power Rangers, read Geoff Johns's run on Green Lantern (especially blackest night)

And if you want a serious and incredibly powerful comic, then yes go with Maus

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Arkham Asylum

I read this when I was 8 years old. Certainly left an impression.

 

[Famassu]

From the same writer/artist as Vinland Saga...

Planetes

A hard(ish) near-future sci-fi story. The story revolves around a group of people who live on a space station near Earth. Their job is to try collect some space debris humankind has accumulated around Earth that are now a danger to not only satellites surrounding the Earth, but also to the ever-increasing space travel. There's some commentary & criticism about global issues we are facing today, about (eco)terrorism and also about mankind's will to explore space further & further away, as a mission to get to Jupiter is planned. I'd say it has some resemblance of a slice-of-life manga, showing these people at this particular stage in their lives, exploring what has gotten them there and what the future might hold in store for them in such a world. While the story is about these debris collectors, the story doesn't really focus on that collecting part too much past the beginning. It just focuses on the lives & ambitions & interactions & development of the characters. Sometimes that might involve them being on a job of collecting debris, sometimes it's just about the life on the space station, sometimes it drops back to Earth. A lot of it is quite laid-back, but there's some character drama & even some action/dangerous situations that these people go through that spice things up a bit.

They just released the first of two omnibuses collecting the whole manga into two volumes. The second one will be released in May, so now is a pretty good time to jump in. It's only five volumes originally (or technically four, but the fourth is divided into two parts), so it's a relatively quick read.

 

[Dalek]

So happy to see so much love for Y in this thread!

If you're looking for a sci-fi story about what would happen (i.e. the implications of such a world) if all the men died, then dig into Y. One of my, if not my favorite.

If you're looking for a superhero book that's not so much about traditional super-heroics, then check out All Star Superman. Often I hear people say they don't care for Superman, or, "How do you make him interesting? He's OP." I tell those folks to read ASS.

If you're looking for a noir-detective type story, check out Blacksad. Great writing, pacing, and some of the best water-colored art I've ever seen.

I've said before that I read the ending to Y once and only once. It destroyed me emotionally and I can't bring myself to read it again.

 

[Wensih]

 

[darkwing-buck]

.

 

[Wanderer5]

To name some.

I would throw a couple batman stuff, but meh, already dealt with heh.

 

[LosDaddie]

This is probably the best Superman story I've read (might be because i'm also a father):

Otherwise, I'd say go big. Buy omnibus. They are expensive, sure, but they cover a ton of material. The cost ratio generally can't be beat:

Uncanny X-men omnibus (3 volumes out now)
Infinity Gauntlet omnibus
Annihilation omnibus
Annihilation Conquest omnibus
War of Kings omnibus (omnibus coming later this year)
Uncanny X-force omnibus (i own it, but haven't read it. i hear its great)
Green Latern omnibus (2 volumes out now with vol #3 out next week)
Infinite Crisis omnibus

 

[Randam]

what is the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book?

 

[Haxan]

Before the Incal is also very good. Final Incal is kinda eh, but you'll want to finish the series after reading the first two.

 

[Einchy]

what is the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book?

Usually when someone says a comic they're referring to an ongoing series that releases once a month. A trade paperback is a collection of those comics together into one book.

A graphic novel isn't an ongoing series but just one single story.

They're all comic books, though, but that's what people usually mean when they say those terms.

 

[Wag]

 

[Yabberwocky]

Out of recent releases, I can't recommend Saga and James Roberts' Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye enough. The latter is genuinely hilarious, heartbreaking, and insanely disturbing with enough cosmic/body-horror to have you reaching for some brain bleach. The world building is just incredible, down to the smallest detail. I recommend MtMtE regardless of whether or not you even like the Transformers brand. It's a character driven tale with a huge ensemble cast with wonderful character development and constant pay-off. It explores some heavy subject matter with grace (PTSD and mental illness, for example), and there is a constant sense of a momentum and nuance with all the characters, which is impressive considering the size of the cast. There's old characters and new characters, and Roberts manages to outdo himself on the horrifying villains front continually. I'm doing a disservice by summarising it this way, but it's like if Firefly, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Lost, and 2004 Battlestar Galactica had an amazing lovechild with robots in spaaaaaaace.

It also has the best written Megatron out of any Transformers continuity, he's just amazing. Favourite Optimus, too. (Well, everyone is amazing, really.) I want to link to so many panels, but I don't want to get to spoiler-y.

Little spoiler-y from early on in the comics, but worth it:

I'm so pleased to see the latest issue is sitting at #7 on the US Comixology charts this week!

Also have to rec the more standalone The Last Stand of the Wreckers, which is the Transformers equivalent of The Killing Joke. Absolutely amazing.

 

[IndoAssassin]

What is the point of watching any show. Character has personal problem, character comes into contact with villain that is a metaphor for that episode's personal problem he facing. Character gets beat by villain. Character figures out way to defeat villain then beats villain. Through experience character overcomes personal problem.

Rinse repeat for next episode.

 

[Cipher Peon]

Maus.

Easily one of the most earth shattering pieces of art I've ever consumed. Your life changes after Maus, for better and worse. As much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE Watchmen... it's no Maus.

Also The Dark Knight Returns is eh.

 

[Jedi2016]

Other than that, I don't really have much. Watchmen, etc, pretty much anything Alan Moore is worth it. I'm also partial to Frank Miller.

 

[Kurdel]

Before the Incal is also very good. Final Incal is kinda eh, but you'll want to finish the series after reading the first two.

Just read this on my iPad Pro, it was a wonderful mindfuck.

 

[Lazy vs Crazy]

I assume, since you included TDKR, that you're also including series/miniseries that are collected within one book.

DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke

Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

These are both really great. In fact I'm going to go read New Frontier tonight.

 

[Wag]

Underrated but quite excellent.

 

[Currygan]

what is the difference between a graphic novel and a comic book?

none, according to this topic

 

[Junior Asparagus]

Lots of good options in here. Just want to throw a little more love to Strangers in Paradise. One of my favorites.

 

[LosDaddie]

.

The compendiums are real page-turners, and thick

 

[H.Cornerstone]

I'm also a fan of Inhumans and JMS Thor.

I'm also going to recommend Batman: The Long Halloween.

 

[VanWinkle]

These are both really great. In fact I'm going to go read New Frontier tonight.

New Frontier is my favorite comic book ever. Superman For All Seasons I finally read last month and it is now in my top 5.

none, according to this topic

lol. Granted, the things I posted were not technically "graphic novels," but they were at least self-contained stories within one book. There are all kind of multi-book series' being suggested in this thread.

 

[demosthenes]

SP (vol 4 specifically)

I need to reread this.

 

[JaseMath]

Great story complimented by the phenomenal art of Alex Ross.

 

[decaf]

 

[ThusZarathustra]

Lotsa good stuff already mentioned. From Hell and the Moebius work is probably "the best" stuff in here, but Top Ten, Black Hole, WE3, Planetary and tons more are all great, great stuff. I was gonna say From Hell, but that got mentioned, so I'll recommend another Eddie Campbell thing first here:

Alec: The Years Have Pants

It's a bible-thick collection of more-or-less autobiographical accounts of Campbell's life as an artist, a father, a drinker, an idiot, and details his accounts of meeting and working with Alan Moore, and meeting Neil Gaiman and million other things besides. It also functions as a secret history of anglo 80's comics and a guide to the universe and life in general.

If you like wry self-aware accounts of the everyday lives and mindsets, pick this up, it'll last awhile.

If you're more a manga person, Ghost in the Shell and Akira have both been mentioned and those are masterpieces, but I've not seen Naoki Urasawa mentioned yet. He's mostly known in english for his Horror series Monster and his mystery/adventure series 20th Century Boys, both of which are great, but pretty long running (18 and 22 volumes) and so probably not the best place to start with him.

I'd recommend his Pluto series, which is more or a less a reboot of the Astro Boy concept with more pathos and grounding and is a pretty well done examination of mechanized warfare and the ramification of AI. It's eight volumes and has a pretty definitive arc to it.

I'll add some more later too if I can remember to.

 

[TheFlow]

Everyone is going to name drop the usual suspects. So I will give you some of the best non DC/Marvel picks.

 

[Risible]

Here is my comic book start up guide from a year ago. I will be updating it this month:

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1034116



Not even...it's pretty trash TBH. Good Batman books are shit like Morrison's run. Batman & Robin, Batman Inc. etc.

Oh come on. The Killing Joke is trash? Listen, if you said you didn't like it, OK, we all have opinions. Saying it's categorically trash is stupid at best.