Lucifer, Hellboy, Hellblazer, War Stories, Fables V for Vendetta all come to mind. It basically reads like NPR's most wanted from the last year or so when it talks about comics with the addition of stuff from Gaiman et al to give it some sort of credibility.
So yeah, limed for truth.
Er....While all of those are fantastic stories, they really aren't "Life-changing".
Oh and Sandman, Transmet, Preacher, Fantastic-Fucking-Four, Alias and Planetary are all verrrrrrrry indy.
I've put maybe the Green Arrow Green Lanters in there though.
Throwing my hat in with the astounding, if dated, Green Arrow/Lantern run in the seventies. Only O'Neil and Adams could make me realize that John Stewart was once the shit.
Lucifer, Hellboy, Hellblazer, War Stories, Fables V for Vendetta all come to mind. It basically reads like NPR's most wanted from the last year or so when it talks about comics with the addition of stuff from Gaiman et al to give it some sort of credibility.
So yeah, limed for truth.
Er....While all of those are fantastic stories, they really aren't "Life-changing".
Oh and Sandman, Transmet, Preacher, Fantastic-Fucking-Four, Alias and Planetary are all verrrrrrrry indy.
I was suprosed that I knew about and am even reading a few on the list. I love Preacher and Planetary. I need to pick up Transmet and Alias.
I wouldn't really say Fantastic Four is life changing, either. I'm not saying it's good, but when I think "life-changing", I think "actually makes you think differently than before"
I'd say that Watchmen actually is quite life-changing, if not for the public in general than at the very least for comic readers. It critizes so many of the fundamental aspects of superhero comics that it colors everything the reader has read before.
And, of course, many of those same criticisms can be applied to society at large. With it's political commentary, Watchmen is probably one of the more life-changing comics out there.
Watchmen was mainly life changing for me because it totally and utterly destroyed the way I looked at comics before I read Watchmen.
Transmet is an essential name on that list, but goddamn, no From Hell? No Watchmen, no Dark Knight Returns? This is BS!
The thing is, this isn't a "The Best of Comics" list. All of those earn a spot on that list, but not so much on this one. Life-Changing=/Best Comic Evar.
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Garlic Breadi'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm aRegistered User, Disagreeableregular
edited April 2007
dark knight returns wasn't life changing
it's "how to get batman wrong and be a bad influence for the next twenty years"
i mean, it's not a bad story
but batman's like, number 1 rule is "don't use guns"
I can see where you're coming from though. Miller's blatant homophobia (towards dudes, anyways) is quite apparent when you see Joker's creepy behavior in that. But if you're going to mention being a bad influence, you can't say that and not mention Watchmen. I mean it wasn't a bad influence but it was misinterpreted quite badly.
it's "how to get batman wrong and be a bad influence for the next twenty years"
i mean, it's not a bad story
but batman's like, number 1 rule is "don't use guns"
and he shoots people in it
Well yeah, isn't the point of it that he's sort of going nuts? The guy took his fight against crime to the point where he raised an army of fanatics and pretty much defied the entire government.
I can see where you're coming from though. Miller's blatant homophobia (towards dudes, anyways) is quite apparent when you see Joker's creepy behavior in that.
Actually one of the lines that most made me think is when they're showing interviews of different reactions to Batman's return and one guy goes "I'm all for it, he's doing what needs to be done! Hope he goes after the homos next!" Kinda pulled me up short from the "yay, go Batman!" mindset.
Lucifer, Hellboy, Hellblazer, War Stories, Fables V for Vendetta all come to mind. It basically reads like NPR's most wanted from the last year or so when it talks about comics with the addition of stuff from Gaiman et al to give it some sort of credibility.
So yeah, limed for truth.
Er....While all of those are fantastic stories, they really aren't "Life-changing".
Oh and Sandman, Transmet, Preacher, Fantastic-Fucking-Four, Alias and Planetary are all verrrrrrrry indy.
I don't see how Preacher was really life changing. I thought Lucifer was much deeper, but that's all opinion.
And I'm not really sure what your second "point" is.
Yeah, he apeared atleast on the TV show I know that much. He might have shown up in some of the comics too. The guy who does Usagi Yojimbo (Stan Sakai) is a big fan of the turtles and their creators if memory serves. I mean, one stars an anthropomorphic bunny and the other stars anthropomorphic ninja.
I can see where you're coming from though. Miller's blatant homophobia (towards dudes, anyways) is quite apparent when you see Joker's creepy behavior in that.
Actually one of the lines that most made me think is when they're showing interviews of different reactions to Batman's return and one guy goes "I'm all for it, he's doing what needs to be done! Hope he goes after the homos next!" Kinda pulled me up short from the "yay, go Batman!" mindset.
To be fair to Miller, he did use a number of fairly ignorant people in those interview things throughout the book. I've always assumed that was just another one of them.
Proto on
and her knees up on the glove compartment
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
I can see where you're coming from though. Miller's blatant homophobia (towards dudes, anyways) is quite apparent when you see Joker's creepy behavior in that.
Actually one of the lines that most made me think is when they're showing interviews of different reactions to Batman's return and one guy goes "I'm all for it, he's doing what needs to be done! Hope he goes after the homos next!" Kinda pulled me up short from the "yay, go Batman!" mindset.
To be fair to Miller, he did use a number of fairly ignorant people in those interview things throughout the book. I've always assumed that was just another one of them.
the story where Robin died was the first and last time I ever saw comics make mainstream tv and i never saw it again until Cap just died. so thats kinda influencial
i had that issue when it went for over a 100 bucks. if i knew what i knew know about supply and demand sheesh n rice would i have sold it...
if its hot then sell sell sell
Aliens was the other overpriced now worthless book i own. Kind of a dumb comic too.
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Garlic Breadi'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm aRegistered User, Disagreeableregular
the story where Robin died was the first and last time I ever saw comics make mainstream tv and i never saw it again until Cap just died. so thats kinda influencial
did you miss when superman died
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
I can see where you're coming from though. Miller's blatant homophobia (towards dudes, anyways) is quite apparent when you see Joker's creepy behavior in that.
Actually one of the lines that most made me think is when they're showing interviews of different reactions to Batman's return and one guy goes "I'm all for it, he's doing what needs to be done! Hope he goes after the homos next!" Kinda pulled me up short from the "yay, go Batman!" mindset.
To be fair to Miller, he did use a number of fairly ignorant people in those interview things throughout the book. I've always assumed that was just another one of them.
No, I agree - the guy was obviously supposed to be ignorant and probably put in for the express purpose of pulling people like me up short and thinking twice about vigilantism. I meant that i'm a bit surprised to hear Miller called homophobic when he uses homophobia as a sign of ignorance.
the story where Robin died was the first and last time I ever saw comics make mainstream tv and i never saw it again until Cap just died. so thats kinda influencial
did you miss when superman died
;>.> actually i did. i've been on comic sabbatical for years and i dont recall that making a big national splash. then again, I was probably drunk and wouldnt have noticed if superman came into my bedroom under the whisper of night in real life.
Oh Supes your hair really is as beautiful as it is in the picture...
the story where Robin died was the first and last time I ever saw comics make mainstream tv and i never saw it again until Cap just died. so thats kinda influencial
did you miss when superman died
Or the whole lesbian Batwoman ordeal? That got quite a bit of mainstream press.
Alright everyone, I have a quick question. Why does everyone love Watchmen so much? I just finished reading it a few weeks back because most comic fans are so in love with it. I thought it was just ok. Maybe it's like a "it matters WHEN you read Catcher in the Rye for whether or not you thought it was a good book" type thing, but I just don't get all of the Watchmen love.
Well, it depends on how much you enjoy comic books, or personal preference. At the library at my school Watchmen was the only "comic" there, so I read that and requested we get more. Everything that came after felt really strange to read, in stark contrast to this.
the story where Robin died was the first and last time I ever saw comics make mainstream tv and i never saw it again until Cap just died. so thats kinda influencial
did you miss when superman died
Or the whole lesbian Batwoman ordeal? That got quite a bit of mainstream press.
Alright everyone, I have a quick question. Why does everyone love Watchmen so much? I just finished reading it a few weeks back because most comic fans are so in love with it. I thought it was just ok. Maybe it's like a "it matters WHEN you read Catcher in the Rye for whether or not you thought it was a good book" type thing, but I just don't get all of the Watchmen love.
I felt like that
then like four months later I was like "Fuck, I want to read it again."
Well, it depends on how much you enjoy comic books, or personal preference. At the library at my school Watchmen was the only "comic" there, so I read that and requested we get more. Everything that came after felt really strange to read, in stark contrast to this.
I think one of my problems with Watchmen, and why it may not have been life changing for me is that it was the first comic I'd ever really read. So, while it's off shattering all our notions about comic book super heroes, I didn't have any of those notions to smash. I still did enjoy it though.
On a related note, due to this thread I picked up the first two volumes of Transmetropolitan when I saw it at my local bookstore the other day. I devoured those pages. It's amazingly good. It's the first comic that I've really been able to get behind the art. I'm really loving the writing, the characters (especially that glorious gonzo jounralist bastard Jerusalem) and everything else about it. I also really badly want to make the costume that the "Non-tactile society" or whatever people wear.
Basic Summary: Buy it, love it. It will make you into a fan of comics.
Well, it depends on how much you enjoy comic books, or personal preference. At the library at my school Watchmen was the only "comic" there, so I read that and requested we get more. Everything that came after felt really strange to read, in stark contrast to this.
I think one of my problems with Watchmen, and why it may not have been life changing for me is that it was the first comic I'd ever really read. So, while it's off shattering all our notions about comic book super heroes, I didn't have any of those notions to smash. I still did enjoy it though.
On a related note, due to this thread I picked up the first two volumes of Transmetropolitan when I saw it at my local bookstore the other day. I devoured those pages. It's amazingly good. It's the first comic that I've really been able to get behind the art. I'm really loving the writing, the characters (especially that glorious gonzo jounralist bastard Jerusalem) and everything else about it. I also really badly want to make the costume that the "Non-tactile society" or whatever people wear.
Basic Summary: Buy it, love it. It will make you into a fan of comics.
I agree, I think Watchmen is only amazing to an already long time comic book lover. If you are just getting into comics its not really that amazing (especially since most stuff after it has been effected by it).
Well, it depends on how much you enjoy comic books, or personal preference. At the library at my school Watchmen was the only "comic" there, so I read that and requested we get more. Everything that came after felt really strange to read, in stark contrast to this.
I think one of my problems with Watchmen, and why it may not have been life changing for me is that it was the first comic I'd ever really read. So, while it's off shattering all our notions about comic book super heroes, I didn't have any of those notions to smash. I still did enjoy it though.
On a related note, due to this thread I picked up the first two volumes of Transmetropolitan when I saw it at my local bookstore the other day. I devoured those pages. It's amazingly good. It's the first comic that I've really been able to get behind the art. I'm really loving the writing, the characters (especially that glorious gonzo jounralist bastard Jerusalem) and everything else about it. I also really badly want to make the costume that the "Non-tactile society" or whatever people wear.
Basic Summary: Buy it, love it. It will make you into a fan of comics.
I agree, I think Watchmen is only amazing to an already long time comic book lover. If you are just getting into comics its not really that amazing (especially since most stuff after it has been effected by it).
I guess I'll just never get the Watchmen, then. I've been reading comics off and on since the late 80s, but I just didn't see any greatness in the book. Ah well.
I'm reading Maus now. Good stuff.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited May 2007
Ok, just finished reading Transmetropolitan. Shit, they were right about that one.
i just finished watchmen like 30 seconds ago.
what the hell are you guys talking about?
i got chills in that last panel
so subtle
a lot of subtle meaningful shit like that
I probably missed a lot.
and the over all message? id say it definately got me thinking and i think thats the best a book could do in terms of "chaning your life"
Though I'm not gonna pretend I've read even half of what's on that list that's not from the Big Two, "life-changing" books tend to be ones that are easier to relate to by the reader (YMMV). And, apart from Vertigo (which is almost all "Dark Fantasy", whatever that means), neither DC nor Marvel publish non-superhero comics. So, the "lol indy" comments might be a little unfair.
But, fuck, even Jimmy Corrigan isn't listed.
Sure, it's depressing. Miserable even, but it's one of the best damn comics ever published. Cerebus is something special, too. Well, half of it.
well notice each comic was chosen by a different person.
people probably just wanted to pick something unique and not waste their opinion on something everybody already likes.
i imagine the thought process was like "hmm, watchmen? nah someone else will probably pick that."
I think at least part of the reason things like Watchmen and From Hell aren't on the list is that no matter how important he is, it'd be pretty boring to have a top 20 list with half of them being Alan Moore's books. Granted, this is partly contradicted by having two Bendis books on there, but I'm sure I could squirm out of that if I had to. Besides, I long ago stopped expecting every Top __ list ever produced to be the same list I would make. Alias definitely didn't change my life, but it's certainly a good book and an interesting pick, so I'm not concerned that they didn't include something I might have liked better.
After getting the first Kabuki book I can see why it got it's place on the list. It's at the very least good, and I can see how the themes in the book would resonate with some people pretty strongly.
Posts
Oh and Sandman, Transmet, Preacher, Fantastic-Fucking-Four, Alias and Planetary are all verrrrrrrry indy.
Throwing my hat in with the astounding, if dated, Green Arrow/Lantern run in the seventies. Only O'Neil and Adams could make me realize that John Stewart was once the shit.
I was suprosed that I knew about and am even reading a few on the list. I love Preacher and Planetary. I need to pick up Transmet and Alias.
Watchmen was mainly life changing for me because it totally and utterly destroyed the way I looked at comics before I read Watchmen.
it's "how to get batman wrong and be a bad influence for the next twenty years"
i mean, it's not a bad story
but batman's like, number 1 rule is "don't use guns"
and he shoots people in it
I can see where you're coming from though. Miller's blatant homophobia (towards dudes, anyways) is quite apparent when you see Joker's creepy behavior in that. But if you're going to mention being a bad influence, you can't say that and not mention Watchmen. I mean it wasn't a bad influence but it was misinterpreted quite badly.
Well yeah, isn't the point of it that he's sort of going nuts? The guy took his fight against crime to the point where he raised an army of fanatics and pretty much defied the entire government.
I don't see how Preacher was really life changing. I thought Lucifer was much deeper, but that's all opinion.
And I'm not really sure what your second "point" is.
Yeah, he apeared atleast on the TV show I know that much. He might have shown up in some of the comics too. The guy who does Usagi Yojimbo (Stan Sakai) is a big fan of the turtles and their creators if memory serves. I mean, one stars an anthropomorphic bunny and the other stars anthropomorphic ninja.
To be fair to Miller, he did use a number of fairly ignorant people in those interview things throughout the book. I've always assumed that was just another one of them.
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
There was a lot of it in 300 too, though.
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
i had that issue when it went for over a 100 bucks. if i knew what i knew know about supply and demand sheesh n rice would i have sold it...
if its hot then sell sell sell
Aliens was the other overpriced now worthless book i own. Kind of a dumb comic too.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
did you miss when superman died
No, I agree - the guy was obviously supposed to be ignorant and probably put in for the express purpose of pulling people like me up short and thinking twice about vigilantism. I meant that i'm a bit surprised to hear Miller called homophobic when he uses homophobia as a sign of ignorance.
;>.> actually i did. i've been on comic sabbatical for years and i dont recall that making a big national splash. then again, I was probably drunk and wouldnt have noticed if superman came into my bedroom under the whisper of night in real life.
Oh Supes your hair really is as beautiful as it is in the picture...
Rapture!
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
Or the whole lesbian Batwoman ordeal? That got quite a bit of mainstream press.
Alright everyone, I have a quick question. Why does everyone love Watchmen so much? I just finished reading it a few weeks back because most comic fans are so in love with it. I thought it was just ok. Maybe it's like a "it matters WHEN you read Catcher in the Rye for whether or not you thought it was a good book" type thing, but I just don't get all of the Watchmen love.
I felt like that
then like four months later I was like "Fuck, I want to read it again."
and then you notice more stuff and it's awesome
I think one of my problems with Watchmen, and why it may not have been life changing for me is that it was the first comic I'd ever really read. So, while it's off shattering all our notions about comic book super heroes, I didn't have any of those notions to smash. I still did enjoy it though.
On a related note, due to this thread I picked up the first two volumes of Transmetropolitan when I saw it at my local bookstore the other day. I devoured those pages. It's amazingly good. It's the first comic that I've really been able to get behind the art. I'm really loving the writing, the characters (especially that glorious gonzo jounralist bastard Jerusalem) and everything else about it. I also really badly want to make the costume that the "Non-tactile society" or whatever people wear.
Basic Summary: Buy it, love it. It will make you into a fan of comics.
I agree, I think Watchmen is only amazing to an already long time comic book lover. If you are just getting into comics its not really that amazing (especially since most stuff after it has been effected by it).
Lies.
Hell, knowledge of American history might be more important than comic knowledge when it comes to understanding Watchmen.
Read my mind.
I'd rather reread Superman: Secret Identity than 80% of the books on that list.
I'm reading Maus now. Good stuff.
what the hell are you guys talking about?
i got chills in that last panel
so subtle
a lot of subtle meaningful shit like that
I probably missed a lot.
and the over all message? id say it definately got me thinking and i think thats the best a book could do in terms of "chaning your life"
"OH SHIT"
I'd rather Morrison JLA than most of the junk on that list
But, fuck, even Jimmy Corrigan isn't listed.
Sure, it's depressing. Miserable even, but it's one of the best damn comics ever published. Cerebus is something special, too. Well, half of it.
people probably just wanted to pick something unique and not waste their opinion on something everybody already likes.
i imagine the thought process was like "hmm, watchmen? nah someone else will probably pick that."