Cool comic stuff (and Max Headroom)
If you like comics, and I bet most if not all of you do, there are a lot of neat comic collections out there I've been noticing. First, there's The Addams Family: An Evil-Ution, by Charles Addams. I always kind of liked the Addams Family, and was surprised to find a few years ago that they were original a series of one-panel comics by a man named Charles Addams. Indeed, they had no last name in the comic and were named for their creator. I haven't read it, but it sounds like it was very funny and edgy.
The second collection is Pogo, which is a great classic newspaper comic strip. I have only read a bit of it, but it's often cited as one of the great classics. It seems to be well-known for its political satire. It also has great stylized speech. It's influence is far-reaching, most obviously with the excellent comic book series, Bone. Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes fame cites it as one of his influences. Heck, one of the Starjammers, Hepzibah, in X-Men is a direct homage to a character from Pogo. These have become obscure, so it's good to see them in accessible form.
The third one is a collection of Donald Duck comics by Carl Barks. If you don't know who that is, it may sound weird to get excited about Donald Duck comics. Well, his work is extremely well-regarded among classic comic book fans, and it is supposedly quite excellent. Once again, I've only read one story worth, myself. (Sorry to make so many recommandations based on hearsay, but it's very positive hearsay!) You may know his work from Duck Tales, which was essentially an adaption of his Donald Duck comics, sans Donald Duck -- the general content not the specific stories, mind you. He basically created everything in Duck Tales except Huey, Duey, and Louie, most mentionably Uncle Scrooge.
I also watched the Max Headroom series, which I received for Christmas. I was surprised at how enjoyable it was. It was legit cyberpunk/dystopian fun. It touched on serious topics with humor, and covered just all the basics of cyberpunk. I found myself translating it into various rpgs, like Rifts, Shadowrun, and of course Cyberpunk, and it could be worked into them all nicely! For someone who knew who Max Headroom was, but didn't know where he came from, it was a pleasant surprise. Highly recommended, for those with an interest in such things!
The second collection is Pogo, which is a great classic newspaper comic strip. I have only read a bit of it, but it's often cited as one of the great classics. It seems to be well-known for its political satire. It also has great stylized speech. It's influence is far-reaching, most obviously with the excellent comic book series, Bone. Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes fame cites it as one of his influences. Heck, one of the Starjammers, Hepzibah, in X-Men is a direct homage to a character from Pogo. These have become obscure, so it's good to see them in accessible form.
The third one is a collection of Donald Duck comics by Carl Barks. If you don't know who that is, it may sound weird to get excited about Donald Duck comics. Well, his work is extremely well-regarded among classic comic book fans, and it is supposedly quite excellent. Once again, I've only read one story worth, myself. (Sorry to make so many recommandations based on hearsay, but it's very positive hearsay!) You may know his work from Duck Tales, which was essentially an adaption of his Donald Duck comics, sans Donald Duck -- the general content not the specific stories, mind you. He basically created everything in Duck Tales except Huey, Duey, and Louie, most mentionably Uncle Scrooge.
I also watched the Max Headroom series, which I received for Christmas. I was surprised at how enjoyable it was. It was legit cyberpunk/dystopian fun. It touched on serious topics with humor, and covered just all the basics of cyberpunk. I found myself translating it into various rpgs, like Rifts, Shadowrun, and of course Cyberpunk, and it could be worked into them all nicely! For someone who knew who Max Headroom was, but didn't know where he came from, it was a pleasant surprise. Highly recommended, for those with an interest in such things!