Any indie recommendations?

[scottyquick]

Okay, so I'm looking for some comic books that are safe to fall in love with the characters. They don't have to be superhero comics, but anyone on my flist want to recommend some indie stuff? I've been thinking about trying out Strangers In Paradise, but I've heard two wildly different opinions on it ("No other comic made me hate the characters so

Comments

[scottyquick]

No, I've heard of both of those but haven't tried them! I'll check out Sandman, my school library has the first two volumes, and search Y: The Last Man on Scans Daily.

[schmevil]

Y: the Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Gurerra: At times contrived and soapy, this one goes for the head and the heart. Start with the first volume and keep reading to end, if you like it. And as a bonus, the fourth trade Safe Word has a little theraputic kink.

Madame Xanadu, by Matt Wagner and Amy Reed Hadley: Shoujo-inspired art with hard-edged, urban fantasy elements, and a story that takes place in and around history and myth. See MX in Camelot, Xanadu, revolutionary France!

Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel: Cartoony art, the politics of the personal and growing up queer in a family funeral home. Obviously this one will try to break you a couple of times, but this is a restrained and thoughtful memoir. Bechdel doesn't go for the cheap shots.

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi: Another memoir, this time about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Part one is very much a coming of age story, it deals directly with Satrapi's adolescence, as she tries on different hats (Marxist? Muslim?). Part two looks at her return to

[schmevil]

contd.

Mouse Guard, by David Peterson: Just check out the scans I posted here.

The Avengers Volume Three, by Kurt Busiek and George Perez: Great art and great story lines, this is one of the best intros to Earth's Mightiest Heroes. It starts with a classic action-packed, team-building issue (Avengers continuity is full of Who Will Be on the New Team issues - it's almost become a ritual now), and makes with the old school superheroics from then on.

Believe it or not, the follow up Johns and Austen runs are worth a read too.

Uncanny X-Men, by Chris Claremont: This stuff is delicious crack and a must-read for any superhero fan. Claremont's prose is out of control purple - he never uses one descriptor when he could use six; he never lets the pencils speak for themselves. He's got a William Moulton Marston kind of interest in women and bondage, but in his book, the women do the tying up.

French Milk, by Lucy Knisley: The comic travelogue and memoir of the author's trip through France with her mother. Great cartoony, expressive

[blackduke]

Try Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday, really great stuff. And you also can try New X-Men by Kyle/Yost duo, or Peter David's X-Factor.