Recommendations for non-superhero comic books [split topic]

[imitationleather]

From Hell was the book that got me back into comics in adulthood. It gave me my first inkling as to what possibilities there were in the medium beyond simply trying to ape a certain type of cinematic experience in still images, and began to show me that there were writers and artists who were actively exploring and experimenting with the possibilities.
I'm very fond of it and think it's still my favourite bit of Moore's work.

Probably could do with a separate thread, but what other good comics are there? Bear in mind I'm really not into superhero stuff.

[Artie Fufkin]

Garth Ennis' Preacher was the comic that got me back into comics in my late-20's
I also love Warren Ellis' Fell.
Also The Killer by Matz.

There's three suggestions for ya.

[AliasTheCat]

Probably could do with a separate thread, but what other good comics are there? Bear in mind I'm really not into superhero stuff.

There was this thread from a couple of years ago:
https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,60126.msg3132069.html#msg3132069
There are a few comics and cartoonists outside of the mainstream that are deservedly well-known:
Maus by Art Spiegelman is about the author's strained relationship with his father and his attempts to build understanding between them by interviewing him about his life in pre-war Poland and his experiences during the holocaust. It really is amazing. Spiegelman had been a slightly peripheral figure in the underground comics scene of the late 60s and 70s, and his stuff pre-Maus was all very short and aggressively experimental. He set up a magazine of experimental art comics called Raw (much of which is excellent if you can find any of it) in the 80s where he serialised Maus over a 10 year period.
The other big hitters would be artists like Daniel Clowes (absurdist and ironic stories rooted in American pop culture, but with acutely observed characters and geniune emotional depth, most famous for Ghost World though my favourite of his is probably Icehaven), Chris Ware (incredibly meticulous and the most formally experimental - one chapter of his latest ongoing work was a man's life from birth to death - my favourite of which is Building Stories which tells the stories of the occupants of an old Chicago apartment building, including those of the building itself as well as a bee that lives in the garden. It was published as a box filled with comics in many different formats which can be read in any order.) and Charles Burns (Horror-tinged tales of teenage ennui rendered in a beautiful, formalised classic American style. Most famous for Black Holeand Last Look)
I've only mentioned a few (and they're all American and all men), but there really is something for every taste and some truly wonderful stuff being made.

[Artie Fufkin]

^Thanks for these^

[chveik]

Probably could do with a separate thread, but what other good comics are there? Bear in mind I'm really not into superhero stuff.

Chester Brown - Ed the Happy Clown
Manu Larcenet - Blast
Simon Hanselmann - Megg, Mogg & Owl
David B - Epileptic

[imitationleather]

Thanks for the suggestions. It turns out my girlfriend actually has quite a few of these. I'm going to give Black Hole a go.

[Mister Six]

Black Hole is fucking GREAT. Your girlfriend is cool.

Just reading Grant Morrison's The Invisibles at the minute, which is glorious (if you can get over the hump of the Arcadia arc early on). It's been collected in four volumes titled "Book One", "Book Two" etc (having previously been spread over a bunch of smaller books with individual titles) so is fairly easy to track down. Do force yourself through Arcadia though. And be reassured that the series makes more sense on a re-read or twelve. What's it about? Oh, everything. Plus psychic terrorist heroes fighting the systems of control and oppression.

Morrison's my favourite comic book writer, I think - I'd also recommend his one-volume collections The Filth (a miserable balding bachelor discovers he's actually a secret agent fighting reality infections... or he's just going mad), Annihilator (a Hollywood screenwriter realises the film he's writing is actually the real-life story of the interdimensional thief who just appeared in his mansion) and Nameless (gruesome horror comic about a comet containing an eldritch god and a man with a haunted head who has to fight it).

In a black and white indie stylee, I also love Gary Spencer Millidge's Strangehaven, which is sort of Twin Peaks meets the Prisoner in Devon - a British soap opera with strange things afoot. There are three volumes (Arcadia, Brotherhood, Conspiracy, in that order) although sadly I don't know if it will ever actually be completed as he's struggled to turn a profit on it.

[madhair60]

basic bitch choices, probably, but I love Evan Dorkin's stuff.

Milk & Cheese, Dork and The Eltingville Club are all available in lovely hardcovers

[Mister Six]

The two Buddy Bradley collections - Buddy Does Seattle and Buddy Does Jersey - are fantastic, funny stuff. Peter Bagge did a bunch of Buddy Bradley one-shots after that... I should look into whether they've ever been collected...

EDIT: They have! In Buddy Buys a Dump. I'll pick that up at some point.

[Deyv]

Seth's Wimbledon Green and It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken are good.

EDIT: They have! In Buddy Buys a Dump. I'll pick that up at some point.

I need to get this! It seems a bit short for the same price as the first two, though.

Did anyone read Moore's underground comic Dodgem Logic? I've got about five, maybe six, issues around here somewhere. I like how different every cover is from any other. Stewart Lee has an article in one of them. Shame it's no longer running, but I guess it's not a surprise that an underground comic had to fold.

[Swoz_MK]

Did anyone read Moore's underground comic Dodgem Logic? I've got about five, maybe six, issues around here somewhere. I like how different every cover is from any other. Stewart Lee has an article in one of them. Shame it's no longer running, but I guess it's not a surprise that an underground comic had to fold.

All 8 are now available in a lovely bundle - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202801168379?fbclid=IwAR3nrzG2P2tTrVL6qNKkN2r2HwYe5QC5ebRiiMpoBUy01cIsbEsPCQ_ySh8

Probably could do with a separate thread, but what other good comics are there? Bear in mind I'm really not into superhero stuff.

Habibi by Chris Thompson is astounding - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habibi_(graphic_novel)

[madhair60]

Dodgem Logic warning: Contains Graham Linehan.

[Famous Mortimer]

Probably could do with a separate thread, but what other good comics are there? Bear in mind I'm really not into superhero stuff.

There are some old classics, like "Love and Rockets" and "Hate" / "Neat Stuff". It's been a while since I read either, so you might want to see if they're available in a library first. "Strangers in Paradise" was great, early on, but it ran out of steam in a big way.

Have a scout round the Image Comics / Fantagraphics listings and see if there's anything that tickles your fancy (Image does do some superhero titles, though). "The Massive", which ran a couple of years ago, was really interesting I thought.

[jenna appleseed]

Did anyone read Moore's underground comic Dodgem Logic? I've got about five, maybe six, issues around here somewhere. I like how different every cover is from any other. Stewart Lee has an article in one of them. Shame it's no longer running, but I guess it's not a surprise that an underground comic had to fold.

fuck me that was 8-10 years ago.

More a zine really, mostly article based with some comics iirc. (unless it got more comics focused later). Had 2 or 3 issues, definitely the first two - he was trying to get people from different areas to publishing their own supplement based on local news/issues but couldn't seem to get anyone interested.

still remember & disturbed by the short story based on the shit treatment / conditions for local troubled youth, the kid (in a home?) being more cared for when he'd nearly died in a fire
than when he was 'alive'.
going down the destructer.

Mentioned it to somebody recently (Alan Moore came up in conversation because of the tiny comic shop in Exeter, that used to be bus station news agents, having confusing, not quite right notWatchmen Doomsday Clock action figures). re how it was weirdly difficult to get parts of the internet that should've been interested in it to even notice it existed.

Even though I was interested and trying to get other people interested, I kept forgetting it existed and to actually buy copies. It's like it had a hex on it that made it invisible or something.

Josie Long turned up once or twice iirc with a diary comic page (couldn't work out then if her contributions were genuinely a bit weak or if the CAB hate thread had just put me off her).

[Famous Mortimer]

Josie Long turned up once or twice iirc with a diary comic page (couldn't work out then if her contributions were genuinely a bit weak or if the CAB hate thread had just put me off her).

As did, according to that eBay listing, CaB favourite Graham Linehan (I'm pretty sure I bought a couple of them at the time, but remember nothing).

[Operty1]

In a black and white indie stylee, I also love Gary Spencer Millidge's Strangehaven, which is sort of Twin Peaks meets the Prisoner in Devon - a British soap opera with strange things afoot. There are three volumes (Arcadia, Brotherhood, Conspiracy, in that order) although sadly I don't know if it will ever actually be completed as he's struggled to turn a profit on it.

He has been slowly finishing the final arc in Soaring Penguin Press 'Meanwhile' anthology comic, which should hopefully be complete soon.

https://www.soaringpenguinpress.com/shop/

[Mister Six]

Coo, brilliant! I hope it'll be collected in the same style as his earlier trades so I can have four nice, themed volumes.

[Artie Fufkin]

I unearthed the New Scientist issue that has an interview with him in it, last night. I'd completely forgotten I'd bought this. I was possibly* drunk at the time of purchase. Never read it. Must do so.
(amazing story, huh?)
*probably

[madhair60]

As did, according to that eBay listing, CaB favourite Graham Linehan (I'm pretty sure I bought a couple of them at the time, but remember nothing).

Well, now I know I'm on FM's "ignore" list, which is fair enough as I am a dreadful poster.

[Mister Six]

Ooh, another recommendation - How Loathsome by Ted Naifeh and Tristan Crane. Really good four-issue miniseries (collected as a single book) about four misfits on the fringes of San Francisco's LGBT community. Gorgeous black and white art, and great character work. It sounds very self-serious but I found it thoroughly accessible and engaging.

[Famous Mortimer]

Well, now I know I'm on FM's "ignore" list, which is fair enough as I am a dreadful poster.

You're a great bunch of lads, I reckon. But I was clearly so excited to mention Graham Linehan's involvement that I just quoted and ignored everything below it.

[dry_run]

Loved Kingdom by Jon McNaught. Very little dialogue - just a meditation on a English caravan holiday that's somehow like every holiday from your childhood and leaves you with all the emotions.

[holyzombiejesus]

I think all my recommendations have already been mentioned. Adrian Tomine is great in an American indie kind of way. People have already mentioned Seth - Palookaville/ Clyde Fans has just been collected in a big thick volume - and the wonderful Jon McNaught. I'm really jealous of anyone who still has Charles Burns' Black Hole to read for the first time. Joff Winterhart is recommended to, one of his earlier books has been made in to a film by an Inbetweeners bloke and soundtracked by Belle and Sebastian, which I guess gives you an idea of what to expect.

If you want something a little less neurotic, take a look at Ed Brubaker's Lovecraftian noir. Then there's Thomas Ott's wordless/ etchings/ horror.

[grassbath]

Here by Richard McGuire is really beautiful. A quick read initially but you can return and pore over it. Here's Chris Ware, another favourite of this thread, on why it's great - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/17/chris-ware-here-richard-mcguire-review-graphic-novel

[MojoJojo]

Transmetropolitan - no superheroes but not grounded in the real world.

I also want to recommend TOP 10 even though absolutely everyone in it is a super hero. But that makes the super powers irrelevant (except to provide interesting visuals) and at it's heart it's a police procedural.

[Sin Agog]

A few sweet things:

Beanworld.  Don't hear this mentioned so much anymore when it comes to American indies, but it's a fairly one of a kind bit of deceptively simple world-building.  Think Bone as written by an amateur anthropologist.

Children of the Sea (Igarashi).  If you like languorous, dreamy, oneiric things, you'll like this.

Dave Mckean's Cages.  Dude who did all those Sandman covers out-paces Gaiman in every way (OK, maybe there aren't any characters as great as Death, but it's not really a hang out with interesting characters kind of comic).

Joe Sacco's journalistic graphic novels are eminently readable.  Worth picking up Palestine as a reminder of how Israel's current lovely cuddly delightfulness is nothing new.  Features authorities spiriting away Palestinians and chaining them to boiling radiators.

Jodorowsky's comics are illogical and fascinating, but they mightn't appeal to someone looking for more grounded fare.

Adele Blanc-Sac if you want to complete the Asterix, Tin Tin old-school French comix trifecta.

And yeah, just try to rinse as much Fantagraphics as possible.

[kidsick5000]

Locas by Jaime Hernandez.

Such an amazing achievement and it still continues

[Famous Mortimer]

Locas by Jaime Hernandez.

Such an amazing achievement and it still continues

I got bummed out because they finished the story, then no-one bought the stuff the Hernandez brothers did after that so they were forced to go back to the characters they'd happily retired. I haven't read more than a few of their comics since the return of L&R.

[Sin Agog]

Fried slugs, dude...