Breakaway Suggestions?

[Seldes Katne]

We just got the second volume of this in, and will be ordering the third (and a replacement volume for the first ), so I'll add this to the list.

R.A. Salvatore's Legends of Drizzt series, based on his books in the Forgotten Realms universe. The above link will take you to the omnibus, which collects all three published volumes. There are also individual volumes for Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn.

This fantasy series deals with the early years of Dizzt Do'Urden, a dark elf living among his people in a subterranean city. Drizzt, for whatever reason, grows up to be a decent person surrounded by a bunch of back-stabbing, fairly evil relatives who worship the Spider Queen and hate pretty much everyone. Drizzt gets a well-developed conscience and nobility from his father, but that puts him at odds with everyone else in the city, and he ends up fleeing to the surface world, where people distrust him because he's a dark elf.

The art is pretty good, and Drizzt does have some samurai-like characteristics, so you might want to see if your LCS or other book store carries any of the series. There is also a (much larger) line of paperback books, on which the graphic novels where based.

[Victor Von Doom]

Sounds interesting. Is this in novel or comic format?

[Ultimate Houde]

Both

While the first three volumes of Drizzt are interesting, the story then proceeds to peter off into nothingness. It seems like Drizzt and his companions are unstoppable, and cannot, no matter what the circumstances are, be beaten. They always run with the strongest of allies.

While, this is entertaining for most of the series, after a while, you realize they can never be in any real danger from anyone.

This seems to be a recurring theme in Forgotten Realm books. This is prevalent in Ed Greenwood books as well, where his own D&D character is a plot device arriving in the nick of time to save everyone in everybook.

[Seldes Katne]

While the first three volumes of Drizzt are interesting, the story then proceeds to peter off into nothingness. It seems like Drizzt and his companions are unstoppable, and cannot, no matter what the circumstances are, be beaten.

[snip] This seems to be a recurring theme in Forgotten Realm books. This is prevalent in Ed Greenwood books as well, where his own D&D character is a plot device arriving in the nick of time to save everyone in everybook.

The books, of course, grew out of the Forgotten Realm role-playing games, and I think the early plots were taken from games the author and his friends actually played. (Or so I've heard.) I used to joke that I could always tell when the author had rolled a 1, because something nearly impossible would happen....

The links I provided take you to the graphic novels (courtesy of the UC Store at Amazon.com -- ta-da! ), but there are at least fifteen print novels in the series. If you're interested in those, I would recommend the three that inspired the GNs: Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn, as well as the next three, which make up the Icewind Dale trilogy: The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling's Gem.

After that, the series started bringing characters back from the dead and making them angsty just for the sake of angst, and I moved on to other novels.

[Victor Von Doom]

It's been mentioned by several others here---but everyone should read "Mouse Guard"! It was absolutely fun to read. I couldn't stop reading the issues once I started.


I am also a fan of Vertigo's "Scalped". They weren't joking when they said this could be the next Sopranos.

[Seldes Katne]

Okay, new find.

Creature Tech, by Doug TenNapel. Dr. Michael Ong became a scientist and moved as far away from his small home town of Turock as he possibly could -- until he received a job offer at Research Tech Institute, located in (you guessed it) Turock. RTI is a storehouse for unexplained phenomenon, which are all crated up awaiting investigation. The items include a non-fuctioning Russian teleporter, a live slugbeast, and what might just be the actual Shroud of Turin (supposedly the burial cloth of Jesus Christ).

However, in the past century, the area was inhabited by an evil scientist who sold his soul to a demon and tried to call down a space eel with disasterous results. The scientist's ghost still haunts the halls of RTI (called "Creature Tech" by the locals), and still has plans that involve the eel, demon cats, and the shroud.

The plot rockets along in most places, the characters are very funny, there's a bit of spirituality (but not chokingly so) that makes this a bizzare but entertaining read. I haven't even mentioned Ong's bonding with an alien symbiote and the giant mantis that's supposed to be Creature Tech's security guard but who ends up being adopted by a pair of "redneck" brothers.....

This is a bit too violent for kids, but suitable for teens and adults who want a fairly light read.

[compound]

I am also a fan of Vertigo's "Scalped". They weren't joking when they said this could be the next Sopranos.

Endorsement duly seconded!

I was so impressed with it, I felt compelled to share the love in creator Jason Aaron's ComicSpace profile:

Forgive me if this comes across as brown-nosing, but I must say that your comics make visible the stories of the marginalized underclasses of the globalized world. The Other Side and Scalped, in particular, offer a genuine diversity of represenatation, amidst the four-color spandex. By "genuine diversity", I mean a warts-and-all presentation of the over-looked stories that get drowned out by the watered-down multiculturalism of contemporary myth-making. And better yet, you do so without recourse to cheesy, feel-good "We Are The World"-ism, or romanticized images of "noble savages".

But that's *not* the reason why you're quickly becoming one of my favorite writers -- I like your stuff because it's exciting, white-knuckled storytelling, with real human characters at its core. And ultimately, that's what I hope for, every time I pick up a new issue.

There's a downloadable preview of the first issue (in PDF format) here.

[Victor Von Doom]

Endorsement duly seconded!

I was so impressed with it, I felt compelled to share the love in creator Jason Aaron's ComicSpace profile:

There's a downloadable preview of the first issue (in PDF format) here.

Seriously people....when was the last time Vertigo steered you wrong?


And you can see the first issue for free? READ IT ****ERS!!!

[compound]

It's not even out yet, but CONTRABAND by TJ Behe and Phil Elliott (original working title: Mobile Pornography) has already been impressing a lot of folks over at ComicSpace, based on the preview pages and concept alone. It already seems to have built up quite a following!

Behe describes it accordingly:

Arriving in early 2008 from Slave Labor Graphics!

Where the fun adventures of Tintin meet the anarchic subculture of Fight Club, this quirky under-18 thriller/noir is the one of the first illustrated books to reveal how privacy-invading camera phone use is fuelling a new multi-billion dollar spy-cam industry.

My own thoughts:

I ordinarily consider myself fairly desensitized to the horrors of contemporary life, for better or worse. I take pride in being somebody who is not easily shocked. But Contraband is just so raw, I couldn't help but take notice.

The premise of Contraband is mind-blowingly amazing. It's easily the most interesting work i've 'discovered' since I joined ComicSpace. Both thematically and stylistically, it brings to mind a lot of my all-time favorite titles (the rabid techno-fetishism of Transmetropolitan and Mek; Veidt's obsession with televisual sensory overload in Watchmen), as well my recent picks (the first arc of American Virgin, with its conflict-ridden Third World setting; Brian Wood's Supermarket). But (so far, anyway) it has mixed up all these disparate elements together into a unique -- and eerily plausible -- vision of the near future. The well-thought-out designs for the mobile tech just adds to the verisimilitude of it all.

It's definitely on my to-read list, no matter how the final product turns out.

[Victor Von Doom]

The only on-going comic series I'm reading right now is Rex Libris, an indy comic about the world's toughest librarian. (Yes, you read that correctly. Rex and his fellow librarians all get combat training as part of their job skills.) A preview of the first issue is available if you click on the title above. The running commentary at the bottom of the preview pages can be completely ignored, and you won't miss a thing. It disappears after the first issue, thankfully.

Rex Libris is being published by Slave Labor Graphics. At the moment, only three issues are available, so I'm not sure what the status of the title is, but now would be a good time to get in on the beginning of the series if you like the preview.

Rex Libris Being Turned Into Big-Screen Movie!

April 3, 2007 - Rex Libris, the comic book series by writer/artist James Turner, is being turned into a big-screen comedic action-adventure by Warner Bros. The script for the film adaptation will be penned by scribe Mark Burton (Madagascar, Chicken Run), according to Variety.

The story follows Rex, an everyday guy who becomes a member of a secret sect of librarians tasked with protecting the world's knowledge and most dangerous secrets.

Comic publisher Slave Labor Graphics sets the story up like this:

The astonishing story of the incomparable Rex Libris, Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, and his unending struggle against the forces of ignorance and darkness. With the aid of an ancient god who lives beneath the library branch, Rex travels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of overdue books. He must confront incredible foes, such as powerful alien warlords who refuse to pay their late fees. Wearing his super thick bottle glasses, and armed with an arsenal of high technology weapons, he strikes fear into recalcitrant borrowers, and can take on virtually any foe from zombies to renegade public-domain literary characters with aplomb.

Mosiac Media's Charles Roven and Alex Gartner are producing the flick.

Screenwriter Burton also wrote the forthcoming 20th Century Fox adventure They Came From Upstairs.

[Seldes Katne]

I am so going to have to pass this information on to my director. He already has the Rex Libris "Did You Return Your Library Books, Punk? Huh? Did You?!" poster for his office door....

Thanks for the heads-up, Victor. I owe you dessert in the restaurant of your choice in Philly this coming June.

[Ice]

What about me? I was friends with some of my librians. Does that count?

[Victor Von Doom]

What about me? I was friends with some of my librians. Does that count?

So? You didn't bring the awesome Libris Movie News. I did. No cupcakes for you Vato!

[Seldes Katne]

When I quit school library work to go into the public sector, I swore I'd never go back to teaching. However, if I ever get a job offer from PS-238, I will have to change my mind.

PS-238 is a school for superpowered children, many of whom have superpowered parents. (As one reviewer was quoted on the back of the second trade said, it's such a good idea that Disney has stolen it twice.) The series is currently being published in single issues, but two trades have been collected: With Liberty and Recess for All!, and To the Cafeteria for Justice!. I debated listing this in the All Ages Comics thread, since 2/3 of the cast is under that age of 10, but some of the humor is aimed more at adults and much of it requires a certain familiarity with comic books and superheroes that kids might not have. There really is nothing inappropriate for most kids over the age of 8 or 9 nine, at least not in the issues I've seen. The kids just might not get all the jokes.

PS-238 is located three miles below the Excelsior Public School (and no, the principal's last name isn't Lee). The first trade starts with a series of commercials and "film clips" that explore the school's services and facilities. We're shown how the staff can handle everything from a mind-controlling youngster to a girl who gives off radiation when she gets angry. (There are even two future supervillains enrolled. The staff deal with him in part by injecting him with a chip that causes him to substitute random words for any profanity he utters. When he gets really angry, the chip makes him break into Rogers and Hammerstein show tunes.... )

In contrast to this is Tyler (Powers) Marlocke, who has no superpowers at all. He's enrolled in the school because his parents, both superheroes, are convinced that his powers will manifest soon and want him properly trained. Tyler is equally convinced that he has no powers and will not survive the school year. After a rather disasterous session in the school gym, some of the staff agrees with him and the school principal sets Tyler up with a mentor who manages to fight crime without any super abilities at all.

Readers familiar with superhero comics will recognize characters based (in some cases loosely) on Superman, Batman, the Hulk, the Flash, Victor Von Doom, Ben Grimm, Colossus, and Doctor Strange. Most of the issues feature a rather humorous take on either superpowers, school life, or both. There are, however, some poignant moments as well, including one that introduces the PS-238 version of Krypto the Superdog, and another dealing with the shade of a former heroine seeking a physical body to inhabit.