So, I know a lotta you like comics. But what does one think of when that word comes up in conversation? DC, Marvel, maybe Image. You know, superheroes. And mind you, I like superheroes. Love them, in fact. But lately, I've been exploring other kinds of venues when it comes to comic books, and man, am I fucking glad I came back to this medium. I'd like to share some of the stuff I've been reading with you people, and maybe we can get a bit of a thing going here.

First up is Coda, written by Simon Spurrier and gorgeously illustrated by Matías Bergara. Think of your standard fantasy setting a la Lord of the Rings crossed with Mad Max; one of those pesky Dark Lords that are always coming and going finally got his shit together and fucked the world for real. Where there was once wonder now there is desolation; elves (or "ylves") were genocided out of existence, orcs (or "urkken") have been stigmatized for their role in the cataclysm, and there is hardly any magic left in the world, among other things. It is in this world that we follow the adventures of a (so far) nameless man with a gift for words, and his nightmarishly vicious, foulmouthed unicorn. Needless to say, the visuals are stunning on this; somewhat cartoonish, but graceful and colourful and unlike anything you usually think of when it comes to fantasy. The writing and dialogue don't fall far behind, with a cynical protagonist that seems to exist in a state of constant exasperation with the world around him. In short, Coda is awesome, go read it right fucking now.

Next up is Hillbilly, kind of a pet project of Eric Powell, creator of The Goon (which I definitely should read, given the quality present here). This one is a very interesting beast; the story takes place in a world based on Appalachian folklore, full of demonic witches and monsters of the woods. The one we follow here is Rondel, a man with a special understanding of the supernatural and a literal and figurative axe to grind with all things related to witchery. It's a pretty dark comic, all things considered, with not a few horror undertones, but it's never cynical or mean spirited; Rondel is clearly a good man, and he's not above giving even supernatural monsters a chance to redeem themselves. The writing is also laudable here, being very true to the sort of time period the comic seeks to reflect without ever sounding cheesy or out of place, and it can even get pretty heartwarming at times. If there is one thing to criticize here, it's that the ending of this twelve issue series seems quite rushed, and although not bad, I would've definitely preferred it to go on as an episodic sort of thing with lots of unrelated adventures, as the first few issues seemed to hint. Still, Hillbilly's great and definitely worth a look.

On a lighter final note, as this OP is already getting super long, I'd like to present you with...

*cough*



This one's just a fucking corker; super fun, colourful thing about a squad of kinda sorta superheroes with tons of heavy metal references thrown in because fuck it, metal is awesome. This seems like something that was written by a bunch of friends listening to Judas Priest while watching 80's action flicks and smoking weed, and I mean it in the best way possible. The overly cartoony, almost kiddy art style might not be to everyone's taste, but I found it very fitting for the tone they're going for. There's only two issues so far and it's coming out super slowly, but still, I had a blast with this. Definitely read it out loud while interpreting everyone's voice as you hear them in your head.

So yeah, that's my contribution to this thread. Anyone read anything interesting lately? And remember; no superheroes. Those are pretty over-exposed as is.

I like a lot of underground comix, haven’t read in a while though. Last one I scored was the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers collected edition. Love all the old Heavy Metal men’s fantasy mags as well as comics from Danzig’s company there Verotik I like Cavewoman comics drawn by Budd Root, really dig the Creepy revival and the old Gore Shriek horror anthologies. Local bookstore started carrying Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 A.D. mags and that would normally make me pretty excited but just haven’t been into reading comics lately.

Edit: Almost forgot about Jake Karns’ Fukitor comix. Fantagraphics put out a good 140 page collection of his stuff and it’s really awesome if you’re looking for a sexy, violent, irreverent exploitation style horror anthology.

Oh also Angry Youth Comix are pretty good if you want raunchy humor that’s politically incorrect.

There’s so much crap I like in the medium I don’t know where to start or stop for that matter.

I'm not sure if it's underground enough for you (it has been picked up by Image Comics), but the Kill 6 Billion Demons webcomic is one of my favorite.
A barista with self-confidence issues is projected into a world of drinking demons, fallen gods, gangster guilds and murdering angels in search for her boyfriend. Fun and OTT situations, enjoyable characters, epic fights and a very detailed mythology (don't miss on the author comment below each page). Books 1 and 2 are on print, book 3 (and beginning of book 4) are web-only for the moment.

I can't really speak to underground/lesser known comic books as I've just been getting back into the medium after a good decade away. And 90% of what I've been reading has been Image, heh. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed comics of the non-super hero variety though, so I'll keep an eye here for any recommendations people have!

One book I'll mention (though it's probably well known among horror comic aficionados) is Dark Ark. The premise is simple and wicked cool: what if during the biblical flood, there was a second ark? But instead of Noah it was overseen by a sorcerer tasked by his demonic patron to save all the unnatural and evil creatures of the antediluvian world- vampires, naga, bugbears, manticores, etc. The art is killer, very colourful but dark in a sense, like there are lots of shadows and black used but the panels alternate between deep, cool green and blue tones, to vivid reds and yellows. If the premise catches your fancy you won't be disappointed.

Image puts out excellent stuff. Last Image comics I got was the first run of Bullet Proof Coffin and I Hate Fairyland. Also looooved The Maxx back in the day and still pick up Spawn from time to time based on the cover art alone.

Oh man, almost forgot about the old original Evil Ernie, Lady Death and Purgatory comics. Anyone read the reboots and know if they are any good?

Oh man, Kill Six Billion Demons is fucking badass. I'm not up to date with it (last time I read they were in the middle of a brawl in Mammon's vault), but it's got such awesome action and world building. It's super exposition heavy at the beginning, but the mythology crafted by the author is so cool that I never really minded all that much. Total blast of a read.

Everyone here talking about Image leads me to say that last night I started reading Saga, and I'm super hooked. Already on issue 17; this mix of fantasy and sci fi and organic, well written characters and actually tasteful use of sex and violence and aaaaaaaah. So, so good. Also not super underground exactly, but not what I'd call mainstream either. At least, I don't know anyone else who reads it in my social circle.

That Dark Ark stuff sounds super interesting, Corpse. I'll make it a point to check that out.

Um, it's probably the most popular non-superhero comic out there right now... But yeah, it's really good, of course. Everything Brian K. Vaughan writes is gold.

I just read the first issue of Coda following your recommendation. Seems pretty cool! I'm really liking the world and characters and writing. I'll keep an eye out for the trade, once it's out.

That Viewcomic site looks really sketchy, though. "The images aren't hosted here, so you know, it's not our fault that people post a ton of full obviously-pirated comics. Please donate, though!"

Hey, I live in the ass-end of the world, man. Not exactly a place where the hottest news about geek hobbies run fast Also been a while since I read comics regularly. I honestly have very little idea of what's popular right now. And glad you liked Coda, man. You'll see it only gets even more interesting with every issue.

As for the VC site, yeah... I know what you mean. I wouldn't read comics on the internet if I didn't have to, but lack of import plus lack of funds leaves me with very little options. I'd buy all of this stuff in a heartbeat if I could.

I'm a newcomer to the world of comics, so excuse me if I post something obvious/too mainstream, but I only read non-superhero stuff, so if that's the theme, I have a fair few recs for you. I'm going to explore all your recommendations when I have the time.

My absolute favorite is probably Providence and Neonomicon, its "prequel". By the master Alan Moore, it's a goddamn crazy take on the Cthulhu Mythos, the power of fiction and Lovecraft's sexism and racism. I'm a fairly big Lovecraft fan and you kinda need to know a lot of his main stories to get all the references and get an idea of how Moore just turns everything inside out, so I wouldn't recommend these if you're a newcomer to Lovecraft. It's masterfully done, with a lot of great, dreamy, fucked up art by Jacen Burrows. And it's just so... unrelenting, I guess, and really pulls no punches.



Let's stay a bit in the realm of Lovecraft and let me recommend Locke and Key. A more contained take on the Mythos than Providence with way less references to Lovecraft, so this is for everyone who's a fan of creepy comics where children battle interdimensional demons... with some really cool, mindbending art sometimes, because magic keys and childrens' imagination. I dunno, I guess I describe this fairly badly, but it's very well written, great characters that have to make some super hard choices sometime.



ODY-C is something completely different than the others - a genderbended high concept sci-fi version of The Odyssey. The story is fairly forward - everyone knows the goddamn Odyssey by Homer, or at least the more famous chapters - but this one I buy because of the art. It's BEAUTIFUL and just so, so awesome.



Another one that I can recommend basically based on the art is Monocyte. The story isn't super interesting, but the art is jaw dropping, especially the hard back version I have that is really huge, with big full page illustrations. Just a beautiful book to flip through.

I started reading Providence on your mention, andersbang. Currently on issue 7.

This is fantastic.

Good to hear! And yes, it really is. I was blown away and really happy to have the hard copies on my shelf. Have you read Neonomicon?

Not yet, I wanna get down with that after I'm done with Providence. The amount of research in this is astonishing, but then again, it is Alan Moore; I shouldn't be surprised. I love how the supernatural just very slowly creeps into the narrative, just like old Howie used to do it. This truly is a work of love.

My favourite scene so far has probably been the interview with Pitman's "friend", King George. So, so unsettling.

Alright, Im kinda really drunk and should tell you tomorrow, but you're already pretty far in he story, so I'm just gonna say it right niw. Neonomicon (and the the courtyard-story) is the prequel. You should read that before you finish Providence.