Best Graphic Novel or Comic Book?

[icemax]

Hi there

I'm looking for stuff with more in terms of pose quality and richness of style. Story does not matter much.

I have been reading "Dark Knight Returns" and a little known series "Dead King". Both lack considerably imo.

any suggestions will be much appreciated.

[Portus]

Batman year one is tops.

[MidgardSerpent]

Hi there

I'm looking for stuff with more in terms of pose quality and richness of style. Story does not matter much.

I have been reading "Dark Knight Returns" and a little known series "Dead King". Both lack considerably imo.

any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Youngblood #1.

[Psychotime]

Batman year one is tops.

Comic books are for kids. (Sorry. I had to.)

On a more serious note, I'm a Mignola fan. Also, anything done by Sean Galloway (I don't know any off the top of my head, though)

[kalynr09]

they are both GREAT actually!:):)!!

[wassermelone]

If you want style:

Hellboy - Mike Mignola
http://www.irishblogs.ie/images/122175.jpg

The Marquis - Guy Davis
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/qwertyfoto/marquis.jpg

Really anything by Ashley wood
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa125/gmgarriock/69.jpg

Casanova - art by Fabio Moon
http://semanticdrift.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/casanova1.jpg

I could go on, there is almost no end to amazing comic artists. Its a pity that so often they are less than successful.

[Portus]

Comic books are for kids. (Sorry. I had to.)

On a more serious note, I'm a Mignola fan. Also, anything done by Sean Galloway (I don't know any off the top of my head, though)

Yes but graphic novels are for the mature!

I've also liked Gotham by Gaslight with art by Mignola but the story was nothing special, Year One is something else. Everything by Richard Corben is a good read.

[Misplacedhippos]

I love Mignola's art as well.

Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, is the best graphic novel series I have seen. I only have half the books so far, but I would still recommend it.

http://www.garenewing.co.uk/webbledegook/imagebank/nausicaa.jpg

[skullsquid]

Umbrella Academy still Gabriel Ba.

Heavy Liquid by Paul Pope or anything by Paul Pope, namely Batman year 100.

[DavePalumbo]

If you can track down any Sergio Toppi books, they're phenominal. I have no idea how good the stories are because I don't speak Italian, but damn is that artwork incredible

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e393/dvpalumbo/toppi.jpg

[Kamikazebob]

I recommend Preacher
I think there are 8 or 9 trades but I found them for 5 bucks a piece at the local comic shop.
Liquid City is a fun compilation of shorts. (Great art)
The gunslinger series is great.
Need I say Watchmen?

[Slash]

You can't go wrong with Serpieri's Druuna!

[N D Hill]

Where to start?

If you're just in it for the art, try 'The Metabarons.' Beautifully painted by Juan Gimenez. It's story is pretty convoluted and scatter-brained and that's not helped by the clumsy English translation. The art is mind-blowing however. Page after page. It's a shame they never finished publishing the series in the states.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/__tlJPiMaaKw/R1Bmv9mx2TI/AAAAAAAAKyA/pPlB1sOvP6s/Hieroglyphics-043a-Gimenez.jpg

Metabarons is actually a spin-off of 'The Incal' which is drawn by none other that jean "moebius" giraud for most of its run. The Incal is great too if you can get past painfully digital coloring to appreciate Moebius.

Also, anything by Enki Bilal. The Nikopol Trilogy, The Beast Trilogy, Townscapes and Memories.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/may08/nikopol2.jpg
http://www.dynamicforces.com/images/townscapes-tpb.jpg
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0405/Memories.jpg

Since Mignola was already brought up, I'll mention a recent book I just got. 'Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.' This is based on the old Fritz Leiber's fantasy stories. It represents some very early work by Mignola as it was originally published by Marvel in the early nineties. My copy is the new Darkhorse reprint.

http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/400/10/10686.jpg

Another book that's at the top of my head since I bought it recently is 'Lovecraft.' It's a fictional biography of H P Lovecraft which tells his life story as if the Cthulhu mythos was real. and portrays Lovecraft as an unwilling prophet whose works were inspired by traumatizing visions and interactions with his own mythology. It's illustrated by Enrique Breccia.

http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/1/6/1635_400x600.jpg

[skullsquid]

Enki Bilal ftw!

Might as well look into the old heavy metal regulars too.

Tamburini is the shit too with Ranxerox.

[Saturns Gate]

Comic books are for kids. (Sorry. I had to.)

Well this one aint for kids. And its awesome if you ask me! ;)

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123338

[CruShTinbOX]

Watchmen (http://www.amazon.com/Watchmen-Alan-Moore/dp/0930289234/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231465090&sr=8-2), of course. And anything by Alan Moore for that matter.

The Walking Dead (http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Dead-Book-Bk/dp/1582406197/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231465238&sr=1-1) series is pretty great, if zombies are your thing. I recommend the hardcover book collections. There's 4 books so far that collect all the issues.

[DavePalumbo]

some others:

Ashley Wood was already mentioned, but I'll mention him again:
http://superfabio.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/ashley_wood_giclee_3.jpg

oh,also Geof Darrow is insane:
http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/b/bdhbtpb.jpg

and Katsuhiro Otomo is beyond cool:
http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/40/40383.jpg

and Moebius (Jean Giraud) is my god:
http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/ftp/IMAGES/moebius/moebius-08.gif

[Dorkthrone]

Watchmen.
/thread

[Interceptor]

If you're looking for style, Blade of the Immortal has it in spades.

[Dilated]

Sin city has a really good noir style

[Psychotime]

Well this one aint for kids. And its awesome if you ask me! ;)

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123338

That's not my actual opinion, I was just referring to something Portus said on another thread, which was why I quoted them.

[VirusArtist]

everything by paolo serpieri:

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~papierbd/Book/Serpieri/Serpieri-Aphrodisia%20sample%20page.jpg

Kingdom come by Alex Ross:

http://kleinletters.com/LetteringImages/KCbook1.jpg

Batman - The killing Joke:

http://www.popcultureshock.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/killing-joke-3b.thumbnail.jpg

Preacher by Garth Ennis:

http://www.bad-words.com/images/preacher1.jpg

[ShroudStar]

Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly is one of my favorite current finds.

http://chris-karath.com/blog/blogpics05/0710/071021localryankelly.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2124/2398215135_38d6436e71.jpg?v=0

Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean is another one.

http://gaygamer.net/images/orchid.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9229/blackorchidmckeanga6.jpg

[archipelago]

watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen watchmen

you wont regret it.

[Clochette]

Wanted to mention Toppi, Mignola, Bilal and Wood as well.

Jamie Hewlett's Tank girl? <3

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518P179ZKBL._SL500_.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/gallery/2008/07/18/hewlett-tankgirl.jpg
http://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hewlett_jamie/hewlett_tankgrl.jpg

Or our Frenchy Bengal? :D

http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/zoom_planche_bd/3/6/9/9782847892963_1.jpg
http://www.decitre.fr/gi/53/9782847897753FS.gif
http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/Zoom_Planche_BD/0/6/6/9782505004660_2.jpg

[DavePalumbo]

Jamie Hewlett's Tank girl?

oooh, good one!

[skullsquid]

Massimiliano Frezzato
(can't find a decent pic, but Keepers of the Maser is awesome)

Olivier Ledroit, particularly Requiem Chevalier Vampire.

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/6316/requiemt2sz8.jpg

Dylan Dog is awesome too, long-running series from italy most of the time black and white. Different artists.
http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/dylan-dog

[Clochette]

Evildisco : Requiem Yeaaah ! I have all the books! Awesome compositions !! :)

[El Jeremie]

People who doesn't love Requiem have not hearts.
It's already said but : Mignola, Miller, Gimenez, Eric powell...
No one for Liberty Meadow, It's a strip but i love that humor
http://www.libertymeadows.com/uncengal/images/140.jpg

Alec Severin. Almost unknown artist from Belgium who stop drawing for Scientology (damn you tom cruise)
http://www.actuabd.com/IMG/jpg/Alec4.jpg

Storm by Don Lawrence
http://www.donlawrence.co.uk/comics/image/storm/covers/levende.jpghttp://www.donlawrence.co.uk/comics/image/storm/covers/doolhof.jpg

And any more

[ArneSReismueller]

one of my all time favorites would be "wolverine killing" by kent williams.
http://www.250kb.de/u/090109/j/8c6f2945.jpg

[Aly Fell]

'The Trigan Empire' by Don Lawrence and Mike Butterworth.
'Watchmen'... of course!
'The Airtight Garage' by Moebius, and it's sequel 'The Man from the Ciguri'. I read this when it was serialised in Heavy Metal, and it was called the 'The Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius' after the Michael Moorcock character. Moorcock 'took' the name back, so he became Jeremiah Carnellian. Just great! And introduced me to the incredible imagination or Moebius.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n8/n41321.jpg

http://manocorto.free.fr/images/garage/garage02.jpg

http://manocorto.free.fr/images/garage/garage03.jpg

http://www.comic.de/reporter/hildesheim/moebius_gross.jpg

http://www.stuartngbooks.com/moebius_man_from_ciguri_cvr.jpg

[central]

Sandman .. Neil Gaiman ... Drama and adventure along the fine line that connects dreams and 'the wake'. Love the fact that so many artists worked on it too, there's always a different style to trip on. My all time fav. O and cover and inside art by Dave McKeane .. constantly learn some new imagery from his stuff after I read the story.

Here's the dreamlord in action, weakened after being held prisoner, almost powerless, his tools stolen, on enemy turf ... takin on a demon to take back what belongs to him ... and kickin ass in the process. Dream on.

Cheers

[Peter Coene]

Well, try Niel Gaiman's "the Fountain." Kent Williams did some great art for that. Also check out "Mouse Gaurd" by David Petersen. Then of course theres the obvious ones; Hellboy, Sin City, etc. Also for style you might enjoy "Wormwood" by Ben Templesmith.

[Matt Dixon]

Marshal Law by Pat Mills and Kev O'Neill.

I'm sure you can find the first Epic Comic series as an anthology somewhere.

[icemax]

let me first say "WOAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

thanks every one for the prompt response

I thought I'd go through some of the books before I reply, but that seems pretty impossible. I think I'll have to a spend a year at a comic book store :P

I did go through some of Batman Year One. However I found it a bit dull and unimaginative both in figure drawing/pose dynamics and detailing. Probably thats because of age. I have to remind you that this is the conjecture of a Novice.

Safe to say I think i cant go wrong if I start with Watchmen, Requiem Vampire and works from Sean Galloway, Mignolia and Serpieri and see where I can go from there.

@saturn's gate - I did look at this thread a long time ago-but somehow lost it ... thanks for refreshing my memory

[Mr.Razorblades]

Ghost in the Shell by Shirow Masamune, fucking incredible is all I have to say.

[airerog]

Someone already recommended this but I have to elaborate, I really enjoyed this graphic novel:

"The Watchmen" by Neil Gaiman may have repetitive panelling, but the art has many "hidden easter eggs" you have to scour for to deepen your understanding of the plot.

Even the theme is original as it shakes your understanding of the superhero ethos.

Go read it!!

[Hookswords]

Pride of Baghdad written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon. It's short but powerful.

http://dorkgasm.com/files/images/Pride_of_Baghdad_1280x1024-760571.jpg


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/deantrippe/prideofbaghdad.jpg

[arttorney]

Are you sure Watchmen is by Neil Gaiman, because my copy says it's by some other guys?

[Mr.Delicious]

Olivier Ledroit, particularly Requiem Chevalier Vampire.

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/6316/requiemt2sz8.jpg




can you get these in english anywhere? :O

[squidmonk3j]

The Fountain was written by Darren Aronofsky and Watchmen was written by Alan Moore.

and, best graphic novel? that would be Cerebus, by Dave Sim :)

[arttorney]

Not calling this the best graphic novel/comic book, but responding to OP comments about pose quality and richness of style "Crying Freeman" by kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami is interesting. (Beware nudity and sexual situations abound.)
560487
560489

[DavePalumbo]

you know, I'm sure I'm committing some kind of comic book sacrilege to say it, but I didn't really think the art in Watchmen was all that. It's hard to be objective on that one because it had been so built up for years before I read it, but it definitely does not stick in my mind as a visual powerhouse. :shrug:

[skullsquid]

Mr Delicious, Heavy Metal is publishing them in English too.

[DSillustration]

you know, I'm sure I'm committing some kind of comic book sacrilege to say it, but I didn't really think the art in Watchmen was all that. It's hard to be objective on that one because it had been so built up for years before I read it, but it definitely does not stick in my mind as a visual powerhouse. :shrug:

I thought the same at first but I've had a change of heart.
I think it's the coloring that throws it off.

I know it was mentioned before,
but it's worth mentioning again...
Geoff Darrow's 'Hard Boiled':
(also check out the oversized 'Big Damn Hard Boiled')
http://www.leahfaust.com/fausthaus_blog/miller_darrow1.jpg

http://www.leahfaust.com/fausthaus_blog/miller-darrow2.jpg

Another of my personal favorites is Vincente Segrelles' 'Mercenary'.
Numerous volumes, all fully painted in oils.
Really incredible stuff.
http://lacomunidad.elpais.com/blogfiles/juliover62/mercenario.jpg

http://www.zonanegativa.com/imagen/6986.jpg

[Clochette]

How could I?? Forget about Blacksad ! From Juanjo Guarnido!

http://www.gatofucsia.net/images/creativos/blacksad/comix_Blacksad_05b.jpg
http://idata.over-blog.com/0/46/80/41/BD/BlacksadExtrait0.jpg
http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/zoom_planche_bd/1/4/6/9782205055641_2.jpg
http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/zoom_planche_bd/7/5/6/9782205049657_5.jpg

Also Ranxerox (Tanino Liberatore) :punkgirl:
http://www.bedetheque.com/Couvertures/RanxeroxTotale.jpg!
http://supaidaman.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/ranxerox_t0.jpg
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/6743/ranxeroxsz3.jpg

And Lewis Trondheim's Donjon !! Really funny characters and stories! :)
http://www.coinbd.com/images/planches/donjonzenith_t1.jpg
http://photos.froggytest.com/d/3903-1/Donjon+Monsters+tome+12+Le+grimoire+de+l+inventeur .jpg
http://letsmotiv.unblog.fr/files/2008/06/donjonillustration.jpg

Ultima Parano is nice too, really nice pages with aliens, afro hair cuts and big guns.
http://granck.free.fr/images/ultimav1.jpg
http://granck.free.fr/images/ultimav-planche.jpg

[Farvus]

Grzegorz Rosinski changed style lately (in Thorgal vol.29) from typical inked comics to fully painted ones. He experiments with every possible medium to get certain results. All traditional.

These are from Thorgal vol.30

http://img1.gildia.pl/_n_/komiks/komiksy/thorgal/30/skan1-640.jpg
http://img1.gildia.pl/_n_/komiks/komiksy/thorgal/30/skan2-640.jpg
http://img1.gildia.pl/_n_/komiks/komiksy/thorgal/30/skan3-640.jpg

[Bill]

Once upon a time I didn't think BWS could draw very well. I was like 8 or something but still... I have no idea what I was thinking. Anyway... Wolvy by BWS = Awesome.

[Hyskoa]

JtHM.
Jhonen Vasquez.

560699

[HunterKiller_]

http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/zoom_planche_bd/7/5/6/9782205049657_5.jpg


Holy shit.
Holy shit.
Holy shit.

Bury it. Before Deviantart sees.

[wheezy]

Preacher

http://www.quizilla.com/user_images/E/ednemo/1067424970_espreacher.jpg

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Some of these have already been mentioned of course.

Watchmen (Alan Moore)
Miracleman (Alan Moore) - You may have a hard time tracking this one down as it's out of print.
Preacher (Garth Ennis)
Transmetropolitan (Warren Ellis)
We3 (Grant Morrison)
The Invisibles (Grant Morrison)
New X-Men (Grant Morrison)
Sandman (Neil Gaiman)
Hellboy (Mike Mignola)
Asterix (Goscinny and Uderzo)
Joker (Brian Azzarrello)
Ex Machina (Brian K. Vaughan)
Queen and Country (Greg Rucka)
A Contract with God (Will Eisner)
And amazingly... Captain America (Ed Brubaker)

[VirusArtist]

JtHM.
Jhonen Vasquez.

560699

WHY THE F**K IS THIS COLOURED!?!?!? SACRILEGE!

[gutss]

mmmmmmmm. so much good, good stuff in this thread (I've gone into visual overload!) and nice call on the Blacksad. gooood stuff

anything by Brandom Graham. the fella's a comedy genius and his attention to detail is intense. and I have to post a few pages of his because I love the gags too much

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/2108/ionmugradiationbyroyalbmv1.jpg
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/1822/tiamartbyroyalboilerqg4.jpg

Hellblazer. I'll be having none of this keanu reeves-constanTEEN-ooh-look-at-my-dark-hair-and-jaded-world-view bullshit. there's so much of it by so many different writers and artists it's a hard place to know where to begin (I think the ones written by Jamie Delano are a good place to start. not sure I'm too hot on the artwork and I can't find many examples, but dooo some digging!)

http://www.grovel.org.uk/reviews/hellbl01/hellbl03.jpg

top 10 (Alan Moore properly knows the score) is also really good. interesting take on the superhero genre and there are some neat references in there if you want to scour the backgrounds!

http://www.geometrus.com/blog/media/2007/05/4729.jpg
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/image/Blindshot_2.jpg

on the more earthy side I guess there's Jeffrey Brown and Jason, both of whom I enjoy. Hey wait by Jason is heartbreaking. I bawled like a baby

http://www.margomitchell.com/thc/jbsamp2.gif
http://www.nymag.com/images/2/daily/entertainment/07/11/04_hitler_1.jpg

ooh, ooh ooh! and some of my alltime favourites are The Arrival by Shaun Tan (god amongst men) and Little Nemo.

http://redstarcafe.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/arrival1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Little_Nemo_and_gertie.jpg

I could talk comics allll daaayyy...

[gutss]

forget to mention, brandon graham also does a sporadic blog (http://royalboiler.livejournal.com/) where he often posts super slick comic stuff he's found. oh and er, watch out, there's often naked chicks

[ArneSReismueller]

everything from Jacques Tardi!
http://lambiek.net/artists/t/tardi.htm
http://www.250kb.de/u/090110/j/603af095.jpg

[TheGnoll]

uuu so nice to see familiar faces mention familiar comics in here
i second many of these sggestions, Paul Pope's work, Mignola'sWork, Moebius's Work,Tank Girl, Sin City,The incal and spin offs, Geoff Darrow's work, BlackSad, ANYTHING wrote by Garth Ennis.

i tend to go for author names instead of single things tho, and even if its not a graphic novel, comics are worth reading nonetheless (some of the ones i mentioned are not "graphic novels" but after all, even many of the already cited ones aren't...after all, does it count that much?)

i add a few suggestions

100 Bullets, covers by the great Dave Johnson, Brian Azzarello (writer) and the great Eduardo Risso for the interior art.Anything drawn by Risso is worth checking out.

http://www.dynamicforces.com/images/100Bullets.jpg
http://www.readaboutcomics.com/images/061804_100bullets02.jpg

Bone by Jeff Smith
you can find this in the think one volume edition too.The disney-esque graphic quality (clean and really really neat and actually, beautiful to look at) tell a huge (1330+ pages) and really lovely fantasy tale.

http://www.comicsreporter.com/images/uploads/bone1vedition_thumb.jpg

If you like Hellboy, you might like Eric Powell's "The Goon" as well.Great art and a great pulp/weird stories with added humor feel to it

http://www.stallonezone.com/z031106goon_splash.jpg

Wanted i haven't seen the movie and i frankly can't give a sht about it, cause they take everything that's good from the comic and rape it.
A really fun, badass supervillain story.Seriously, just predent they never made a movie out of it

http://graphicworlds.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/390px-wanted.jpg

Geoff Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy.I love this one, Darrow is crazy about detail, and with this one, goes crazy wirth the story as well

http://multimedia.fnac.com/multimedia/images_produits/ZoomPE/3/7/7/9782809402773.jpg

(this is what every single panel looks like, regarding level of detail)
http://www.readaboutcomics.com/images/020205_shaolincowboy02.jpg

Slaine, the Horned God, by Simon Bisley and Pat Mills.Cause its slaine, and its painted by Bisley.nuff said

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/slaine-the-horned-god/3-1.jpg

anything by Craig Thompson, especcially Blankets.His work is amazing, really lovely.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e379/edwardhenry/weblog/myrtias/Blankets.jpg
http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/previews/blankets/blankets_02.jpg

there's a lot more out there than we would expet, its just a case of entering a comic book store or library and just pick up something you've never heard of, just for the sake of trying something new and make up your own opinion :)

PS: almost forgot.Will Eisner wrote some of the best books on how think and making comics out there, and practically invented the term "graphic novel" and made some of the first ones, in a market saturated by comic books and newspaper strips, so...yeah, you might wanna check him out.

...on seond thought, i've been reading Doug TenNapel's work as well and loving it.His Black Cherry is one of the few comics that actaully made me laught out loud...and thats the least you can expect from the inventor or Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood :)

http://www.comicsreporter.com/images/uploads/blackcherrynegative1_thumb.jpg

ciao!

[Hyskoa]

WHY THE F**K IS THIS COLOURED!?!?!? SACRILEGE!

Was in a rush and was the first full page I could find.
Besides, it's the message that's important, not the package.
Homicidal maniac = happy fun time.

[Dadaist]

I'm looking for stuff with more in terms of pose quality and richness of style. Story does not matter much.

I think you'll enjoy Alan Moore's ABC comics, especially Promethea: Moore worked with penciller J.H. Williams III, and each cover/issue had a different style.

[bhanu]

Kent williams -Tell me dark
http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/1/6/1667_400x600.jpg
preview (http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/1667_x.pdf)
Fountain(with Darren Aronofsky)
http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/4/2/4287_400x600.jpg
preview (http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/4287_x.pdf)

[bhanu]

Bill Sienkiewicz (Daredevil- Love and war)
http://comicartfans.com/Images/Category_2044/subcat_10352/sienkiewicz-DD%20cover.jpg

http://comicartfans.com/Images/Category_6114/subcat_58784/Daredevil%20-%20Love%20and%20war%20p.27.jpg

[DSillustration]

Oh!
Almost forgot...
Taiyō Matsumoto:

http://www.narbonic.com/tekkon_cover.jpg

http://www.serieborsen.se/images/mangalista/no5_2.jpg

[bhanu]

hey I was gonna post taiyo matsumoto... well
the animation for black and white is also worth it(by studio 4c)

[Bowlin]

I agree with ()nion, Nausicaa is really wonderful to look at.

http://attraversogiardini.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/nausicaa_8_big.jpg

[bluemonika]

to me, berserk is a nice one :)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/deformity/berserk-v20c08p156-157copy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v127/deformity/Berserk_v25c216p0206-207ecopy.jpg

[BubbaGump]

Casanova - art by Fabio Moon
http://semanticdrift.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/casanova1.jpg


That page is actually by Gabriel Ba, his brother. Their styles are almost polar opposites. Fabio uses soft lines and brushwork while his brother's lines are more Mignola-ish and look like they were inked with technical pens.

He's one of my favorites.

[BubbaGump]

In reply to the original poster, if you want dynamic poses check out Umbrella Academy (Way is a much better character designer/writer than a musician).

Ba's art is pretty lively and full of motion.

[Hiipi]

Howcome no-one has mentioned Judge Dredd ???
They are awesome!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/magazine_enl_1172492972/img/laun.jpg

Favorites:

The Ballad of Halo Jones (written by Alan Moore!!!)
http://www.ekmpowershop2.com/ekmps/shops/2000ad/images/ballad_of_halo_jones.jpg

Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QZEEQY5AL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Also Conan is the man!!! The 80's Black'n'White comics are tremendous!

http://members.tripod.com/makeitsomarketing/PICCONAN44LARGEFORSTORE.jpg

[Frublz]

I would personally say all things by Nihei, especially because—the man being an architect—the 'humanoid forms' in his work are not the absolute foreground of his art, neither the centre of his stories. It are in fact the landscapes and the complicated structures he draws that catch the eye. It's mostly black and white and couldn't really be any other way.

Blame (http://images.google.com/images?q=blame+nihei) - NOiSE (http://images.google.com/images?q=noise+nihei) - biomega (http://images.google.com/images?q=biomega+nihei) - net sphere engineer (http://images.google.com/images?q=net sphere engineer+nihei)

It could be classed as 'science-fiction' but I think it's deeper than that, the tagline of Blame reads 'Maybe on earth, maybe in the future' and that sums the idea up that throughout his work, it's not relevant where and when it takes place, neither is any attempt made to explain it. It simply holds no connexion at all to our world and there is no attempt made to explain it, it's a fantasy world of grotesque structures, some of these resemble humans, the laws of physics don't hold and it's not explain why and you find out as you go along. Also, very little dialogue yet very deep plots and not having characters just say things they would never say but inform the audience with it is the hallmark of his mysterious storytelling-style.

[Lone Wolf]

Northlanders

http://northlanders.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/2962520208_bb39feb46c_o.jpg

Anything by Arthur Adams.

http://jonsibal.com/bpimages/aadams.jpg
http://www.linesandcolors.com/images/2007-12/adams_450.jpg

I know Geoff Darrow was mentioned, but he deserves more props:) If you haven't read or seen HARD BOILED, get it!

Or get the Art of the Matrix too be blown away by he's super detailed drawings.

[OmenSpirits]

Battle Angel Alita.

Akira.

Justice (ALEX ROSS)

Fantastic 4: The End (ALAN DAVIS)

THE NAIL: (ALSO ALAN DAVIS)

Daredevil: Man Without Fear (JRJR)

All available in TPBs.

[RocketMonkey]

Batman vs. Judge Dredd - Judgement on Gotham

It's well funny! ;)

[kidzcare]

There lots of titles for you at Kidzcomics also for getting disease awareness for kids (http://www.kidzcomics.com).

[Choob]

I agree with Watchmen, great graphic novel.

Really inspiring, story line is good, and it's not the typical Hero vs Villain plot. Retired superheroes getting killed off, conspiracy theories, good stuff.

;)

[Ragdoll85]

I think D. Cooke's run on The Spirit is amazing. Someone already mentioned Hellboy, which is always awesome. Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol is also one of my personal favorites.