I was recently (and very kindly) given a gift-voucher for a comic shop. A perfect gift for a ‘comics guy’ since, it’s nice to pop along to the local comic shop with an (averaged sized) wedge of cash that you absolutely have to spend on comics… no questions asked, I decided to use the voucher on something I’d been meaning to read for a while. We all have a ‘to read list’ I’m sure – but on my list, there’re some pretty big event-books and titles that… maybe I should’ve read by now?! The pick of my list on this occasion was Blackest Night – Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis whom (by the way) deserves a lot more critical acclaim than he receives, Reis’ art is almost flawless in the series and manages compliment Johns’ moody character beats on every page turn – every reveal. The book is obviously fantastic – as anyone whom loves comics will know (since you’ve already read it). The point of this post is not to review a book that most have read and loved already, but more… to acknowledge the books/series’ out there – that maybe we haven’t read and loved yet.
An interesting question is… What’s on your ‘to read list’? – What should you have read by now, but still haven’t? – and (interestingly) when a conversation kicks off amongst a herd-of-nerds in the local shop… do you pretend to know what the hell happened? Or do you ‘fess-up’ and reveal your incomplete knowledge of a crucial period in your favourite characters past? Another interesting question is… What do you consider to be the books/series’ you absolutely must’ve read to qualify as a ‘comics guy’? and is your actual ‘to read list’ different from your… ‘try and look cool list’?
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Aside from all that, I’d like to share a list of up-coming conventions in the UK this year, since the London Super Comic Convention was such a success, I’ll obviously try to report an as many as possible:-
HIEX Highlands International Comic Expo
Eden Court – Inverness
Mar 31st – Apr 1st
Birmingham Comic Con and Memorabilia
NEC
Mar 31st – Apr 1st
CamCon
The Junction, Cambridge
May 12th -13th
Bristol Comic Expo
Brunel’s Old Station – Temple Meads
May 12th – 13th
Kapow! Comic Con
London’s Business Design Centre
May 19th – 20th
London Comic Con
Excel
May 25th – 27th
Melksham Comic Con
Melksham
May 26th
Glasgow Comic Con
Glasgow (tba)
Jun 30th – 1st Jul
London Film and Comic Con
Olympia, London
July 6th – 8th
Manchester Comic Con
Manchester Central
July 21st
Nor Con
Holiday Inn Norwich Airport
Sept 2nd
BristolCon (Sci-fi and Fantasy)
Ramada Hotel
Oct 20th
London Comic Con and Memorabilia
Excel
Oct 27th – 28th
Memorabilia
Birmingham NEC
Nov 24th – 25th
Thought Bubble
Leeds
Nov 12th – 18th
Don’t forget the “comic girls” 🙂
Interesting comicon list. There is a comicon in Inverness but nothing in Edinburgh?
Since I got back from working abroad, I’ve been buying up collections so I’ve got tons of stuff to read in the basement… In fact, it’s over flowing with stuff that I’ve lost track of what I’ve got.
Currently I’m on the 5th volume of 100 Bullets. The first 2 books were a cliche but it’s really starts to improve by the 3rd and 4th book. Too bad the art “sucks the bag” otherwise it’d be so much more enjoyable.
I’ve also been buying up Adrian Tomine books. Hope his other stuff is as wonderful as “Shortcomings”… what a nice surprise it was.
I’ve got large runs of Iron First, JLA, Legion, TT… not sure when I’m gonna have time to get to them all…
To qualify to be a comics guy, I’d say you’d have to be well rounded. Try a little bit of everything so that you’re at least aware of what’s available. A bit of history wouldn’t hurt either…
Not that I know of sir, there is the
Glasgow Comic Con (venue to be confirmed)
Jun 30th – Jul 1st, which I’m sure the likes of Mark Millar and Grant Morrison (among others) will want to support.
Hey man. A nice problem to have 🙂
100 Bullets is firmly on my ‘to read list’, I’ll get to it at some point! – I also haven’t read “Shortcomings”, would you recommend?
Solid criteria for achieving ‘comics guy’ (or girl) status… I would have to agree, I think it’s cool when a friend says they like a particular version of a character or story – and you can say “oh, then try this, this and this…” for different reasons, weather it’s from a creative stand point or an indulgent one…
With the current books that I’m collecting, I like to buy the books (to bag-n-board) AND download them, so I can read it anywhere, since I’ve always got my phone on me… the DC books that benefit from the ‘combo packs’ are perfect for this.
Since returning to comics, for me, “Shortcomings” has been the best read thus far. It’s deep, funny, artful and captures subtleties extremely well. But a lot of it comes down to “taste” and where you’re at in your personal life which are things I’ve tried to avoid discussing on CBD since it’s un-quantifiable.
A distant second would have to be the Criminal series by Brubaker. I think the strength of this series is the perfect match between the style or type of story and the art. I just finished 100 Bullets, book 5, today and by contrast… I’m some what unsatisfied due to the mismatched art… although the story itself was good. I felt the same way about Sandman… which was excruciating to look at, at times.
Preacher was written well but sadistic subject matter. Not for me.
I’m also looking forward to jumping on…
Ex Machina
Y: The Last Man
Girls
Fables
and finishing up the second half of “Strangers in Paradise”.
If you want to give Adrian Tomine a try, Shortcomings is a good place to start since I think it is his best comic. Tomine normally writes short stories whereas Shortcomings spans three issues of Optic Nerve. You get a chance to really get to know the characters.
A perfect little clutch of both… additions to my list – AND further reasons to read the ones I’ve promised myself… Cheers boys. 🙂 Great knowledge on Tomine too. I seem to find greater satisfaction in character dramas in any case, I’m a sucker for subtle ‘soap opera’ in sequential storyart.