Ever wanted to read a comic but didn't know where to start? Interested in superheroes, manga, romance, webcomics and more? Look no further! We have all the recommendations you'll ever need.

Sunday 6 December 2009

Welcome one and all

Welcome everybody, to this new project with the lofty aim of recommending comics to people who have never read one before, or who haven't read one for a long time.

We will cover superheroes, manga, alternative and web comics.  We will not recommend anything where it is necessary to know decades of continuity.  We will only recommend books that are available in a trade (collecting 6 to 8 of the monthly magazines) format so that you can get them from regular bookshops.  We are keen on people using their local comic book shop but understand that they can be somewhat intimidating if you've never been in one before.  To aid this, there will be a list of recommended local comic book shops made available.

We will aim to avoid comics with sexist, racist, homophobic or ableist overtones or intent.  If there is some background to the comic, the writer or the art team that could contradict this policy, the issue will be mentioned and discussed within the review.

The contributors are Saranga, James Ashelford and LissBirds, with occasional guest reviewers.  For more information on either of them please visit their fun and lively blogs for the latest thoughts of the day.

For further information on what this site is trying to achieve please read this intro post and look at the Aims, objectives and information box located at the top right of the site.

The first book to be reviewed will be about Wonder Woman and we will be also be covering books that would make great Christmas presents, so be sure to Follow us or stop by at a later date to see what else has been posted.

I hope you enjoy, please leave comments on the posts and let us know your opinions!

5 comments:

  1. This sounds like an awesome project and I look forward to reading your reviews!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting idea for a blog. I came via the F-Word post and it'll be interesting to see discussion of feminism in comics - you do have to wade through some pretty awful stuff to find it sometimes, especially if you're new to comics.

    Not sure if you're after recommendations for titles (or if there's a particular location you'd like to keep them), but I'd say Alan Moore's Promethea (from America's Best IIRC) is definitely worth a look; it's frequently explicitly feminist and features some non-heterosexual relationships without being salacious. It also has some excellent lettering and gorgeous art.
    Y: The Last Man also features some very strong female characters (not that it had much choice given that all the men on Earth are killed in the first dozen pages) and is rather well written.

    Oh, and I've always found the staff in Travelling Man in Leeds to be very helpful and friendly. They also have shops in York and Nottingham I believe, though I'm not familiar with those.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Oddtwang - A Promethea review will be coming shortly, and Y the Last Man will probably be up next year.
    I'll add Travelling Man into the list of shops, thanks :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. And Oddtwang, if you want discussion of feminism in comics go to my regular site and look both at my posts and the links located part way down on the left. Also check out James's blog (the other contributer here). You can do so by clicking on our names and looking at our profiles.

    ReplyDelete