Let's take a break from the mundane computer related stuff that makes up all of my college work, and let's have a talk about comic books.
I'm generally a big, big superhero fan, Marvel and DC comics make up quite a lot of my collection, however, I've recently been moving away from that, and I've been reading some post-apocalyptic stuff.
This all started when I started reading The Walking Dead comics. Having failed to get into the TV series (I got three episodes in and then they sat round a campfire talking and I got a little bored. I signed up for zombies, I wanted zombies) I wasn't really sure about the comics, but I was lent the first 122 as digital copies, and I figured I might as well give them a go. Now I'm not really quite sure how it happened, but here I am, 129 issues later, still completely hooked.
I can't even explain what it is about The Walking Dead that I'm so hooked on. Maybe its the characters and their stories and relationships, maybe its the zombies. Whatever it is, I love it enough to continue buying it.
I've really enjoyed the progression of the characters, the way they've dealt with everything, but I especially love the villains that Robert Kirkman has created.
The Governor was a fantastic character, he was so delightfully twisted, though when he pulled his daughter's teeth out so he could kiss her, yeah that made me cringe. A lot. I did think no one could top his level of not niceness. Enter Negan. Now he really is evil. And Lucille the Vampire Bat. I mean, really? What kinda messed up mind comes up with this?
The thing about reading The Walking Dead though is that it got me into post-apocalyptic comics. Since I've started with that, I've read my way through Preacher, I'm reading Manifest Destiny, and I've started Saga.
Now, let's start with Preacher here, because I really, really loved it.
Jesse Custer is a preacher in a small town, he's lost his faith, he's a drunk and really he's a cowboy at heart. One day in the middle of a sermon, he gets possessed by Genesis, the whole church explodes, everyone dies, but not Jesse. Thing is, now he has this odd being inside him, the result of a copulation between an angel from heaven and a demon from hell. It's an incredibly powerful being, and it gives Jesse the power to speak with the word of God. He can command anyone to do anything. His on/off girlfriend is Tulip, she's a hit-woman, or at least, she starts off as a hit-woman, once she gets back with Jesse (there's a whole back story there, but I won't go into it) she stops being a hit-woman, and starts helping Jesse on his quest to find God and get rid of Genesis. Jesse's "best friend" is Cassidy. Cassidy is Irish. And he's a vampire. He was one of my favourite characters. He's smart talking and generally a very funny guy. There are so many characters in the series that I loved, but my most favourite is the Saint of Killers. This guy walks into Hell and straight up kills the devil, I shit you not. If you haven't already read them I highly recommend you do so. Such a wonderful balance of humour and major fucked-upedness!
Manifest Destiny is an interesting series. I'm 8 issues in, waiting for 9 to come out, and when I started reading it I was a bit worried that it was going to be just another zombie comic. I was pleasantly surprised.
The comic tells the story of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark's expedition across America. Except the comic isn't entirely historically accurate. This expedition was the first to cross over into what is now the Western part of the US. In the comic they encounter all manner of interesting mythical beasties, starting with what could possibly be a minotaur (they haven't quite figured out what it is yet) and lots of other interesting things. This is another comic that I highly recommend reading!
Now, Saga is something that I've just started reading. I've only read the first volume, which I bought on a whim because my friend who owns a comic shop said that if I didn't like it he'd give me my money back. So I bought and read it and I absolutely loved it. It's an interesting twist on the story of Romeo and Juliet. It has taken a lot of influence from star wars and is about two people, a man and a woman,who come from opposing sides of extraterrestrial races. They have a child, and basically, both sides want to kill both of them and the child. From what I can tell the story is told from the child's point of view, although at the beginning of the story she is a newborn baby. It's definitely an interesting read, and rather than getting my money back for volume 1, I went and purchased myself Volume 2!
Finally, I have volume 1 of a series called Y: The Last Man. I haven't started reading this yet. It was given to me by a friend after it was recommended to me by Neil Gibson (writer of the Twisted Dark comics) at LFCC last month. I like the premise, the idea that all of the men in the world suddenly dropped dead at once, leaving this one last guy and his monkey. If any of you guys have read it and have any opinions you wanna share, feel free to drop them in the comments box!
If you haven't read Preacher, Saga or Manifest Destiny, I recommend you get yourself to your nearest comic book shop and spend some money. You will not regret it! If you haven't read The Walking Dead, drop me a comment, I have the first 122 on Google Drive and I'm more than willing to share!!
Happy Reading!
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