I've never taken an interest in graphic novels or comics, although I know a published author who has been nominated for Eisner and Ignatz awards, but have heard only good things about Neil Gaiman's The Sandman.
I'll have to see if my local library have any copies of it.
Not being a reader of comics, and having been confused about this in the past when I have flicked through certain comics, are you meant to follow the progression of the boxes that contain the images and words from left to right? Or is there no agreed convention on how the the sequence of boxes are structured?
Left to right has served me just fine this last month or so. I suppose its down to the artist and how ambitious they are feeling. The Sandman is on my list of books to pick up, heard loads of great things about it.
I have won 3 seperate auctions from the same seller for 3 Volumes of "the boys". The seller has been a bit cheeky and charged £2.75 postage for each book. Considering I am taking 3 off him that is practically doubled the cost of everything. I have messaged him asking to recalculate based on them being dispatched together. Am I right in estimating they will cost 3-4 quid max to post !?
Comics are usually set out in a very easy way to understand, the panels usually flow left to right on the page and progress downwards like a book, some however flow across a two page spread for certain pages, other panels can be a little confusing by having boxes of varying sizes etc, but they're rare and are usually obvious to how to deal with them. Say you get a 3 panel page with 2 on the left and 1 long one down the right, I would usually read the top left, big right, lower left that is generally how you go, left to right, top to bottom.
Conversations in the panel usually link with the first text to read at the top.
Narratives come in boxes either at the top or bottom of the panel, if it's at the top you read it before the speech if it's at the bottom you read it after.
There are no real "rules" just best ways to read, you will pick up what you find best, some people like to admire the artwork and get an idea of what's going on before reading, some people read and take it in at the same time etc...
The Sandman is certainly a good read data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Hillskill some sellers will not combine shipping which is a complete pain, I've had some in the past argue that they do not do so and would state if they did, ended up just paying for it and not using them again. 1 starred them on all the ratings, still gave them positive feedback as there was nothing wrong with the items though. Hopefully they will be nice and combine shipping and re-invoice you the correct cost data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Just noticed your detailed post, Iccz. Appreciate the help. Should never get confused now whenever I read a comic!
Thanks for the help, too, Hillskill.
Didn't i just find that out today.
Picked up Batman : The Killing Joke in Waterstones today and was disappointed in how thin the book was ! I could have easily read it all within an hour or so.
Also the Price £7.99.
I know some are even more expensive but i take Kick-Ass (£9.99) (192 pages)
I also may touch a nerve here with some, but looking at all the Frank Miller novels im not a fan of his simple art work (it looks good on film i.e Sin City, 300).
One of the reasons i'm liking "The Walking Dead" & Kick-Ass is while they have good stories which can take a while to read through, you also spend time looking at how much detail has gone into the strip.
So i've decided at the moment i'm gonna use Comixoligy on the iPhone to download and read.
Loving The Walking Dead (up to Episode 7) and Kick-Ass
Totally agree. Seriously expensive habit. I finished a volume of 100 bullets on the train ride home on night. Thats £8 gone in 90mins ! Great book though.
Very expensive hobby. I was spending around £100-£200 a month when all the crossovers for Marvel and DC were happening at the same time. That broke the camels back and I cut down my collection to just the "Ultimate headings" in Marvel and the Udon "Streetfighter" comics. Now its 15-20 pounds per month.
As a result in January I refreshed all my AV equipment data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
What volume of 100 Bullets are you on now, Steve? I got the last volume a couple of months ago, but I still haven't started on my big Vols.-1-to-13-all-in-one-go-read. It's like I'm putting it off cos I don't want it to end data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I have only just finished Vol 2. I'm on a week off at the moment but when I am back at work next week I can grab Vol 3 off a mate. It has a very subtle knack of drawing you in data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Loving The Walking Dead at the moment. I have Vols 4 to 7 on their way aswell as the first 2 Vols of Astonishing X-Men and the Wolverine Origin TPB which I gather is totally seperate from the recent Movie (which I loved BTW).
In regards to the expense I will be selling on my books once I'm done. I'm not into collecting stuff anymore, especially when they cost so much in the first place. If I can get the habit sort of paying for itself then I think its far more sustainable in the long run.
I try not to repeat anything posted above all great choices, but here's a few I'd recommend ranging from old to newer !....
Little Nemo /Winsor
The Compleat Moonshadow / J. M. DeMatteis
Lone Sloane Delirius / Druillet
Strangers in Paradise /Terry Moore
The Authority / Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch
Planetary /Ellis & Cassaday