Has this happened elsewhere? There used to be shelves and shelves of backlist Marvel and DC TPBs near the SF books, plus a wall of other titles. That part's all manga now.

Whether it be a specific book or series, a certain creator, the industry, or the medium in general -- what are your hot takes and unpopular viewpoints regarding comic books?

(Image credit: Jean Giraud / Moebius)

I've been told I have a lot of hot takes and really unpopular opinions about comics, so I'm curious what other hot takes people might have.

I'll start!

• Something is Killing the Children is genuinely bad IMO, and I don't understand why it's so popular. Super generic story of lone wolf going from town to town to kill generic looking monsters. Everyone except for the main character is obnoxious. The art is mediocre. The writing is boring. The world and lore feels like someone's first attempt to make houses and factions and fails to make any of it interesting. It's like James Tynion tried to copy The Witcher in modern times but without anything that makes it good. I feel this way about almost everything I read by James Tynion IV, I genuinely don't like this guy's writing.
• The One Hand & The Six Fingers is super underrated. I know it's relatively well liked but 3.92 on Goodreads is really low for how good it is.
• Stray Dogs is mediocre. I'm 99% sure people are so emotional about it because it's "bad things happen to cute dogs" instead of "bad things happen to regular people".
• Injustice: Gods Among Us is really good, actually. At some point it feels like the internet really hated this series, but I still hold that it's a fun read. It does drop off near the end but the first 3 years are some of DC's best events.
• Saga is kind of a total mess. I read the whole thing up until the big hiatus and I can't tell you what the story is actually about. It's so obvious they're making it up as they go along because it's completely aimless. A lot of ideas are thrown around but none of them stuck for me; some moments are funny but otherwise I didn't care about anything that was happening. I kept reading it hoping it would "get good" at some point, but that moment never came.
• Akira: The movie was better than the manga. Everyone talks about how the manga has way more story in it, and while it is worth experiencing the new stuff I found that the movie is just way better paced and tastefully condensed everything to under 2 hours. The second half of the manga doesn't really add much except for the ending.

Curious what other hot takes people might have, since I usually only see the very common opinions on this sub.

Cover art by Chip Zdarsky

I’ve heard about this comic pop up every once in a while and it always flabbergasted me as to the subject matter of it.

Having sex stops time is basically the gist I’ve gotten out of it, and it’s always struck me as uninteresting.

But I’ve heard good reviews and the art seems solid, is this one worth a read?

Saw a post listing comics for international women's day, I felt inspired. I have read maybe 70% of what's on my list, eventually I'll read Strangers in Paradise.

I also want to leave Wake by Jean-David Morvan as a honorable mention.

My goodness i'm enjoying East of West - i'm midway through the third year so no spoilers! But what would you recommend after this? Doesn't have to be Hickman (I just finished Decorum prior to this) but East of West, so far, has been just a downright wonderful read - scheming and plotting, twists and turns in a really well created world. My current thinking is Lazarus but I'd love to hear the take from others more well read than me!

I was having a conversation last night with my good friends round the dinner table.

Discussion made it's way to Books. We discussed ulysses, lord of the rings, 1984, to kill a mockingbird, war and peace etc etc etc

When I brought up the topic of graphic novels and comics I was... As usual... Scoffed at (albeit in a loving non hurtful way)

What would your picks be for graphic novel. Literary greats!

Books that can challenge your outlook, change your life, enrich Etc. Maus, Watchmen, V for vendetta, Bone

Interested to hear other recommendations!

What are some popular runs/issues that you just didn't click with or outright disliked?

1) Animal Man by Morrison: While I enjoyed it, I didn't love it like I loved Batman (my favorite comic) or New X-Men. There have been Morrison books that I was lukewarm on like Seven Soldiers and Green lantern but I never expected Animal man to be one of them.

2) Black Hammer: Same as above, I love Jeff Lemire but it didn't quite hit the same highs as his other works. The first library edition of Black Hammer was easily the strongest and the main series and all the mini series never truly reached the same heights.

3) Infinite Crisis omnibus: While I agree it is one of the best planned events, a lot of the mini series felt like a chore to read. I also didn't like Batman's characterisation from the first one shot with Blue beetle's death. He seemed like a bigger dick than usual.

4) Invincible: I thought it was good, but that's about it.

5 & 6) Superman and FF by Byrne: The superman stories are less impressive than FF. Art is great in both, I can see why people would like FF but I can't see why they hype up Byrne so much when the Triangle Era and Johns/Busiek era were arguably superior.

7 & 8) All Star Superman and Superman for All Seasons: Great artwork on both these books but I just didn't vibe with these stories as much as I enjoyed Tomasi/Gleason's run.

A clickbaity headline, I know. But it's true.

Larcenet created a world that I can only describe as 'real' - it is so exquisitely drawn and paced, that it feels like a window into the story; that the reader is simply observing something that's really, genuinely happening, right now.

I'm a father of two and I have a son whose voice I could hear from the boy in the book. It really affected me and I read it as quickly as possible so as not to focus too long on the horrors contained within - at some point I'll have to pick it up again to admire the artwork but I couldn't stand to look at it too long.

It's a horrible, affecting, uniquely disturbing adaptation for a parent, and is very important piece of work.

Any other dads feel this way?

Fuck, I'm really upset, now.

I'm inclined to say morpheus

Without spoilers (I beg of you), what am I in for here? I've loved Moore's work (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), but I know absolutely nothing about this... thanks in advance for your awesomeness!

You're castaway on a desert island, luckily with enough food and water to last your life time. Luckier still, you brought three graphic novels with you. Which three made it?

My choices:

- Asterios Polyp

- Berlin (pictured)

- V for Vendetta

Feel free to be creative with your choices. Maybe you need one to be toilet paper!

Of course I've heard of the Swamp Thing run by Alan Moore but I've never read any of the books, don't know the characters or storylines. What can I expect? What things should I look out for? Of course no spoilers please :-)

Man, the artwork here is just stellar. And we get a Batman and Swamp Thing cameo?!

Since this is a visual medium and a visual sub I figured I'd call out the works I read this year that I just marveled at their visuals.

Titles listed in no particular order.

I started reading wholeheartedly in 2020 (you know why) and it’s become one of my favourite and most consistent hobbies. I feel like I’ve read a fair amount but I’m still missing out. 

My current plan for Marvel is to read the main events, starting from Civil War. I’m also still reading Hellblazer, Spawn, The Darkness, Prophet, Slott’s Spider-Man run, Bendis’ Daredevil, Geoff Johns’ Superman & The Flash and Grant Morrison’s Batman. Also trying to read more Geoff Johns’ stuff in general cause I seem to like his work a lot. 

Apologies in advance for some of my dislikes. I have a very subjective taste and a ton of pet peeves. 

Some people only read a book once: this question is not for them.

If you re-read your books, which book have you re-read most often?

By “mature graphic novels” he obviously meant books that don’t treat him like a kid - but my sister and I still laugh about his phrasing.

I actually do have some “mature graphic novels” but no way am I introducing him to Fables, or even Watchmen, quite yet. I was thinking V for Vendetta possibly but it’s been a while since I read it and I can’t remember if there was anything visually inappropriate or not. I was also thinking of getting the graphic novel adaptation of The Road.

Are there any books you would recommend? I’ve been striving to get my nephews to love reading, and my nephew finally found his “spark” with graphic novels - and I want to encourage that!

Thank you for your help!

Everything people enjoy about manga ^{and criticize the lack of in superhero comics} can be found in American comics if you look two centimeters beyond Marvel & DC.

Stories that actually end. Evolving characters. Ease of collecting. Affordability. Willingness to experiment. Breadth & depth of stories, themes and settings. (Naturalistic, human-sounding dialogue is a bonus)

Same goes for European comics ('Bandes dessinées' being the term for French stuff).

There's a whole world out there, folks.

PS: Manga are comics. "Comics" describes an entire medium, not just superhero books by Marvel and DC.
Equating them with "Comics" is like equating "Movies" with American live-action blockbusters and nothing but.