Recommended Reading

Lately, Hollywood is making more & more comic book based movies. Some of them, like Road to Perdition was a comic book. Now there is a little bit of a stigma when it comes to comics. A lot of people think a few things when they think of comic books:

1. Comic Books are only for children.
2. Most people that read comic books are a stereotypical "geek"
3. Comics are still like the old cheesy Batman TV show

These are all stereotypes. Comics have tried to tackle tough subjects.
In the early 70's, both Spider-Man & Green Lantern/Green Arrow had stories with the bad affects of drugs. In the 90's the Hulk handled HIV. They aren't just men & women in spandex anymore. In Japan, comics, or Manga, are mainly read by adults. They are violent & sometime have rape in them. So the bottom line is comic aren't for kids anymore. I've complied a list of what I think are recommended "comic" books to read. They can be found in most bookstore, on-line & in some library. For the most part, these are non-traditional stories:

A Contract with God: And Other Tenement Stories - Will Eisner - This is considered to use the term "graphic novel". Dealing with stories and memories from Eisner's childhood in a Bronx tenement, he explores the brutality, fragility, and tenderness possible among people living in close quarters close to the poverty line. The four stories here are tough but funny, deep but finely detailed, much like the traditional Jewish stories he drew upon to flavor his own work.

Maus - Art Spiegelman - It tells the story of the narrator, Artie, and his father Vladek, a Holocaust survivor. "Maus" is an important example of both Holocaust literature and of the graphic novel.

Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons - The story concerns a group called the Crimebusters and a plot to kill and discredit them. Moore's characterization is as sophisticated as any novel's. Importantly the costumes do not get in the way of the storytelling; rather they allow Moore to investigate issues of power and control.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill - In this 2 book set, it's 1898 and at the behest of M, the mysterious head of the secret Service, Champion Bond is dispatched to procure the services of Miss Mina Murray (nee Harker), adventurer Allan Quartermain, "Science-Pirate" Captain Nemo, Henry Jekyll (and his monstrous alter ego) and Hawley Griffin (a.k.a. the Invisible Man).

Sandman Series - Neil Gaimen - It's a series of 10 graphic novels. The protagonist of Sandman is Dream, the immortal anthropomorphic personification of dreams and storytelling. He is known by an array of names, most often Morpheus, but also Oneiros, Lord Shaper, Lord Kai'ckul, the Prince of Stories, and, rarely, "The Sandman". He is one of a family of seven siblings known as the Endless, each of whom personifies some aspect of reality, such as Death or Desire.

Strangers In Paradise - Terry Moore - The story primarily concerns the difficult relationship between two women, Helen Francine Peters (known simply as Francine) and Katina Marie Choovanski (Katchoo), and their friends David Qin and Gwynnethina Casey Bullocks-Femur (Casey). Francine considers Katchoo her best friend; Katchoo is in love with Francine. David is in love with Katchoo, a relationship which Katchoo herself is deeply confused about. It uses a non-linear approach to storytelling, putting in sequence elements of the story often years apart, and going back in time frequently.

V for Vendetta - Alan Moore & David Llyod - It is 1998 and a Fascist government has taken over the U.K. The only blot on its particular landscape is a lone terrorist who is systematically killing all the government personnel associated with a now destroyed secret concentration camp. Codename V is out for vengeance ... and an awful lot more.

Preacher - Garth Ennis - tells the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out preacher in the small Texas town of Annville. Custer was accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named 'Genesis' in an incident which killed his entire congregation and flattened his church. Custer, driven by a strong sense of right and wrong, goes on a journey across the United States attempting to (literally) find God, who abandoned Heaven the moment Genesis was born. He is joined by his old girlfriend Tulip O'Hare, as well as a hard-drinking Irish vampire named Cassidy.

Understanding Comics & Reinventing Comics - Scott McCloud - A comic book about comic books. McCloud explains the details of how comics work: how they're composed, read and understood. More than just a book about comics, this gets to the heart of how we deal with visual languages in general.

Kingdom Come - Alex Ross & Mark Waid - In this beautifully painted story, Superman and the Justice League in the near future try to control the growing population of largely amoral and dangerously irresponsible new superheroes. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and almost every other character from DC Comics must choose sides in what could be the final battle of them all.

Now these are only some suggestions & not a definite list. I'm sure I'm missing some other good books, but these are good to start.