Favourites & Recommendations: Comics and Manga

Eastman & Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the original 50-issue run)
awesome, epic & mature unlike the goofy cartoons

Alrighty here's a manga I'd like to recomend to you.

Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles


For anyone who's been around for a while in regards to manga (and anime) they may have come accross Cardcaptors (also known as Cardcaptor Sakura). say hello to some of the same characters who happen to be several years older and are the alternate universe versions of some old favourites.

The main characters are Syaoran and Sakura. Sakura was the main character in both the manga and the anime cardcaptors and syaoran was one of the side characters who played a role that did have him on the scene quite a bit. Now this is a pretty accurate description below

Sakura is the princess of Clow - and possessor of a mysterious, misunderstood power that promises to change the world.
Syaoran is her childhood friend and leader of the archaeological dig that took his father's life. They reside in an alternate reality where whatever you least expect can happen - and does.
When Sakura ventures to the dig site to declare her love for Syaoran, a puzzling symbol is uncovered - which triggers a remarkable quest. Now Syaoran embarks upon a desperate journey through other worlds - all in the name of saving Sakura.

The remarkable quest? That's to recover the pieces of her memory and soul. the reasons behind are described as the manga develops but it is great. You might want to have a look at the anime some time too.

also you'll meet two brand new characters too.



The two in the background. Fai and Kurogane. Awesome characters.


My recommendation doesn't feel up to scratch. (probably because I haven't slept and it's 6:45am) but I assure you this is worth having a look for.

By the way. CLAMP (who are the artist group who created it) have been behind some other great stuff like Angelic Layer, Chobits, Magic Knight Rayearth, xxxHolic, and several others. Sometime I'll get around to recommending them too.

If you're going to recommend Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, then I think xxxHolic should also be recommended. It's essentially one story from two different (and regularly intersecting) angles. I should note though that xxxHolic has a darker tone right from the beginning, and while still features fantastic elements, is set in a much more mundane environment.

Nothing long just that if you like almost non stop action with a good story you should read Claymore.

I would, without hesistation, recommend One Piece. It has incredibly complex character interaction and development which is belied by its DBZ-like humour.



Very seldom does the pace lag, and somehow it manages to fit in a universe's worth of characters while making each one memorable and unique. An extra-nice touch is the way that the opening panel of each chapter, which many authors use simply for showing a random character in a random pose, actually gives a glimpse of what's going on in the life of a character who's otherwise not featured in the chapter. Using this, it's not uncommon to see a villain who was defeated and left imprisoned in an earlier chapter break out and go through various adventures trying to catch up with our heroes until they show up in the actual story several chapters down the road.

The artwork is remarkably distinctive as compared to most of its samey-samey manga peers, stylised in such a way as to be quirky yet cool. If I could sum the entire manga up in one word, it would be "personality".

I could write an essay on the way different members of our hero's crew interact with each other, but I will simply say that if you watch, for example, Luffy and Usopp, you will definitely see character development in the way their best-friendship comes close to breaking at one point, and is never quite the same afterwards.

Oh... and its theme? PIRATES!!!!!!

Blankets

Blankets is a biography of Craig Thonpson; An emotional novel about a the first love of a boy raised in a Evangelical Christian culture. Definetly a good read for teens and adults 16 and older.

Maison Ikkoku was also a really good one, I really cried when i read it! I want to read it again now that I'm older.

Also on a pervier note:

It's like Love Hina and Harry Potter mixed! What could be better for us Otakus! Negi Springfield is living every 12 year olds dream.

I reccomened:
Bluntman and Chronic

If it's written by Kevin Smith, its gold. Get it. Now!

So, I've been on a bit of a comics binge of late, and as such have some new recommendations for here:

First (since I've just finished it) is Batman: Hush. It is excellent. I was quickly growing tired of Batman stories, The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns didn't appeal to me at all (Indeed, I found TDK a tedious slog without much redeeming it.) and since those are popularly regarded as two of the best Batman stories out there, I began to wonder if the Dark Knight was the hero for me.

Then I read Hush.

Excellent pacing. Excellent plot. As far as I'm a judge of these things excellent art. It didn't quite manage to keep me guessing to the end, but it came close. Just all-around perfect and amazing. Highly recommended to everyone.



Next comes 52. 52 is excellent. 52 has depth. 52 has surprises. 52 has excellent art (and amazing covers.) 52 has excellent characters.

52 does not have Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. Indeed, 52 is all about what the rest of the heroes do when the big three go missing for a year.

At the end of the last major DC event (Infinite Crisis. Yes, I know that technically Final Crisis is more recent, but I'm ignoring it for the sake of easy explanation.) Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all decided that they'd abandon their careers as heroes for a year to do some serious soul-searching.

But, of course, life moves on. New threats appear and need to be solved, even if the backbone of the Justice League has vanished.

52 tells the stories of Booster Gold, The Question, Steel, Black Adam, Animal Man, Starfire, Adam Strange, Lobo, Renee Montoya, and a whole bunch of other heroes (and villains. Man, the villains. They even brought Egg Fu back! And made him menacing!) as they recover from Infinite Crisis and work to keep Earth (and, indeed, the entire universe) safe.

It's an excellent series that gives all sorts of DC second (or fifth) stringers a chance to shine. Man do they ever shine.

The pacing, alas, is a little off. But since this was a weekly series that went on for a year, that's hardly unexpected. All of the stories, though, get excellent build-up to a solid climax and fitting ending.

Definitely worth a buy.



Finally, Green Lanterns: Sinestro Corps. War. A very nice series that gives the GL Corps. a chance to really shine. When you've got every Green Lantern fighting against an army of beings wielding the fear-fulled Yellow Rings that Sinestro makes, you've got a recipe for amazing battles (With excellent artwork. Somehow or other every Green Lantern and Yellow Lantern uses their power in a different way.) Throw in the Anti-Monitor, a being who could easily defeat Superman in a fight and who previously tried to destroy all of reality and the excellence just never stops.

Not deep. Not thoughtful. But a wonderful action series.

Originally Posted by Brother_Wolf

Blankets
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...kets_cover.jpg
Blankets is a biography of Craig Thonpson; An emotional novel about a the first love of a boy raised in a Evangelical Christian culture. Definetly a good read for teens and adults 16 and older.

I've heard good things about this, but have yet to pick it up. Next time I do a trade run I'll see if I can find it. Seems like it'd be a nice read.

Originally Posted by Ty

I reccomened:
Bluntman and Chronic
http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0...onic_super.jpg
If it's written by Kevin Smith, its gold. Get it. Now!

I'd recommend just getting Tales from the Clerks, as it collects all of his Askewniverse comics, including the Bluntman and Chronic ones. Along with stuff like "Walt Flanagan's Dog" and "Chasing Dogma." It's a fun little thing for Kevin Smith fans, for sure.

Originally Posted by John

First (since I've just finished it) is Batman: Hush. It is excellent. I was quickly growing tired of Batman stories, The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns didn't appeal to me at all (Indeed, I found TDK a tedious slog without much redeeming it.) and since those are popularly regarded as two of the best Batman stories out there, I began to wonder if the Dark Knight was the hero for me.

Then I read Hush.

Excellent pacing. Excellent plot. As far as I'm a judge of these things excellent art. It didn't quite manage to keep me guessing to the end, but it came close. Just all-around perfect and amazing. Highly recommended to everyone.

Every time I reread "Hush," I mourn a little bit more because of how far Jeph Loeb has fallen. He used to be one of the best writers out there, and now he's amongst the worst. It's such a shame.