graphic novels

Online graphic novel set in Paris - "The Killer." Looks great playing in Flash. I definitely want to check this out later.

After reading Ender's Game I found that Card has tried his hand in the world of Comics. I'm also a fan of the Marvel Ultimate continuity, so I decided to give Ultimate Iron Man a read.

The art by Andy Kubert is excellent, as always. Card has an interesting take on Tony Stark. Traditionalist fans of the man in the tin can may not like Card's take, but after reading Ender's Game I actually really liked it. There are definitely some similarities between Ender's Game and Ultimate Iron Man, but don't let that sway your decision. Ultimate Iron Man is only a 5 issue arc, so it's a very quick read.

If ya like Iron Man or Card definitely give this one a read.

Quoted: Amazon.com: Ultimate Iron Man Volume 1 Premiere HC by Orson Scott Card & Andy Kubert - Written by Orson Scott Card. The most imaginative, groundbreaking comic of 2005! International bestseller, four-time Hugo award, two-time Nebula award and World Fantasy Award winner Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Shadow Puppets) comes to the Ultimate Universe. He's joined by industry legend Andy Kubert (Ultimate X-Men, Marvel 1602, Wolverine: Origin) to show the shocking beginning of Ultimate Iron Man! If you thought The Ultimates told you everything you needed to know about Ultimate Iron Man, think again! Collects Ultimate Iron Man #1-5.

what i'm currently reading.

pretty darn good thus far.

just finished reading the entire bone series. it's a wonderful fairly tale story. it's set in a fantasy relm where dragons, giant bees, rat creatures, cats the size of houses roam freely.

the story starts out sweet and something of a children's story but as the story progresses it becomes richer and deeper for older readers. there are great battles, twists and turns, folklore and funny moments - it's really good stuff.

i would highly recommend you read it if you like :
- the first few harry potter books
- LOTR

Quoted: Amazon.com: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville: Books: Jeff Smith by Jeff Smith

currently reading this comic series - it's a spin off from 'the sandman' if that makes sense... in the sandman lucifer appears as a character in it - he basically decides to quit being the ruler of hell...

this series is basically continuing from that point. thus far, pretty darn good. he has done an errand for god, in return he gets to ask for anything he wants... he then went on a small trip to confirm that his gift was good - and that's where i'm at. i'm excited to see where the story will lead - mainly cause the comic series has an end, so i'm hoping the writer did a good job of doing a holistic story arc... we'll see.

Quoted: Amazon.com: Lucifer: Devil in the Gateway, Book 1: Books: Mike Carey by Mike Carey

read volume 1 - 3 of the goon. it's an interesting comic series which mixes comedy, action, horror, crime all into one.

if you're a comic geek think - hellboy + sin city + daffy duck. okay maybe not daffy duck, but you get the idea.

the main characters are Goon and his right hand fella Franky. they work for a mob leader whose in hiding. the only other mob / gang in this town is a gang of zombies lead by the zombie priest (yeah - another comic book with zombies). what makes this series so interesting are the following.

1. story - pretty darn good. especially the origin of goon.
2. creative characters - they have octopus flying from massive balloons - that's pretty darn cool. they also have a character called the buzzard which needs to eat the dead in order to survive.
3. random silliness which breaks up the serious, scary bits of the comic series. (they have random orangutans which bursts into flame)

for these and other reasons i'd give it a read. here's what wikipedia had to say :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goon

so i just finished reading issues 1 - 25 of the walking dead. i first came aware of it because of eric's dot http://bluedot.us/users/eric/dot/67803333199 on this comic series. read what wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead had to say and i became interested.

here's my review - the first few issues weren't that interesting. you have a cop who gets shot - goes into a coma wakes up to find... yup you got it, zombies. like most horror flicks it seems like a typical storyline. he goes out and finds some peeps - decides to find his wife and kid by heading to his mother-in-laws... you seeing a pattern.

he goes to atlanta in hopes of finding his family and ends up meeting a group of survivors. okay - the set up is done, so what makes this story different from every other zombie movie story line? well - the character development and the fact it's a continuing storyline. meaning in a zombie flick it has the setup, minor character development, death and some random survivors and then it's over. in this story line it continues more then just a day / a week / etc... by issue 25 the amount of time passed was bout 6 months, and the strain of it was starting to affect the survivors in various ways.

okay i'm rambling - bottom line, surprisingly good. would recommend that you give it a read - meaning not just read issue one, but read up to issue 5-10 to get the story development, character development and interactions between characters.

finally got around to reading the 'Watchmen' by alan moore - perhaps that name isn't familiar - but in the comic book industry his hot stuff. he also wrote V for Vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell and many others.

i was somewhat hesitant to read this graphic novel, mainly cause i've seen it before and didn't care for the art work - but i was reassured that it was a great story. after reading it... i thought i was okay at best. it was mildly interesting at best - but on the flip side it could also be because i've read it so late - meaning Watchmen got rave reviews because at the time the story was published (1986/87) the themes / story that was presented was never done before in comics (or was very rare).

everyone i've spoken to who have read this book loved it - it has also recieved various awards (which you can learn more about at wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen) but i personally thought it was just okay.

Quoted: Amazon.com: Watchmen: Books: Alan Moore,Dave Gibbons by Alan Moore,Dave Gibbons

so finished reading this collection and was/am very disappointed. the art work is amazing. but the work seems more like random ramblings - especially the second half.

the first half introduced interesting characters with hopes of a plot / storyline, but as the book progresses it seems it's more about the art / layout of the page then moving the story anywhere interesting.

in case you don't know who ashley wood is here are some links:
http://www.ashleywoodartist.com/
http://ashleybambaland.blogspot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Wood