Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

I love western comics and graphic novels. But there are not very many out there. I was just wondering what everyone's favorite westerns were and if you could recommend any. I personally love the Jonah hex books, the classics from albano too jimmy and Justin gray's reboot. And Jonah hex two gun mojo from lansdale is my favorite. Some other western books I've read, Bloody Chester, desperadoes, loveless, caliber, el diablo, death valley.

Just picked up 17 issues of kid colt outlaw (early 60's Marvel). Can't wait to check em out.

I looked around for a collected edition of kid colt outlaw but didnt find any. I probably would have pick it up by now if so, i love the old western comics. I may have to break down and get the single issues. I'm really interested in picking up the sixth gun series, i've seen alot of good reviews.

Just ordered two gun mojo on your recommendation .
Sounds cool.
Will give review when read it.
Thanks
Dave

Doug Wildey's Rio

Rio

is enjoyable, as I recall, though I haven't read any in a long time.

Another dandy one (art-wise, anyway, though the stories themselves could be stronger) is Alex Toth's run on Zorro, which has recently been republished in its entirety, and in colour. It's been reprinted in black and white before, but I don't recall a colour edition until now:

Alex Toth's Zorro: The Complete Dell Comics Adventures

One of my favourite Western comics, though, is a joke, rather than a straight western: the old Mad parody of "High Noon," "Hah! Noon!" written by Harvey Kurtzman and drawn by the brilliant Jack Davis:

http://ethunter1.blogspot.ca/2010/01/...

Carl Barks did some pretty funny pseudo-Westerns with Donald Duck, as did Floyd Gottfredson with Mickey Mouse.

Oddly, I'm having a hard time thinking of straight western comics I've read. I haven't even read and Blueberry; I have one volume of it, read the first coiple of pages, wasn't impressed. I do have some issues of the old Charlton Billy the Kid comic around somewhere, but I recall them as being pretty mediocre.

Dave- i hope u like it and yeah let me know what you think. I think its a great jonah hex story and the art is really gritty, which is perfect for a western imo. Dominick- I just checked Rio out on amazon and it sounds really cool. next purchase will probably be that. I have heard of blueberry and was wondering about it, but i'll prolly skip it now. Thanks

This is a Danish list of a lot of Westerns (comic). Most are probably from France/Belgium, but some are probably translated to English. Most of them probably have the same name in Danish and English.

http://comicwiki.dk/wiki/Kategori:Wes...


Below is some of the best:

You miss the best of them all, Blueberry


Lucky Luke, Euro Classic and very well known in the European countries.

Al Crane


Buddy Longway


Durango
http://comicwiki.dk/wiki/Durango_(serie)

Jim Cutlass


Red Kelly (Greg/Hermann)
http://www.westerncomics.webbyen.dk/v...

Jerry Spring (Jijé)
The guy who learned Moebius to draw.
http://comicwiki.dk/wiki/Jerry_Spring

Jon Cartland
http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Cartla...

Cool, I don't believe I've read any foreign westerns. I picked up The Long Haul recently and I believe it's French, but haven't read it yet. From what ive heard its like a western italian job. I'll check these out tho, thanks.

this thread is exactly what I've been looking for. I haven't read any westerns, but right now I'm reading Scalped and I just want to read some old school western stuff.

If you want the best then start with Blueberry, it is one of the best series ever. Believe me, it is. The first few albums are however not as good as the rest(both stories and artwork), but Giraud developed his style a lot. Blueberry is actually one long continuing story, but can be read if you start e.g. from "The Iron Horse".

Below you can see how the Blueberry figure developed over time (at the right). The creators are Charlier and Giraud (Moebius) some of the best creators in comics and very well known in Europe.

http://comicwiki.dk/wiki/Blueberry

At Wikipedia you can see which albums which are out in English and the order you should read them. I suggest you start with "The Iron Horse" and the three continuing albums (this is one story) and what a story and artwork.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberr...

I would recommend Showcase Presents Jonah Hex. The first Jonah Hex stories are in this. It very oldschool western, gritty, and dark. It reminds me of the Clint Eastwood western movies. It was written in the late 70s i believe. Some really great stories in there. Or if want a not so dark character like jonah hex i would try Showcase Presents Batlash. I havent read it yet (on my long list of to reads) but i have heard alot of goodthings about it. Batlash is more of a Maverick kind of character. Ive been real interested in Scalped lately. Ima have to check it out.

thanks austin, I'll have to check out some Jonah Hex, I don't know anything about him other than that awful movie that was made. I like dark stuff so I will probably give Jonah a head start over Batlash. Yeah, I've only read the first two trade paperbacks of Scalped, but the story is really interesting, I have never read anything that took place on a native american reservation. While reading it, you just get the sense that there is a lot going on there.

Oh the movie was horrible. The early jonah hex doesnt have the supernatural aspect like talking to the dead, their more just like straight up westerns. I'm glad i didnt know much about jonah hex when the movie came out, woulda been so disappointed. Still didnt like it even tho i didnt know the character...such a shame cause josh brolin was a good choice for jonah hex. And like i said the comics were written in the 70s by dc, so they wont be as dark like today....but back then i think they would have been.

I never watched the movie, because I heard how bad it was. I look forward to reading the comics though.

if you hated the Jonah Hex movie, do yourself a favor and DO NOT watch the Blueberry movie... unless you want to see Julia Lewis swimming under water nekked... but then again, if you need to see Julia Lewis nekked, well you may have issues to deal with ;-)

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Stephen King's Dark Tower/Gunslinger series. If you're a manga fan, there's also Nobuhiro Wakatsuki's Gun Blaze West, which is a straight-up western as is Trigun.

Also, the Preacher series is kind of a western.

Paul wrote: "if you hated the Jonah Hex movie, do yourself a favor and DO NOT watch the Blueberry movie... unless you want to see Julia Lewis swimming under water nekked... but then again, if you need to see J..."

Yes, the Blueberry movie is one of the worst movies ever. The Modesty Blaise movies are also pretty bad. Strange, both could have been great movies if made properly. These two series are both in my top 5 of best comic series ever.

LaShaun wrote: "Also, the Preacher series is kind of a western."

Especially the parts with the Saint of Killers, which was a deliberate knock-off hommage to the bad-ass Clint Eastwood cow-boy days.

Scalped

LeShaun- I've been interested in checking out dark tower series. The reviews seemed really positive.

I heard there is a omnibus version of the dark tower series coming out soon. I'll prolly just get that. I prefer omnibus over trades

Paul wrote: "if you hated the Jonah Hex movie, do yourself a favor and DO NOT watch the Blueberry movie... unless you want to see Julia Lewis swimming under water nekked... but then again, if you need to see J..."

There's a Blueberry movie?

Dominick wrote: "There's a Blueberry movie?"

Yep, and it actually has some pretty nice images... but the story and the acting are crappola

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276830/?...



don't say you weren't warned...

Hunh. Some decent cast members, but given that I'd never ewven heard of it, I'm guessing that it pretty much totally tanked.

Paul wrote: "if you hated the Jonah Hex movie, do yourself a favor and DO NOT watch the Blueberry movie... unless you want to see Julia Lewis swimming under water nekked... but then again, if you need to see J..."

is it so bad that its good or plain bad? I can get down with some so bad its good type of movies.

well let's just say that it rates up there with Jonah Hex and Howard the Duck.
Happily, I had managed to erase most of it from my memory, but dammit, chattin about it here is bringing them back!

Finished Jonah Hex Two Gun Mojo
Great stuff.
Indians, strange bad guys, buffalo soldiers etc
Slo go smith reminded me of the cool ole dude in Jeremiah Johnson.
I dug Hex's analytical satire as his thoughts are expressed throughout the story
My favorite place, Gettysburg, mentioned several times.
Huzzah!
Would have given 5 stars but violence a little excessive.

Which Jonah Hex should I read next?

Thanks for advice
Dave

howard the duck movie, /shudder. has anyone read the gotham city western? I cant remember what its called.

Another good one. In Danish it was called "Indians" by Hans Kresse

http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_sb_noss...



Belgian comic: Zilverpijl by Frank Sels (Silver Arrow if translated).
https://www.google.dk/search?hl=da&am...

Lindsey- All Star Western. I read the first three issues. Im going to pick up the trade soon. What I read I liked tho. The Jonah Hex and Arkham team up is pretty cool. And I really liked the art. The back up stories were pretty interesting too...some better then others tho.

Dave- Well the rebooted series is good, the first book is Jonah Hex Face Full of Violence Vol 1. It a little different the two gun mojo tho, instead of one full story, this is about 5 or 6 short stories. There pretty much Jonah going from bounty to bounty. And each story tells a little more about Jonah's character and his past. That's how's the series was in the beginning in the 70s, done in a "one in done" style. Another personal fav of mine is Jonah Hex No Way Back. This is just one full story through out the book. I love the art in this, very gritty and rough, which is perfect for a western. And there is a good heartfelt story. I heard some people didn't like the art in it, but I was a fan. I believe this is the last book of the rebooted series.

I believe there are 12 trades in the rebooted jimmy palmiotti and Justin gray Jonah Hex series. Then after that is the new 52 All Star Western series.

Thanks
Will check out the Jonah hex as recommended
Dave

Austin- cool, I will read anything if the art is cool enough.

Just finished Batlash Guns and Roses. Pretty good little origin of Batlash. The story wasn't anything new but still enjoyed it. The dialogue at times was corny and hokey, lots of western slang, which is usually fine in a western book, but I feel they overused it a little much. The art is great, had a classic style to it. A solid introduction to Batlash.

I repeat a post that i write to another similar question about westen: I am a great fan of westerns myself and also recommend The Sixth Gun (with sobrenatural stuff: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...) and I recommend these following classics:

- Wild Bill is dead: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...
- Wanted: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
- Bouncer: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27...
- Fort Wheeling: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57...
- Blueberry: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20...
- Durango: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79...
- All Star Western: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...
- Emerald (it's a good manga): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...