Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

Personally, I'm going with young Scott Snyder. He knows how to capture the essence of each character, no matter the character; I don't see him ever being questioned on a character's behavior, or even a line of dialogue.

But more importantly; he knows how to challenge the characters and the reader. We almost always know who's going to win - but he knows how to sow those seeds of doubt. The Court of Owls put Batman through hell; aside from Deacon Blackfire and Bane, no one has run him down that hard; and they aren't done yet.

Alec Holland/The Swamp Thing has gone through tougher trials than almost all of Alan Moore's run; there is finally an enemy, an element, that puts his godlike power in check; and that last reveal is just devastating. Can't wait to see more of his work.

Who's your pick?

Tough one. I'm going to go for Dan Slott. He's got a way with character and a love for the history that shines through (but not in a way that you need to know it, like say Kurt Busiek).

I'm gonna go with Paul Levitz, since he's writing most of the monthlies I am still following. And doing it well, while being part of the "new 52," but still able to appeal to long-time fans.

Robert wrote: "I'm gonna go with Paul Levitz, since he's writing most of the monthlies I am still following. And doing it well, while being part of the "new 52," but still able to appeal to long-time fans."

I picked up World's Finest and enjoyed it a lot. One thing (and it's really petty), I hate that Power Girl costume. I've got no great love for the prior version but that....too busy. What's your take?

Not a huge fan of the new costume, but definitely a step in the right direction.

I like Brian Michel Bendis who wrote Ultimate Spider-man.

I'm really digging Jeff Lemire (Animal Man, Green Arrow, and Trillium), BKV (Saga and The Private Eye), and Jason Aaron (Wolverine and the X-men and Thor).

'kris wrote: "I'm really digging Jeff Lemire (Animal Man, Green Arrow, and Trillium), BKV (Saga and The Private Eye), and Jason Aaron (Wolverine and the X-men and Thor)."

I loved that first issue of Trillium! Looks like it will be an interesting series.

I'm going with Mark Waid on Daredevil. He's taken arguably the darkest character in the Marvel Universe and evolved him into a fun, entertaining series. My favorite run of a series was Frank Miller's Daredevil of the mid-80s and this new somewhat lighthearted spin has really impressed me. I'm also a huge fan of Matt Fraction who took a character I could really care less about (Hawkeye) and created a brilliant series that I look forward to reading every month.

I've wanted to try the newer Daredevils for a long time now. The way the character is handled intrigues me very much, the darkness and everything.

And have to agree Matt Fractions Hawkeye is great! The way he is shown as an ordinary man trying to make sence of his inordinary life appeals to me greatly. And Jason Ajas art is awesome! Kate Bishop and Lucky are nice touches.

I don't have "a" single favourite author, there are too many of them who I really love like Alan Moore, Peter Milligan, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis and a bunch more. But if I had to highlight one it would be Ed Brubaker who impressed me most in the recent past.

Ups, maybe my other comment is a little bit off, since this is supposed to be about Superheros. Well when it comes to those, I never liked anything more than Grant Morrison's run on Doom Patrol.

My best current super author is Scott Snyder since I loved his Batman work.

I would find it hard to choose between BKV, Ed Brubaker and Gail Simone. (Anyone else massively excited for Tomb Raider?)

Stefani - SpelingExpirt wrote: "I would find it hard to choose between BKV, Ed Brubaker and Gail Simone. (Anyone else massively excited for Tomb Raider?)"

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Brian K. Vaughan!

For me, Robert Kirkman for his work on Invincible. Not only do I feel like it's vastly above all but the highest quality books from the big 2, it's my favorite comic currently running, super or no super.

Tommy wrote: "For me, Robert Kirkman for his work on Invincible. Not only do I feel like it's vastly above all but the highest quality books from the big 2, it's my favorite comic currently running, super or no ..."

Oh yeah! I loved Robert Kirkman's work on Invincible also!!!

Ronyell wrote: "Oh yeah! I loved Robert Kirkman's work on Invincible also!!! "


The Invincible love alone gets you friend requested haha.

Tommy wrote: "Ronyell wrote: "Oh yeah! I loved Robert Kirkman's work on Invincible also!!! "


The Invincible love alone gets you friend requested haha."

Thanks for the friend request by the way! :D

Charles Soule is killing it these days.

Don't know if I'd call him the best, but Nick Spencer is an interesting writer. Morning Glories is possibly the most complex story line ever written in comics and it was enough to get Marvel to notice him and pull him in on some of their bigger titles. No clue if even Spencer has a clear idea where Morning Glories is going these days. It may be too tangled for anyone to unravel at this point.

I'm an unapologetic Kieron Gillen fanboy. He's not doing much super-work right now, though, sadly. I love Kelly Sue DeConnick, and I think she writes the most human characters in comics. I'm loving what Bendis is doing on the X-titles. I always love anything Peter David writes.

But Al Ewing is doing some fantastic work right now, on Loki and Mighty Avengers. It's a tragedy that Greg frigging Land was the artist for Mighty Avengers, because Ewing's killing it on the writing, and he deserves an artist who isn't a giant hack.

I just recently got back into reading comics/graphic novels but Ed Brubaker one of my favorite writers in any medium. He's really mastered the craft in such outings as Death of Captain America and - one of my personal favorites- The Winter Soldier. He adds so many layers and his characters are always complete.

Also Charles Soule work on the new Superman/Wonder Woman series was brilliant and is one of my favorite books of the year.

Sholund IL wrote: "I just recently got back into reading comics/graphic novels but Ed Brubaker one of my favorite writers in any medium. He's really mastered the craft in such outings as Death of Captain America and ..."

Ed Brubaker is my current favorite writer in comics and has been probably since he was on Cap and Daredevil. On the basis of the first two issues, I think The Fade Out #1will likely be my favorite series by him. The first issue had a magazine sized variant edition with extra material designed to look like a vintage Hollywood gossip magazine. I managed to get a copy and it was beautifully done. I wish they could do the whole series that way.

I've also been enjoying Superman/Wonder Woman, which reminded me of another writer- Brian Azzarello, who has been killing it on Wonder Woman for nearly three years. I think the thing I like most about the series is it's self contained. No nasty crossover events to get in the way of the story. It's quite a bit different from other takes on the character I've read.

David wrote: "Sholund IL wrote: "I just recently got back into reading comics/graphic novels but Ed Brubaker one of my favorite writers in any medium. He's really mastered the craft in such outings as Death of C..."

I definitely need to check out Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America! I've been hearing nothing but good things about his run!

Based on my "most read authors", I'd go with Bill Willingham (32 read). Except I haven't read anything by him since January 2013. So he's out.

Second most read would be Brian K. Vaughan's 31. While September 2014 isn't that far in the past, which is the last time I read him, it still isn't current.

So further down the list I go. To Ed Brubaker's 30 works read. Just this year I've been finishing up his run in the Catwoman universe that occurred sometime in the early 2000s. I especially liked his work in the series: Catwoman, Gotham Central, and Velvet.

The Fade Out started out interesting, but I quickly lost interest in issues 2 and 3 and probably will not continue reading it. I'd probably have continued if I hadn't read other things by him that fizzled. Like Fatale.

I have one book of his on my to read list. Velvet volume 2. And one book on maybe read: Batman: Bruce Wayne - Fugitive.

It's possible I didn't like his turn on Winter Soldier because I didn't have a clue who the characters were or what was going on. I'm not as familiar with Marvel.

In a way it's interesting how he is listed here separately for his work on Marvel, and DC Comics (that'd be me with DC Comics). Separately as in two different people mention him as favorite for his runs in two different universes. I didn't like Fade Out, but I did like some of his other Image stuff, so that isn't a separate .. um . . thing.

Well, maybe not that interesting. I see now that some people that were quoted no longer have their full comments on this thread so maybe it's just the way things look now.