I like comic books. Mostly for the beautiful artwork and the dynamic storytelling. Also for the characters.

One series I enjoyed was X-Men: First Class, because it's about the early days, when the X-Men were happy teenagers. I like their characters.

I also enjoy Spiderman comics (at least the ones I've read).

This thread has two purposes: discuss comic books in general, and share your favorite series, and why they are your favorite. (We can start new threads for specific series if discussion on them gets too big.)

Please share!

You beat me to it.

I like the Avengers comics, and the Captain America ones.

Right now, I've been reading the classic G.I. Joe comics because those have been what my brother has been getting from the library. The relationship between Snake-Eyes and Storm-Shadow is probably my favorite rivalry in all of fiction. That and Snake-Eyes is just an amazing character.

Once I can get back to that library more frequently, I'll probably get back to reading more comic books.

Heehee, I had an idea you liked comic books, too.

I realized recently that in comics, strong, consistent characters are just as important as they are in non-visual media. Maybe more important. It's not enough to draw the character correctly; you have to make him act how he would act, say what he would say.

Another series I like is Wolverine: First Class, because the relationship between gruff, unsociable Wolverine and chatty, innocent Kitty is really fun to watch. I think she brings out his soft, protective side.

I think I like Captain America, but I have not gotten my hands on many of his stories.

Yup.

Exactly, which is why Superman has had so trouble recently. DC can't figure out how to portray him. Things weren't staying the same.

I'll have to find some of those X-Men comics, they sound good.

I started with a collection of the original Captain America stories from the 60s.

Oh, I've read a couple of those old ones.

The art is not as high-quality as in modern comics, but I enjoy [what I've read of] the old comic books, for their high morals. They also show how people thought back then.

Yeah, that was before they could use computers in their art like we do, and they were black and white.

They did have a censorship code they had to follow back then as well.

Yeah, though it can be a bit disconcerting at times though.

Do you mean hard to understand?

I love the Tintin comics, those are pretty much the only ones I like.
Also I kind of liked Mouseguard.
I do like the quaint artwork in some of the older superhero comics such as Batman, Spiderman, and captain america. But as far as the stories go I was never able to get through any.

One problem I have with some of the superhero comics (I've only read Marvel superheros so far) is that they can get weird sometimes. Alternate universes, parallel dimensions, resurrection...I like the series I mentioned because they are not too weird. (That sounds kind of funny since they are about people with superpowers. )

No, disconcerting.

DC can get even weirder with those elements.

I don't think I've ever read any comic books.

There's a view that they're a waste of time, but it's not really true.

I just read this rather short article on 29 Days of Fantasy which y'all might be interested in.

http://thomasaknight.com/blog.php?id=43

Just like regular books and movies, whether it's a waste of time or not depends on the story. With some comic books (I have not read very many; only what I could get my hands on for free), I finished it and thought, "Wow, that was a beautifully artful and compelling story. I loved that one!" With others: "Wow, I wish I hadn't read that. Too much language, bad role models---I should have just gone to bed."

*reads article* I completely agree with the author. The superhero comics are a special blend of sci-fi and fantasy.

A library that I go to has a bunch of comic books, but the variety isn't as big as it could be.

I've read some of those as well, but not many.

That it is.

Right, our favorite library has a small collection of comic books. They seem to be expanding it, though. It's probably proven popular.

I've also managed to get a few free comics from the Chrome Marvel app. The app itself is free, but most of the books in there are not.

Come to think of it, I'd probably enjoy non-fantasy comics. I enjoyed reading a "graphic novel" version of the Bible.

I've looked at those.

It's Marvel, I think that has free digital comics on Mondays. I don't know if DC has anything similar.

Free digital comics on Mondays? Tell me more, please!

It's on their website, I think, but I don't much about it.

But, go to www.marvel.com, browse comics, and then select the character/series and there's a little blue button that lists all the free online ones they're in.

Thanks! I saw a couple new free ones on the app today, and they both look good. I'm off to enjoy.

Have fun!