The Top 5 Graphic novels/comics I have ever read

Here is a list of my all time favourite graphic novels in the order of Best First :)

Batman: year one - Frank Miller

I know, there are hundreds of Batman comics out there, but trust me, if you want to get to the crux of Batman, then this is the book you need to read!
This flawless piece of art was the inspiration for 'Batman Begins', this book is as much about Commissioner Gordon as it is about Bruce Wayne's foray into the night dressed up as a bat! The art and the colouring is of the classic style of comics, very unlike the graphic complex comics that we see today, the artwork is simple yet compelling, the story is wonderful and this one is a must read!

Buddha - Osamu Tezuka


Osamu Tezuka is definitely the GOD of comics/manga/ everything.
This was his last epic, and what an epic this is :) As the name suggests the set of 8 books, tell us the story of Buddha, from his birth to his Moksha. Tezuka introduces some ficitonal characters to add comic relief and move the story along.
This piece of work narrowly misses being my most favourite, and that because I LOVE Batman and am biased :)

This book intorduced me to Tezuka and his art and since then I have been hooked!

Sandman - Neil Gaiman

I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman's writing, American Gods, Neverwhere etc but Sandman his graphic novel about the Lord of dreams a.k.a Morpheus is unparralled.
There has been no protagonist darker that the lord of dreams, the Sandman pack consisting of over 200 books is a long read, but each subset can be read on its own, though it interwines with the others. I have the entire collection in .cbr format, and its a great read!

I wonder how Gaiman could dream up of something like this :P

Sin City - Frank Miller


Unconventional artwork(to my untrained eye), fast paced story telling, with the central theme being vengeance, it cannot get better. Add Frank Miller to the equation and you get a dynamite of a Graphic novel.
Awesome!


Ode to Kirihito - Osamu Tezuka


This is an 800 odd page epic, I am reading it as I compose this post. It cost around 1200 bucks and I was in two minds, I had never heard a lot of it before, and did not know if this was worth the investment. I however knew that this was an Osamu Tezuka book and my mind was made up. Amu and I spent hours in Landmark before deciding to buy this though :)

It has been a great buy, Tezuka does not dissapoint in this medical thriller about a disease that turns its victims into dog like beings before taking their lives, and how Kirihito, a young doctor decides to get to the bottom of the cause for the disease only to succumb to it while doing his research in a remote eerie village that seems to be the source of the disease.

He does however manage to figure out what causes the disease, but a plot by some authorities and a set of unfortunate circumstances ensures that he travels far and wide, getting kidnapped to be displayed in a freak show, getting beaten up mercilessly by villagers, hunted by his foes and aided by some strange allies he makes in his journey.

I am reading it and I am loving it. Tezuka is GOD :)



Other books that are wonderful:

300 - Frank Miller
Made popular by the movie, but a classic book in itself!

KnightFall/Broken Bat
Bane breaks Batman's back (Check out the alliteration :P)

Fables- Bill
Read a post regarding this I made 4 years ago :)

Lucifer
Oh yes, Lucifer the fallen one makes an awesome hero, a worthy protagonist, as he embarks on a set of adventures with oodles of style and charisma.


Books that I have not yet read but have the potential to be good:

- Bone by Jeff Smith
- Y, the Last man


Book(s) that I have read but find over rated!

- Watchmen by Alan Moore (Though Rorsharch is one of my favorite characters)

Hmmm seems like my blog just reviews movies....siggggh

Watchmen

Now I consider the Alan Moore's cult classic graphic novel an effort that is just above average, except for the Rorschach character who is exceptional, I would state the same about the movie. Watch it for Rorschach if nothing else, but beware, this one is a 3 hour long movie that takes some watching, it stays quite loyal to the original graphic novel, but then by now, Zack Snyder must be pretty used to taking comic books and making them into movies :)
You won't recognise even a single actor, unless you are a huuuge movie buff, but that one must say is one of the positives from this movie.

'Who watches the Watchmen' should one ask? heh.

The Wrestler

A wonderfully made movie, one you would enjoy if you like drama. I am not a huge fan of Mickey Rourke, but like in 'Angel Heart' before, he impresses again here as an aging professional wrestler who struggles with the 'real' life outside the ring.
Unfortunately, another performance by Marisa Tomei, where she has to strip (professionally for this character she plays), I bemoan the loss of a great actress such as her.

The Reader

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes do a great job in this movie, I quite enjoyed it and thought it had parts that impressed and some that were average. But watchable nevertheless.
p.s: I read Chekov's "Lady with the dog" but was not impressed.

Lives of Others

Another movie depcting life in Germany, East Germany of the 1980's this time and this one is a German movie.
We follow the lives of 3 characters, A Dramatist, his girlfriend who is an actress and a Secret Service surveillance officer who is given the job spying on them. Mostly we get to know the characters from the point of view of the Secret Service officer and just like him we get drawn to their lives and the movie that is slow to begin with grips us suddenly, as we begin to relate to the principal characters, including the lonely SS officer who from being a staunch socialist soon starts to draw inspiration and changes, after following the lives of the very people he is spying on

A brilliant movie, one that I rate very highly.

Vertigo

Alfred Hitchcock present's Kim Novak and James Stewart in Vertigo!
Brilliantly made movie, a true classic. Must Watch!

An Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain

Hugh Grant plays a cartographer, who along with his senior visits a small Welsh village, to chart the height of a local hill. This is 1917, the World War is on and the quaint village and its people take offence to their mountain being called a hill!
They reckon it is over a 1000 feet high and must be called a mountain but the Catographer measures its height as being 986 feet, 14 feet short of a mountain.

Romance and hilarity ensue in this wonderful plot, as the villagers ensure that the hill becomes a mountain.

Nice movie!