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Post by Mario Di Giacomo on Mar 14, 2011 7:01:30 GMT -8
I think we had one of these in a previous iteration of the board, and it might drum up some discussion. This thread is just for posting stuff you think was fun, cool, or otherwise done well. Note that these are purely matters of opinion, and there's no need to be dogmatic. To quote an old-school comics reviewer: "If this was Biblical truth, your bushes would be burning." ;D So, you are not expected to agree with everyone's posts. All I ask is that if you disagree, you discuss it elsewhere on the board. This thread is for positive posts only. There are plenty of other threads for frothing nerdrage. (And no, "I'm positive that this sucks" does not count.  ) To open: I'm really starting to enjoy Sean Murphy's art. His style has elements of several artists I enjoy, from Simonson to Mignola, and even a little Tom Mandrake. Here are some examples of his recent stuff:    His faces take a little getting used to, I admit, but I love his compositions. |
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Post by jensaltmann on Mar 14, 2011 10:05:25 GMT -8
While I do have a few problems with the style (just minor esthetic quibbles), I really love how the energy just bursts out of the panels. This is the kind of art where I could sit back and just look at the art.
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Post by paulpogue on Mar 14, 2011 16:29:44 GMT -8
My positive thing and an early contender for Best Moment of Nerdglee 2011 was briefly on YouTube yesterday and will be seen again on the Tron DVD.
FLYNN LIVES.
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Post by K-Box on Mar 14, 2011 18:02:00 GMT -8
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Post by Mario Di Giacomo on Mar 14, 2011 18:08:08 GMT -8
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Post by Anders on Mar 14, 2011 22:51:11 GMT -8
Related to that first pic, I've enjoyed Grant Morrison's Joe the Barbarian. It had just the right blend of adventure, wimsy and mystic bullshit (using the term positively) for me and reminded me of why I liked Morrison in the first place: the energy, the mad ideas and the ability to take those mad ideas seriously but not too seriously.
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Post by jensaltmann on Mar 15, 2011 0:44:31 GMT -8
I'm currently reading Joe Abercrombie's trilogy The First Law. www.indiebound.org/hybrid?filter0=joe+abercrombie&x=0&y=0It's a fantasy trilogy. An empire is at war against two other empires at the same time, and the story follows a mage's quest for an artefact that might save them from the evil mage who caused the mess; a soldier's attempts to stay alive on the battlefield, and an Inquisitor (think secret police) who just wants to do his job. Very, very good stuff. It puts GRRM to shame, actually: likable but nuanced characters, epic adventures, and on top of it all it's completed. I'm trying to read it, as in: I get the volumes from the library as they become available. They're always loaned out. I had to wait a year between volumes one and two. Very, very recommended if you like fantasy. |
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Post by Mario Di Giacomo on Mar 15, 2011 8:40:37 GMT -8
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Post by Anders on Mar 15, 2011 12:37:51 GMT -8
I'll look into that series, Jens. I likes me some quality fantasy.
On that note, I was very impressed by Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. (It's the first part of a trilogy which I didn't know when I bought it. The second part is out but I'm waiting for it to get to a cheap pocket version; I don't know when the third part is due, so if you want to be sure it's finished before you start you should check that out.)
The story is about a famous hero telling his life's story the way it actually happened rather than how it's been retold by others. It's solidly written with good prose and a genuinely interesting story.
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Post by K-Box on Mar 15, 2011 22:30:49 GMT -8
John Carpenter's The Thing, retold from the point of view of The Thing.Sci-fi has gotten so caught up in homages and remakes and tie-ins and navel-gazing at its own genre tropes that, when you encounter a story that actually sets out to realize and convey an entirely alien perspective, it's refreshing in and of itself, but when it succeeds at such a goal as well as this story does, it's absolutely stunning to behold, because in reading this retelling, I actually felt the horror that The Thing must have experienced, once it finally understood what sets the fundamental nature of humanity irrevocably apart from its own. And yes, I recognize the irony of me saying this about a story that ties into a decades-old remake of an even older sci-fi classic.
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Post by jensaltmann on Mar 16, 2011 0:04:37 GMT -8
I'll look into that series, Jens. I likes me some quality fantasy. On that note, I was very impressed by Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. (It's the first part of a trilogy which I didn't know when I bought it. The second part is out but I'm waiting for it to get to a cheap pocket version; I don't know when the third part is due, so if you want to be sure it's finished before you start you should check that out.) The story is about a famous hero telling his life's story the way it actually happened rather than how it's been retold by others. It's solidly written with good prose and a genuinely interesting story. Sounds interesting. I'll give it a look when it's complete. |
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Post by jbhelfrich on Mar 16, 2011 6:38:27 GMT -8
Very, very good stuff. It puts GRRM to shame, actually: likable but nuanced characters, epic adventures, and on top of it all it's completed. I'm trying to read it, as in: I get the volumes from the library as they become available. They're always loaned out. I had to wait a year between volumes one and two. Very, very recommended if you like fantasy. Seconded. It's sword and sorcery, light on the sorcery. And the author does this amazing thing where it's third person narration, but the voice of the narrator changes depending on the viewpoint character at the moment. You'd have to read it to see. Minor Spoiler: It's also the most realistic ending of such a story I've ever read, meaning that it's horribly depressing. But still good.
Jens, when searching for other books by Abercrombie on Amazon, I found a bunch in German. I'm assuming these are translations of the First Law books, but I'm not sure. Any idea? |
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Post by jensaltmann on Mar 16, 2011 8:41:16 GMT -8
Jens, when searching for other books by Abercrombie on Amazon, I found a bunch in German. I'm assuming these are translations of the First Law books, but I'm not sure. Any idea? Very likely. If the title has -klingen in it (Königsklingen, Kriegsklingen, Feuerklingen, and there's this apparent prequel/tie-in Racheklingen), then it's The First Law in German. |
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Post by jbhelfrich on Mar 16, 2011 11:56:17 GMT -8
As I recall, yeah, those were it. There's a couple other prequels out there as well that I need to track down.
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Post by Mario Di Giacomo on Apr 12, 2011 8:01:40 GMT -8
All too easy...
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