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Rufus
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Post by Rufus »

Mr Bill wrote:Are you interested in zombie comics generally?
Most of the comics that I've read are the obvious ones that people recommend (Y, Transmetropolitan, Invisibles etc) so as far as zombie comics go I've only actually read The Walking Dead. I didn't know about Blackgas, but I've just looked it up and ordered it. Have you got any more zombie recommendations?
Mr Bill wrote:Anybody tried the Battle Royale manga?
Read a few volumes but it didn't really grab me - I really liked the film and I actually thought the lack of backstory was a feature. Might try it again though. I've heard bad things about the English version of the novel, apparently it's really badly translated.
Other manga-to-film that I've read:
Oldboy - This starts off similarly to the film then diverges a lot. It's OK, but much more like a conventional thriller than the film.
Uzumaki - A lot better than the film, genuinely disturbing rather than quirky and played for laughs.
Mr Bill
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Post by Mr Bill »

Rufus wrote:
Mr Bill wrote:Are you interested in zombie comics generally?
Most of the comics that I've read are the obvious ones that people recommend (Y, Transmetropolitan, Invisibles etc) so as far as zombie comics go I've only actually read The Walking Dead. I didn't know about Blackgas, but I've just looked it up and ordered it. Have you got any more zombie recommendations?
Mr Bill wrote:Anybody tried the Battle Royale manga?
Read a few volumes but it didn't really grab me - I really liked the film and I actually thought the lack of backstory was a feature. Might try it again though. I've heard bad things about the English version of the novel, apparently it's really badly translated.
Other manga-to-film that I've read:
Oldboy - This starts off similarly to the film then diverges a lot. It's OK, but much more like a conventional thriller than the film.
Uzumaki - A lot better than the film, genuinely disturbing rather than quirky and played for laughs.
Zombie comic recommendations? Sincerely, you've made my day by asking,
check out these:
-Remains, by Steve Niles (big horror comics author, wrote 30 Days of Night) its expensive and short and i'm not as big a Niles fan as others but is very beautifully illustrated and a pretty good yarn. Niles has also adapted original Dawn of the Dead to comic book form, is well done but nothing at all new if you know the film.
-Zombie Proof, pretty obscure but great zombie 3 comic series from Moonstone comics, find it if you can.
-XXXombies, Remender and Moore from Image comics, clue's in the title zombies in porno-land, read it to believe it.
-Zombies, series from IDW two arks complete Zombies Feast and Zombies Eclipse of the Dead, both available in tp i believe, Zombies Hunters not finished yet.
-Deadworld, classic zombie comic franchise, see what's available start as early as possible in complete arcs, two arcs i'm collecting are still unfinished.
-Living Dead series from Avatar comics, begins with Escape of the Living Dead 5 issue arc, also Plague of the Living Dead and official prequel, George A Romero's Night of the Living Dead The Beginning, as well as many others.
-Toetags, also George A Romero but this time from DC comics 6 issue series.
-Raise the Dead, 4 issue series from Dynamite.
-Living with the Dead, 3 issue from Dark Horse.
-Everybody's Dead, 5 issue from IDW.
-Xombie Reanimated, 5 issue from DDP funny, great dead parrot joke!
-Graveslinger, 4 issue wild west zombies from Image/Shadowline
-Zombie (and follow up The Zombie Simon Garth) from Marvel Max 4 issues each.
-Zombie Sama, short prestige format available from two different publishers- one in colour one in black and white.
-Zombie Cop, from Image/shadowline
-War of the Undead, kinda silly don't bother, IDW
-28 Days Later The Aftermath, very disappointing although it is Steve Niles again.
-Shaun of the Dead- again a decent adaptation, but if you've seen the film...
-Super Zombies, only bother if you want a superhero crossover.
-Marvel Zombies, does exactly what it says, all the Marvel superheroes as Zombies, you've sort of got to be a Marvel Heroes fan, although it is written by Robert "Walking Dead" Kirkman.
I have around a dozen more waiting to be complete releases before i will read them, often being independent publishers they can be very slow periodically, but:
-Crossed, by the legendary Garth Ennis looks very promising and is nearly finished
- finally The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics, is a big fat good value anthology/collection, good for bedtime stories.

Garth Ennis is brilliant and, if you've not already, get stuck into Preacher and then The Boys which is still ongoing.

Give Battle Royale another chance, i admit it's so paced out that it realy only gets going by 4 or 5 but by 6 or 7 you'll be totally hooked, once the proper plotlines get going, Mimura's fight back, Sugimura's doomed love quest, the lighthouse, the evils that are Mitsuko Souma and Kazuo Kiriyama, these all really drive the story forward. At least for new readers it is all already completed, when i was following it at release it went from being intended for 9 volumes to 12, then to 15, with the publishing being delayed from it's already slow by-monthly english release. Once it got into the teens i was impatiently waiting for each new volume shaking and sweating like a crack whore. It does get a bit drawn out toward the end, Kiriyama takes best part of a whole volume to dispatch Mitsuko Souma and then his final defeat by the protagonists takes almost two whole volumes, but still- it's immense.

Good Luck, and happy reading.
I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum
Rufus
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Post by Rufus »

Mr Bill wrote: Snip exhaustive-looking list of zombie comics
Wow. I was expecting a couple of titles! Looks like I've got some reading to do. Thanks a lot for the list.
Mr Bill
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Post by Mr Bill »

Rufus wrote:
Mr Bill wrote: Snip exhaustive-looking list of zombie comics
Wow. I was expecting a couple of titles! Looks like I've got some reading to do. Thanks a lot for the list.
No problem, sorry it is a bit over long, but the better ones are kind of nearer the top, and you might find the list shortens dramatically when many arent in print. but there's always ebay.
There's also an enormous amount of "Army of Darkness" comics if you like Deadites- Groovy!

Long live the Dead!
I've come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum
PeterPan
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Post by PeterPan »

Definately pick up 'Crossed' that is one bad mama-jama of a comic. Once you get to the end of issue 1 you know nothing is held back in this thing.
PatrolBen
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Post by PatrolBen »

I'm reading 'Easy Riders, Raging Bulls'. It tells you everything you need to know about 70s cinema. a great read.
kitkat
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Post by kitkat »

Just finished Pontypool. Have to say I was a little disappointed by it and found it hard to really get into. Not as good as the film. I wonder if anyone else found the same as the book is so hard to come by in the UK I don't know anyone else who has read it.
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Post by halloweengirl »

Just finished Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist and now diving into The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest, the third in the Millennium Trilogy. And occasionally dipping into Tennessee Williams' memoirs for a bit of light relief.
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Post by EvilAsh »

Frankie Boyle's My Shit Life So Far, very funny and smart bloke
xLeft For Deadx
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Post by xLeft For Deadx »

Since my last post, I finished A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, which was awesome. Much better than the start of The Wheel of Time series, much darker and grittier, and he's not afraid to kill off the good guys. Can't wait to crack on with the rest of the series. However, 5 x 800 page books of the same story back to back would have been a little much, so in between I've read:

Homo Britannicus (Chris Stringer) - The story of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, covering how our ancesters hopped in an out (or not) of Britain with the interglacials, and how we know this.

Leviathan, or The Whale (Philip Hoare) - Everything you would ever want to know about whales...sperm whales in particular. Pretty fun read.

Floating Dragon (Peter Straub) - I bought this because the band Blind Guardian wrote a song about it. Halfway through at the moment...I'll report back when I'm done. Seems to be about a conscious gas taking over a small town in Connecticut.
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Post by maxmum »

xLeft For Deadx wrote:Since my last post, I finished A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, which was awesome. Much better than the start of The Wheel of Time series, much darker and grittier, and he's not afraid to kill off the good guys. Can't wait to crack on with the rest of the series.
Excellent series of books, I finished reading them over a year ago and have been waiting for the new one ever since - so annoying it keeps getting delayed :evil: I NEED to know how it ends
Thanks for the ride, sir.
You have lovely sheep.

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maxmum
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Post by maxmum »

Just finisheing a world of warcraft novel then I have the new Dan Brown book waiting. Hope it's good.
Thanks for the ride, sir.
You have lovely sheep.

@patricidalpup
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Post by satanslittlehelper »

Just read "The Devil's Footsteps" by E.E.Richardson. Technically it's a kid's book but is genuinely creepy. All about some haunted woods and the 13 stepping stones in them. Would make an excellent movie...Goonies style.

Now reading Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair, very humorous read with lots of literary in-jokes.

The Walking Dead comic book series is ace,goes from strength to strength with each chapter.
"If you were the only suspect in a senseless bloodbath - would you be standing in the horror section?"
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Maniacal
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Post by Maniacal »

Just finished reading Hater by David Moody. Not a bad read, nice in depth character structure and a decent story, just very vague at times and the ending is crap.
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Rufus
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Post by Rufus »

Started tucking in to Mr Bills Massive List o' Zombie Comics:
XXXombies - About what happens to people from the set of a porn film in the middle of a zombie outbreak. This is good, really nails the sleazy/grindhouse feel.
BlackGas - More of a serious tone. Another zombie outbreak story, the twist being that they're not mindless zombies but people who've been infected by the titular gas, and are driven to do horrible things and are aware of what they're doing. Again, very good.
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