Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish.
So this week's theme is top graphic novels, whether you've read them, want to read them, or they are in fact picture books. You may already know that I do read and enjoy graphic novels but not very many of them. Or least not enough to have a top ten favourites list. So I'm going to do things a little differently and split them into sections. Comic nerds will know immediately where I'm going with this.
Number one: Marvel.
I think I mostly prefer Marvel; I like the heroes, I like the movies, I like the storylines, and it started, at least in graphic novel form, with the Avengers. I read Civil War and Age of Ultron before the movies came out and really liked them. It was interesting to see the world in a different format and see how the books differed from the movies, especially in terms of character arcs. These were good but not my favourite.
I have always gotten my fiance a Deadpool comic for his birthday and we both adore the character; Wade is rude, gross and more than a little annoying but very funny and clever. Deadpool stories are always going to be in my top favourites.
And then there's Captain Marvel. A recent addition to my knowledge of Marvel lore but a completely welcome one. Let's face it, any female superhero and I'm going to like her, and Captain Marvel was slick, funny, smart and flying around in space! What's not to love? I've read the first three volumes of her new series.
Number two: DC.
A.k.a the continual love affair I have with Harley Quinn. Admittedly, this is a recent love, it started with the new Suicide Squad film, but since then I've read the first 8 issues of her new DC Rebirth solo series, the first volume of her New 52 series and I've got the Suicide Squad New 52 volume one to read as well. I am fascinated by her and her tragically romantic back story with the Joker and want to read everything I can about her. Not to mention she was incredibly funny and basically a female DC version of Deadpool with her wise-cracks and sex jokes.
Number three: everything else.
This is where the art, the stories and the diverse characters come into play. I read Anya's Ghost for the title but loved the black and white art; picked up Nimona because of the author and fell in love with the story (the twist on villains and heroes was amazing!) and also read the Lumberjanes because of Noelle Stevenson. But I think my favourite is The Wicked and the Divine. I've only read the first two volumes but the insane variety of characters, the brilliant story and beautiful drawings and colours are just incredible.
I like all of these graphic novels and more for a lot of different reasons, I couldn't possibly pick any favourites outright, not even a top ten. let me know if you've read any of these or if they are any graphic novels I should read.
Recently I've been on a bit of a Marvel binge. While I may have some issues with the movies (queue feminist angry rant about Natasha not having her own movie and only being a pick-me-up for Bruce's issues in AoU) but I do still love them, all action packed and gun slinging, and I wanted to learn more about the canon universe.
So first I read Civil War in preparation for the movie, which I thought was really cool. Set quite far through the MU timeline, it tells of the increasingly tense war between Captain America and Iron Man over the announcement of tagging all superhuman and mutant people. After what he went through with Ultron, Tony is all for being controlled and governed but Steve of course thinks it is beyond totalitarian and against basic human rights. The fight pulled in all the superheroes, most of whom I recognised but a few I had to look up and escalated badly until something insane happened. Reading this gave me a better appreciation for the movies as well as more background and forethought before the movie comes out next year.
I also read The Scarlet Witch which is a set of solo stories after she parted ways from the Avengers. I didn't like this one as much, it was too far away in the timeline from anything I recognised but it did give me some insight into the character plus some cool cameos from Doctor Strange.
Next up was Thor, volumes 1 and 2, set after the events of Civil War and Ragnarok (which I haven't read but it's the next Thor movie I believe). So I was a little out of sorts with a few things I didn't understand but the basic knowledge was there, like how Doctor Donald Blake was Thor's mortal disguise and Loki's habit for making mischief. Plus this was not an origin story so there was already knowledge and some interaction with the Avengers and Tony and everyone. As Thor tries to rebuild Asgard, he encounters a couple of issues with getting the souls of his friends back from the unwitting humans housing them. Yeah, it was that kind of story! I do really like Thor and adored hearing more from him and his story and home.
The main thing I realised while reading these: the movies missed out so much! Don't get me wrong, the films do the graphic novels justice but just like with any adaptation, things get skipped over or re-done. And as per usual, the original comics have much more in-depth background and development and I loved that.
And finally: Avengers Disassembled! The world has had enough of superheroes and their habit of destroying everything while trying to save them. The return of a fellow Avenger long assumed dead really throws the team off, only made worse by a weird supernatural force making Tony, She-Hulk and Vision act bizarre. For the most part, it was all action and not really necessary to have read the previous comics. Two things I loved the best: the look back at the teams greatest moments and 'old with the old, in with the new' approach to set up the New Avengers - which I am extremely excited about by the way!
