I kind of agree that it’s hard to find good modern US comics and they tend to rehash the same stuff over and over and over. I’ve been digging deep into the Comixology library for going on 8+ years now and I can probably count using both hands the few times I found something new-ish I thought was truly great versus “pretty good” or “ok”. (a few examples: Locke & Key, Saga)
However, I also haven’t found any manga that appeal to me much… if I was, say, a huge fan of
Watchmen
Batman: Year One
The Dark Knight Returns
V for Vendetta
Daredevil (2013 Mark Waid era)
Hawkeye (2012 Matt Fraction era)
Elektra: Assassin
Sin City
Saga of the Swamp Thing (Alan Moore era)
… what great manga in that general area should I try? What do you recommend for someone with those preferences?
(also, if you haven’t re-read Elektra: Assassin recently, try it out. It’s so incredibly gonzo and over the top, even today. Back in the 80s it blew my mind.)
You know what about looking at this another way for some one like myself. Like for me one of the draws to a lot of manga I like is that it focuses on emotional realities and draws attention to a variety of characters and their internal lives and ways of relating to each other. Of course not all stories are like that, but those are the kinds of stories I like, especially partial to stories that give me a sense of some escapism from dark, angry, hypersexual, and violent content… and even if they do sometimes go there I prefer if they do so with a lot of compassion for the reader and the characters.
Is there a US comic series that is more like that? Like for shojo fans who like shit like fruits basket or Kakuriyo?
Allison Bechdel? American Splendor? Something Positive? I know there are others… Even something like Saga, which is space opera fantasy, has a kind of gritty and emotional realism to it…
You might like the work of folks like Dan Clowes, Adrian Tomine, Chris Ware, Seth, and folks like that. Raina Telgemeier might also be a good starting point.
Not American but not Manga either: Glorious Summers from the other comics thread is pretty much that. It may not be for everyone because that is sort of all it is. I guess many would complain that almost “nothing happens” in that comic.
Oh, the real name is “Heartbreak Soup”. I call Palomar Chronicles because It takes place in a small town called Palomar, lost somewhere in Central America. It is part of “Love and Rockets” along with the stories of the Mechanics, that are urban/sci-fi/punk tales. I think It is very good, yet Very bittersweet.
