Comic books+

AMBello · 2025-08-28T19:55:41.210Z

akurosa:

Can you recommend some French sci-fi comics?

heckadecimal:

moebius and phillipe druillet are still unbeatable

I would add Enki Bilal there. The words classic and masterpiece are thrown around too liberally these days, but the Nikopol Triology is… hummm… a classic masterpiece. He has some non sci-fi stuff like Partie de chasse but most of his output is very sci fi, and all of it worth a look.

The other big classic is probably the Valerian series by Christin and Mezieres.

Personal recommendations, would be the Cycle de Cyann by Bourgeon and Lacroix, and for a more recent take check the works from Mathieu Bablet and the Le Château des étoiles series. Sci-fi? Fantasy? Both? Who cares.

GovernorSilver · 2025-08-28T20:02:14.119Z

akurosa:

Can you recommend some French sci-fi comics? I also enjoy reading in French.

Can’t go wrong with any title published by Humanoids, publisher of the aforementioned Jodorowsky-written comics, Moebius’ stuff, etc.

At least everything I’ve read from Humanoids has been great - albeit in English. I got the majority of them as a Humble Bundle.

shigginpit · 2025-08-28T20:02:22.596Z

I thought Manhwas were Chinese and not Korean? Guess I stand corrected.

I guess “Manhua” is Chinese…

Didn’t know there was a difference. Learn something new every day.

Holon · 2025-08-29T01:43:12.021Z

Do recline to a satisfactory position. I’m the one standing corrected. Fortunately I’m laughing it off, it’s not like there are actual comic buffs around to notice my slip…

shigginpit · 2025-08-29T03:30:14.104Z

Nope, I was being serious.

Manhwa - Korean,
Manhua - Chinese,
Manga - Japan.

They all essentially mean comics.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Manhwa

Manhwa (Korean: 만화; Hanja: 漫畵; .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Korean pronunciation: [manβʷa]) is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to Korean comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by access to W...

World’s first Manhwa, 1908:

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RvdKraats · 2025-08-29T07:37:31.470Z

It’s so cool that in this hasty and ‘instant gratification’ society they still take the time to create painstakingly detailed manual drawings.

percussionboy · 2025-08-29T09:51:53.847Z

RvdKraats:

in this hasty and ‘instant gratification’ society they still take the time to create painstakingly detailed manual drawings.

Yes! There remains a school of comic art that preserves the tradition of drawing and painting with a lot of detail and attention to composition, color, portraiture, and figure-drawing—naturalistic if sometimes idealized.

This approach to drawing comics, which takes a lot of talent and effort, is one of the last traces of the creative tradition of naturalistic painting and illustration that flourished up to maybe a century ago, before still photography and video gradually took over the world of popular visual arts.

RvdKraats · 2025-08-29T10:45:58.995Z

Like in the movie ‘Unbreakable’, these comic prints (not the repros, the real thing) might be very valuable items in time. I mean, it IS art, like a Rembrandt.

percussionboy · 2025-08-29T11:44:22.097Z

RvdKraats:

these comic prints (not the repros, the real thing) might be very valuable items in time. I mean, it IS art, like a Rembrandt.

I don’t know what the situation is with the great French and other European comic creators, but in the U.S. the original art is already valuable, for example at auction. At one time original comic pages by great artists here were sometimes thrown away, or kept by the companies. Nowadays I believe they are returned to the artists.

percussionboy · 2025-08-29T11:56:25.025Z

Just got ebooks of the early wordless woodcut graphic novels: Masereel, Nückel, Lynd Ward.

Something different to explore—always heard about these …

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LyingDalai · 2025-08-29T13:23:24.185Z

AMBello:

Nikopol Triology

Oh yeah.
And I really liked La Tétralogie du Monstre back when it came out.
I should re-read it now, just to see how it aged. I guess better than the author…

simonbradford · 2025-08-29T15:17:54.607Z

AMBello:

the Cycle de Cyann by Bourgeon and Lacroix

Sundaybeat · 2025-08-29T15:18:38.085Z

Love this guy so much

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Annihilation_Squares · 2025-08-29T17:11:35.513Z

Habit_Reform:

Dorohedoro: Spoiling myself at the moment. Absolutely GOAT stuff, and so much fun… surprisingly heartwarming.

My favorite comics I’ve read in probably 20 years. And I read a LOT of comics. I’m buying her new one, Dai Dark, as comes out but I’m not going to read it until it’s done. I just forget too much between volumes. Anyhow, it’s looking like I’ll be enjoying it just about as much as Dorohedoro. I may be wrong about this but I think she works solo? So many mangaka have an army of assistants that do so much of the heavy lifting one has to wonder if the guy whose name is on the front is drawing anything besides a few faces per page.

shigginpit · 2025-08-29T17:23:19.033Z

That’s a fair observation but generally the mangaka does all of the “name” (japanese for storyboards) and also plots the pages and works with the editor. They do often seem to do more of what you might say is the equivalent of “keyframes” in anime, where they draw the parts of the characters most recognizable as their style and keep the show running.

It is a bit too much of a business move when you have a your assistants doing all the background, all the detail work like buildings and perspectives, but at the same time I guess it is a business and there’s weekly or bi-weekly deadlines and there’s a really dark history of mangaka going for years without taking breaks, becoming physically ill and not resting because their numbers in publications are falling.

Also getting dropped from serialization is really bad because then you’re starting at the bottom again and trying to get re-serialized and there’s also quite a few mangaka who have literally worked themselves to death. Extremely dark side of the serialized entertainment industry in Japan. More than just manga and anime though, there’s a huge part of Japanese culture that expects you to work yourself to death if that’s what the job calls for.

Anyway, from an artist perspective I totally agree. I’m accustomed to stuff with one singular driving force or at most a penciller and an inker. Of course with the Marvel / DC fare, there is a team as well, but most of the visual art is handled by 2 or 3 people including the colorist, and back in the day it included a professional typographer to do the lettering but I suspect most of that is done with software these days.

I don’t know that she works alone but her style is fantastic and super punk rock. I’ve heard the criticisms that it’s too stylized or it doesn’t look right or “real” but shit man, what is the point of having a style if it’s only going to look like whatever they’re doing in shonen comics or whatever. I hate that generic serialized garbage like the memorable protagonist hair silhouette trope etc.

Easy to get triggered talking about this stuff.

richie · 2025-08-30T19:32:15.951Z

Im trying to read through this one shot manga list since i kind of only read sci-fi and trying to break out of that

Morning, Roo – 3 Aug 23

52 Oneshots in 52 Weeks

52 Oneshots in 52 Weeks is a year long project to read and review a oneshot manga every week! A oneshot is a type of manga comprised of a single stand-alone chapter. Oftentimes, oneshots are where …

get.up.trinity · 2025-09-04T22:23:44.707Z

I started reading Dorohedoro a couple days ago based on this rec and woooooow, no joke, it’s incredible. This is literally the most thrash metal thing I’ve ever read. I’m obsessed, thanks for the rec everybody!

ETA I’m reading book 3 and just Nikaido is wearing an Agoraphobic Nosebleed t-shirt. Not thrash but close enough.

cLAss85 · 2025-09-05T04:23:39.719Z

I’m loving the new issues of Metal Hurlant. Really mind blowing stuff, from Moebius and other elder statesmen/women, and also new figures in the field. Highly recommended!

Habit_Reform · 2025-09-05T07:31:53.627Z

It all feels so grungy and grimey… Obviously it’s so far from reality but the Hole feels so real to me.

I agree that it feels very metal, or punk in it’s aesthetic, but maybe in an even more pure way than many things that try for that - once you get beyond the actual look of it I mean. I’m not really hugely into Metal or Punk music, but I have been part of a ‘scene’… In my case it was the club scene (various iterations starting with Trance, and then less superclub orientated more local stuff with slightly more grown up electronic music).

I think what unifies all these scenes built around music or other arts is that it pulls in people who are really looking for connection into communities that are so friendly and supportive, however chaotic it is, and I feel like I recognise this in the relationships between the characters in Dorohedoro… The more I read the more surprised I am by the wholesome vibe of friendship and love that is baked into all the visual scum and crazy events. It doesn’t really matter if it is the Hole dwellers or the Sorcerers.

I’m not sure if this is a really weird take or not maybe I’m reading too much into the insanity of Dorohedoro. I hope it isn’t just me though, as I enjoy that it brings up these feelings and connects me to such an important time in my life… Again, not something I really expected when I was experiencing the initial ‘what the fuckery’ of the opening panels.

get.up.trinity · 2025-09-05T15:12:11.085Z

I agree completely! That’s what really lands for me too - all this really wild stuff is going on, but at the end of the day it’s just friends hanging out being goofy and getting stoked on dumplings lol. I’ve spent a lot of time in punk houses, at basement metal shows and in those communities, and something about Dorohedoro really captures what that’s like. Metalheads and punkers irl might look intimidating, but actually most of the time they’re just, like, going to work and being goofy idiots with their friends. I’ve read a lot of zines and comics from those communities too but they tend to go political/manifestoey in a way that people aren’t usually talking 24/7. I know it’s got necromancy and lizard headed people and stuff but Dorohedoro still captures what it’s like to talk shit with a friend on a trip to the frozen pizza dumpster, in a way that’s rare and exciting. Thanks again for the rec!