Hello, all ...

I'm new to the graphic novel scene (i've adored Sandman for years, but never explored beyond that until recently). My tastes run more towards the human-centric, psychological stories, with normal people as the main characters. I'm not personally into the whole capes & tights thing at all, so I tend to stay away from those. I can appreciate a light touch of science fiction or the supernatural, but any more than that and I start to lose interest.

Anyway, what i've read lately:

1. Global Frequency -- I _love_ this stuff! Warren Ellis is an individual of similar tastes to myself, definitely.

2. Hellboy -- not my thing (too supernatural, way too much religious allegory for me). I read the first 2 volumes and basically am not interested in reading any more.

3. Watchmen -- I didn't think I would like it, but I ended up liking it quite a lot, despite the propensity of capes and costumes.

4. Girls -- i've heard so many good things about this series, but after reading the first 2 volumes, I don't think it's for me ... it seems really hung up on furthering various stereotypes about men / women, sex and small town America, and every time the story started to get interesting, more stereotypes would rear their ugly heads ...

5. Y: The Last Man -- i've read the first 9 volumes in this series, so I like it quite a lot. As "Girls" seemed (to me) to rejoice in stereotypes, this series seems to be about breaking them (evidenced by the fact that Yorick _didn't_ want to take advantage of his situation, even when presented with many opportunities to, as well as Hero's victory in conquering her brainwashing, not to mention turning the whole "the world would be so much more peaceful if men weren't running everything" myth on its' head).

6. Orbiter -- I liked this one quite a lot as well, though it was too short. I _really_ like Warren Ellis' writing style.

7. Midnight Nation -- at first I wasn't sure, but as the story developed, it enveloped me and drew me in. I was somewhat turned off towards the end when the religious allegory started coming through, but once I got past that (thankfully, there wasn't much of it), I found that I generally enjoyed the story.

8. Ocean -- the story on this seemed kind of fragmented and jumpy, which is a bit of a shame because the premise (of what lies in the oceans of Europa beneath the ice) has so much potential.

9. Ex Machina -- who knew a graphic novel about a super-hero (who wasn't particularly good at it) who determines that he could better serve society as a politician could be so cool? I didn't expect to enjoy this, but enjoy it I have.

So, I guess that what I can take away from this is that the Warren Ellis and Brian K. Vaughan styles realy resomate with me, while some of the others don't so much. I recently picked up "Pride of Baghdad", and look forward to reading it. Can anyone recommend more material along the lines of Ellis / Vaughan / non-capes-and-tights / more human?

Regards,

John

Falling You - exploring the beauty of voice and sound
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