Desert Island Strips
January 24, 2014 2:16 PM Subscribe
With Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns and Maus taken as given, which comics would you take to a desert Island? (part 2)
Only one comment and I'm already too late to say it.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:25 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 2:25 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Wouldn't you want at least a little Hentai? I mean... you're all alone on a desert island... you know what I mean?
posted by Justinian at 2:26 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Justinian at 2:26 PM on January 24, 2014
LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 2:26 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 2:26 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Is there a comic that gives details about boat building?
posted by sammyo at 2:27 PM on January 24, 2014 [16 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 2:27 PM on January 24, 2014 [16 favorites]
Beanworld.
posted by JHarris at 2:28 PM on January 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 2:28 PM on January 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
The Years Have Pants, the complete Gaston Lagaffe, the Ditko Doctor Strange, Hectic Planet, the Don Lawrence Storm, Asterix of course, Ironwood. Perhaps some Giles annuals.
No Carl Barks Duck stories though, because I'm sure the Junior Woodchuck guide is too practical to get through the vetting process.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:30 PM on January 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
No Carl Barks Duck stories though, because I'm sure the Junior Woodchuck guide is too practical to get through the vetting process.
posted by MartinWisse at 2:30 PM on January 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
Louis CK, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford
posted by Renoroc at 2:32 PM on January 24, 2014 [16 favorites]
posted by Renoroc at 2:32 PM on January 24, 2014 [16 favorites]
Took them long enough to get to Scalped.
posted by Sternmeyer at 2:33 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Sternmeyer at 2:33 PM on January 24, 2014
Good question. Which comics make the best kindling?
posted by Thorzdad at 2:46 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Thorzdad at 2:46 PM on January 24, 2014
NONE! ARE YOU INSANE? DO YOU KNOW WHAT ALL THAT HUMIDITY AND UV RADIATION WOULD DO TO THE PAPER??!?!
posted by entropicamericana at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2014 [9 favorites]
That makes for a nice reading list - thanks!
Yes: Bone! Especially if you could take the whole run...
Also, very much: Castle Waiting
And too: nice to see Grimjack in the house! Though on a desert island that'd be downright depressing...
But, hands down, if it could be the whole run (and i mean Gilbert's Palomar and everything): Love & Rockets
posted by jammy at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Yes: Bone! Especially if you could take the whole run...
Also, very much: Castle Waiting
And too: nice to see Grimjack in the house! Though on a desert island that'd be downright depressing...
But, hands down, if it could be the whole run (and i mean Gilbert's Palomar and everything): Love & Rockets
posted by jammy at 2:49 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
I am so glad to see Finder in there.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:50 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:50 PM on January 24, 2014
Owly!
Most probably would not include Owly, but that is where they err. If I'm trapped on a deserted island I need gentle stories about an owl and his worm best friend to keep me from despair.
posted by winna at 2:52 PM on January 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
Most probably would not include Owly, but that is where they err. If I'm trapped on a deserted island I need gentle stories about an owl and his worm best friend to keep me from despair.
posted by winna at 2:52 PM on January 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
No love for Crisis on Infinite Earths?
posted by griphus at 2:58 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 2:58 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
All of Love and Rockets, and by the time I finished reading, the rescue boats would probably be there to take me off the island.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:01 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by betweenthebars at 3:01 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Wouldn't you want the 128gig iPad, to hold all the comics and various, uh, movies.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:05 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:05 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Locke and Key - without a doubt
posted by HarveyDenture at 3:08 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by HarveyDenture at 3:08 PM on January 24, 2014
Nice to see Blacksad in there, and Black Hole.
Basically, sign me up for anything that has 'Black' in the title and isn't about superheroes.
posted by pipeski at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Basically, sign me up for anything that has 'Black' in the title and isn't about superheroes.
posted by pipeski at 3:09 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Good to see some love for the amazing Church and State arc of Cerebus in there.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:10 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:10 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Reid Fleming: World's Toughest Milkman, Acme Novelty Library, Maakies and Sock Puppet, Love and Rockets of course, pretty much everything Lynda Barry has ever done, and... Saga. My head must be getting softer as I age, but I don't ever remember being as emotionally tied up in an ongoing space opera. Issue 18 drops in a few days and I'm sort of a wreck waiting for it.
posted by Kinbote at 3:27 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Kinbote at 3:27 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Is there a comic that gives details about boat building?
Watchmen actually contains a comic that provides one solution, assuming you have enough gas-bloated corpses of former crewmates.
posted by mshrike at 3:29 PM on January 24, 2014 [8 favorites]
Watchmen actually contains a comic that provides one solution, assuming you have enough gas-bloated corpses of former crewmates.
posted by mshrike at 3:29 PM on January 24, 2014 [8 favorites]
Phew. It wasn't until a comment on part 2 that they mentioned that Sandman was the "ilk" in "Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Maus, and their ilk."
posted by darksasami at 3:48 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by darksasami at 3:48 PM on January 24, 2014
In no particular order:
* Ballad of the Salt Sea, which had the first appearance of Corto Maltese
* The Unearthed Cemetery Blues
* I Killed Adolf Hitler
* The Prophet reboot
* Judge Dredd: Mega City Two
* Edison Rex
* Gone with the Blastwave
* Those Annoying Post Brothers
* Flaming Carrot
* Atomic Robo
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:54 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
* Ballad of the Salt Sea, which had the first appearance of Corto Maltese
* The Unearthed Cemetery Blues
* I Killed Adolf Hitler
* The Prophet reboot
* Judge Dredd: Mega City Two
* Edison Rex
* Gone with the Blastwave
* Those Annoying Post Brothers
* Flaming Carrot
* Atomic Robo
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:54 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
From Hell. Or does that fall under "ilk" again?
posted by Paul Slade at 3:56 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Paul Slade at 3:56 PM on January 24, 2014
SPOOOOOOOOOOON!
posted by tzikeh at 4:03 PM on January 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by tzikeh at 4:03 PM on January 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
From Hell. Or does that fall under "ilk" again?
You can't spell "World's Toughest Milkman" without "ilk"
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:07 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
You can't spell "World's Toughest Milkman" without "ilk"
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:07 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Changed my mind. In place of Dredd, I'd rather take Gary Panter's Jimbo with me.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:24 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:24 PM on January 24, 2014
Eddie Campbell's Bacchus and the complete Cerebus cuz you can just build a raft outta all those phone books. And Krazy Cat for the reading material.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:25 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:25 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
No Akiko or Terminal City or Grendel. Not sure if I'm of refined and esoteric taste, or just old.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:32 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:32 PM on January 24, 2014
Ditto the complete Cerebus. Parts of it are greats, and other parts, well, it'd be intensely satisfying to use some of those issues as kindling.
I'd probably also bring "The Maxx" if only for nostalgia value. In my later life I've realized that reading The Maxx and Cerebus at the same time as a teenager was like drinking antidote and poison together.
posted by Grimgrin at 4:37 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
I'd probably also bring "The Maxx" if only for nostalgia value. In my later life I've realized that reading The Maxx and Cerebus at the same time as a teenager was like drinking antidote and poison together.
posted by Grimgrin at 4:37 PM on January 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Would taking all the Fantagraphics Peanuts reprints be cheating?
posted by asperity at 4:50 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by asperity at 4:50 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Invisibles, but more importantly, more than any other comic, I will always hang on to Nth Man.
posted by symbioid at 4:52 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by symbioid at 4:52 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Pogo, Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County.
posted by doctor_negative at 4:56 PM on January 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by doctor_negative at 4:56 PM on January 24, 2014 [4 favorites]
20th Century Boys is such a perfect choice. I was glad to be reminded of it. The other day, intending to reread this series, I accidentally started reading the first volume of the epilogue, 21st Century Boys, in a bookstore. Do not do this. It will bring back every emotion and memory from the whole series and may cause uncontrollable weeping in front of strangers.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 5:04 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by knuckle tattoos at 5:04 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised that there is no mention of Lone Wolf and Cub or Buddha (or anything by Osamu Tezuka, actually).
posted by florzinha at 5:13 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by florzinha at 5:13 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Brooklyn Dreams by DeMatteis/Barr... Amazing, just blew my mind.
Azzarello's 101 Bullets series.
From Garth Ennis both Hitman and Preacher.
Asterix and Isnogoud series... Comfort food from my childhood.
Crimson series
Hellboy series
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:19 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Azzarello's 101 Bullets series.
From Garth Ennis both Hitman and Preacher.
Asterix and Isnogoud series... Comfort food from my childhood.
Crimson series
Hellboy series
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:19 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
as this answer is embedded on my shelves:
complete Pogo
complete L&R
complete Little Nemo
complete Asterix
complete Tintin
complete Gaston
there are a couple contemporary outliers in Kate Beaton and Oglaf, but I only have one print volume of Kate.
Interesting that I left out Tony Millionaire and Chris Ware, who also have "complete" sections on my shelves and are the two current folks I hope to score some originals by. Might rethink that list.
posted by mwhybark at 5:20 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
complete Pogo
complete L&R
complete Little Nemo
complete Asterix
complete Tintin
complete Gaston
there are a couple contemporary outliers in Kate Beaton and Oglaf, but I only have one print volume of Kate.
Interesting that I left out Tony Millionaire and Chris Ware, who also have "complete" sections on my shelves and are the two current folks I hope to score some originals by. Might rethink that list.
posted by mwhybark at 5:20 PM on January 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Wow, I kicked Sims and Schulz to the curb without even realizing it.
posted by mwhybark at 5:21 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by mwhybark at 5:21 PM on January 24, 2014
The entire Maggie and Hopey saga from Love and Rockets.
Starstruck: The Expanding Universe.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The Ballad of Halo Jones
Planetes
Tintin- Destination Moon/Explorers on the Moon (or maybe The Castafiore Emerald)
I'm not sure I'd bring Maus to any place that involved isolation or food deprivation.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:23 PM on January 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Starstruck: The Expanding Universe.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The Ballad of Halo Jones
Planetes
Tintin- Destination Moon/Explorers on the Moon (or maybe The Castafiore Emerald)
I'm not sure I'd bring Maus to any place that involved isolation or food deprivation.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:23 PM on January 24, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well I guess I won't have to share my Steve Canyon comics with any of you.
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by George_Spiggott at 6:01 PM on January 24, 2014
I echo the sentiment of taking the complete run of Cerebus with you to a deserted island.
posted by hoodrich at 6:12 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by hoodrich at 6:12 PM on January 24, 2014
Miracleman / Marvelman; I would finally have time to read it sequentially.
posted by detachd at 6:21 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by detachd at 6:21 PM on January 24, 2014
Akira.
posted by the painkiller at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by the painkiller at 7:50 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Pretty much all of America's Best Comics, particularly Top Ten.
Then Transmetropolitan
And then finally some of those Marvel and DC reprint collections so I can finally catch up on The Avengers and Superman Family.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:51 PM on January 24, 2014
Then Transmetropolitan
And then finally some of those Marvel and DC reprint collections so I can finally catch up on The Avengers and Superman Family.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:51 PM on January 24, 2014
Also, Astro City: Tarnished Angel, the complete run of Green Lantern: Mosaic, Nomad, Spiderman 2099, Batman Adventures and the original Suicide Sqaud.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:06 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:06 PM on January 24, 2014
I was glad to see Strangers In Paradise in the 2nd entry. I would love to read all of Cerebus and all of Love and Rockets as well. But SiP... plus anything else by Terry Moore...would keep me happy for a long time.
posted by lhauser at 8:25 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by lhauser at 8:25 PM on January 24, 2014
Yes, I have the B&W 1300-page Complete Bone Saga, but if forced to choose, I'd prefer the 700-page Complete Digger Saga. I've gotten some of my most beloved Graphic Novels via Kickstarter campaigns for webcomics, so I'm hoping I don't get sent to the island before they deliver the complete Weapon Brown or Darrin Carmichael Is Going To Hell. Or before the artists finish Pang, The Wandering Shaolin Monk, Decrypting Rita or Goats (GET TO IT, ROSENBERG). Too much exposure to too many GOOD webcomics has completely changed my POV on such things...
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:32 PM on January 24, 2014
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:32 PM on January 24, 2014
The Complete Marshal Law
Yeah... let me off the island. I dare you.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:46 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah... let me off the island. I dare you.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:46 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ok fine I'm bored I'll weigh in
Choosing desert island comics is like choosing desert island albums in that it's not quite the same as picking the best things ever, yeah? You'd want to pick things that bear repeated re-readings. So:
Of the graphic novel "big three" I'd only consider taking Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns is right out;
- a Pogo collection
- The Complete Far Side
- a Charles Addams collection (I'm going to be in a morbid mood)
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- the collected Perry Bible Fellowship
- The Airtight Garage
- a compilation or three of, say, Drawn & Quarterly art comics (look, I'm going to have time)
- The Cartoon History Of The Universe
and that's all I can think of at the moment
posted by furiousthought at 1:05 AM on January 25, 2014 [2 favorites]
Choosing desert island comics is like choosing desert island albums in that it's not quite the same as picking the best things ever, yeah? You'd want to pick things that bear repeated re-readings. So:
Of the graphic novel "big three" I'd only consider taking Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns is right out;
- a Pogo collection
- The Complete Far Side
- a Charles Addams collection (I'm going to be in a morbid mood)
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- the collected Perry Bible Fellowship
- The Airtight Garage
- a compilation or three of, say, Drawn & Quarterly art comics (look, I'm going to have time)
- The Cartoon History Of The Universe
and that's all I can think of at the moment
posted by furiousthought at 1:05 AM on January 25, 2014 [2 favorites]
I would certainly like to leave Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns and Maus on a desert island. Nihilism, violence and stating the bleeding obvious never appealed to me. YMMV.
What would I take? Ken Reid's Jonah: at its peak, a thing of beauty and a guide to British post war culture (to remind me of old blighty). What else? Marvel Classics Comics. From the little I know of desert islands, there is very little time left for reading: survival is a 24 hour a day job. So compressed versions of classics are just the thing.
posted by EnterTheStory at 3:31 AM on January 25, 2014
What would I take? Ken Reid's Jonah: at its peak, a thing of beauty and a guide to British post war culture (to remind me of old blighty). What else? Marvel Classics Comics. From the little I know of desert islands, there is very little time left for reading: survival is a 24 hour a day job. So compressed versions of classics are just the thing.
posted by EnterTheStory at 3:31 AM on January 25, 2014
The complete 24-TPB length Nonplayer epic saga, plus extras and the 6 season anime series.
posted by signal at 4:32 AM on January 25, 2014
posted by signal at 4:32 AM on January 25, 2014
*Jack Kirby's Fourth World
*Shock SuspenStories (EC Comics)
*Palomar (Gilbert Hernandez)
*A Boy and His Dog (Harlan Ellison and Richard Corben)
*The Metabarons (Alejandro Jodorowsky and Juan Gimenez)
*Black Hole (Charles Burns)
*Lone Wolf and Cub (Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima)
*Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud)
*Tomb of Dracula (Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan)
*Battle Royale (Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi)
*Adventure Time (Ryan North, et al)
Plus as many Showcase Presents volumes of anything drawn by Joe Kubert as I could claw from the wreckage of whatever sinking vessel brought me to this low place
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:32 AM on January 25, 2014
*Shock SuspenStories (EC Comics)
*Palomar (Gilbert Hernandez)
*A Boy and His Dog (Harlan Ellison and Richard Corben)
*The Metabarons (Alejandro Jodorowsky and Juan Gimenez)
*Black Hole (Charles Burns)
*Lone Wolf and Cub (Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima)
*Understanding Comics (Scott McCloud)
*Tomb of Dracula (Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan)
*Battle Royale (Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi)
*Adventure Time (Ryan North, et al)
Plus as many Showcase Presents volumes of anything drawn by Joe Kubert as I could claw from the wreckage of whatever sinking vessel brought me to this low place
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:32 AM on January 25, 2014
Usagi Yojimbo
Transmetropolitan
and because I am a consumer whore, the complete Uncanny X-men
posted by Existential Dread at 8:40 AM on January 25, 2014
Transmetropolitan
and because I am a consumer whore, the complete Uncanny X-men
posted by Existential Dread at 8:40 AM on January 25, 2014
You should only have to wait about a year before you can take Rita on your desert island trip, oneswellfoop. At least if you're okay with three volumes. Who knows when the omnibus will happen. n.n
Hmm. The books that immediately leap to mind for me:
The Incal (or maybe L'Incal)
Savage Henry, complete run
Little Nemo (preferably the Sunday Press editions, great for shelter as well as reading!)
And do I HAVE to take Maus, Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen? They broke ground, sure, but they never spoke to me.
posted by egypturnash at 10:36 AM on January 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hmm. The books that immediately leap to mind for me:
The Incal (or maybe L'Incal)
Savage Henry, complete run
Little Nemo (preferably the Sunday Press editions, great for shelter as well as reading!)
And do I HAVE to take Maus, Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen? They broke ground, sure, but they never spoke to me.
posted by egypturnash at 10:36 AM on January 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
I would take this one weird comic that shows how to get off a desert island.
posted by telstar at 11:52 AM on January 25, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by telstar at 11:52 AM on January 25, 2014 [4 favorites]
I'd think about taking one of those incredibly long-running manga series. One Piece has a nice balance of goofy fun and unexpected tear-jerking pathos, set in a vibrant and detailed world, with enough foreshadowing and callbacks to make rereading worthwhile. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is hugely huge, very entertaining, and always full of surprises, as long as you don't spend all your time and sanity trying to figure out how certain Stands in parts five and seven work.
I get why Miyazaki and Urasawa make it onto these lists instead, though. Their work is just too good.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 12:13 PM on January 25, 2014 [2 favorites]
I get why Miyazaki and Urasawa make it onto these lists instead, though. Their work is just too good.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 12:13 PM on January 25, 2014 [2 favorites]
Locke and Key, Digger, The Umbrella Academy, and Empowered.
I do not believe nobody mentioned Digger yet. It's in tangible form now and everything!
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 2:58 PM on January 25, 2014
I do not believe nobody mentioned Digger yet. It's in tangible form now and everything!
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 2:58 PM on January 25, 2014
LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND
The full-size version, so I could use it as a raft and escape.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:12 PM on January 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
The full-size version, so I could use it as a raft and escape.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:12 PM on January 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
You'd do that, but you'd encounter giant striped fish, and exclaim "Oh!" as they tried to eat you, but then you'd wake up having fallen out of bed.
posted by JHarris at 7:29 PM on January 25, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 7:29 PM on January 25, 2014 [6 favorites]
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