Comics


    I read books.  Books are nice, however, there is something I have stumbled upon.  The graphic novel.  Yes, this amazing form of literature has pictures on every page!  Depending on the series it may also have some if not all of the following.  A plot, good art, humor, well rounded characters, and depth.  Here on this page are some of my favorite comics and information related to the series.

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JTHM (Johnny The Homicidal Maniac, Squee, i feel sick)
Author:  Jhonnen Vasquez

    .Johnny the homicidal maniac is the story of a homicidal maniac (surprise) called Johnny and his victims, friends, and figments of his imaginations.  The first few parts of this are a bit plotless and are more of an introduction.  starting with the second part each part has more and more depth.  At first it is his quest to kill anyone who annoys him, then it is a trip to heaven and hell, followed for his quest for desensitization.

    Squee follows the life of Johnny's neighbor, a young child named Todd.  In the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac series Johnny (or Nny as he likes to be called) takes Todd under his wing after seeing how uncaring his parents are.   Todd, or Squee as he is commonly called, is a very trauma ridden kid, everything that happens to him, even the good things, is in some way ridden with terror.  At the end of this series Todd ends up institutionalized.  Under normal circumstances this would be good, but the  management is corrupt and he becomes a lab monkey (human).

    I feel sick (the story of a girl) is the story of the woman Nny loved and tried to kill, Devi.  Already having a bad opinion due to horrible experiences with men she is turned into a hermit by her near death experience.  After taking a job with a book company as an illustrator a painting begins talking to her.  Her friend Tenna tries to help her stay sane, but in the end Devi ends up helping herself.

    I lump these three series into the same simply because they contain the same characters and build on the same plot line.  Things become clearer in each series.  There is a bit profanity, but if one looks past this, it is a great story.  Another thing that makes the series great is gobs of hidden humor in almost every panel.  The first two series come in either the format of a novel, which is a collection of all the comics, or in the format of several comics.
 
 

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Elfquest
Authors: Wendy and Richard Pini, Sonny Strait

    The story of The quest of the Wolfrider elves Led by their chief Cutter to unite the elfin tribes and return the elfin race to a state of peace.  It takes place on the world of Two Moons, which is inhabited by the elves, the trolls, the preservers, and the humans.  The first three species came to earth when an elf ship containing a group of elves later known as the High Ones crashed on earth, stranding the high ones and their servants the preservers and the trolls.  The preservers are small fairy like creatures whose webbing would put the elves into a state of hibernation for long voyages.  The Trolls are ugly lumpy creatures that served the elves.  The series contains several story lines, I summarize the first one, but leave the others alone as not to spoil to much of the plot.

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The wolfrider's forest is burned to the ground by scared humans.  The elves escape and trek across a huge desert.  On the other end they find a village of elves where cutter recognizes Leehta the healer.  After a long struggle he wins her over and they beget (hahahaha) Ember ( f ) and Suntop (m).  Ember is mortal and a chip off the old block becoming a warrior.  Suntop is immortal and has powers beyond even the ancient high ones, he becomes the link between all elves.  This however happens later.  After humans come to sorrows end (the village) Cutter leaves with Skywise, his friend  to search for other elves to help fight the humans if they were to attack.  After a while a small group of elves follows them and are taken captive by a tribe of elves called the gliders.  After some diplomatic work the prisoners are released, they later go to find the palace of the High Ones and are attacked by trolls.  The battle continues and the elves are losing when they are rescued by a tribe of elves called the Go-backs who they also have a conflict later on.
 
 

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Ranma 1/2
Author: Rumiko Takahashi

    A light hearted caper about a Ranma who is cursed to turn into a girl when splashed with cold water and girl when splashed with warm water, his three fiancés, his father who has a similar curse but turns into a panda, and all the people who want to kill Ranma.  No depth, no real plot, simply there to entertain.  And that is does, and well, all 34? issues of it.