Gothy Comic Books

[livininxtcgoth]

so i'm very familiar with johnny the homocidal maniac, and the lenore books--totally love em

but.... what other similar "gothy" comic books are out there?

(oh and i'm aware i spelt jthm as jhtm in the subtitle)

[phee]

Well... does "Sandman" count?

[LuluVox]

Gloomcookie!!

My personal favorite, it feels like what it would have been like to be "goth" in the '80s/'90s, when the scene was still sensible...but still filled with drama, of course. And there's a whole mythological parallel universe, replete with weird conspiracies, girls who die over and over, and monsters under beds!

[Troy Spiral (13)]

The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is pretty much required (seriously this is about as good as it gets) if you never get another series of books you can consider it a good trade. )

The collected paperback editions 1-10 are the easiest way to get it all.

The Collected Sandman

Honestly if you dont have that you want it. Its amazing, especially after the first 2-3 comics. Most of the recent "gothy" type comics beg, borrow and steal from this series every other page. Not sure there is any comic series that has reached this level of literary success.

Even Art Spegilman"s Maus and Allan Moore's The Watchmen is a notch below this, and it

s "goth" to boot. =D

Death Mini Series'

Time Of Your Life / High Cost Of Living

The Dark Knight Returns:

Modern "dark" comics exist today as they do becasue of this series. (He also wrote Sin City which is also pretty gothy but this is higher quality storywise)Wow

From Hell by Allen Moore

The Watchmen is slightly better from a literary standpoint but this is great + goth. =D

From Hell

V for Vendetta (also by Moore)

Hollywood Ripped Me Off Yet Again

A lot of this stuff is being re-released in hardcover uber-expensive formats that might be a bit much for most people.

Like gothy Sci Fi? Cant go wrong with the first B&W alien series:

Yet another one of the few books to reach "novel quality" levels of writing.

Aliens: Book One

I could go on for days with this stuff but get all that above and you'll be in gothic comic heavan for awhile. Most all of that will almost require a second (if not third) read.

Since you mentioned Johnny , if you dont have Squee and Fillerbunny you'll what that too.

Random other thing.

Darker than gloomcookie (and much darker than Lenore or Scary Grandmother... but a notch this side of johnny) is Nightmares & Fairtales. This is NOT funny takes on gothy theme's like Jhonny or Lenore. This stuff is just complex & creepy.

Nightmares And Fairytales

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Meh, somehow the formating of that post got screwed. Oh well.

[pomba gira]

I think The Sandman has to count, if only 'cos Death & Dream are about the most goth-looking characters ever drawn.

I bought a couple issues of a comic called The Book of Lost Souls .... never got around to reading 'em but they definitely have a goth-y look to 'em. (coming soon on eBay!)

There are several manga with gothic themes... A Midnight Opera, Bizenghast, Hellsing, Trinity Blood, Godchild, Les Bijoux, and Under the Glass Moon are a few that come to mind.

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Hell sandman looks like he should own the local goth club. Hes got the skin tone and the hair... and the cape. The whole series is "dark" which, i think... means goth. The "norms" at comic conventions used to bitch at gaiman as to why "...does the sandman look like the lead singer of the cure?"

Find the non-goth in this picture hehe

And none of them have real names , and the whole family is called "The Endless" oh how goth. =D

[DeadBurgerKing (10)]

You can't leave out James O'Barr's work...

"The Crow"

a classic if I do say so myself...

[SpidersMoment]

an online comic that i love is Writhe and Shine

http://www.writheandshine.com/

[pomba gira]

Grrr... thanks a lot Troy... I've been trying to bring myself to put my Sandman books on eBay for the past couple weeks... but since you posted those pics... now I know there's just no way I can do it. Maybe some of the spinoffs but- not the original 10.

For everyone who hasn't made the acquaintance of the Endless yet- do so immediately. I promise it will change your life.

I have one issue of Nightmares & Fairytales , & yeah the cover art is rather misleading... looks like it should be Lenore type-stuff but... it isn't.

[wormsinwombs]

The stuff at http://www.eyesuckink.com/ might appeal to a goth. Dogwitch is cool also check out Spooked and Kreeky Playground. I <3 comic books! ^.^

[Slept with ghost]

well there always the rest of johnen vasquezs comics like squee and I feel sick

emily the strange is good too

[FarrIL]

And WHY the hell dont I see "Ghost" from Dark Horse comics on this list?

Yeesh!!

It's the first American comic I ever loved and still do, however I definitely need loads more of the series.

The main character, Elisa, is practically a Disembodiment. She can go solid yet the only thing she cant pass through is Jade. She doesnt know why she's dead, exactly, but she spends most of the series trying to figure everything out.

It's definitely a good read. =)

[pomba gira]

well there always the rest of johnen vasquezs comics like squee and I feel sick

emily the strange is good too

I didn't mention Emily 'cos the comic pretty much just exists to sell more Emily merch. Don't get me wrong, I adore Emily and would have a houseful of ESP gear if it weren't so overpriced and if any of the clothing came in grownup sizes... I just didn't feel like it counts as a "real" comic.

How 'bout Fables ? Same dark-fantasy flavor as The Sandman, even if the characters aren't as overtly goth looking

[pomba gira]

well there always the rest of johnen vasquezs comics like squee and I feel sick

emily the strange is good too

I didn't mention Emily 'cos the comic pretty much just exists to sell more Emily merch. Don't get me wrong, I adore Emily and would have a houseful of the abovementioned merch if it weren't so overpriced and if any of the clothing came in grownup sizes... I just didn't feel like it counts as a "real" comic.

How 'bout Fables ? Same dark-fantasy flavor as The Sandman, even if the characters aren't as overtly goth looking

[paradox]

i was going to suggest fables as well (great series), but i think the ties there are pretty tenuous. its more a modernized amalgamation of fables and fairy tale etc in general than truely anything like what id call dark fantasy.

its certainly non-disney based (though it still incorporates parts of disneys variants), but i dont think one could strictly say it suits the appellation of "gothy".

[pomba gira]

i was going to suggest fables as well (great series), but i think the ties there are pretty tenuous. its more a modernized amalgamation of fables and fairy tale etc in general than truely anything like what id call dark fantasy.

its certainly non-disney based (though it still incorporates parts of disneys variants), but i dont think one could strictly say it suits the appellation of "gothy".

yeah... I've only read one or two of the Fables GNs so I'm no expert... but what I have read reminded me a lot of those dark fairy tale anthologies edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling. I guess that's why the series has a "dark fantasy" association to my mind. So OK, Fables is officially not a goth comic! I guess it would be more accurate to say "If you like gothy comics like the Sandman you'll prolly like Fables".

[paradox]

i think id say that if you like smartly written comics like sandman, youll like fables.

[Slept with ghost]

ummmmmmmm

if you want fucked up gothy

check out the suicide girl comics on sexylosers.com

theres some fucked up porn ones but thats not what im talking aout

the suicide girls strips is about a necrophliac