Pipeline: Binging In Quarantine

The quarantines/lockdowns/stay-at-home orders have plenty of downside to life. But, if you squint [...]

The quarantines/lockdowns/stay-at-home orders have plenty of downside to life. But, if you squint just right and look for a single bright spot, there's always this: Lots of comics readers have more time to read comics. If only the time saved from the daily commute to work, there's more time to read more comics.

That's a blatant simplification of things, of course. I'm not saving that much time, over all. What time I've saved usually gets spent helping the rest of the family deal with their stuff. I'm used to working from home. Them? Not so much.

Still, everyone wants to binge on something. Here are my suggestions, most fueled by a nostalgic haze that wishes I had the time to binge on them, myself.

keown_hulk
(Photo: Dale Keown, Bob McLeod)

Peter David's "The Incredible Hulk" run: Marvel's been pretty good about reprinting this in various trade paperback and digital formats in recent years. It's a pretty good run of comics from the late 80s through the entire decade of the 90s. Various editorial factors contribute to some of the ups and downs, but overall it's a lot of fun.

David's Hulk was always changing things up, keeping the stories fresh, and injecting everything with his trademark sense of humor.

On top of all that, look at some of the artists he worked with on that run: Todd McFarlane, Dale Keown, Gary Frank, and Adam Kubert were my favorites. And don't miss Sam Kieth's issue! If nothing else, go read the Keown issues. It's his best work ever in comics.

Chew 56 small
(Photo: Rob Guillory)

"Chew": The most recent, and I worry last, of the great 60 issue series, John Layman and Rob Guillory's intense, hilarious, and surprisingly emotional epic story of an FDA investigator in a world of illegal chickens is a modern classic.

This is a comic that Vertigo wouldn't take, likely because it's just too far out there. Layman and Guillory throw everything they have into the book, with every issue being a new surprising twist. The art and the story are a perfect match for each other, capable of strong raw emotion on one page, and then nearly satirical levels of comedic high concept craziness on the next. It's a series that won't ever come down off my bookshelves. It's earned its place of honor on there.

Layman is now returning to the world with a new "Chu" title, focusing on Tony's sister, Saffron. That's due out later this month.

Thieves

"Thief of Thieves": It got lost amongst Robert Kirkman's other series, notably (duh) "The Walking Dead," but "Thief of Thieves" is a great crime/heist series that ran for seven trade paperback collections.

Kirkman kicked it off with Nick Spencer, and then handed it off to other writers, like Andy Diggle, James Asmus, and Brett Lewis. The amazing thing is, the book was consistent. The tone and the style mostly stayed the same. That said, Andy Diggle was the perfect writer for the series, and I think the best of the stories were his.

There was a long break before the book finished off, but the final trade hit last year. I have to be honest - I haven't read it yet. I wanted to go back and reread the first six first. That's why this is the series I'm most likely to find myself binging sometime soon.

The entire series is drawn by Shawn Martinbrough, whose inky style worked amazingly well with the material. The man can draw some serious dudes, some deadly ladies, and some creepy criminals. The book wouldn't be the same without him sticking with it from start to finish, and I'm glad he was able to.

There's a lot that budding artists could learn from studying these pages, particularly about pacing, page layouts, and camera angles. Martinbrough deserves more recognition for his work in this series.

Alan Davis' "Excalibur": It's the prettiest X-Men comic ever made, and Davis' run in the #40s is one of the most entertaining. With Mark Farmer on inks, his art never looked better, and his own sense of humor came across strongly in the storytelling. Go back and read his work with Chris Claremont on the series first, of course, but be prepared for the awesomeness to come when he's on his own down the line.

I think we're close to 250 comics to read here already. So I'll add one more to double the total:

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(Photo: Image Comics)

"The Savage Dragon": With the comics world starting up again, Erik Larsen is nearing issue #250. If you start at issue #1 of the original mini-series now, you might just catch up before #250 ships. However you can get your hands on them -- the Compendium format, lots of back issue bins, digitally -- do it.

Start with the first mini-series and work your way up. You'll find you have your own favorite phases of the series, but it's always strong, classic, good old fashioned superhero bang-up comics told with modern and often mature twists.

Things get a little hairy between issues #50 and #100 when duplicates of characters show up and -- well, there's a LOT of characters over a LOT of issues in Dragon by now. I suggest you just buckle up and enjoy the ride. Don't give yourself a headache by trying to make sense of it all.

And do read the "Freak Force" series that spun off for 18 issues. It's my favorite.

There you have it: 500+ comics to keep you busy in less than a thousand words. I'm too good to you. I'll expect your book reports to start coming in by Monday morning. Class dismissed!

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