Recommend me some graphic novels!

There were 9 volumes of Preacher. They are:

Preacher Volume 1 - Gone to Texas
Preacher Volume 2 - Until the end of the world
Preacher Volume 3 - Proud Americans
Preacher Volume 4 - Ancient History
Preacher Volume 5 - Dixie Fried
Preacher Volume 6 - War in the Sun
Preacher Volume 7 - Salvation
Preacher Volume 8 - All Hell's Coming
Preacher Volume 9 - Alamo

Preacher has been complete for quite a few years now. In the upcoming volumes you'll get to see one of the top ten greatest villains of all time, Herr Star. Also, the trades collect any specials and miniseries, like the Saint of Killers miniseries.

Cool, thanks. That was the amount I found on Amazon but I didn't want to read the descriptors to figure out if it got finished in case of spoilers. Besides, I prefer reading complete stories, not only am I then assured of an eventual ending (unlike, say, X-Men) but I also won't forget stuff during any hiatus the writer might take (such as me reading the Dark Tower series as the books came out, then a break of like eight years happened between books).

My roommate who I borrowed Preacher from also has the Saint of Killers trade, but he also just sold it on eBay so I need to read it before he ships it out.

Not to troll, but Preacher is so forced and shock-y for the sake of it and just plain overrated.

If they were worth any money at all, or if I could find the first 5 volumes of it (I must have lent it to someone...), I'd sell all 9 on eBay.

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Originally Posted by Mzo

Not to troll, but Preacher is so forced and shock-y for the sake of it and just plain overrated.

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Maybe I haven't encountered any of that yet, I just really like the characters and the flow.

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Originally Posted by MechDeus

Maybe I haven't encountered any of that yet, I just really like the characters and the flow.

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It had some great moments for me, like when Jesse catches Cassidy's punch and breaks his arm, but doesn't act like it until he's gone, but it's usually the smaller stuff that's cool. Everything they tried going over the top for, with vomit and scat and people fucking piles of meat just didn't seem all that great to me.

One nice thing about the Sin City movie is they just re-released all the graphic novels in a themed format. I only ever had them in the original comic version, and those are scattered all over by now thanks to one move and another, so it's nice to replace them with a set that's going to look great on the bookshelf. I just picked up the second volume yesterday, so only 5 to go.

I also just finished the last volume (of 5) of Planetes and it was an excellent read. Most manga is crap so it was great to finally find one worth reading again.

James

Read the Saint of Killers mini-series and it was pretty blah. Came across like Ennis had this awesome idea about a tough-as-fuck cowboy with all sorts of literal application to legends... and then tried to write it as fast as he could over a weekend. Going over it in my head afterwards I was thinking, "Man, there was a lot of cool shit and summarizing it sounds badass," but when I was reading it I was actually kinda bored and it dulled my enthusiasm for Preacher.

But apparently my roommate that had that series and the first Preacher book totally forgot he also owned the second book and issues 15-31 (although 15-17 are included in the second book). So lucky for me, I don't have to order the lot of the series off Amazon or anything just yet, I got plenty more to go through first. I'm also really glad he had those because Preacher itself is written way better than that Saint of Killers mini-series was and it only took a couple pages to get back into being excited about it.

None of the Preacher miniseries are all that great. Though I do have a certain fondness for Good Ol' Boys, starring mama's favorite rednecks Jody and T.C.

I loved the series overall, though. Herr Starr is my hero.

Stuff I think is well worth reading and will make you a smarter/better person:

Y the Last Man (what would happen if women ran the Earth?)

V for Vendetta (What Alan Moore did after Watchmen)

From Hell (Jack the Ripper as a Masonic/pre-Golden Dawn Crowleyite occultist? Sign me up!)

Arkham Asylum (Dave McKean, The Sandman cover guy, does the art. Probably the best Batman story ever)

Swamp Thing (only the Alan Moore run)

The Invisibles (WARNING: Do not attempt to understand this without
reading the annotations at Barbelith or your brain will die. But this is seriously the craziest shit ever committed to paper, in a good way)

Planetary

The Authority (The Mark Millar and Warren Ellis runs, screw the rest)

Justice League International/Formerly Known as the Justice League (possibly the funniest comics ever written)

Squee (Jhonen Vasquez = hilarious)

Johnny the Homocidal Maniac (see above)

The Man Without Fear (Frank Miller does the definitive Daredevil story - I think his Daredevil work is much stronger than his other stuff)

Starman (only the James Robinson series - especially The Grand Guignol)

Black Panther (only the ones written by Christopher Priest - the other ones suck)

Cerebus The Aardvark (lots of interesting ideas, but warning - the entire series together goes on for thousands of pages, and can be about as self-indulgent as art gets)

Lucifer (yes, it's about Satan, and it totally works)
Blade of the Immortal (Most of the manga we get in North America is pretty cheesy, imo, but I love Samura's style)

Books that aren't available in tpb form but should be:

Flex Mentallo - Pretty much a must read for any longtime comics fan. Explains everything.

Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol - Freaking awesome. Eerie and constantly experimental; a group of handicapped and/or insane superheroes trapped inside metanarratives battling dadaist thought experiments. This laid the groundwork for The Invisibles, but it's much more accessible.

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. My general impression of comics after all these years - a) aside from a tiny handful of exceptions only guys from the UK can really write, b) Marvel's editorial staff never lets them do anything interesting, and c) Fuck the X-Men.

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Originally Posted by StriderKyo

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. My general impression of comics after all these years - a) aside from a tiny handful of exceptions only guys from the UK can really write, b) Marvel's editorial staff never lets them do anything interesting, and c) Fuck the X-Men.

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Pretty much. I don't see how any grown adults can get any enjoyment out of modern superhero comics, especially Marvel stuff. Moore and Miller and a few others have been able to sneak some quality stuff in there, but all the stories are boring and for little boys. Comics mean a lot to me, but I feel like I've read all of the best ones already so I've moved on to real books for the good shit.

The only non-Japanese comic I haven't heard recommended so far that's aces is Miracleman. Moore's best, it beats Watchmen, From Hell, all that shit. It's epic. Good luck finding the trades tho, you're better off hunting down the single issues.