I must begin the list by Frank Miller's Daredevil
. The first "adult comic" I've read, and, until today, one of those
I just don't get tired of re-reading. The cinematographic planes, the visual
narrative, the dialogs, the black and white,
the dark humor, the tormented Daredevil
/Matt Murdock character, the omnipresence of the Kingpin,
Ben Urich, plus an entire cast of characters that captivated me
since the beginning. I'll never forget the impact of stories like Elektra's
death (DD #181) or Blind Justice.
For many people, the best work of Miller.
The first think he did I read was V for Vendetta,
so, you can make the picture. The Swamp Thing came, and,
long after, the seminal Watchmen. Moore is, probably,
the most important comic book author of the eighties, and one of the more
prolific. What really amazes me in him is his capacity of exhale totally
a subject in a story, which happened with the letter V in
V for Vendetta, the super hero
concept in Watchmen or Marvel early style in 1963.
Without Moore there would be nor Gaiman neither Grant
Morison.
I wouldn't be fair if haven't included here Chris
Claremont & John Byrne's
masterpiece here. In a general way, the traditional
Marvel style captured my attention to comic books, but, in particular,
it was Chris' ability to work on endless plots without loose the
reader's interest and Byrne's wonderful pictures (with Terry
Austin's inks) that motivated in me the necessity of keep
reading comics, month after month. Those days, I could quote
all the secret identities of the X-Men and Alpha Flight.
And Wolverine was a good character, too...
Astérix taught me History, Latin and how to like french
comics, among many other things. René Goscinny
is one of the best all time script writers, and his jokes fit perfectly
in Albert Uderzo's big nosed characters. Although
its profuse word games and references to many european countries and cultures,
Astérix is completely readable in other languages (mine,
for instance, was Portuguese). A must for children & adult of
any ages.
Although
I've know Cerebus for a time very shorter
than the other comics above, it has already deserved its place in this
list. Cerebus was the comic book that astonished me when I though that
I hardly would be surprised by anything in comics. An odyssey, a tour
de force, an experience never before tried, a show in black
& white were some of the words I found when trying to describe this
adventure. Do you know the comic book that is so good you'd like it never
ends? Cherubs is very much like this. Dave Sim and Gherard may explain
why, I prefer keep reading.
Who
doesn't like The Sandman? Who would bet in a semi unknown english
writer, named Neil Gaiman, back in 1988? Karen Berger, from
DC comics, believed him, and the magic was done. The work of Gaiman
in The Sandman led people compare him to Shakespeare, Moore, etc.
Some of them believe that he brought legitimacy to the comic books as a
way of Art, becoming the most interviewed comic book author in the world.
I prefer to read his multiple character saga, full with serial killers,
goblins, witches, ghosts, and much, much magic. As hard to fit in a single
genre as to name all the great characters that appeared in 75 issues. Without
Moore there wouldn't be a Gaiman, but without Gaiman
there wouldn't be Vertigo, Morrison... And he was the only
guy that could made death a fair and pleasurable character.
Among
the names that could join together comic books and rock'n'roll, we find
R. Crumb, Jano, Alain Voss, Vullemin, Angeli
and the frenchman Frank Margerin. Although I couldn't meet him when
he came to Rio, in 1991, I always loved his full colored style, the big
nosed characters, the fine backgrounds and every detail that made the story
more rich, more agreable to read, more fun -- and more realistic, also.
A drugstore or a bar drawn by Margerin have the high fidelity of
a photo shot. On your left, you can see Lucien, a main character. On your
right, a self portrait explaining why he couldn't came to Rio in 1997.
Bill Sienkievicz
In the first time I saw his work, my reaction wasn't positive.
Fortunately, my mind changed, and after his work for The New Mutants,
I was completely convinced that the guy knew his work. It all happened
before Bill came to Rio, in 1993, when I could have his autograph.
Barely could I imagine that only 2 years after I would be nexter to him,
when he came back, and I interviewed him for a brazilian magazine, Panacea.
By those days I could see in first hand his artwork for the biography of
Jimi Hendrix, his most amazing piece to the moment. I was already
dazzled by the adaptation of Moby Dick to comic books, and it was
fine to see the original brushstrokes that brought us works as Elektra:
Assassin, Brought to Light and Stray Toasters. Sienkievicz
simply recreated the limits of a comic book page, using the caricature,
the painting, the collage and the lettering in very unusual ways. And his
name isn't this hard to pronounce.
(Oh, and if you can read in
Portuguese, I invite you to visit the brazilian version of this page, where
you can find the comic books I read in my own language.)
