Non-Cape and Cowls Comics!

[coachbombay]

Originally Posted by asafager

Somebody mentioned Powers earlier. While it is a "Capes and Cowls" book, technically, it is so much more than that. And way on the mature side. Boobies and all.
Also by Bendis is Alias, which is a Marvel MAX story, about a woman with superpowers who decided she no longer wanted to be a superhero. She becomes a private detective and is dealing with lots of things "Cape and Cowl" related, but very little actual hero play. If you know what I mean.
And again, lots of Bendis' early work was just doing classic crime-noir stuff. Worth a read. He writes excellent dialogue.
If you haven't picked up the subtext here, I'm a big Bendis fan.

IF you want "grit" DEFINITELY pick up Bendis' earlier stuff. IMO Torso and Goldfish are two of the greatest crime/noir stories I have ever read. If you haven't read them, just buy them.

[crazyk]

Torso was cool. Didn't read Goldfish but read Jinx. I don't know though,t he artwork was just so repetitive and it was hard to see what the hell was going on at times. It looked like a the same panel over and over with different word bubbles really.

[coachbombay]

Goldfish is not so subdued. There is a lot less of the drawing on photographs thing, so the art is a little more intricate.

[asafager]

The art in Jinx was a bit hard to read at points. Personally, his best work is on Alias. In my humble opinion. You still get that gritty, detective comic feel, but with more excitement. And the clever twist of making the lead a female version of the classic noir detective character is both progressive and brilliant.

[coachbombay]

Originally Posted by asafager

The art in Jinx was a bit hard to read at points. Personally, his best work is on Alias. In my humble opinion. You still get that gritty, detective comic feel, but with more excitement. And the clever twist of making the lead a female version of the classic noir detective character is both progressive and brilliant.

Does Alias get substantially better as you get farther in? I hear it recommended all the time, but the first trade just did nothing for me. I'd hate to miss out if its really that good, but dont want to buy trades I won't like.

[crazyk]

Probably already mentioned, but Punisher Max. The reboot is excellent right now.

[kylelatino]

The PARKER: HUNTED adaptation sounds like something you might enjoy. It's about a professional criminal in the 70's. Great period crime narrative.

Also, you might try PLUTO by Urasawa. I know it's a manga, but it's very western in sensibilities. No super lazer cats. It's all about these robot serial murders, but robots can't murder because of the three laws. It's like CAVES OF STEEL, but not. I don't know, just read it.

[kkrakk]

Nice to see Powers, Torso and Jonah Hex mentioned time and time again. Those are the top three on my own personel list to check out.

As for suggestions.

I really really liked The Killer english versions that Archaia put out. The first arc has been collected in trade and is fantastic

Bulletproof Coffin has appeared in my life again which I am glad for, but David Hine's early work Strange Embrace is just fantastic! Very strange, very creepy and very unique. Also available as one complete trade

Image comics recently did a few hardcover collections of Ted McKeevers early work. Amazing. My favorite of the three though is Metropol and stands as one of my all time favorite series. Well worth checking out

The Damned put out by ONI Press is fantastic. The first arc is much better than the second though. If you know the Coen Brothers movie Millers Crossing, this is like a demonic version of that story. So great

Was mentioned above the Parker books that Darwyn Cooke did. The Hunter and The Outfit. Both are mind blowing. I am a huge fan of the original Stark series and I was amazed at how good Cookes versions were. This was the first book I ever purchased the oversized slipcase hardcover edition for (called the Martini edition, similar to the DC Absolute books in size and packaging)