Voting for July Reading Club Selection!

[thwhtGuardian]

Inspired by Mister Mets quest to find better comic book conversations and upping comic book reading in general it was thought that there might be some interest in forming a book club here on the CE&CC board. So here it goes, the Book Club Starts here and now!

The way it will work is like this, each month there will be a cattle call of sorts where those interested in participating suggest titles that they'd like to see discussed.(psst, it happened here) As for what those titles should be I'd say a loose definition for "classic" would be a book that was published at least ten years of ago and for the purposes of this book club it should be readily available in either print or digitally at an affordable price and be relatively self contained.

So, if you're interested cast your vote here and once a title has been selected we'll start discussing it in around a week's time!

Without further ado, this month's options!

Saga Vol.1 by Brian K. Vaughan: Suggested by Reviresco(I went with Vol.1 as none was specified), Science Fiction. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to raise a family.

The Incal by Jean Giraud and Moebius: Suggested by Reviresco, Science Fiction. Join dectect John Difool as he searches for the ancient, mystical artifact called The Incal.

Abe Sapien: The Drowning by Mike Mignola: Suggested by Reviresco( I went with the first trade as none was specified), Horror. In the early 1980's, new BPRD agent Abe Sapien was set to retrieve the corpse of a powerful warlock off the coast of France.

Prometha Vol.1 by Allan Moore: Suggested by Reviresco, Fantasy/Super Hero. Sophie Bangs was just an ordinary college student when a simple assignment changed her life forever.

Metabarons Vol.1 by Alejandro Jodorowsky: Suggested by Reviresco, Science Fiction. The only way for a son to become the next Metabaron is to slay his own father in mortal combat. Follow generations of Metabarons as they struggle to overcome the forces amassed against them.

Batmanga Vol. 1 by Jiro Kuwata: Suggested by MRP, Super Hero/ Shonen Manga. See The Dark Knight and his sidekick Robin fight against some of his strangest villains in this reprinting of the Japanese comics.

Swamp Thing: The Anatomy Lesson by Alan Moore: Suggested by SJNeal, Horror. Collected in Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol.1, in this new take on his origin the Swamp Thing will learm terrifying revelations that begin a journey of discovery and adventure that will take him across the stars and beyond.

Orbiter by Warren Ellis: Suggested by Thwhtguardian, Sci-fi. When the Venture, a space shuttle that disappeared ten years ago with its crew of seven, miraculously returns from outer space without warning or explanation a cosmic mystery arises.

As a way of breaking possible ties please post your second choice here so a bit of ranked choice can help us decide the subject of this month's book club.

[thwhtGuardian]

I'm obviously in and for my possible tie-breaker I'll go with The Incal.

[babyblob]

I voted and my tie breaker would be Ape Sapien as I have never read any of the Hell Boy stuff.

[MRP]

A lot of these will be rereads for me except for the one I nominated, but the one that's been the longest since I last read would be Moore's Swamp Thing, so that will be my second choice.

-M

[etrumble]

My second choice would be Orbiter.

I miss reading Warren Ellis(yes, I know the issues but I enjoyed most of his work).

[comicscollector]

I voted.
My tie braker is the Incal.

[Mister Mets]

These are some good comics.

My first choice is Orbiter.

Tiebreaker would be Swamp Thing Volume 1.

I'd be happy with anything.

[Reviresco]

My Tie Breaker is Orbiter.

[thwhtGuardian]

And that's it for voting!

For our initial offering we had eight different suggestions from four posters and eight votes!

And with the poll now closed I'm pleased to announce a three way tie with two votes a piece for Abe Sapien: The Drowning,Batmanga Vol. 1 by Jiro Kuwata and Swamp Thing: The Anatomy Lesson by Alan Moore.

And through the power of ranked choice I'm pleased to announce that the book for our first book club meeting is....

Swamp Thing: The Anatomy Lesson!

Written by Alan Moore with art by Steve Bissette and published by DC back in 1984 this new take on Swamp Thing's mythology originally ran from Swamp Thing #20-27 and has largely been considered a classic ever since it hit the racks. With that kind of creative pedigree the single issues are pretty to steep to buy now but Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol.1 from 2012(and reprinted several times since then I believe) is pretty easy to get a hold of so with that said I'll create the discussion thread tonight and conversation can start as soon as everyone gets their hands on the book.

Join in whenever you can, no pressure what so ever and I'll try and pose a few questions to get things started that don't even require having the book in hand to participate.

[Mister Mets]

One thing that's interesting about this comic is where the run begins.

In my copies of the Alan Moore Swamp Thing run, it didn't include his first issue (#20.) Instead, it started with #21.

What happened is that Moore and penciller Dan Day (who I don't think returned to the series) used #20 to wrap up the earlier run.

#21 is the Anatomy Lesson, which kicks off a four parter with the Floronic Man and has major retcons which kick off the rest of the storyline. It's so accessible that I didn't realize I was missing Moore's first issue until I read a description of it elsewhere.

So one big question is whether the first Moore TPB should include #20. I can easily go back and forth on that one.

[thwhtGuardian]

One thing that's interesting about this comic is where the run begins.

In my copies of the Alan Moore Swamp Thing run, it didn't include his first issue (#20.) Instead, it started with #21.

What happened is that Moore and penciller Dan Day (who I don't think returned to the series) used #20 to wrap up the earlier run.

#21 is the Anatomy Lesson, which kicks off a four parter with the Floronic Man and has major retcons which kick off the rest of the storyline. It's so accessible that I didn't realize I was missing Moore's first issue until I read a description of it elsewhere.

So one big question is whether the first Moore TPB should include #20. I can easily go back and forth on that one.

While reading #20 can be a little bit of a head scratcher on its own as it's an ending to a previous story I think there is enough there that is accessable to readers and as you continue to read the rest of Moore's run it acts as a prologue to the main action of #21 so I think the recent publication made the right call in including it.