Are There Any Books Like The Immortal Hulk Omnibus?

Actually, Y’s ending is far better than I expected. It’s a beautifully bittersweet ending to a rather amazing comic. If you want to read other comic books with brilliant recontextualising endings which also leave you gasping at how emotional they are, The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn is an excellent supernatural western, with a deep and complex story and ending which was superb. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa is another excellent comic that ends in a really profound and moving discussion of family and legacy – really unexpected but somehow great. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is another very powerful story about finding humanity in very inhumane situations. A girl growing up in Nazi Germany becomes human to the narrator, Death, in a very powerful and life affirming way. The novel’s end is very, very sad but in a good way and I think it makes the novel as a whole very powerful. Finding such great payoffs in comics is rare and when you do, you have to appreciate them.

Oh, listing out all of these in memory would be quite difficult for me, however Echo by Jorge Corona and Memento by A. J. Jones are two of the ones that stick in my head. The Silent Manga Audition website (usually found in the about section) lists out archives of previous years’ winners, with titles and artists listed. These physical copies of the anthology occasionally have a contents page in the front, but it seems to be region/print run specific. Each story has a short bio or commentary from the artist on how they approached the story, and it’s wonderful to read. I found it to be incredibly inspiring, although unfortunately, I am unable to draw a straight line. The Silent Manga Anthology is not just a collection of nice pictures; it is a global showcase for the many, many ways in which narrative can be constructed.

What about classic horror-fantasy? Clive Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart is very short but is extremely potent in its exploration of pleasure and pain and beings from beyond the dimensions of human experience. In fact most of his work, including the several Books of Blood is very much horror-fantasy of a very mythic and very physical kind. There’s a lot of dark fantasy there too. Looking at the root of the genre, prior to the category of grimdark, will often turn up the rawest material. Those stories of old were attempting to unsettle the reader or to awe them, much like Miura did with his work.

All of the character expressions are beautifully rendered in Volume two. As Silent Film actors had to be so broad and theatrical, Wendy has worked in the opposite spectrum finding a beautiful mid-point between subtle and expressing clearly. You can read the smallest tilt of the head or faintest of smiles and even look into the eyes of the character and see a universe of sadness there. You become a more perceptive reader of all visual story telling as a result.

Finding ‘Waldo’ for grown-ups is a whole mood. Okay, fine. I get it. You are looking for something more than a guy in a striped shirt. However, many of the ‘I Spy’ books for kids have been upgraded to sophisticated offerings for adults, such as The Where’s Waldo? of Art, Museum Activity Books, and even new Explorer anthologies by Kazu Kibuishi and The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Journey by Aaron Becker is another wordless novel that demands great close attention as you follow the main character through space. If you want more of a puzzle-type activity, you could start with the book that started it all, Masquerade by Kit Williams, a classic hidden-object treasure hunt. But, honestly, finding ‘Waldo’ for adults is less about finding one character and more about a very complex visual that provides great reward after considerable time and patience. It is a specific kind of relaxation, you know? It’s a specific kind of relaxation, you know?

Moebius’ art books are incredible resources for fans of the artist, offering amazing insights into his unique storytelling. Arzach is a classic and deserves to be read as it was intended – in silence – allowing the viewer to absorb the Stunning and unique vistas in lengthy, surreal soaring sequences. The Incal is another must-read, as it delves deeply into his blend of Science Fiction and Metaphysical themes. For a more in-depth look at his work, The Art of Moebius is the perfect primer, while fans of his work can lose themselves in The World of Edena. Moebius’ linework alone could furnish a museum with enough art to keep them occupied for years to come. Each book transports the reader to another world that is often strange but is always beautiful.

I should probably add a note to follow the authors too. I have a relatively small catalog, so if you sign up for my newsletter or follow me on social media, I can tell you about the other books I’ve enjoyed in the genre. For now, though, I have added a note to the “Customers Also Bought” section on the Kindle page for one of my books. It looks like the algorithm is initially clustering the books by the most obvious genre tags (i.e. “clean Regency romance”), but as you scroll down, you will see more idiosyncratic matches. These are the books that other real readers have actually bought because they felt similar to the first book, as opposed to the publisher’s attempt to market the book to a particular audience. In other words, browsing the Kindle page for a favorite book is just like browsing the physical shelves in a store for more books by your favorite author.

If you loved reading The Mighty Red: A Novel, you might also enjoy reading The Crimson Veil by Lila Vane. Both novels are emotionally rich stories that follow the main characters as they try to come to terms with their identities and legacies. While The Crimson Veil is a novel about a young artist’s journey through grief and self-discovery, it has similar qualities to The Mighty Red in terms of prose. The stories are full of lyrical descriptions of everyday moments that can feel profound. I came across The Crimson Veil whilst on a bookstore crawl and it left me with the same bittersweet feeling that I had experienced when finishing The Mighty Red – the feeling of having finished a cup of tea that I wished I could go back to and have another cup of. For even more of this type of story, I would recommend “Scarlet Shadows” by Julian Cross. While a good deal darker and set in a dystopian world where color equals power, there is something deeply familiar in the emotional core of the story. It’s a very inside-the-head-of-the-hero type of story and the young man here grapples with trying to be true to himself in a world that is determined to force him to be something else. I loved “The Mighty Red” in part because of the author’s innovative use of visual metaphors to get at emotional ideas (red equals passion, pain, rebellion), and Cross is similarly resourceful with color to similar end. While a far more plot-oriented book than “Mighty Red,” I found myself racing through the pages of “Shadows” and the book’s end has lingered in my mind for months.

None of the above. What works for me is translating. So, I take a song that I like, a page from a manga, or a short news article and try to translate it into English or the other way round. Translating is a really hands-on way of learning as it requires you to really hunt for the words and to think in a really active, problem-solving way. As you grapple for the word to express a particular nuance, you learn a lot about the hierarchies of synonyms and connotations of words. It’s really time-consuming and very frustrating at times, but the words you learn through this process become a part of your vocabulary for good. It’s not really the typical way of learning languages, but it’s really rewarding for language lovers and very effective.

I have always thought that the Hornblower model would make a great submarine captain in WWII. The claustrophobic atmosphere, the silent hunting, the technical problem solving of sonar and torpedo solutions to name a few, all mirror the life of a frigate captain in earlier times. I think that Forester’s excellent series of books on sail would make excellent similar submarine series. Tom Clancy’s ‘The Hunt for Red October’ is a good ‘ techno-thriller’ but not really what I am looking for. A deep focus on the single commander and quiet undersea cat-and-mouse action would make for an instant read from me.