Media in General

Can we get a comic recommendations thread? It's probably the biggest form of media left without one.

In the meantime, I'd like to know where's the best place to start with the GI Joe comics. The franchise appeals to me and I heard the comics are where it shines, but there are so many.

Start one in the Comics forum. A mod will comment that it doesn't belong there and move it to Recommendations and then everything will be exactly as intended from the beginning. :P

I've recently read Caitlin Kiernan's To Charles Fort, With Love and now I'm in the mood for what I guess might be called Fortean Horror - basically, no monsters and no explanations.

For example: It hasn't rained in weeks, but an oily brown puddle has formed in the alley behind the bookstore. It expands noticeably every day, and someone eventually drops a broom into it and it disappears without ever floating to the top. When the rain returns, it disappears again, with an audible screech like a screaming horse.

Any suggestions?

My first thought would be Stephen King's From A Buick 8.

Oh - I've read that, actually. And yes, it is kind of similar.

A friend of mine doesn't usually read comics, but says he's interested in the Marvel character Arcade and might start reading for that. I like the character myself, but haven't read most of his stories. Can someone recommend some issues for both of us?

Currently he appears in Avengers Arena, but you probably knew that. The problem with Arcade is that he cam turn up anywhere, but rarely ever for more than a couple of issues. Also it's hard to guarantee that any specific story featuring him is both good amd true to the character.

He first appeared in Marvel Team Up #65, I'm not sure if that's easily available in reprint form(I haven't read it.). He soon showed up in Uncanny X-Men starting with #122, if you like that I reccomend the whole Claremont/Byrne run on Uncanny; probably the best ongoing superhero comic ever and easy to get hold of.

I think his next story starts just after that run in Uncanny X-Men #145-7 teaming up with Dr Doom. It's a mixed story and the first to have Doom's actions be that of a Doombot. Later on he makes a good appearance in Uncanny #177 but I think that may be slightly difficult to get hold of.

Other appearnces by him I like are X-Factor vol 3 #29-31 and Sensational Spider-Man #29-30. The mini series Claws was also a good read, but I found Arcade a bit out of character in that.

Thanks!

Looking for a work that has romantic tension between an idealist and a cynic, with associated friction between the two different points of view. The work doesn't have to be centered around the relationship, but it should be at least somewhat prominent. All I can think of is, oddly, Black Lagoon and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington — any other ideas?

You're probably aware of it, but I'm going to at least mention Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

You know, it's probably pretty common in Visual Novels. For example Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya (though her route was positively gutted by adaptation), or Kotarou and Akane (though Rewrite is a long VN).

Thanks for the recs! I was aware of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, but I was looking for something that explored the idealist-cynic conflict a bit more seriously. The Shirou-Rin romance had slipped my mind, and I suppose it would count, although Rin is much more idealistic at heart than she lets on. I haven't read Rewrite, though — maybe I should check that one out.

What are some two-person board or card games that one can spend a few hours playing idly while listening to an audio drama? We like Uno, which would fulfill the "idly" part of it, but I'm not sure it'd still be fun after two hours. When we play Chess, a game is over in under 15 minutes. All my other ideas take too much attention or verbal communication.

Double Solitaire? Any board game which is based more or less exclusively on advancing along the board (the ones that are springing to mind are Life (though that involves money, which might be more complicated than you want), Candyland, and Race to the Roof) would probably also work.

Parcheesi, Aggravation, Quiddler, Scrabble, Kings' Corners, Carcassonne, Snap?

I'm looking for a TV series that has a dark tone, like a Tim Burton movie, but still has a good sense of humor. Should the series be animated, I'd prefer if it had a nice art style. Does anyone know of any series that I may be interested in?

edited 30th Nov '13 5:46:15 PM by The_Landfill

"Dark and humorous" sounds like Joss Whedon. Maybe Buffy or Angel?

Dark and humorous? How dark are we talking?

Nothing is simultaneously more dark and humorous at the same time than Kotoura San. It's...hard to describe without ruining the appeal, but it's just wonderful.

Note that the TV Tropes page has no mention of the comedy.

edited 2nd Dec '13 5:59:30 PM by Jinxmenow

I like to think Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita fits, but I admit it may lean more just darkly humorous.

I guess it depends on what you call dark and humorous.

Thinking of something twisted Bakemonogatari fits the bill, but I could even rec Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood under those criteria.

Okay, I'm looking for a format that while I'm not entirely sure what I want, I know the basics, and I can't seem to even describe those to Google. It'll be something video, or at least audio.

I was watching Star Trek, thinking about how they have a rather broad range of tone and can do some really deep drama one week and something lighter but not broad comedy the next, and got the idea to do some sort of web-oriented drama series in short episodes.

How short? Under fifteen minutes, preferably under ten. My gut says seven minutes is a nice length for story telling, but I have no idea how accurate that is. The next step is to watch some series with that basic format to get an idea of what kind of rhythm such a story has.

Now, half-hour dramas are rare enough on television, and I could probably find anthologies or serials (chockablock with cliffhangers) out there, but I'm sure somewhere out there someone's doing a super-short drama on the web. However, when I take the idea to Google, the best I can do are searches like "drama series under ten minutes", and it gives me a puzzled look and starts offering me "Ten minute stage dramas" and "Six Feet Under (TV Series)".

Beyond the basic idea of "webisode drama", I don't think I have many definite ideas of what I want, but I have some ideas of what I don't want. I'm not specifically out for anything as specific as "sci-fi", or "crime drama", but I want an overall tone similar to Star Trek: TNG or Castle. The closest thing I can think of to what I'm looking for is Childrens Hospital, but that's not a drama, it's a spoof of medical soap opera. Even if you dump the comedy, it's too melodramatic for what I'm looking for. Also the only serious web dramas I can think of aren't so much drama as horror.

I may be getting too picky about this, since I ought to be able to extract a plot rhythm from just about anything that tells an ongoing but episodic story in the time frame I'm looking for. So it shouldn't matter that if I were to move on to creating my own series in this format, it'd probably be either Magical Realism or the sci-fi equivalent, or just pure realism.

Any ideas?

edited 28th Dec '13 11:24:14 PM by TParadox

I notice you have posted a possible solution in Web Originals. You seem to know the exact details of what you need, so you're probably better off doing the searching.

Did you try "drama shorts"? Throw youtube in there somewhere as youtube videos are usually under ten minutes anyway. Throw in other specific terms if you think they will help and try and find a youtube channel relating to the best videos you've found.

Sorry, all I can suggest as that's a very specific request.

edited 29th Dec '13 3:32:04 AM by UltimatelySubjective

That sounds like more self contained than in looking for. Are they one shots?

It is really specific. I was just hoping to get some suggestions in areas I may not have thought to look for. I only started finding suggestions by limiting myself to web series. Sevenish minutes is a common format in animation series (three shorts in half an hour), but they tend to be more standalone.

edited 29th Dec '13 7:27:11 AM by TParadox

The Joker Blogs, Season 1, for a certain definition for "not broad comedy"? (It's more episodic than LBD, at least.)

edited 29th Dec '13 10:45:49 AM by Noaqiyeum

Im looking for a crossover between intercompanies. (Like Superman vs Spiderman or something) I don't mind fan versions.

And a good ps3 game. No shooter, not beat them all, something with a story and fun to play.

Catherine, Little Big Planet one or two, Puppeteer, Tokyo Jungle or The Unfinished Swan, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World The Game, Dark Souls, Demons Souls, the Ratchet And Clank collection, the Jak And Daxter collection, the Devil May Cry collection, Castlevania Lords Of Shadow.

And, my number one, ultimate favorite game of all time:The Sly Collection. And Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time if you liked the collection.

edited 15th Jan '14 1:04:10 PM by Jinxmenow

Portal 2 is a great game with plot for the PS 3. It uses shooter mechanics, but you aren't firing bullets/energy beams, you're pointing where you want a portal.