

Ask HN: Comics/graphic novel for geeks? - jozi9

Apart from marvel and manga stuff, is there any cool comics? Techie, near future etc?
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icebraining
Yes, plenty! Warren Ellis has some great stuff, particularly
Transmetropolitan, Global Frequency, and now Trees¹. The Private Eye is an
independent series, also ongoing, about a near future where privacy is much
more important to society. The Fuse is a policial where all the events happen
in a "floating city", orbiting around the Earth. Planetoid and Who is Jake
Ellis are both good short series (4 and 5 issues, respectively), though the
latter may not fit as sci-fi necessarily. Last but not least, there's Prophet,
though that's a more fantasy mixed work.

I recommend looking into publishers such as Image Comics (lots of good
creator-owned series with cheap DRM-free releases) and Vertigo, a DC imprint
dedicated to different kinds of works, which includes both Transmet and V for
Vendetta.

¹ My favorite work by him is actually Fell, but there's nothing futuristic or
techy about it.

~~~
juliangoldsmith
I don't know Warren Ellis's other stuff that well, but I thoroughly enjoyed
Transmetropolitan, and would also recommend it.

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heimp
I second (or third) Warren Ellis's stuff. Orbiter and Ministry of Space are a
couple of good sci-fi books. Planetary's also pretty awesome, but it's more
superhero-y.

Others off the top of my head:

Wizzywig by Ed Piskor - fictional account of a Kevin Mitnick-type hacker.

We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely - 3 bionically enhanced animals escape
their captors and talk funny.

Lazarus by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark - an immortal hitwoman with a
conscience in a feudal society.

RASL by Jeff Smith - art thief is chased through parallel universes.

Casanova by Matt Fraction, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba - more parallel universe
hijinks, this time with spies.

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derekp7
I never could effectively read and process comics without a lot of effort --
something about transitioning the brain rapidly between text and image
processing. I guess my left brain and right brain can't function in parallel
(I'm sure there is a name for this "condition").

But back to the question, I've heard from people who enjoy comics that Girl
Genius is fairly good -- there is a good write up on it on
[http://www.quadibloc.com/other/anoint.htm](http://www.quadibloc.com/other/anoint.htm)

(BTW, this guys home page has a huge treasure trove of random knowledge --
worth exploring a bit more).

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jankins
The comic version of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was great, it's the
same text as the novel but an excellent experience. Sandman and Watchmen are
general must-reads if you haven't gotten to those yet.

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Vomzor
Saga, Y: The last man, Ex Machina, Alex + Ada, The Sword.

Not really techie but a really good comic & gorgeous art (imo): Sex criminals

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EliRivers
Manhattan Projects has a fantastic cast you'll recognise.

