Two of my previous articles, Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny & its sister article were somewhat popular, so I looked to write a third entry, but I found that there are many great graphic novels that, while costing more than a penny, were easily affordable and should be considered must reads for a comics fan (in my ever so humble opinion). And so for those of you with slightly deeper pockets, I present to you, 10 great graphic novels being sold on Amazon for under a dollar.
The Milkman Murders
B
y Joe Casey &
Steve Parkhouse. In a reverse perfect Donna Reed existence, a housewife who is
trying to keep her extremely dysfunctional family happy is raped by a wandering
lunatic driving an old fashioned milk truck. Parkhouse's art blends with the
script brilliantly. The perceived grime and filth is everywhere. Each character
is foully drawn that you can smell the grime and BO wafting off of them.
Uther The Half Dead King
By Bo Hampton & Dan Abnett. This is the story of King Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, a
brutal military leader whose character is often used as a foil of Arthurs own
golden age. The story deftly mixes Arthurian legends with English history. He
is presented as a man shaped by his times. He had the ability to survive the
times, but not to tame them, and that ultimately cost him his life.
Silk Tapestry and Other Chinese Folk Tales: Songs of Our Ancestors Volume 2
By Patrick
Atangan. Three beautifully illustrated short stories from Chinese mythology. In
The Silk Tapestry, an old woman's last hope to live well is in the completion
of a magical tapestry, which opens to paradise. In Sausage-Boy and his Magic
Brush, a boy's magical paintings that come to life attracts a greedy woman. In
The Creation Myth of Pan Gu a lonely spirit sculpts the Earth from a cosmic egg
in hopes it brings him some company.
Age of Bronze- A Thousand Ships
By Eric Shanower.
This is part one of the Trojan war, specifically all of the events that lead up
to the launching of the 1,000 ships after Helen of Troy. As you can see from
the bibliography, the author put an intense amount of research into creating
the right look and facial constructions for the time period. All mythical elements
have been removed from the tale, except as being told as stories within stories
themselves, and a logical reasoning has been applied to the mythic tale.
Aetheric Mechanics
By Warren Ellis
& Chris Deier. A short but filling work. Ellis follows the trend of mixing
up various 19th Century genres and characters together to create a
wide world, but this one has an interesting twist and an ending that makes this
story great. Highly recommended.
AKA Goldfish By Brian Michael
Bendis. Bendis’s breakout comic. The story of a wronged grifter coming back to
town to take revenge on all those who had wronged him, plus one other reason.
The story is fast paced and compelling, deftly mixing humor and tragedy into a
brutal crime noir tale.
The Birthday Riots
By Nabiel Kanan.
The story of a once progressive middle aged man who now has been worn down and
corrupted by the realities of life. He is an advisor to a man running for mayor
and tells him not to focus on the needs of lower class, as it will not get him
as many votes- an exact opposite of who he used to be. This is a low key tragic
tale of man stumbling through the wreckage of his now tattered morals and caught
up in an actual riot, a partial result of his own actions.
London's Dark
By James Robinson
& Paul Johnson. An interesting tale set in London during the blitz. A man
is murdered during an air raid and, after his body is found, the police
naturally assume he was a victim of the Germans. Later on his mother goes to a
psychic to contact her dead son, only to have him tell her that he was
murdered. Things get out of control from there. The art is stark and realistic,
perfectly capturing a sense of grime and grittiness of the time.
Silent Invasion: Secret Affairs & Red Shadows
By Michael Cherkas
& Larry Hancock. The Silent Invasion is one of those rare books that was
truly ahead of its time. Coming out in 1986, it was a black-and-white comic,
well before black and white comics were fashionable. It dealt with a secret
government conspiracy, involving aliens, well before the X-Files popularized
the idea. The Silent Invasion was a victim of its own originality, and never
got the recognition that it deserved. It is a paranoid cold war thriller that
revolves around reporter Matt Sinkage who after having an encounter with
aliens, cannot convince others of their existence. This collects them first two, of four, volumes.
Hope you’ve found
something of interest here. And as always you can check out my What I’ve Been Reading Page for any more suggestions. Enjoy and Caveat Emptor!
For more weirdness try Across the Wounded Galaxy by Rex Hurst
As I discussed in my previous entry, Reading As an Addiction,
I’ve digested an inordinate amount of books and graphic novels over the years.
To better support my habit I have a rule in that I never buy a book when it
first comes out. Give it enough time and the price will always go down. Thus I
can get four to five older books for the price of that new release. If I’m
lucky, the price on that book has dropped a ridiculous amount, often to a
penny. So for those of you who must feed the literary monkey on your back, here
are ten great graphic novels being sold on Amazon for one cent.
Three Fingers by Rich Koslowski- This is a fun, behind the scenes, pseudo-documentary of the
cartoon scene, where toons live alongside humans as second-class citizens. Mimicking
a television expose’s hyperbolic format, Koslowski alternates confessional head
shots of interviewees with "archival" stills that narrate the history
of toons in film. It chronicles the rise of a Walt Disney character and his
greatest actor, Ricky Rat, and the terrible secret they have.
Suburban Nightmares: The Science
Experiment by Larry Hancock, Micheal Cherkas, & John Van Bruggen- A collection of nine stories from the independent comic of
the same name. The running theme here is one of the paranoia of post-war 1950s
America manifesting in anti-communist hysteria, the atomic bomb, aliens, all
wrapped in a suburban setting. The art here is distinct, sticking with Cherkas
standard black and white blocky style, which adds another level to the paranoia
of the series.
2024 by Ted Rall- An adaptation of Orwell's 1984 to fit modern times. Rall does
an amazing job here in staying true to the feel of dread surrounding Winston,
but operating in a strictly capitalist, rather than socialist, society. Where
Orwell’s Big Brother wanted a country where every person was completely focused
on the goals of the party, in Rall’s interpretation total distraction is the
party’s plan, where the citizens are so immersed in consumer crap that they
don’t care what the powers-that-be are up to.
Volcanic Revolver by Scott Morse- 1930s New York is a dangerous place to be. Crime lords battle
for control of the streets, and the web of corruption extends from the docks
through the media and up to the highest levels of government and religion.
Though just one player in the city's grand drama, Vincenzo is skilled in many
arts. He paints, runs a bakery, and runs a secret counterfeiting operation.
When a rival mob family sends a bomb into Vincenzo's shop, it starts a chain of
events that shakes up the underworld and leads to an elaborate plot for
vengeance.
Strangehaven- Arcadia by Gary Spencer
Millidge -
Alex Hunter crashes his car to avoid an apparition in the winding
road. When he awakens he finds himself in Strangehaven, a gently off-kilter
village that he first doesn't want to leave - and then finds himself entirely
unable to escape. He soon encounters some of the village's bizarre inhabitants. This is a greatly underappreciated story by a master artist, and his work keeps getting better and better. While this story takes its time, I feel that it is worth the journey.
M by John J Muth & Adam Kempenaar- Based upon the Fritz Lang film of the same name, about the
hunt for a pedophile haunting the streets of Berlin in the 1930s, ending with a
very intense trial scene. While the action is the same as the movie, what
brings this graphic novel out are the photorealistic paintings,
making this an unforgettable story.
Crecy by Warren Ellis & Raulo
Caceres- This the story of the battle at Crecy in France where the smaller
army of England’s Edward the III faced the seemingly overwhelming forces of
Philip the IV of France, yet England prevailed, cutting down “the flower of
French Chivalry” in an afternoon and, reportedly, spawned the use of England’s
two finger salute. Told from the perspective of foot soldier, this is a fascinating
tale filled with all sorts of historical tidbits.
Rocketo- Journey to the Hidden Sea Vol 1
by Frank Espinosa & Marie Taylor-
In a far flung destroyed earth, where the magnetic poles no
longer exist, the Mappers chart the new seas. After returning from a war a
broken man, Rocketo Garrison is swept away on a journey to the Hidden Sea, a
fabled land that may hold the key to an ancient mystery. This is truly a different
story, filled with tons of imagination and flair, and a unique illustrative
style.
Solstice by Steven T. Seagle - An off putting business mogul goes on a trip for the Fountain
of Youth in South America, after discovering that he has brain cancer. His son
Hugh goes with him, his other son having committed suicide years earlier due to
the father’s incessant bullying. As the book opens, Hugh is making a one-handed
attempt to keep his father from falling to his death on the summer solstice in
equatorial Chile. Hugh fails to save Russell, but only after relaying the backstory
in a tangle of crisscrossing flashbacks.
Clover Honey by Rich Tommaso- This is not the revised, redrawn twentieth anniversary version
of the book, but its original presentation- that I felt needed very alteration.
Abigail is an aspiring hitwoman out to prove her value to the family. She
braves the wilds of Newark, overpriced parking, traffic jams, and bad hair days
to track down Trevor, her former mentor, who is on the lam with a big briefcase
of mob dough.
Two of my previous articles, Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny & its sister article were somewhat popular, so I looked to write a third entry, but I found that there are many great graphic novels that, while costing more than a penny, were easily affordable and should be considered must reads for a comics fan (in my ever so humble opinion). And so for those of you with slightly deeper pockets, I present to you, 10 great graphic novels being sold on Amazon for under a dollar. 
The Milkman Murders
By Joe Casey &
Steve Parkhouse. In a reverse perfect Donna Reed existence, a housewife who is
trying to keep her extremely dysfunctional family happy is raped by a wandering
lunatic driving an old fashioned milk truck. Parkhouse's art blends with the
script brilliantly. The perceived grime and filth is everywhere. Each character
is foully drawn that you can smell the grime and BO wafting off of them. 
Uther The Half Dead King
By Bo Hampton & Dan Abnett. This is the story of King Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, a
brutal military leader whose character is often used as a foil of Arthurs own
golden age. The story deftly mixes Arthurian legends with English history. He
is presented as a man shaped by his times. He had the ability to survive the
times, but not to tame them, and that ultimately cost him his life. 
Age of Bronze- A Thousand Ships
By Eric Shanower.
This is part one of the Trojan war, specifically all of the events that lead up
to the launching of the 1,000 ships after Helen of Troy. As you can see from
the bibliography, the author put an intense amount of research into creating
the right look and facial constructions for the time period. All mythical elements
have been removed from the tale, except as being told as stories within stories
themselves, and a logical reasoning has been applied to the mythic tale. 
AKA Goldfish By Brian Michael
Bendis. Bendis’s breakout comic. The story of a wronged grifter coming back to
town to take revenge on all those who had wronged him, plus one other reason.
The story is fast paced and compelling, deftly mixing humor and tragedy into a
brutal crime noir tale. 
The Birthday Riots
By Nabiel Kanan.
The story of a once progressive middle aged man who now has been worn down and
corrupted by the realities of life. He is an advisor to a man running for mayor
and tells him not to focus on the needs of lower class, as it will not get him
as many votes- an exact opposite of who he used to be. This is a low key tragic
tale of man stumbling through the wreckage of his now tattered morals and caught
up in an actual riot, a partial result of his own actions. 
London's Dark
By James Robinson
& Paul Johnson. An interesting tale set in London during the blitz. A man
is murdered during an air raid and, after his body is found, the police
naturally assume he was a victim of the Germans. Later on his mother goes to a
psychic to contact her dead son, only to have him tell her that he was
murdered. Things get out of control from there. The art is stark and realistic,
perfectly capturing a sense of grime and grittiness of the time. 
Silent Invasion: Secret Affairs & Red Shadows
By Michael Cherkas
& Larry Hancock. The Silent Invasion is one of those rare books that was
truly ahead of its time. Coming out in 1986, it was a black-and-white comic,
well before black and white comics were fashionable. It dealt with a secret
government conspiracy, involving aliens, well before the X-Files popularized
the idea. The Silent Invasion was a victim of its own originality, and never
got the recognition that it deserved. It is a paranoid cold war thriller that
revolves around reporter Matt Sinkage who after having an encounter with
aliens, cannot convince others of their existence. This collects them first two, of four, volumes. 
