Start with Warren Ellis' run and then when you're done with that you go Jeff Lemire.
You can get the original 12-issue comic series in a collection here, it is all you'll need to understand the Watchmen world, every other work is just supplementary. The graphic novel is very highly-regarded and popular in the comicbook community so DC obviously wants the world to keep on going in one way or the other.
But it's honestly one of my favorite books, and very thought-provoking too. Would highly recommend.
It's $10 on Amazon. Or walk into any well stocked comic store and they'll have it.
Not the person you replied to, but the Ellis and Shalvey run is a great place to start.
I also personally recommend the Bendis and Maleev run, but it might not be your cup of tea. It's pretty divisive, but the art is gorgeous and that was enough for me to overlook some of its warts.
The reprinted paperback collections are on amazon and very likely at your FLCS (8-10 issues each and bound in an order that makes sense this time, they've tried this before). Not all of the volumes are out yet, a new one comes out every month or so, but they're almost through the whole series I think.
Laika is one of my all time favorite graphic novels. It tells the story of Laika, the Soviet dog who becomes one of the first animals in space and the first animal to orbit the Earth. The story is a fascinating insight into the Soviet space program juxtaposed with the life of Laika and her carers. Don't be fooled by what appears top be simplistic art, it's a masterpiece.
Then I would recommend the book “Getting Past Your Past” https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Past-Your-Self-Help-Techniques/dp/1609619951
It has a lot of EMDR-based self-help treatments you can use. It’s no substitute for an EMDR therapist but it can be helpful. Note that many of the example stories deal with pretty heavy stuff that could be triggering so be prepared.
If you want a physical copy, perhaps Amazon or Instocktrades
The latter is currently cheaper.
Nah, I’m talking about the trade paperbacks that come out a few months after the comics, such as the first volume of new 52 Flash. . It’s the first several of the flash run in the new 52 and covers the arc from that part of the run.
Personally, I'm a big fan of trade paperbacks. You get a lot of meat in one book, so you can sit around on the couch for an hour and dive into it pretty easy.
I started with this first volume, which collects Flash #1-7. Like I said, I had never read The Flash until I picked this up (about a month ago) and man, I fuckin' loved it! I'm really into The Flash as a superhero now. He can do so much more than just run fast!
After that second trade, you can get volume 2, which is called "Rogues Revolution" and it's linked on that Amazon page. I just bought this "Rogues" about 2 weeks ago, but I haven't read it yet. After that, volume 3 is "Gorilla Warfare" and vol 4 isn't out yet.
Let me know how that works out for you. Good luck.
The original Hellblazer series that started in the 80s is the definitive John Constantine book. Reprinted in trades it's titled John Constantine, Hellblazer for some of its volumes.
Don't confuse this with Constantine: The Hellblazer, a 13 issue series from 2015 or The Hellblazer, the current series that kicked off during Rebirth, you want the old Vertigo run.
If you are able to buy this book it’s written by the women who invented the emdr technique and it talks about all of the coping mechanisms and you can sort of teach yourself so you don’t have to wait a month -
Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1609619951/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5ibxFb3HHRZ55
Those thirty volumes or so are being replaced by ones that have the trade title "John Constantine: Hellblazer vol #." They are up to 19 thicker volumes released, with 229 issues recollected. /u/ohnoampz , if you want to read the original Hellblazer this wikipedia page is actually very good. It tells you the names and contents of the newer released trades, as well as the unnumbered ones that haven't been recollected.
Keep in mind that some names from both sets of volumes are the same, so be sure to grab the ones with the newer covers and the "John Constantine" name in front of it (for example, the first volume of both sets was called "Original Sins," but the newer one contains very important issues of Swamp Thing that were skipped before).
If you wish to start without the Alan Moore Swamp Thing issues, this would be the first one. I first read it without reading Swamp Thing, and everything made sense.
There's no such thing as a version of Watchmen that does not contain the complete story of Watchmen. The Deluxe Edition contains additional content, but it's more behind the scenes stuff, not additional story content. For your first read, I'd just get the basic edition: https://www.amazon.com/Watchmen-2019-Alan-Moore/dp/1779501129/
As far as other good graphic novels, look these up:
If you get a good trauma therapist, they’ll do a thorough inventory of where you’re at — what you know happened but don’t have memories of, what you directly do remember, what your symptoms are, how your present life is affected, etc. Only once they’ve got a thorough picture will they work with you on identifying an initial toehold to work on.
If you want a book on how EMDR works, you could read https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Past-Your-Self-Help-Techniques/dp/1609619951 . In the end though, there’s not really a substitute for actually finding a therapist — it’s hard to self-help it without making it worse. There’s a good national registry of official EMDR therapists at https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/ so you can find one nearby.
Yeah. Good call.
I was thinking of new 52 and for some reason in my head it was red.
Regardless, has it ever been blue? Seems like an odd choice.
If you are going to do Emdr, this book is by the developer, skip the park about how she figured it out because it’s a little woo-woo
Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1609619951/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_99KTXNDJKKV8F4P4XZBC
This is the other one that’s considered the gold standard
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0143127748/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5JYSTA5C80T1EH0YKV5H
Good idea. To clarify, I think that EMDR is super amazing and so beneficial. It can also bring up a lot of emotions. It’s difficult if you are not prepared for it though. The steps before starting EMDR are things like… installing safe spaces.. installing protector figures… installing a “box” to keep your thoughts if a memory can’t be fully processed in a session, etc. I share your therapists enthusiasm for EMDR, but have to wonder if he/she is properly certified in it. I’d highly suggest reading Francine Shapiros book on EMDR so that you can better understand it. She is the founder of the therapy. You can also rent the audiobook from your local library.
Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1609619951/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_AAZZDVBXK4BS14QNP5X5
It's much lighter in tone, but Moore's superhero/police procedural Top 10 is great, as are both the spin-offs by Moore: Smax and The 49ers. I'd avoid the non-Moore Top 10 stuff, especially The Farthest Precinct.
Will Eisner's Contract With God books are considered masterpieces for a reason - they're fiction, but drawn from his experiences growing up in an early 20th century Bronx tenament.
For superhero stuff, I love Grant Morrison's Animal Man, which has been collected in three volumes. All you needed to know beforehand is that there was a big DC crossover event called the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which wiped out lots of old characters from continuity (that's the same crossover event you see in Swamp Thing, with all the superheroes gathering on the satellite, the thing the Brujeria were trying to utilise by summoning the dark hand). Animal Man is set after that. It really comes alive in the second and third volumes.
If you liked the character of John Constantine in Swamp Thing then you could check out his spin-off series, Hellblazer. It's been recollected multiple times, and relaunched into a series of inferior versions, but start with the Jamie Delano-penned volume with the slain angel on the cover and continue through this particular series of editions. These editions run all the way up to the concluding Hellblazer issue 300, including most of the tie-in miniseries and specials, but I'd suggest jumping off once Mike Carey's run on the comic is concluded: https://www.amazon.com/John-Constantine-Hellblazer-Vol-Original/dp/1401230067/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3DVXGG2IZZZ8X&keywords=hellblazer+original+sins&qid=1647459194&sprefix=hellblazer+original+sins%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1
And of course, there's Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which remains a classic. The first volume of that is called Preludes and Nocturnes. Try to get the latest edition, which has been recoloured.
It's much lighter in tone, but Moore's superhero/police procedural Top 10 is great, as are both the spin-offs by Moore: Smax and The 49ers. I'd avoid the non-Moore Top 10 stuff, especially The Farthest Precinct.
Will Eisner's Contract With God books are considered masterpieces for a reason - they're fiction, but drawn from his experiences growing up in an early 20th century Bronx tenament.
For superhero stuff, I love Grant Morrison's Animal Man, which has been collected in three volumes. All you needed to know beforehand is that there was a big DC crossover event called the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which wiped out lots of old characters from continuity (that's the same crossover event you see in Swamp Thing, with all the superheroes gathering on the satellite, the thing the Brujeria were trying to utilise by summoning the dark hand). Animal Man is set after that. It really comes alive in the second and third volumes.
If you liked the character of John Constantine in Swamp Thing then you could check out his spin-off series, Hellblazer. It's been recollected multiple times, and relaunched into a series of inferior versions, but start with the Jamie Delano-penned volume with the slain angel on the cover and continue through this particular series of editions. These editions run all the way up to the concluding Hellblazer issue 300, including most of the tie-in miniseries and specials, but I'd suggest jumping off once Mike Carey's run on the comic is concluded: https://www.amazon.com/John-Constantine-Hellblazer-Vol-Original/dp/1401230067/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3DVXGG2IZZZ8X&keywords=hellblazer+original+sins&qid=1647459194&sprefix=hellblazer+original+sins%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1
And of course, there's Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which remains a classic. The first volume of that is called Preludes and Nocturnes. Try to get the latest edition, which has been recoloured.
Have you read Dr. Shapiro's book on EMDR?. I read it a few months ago. In my opinion, the book is a little long winded at the end, but she explains her thought process and provides exercises on EMDR.
Jack ass- there’s a book on emdr written by the women who developed it. The story about how she developed it is a little out there but the science and the calming techniques actually do work.
Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapygetting past your past
Here’s one of them that I use on a regular basis emdr or not - butterfly hug
You don’t have to be that dramatic with it , I used it at the dentists this week and just tapped my thighs .
The easiest introduction to the character is From the Dead. He gets a lot of “Marvel’s Batman” comparisons, which work on a surface level (the costume, the money, crescent moons vs batarangs) but there’s a lot more to him than that.
Hey, I just want to say you don't need to start anywhere. Generally with comics you can plop in at any #1 or the start of a new writers run and, as long as you except you might not know some stuff, you'll be fine.
That said, the best jumping on point Batman by Scott Snyder Vol 1.
2016 saw DC completely reboot it's entire history starting completely from scratch, and the Batman run of that era is one of the most commercially and critically successful titles the company has ever had. If you end up liking it you can just jump to Vol 2, Vol 3, etc.
I read this book ( Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy https://www.amazon.com/dp/1609619951/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WX71QQC1NHXYWXWXHR55 )and watched all full hour sessions on YouTube from Dr Jamie Marich. I wouldn’t recommend starting by yourself if you know that you have big trauma in your past. It can be extremely difficult.
This is very much like that, the main character slowly seems to get more and more hopeless and the stories go on and I couldn't recommend this series more, it's perfect. Hellblazer TP Vol 01 Original Sins New Ed (John Constantine, Hellblazer) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1401230067/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_X4NBRAEQZGZES9R4GFQS
My Favourite horror novel series is Hellblazer, it has a prefect balance of gritty realism and supernatural horror, highly recommended this series. Hellblazer TP Vol 01 Original Sins New Ed (John Constantine, Hellblazer) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1401230067/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_X4NBRAEQZGZES9R4GFQS
He referenced the comic Batman : Year One as being influential. It’s an all time great arc that refocused the character, and it’s a great one-off for someone curious about comics who doesn’t know where to start.
Highly recommended. The film isn't too bad even though naturally it leaves a lot of stuff on the cutting room floor, but the book is something that even folks who aren't generally comic book fans would enjoy. It's not even expensive.