There are a lot of comics that I like, but only a few that have really affected me. One I can still remember fairly vividly was Astro City: Tarnished Angel. It refreshed my impression of the super-hero genre, I also found it pretty thought-provoking (admittedly I've never been heavily into print or superhero comics, else I'd probably have more).

Have any print or web comics titles ever made a lasting impression on you? What sort of titles?

Definitely.

I've mentioned this one before here and there, and I'll be damned if I've yet to run across anyone on DD (except my buddy Josh, who I lured here) that's read 'em, but: but "Poison Elves" by the late Drew Hayes.

That book pretty much changed my life. It always sounds lame and melodramatic to say that kinda crap, but s'true. It was probably the first black and white comic I ever got into- discovering that led me to a lot of other titles that ultimately got me serious about comics again. It's the inspiration for my fondness of cross-hatching (more so than the printmaking, even). It was the first comic that had characters that I totally fell in love with. It's even where the name I use for my writing/art/"public" person comes from (he had a character named Hyena). It's not just the artwork, or the story, or the characters, though. It's the fact that the man had such a passion for his work, fought tooth and nail to get his foot in the door (after having it slammed repeatedly) and continued working his ass off against all odds, up until he died a couple years ago. His work ethic was amazing, and is a constant source of inspiration to me.

'MAUS' is one of my favorites and one of the most inspirational to me, such a simple art style yet such a great story.
Webcomics don't usually inspire me to an emotional level,but 'a softer world' has some pretty memorable strips.

When the Wind Blows.
I read it when I was quite young in the 80's. Back then I was still thinking nuclear weapons and stuff were sort of cool, that comic really changed my view and helped turn me around. Those two poor old people facing certain annihilation... Their normal little lives just about to end, literally, and they know it, but they're still trying to do what they can to protect themselves, even though you know it's totally hopeless and they won't survive no matter what they do. It's so tragic, but touching how much they care for each other even in the face of all that.

For webcomics, there are some that I can think of, off the top pf my head...
Lothar's Coming Soon is a piece of subversive cleverness... AT first glance it's supposed to look like the worst piece of amateurish crap ever, but if you look more closely it's pretty obvious that it's al deliberately made to look that way and those bad looking comics are actually extremely clever (even clever because they hide it so well). There are a colouple of pages there that really got me.

The other one I can think of off the top of my head is Seamonster by Silus. He is the genius behind the effing BRILLIANT Melaines Choles here on DD. In Seamonster the writing is great (though I haven't read it for a while) and there are bits in there that really get to you.

I'd probably say Bisley Judge Dredd, and not just cuase it's one of my favorite comics, but i saw it on the floor of my brother's room when i was really young, probably 4 or 5 and it struck me even back then man, like i didnt totally know what i was looking at. it almost seemed kind of forbidden to me, but the intensity of the style and the picture of Dredd cringing on the cover grabbed me right away. even though i didnt read comics back then, i remembered it through the time i grew up ,and it was always there no matter what kind of art i did.
after i did get into comics i picked it up and it was everything i remembered and exactly what i'd hoped and i've just always loved it. it's EVERYTHING i love about comics.

this is it, i suggest you buy it, steal, or beat up yer granny to get it because it's awesome.

Theres a lot of comics that I liked but the ones that had the most lasting effects were Craig Thomson's Blankets, The first volume of the FLIGHT anthology, Watchmen, Calvin and Hobbes, Ghost World, Nate Powell's Swallow Me Whole, and just about anything by Sarah Oleksyk.

haha, yeah, Calvin and Hobbes too man, ya just gotta love those comics man. everyone's had Calvin and Hobbes moments in their lives.haha.

hmm...theres such a long list for me...

Frank Miller's Ronin-without a doubt the comic that had the biggest impact on me. The art style, the pacing, the way the whole "everything you know is wrong" was used so subtly, and the absolutely PERFECT ending....yeah.

Dark Knight Returns-This is probably to most operatic comic ever. im surprised they havent made it an opera yet lol. It has the whol shakespearean format and everything to it.

300-another frank miller great, i read this one when it came out, and i remember being amazed that they all died.

DK2-seeing a pattern? lol...DK2's spot on satire and portrayal of modern day and the internet is something i strive for.

Dragonball Z-HUGE HUGE influence on my art that im still trying to break away from.

One Piece-the most dynamic comic of all time, im inspired everytime i read it.

Bleach-a later influence, i like Kubo's scratchy linework.

Kraven's last hunt- deeply disturbing and weird to me when i was a kid, especially when kraven eats spiders and shoots himself in the face.

Torment-or rather, the torment storyarc in spider-man. the comic that sold over a million copies and started the variant cover hype. I remember having the art cards and they were fantastic. the way mcfarlane portrayed spiderman as gritty was amazing too.

Ultimates 3-this is the most recent influence. Joe MADs dynamic as all hell art and christian lichtners gorgeous digital paints.

I never really read comic books, but The Far Side definitely had an impact. I think it was the first thing I ever read when I first leaned how to read. My parents both teach science, and I got my master's degree in biology.

The Case Closed manga is a major source of enjoyment for me. To be fair, I was obsessed with the TV series first, but after I saw everything I could find available in English or with (bad) English subtitles, I needed more, so I bought the manga volumes. If I could read Japanese, I'd buy the original ones, so I wouldn't have to wait. Case Closed/Detective Conan is the reason I started trying to draw my own comic. (I was going through withdrawal for new episodes, so I made up my own adventure/mystery story.)

The Maxx by Sam Keith completely changed how I began to look at, well, everything. Life, relations, beauty, spirituality, philosophy. Incredible piece.

Hmm... Tough question. With a variety of answers.

If I have to narrow it down to "one" comic, I'm gonna say "The Far Side" as well.

I know it probably sounds stupid that a gag a day newspaper comic had such an impact, but those strips were groundbreaking and hilarious.

After "The Far Side" ended, syndicates were flooded with single panel gag cartoons that pale in comparison. Just because syndicates were looking for something to fill the void.

I can't narrow it down to a comic book. I think I was more impacted by animation than comics. I think I try and write my stuff as if it were going to be animated.

This is such a broad question in regards to impact. Was it emotional, artistic, creative? I guess I"ll just leave it at that.

The holy trinity of 1980s comics:

Maus
The Dark Knight Returns
Watchmen

I didn't discover them until well into the 1990s but, with all three, it was immediately apparent just how superior they were to everything else out there.

They also left me feeling quite sad that, in the ten years since they first appeared (now 20+ years!), the subsequent generations of writers had learned nothing from them except how to make their work darker and more violent.

DAJB
The holy trinity of 1980s comics:

Maus
The Dark Knight Returns
Watchmen

I didn't discover them until well into the 1990s but, with all three, it was immediately apparent just how superior they were to everything else out there.

They also left me feeling quite sad that, in the ten years since they first appeared (now 20+ years!), the subsequent generations of writers had learned nothing from them except how to make their work darker and more violent.

I completely agree with this statement. every writer since miller and moore have only picked up on the violence and the pretentious nonsense, they dont understand exactly what they were saying with the characters.

For me, any book made by rius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rius) [en.wikipedia.org] , but especially "La iglesia y otros cuentos" his satire and way to display so many different subjects makes have not only informed me in an unique way, but it has also helped me develop a critical mentality.
and also Dragon Quest: Dai no Daiboken, it's just much more than all those flashy shonen titles serialized right now.

zaymac
This is such a broad question in regards to impact. Was it emotional, artistic, creative? I guess I"ll just leave it at that.

I suppose I was thinking of impact in terms of titles that changed how you think, even in little ways. But considering the varied answers and titles listed, I'm happy that the question was a bit vague.

ozoneocean
When the Wind Blows.
I read it when I was quite young in the 80's. Back then I was still thinking nuclear weapons and stuff were sort of cool, that comic really changed my view and helped turn me around. Those two poor old people facing certain annihilation... Their normal little lives just about to end, literally, and they know it, but they're still trying to do what they can to protect themselves, even though you know it's totally hopeless and they won't survive no matter what they do. It's so tragic, but touching how much they care for each other even in the face of all that.

I remember picking that off a shelf and reading it when I was about 8 years old. very powerful and striking... I can't believe I forgot it.



I was 50/50 about putting this one out there, but I'd have to list Inverloch as a webcomic that had a huge effect on me. I have other favorites now as well, but the fact that Sara Darlington was making a polished comic for free, updating several times a week and was from the south pacific area inspired me. It proved to me that it could be done, so I gave comics it a go too.

JTHM (Jhonny The Homicidal Maniac) by Jhonen Vasquez (creator of Invader Zim, and a bunch of other masterpieces) had a big impact on me. The first time i red it i was about 12 years old, i was to yong and un-intelligence to even comprehend the vocabulary within it, but it was still fascinating to me. It first impacted me artistically and humorously, as in, i wanted to draw like that and i wanted the same sense of humor that comic had. Later in life, reading it over again, comprehending it more completely, it had a bigger impact emotionally and mentally. Allot of people say the comic is vary mentally and emotionally scaring, but jhonen claims it was only put out for entertainment purposes only. I can respect that, and i think the comic is brilliant. I never came across anything like that before, that met my evil humorous needs so well. Its a really interesting comic, and if you liked invader zim you'll LOVE JTHM.

Redemption

ozoneocean
When the Wind Blows.
I read it when I was quite young in the 80's. Back then I was still thinking nuclear weapons and stuff were sort of cool, that comic really changed my view and helped turn me around. Those two poor old people facing certain annihilation... Their normal little lives just about to end, literally, and they know it, but they're still trying to do what they can to protect themselves, even though you know it's totally hopeless and they won't survive no matter what they do. It's so tragic, but touching how much they care for each other even in the face of all that.

I remember picking that off a shelf and reading it when I was about 8 years old. very powerful and striking... I can't believe I forgot it.

I Know. It's hard to believe he was the same guy who wrote Fungus the Bogeyman. :)
(Raymond Briggs).

The Farside was the comic that got me into art in general. It was and remains to this very day the only comic I have ever actually intentionally copied the art from. That comic will always hold a very dear spot in my heart and I can guarantee I'll be bawling my eyes out on the day Gary Larson dies.

After that comes Toothpaste for dinner and Sam and Fuzzy. Those were the comics that first showed me that it was still possible to be published, albeit on the web, after I learned exactly how difficult it actually was to become a syndicated newspaper cartoonist ( Which still in many ways holds more appeal to me than working for Marvel or DC ever could. )

Beyond that, I list The Watchmen, Blankets, Bone, and Questionable Content. Questionable Content and The Watchmen taught me of the two follies I never want to commit in regards to writing and creation of a strip. Namely, not finishing story arcs and leaving loose ends ( QC ) and stiff writing or writing that doesn't relate to the overall point ( The bit with the Black Freighter is almost irrelevant to the overall point of Watchmen in my mind and Moore just seems to write in a rather stiff feeling manner in all his books I've read. In general though, I just don't hold that comic in nearly as high a regard as most other people do. ) Blankets and Bone were the stories that taught me that it's possible to create a comic for the pure art of it, create a beautiful story and work and still make it sell.

Elfquest. I'd never seen a serious story told in graphic form before I found the first several books (believe it or not) in the local public library. Don't get me wrong, I'd read various "funny" comics for years (mostly in the Sunday papers (they ran Far Side!) but some in digest form) and gone through my uncle's Conan collection a time or two, but those aren't quite the same. It had never occurred to me that comics could be as valid a story-telling method as novels 'til I found Elfquest. My first attempts at writing such things date from about a week after I found them.

Embarasingly enough Garfield. It's ten years later and I'm still drawing cartoon cats.

Watchmen
Sandman
The Shadow
2000AD: Nemesis the Warlock, ABC Warriors.

Artistic impact:
Doraemon (manga)
DBZ (manga)
Prince Valiant

Story/Emotional impact:
Doraemon (manga)
Dark Knight Returns
Battle Angel Alita vol. 1 & 5 (manga)
Blade of the Immortal vol. "Cry of the Worm" (manga)
Prince Valiant

Doctor Shadow
Sandman

Ooh, that one fer me, too!

Especially "Brief Lives". Of course Neil's the man, ya know? But I love Vince Locke, too- his work in "A History of Violence" is frickin' amazing.

Agreed on both counts there :)

Well, first and foremost, this book:



Which is a Polish comic book titled "Na co dybie w wielorybie czubek nosa eskimosa", which very roughly translates as "what does the eskimo's nose waits for inside of a whale" (which is to say, it's nearly impossible to translate properly, haha).

Why is it so important? Why, I learned how to read BECAUSE of that comic (got it when I was 5). The whole thing consitst out of two books bundled together. One focuses on adventures of two travellers as they're swallowed by a whale, only to discover that inside of that whale there's a passage that leads to Africa (or something close enough). It follows old "newspaper strip" format, so each page is a separate story. Sadly, all of that is impossible to translate(at least for me) as it operates too heavily in the wordplay area. Second comic follows the same format and focuses on a character called "Orient-Men" (it's that little guy flying lower left to the title, and yes, his name spells men as plural not singular for some reason). Orient-Men gives an eskimo and advice regarding a broken heater and throughout the comic this eskimo follows the main character who is actually searching for a goal or target (or some such). Again, more crazy wordplay emerges... one of easier examples is that in Polish, castle and lock are both written as Zamek, so when the king's castle is badly ruined (after he has returned from long absence), OrientMen suggests to get a locksmith to fix the castle.
Both books feature some crazy panel layouts (characters running from panel to panel across a continuous background and things like that), great cartoony art and what's more important, they work on several levels, offering funnies for both kids and adults.

I remember I ended up drawing tons of my own comics based either on the characters from this book, or characters from other books by the same creator (Tadeusz Baranowski, who also worked for a short period of time in Belgium, but apparently he didn't get along too well with his publisher over there so he returned).

I believe this might've been the comic that made me want to draw comics.

I'll write about other books later, once I figured out which ones are really important (otherwise I'll end up with a list ten miles long).

Dan Clowes' "Caricature" and "Ghost World" (among several other stories from Eightball) were heavy hitters with me emotionally.

MAUS.

Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons "Give Me Liberty"

Most of Miller's "heyday" stuff is pretty big with me, DKR, Ronin, Sin City, 300...

And then, of COURSE, all of Mike Allred's early Madman run. SUPER HUGE.

Well, I wouldn't say that any comic has had any everlasting impacts on my life, no.

But I think the comic that got me to even change from color to black and white, and actually enjoy it, is Sam and Fuzzy . Before I started reading this, I was skeptical about switching from color to black and white.

I'd also like to say that the Turtles had some impact on me. I'm not really sure how, but I guess in some strange way, it does.

Also, various manga. If it weren't for the manga, I probably wouldn't be doing chapter pages. :D Especially Air Gear, and One Piece. I'd like to get into Dragonball though.

Everything I learned about love and life, I learned from Y: The Last Man
(Everything else I learned from Fables)

A lot of the comics already mentioned here had a big impact on me as well: Moore's work (especially Swamp Thing) and Gaiman's Sandman. Identity Crisis brought me back to reading comics after a long hiatus.

One surprising inspiration I have to site is DC Comics Who's Who series. I had a bunch of them when I was a kid and would pour over the character summaries and single panel illustrations. I didn't read much DC then and had never seen the vast majority of the characters in action. However, I would dream up stories for them and fill in missing details. I was amazed that all these varied individuals would inhabit one universe. I think it has a lot to do with the way I create today.

1/0, due to it's near complete lack of a fourth wall and it's great use of dynamic characterization.