it's graphic, and it's awesome
DailyBits compiled a list of seventeen -- seventeen! -- free and dowloadable graphic novels.
DailyBits, calls them "sensational" and I agree. Look at some of them:
Fell #1 from Warren Ellis
Detective Richard Fell is transferred over the bridge from the big city to Snowtown, a feral district whose police roster numbers three-and-a-half people (one detective has no legs). Dumped in this collapsing urban trashzone, Richard Fell is starting all over again.Y: The Last Man Vol. 1: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan
When a plague of unknown origin instantly kills every mammal with a Y chromosome, unemployed and unmotivated slacker Yorick Brown suddenly discovers that he is the only male left in a world inhabited solely by women.Sandman #1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
A wizard attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. Fearful for his safety, the wizard kept him imprisoned in a glass bottle for decades. After his escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On the way, Morpheus encounters Lucifer and demons from Hell, the Justice League, and John Constantine, the Hellblazer.
Next time someone asks you to define awesome, you may want to point them to this list (you could also show them this collection of people posing with album covers in a rather clever way.) It's also a spectacular resource to use if you've ever wanted to introduce people to graphic novels.
(via Pulp 2.0)
I just want to thank you for including Neil Gaiman on your list. He's one of my favorites and his prose novels are as great as his graphic ones. Kudos to you!!
Posted by: LilBlkRainCld | January 13, 2008 at 06:45 PM
Sandman for on a computer screen seems like a travesty with my beautiful Absolute Sandman volumes waiting for me. ;)
But that's awesome! I don't know a lot of graphic novels, so I'll definitely have to check those out. Thanks for the link!
Posted by: Sarah | January 13, 2008 at 06:52 PM
Wil you are fantastic for always linking to such cool stuff I would never find for myself!
Fell #1 hooked me by the first page...read the whole thing. Thanks again
Posted by: Starr01 | January 13, 2008 at 07:03 PM
Dude, I just downloaded Sandman 1 and it's almost all blank pages. WTF? Maybe it's not digging Preview on my Mac?
Posted by: scott d. feldstein | January 13, 2008 at 07:30 PM
Free and downloadable is cool and all, but I like to hold and read and move to a different part of the house and run and show my wife the cool details. So I buy when I can. But I really do not like to be around people. Online bookstores keep me in books and now HeavyInk is getting me back into comics.
I just checked and they carry Fell, Crossing Midnight, Deadman Walking, Y the Last Man, Sandman, DMZ, Doom Patrol, Hellblazer, and Swamp Thing (and a couple thousand other titles).
Posted by: butchhoward | January 13, 2008 at 07:34 PM
I just read "Unmanned". *Very* cool, excellent way to spin a yarn. I may find a store in Boulder here and pick up the book.
Posted by: The Bad Astronomer | January 13, 2008 at 08:05 PM
That is such an awesome list! Thank you for posting it. Some of those I have in book form and love and so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love most of the rest of them. What a great way to get people interested in new titles. Sharing is awesome. And free downloads will inevitably lead me to purchase something cool.
Cheers!
Posted by: angie k | January 13, 2008 at 08:15 PM
Thanks for posting this. One of my friends on Facebook had just suggested a couple days ago I should check out Y: The Last Man Vol. 1: Unmanned. Checked it out, loved it, will have to buy the whole series now.
Posted by: David | January 13, 2008 at 09:51 PM
Cool! Thanks! I'll have to check them out! =^..^=
Posted by: Sue R | January 13, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Wil left out one of the best comic book series in the last few years -- Fables. It has been a captivating read. Download that one and read it -- you won't regret it!
Posted by: jeddings | January 14, 2008 at 12:14 AM
This is fantastic. What a great opportunity to turn my out-of-state/out-of-country friends on to great comics!
Only way it could be better if they had Transmetropolitan or Preacher Vol. 1. Heh.
Thanks for posting this!
Posted by: SalaciousScribe | January 14, 2008 at 12:32 AM
Brian K. Vaughn for the WIN!
Posted by: Captain Graik | January 14, 2008 at 12:50 AM
I happened to pass by Fell and Y: The Last Man at the local branch of the Auckland City Library and nabbed them both before anyone else could borrow them. Now I am going to be tracking down Fell for purchase!
-grumbles about the cursed library enticing him to buy more books-
Posted by: Balseraph | January 14, 2008 at 05:39 AM
Sort of related...there is also cool resource for public domain Akira Kurosawa films and other tid bits over at archive.org. The files range from tiny embeddable things, to giant 4+ gig high-quality files.
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=kurosawa
Posted by: ZB | January 14, 2008 at 07:03 AM
you can also find the first 80+ pages of Shooting War, an awesome new graphic novel @ http://shootingwar.com/chapters/chapter-1
Posted by: Matthew Cox | January 14, 2008 at 09:27 AM
Y: The last Man and Sandman are hands down the two best comics I've ever read.
Y finishes it's run this month. I can't wait to read the last issue... then I'll be sad....
Highly, highly HIGHLY recommended.
Posted by: bhagczech | January 14, 2008 at 09:52 AM
Wil, come on! I am going to have to go back to school tomorrow and I don't have time for coolness. :-(
Posted by: Miss Ali | January 14, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Loves me some free goodies, and there are some great titles in the bunch, but "free and downloadable graphic novels" is a bit of a misnomer. The majority of these (I didn't download all of them) are PDF's of just the first issue that's featured in the collection. Still a good deal, but "free and downloadable samples from a graphic novel" would be a more apt description.
Which is a bummer, because GN's haven't been in my budget for a long time and I would love to read at least half of those!
Posted by: 5000! | January 14, 2008 at 03:01 PM
"Y: The Last Man" and "Fables" are fabulous!
I'm reading them the old fashioned way...issue by issue.
I can't wait around for the Graphics compilations.
Bill Willingham ("Fables") is very talented.
Posted by: Merbrat | January 14, 2008 at 07:10 PM
"Y: The Last Man" and "Fables" are fabulous!
I'm reading them the old fashioned way...issue by issue.
I can't wait around for the Graphics compilations.
Bill Willingham ("Fables") is very talented.
Posted by: Merbrat | January 14, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Off Topic: Star Trekian console
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/01/the-autopia-wtf.html
Silly Concept Car gets Caption Contest Treatment.
(go see it, and read the captions!)
Wil gets mentioned:
The first 100 sold come with a free sweater from Wil Wheaton.
Posted by: DanG | Jan 14, 2008 2:32:00 PM
Sorry to go off-topic, but it's too funny!
(so was the album photo link, by the by!)
Posted by: Merbrat | January 14, 2008 at 07:20 PM
THANKS DUDE. ROCK ON YOU RULE!
Posted by: Belinda | January 14, 2008 at 10:01 PM
Preview on the Mac doesn't work with the Sandman comic, though it works fine with Evince on Linux, so it must be something about Preview.
Posted by: zizban | January 15, 2008 at 06:19 AM
Thanks, Wil, I just spent the rest of my day reading every single damn one of these. I've read all the Sandman ones before, but the others...I'm going to have to start going to the comic book store again. Haven't been since Johnny the Homicidal Maniac was current...
Posted by: Looney | January 15, 2008 at 08:21 AM
They should ad this one too:
http://www.onipress.com/thebigwet/downloads/freeissue1.php
M
Posted by: Duke1974 | January 16, 2008 at 02:43 PM