Book picks similar to
Samurai: Heaven and Earth Volume 1 by Ron Marz


comics
graphic-novels
historical-fiction
romance

Blade of the Immortal, Volume 1: Blood of a Thousand


Hiroaki Samura - 1994
    1- Blood of a Thousand by Samura,Hiroaki. [2010] Paperback

Daytripper


Fábio Moon - 2011
    The miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, Brás spends his days penning other people's obituaries and his nights dreaming of becoming a successful author himself—writing the end of other people's stories, while his own has barely begun.But on the day that life begins, would he even notice? Does it start at 21 when he meets the girl of his dreams? Or at 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it later in his life when his first son is born? Or earlier when he might have found his voice as a writer?Each day in Brás's life is like a page from a book. Each one reveals the people and things who have made him who he is: his mother and father, his child and his best friend, his first love and the love of his life. And like all great stories, each day has a twist he'll never see coming...In Daytripper, the Eisner Award-winning twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá tell a magical, mysterious and moving story about life itself—a hauntingly lyrical journey that uses the quiet moments to ask the big questions.

The Contract With God Trilogy: Life on Dropsie Avenue


Will Eisner - 2005
    It marked the birth of the modern graphic novel and the beginning of an era when serious cartoonists could be liberated from their stultifying comic-book format.More than a quarter-century after the initial publication of A Contract With God, and in the last few months of his life, Eisner chose to combine the three fictional works he had set on Dropsie Avenue, the mythical street of his youth in Depression-era New York City.As the dramas unfold in A Contract With God, the first book in this new trilogy, it is at 55 Dropsie Avenue where Frimme Hersh, the pious Jew, first loses his beloved daughter, then breaks his contract with his maker, and ends up as a slumlord; it is on Dropsie Avenue where a street singer, befriended by an aging diva, is so beholden to the bottle that he fails to grasp his chance for stardom; and it is there that a scheming little girl named Rosie poisons a depraved super’s dog before doing in the super as well.In the second book, A Life Force, declared by R. Crumb to be "a masterpiece," Eisner re-creates himself in his protagonist, Jacob Shtarkah, whose existential search reflected Eisner’s own lifelong struggle. Chronicling not only the Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression but also the rise of Nazism and the spread of left-wing politics, Eisner combined the miniaturist sensibility of Henry Roth with the grand social themes of novelists such as Dos Passos and Steinbeck.Finally, in Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood, Eisner graphically traces the social trajectory of this mythic avenue over four centuries, creating a sweeping panorama of the city and its waves of new residents—the Dutch, English, Irish, Jews, African Americans, and Puerto Ricans—whose faces changed yet whose lives presented an unending "story of life, death, and resurrection."The Contract With God Trilogy is a mesmerizing, fictional chronicle of a universal American experience and Eisner’' most poignant and enduring literary legacy.

Batman: The Long Halloween


Jeph Loeb - 1997
    Working with District Attorney Harvey Dent and Lieutenant James Gordon, Batman races against the clock as he tries to discover who Holiday is before he claims his next victim each month. A mystery that has the reader continually guessing the identity of the killer, this story also ties into the events that transform Harvey Dent into Batman's deadly enemy, Two-Face.

Ruse, Vol. 1: Enter the Detective


Mark Waid - 2002
    The stupidity of the common criminal, the ease with which he's caught, the paltry stakes of the game all of it has pushed Archard to the verge of retirement. Then a mysterious new menace takes the stage, a hideous evil playing for very high stakes indeed. Aided by his beautiful and charming assistant, Emma Bishop, Archard embarks on the case of his career. Ruse is an ongoing duel of warring masterminds held under the cold glow of gaslights. Panoramic artwork recalls Victorian England in painstaking detail, right down to the rain-pooled cobblestone streets. This steampunk mystery series pits logic against magic with wit and brio. A sure hit for mystery fans.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec 1: Pterror Over Paris/The Eiffel Tower Demon


Jacques Tardi - 1976
    With various American attempts to publish Adele having dribbled into nothing decades ago, Fantagraphics Books, fresh from its triumphs with Tardi's West Coast Blues and You Are There, launches a spectacular, newly retranslated, hardcover series ¬- The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec - that intends to collect every one of its nine (soon ten) volumes. In this premiere installment which features two tales, "Pterror Over Paris" and "The Eiffel Tower Demon," Adele becomes involved in a series of mysteries that involve a revived pterodactyl, a frightful on-stage murder, a looming execution by guillotine, and a demon from the depths of hell - plus of course moronic gendarmes, loyal (or perhaps traitorous?) henchmen, and a climax atop the Eiffel Tower.

Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction


Mike Mignola - 1994
    Hellboy is one of the most celebrated comics series in recent years. The ultimate artists' artist and a great storyteller whose work is in turns haunting, hilarious, and spellbinding. Mike Mignola has won numerous awards in the comics industry and beyond. When strangeness threatens to engulf the world, a strange man will come to save it. Sent to investigate a mystery with supernatural overtones, Hellboy discovers the secrets of his own origins, and his link to the Nazi occultists who promised Hitler a final solution in the form of a demonic avatar." ... Hellboy is a brilliant example of how to elevate the comic of the future to a higher literary level while achieving a higher pitch of excitement." --Robert Bloch, from his introduction

Batman: Son of the Demon


Mike W. Barr - 1987
    When a demented terrorist creates a weapon that allows him to control the weather, the Dark Knight Detective joins forces with Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia in order to stop the madman from creating worldwide havoc. But as the final showdown occurs, Batman finds himself torn between stopping the ruthless terrorist and protecting Talia, the women who is now carrying his unborn child.

The Chronicles of Conan, Volume 1: Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories


Roy Thomas - 2003
    Howard's Conan the Barbarian exploded on to the comics scene. Writer Roy Thomas teamed with a young artist named Barry Smith, and together the two mapped out some of the most stirring and memorable Conan adventures to come along since those written by Howard himself. Over the course of their 24 issue run together, Thomas and Smith defined Conan for a generation of comics readers, and now those stories are collected in this series. Featuring completely remastered color and text corrections, and containing material not available for nearly thirty years.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne


Grant MorrisonMichel Lacombe - 2011
    This is the final chapter of the epic storyline that began in the bestselling graphic novels Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis in which the original Batman was lost in time.Collecting: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne 1-6

Batgirl: Year One


Scott Beatty - 2003
    A look into the action-packed origin of the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon! This volume collects the 9-issue miniseries that uncovered Gordon's transformation from average citizen into costumed super-heroine.

X-Men Legacy: Legion, Vol. 1: Prodigal


Simon Spurrier - 2013
    NOW! in the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men, Legion will finally attempt to conquer his demons...and embrace his father's legacy!Collecting: X-Men Legacy 1-6

By Chance or Providence


Becky Cloonan - 2014
    WolvesAs a lone hunter tracks an elusive beast through the forest, he reflects on his life and past love through a series of flashbacks, bringing the story to a climax that is as romantic as it is savage. This powerful short story begs for multiple read-throughs, never giving concrete answers, but (like the best enigmatic endings) leaves your own conclusions satisfying.2. The MireOn the eve of a great battle, a humble squire is tasked with delivering a letter to a seemingly abandoned castle at the heart of an ill-famed swamp. Met with mysterious apparitions on the way, he slowly unveils the truth behind his journey as his past is re-written over the course of the story.3. DemeterA fisherman's wife tends the garden and animals while her husband is at sea, but secrets buried under the waves begin to bubble to the surface revealing a secret treachery and forgotten truth. The third and final book in a trilogy of critically acclaimed stand-alone stories by award winning creator Becky Cloonan.

Ministry of Space


Warren Ellis - 2005
    Instead the sky is lit by the rockets' red glare from a fleet of spaceships bound for the moon and beyond. But who funds this epic endeavour? The truth is the road to space is paved with a secret dark enough to bring the empire to its knees! This searing, satirical and beautifully drawn look at empire building exposes the horrors that have sometimes been carried out in the name of King & Country!

Rex Mundi Omnibus, Vol. 1


Arvid Nelson - 2012
    Europe is still in the grip of feudalism, sorcerers stalk the streets at night, and secret societies vie for power. When a medieval scroll disappears from a Paris church, Dr. Julien Sauniere begins uncovering a series of horrific ritual murders connected to the Catholic Church. His investigation turns into a one-man quest to uncover the deepest secrets of Christianity, a trail of conspiracy that extends all the way to the walls of Jerusalem during the First Crusade.