Dunno about a starting point
but The Killing Joke, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, and The Dark Knight Returns are all well worth a look
( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 22:53, archived)

i'm not so sure about Batman
but i can definitely reccomend Preacher series, or The Boys, and there is a wonderful comic called Sleeper that is ace as fuck, spy comic, but very clever.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 22:56, archived)

Are they books or collections of individual comics?
Can you treat me like the retard I am and give me some links to stuff I should buy?
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 22:59, archived)

My three above are all graphic novels, should be able to find them on Amazon or summat

( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:01, archived)

my three are series of graphic novels
however drimble is correct about arkham asylum being most excellent as a stand alone graphic novel. Also, if you're a Neil Gaiman fan he has a series called Sandman that you can get in 8 parts as graphic novels that is totally worth the read,
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:03, archived)

I've read some of his novels
(good omens, neverwhere, anansie boys) so I'll give that a go, thanks.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:06, archived)

I've ordered sandman: preludes and nocturns

( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:10, archived)

good choice
the artist changes a lot, and some of the artwork may not be to your liking (i found this) but his storytelling is so good you can look past it when it doesn't suit you.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:12, archived)

You're in for a treat - I love the bit at the start, where Dream is kept prisoner
culminating in 'the gift of eternal waking' - you'll see what I mean when you get that far
( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:15, archived)

do you have a decent shop to browse in?
the one here is gone, and i miss stumbling across excellent stuff that i'd never have found without browsing
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:19, archived)

Unfortunately not - it used to be great with racks full of reduced, old and hard to find comics, but recently they've done away with a lot of the independent and low-budget stuff in favour of whatever tedious drivel Marvel decide to churn out this month.
Since then I have to be satisfied with picking up a very occasional graphic novel from Waterstones or Smiths :)
( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:27, archived)

ours has gone completely
and everytime i go in to Waterstones, there is more marvel and Manga, and less and less of anything i want to read. I miss browsing, sometimes i go to London just to get a hit of that dusty second hand packed in it's little pocket smell.

I need a new hobby.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:33, archived)

Many years ago I picked up some comics called 'The Nocturnals' by Dan Brereton, the art in them is amazing
www.google.co.uk/search?q=brereton+nocturnals&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch
( drimble he'd been white, he'd been black, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:07, archived)

YES!!
i've a few of those too, the art work is totally non-heinous
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:11, archived)

uh... wrong account?
edit: no, I'm a tard.

Sleeper seems to be different volumes, is this one?
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:04, archived)

that's one
it really blew me out of the water that comic, one of the best i've read in ages. I spend far too much money on them though. If you want balls out superhero stuff with a twist, try Alan Moore's Wildstorm stuff, if you enjoyed his style in Watchmen. it's a bit more classic superhero stuff, but still with his humour.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:09, archived)

I don't really know what I want, I'm new to the genre so I'll try anything.
Right, I'v ordered sleeper season one as well. That's £20 spent so I'll stop now.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:13, archived)

it can get very expensive very quickly,
especially if you have a good comic shop near you.
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:15, archived)

Not a clue about that.
Being an internet recluse Asda is about as adventurous as I get, and that only when I want to go look at strange people.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:18, archived)

That said,
I went in to a guitar shop recently and said "Hello! I'd like to take up the guitar. I think I want an electric one." and I spent about an hour chatting to the chap before spending a few hundred quid.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:19, archived)

did you get a my first guitar book?
can you play smoke on the water yet?
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:21, archived)

I've a few books,
a few friends play guitar and passed their old stuff on to me. I started with guitar for dummies on the kindle and it's shit. Reference boos should be in print, kindle is for stories.

I can play the first couple of bars on single strings, I can't do the proper two string stuff. I learnt the first few bars of duelling banjos before I went in so I could play something the chaps in the shop were unlikely to hear from a n00b.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:35, archived)

let me know when you're ready to start a B3ta rock band
we'll be world famous in no time. (i play Bass, or double Bass if necessary)
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:41, archived)

Cool.
I seriously need to improve my rhythm. It used to be excellent but since my dad died I seem to have inherited his.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:43, archived)

read a book, there will be a place near you that relies on you borrowing the books for free, they are bonkers

( mongychops, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:02, archived)

Not within reasonable walking distance.
No swimming pools either.
( CowJam, Fri 17 Jun 2011, 23:44, archived)