ioCulture lesser-known comics to ™, *, Colin Slark ) ae 4 Team Member here are some comics that almost everyone has heard of. They’ve been adapted into TV shows and movies, and are always at the front of the display in your favourite comic book store. However, some readers don’t realize how vast the comic book medium is. Reach past The Walking Dead or Batman, and you'll find everything from slice-of-life stories to surreal satires of modern culture. Here are some lesser-known comic book stories for you to read, which have never been developed beyond their original medium. Daytripper (Vertigo) by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon: Each of the ten issues in this series features a different day in the life of Bras Domingos, a Brazilian journalist who writes obituaries. All of the issues take place in different years of Bras’ life, but they all have one thing in common: Bras always dies at the end of the issue. It seems like a strange basis for a story, but Daytripper uses it well to contemplate what time means to people. X-Statix (Marvel) by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred: Yes, this is technically an X-Men». spinoff comic, but I guarantee you will never see a movie adaptation of it. The X-Statix » are America’s favourite mutant superhero team, with all kinds of merchandise and a popular reality TV show that follows their exploits. When they go out to battle evildoers, cameras follow them and capture every exciting moment. The only thing is, it’s hard to know whether the danger is real, or cooked up by their manager in order to get better ratings. X-Statix is a searing critique of reality television and modern pop culture. Joe the Barbarian (Vertigo) by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy: Joe is a teenage boy with diabetes. One day, his blood sugar drops too low, and he begins to hallucinate while suffering from hypoglycemia. Joe’s mind takes objects from around his house, and creates a fictional Lord of the Rings-esque scenario around his real world search for a blood sugar boosting soda. Joe the Barbarian is a fantastical story of determination and bravery in the face of death, Beanworld (Dark Horse) by Larry Marder: Beanworld is by far the strangest comic on this list. The Beans are a strange race of creatures that survive by travelling through the four realities beneath their world to capture Chow, a special substance that serves as their only source of food. The characters in Beanworld work together to defend their home against various threats that are allegorical to real world problems. Confused? Beanworld is hard to explain and needs to be read to be understood. Top 10 (America’s Best Comics) by Alan Moore and Gene Ha: Alan Moore is a big. name in the comics industry, but some of his works are much less known than Watchmen or V for.Vendetta. Top 10 is about a police precinct of the same name in a world where literally everyone, even the children and the pets, are superheroes or supervillains. Thankfully, the men and women in uniform of the city of Neopolis are more than capable of maintaining order. Nexus (Dark Horse) by Mike Baron and Steve Rude: Horatio Hellpop isamanwhohas been granted incredible power by an alien being known as “The Merk.” The catch is,in exchange for this power, Horatio has to go out into the universe and destroy the worst . criminals in existence. If he doesn’t, he receives life-ruining nightmares. Part Star Trek =. and part Dexter, this space opera is grand in scale and is beautifully drawn. —e > a - “ : /™. 3 Ps Pete , eas oe D tripper | Gabri Ba and Fabio Moon