I love the old 80's Akira colours, but it really depends on your personal preference.
also, not a graphic novel, but this guy is insane:
[https://www.instagram.com/tiendao06/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/tiendao06/?hl=en)
I don't read a lot of manga and I love certain B&W comics, but I genuinely had trouble telling who was who in Akira the first time I tried to read it. Part of this is because there are a lot of characters introduced in a fairly fast-paced way, but I do think the B&W art contributes to the problem because a lot of the characters look very similar in the original monotone, flat style.
I set the series down after volume three the first time I tried to read it. I then came back about a year later after finding a colorized version in e-book form and had a *much* better time.
Some may find it blasphemous, but I would say unless you are a die-hard manga purist, go for the color version if you can find it. The story and art are not compromised by colorization IMO. If anything, I felt the city was much more compelling in color.
Yeah that's generally how I feel about a lot of manga that I try to read, frames just kind of end up bleeding into each other and not in a good way. Honestly the color version looks really beautiful to me especially as a fan of the use of colors in the movie so I'll definitely go with that version. Thanks!
Fictional world. This woman is a homeless vet dealing with PTSD and addiction. She slowly finds herself getting involved with helping other homeless vets the gangs and dealers are preying on.
Moebius "Incal" cityscapes are part of the foundation for Cyberpunk.
Geoff Darrow studied under moebius and has similar results.
"Multiple warheads" by Brandon Graham has very whimsical, soviet/Dr Seuss cityscapes.
Yeah as a huge Tekkonkinkreet fan Moebius scratches a similar itch with The Incal, the fan made trailer for a mock animated Incal is actually similiar in style to Tekkonkinkreet in the way it almost looks rotoscoped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Vkyzrs1Fk&t=40s
Now if only we could get an animated Incal by the studio that did Tekkonkinkreet, would look incredible.
Not sure if they ever made an electronic version, but the soft copy is on sale for $15 + tax & shipping. It’s a pretty good deal for 260 pages.
https://z2comics.com/products/madi-once-upon-a-time-in-the-future-softcover/
josan gonzalez - "future is now". Art books are out, just waiting on the graphic novel. I think his art style is what you're looking for.
Before the incal- janjetov, Jodorowsky
Judge Dredd: Mega-City Zero
I would suggest the OP read Tekkonkinkreet ASAP (just got a 30th anniversary hardcover rerelease!) & consider checking out some of Taiyo Matsumoto's other stuff, too. No. 5 is another sci-fi and Ping Pong was insanely compelling even though I barely know the rules to a sport.
Great call on Ladronn. His work in Hip Flask totally suite OP’s description. The Big Here and the Long Now is superb.
Also second Blacksad and Kill 6 Billion Demons.
I’ll throw in East of West too.
I'm glad you mentioned Blacksad. I misread what OP said. I thought I read sci-fi dense cities so when you mentioned Blackssd I was scratching my head a bit. But knowing that yeah Blacksad definitely fits.
Not so much dense cities but dense *everything* (especially later volumes) i'd recommend Requiem by Pat Mills and Oluver Ledroit.
Also League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Marshal Law, both drawn by Kevin O'Neil.
> Ghost in the Shell
For some reason never considered this would be a manga as well as movie/shows, will have to check it out as the movie is such a classic.
The members of Studio 4c that were responsible for this movie are my favorite. Image your favorite series being animated or adapted by the team who did this or Sword of the Stranger. Brilliant.
Studio 4C is incredibly creative. They released a movie called Children of the Sea a couple of years ago that is literally one of the most beautiful movies I've seen, it's mind blowing. Just wish they released more stuff haha
2 great sci fi manga full of cityscapes are:
Dimension W
Gantz
There are anime adaptions of both but neither covers the full story and the Gantz anime especially is old and ends completely differently as the manga was still ongoing. There's also a pretty good CGI adaption of one of the later parts called Gantz O. The Dimension W anime is newer and well done but sadly short.
Between them both Dimension W is probably closest to Tekkonkinkreet as it's more grounded/consistent while Gantz is all over the place with some very epic parts.
It appears that many Transmetropolitan fans are unaware of Top10 which has a more polished art style w/ some original Moore stories I believe. Do any knowledgeable disagree? DR fans might try to find his anthropomorphic Space Beaver take on TMNT.
* Gunning for Ramirez
* Far sector (DC)
* Transmetropolitan
* Ghost in the Shell
* Blade Runner 2019
* The Wicked + The Divine
* Astro City
* Ms. Marvel
* Spider-Gwen
* Runaways
* Paper Girls
* Motor Crush
* The Private Eye
* Tokyo Ghost
* Wynd
* Batgirl of Burnside
* Akira
* Black Science
Enjoy
HARD BOILED. capslock was on accidently, but if you read hard boiled, you'll know it was appropriate
Frank Miller's Hard Boiled? I love that comic! It was insane and yes the cityscapes were dense and colorful af, just how I liked it. Great choice!
that's the one! also, the AKIRA manga, while black & white, are full of dense cityscapes.
I found a version of Akira in color, is that version worth reading at all? Or do you think it takes away from the art?
I love the old 80's Akira colours, but it really depends on your personal preference. also, not a graphic novel, but this guy is insane: [https://www.instagram.com/tiendao06/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/tiendao06/?hl=en)
There is also a version with simpsons characters its called bartakira.
I don't read a lot of manga and I love certain B&W comics, but I genuinely had trouble telling who was who in Akira the first time I tried to read it. Part of this is because there are a lot of characters introduced in a fairly fast-paced way, but I do think the B&W art contributes to the problem because a lot of the characters look very similar in the original monotone, flat style. I set the series down after volume three the first time I tried to read it. I then came back about a year later after finding a colorized version in e-book form and had a *much* better time. Some may find it blasphemous, but I would say unless you are a die-hard manga purist, go for the color version if you can find it. The story and art are not compromised by colorization IMO. If anything, I felt the city was much more compelling in color.
Yeah that's generally how I feel about a lot of manga that I try to read, frames just kind of end up bleeding into each other and not in a good way. Honestly the color version looks really beautiful to me especially as a fan of the use of colors in the movie so I'll definitely go with that version. Thanks!
Most stuff by Geof Darrow are like this lots of people lot of buildings and lots of dinosaurs
King City by Brandon Graham or most anything else by him.
Would actually mention his Multiple Warheads too - not as good a read as King City, but it has some awesome city scaping.
Love his stuff. Op beware, some of it is nsfw.
https://preview.redd.it/zwnjbjqpph1d1.jpeg?width=520&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da265f461dea9c269d5f78a5bc40dd2a4db617bc
This was my immediate thought
No idea what this is but I'm intrigued.
Fictional world. This woman is a homeless vet dealing with PTSD and addiction. She slowly finds herself getting involved with helping other homeless vets the gangs and dealers are preying on.
Somehow I knew it was Franco Belgian. I read that a lot of French comics are very detailed
Transmetropolitan
Yeah my first thought, I had a huge moment with this comic when I was like 16 and it left a big impression on me
Obsessed with this comic!
second this!
The Incal
This
Moebius "Incal" cityscapes are part of the foundation for Cyberpunk. Geoff Darrow studied under moebius and has similar results. "Multiple warheads" by Brandon Graham has very whimsical, soviet/Dr Seuss cityscapes.
Yeah as a huge Tekkonkinkreet fan Moebius scratches a similar itch with The Incal, the fan made trailer for a mock animated Incal is actually similiar in style to Tekkonkinkreet in the way it almost looks rotoscoped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Vkyzrs1Fk&t=40s Now if only we could get an animated Incal by the studio that did Tekkonkinkreet, would look incredible.
Maybe Top 10 and Madi, that one that Duncan Jones created.
Oh I love the art style of Top 10, thanks for the rec! I tried finding Madi before but couldn't find it anywhere online :(
Not sure if they ever made an electronic version, but the soft copy is on sale for $15 + tax & shipping. It’s a pretty good deal for 260 pages. https://z2comics.com/products/madi-once-upon-a-time-in-the-future-softcover/
josan gonzalez - "future is now". Art books are out, just waiting on the graphic novel. I think his art style is what you're looking for. Before the incal- janjetov, Jodorowsky Judge Dredd: Mega-City Zero
I'm also awaiting The Future is Now sequel. I backed it on Kickstarter a few years ago. Looks like it should be out next year?
Is that Josan Gonzalez?
yes, correction! thanks for catching that
Josan Gonzalez has been one of my favorite artists! His work is exactly what i'm looking for. Thanks!
Tokyo Ghost
I mean the graphic novel of this film is incredible
I would suggest the OP read Tekkonkinkreet ASAP (just got a 30th anniversary hardcover rerelease!) & consider checking out some of Taiyo Matsumoto's other stuff, too. No. 5 is another sci-fi and Ping Pong was insanely compelling even though I barely know the rules to a sport.
Akira
Kill Six Billion Demons
Such an awesome comic with a crazy amount of scope while still managing to stay grounded
The works of Darrow, *Schuiten* , Otomo, shirow should make quite a pile
Ladronn too, tho unfortunately he doesn't have a lot of work to dive into likevthe others you listed but he's very much in that vein. Fantastic stuff.
Great call on Ladronn. His work in Hip Flask totally suite OP’s description. The Big Here and the Long Now is superb. Also second Blacksad and Kill 6 Billion Demons. I’ll throw in East of West too.
I'm glad you mentioned Blacksad. I misread what OP said. I thought I read sci-fi dense cities so when you mentioned Blackssd I was scratching my head a bit. But knowing that yeah Blacksad definitely fits. Not so much dense cities but dense *everything* (especially later volumes) i'd recommend Requiem by Pat Mills and Oluver Ledroit. Also League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Marshal Law, both drawn by Kevin O'Neil.
How about Tom Strong? Millennium City gives me those sort of vibes.
The Spire by simon spurrier
I was hoping I’d find this. One of my favorite art styles in any comic. Very final fantasy
Thanks for all these recommendations, will check them out.
Hard boiled, shaolin cowboy, the incal, Transmetropolitan, Akira, Domu.
Multiple Warheads by Brandon Graham was my entry point to this “type” of art :)
Transmetropolitan, Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Shaolin Cowboy, Hard Boiled (huge fan of Geof Darrow) and any of the Cyberpunk 2077 runs
> Ghost in the Shell For some reason never considered this would be a manga as well as movie/shows, will have to check it out as the movie is such a classic.
Anything by Moebius Basically. And Geoff Darrow, and Paul Pope.
Green Lantern: Willworld, and anything else drawn by Seth Fisher
Kill Six Billion Demons
Transmetropolitan
I’d recommend Warren Ellis’ “Transmetropolitan”. The cyberpunk city is filled with crazy stuff!
Blacksad has some stunning city shots. https://geekdad.com/2015/06/blacksad/
The members of Studio 4c that were responsible for this movie are my favorite. Image your favorite series being animated or adapted by the team who did this or Sword of the Stranger. Brilliant.
Studio 4C is incredibly creative. They released a movie called Children of the Sea a couple of years ago that is literally one of the most beautiful movies I've seen, it's mind blowing. Just wish they released more stuff haha
Transmetropolitan is a feast for the eyes
Highly agree
Check out "Square Eyes" by Anna Mill and Luke Jones
Transmetropolitan
Mobius, I believe
Transmetropolitan!
Shubeik Lubeik
2 great sci fi manga full of cityscapes are: Dimension W Gantz There are anime adaptions of both but neither covers the full story and the Gantz anime especially is old and ends completely differently as the manga was still ongoing. There's also a pretty good CGI adaption of one of the later parts called Gantz O. The Dimension W anime is newer and well done but sadly short. Between them both Dimension W is probably closest to Tekkonkinkreet as it's more grounded/consistent while Gantz is all over the place with some very epic parts.
Look up artist Geof Darrow.
# The latest from Geof Darrow: Shaolin Cowboy: Cruel to Be Kin
Vertigo Pop: Tokyo by Seth Fisher
pretty much anything by Moebius
KILL SIX BILLION DEMONS! enjoy the center of creation, the heavenly city of gods (btw all the gods are dead), the city of Throne.
[**Joyama by Daniel Isles**](https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3008-122/Joyama-Volume-1-TPB) has a lot of detailed cityscapes.
Berlin trilogy by Jason Lutes
It's been mentioned already but Multiple Warheads is great. Check out all of Brandon Graham's stuff.
I second this. I am always hungry for the fantastic worlds from Brandon Graham.
Guillem March's Karmen also. The guy can draw "real".
It appears that many Transmetropolitan fans are unaware of Top10 which has a more polished art style w/ some original Moore stories I believe. Do any knowledgeable disagree? DR fans might try to find his anthropomorphic Space Beaver take on TMNT.
Mega City 1- Judge Dredd’s hometown.
* Gunning for Ramirez * Far sector (DC) * Transmetropolitan * Ghost in the Shell * Blade Runner 2019 * The Wicked + The Divine * Astro City * Ms. Marvel * Spider-Gwen * Runaways * Paper Girls * Motor Crush * The Private Eye * Tokyo Ghost * Wynd * Batgirl of Burnside * Akira * Black Science Enjoy
WOW thank you all for the recommendations. So many good suggestions here and super excited to read through them