Avatar

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cartoon that I watch in the morning while I have breakfast with my 9 year-old daughter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender

It is the best modern cartoon I've ever seen, and is, IMHO, the equal of Astroboy (for ethical grounding and action), Mysterious Cities of Gold (for the travelling and meeting new people), or Robotech (for awesome fight sequences)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imho#IM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroboy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterious_Cities_of_Gold

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech_(TV_series)


Why? Verisimilitude.

My soapbox for fantasy is internal consistency. Avatar treats its magic as if it is real, and, as in Harry Potter, the techniques the children learn are used by the adults around them.

The quirk that makes Avatar more palatable is that it's a martial arts show, where specific styles are used and expanded upon for characters from different regions.


(POST UNFINISHED, will complete soon :)

The Walking Dead (Graphic Novel - Adult)

The Walking Dead (Kirkman, 2003) is my favourite graphic novel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead

The author's goal is to show what happens after the end of the zombie movie, when people are surviving week to week and adapting to their new conditions. It's similar to the last chapter of Day of the Triffids, but much more bleak >:)

Another interesting dramtic device is that the main survivor character is not actually going to die in the story. WD is mostly about the changes that survival and stress wreak on a person and the small group they lead/live with, so the protagonist loses his civilised veneer and many many 'colleagues' along the way, but you don't need to suspend disbelief about his fate.

No one else is safe.

Main Points:
The main character doesn't die, but anyone else can (and does)
Internally consistent fantasy
Very violent (decomposed zombies, survivors fighting other survivors)

The way I know that I really like something is that I don't borrow it from the collection or pirate it; I buy it and hoard it at home.

My FLGS (http://gamerseye.blogspot.com/2006/01/flgs-or-online-shopping.html) Ace Comics & Games, pushed this on me a few years ago and I've been dogging its trade paperback releases ever since.

Now to try to get it picked up for the collection...