Peter Milligan

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Definitely one of the MOST underrated writer from the British wave, while everyone was drooling over Neil, Alan, Morrison, Ennis, Ellis, Delano, etc; Milligan came in wrote a lot of amazing comics that have gone unnoticed.

Having very poetic touch of that Moore (at times outdoing him too) and the same off oddbeat, surreal, weirdness of Morrison and Ellis (at times outdoing them too) to being having some really down to earth/slice of life stories. I'm sad that most of his works haven't been reprinted or collected, they're just there waiting to be read.

If anyone is interested in him, check these stories out
Girl (In par with Morrison's Kill Yr Boyfriend, if not, outdoing it)

Egypt (man travels back to ancient Egypt and takes over the body of Vin Centhotep)

HEWLIGAN'S HAIRCUT (a interesting tale of haircuts and mental illness)

Enigma (one of the greatest superhero story you've never read, his most powerful works)

Bad Company (A look at what a futuristic, dystopian, bleak world/war can do to a person)

Shade The Changing Man (AMAZING, weirdo, surreal superhero tale)

Face (a medical horror story)

His Batman/Detective stories (some really solid bats/tec stories)

Strange Days & Rogan Gosh (super, post-modernist psychedelic, weirdo, sci-fi tales)

The Eaters (a family that eats people)

The Extremist ("woman driven to insanity and murder by the death of her husband. As she slowly descends into becoming the Extremist")

Namor: Submariner (A interest take on the Namor mythos)

Animal Man (In par and to an extent an extension to Morrison's work)

Skreemer ( a sci-fi/dystopia/gangster/hardboiled tale)

[Greg Anderson]

Only this past year or 2 I've been getting into Milligan's work. I wanted to pick up his X-Statix Omnibus but it was out of print. I have his first Shade trade but for some odd reason couldn't finish it. Found it to be very dense and bizarre, which is awkward because dense and bizarre is right in my interest level. I'll maybe try to get through it today.

I think I was one of the only people who loved Greek Street. I truly don't know how people weren't into that series, I was hooked every single month it was being released. Dig his Hellblazer (although I've missed the last few issues due to money) and like what I've read of Justice League Dark. I'm dying to read Enigma. That wasn't released in trade, no?

I absolutely love his style. You never know what you're going to expect with his stories. People sometimes say he's weird just to be weird, but I just see it as him having fun and taking advantage of what can be done with the medium and storytelling. You have all these types of stories, I feel his style is such a great change of pace and fresh air. I've overall always been into surrealism and finding meaning and truth through them, so he's right up my alley. I also love how he attempts to portray humanity through sexuality and he's definitely a forerunner in showcasing and pushing queer characters in comics though he's often overlooked on that front.

[Desaad]

I think he's the out and out smartest, the most intellectual, of anyone in comics right now.

That doesn't make him the best, but the things he does are always daring, always fully realized, always 3 dimensional, always erudite.

I don't think his craft is really up there with Moore or even Morrison some of the time, and when he's not fully invested in what he's doing it sort of shows, but even then you can see that he's just so damn SMART about everything.

Looking at something like Infinity Inc...you know, I don't know how much he wanted to write that. But damn if those characters, what he was doing with psychology there, what he always does with identity, damn if that isn't some of the most brilliant stuff that has ever been done with CHARACTERS in the MU or DCU.

He has a lot of incredible works, but I'd say Enigma is one of the best things ever written for comics.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Only this past year or 2 I've been getting into Milligan's work. I wanted to pick up his X-Statix Omnibus but it was out of print. I have his first Shade trade but for some odd reason couldn't finish it. Found it to be very dense and bizarre, which is awkward because dense and bizarre is right in my interest level. I'll maybe try to get through it today.

I think I was one of the only people who loved Greek Street. I truly don't know how people weren't into that series, I was hooked every single month it was being released. Dig his Hellblazer (although I've missed the last few issues due to money) and like what I've read of Justice League Dark. I'm dying to read Enigma. That wasn't released in trade, no?

I absolutely love his style. You never know what you're going to expect with his stories. People sometimes say he's weird just to be weird, but I just see it as him having fun and taking advantage of what can be done with the medium and storytelling. You have all these types of stories, I feel his style is such a great change of pace and fresh air. I've overall always been into surrealism and finding meaning and truth through them, so he's right up my alley. I also love how he attempts to portray humanity through sexuality and he's definitely a forerunner in showcasing and pushing queer characters in comics though he's often overlooked on that front.

You can still get a copy of X-statix, just google it, use google shop and see whose selling.

Greek Street and Hellblazer, for me, started off really weak but it got progressively strong as it went on, sad Greek Street got canceled. And Enigma is a tour de force, so beautiful but it trade is out of print! COME ON VERTIGO!

Do love his take on identity and sexuality and has pushed a lot of bi, gay, lesbian, transgendered people in his work, which is great to see/read. He works is pretty much a in depth look at Sexuality and identity.

Shade is an interesting book, give it another trying, it's a hell of a ride.

I think he's the out and out smartest, the most intellectual, of anyone in comics right now.

That doesn't make him the best, but the things he does are always daring, always fully realized, always 3 dimensional, always erudite.

I don't think his craft is really up there with Moore or even Morrison some of the time, and when he's not fully invested in what he's doing it sort of shows, but even then you can see that he's just so damn SMART about everything.

Looking at something like Infinity Inc...you know, I don't know how much he wanted to write that. But damn if those characters, what he was doing with psychology there, what he always does with identity, damn if that isn't some of the most brilliant stuff that has ever been done with CHARACTERS in the MU or DCU.

He has a lot of incredible works, but I'd say Enigma is one of the best things ever written for comics.

Milligan, it's weird, when he's on his game, HE'S ON HIS GAME but when he's not, it shows and it's horrible! While not always in par with Morrison or Moore, there are those times where he outshines them but those can be a bit few and far.

Also, another thing I have beef with is, while many comic fans push Morrison out there as the weird, post-modernist psychedelic, surrealist writer and make it seem like he's only one whose done something like that or has done it better, they need to read some Milligan. Because Milligan can be in par when it comes to stories, if not, sometimes outshining Morrison.

Infinity Inc would have been great he had the freedom and creative control that would allowed to take things further and if there wasn't an artist problem (rotating artists or not a set artist, if I remember) but other than that, solid stuff.

Enigma is one of those comics that is criminally underrated. Hell, Morrison himself has praised the hell out of it, "I’ve always regarded Peter as the best writer, in the grown-up, literary sense, to have graced the comic book business (as an adult exploration of the superhero concept, I believe his Enigma book is far superior to Watchmen in every significant way)."
-Grant Morrison

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/1108...-Morrison.html

[T Hedge Coke]

I've never read a Milligan comic and found it horrible. And I've read a few.

Seriously, even his Elektra, which is generally considered to have not been a great idea, even by Milligan, himself, who wrote it to editorial conceit, has a lot to recommend it and remains readable. Lots of "theatre of life" stuff and the first positive male-to-female transitioning and adjacent romance I can think of, the rare for Marvel of the era interracial friends with benefits, too. And, the bits involving Matt were genuine enough, while obviously homage to other things.

But, Face? Eaters? Sooner or Later? Enigma? All amazing.

Hewligan's Haircut? Awesome. His Batman is still excellent. Infinity Inc and his X-Men turn have their flaws, yes, but they remain readable while a lot of contemporaneously published DC or Marvel stuff has clearly seen its last days of relevance.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

I have yet to read his Elektra or Sooner or Later, need to get on that.

Has anyone read his Shadows, Brix Barton or Tharg stuff?

[T Hedge Coke]

"If the rum won't come to Barton, then Barton must go to the rum."

Bix Barton's a fine thing. It has an energy coursing through it that's only partly fueled by the aggressive tone and delicate horror. Worth reading if you can. Funny, yet still somewhat horrific.

"Michael Cane, Bix Barton's trusty companion, walking stick, and occasional cosh."

[Greg Anderson]

CBR did one of their "Greatest Stories Ever Told" with Milligan's works.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...ies-ever-told/

[Awesome!]

I hated the first issue of Greek Street. I absolutely love my X-Statix omnibus. How much of the stuff mentioned here is in print or otherwise easily available? I've wanted to check out his Shade run but a lot of it isn't collected.

[Desaad]

You can find most of this stuff on ebay for reasonable prices. Enigma, for instance, you can get the full series for about 15 bucks, or the TPB for about 30.

You can buy the whole Shade run for 150 or so, 1-70, so that is about 2 an issue. You could get it for much, much cheaper if you're willing to track some stuff down.

[Awesome!]

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out when I'm surfing ebay.

[Greg Anderson]

Read vol. 1 of the Shade trade, really enjoyed it. Still massively dense and very strong stuff. I can see more re-reading being very crucial to pick up on a lot of nuances. There's a lot of stuff I felt I missed the first time I tried reading this.

[byron lomax]

Milligan is probably my favourite writer. Agree with Otchofriend a hundred percent that's one of the most underrated - it's a shame great works like Enigma are out of print and unknown to a great number of music fans.

I bought the three issues of "Dark Knight, Dark City" a few years ago, and after I read them, I knew I had to read more by this guy. I hunted down Milligan's back catalogue, and though it was frustrating at times (trying to get "Rogan Gosh" and the last issue of "Girl" was painful) it was a lot of fun and very rewarding. I don't think that's happened with any other writer to the same extent.

[Pixie_Solanas]

Milligan is my favorite writer. Bar none.

[FanboyStranger]

Milligan is possibly the most ambitous writer in the industry, which is why the stuff that he develops on his own is routinely excellent and the stuff he is assigned to often seems phoned-in. The only Vertigo project that he's done that has fallen flat to me was Egypt, and that's still a decent book. (I'm a big Glyn Dillon fan.)