Eisner-nominated, award-winning author and comic book creator Ram V joins the Capes and Tights Podcast for Episode 154 on March 6, 2024. To prepare for the conversation, we have compiled 10 comics Ram you should read.
Since publishing his first book in 2016, Ram’s work has gone on to garner critical and popular success, winning multiple awards. Apart from creating original work, Ram has also written for iconic characters & titles such as Detective Comics, Swamp Thing, Justice League Dark, Catwoman, Venom and Carnage at DC Comics and Marvel.
Detective Comics (DC)
Something is terribly wrong with Batman. No matter the tests Bruce takes, nor the numbers he counts, the greatest detective in the world can’t pin down the source of this creeping dread—of his own inner demons and a looming mortality. Meanwhile, real demons roam the shadows as an ancient melody haunts the Gotham night.
Here now the curtains rise and as the eerie tune streams in…who is human, who is demon, who is to tell? As Batman investigates the songs and the demons of Gotham, he is forced to confront the oldest question…whether there has been a demon within him all along…and if so, what does it want…and why hasn’t it taken over yet?
Carnage (Marvel)
Carnage is back to celebrate 30 years of symbiotic slaughter! Prepare to look deep into Cletus Kasady’s psychotic past – and to catch up with Venom’s offspring in the here and now, ready for his visceral and violent future! For years, the unhinged Cletus Kasady has been the only host the Carnage symbiote has known.
Sharing a uniquely horrifying bond, the pair were the most notorious and prolific serial killers in the entire Marvel Universe. But after the events of EXTREME CARNAGE, Cletus’ codex has found a new home – leaving the Carnage symbiote adrift, alone…and deadlier and more bloodthirsty than ever before! What new and terrifying creature will emerge from this symbiotic solitude? Something wicked this way comes!
Swamp Thing (DC)
Unable to control his transformation into the monstrous Swamp Thing, Levi is thrust into the harsh, unforgiving mystery of grisly murders committed by a supernatural desert legend. Levi must revisit past events in his homeland of India and face the deadly reality of a ravenous new villain in order to comprehend what he is truly, and horrifyingly, becoming. A new era of global action and horror blossoms here, and Swamp Thing will be at the root of it!
Rare Flavours (Boom!)
Discover the tantalizing tale of Rubin Baksh, a demonic Rakshasa with a down-to-earth dream of being the next Anthony Bourdain. To achieve his vision, Rubin enlists Mo, a filmmaker who has seen better days, to document the world-renowned cuisine of India and the people behind such glorious food. But little does Mo know that there’s more to Rubin than meets the eye, and the mortals play a darker role in the show than they were prepared for…
Entice your palate and feast on the follow up offering from the Eisner, Harvey, and Ringo Award-nominated The Many Deaths of Laila Starr team of Ram V and Filipe Andrade with this masterpiece marrying the supernatural, Indian cuisine, and the cutthroat world of chef-driven celebrity!
Venom (Marvel)
One blockbuster era gives way to another! Symbiotic writing team Al Ewing and Ram V join superstar artist Bryan Hitch to unleash their vision of Venom! Together, they will push Eddie and Dylan Brock to their limits – and as everything Dylan has come to know and love unravels around him, he begins to realize the terrible truth about his new “other.”
The Venom symbiote is not a harmless pet, no matter how much it pretends to be one. It’s an alien. A dangerous, violent, often bloodthirsty alien. Whatever bond it had with Dylan’s father, Eddie – as special as it may have been – is now gone. And Dylan might be gone soon too. Because the villainous Life Foundation is back, led by the insidious Carlton Drake – and they have the new Venom square in their sights!
Catwoman (DC)
Alleytown stands as the last place in the city untouched by The Magistrate’s totalitarian forces. But being the last bastion of freedom in a police state makes Selina’s kingdom most inviting for Gotham’s rogues! Surrounded on all sides by law enforcement gone bad and facing a potential invasion by the city’s villains, Catwoman finds herself fearing that her quest to keep Alleytown safe could instead lead to its demise…but all is not lost, as Batman arrives in Alleytown, breaking his and Selina’s vow to give one another a one-year break.
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr (Boom!)
Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality. As a result, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life, or will death really become a thing of the past? A powerful new graphic novel from award-winning writer Ram V and Filipe Andrade that explores the fine line between living and dying through the lens of magical realism.
READ THE MANY DEATHS OF LAILA STARR
The Vigil (DC)
The Vigil is Arclight, Saya, Dodge, and Castle, a group of individuals given powers they didn’t want, determined to stop metahuman research and tech created for military applications at any cost.
Along the way, they’ll encounter super heroes that could be allies or enemies, not a surprise for a group that exists to shut down state-sponsored superhumans… and clean up the mess before any hero or villain arrives, as if both the crime and The Vigil were never there.
The One Hand (Image)
Neo Novena detective ARI NASSER is about to retire with an enviable record, until a brutal murder occurs, bearing all the hallmarks of the “One Hand Killer”…which should be impossible, since Ari already put him away not once, but twice in the years before. What follows is a deadly cat-and-mouse game as Ari pursues his quarry down the rain-soaked streets of Neo Novena. Ari will stop at nothing to unravel the secrets and ciphers of this case, but each revelation only leads further into the dark heart of his future-metropolis and Ari’s own beleaguered soul.
Dawnrunner (Dark Horse)
A century ago a portal opened over Central America and the Tetza that came through changed our world. Now the world bends all its effort to making the Iron Kings—great mechs that must battle the Tetza for humanity’s continued survival in gladiatorial combat. Anita Marr is the greatest of the pilots and is chosen to pilot a new prototype that could change the tide in humanity’s favor. A story of heroes, impossible armors, ghosts and two people, centuries apart, connected by their need to protect the ones they loves.
