Comic Book Recommendations

Mentioning some obvious ones: Watchmen, Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, The Dark Knight Returns, Transmetropolitan, Sandman, Fables (you can skip the first volume) and Preacher.

Here are some good comic books to check out:

Classics

1. X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past
3. X-Men: God Loves Man Kills
4. Batman: The Killing Joke
5. Batman: Year One
6. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
7. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?
8. The Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Modern

1. Astonishing X-Men: Gifted
2. Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous
3. Astonishing X-Men: Torn
4. Astonishing X-Men: Unstoppable
5. Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek
6. American Vampire by Scott Snyder
7. Batman: The Black Mirror

Independents

1. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan
2. Invincible by Robert Kirkman
3. Chew by John Layman
4. I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly

edited 7th Mar '14 11:48:31 PM by Rabbitearsblog

have i mentioned Batman: the Long Halloween? if not, i recommend picking it up. (be warned, though, it can be a bit pricey: the whole thing is actually three stories—Long Halloween, Catwoman: When in Rome, and Dark Victory. i suggest reading them in that order.)

I found it at the library months ago.

If you like Dark/Thriller types, I'd recommend Bedlam by Nick Spencer, the story is captivating from the first couple pages and the sketchbook, messy style is both fascinating and fitting to the overall theme of the story.

It seems to have been a while since the last post but, if I may, I would highly recommend Locke and Key by Joe Hill. It's a dark supernatural mystery series that blew me away when I first starting reading it. It's most definetly one the best comics I've read.

Also, thanks everyone for the great recommendations. I'm going on a long trip soon and I am going to stock up on a lot of these comics.

Thanks!

Strontium Dog by John Wagner and Alan Grant is fun, old-school scifi action with some decent morals. It's all pretty good, but volumes 2 and 3 are definitely the best.

A History of Violence by John Wagner is available in manga format, which is handy if you want to read it on the go. The art is a little iffy, but the story is good, albeit not for the faint of stomach.

For a few sides of Alan Moore, V for Vendetta is one of his better serious, political stories, and The Complete D.R. & Quinch is screamingly hilarious. If you like well-done strong woman characters, check out his The Ballad of Halo Jones.

Oh, and obviously Watchmen, which is to comics what Evangelion is to anime.

edited 14th May '14 10:09:41 AM by VampireBuddha

You mean that its fans are insufferable and never shut up about it?

I hope you have Bobby Drake on speed dial, because y'all just got burned. Nah, just kidding.

i also recommend the Ultimate Spider-Man/Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man/Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man comic line. a lot of the more recent Spider-Man adaptations have been pulling inspiration and plot details from that universe, so it'd be good to see the source.

I picked up some of the comics featuring Miles at my local library. They were good.

I recommend the Ultimate universe in general - I'm a big fan. I also highly recommend Astonishing X-Men, volumes 1-4, the ones written by Joss Whedon.

edited 5th Jun '14 4:08:51 PM by RBluefish

I was curious if the Ottawa Public Library had Pretty Deadly available. It does! Or it will, anyway. It's on order, I believe. It's already got 14 holds, when I checked last night, so good on those people!

So, yeah. Volume 1 of Pretty Deadly is well worth checking out. It's just an amazing book.

if no one else suggested Marvel 1602 yet, then... Marvel 1602.

I just read Lost At Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Have you ever read a story that was so good it actually made you a little angry? Yeah, Lost At Sea made me kinda angry. It's that kind of good.

Just an absolutely brilliant story. Phenomenal.

Anyone who hasn't read Blacksad is missing out. Seriously some of the best art I have seen in a western comic.

Can anyone please recommend me a good one-shot comic book?

edited 19th Aug '14 5:40:44 PM by Buzzinator

Hmm, you mean one issue, or done in one volume? Because the latter is much easier to find in stores or libraries.

We'll need a bit more to go on. What kind of story do you want?

But OK, here's some suggestions: The Legend Of Bold Riley. Chiggers. The War At Ellsmere. I Kill Giants, if you feel like weeping like a baby. Seconds, by Bryan Lee O'Malley. There's three volumes of Hopeless Savages, but I recommend Vol. 2: Ground Zero. There's two volumes of Phonogram, but Vol. 2: The Singles Club is best.

edited 25th Aug '14 6:29:55 PM by Tiamatty

Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn with Mike Mignola on pencils is pretty good for a one-shot story.

And for something completely different, "El Deafo" by Cece Bell, her memoir of growing up with profound hearing loss, which I review here: http://www.skjam.com/2014/08/26/comic-book-review-el-deafo/

My recommendations:

• Runaways
• The Sandman
• New X-Men
• Secret Six

I would also definitely second Marvel 1602 and Demon Knights.

edited 1st Sep '14 10:33:27 PM by StrixObscuro

(not sure if it makes more sense to post here or in the DC thread)

I've been playing and greatly enjoying Batman: Arkham Series so, against my beset judgment, I decided to try out some Barfamily stuff and I am needing recommendations.

What I enjoyed in the games:

• The villains, they are great. Even the lame ones are great, that really surprised me^note too bad the game is apparently better than the comics at this. It seems Calendar Man is as much as a joke as the name implies, which is a shame.
• Oracle. She is really cool. I am looking reading more about her.
• Alfred, surprisingly funny and endearing.
• The early days in which Batman was not famous yet. That was interesting. I wish to read more.
• Not Batman. He is boring and actually quite a bit of a dick. He, obviously, not annoying enough to hinder my enjoyment. In fact, he works greatly as a contrast to other, more interesting, characters (like his rogues). But I am certainly not looking for a story that puts great focus on his psychological struggles or whatever.

Other notes, no need to recommend The Killing Joke. The ultimate Joker story? Sign me up. Also, the origins of sorts of Oracle, which is nice (?). I also know about the last two Batgirl series, starring Barbara Gordon. Not sure if I look forward that, though. She sounds as a mature young woman in the series. Having her as Batgirl seems somewhat backwards. The series are well praised, though, so I might take a look.

edited 4th Sep '14 11:51:49 PM by Heatth

The Long Halloween is the Calendar Man's first story, and also covers Batman's early years and has a rotating cast of rogues. It was slimmed down and combined with The Killing Joke (making the Joker the driving force of the plot in the process) to become the basis for The Dark Knight.

...and on that note, I'm going to go shamelessly exuberant fan-thingy again: if you want a look at Gotham in the absence of the Bat, I highly recommend The Joker Blogs; a fanmade vlog series set between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Batman is absent for almost the entire series; the setting is Joker's incarceration in Arkham while he toys with Hero Antagonists Jeremiah Arkham and Harleen Quinzel, incorporating Scarecrow and Selina Kyle and adding Hugo Strange, Hush, Lock-Up, Jack Ryder, the Phantom, Ted the Bum, and Lex Luthor as major players. It takes a few episodes to establish itself, but they're short. :) And once it does, the acting and characterisation turns out pretty impressive (especially the Joker, considering how easy he is to fail at... >_< )

For Oracle, I recommend the original run of Suicide Squad, where she is introduced as that character, and which has good writing and many interesting characters. (This includes some Bat-villains, so it's not completely out of left field.) Then the pre-Flashpoint Birds of Prey series, where she is the central character. The Chuck Dixon run is not considered as good as the Gail Simone run, but is still decent comics. Various Bat-villains show up in those as well.

I'm pretty sure there's a collected volume of Joker best stories, this is subjective of course. Death in the Family, while a pivotal story, isn't really that good.

Catwoman has had her own series frequently, the quality is variable, and the artwork often works against the writing. (i.e. serious writing, fanservice art.)

The Showcase volumes cover the early 1960s, with the tail end of the stuff that inspired the Batman TV series (kind of silly, but played absolutely straight) and the beginning of the more modern Batman. There are gems here, but you have to allow for changes in taste and culture.