Comic Book Recommendations

The cancer cure thing was the least of Hudlin's problems.

@Jo: I recommend the Sensation Comics starring Wonder Woman series, as it is not directly tied to anything, and thus you do not have to worry about crossovers or needing to dig up previous issues from twenty years ago to understand the current story.

I'm looking for something like the Blackest Night crossover event. Not necessarily with undead and evil rings and such but something with the same dark tone and sad atmosphere.

I'm a casual reader on comic books mainly because I don't like jumping on the middle of the story. So for several series like Superman, Batman, Spiderman, or any mainstream series, which issue can I start? Also, is it better to buy individual issues, or trades that have multiple issues in one book, or read comics online?

@Dokemon Studios

Try reading certain crossover events like Flashpoint or Blackest Night and using the internet to fill in any gaps that you don't understand or characters you don't recognize. Comics aren't really like manga in that you have to start from issue one to get the story. They're usually stand-alone stories or multiparters contained within a small number of issues (like Planet Hulk) for example. Also I prefer the regular ol' flimsy back books but there isn't any one superior way to read comics. But trades and reading online may come out cheaper in the long run.

With Superman and Batman, there's the advantage that a lot of their stories are self-contained or even in alternate continuities - there's zero continuity or setup needed to read Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween, Dark Knight Returns, All Star Superman, Superman For All Seasons, etc. Even Hush gives a pretty good primer on everything in it, and despite not liking it, I can at least say it's a good place to start for someone wanting to try the Batman comics. There are also some clear volume 1s for Superman and Spider-Man - if you can find it, there's a Superman: The Man of Steel vol 1 that begins with the Byrne reboot, which starts Superman over from scratch.

Spider-Man has the Ultimate Spider-Man series doing much what Byrne Superman did, as well as the Big Time trades by Dan Slott that at the least tell a single coherent narrative. (Its quality I will leave to debate.)

Generally, if a trade paperback has a volume 1 on it, it's a solid start in some fashion.

Itching for some Batman. Planning to read The Long Halloween soon but need maybe 3-4 other good arcs to read after/before.

If you like that then Dark Victory is a pretty good follow up. Otherwise it depends what you've already read; Year One, TDKR, Steve Englehart's run, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House, and Mad Love are all justly well regarded.

While they generally aren't arcs, per se, there's always Showcase Presents Batman, particularly those volumes from the Denny O'Neil/ Neal Adams era.

I've only just got into comics, and I'm attempting to get up to date with Marvel, particularly 2005-ish onwards. I've read quite a lot in the past few months though, and here are my top 5 Marvel stories/events/whatever:

1. The Infinity Gauntlet by Jim Starlin
2. Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon
3. Eternals by Neil Gaiman
4. Planet Hulk by Greg Pak
5. Captain America: Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker

edited 26th Sep '15 2:45:18 PM by Maxiboy136

Hopeless Savages: Break is amazing. Just a phenomenal comic. Funny, sweet, touching, heart-wrenching, and just wonderful. I loved Jen Van Meter's writing. I loved Meredith Mc Claren's art. I loved Christine Norrie's art on her pages. I loved it all. This is an awesome comic and you should absolutely pick it up.

I'm currently reading Epic Canadiana Vol. 2, a superhero anthology funded through Kickstarter. I got the digital version. It's really good. Big focus on diversity, because Canada is a diverse country, and a country that embraces diversity. One story features a character who was clearly based on Nelvana of the Northern Lights, which is a character I desperately want to have more stories.

But the story I've just reached is "Canada Jacques," about a gay athlete whose focus is less on crime and more on promoting causes. But the best line of, I think, the entire anthology is when the reporter interviewing him talks about recent events in Canada. "And of course our own hydro tower was recently almost destroyed by a wolf-man the size of a building battling a giant moose." That is an entirely accurate description of a story from earlier in the anthology, and it is glorious. Sentences like that are why I love superhero comics. There is no other genre where "wolf-man the size of a building battling a giant moose" can be uttered, and have it make sense. And not only make sense, but be something you immediately move on from. Like it's not worth dwelling on. "Oh, yeah, one of those things."

It's that sort of utter batshit insanity that just makes me happy.

Edit: And from the next story in the anthology, set in 1650, we have, "Two young First Nations men chat, having been lucky enough to have avoided the scourges of smallpox, measles, influenza, typhoid, whooping cough, cholera, diphtheria, malaria, scarlet fever, yellow fever, typhus, leprosy and the bubonic plague." Holy shit. That story's actually really funny. The hero is a Metis (mixed race) guy named Castor, "and his ethnic sidekick, Homme Le Blanc." The White Man. Is the ethnic sidekick. I love that. I love that so damn much.

edited 2nd Dec '15 1:19:54 AM by Tiamatty

We don't yet have a page for Velvet by Brubaker & Epting. I will have to address that. Velvet is amazing. I just devoured the first two volumes and eagerly await the eventual third.

As someone who's interested in reading more indie comics but has no clue where to start, can anyone recommended me some titles? Just to be a bit more specific, they don't have to be Superhero comics, but I'd still like some sort of Sci-fi or supernatural/fantasy element in there, because that's just what I like. It doesn't matter whether it's Space Opera, Hard Sci-fi, Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Post-Apocalypse, etc; just so long as it falls somewhere into Speculative Fiction. But I'm also open to just about anything so long as it's really darn good.

edited 11th Jan '16 8:15:02 AM by kkhohoho

Bitch Planet is some really, really good science fiction plus social commentary. It's about women who are sent to a space prison for being "Non-Compliant."

Sex Criminals is excellent and hilarious. It's about two people who realize that when they orgasm, they can stop time. So they rob banks.

Lazarus is one of the best comics out there today. It's post-apocalyptic sci-fi - the world has devolved into a new feudalism controlled by corporations called "Families." And the main character, Forever, is the "Lazarus" of the Family Carlyle.

Pretty Deadly is a great western fantasy all about Death and Death's daughter, Deathface Ginny.

Other stuff you might like: Autumnlands is excellent fantasy and the art is gorgeous; Head Lopper is awesomely wonderfully fantasy and it's about a guy who lops off heads; Spire is a good fantasy; and Trees is Warren Ellis science fiction about a load of giant alien trees who land on Earth...and do nothing for twenty years.

Could try out Gillen's Mercury Heat. It's pretty much cop mystery on Mercury.

The Sixth Gun is horror-Western; the first plot arc introduces six cursed guns that are even worse when united, and things get worse from there.

Just a quick question,I only read the first arc of The Darkness,but is it worth continuing?

_grins_ I have greatly enjoyed this threads recs, and my wishlist has grown by a fair amount of dollars, but I gotta admit, while I have a comic I'd reccomend, I can't remember the title!

Set underground in tunnels (not Wool!), dystopian Big Brother government, rebel faction that paints truths/facts on walls in blue paint that the government can't copy. Fairly sure the first story in universe starts off with a video game themed gang thats starts killing people for points(stripes?) I've been racking my brain for six months now, trying to remember the Title/Author. Help?

edited 1st Apr '16 9:46:02 PM by Leareth

Amulet. Very imaginative and downright amazing series.

^Read the first volume recently.It wasnt very original.

I've been more of a Marvel guy for the last few years, but I'd like to get more into DC as well. I want to mostly stick to New 52 titles in the beginning, so I (hopefully) don't really have to worry about years of continuity that I'm not aware of. I've already read most of Snyder's Batman run and I've ordered the first volume of Azzarello's Wonder Woman. Any other runs or storylines you guys would recommend?

I've enjoyed Johns's run on the New 52 Aquaman; it's the run that made me a fan of the character.

I know you don't want to go through a lot of pre-New 52 continuity, but I'm a Batwoman shill and will recommend her at every opportunity. Just read Detective Comics #854 to #863 and you're all set for her New 52 solo series, which unfortunately isn't very kind to new readers (#854 to #860 are collected in the Batwoman: Elegy TPB, the others unfortunately haven't been). If you do read her series, you can safely stop after issue #24 and the first Annual.

Grayson is very fun, and unlike a lot of DC's New 52 output.

So, what titles from ANAD Marvel would you recommend? I'm already reading The Ultimates, Vision and Invincible Iron Man.

Ms. Marvel! Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Weirdworld (which has its final issue this week)! Power Man & Iron Fist! Hellcat! Mockingbird! Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur! All-New Wolverine! New Avengers!

They're all great, fun, positive comics and just wonderful reads.