For those who haven't seen it, there's a great thread here dealing with graphic novels in general.
But I'm interested in everybody's Superhero trade reccomendations. Anything that's bound--it can be a certain volume of a collected series, stand alones, collections of smaller stand-alones, whatever.
What do you think?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
The first Powers trade -- Who Killed Retro Girl? -- is great. Marvels is a must-buy, as is Kingdom Come. The Ultimate Ultimate Spider-Man collects an absurd number of issues, and they're all pretty solid.
Posted by Robin Kaczmarczyk (Member # 9067) on :
Absolutely hands down: The Watchmen.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
It's Watchmen, no "the". Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Personally, I have a fondness for Paul Dini's stuff.
Mad Love (the story of how Harley Quinn came to love the Joker) is one of the best Batman stories of the past twenty years.
Mutant, Texas: Tales of Sheriff Ida Red is the delightfully strange, fun, and often moving story of the greatest super-hero of the Weird West. Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Despite my distaste for what Batman became, The Dark Knight Returns should probably be on the list, along with V For Vendetta and Watchmen. I don't know if I would have thought of Watchmen or Dark Knight at first, because I have them as separate issues, from before they were grouped together into graphic novels.
The first graphic novel I think I ever read was probably The Death of Captain Marvel. It was shocking, because here was a major comic company killing off a middle tier, but not insignificant, super hero. With something as prosaic as cancer. It humanized the story in a way that was largely unprecedented for the time.
A really excellent one, in my opinion, which I highly recommend, is the recent Superman: Secret Identity, which isn't about the comic book character Superman at all.
Oh, and
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
I don't think V for Vendetta counts as a super-hero story, even if the title character does wear a costume and have a secret headquarters. Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
so this may be somewhat off-topic, but I figured this would be a decent place to ask:
so I haven't read comics in ~10+ years, but was a big fan of X-Men amongst others back when I did read them. Can anyone suggest any compilations etc that have a lot of the key moments in X-Men history? I've seen a handful of X-Men compilations floating around but have been somewhat daunted by how many of them there were.
Posted by Mig (Member # 9284) on :
Watchmen is without a doubt a "must read." I'm more of a fan of the DC heroes. so withthat in mind, I recommend:
Dark Knight Returns The best Batman tale ever. The Nail It about the world and the JLA without Superman. Batman:Year One the definitive retelling of Batman's first year in action. If you loved Batman Begins, this is a must read. Red Son What if the baby Superman's ship landed in the Soviet Union. Long Halloween The best Batman book if you prefer a more iconic presentation. It's sequel Dark Victory is very good too. Kingdon Come This Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are old, and have to deal with the new generation of heroes. Superman: Secret Identity Bear with me, this is better than it sounds. Its about a mild manner kid named Clark Kent who is always getting teased because he's named after the famous comics character. Then one day he learns he can fly...and has the same powers as his comics namesake.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
Arkham Asylum - Painted, gorgeous, scary as heck. Sandman - Superhero schmuperhero. This has to be on everyone's bookshelf. The JLA show up in an issue, it counts. Alias - Bendis' incredible series of a c-list superhero making a living as a private detective. Marvels - The world of superheroes as perceived by us lowly, earth-bound mortals. Kingdom Come - Possibly my favorite superhero story, it's an examination of the moral superheros of the past dealing with the ambiguous morals of today's more violent heroes. God Loves, Man Kills - An X-men graphic novel back when graphic novels were starting out and I still liked the X-Men, this is what X-Men 2 was trying to be. The graphic novel is better. Future Imperfect Hulk getting a glimpse of his future stronger, faster, and eviller self. Dark Knight, Watchmen, yadda yadda.
Most of my favorite TPBs and graphics novels aren't superhero-based, so my list is a bit scarce.
[ June 15, 2006, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
Posted by Omega M. (Member # 7924) on :
It's probably not "great," but I liked the Camelot 3000 book from a while back, about King Arthur coming back in the year 3000 to fight off an alien invasion. ("Here he sleeps till England's greatest need.") As the story progresses it turns out that all of Arthur's knights have been secretly reincarnated. A standard superhero story, no doubt, but well done.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
When they did Camelot 3000, apparently, the plates for the 12th and last issue got destroyed accidentally. I think this was the first "maxi-series". Twelve issues was a lot for a limited series at the time. So they had to redo that issue. I think I waited almost a year between issue 11 and issue 12. It's an excellent story, but my memories of it are tinged with the annoyance.
Posted by Mazer (Member # 192) on :
quote:Originally posted by Robin Kaczmarczyk: Absolutely hands down: The Watchmen.
Semantic errors aside I completely agree. Titles like Watchmen and Maus, (Which is not a super hero book,) elevated the graphic novel as an art form.
As previously mentioned, Dark Knight is also good, and I enjoyed Origin. I liked OSC's Ultimate Ironman, but it was far too short.
Posted by His Savageness (Member # 7428) on :
I'm going to go ahead and join the choruses proclaiming Watchmen. There are lots of good superhero stories in the Astro City universe. You should especially check out: Astro City: Confession.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I tried reading Watchmen twice but couldn't get through it. I think I was just too young for it. That was a dozen years or so ago . . .
Enjoyed Kingdom Come. Liked Dark Knight alot, but still haven't read the second series, which I've heard panned. Not a big Miller fan, though. In the Frank Miller/Denny O'Neil debate, put me squarely in the O'Neil camp.
I caught Mad Love in Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames and Demons, which had a couple other good stories in it, but Mad Love was probably the best.
Trades are tough. I love Green Lantern, for example, but haven't read any really killer Green Lantern stories. Emerald Dawn was pretty good, but Emerald Twilight was just bad. Even the Neil Gaiman one with Superman didn't do it for me.
And I hate Jack Kirby's New Gods, but I think Cosmic Oddessey is one my favorite series.
There are a bazillion Batman titles, ranging from the really good (I agree about Arkham Asylum) to the flat and lame. I want to read Hush, but want to re-read year one, first, since it's been a while. I also want to check out Long Halloween--that looks great.
It's a tough mess to wade through. (And I loved Identity Crisis, so what do I know from good? )
Thanks for the suggestions. I think I need to check out quite a few of these.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Some more suggestions:
Second the suggestion for Astro City- Kurt Busiek's comic about everyday life in a super-hero universe. Any of the trades are good, but I also have a special fondess for Confession, the story of a boy who wants to become a sidekick...and gets in -way- over his head.
Magic Pickle- C. Scott Morse's story of America's Greatest Super Soldier, Weapon Kosher.
(What, you were expecting Captain America?)
Superman: What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?- Alan Moore gives us the "last" Superman story. And it's a doozy.
The Avengers: Under Siege- Roger Stern's infamous Avengers story arc wherein he decided to ask the question "What if the Masters of Evil actually acted, well, EVIL?"
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
My library system apparently has a lot of these. I'm gonna have to go to the library tomorrow.
Ni!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
There's a Sandman done as water-color illustrated story rather than a comic, about a fox seeking to save a monk from an evil magician. Awesome, awesome story.
Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One were both excellent.
World's Finest Batman/Superman was pretty good.
God Loves, Man Kills (an X-man special trade) was excellent, plus it was pivotal in the Magneto character development.
Posted by Robin Kaczmarczyk (Member # 9067) on :
Some other favorites would be:
Sandman (any in the series) Lobo (all of it!)
All the novel-to comic stuff they've done on D&D and Elric ..
(I'm such a nerd)
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
My problem with Sandman is not the books themselves, but that my library doesn't title them properly in thier system, so I keep ending up with the same volume. I'll probly buy them all eventually, but for now it's very frustrating. ::growl::
Ni!
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
GLA: Misassembled- A comic that pokes fun at the recent "Crying Super-Hero Tragedy" comics by DC and Marvel while featuring a dark case in the careers of the Great Lakes Avengers...Marvel's Z-List hero team.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
The Golden Age and New Frontier- Both look at the transitional period between DC's Golden Age and Silver Age heroes. In my opinion TGA has the better story, but NF has better art. Both are worth reading.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I have the original issues on Moore's Superman story.
I also have the original issues on Year One. I don't care for the recoloring with watercolors they did for the hardcover version.
Misassembled sounds great, I think.
Posted by Mig (Member # 9284) on :
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore is a recent collection of superhero stories from the author of Watchmen. This is a great collection. Some of the stories are considered classics, including "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" referenced above.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by docmagik: I have the original issues on Moore's Superman story.
Me, too. I hated Byrne's "Man of Steel" so much. And WHttMoS was the best goodbye to the Superman I grew up with that I could have imagined.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
The Preacher compilations by Garth Ennis, are also great.
And, while not a graphic novel, it is a superhero novel nonetheless - Nobody Gets the Girl by James Maxey is a great read.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I liked Byrne a lot. Both his art and his work. Especially his comic stuff in What The--?! and She-Hulk and others.
I even liked his Superman work. I thought his Luthor story--the one where Luthor makes the proposition to the girl in the diner in the middle of nowhere--was unforgettable.
Haven't read Superman: True Brit yet, though.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
*prints thread for reference*
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Don't let Ennis know you consider Preacher to be a super-hero comic.
Grant Morrison's Vimanarama is a delightfully funny, wonderfully strange super-hero story.
So good that it almost makes up for the fact that the second half of his overrated X-Men run was truly awful in a lot of places. (After such a terrfic start, I had raised my standards.)
Vimanarama is the story of a devout Muslim Pakistani youth living in the U.K. who is about to meet his bride-to-be.
It's also the story of a bunch of demons composed of fossil fuels getting ready to take over the world. Only the UltraHadeen, a race of immortal Indo-Arabic super-heroes can stop them!
Part zany romantic comedy, part cosmic battle ala' Jack Kirby's Thor.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I've rather enjoyed Moore's Supreme, although in some ways its as much parody of the genre as straight-up superhero.
I also like Kirkman and Walker's Invincible. And Marvel's Runaways isn't bad.
Posted by Sopwith, again (Member # 9457) on :
Marvels was very good. Marvel also released one that was a "photo retrospective" of one of the Daily Bugle's photographers a while back that was amazing, but for the life of me, I can't remember its name.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
quote:Don't let Ennis know you consider Preacher to be a super-hero comic
Well, it's a graphic novel, in any event. Not superheroes, per se. Supernatural, sure. Superhuman, sure. Not a lot of heroics, though, I admit.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
I'll second much of what's already been mentioned, and will add Marvel's 1602 by Neil Gaimen. It's basically a what-if story set in *gasp* 1602 with the heroes of today emerging much earlier in history. Nick Fury is the Queen's spymaster, Dr. Strange is her court magician. The X-Men are hunted by the Spanish Inquisition, though the High Inquisitor has his own agenda. The Fantastic Four have gone missing on a voyage to the new world. Many other heroes make an appearance in interesting, and sometimes quite unexpected, ways. Very good read.
--Enigmatic
Posted by sarfa (Member # 579) on :
So far the list mentioned is excellent, but there are quite a few really good graphic novels/trade collections that haven't been mentioned, so I'll chirp in with a few.
Batman: Knightfall and Knightsend . I know it was a desperation move (along with the death of Superman) to pull in readers when DC was being creamed by the X-driven Marvel and the soon to be dead Image, but it was a great story. Bane systematically tearing down Batman is great. And the can of whupass that Batman opens up on Bane later is that much more satisfying because of it.
Superman For All Seasons by Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale. My favorite superman story (mainly because I don't like Superman much). In fact, anything by Loeb and Sale is really good.
Daredevil: Yellow , Hulk: Grey , and Spiderman: Blue All by Loeb and Sale again. These present a very personal/introspective side of pivotal events/losses in the lives of the heroes.
Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller. Really, you need to read his entire run on Daredevil, but this is the highpoint of that run. Also, Bendis's run on Daredevil has also been terrific.
X-Men: X-cutioner's Song Some people don't like this story, partly because this was the first big X-Men story in the post Chris Claremont years. I think it's great though. I love Stryfe; a wounded little boy with immense power seeking revenge. It's really tragic and well written.
Inhumans by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee. A good story with some terrific art.
Earth X Marvel's response to Kingdome Come. The other volumes ( Universe X & Paradise X )are good too, but the original is best.
Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon. It's Joss writing the X-Men; nuff said.
Kraven's Last Hunt Best Spiderman story ever. period.
Hellboy by Mignola. Not your typical superhero comic, but I think Hellboy has enough qualities of a superhero to be listed here (plus, it just plain rocks).
Swamp Thing by Allen Moore. Like Hellboy, not exactly a superhero comic, but it's close enough for me, and it's up their with Watchmen and V for Vendetta as the best Allen Moore has to offer.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen & Top 10 by Allen Moore. Not as good as his previously mentioned stuff, but these are my 2 favorites of his America's Best comics. Promethea & Terra Obscurra are also pretty good. Tom Strong & Tomorrow Stories aren't.
Stormwatch & The Authority by Warren Ellis, and others later (Millar, Brubaker, and Robbie Morrison). The Warren Ellis stuff is really good (if you don't mind swearing and a lot of gore). The other writers have mixed results (with Morrison's run being the worst, but still worth checking out if you like the rest).
Planetary by Warren Ellis. Currently my favorite comic out there (along with Mike Carrey's Lucifer ).
Hmmm, I guess this was more than just a few. You'll have to cut me some slack though cause I geek out over comics & haven't posted for awhile.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Image isn't dead. While the company publishes far fewer comics these days, I do find them to be of far higher quality and variety than they were in the "Liefeld years".
Speaking of which, Image publishes Noble Causes, one of the best super-hero comics more people need to read. Imagine a famous family of super-heroes. Add in the sort of plot twists seen on the better soap operas, and a lot of moral ambiguity. It's great stuff.
Posted by sarfa (Member # 579) on :
I don't think I'm too far off base when I claimed that image is dead; it certainly does not compete with DC and Marvel anymore (in revenue), Jim Lee sold his part (Wildstorm) to DC, and Liefield took his orginal stuff with him when he was forced out (good riddance). This doesn't mean that there are (or are not) decent comics being released by it, just that their monetary success isn't all that great (They're like the 4th or 5th biggest comic company in the U.S., which is not saying much) and that you don't hear that much buzz about any of their comics anymore. I never really liked the old Image stuff much either, good artists don't necessarily make good writers.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I made a list of all these comics, and am slowly getting the ones I can from the library. I got Watchmen, Superman: Secret Identity, and 1602 from the library the other day, and enjoyed them. Watchmen took some concentration, and that's a little hard to find around here sometimes, but I did like it. Are all Alan Moore comics so deep?
1602 and Secret Identity I liked a LOT. I especially enjoyed the art in those two, and Neil Gaiman is a freaking god. I'm picking three more up tomorrow, we'll see how I like those.
I also have this HUGE book of Buck Rogers comics that was my grandfather's that I'm slogging through.
Ni!
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Alan Moore does a lot of silly stuff, too, though its often silly and deep. You might check out the Tom Strong series for some of his lightest stuff, though I think the Promethea and Top 10 series are better.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Nosing around Amazon, it looks like somebody posted the list of the top 100 trades that Wizard put out on Free Comic Book day. He did itinfourparts. It starts with number 1 (Maus) and goes in order to number 100 (Batman: Faces).
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
So I just imagined all the buzz about Invincible? Or Bomb Queen? Or Avigon? Or Lions, Tigers and Bears? Or Ultra? Or the Flight anthologies? Or...I could go on.
And if selling a lot of copies=a living company, then the -only- US comics companies truly "alive" would be the manga publishers. Marvel & DC may still be at top, but their top sellers these days are selling numbers that would've gotten them considered for cancellation back in the 90s.
[ June 20, 2006, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: Puffy Treat ]
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Marvel's focusing on movies. My accountant is a former exec from Marvel, and he left just after Image hit and Marvel started to tailspin into declaring bankruptcy - foreseeing the problem when they stopped taking his advice entirely and started making dumb business decisions.
They asked him to come back as a consultant, and he told them they had abandoned their core as a comic book company in favor of selling movies and toys. He suggested a new emphasis on selling and promoting "what got them to the dance" so it doesn't atrophy and leave them with nothing to make supplements for.
They didn't like that, and didn't retain him any more as a consultant.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Becky, could you email me your list? I've printed off this thread, but the list would be much handier to have.
In regard to Alan Moore's silly stuff, I'll second the suggestion of Top 10. I've been having a lot of fun reading that one.
Anybody read Ex Machina? I got a copy of the first Ex Machina collecton the other day, and was pretty impressed. My library doesn't seem to have any later collections, unfortunately. For all I know, though, that could be because no others have been published.
Kingdom Come wasn't available through my library system, so I bought it last weekend. I loved the artwork, but the story just didn't really move me, somehow. It may be because I was never particularly into DC Comics as a kid, and so have a much shallower understanding of the characters and their relationships than I otherwise would have.
Image Comics has the first issues of a large number of comics available for online viewing, by the way. Lots of stuff there that looks intriguing.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
I highly recommend most anything by Warren Ellis, particularly Planetary and Transmetropolitan (beware, Transmet has a very high obscenity factor, think of the child of Hunter S. Thompson and Harlan Ellison as a journalist in the future).
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
Sure, Jake.
Ni!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Thanks!
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Me too? I printed out the thread, but it's a little cumbersome.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
As soon as I get back to my other computer, JT.
::squeals:: I ended up coming home from the library with seven books, including the three I had on hold. I think you guys have created a monster.
Ni!
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Thanks!
Posted by sarfa (Member # 579) on :
"So I just imagined all the buzz about Invincible? Or Bomb Queen? Or Avigon? Or Lions, Tigers and Bears? Or Ultra? Or...I could go on."
umm, yeah, I guess so. Look, you obviously have a thing for Image, and that's fine, but I have never heard any buzz about any of those comics. Granted, I don't keep my ear to the ground like I used to, but when I go into comic book shops, or read articles (which isn't as common as it used to be), or talk to my hardcore comic-geek friends, I don't hear the names of any Image related comics being tossed around with any consistency (other than an occasional "Astro City" referrence). So again, I say that I wasn't that far off the mark when I spoke of the demise of Image. Yes they still exist, yes they still sell comics, so technically speaking, they are not "dead", but I think no one would argue that they are severely diminished in both their sales and on the relevence of their titles to the comic book scene. Anyway, I'm done defending my word usage. I used "dead"; I stand by it; you and your delicate sensibilities are just going to have to live with it.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
News flash: ALL of the titles just mentioned are great. Invincible is one of the best superhero books of the last five years, Lions, Tigers and Bears is precious (if a bit TOO precious for me), and both Girls and Ultra are brilliant (if somewhat squicky).
Seriously, if you aren't reading Invincible, you're missing MAJOR superheroey goodness.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Really Tom? I read the first issue of it on the site I linked to, and it didn't do much for me. I take it it gets better?
Becky, replied to your email.
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
TomD - I met the Luna brothers at a con in Orlando this year and complimented them on "Girls," but I complained that they had completely ruined my hobby of picking up anonymous girls up and having sex with them. One laughed, the other assured me that had been their goal all along.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
sarfa, if you haven't heard the buzz, then you haven't heard the buzz. I can understand that.
Claiming it doesn't exist because you haven't heard it, then saying the only reason why I brought it up is because I'm too "delicate"? Well, that's a bit less understandable.
[ June 21, 2006, 12:36 PM: Message edited by: Puffy Treat ]
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Invincible gets TONS better as the issues progress. Once they get past setting up the world (which is quickly done), things get really cool.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I read Dark Knight Returns, Red Son, and a couple of the Ex Machina books yesterday. The Ex Machina ones were definitely my favorite, I only wish my library had more of them.
DKR was quite good, too, I like Batman cause he's all angsty. And I really liked Robin in this one, too. Ken really liked Red Son, I was kind of indifferent.
I also picked up Runaways cause I flipped through and liked the look of the art. It was ok, kind of a fluffy read. Which is ok, after the deep stuff.
All of my holds at the library came in at once today, so now I've got a giant stack of comics on my table, and the librarian looked at me like I was insane for checking out 14 books at the same time.
Ni!
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I'm reading 1602 now, and it's freaking awesome.
Just finished the Dark Phoenix saga; it was pretty good.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Okay, it's a year later. Anybody want to add anything to this list?
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
I'll have to go with Grunge Saves the World as my favorite superhero story. Most of the Gen 13 I've read (10 years ago) was hilarious.
Posted by Toretha (Member # 2233) on :
I've not been reading comics for very long, but I hearted:
Marvel 1602 Sandman: Season of Mists (Lucifer quits hell!) Midnight Nation Fables and Rising Stars
For me this thread is great, since I need to know what to try next, having run through most of the suggestions I've gotten from people
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
I read Marvel 1602, and didn't really enjoy it. It started out so well, but then, after
SPOILERS
...the Queen dies
END SPOILERS
...it just went downhill. I didn't feel like Peter Parquagh was much of a character, I thought the whole bit between Angel and Cyclops was contrived...
Just meh. Probably the only bit of writing Gaiman's done that I don't like. Andy Kubert, however, may be some sort of demigod.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Fables and The Sandman don't really count as "super-hero" comics, even though they're published by DC. Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Out of Gaiman's Marvel work, I found The Eternals to be much better than 1602.
The former is a somewhat dark look at a band of obscure Jack Kirby characters that no one was using anyway. Good stuff.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
I'm going to second Superman: Red Son.
Superman's a commie, Batman's a terrorist and Lex Luthor's a capitalist hero who's actually as smart as he should be. What's not to like?
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
This: Mark Millar used the OLDEST twist ending in fantastic fiction...then bragged about how brilliant and original he was. Posted by Magson (Member # 2300) on :
I rather enjoyed "Rising Stars" -- it's about a town that had a "flash" above it several years back, and every in utero child at the time of the flash got super powers. 113 people. . . . . It focuses only on a few of them, of course, but it's really quite incredible.
"Midnight Nation" is also most excellent.
These are printed by "Top Cow" comics, in case anyone cares.
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