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Good evening my fellow Dakkaites.

I come here in search of advice and reccomendation as to expanding my pretty meagre collection of Trade Paper Back comic books.

A couple of years ago, having thoroughly enjoyed Marvel's recent celluloid offerings, I felt it was high time I got into the comics properly, as having grown up in Britain, the only comics I read during the usual childhood escapism were the Dandy, Beano and Topper (but not the Beezer. I didn't like the Beezer. Then it merged with The Topper. Not happy about that one!). So I mentioned this to my local friendly Canadian, who reccomended I kick off with Marvel Zombies. He reccomend this knowing my fondness for the shuffling rotters in general, and of course being yet another Marvel Universe, for the uninitiated, it is less confusing then jumping into the main Universe with it's events and stuff.

Suffice to say I loved it, and now own Marvel Zombies 1, 2 and 3, Marvel Zombies Dead Days, and Marvel Zombies V Army of Darkness. Additionally, I have also procured a few other titles from Marvel, namely X:Men Endangered Species and Messiah Complex, all four volumes of Age of Apocalypse (awesome read that one!) plus Wolverine Origins, Death of Wolverine, and my most recent addition is Marvel : Secret Invasion.

And outside of Marvel, I have various Dark Horse Omnibi (I think thats the correct plural of Omnibus) specifically Aliens vol 2 and 3, Predator vol 1, Alien V Predator vol 1, and Terminator vol 1. And just to better increase my appreciation for the evolution of the art form, a collection each of Zombie Comics and Horror Comics, which are compilations from a number of stables.

So where to next? I'm really none too plussed for DC Comics beyond Batman, and would rather avoid their titles (find them quite dull to be honest). and I'd far rather buy them as TPB than individual comics for ease of storage.

I've had Marvel Civil War highly reccomended, so if anyone can offer me a complete list of the volumes involved in that, plus perhaps a suggested reading order, I'd be highly grateful!

I'd like to recommend Hellboy. The style and writing of the comics is excellent, especially if you enjoy HP Lovecraft and similar writers.

The art style is amazing. Check out Seed of Destruction, I believe it's the first graphic novel. It's very different from other comics.

Rightydokey. Enjoyed the feel of the films, so will definitely check it out.

Oh yeah, I suppose I should mention stuff I'm not too keen on. Mainly Anime/Manga and Steampunk. Neither of these particularly float my boat, so if you reccomend something from those, please make sure it's truly exemplary. I'm willing to read the best to see if I can change my perception.

But stuff with Zombies, anything Marvel etc, I don't mind the more run of the mill efforts.

He has partaken of the pancake. He is lost to us, forever.

Keeping with your englishness, i'd highly recommend anything by Warren Ellis - Transmetropolitan (Vertigo), Nextwave, Ironman (Both Marvel).

Ellis is funny, acerbic and honest. Plus he usually has some of the best artists working with him.

If it's the art you're into, go for stuff by Leonardo Manco or Marcello frusin. They have very different styles but both are exceptionally good at keeping a writer's work moving throughout the story.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
V for Vendetta
Watchmen
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Redfox
Marshal Law
Judge Dredd
Commando: True Brit, All Guns Blazing, The Dirty Dozen, et al.
Marvel Comics' The Nam

That should keep you going for a bit.

I second Marshal Law, it's a cool perspective on the super hero genre. I just finished reading Garth Ennis' Punisher Volume I. I have to say goddamn he is about my favorite writer. Not only is the art good, very gritty and gory, but good story nonetheless as its IMO on the same level as Preacher. There's another one about a dog, cat, and rabbit called We 3. I haven't read it but it's an American take on Manga, ie limited dialogue etc. Really I think anything by Alan Moore is good, though I've only read Swampthing, and some others (I've forgotten them at them moment, trying to rack my brain to remember).

if you're interested in some horror and good story try Walking Dead. There's always Y: The Last Man too. fething Awesome story, stayed up about 10 hours straight reading the whole series on my computer.

i second transmetropolitan- by far one my favorite comics

preacher was interesting, with a dash of weird, bizarre, troubling, and what the hell is going on factor

hm....what else........

i also second the walking dead

battle pope..........i almost forgot battle pope

I found the Age of Apocalypse to be interesting.

I don't know if its in trade format, but the Samurai Cat series is entertaining.

I second Preacher, it's the only series of Comics I own in its entirety. It manages to be very twisted, violent and crude whilst being mature and though provoking at the same time.

I honestly hope a film of it is never made, it would make an excellent TV show/Mini Series though. But no network would ever be brave enough to do it.

If your looking for more XMen stuff MDG The House of M is a quite highly rated.

Mine will be oldies but goodies:

Batman -
The Killing Joke
Year One
The Dark Knight Returns
World's Finest (Gibbons/Rude 3 issue miniseries)

DC -
Kingdom Come

X-Men -
The Asgardian Wars TPB
The Dark Phoenix Saga
Wolverine mini-series (Frank Miller)

Marvel -
Marvels
The Ultimates I and II
Thor Visionaries (collecting 337 through 380)
Daredevil: Born Again

All of the Hellboys. Have fun.

The only comic i ever collected ( just 8 issues , but someone threw them away T-T)

Third or Fourth on the Warren Ellis.

I pretty much look past the art and look for the stories, though artwork is still
important. Therefore I buy stuff based on the writer first.

So my favorite is Warren Ellis, with a close second being Garth Ennis.

Grant Morrison has his good days and bad days.

Mark Millar is okay as well.


Warren Ellis:
Nextwave is a short series of a superteam formed by hasbeens.

His run on X-man (issue 63, I think) was a look at a Nate Grey separated from the mainstream
Marvel Universe, yet still trying to work its politics. Fantastic stuff.

He set the groundwork for the Authority by ending the Stormwatch line and doing the first
12 issues of the Authority. I have no clue how/if Image picked up on it after that.

He also has a detective series set in a city given over to crime called Fell. Each issue is
meant to be self-contained.

I really liked his take on a super-hero universe in Planetary.

But of course, his most independent and acidic best is his run of Transmetropolitan.

Garth Ennis is best for three types of stories: making fun of super-heroes (Hitman, The Boys,
The Pro), stories of male camaraderie (Preacher, Hitman, "Dicks"), War stories (War Stories).

If you're into horror, there's also the intermittent works of Ben Templesmith. However, his artwork is
very stylistic so you might want to flip the pages before you buy.

Mark Millar's comic Wanted was turned into a movie, but I recommend the comic.

Grant Morrison did The Invisibles. I forget the name of the first collected work. His stuff is
usually psychedelic in a way that makes me think of some of Phillip K. Dick's work. Some of it is
spot on, and a lot of it seems to be weird and anti-establishment for the
sake of weird and anti-establishment.

Stephen King's work is being expanded in comic book form these days. The most beautiful stuff
is done up by Jae Lee with various Dark Tower stories. I'm not too keen on the writing for
these, but the books are just gorgeous.

I tend not to read comics unless there's a writer/artist associated with it that I admire. I
figure they just end up recycling storylines (and not in a good way) on canonical Marvel/DC/Image
titles.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also love Fables and New Universal, though New Universal went on hiatus.

And I almost forgot my most favorite series, 100 Bullets ended its run recently.

Hellblazer hasn't been mentioned yet?!

John Constantine is an evil bast*rd, but in a good way. Ignore the movie they made, and see if you can borrow/browse one of the story arcs. I'd lend you some myself but you're in Lahndahn innit.

crap, i can't believe i forgot 100 bullets and hellblazer....

boy does nothing good ever seem to happen to constantine, and boy was the movie a letdown compared to the comic.


haven't read it recently, but i rather enjoyed invincible, i believe it was called.

If you don't mind delving a bit into DC, I highly recommend the one-off "alt-universe" Super-man title:

Red Son of Krypton - alt universe story if Kal-el had landed in Soviet Russia as opposed to Mid-west USA. The story and art are great, though I will admit the ending is a bit, "meh".

Seconded pretty much everything else everyone before me has said.

Really, most anything with "Alan Moore" on the byline.


Not sure how much you're concerned about the art of comics, but to sway you into some Japanese comics, I highly recommend "Vagabond" by Takehiko Inoue or "Blade of the Immortal" by Hiroaki Samura. Great stories and absolutely stunning artwork on top. At least give them a quick parse-through.

I liked the conclusion of Red Son.

Wow, you came to the right place.

Pride of Baghdad by Brian K Vaughan is incredible.
Bone By Jeff Smith is an all time favorite.
I'm currently reading From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campble and all I have to say is "soliloquy on metaphysics told by Jack the Ripper.
Preacher by Garth Ennis has got to be the most amusing book I have ever read.
Maus by Art Spiegelman didn't win the Pulitzer for nothing.
Pick up anything illustrated by Esad Ribic.
Arkum Asylum, Living Hell by Dan Slott is surprisingly good.
If you're will to track down back issues, look for Hitman written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by John McCrea. It's been mostly forgotten but it's probably Ennis's best work. If nothing else find issues #13 and 14 "Zombie Knight at the Arkum Aqarium."
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is bizarre but enjoyable.
And Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo make me feel slowed every time I draw. If nothing else get it for the art.

Hope this helps.

Well to embrace the true comic geek inside I suggest:


Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller - This mini series was the second most influential comic book of the 80s

Watchmen by Alan Moore - By now you were wondering what the first one is.... Love it or hate it, the watchmen broke all stereo types associated with comics, and ushered in a new era of comics targeted at adults.

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman - Start with the first Trade paper back, and collect the other 3 when you have the cash. (originally the TPB came in a set of 8 so maek sure you buy the Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1, so you don't get sucked into buying 4 more books than you need )

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid - This was one of the shinning stars of the nineties, it is set 10 years in the future of the DC universe, the joker kills everyone that works at the daily planet (but super man of course) then some other super hero kills the joker, Philosophical debate ensues.

Bone by Jeff Smith - The most successful comic Drawn, written, and published by a single person. It ran for 13 years, and was hugely popular, that has got to say something.

And Lastly to bring us to today:

The entire Civil War story arc from marvel, This story line single handedly saved the current format for marvel.

Yeah I was thinking of Hellblazer when I was writing my post but forgot to put it down! Arg! Anyways, it's pretty good also for a lot of occult stuff.

Star Wars Dark Empire series was a good set
The Nam, first 10 - 20 issues
Light & Darkness War (nice Cam Kennedy artwork)
Marshall Law is cool
Rogue Trooper, the original series (love to see that as a skirmish game)

Wolfstan wrote:
Rogue Trooper, the original series (love to see that as a skirmish game)

I played the video game of that. It was awesome, if a bit short.

I would highly recommend trying to find Star Wars Infinities. They're alternate versions of the original trilogy that end in radically different and really cool ways. For example, in Return of the Jedi Infinities,

They are truly awesome reads.

Not sure if it was mentioned yet, but since you are a Zombie lover, you should pick up The Walking Dead. Great series by Robert Kirkman.

Warren Ellis has a free webcomic out right now that I enjoy reading when I get to it. Here is a link to it.

http://www.freakangels.com/

I have been reading up on the Green Lantern Corps lately, enjoying what they have coming out of it.

Deadpool is always a good read if you are into crazy and humorous things.

Everything else seems covered.

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus Edition

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freak-Brothers-Omnibus-Rolled-Package/dp/0861661591/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246271863&sr=8-1

Ta so far chaps, certainly seem to have a mountain of reccomendations.

What about Spawn? My mate once gave me a loan of his Animated stuff, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Are the Graphic Novels similarly worth procuring?

As for Garth Ennis, I tend to be slightly wary of him. At one point I had a fair collection of Judge Dredd TPB, and I found his stuff to be slightly weaker, and missing the usually sartorial edge Dredd is renowned for.

Also, I have recently begun buying 2000 AD again, so any reccomendations for collected volumes of that would be welcome.

Out of the DC reccomendations, I think I will give Red Son a whirl. One of my main bugbears about Superman is just how much a goody little two shows the man is, when anyone else in a position of such power would be sorely tempted by the naughties.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Out of the DC reccomendations, I think I will give Red Son a whirl. One of my main bugbears about Superman is just how much a goody little two shows the man is, when anyone else in a position of such power would be sorely tempted by the naughties.

I think you'll enjoy Red Son, then. It delves into that topic a bit, in that Superman casts off his "Clark Kent" alter-ego and lives constantly as Superman.

Clthomps wrote:Bone by Jeff Smith

THIS. Absolutely terrific comic. Easily available in the "Complete Volume Edition".

If you don't mind silliness - look into Marvel's various Deadpool-related comics. His role in the Secret Invasion story-arc as well as the current Dark Reign arc is flippin' hilarious.

And whilst I'm at it, it's probably worth me asking for titles I should avoid. I gather Spiderman 'Brand New Day' isn't terribly good, and the price I have to pay for these means I'd rather avoid duds where possible!

Buy secondhand - in the current day and age, comics have no resale value.

Yay, Comics recomandation thread!

Let me beginn with the following statement: whatever you do, don't pay money for any Spider-Man comic that followed after "one more day". You should also skip that. What they did with Brand New Day is just unforgivable.

I also recomend Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. books as well.

Dark Knight returns of course.

There's a Spider-Man/Black Cat book written by Kevin Smith which is also pretty good but I don't recall the name. Something with Evil in the title.

Preacher is fethin'a awesome! And Garth Ennis' earlier Punisher stuff, but at some point he stopped being funny.