Literature Favorite Comics/Graphic Novels?

Kimby

Kimby

Soft Apocalypse
Just re-read Wicked + Divine and Paper Girls and I'm still left speechless about how good these two series were. Looking to see what personal favorites you all have, feel free to include why and I'll be sure to check it out!

Some of my personal favorites:
Wic + div
Paper Girls
Saga
Injustice:GAU year 1 - 5
Batman: White Knight
 
Oh man, I have so many. (o_o)

I'll just... list a few random ones. Because if I tried to list them all, or place them in any sort of order, we'd be here all night.

The Twelve, by Straczynski and Weston. A bunch of Golden Age Marvel heroes get frozen at the end of the war, and awake in the present day to a changed world. Lots of good drama, emotional fallout, and learning to accept that the Blue Blade's costume doesn't have pants.

Marvels, by Busiek and Ross. The history of the Marvel Universe, as told through the life of a Daily Bugle photographer. I really don't know what to say about this book that hasn't already been said by a hundred other people. So I'll just point out that the Prologue/Issue 0--where the android Human Torch narrates his own birth to a quote from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein --is possibly my favorite bit of comic book anything.

Watchmen, by Moore and Gibbons. I'll be honest, I'm just here for the Dan and Rorschach show.

Union Jack 3-issue mini, by Cassaday and Raab. Joey Chapman isn't a typical legacy hero. The mantle of Union Jack is supposed to be a family affair. But with the son of the original Jack dead, and his grandson a bitter, sickly misanthrope, Joey's the one who ends up in tights. And then there are the vampires. I really loved seeing Joey finally get to spread his wings as a fully-realized character, with drive, doubt, and the strength to keep going, even when everything goes to hell.
 
Sandman by Neil Gaiman is fantastic in every sense of the word, if you haven't read it trust me-- go read it

Astro City by Kurt Busiek, a great collection of short stories in the 'exploring the actual lives and societal implications of superheros' subgenre

Laika by Nick Abadzis, it's a story about the famous dog of the same name, it is so gut wrenchingly sad that I've only read it once and thinking about it makes me want to bawl

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is one of the best autobiographies of all time, the art style is simple but very effective. It's about the author's childhood in revolutionary Iran, but also about her family, and Iranian history. It's less dense than that sounds, and has a wonderful sense of humor
 
juliusk said:
Astro City by Kurt Busiek, a great collection of short stories in the 'exploring the actual lives and societal implications of superheros' subgenre
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The issue about Steeljack, the old two-bit villain just trying to get by, is one of my favorites. A fantastic series.
 
tuxedo-fish tuxedo-fish
I've never gotten into Marvel comic-wise but I'll definitely check out Marvels! Seems like it'd be a good step into everything.

juliusk juliusk

Oh man, I totally forgot to include Persepolis into my all-time faves, totally agree with it being one of the best autobiographies out there.

Seems like I've got some good reading material ahead of me with all these great recommendations!
 
I wasn't able to look at comics until this year.
I've read some Nightcrawler comics.
My favorite so far is Nightcrawler: Homecoming.
I've found that I prefer Kindle comics to the paper ones, because the graphics look great.
 
Diamondahlia said:
I've found that I prefer Kindle comics to the paper ones, because the graphics look great.
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Digitized comics can be a mixed bag.

If you ever get into older stuff (like the Cockrum-era X-Men, or Excalibur, since you like Nightcralwer), you might want to try and track down a few scans from the actual paper books before reading the digital versions.

ComicTropes gives a great breakdown here, but the tl;dr is that modern recolors can be awful, and pre-computer colored books often get hit with the Sadness Stick when they get digitized. :<
 
tuxedo-fish said:
Marvels, by Busiek and Ross. The history of the Marvel Universe, as told through the life of a Daily Bugle photographer. I really don't know what to say about this book that hasn't already been said by a hundred other people. So I'll just point out that the Prologue/Issue 0--where the android Human Torch narrates his own birth to a quote from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein --is possibly my favorite bit of comic book anything.
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This 110%.
 
I grew up with image comics. Spawn was pretty cool. I also had some Darkhorse stuff. I have a couple of the Boba Fett comic book line under Darkhorse, and I collect the Predator series. I have like four or five full sets so far. I've never really cared for Marvel or DC. I don't like the superhero genre. Though from marvel I do have a couple of Conan the Barbarian comics from the 80's.

OH, and I almost forgot to mention that I have some special edition Heavy Metal magazines from as far back as the late 70's. If you don't know Heavy Metal Magazine, they feature bits of various artists graphic tales, often in multi-parts, along with several one-shots. Oftentimes there are adult themes involved, so you needed to be 18+ to buy them. I even have the one that features the cover art that they used for the original movie (which I have on VHS).
 
The only stories I've read and own the books for are the Death of Superman and Secret Wars. As for more recent stories I really like Dark Nights Metal and The Batman Who Laughs as they're pretty insane and I'd want to pick up physical copies some time.
 
Hmm...here's mine:

The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. Cliche, I know, but it has a great story, and actually has somewhat of a hopeful message, that maybe anyone can be saved.

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison. Probably the best Superman story ever written, in my opinion. Though the art can be sketchy at times, the story is absolutely beautiful and is the purest interpretation of Superman.

Invincible by Robert Kirkman. An amazing deconsrtuction and celebration of superhero tropes that manages to balance dark themes with humor and idealism.

Probably some more that I forgot. Although, if manga counts...

Berserk (Specifically the Golden Age Arc) by Kintaro Miura. What may seem like nothing but an overly edgy gorefest (which it honestly is at the beginning) slowly becomes a deep, philosophical series, focusing on themes such as the nature of humanity and God, purpose, and destiny. It's also helped along by some absolutely gorgeous artwork.

Akira by Katsuhira Otomo. A classic for a reason. Great art, great setting, and great themes.

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. Call me basic, but this series slaps. The characters are impeccable, the universe is captivating, and it has some of the best husbandos and waifus in all of fiction.
 
Batman: White Knight (Thought it was an interesting take on The Joker and Harley Quinn.)
The Long Halloween
The Killing Joke
Batman: Year One
The Black Mirror (It was very neat to see Nightwing don the cape and cowl for once. Everyone expected it in time but this is the first comic I've read where Dick actually becomes The Batman.)
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Year 100 (The way it was drawn creeped me out a little, but the story held up.)
You can probably guess, but Batman's pretty much my go to.

That one huge ass compendium about the death and revival of Superman during Doomsday. Like, Mr. Kent got me good when he was in that dream state(I can't remember it exactly) after Clark died. It was his way of coping and moving on somehow? I dunno. I just remember crying.

I've mainly stuck to DC and the big three. I'd love to branch out a bit more. Read Watchmen, The Boys, and Sandman. I did read some of Wicked + Divine and that was pretty good! I've also been reading another comic online called Lore Olympus which is interesting. I like the way it's drawn.

Just for fun... Comics I didn't like too well:
I read the Preacher comics at one point. Those comics did not age well, let me tell you.
It's a little blasphemous but I didn't really dig Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns too much either. I can get behind an older Batman but the story was just kind of meh. Definitely overhyped.

EDIT: Yo! I forgot to add the Hawkeye comics by Matt Fraction. I thought they were very creative and wonderfully drawn. The dog POV bit and how they included ASL was very cool. Quickly became a favorite while I was reading them. Probably the first bit of Marvel I've really sat down and read, too.
LOVED this quote: “You asked about the Avengers. Y’wanna know the best part about being an Avenger? Having Captain America around you all the time. He just—the guy just brings out the absolute best in people. You want to be good when he’s around. You really do. Ivan, look around you real quick. Because right now? Captain America ain’t here.”
Made me seriously hate what they did to Hawkeye in the cinematic universe.
 
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alfred. said:
LOVED this quote: “You asked about the Avengers. Y’wanna know the best part about being an Avenger? Having Captain America around you all the time. He just—the guy just brings out the absolute best in people. You want to be good when he’s around. You really do. Ivan, look around you real quick. Because right now? Captain America ain’t here.”
Made me seriously hate what they did to Hawkeye in the cinematic universe.
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THANK YOU! And I thought I was the only one.
 
lol. I just found this in a box of stuff. Weird because I was just responding to this topic, what was it... a day or two ago? I had been missing this one
(forgot that I was missing it, tbh)

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alfred. said:
Batman: White Knight (Thought it was an interesting take on The Joker and Harley Quinn.)
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White Knight is one of my favorite Batman comics! Don't know how I felt about Curse of the White Knight but I suppose it was an interesting take on a backstory of the Wayne family.
That last scene between Bruce and Harley in the cop car broke my heart and probably my favorite moment in that sequel


Murdergurl said:
I grew up with image comics.
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Some of my personal favorites are from image, currently, I'm reading Die by Kieron Gillen. I believe he did a lot of star wars comics too (under Marvel though).
 










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The Adventure Zone graphic novels are so good!

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