Completely Self-absorbed Top 100 Comic Runs You Need to Read

[PsychoGoatee]

Yep, that 2 volume special edition covers the 7 slim paperback Fantagraphics trades, which are the beginning of Usagi, prior to the Mirage/Dark Horse stuff in Saga.

[Colin YNWA]

Yep, that 2 volume special edition covers the 7 slim paperback Fantagraphics trades, which are the beginning of Usagi, prior to the Mirage/Dark Horse stuff in Saga.

Spot on. Thanks.

[IndigoPrime]

Yes. Saga is the UY DH content. The Fantagraphics set is basically everything that came beforehand – the first seven trades with a cover gallery and interview in the second book. The set was also OOP for years and so I imagine it would be smart to buy it sooner rather than later if you're interested.

EDIT: Er, sorry, PsychoGoatee. I wasn't trying to duplicate your post – my browser didn't see it. *kicks the cache machine*

[AlexF]

You've totally sold me on 'Kill or be Killed' there!

[Colin YNWA]

Yes. Saga is the UY DH content. The Fantagraphics set is basically everything that came beforehand – the first seven trades with a cover gallery and interview in the second book. The set was also OOP for years and so I imagine it would be smart to buy it sooner rather than later if you're interested.

EDIT: Er, sorry, PsychoGoatee. I wasn't trying to duplicate your post – my browser didn't see it. *kicks the cache machine*

Thanks to you both... though maybe not Indigo Prime whose given me FOMO! Must wait until pay day as I've spent too much on comics this month already... must wait....

[IndigoPrime]

Ha! I mean, there are still copies in the channel, so it's not like you need to buy it tomorrow. But if you start to see it vanish from various stores, I wouldn't hang about too long. When that happened last time, it was years until a reprint happened, and the set went for silly money on eBay. (There are the paperback trades as well, of course, although I've no idea how easy – or not – they are to source these days.)

[Doomlord66]

Kill Or Be Killed: I thought that was great and it was the series that really got be into the whole Brubaker/Phillips thing. I'm now... probably a bit obsessive. Note quite a completist, but I've bought Pulp and the entire run of Reckless. Some other one-shots. All of Criminal (which I assume from "in which I bemoaned them only appearing once more" isn't in this list?), Fatale and Velvet. The Fade Out is missing, mostly because it's so bloody expensive on the second-hand market.

I've had KOBK for a while now and so far I've had 2 attempts at reading it all but on both occasions I've had to put it down (mainly because I read at night and get too sleepy) and then when I've picked it up again I've had to restart. It is very good and I must make a more concerted effort to read it right through to the end. I also have Criminal to read and thanks to Indigoprime mentioning the titles of other work by Brubaker & Phillips, I've now added The Fade Out, Pulp & Fatale.

In my older years, I find I'm moving away from the main superhero comics of Marvel & DC. I'm now more into this type of story or stories that have different takes on the superhero story. (I think someone else may has also said this?).
I used to be a huge fan of Marvel and DC and collected loads of comics up to about 2001, then family and children meant I didn't have the funds. In fact I had to sell off quite a bit but still kept my Spiderman and Batman collection as those were my faves. Just recently sold off the Spiderman ones now, (wow, those early McFarlane issues fetched nice prices. If only I'd realised when I was buying them monthly at cover price, I'd have stocked up!).
Now I'm just left with my extensive Batman collection which will be a harder wrench. I have a 1940's Batman comic, a good many Batman and Detective from the 1960's and straight runs of both from 1970's and 80's. It would involve a lot of work to grade and document these and I don't have the time or inclination yet. Apologies for going a bit off topic.

Anyway if anyone else has recommendations for comics or graphic novels like KOBK or ones that have a different take on the superhero story I'd be interested although I think I have most of them at the moment. Maybe I should start a new thread?

[Colin YNWA]

Now I'm just left with my extensive Batman collection which will be a harder wrench. I have a 1940's Batman comic, a good many Batman and Detective from the 1960's and straight runs of both from 1970's and 80's. It would involve a lot of work to grade and document these and I don't have the time or inclination yet. Apologies for going a bit off topic.

There will never be a need to apologise for talking about any comics here. I mean the one who drifted into Usagi Yojimbo talk way ahead of time hint hint).

Wow! That sounds like a really impressive Batman collection, really impressive. Which are your fav runs. I have two more Batman runs still to appear here. Nothing as exciting as is in your collection I imagine.

It would be well worth organising as there may well be some decent value there (as I suspect you know) so even if its just for insurance purposes at least listing would be a good idea I reckon. I use a cateloguing app to track my collection. That's as much so I have good record of what has passed through my collection, as its quite an active thing. I've hit space limits and so any as I get new stuff, older stuff has to go. I'm currently in a bit of a paradigm shift in my tastes (as this thread will start to reveal I suspect) and so there's a LOT of that going on at the moment.

All of which is a very long winded way of saying part of what I love about collecting is the ongoing cateloguing, sorting and rearranging of shelves. I sometimes wonder if I enjoy that as much as reading them! I'm still a librarian at heart I guess.

BTW Fatale is coming out as a single issue softback Compendium collection at the end of July (656 pages of Brubaker/Phillips goodness for £36 via awesomebooks). Hope their other stuff will be released in a similar format

Also meant to say things for the heads up on this one. I've added it to my list of go to places (alongside Speedy Hen) before I go to amazon. Nice one.

Ha! I mean, there are still copies in the channel, so it's not like you need to buy it tomorrow. But if you start to see it vanish from various stores, I wouldn't hang about too long. When that happened last time, it was years until a reprint happened, and the set went for silly money on eBay. (There are the paperback trades as well, of course, although I've no idea how easy – or not – they are to source these days.)

Yeah having dome a little watch of Near Mint Conditions review (should have done that before pestering you fine folks) it looks lovely and a good size for a comfortable (well in the boundaries of at least) read. The only question is how long after the 18th (payday) will I last? I got Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 5 this month as I'm trying to make sure I get all of them before the start to disappear (same for Giant Days Library Editions).

You've totally sold me on 'Kill or be Killed' there!

Nice - hope you love it. 

[Colin YNWA]

Colin: I've been reading through hundreds of Panini Marvel reprints that cover the 2000s, and figuring out which I want to keep. Turns out, the answer is 'none of them', including the mostly strong Mighty World of Marvel. However, I have used them (and 'temporary' ownership of the first 60 volumes of the original Hachette Marvel collection) to govern some deluxe/omni purchases, most of which are relatively standalone own nature. I really enjoyed:

I've got a few of these I kinda randomly picked up and must crack them open as they make for great try out material and can be picked up for bobbins.

I didn't get on with The Visions - which surprises me as I love the other King stuff I've read. Similarly the Slott Allred Silver Surfer didn't work for me, much as I love Allred's art.

Ms Marvel is another one I must get around to trying at some point.

[Tjm86]

Wow! That sounds like a really impressive Batman collection, really impressive. Which are your fav runs. I have two more Batman runs still to appear here. Nothing as exciting as is in your collection I imagine.

I'm currently picking my way through No Man's Land from the early 90's.  Read it back in the day and in all honesty it is not one that really shines in any coherent way.  Given this was the hey-day of the 'million titles per best-selling character' policy of the main two American publishers, it is not surprising.

I do think this is the biggest problem with Batman.  There is just so much stuff out there it is hard to find anything consistent.  Year One was something special when it first came out and it is fairly easy to understand why Dark Knight returns was as well received as it was but quite often you can end up going to the other extreme with some stuff.

I mean, Death in the Family is actually quite a mediocre tale.  Dark Knight 2 was dire and I've still not got round to reading Master Race.  Hush benefits from Jim Lee on artwork but otherwise there is not that much to recommend it really.  Knightfall is in the same vein as No Man's Land, for me.

I think the New 52 confused the living daylights out of me.  There are some nice stories there but overall it was hard to make sense of what was going on.  Is it an alternate universe story?  I don't know.  Some of the latter tales certainly didn't blow me away.

I'd have to say that some of the best stuff are the 'hidden gems' that people tend to neglect.  Norm Breyfogle's Detective Comics stuff is, for my money, criminally under-rated with some absolutely insane stuff going on.  I love Gotham by Gaslight with Mike Mignola's sumptuous artwork and any of Kelley Jones' work on the title (as well as his amazing Deadman miniseries' that are well worth a look).  Batman Year Two is a nice little read, lifted by Alan Davies' artwork.  Then of course there is a lot of Alan Grant's work on the character across the various titles.

I'm still looking to track down some of the Ra's Al Ghul stuff but at the moment, other than the Hachette collection, print copies are bonkers prices and I refuse to buy digitally from Amazon since they've locked me out of all my old Comix purchases. Plus, I really am a luddite when it comes to comics.  It is a physical medium, sorry.

[Proudhuff]

I only got into the whole Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips relatively recently, but am now totally addicted and trying not to binge. The cost of backfilling their work helps!
I got KOBK as it came out and now get their stuff now when it comes out as they seem to fly out the door initially then cost a packet thereafter.
I was never a tights and gusset, sorry Superhero fan and DC and especially Marvel held no interest for me, but like some up thread, My tastes have changed(mellowed?)and Brubaker/Phillips tick every box, I keep looking for some of their stuff to dislike: but so far no luck!!
 
Nice review by the way YNWA!!

[Le Fink]

Anyway if anyone else has recommendations for comics or graphic novels like KOBK or ones that have a different take on the superhero story I'd be interested although I think I have most of them at the moment. Maybe I should start a new thread?

Have you tried Planetary by Warren Ellis? Injection also good, if unfinished, last time I checked.

[IndigoPrime]

and thanks to Indigoprime mentioning the titles of other work by Brubaker & Phillips, I've now added The Fade Out, Pulp & Fatale.

My apologies to your wallet.

Anyway if anyone else has recommendations for comics or graphic novels like KOBK or ones that have a different take on the superhero story I'd be interested

Black Hammer is perhaps an obvious one, and pretty great. Ordinary, if you've not read it in the Meg, flips superheroes on its head quite nicely, and is currently two quid if Forbidden Planet for the hardcover. Eight Billion Genies flirts with similar territory. Not really superheroes per se, but plenty of crossover, given how things go. I imagine you've already read Umbrella Academy?

I got Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 5 this month as I'm trying to make sure I get all of them before the start to disappear (same for Giant Days Library Editions).

My understanding is the Saga books are evergreen, although you never know with Dark Horse and the reprints can be sporadic. Always hard to know what Fantagraphics is doing. I think I pre-ordered the new set the second it showed up, having annoyingly missed two second-hand copies on eBay by seconds.

Ms Marvel is another one I must get around to trying at some point.

It's a fun read. Probably don't expect it to blow your mind or anything. It very much is what it is. Kind of like if someone was trying to do a modern-day Spider-Man, but instead of a young man getting bitten by a spider (and, frankly, whining about how difficult his life is while juggling multiple supermodels), the protagonist is a Muslim girl trying to find her way in a multicultural society. And even her powers are really cleverly designed, in being analogous to the awkwardness of teenage existence. (I think it all goes a bit pear-shaped around the time of Champions, when she becomes just another 'Avenger'. And that strip in particular was a big right on, in an on-the-nose fashion. But the original run gets the balance right in a very appealing manner.)

I do think this is the biggest problem with Batman.  There is just so much stuff out there it is hard to find anything consistent.

I managed to get about half of the Eaglemoss set for an embarrassingly low price, from someone locally who just wanted shot of them. I carefully put them all in order and... I dunno. Maybe I'm just not familiar enough with it, but I often found I just didn't care. I also didn't click t all with certain writers who on the strip had been heralded as a second coming. Morrison's run was... OK. I read it. It was fine. But I liked Paul Dini's stuff a whole lot more. Some of those books, along with Black Mirror, and a few random others (City of Owls; Doom That Came to Gotham) remain in my 'keep for now' pile.

I only got into the whole Ed Brubaker Sean Phillips relatively recently, but am now totally addicted and trying not to binge.

I'm sure something will suck eventually, but that pairing is currently one of precisely two things I buy blind and know I'm going to like. (The other being Usagi Yojimbo.) Long may that continue. And I do like the dinky little HC format. It's nice to have a book you can read in a single sitting, which has a start, middle and end, and where the story is engaging but also so smartly told that you're never left puzzled about what happened.

[Doomlord66]

This is my list of non superhero/alternate superhero comics & novels.

100 BULLETS - Story by Brian Azzarello, Art by Eduardo Risso
ASTRO CITY 1 to 17 - Story by Kurt Busiek, Art by Brent Anderson
BADASS - Story by Herik Hanna, Art by Bruno Bassada
BLOODY MARY - Story by Garth Ennis, Art by Carlos Ezquerra
BRIT - Story by Robert Kirkman, Art by Tony Moore & Cliff Rathburn
IRREDEEMABLE - Story by Mark Waid, Art by Peter Krause & Diego Barreto
INCOGNITO - Story by Ed Brubaker, Art by Sean Phillips
INCOGNITO BAD INFLUENCES - Story by Ed Brubaker, Art by Sean Phillips
JUPITER'S LEGACY/CIRCLE - Story by Mark Millar
KILL OR BE KILLED - Story by Ed Brubaker, Art by Sean Phillips
KNIGHTED - Story by Gregg Hurwitz, Art by Mark Texeira
MASKS 1 & 2 - Story by Chris Roberson, Art by Alex Ross, Dennis Calero
MY BAD - Story by Bryce Ingman, Mark Russell, Art by Peter Krause
NEMESIS & NEMESIS RELOADED - Story by Mark Millar, Art by Steve McNiven
PETER CANNON, THUNDERBOLT - Story by Steve Darnell, Art by Jonathan Lau
POWER & GLORY - Story & Art by Howard Chaykin
POWERS 1 to 14 - Story by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Michael Avon Oeming
POWERS BUREAU 1 & 2 - Story by Brian Michael Bendis, Art by Michael Avon Oeming
PROJECT SUPERPOWERS - Story by Jim Kruger, Art by Doug Klauba, Alex Ross
SIN CITY 1 to 7 - Story & Art by Frank Miller
SUPERIOR - Story by Mark Millar, Art by Leinil Francis Lu
SUPREME POWER - Story by J. Michael Straczynski, Art by Gary Frank
THE BOYS 1 to 13 - Story by Garth Ennis, Art by Darick Robertson
THE CAPE - Story by Jason Ciaramella, Art by Zach Howard & Nelson Daniel
THE PRO - Story by Garth Ennis, Art by Amanda Conner
THE TWELVE - Story by J. Michael Straczynski, Art by Chris Weston
THE VICTORIES - Story & Art by Michael Avon Oeming

Now adding Black Hammer, Planetary, Injection

Wow the 1st 3 recommendations and they're not on my list, great stuff thanks guys

[BadlyDrawnKano]

I've only read the first volume of Kill Or Be Killed so haven't read the above post, but now even more than before I hope I stumble upon the rest of it as you rate it so highly.

Colin: I've been reading through hundreds of Panini Marvel reprints that cover the 2000s, and figuring out which I want to keep. Turns out, the answer is 'none of them', including the mostly strong Mighty World of Marvel. However, I have used them (and 'temporary' ownership of the first 60 volumes of the original Hachette Marvel collection) to govern some deluxe/omni purchases, most of which are relatively standalone own nature. I really enjoyed:

Doctor Strange (Aaron/Bachalo): quite grim and a divisive run, but one that for me really worked with the gorgeous art and mystical flavour.

Hawkeye (Fraction/Aja): just really smart comics, trying different things and mostly succeeding. I couldn't give two hoots about the character normally, but this just worked. The come down for the following volume was palpable.

Ms. Marvel (G. Willow Wilson): a smart take on the young superhero theme, despite part-way through getting caught in the end of the universe BS Marvel pulled around the time. I'm not keen on what they've done with the character more recently, but those early volumes were great.

Rocket Raccoon (Young): I mean, it's Skottie Young, even if he's just writing. I picked this up as two little HCs. Fun.

She-Hulk (Slott): A solid modern run that doesn't take itself too seriously, and that has interesting enough ideas and stories to keep the momentum going.

Silver Surfer (Slott/Allread): Basically an excuse to do Marvel Doctor Who. The omni recently got a reissue and so should still be in print. Personally, I'm no major fan of that format, but I had to have this one complete and in print. It's a lovely run.

Thor: The God Butcher (Aaron/Ribic): So I remember reading the Aaron run when I first subscribed to the Panini Marvel Legends series and liking it a lot. On re-reading it, I ended up buying just The God Butcher (deluxe, which also includes Godbomb) rather than the entire run, because that was the most impactful. What followed didn't quite do it for me, despite the uptick when the new Thor arrives.

Vision (King): A genuine surprise when I originally read this, and one I had to own. A great exploration that goes deep into what it means to belong, and the difficulties within a 'realistic' world of superpowers. Alas, I did not get on with DC equivalent Mister Miracle.

(On Marvel, I also of course have Langridge's Muppets, which is as close to The Muppet Show as it's possible to get in comic form. And I've also enjoyed but haven't yet fully read the Gwenpool omni.)

I only read the Strange run earlier this year but really enjoyed it, I've heard complaints that Aaron didn't really capture Strange's personality but as I only know him from the movies it didn't bother me, and I liked how weird and grotesque it got in places. I'd agree with pretty much everything else you say there except that the Jane Foster part of Thor was my favourite, but I really enjoyed all of those series. Well, except for Rocket Raccoon as I didn't know he'd had a solo series, but I'll be adding it to my wishlist now.

(On Marvel, I also of course have Langridge's Muppets, which is as close to The Muppet Show as it's possible to get in comic form. And I've also enjoyed but haven't yet fully read the Gwenpool omni.)

I finished the first Gwenpool omnibus this week and thought it was a great deal of fun, but I noticed the fourth trade paperback is out of print and stupidly expensive, which frustrates as I don't really like reading comics digitally. And I was unaware of the Muppets series, but as a big fan I'll definitely check that out now too.