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

[IndigoPrime]

The Muppets omni is a wonderful thing. I love Roger Langridge's stuff. As for the other Thor, I did like her a lot (and her story). It's a lot of the other bits that kind of bored me – all of the war bits. But I might have just had too much of it after trudging through literally hundreds of Marvel comics since the autumn. Sometimes that stuff is a bit like a repeating background on a cartoon. "Oh look: Mysterio back! Again! Yawn."

If nothing else, it really makes you appreciate when people do something different. Or, for that matter, ongoing series like Dredd and Usagi Yojimbo where returning characters are used relatively sparingly.

[Le Fink]

Hmmm Black Hammer. Is it making the list Colin? I didn't make it past the first series because of the way it went a bit up its own arsehole. The journey up to that point was pretty good. I was wondering about picking it up again as there has been quite a bit more, and it generally reviews well. I need a write-up, Colin!

[Colin YNWA]

Norm Breyfogle's Detective Comics stuff is, for my money, criminally under-rated with some absolutely insane stuff going on. 

I think its a bit liek Nocenti's DD run. It might not be top of many lists but its starting to get the credit it deserves and more and more positive reflections... certainly will here!

...
IRREDEEMABLE - Story by Mark Waid, Art by Peter Krause & Diego Barreto
...
MY BAD - Story by Bryce Ingman, Mark Russell, Art by Peter Krause
...
THE VICTORIES - Story & Art by Michael Avon Oeming

Yep, yep and The Victories is a good call. Not on the list but I really enjoyed it.

[Colin YNWA]

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.

Hmmm Black Hammer. Is it making the list Colin? I didn't make it past the first series because of the way it went a bit up its own arsehole. The journey up to that point was pretty good. I was wondering about picking it up again as there has been quite a bit more, and it generally reviews well. I need a write-up, Colin!

Yeah Black Hammer really is the obvious go to for recommendations of alternative takes on Superheroes. In many ways its the only superhero comic you need as it covers so much ground.

Its defo on the list but will need some thought as I'm still trying to process 'The End' and work out if I liked it or not. Its place was determined before it started (or as it just started). I might read The End again to see if it worked ahead of my write up.

[Le Fink]

Its defo on the list but will need some thought as I'm still trying to process 'The End' and work out if I liked it or not. Its place was determined before it started (or as it just started). I might read The End again to see if it worked ahead of my write up.

Looking forward to reading that review!
Back on topic, I'll look out for Kill Or Be Killed, sounds good, brilliant write up, thanks. I did have a look for Fatale but looked a bit expensive to get hold of, but the aforementioned cheaper omni coming up sounds perfect (I've not moved to digital... yet).

Following a previous review I've nearly finished reading Elektra Assassin for the very first time. I did see it on shelves near the time it came out but I think I was put off buying it by the art which looked a bit pretentious. Let's face it, it is a bit pretentious, but it's also ruddy good - love it!

[Hawkmumbler]

Been doing a bit of a catch up, delighted to see Eric Powell make the list in any capacity once again proving Colin knows what the good stuff is.

Kill or Be Killed has been on my list for so long now, believe it was billed to me at TB years ago as 'Satanic Panic Button Man' and yeah, looks dope.

Keep up the stellar work mate!

[BadlyDrawnKano]

The Muppets omni is a wonderful thing. I love Roger Langridge's stuff.

I'd not heard of him before but really want to check his work out, I noticed on Ebay that "Muppet Mash" and "Four Seasons" are the cheapest trades, would it matter if I didn't read the series in order?

As for the other Thor, I did like her a lot (and her story). It's a lot of the other bits that kind of bored me – all of the war bits. But I might have just had too much of it after trudging through literally hundreds of Marvel comics since the autumn. Sometimes that stuff is a bit like a repeating background on a cartoon. "Oh look: Mysterio back! Again! Yawn."

I absolutely get what you mean, and Thor may well have benefitted from being one of the first Marvel comics I'd read in a very long time. When I got in to US comics in the late eighties / early nineties I was much more of a DC / Vertigo kid (and yeah, I wince when I type that, it seems so silly now), there was the odd Marvel title like She-Hulk or Groo that I bought but not very many at all.

For long, dull reasons there was a gap between 1996 - 2007 where I wasn't reading any comics, and when I did get back in to them I had so much to catch up on that again I rarely dipped in to Marvel. But since a relationship ended in 2019 and I started collecting trade paperbacks again it's the first time I've really got in their comics, starting with Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (which I love beyond words) but then Thor, and so a lot of it was new to me, I had no history with the characters, and how many times they'd confronted various villains.

I'm definitely suffering from Marvel burn-out when it comes to the films (though I have just started X-Men 97 and find it fun) but it's yet to happen on the comics side. But then I'm deliberately trying to avoid reading anything by any one company or writer in any particular time period, so this year I've gone from Doctor Strange by Jason Aaron to Monsters by Barry Windsor-Smith, Batman Inc by Grant Morrison to It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood, Judge Dredd Case Files 15 to Cinema Purgatorio by Alan Moore, and the first House Of X / Powers Of X collection to Charley's War by Pat Mills, etc, etc. (And I know she credit the artists who make all of those books so stunning, and next time shall try and avoid being so lazy!)

[IndigoPrime]

I'd not heard of him before but really want to check his work out

His most recent thing for 2000 AD was Pandora Perfect (although he only wrote it and didn't draw the strip). His personal work includes Abigail & The Snowman, which my kid got out of the library and we both adored. Long OOP, mind. He's also created hundreds of semi-autobiographical dailies, which you can read on his website. There are currently three properly chunky HC collections on his web store. (They are superb. His packaging... less so. Although mine arrived OK.)

I noticed on Ebay that "Muppet Mash" and "Four Seasons" are the cheapest trades, would it matter if I didn't read the series in order?

My recollection – I bought the book a decade ago – is it's much like The Muppet Show, in the main. So it doesn't really matter in which order you read. FWIW, someone on eBay is selling five trades for 25 quid right now.

I absolutely get what you mean, and Thor may well have benefitted from being one of the first Marvel comics I'd read in a very long time.

I think had that been the case for me, I'd have enjoyed it more. I remember I largely did the first time around – although it was perhaps also boosted by running alongside a Captain America arc I abhorred (the Hydra thing). I'm into the Unworthy arc now, and it's very readable. But it's not "buy it in HC and put it on the shelf worthy" for me. (I one day had the option of buying just the God Butcher deluxe or the entire Aaron Thor run, for equivalent per-page prices, both of which were reasonable. I'm glad now I went for just the one book. Not sure I would have wanted to keep the others long term.)

I've really got in their comics, starting with Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (which I love beyond words)

I have the first HC of that. I need to get back into it. Not sure I've ever been in quite the right mood. (Also, annoyingly, Marvel did its usual thing and cancelled the collections in that format. There was – maybe is – an omni, but it's about the size of garden shed, so no thanks on that.)

I'm definitely suffering from Marvel burn-out when it comes to the films (though I have just started X-Men 97 and find it fun) but it's yet to happen on the comics side.

Mm. The films feel like going through the motions. The best of the recent ones for me was The Marvels, but mostly because Iman Vellani is such a joy as Ms. Marvel. And that just made me sad that she only got one TV series. I think apart from the Spidey films, I've not really annoyed one in a big way since Ragnarok, back in 2017.

The TV shows, though, I've mostly really liked. There are exceptions (Falcon/Winter Solider did not click with me at all), but I enjoyed She-Hulk's subversion, WandaVision's strange set-up, Hawkeye borrowing from my favourite run of the comics (bro), etc. But even there, we're now several series behind, and I'm honestly not sure if I care enough to watch Secret Invasion, Loki 2, What If 2 and Echo, not least given that no-one at Disney now seems invested in the Eries, and certainly not to the degree they will be ongoing and built upon.

There was so much scope in Ms. Marvel, but the TV show was ultimately just a way to introduce the character and shove her into a movie. This feels a lot like what happened in the comics, where she started as a really interesting character in her own book, before becoming subsumed into teams and ending up being just another superhero.

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood

Wonderful book. I hope everyone her owns a copy.

[Colin YNWA]

Following a previous review I've nearly finished reading Elektra Assassin for the very first time. I did see it on shelves near the time it came out but I think I was put off buying it by the art which looked a bit pretentious. Let's face it, it is a bit pretentious, but it's also ruddy good - love it!

Nice! Glad you enjoyed it.

Kill or Be Killed has been on my list for so long now, believe it was billed to me at TB years ago as 'Satanic Panic Button Man' and yeah, looks dope.

Ha! That's an interesting take on it. Read it and make your mind up Zac.

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood

Wonderful book. I hope everyone her owns a copy.

That's another one I fully intent to check out at some point DAMN SO MANTY DAMAGED GOOD COMICS OUT THERE...

[Colin YNWA]

Oh oh oh. Keep forgetting to say for alternative superhero takes the best two are from the house of Tharg (well ish) in Zenith and New Statesmen from Crisis which is next door to Tharg's Thrill-house so we'll take it as ours hey.

No doubt you've read them Doomlord666 but they need to be mentioned in any conversation of this type.

[Le Fink]

Oh oh oh. Keep forgetting to say for alternative superhero takes the best two are from the house of Tharg (well ish) in Zenith and New Statesmen from Crisis which is next door to Tharg's Thrill-house so we'll take it as ours hey.

No doubt you've read them Doomlord666 but they need to be mentioned in any conversation of this type.

Ten seconders was fun too, and went Kirbyesque in the final act, with some great art from Edmund Bagwell.

[BadlyDrawnKano]

His most recent thing for 2000 AD was Pandora Perfect (although he only wrote it and didn't draw the strip). His personal work includes Abigail & The Snowman, which my kid got out of the library and we both adored. Long OOP, mind. He's also created hundreds of semi-autobiographical dailies, which you can read on his website. There are currently three properly chunky HC collections on his web store. (They are superb. His packaging... less so. Although mine arrived OK.)

My recollection – I bought the book a decade ago – is it's much like The Muppet Show, in the main. So it doesn't really matter in which order you read. FWIW, someone on eBay is selling five trades for 25 quid right now.

Thanks so much for all of the above but the ebay link especially, after reading some of the comics on his website I bought those five trades and can't wait to read them.

I think had that been the case for me, I'd have enjoyed it more. I remember I largely did the first time around – although it was perhaps also boosted by running alongside a Captain America arc I abhorred (the Hydra thing). I'm into the Unworthy arc now, and it's very readable. But it's not "buy it in HC and put it on the shelf worthy" for me. (I one day had the option of buying just the God Butcher deluxe or the entire Aaron Thor run, for equivalent per-page prices, both of which were reasonable. I'm glad now I went for just the one book. Not sure I would have wanted to keep the others long term.)

I remember hearing about the Captain America / Hydra thing and thinking yeesh, that is something I really don't like the sound of, and the only friend  who has read it did not enjoy it at all. I've been thinking a lot about why I enjoyed Thor so much, as there were parts I thought were repetitive, especially the aspects about Thor being unworthy, but my lack of knowledge of all of the supporting characters got me past that, and when I think back to it, it is the Jane story I love the most.

And I think I feel the way about DC as you do with Marvel, there's a lot of comics from the late eighties / early nineties that I still love (Animal Man, Sandman, about 30 issues of Giffen/DeMatteis JLI / JLE runs, a big chunk of Hellblazer, Shade The Changing Man, Doom Patrol) but post 2000s discounting Vertigo I haven't found too much to get excited about. There are some, I thought Jeff Lemire's Animal Man run was superb, as was Brubaker's Gotham Central, and Morrison's Batman had high (and a couple of low) points, but with a lot of the characters I had that "Eh, I kind of feel like I've seen it all before" feeling. Though I guess I should back that up with the caveat that there's a lot out there that I haven't read.

I have the first HC of that. I need to get back into it. Not sure I've ever been in quite the right mood. (Also, annoyingly, Marvel did its usual thing and cancelled the collections in that format. There was – maybe is – an omni, but it's about the size of garden shed, so no thanks on that.)

I think it's a very funny, incredibly sweet natured comic, but I do occasionally wonder if my love for it comes from reading it at a time in the pandemic where everything felt rather bleak and no one quite knew how it would all play out, and so it was exactly what I needed at that point in time.

Mm. The films feel like going through the motions. The best of the recent ones for me was The Marvels, but mostly because Iman Vellani is such a joy as Ms. Marvel. And that just made me sad that she only got one TV series. I think apart from the Spidey films, I've not really annoyed one in a big way since Ragnarok, back in 2017.

The TV shows, though, I've mostly really liked. There are exceptions (Falcon/Winter Solider did not click with me at all), but I enjoyed She-Hulk's subversion, WandaVision's strange set-up, Hawkeye borrowing from my favourite run of the comics (bro), etc. But even there, we're now several series behind, and I'm honestly not sure if I care enough to watch Secret Invasion, Loki 2, What If 2 and Echo, not least given that no-one at Disney now seems invested in the Eries, and certainly not to the degree they will be ongoing and built upon.

There was so much scope in Ms. Marvel, but the TV show was ultimately just a way to introduce the character and shove her into a movie. This feels a lot like what happened in the comics, where she started as a really interesting character in her own book, before becoming subsumed into teams and ending up being just another superhero.

I've still got mixed feelings about the tv shows, I loved Wandavision bar the ending, thought the first Loki series was enjoyable, and liked the majority of the Ms. Marvel series, but in sone ways wish they'd had the budget so that she had the same powers in the show as she does in the comic. It was an inspired piece of casting though and Iman Vellani knocked it out of the park, and I really wish The Marvels had been a success so that we'd have either got another Ms Marvel tv series or a solo film, but now it seems sadly unlikely to happen. But the rest I haven't seen, and I can't say I've really got the urge to rectify that, right now at least.

Wonderful book. I hope everyone here owns a copy.

Absolutely!

[IndigoPrime]

Well, the endings of all the Marvel things are mostly the same: a big CGI fight. That's why I loved the ending to She-Hulk so much. It flipped everything on its head.

As for Ms. Marvel, the rumour was that her powers were changed because they're too similar to Mr. Fantastic's. But that messed up her powers intentionally mirroring teenage awkwardness and feelings dealing with appearance. And, yes, another series would have been great, but it looks like Disney+ suffers from noisy white mean grumbling whenever anything not directly aimed at them (and featuring someone they aspire to be) lands. A pity. But also not that surprising.

Glad you got the Muppets books. I hope you enjoy them. 

[PsychoGoatee]

My fav alternative superhero comic (and the only one needed - if making that call) is known, it's Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen! He's done it all and then some.

[Hawkmumbler]

I'll champion Martin Edens THE O-MEN until the day I die as the unsung cape capers masterwork.

God I'm long overdue a reread.

Honourable mention goes to Shotaro Ishinomoris original draft manga run of KAMEN RIDER, because its great and I'll never get the chance to bring it up again.