What's "required reading" in comics?

[KTULU]

I'd like to bone up on this shit, no homo.

I've read Watchmen, Marvel Zombies, Age of Apocalypse, Killing Joke, and some other stuff I can't remember. Oh, Wolverine's origin book.

[Dr Doom]

Let's see... five books from five writers, all hailing from England (three Brits, an Irishman and a Scot), who may very well be the five greatest comic book writers alive.

V For Vendetta by Alan Moore. A good start if you're even a tad intrigued by his lay-out of socio-political topics in Watchmen, as the theme of V (anarchy) lies even closer to Moore himself (he treats anarchy as a medium towards the end goal of reconstruction, vastly more interesting than the typical "bring the world to chaos" type anarchy most writers write about).

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. A series about the entity Dream who after years of captivity finds his way back to his kingdom and finds that much has changed. After its initial first arc that's very 'comicky' it slowly turns into a Shakespearian tragedy epic that's almost as close to literature as comics can get.

Planetary by Warren Ellis. An adventure book about a secret organization tracking the secret history of the world (which mostly consists of reimagined pop culture from the works of Ian Fleming to John Woo to the better works in comics).

Preacher by Garth Ennis. The story of a preacher who receives a supernatural power and uses it to track down God so he can kick his ass for pussying out and letting the world go to shit. While it absolutely destroys religious fanaticism in America (and the regular stupidity of Americans) it's also an ode to the things that make America great.

All Star Superman by Grant Morrison. The single greatest Superman comic in modern history (and possibly all time). It's completely stand alone so no prior knowledge is necessary, although it does help if you're a bit familiar with his 'universe' (stuff like Bizarro World or villains like the Parasite).

[Jack Roller]

Planetary by Warren Ellis, gotta be other stuff by Ellis - you might try Transmetropolitan too.

For Punisher, the Punisher Max series written by Ennis (there is more than one). If you don't want to read the entire series you could check the two arcs with Barricuda.

100 Bullets

Scalped (still ongoing)

And as far as superhero stuff... Identity Crisis gets a lot of people into DC comics, as well as Sinestro Corps War (and Blackest Night after that).

As far as Marvel goes you could read Civil War.

I should probably attempt this after I've been awake longer than five minutes. If there are characters or teams you are interested in we could suggest the best storylines too.

[Jack Roller]

Ha Doom was posting at the same time. And there's a reason we both posted Planetary. All Star Superman is great too. And it can actually be discussed like lit class. Has things from philosophy and mythology in there as well as crazy shit going on with the characters.

[False Profit]

lol first thing's first KTULU. What stories did you like the most?

[Bobby Digital 2.0]

Let's see... five books from five writers, all hailing from England (three Brits, an Irishman and a Scot), who may very well be the five greatest comic book writers alive.

V For Vendetta by Alan Moore. A good start if you're even a tad intrigued by his lay-out of socio-political topics in Watchmen, as the theme of V (anarchy) lies even closer to Moore himself (he treats anarchy as a medium towards the end goal of reconstruction, vastly more interesting than the typical "bring the world to chaos" type anarchy most writers write about).

The Sandman by Neil Gaiman. A series about the entity Dream who after years of captivity finds his way back to his kingdom and finds that much has changed. After its initial first arc that's very 'comicky' it slowly turns into a Shakespearian tragedy epic that's almost as close to literature as comics can get.

Planetary by Warren Ellis. An adventure book about a secret organization tracking the secret history of the world (which mostly consists of reimagined pop culture from the works of Ian Fleming to John Woo to the better works in comics).

Preacher by Garth Ennis. The story of a preacher who receives a supernatural power and uses it to track down God so he can kick his ass for pussying out and letting the world go to shit. While it absolutely destroys religious fanaticism in America (and the regular stupidity of Americans) it's also an ode to the things that make America great.

All Star Superman by Grant Morrison. The single greatest Superman comic in modern history (and possibly all time). It's completely stand alone so no prior knowledge is necessary, although it does help if you're a bit familiar with his 'universe' (stuff like Bizarro World or villains like the Parasite).

These recommendations are pretty much spot on.

[KTULU]

Planetary's really cool, thanks for that idea. "Jakita" is a dumb name, though.


lol first thing's first KTULU. What stories did you like the most?

I liked Watchmen most except for the "Love... don't you see? LOVE is the most powerful force in the universe!" bit.

[Earth-2 Superman]

what heroes do you actually like?

[Broddie]

Planetary, Preacher and Sandman are perfection but I find V to Vendetta to have aged terribly. If I'd recommend any Alan Moore I'd say Tom Strong which is a throwback to the pulp serials and novels of the 1930's. The type of shit that inspired Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars to give some context. Or his Swamp Thing work which is a masterpiece of literature and not just comic books IMHO.

I'd also recommend Maus by Art Spiegelman pretty much one of the most heartfelt stories ever written. It's an account of the author's father's life. A man who was a holocaust survivor. Except it's retold with Jews as mice and Cats as nazi's so it's also pretty accurate to the realities of the animal kingdom.

[Earth-2 Superman]

also, the boys. Its pretty atheist-friendly too lol

[KTULU]

I pretended I read Maus to impress a chick in college.

[KidFlash]

I've basically liked all Marvel characters and a few well known DC based on comics, any suggestions?

Favorites: Batman, Superman, Magneto, Flash, Thor, Hulk & Cyclops

[Jack Roller]

Well Batman has actually been great the last couple of years. Grant Morrison is a great writer that did stories like The Black Glove, Batman and Son, and Batman RIP which led up to his death. Batman and Robin is written by him and it has the first Robin taking over as Batman alongside Batman's son, Damian.

As far as recent Hulk stories worth reading you would want to check out Planet Hulk, which I know was recently posted in the request thread.

[Jack Roller]

I'll try to think of more Hulk stuff later. I know I had some stuff set aside for people that were wanting to learn about the character.

[Broddie]

http://planetill.com/forum/showthread.php?1361-i-m-gonna-read-Red-Son

Look in there for Superman stuff as for Flash I just saw an ad for a Flash omnibus collecting the works of Geoff Johns on the title from the early 00's and that's a great place to start. If you want something from even prior to that check out anything Flash by Mark Waid from the 90's. By far one of the greatest comic book runs ever right there and very definitive stuff. For Thor you need nothing else but the Walt Simonson omnibus. For Cyclops it pretty much varies cause a lot of the greatest X-Men stories revolve around him and his family (Ie: Dark Phoenix Saga, X-Cutioner's Song etc.)

[KTULU]

I'm reading V for Vendetta.

Man, the material they printed comics on and the ink they had to work with sucked in the 80's.

[Jack Roller]

Yeah, people take that fancy paper for granted these days.

[Krypto]

Yeah, people take that fancy paper for granted these days.

1996 was the first year they started doing glossy editions and newsprint editions, over time the death of newstand sales meant that only glossy editions were being supplied to comic shops. By 1999 newsprint editions were basically dead. It's the reason why so many old comics are impossible to find in good condition, the paper stock was cheap as shit and degraded just being exposed to the air over time.

I'd say Peter David's Hulk run set the standard at the time, worth looking up.

Obviously the Byrne Claremont X-Men stuff although it's dated badly.

Marvels and Kingdom Come are basically companion pieces, one about the rise of Marvel heroes and the other the dark future of anti-heroes.

Giffen's JLI and Morrison's JLA runs are probably the best Justice League runs.

[Jack Roller]

I was 16 in 1996. I remember the shitty paper.

@Kidflash. Are you getting physical copies of this stuff or digital?

[Oseru]

If you're gonna check out Ennis, I'd recommend Punisher Max over Preacher. The high points in Preacher some of the best things I've read, but the off track moments are really aweful. Punisher Max1-60 are really damn good with almost no weak points.